THE ELIZABETH CITY TUTORIAL PROJECT

In the summers of 1965 and 1966, a small group of Saint Michael’s College students went to Elizabeth City, NC to partake in the Elizabeth City Tutorial Project.  The plan was to have students from Saint Michael’s College tutor African-American students from schools around Elizabeth City, North Carolina over a course of 6 weeks.  Saint Michael’s students lived in a convent for the 6 weeks and tutored the Elizabeth City students in math, science, and English.  The tutors were required to dress and act professionally, and participate only in activities that were open to all races—not an easy task in the slowly desegregating city.  Elizabeth City students were expected to attend the tutoring sessions every day, dress as though they were in school, and perform to very high standards. 

Elizabeth City, a small city located on the Albemarle Sound in coastal NC, is about 900 miles away from Saint Michael’s College.  During the 1960’s, the city was slowly undergoing desegregation, but most of the schools in 1965 were still “separate but equal.”  In reality though, schools in African-American neighborhoods were often inferior to those whites attended.  In the 1960 census, only 14.7 % of the African-American population had graduated from high school--a number that went up to 22.7 in the 1970 census.  Higher education was even less common—only 3.5% went on to a bachelor’s degree in 1960. 

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