Struggling to Learn

"Making effective use of archival materials and interviews, [Thomas] identifies the educators, religious leaders, and educators who laid the foundation for desegregation and who provided Black Americans with a vision of a better future. As Thomas deftly intertwines these narratives, she also discusses ways in which Black activists led protests and pushed for legislation in spite of the injustices imposed by the dominant class of white South Carolinians. [. . .] A powerful, enlightening read; highly recommended for readers interested in the civil rights movement, the struggle for educational equity, and South Carolina history."—Library Journal

"'[F]irsts' have long been a focus of desegregation history, but Struggling to Learn is unusual for the sheer number of points where Thomas is able to weave her and her family's story together with the broader currents of civil rights and desegregation. [. . .]Thomas has an approachable style that makes Struggling to Learn an engaging read."—Journal of Southern History

"Now, as we prepare to observe the seventieth anniversary of Brown, June manning Thomas, in Struggling to Learn, adds to the record a thoroughly researched and carefully organized story of school desegregation in her home state of South Carolina and particularly in her hometown of Orangeburg."—Jan Bates Wheeler, Journal of American History

"This book tells a fascinating, powerful story about race, education, and civil rights in South Carolina that illuminates contemporary American predicaments. Combining memoir and history, June Manning Thomas shows how segregation has affected Black people educationally, socially, and emotionally. This examination of the past casts useful light on the moral and political conditions for moving our society toward a more democratic future."—Howell Baum, author of Brown and Baltimore: School Desegregation and the Limits of Liberalism

"By telling her story in the larger context of Southern Racism, vitriolic resistance for anything challenging the status quo, and the structural assault on human and familial dignity and integrity, Dr. Thomas sets up the heroic story of the battle against these forces, and the deep wounds and traumas that still call out to be healed."—Hoda Mahmoudi, Bahá'í Chair for World Peace, University of Maryland

"This book is a unique synthesis of deep historical research with a searing personal memoir that gets us closer to the heroic struggle for school integration in the South than any other book I know. The distinguished planner and educator June Manning Thomas sets her own experience as one of the first to integrate her South Carolina high school in the context of the moral strength of the Black community that nurtured her. This is a story of hate and love, and above all an American story of a community and an individual who stood up to violence and persecution to pursue the dream of equal educational opportunity."—Robert Fishman, University of Michigan

"Struggling to Learn is a deeply moving, meticulously researched, and much needed memoir. An accomplished scholar, June Manning Thomas shares her personal journey and illuminates the resilient determination of African Americans in South Carolina and the nation as they battled injustice and engaged in the long struggle for equal education."—Bobby Donaldson, University of South Carolina

"Throughout Struggling to Learn, Thomas provides her readers with a window into the radical notion of hope—the moments of success and setbacks—and the relentless labor, love, and care that black families and their allies provided for generations of black youth in South Carolina and beyond."—Erika M. Kitzmiller, Journal of Urban History