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J( o-i^n^^in^A^ s L^-'.^tt- -cnxA^ci 
 
 Educational Progress in the South 
 
 A Review of Five Years 
 
 Field Reports of the Southern Education Board 
 
 CONTRIBUTORS: 
 
 Yirginm—Y.. A. Alderman, H. B. Frissell, S. C. Mitchell, Robert 
 
 Frazer, J. Kent Rawley. 
 iVoH/t Oaroh"?ia — Chas. D. Mclver, J. Y. Joyner, H. E. Fries, 
 
 Chas. L. Coon. 
 ^ouih Carolina— 0. B. ]\Iartin, W. H. Hand. 
 Georgia— W. B. Merritt, T. J. Woofter, Mrs. Walter B. Hill. 
 Te7i7iessee—^. A. Mynders, P. P. Claxton, Chas. W. Dabney. 
 Alahania-'Edg^ir Gardner Murphy, Sydney J. Bowie, H. C. 
 
 Gunnels, I. W. Hill. 
 Mississippi— II. L. Whitfield, E. B. Fulton. 
 Louisiana— J. H. Dillard, J. B. Aswell. 
 Texas — David F. Houston. 
 
 COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 
 G. S. DICKERMAN 
 
 WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF 
 
 WICKLIFFE ROSE. 
 
 Published by Direction of the Board. 
 October, 1907. 
 
 Richmond Press, Inc. 
 
6.^ 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 The Southern Education Board 
 
 Robert C. Ogden 
 J. L. M. Curry* 
 Edwin A. Alderman 
 Charles D. McIver* 
 Charles W. Dabney 
 Wallace Buttrick 
 HoLLis B. Frissell 
 George Foster Peabody 
 Albert Shaw 
 Walter H. Page 
 WiLLLVM U. Baldwin, Jr.' 
 Hugh H. IT anna 
 Edgar Gardner Murphy 
 Frank R. Chambers 
 
 G. S. DiCKERMAN 
 
 David F. Houston 
 AA^alter Barnard Hill* 
 S. C. Mitchell 
 Henry E. Fries 
 Sydney J. Bowie 
 P. P. Claxton 
 
 *Deceased. 
 
 GIFT 
 
 MRS. WOODROW WILSON 
 
 NOV. 25, 1939 
 
Educational Progress in the South 
 
 A. 
 
 ^ 
 
 I. CITIZENS MEETINGS AND ORGANIZATION. 
 
 The annual conferences started at Capon Springs, in 1898, 
 have grown into significant assemblies to which people inter- 
 ested in education come from all of the Southern States; they 
 have also taken on organization with which to do definite things 
 and to work systematically toward the ends proposed. 
 
 Something not unlike this is seen in the several States. Thi^ 
 whole movement proceeds^ by citizens' meetings culminating in 
 organization. 
 
 In Virginia, soon after the formation of this Board, an educa- 
 tional campaign was undertaken under the leadership of Pro- 
 fessor Tucker and Dr. P^razer, in which the people of a county 
 were invited to meet at their courthouse to hear a discussion 
 about the needs of their children. The first results were an 
 aroused popular sentiment and a general recognition of the im- 
 portance of having better schools. The next step was to crys- 
 talize this sentiment into an instrument for improving the 
 schools. The outcome was the local "league" to attend to the 
 interests of the community and the "Co-operative Education 
 Association" to advance such interests as were common to all 
 parts of the State. There are now 324 of these leagues. Within 
 a few months the negroes, under the lead of the president of 
 the State Industrial School at Petersburg, have adopted the 
 same method, and ten local associations have been organized, 
 extending into five different counties. 
 
 Through such organizations popular meetings are continually 
 held for the accomplishment of particular objects connected 
 with school improvement, and a general meeting is held at some 
 convenient center once each year. Of the local meetings, 580 
 are reported in a single year. The general meeting at Lynch- 
 burg last year was attended by over 600 delegates from the local 
 bodies, including eighty-five County Superintendents, and was 
 
-i EDUCATIOK^AL PKOGKESS IN THE SOUTK. 
 
 pronounced the "largest educational gathering in the history 
 of the State." 
 
 In North Carolina, under the leadership of Messrs. Mclver 
 and Alderman, educational campaigning had become an insti- 
 tution and a habit long before the existence of this Board. This 
 was a great advantage, and the fresh efforts now put forth 
 were the more fruitful because they were along lines already 
 familiar. Dr. Mclver 's inspiring personality drew to him many 
 efficient helpers, and the movement in this State has gained 
 an ever-increasing breadth and power. Nor does it flag since the 
 leader's departure. The State Superintendent writes, in a let- 
 ter not a month old, ' ' An educational campaign has been carried 
 on without cessation during the year," and the results are writ- 
 ten large in the figures of all the reports. The name adopted 
 for the local organization in this State is "Association for the 
 Betterment of Public Schools and Schoolhouses. " These Asso- 
 ciations are composed of women, though doing their work under 
 the constant oversight of the superintendents and other gentlemen 
 interested in educational progress. In more than fifty counties 
 ■are to be found these associations having a county organization, 
 and under this a community association for each particular 
 school. This State has a vigorous Teachers' Association which 
 admits to its membership prominent citizens interested in the 
 teacher's work. It has also an organization of the county 
 superintendents with successful annual meetings. Through these 
 several organizations, local and general, expression is given to 
 the rising sentiment of the North Carolina people. 
 
 In South Carolina the local organizations are similar to those 
 in North Carolina, but are called "School Improvement Asso- 
 ciations. ' ' A year ago it was reported that 1,000 members were 
 enrolled: now the State Superintendent says there are 2,000, and 
 adds that this is an "important auxiliary for improving the 
 schoolhouses and their surroundings." This State has also a 
 good Teachers' Association with helpful annual meetings. At 
 the last meeting, a few weeks ago, there was also held a confer- 
 ence of more general character "which promises to unify and 
 systematize the schools and raise the standards of the colleges 
 of the State." 
 
?}ilw>. 
 
 EDUCATIOA^AL PKOGKESS IN THE SOUTH. 5 
 
 In Georgia, the State Superintendent reports, under a re- 
 cent date: ''Effective educational rallies are being held all over 
 the State on an average of one a day. The Farmers' Union has 
 requested an educational speaker for each meeting this summer 
 and in this way our educational workers are given large audi- 
 ences of earnest, enthusiastic farmers." In the way of local 
 organization, over eighty counties have "School Improvement 
 Clubs" of women; and, besides these, the ''Women's Clubs" 
 are doing much useful work in behalf of better schools. "An 
 annual meeting of the School Improvement Clubs is held at 
 Athens during the session of the University Summer School, and 
 in this way hundreds of teachers from all sections of Georgia 
 are enlisted." A Business Men's Conference, the sequel to a 
 meeting of the Georgia delegation at Pinehurst, was held last 
 April and proved an occasion of remarkable interest, and of 
 great promise for the future of educational progress in this 
 State. . 
 
 In Tennessee, campaign work under the leadership of Messrs. 
 Claxton and Mynders has been extraordinarily effective. In 
 1905 more than three hundred meetings were held, and in 1906 
 every county in the State was visited, and the attendance at 
 the meetings was sometimes as high as 6,000. Of those held in 
 1906, Professor Claxton writes: 
 
 "The average attendance was about 1,000, and the total at- 
 tendance something more than 100,000. The attendance was 
 larger than at any of the political gatherings in the State during 
 the year. At these rallies addresses were made by Superintend- 
 ent Mynders and myself, and by a hundred or more prominent 
 citizens— educators, statesmen, and others who joined us at differ- 
 ent places. President Brown Ayres, of the University of Ten- 
 nessee attended about twenty of the meetings. At each place 
 addresses were made in the morning and in the afternoon. At 
 the close of the afternoon addresses resolutions were read calling 
 upon the next General Assembly of the State to make the fol- 
 lowing annual appropriations from the State Treasury : 
 
 "1. For common schools, 75 cents for each child of school age 
 in the State: 
 
6 EDUCATIONAL PKOGBESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 "2. Special fund of $50,000 to assist the poorer counties in 
 bringing' their schools up to something like the average length 
 of term in the State ; 
 
 "3. To encourage and assist the counties in establishing and 
 maintaining high schools, $25,000 ; 
 
 "4. For the establishment and maintenance of three normal 
 schools, one in each grand division of the State, $75,000 ; 
 
 ''5. To the University of Tennessee, $50,000; 
 
 "6. To encourage and assist rural schools in establishing and 
 maintaining public libraries, $5,000. 
 
 "In every county except one the resolutions were unani- 
 mously adopted, and in that county there was but one negative 
 vote. After this part of the campaign was closed, resolutions 
 were sent to county courts, boards of trade, boards of education, 
 chapters of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, 
 and other labor unions and patriotic associations, and to women 's 
 clubs. Everywhere the resolutions were adopted by these repre- 
 sentative bodies. "When the Legislature met in January these 
 resolutions were submitted, together with a petition to the same 
 effect, signed by one hundred thousand citizens of the State. 
 
 "A large majority of the members of the Legislature were 
 heartily in favor of legislation in harmony with the petitions. 
 
 "Recently, there has been organized the Co-operative Edu- 
 cation Association of Tennesssee which will undertake to do 
 systematic work for the improvement of schoolhouses and 
 grounds, the establishment of libraries, increase of school taxes, 
 and to make sentiment which will result in good legislation. ' ' 
 
 In Alahania, a good deal of valuable help to an improved 
 educational sentiment is rendered by political leaders. Last 
 November, Mr. Gunnels, who is now the State Superintendent, 
 wrote: "Almost every candidate for office during the past year 
 was boldly outspoken in favor of public education, in favor of 
 increased appropriations, a high standard for teachers, better 
 schoolhouses and a better school system." During the present 
 season Captain Hobson has been conducting a somewhat unique 
 and striking educational campaign throughout his Congressional 
 district, having brought from the U. S. Government service a 
 number of experts in different fields of practical science to 
 
EDUCATIONAL TROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. i 
 
 assist him in popular education. In the sphere of local organ- 
 ization, the State Federation of Women's Clubs has been active 
 in organizing "School Improvement Associations" both in the 
 cities and in rural districts. A letter from the State Super- 
 intendent, written in July, says: "We have no"W about twenty 
 county associations, four city associations and over fifty local 
 associations." The plan is to "organize a County School Im- 
 provement Association in each county and through this medium 
 to organize the rural communities." 
 
