Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood: The Educator Who Founded Schools For Children Of Color
California State Library Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood revolutionized the educational system in California.
Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood didn’t take “no” for an answer. When she moved to Sacramento in the 1850s and found out that her young son couldn’t attend the segregated schools in the city, Flood responded by opening up her very own school for him — and other children of color.
According to the Oakland Public Library, Flood was born in 1828 in New York and migrated west so that her husband could become a gold miner. When he died, Flood and her young son, Oliver, moved to Sacramento.
There, Flood was dismayed to learn that Oliver couldn’t attend the city’s schools, despite Sacramento’s large Black population in the 1850s.
So, on May 29, 1854, Flood opened her own private school for Oliver and other Black children. Before long, she began accepting Asian American and Native American children as her students as well.
Oakland Public Library, African American Museum and Library at OaklandFlood’s daughter, Lydia, later became one of the first students to attend integrated public school in Oakland.
When Flood remarried the next year, she and her family settled down outside of Oakland, California. There, Flood continued her pioneering ways and opened another school for Black children. She also helped found Shiloh African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Oakland’s first AME church.
Though Flood’s days were tragically numbered — she died in 1867 at the young age of 39 — her indomitable spirit lived on. According to KQED, her husband petitioned the Oakland School Board to allow students of color in 1871. And Flood’s daughter, Lydia, would later become one of the first children to attend an integrated public school in Oakland.
In the end, people like Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood form one piece of the larger tapestry of the American frontier. They might not appear often in Hollywood Westerns, but Black Wild West heroes like Bass Reeves, Cathay Williams, and Nat Love helped make the West into what it is today.
After reading about these Black Wild West heroes, discover the true stories behind 10 famous Wild West figures. Then, take a look at these colorized photos of the Wild West that bring the frontier to life.
