+ Goldenberg, B. M. (2024). "'To Serve the People of the Community and of the City': Edward Carpenter and the Story of Harlem Preparatory School." The Journal of African American History 109 (2), 260-292.

This article explores the history of Harlem Prep and its headmaster, Edward Carpenter, who led an independent community school that educated and sent to college hundreds of students who had been “pushed out” of education from 1967 to 1974. During these years, the school became a cherished community institution in the iconic Black Harlem neighborhood that symbolized Black excellence and pride. Yet, even though Harlem Prep was supported by local Harlem residents and Black activists, the school was primarily funded by White-owned corporations and philanthropies. Considering that the issue of White control in Black education—and White influence in Black communities more broadly—has aptly been documented by historians, this research explores a community institution that avoided such co-optation. Through a brief introduction of the school itself and in-depth exploration of Carpenter’s life and community strategies, this article offers fresh insights into how one community leader maintained community control. Most importantly, this article seeks to shed light on an individual and an institution that have been long overlooked in the lexicon of Black history.

Click here to read the article in this historic journal.

+ Goldenberg, B. M. (2023). "Remembering Harlem Prep and Multicultural Education in the Long Struggle for Justice." Multicultural Perspectives 23 (23), 84-95.

This article explains how multicultural education has always been an important educational philosophy in the quest for educational equity and activism more broadly. Using my decade-long research on Harlem Prep as an example of a fully "multicultural school," this article explores the importance of continuing to pursue a multicultural educational framework in a diverse society, both in the past but most importantly, in the present in our diverse schools and communities. Click here to read the article.

+ Goldenberg, B. M. (2021). "'A Living, Breathing Curriculum': Harlem Prep and the Power of Cultural Relevance, 1967- 1974.” In New Perspectives on the Twentieth Century American High School. Eited by Kyle P. Steele. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.

Chapter abstract: "This chapter explores the history of Harlem Prep, an independent, community-based high school that educated and sent to college many hundreds of students originally “pushed out” of education from 1967 to 1974. During these years, the school not only became a cherished Black community institution in the neighborhood of Harlem, but its distinct multicultural curriculum served as a catalyst for students’ academic achievements. This chapter specifically focuses on that multicultural curriculum, paying special attention to teachers’ culturally relevant pedagogy, students’ diverse course selection, and the school’s broader programming. Ultimately, by engaging in a microhistory of Harlem Prep’s curriculum during this dynamic era, historians of education can better understand the ever-important role that curriculum plays in a school’s educational mission and activists’ long-standing struggle for freedom." Click here to buy/purchase book or chapter.

+ Goldenberg, B. M. (2019). “Rethinking Public History and Community Practice: Learning Together With Youth Historians.” Rethinking History 23 (1), 52-77.

This essay describes a yearlong public history collaboration between graduate students, a faculty member, and local public high school students collectively producing original scholarship on a topic in the history of education. This collaboration occurred in three parts, described chronologically: a planning phase, where the group devised research questions; a research phase, where graduate students, faculty, and high school students co-conducted oral histories; and a dissemination phase, where the group created Omeka exhibits based on oral histories and other secondary research. By focusing on the methodological implications of this type of novel scholar-youth collaboration, this essay argues that there are untapped opportunities and scholarly benefits to researching topics in the history discipline (particularly the history of education) with historically trained, local high school youth. This experimental collaboration is meant to spark dialogue about how to combine the traditions of the history field with important hands-on youth/community work for the purposes of rethinking traditional historical processes. [Click here to read the article]

+ Goldenberg, B. M. (2018). “‘There’s A Lot To Know, And We’ll Learn It Together’: Emancipatory Teaching and Learning at Harlem Preparatory School, 1967-1974.” In Rearticulating Education and Social Change across American History: Teacher Agency and Resistance from the Late 19th Century to the Present. Edited by Jennifer de Saxe and Tina Gourd. New York: Routledge.

Book abstract: "This book is a collection of six case studies of teacher agency in action, centering on voices of educators who engaged in activist work throughout the history of education in the US. Through a lens of teacher agency and resistance, chapter authors explore the stories of individual educators to determine how particular historical and cultural contexts contributed to these educators’ activist efforts. By analyzing specific modes and methods of resistance found within diverse communities throughout the last century of US education, this book helps to identify and place into theoretical and historical context an underemphasized narrative of professional teacher-activists within American education." [Click here to purchase the book]

+ Goldenberg, B. M. (2016). "Youth Historians in Harlem: An After-School Blueprint for History Engagement through the Historical Process. The Social Studies 107 (2), 47-67.

