Transforming the Elite

Michelle A. Purdy is assistant professor of education and affiliate faculty member of the Interdisciplinary Program in Urban Studies and the Center on Urban Research and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. She is co-editor of Using Past as Prologue: Contemporary Perspectives on African American Educational History.
For more information about Michelle A. Purdy, visit the Author Page.

"Purdy's meticulously researched book examines racial desegregation in historically white elite schools in the 1960s and 1970s. Drawing on board meeting minutes, national reports, bulletins, school newspapers, and oral histories, she interrogates how and why school leaders decided to admit black students even though the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision only applied to public schools. . . . Transforming the Elite enriches scholarship on desegregation and the educational experiences of black children in the United States."—Historical Studies in Education

"Transforming the Elite will resonate with many readers — particularly, those interested in the historical intersections of race, education and school culture in America. . . . Purdy's timely book challenges us to acknowledge the ways in which histories of inequality reverberate today."—History of Education

"Purdy's work demonstrates how our current attention to diversity and inclusion in private schools is rooted in the history of desegregation. By offering some insights about the ways in which various parties navigated these decisions . . . Purdy helps us to understand how much work remains to be done in creating educational spaces that are truly diverse, inclusive, and equitable."—Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth

"This book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the education experiences of African American students in the second half of the twentieth century, the history of desegregation in the South, and the history of private schooling.  Michelle Purdy shows us the ways in which the first black students to desegregate schools like Westminster both changed and were changed by the social and political culture of white private schools."--Jonna Perrillo, University of Texas at El Paso

"With rich, in-depth analysis, a mastery of black educational history, and empathetic storytelling, Transforming the Elite has the potential to spark discussion about a range of issues relevant to black educational history and contemporary debates over race and equality."--Hilary Moss, Amherst College