Reviewed by:

• Transforming the Elite: Black Students and the Desegregation of Private Schools by Michelle A. Purdy
• Melissa Kean

This deeply researched and engaging book tells the story of the desegregation of one of the South's premier private K–12 schools, the Westminster Schools in Atlanta. Michelle A. Purdy's focus on elite private elementary and secondary education begins to fill a major gap in the history of education in the twentieth-century South, which has tended to concentrate on the more dramatic events surrounding the desegregation of public schools at all levels. Purdy tells the Westminster story from several angles about how two very different groups in the same institution negotiated complex racial and educational problems in a rapidly changing environment. She intertwines two tales, both equally compelling. Taken together these stories paint a portrait of an institution and its students struggling with mixed success to create both a more successful and influential school and a fairer and more open culture.

One piece of the story is an examination of how and why the leadership of Westminster decided to pursue the path it did, choosing to desegregate at a time when resistance to racial change in the South was, if no longer massive, still quite determined. Using rich archival materials from Westminster and other sources as well as the publications and records of the National Association of Independent Schools and the National Council of Independent Schools, Purdy explains how factors outside the immediate environment influenced the direction of the school. Westminster was founded only in 1951 and was still a very young institution in 1970. Thus, the founding president, William L. Pressly, had room to maneuver because the school was relatively free from the constraints of long-standing tradition. Pressly was very active in national private school affairs, holding at various points leadership roles in the national professional associations. Thus he was in position to see the changes that were coming and to navigate the rapidly shifting currents of racial politics in educational circles, including the threatened loss of tax-exempt status for segregated schools. His understanding of the evolution of national efforts to desegregate elite private schools and his clear vision of the need for change proved to be critical factors in decision-making at Westminster.

The second piece of the story is the lived experience of the small group of African American students who desegregated Westminster. Purdy has relied on several kinds of sources here, including some fascinating glimpses into the [End Page 361] school newspaper and yearbook. But much of this account comes directly from oral histories with the now adult former students. This is powerful testimony indeed. In some ways, this second part is the opposite of the story of the school's leadership. There is nothing abstract about it, little of politics, professional ambition, or concern about large social and economic calculations. Rather, these memories are specific and painfully human. Entering Westminster, these young people, some of them in elementary school, abruptly encountered a dizzyingly wide range of new experiences, from open racial harassment to the strong support of some white colleagues and staff members. Their intensely personal stories reveal the stark reality of the situation—they were real flesh-and-blood children, walking into something like a lion's den armed with the strength, intelligence, and determination they had received from their families and their community. Using these oral histories, Purdy carefully pieces together a narrative that describes how the daily give-and-take of this difficult and often emotional situation began a slow, halting, fitful shift of institutional culture away from segregation and toward an inclusive community ethic. Fitting all these pieces together, Purdy shows how large social changes can impact individual lives, and how the responses of those individuals can in turn help change institutions.

审核人：

• 变革精英：黑人学生和私立学校的种族隔离by Michelle A. Purdy
• 梅利莎·基恩（Melissa Kean）

这本经过深入研究和引人入胜的书讲述了南方最主要的K-12私立学校之一，亚特兰大的威斯敏斯特学校的解散故事。米歇尔·A·普迪（Michelle A. Purdy）对精英私立初等和中等教育的关注开始填补了20世纪南方教育史上的一个主要空白，该国的历史倾向于集中于围绕各级公立学校的种族隔离带来的更加戏剧性的事件。Purdy从多个角度讲述了威斯敏斯特的故事，讲述了同一机构中两个截然不同的群体如何在快速变化的环境中解决复杂的种族和教育问题。她交织着两个同样引人入胜的故事。

故事的一部分是对威斯敏斯特领导层决定如何以及为何决定走自己的路的思考，选择在南方对种族变化的抵抗力（即使不再是大规模的）仍然是坚定的时候选择种族隔离。Purdy使用威斯敏斯特和其他来源的丰富档案材料以及全国独立学校协会和全国独立学校理事会的出版物和记录，解释了周围环境之外的因素如何影响学校的发展方向。威斯敏斯特大学始建于1951年，但在1970年仍然是一个非常年轻的机构。因此，校长威廉·L·普雷斯利（William L. Pressly）有回旋余地，因为学校相对不受长期传统的束缚。Pressly在国家私立学校事务中非常活跃，在国家专业协会中多次担任领导职务。因此，他有能力看到即将发生的变化，并驾驭教育界中种族政治迅速变化的潮流，包括可能威胁到隔离学校失去免税地位的威胁。他对国家对私立精英学校进行种族隔离的努力的发展的理解以及对变革需求的清晰认识被证明是威斯敏斯特决策的关键因素。包括威胁到隔离学校失去免税地位。他对国家对私立精英学校进行种族隔离的努力的发展的理解以及对变革需求的清晰认识被证明是威斯敏斯特决策的关键因素。包括威胁到隔离学校失去免税地位。他对国家对精英私立学校进行种族隔离的努力的发展的理解以及对变革需求的清晰认识被证明是威斯敏斯特决策的关键因素。

故事的第二部分是一小部分非裔美国学生的生活经历，他们将威斯敏斯特（Westminster）种族隔离了。Purdy在这里依靠多种资源，包括对[End Page 361]的一些令人着迷的瞥见。学校报纸和年鉴。但是，其中的大部分原因直接来自现在成年的前学生的口述历史。这确实是有力的证词。在某些方面，第二部分与学校领导层的故事相反。它没有什么抽象的东西，没有什么政治，专业野心或对大型社会和经济计算的担忧。相反，这些记忆是特定的且令人痛苦的人类。这些年轻人进入威斯敏斯特，其中一些还在小学里，突然遇到了令人眼花wide乱的各种新经历，从公开的种族骚扰到一些白人同事和工作人员的大力支持。他们激烈的个人故事揭示了这种情况的严峻现实-他们是真正的有血有肉的孩子，走进了像狮子一样的东西。sden拥有从家人和社区获得的力量，智慧和决心。通过这些口述历史，Purdy仔细地整理了一段叙述，描述了这种困难且常常是情绪化的情况的日常奉献是如何开始缓慢，停顿，适当地使制度文化从隔离转向包容性社区伦理的。通过将所有这些部分放在一起，Purdy展示了巨大的社会变化如何影响个人生活，以及这些人的反应又可以如何帮助改变制度。Purdy仔细地整理了一段叙述，描述了这种困难且常常是情绪化的情况的日常奉送如何开始缓慢，停顿，适当地使制度文化从种族隔离转向包容性的社区道德。将所有这些部分放在一起，Purdy展示了巨大的社会变化如何影响个人生活，以及这些人的反应如何反过来帮助改变制度。Purdy仔细地整理了一段叙述，描述了这种困难且常常是情绪化的情况的日常奉送如何开始缓慢，停顿，适当地使制度文化从种族隔离转向包容性的社区道德。通过将所有这些部分放在一起，Purdy展示了巨大的社会变化如何影响个人生活，以及这些人的反应又可以如何帮助改变机构。