PUBLIC PROVISION FOR NEGRO EDUCATION.

Public Elementary Schools:—The existence of the large number of private schools for colored people is largely explained by the inadequacy of the public schools. The inequality in the public schools for white and 231colored children is apparent to every one who visits the South. The Report on Negro Education recently published by the Bureau of Education, presents these inequalities in terms of salaries spent. The report shows that in fifteen Southern States and the District of Columbia, $42,510,703 is spent annually in teachers’ salaries. Of this sum $36,649,827 was for teaching 3,552,431 white children and only $5,860,876 for teaching 1,852,181 colored children. In other words the number of white children is less than twice the number of colored children, but the amount of money spent for their education is over six times that spent for the colored children. The average or per capita annual expenditure for the education of the white child is $10.32, while that for the colored child is only $2.89.

In addition to the sums appropriated for the maintenance of the common schools the South in 1912–13 appropriated $6,429,991 for higher schools for white people and only $336,970 for similar schools for colored people.

The amount expended in teachers’ salaries in the Southern States and the average for each child of school age are shown in the following table:

STATE AMOUNT OF TEACHERS’ SALARIES AVERAGE PER CHILD

WHITE COLORED WHITE COLORED

Alabama $2,523,550 $372,177 $9.41 $1.78

Arkansas 2,587,462 455,938 12.95 4.59

Delaware 357,071 47,415 12.61 7.68

Florida 1,022,745 167,381 11.50 2.64

Georgia 2,884,580 483,622 9.58 1.76

Kentucky 3,389,354 401,208 8.13 8.53

Louisiana 2,807,103 211,376 13.73 1.31

Maryland 2,567,021 282,519 13.79 6.88

Mississippi 1,284,910 340,459 10.60 2.26

North Carolina 1,715,994 340,856 5.27 2.02

Oklahoma 3,232,706 283,385 14.21 9.96

South Carolina 1,454,098 305,080 10.00 1.44

Tennessee 1,938,487 298,772 8.27 4.83

Texas 4,892,836 904,335 10.08 5.74

Virginia 2,767,365 421,381 9.64 2.74

These figures explain the efforts of the colored people to enlist the sympathy and support of the North and their willingness to contribute out of their poverty to the establishment of schools.

232Public High Schools.—There are only 65 public high schools for negroes in the Southern States. Of these, 47 maintain four-year courses and 18 have three-year courses. In addition, there are about 200 public schools which enroll a few pupils above the elementary grades. Practically all the four-year high schools are in the large cities of the border States. Over half are in Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia; 16 are in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia. South Carolina and Florida have only 2 each; North Carolina and Louisiana have no public high schools for negroes. North Carolina, however, provides three well-managed State normal schools offering secondary work. The city high schools of Washington, D. C., and St. Louis, Mo., are unusual in extent of plant, ranging in value from $200,000 to $450,000.

The following table presents the more important facts for the Public High Schools:

PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS AND NORMAL SCHOOLS.

State and Name of School. Location. City or Town Years in Course. Attendance. High School Teachers. Value of Plant.