 In Mississippi, the direction of campaign work falls almost 
 entirely to the State Superintendent. He wrote concerning the 
 work of last year: "I spent two-thirds of my time in the field, 
 a greater part of which was in the rural districts. Several 
 of our leading teachers gave freely of their time, and in most 
 instances paid their own expenses. We are very much in need 
 of local leaders. I find it necessary for me to be on the ground 
 in person, and to stay in a county until it is thoroughly worked. 
 During the fall I hold meetings with the county superintendents 
 by Congressional districts, and county meetings with the super- 
 intendents, teachers, trustees and citizens generally. I visit 
 neighborhoods, usually in the spring, in the interest of high 
 schools. The only funds available for this work are those gen- 
 erously donated by the Board you represent; the greater part 
 of which is used in publishing the School Bulletin, a copy of 
 which I enclose. I have published and distributed two issues of 
 this publication of 80,000 each, during the present year. I think 
 I can reach more people in this way than by paying the expenses 
 of speakers. It is intended to be a campaign paper, and I feel 
 sure that it has had a most potent effect in educating public 
 sentiment for better schools." 
 
 In Louisiana, an effective campaign is carried on through 
 the regular school system. In November, 1906, Dr. Dillard 
 writes: "I know of no civic organization in public school inter- 
 ests except the Public School Alliance of New Orleans. ' ' He says 
 further: "The only general meeting held during the present 
 year has been that of the State Teachers' Association. At the 
 close of this meeting, with the approval and aid of Superin- 
 tendent Aswell, I called a meeting of the high school principals 
 
o EDUCATIONAL PEOORESS IT^ THE SOUTH. 
 
 and teachers, which had an attendance of seventy. We organ- 
 ized by electing a president and secretary, voted the need of such 
 an organization, and passed a resolution approving of a special 
 high school conference." The trend of thought and discussion 
 m Louisiana have been in the direction of employing superior 
 men for all important educational positions, and many of the 
 men thus employed have proven their superiority in the cam- 
 paign work. Men from the Universities have united with those 
 connected with the public schools in these efforts, and the 
 State Superintendents of Mississippi and Arkansas have also 
 given valuable assistance. Superintendent Aswell in a recent let- 
 ter names ten of these and says of them: ''These gentlemen 
 have never hesitated to go when called upon, whether to travel 
 three hundred miles by train or to drive thirty miles across 
 the country, to encourage the people to build better school- 
 houses, increase the school term, and pay the price, whatsoevp*- 
 the cost, for trained teachers. ' ' 
 
 TI. SCHOOLHOUSES. 
 
 Professor Charles L. Coon, of North Carolina, has published 
 a table of figures giving the estimated value of rural school- 
 houses in the South, leaving out those of the cities and towns. 
 The table is here reproduced, so far as relates to these eight 
 States : 
 
 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 
 
 Number. Total Value. Ave. Value. 
 
 Virginia 8,965 $1,953,532 $218 
 
 North Carolina 7,813 1,335,532 170 
 
 South Carolina 4,726 850,000 177 
 
 Georgia 7,433 2,150,135 289 
 
 Tennessee 6,680 2,496,265 373 
 
 Alabama 4,386 562,342 128 
 
 Mississippi 7,052 920,000 130 
 
 Louisiana 3,433 1,225,000 130 
 
 Total 50,488 $11,492,806 $227 
 
 With these figures before us we can see that the country school- 
 house is a telling object lesson. It is a daily reminder of things 
 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 9 
 
 due to the children which they do not have, and when the educa- 
 tional spirit is stirred the first thought will probably be of 
 better building. 
 
 The State Superintendent of North Carolina says of the people 
 of his State: "For about five years they have been building- 
 new and modern schoolhouses in accordance with plans pre- 
 pared by the best architects, approved by the State Superin- 
 tendent of Instruction, at the average rate of one a day for 
 every day in the year; 433 of these have been erected during 
 the year ending June 30, 1907, and in the five years more than 
 1,500 have been erected. The value of the rural school property 
 has been nearly doubled, and the value of the city school prop- 
 erty more than trebled since 1900." 
 
 Reports from other States in 1906 were to a similar effect : 
 
 In Virginia two hundred new schoolhouses were built dur- 
 ing the year, at a cost of $450,000, and 250 more were repaired 
 and 150 furnished at an additional cost of $75,000. 
 
 In South Carolina 200 were built from plans approved by 
 the State Department of Education, and inspected by the County 
 Superintendent. 
 
 In Georgia, during the year 1905, the number was 280. 
 
 In Tennessee, within four years, the value of school property 
 increased from $4,179,123 to $5,879,213. 
 
 In Alabama there were built within the year 346 rural school- 
 houses, at a cost of from $400 to $2,000 apiece. 
 
 In Mississippi some 470' rural schoolhouses were built of the 
 less expensive pattern, and fourteen others which cost from 
 $5,000 to $20,000. 
 
 In Louisiana 208 new buildings were erected at a cost of 
 about $500,000, and $150,000 was expended in furnishing and 
 in repairing old houses. This makes the whole number of 
 houses built in one year in the seven States, not including Ten- 
 nessee, 2151. 
 
 III. RURAL SCHOOL LIBRARIES. 
 
 People living in the country are not usually well supplied 
 with books or periodical literature and their children do not find 
 a great deal in their homes that they are much interested in 
 
10 EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 reading-. A well selected school library therefore is a real boon, 
 not only to teachers and pupils, but to the community. Much 
 has been done in several States to provide such libraries. 
 
 In Virginia, in 1906, an appropriation of $7,500 was made by 
 the Legislature for traveling libraries. 
 
 The North Carolina Legislature began making appropriations 
 for rural school libraries in 1901. For the first year or two con- 
 siderable persuasion had to be used by the State and County Sup- 
 erintendents to bring the people up to the conditions required, 
 but this has changed and now the demand is beyond the supply. 
 According to the last report, there are now 1,659 of these libra- 
 ries costing $30 each and 277 supplementary libraries costing $15 
 each ; the number of volumes is 143,800 and the total cost $53,925. 
 Besides these, upwards of 100 libraries have been established 
 by private subscription without aid from the State. All these 
 are for rural schools and do not include outlays in the cities. 
 
 From. South Carolina the Superintendent reports that nearly 
 1,000 libraries have been established in rural schools within the 
 prst four years; these contain at least 100,000 well selected 
 books and their cost has been about $40,000. There has also been 
 a library movement in the cities and towns. 
 
 Georgia reports 1,107 libraries containing 131,059 volumes 
 valued at $80,471. 
 
 In Louisiana 257 libraries were established in 1906 at the cost 
 of $6,482. There were then 469 in all, with 90,453 volumes 
 valued at $48,673. During the past six months, as the Superin- 
 tendent writes in July, $21,000 more has been expended for 
 public school libraries. 
 
 In Mississippi a new school law provides that when a school 
 will provide a locker and $10, raised by subscription, the State 
 will add $10 from the general fund. The Superintendent, in 
 his report at the close of last year expressed confidence that 500 
 libraries would be established during this year. 
 
 Putting these statements together, we may fairly estimate that 
 some 5,000 of these rural libraries have been established during 
 the past five years, and that they contain about 500,000 volumes, 
 which have cost $250,000. 
 
EDUCATIOA^AL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 11 
 
 IV. SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION. 
 
 A time of building is one of opportunity. The present necessity 
 of replacing inferior schoolhouses makes it possible to lay out 
 large plans, to select good locations and to put up buildings that 
 will be likely to meet the requirements of the coming people. In 
 the eight States under consideration there are over 50,000 school- 
 houses. Most of these, especially the poorer ones, are in the 
 country. They suggest how much might be done through local 
 schools for the multitudes who have few other chances of gain- 
 ing intelligence for their children or for themselves. Hitherto 
 these schools have done but a small part of what they might 
 do. The current of popular thought is now turning toward their 
 proper development. The conviction is growing that country 
 schools ought to be as good in their way as the schools in town. 
 Country boys and girls ought to have the chance in their own 
 neighborhood to learn those things which are needed in the nat- 
 ural pursuits that open to them, in their homes as well as else- 
 where, things more interesting to most of them than letters and 
 figures, things that lead at once to attractive exertion and high 
 achievement. So the sentiment grows that there should be in every 
 county some schools of a high order, for advanced instruction, 
 both academic and industrial, and that these should be free to 
 all who may be prepared to avail themselves of their courses. 
 
 There seems to be only one way of doing anything of this 
 ?ort, and that is to unite a number of small schools, to establish 
 in a central spot one that is equipped for the purposes intended, 
 and to contrive some way of bringing the children living at a dis- 
 tance by public conveyance. This is now being undertaken 
 very extensively. In 1900 a letter was read at the Capon Springs 
 Conference from a county superintendent in Georgia which told 
 of an experiment of this kind in Washington county. The idea 
 was then new. It has now become prevalent. 
 
 A report from Virginia last December told that about 200 
 schools had been consolidated into sixty during the previous year, 
 and a letter recently received from the same author says upon 
 the general subject: "The advantages of graded schools over 
 
12 EDUCATIONAL PEOGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 single-room schools are coming to be shown so strikingly in 
 actual experience that popular opposition to consolidation is 
 disappearing. A reasonable scheme for a graded school through 
 concentration may now be undertaken in almost any part of 
 the State without apprehension of trouble with the people." 
 
