Charles H. Thompson

Policy Entrepreneur of the Civil Rights Movement

Louis Ray

During a period when African-American education was at the epicenter of the civil rights movement, Thompson’s Journal documented the rapid growth of educational discrimination in the South despite significant increases in public school funding, providing irrefutable evidence that racially segregated public education was inherently discriminatory, hence, unconstitutional. Between 1932 and 1954, Thompson’s editorials provided a nuanced, insider’s account of one of the most successful policy research ventures in American history: the movement to overturn racial segregation as public policy, chronicling the rise during the Depression, World War II and the postwar period of a policy community committed to expanding human rights nationally and internationally. A brilliant essayist, Thompson sought to close the gap between America’s democratic precepts and its undemocratic practices by molding public opinion favorable to a significant expansion of civil rights among scholars, policymakers and the public. An expert witness in several landmark higher education cases argued before the U. S. Supreme Court including Sipuel (1948), Sweatt (1950) and McLaurin (1950), Thompson’s editorials provided an informed, eyewitness account of African-American teachers’ pivotal role in the NAACP litigation campaign culminating in the landmark Brown et al v. Board of Education of Topeka et al (1954) desegregation ruling. As the first, full-length study of Charles H. Thompson’s contributions to American education and the civil rights movement, Derrick P. Aldridge has described this study as a “widely anticipated,” and a valuable addition to the literature.

University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Pages: 210 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-61147-521-0 • Hardback • July 2012 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-61147-732-0 • Paperback • May 2014 • $59.99 • (£46.00)

978-1-61147-522-7 • eBook • July 2012 • $57.00 • (£44.00)

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Political, History / Social History, History / United States / 20th Century, Political Science / Civil Rights, Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations

Charles H. Thompson

Policy Entrepreneur of the Civil Rights Movement

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

During a period when African-American education was at the epicenter of the civil rights movement, Thompson’s Journal documented the rapid growth of educational discrimination in the South despite significant increases in public school funding, providing irrefutable evidence that racially segregated public education was inherently discriminatory, hence, unconstitutional. Between 1932 and 1954, Thompson’s editorials provided a nuanced, insider’s account of one of the most successful policy research ventures in American history: the movement to overturn racial segregation as public policy, chronicling the rise during the Depression, World War II and the postwar period of a policy community committed to expanding human rights nationally and internationally. A brilliant essayist, Thompson sought to close the gap between America’s democratic precepts and its undemocratic practices by molding public opinion favorable to a significant expansion of civil rights among scholars, policymakers and the public. An expert witness in several landmark higher education cases argued before the U. S. Supreme Court including Sipuel (1948), Sweatt (1950) and McLaurin (1950), Thompson’s editorials provided an informed, eyewitness account of African-American teachers’ pivotal role in the NAACP litigation campaign culminating in the landmark Brown et al v. Board of Education of Topeka et al (1954) desegregation ruling. As the first, full-length study of Charles H. Thompson’s contributions to American education and the civil rights movement, Derrick P. Aldridge has described this study as a “widely anticipated,” and a valuable addition to the literature.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Pages: 210 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-61147-521-0 • Hardback • July 2012 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-61147-732-0 • Paperback • May 2014 • $59.99 • (£46.00)

978-1-61147-522-7 • eBook • July 2012 • $57.00 • (£44.00)

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Political, History / Social History, History / United States / 20th Century, Political Science / Civil Rights, Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations

Author

Louis Ray is associate professor of education at Fairleigh Dickinson University's Peter Sammartino School of Education.

Table of Contents

DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1: CHARLES HENRY THOMPSON, THE EARLY YEARS, 1895-1925
CHAPTER 2: HOWARD UNIVERSITY AND POLICY RESEARCH
CHAPTER 3: THE MENTORSHIP OF DWIGHT O. W. HOLMES
CHAPTER 4: SACRIFICES AND ASPIRATIONS
CHAPTER 5: FOUNDING THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION
CHAPTER 6: BATTLING DRAGONS, OLD AND NEW
CHAPTER 7: A BASELINE FOR MEASURING PROGRESS
CHAPTER 8: FEDERAL AID TO EDUCATION
CHAPTER 9: THE CASE FOR LITIGATION
CHAPTER 10: TEACHERS’ SALARY DISCRIMINATION
CHAPTER 11: HIGHER EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP, 1936-1940
CHAPTER 12: WINNING THE PEACE
CHAPTER 13: INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS, 1942
CHAPTER 14: A POLICY WINDOW OPENS
CHAPTER 15: SWEATT v. PAINTER, 1945-1950
CHAPTER 16: THE JNE NATIONAL CONFERENCE, 1952
CHAPTER 17: THE BROWN DECISION, 1952-1954
CHAPTER 18: “KEEP SAWING WOOD”
ENDNOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reviews

[T]he author must be commended for his ability and willingness to convert his 405-page dissertation into a 201-page book that answers the underlying question: Was Charles H. Thompson a 'policy entrepreneur' of the civil rights movement during 1932-1954? The answer is a categorical and unequivocal yes! This book is a welcome addition to the collection of works by and about Thompson and should be read by those interested in the educational history of African Americans during that period as well as those interested in Charles H. Thompson and his works.
— The Journal of Negro Education

Awards