United States, total 8,707 484 $3,172,250

Alabama, total 541 19 21,500

Birmingham Colored High School Birmingham 4 387 9 2,000

Huntsville Colored High School Huntsville 4 36 2 4,500

Owen Academy Mobile 3 86 5 10,000

Tuscambia Colored High School Tuscambia 3 32 3 5,000

Arkansas, total 253 22 105,000

Langston High School Hot Springs 4 39 4 20,000

Merrill High School Pine Bluff 4 25 3 18,000

Helena Colored High School Helena 3 29 3 7,000

Gibbs High School Little Rock 4 100 8 40,000

Lincoln Colored High School Fort Smith 3 60 4 20,000

Delaware, total 60 11 33,800

Howard High School Wilmington 4 60 11 33,800

District of Columbia, total 1,375 96 985,000

Armstrong Manual Training School Washington 4 259 33 240,000

Dunbar High School „ 4 731 48 500,000

Myrtilla Minor Normal School „ ^[1]2 115 15 245,000

Florida, total 78 6 190,000

Stanton High School Jacksonville 4 44 3 175,000

Lincoln High and Graded School Tallahassee 3 34 3 15,000

Georgia, total 40 5 15,000

Athens High and Industrial School Athens 3 40 5 15,000

Kentucky, total 779 44 209,000

Louisville Colored Normal School Louisville ^[1]2 27 2 10,000

State Street High School Bowling Green 4 42 4 10,000

Lincoln High School Paducah 4 39 4 22,000

Central High School Louisville 4 402 16 41,000

Earlington Colored High School Earlington 3 10 1 15,000

Douglass High School Henderson 4 25 3 40,000

Clinton Street High School Frankfort 4 24 3 15,000

233 Russell High School Lexington 4 93 4 18,000

Western High School Owensboro 4 77 4 23,000

„ „ „ Paris 4 40 3 15,000

Maryland, total 781 42 80,000

Baltimore Colored Normal School Baltimore ^[1]2 112 8 15,000

Baltimore High School „ 4 669 34 65,000

Mississippi, total 49 3 14,000

Colored High School Yazoo 3 49 3 14,000

Missouri, total 910 49 430,500

Sumner High School St. Louis 4 595 34 330,500

Lincoln High School Kansas City 4 315 15 100,000

Oklahoma, total 368 27 166,750

Dunbar High School Tulsa 4 40 5 6,000

Douglass High School Oklahoma City 4 80 7 63,750

Boley City High School Boley 4 25 2 15,000

Manual Training School Muskogee 4 138 8 70,000

Faver High School Guthrie 4 85 5 12,000

South Carolina, total 138 6 15,000

Howard High School Columbia 3 138 6 15,300

Texas, total 1,212 63 370,300

Anderson High School Austin 4 82 5 28,000

Colored High School Fort Worth 4 133 6 68,000

A. J. Moore High School Waco 4 69 5 14,800

Gibbons High School Paris 4 100 3 27,500

Charlton High School Beaumont 3 108 3 10,000

Central High School Marshall 4 142 6 10,000

Anderson High School Dennison 3 28 2 14,000

Lincoln High School Palestine 4 69 2 8,000

Dallas Colored High School Dallas 4 243 12 60,000

Douglass High School San Antonio 4 85 9 49,500

Central High School Galveston 4 89 6 54,000

Temple Colored High School Temple 4 38 2 15,000

Frederick Douglass High School Sherman 3 26 2 11,500

Tennessee, total 650 25 117,000

Austin High School Knoxville 3 116 7 12,000

Kortrecht High School Memphis 3 232 5 35,000

Howard High School Chattanooga 4 80 5 30,000

Rural High School Hyde Park 3 26 2 20,000

Pearl High School Nashville 3 196 6 20,000

Virginia, total 1,070 38 163,500

Armstrong High School Richmond 4 439 17 40,000

Jackson High School Lynchburg 3 110 4 14,000

Peabody High School Petersburg 3 147 4 30,000

Colored Public High School Norfolk 4 257 8 41,500

Mount Herman High School Portsmouth 4 57 2 13,000

Danville Colored High School Danville 2 60 3 25,000

West Virginia, total 150 16 265,600

Water Street High School Clarksburg 4 20 2 26,750

Douglass High School Huntingdon 4 35 4 62,700

Sumner High School Parkersburg 4 28 4 88,000

Lincoln High School Wheeling 4 21 2 45,850

Garnett High School Charleston 4 46 4 42,300

Northern States (separate schools), total 253 12 70,000

Sumner High School (Missouri) Kansas City 4 253 12 70,000

County Training Schools.—The organization of the “county training school,” is a comparatively new but promising movement. There are 27 schools of this type in the various Southern States. These schools 234have in most cases done work through the ninth grade, and in some cases through the tenth grade, including in the last two years some elementary teacher training. In addition much industrial work has been included in the curriculum, the aim being to make these schools articulate as nearly as possible with the life of the people in the rural communities and the type of work their graduates will be called upon to do.

They are supported partly by private funds and partly by public funds. The State Fund provides about $15,000 a year for these schools, while about $35,000 is provided by the Counties. The following table presents the more important facts for these schools:

COUNTY TRAINING SCHOOLS.