 In North Carolina five examples are given in different coun- 
 ties. 
 
 In South Carolina the State Superintendent reports that a 
 number of such cases have occurred. 
 
 In Tennessee Superintendent Mynders reported last winter 
 that within the previous four years the number of schools had 
 been reduced 630 by consolidation, while the number of teachers 
 had increased 200. 
 
 Of Mississippi, the State Superintendent says that there are 
 now one or two consolidated schools in every county of the State, 
 and the State contains some seventy-five counties. In Monrce 
 •county there are four such schools formed out of twelve small 
 schools; in Copiah county there are seven such schools and in 
 Lincoln county eight. 
 
 The report from Louisiana tells us that so far as heard from 
 there have been eighty-eight consolidations; and a recent letter 
 ■adds this information about conveyance of children from a 
 distance: "The number of school districts now transporting pu- 
 pils to central schools is thirty-seven, with a total of fifty waa 
 onettes used in the service. Two years ago there were none." 
 
 To this list may be added an illustration from another State 
 besides those named : Duval county, Florida, has fifteen schools 
 formed b}^ the consolidation of forty-five. 
 
 In this way improved schools are secured with no greater cost. 
 The public conveyance makes attendance almost as easy. The 
 larger number of the pupils facilitates grading and the em- 
 ployment of more teachers. It becomes practicable afterward 
 to add manual and industrial training, or instruction in other 
 lines according to the local demand; and so the foundation is 
 laid for whatever future development the interests of the com- 
 munity may require. 
 
EDUCATIO]N^AL PROGRESS IJ^ THE SOUTH. 13 
 
 V. RURAL HIGH SCHOOLS. 
 
 With the impulse to consolidate small schools there has been 
 another to establish high schools. The South has many colleges 
 and universities, but very few academies. Little attention has 
 been paid to preparing students for college, and the higher in- 
 stitutions have suffered. Most of these institutions have done 
 the best they could to remedy the trouble by having preparatory 
 departments, but this has been only a makeshift. They have 
 keenly felt the embarrassment and recognized the necessity of 
 multiplying secondary schools. To this call of the colleges and 
 universities there is now popular response, and the movement 
 is under Avay for maintaining high schools as a feature of the 
 public school system. Laws to this end have been enacted in 
 Virginia, in both Carolinas, in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi 
 and Louisiana, while in Georgia the question is actively agitated 
 with a view to early legislation. 
 
 Of the significance of this movement, Superintendent Joyner, 
 of North Carolina, writes: "These schools will go far towards 
 supplying the missing link between the rural public schools and 
 the colleges. By placing high school instruction within the reach 
 of hundreds and thousands of country boys and girls to whom 
 it was practically an impossibility, they will afford these an 
 opportunity to get at home preparation for college and a better 
 preparation for life and citizenship. They will prove, also, 
 potent factors in the improvement of the rank and file of the 
 rural school teachers. j\Iay we not hope that within a few 
 years North Carolina will have a complete system of public edu- 
 cation from the primary school to the college and university?" 
 
 The General Education Board has given substantial aid to 
 this movement for rural high schools and in some States a good 
 deal has already been done. 
 
 In Virginia there are now 170 such schools where there were 
 only nineteen a year and a half ago. A letter from Mr. Rawley, 
 in July, says: "Several instances of consolidation and of new 
 high schools have been reported in the last few Aveeks as a direct 
 result of the work of the leagues. ' ' 
 
1^ EDUCATIONAL PKOGEESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 Of North Carolina Mr. Joyner writes: "These high schools 
 will be organized this fall. Many applications for them are al- 
 ready on file in my office. It is already evident that the number 
 will be limited only by the appropriation and the law. ' ' 
 
 From South Carolina the State Superintendent writes: "We 
 are meeting with marked success in establishing high schools. 
 The requirements of the high school act are strict and difficult, 
 but they are being met." 
 
 Concerning Tennessee, Superintendent Mynders wrote last 
 winter: "In all parts of the State interest in public schools is 
 growing rapidly. The law authorizing the county courts to 
 establish and maintain public high schools was enacted in 1899. 
 Up to July, 1905. seven counties had levied taxes or made appro- 
 priations for th^m out of the county funds and five of these 
 had established one school each. At this time seventeen coun- 
 ties have levied taxes or made appropriations for high schools 
 and in fifteen of these counties thirty-two schools have been 
 established. The annual income of these schools from taxes 
 and appropriations is approximately $180,000 and they own 
 property valued at $175,000. In more than a dozen other coun- 
 ties committees have been appointed and other steps taken pre- 
 liminary to voting on the question of establishing high schools 
 and levying taxes for their support." 
 
 Of Louisiana, Superintendent Aswell writes in July: "Four 
 State high schools have been created during the past six months, 
 making the total number fifty-three." 
 
 VI. INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 The letter already referred to, from Washington county, Geor- 
 gia, which was read at Capon Springs, in 1900, gave an account 
 of interesting experiments in industrial instruction that had been 
 tried in the country districts. This was probably the first sys- 
 tematic efi'ort to introduce such courses into the schools of a 
 whole county anywhere in the South. During the years which 
 have followed much has been done in this way. Not only have 
 the teachers' colleges given a great deal of attention to this sub- 
 ject, but it has also been a marked feature in many of the summer 
 schools. The courses of Professor Hammel have awakened re- 
 
EDUCAl'TONAT, PKOGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 15 
 
 markable interest, and other instructors have had similar suc- 
 cess. Thus a great number of the more ambitious and proo-res- 
 sive teachers have gained a new and vital conception of the pur- 
 pose of education. This has influenced their manner of teaching 
 and affected the schools under their care. Exercises in manual 
 training and handicraft are quietly making their way in many 
 places, and sometimes where one would least expect. The old 
 methods are varied and enlivened with those more attractive, 
 while the pupils are led to observe what is going on about them 
 and to find delight in the world of natural phenomena. 
 
 The Miller School of Virginia has stood as a most impressive 
 object lesson in this kind of education, and the late Captain 
 Vawter, for many years its honored head, was an earnest apostle 
 of industrial training as an essential to the best system of public 
 schools. In complete accord with this has been the influence 
 spread abroad in each State by the Agricultural and Mechanical 
 Colleges ; these have taught the dignity of the trades and of the 
 practical sciences as affording an intellectual discipline quite as 
 eft'ective in its way as that of literature and metaphysics. Nor 
 can we leave out of view the powerful influence of General 
 Armstrong and of the great school at Hampton, which has stead- 
 ily held to the philosophy of "learning by doing." Of similar 
 infl.uence, too, has been the work of Dr. Kna^p in teaching the 
 farmers of Texas and Louisiana the latent possibilities of wealth 
 and power in an intelligent cultivation of the soil. 
 
 Last year's report from Virginia says: "Text books on agri- 
 culture have been introduced into both primary and high 
 schools." 
 
 From South Carolina comes this word: "Dr. S. A. Knapp ad- 
 dressed our teachers. He gave many of them a new view-point 
 of their work. His coming means much to our rural schools and 
 communities. He also helped other schools." 
 
 The State Superintendent of Mississippi writes : ' ' Agriculture 
 for the first time was last year made a part of the common 
 school curriculum. The work has been taken up with an un- 
 expected interest. It is no uncommon thing to see well tended 
 school gardens in the remotest districts. The introduction of 
 this study into the curriculum has had a most noticeable effect in 
 
16 
 
 EDUCATIOJSTAL PROGRESS IN THE SOL'TH. 
 
 giving the people a broader conception of the meaning of educa- 
 tion. I find that the text-books used by the children are read 
 by the parents. The A. and M. College, through its Farmers' 
 Institutes, bulletins and in other ways, is rendering efficient 
 service in awakening interest in the study of agriculture. Vocal 
 music, free-hand drawing and manual training are being taught 
 in the more progressive counties. At a fair, just closed in 
 Jackson, two counties had creditable exhibitions of work of 
 this character done in the rural schools " 
 
 A report from Louisiana is similar in its tenor : ' ' Agriculture 
 has been introduced into many of the rural schools, and manual 
 training put into three of the high schools of the State. I visited 
 recently the manual training department of the Shreveport High 
 School, and found it in a most excellent condition. Special effort 
 is being made to promote school gardens, and a number of schools 
 are beginning this work." 
 
 VII, IMPROVEMENT OF THE TEACHING FORCE.* 
 
 Teachers have had more to do with this new educational in- 
 terest than any others. They have been the first to receive pro- 
 gressive ideas ; they form the largest element in educational meet- 
 ings; they are the goul of the organizations and they have been 
 in the front of every campaign for school improvement. So, 
 too, the future of the schools depends on the teacher and what- 
 ever contributes to the improvement of the teaching force c 
 tributes to the improvement of the whole educational system. 
 
 Encouraging progress in the direction of a stronger teaching 
 force has been made : 
 
 (1) In recent legislation placing the examinations of teachers 
 under the control of the State Superintendent. The effect of 
 such law is to raise the standard of requirements and to enforce 
 this standard uniformly throughout the State. Laws embodying 
 this principle have been enacted in Mississippi, Alabama, Vir- 
 ginia, West Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina. Texas 
 and North Carolina. Superintendent Hill, reporting the effect 
 
 *Prepared chiefly by Mr. Rose. 
 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IJs^ THE SOUTH. 17 
 
 of this law in Alabama, says: "There has never been put on 
 the statute book a law Avhich has done more to raise the standard 
 of the teaching force of the State." 
 
 (2) Progress in the training of teachers has been made in 
 the more definite organization and in the larger State and local 
 support of the Teachers' Institute. In 1905 Louisiana expended 
 for Teachers' Institutes and Summer Schools $21,395. The work 
 for the State includes a monthly institute for one day in each 
 parish, an annual institute of one week in each parish, and three 
 grades of Summer Schools, one for teachers just entering the 
 service, one for third and second grade teachers, and one for 
 first grade teachers, normal school and college graduates. The 
 work has been definitely organized; it has a graded course of 
 instruction, and is administered by a corps of teachers specially 
 trained for the service. 
 
