Part 19
Rulings and instructions relative to the acts of Congress of August 30, 1890, and March 4, 1907, in aid of colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts.—“To be applied only to instruction in agriculture, the mechanic arts, the English language, and the various branches of mathematical, physical, natural, and economic science, with special reference to their applications in the industries of life, and to the facilities for such instruction” and “for providing courses for the special preparation of instructors for teaching the elements of agriculture and the mechanic arts.” It is held that this language authorizes the purchase from this money of apparatus, machinery, text-books, reference books, stock, and material used in instruction, or for the purposes of illustration in connection with any of the branches enumerated, and the payment of salaries of instructors in said branches only; but in case of machinery (such as boilers, engines, pumps, etc.) and farm stock, which are made to serve for both instructional and other purposes, the Federal funds may be charged with only an equitable portion of the cost of said machinery and stock.
The acts prohibit the expenditure of any portion of these funds for the purchase, erection, preservation, or repair of any building or buildings under any pretense whatever, and the salaries of purely administrative officers, such as treasurers, presidents, secretaries.
In accordance with these acts, 17 institutions for Negroes in the Southern States are receiving Federal funds. The principal facts for sixteen of these institutions are shown in the table herewith. Hampton Institute is classified with the independent institutions because its financial support is very largely from private sources. The total annual income for the current expenses of the sixteen institutions is $544,520. Of this amount $263,074 is received from State appropriations and $2,598.51 from the Federal acts. Including the Federal grant to Hampton Institute, the total of Federal appropriations is $286,817. The value of property in the sixteen institutions is $2,576,142.
The principal facts concerning these schools, by States, are as follows:
───────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬──────────── │ │ │ │ VALUE OF STATE │ ATTENDANCE │ TEACHERS │ INCOME │ PROPERTY ───────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼──────────── Total │ 4,875│ 400│ $544,520│ $2,576,142 ═══════════════════╪════════════╪════════════╪════════════╪════════════ Alabama │ 264│ 27│ 29,209│ 182,500 Arkansas │ 170│ 12│ 24,003│ 141,456 Delaware │ 71│ 8│ 13,159│ 42,150 Florida │ 345│ 34│ 34,168│ 131,421 Georgia │ 390│ 21│ 25,369│ 68,449 Kentucky │ 234│ 19│ 22,327│ 156,700 Louisiana │ 160│ 23│ 31,384│ 95,250 Maryland │ 123│ 12│ 15,528│ 44,950 Mississippi │ 484│ 24│ 47,774│ 258,500 Missouri │ 264│ 33│ 42,162│ 226,375 North Carolina │ 150│ 26│ 32,518│ 129,700 Oklahoma │ 408│ 28│ 46,400│ 153,827 South Carolina │ 726│ 33│ 44,216│ 397,300 Tennessee │ 300│ 25│ 39,819│ 193,915 Texas │ 552│ 46│ 49,985│ 237,200 West Virginia │ 234│ 29│ 46,499│ 216,449 ───────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────────
_State Schools_:—In addition to the land-grant schools there are eleven State schools. Four of these institutions are in Northern States. The following table gives the important facts concerning this group.
───────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬──────────── │ │ │ │ VALUE OF STATE │ ATTENDANCE │ TEACHERS │ INCOME │ PROPERTY ───────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼──────────── Total │ 2,638│ 188│ $246,834│ $1,394,547 ═══════════════════╪════════════╪════════════╪════════════╪════════════ Alabama │ 714│ 31│ 21,500│ 70,000 Kansas │ 82│ 14│ 15,830│ 131,395 „ │ 106│ 26│ 38,148│ 195,300 Maryland │ 50│ 8│ 8,053│ 33,500 New Jersey │ 93│ 18│ 27,755│ 99,159 North Carolina │ 249│ 8│ 6,074│ 45,000 „ │ 227│ 7│ 5,544│ 38,700 „ │ 165│ 10│ 5,258│ 51,700 Ohio │ 231│ 29│ 77,000│ 436,893 Virginia │ 573│ 25│ 27,898│ 233,900 West Virginia │ 148│ 12│ 13,774│ 59,000 ───────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────────
_Federal Schools_:—The one institution classed as Federal is Howard University at Washington, D. C. It is the only institution supported by direct annual appropriations from Congress. It is generally considered the best institution for colored people in college and professional training. It has an attendance of 1,401 pupils, 106 teachers, an annual income of $172,257 and property valued at $1,756,920.
