Eunice Ross, Black Student Activist for Education Rights, and the Ross Family with Barbara Ann White

Eunice Ross was a Nantucketer whose application to Nantucket High School in 1840 set off the six-year struggle to integrate Nantucket public schools. Barbara will focus on what is known of Eunice Ross through what little is in the records. In this lecture Barbara talks about Ross’s interest in political issues of race and gender before and after the school integration controversy, evidenced by her signature on petitions to the Massachusetts State House. She includes the history of the Ross family, including what is known about her siblings and extended family, and try to flesh out a fuller picture of what her life might have looked like after the intense publicity of her quest to attend Nantucket High School. Through Barbara's efforts among others, Eunice Ross has been awarded an honorary diploma posthumously from Nantucket High School in June 2024.
This talk is part of the Nantucket Historical Association Summer Lecture Series at the Nantucket Whaling Museum.
Barbara White was a history teacher in the Nantucket Public Schools for 33 years. She holds a master’s degree from Boston University in African-American Studies, as well as a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Lancaster in England. Barbara received a Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship in 1978 which funded her research in African-American history on Nantucket. Her research resulted in A Line in the Sand: The Battle to Integrate Nantucket’s Public Schools, 1825-1847.
Barbara wrote three more books about Nantucket history after retiring, one of which was published by the NHA after her time as an NHA research fellow. Barbara continues to research and write articles.