Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison

Bibliographic Information:

Morrison, Toni (2004). Remember: The Journey to School Integration. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company

Grade level appropriateness:
3rd – 6th

Credibility of the Author:
Toni Morrison is a well known and credible author. In 1988, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. In 1993, Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. She has taught at several universities across the United States including Princeton in New Jersey.

Summary of the book:
This book takes you through the process of school integration in the 1950s and 1960s. The book is filled with photographs from the time that tell the story. The captions and text convey to the reader the feelings the author has about the events that were taking place in the photographs. There is a preface in the book that gives an introduction and background knowledge of the events leading up to the integration of schools. The author states that just because the reader wasn’t there during the time of school integration, they are a part of it. Everyone is a part of it.
The book is divided into sections. The first section talks about the segregated schools. The photographs show African American schools and how dilapidated they were. It showed the school rooms where children were crowded in. The African American students are reading and writing, but the conditions are not conducive to their needs. The rooms were small and dark. There were numerous children varying in ages all in one classroom. There is one photograph of two African American students walking beside a railroad track to get to their school which clearly was not near their home.
The second section of the book deals with the school year of 1954 when the courts enforce integration laws. The photographs depicted something that had never happened before – African American students and white students together in classrooms. This section showed screaming crowds in front of schools. There were men and women holding signs that displayed messages declaring their opposition to integration in the schools. It showed African Americans sitting alone in the school cafeteria. The students were together physically, but they were still separated socially.
The third and final section of the book is filled with photographs of African Americans and whites coming together to fight for equal rights for African Americans. The photographs showed that there were still prejudices against African Americans by the whites. One such photograph was of a white restaurant owner throwing water in a young black woman’s face. There was still a lot the African Americans had to overcome, but they were on their way to having equal rights.
At the end of the book, there is a page dedicated to the four young girls that were killed on September 15, 1963. Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins, and Cynthia Wesley died while attending Sunday School at a church in Birmingham, Alabama. A racist threw a bomb into the church that exploded killing the four girls.

National Standards it Relates to:
Social Studies
II. Time, Continuity, and Change

Illustrations:
The book is illustrated with real photographs from that time. The photographs themselves could have told the story without the help of the text. They make it real. They give the reader a very small insight as to what it was like during those times.

Access Features:
The most important access feature in this book is the photograph notes at the end of the book. It has a small visual of the photograph and the page it’s on. It also tells when and where the photograph was taken. The notes give a brief description of the photograph and what was taking place.

How I would use the book in my classroom:
This book could be used for many classrooms of varying ages. I would use it in younger classes to introduce the subject of school integration. For older grades, I would use it and have them analyze the pictures. I may just let them see the pictures and write about it. I would have them tell how they think the person in this picture is feeling. What preconceived ideas do we have about the person or people in this photograph?

Response to book:
I really enjoyed this book. The saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Certainly pertains to this book. The pictures tell the story. You can see the anger, hurt, and desperation in the eyes of the children and adults in the book. Sometime you need a visual to see just exactly what a situation is like. This book did just that. It let you see what was going on through the lens of someone who was there.

Related texts:

School Integration

Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman