The Cost of Unity

Like other Protestant organizations in the United States, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was involved in the establishment of schools for African Americans in the South in the years following the end of the Civil War. This book examines the agency of African Americans in the founding of educational institutions for blacks associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The philosophical discourse within the Christian Church concerning the purpose, type, and control of these schools is examined as well as the prevailing racial assumptions and attitudes that informed each of these areas. Utilizing historical research methods to reconstruct and interpret socio-historical phenomena, the author argues that African Americans within the Christian Church played an active role, both in cooperating with Disciples' mission agencies, and acting independent of these agencies, in the conceptualization and founding of schools for their communities.