Using the primary sources and materials on the American Antiquarian Society website, please explain who these teachers were and describe the schools. 

Both men and women served as Freedmen's teachers, but many were single women from the North. Although they had diverse backgrounds, many were committed to religious or social reform. With the challenges large class sizes and limited resources, these teachers focused on instilling basic skills, and discipline. 

Describe the work of these teachers and the value that they added to their communities.  

Classrooms had a variety of students (including adult learners) at different levels in their learning. Freedmen's teachers utilized methods like having advanced students assist beginners. They also served the critical social needs of their students; food, clothing and more.

Complete some outside research on one of the following teachers. Please tell us about this teacher and their contribution to the Freedmen’s schools.

Charlotte Forten Grimké was known for her activism and contributions to education. She was born in 1837 to activist parents in Philadelphia's elite Black community. Forten received private education due to her family's status. She later moved to Salem, MA where she joined the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society and pursued teaching at Salem Normal School.

In 1862, she relocated to South Carolina with the goal of educating freed people. Forten shares her experiences in her diaries. One entry entails children too young to learn the alphabet had to accompany their older siblings to schools. The parents left the younger children in their care so they had no choice but to bring them to school. Most students were happy to learn and those who stayed after class would get to learn the history of inspiring people. They learn the John Brown song and about Toussaint L'Ouverture.

At the age of 41, she married the Reverend Francis J. Grimké and they had one child who died in infancy. In 1896, Forten helped found the National Association of Colored Women. She remained active in the civil rights movement until her death on July 23, 1914.

Finally, complete some outside research of your own and describe what happened to these schools in the late 1870s and 1880s–1890s after the Freedmen’s Bureau agency ended. 

I chose to research one state, Georgia. The Freedmen's Bureau established numerous schools in Georgia from 1865-1870. After the Freedmen's Bureau closed, local education societies continued to administer these schools.

Before the Civil War (1861-65), Georgia had no system of public education. In 1870, Georgia made its first attempt to create public schools.