Learning on Mother's Island: Sandy Young and the Columbia Point Educational Program, 1965–1973

• In Event: Independent Black Education Movements: Black Communities in Pursuit of Their Own Truth in Education Research

Abstract

In 1954, the Columbia Point peninsula became the site of the Columbia Point public housing project—the largest of its kind in New England. From its inception, the racially mixed housing project was in isolation. Surrounded by open fields, a landfill, and water Columbia Point opened with no grocery store, shops, bank, schools, churches, health care, nor public transportation. What the peninsula lacked in terms of services, the residents—in particular, the “Mothers Club” -- played an important role in securing (Roessner, 2000). Drawing upon newspapers, photographs, video footage, and other archival artifacts, I document the role of mothers, in particular Black mothers, in creating viable educational alternatives to their isolation and exclusion. Using historical ethnography, I locate the voice and leadership of Sandy Young as the director of the Columbia Point Educational Program. My paper documents the history of this community-based program from its origins during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty in 1965 to the defunding of the program in 1973. Here, I examine how Sandy Young used community-based education to refute pathological framings of Columbia Point residents and provide a quality education to the children.

Author

• Christian J. Walkes, Harvard University
  Presenting Author