More Than One Struggle: The Evolution of Black School Reform in Milwaukee

Traditional narratives of black educational history suggest that African Americans offered a unified voice concerning Brown v. Board of Education. Jack Dougherty counters this interpretation, demonstrating that black activists engaged in multiple, overlapping, and often conflicting strategies to advance the race by gaining greater control over schools.

Dougherty tells the story of black school reform movements in Milwaukee from the 1930s to the 1990s, highlighting the multiple pers…