Scope and arrangement
The collection consists of materials documenting Babette Edwards' work as a member of the Governing Board of the Arthur A. Schomburg Intermediate School 201 Complex, executive director of the Harlem Parents Union, as an advocate for education reform, and her extensive research on education practices and policy. The collection recounts Edwards' decades of organizing to improve the education available to New York City youth. It is particularly strong in documenting the history and controversy surrounding the I.S. 201 Complex, and the political climate in Harlem in the 1960s and 1970s, specifically regarding racial inequities in public schools, and the community's collective efforts to organize around this issue. The narratives for the various organizations of which Edwards was involved and causes she fought for are revealed in her files and research. The collection chronicles education reform efforts within the context of the civil rights and black power movements, and reveals the ways in which reform strategies evolved over time.
Files are arranged alphabetically by subject or name, and Edwards' file names were preserved.
The Babette Edwards Education Reform in Harlem collection is arranged in five series:
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This series is comprised of correspondence, meeting minutes, memorandum, press releases, position papers, and publications regarding the planning, negotiations, and conflicts surrounding the I.S. 201 Complex in Harlem. The materials illustrate Edwards' role in negotiations, protests, and as a member of the Governing Board. The files in this series chronicle the history of the I.S. 201 Complex, school desegregation efforts, and the rise of the community control movement.
Also included is Kweli, the bilingual community newsletter published by the I.S. 201 Complex, which chronicles activities at the school, and the work of the Governing Board. The November 1969 issue includes a photograph of Edwards.
There are also a number of proposals written for the Urban Education Project Implementation Grant, which details the curriculum and educational goals of the I.S. 201 Complex.
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This series contains correspondence, grant applications, meeting minutes, organizational documents, planning documents, and proposals describing the work of the Harlem Parents Union (HPU), Edwards' role as executive director, and subsequent projects the organization managed. Included is documentation of the Harlem Parents School Community Neighborhood Center; Harlem Tutorial and Referral Project & Parent Information Center; and Harlem Tutorial and Referral Project Parent Involvement, Training and Advocacy Center.
The files in this series illustrate the day to day operations required to sustain a non-profit organization, and the services offered over the years. There are a number of grant applications and project proposals which provide insight into the various educational projects the Harlem Parents Union undertook and the sources of much of their funding.
Of note is a 1977 interview with Edwards in which she discusses her work with HPU and her early organizing efforts with the I.S. 201 Governing Board.
Also included in this series is information pertaining to the public school boycott of 1976.
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This series includes correspondence, planning documents, and position papers of various organizations of which Edwards was involved. Organizations represented in this series (with Edwards' role in parenthesis) include, Citizens Committee for Effective Education (chairperson); Citizens for Educational Freedom (board of trustees member); Confederation for Action on Integrated Quality Education (officer at large); East Harlem Coalition for Community Control (coordinator); East Harlem Task Force for Quality Education (co-chairperson); East Harlem Union for Equal Achievement in Schools; Harlem Community Neighborhood Based Alliance (co-chairperson); Harlem Education Roundtable (board president and chairperson); Harlem Parents Committee; Harlem Parents Committee Community Referral Center (coordinator); and Massive Economic Neighborhood Development Inc. (educational director).
Of special interest is Edwards' 1975 address on behalf of Citizens Committee for Effective Education to the New York State Board of Regents. In the address, "Education Vouchers for Blacks and Hispanics," Edwards states her argument in favor of education vouchers.
Also of note is a file on the People's Board of Education, which includes the group's proposal for a community school district, and meeting minutes from their December 1966 action at the New York City Board of Education meeting in Brooklyn.
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Series IV is comprised of Board of Education information, essays, government reports, newsletters, pamphlets, position papers, and school statistics that Edwards collected and filed to support her education advocacy work. The materials are primarily filed by subject or organization name, and present a broad scope of education reform movements, government legislation, racial justice, social justice, and civil rights. The series is strong in Edwards' research on education vouchers and New York City education policies. It also includes extensive information on other groups and organizations that were involved in education and social justice reform, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s.
Of note are a number of writings by Preston Wilcox, a Columbia University professor often cited as "the father of decentralization." The essays cover topics such as, community control, decentralization, I.S. 201, and the People's Board of Education. Also of interest are files for Two Bridges School District and Ocean Hill-Brownsville, which were the other two schools that received state funding, along with I.S. 201, as "demonstration districts."
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This series includes materials written by or about Edwards which relate to her graduate school education. Of note is Edwards' dissertation from Union Graduate School entitled, A Review and Analysis of Three Educational Strategies for Positive Change in the Public School System of the City of New York. The dissertation recounts the history and controversy surrounding the I.S. 201 Complex and school reform in Harlem, and addresses the case for education vouchers.
Also included are papers Edwards wrote as a graduate student, letters recommending her for admission to graduate school, and a few different versions of her resume.