(1) Midterm 2- Education and Incarceration in the Jim Crow South: Evidence from Rosenwald Schools1

Main Object- Rosenwald Program

Who- Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald, southern-born black males

What- Booker T. Washington worked in partnership with philanthropist and businessman Julius Rosenwald to fund a pilot program supporting the construction of six black schools in 1913-14. The program ended after Rosenwald’s death.

Where- 14 southern states, 6 original schools were built in Alabama

When- 1913-1931

Why- Increase education attainment and literacy of blacks born in the south

How-

• Construction of almost 5000 schools targeted to rural black students as a quasi-experiment

• increased the supply of schooling for black children.

• Early schools received about 25% of the cost in grant money

• communities had to raise anywhere from 75-90% of the rest of the funds

• Funding also went to teacher training, teacher homes, and shops to build a community

Main Object- Incarceration Rates

Who-Black Males

What-

• black men were 3.1 times more likely to be incarcerated than white men

• education had a slight increase on incarceration rates because it increased migration to cities which in turn increased crime/arrest rates

Where-US

When-20th century

Why/How-

• discrimination by the police and courts

• sentencing policies

• socio-economic disparities that give rise to different underlying levels of crime

Economic Significance

• Rosenwald believed that in order to be successful, communities needed to make investments in education

• increased job and wage opportunities for black men increasing their participation in the labor force and overall economy

Research Question

How did the Rosenwald schooling program effect incarceration rates for black males in the 20th century south?

Main Findings

• schools could serve 36% of rural black students by 1931

• affected about 1/3 of black children

• significant contributor to the narrowing of the black-white schooling gap

• increased school attendance by 5 percentage points

• increased educational attainment by 1.2 years

• 1.1 percentage point decrease in incarceration

• resulted in more black migration to the North