“The Possibilities of the Negro Girl”: Black Girls and the Great Depression
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Published:February 2015
Chapter 3 examines the growth of black girls’ school cultures in Chicago, as well as how black organizations responded to the Great Depression by highlighting girls’ role in economic recovery. The chapter investigates how girls adjusted to Northern schools, how teachers perceived them, and the challenges girls faced in providing for their families economically and remaining committed to their educational goals. The chapter also examines the way African American girls were captured in three responses to the Depression. The chapter features the work of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority’s vocational guidance outreach for girls, the advocacy for girls to secure employment in stores that served black Chicago but did not hire them, and girls’ enrollment in Chicago’s National Youth Administration Resident School for Girls.
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