 In the laws of all the other States the institute is recognized 
 as an essential part of the State school system and some pro- 
 vision is made for its support by fees, local funds, State funds, 
 or by a combination of these. In all these States its development 
 in support and in organization is in the direction of the stand- 
 ard set by Louisiana. 
 
 (3) Further progress in the training of teachers is being made 
 in the development of the public high school. Superintendent 
 Whit Held estimates that seventy-five per cent, of the teachers in 
 the elementary rural schools of Mississippi received the whole of 
 their education in the schools in which they are teaching. This is 
 a fair estimate of recent conditions in all the Southern States. 
 Every public high school established is an institution for the 
 education of teachers; and when the States have established 
 adequate systems of 'high schools, it will be possible to require 
 of the teacher in the elementary school at least the equivalent 
 of a high school education. Nothing else now being done in the 
 South means so much for the improvement of its teaching force 
 as this rapid multiplication of public high schools. 
 
 (4) A sign of improvement in the teaching force is the growth 
 of the normal schools. For the past five years most of the State 
 Normal Schools have been adding steadily to their buildings, im- 
 proving their equipment, increasing and strengthening their 
 
18 EDUCATIOK^AL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 faculties, raising the standard of their work, and graduating 
 larger and larger numbers of students. President Jarman says 
 of Farmville: "Five years ago our annuity was only $15,000 
 and the State has appropriated on]y $60,000 for buildings and 
 equipment in seventeen years. Our annuity now is $40,000 and 
 during the last five years $125,000 has been appropriated for 
 buildings and equipment. Our faculty has increased from thir- 
 teen to thirty, and the enrollment from 422 to 873. The course 
 of study has been lengthened by three years and now ranks with 
 the courses offered by the best normal schools of the country." 
 Some of the larger schools like Eock Hill and Greensboro are 
 receiving from the State an annuity of from $60,000 to $75,000. 
 
 (5) All the State Universities in these States have established 
 departments of education for the training of teachers for the 
 secondary schools and the higher positions in the service. These 
 departments are young and are, therefore, small, but the begin- 
 ning has been made and with it a distinct advance in the train- 
 ing of teachers. 
 
 (6) The departments of education and the normal schools are 
 extending their work in summer schools. The Peabody College 
 at Nashville has a summer term in which it offers the regular 
 college work. Summer schools for teachers are now maintained 
 at the Universities of Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Ten- 
 nessee, West Virginia, and Virginia. The Summer School of 
 the South, at Knoxville, enrolls annually about 1,700 students 
 from all the Southern States. In these schools more than 5,000 
 teachers, who could not attend any institution during the regu- 
 lar year, are receiving professional training. 
 
 (7) This advance in the training of teachers is being rein- 
 forced by an advance in the teachers' salaries. Speaking of 
 North Carolina, Mr. Coon says: "The total amount paid each 
 rural white teacher in 1905-6 was $4.86 more than in the pre- 
 vious year, and the amount paid to city teachers was $10.34 
 more." Of Tennessee, Mr. Mynders says: "The salaries of 
 teachers show an increase as compared with last year of more 
 than $4.00 per month." Mr. Whitfield says of Mississippi: 
 "The Legislature of 1904 raised the maximum salary of a first 
 grade rural teacher from $55.00 to $65.00 per month ; the last 
 
EDUCATIOT^AL PROGRESS I^s^ THE SOUTH. 19 
 
 Legislature raised this to $75.00 for all counties, and further 
 provided that when a county carried a balance forward to the 
 next scholastic year, the County Superintendent could pay prin- 
 cipals of schools employing assistants $100.00 a month, and the 
 assistants $65.00. ' ' Mr. Aswell writes of Louisiana : ' ' The num- 
 ber of teachers employed who have been especially trained in 
 normal schools has increased 101. White teachers' salaries, in- 
 cluding all grades, have increased at the rate of $7.99 a month 
 during each of the past three years. Thus, the average teacher 
 is to-day receiving a salary of $23.97 a month more than was paid 
 three years ago. The average salary below the high school in 1904 
 was $36.99 ; in 1905 it Avas $42.98 ; in 1906 it has reached $49.11, 
 and the increase has continued in the same ratio since the first of 
 January, 1907. The salaries below the high school are shown to 
 be increasing at the rate of $6.06 a month for each year. The 
 average salary of high school principals is now $1,133.33 per 
 year. ' ' 
 
 VIII. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPERVISION. 
 
 The vital point in an organized system is the administration. 
 Thus we find the reports from the South constantly dwelling 
 upon the subject of school supervision. In one such report occur 
 these words: "We come now to the crucial point— the superin- 
 tendent is the life of the system. When the superintendent is good, 
 everything will be good. In the matter of supervision condi- 
 tions are about the same as set forth in previous reports. It 
 would be difficult to find in all the State a half-dozen well quali- 
 fied superintendents. To their credit, though, it must be said 
 that nearly all show a livelier interest in the schools ; and nearly 
 all would do better work if they knew how. The most encourag- 
 ing thing I know is that our worthy State Superintendent is 
 taking in the situation and has set his heart on better things. 
 'At the next appointing of superintendents,' says he, 'they must 
 be appointed to give all their time to the work, and with adequate 
 compensation.' " 
 
 In another State we have from the State Superintendent the 
 following: "At present many superintendents in the State are 
 paid as low as $150.00 per year, and some even less. Thi> will 
 
20 
 
 EDUCATION^AL PROGRESS JN THE SOUTH. 
 
 barely defray expenses of the office, and as a result they are 
 compelled to devote almost all their time to some other employ- 
 ment. Without competent supervision and direction no enter- 
 prise can succeed. The business of education is no exception. 
 The County Superintendent should be trained to his work and 
 should be capable of executing- plans for the improvement of 
 the school in his county and the better training of his teachers. 
 He should be able to carry on among the teachers a campaign 
 to stimulate interest in the schools and to create a. sentiment in 
 their favor. This, in my opinion, is to-day the strategic point in 
 the educational system of the State, and we should at least fix 
 a minimum salary for this office. A competent superintendent 
 could save the county the full amount of his salary by care- 
 fully watching the finances of the schools. ' ' 
 
 During the last few years much has been done to diffuse abroad 
 a higher conception of the meaning of this office. It was espe- 
 cially desirable that the superintendents themselves should rise 
 to a keener sense of their opportunities and responsibilities. Of 
 no little value for this purpose was a number of conventions 
 of superintendents, which were held at the suggestion of Dr. 
 Buttrick, and with the material aid of the General Education 
 Board, in 1902-3. These conventions gathered the School Sup- 
 erintendents of a particular State at a central point for con- 
 ference on practical educational questions. Eight were held in 
 as many different States. They were well attended and had great 
 influence. In several States a permanent organization of the 
 County Superintendents was effected and meetings have since 
 been annually held. 
 
 The State Superintendent of North Carolina says: "Five 
 years ago not a single county in the State employed a County 
 Superintendent for his entire time. During the past year fifty- 
 one counties employed them for a large part of their time. In 
 every county the superintendent is devoting more time than 
 ever before to his work and is visiting his schools. The average 
 salary has been more than doubled in four years and is now 
 $590. In some of the best counties the salaries range from $1,000 
 to $1,800. The law now requires all County Superintendents to 
 visit the schools and to attend the annual conferences, at which 
 
EDrCATIOXAL PROGRESS IX THE SOUTH. 21 
 
 the State Superintendent and his fellow County Superintendents 
 take counsel together about their common work. The office 
 has grown in dignity, respect, importance and in public confi- 
 dence. ' ' 
 
 The State Superintendent of Mississippi writes in a similar 
 vein: "The Legislature of 1906 adopted a new code of laws 
 for the State. In the school laws only such changes and addi- 
 tions were made as experience had shown to be needed. The 
 maximum salary of a County Superintendent was raised from 
 $1,000 to $1,800. Up to 1904, the maximum had been $800. I 
 have reports from three counties which show the following sal- 
 aries: Yazoo, $1,800; Perry, $1,600; Tate, $1,500. The law 
 provides that when the salary of a County Superintendent is 
 $1,200 or more, that official shall not pursue any other business 
 of a public nature, but shall devote his entire time to the super- 
 vision of the schools. The law also provides that in addition to 
 standing examination on the public school branches, all can- 
 didates for this office shall pass an examination on the art of 
 teaching. I am sure that the largely increased salary and the 
 higher qualifications required will result in giving to the counties 
 the one thing most needed at this time in Mississippi— intelli- 
 gent and earnest leadership. " 
 
 Quite as significant is the report of Dr. Dillard concerning 
 Louisiana: "In no department of the school work has there 
 been such marked improvement as in the department of super- 
 vision. "Within the past two years two-thirds of the superin- 
 tendents have resigned and their places have been filled by prac- 
 tical, up-to-date, professional school men. It may fairly be 
 claimed that the needy, the helpless, and the man with a political 
 'pull/ have withdrawn from the office of Parish- Superintendent 
 in Louisiana." A statement to the same effect comes from 
 Superintendent Aswell, dated July 23, 1907: "By constantly 
 pressing the subject of better schools there has been a wonderful 
 sentiment aroused in favor of school supervision. Probably the 
 greatest single achievement in Louisiana has been accomplished 
 by the parish school boards in putting trained teachers in charge 
 of the schools as Parish Superintendents. These superintendents 
 know their business, are alive to the situation, and respond 
 
22 EDUCATIONAL PROGEESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 readily to all influences for helpfulness in the school work of the 
 State." 
 