SCHOOLS MAINTAINED BY PRIVATE AGENCIES.
It is said that the deficiencies in the public expenditure for the education of colored people largely explain the active campaign for private and higher schools since the Civil War. These schools not only represent the effort of the colored people and their friends to provide higher training for their children, but also to make up for the inadequacy of the elementary public schools.
According to the recent report of the Bureau of Education, there are 625 private schools for colored people in the United States. These schools have property valued at $28,500,000, an annual income of $3,027,000, 4,600 teachers and an attendance of approximately 100,000.
The three great factors which have entered into the development of the educational possibilities of the colored people are the North, the South and the Negro himself.
Though the Northern States are not so immediately concerned in the education of the Negro race as the South and the Negroes themselves, the northern point of view and northern philanthropy have been just as important and are just as essential to continued development as the other two elements. In many respects the remoteness of the northern friends to Negro education gave them freedom from the traditional prejudices and the frequent irritations to which those nearby were subjected. Problems are rarely settled without the aid of those who are not party to the differences. Evidence is now gradually accumulating that the southern people are realizing that the northern teachers have rendered a valuable service not only to the Negroes but also to the South. The following testimony was given as early as 1885, by Bishop Haywood of the Southern Methodist Church in speaking of President Ware, the founder of Atlanta University:
“Very small encouragement do workers in this field get from us of the white race in the Southern States, although, next to the Negro race, we are of all men on earth most concerned in the success of your work, and most concerned because we have most at stake.”
The total annual contribution of the North for the current expenses of the private schools aggregate $2,500,000. Of this fully a million and a half is given by the white churches for their denominational schools, and another $1,000,000 is contributed by individual donors and churches for the maintenance of the independent institutions. Property valuations in the private institutions founded by northern gifts now amount to $24,000,000.
Without the institutions thus erected and maintained, the industrial and agricultural education of the colored people would be almost entirely confined to the very limited facilities of the public schools, and the inadequate work of the land-grant institutions. Teacher training would be almost negligible, secondary courses would be conspicuously inadequate and no college work would be offered. Upon the North therefore, and the Negroes must rest the responsibility of providing higher training. While constant effort should be made to induce public authorities to provide for every phase of education, any plan to diminish private support should be adopted only after careful consideration of the local situation. The per capita public school expenditures for white children of the Southern States is four and five times that for the Negroes. All the available facts indicate that the financial aid of the North would be needed for some decades to come.
Essential as northern philanthropy has been to the education of the Negro, the greatest contribution of the North has been the teachers, sons and daughters of the best families, who have been willing to work in colored schools, and to show their colored pupils by precept and example that education is not only head knowledge, but the formation of habits that guarantee such fundamental virtues as cleanliness, thoroughness, perseverance, honesty, and the essential elements of family life.
The work of the Northern teachers is no less important than that of the northern soldier. While the one emancipated the Negro from slavery, the other laid the foundation for the greater emancipation from ignorance. In the conduct and management of colored schools, it is to be expected that the South should stress contact with the white neighborhood and conformity to the community standards. The concern of the Negro is naturally the preservation of his self-respect and the increase of opportunities for employment and influence. The concern of the North is the maintenance of such school activities as will produce manhood and womanhood of good physique, discerning minds and sound morals. In accordance with this purpose, northern people have erected schools of all types for the Negroes, including industrial, agricultural and collegiate institutions. No greater loss could befall the Negro schools than the elimination of northern philanthropy and northern teachers.
The two types of institutions which are largely supported by northern philanthropy are designated as independent schools, and schools under white denominational boards. Many of these schools also receive large sums from their colored patrons. The following table gives the important facts concerning the independent schools in the several States. The names of the larger institutions of this group are given in the table at the end of this Chapter.
INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS.
By independent schools is meant such as are not connected with any public or denominational agency; but are under the direction and control of a general board of trustees. These trustee boards are usually composed of colored men, northern men and southern men. As a rule they are self-perpetuating—that is—the trustees themselves elect new members of the board to fill vacancies such as may occur through death or resignation.
In number and income the independent schools form the most important group of schools. They are non-sectarian in character, and draw support and pupils from all sources and classes of the people. The leading facts concerning this group of schools, according to the recent report of the Bureau of Education are as follows:
INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS.
───────────┬───────┬──────────┬─────────────────┬──────────┬─────────── │Number │ │ │Income for│ │ of │ Counted │ │ Current │ Value of States │Schools│Attendance│ Teachers │ Expenses │ Property ───────────┼───────┼──────────┼─────┬─────┬─────┼──────────┼─────────── │ │ │Total│White│Negr.│ │ ───────────┼───────┼──────────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼──────────┼─────────── Total │ 118│ 14,851│1,144│ 249│ 895│$1,099,724│$12,369,441 ═══════════╪═══════╪══════════╪═════╪═════╪═════╪══════════╪═══════════ Alabama │ 23│ 4,887│ 331│ 23│ 308│ 369,544│ 4,279,566 Arkansas │ 2│ 70│ 2│ │ 2│ 1,100│ 3,700 Delaware │ 2│ 22│ 4│ │ 4│ 5,250│ 18,600 Florida │ 3│ 234│ 24│ │ 24│ 19,158│ 85,875 Georgia │ 21│ 2,654│ 97│ 29│ 68│ 2,888│ 493,673 Kentucky │ 3│ 177│ 19│ 8│ 11│ 20,351│ 529,698 Louisiana │ 7│ 671│ 34│ │ 34│ 10,831│ 118,037 Maryland │ 3│ 38│ 3│ │ 3│ 1,385│ 2,750 Mississippi│ 4│ 858│ 58│ │ 58│ 33,618│ 314,220 Missouri │ 1│ 19│ 6│ │ 6│ 2,837│ 38,500 North │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Carolina │ 9│ 597│ 55│ │ 55│ 18,389│ 120,000 South │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Carolina │ 11│ 1,012│ 84│ 3│ 82│ 51,235│ 416,205 Tennessee │ 3│ 1,061│ 78│ 33│ 45│ 103,305│ 733,058 Texas │ 4│ 363│ 23│ │ 23│ 10,364│ 42,000 Virginia │ 11│ 1,685│ 256│ 147│ 109│ 321,660│ 4,414,459 Northern │ │ │ │ │ │ │ States │ 11│ 472│ 70│ 6│ 64│ 57,309│ 759,100 ───────────┴───────┴──────────┴─────┴─────┴─────┴──────────┴───────────
The number of pupils in attendance was 14,851, of whom 12,273 were elementary, 1,841 secondary, and 737 were collegiate and professional. The secondary courses are offered in twenty of the larger institutions. The collegiate and professional students are in Meharry Medical College, Fisk University and Atlanta University. Of the total attendance reported above, the 72 smaller schools have 4,404 pupils, of whom only 66 are secondary.
The number of teachers and workers in all independent schools was 1,144, of whom 249 were white and 895 were colored; 521 male, 623 female; 558 academic, 222 industrial, 49 agricultural, 315 other workers. The ratio of teachers and workers to pupils indicates that these institutions are fairly well managed. About a fourth of the teachers in the larger schools are white. The smaller schools are practically all taught by colored workers. On the basis of sex, the workers in the larger institutions are about equally divided.
