Hmerlcan fiDlsslonar? association 
 
 JOS. K. BRICK AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIAL 
 AND NORMAL SCHOOL. 
 
 BY 
 
 PROF. T. 5. INBORDEN. \^ 
 
 287 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, N. Y. 
 

 ^<f 
 
JOS. 
 
 K. BRICK AGRICUI<TtJRAI/, INDUSTRIAI, AND NORMAI, 
 
 SCHOOIy. 
 
 L 
 
 PROF. T. S. INBORDEN. 
 
 BREWSTER HALL- BOYS GOING '1 DINNER. 
 
 The Joseph Keasbey Brick Agricultural, Industrial and Normal 
 School, situated three miles from Enfield, N. C, on the Atlantic Coast 
 Line Railroad, was organized by the American Missionary Associa- 
 tion in the fall of 
 1895. 
 
 The school was 
 named in honor of 
 Mr. Joseph Keas- 
 bey Brick, of New 
 York. The name 
 also indicates the 
 order in which em- 
 phasis is placed 
 upon the whole 
 subject of Negro 
 Education by its 
 chief donor, Mrs. 
 Julia E. Brick. No 
 monument more 
 fitting could be built to the memory of her husband than this school. 
 Those who are most interested in the school must be congratulated 
 on the fact that the American Missionary Association has direct super- 
 vision of the work. Their experience in Negro education for fifty 
 years, and their daily contact with the vital problems of this country, 
 
 as related to the 
 
 various races, gave 
 them an insight 
 into the situation 
 that only a few in- 
 dividuals and or- 
 ganizations can 
 have. So we con- 
 gratulate our- 
 selves. 
 
 The school is 
 typical in many 
 respects. Its loca- 
 tion is in the east- 
 ern section of the 
 
 BENEDICT HALL, BURNED FEBRUARY 5, I904. 
 
JOS. K. BRICK A., I. AND N. SCHOOL. 
 
 State where there are practically no schools except eight or ten weeks 
 of public school. This section is the Black Belt of the State. Colored 
 people are very much in the majority. They live on the large plan- 
 tations, and are engaged in farming. Some of them, even unlettered, 
 have accumulated large farms of their own. Strange to say, most 
 of the farms owned by these people were once owned by their 
 masters. 
 
 The mass of the colored people do not own their farms and do not 
 educate their children. Their training has not been that way. One 
 minister told me that he never encouraged his congregation to get 
 homes and to educate their children, for those who did so would not 
 support the gospel. 
 They were too 
 "close fisted." This 
 explains two very 
 important facts: 
 I St. Colored people, 
 unlettered, who 
 own their own 
 homes, do not take 
 the lead in educat- 
 ing their children 
 because they think 
 their children 
 should come along 
 as well without an 
 education as they 
 themselves. They 
 are usually trying 
 to buy more land. They argue that they cannot spare the money. 
 
 2d. Those who have graduated from our best schools of the South 
 do not support them as they should, not from lack of loyalty, but be- 
 cause they, too, are trying to get comfortable homes. 
 
 It is often said that it is useless to educate the Indian because he 
 goes back to the war-dance and to the wigwams of the West to live 
 the same old life again. This cannot be said of the Negro. Every 
 educated Negro is trying to get a home and trying to have better 
 things. He is interested in good government and good schools and 
 everything that affects the interest of the community. 
 
 Five years ago, when the school began, there was a great deal of 
 prejudice against it on the part of both races. One of our white 
 friends told us recently that he thought it would be a " mess." His 
 
 THE principal's HOUSE. 
 
JOS. K. BRICK A., L AND N. SCHOOL. 
 
 contact had been only with the ruder elements of the race, and per- 
 haps his prejudice was born of true conviction. This prejudice 
 hurt the school very much, for the enrollment was only a few for 
 several months, only one of whom lived in the immediate community. 
 The school owns one of the best farms in the State. While En- 
 field, the post ofhce, is in Halifax Count}-, the school is located in 
 Edgecombe County. It forms the juncture of three counties, and is 
 crossed by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. 
 
