What a time for this book to come out. I think this is an important read for everyone, but especially educators. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book. While this is a history book, it reads like a story. The writing style and tone were so engaging, and I appreciated learning about the events through the people who were involved. The content is especially timely in today's world, and I appreciated learning about an aspect of history that, while not covered in the history textbooks, dovetails with the events that are covered in high school and college. I think this would make for a great read for anyone interested in learning more about the history of voting rights and a lesser-known movement in the Civil Rights Era,

A timely and very necessary read! I think this powerful for everyone to read, no matter your walk of life, especially in the climate that the USA is in now! These are the things that are not taught in schools today, so keeping them alive through words especially the written word is very important.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Elaine Weiss's "Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools That Built the Civil Rights Movement" is a powerful exploration of the hidden Citizenship Schools that played a crucial role in the Civil Rights Movement. With meticulous research and compelling storytelling, Weiss sheds light on these grassroots educational efforts, which were vital in challenging Jim Crow laws and inspiring change.

Weiss’s historical accuracy stands out, as she draws on archival materials, interviews, and firsthand accounts to vividly portray the underground schools as beacons of hope and resistance. These makeshift classrooms, often in basements, churches, and homes, taught not only literacy but also the principles of equality and defiance, fostering the leaders who would reshape the nation.

"Spell Freedom" serves as both a tribute to the resilience of those who risked everything for education and a reminder of the enduring power of community-driven action. It emphasizes the importance of grassroots organizing and education as tools for social change, offering readers practical lessons in activism.

In sum, "Spell Freedom" is an essential addition to Civil Rights literature, illuminating an overlooked chapter of history while inspiring readers to reflect on their own role in creating a more just world.

When an opportunity arises to fight the Jim Crow era head on, South Carolina native Septima Clark doesn’t hesitate. Instead, she teams up with other activists and starts hundreds of schools to teach Black people how to read, write, and vote. Without her crucial contributions, the Civil Rights Movement most likely would never have moved forward. Elaine Weiss shares the little-known story of Clark and others in her dynamic new nonfiction release, Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools That Built the Civil Rights Movement.

It's 1954, and the United States Supreme Court has handed down a stunning ruling: segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. Those who have favored, supported, and pushed for keeping the races separate are downright appalled, but for Septima Clark it’s an opportunity. As a Black woman who has faced the very worst of mankind due to white supremacy, Septima understands a court ruling is just one point of view and a highly unpopular one in South Carolina where she lives. But with the highest court in the land making this statement, Septima knows people will be forced at some point to listen.

Septima isn’t naïve. Even with the court’s ruling, many schools and states flat out ignore the order to integrate. With her 50-plus years behind her, Septima takes the long view. If Black people are going to have any say in their treatment, they need to vote. In order to vote, many of them will have to learn to read and write first. Voting rules state that people registering for the first time must pass a literacy test and also answer questions about their individual state’s constitution. With the constant beating down Black people have faced, coupled with segregation, most African Americans can’t do any of those things.

That doesn’t mean they won’t do them in the future, however. Septima teams up with local leader Esau Jenkins on Johns Island, South Carolina, and the two travel to Highlander Folk School in Tennessee. The school was founded by labor movement activist Myles Horton; recently Horton has become more and more troubled by the racial tension and wants to pivot his teachings from labor unions to matters of race. In him, Septima and Esau find a white man willing to listen and learn about the intense struggles of Black people.

They decide to start literacy schools for Black people on Johns Island. Esau’s clear-headed optimism leads him to believe that people will benefit from the schools, but it won’t be easy to get them there. And his prediction turns out to be right. What he can’t predict—what none of them can—is the fervor that grips the southeastern states for this kind of learning. Starting with fear ruling their hearts, the first Black students eventually gain confidence and then become bolder. They decide to stand up for their rights.

The timing of the schools coincides with a greater movement across the country, a demand by more and more people of all races to give African Americans what is their proper due. As the momentum picks up, Septima continues working with residents across the southeast. She teaches them how to open their own schools, how to fight back with peaceful protests, and what it means to demand to be treated the way any citizen of this country should.

