Chapter XIII: Introduction (4)

_Anna T. Jeanes Fund._—The origin of the Jeanes Fund is so significant of the spirit and purpose of its present policy, that space must here be taken to relate some of the incidents connected with that event. In 1906, Dr. Frissell appealed to Miss Anna T. Jeanes for a contribution to the work of Hampton. Miss Jeanes was an elderly Quaker lady of Philadelphia. As Dr. Frissell described the hardships of the teachers in rural schools, she said: “Thee interests me,” and proceeded to write a check to aid the work of small rural schools. Dr. Frissell, expecting to receive not more than a hundred dollars looked at the check and saw, to his great surprise, that it was for $10,000. He said: “Well, you certainly are interested. Would you like to have Booker Washington call on you to explain the need of small schools in Alabama.” Miss Jeanes replied that she would and soon afterwards she gave another ten thousand to Dr. Washington. At the suggestion of Mr. George Foster Peabody, then the Treasurer of the General Education Board, she gave $200,000 more to be used according to plans to be determined upon by Dr. Frissell and Dr. Washington.

When she was convinced of the successful use of this gift, she said to Dr. Frissell: “I am going to show thee my will.” Reading it, he saw that she had bequeathed practically all her estate for the improvement of little county schools for Negro children. The will also provided that the funds were to be administered by a trustee board to be appointed by Dr. Frissell and Dr. Washington. Dr. Frissell assured her that it could be done, and asked whom would she like to have on the board. She replied: “Andrew Carnegie.” Plans for forming the board were immediately decided upon. Mr. Carnegie, Dr. Washington and Dr. Frissell organized a board of trustees, which consisted of five southern white men, five northern white men and five Negroes. Mr. Taft, then President of the United States, became a member of the board, and Dr. Dillard of Virginia was elected as the executive officer.

When the arrangements were complete, Miss Jeanes consented to see a few of the members of the board. This meeting was dramatic in its simplicity. There were present Mr. George Foster Peabody, President Taft, Dr. Dillard, Dr. Frissell, and Dr. Washington. Miss Jeanes was very feeble, her arm, swollen with pain, was supported by pillows. When she had signed away her estate of $1,000,000 she said to Dr. Frissell and to Dr. Washington in turn: “Dost thee remember when thee came and I gave thee $10,000 for the little country schools? And then I gave thee $200,000 more. And now I am giving all for these little schools. This is a great privilege. I am just a poor woman, and I gave it not to save my soul from hell; but because I wanted to.”

The trustee board in charge of this fund is composed of five southern men, five northern men, and five men of the colored race. In 1915, the trustees expended $34,475 for the improvement of Negro rural schools in Southern States. Practically all of this money is used to pay the expenses of county supervisors and industrial teachers These are usually young colored women who visit the public schools of the counties for the purpose of aiding and encouraging the schools in all phases of their work. The more important service of these traveling teachers, working under the direction of the county superintendent, is to introduce into the small country schools simple home industries; to give talks and lessons on sanitation, personal cleanliness, etc.; to encourage the improvement of schoolhouses and school grounds; and to conduct gardening clubs and other kinds of clubs for the betterment of the school and the neighborhood.

The teachers are appointed by the county superintendent and their work is supervised by that officer. Effort is made by the representatives of the Jeanes Fund to have the country authorities and the colored people undertake as much as possible of the salary and expenses of these teachers. In 1913, the counties contributed from public funds for this purpose, $3,400; in 1914, $6,255; in 1915, $12,183, and in 1916, $17,913. In 1915–16 Jeanes-Fund teachers were maintained in 164 counties distributed through 16 Southern States. It is to be hoped that all of these States will follow the example of Maryland in its provision of State aid, so that every county with a considerable number of Negroes may have county industrial teachers.

