By Dr. Theresa J Canada

Desegregation of the New York City Schools: A Story of the Silk Stocking Sisters explores the use of young black and brown children to eliminate segregation in an urban public school to meet the challenges of equal educational opportunity in the North during the mid-twentieth century. Author Theresa J. Canada, herself part of the experiment, tells the story of the desegregation of PS 6—an elite New York City public school—through the narratives of seven of the girls who desegregated the school. While all of the names within each narrative have been changed, the book follows the author as well as the stories of her elementary school classmates.

Desegregation of the New York City Schools provides a chapter explaining the history of PS 6 and this time period. There are chapters that describe the contrast between Northern and Southern school desegregation and the psychological and emotional impact these events have had throughout the lives of the girls in the narratives. The book concludes by discussing the sociopolitical issue of economic inequality and education. In a society where women still earn less than men, obtaining an education and earning a living is important for women and women of color in particular. Finally, this book addresses the dilemma of the re-segregation of public schools.

In an interview on your program, Theresa Canada can discuss:

• Eliminating racial divisions in the New York City School System
• The incredible people to who she is connected through taking these bold actions some 60+ years ago
• The 7 girls known as the Silk Stocking Sisters and their narrative
• How an elite school called PS 6 was the focus in this story and what desegregating that entailed
• The contrast between Southern and Northern segregation
• The sociopolitical issues of economic inequality in education
• and many more!

“The schooling narratives in Theresa J. Canada’s Desegregation of the New York City Schools: A Story of the Silk Stocking Sisters do not evoke nostalgic memories ensconced in an insatiable desire to return to that historical moment.

Instead, her narratives compel us to wonder why, despite the Brown decision that officially ended school segregation in 1954, the schooling of Black Americans in the 21st century is virtually indistinguishable from the narratives of the Silk Stocking Sisters in an elite NYC public school in the 20th century.”

―Signithia Fordham, Associate Professor at the University of Rochester

“Theresa J. Canada provides an excellent overview of this unknown desegregation experience in the New York City public schools. This book informs us that little Black girls in the North were just as courageous as the Black children who desegregated schools in the South. The common fact is that these children were willing to do what was necessary to receive a better education.”

―James H. Meredith, civil rights activist and author of Three Years in Mississippi

“With Desegregation of the New York City Schools: A Story of the Silk Stocking Sisters, Theresa J. Canada opens a window into the struggles and triumphs of seven highly accomplished Black women who were selected, as children, to desegregate PS 6 in New York City during the 1960s. While racial prejudice and economic disparity shaped the women’s experiences at PS 6, the women drew on their individual talents, supportive families, and strong connections to their Black communities to excel in the school and beyond. The book provides important insights to parents, teachers, and policymakers grappling with the twin forces of persistent educational inequities and deepening racial segregation.”

―Dorothea Anagnostopoulos, Associate Professor and Executive Director of Teacher Education at the University of Connecticut