![]() ![]() ![]() Thinking about them, she wondered if they’d all been contacted by the ones she’d spoken with already. ![]() During her month-long tenure in her now-abandoned classroom, her students had been eager, focused, and grateful to be learning. Yes, there were those who believed working in the fields was all the formerly enslaved could be expected to achieve, but she didn’t agree. In Val’s mind, that made little sense because the freedmen and their families needed education for a successful future. ![]() She also learned that due to a lack of funds, the state of Louisiana was closing many of the schools established by the Freedmen’s Bureau. It was yet another blow to her quest to teach and she wondered if it was a sign that it wasn’t meant to be. They assured her that a workable solution might still be found, but for now, class and wealth overrode the needs of the newly freed. Since these families were the Order’s main source of financial support, the Sisters had no choice but to comply. According to the Sisters, the wealthy Creoles didn’t want their children taught in schools that also opened their doors to former slaves and were threatening to withdraw their patronage. Outside, she took to the crowded walks again to meet Julianna and Sable at the Christophe and gave her disappointment its head. “God be with you, Valinda,” she was told as she departed. As she stood to leave, she thanked the nuns for taking the time to speak with her and did her best to hide her disappointment. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |