Lewis C. Lockwood

Extract

The education of southern Negroes during the Civil War period should be a significant part of the history of education in the United States. Unfortunately little has been written on that topic despite the existence of voluminous manuscripts and documents. Beyond a narrow circle of Negro scholars, even the name of Mary S. Peake is unfamiliar. Mary S. Peake is significant because she was the first day school teacher during this period. Her school, however, was not the only one of its kind from the beginning. On September 24, 1861, Lewis C. Lockwood, the sponsor of Peake's school, sponsored a similar school at Fortress Monroe under the instruction of another free Negro woman, Mrs. Bailey, assisted by Miss Jennings with James, a bright boy as monitor. About Mrs. Bailey and her school, little was known except that Union Premier was used and a Rev. Palmer Litts sent by the American Missionary Association eventually replaced her. Lockwood also established a “private” school for adults and children at Hygeia Hospital instructed by a crippled Negro. Between his own arrival on September 4, 1861 at Fortress Monroe and the end of the year, Lockwood had established at least three day schools between Fortress Monroe and Hampton. In this beginning effort, by circumstances or by choice, Lockwood relied on local resources to launch an inconspicuous but significant educational movement.