Chapter Book #10--The Forbidden Schoolhouse

Title:  The Forbidden Schoolhouse

Author:  Suzanne Jurmain

Illustrator: N/A

Grade Level Equivalent:  6.2

Lexile Measure:  920L
Genre:  Children's Literature
Subgenre:  Biography
Theme:  Don't give up on what you know is right.
Primary and Secondary Characters:  Prudence Crandall, William Lloyd Garrison, Samuel May, Andrew Judson
Awards:  Orbis Pictus Honor, 2006
Date of Publication:  2005
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin
ISBN:  978-0-618-47302-1

The Forbidden Schoolhouse tells the true story of Prudence Crandall, a woman who attempted to open a school for black girls in 1833.  Crandall had already owned and operated a small boarding school for young, affluent white girls in Canterbury, Connecticut.  She had opposed slavery for quite some time but had never really entertained the idea of educating young black girls until one day in 1832, when Sarah Harris showed up at the door of the school.  All Sarah wanted was an education.  Prudence thought about it for a couple of days and finally decided that there was no way she could turn Sarah down.  Facing strong opposition from her neighbors and townspeople, Crandall sought out the advice of famous abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.  Garrison agreed to help Crandall and in April, 1833, Miss Crandall opened up her school for Young Colored Ladies and Misses.  In the beginning, there were only two students: Sarah Harris and Eliza Glasko.  Eventually, though, the schoolhouse held around twenty students, not only from Connecticut, but also from Rhode Island and New York.  However, the task was not easy.  Crandall’s livelihood and the lives of the young black girls who attended the school were threatened on a regular basis.  At first, the threats were pretty benign.  Neighbors vowed to shut down Crandall’s school.  With help from Garrison, the Reverend Simeon Jocelyn, and Reverend Samuel May, Prudence Crandall was able to keep her composure—and more importantly, keep her school open.  Andrew Judson, a neighbor who strongly opposed the school, not only tried to shut Crandall down but went to the extensive lengths of having legislature drawn up that would keep black people who were not from Connecticut from entering the state, much less attending school there.  This, he knew, would shut down Crandall for sure since more than half the girls attending the school were from out of state.  Connecticut would eventually pass the law, named the Connecticut Black Law, on May 24, 1833.  For having black girls from out-of-state, Prudence Crandall was arrested and jailed before awaiting trial.  While Judson tried to convince the jury that Crandall was guilty of breaking a state law, Crandall’s lawyer, William Ellsworth, attempted to convince the jury that not only was Prudence Crandall innocent, but the Connecticut Black Law violated the U.S. Constitution.  The jury was hung and could not reach a decision.  Another trial took place and this time the jury ruled that Prudence Crandall was innocent—on a technicality.  Essentially, nothing changed.  The school endured a series of vandalism incidents and Crandall became an outcast in the town.  No grocer would supply her with groceries, no milk peddlers would deliver milk, and when her own well was vandalized with manure, no neighbors would allow her to have water from their own wells.  The breaking point came when one night, some men broke into the schoolhouse, smashed furniture, and broke windows, creating enough damage that Crandall broke down and closed the school.  Crandall moved from Connecticut and eventually settled on a farm in Kansas with her brother.  Some fifty years later, Crandall received a telegram that after much prodding from citizens—including Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain—she would be receiving a pension of $400 a year until her death to help pay for the damages to her schoolhouse and to help recover some of the money she lost in the vandalism.  In addition, she received an apology from some of the citizens who had taken part in the problem and support from them and others who now saw the error of their thinking.

This book tells an amazing story of a woman who risked everything to teach young black girls and give them a proper education.  I would absolutely love to have this in my classroom.  Rather than illustrations, the book contains actual photographs of the people involved and of the newspapers that printed various stories related to Miss. Crandall’s school.  It would be perfect for students to read as a topic for a literature circle.  They could discuss why Prudence Crandall felt so strongly about educating young black students in a time when slavery hadn’t yet been abolished.  They could also discuss how they would have reacted in that situation.  The courage that Prudence Crandall exhibited is amazing and this book would be great for students to read to show them that it is so important to stand up for what you believe in, even if you are the only one standing.