Counties Maintaining Training Schools. City or Town. Attendance. Teachers. Income. Value of Plant.

United States, total 5,906 139 $51,501 $145,570

Alabama 694 19 6,650 20,900

Coosa Cottage Grove 189 4 1,650 11,000

Lowndes Charity 150 5 1,250 4,700

Mobile Plateau 241 6 2,500 1,500

Pickens Carrollton 114 4 1,250 3,700

Arkansas 1,242 25 10,957 27,500

Chicot Dermott 245 4 1,804 5,000

Hempstead Hope 300 8 2,662 9,000

Lee Marianna 350 6 3,740 10,000

Ouachita Camden 347 7 2,751 3,500

Georgia 365 9 3,725 10,500

Ben Hill Queensland 185 4 1,725 3,000

Washington Sandersville 180 5 2,000 7,500

Kentucky 70 3 2,000 3,500

Bourbon Little Rock 70 3 2,000 3,500

Louisiana 254 7 3,030 8,600

Calcasieu West Lake 118 4 1,680 4,600

Morehouse Bastrop 136 3 1,350 4,000

North Carolina 995 26 8,690 36,650

Johnson Smithfield 308 7 1,690 6,500

Martin Parmelee 150 4 1,500 6,500

Pamlico Stonewall 135 5 1,580 5,000

Sampson Clinton 242 5 1,870 4,500

Wake Method 160 5 2,050 14,150

South Carolina 291 6 1,998 5,500

Clarendon Manning 291 6 1,998 5,500

Tennessee 1,173 20 6,025 14,040

Fayette Somerville 275 5 1,340 4,540

Haywood Brownsville 423 8 2,405 2,500

Shelby Lucy, R. F. D. 475 7 2,280 7,000

Texas 208 6 2,511 4,080

Travis Manor 208 6 2,511 4,080

Virginia 614 18 5,915 14,300

Albemarle Charlottsville 75 4 1,100 3,500

Caroline Bowling Green 212 4 2,080 4,300

Nottaway Blackstone 166 6 1,455 3,500

York Lackey 161 4 1,280 3,000

235

AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE, BATON ROUGE, LA. The land-grant school for Louisiana. Formerly Southern University at New Orleans. Several large brick buildings have been erected. The school now has 23 teachers, 300 pupils and property valued at nearly $100,000.

AGRICULTURAL BUILDING, A. AND M. COLLEGE, TALLAHASSEE, FLA. One of the best buildings in colored schools devoted entirely to teaching agriculture. The school has 35 teachers, about 350 pupils and property valued at $135,000.

236Land-Grant Schools:—The third type of schools supported by public funds is the Land-Grant Schools. The purpose for which the land-grant institutions receive Federal appropriations are clearly outlined in the following extracts from the various congressional acts granting public lands and making appropriations for their support:

Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862.—An act donating public lands to the several States and Territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts.—The leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the State may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.

Morrill Act of 1890.—An act to apply a portion of the proceeds of the public lands to the more complete endowment and support of the colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts. To be applied only to instruction in agriculture, the mechanic arts, the English language, and the various branches of mathematical, physical, natural, and economic science, with special reference to their applications in the industries of life, and to the facilities for such instruction. Provided, That in any State in which there has been one college established in pursuance of the act of July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and also in which an educational institution of like character has been established, or may be hereafter established, and is now aided by such State from its own revenue, for the education of colored students in agriculture and the mechanic arts, however named or styled, or whether or not it has received money heretofore under the act to which this act is an amendment, the legislature of such State may propose and report to the Secretary of the Interior a just and adequate division of the fund to be received under this act between one college for white students and one institution for colored students established as aforesaid which shall be divided into two parts and paid accordingly, and thereupon such institution for colored students shall be entitled to the benefits of this act and subject to its provisions, as much as it would have been if it had been included under the act of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the fulfillment of the foregoing provisions shall be taken as a compliance with the provision in reference to separate colleges for white and colored students.

237

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. MECHANICAL BUILDING.

FARM BUILDINGS. EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS. AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. C. One of the best Land-grant schools in the South. It has 25 teachers, about 200 young men students and property valued at $130,000.