_Phelps-Stokes Fund._—The endowment of the Phelps-Stokes Fund is approximately $1,000,000. Over half of the income has been spent to maintain several projects pertaining to Negro education. The more important of these are:

1. Cooperation with the United States Bureau of Education in preparing a comprehensive report on Negro education.

2. The establishment of fellowships at the University of Virginia and the University of Georgia. Twelve thousand five hundred dollars is given each of these universities for the permanent endowment of a research fellowship on the following conditions:

The university shall appoint annually a fellow in sociology for the study of the Negro. He shall pursue advanced studies under the direction of the department of sociology, economics, education, or history, as may be determined in each case by the president. The fellowship shall yield $500, and shall, after four years, be restricted to graduate students.

Each fellow shall prepare a paper or thesis embodying the result of his investigations, which shall be published by the university with assistance from the income of the fund.

3. The establishment of a fund at the Peabody College for teachers, Nashville, Tenn., in accordance with the following vote:

Voted, that $10,000 be given to the Peabody College for Teachers to establish a fund for the visitation of Negro schools and colleges, the income to be used to enable the teachers, administrative officers, and students of the Peabody College to come into direct and helpful contact with the actual work of representative institutions of Negro education.

4. Assistance to the Southern University Race Commission by an annual appropriation for traveling expenses.

5. Appropriations for constructive movements, such as the teaching of home and school gardening, the educational use of school dormitory and dining room, the installation of adequate financial and school records, and the dissemination of advice on the construction and care of buildings and grounds.

_Rosenwald Fund._—In 1914, Julius Rosenwald, of Chicago, announced through Tuskegee Institute that he would give money to assist in the erection of rural school buildings for Negroes in the South. According to the terms of the announcement, Mr. Rosenwald agreed to give any rural community a sum not exceeding $300 for the erection of a school building for Negroes, provided the people of the community should raise from public funds or from their own resources a sum equal to that given by him. It was further specified that total sums in each case must be sufficient to erect and furnish one school building.

Up to June 30, 1916, Mr. Rosenwald has given $44,718 toward promoting rural schoolhouse building. To meet Mr. Rosenwald’s contributions the Negroes in the communities where these schoolhouses were erected have contributed $61,951; from the public funds of the States, $21,525 has been appropriated; and white citizens have given $8,820. Through Mr. Rosenwald’s benefactions 142 rural schoolhouses for Negroes have been erected, as follows: In Alabama, 107; North Carolina, 11; Georgia, 8; Arkansas, 6; South Carolina, 1; Tennessee, 5; Mississippi, 2, and Virginia, 2.

_Daniel Hand Fund._—This Fund is administered by the American Missionary Association 287 Fourth Avenue, New York City. Daniel Hand was born in Madison, Conn., July 16, 1801. When 16 years of age he went to Augusta, Ga., under the direction of his second brother residing there, whom he succeeded in business. Mr. Hand remained in some part of the Southern Confederacy during the entire war. His partner, Mr. Geo. W. Williams, who was conducting a branch of the business at Charleston, S. C., protected the capital of Mr. Hand, from the confiscation seriously threatened, in view of his being a northern man of undisguised anti-slavery sentiments. After the war, when Mr. Hand came north, Mr. Williams adjusted the business, made up the account, and paid over to Mr. Hand his portion of the long-invested capital and its accumulations. Bereaved of wife and children for many years, his benevolent impulses led Mr. Hand to form plans to use his large wealth for the benefit of his fellowmen.

The total amount of the endowment of the Daniel Hand Fund is approximately $1,500,000, and the income in 1915 was $69,000. This income is spent under the direction of the officers of the American Missionary Association for the maintenance of educational work in the schools of that association.

In 1888 Daniel Hand, of Guilford, Conn., gave $1,000,000 as a permanent fund, “the income of which shall be used for the purpose of educating needy and indigent people of African decent, residing, or who may hereafter reside, in the recent slave States of the United States, sometimes called the Southern States.” When Mr. Hand died, in 1891, he left the residue of his fortune, amounting to $500,000, to be added to his original gift.

_Stewart Missionary Foundation for Africa._—The total endowment of the Stewart Missionary Foundation is $110,000. The income is used to provide classroom instruction on missions at Gammon Theological Seminary; to issue a monthly journal, “The Foundation,” devoted to the awakening of an interest in missions; and to maintain a lecturer who travels among Negro schools lecturing on missions.

