òòò½Íø Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Reconstruction-Era Education and Long-Run Black-White Inequality
òòò½Íø Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 17,
no. 3, August 2025
(pp. 165–96)
Abstract
The Reconstruction era of American history (c. 1866–1877) saw widespread efforts to educate recently freed people—efforts that were partially curtailed after Reconstruction. This paper examines the impact of childhood exposure to educational opportunity during Reconstruction on later-life outcomes for recently freed people. Using data on the number of teachers in Black schools and a linked census sample, we find that Black children exposed to greater educational opportunity during Reconstruction had improved occupational standing as adults. Their sons also experienced gains, suggesting that Reconstruction-era educational efforts, had they persisted, would have impacted Black-White gaps into the twentieth century.Citation
Jones, Daniel B., and Ethan Schmick. 2025. "Reconstruction-Era Education and Long-Run Black-White Inequality." òòò½Íø Journal: Economic Policy 17 (3): 165–96. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230125Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I21 Analysis of Education
- I26 Returns to Education
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- N31 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913