The schools of this group which have received most liberal support are Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia, and Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama. The large support and remarkable growth of these two schools is due largely to the growing popularity of individual education and also to the personalities of General Armstrong, who founded Hampton, and Dr. Booker T. Washington, who founded Tuskegee. The independent institutions of college grade that have attained a national reputation are Fisk University, Nashville. Tennessee, and Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia. The one independent professional institution of nation-wide reputation is Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee. A number of smaller schools, mostly of the industrial type, have attained noteworthy success. Among these might be mentioned the Daytona School for Girls, Daytona, Florida; Calhoun Colored School, Calhoun, Alabama; Penn School, St. Helena, Island, South Carolina; Snow Hill Institute, Snow Hill, Alabama; Utica Institute, Utica Mississippi, and Okolona Industrial Institute, Okolona, Mississippi. There are numerous other institutions that are doing most successful work. The existence of such institutions becomes doubly significant when the personality of their founders and the opposition they met with are considered. The influence of General Armstrong and his attitude toward education are being more and more felt in the whole educational system of the country. The story of Dr. Washington, who found at Tuskegee a log cabin and left there an industrial town is well described in his illuminating book, “Up from Slavery.” The names of Bumstead and Ware at Atlanta University, and of Gravath at Fisk, are well known. One of the leading lawyers of New York City is the son of the late President Gravath of Fisk. The growth of such institutions as Utica Institute, Snow Hill, Okolona Institute and Daytona School proves the capacity of young colored men and women to acquire training in school and also to acquire the more important qualities of leadership and determination to overcome difficulties. It is said that when William H. Holtzclaw reached Utica, Mississippi, the banks of the town refused to accept his money for deposit, because he was colored. In the thirteen years he has lived there he has succeeded in winning the friendship of the people, the credit of all the banks, and he has built an institution which has an income of nearly $20,000 a year, and property valued at over $160,000. The stories of Miss Bethune, at Daytona, Wallace A. Battle, at Okolona, and W. J. Edwards, at Snow Hill, are no less interesting and inspiring.
The names of the more important schools and the States in which they are located are given below:
SCHOOLS MAINTAINED BY INDEPENDENT BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
Alabama: Beloit Industrial Missionary Association School, Selma; Calhoun Colored School, Calhoun; Corona Normal Industrial Institute, Corona; Centerville Industrial School, Centerville; Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute, Kowaliga; Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, Montgomery; Mount Meigs Colored Institute, Montgomery; Peoples’ Village School, Montgomery; Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute, Snow Hill; Street Manual Training School, Richmond; Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee.
Florida: Daytona Industrial Educational School, Daytona; Robert Hungerford School, Eatonville.
Georgia: Albany Bible and Manual Training Institute, Albany; Atlanta University, Atlanta; Forsyth Normal and Industrial Institute, Forsyth; Helena B. Cobb Home and School, Barnesville; Model and Training School, Athens; Sparta Agricultural and Industrial Institute, Sparta.
Kentucky: Lincoln Institute of Kentucky, Lincoln Ridge.
Louisiana: Gaudet Industrial Home and School, Orleans; Sabine Normal and Industrial School, Sabine.
Mississippi: Okolona Industrial School, Okolona; Piney Woods Country Life School, Braxton; Prentiss Industrial School, Prentiss; Utica Normal and Industrial Institute, Utica.
Missouri: Bartlett Agricultural and Industrial School, Macon.
North Carolina: Laurinburg Normal and Industrial Institute, Laurinburg; National Training School, Durham; Palmer Memorial Institute, Sedalia.
South Carolina: Maysville Institute, Maysville; Penn School, St. Helena Island; Port Royal Agricultural School, Beaufort; Voorhees Industrial Institute, Denmark.
Tennessee: Fisk University, Nashville; Meharry Medical College, Nashville.
Texas: Farmers’ Improvement Agricultural College, Ladonia; Houston Industrial and Training School, Huntsville.
Virginia: Franklin Normal and Industrial Institute, Franklin; Fredericksburg Normal and Industrial School, Fredericksburg; Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton; Manassas Industrial School, Manassas, Prince William.
Northern States: Berean Manual Training School, Philadelphia; Cincinnati Industrial School, Cincinnati; Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School, Downingtown, Pa.; Avery Collegiate Training School, Pittsburgh, Pa.
WHITE CHURCH BOARDS MAINTAINING COLORED SCHOOLS.