From 1868-1917 the St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) underwent a formative period. SLPS was shaped primarily by professional administrators working in a transnational education community and responses to their philosophies and policies by both white and African American women teachers, members of the African American community, and students themselves. While SLPS strove to include increasing numbers of students in their schools, their practices ultimately kept groups of students separated from one another and reinforced the racial, economic, gender, and ability-based divisions in society. The philosophies and practices developed by SLPS during this period influenced education world-wide, including the use of industrial education in colonial situations.