"This book follows the little-known story of Madeline Morgan (later Madeline Stratton Morris), a Black social studies teacher in migration era Chicago, who fought for and won the first inclusion of Black history in the curriculum of the Chicago schools a decade before the height of Civil Rights Movement educational activism"--Provided by publisher. During the Second World War, as Black Americans fought to save democracy abroad, Madeline Morgan brought debates over Black recognition and inclusion into the classroom. She created and championed the first Black history curriculum adopted by the Chicago schools. Her curriculum, Supplemental Units for the Course of Instruction in Social Studies, met with natural attention and became a model for teachers, schools, and cities across the country. Hines examines how in the postwar years Morgan's work was met with white backlash and Cold War conservatism, and provides an urgent reminder of the power of educators to push for change despite the obstacles that often erode their efforts--Adapted from jacket.

"Knowledge is power only if it is put into action" : the making of Madeline Morgan -- "Self-preservation exacts a oneness in motive and in deed" : wartime interculturalism and the supplementary units -- "A worthy piece of work" : the supplementary units as alternative black curriculum -- "And quite the pride of the middle west" : the supplementary units, influence, and impact, 1942-1944" -- "Erase the color line from the blackboards of America" : the supplementary units in the classroom -- "This crucial war for democracy" : Madeline Morgan and intercultural education in the postwar world, 1945-1950.