Anatomy of a Civil Rights Leader: The Educational Experiences of Christia Daniels Adair, 1893-1989

• In Event: Exploring the Lives and Legacies of Community Activists and Agitators

Abstract

The purpose of this biographical study was to analyze the relationship between educational experience and community leadership in the life of civil rights leader Christia Daniels Adair (1893-1989) in Houston, Texas, as a way of understanding the purpose and role of education in helping to shape individual lives. Utilizing published interviews, government records, and manuscript collections, I detail the beliefs and values taught and modeled by parents and reinforced by church, school, and community, as well as the knowledge and skills developed through organizational work and self-directed study as a way of analyzing the relationship between education and achievement.

Author

• Linda J. Black, Stephen F. Austin State University