Advancement for Students of Color in Boston

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Built between 1823 and 1825, the Phillips School opened as the original home of the English High School. Almost 20 years later in 1844, the school was converted to a grammar school and renamed after John Phillips, the first mayor of Boston. From its beginnings, the Phillips school served the sons of wealthy, white families, due majorly in part to its location in Beacon Hill, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city. This school played a role in the Roberts Vs. City of Boston case, as it served as the school which rejected Benjamin Roberts daughter Sarah after he tried to get her enrolled in the school closest to their home in 1847. In spite of this rejection, when Boston schools finally became integrated in 1855, the Phillips school was one of the first integrated schools in the city. This site serves as a representation of the fight in Boston to grant equal education experiences to all children and the desegregation process which the public school system went through.

2. Sherwin School

Built in 1870, five years after the end of the Civil War, the Sherwin School was the final stop on the “March on Roxbury for Better Schools” on September 22, 1963. At the time of the March, the Sherwin School was ninety-three years old, falling apart, yet one of the schools that African American children were attending in the city of Boston. The Sherwin School was used as representation of the lack of ‘separate but equal’ facilities that Plessy v. Ferguson promised to create. In front of the old Sherwin School, supporters of the Civil Rights Movement gathered and listened to the speeches of NAACP leaders and Civil Rights activists alike, demanding for equality in their schools. Although the background of the speeches, the Sherwin School was a piece of supporting evidence on the fight for desegregated schools in Boston.

3. Rafael Hernández School

The Hernández is a dual language school (English/Spanish) — the first in the city of Boston (1970) and in Massachusetts. Every student is taught in English and Spanish, regardless of their home language. The school's motto portrays the powerful goals of the school: "Two Languages, Una Comunidad." During a time when many Puerto Ricans were migrating to Boston, The Rafael Hernández School was founded as the only school that was equipped to handle the special needs of children whose first language was not English. The Rafael Hernández School was initially opened exclusively for Latino children. These children were recruited into the school by searching door-to-door for children of families that had been so alienated from society due to language barriers that the parents had been keeping the children home.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Advancement for Students of Color in Boston

Created by Civil Rights and Education (Spring 2019) (Boston University) on April 30th 2019, 10:21:22 am.

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This tour focuses on monumental schools that spread awareness for the need for equal access to education for all. Of our three schools, two in our tour were the first of their kind, providing access to opportunities for under-represented communities within Boston. The first stop on our tour was one of the first to integrate and have an African American woman teach, while our second stop was the first to provide bilingual education to Latinx students in the Boston area. Our final stop is also a school, but rather than its educational achievements being the main focus, the school acted as a catalyst for the movement of integrated and equal schools in Boston. Together, these schools tell a bigger story about the fight for equal access to education for the children of Boston.

Entries on This Tour

Advancement for Students of Color in Boston

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