 IX. COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE LAWS. 
 
 With the growing- .sentiment in behalf of efficient supervision, 
 there is coming another to secure the better attendance of the 
 children. At the Eighth Conference, held at Columbia, S. C, 
 Professor Hand read a paper vigorously advocating legislation 
 for the accomplishment of this object, and in the following 
 year, at Lexington, Professor Barbe presented another paper, 
 telling of the experiences in West Virginia, and defending the 
 same views. This is fast becoming a question of popular interest 
 and is beginning to occupy the serious attention of legislators. 
 
 In Xorth Carolina, as Superintendent Joyner writes, ''the 
 General Assembly, in 1907, passed a compulsory attendance act, 
 a sort of local option law, ' ' and then he adds : "I contemplate 
 securing the adoption of compulsory attendance under it in a 
 number of districts in which the conditions are favorable, there- 
 by furnishing an object lesson and getting a mass of facts with 
 which to prepare public sentiment for the adoption of a general 
 compulsory law. I have no doubt of the accomplishment of 
 this within the next two years." 
 
 Dr. Frazer writes from Virginia: ''A better understanding 
 of the evils of scant and irregular attendance is fast making 
 friends for compulsory attendance. It is as common now to 
 hear men argue for it as it was a while ago to hear the rights 
 of parents defended. Some provision for its introduction is 
 confidently expected of the next Legislature." Of like import 
 are words of Mr. Rawley: "Indications gathered from com- 
 ments of the press, and otherwise, seem to show a growing desire 
 to discuss compulsory education, and it is urged that we inaug- 
 urate a campaign in this behalf at our next annual meeting." 
 
 On the same subject, one of the leading statesmen of Alabama 
 recently said: ''A compulsory law should be enacted for the 
 sake of the white children. There is no need of it for the negroes ; 
 they go to school whenever they have a chance." 
 
 The difficulty of enforcing such a law. especially in sparsel> 
 settled regions, is generally recognized, but the opinion is spread- 
 
edlx'atioj^al progress in the south. 23 
 
 ing- that it would be of great value in many communities. As 
 the school system advances in administrative efficiency, the time 
 will undoubtedly come for the enactment of such laws. 
 
 X. LITERATURE OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Education finds a swift handmaid in the popular press. The 
 intellectual life of the world is always turning to the child for 
 the fulfilment of its largest hopes, and the messenger of its 
 latest thought is the printed page. The writer is the universal 
 teacher and the reader is the recipient of his inspirations. This 
 movement for better schools in the South has had its own litera- 
 ture, a liquid spring rising out of its own heart and flowing into 
 all the land with ever fresh suggestions. 
 
 1. Foremost have been the newspapers. These have become 
 the first medium of communication between the educational 
 meeting and the general public. However full the attendance 
 at convention or conference, a vastly more numerous audience— 
 absent, unseen, silent — have listened to its voices and shared 
 in its results. The newspaper, too, has been the ready channel 
 of educational intelligence from all sources, the open forum of 
 the college president, of the members of the board of education 
 and the superintendent, of teachers and parents and children, 
 of every one and any one who has a wdsh to express or a sug- 
 gestion to offer in behalf of better advantages for the young. 
 
 In these eight States there are about 180 daily papers, with 
 an aggregate circulation of over 800,000 ; and of the periodicals 
 which appear less often, thirty-five of the more prominent have 
 a circulation of about 640,000. Such an agency as this, enlisted 
 in any cause, has a power whose scope it is not easy to compre- 
 hend. The avowed purpose of most papers is educational and 
 they are naturally sympathetic toward all measures promotive 
 of the higher interests of the people. Hence the great part which 
 they have played. 
 
 Of somewhat similar value are the bulletins, pamphlets and 
 circulars which have been prepared for a particular purpose 
 and widely scattered am.ong the people. These have supple- 
 mented the articles of the periodic press, making the ephemeral 
 
24 EDUCx\.TIOlYAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 impri^ssion permanent, and carrying the message to many who 
 would not have read it in the papers. Of great value among pub- 
 lications of this order may be named: "Universal Education/^ 
 by the Co-operative Education Association of Virginia; "Im- 
 provement of Rural Schoolhouses and Grounds," by R. D. W. 
 Connor, of North Carolina; "High School Act," by the State 
 Superintendent of South Carolina; "Plans and Specifications for 
 Schoolhouses," by the State Commissioner of Georgia; and "The 
 Task of the Leader," by Mr. Murphy, of Alabama. 
 
 Reports from the several States show the estimate placed upon 
 this work. Dr. Frazer, of Virginia, says: "There are fourteen 
 papers in various sections of the State publishing either a page 
 or a column of educational matter each week; and one hundred 
 and seventy-two papers publish such articles as are sent to 
 them by our press committee. Between 25,000 and 30,000 pages 
 of educational leaflets and literature have been printed and 
 distributed from the office of the secretary in Richmond. The 
 proceedings of the Lynchburg meeting have also been printed 
 and distributed." 
 
 Commissioner Merritt, of Georgia, says: "The following 
 pamphlets have been sent over the State: 'A Plea for the Edu- 
 cation of Georgia,' 'A Vote for Progress,' 'An Address to the 
 People of Georgia,' 'The Paramount Question,' 'Discussions of 
 our School Problems by Educational Statesmen,' 'Plans and 
 Specifications for Schoolhouses,' 'Report of School Work and 
 School Conditions,' 'What is Said by Those Who Know,' 'Our 
 Boys and Girls Our Richest Treasure." Stereotype plates of 
 'An Address to the People of Georgia,' and of addresses on 
 'Local Taxation' and 'Better Rural Schools for Georgia' have 
 been furnished for publication to the various newspapers through- 
 out the State. The press has shown eagerness for this matter 
 and we have accomplished much thereby." 
 
 Superintendent Martin, of South Carolina, speaking of the 
 School Improvement Association, remarks: -"The addresses of 
 the members are kept for a mailing list and the president has 
 prepared and sent to them some very helpful and suggestive 
 bulletins which have led to the improving and beautifying of 
 many schoolhouses with their surroundings." 
 
EDUCATIOI>fAL PROGRESS IN TILE SOUTH. '1^ 
 
 Superintendent Gunnels, of Alabama, closes his report with 
 the words : ' ' I am enclosing to you three small pamphlets which 
 explain themselves. These pamphlets have been distributed 
 generally and generously over the State, and I trust they will 
 bear much fruit." 
 
 Many particular examples might be cited of the effective 
 assistance rendered by some of the leading newspapers. Dur- 
 ing the past year the Nashville American has published Super- 
 intendent Mynders' statistical report of four years' progress 
 in the Tennessee schools; the State, of Columbia, has printed an 
 elaborately illustrated commencement number, descriptive of 
 all the South Carolina Colleges; and the Kaleigh News and Ob- 
 server has sent out an educational number, containing forty- 
 eight pages full of valuable information from men of mark 
 among the institutions of North Carolina, and especially inter- 
 esting for a review of five years by the State Superintendent. 
 Similar things have been done from time to time by other 
 journals. 
 
 It was in the design of the early conferences at Capon Springs 
 to have the influential press of the several States participate 
 by their chosen representatives, and in the subsequent meetings 
 much pains has been taken to enlist their interest and co-opera- 
 tion. On the formation of the Southern Education Board, one 
 of the first steps was the establishment of the Bureau of Infor- 
 mation at Knoxville, to w^ork with the newspapers and through 
 them in carrying on "a crusade against ignorance." The de- 
 velopment of this phase of the work from year to year has 
 been as remarkable as any part of it. 
 
 2. A literature more substantial and lasting has also made 
 its appearance. The peculiar situation in the South has raised 
 many educational questions of world wide significance. Espe- 
 cially has this been the case as concerns the education of the 
 negroes. Here are problems that reach beyond America to 
 Africa, Asia and the Philippines. The ablest minds of the 
 country are attracted to these problems and are bestowing upon 
 them their earnest thought. Men of this character have been 
 asked to address the great educational assemblies of the South 
 and have prepared for these occasions, by careful research and 
 
26 EDUCATIOW^AL PEOGKESS IN" THE SOUTll. 
 
 diligent study. Then have followed the published "Proceed- 
 ings, ' ' thorough revision of the more notable addresses for maga- 
 zine articles, and finally the embodiment of their clearest con- 
 elusions in books. Certain widely read volumes, like "The Re- 
 building of Old Commonwealths" and "The Present South," 
 will at once occur to many, but if we were to gather all the 
 volumes which have come into existence on the waves of this 
 movement there would stand before us more than we think. ' ' 
 
 3. Perhaps it may be questioned whether statistical reports 
 are to be regarded as literature, but these certainly have great 
 significance in the field of practical education. The regular 
 reports of the Department of Education to the Legislature in 
 the several States are the index of educational conditions. A 
 full and thorough report is possible only with a well organized 
 school system. The State Superintendent cannot prepare credit- 
 able tables of figures for the counties unless the county officials 
 send accurate statistics to him, and the County Superintendent 
 will be equally helpless unless the teachers in each school are 
 faithful in their reports. Those who depend upon published 
 statistics often find them misleading for this cause. Figures sent 
 out by the United States Government might naturally be re- 
 garded as trustworthy, but the Government is at the mercy of local 
 officials, and its statements may be faulty because certain coun- 
 ties have not been heard from, or particular schools have given 
 no account of what they are doing. 
 
 In most of the Southern States the general educational ad- 
 vance has been reflected in greatly improved statistics. In a 
 number of them the annual reports of the Department of Edu- 
 cation, with their carefully tabulated figures for the many hun- 
 dred schools, are an honor to the State and to all who have con- 
 tributed to their perfection. In other States where conditions 
 are still backward, and the county boards are negligent, earnest 
 efforts are under way to remedy the trouble. There is a move- 
 ment in one of the more progressive States to have a law passed 
 requiring the County Superintendent to present a full and sat- 
 isfactory report of all the schools in his charge, and forbidding 
 the payment of his salary till the report has been rendered. In 
 another State, measures are being taken to provide an extra 
 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 27 
 
 clerk whose time shall be given to this particular business. With 
 the improvement in organization, which is so evident in all 
 the States, there must be increasing completeness in these publica- 
 tions. 
 
