Bibliography
Jurmain, Suzanne. 2005. The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students. New York, NY. HMCo Children's Books. ISBN 0618473025
Plot Analysis
Jurmain has written an eye-opening account of a young, independent woman, Prudence Crandall, who ran a school for young women. A young African-American female who wanted to enroll in her school approached Miss Crandall . This eventually led to the closing of her original school and the opening of a school specifically for African-American females. The community of Canterbury, CT opposed the opening of the school and Prudence paid a high price for her desire to educate these women. The book details her arrest, the community's hateful treatment of her and her students and the eventual closing of the school. Fifty years later, the town apologized for their horrible treatment even offering Prudence a pension.
Critical Analysis
The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students is a well written, researched account of an extraordinary woman. Jurmain backs her account with notes on her sources at the end of the story. She credits the Kansas State Historical Society, the Connecticut State Library and the New-York Historical Society who sent copies of many of the materials to help her. In addition, Jurmain provides an extensive bibliography of books and newspapers to provide documentation.
The book focuses on a period between the opening of Miss Crandall’s private academy in 1831 to the closing of her controversial school for African-American females in the spring of 1835. After the closing of her school, Prudence moved to Kansas with her husband and stepchildren. Jurmain details events that led up to 1865 when slavery was abolished and 1869 when African-Americans gained the right to vote. A newspaperman, George Thayer, interviewed Prudence Crandall and recounts what happened to her in the years that followed. Each chapter has illustrations and photographs that help the reader understand the times. A table of contents helps the reader to preview what will come next. Each chapter is titled after a quote found within the text of that chapter. Jurmain’s use of a large font makes reading the book easy on the eye and not seem too formidable to young readers. The captions under the illustrations and photographs give readers an idea of how it relates to the story. Jurmain’s style shines through with quotes in the table of contents that grab your attention. With each turn of the page, the reader is more horrified and feels the pain that racism and prejudice causes. Although the ending is not exactly happy, Prudence shows her graciousness and forgiveness when she states to Thayer “I am glad to see anyone from good old Connecticut.” The Forbidden Schoolhouse is a great read that will help readers of all ages to understand the fight for equal rights and the importance of that fight.
Review Excerpts
Kirkus
Prudence Crandall never set out to be a revolutionary-just a teacher. But when she made the bold decision to admit African-American girls to her exclusive girls' academy in Canterbury, Conn., she made a conscious decision to change her life forever. As the white parents of Canterbury would not allow their daughters to attend school with black students, Crandall closed it altogether, reopening it as a boarding school for middle-class black girls in 1833, with help from her Quaker family and William Lloyd Garrison, among others. It was a short-lived enterprise, however, as opposition both legal and vigilante finally forced her to close less than two years later. Jurmain adopts a storyteller's voice to tell the tale, lacing it with excerpts from primary sources, but always locating readers in the emotional heart of the conflict. This makes for a fast-paced read; well-placed images depict both the principal players and the interior of the Crandall school (now a museum). Closing chapters fill in the details of Crandall's later life and sketch the subsequent history of school integration . (appendices, notes, bibliography, index)
Booklist
Jurmain has plucked an almost forgotten incident from history and has shaped a compelling, highly readable book around it.
Connections
Keywords/Vocabulary: boarding school, William Lloyd Garrison, Quaker, abolitionist, affirmative action, Civil War, Fifteenth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment
National Women's Museum Biography:
http://www.nwhm.org/Education/biography_pcrandall.html
Pair this book with a poetry book :
Miss Crandall's School For Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color: Poems
by Elizabeth Alexander and Marilyn Nelson ; pictures by Floyd Cooper. ISBN: 9781590784563
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