XI 2852 F67 A6 ^V .^"^ -4i. ^ -,«a-f*N 'f--^ *-^\. . ■*— -VJ '\ ^\l l.^'l^^ Work ill the Black Belt Of Soiith>*^es4 Georgia Within a Radius of 50 Miles 200,000 Negroes Can be Reached MANY OF OUR STUDENTS WORK IN THE PEACH CANNERIES DURING VACATION rt Valley High and Industrial School FORT VALLEY, GA. Incorporated Under the Laws of Georgia, 1895 objects are: To Teach the Head to Think, the Heart to Love, and the Hands to Work . HUNT, 1 Principal. J. H. TORBERT, Ass't Prin. and Fin. Agt. The bequest of Danie! Murray, Washington, D. d 1925. FORT VALLEY High and Industrial School Leaflet No. 4 Located at Fort Valley, Ga., 29 miles south- west of Macon, in the "Black Belt" of South- west Georgia, the Fort Valley High and In- dustrial School stands for the moral, intel- lectual and industrial development of the colored people of the surrounding country. ^WKthin 50 miles 200,000 colored people can. be reached by the institution. The blacks outnumber the whites in this section three to one. PURPOSE The institution aims to take hold of the young men and women from the country districts and to fit them by a special course of training to understand the needs of our people, and also to give to them the ability and skill to cope with conditions as they exist, and thus become the real teachers and leaders in the country districts. ENROLLMENT The school employs fifteen teachers and officers and the enrollment varies from 350 to 500 pupils from year to year. The size of the cotton crop and the price at which it is 3 The Collis P. Huntington Memorial, Hall Girls' Dormatory Erected by students in building trade sold have much to do with determining th& number of pupils in the Negro schools in Georgia. The prosperity — indeed, we might almost say, the very existence — of the masses in this section depends upon cotton, and many Negro boys and girls see their hope of at- tending school vanish in the small crop or low price of that staple, A larger farm, well equipped, would enab^e us to give profitable employment to many more young men, who would be taugnt the value of diversified farming and at the same time have the advantages offered by our night school. COURSE OF STUDY The literary training covers the English branches and such sciences as bear partic- ularly upon the industries taught — special attention being given to the training of teachers for the rural schools. Our students are drawn very largely from the farms, and in our training special em- phasis is laid upon the importance of farin work. The subject of agriculture and prac- tical farm work is made a part of each student's course. Our plan is to keep the student in close touch and sympatny with the occupation in which most of our ^people are engaged. This plan, to keep the students in touch with their former surroundings and to prepare them for bettering the conditions about them, is made a matter of nrsr con- sideration in 'mapping out our course of study and in the life and work of the school. One of the crying needs of the Negro people in Georgia today is better prepared teachers for the country schools. There has been a general educational awakening throughout the State during the last few years, but it has been confined almost en- tirely to the whites. So far from being awakened, men in position to observe and competent to judge, declare that the educa- tional conditions among the Negroes in some counties are less favorable today than sev- eral years ago. The pay offered in many counties — ranging from $12 to $20 per month — is too small to attract competent teachers, and in many communities the schools are simtply kept by persons possess- ing little or no qualifications for such work. Local taxation would seem to be the natural and easy remedy for such a state of affairs, but people themselves must have a certain amount of intelligence before they are able to see the value of such training or the need of the extra taxation. The Fort Valley school attempts to show the pupils the needs of the people and to give them the training which will best fit them to meet conditions in the country dis- tricts. Students in the upper classes visit schools in the country districts in company .with teachers and study the needs and dis- Class in Sewing Students from this department find ready employment. cuss plans and possibilities for overcoming difficulties. The industrial training of the students preparing for country school work is of great value, as it enables them not only to supplement the small salaiies re- ceived for teaching, by working at their trades as opportunity offers, but they als-o teach by example the who:esonie lesson of the dignity of labor. The old idea that the teacher is not expected to work with his or her hands finds no place in the training of students who go out from this institution. INDUSTRIAL WORK In the desire and determination to impress the importance -of learning to do things well, all students receive insiruction regularly in some line of industrial