Author Elaine Weiss performs a great act of civil service herself by writing about Septima Clark. Martin Luther King Jr. called Septima the “Mother of the Movement,” yet too many people don’t know about this remarkable woman. Through Weiss’s book, readers will learn about Septima’s personal struggles, her own doubts about the direction of the desegregation and Civil Rights movements, and the high price so many paid in the name of equality. With current events, Weiss’s book feels almost prescient of the adage that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

Weiss also offers an inside look at the Civil Rights movement as King became more prominent within it. Despite Septima’s grueling, backbreaking work for the literacy schools, despite the compliments King gave her, Septima and so many other women, including teacher Bernice Robinson, were treated like second-class citizens themselves. The fight for equality, it seems, only extended to the races and men.

For those who want to learn about a part of the Civil Rights movement previously unknown to them, this is a seminal work that should be required reading in all high schools.

Spell Freedom is a powerful and necessary read, shining a light on four incredible individuals, Septima Clark, Esau Jenkins, Bernice Robinson, and Myles Horton who played a crucial role in the Civil Rights Movement. Through education and literacy, they empowered Black southerners to navigate the deliberately impossible voter registration tests designed to disenfranchise them.

This book takes readers through both the pre- and post-Supreme Court ruling on segregation, highlighting the relentless fight for justice and the immense impact of grassroots activism. The role of education and teachers in this movement is particularly well explored, making it even more relevant today.

I’ll be honest. Reading this was overwhelming. Given everything happening in this country right now, it hits differently than it might have even a year ago. The author does an incredible job weaving together personal experiences and historical context, making these stories feel urgent and deeply personal. As with many historical nonfiction books, there’s a lot of information packed in, but that’s more a reflection of the subject’s depth than a flaw in the writing.

Thank you to Atria Books for this book.

While I know the basics of the Civil Rights Movement, I had no idea about these underground schools that were so pivotal in creating leaders of the movement. I was pleasantly surprised to learn one of the main schools was located in Tennessee, where I'm currently living!

The information in Spell Freedom is concise and helps the reader understand the current events of the time. Weiss has created an accessible and easily readable account of this grassroots movement and the unwavering dedication of these often overlooked heroes. I had never heard of Septima Clark or Esau Jenkins or the many others who put everything at risk for what they deserved and believed in. What was happening in the Jim Crow South was unconscionable, and I was aghast at the lengths many went to in order to prevent the much needed change. Spell Freedom should be required reading for every American!

Spell Freedom is about there underground schools that built the Civil Rights Movement by Elaine Weiss.
This was such a well-researched and well-written piece of history..
A compelling story of four activists whose audacious plan to restore voting rights to Black Americans laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement.

I guess we knew about the big names involved in the Civil Rights movement but there were many others, less known, that were involved. This is such an important story. I wish everyone had been encouraged to read this.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Spell Freedom is the story of the people integral to the Civil Rights Movement who, at Highlander Folk School's citizenship program, taught Black Americans to read and write in preparation to vote in the 1950s and 60s. This non-fiction book reads like a novel, is very well told, and you'll find yourself entrenched in the emotional ride. I do however, feel that the pacing was a bit off.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It's always difficult to assess a book with such an important story when the end result doesn't live up to your expectations. I encountered this with Elaine Weiss' Spell Freedom. It tells the narrative of several people involved in the Citizenship Schools project, which helped Black Americans vote by preparing them for numerous obstacles in the Deep South. Weiss has done extensive research into this important story, but a few big faults hindered me from completely enjoying it. The issue is in the number of characters and how they are handled. There are simply too many persons that Weiss wishes to inform us about. Because of all the history she provides, practically all of her primary characters are given little depth and are not shown as multidimensional individuals. Septima Clark is the perfect example, as her life alone is worth several novels. Clark was a key driving force behind the events depicted in the novel, although Weiss frequently presents her life and feelings as declarative assertions. It's the age-old dilemma of telling rather than demonstrating. Weiss reminds us how amazing Clark was while never allowing her to be complex and flawed. Weiss also uses too few direct quotes. Clark published two autobiographies, so there was enough of material to draw from, but I believe Weiss was attempting to keep the book going to get to the many other personalities and issues. It made the novel and the characters seem rushed.My criticism is not one that everyone will agree with. I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it. Weiss certainly worked hard and is passionate about the subject, but the storytelling choices hindered it from being a must-read for me.

