1959: (Class Zone III as the Most Vigorous Social Class — Comhaire-Sylvain Writing of Class Zone III Which Was Made Up of Students and Teachers at the Foyer,…

1959: (Class Zone III as the Most Vigorous Social Class — Comhaire-Sylvain Writing of Class Zone III Which Was Made Up of Students and Teachers at the Foyer, Asserting That They Were the “Most Vigorous of All Social Classes in Port-au-Prince the One Likely to Progress Most Rapidly in the Future” Noting That Their Zeal for Cross-Class Connections Made Them “Sympathetic to the Peasantry” — Over Two Decades She Had Charted What Many Called the Black Middle Class, Concluding in 1959 That This Group’s Support Led to François Duvalier’s Presidency): In researching and writing over the course of two decades, Comhaire-Sylvain captured the transformation in this space. Most notably, she wrote of Class Zone III, which was made up of students and teachers at the Foyer. She asserted that they were the most vigorous of all social classes in Port-au-Prince, the one likely to progress most rapidly in the future, noting that their zeal for cross-class connections made them sympathetic to the peasantry. Over the course of two decades, Comhaire-Sylvain had charted what many have called the Black middle class. In 1959, she concluded that this group’s support led to François Duvalier’s presidency — the women the Foyer had educated became the constituency that carried Duvalier to power, the feminist project’s unintended political offspring.