Set in 1867, Flora Beach Burlingame’s Ophelia and the Freedmen’s School is historical fiction for children. The story follows twin sisters Ophelia and Melinda as they begin their education in the tiny Texas town of Lavaca, now known as Port Lavaca. The illiterate ten-year-olds attend a freedmen’s school, one of many created across the South during the Civil War and Reconstruction to provide a free education for former slaves and refugees. The only whites among forty students, the girls can learn without being shamed for their flour sack dresses, bare feet, or lack of schooling.
At first, Ophelia doesn’t like the classes, which are held in an old warehouse on the bay where the only teaching materials are boards and pieces of charcoal. She says, “My innards felt a little pinched ’cause I couldn’t figure out why the teacher, a white man, would pick this colored girl first instead of Melinda or me.” Her feelings of entitlement realistically reflect white opinions at that time, as does her surprise that some “coloreds” like Patsy are smarter than she is.
Still, everyone’s enthusiasm for learning is contagious. Soon the students can read and solve simple math problems. When Patsy says she’s going to be a teacher someday, the idea captivates Ophelia too. They celebrate on a day “better’n Christmas,” when a box of slates and chalk arrive. The “scholars” greet each acquisition with joy, but white resistance fuels escalating fears.