In 1954, Brown vs Board of Education is fresh in everyone's minds. Southern states had been counting on black citizens to remain uneducated to prevent them from voting. Full desegregation would mean the end of the white power structure. Black schools were often too remote to reach, with no buses, and critically underfunded. This was especially true of South Carolina's Gullah islands. Unwilling to bend to federal law, Southern state courts produced every hurdle imaginable. If one proved sympathetic to the cause, one was immediately fired, brutally attacked, or rounded up by the FBI for "promoting civil unrest" and "communism."

"Spell Freedom" is riveting from start to finish. The narrative moves seamlessly between our main four - with Mrs. Clark at the heart of it - maintaining the black perspective and reader accessibility. Weiss allows their readers to feel welcomed into the Highlander. To feel the joy, anger, patience, determination, fear, and relief that encompasses this unique institution. Their techniques inspire many, like Rosa Parks and John Lewis.

The hell that these folks went through just to be able to register and vote certainly humbles today's dismissive absentees. The political record and public action speak for themselves. This is the America that your parents and grandparents grew up in, may have even participated in. This is the history that gets banned or removed from a curriculum, and yet it is more relevant than ever.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Spell Freedom by Elaine Weiss is a nonfiction written like a novel about the Highlander Folk School and the activists who helped found the Civil Rights Movement. Septima Poinsette Clark was one of the first teachers at the Highlander school, teaching Black American adults how to read and write and assisting them with getting registered to vote in the 1950s and 1960s. Through the hard work of the Highlander school and the teachers trained in the citizenship program, progress could start to be made.

The biggest thing I took away from this book was that the Civil Rights Movement had issues of misogynoir and didn’t highlight the women who were instrumental in making the movement effective. Women taught citizenship classes, literacy, history, fundamental rights all Americans should have, and gave up their time, resources, and even their places of business and were still relegated to a different march and their concerns about gender inequality were brushed aside. It is very disappointing to read that even Dr. King didn’t seem to hold gender equality as an issue as important as racial equality, but it is important to recognize when we discuss the movements and organizations that made positive change the ways in which they fell short so we can do better.

I have no memory of hearing of Septima Clark or any of the women who ran the Citizenship programs before reading this. It’s possible I’ve heard one or two of their names in passing, but not nearly in this much detail. It is infuriating to realize that these women are not household names in the same way Rosa Parks and Dr. King are or that the Highlander school was most likely never mentioned in my education of the Civil Rights Movement at all. Esau Jenkins’ motto ‘Love is Progress, Hate is Expensive’ is something I am going to carry with me for the rest of my life and the triumph for a woman in her 60s learning how to read and write her name. They maybe aren’t as bombastic as other moments, but they are all key components in how voting rights were won.

I cried several times while reading this. The narrative structure helps make the triumphs feel all the more sweet and the tragedies and horrific actions against the members of the Highland school hit harder. Unfortunately, sometimes when a nonfiction book is too dry, it’s hard to emotionally connect to what has happened and that can lead to apathy even if the reader has positive intentions while reading. I felt no apathy at all while reading this. Every Highland school figure was introduced with care and respect, even when discussing their flaws, and Elaine Weiss did not shy away from the more uncomfortable bits. As I read this, I also couldn’t help but connect to what is happening now and how some people in power want to limit who can and cannot vote. We need to learn our history or we are doomed to repeat it and I want to keep learning my history.