238Nelson Amendment of 1907.—An act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture.—That said colleges may use a portion of this money for providing courses for the special preparation of instructors for teaching the elements of agriculture and the mechanic arts.

Rulings and instructions relative to the acts of Congress of August 30, 1890, and March 4, 1907, in aid of colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts.—“To be applied only to instruction in agriculture, the mechanic arts, the English language, and the various branches of mathematical, physical, natural, and economic science, with special reference to their applications in the industries of life, and to the facilities for such instruction” and “for providing courses for the special preparation of instructors for teaching the elements of agriculture and the mechanic arts.” It is held that this language authorizes the purchase from this money of apparatus, machinery, text-books, reference books, stock, and material used in instruction, or for the purposes of illustration in connection with any of the branches enumerated, and the payment of salaries of instructors in said branches only; but in case of machinery (such as boilers, engines, pumps, etc.) and farm stock, which are made to serve for both instructional and other purposes, the Federal funds may be charged with only an equitable portion of the cost of said machinery and stock.

The acts prohibit the expenditure of any portion of these funds for the purchase, erection, preservation, or repair of any building or buildings under any pretense whatever, and the salaries of purely administrative officers, such as treasurers, presidents, secretaries.

In accordance with these acts, 17 institutions for Negroes in the Southern States are receiving Federal funds. The principal facts for sixteen of these institutions are shown in the table herewith. Hampton Institute is classified with the independent institutions because its financial support is very largely from private sources. The total annual income for the current expenses of the sixteen institutions is $544,520. Of this amount $263,074 is received from State appropriations and $2,598.51 from the Federal acts. Including the Federal grant to Hampton Institute, the total of Federal appropriations is $286,817. The value of property in the sixteen institutions is $2,576,142.

239

TENNESSEE AGRICULTURAL, AND INDUSTRIAL STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, NASHVILLE, TENN. The land-grant school for the State. It was founded in 1912, has 32 teachers, 1200 students and property valued at $250,000.

240

VIRGINIA NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE, PETERSBURG, VA. The largest school building in the United States for colored students. The institution is owned and supported by the State. It has twenty-five teachers and 600 students. The property is valued at approximately $250,000.

The principal facts concerning these schools, by States, are as follows:

STATE ATTENDANCE TEACHERS INCOME VALUE OF PROPERTY

Total 4,875 400 $544,520 $2,576,142

Alabama 264 27 29,209 182,500

Arkansas 170 12 24,003 141,456

Delaware 71 8 13,159 42,150

Florida 345 34 34,168 131,421

Georgia 390 21 25,369 68,449

Kentucky 234 19 22,327 156,700

Louisiana 160 23 31,384 95,250

Maryland 123 12 15,528 44,950

Mississippi 484 24 47,774 258,500

Missouri 264 33 42,162 226,375

North Carolina 150 26 32,518 129,700

Oklahoma 408 28 46,400 153,827

South Carolina 726 33 44,216 397,300

Tennessee 300 25 39,819 193,915

Texas 552 46 49,985 237,200

West Virginia 234 29 46,499 216,449

241State Schools:—In addition to the land-grant schools there are eleven State schools. Four of these institutions are in Northern States. The following table gives the important facts concerning this group.

STATE ATTENDANCE TEACHERS INCOME VALUE OF PROPERTY

Total 2,638 188 $246,834 $1,394,547

Alabama 714 31 21,500 70,000

Kansas 82 14 15,830 131,395

„ 106 26 38,148 195,300

Maryland 50 8 8,053 33,500

New Jersey 93 18 27,755 99,159

North Carolina 249 8 6,074 45,000

„ 227 7 5,544 38,700

„ 165 10 5,258 51,700

Ohio 231 29 77,000 436,893

Virginia 573 25 27,898 233,900

West Virginia 148 12 13,774 59,000

Federal Schools:—The one institution classed as Federal is Howard University at Washington, D. C. It is the only institution supported by direct annual appropriations from Congress. It is generally considered the best institution for colored people in college and professional training. It has an attendance of 1,401 pupils, 106 teachers, an annual income of $172,257 and property valued at $1,756,920.