Margaret Crittendon Douglass was a white woman and former slaveholder, who was convicted and jailed in Norfolk, Virginia, for teaching Black children to read. Her story is a reminder of the brutal measures taken to suppress Black education during the era of slavery.
Born in Washington, D.C., in 1822, Margaret Douglass moved with her family to Charleston, South Carolina, as a child. Little is known about her husband, but by her early teens, she was a mother to a daughter, Hannah Rosa, and had lost a son. In 1845, Douglass relocated to Norfolk, Virginia, where she supported herself as a seamstress and vest maker. Her modest life changed dramatically in 1853 when a casual conversation at a local barber shop ignited her involvement in the education of free Black children.
During a visit to a barber shop owned by a free Black man named Robinson, she noticed his sons struggling with a reading primer and inquired about educational opportunities for black children in Norfolk. Learning that no adequate schools existed, Douglass offered to have her daughter, Hannah Rosa, tutor the boys at home.
Encouraged by the progress of Robinson’s children, Douglass and her daughter decided to formalize their efforts by opening a small school for free black children in their home. Charging three dollars per student per quarter, the school quickly grew to accommodate 25 students. Douglass described the children as eager learners who were well-behaved and diligent in their studies.
Douglass, despite societal disdain for her actions, even provided emotional support to her students’ families during personal tragedies.
Douglass’s school soon drew the attention of local authorities, and on May 9, 1854, her school was raided by police. Teaching Black children to read and write violated Virginia’s anti-literacy laws, which criminalized such instruction and deemed gatherings of Blacks – free and enslaved — for education an “unlawful assembly.” Douglass and her daughter were arrested and marched with their students to the mayor’s office.
Though initially released after a hearing with the mayor, Douglass and her daughter were later indicted by a grand jury. Facing charges of assembling with free blacks for educational purposes.
Determined to fight back, Douglass chose to represent herself in court, arguing passionately against the injustices of the anti-literacy laws. She criticized the hypocrisy of white society, noting that even church officials who distributed religious books to Black children avoided teaching them to read.
In her defense, Douglass denounced the anti-literacy laws as “inhuman and unjust,” which angered the court. While the charges against her daughter were dismissed, Douglass was found guilty and fined one dollar.
Douglass’s troubles did not end with the fine. In January 1854, she was summoned back to court, where the judge sentenced her to one month in jail. He also admonished her for openly opposing the law and labeled black literacy as “dangerous.” Her sentence was meant to serve as a deterrent to others who might challenge Virginia’s oppressive laws.
Douglass served her sentence in the Norfolk city jail. Upon her release, she moved with her daughter Hannah Rosa to Philadelphia.
Margaret Douglass documented her ordeal in a memoir, Educational Laws of Virginia: The Personal Narrative of Mrs. Margaret Douglass, a Southern Woman, who was Imprisoned for One Month in the Common Jail of Norfolk, Under the Laws of Virginia, for the Crime of Teaching Free Colored Children to Read (1854). In it, she recounted the events leading to her arrest and trial, criticized the anti-literacy laws, and detailed her courtroom defense.
Although Douglass criticized Virginia’s anti-literacy laws and the indifference of white Southerners, she still considered herself a supporter of slavery and white supremacy. This contradiction reflects the deep-rooted racial beliefs of her time, even among those who opposed certain aspects of the system.