 XI. THE EDUCATIONAL CENTER. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson gave to the Republic the conception of a 
 university organically joined to a system of free schools for all 
 the people, and he undertook to embody this thought in the 
 University of Virginia. That conception brought into the new 
 day and given a modern interpretation has had no little power 
 in kindling and guiding the educational spirit of the Southern 
 people. 
 
 While it may be simpler to look upon a college as chiefly for 
 the individuals who gather there to pursue their chosen courses 
 of study, a larger view is quite as essential. The "Seat of Learn- 
 ing," with its spirit of research and love of truth, belongs to 
 all who are concerned with accurate thinking and widening 
 knowledge. As the home of a brotherhood of scholars who thus 
 keep in touch with one another and work together for high 
 ends — as a sacred spot having asvsociations with great men and 
 great deeds of other times, conserving the best traditions of the 
 past, resisting the worst clamors of the present, and guarding 
 reverently the worthiest standards of conduct for the young who 
 are to do their work in the future, the college well deserves all 
 the honor and love which it is our American custom to render. 
 
 The number of colleges in the States under review, as reported 
 by the United States Commissioner of Education, omitting those 
 especially for negroes, is as follows : 
 
 UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES FOR WHITE STUDENTS. 
 
 Va. N. C. 8. C. Ga. Tenn. Ala. Miss. La. Tot. 
 
 For men and co-ed... 
 
 For women 
 
 Technological schools. 
 
 . 10 
 
 10 
 
 . 2 
 
 10 
 9 
 1 
 
 7 
 8 
 2 
 
 7 
 9 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 1 
 
 3 
 9 
 1 
 
 5 
 3 
 
 65 
 
 62 
 8 
 
 Total 
 
 22 
 
 20 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 
 25 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 135 
 
 A similar table presents the number of corresponding Normal 
 Schools as given in the reports : 
 
^O EDUCATIONAI. PROGKESS 11^ THE SOUTH. 
 
 NORMAL SCHOOLS FOR WHITE STUDENTS. 
 
 Va. N. C. S. C. Ga. Tenn. Ala. Miss. La. Tot.. 
 Public normal schools. 1114 1422 16 
 
 Private normal schools 1 2.. .. 5 3 1.. 12 
 
 Total 2 3 1 4 6 7 3 2 28 
 
 Some idea of the general progress of these institutions may be 
 gained from a comparison of the reports at an interval of several 
 years. The table below is concerned with the reported numbers; 
 of students enrolled in 1900-1 and in 1904-5.* 
 
 *Institutions reported in but one of these years are not included. 
 
 STUDENTS IN INSTITUTIONS FOR ADVANCED EDUCATION. 
 
 1900-1. WO't-o, or 
 
 Men. Women. Men. Women. Decrease. 
 
 25 colleges for men 6,049 103* 6,875 7* +826 —96 
 
 36 co-educational colleges. 7,494 2,534 7,931 2,637 +437 +103 
 
 59 colleges for women 9,823 11,623 +1,800 
 
 8 schools for technology.. 2,918 23 3,902 17 +984 —6 
 
 13 public normal schools 683 2,122 735 3,702 +52 +1,580 
 
 Private normal schools... 394 379 331 616 —63 +237 
 
 17,538 14,984 19,774 18,602 +2,236 +3,618 
 
 The total number of students in 1900-1 was 32,522 ; in 1904-5- 
 it was 38.376 ; increase, 5,854 ; per cent, increase, 18. The per 
 cent, increase of men was 12.7 ; that of women 24.1. During- 
 the four years the proportion of men in the co-educational 
 colleges and schools of technology greatly increased, while in; 
 the normal schools there was a like increase in the proportion 
 of Avomen. In the colleges for men exclusively the number of 
 students was much larger in 1905 than in 1901, and the same was 
 true in the colleges exclusively for women. Apparently the 
 co-educational system is less in favor than formerly. The in- 
 creasing demand for women in the teachers' calling explains 
 their growing numbers in the normal schools, and the demand 
 for men in positions requiring a technical education offers a 
 reason for there being so many of them in the schools of tech- 
 nology. 
 
 *Of the colleges for men, three report 103 women in 1900-1, and none 
 in 1904-5; three others report no women in 1900-1, and seven in 1904-5. 
 It seems better to class the six in this list than among the co-educational 
 colleges. 
 
EDUCATIONAL PEOGRESS IX THE SOUTH. 29 
 
 The showing of the reports in respect to maintenance is also 
 worthy of attention. Among the colleges for men and those 
 ior students of both sexes there are twenty-five which show an 
 increase of productive funds from an aggregate of $5,847,000 
 to an aggi^egate of $8;748,000 ; a gain of $2,901,000, or 49.6 per 
 cent. To be sure, the greater part of this gain is in a few insti- 
 tutions, but so great an increase in a brief four years is not 
 without tokens of encouragement for all. Of the colleges for 
 women, seven show an increase in productive funds, though this 
 increase is not large. The schools of technology have the ad- 
 vantage of maintenance from the United States Government and 
 ■from the State. It is not surprising, therefore, that the reports 
 show an increase in the value of their grounds, buildings and 
 •equipment from $2,277,000 in 1900-1 to $3,432,000 in 1904-5; 
 an advance of $1,155,000, or over fifty per cent. The public 
 normal schools have a similar advantage in the support of the 
 several States in which they are located, and they show a like 
 prosperity, the nine schools reporting in 1905, a valuation of 
 buildings, grounds and equipment at $1,490,000. 
 
 One can hardly appreciate the significance of these institutions, 
 or understand the position in which they now stand, without 
 knowing something of their history. Many of them have a great 
 record, reaching back to times when the conditions of their en- 
 vironment were wholly difi^erent from those of the present time. 
 In the list of colleges for men and for students of both sexes 
 there are forty- four whose date of origin is older than 1865 ; and 
 among the colleges for women there are thirty-five. On the 
 other hand, the schools of technolog^^, with the exception of two 
 military institutes, have all come into existence since 1870. The 
 normal schools likewise are of recent origin. The older colleges 
 are not all rich in material resources, but they may be rich in 
 other things. 
 
 Take a list of the twelve oldest colleges in the South, with 
 i"he dates of their founding : 
 
 College of William and Mary 1693 
 
 Washington and Lee University 1749 
 
 Hampden-Sidney College 1776 
 
 University of Nashville 1785 
 
 College of Charleston 1790 
 
30 EDUCATIONAL PEOGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 University of Tennessee 1794 
 
 Greenville and Tusculum 1794 
 
 Washington College 1795 
 
 University of North Carolina 1795 
 
 University of Georgia 1800 
 
 Salem Female Academy and College 1802 
 
 South Carolina College 1805 
 
 The first of these has been a center of intellectual life for over 
 two hundred years, and each of the others for more than a 
 century. The generations gone have left them something that 
 is worth having and worth cherishing. Whatever power they 
 have had to guide thought and govern conduct continues with 
 them, having grown in steadiness and fineness by all the vicissi- 
 tudes through which they have kept their fidelity to high ideals. 
 
 If these schools have an enhanced value by reason of their 
 age, each of those more recently established has a value of its 
 own. Each has been started to meet a want. At the beginning 
 of the last century, when there were only ten colleges, there 
 were only 1,800,000 people in this whole territory. There are five 
 of these States, any one of which contains now a larger population 
 than that. Then the most westerly college was the University 
 of Nashville, and the University of Georgia, at Athens, was on 
 the southwestern frontier. The educational life that has gone 
 into that whole vast region to the west and south of these two 
 places has been carried thither by the colleges which have risen, 
 one after another, as the pioneers took possession of the new 
 country. There, as in the older States, they have kept on coming 
 into existence as they have been wanted. And always they have 
 difftised abroad among the people higher conceptions of life, 
 more intelligence, better standards of conduct. They have made 
 the attractive college community, whose almost uniform eleva- 
 tion of manners and morals gives tone to social usages for fifty 
 miles around. They have cultivated the love of literature, of 
 music, of art. They have given to religion a healthier theology 
 and a sweeter spirit. They have purified business of its sordid- 
 ness, have restrained the riot of passion, have fostered all the 
 domestic virtues and given to society its finest amenities. 
 
 Colleges of the older sort have done all this; they are doing 
 it to-day, and more than this in a hundred places. But new 
 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 31 
 
 times bring new wants. The swift intercommunication of mod- 
 ern life makes the necessity of co-operation in everything, and 
 of educational co-operation. There rises, too, the necessity of 
 educational centers for a larger circuit of influence and for 
 greatly multiplied responsibilties. This is why the State Normal 
 Schools are coming into such prominence. They are a neces- 
 sity in behalf of the rural schools in every part of a hundred 
 counties; and it looks as if these schools would have to assume 
 more far-reaehing administrative functions in the task of ap- 
 prenticing their pupils to the service for which they are pre- 
 paring. This is the meaning of the great schools of technology. 
 A tiine of such vast business enterprise in all fields requires 
 them: and the demands upon them from farm, forest, manufac- 
 tory, mines and transportation are likely to be multiplied many 
 fold before many years have passed. This explains the greater 
 university with its comprehensive embrace of all departments 
 of learning and its. interest in all fields of intellectual inquiry. 
 If we see the outlines of an institution coming out before our 
 eyes in colossal proportions that are unfamiliar, it is because 
 there has never been such another period and the new exigencies 
 must have these new agencies for the evolution that is going on. 
 This accounts also for the woman's college of ampler scope. 
 Women are entering into manifold activities that were unknown 
 to former generations. Organizations everywhere for every kind 
 of social and civic improvement witness to a feminine efflores- 
 cence as universal and profuse as the harvests men are reaping, 
 and the schools of women must be rich enough and comprehen- 
 sive enough to respond to all this and lead it forward to the 
 most sound and beneficent results. And with all these develop- 
 ments there is such a need of that quality which inheres in 
 the older colleges as no language can express. Their ancient 
 halls of classic refinement, their atmosphere of meditation and 
 idealism are like oases in the wilderness of modern industrialism. 
 But they will find their best and purest life in meeting the wants 
 of the new times, in coming into adjustment with modern neces- 
 sities and doing what they may to guide and ennoble all efforts 
 for popular enlightenment. 
 
 An essential feature of the new educational movement is its 
 inclusion of all the people. In the old times, the poorer people 
 
32 EDUCATIONAL PKOGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 saw little of school or college; in the new, they have access to 
 both. In all the educational progress of the South nothing is 
 more wonderful than the growth of schools for negroes. The 
 following table, showing the number of schools of advanced 
 grade maintained in each State for negro education, has been 
 prepared from the last report of the United States Commissioner 
 of Education : 
 
 SECONDARY AND HIGHEE SCHOOLS FOB NEGRO STUDENTS. 
 
 Va. N. C. 8. C. Ga. Tenn. Ala. Miss. La. Tot. 
 
 Public high schools 6 1 9 6 10 4 10 1 47 
 
 Other schools of high 
 
 grade 11 17 10 17 8 13 10 5 91 
 
 Total number 17 18 19 23 18 17 20 6 138 
 
 How much it means that there are so many of these so widely 
 distributed! Attention is sometimes called to the remarkable 
 decrease of illiteracy among the negroes as an evidence of pro- 
 gress : far more significant are their great schools, which have 
 grown and multiplied so fast. For these concentrate intelligence, 
 train their pupils to see through every difficult situation, and show 
 them how to live so as to derive strength and joy from all ex- 
 periences. There are educational centers for the negroes so well 
 known and so penetrative in their enlightening power that there 
 is no need of even mentioning their name. These are not tem- 
 ples to literature or art or scholarship so much as training 
 grounds for better service of mankind. The rare few who have 
 the ability and disposition to become scholars and artists will 
 find no bar to their entrance at the best endowed universities 
 of the North and of Europe. But the center of negro education 
 here is for the whole negro people. It is the mother of other 
 schools which thrive under its fostering oversight and extend 
 its service to distant fields. It is the patroness of all useful 
 industries. It is the mentor to rebuke a hundred follies. It 
 is the friend of goodness, of genuine religion, of blameless, reso- 
 lute character. The existence of such schools is the supreme 
 safeguard of the future of the negro people. 
 
 In the nature of things the education of the white people 
 and that of the negroes must go on at the same time. There 
 are many educational interests which the two peoples have in 
 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 33 
 
 common. It seems wise to keep this in mind. If both peoples 
 exert themselves to advance these common interests they will be 
 more likely to succeed than if one undertakes the whole and the 
 other looks on in indifference. These common interests are most 
 apparent in the public schools. All the schools are under the 
 same administration and it is for the advantage of all that this 
 be conscientious, capable and efficient. It is similar with indus- 
 trial questions, like the promotion of better agriculture, better 
 stock raising^ better treatment of the forests. These are ques- 
 tions that concern everybody who has anything to do with a 
 farm, or with cattle, or with cutting down trees. It makes little 
 difference whether he is a white man or a negro ; in either case 
 he wants to know how he can do his work best and make the 
 most out of it. In every educational center constant attention 
 may be given to all such great common interests and much can 
 be done to cultivate the spirit of co-operation and mutual help- 
 fulness through which the desired ends are to be attained. 
 
 Such a dependence on intellectual centers is hardly likely to 
 be less in the future. As the schools of the people grow and 
 become better, the colleges and universities will also grow. The 
 higher schools will look to the colleges for qualified teachers to 
 do their work, and then, in turn, they will send up to the colleges 
 their graduates to pursue advanced courses; thus they will be 
 joined continually in common interests and in a common service. 
 
 XII. LAW AND FINANCE. 
 
 The spirit of popular education undertakes to realize its 
 hopes through legislation and taxation. Particular schools and 
 colleges may be maintained in other ways, but education for 
 the people must be "of the people and by the people." Every 
 step of advance is in an expression of the popular will, first at the 
 ballot box, afterward in meetings of the school board and in ses- 
 sions of the Legislature and finally in the payment of assess- 
 ments to the collector. This is the procedure for raising the 
 standards of efficiency at every point, for increasing salaries, 
 securing capable superintendents and teachers, consolidating 
 weak schools, improving schoolhouses, adding libraries, intro- 
 ducing new courses, regulating terms and governing the pupils 
 
34 
 
 EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 in their attendance. The people vote and then the vote is actual- 
 ized in the tax. 
 
 What has been already said presents some of the specific bene- 
 fits thus achieved. Indication of the more general results that 
 have followed in a number of States, within four or five years, 
 may be seen in the following tables of figures obtained from 
 official sources: 
 
 EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN SEVERAL STATES SINCE THE 
 ORGANIZATION OF THE SOUTHERN EDUCATION BOARD. 
 
 Statistics. 
 
 expenditures for public schools as officially reported by u. s. com- 
 missioner and state superintendent. 
 
 (Five Years) 1900-1. WOo-O. Increase. % Inc. 
 
 Virginia $2,012,359 $3,158,497 $1,146,138 56 
 
 North Carolina 1,152,920 2,291,053 1,138,133 99 
 
 South Carolina 961,897 1,404,474 442,577 46 
 
 Georgia 2,083,366 2,763,247 679,881 32 
 
 Tennessee 1,811,454 3,247,563 1,436,109 79 
 
 Louisiana 1,236,648 2,812,736 1,576,088 127 
 
 Total $ 9,258,644 $15,677,570 $ 6,418,926 69 
 
 In Alabama expenditures in 1900-1 were reported as $923,464, and the 
 estimate of the State Superintendent for 1905-6 is $1,600,000, an in- 
 crease of $676,536, which would be 73 per cent. 
 
 In Mississippi expenditures for 1900-1 were reported as $1,472,433, 
 but exact figures are not available for 1905-6, nor have we received 
 an estimate from the State Superintendent. 
 
 EXPENDITURES FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL EQUIPMENTS. GROUNDS, BUILDINGS, 
 
 FURNITURE, LIBRARIES, APPARATUS. 
 
 U. S. Commissioner's Reports. 
 
 (Four Years) 1900-1. 1904-'^. Increase. % Inc. 
 
 Virginia $ 187,301 $ 278,982 $ 91,681 49 
 
 North Carolina 61,689 296,892 235,203 481 
 
 South Carolina 62,895 140,169 77,274 123 
 
 Georgia (ex. cities) 87,952 162,722 74,770 83 
 
 Tennessee 131,615 261,529 129,914 91 
 
 Louisiana 60,036 419,852 359,816 582 
 
 Total $ 591,488 $1,560,146 $ 968,658 164 
 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 85 
 
 ESTIMATED VALUE OF ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL PROPERTY. 
 
 U. S. Commissioner's Reports. 
 
 (Four Years) 1!)00-1. lOO'ro. Increase. % Inc. 
 
 Virginia $3,603,634 $4,297,653 $ 694,019 19 
 
 North Carolina 1,335,658 3,182,918 1,847,260 138 
 
 South Carolina 990,000 2,000,000 1,010,000 101 
 
 Georgia 2,738,800 4,009,590 1,270,790 46 
 
 Tennessee 3,691,069 5,171,753 1,480,684 40 
 
 Louisiana 2,450,000 3,659,915 1,209,915 49 
 
 Total $14,809,161 $22,321,829 $7,512,668 51 
 
 LOCAL FUNDS RAISED FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES. 
 
 United States Commissioner, State Superintendent. 
 
 (Five Years) 1900-1 1905-6. Increase. % Inc. 
 
 Virginia $ 985,877 $1,303,900 $ 318,023 24 
 
 North Carolina 15,949 448,775 432,826 2,714 
 
 South Carolina 142,459 269,162 126,703 89 
 
 Georgia , 423,288 1,100,000 676,712 159 
 
 Tennessee 1,631,589 2,324,429 692,840 42 
 
 Louisiana 742,945 1,570,598 827,653 111 
 
 Total ...$3,942,107 $7,016,864 $3,074,757 78 
 
 In Alabama no report is available for 1900-1; in 1905-6 the amount 
 reported is $534,936. 
 
 In Mississippi the amount reported in 1900-1 was $508,418; no defi- 
 nite report has been received for 1905-6. 
 
 XIII. THE CONCORD OF INTELIJGENCE. 
 
 This record of progress is traceable to many causes. The 
 recent economic development of the South is one caiLse. The 
 increase of intercommunication among the people is another. 
 The general spirit of educational interest throughout the world 
 is another. The wide-spread sentiment of personal aspiration 
 and philanthropic enterprise among the people of the South and 
 especially among those who have most to do with educational 
 Avork is another. 
 
 But, recognizing the contributions rendered by all these, one 
 other element may well be taken into account— nuitual interest 
 and unity of purpose. The friends of education have come into 
 close acquaintance, into understanding of one another's aims, 
 into an attitude of habitual interchange which has made those 
 living in Virginia a unit with others doing the same work in the 
 
•36 educatiotntal progress in the south. 
 
 Carolinas, in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, even to distant 
 Louisiana and Texas. 
 
 Information circulated in print has value. But there is an- 
 other mode of information coming from personal contact that 
 is far more vital and vivifying. To be with those who have 
 thought on the subjects in which we are interested and to hear 
 what they have discovered; to be in a gathering of people who 
 have caught the inspiration of a theme which has been our daily 
 meditation and to blend our opinion in the clearer apprehension 
 that breaks on the minds of many; to dwell for an hour or a 
 day or for longer in an atmosphere of heightened intelligence 
 where obscure things flash into brightness and uncertain grop- 
 ings emerge at a bound into strong convictions — in such experi- 
 ences one gets at profounder lessons than he can ever find in 
 books or libraries. He comes to understandings that throb with 
 life. He becomes aware of vast human meanings in common- 
 place tasks making them look different, so that his w^ork can 
 never again be what it had been. 
 
 Association by means of correspondence with a brotherhood of 
 kindred spirits engaged in the same service brings like results. 
 Each is clearer sighted and stronger for the companionship. The 
 knotty problems with which one has to deal are the problems of 
 a thousand and when a snarl is untangled by one all the rest 
 learn how it is to be done. A determined effort in Virginia be- 
 comes an example for Alabama; a fruitful procedure in the 
 parishes of Louisiana, an eventual harvest in all the other States. 
 Intercommunication makes the achievement of any particular 
 locality the triumph of many others and sends the accruing bene- 
 fits from one end of the land to the other. 
 
 Such a community of spirit throughout the Southern educa- 
 tional field is characteristic of these last few years. It has come 
 by a natural, healthy course. Underneath it has been the es- 
 sential unity of the public school system, and the State Super- 
 intendents have been the exponents of its genius. Without an 
 exception these superintendents have, themselves, manifested 
 a large co-operative spirit and stood at the front in cultivating 
 the noble companionship. 
 
 The Southern Education Board has been especially interested 
 in this aspect of the work. Its Compaign Committee, having a 
 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 37 
 
 kind of quiet oversight of all that was going on in the several 
 States, has fostered concord without intention or effort. Al- 
 ways in closest touch with the State Superintendents, and doing 
 its work in each State under their direction, it has served as 
 an agency of communication between the States and brought 
 their principal workers closer together. So with every year's 
 campaigning, the fellowship has broadened and strengthened, 
 growing constantly in significance and practical power. No 
 one foresaw at the beginning to what it would grow. It was a 
 venture into a field that had not been much tilled, and the fruit- 
 fulness has far outstripped the hopes that were entertained. 
 
 The following table of figures shows the amounts contributed 
 by the Board from year to year in the several States for the 
 maintenance of the work conducted by the Campaign Commit- 
 tee: 
 
 STATE CAMPAIGN EXPENSES OF THE SOUTHERN EDUCATION BOARD. 
 
 (From the books of the Treasurer.) 
 
 1902. 1903. 1901 1905. 1906. Total. 
 
 Va $ 5,406.30 $ 5,838.87 $ 2,914.23 $ 2,327.07 $ 3,000.00 $19,486.47 
 
 N. C... 2,975.99 4,297.59 2,996.89 3,146.30 2,434.08 15,850.85 
 
 S. C 1,260.55 526.05 1,644.14 775.42 4,206.16 
 
 Ga 175.00 1,265.73 1,238.75 887.42 2,505.74 6,072.64 
 
 Tenn 653.54 1,989.38 1,943.00 1,994.87 6,580.79 
 
 Ala 900.00 400.00 1,046.29 1,345.30 1,203.75 4,895.34 
 
 Miss 750.00 916.67 691.65 1,000.00 3,358.32 
 
 La 1,614.86 1,504.12 2,284.03 1,349,14 2,500.00 9,252.15 
 
 Ky 438.02 218.73 656.75 
 
 $11,072.15 $15,970.40 $13,912.29 $13,772.04 $15,632.59 $70,359.47 
 
 The sums are* not large, either severally or in the aggregate, 
 but they have been employed in such ways that the results have 
 been most satisfactory. 
 
 There are two ways of aiding the cause of education: one is, 
 to bestow large sums for the creation outright of institutions 
 projected according to conventional designs; another is, to en- 
 courage the people to grow their own institutions to meet rec- 
 ognized wants and accomplish the high ends of statesmanship. 
 With full acknowledgment of the gratitude that is due to those 
 benefactors who have founded the great seats of learning that 
 are everywhere held in honor, it must yet be borne in mind that 
 
38 
 
 EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 such institutions by themselves are not adequate to supply a 
 people's wants. There must be others, and so many of them 
 that it would be impossible to establish them in any such way. 
 
 The Southern people have taken in hand the task of develop- 
 ing an educational system that shall extend to all their children, 
 and afford them the training they require for life's various 
 callings. To this end they are directing their thought and their 
 united endeavor. The Southern Education Board has done 
 what lay in its power to encourage such a purpose, not on account 
 of the South only, but for the whole nation. 
 
 y^ XIV. BENEFITS TO THE NEGROES. 
 
 In this movement, divisive questions have been avoided and 
 thc.<=:e of common concern have received chief attention, in the 
 belief that unity is essential to the greatest efficiency, and that 
 ever}^ advance in the cause of popular education is of universal 
 signilicance. 
 
 The white people seem to have reaped the greatest immediate 
 advantage. The conferences have been almost confined to them 
 in the attendance ; they have caught the spirit of these occasions, 
 have put themselves into the new efforts suggested and carried 
 them into practical demonstration; naturally the schools for 
 white children have been the first to feel the influence. To 
 some it may even seem that the Negroes have not had their fair 
 share. If Ave look below the surface, however, it will be found 
 that far more has been accomplished for the Negroes than at 
 once appears. 
 
 1. The situation of the Negroes has heen a constant study. The 
 people who have been grouped together in this work as friends 
 of education are friends of the Negro education. This is shown 
 by addresses made at the conferences, and still more in the per- 
 sonal interest evinced by those in attendance, as they have many 
 of them, year by year, paid their visits to Hampton, Tuskegee, 
 Calhoun and other Negro schools. It means a good deal that a 
 work beset with so many practical difficulties has such earnest 
 thought given to its perplexing phases. Thorough examination 
 of anything difficult is the best beginning of endeavor. 
 
 2. Many of the things accomplished are directly helpful t\a 
 the Negroes. Cultivation of educational spirit, increase of reve- 
 
 pD tO.4 
 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 39 
 
 nue, improved supervision, better training of teachers, adaptation 
 of schools to practical wants — all of these must work for the 
 Negro's good. In any system of operations which involves the 
 interests of multitudes, if things go wrong those who suffer most 
 are the helpless, and when a change comes for the better these 
 are sure to profit by it. In the public school system, a great deal 
 is wrong. Southern men do not hesitate to say that it is espe- 
 cially so in the Southern States. They tell us that incapacity, 
 inefficiency and political "pull" have prevailed; that superin- 
 tendents have been put in and put out for party purposes ; that 
 teachers have been appointed through favoritism and sometimes 
 for so much cash in hand : that schoolhouses have been located 
 for the convenience of a single family; and that in many ways 
 the school revenues have been dissipated without bringing to 
 the people anything like the benefits for which they were in- 
 tended. In the loss, the poorest have lost most; and because 
 the Negroes are poorest of all they have lost more than any 
 others. So, when the renovation of the school system shall be 
 complete, their gain will be the most conspicuous. An admin- 
 istration of the public school system which secures to Negroes 
 their dues, before the law, as it is on the statute books to-day, 
 will give new character to all Negro schools. 
 
 3. The educctMonal trend, as fostered hy this movement, is 
 toward a training particidarly desirable for people in such cir- 
 cumstances as those of the Negroes. ''Education" has stood 
 too much for things ornamental rather than useful. It is com- 
 ing to stand for the things that in any way make life richer 
 in efficiency and in fruitful practical experiences. A conception 
 which magnifies education for handicraft, for country life, and 
 for skill in all manner of occupations, is full of promise for 
 these children of a race of slaves. 
 
 4. Co-operation between friends of the Negro in the North 
 and those of like spirit in the South is coming into a most sig- 
 nificant realization. Northern people are learning that efforts 
 from so great a distance are at a certain disadvantage, and South- 
 ern people are seeing as never before that they have peculiar 
 personal responsibilities for the training and conduct of these 
 baclrvvard people who are all about them, subject to their in- 
 fluence and pliant to their direction. This must have the effect 
 
40 EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 in due time of improving the relations between the people of 
 the two races; it will gradually eliminate one fruitful source of 
 estrangement and bitterness; it will promote neighborly feeling 
 and a spirit of mutual helpfulness which will be for the highest 
 interests of all alike. 
 
 For the Northern people to regard this people in one way, 
 and for the Southern people to regard them in another way wholly 
 at variance, is incompatible with the correct view on the part 
 of either the North or the South, and it puts the Negroes them- 
 selves in a very bad position for fulfilling their rightful ser- 
 vice to themselves and the nation. Sectional division of senti- 
 ment must give place to a national unanimity of sentiment ; and 
 this unanimity must be so just, so true to all the actualities, 
 so appreciative of all qualities of worth and so kindly toward 
 all infirmities of constitution and environment, as to com- 
 mand the assent of the Negro himself and the approval of man- 
 kind. 
 
 5. Many who are identified witli tJi/is movemejit have done large 
 service for particular enterprises in hehalf of the Negroes. Men- 
 tion has been made of Hampton, Tuskegee and Calhoun. Add 
 to these the Industrial Reformatory at Hanover, Va., the Penn 
 School at Helena, S. C, the Industrial School at Ft. Valley, Ga., 
 the Industrial School at Sandersville, Ga., and many other schools 
 which have grown and prospered under the fostering care of 
 Hampton and Tuskegee. The Southern Improvement Company 
 is another significant expression of the same enterprise. The 
 beneficence from this source has made itself effective also in 
 the encouragement of hospitals and nurse training, in aiding 
 institutions for the care of orphans, in assisting industrial mis- 
 sions, and other measures for social improvement. Not a little 
 has been done for the literature of the Negro people. The quiet 
 influence of a magazine like The Southern Workman is beyond 
 estimate. Careful study of many phases of the life of this people 
 have been made and published in the periodical press of the 
 country. Under like auspices a number of books have been 
 printed and had a wide circulation. So, in more ways than can 
 be named, the Negroes have been helped to find themselves and 
 to acquire higher views of what they can be and do. 
 
 There is no way of showing the extent of these manifold quiet 
 operations, but to those who are watching them with steady in- 
 terest, they are by no means unimportant or barren of results. 
 
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