Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2009, Educational Leadership

Many Americans in the nineteenth century argued for limited education for blacks –or no education at all for African Americans in the south. As a result, black churches took up the role and pushed for education as a means to liberate African Americans. The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church stands as a good exemplar for a black denomination that explicitly expressed in their policies that they understood the connection of education to African American liberation. This study is a historical analysis of the AME Church's advocacy of African American empowerment through education from 1816 to 1893. In the AME Church's nineteenth century doctrinal statements and publications the leaders explicitly stated that education was a necessary component for black liberation. In this dissertation I argue that, although there were other organizations that pushed for African American education in the nineteenth century, the African Methodist Episcopal Church stood at the fore in advocating for education and connecting it to African American liberation. My primary question is: How did the AME Church connect their advocacy for black education to liberation for African Americans in the nineteenth century? The dissertation will explore two aspects of liberation in the nineteenth century. During the first half of the nineteenth century–from the AME Church's founding in 1816 through the end of the Civil war in 1865 –the Church worked toward a liberation that was focused on the abolition of slavery and overcoming racial oppression. In the latter half of the nineteenth century from 1865 to 1893 –with the death of Bishop Payne– the AME Church focused on a liberation that was geared toward the notions of uplift and self-agency within the black community, namely black social, economic, and political advancement. The last chapter will examine how this historical analysis has implications for transforming African American education in present times. The text will examine the black chu (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kate Rousmaniere PhD (Committee Chair); Mark Giles PhD (Committee Member); Kathleen Knight-Abowitz PhD (Committee Member); Carla Pestana PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; African History; American History; American Literature; American Studies; Bible; Black History; Education; Education History; Educational Sociology; Educational Theory; History; Literacy; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Philosophy