The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students

by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain

Book Overview

They threw rocks and rotten eggs at the school windows. Villagers refused to sell Miss Crandall groceries or let her students attend the town church. Mysteriously, her schoolhouse was set on fire--by whom and how remains a mystery. The town authorities dragged her to jail and put her on trial for breaking the law. Her crime? Trying to teach African American girls geography, history, reading, philosophy, and chemistry. Trying to open and maintain one...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618473025
• ISBN13: 9780618473021
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.7" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7

Customer Reviews

Too Simple

The 'reader-friendly writing style' as someone else put it in their review is very much like a reader for junior high aged school kids. From the hard cover to the large print, even the way it is written, I could see these being passed out in a 7th grade classroom in the past. It should have stated that in the description. I was looking forward to reading it, but only got halfway through and felt like I was being talked down to while reading it.

Amazing true story!

"The Forbidden Schoolhouse" by Suzanne Jurmain is an amazing book! I learned a lot as I read it! I even read it all in one sitting! The book was very informative and interesting. Throughout the book are pictures of the main characters that are real and can be found in museums today. Also, there are pictures of the schoolhouse and other landmarks found in the book. "The Forbidden Schoolhouse" provides for many opportunities for extended activities. Many historical figures are mentioned in the book such as, Booker T. Washington, William Lloyd Garrison, and Ben Franklin. Students could then do further research on these important historical figures if they would like to learn more about them. The story allows the reader to experience many different emotions arranging from frustration to joy. I believe that students who read this book would gain a greater appreciation for education due to reading about the difficulties that Black people and women faced many years ago.

What a story of courage!

This story is about a white woman who taught African American girls. They were tormented, the house was set on fire. Pictures are artifacts.

Includes vintage photos as it traces the little-revealed struggles of Prudence Crandall and her stud

Protestors broke school windows, put manure in the school well, pounded the doors with clubs, and villagers refused to sell schoolmistress Miss Crandall groceries or let her students attend the town church. Ultimately she was dragged to jail and put on trial. Her crime? Trying to teach Afro-American girls, and training to maintain one of the first black schools in America. Almost 150 pages includes vintage photos as it traces the little-revealed struggles of Prudence Crandall and her students for readers in grades 5-8.

She's Connecticut's state female hero, for good reason

In 1832, Prudence Crandall ran a private girls' boarding academy in Canterbury, a small Connecticut town located between Hartford and Providence, R.I. When a young African-American girl asked if she could attend Prudence's school, the teacher gladly took her in - much to the chagrin of local residents. In spite of their protests, Prudence went one step farther. Seeing that the educational need was a much larger one, she started a school just for "young Ladies and little Misses of color" in 1833, beginning with an enrollment of six girls from around New England. Even in a Northern state filled with abolitionists and anti-slavery supporters, this action was met with abhorence and eventual hostility. In retaliation, the legislature passed the Connecticut Black Law, which made it illegal to run a school for "colored persons who are not inhabitants of this State." Prudence was arrested and taken to court. She had powerful men on her side -- William Lloyd Garrison, Samuel May, and Arthur Tappan - and eventually, she was found innocent and the law was judged to be unconstitutional. But after the school was repeatedly vandalized, Prudence decided to close it in 1834. She married and moved out of the area, ending up in Kansas. Her story could easily have ended there. Fifty years after she closed her school, the town of Canterbury and the state of Connecticut decided to apologize to Prudence. The Black Law had already been struck down in 1838. Now in 1886, the legislature granted her a pension of $400 a year to make up for the losses she suffered in the 1830s. Of course, the payment to her still didn't put an end to segregated schooling, but it was a step in the right direction. Prudence Crandall died in Elk Falls, Kansas, in 1890. Suzanne Jurmain has done us a service by bringing Prudence Crandall's story to light and to life. Her re-telling makes for an interesting and easy read; and yet, it's the kind of real-life tale that makes one cringe at the behavior of one's fellow Americans, even those who are long, long gone. Jurmain concludes the book with a brief and necessary history of American civil rights since that time. The name of Prudence Crandall shouldn't slip through the cracks of our American history volumes. She should be as honored and as well-known as Rosa Parks.