 When the school opened, the farm of 1,129 acres was almost a 
 wilderness. Dikes had to be built along the creek for two miles to 
 stop the overflow of water from our low grounds, thousands of feet of 
 ditches had to be opened, fields cleared, bridges built, fences made for 
 
 stock, stagnant 
 pools and surface 
 wells filled, roads 
 had to be built, 
 trees planted, .shel- 
 ter for farm ani- 
 mals and buildings 
 for school purposes 
 had to be built. In 
 fact, a beginning in 
 everything had to 
 be made. Old build- 
 ings impregnated 
 with tj'phoid fever 
 and other germs 
 had to be absolutely 
 destroyed to insure 
 school conditions. 
 The above cut is a representation of the barn with farm team in 
 the foreground. 
 
 Several men lived on the place whose wives lived in one house and 
 they, with their "hired cook," liv-ed in another. We had to get rid of 
 this kind of life also. We rebuilt, repaired and repeopled hou.ses 
 with people who would sign written contract not to engage in any act 
 which was out of harmony with the spirit of the school, emphasizing 
 especially acts of immorality and drunkenness. We had no trouble 
 in finding the kind of men we wanted, who were glad to have such 
 opportunities as we offered. 
 
 There are now seven renters on the farm. They pay as much 
 rent now as they did before comiitg here, yet the conditions are such 
 
 THE BARN. 
 
JOS. K. BRICK A., I. AND N. SCHOOL. 
 
 A TENEMENT HOUSE. 
 
 that they can meet their bills promptly. Since they came here to 
 rent most of them have bought their farm animals and farm machin- 
 ery. They furnish their own provisions, that is, the school furnishes 
 
 nothing except 
 land and advice. 
 Their houses and 
 yards are clean and 
 neat, with flowers 
 and other decora- 
 tions. These fam- 
 ilies send about 
 thirty-two children 
 to the day-school. 
 They are respected 
 in the community 
 and can get credit 
 when they need it. 
 The illustration 
 below is of a man and his wife who were bought and sold 
 to several successive owners of the farm before the war. He says 
 when "Mr. Linkum" sent him word that he was free that he decided 
 to stay, as ho had dug all the ditches and planted all the trees about 
 the "big house." He is yet our neighbor. Recently he bought him- 
 self a home. 
 
 With few exceptions, all the school work is done by students. 
 They have hauled the material for the buildings, raised all the corn 
 consumed, and other feed for 
 the farm animals. They pro- 
 vide the wood, haul the coal, 
 do the janitoring, cultivate a 
 large garden, care for the 
 cows, do all the washing and 
 house-cleaning, and do the 
 cooking. From two to five 
 thousand pounds of pork are 
 killed yearly. Molasses cane 
 and sweet potatoes form a 
 very important part of the 
 daily menu of the school; 
 they are raised in great 
 abundance. Peas and white 
 potatoes are also raised. From 
 
 TWO OLD SETTLERS. 
 
JOS. K. BRICK A., I. AND N. SCHOOL. 
 
 two to four hundred gallons of canned fruit are put up every summer. 
 Many of the mattresses now in use were made by the students. In 
 the sewing-room about thirty-five dresses have been made by daily 
 classes, besides other articles. 
 In the manual training shop a 
 good deal of practice work has 
 been done in the way of mak- 
 ing dormitory tables and keep- 
 ing up ordinary repairs. This 
 is done aside from the regular 
 class-work. 
 
 More recently there has 
 been added an aermotor power 
 mill for pumping water for the 
 various buildings. 
 
 A side track has been built 
 for the school freight. We hope 
 soon to have local accommoda- 
 tion bj' the passenger trains. 
 
 The enrollment of the school 
 for the present year is 209, with 
 over 100 in the boarding depart- 
 ment. 
 
 Most of our students are very poox, and were it not for the oppor- 
 tunities here to work their way they would not be in any school. 
 They undergo all sorts of hardships and privations to come. Several 
 have walked over a hundred miles to attend. 
 
 Their purpose is all right. One boy says his highest ambition is 
 
 to be a better 
 workman than 
 anyone else. One 
 girl says she 
 wants to master 
 the art of cooking 
 and sewing so 
 that she can teach 
 these two branch- 
 es in some indus- 
 trial school. 
 
 A glance at 
 
 our catalogue will 
 
 RECITATION HALL. show that we are 
 
 HAND WORK. 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 JOS. K. BRICK A., I. AND N. SCHOOL. 029 501 547 ^ 
 
 dealing with fundamental principles and primary conditions of 
 life. 
 
 The only limitation to the growth of the school is a financial one 
 to make it equal to any in the South of its kind. 
 
 The location is unique, only fifteen hours' ride from New York, 
 and five hours' ride from Washington City, and that without change 
 of cars. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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