From the archive, Black education was under assault from its earliest origins after emancipation:
"A very respectable young colored Female, teacher of the colored School near Vienna Dorchester Co md. was assaulted on the road near the school House by a white man named Cyrus Stack."
The unnamed Black woman teacher was apparently knocked unconscious by her white assailant, the local school commissioner reported, "remaining for sometime in an insensible state!"
"There was another white man near by," the school commissioner explained, "but he 'didn't see' it of course. Our state laws afford no protection to this class of people, and the failure of the 'Freedman's bureau bill' leaves them in a pitiable state indeed."
Nov 6, 2025 15:55While the Freedmen's Bureau investigated the charges, it ultimately left the case in the hands of racist local officials who, they noted, were unlikely to prosecute the offender.
