Gov. John Carney hosted the fourth installment of a virtual discussion series with the Delaware Heritage Commission on Wednesday, a panel that outlined the history of race and education in the state.

As part of the forum, Dr. Bradley Kelcher, a professor emeritus of history at Delaware State University, and the commission’s vice chair, Dr. Reba Hollingsworth, addressed viewers about how race shaped education and vice versa.

Gov. Carney acknowledged the intricacies involved in the history of Delaware.

“One thing I’ve learned in the past two years is that there’s value in acknowledging and celebrating the complexity of our state and our complex and often difficult history,” he said.

Just last year, the governor signed House Bill 198, ensuring that public and charter schools include Black history as part of their programming. The curriculum seeks to help students of all races recognize Black people as an integral part of the nation’s foundation.

To begin the discussion Wednesday, Dr. Kelcher spoke about the history of racial discrepancies in education and how questionable early schooling was for Blacks in Delaware.

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) “was an organized mission among African Americans and Native Americans,” he said. “The church provided them with an education to prepare them for Christian conversion, which was still considered a dangerous precedent.”

Many members of the church, including the reverend, felt there was a strong prejudice from members of the church toward their African American counterparts, Dr. Kelcher said.

He added that, in the 18th century, racism prevented African Americans and Native Americans from receiving formal education, and according to the founder of the Quaker subset Society of Friends, George Fox, many missionaries recognized education as “an important step towards emancipation, both in body and in spirit.”

Dr. Kelcher outlined the availability of education for African Americans during the time, which heavily relied on missionary efforts. Peter Spencer, an educational pioneer of the time and namesake of Peter Spencer Plaza in Wilmington, established many missionary schools, including African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church and Connection.

The professor added that, lacking formal schooling, many Black individuals during that time were educated by local Methodists and Quakers, who were known for their staunch stance against slavery.

Following Dr. Kelcher’s background information, Dr. Hollingsworth spoke about her personal experience receiving education as a Black woman in Delaware.

“I think back to the things that my parents taught us. When we went to school, our teachers taught us how to adjust to the situation, but they also taught us the accomplishments of Black people, regardless of what the subject matter ... was,” she said.

Dr. Hollingsworth spoke about growing up in a three-room house with no indoor plumbing and no electricity. Despite these obstacles, she said her parents installed a thirst for knowledge and understanding that education was a ticket to a better life.

“Our parents taught us to read, write and count to 100 before we entered first grade, and as a matter of fact, one of our favorite games at our house was saying the alphabet forward and backwards as fast as we could,” she said. “Those kinds of things helped us a great deal in our educational system.”

Dr. Hollingsworth was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women in 2018, alongside first lady Dr. Jill Biden, longtime Smyrna School District superintendent Deborah Wicks and U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester.

In addition to serving as the Delaware Heritage Commission’s vice chair, she is a former president of the African American Historical Society of Delaware.

Joining Dr. Kelcher and Dr. Hollingsworth in Wednesday’s discussion was educator, author and Hockessin Colored School #107 board member Dr. Lannette Edwards, as well as historian, lecturer and Delaware Heritage Commission member Sylvester “Syl” Woolford.

At the presentation’s conclusion, Gov. Carney echoed the sentiments of Dr. Hollingsworth.

“Parents are the first teachers, and the inspiration that you receive from people like your parents and people that you look up to can give you the will to succeed and to learn,” he said.