Two Memphis authors will hold a book signing in honor of their new book about desegregation practices in the South.
Curtis and Vivian Morris, husband-and-wife educators, will hold a signing Saturday, Feb. 22 from noon to 2 p.m. at Davis-Kidd Booksellers at 387 Perkins Road Extended for the release of their new book, “The Price They Paid: Desegregation in an African American Community.”
The authors focus on the desegregation practices of an African-American school community in northwest Alabama. They document both negative and positive effects experienced by students when they are forced to attend a white desegregated school after their community school is closed.
“The book is really a case study of what happened in one community that has been repeated in other communities throughout the South,” said Vivian, a professor and assistant dean for faculty development in the College of Education at The U of M.
The decision to document this particular school community in Alabama was personal for both Vivian and Curtis. The Morrises grew up in the Alabama community that the book discusses. After more than 20 years of extensive research, they discovered that the closing of the school had caused significant cultural and historical losses in the community.
“Much of the history of the school was destroyed. The pictures, the trophies, the register’s attendance information had all been lost,” Vivian said. “So, we really had no record of what had happened over the last 100 years in that community, within that particular school.”
Shortly following their discovery, the Morrises set out to make this information available to the public in the form of a book. Curtis, an accountability specialist for School Accreditation and Strategic Planning for Memphis City Schools, said people need to understand the history of desegregation and avoid education problems in the future.
“It is important that we know our history and know what influenced where we are today, so that we can give an account of the things that we need to do and set policies for them and try to avoid the problems from happening again,” he said.
Although they have been researching for more than 20 years, the Morrises included recent interviews and up-to-date information in their book.
“Some of the interviews that we have conducted are rather recent, like from 1998 and 1999. But some of the original work has been going on for quite a while,” Vivian said.
The Morrises said they hope their book will educate others about the unmet promises of desegregation and increase the quality of education for all children.
“As we look in the literature today, what happened in that school community, is what educators and researchers say ought to be happening in schools today,” said Vivian, who has been with The U of M since 1992. “There are lessons for today that come from the history of this Alabama school community. So that is why, to me, it is related to education for all children not just African American children.”
The Morrises are no strangers to the book industry. They have also written a chapter in “Resounding Voices: School Experiences of People from Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds” in 2002. In 2000, they wrote “Creating Caring and Nurturing Educational Environments for African-American Children.
