"A will of her own": Sarah Towles Reed and the pursuit of democracy in Southern public education
Description
This dissertation examines the public life of Sarah Towles Reed, a teacher in the Orleans Parish public schools from 1910 to 1951. Reed was a founding member of the New Orleans Public School Teachers Association and the New Orleans Classroom Teachers' Federation, Local 353, of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL Reed's major accomplishments included securing equal pay for women teachers, the employment of married women in the public school system, teacher tenure and sabbaticals. Twice during her career she publicly defended teachers' academic freedom, risking her job and reputation for a cause that was central to her political philosophy In taking an active role in public life, Reed helped to redefine public behavior for southern women as she defied the strictures of ladyhood, speaking her mind and defending her rights in the male world of school administration and politics. Reed's commitment to progressive educational pedagogy and her belief in democratic education frequently brought her into conflict with school authorities and conservative elements in the New Orleans community. Nevertheless, she continued to adhere to the teachings of John Dewey and other progressive educators Like many liberals of her generation, Reed was less effective in dealing with racial issues than with other educational and political concerns. Although she helped organize the first black teachers' union in New Orleans and worked closely with African-American colleagues during the 1930s and 1940s, she was unable fully to support federally mandated school desegregation. When the national AFT required its locals to integrate following the Brown v. Board of Education decision, 353 voted to maintain its segregated membership. Reed requested an extension of the AFT deadline in an attempt to preserve her union, but the national refused and revoked the local's charter Reed's life and work illuminate some of the most significant struggles of the twentieth century: women's rights, academic freedom, and racial justice. Her successes as well as her failures shed light on how southerners engaged these concerns on a local level, and her life presents a revealing case study of the strengths and weaknesses of liberalism in the twentieth-century South