work, and a part of each school day is given to working with the hands. Besides agriculture, which all stu- dents aie required to study, and practical garden and farm work, the boys are taught carpentry, brick-laying, plastering; and the girls are taught laundering, cooking, plain sewing, dressmaking and millinery. In every line of industrial work the plan is to give not simply the theory, but Dy actual work from day to day under the direction of trained teachers to learn to do by doing. The crops of corn, peas, potatoes and garden vegetables grown this year tell of the prac- tical work done on the garden and farm. The Collis P. Huntington Memorial Hall, a A Class in Carpkntry In this shop much of the furniture used in the school made and repaired. cut of which appears in this leaflet, is the work of our students under tne direction o' foremen in the brick-laying and carpentry cepartments, and the tuilcling itself speaks louder than words of tlie efRc'er.t wcrk being done by the students in the building trades. Frcm the d'gging of tb.e cellar to the s ain- ing of the interior finish of this building, tlie boys in the building trades constituted thb working force. In the gir.s' industries also, commendable progress has been made, but the results are not such as we sht-Jl be ab'e to secure when we have better equipment, especially for our laundry, sewing rooms and millinery departments. Equipment for the girls' industrial rooms constitutes one of the. pressing needs of the institution at this time. RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND COMIViUNITY WORK The institution is non-sectarian, but is ■earnestly Christian in its teaching, and the Bible is used as a text-book. Tiie Sabbatn School lessons are taught to pupils in ih© upper classes in order to prepare them for work in the Sabbath Schools in the com- munity. The members of the Young Wo- men's Christian Tem.perance Union and the Young iMen's Christian Association are active in community work. Committees from these organizations help regularly in the Sabbath Schools of Fort Valley and have als-o or- ganized and conduct regularly two Sabbath 11 A Group of Pupit^s in Advanced Grades Schools for the special benefit of the chil- dren living on some of the large peacli farms near Fort Valley. Bands of earnest students also go into the community ministering to the needs of the aged and sick, rendering all kinds of service, from the cleaning of the houses to the reading of the Bible. This community work by the students is under the care and direction of the teachers who are also active in the Sabbath Schools of Fort Valley, One of the most helpful phases of com- munity work has been the mothers' meet- ings, held som.etimes at the school, but usu- ally at some of the nearby homes, for the purpose of discussing q-uestions pertaining to the home life of the people. Proper care of children, suggestions for making the home attractive by cleaning, whitewashing and painting, the value of gardens, proper meth- ods of cooking plain food, and similar sub- jects are discussed at these meetings. While conditions about us are far from satisfactory, there is evidence that the work of the school is being felt in the community as a power for good. The buying of new homes and the enlargement and improve- ment of homes already owned, a willingness to make sacrifice in order to send children to school, tell of an awakening and a desire for better things. The .process is a slow one, but the leaven of persistent Christian teaching and example is gradually doing its work. 13 Stx^dents Reading the Bible in a Cabin Home. MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT. The institution is under the control of a Board of Trustees composed of Northern and Southern men of influence and standing. The school is not connected w'th any church or religious organizafon of any kind and re- ceives no aid from the State. The on y as- sured means of support are the income from $2,000 endowment fund and about $500 an- nually from the county. From tne aoove statement it will be seen that the institution is dependent in large measure upon the vol- untary contribution of friends for support. The work is regarded by the test citizens throughout this section as a most worthy charity for a needy class of people. SCHOLARSHIPS. Scholarships of fifty dollars ($50) are needed to aid deserving students and espe- cially such as give promise of usefulness. Money donated for this purpose is not given to the student direct, but is used to pay teachers' salaries. Students are expected to write letters when requested by donors, showing the progress made from time to time. Already, in many instances, mutual interest has been aroused between the helper and the helped, which has been productive of good and lasting results. Students thus aided are generally inspired because of it, Chapel Hall Chapel and Recitation Rooms. and feel obligated to give their lives for the uplift of their race. One thousand