Jerke, Iris M

Publications & Presentations

• Iris M. Jerke. "California's changing majority: Historic and contemporary dynamics." Book. (January 2003).
• Iris M Jerke. "From Black and White to Mixed: California and its Public School System, 1850-1875" VDM Verlag Mueller. Book. Saarbruecken: VDM Verlag Mueller, (2008).

  Abstract: White New Englanders established schools in California as early as 1847. With the discovery of gold in 1848, Black and White immigrants from the New England states came to California to make money; only a few were lucky and returned home rich. Many, for various reasons, chose to stay in California. The book examines how abolitionism and the social and political environment of the New England states influenced the development of California’s public school system. Research on this subject revealed that Black and White educational pioneers, especially from New England states, were responsible for the development of California’s public school system modeled after the Massachusetts paradigm. However, Southern Democratic influences in California’s state politics hindered the establishment of a public school system open to all children of the state. Black community activism and White political supporters within the growing California Republican Party, after a twenty-five year struggle, brought about the integration of California’s public schools in 1875. The analysis sheds some light on the role of early pioneers on one of California’s institutions and historians, political scientists, and educators as well as the general public will find this narrative compelling.