San Antonio College Library

"In 1833, in Canterbury, Connecticut, Prudence Crandall, a white, Quaker-bred schoolmistress, opened the first private boarding school for black girls in New England. The village was outraged and tried to discourage Crandall with threats, boycotts, and vandalism. When these methods failed, the village elders persuaded the state legislature to pass the "Black Law," which made it a crime for blacks who were not residents of Connecticut to go to school...

"In this book, Sonja Lanehart explores how this valorization of "proper" English has affected the language, literacy, educational achievements, and self-image of five African American women--her grandmother, mother, aunt, sister, and herself. Through interviews and written statements by each woman, Lanehart draws out the life stories of these women and their attitudes toward and use of language. Making comparisons and contrasts among them, she shows...