Content warning for mentions of sexual assault and depictions of anti-Black violence including the use of slurs

I would recommend this to fans of nonfiction exploring lesser known figures in activism and readers looking for a nonfiction on the foundations of the Civil Rights Movement

I wanted to like this historical novel but too many facts and names got in the way. It was impossible to keep track of the cast of characters without taking notes. This was a seminal time in history for the disenfranchised black community. I felt the author became too detailed and lost the reader. Many a history major taking an advanced seminar might keep up with the events… I could not. The book will not have broad appeal.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
This is a solid overview of the fight for Civil Rights for Black people in the mid-20th century, a topic many are under-educated and misinformed about. I liked how it gave an overview of a mix of people, from prominent people, like Martin Luther King, Jr, and Rosa Parks, to lesser known figures like Septima Clark. As an overview, it works, prompting readers to dig deeper, although especially where certain figures like Clark have been in the shadows, it may have been more beneficial for them to be in the spotlight more, and not share it with the usual suspects, especially when it results in the book feeling rather rushed. However, it’s a solid intro to the topic, nonetheless, and will hopefully inspire people to explore more.

Septima Clark, Esau Jenkins, Myles Horton, and Bernice Robinson should not be unfamiliar names given their importance in the Civil Rights movement and their Citizenship schools but they, sadly might well be. No more. Weiss has written a timely and well researched history of their critical contributions. Yes. this may seem to be dense sometimes but it's a mark of how well Weiss writes and how compelling the subject that I kept turning the pages as though this was a thriller. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Fascinating.

4 stars rounded up from 3.5, this was a very information heavy book which is fantastic. I learned more about the civil rights voting act and a lot of things I didn’t know about. It got a little overwhelming at times and I had to take a couple breaks, the south in the 1950s and 1960s was not kind (and lets be honest could still use some improvement today) but the retaliation Black citizens faced just for registering or trying to register to vote was sickening and heartbreaking.

The amazing story of how the Civil Rights Movement began in the classrooms across the nation before and after Brown vs. The Board of Education.

Spell Freedom unravels like a novel, with Elaine Weiss taking us on a journey through the birth of the Civil Rights moment with a relatively unknown story. As the world changes daily and events unfold around us at a rapid pace, this is a reminder that a committed group of individuals can change the course of history.

This should be a must-read for anyone interested in politics, history, the Civil Rights movement, or humanity in general.

Elaine Weiss’s Spell Freedom is a powerful, meticulously researched account of the unsung heroes who helped lay the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement— through literacy, education, and quiet defiance.

Focusing on Septima Clark, Esau Jenkins, Myles Horton, and Bernice Robinson, Weiss brings to life a movement that often exists in the margins of history books. The Citizenship Schools they built weren’t just about teaching Black Americans how to read and write; they were a lifeline—empowering people to pass literacy tests, navigate voter registration barriers, and claim their rightful place in American democracy.

Through vivid storytelling, Weiss transports readers to the Highlander Folk School, where these activists gathered in the 1950s to launch their ambitious, covert education network. The book meticulously details how their work spread across the South, defying segregationist laws and systemic racism at great personal risk. It’s impossible not to feel the tension as they operate under constant threat—because literacy, in Jim Crow America, was more than just knowledge; it was power.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its focus on the people, not just the politics. While figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and John Lewis appear, Spell Freedom shines brightest when it gives voice to those often overlooked in the broader Civil Rights narrative. Clark’s relentless determination, Robinson’s ingenuity, and Jenkins’s deep-rooted community organizing make for a compelling, deeply human story.

Weiss also draws fascinating connections between the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of folk music as a form of protest, illustrating how songs became rallying cries and tools of resistance. This cultural dimension adds another layer to the book, making it a rich, immersive read.

Dense with historical detail yet deeply engaging, Spell Freedom is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the grassroots power of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s a story of courage, defiance, and the belief that literacy is not just a skill—it’s a weapon against oppression.

Spell Freedom is as riveting as it is necessary, an overdue tribute to the educators, organizers, and everyday people who risked everything to ensure that the right to vote was not just a dream, but a reality. For readers of Hidden Figures and Devil in the Grove, this is an unforgettable and timely read. #atria #spellfreedom #elaineweiss