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Susie Baker - Black Teacher

Susie Baker - Black Teacher
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.44

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    outsmart, generation, education, naval, slavery, tutor, impressed, born, reading, writing, nuns, especially, slave, officer, army, fellow
     content words:    Susie Baker, Mary Jane, Mary Beasley, Katie O'Conner, Savannah Volunteer Guards, Catherine Island, Civil War

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Susie Baker - Black Teacher
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     Susie Baker was born in Georgia. The year was 1848. Her parents were slaves. Susie's owner was kinder than most in the area. He allowed Susie to move to Savannah when she was about seven. Her grandmother lived in Savannah, and Susie was sent to live with her.
 
2     In those days it was against the law to educate black people. Some said it was a waste of time to educate these people. They said they didn't have the ability to learn. Others knew the truth and were afraid to educate the black slaves. They knew that the blacks were very capable of learning. They feared that education would give the slaves a way to outsmart the owners and break the chains of slavery that held them.
 
3     While Susie lived with her grandmother, she was educated. It wasn't easy. Susie and her brother went to "visit" their grandmother's friend Mrs. Woodhouse each morning at nine. They carried parcels wrapped in brown paper with them. Inside the parcels were their school books. If the police or any white people knew what they were carrying on their half mile walk, they would have been stopped. Twenty-five to thirty children carefully walked, one at a time, through the garden gate. They quietly entered the kitchen and found their places. Mrs. Woodhouse and her daughter Mary Jane instructed the children in the basics of reading, writing, and math.

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