What Professional Associations Communicated to Teachers about Participatory Democracy in the Civil Rights Era: Communication from the American Teachers Association (ATA) and the National Education Association (NEA) 1954-68

This dissertation examines what professional organizations, specifically the American Teachers Association (ATA) and the National Education Association (NEA), communicated with their members about participatory democracy in the Civil Rights Era, 1954-1968. Major publications of the ATA and the NEA as well as archival records of the NEA-ATA Joint Committee revealed themes in the communication from each organization to their members. The ATA, communicated to mostly Black teachers (in the South) that Black teachers and students should be treated equally, that Black students should be prepared for citizenship in a democracy, and that integration was a worthy goal with hefty consequences for Black students and teachers. American democracy, according to the ATA, would be improved and enriched by the participation of Black students. Conversely, the NEA communicated to mostly White teachers (in the South) that students should know about the democracy with a heavy emphasis on patriotism. The NEA largely ignored race relations from 1955-1963, then communicated some to teachers about integration efforts going on in various cities, and largely framed all articles about Black students around disadvantage and cultural deprivation. The NEA-ATA Joint Committee undertook projects and held meetings to support improvements in human relations and broaden understanding of the status of education for Black students. The ATA communicated about those projects to its members, through The Bulletin. The NEA did not communicate about the Joint Committee projects to its members through the Journal, except in one article in 1966 that both announced the merger and recounted the work of the Joint Committee. Members of the ATA from 1954 to 1966, primarily Black teachers in the South, and members of the NEA, who were primarily White teachers in the South, received very different messages about equality and participatory democracy from their professional associations through The Bulletin of the ATA and the NEA's Journal. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]