The racial “mismatch” between a non-White student public school population and a primarily White teaching force continues to be underexamined through an appropriate cultural lens. This literature review provides examples of how White teachers must properly recognize non-White students’ actions and rhetoric in classroom settings as valuable cultural capital. By addressing how White teachers must reflect on their own race within the dominant school structure to close the opportunity gap, this literature review presents both a theoretical and a practical “call to action” for how White teachers in urban classrooms must critically rethink non-White students’ cultural capital in the context of teaching and learning. [Download article] // Access via The Social Studies

+ Goldenberg, B. M. (2015). "Youth Historians in Harlem: Exploring the Possibilities in Collaborative History Research Between Local Youth and Scholars." Education's Histories. [serialized article]

This two-part series details my experiences working with high school youth as part of the Youth Historians program. The first two essays are available to read below detailing my collaborative work with youth, breaking down hierarchical barriers in the history discipline through oral histories and other work. [Download article]

+ Goldenberg, B.M., Wintner, A., & Berg, C. (2015). "Creating Middle School Harlem Historians: Motivating Urban Students Through Community-Based History." Voices From the Middle 23(1), 73-79.

The Middle School Harlem Historians (MSHH) was six-session after-school program in which middle school students learned to become historical researchers of their community, with the goal of motivating low-performing urban students to write in powerful and inspiring ways. [partial abstract] Listen to NCTE Podcast // [Download article]

+ Goldenberg, B.M. (2014). "White Teachers in Urban Classrooms: Embracing Non-White Students' Cultural Capital For Better Teaching and Learning." Urban Education 49 (1), 111-114. [Ranked in Top 5% of all academic research tracked by Altmetric]

The racial “mismatch” between a non-White student public school population and a primarily White teaching force continues to be underexamined through an appropriate cultural lens. This literature review provides examples of how White teachers must properly recognize non-White students’ actions and rhetoric in classroom settings as valuable cultural capital. By addressing how White teachers must reflect on their own race within the dominant school structure to close the opportunity gap, this literature review presents both a theoretical and a practical “call to action” for how White teachers in urban classrooms must critically rethink non-White students’ cultural capital in the context of teaching and learning. [full abstract] [Download article] // Access via Urban Education

+ Generations of Giving: The History of the Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation. New York: Teachers College Press, 2017.

Written in partnership with the Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation, located in New York City, this book explores the history of the Dodge family philanthropy from the early 1800s to the present, as well as the history of the Foundation that was established in 1917. This book, published by Teachers College Press, is a limited edition and was presented at the Dodge Foundation Centennial celebration in New York, NY, on September 16, 2017 at the University Club in Manhattan.

Click here to view the dust jacket and more information // See contents and read introduction

+ The Story of Harlem Prep: Cultivating a Community School in New York City. The Gotham Center for New York City History. Aug. 2, 2016.

This essay describes some my research on Harlem Prep, a community school that existed in Harlem from 1967 to 1974. Specifically, I examine how Harlem Prep was able to create a fascinating, if not uncommon, community between business elites and community activists that cut across racial and ideological lines. More importantly, the school was able to graduate hundreds of students who were former "drop-outs" and other non-traditional students. [Read article online]

+ Talking Inclusion? Include Our Students. TC Today Magazine 39 (1), 64. Fall/Winter 2014.

This short article discusses, as the guest student writer for Teachers College, Columbia University's official magazine, the importance of including students in education reform decisions. [Download article]

+ The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights: Thaddeus Stevens, Ulysses S. Grant, and Charles Sumner. Los Angeles: Critical Minds Press, 2011. (self-published).

Updated edition in 2017 with new author foreword now available!

BACK COVER: "Winner of the prestigious Carey McWilliams Prize for best Undergraduate Honors History Thesis at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights is a groundbreaking book that re-examines three of the most influential—but largely forgotten—civil rights leaders in American history.

As civil rights history continues to hold a prominent place in American society, it is only through the courageous actions of Thaddeus Stevens, Ulysses S. Grant, and Charles Sumner that America’s most prized Civil Rights gains are emblazoned in our Constitution. Without these powerful and then-famous politicians, the 1960's Civil Rights Movement would not have occurred the way it did--or possibly even at all.

During the Reconstruction Era when racism and prejudice was at its height, Stevens, Grant, and Sumner valiantly fought for African American equality only years following the institution of slavery. The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights brings to life the personalities, the struggles, and the legacies of three men who strove towards America’s claim of 'liberty and justice for all' during this unprecedented time in our nation’s history."

Review

“The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights is a model of excellent research, astute analysis, and engaging discourse.... [Goldenberg] succeeds in both differentiating and connecting the efforts of these men to keep America on its uncertain course towards democracy.” --UCLA Department of History

View/purchase at Amazon.com // Find/request at a library