This Fund was given in 1894 by the Rev. W. F. Stewart and his wife, to establish missionary training in Gammon Theological Seminary. Mr. Stewart had been a missionary in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he was eager to arouse a strong interest in missions among Negro youth.

_Miner Fund._—The Miner Fund has property valued at $40,000, and the annual income is about $2,100. This income is used for the aid of the Manassas Industrial Institute for Colored Youth of Virginia, and for the Colored Social Settlement of Washington, D. C.

The fund is named after Miss Myrtilla Miner, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who in 1851 established a normal school for colored girls of Washington. In 1862, she incorporated the school as “Institution for the Education of Colored Youth.” The first property purchased by the institution was in the square now occupied by the British embassy. Later this lot was sold and another purchased, on which a new normal school was erected. In 1879 the District of Columbia leased this property from the trustees of the fund, and maintained the institution as a part of the public school system. About 1900 the trustees purchased another building in which they maintained a day nursery and a kindergarten. This work was later taken over by the public authorities. The combined annual income from both properties amounted at one time to $4,000.

In 1915, the city school board purchased a site and erected a magnificent new building to house the normal school. This building was named “The Myrtilla Miner Normal School.” After the removal of the public school from the building owned by the Miner Fund, it was necessary to sell the building and invest the money in other forms of real estate at a reduced income.

_Cushing Fund._—The total amount of the Cushing Fund is $33,500 and the income varies from $1,200 to $1,500 annually. This income is distributed by the executive officer among 28 schools for colored people.

The fund was bequeathed for the education of colored people in accordance with the will of Miss Emeline Cushing, of Boston, who died in 1895. The will designated Mr. Archibald Grimke and two others as trustees and executors. Mr. Grimke is now the sole survivor and administers the fund.

_The Association for Negro Youth._—This Association was organized at Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1913. The plan has been to admit only institutions maintaining work of college grade. So far 10 institutions have been admitted to membership. The following quotation indicates the embarrassment of the association in its effort to be just to the colleges within and without the organization:

One of the most important topics of the several sessions was that of admission of additional colleges into the association. The consensus of opinion prevailed that the association needed more careful detailed information about the colleges, both within and without the organization, and the executive committee was authorized to make a careful study of all colleges both within and without the association that some standards for grading of membership might be established.

The general purpose of the association is indicated by the following list of topics discussed at the four annual meetings, 1913 to 1916:

1. College entrance requirements.

2. The requirements for a college degree.

3. The reception of students dismissed from other colleges.

4. How far should we allow students to specialize in professional work during their college course?

5. Foreign languages as requirements for college entrance.

6. Uniformity in the exchange of records.

7. What should be done with deficiencies of college students in English, spelling, composition and penmanship?

8. The control of athletics and place of physical education in the curriculum.

9. What should be done on the matter of our students who go North to work during the summers, and who thereby do not return to their home communities for several years, thus getting out of touch with the life of their home communities, in which places many of them are needed after they finish school?

10. How far are we preparing teachers for the public schools and the high schools? What is our part in the forward rural school movement?

11. How far are our efforts for religious education giving our students training for religious leadership?

It is evident that the association is rapidly broadening the scope of its interest from the formal topics of the earlier meetings to the vital problems outlined in the questions discussed at the last meeting.

_The National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools._—This association was organized in 1904. Annual meetings have been held each year. State associations have been formed in almost all the Southern States. Teachers representing 21 States were present at the last annual meeting of the national association. These meetings are having a wholesome effect in the development of higher ideals, better methods, and cooperation among teachers in all efforts to adapt education to community needs.

The twelfth annual session of the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools was held in Cincinnati, July 29, to August 1, 1915. Among the subjects discussed were “The need of a graduate school for Negroes,” “College athletics,” “Standardizing of Negro schools,” “Harmonizing conflicting views of Negro education,” and “National education.” The 1916 meeting of the association will be held in Nashville. In connection with the meeting of the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools the Annual Conference of the Presidents of Land-Grant Colleges took up “Its mission,” “Its responsibility,” “Its opportunity,” and “Its relation to the public school system.” Other subjects were “The problem of dormitory life,” and “Preparation of teachers of agriculture.” Another organization which met with the national association was the Council of College Presidents.

HOSPITALS AND NURSE TRAINING SCHOOLS.

The changed conditions of modern life have occasioned a wholly new order of things for the care of the sick and disabled; and well equipped hospitals with training schools for nurses are now numerous, where they were almost unknown fifty years ago. This has led to the institution of hospitals for the colored people. These have been very necessary for the colored people, and also for the colored physicians and surgeons. There are now several thousand of these physicians and surgeons who have received diplomas in the regular medical schools and are practicing their profession among their own people. These, however, are not usually admitted to practice in the general hospitals of the Southern States, which is a serious hindrance to their progress in knowledge and skill, as well as a great embarrassment in the care of their patients. There has been a growing demand also for colored nurses with the training that can be acquired only in hospitals. Thus for more reasons than one, hospitals designed particularly for the colored people have become necessary.

The first of these was founded at Hampton, Va., in 1891, by Miss Alice M. Bacon, who was at that time connected with Hampton Institute, though her hospital was independent and bore the name of “Dixie.” In the same year the “MacVicar Hospital,” was established as a feature of Spelman Seminary in Atlanta, and the “Provident Hospital” was instituted in Chicago. Three years later, in 1894, the “Freedmen’s Hospital” was started in Washington and the “Lamar Hospital” in Augusta, Ga. Then, in 1895, came the “Frederick Douglass” in Philadelphia; in 1896, the “Sarah Goodrich” in New Orleans; and in 1897, the “Hospital and Training School for Nurses” in Charleston. Others have followed, one by one, in other important centres; Charlotte, Richmond, Columbia, Savannah, Jacksonville, Nashville, Knoxville, Louisville, Raleigh, Tuskegee, Durham, Atlanta and elsewhere. In all of these hospitals the training school for nurses is a conspicuous feature, and the nurses who receive this training show very great efficiency, finding employment largely among the white people, who frequently prefer them to white nurses with similar training. Some of these institutions have been built up by the sheer enterprise of individual colored physicians. A notable example of this is “St. Luke’s Hospital” at Columbia, founded and maintained in the face of many discouragements by Dr. Matilda A. Evans, who received her education at Schofield Institute, Oberlin College, and the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Hospitals of this type are held in high esteem by the communities in which they are located, and are centers of beneficence for the country around.

THE THREE IMPORTANT TYPES OF EDUCATION.

In the development of Negro education the various types or kinds of education have received much discussion and the conflicting claims of certain type of education have been ably presented by their advocates. Space does not admit of a full discussion of the conflict which has raged between the so-called “higher education” and the so called “industrial education.” The most notable colored men who have taken sides on this question during the past 25 years have been Dean Kelly Miller and Dr. W. E. Dubois as advocate of the higher education and Dr. Booker T. Washington, and Dr. R. R. Moton, as advocate of industrial education. The result of the various discussions has been that the whole nation has been convinced that there is, and can be no real conflict between higher education for the Negro and industrial education. The conviction is now very general that the Negro needs and should have every type of instruction. The type of education most needed for the full development are college education, professional education and industrial education.

_College Education._—No type of education has meant more to the colored people than college education. There are however very few institutions of college grade among colored schools. Many institutions are called colleges, but they have not been able to do real college work. According to the recent report of the Bureau of Education, only 33 of the private and State schools for colored people are doing work of college grade. These institutions are classified into three groups. The following table presents the facts for these institutions:

──────────────────────────┬──────────────┬───────┬─────────────┬─────── Characterization and Name │ │College│ │ Other of College. │ Support. │Pupils.│Professional.│Pupils. ──────────────────────────┼──────────────┼───────┼─────────────┼─────── _All Colleges_ │ │ 1,952│ 1,093│ 10,089 “_Colleges_” │ │ 722│ 972│ 717 Fisk University │Independent │ 188│ │ 317 Howard University │Federal │ 534│ 467│ 400 Meharry Medical School │Independent │ │ 505│ “_Secondary and College_” │ │ 675│ 22│ 4,789 Atlanta University │Independent │ 44│ │ 542 Benedict College │Baptist │ 45│ │ 462 Bishop College │ „ │ 42│ │ 329 Claflin College │Methodist │ 26│ │ 788 │United │ │ │ Knoxville College │ Presbyterian│ 30│ │ 207 Lincoln University │Presbyterian │ 130│ │ 86 Morehouse College │Baptist │ 49│ │ 246 Morgan College │Methodist │ 26│ │ 55 Shaw University │Baptist │ 24│ 22│ 175 Talladega College │Congregational│ 45│ │ 516 Tougaloo University │ „ │ 20│ │ 424 Wilberforce University │A. M. E. │ 65│ │ 128 Wilberforce C. N. & I. │ │ │ │ Department │State │ 40│ │ 191 Wiley College │Methodist │ 38│ │ 346 Virginia Union University │Baptist │ 51│ │ 204 “_College Subjects_” │ │ 246│ │ 4,583 Arkansas Baptist College │Baptist │ 13│ │ 300 Biddle University │Presbyterian │ 22│ │ 185 Clark University │Methodist │ 32│ │ 272 Florida A. & M. College │Land-grant │ 12│ │ 333 Lane College │C. M. E. │ 10│ │ 208 Livingston College │A. M. E. Z. │ 17│ │ 174 Morris Brown University │A. M. E. │ 10│ │ 498 New Orleans College │Methodist │ 9│ │ 423 Paine College │M. E. South │ 14│ │ 188 Paul Quinn College │A. M. E. │ 13│ │ 273 Philander Smith College │Methodist │ 39│ │ 400 Rust College │ „ │ 16│ │ 320 Sam Houston College │ „ │ 18│ │ 359 Straight University │Congregational│ 11│ │ 567 Tillotson College │ „ │ 18│ │ 215 ──────────────────────────┴──────────────┴───────┴─────────────┴───────

Of the 12762 pupils in total attendance on these institutions, only 1,643 are studying college subjects, and 995 are in professional classes. The remaining 10,125 pupils are in elementary and secondary grades.

In reply to a questionnaire sent to all the Northern colleges, 66 reported a total of 430 Negro students of college grade. Of these 309 were in college proper, 86 were in medical courses, including dental and pharmaceutical; 10 were in theological schools; 18 in law; and 7 in veterinary medicine. It is probable that the total number of students in northern institutions is at least 500.

Only three institutions, Howard University, Fisk University, and Meharry Medical College, have a student body, a teaching force and equipment and an income sufficient to warrant the characterization of “college.” Nearly half of the college students and practically all of the professional students are in these institutions.

_Professional Education._—The standards of professional training are so involved with the development of colleges that for some time to come the professional training of colored people must be carried on largely in connection with college and secondary work. The scarcity of good teachers, the great need for increased library and laboratory facilities, and the small enrollments in all institutions of higher learning for colored people, render the chances of the development of strong professional schools better where they are affiliated with schools of collegiate or university grade.

At present, less than ten institutions for colored people offer professional courses with teaching force and equipment separate from their academic departments. The majority of these are affiliated with colleges. Howard University has a medical, a law, and a theological department, with considerable equipment and a full quota of students in each department. Meharry Medical College has a large student body and a valuable plant. The theological department of Lincoln University, Lincoln, Pa., is fairly well equipped; but the number of pupils is small. Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Ga., is a well endowed institution owned by the Methodist Episcopal denomination. The teaching force and equipment are adequate, but the number of students is not large. Bishop Payne Divinity School of the Protestant Episcopal denomination, Petersburg, Va., has a scholarly faculty, but a small number of students. Tuskegee Institute maintains a department for the instruction of rural ministers. The instruction is effective and practical. Talladega College provides a separate building for the Theological Seminary, and its teaching force is separate; but the number of students is small. Payne Theological Seminary, of Wilberforce University, is incorporated independently and its work is done by its own teachers and its own building.

Virginia Union University, Richmond, Va., and Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga., do not have a separate plant for their theological departments; but the instruction is effective and the number of students is fair. Shaw University, Raleigh, N. C., maintains a preparatory medical course, and offers instruction to ministerial students. Other institutions maintaining theological departments are Livingstone College, Salisbury, N. C.; Biddle University, Charlotte, N. C.; Paine College, Augusta, Ga.; and Stillman Institute, Tuscaloosa, Ala. The following table gives the names, together with the number of teachers and pupils in the theological schools:

───────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────┬───────────────── THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. │ Teachers. │ Students. ───────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────────── Gammon Theological Seminary │ 6│ 78 Tuskegee Institute │ 3│ 77 Howard University │ 4│ 73 Lincoln University │ 6│ 54 Wilberforce University │ 4│ 30 Virginia Union University │ 6│ 24 Stillman Institute │ 2│ 21 Morehouse College │ 2│ 18 Bishop Payne Divinity School │ 4│ 15 Livingstone College │ 3│ 14 Talladega College │ 2│ 10 Shaw University │ 2│ 10 Paine College │ 2│ 9 Biddle University │ 2│ 8 ───────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────────── Total │ 40│ 441 ───────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────

The one law school of note is at Howard University. It has a separate building, a three-story structure, located near the District Courthouse. Applicants for admission must be graduates of a recognized high school or college. The regular course for the degree of LL. B. covers a period of three years.

The attendance was 106, of whom 104 were male, and 2 female. There were 8 teachers, 5 white and 3 colored; all are men.

The medical profession offers the largest opportunity for the ambitious young colored man. The number of colored physicians, according to the United States Census of 1910, was 3,077; colored dentists were 478 in number. Each group is increasing rapidly. The following table gives the number of medical students in the different colleges.

────────────────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬──────────────── │ Total. │Medical. │ Dental. │Pharmaceutical. ────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────────────── All Schools │ 878│ 431│ 287│ 160 Howard University │ 288│ 100│ 116│ 72 Meharry Medical College │ 482│ 291│ 137│ 54 Shaw University │ 22│ 9│ │ 13 Northern Colleges │ 86│ 31│ 34│ 21 ────────────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴────────────────

_Industrial Education._—The phrase “industrial education” as applied to colored schools is very misleading. While the effective industrial schools are making a genuine effort to develop industrial skill, this fundamental purpose is much broader than vocational efficiency or the resulting comfort and culture. The underlying principle of these schools is the adaptation of educational activities, whether industrial or literary, to the needs of the pupil and the community. Leaders in these schools believe that education should include not only the head but the hand and the heart. These broad purposes were strikingly expressed by Gen. Armstrong, the founder of Hampton Institute, in his school reports as early as 1870. The following quotations from these reports illustrate the principles which guided him in the organization of his work:

The past of our colored population has been such that an institution devoted especially to them must provide a training more than usually comprehensive, must include both sexes and a variety of occupation, must produce moral as well as mental strength, and while making its students first-rate mechanical laborers, must also make them first-rate men and women.

Through Dr. H. B. Frissell, his successor as principal of Hampton Institute, and through the late Dr. Booker T. Washington, his pupil, Gen. Armstrong’s idea of education for life has been worthily advocated and extended, until now his thoughts are the common property of all progressive leaders of education.

In discussing industrial education, Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones of the Bureau of Education, has eloquently said:

“Industrial education in the comprehensive sense is the very essence of democracy in education. Civilized society has long been democratic in the advocacy of education for all the people, regardless of race, color, and previous condition. In curriculum and method, however, the schools of the land have continued to be both aristocratic and arbitrary. Subjects introduced in the middle ages to meet the needs of the aristocracy of that time have been retained for their cultural value. Democracy in the content of education demands that the curriculum shall impart culture through knowledge and practice related to the farm, the shop, the office, and, above all, the home.”

According to figures recently published by the Bureau of Education there are 61 public and private institutions which offer some industrial training to their pupils, and 174 with manual training and household arts courses. Of the former group, 29 are maintained by State and Federal funds. The 16 agricultural and mechanical schools largely supported by appropriations from the National Government are fairly well equipped to teach the more important trades and to train girls in household arts. Only a few of them, however, teach the trades effectively, and practically all subordinate the industrial training to the literary instruction. The 13 State institutions are schools of elementary and secondary grade, with some teacher-training courses and some facilities for manual training. Six of them are located in Northern States. In addition to these State institutions, well-managed manual training schools are maintained by the cities of Washington, D. C.; Charleston, S. C., and Columbus, Ga.

The private institutions are divided into two groups: Hampton Institute and Tuskegee Institute, with their large plants, constitute the first group. They occupy a unique position, not only for their influence among the schools for colored people, but also for the part they play in determining the educational policies of the country.

A number of effective movements for the extension of industrial education have been organized within the past ten years. These movements are the result of the cooperation of the Jeanes Fund, the Slater Fund, and the General Education Board with the State and county departments of education. Through this cooperation, State supervisors of colored schools have been appointed in ten Southern States and county industrial teachers are maintained in 131 counties of these and other States. These agencies have organized home-makers’ clubs, encouraged the introduction of industrial courses into the schools, and assisted in arousing public opinion favorable to industrial education.

No discussion of industrial education is complete without reference to the late Dr. Booker T. Washington, who in this field attained world-wide fame and brought more to the cause of all education, than any other individual of this generation. His life history and the wonderful story of Tuskegee, which he founded, are too well known to be given in detail. But his influence was not limited to Tuskegee. He did more than any other individual in teaching the world “that democracy’s plan for the solution of the race problem in the Southland is not primarily in the philanthropies and wisdom of Northern people; nor is it in the desires and struggles of the colored people; nor yet in the first hand knowledge and daily contacts of the Southern white people. Democracy’s plan is in the combination of the best thought and the deepest sympathy and the most abiding faith of these three groups working with mutual faith in one another.”

No more appropriate ending can be found to this section on industrial education or the entire chapter on Negro education, than the beautiful poem of Paul Lawrence Dunbar, written as a tribute to Dr. Washington:

The word is writ that he who runs may read,
What is the passing breath of earthly fame?
But to snatch glory from the hands of blame—
That is to be, to live, to strive indeed.
A poor Virginia Cabin gave the seed.
And from its dark and lowly door there came
A peer of princes in the world’s acclaim,
A master spirit for the Nation’s need.
Strong, silent, purposeful beyond his kind,
The mark of rugged force on brow and lip,
Straight on he goes, nor turns to look behind
Where hot the hounds come baying at his hip,
With one idea foremost in his mind,
Like the keen prow of some on-forging ship.

Y. M. C. A. BUILDING, KANSAS CITY, MO.
]

THE TRAINING OF CHILDREN
The Child an Imitator

Imitation is the basis of all education; it is instruction through action. Especially so is this in the case of young children. The tiny infant lying so snugly within his mother’s arms, knows nothing of the “why and wherefore” of this world. It is content, and as long as its physical wants are looked after, it matters not. Toward the ending of the first year it begins to take notice, and we see the fond mother teaching her darling to shake bye-bye, play pat-a-cake, and to throw a kiss from his tiny fingers. All these gestures are mere imitations of what he sees. He hasn’t the slightest idea of the meaning of it all. Later the infant will imitate the noise of the “bow-wow,” the “moo-cow” and he will do his best to “mew” like a cat. These, too, are imitations of what he hears and are of importance in its development.

An interesting story is told of a young mother who took great pains to teach her first little one to lisp “Da-Da” at the approach of its father. The mother succeeded admirably and the fond father never got tired of hearing his little one utter this new name of his. What was their utter dismay when one day a despicable looking tramp came to the door and the little one insisted in holding out its arms to him and fondly calling him “Da-Da.” We can easily see that the early knowledge of a child is an imitation of what he sees and hears and you, watchful mother, must always keep the watchwords, “what he sees” and “what he hears” ever before you, and let it be the keynote of all early training.

It is always interesting to watch children at play; more so when they are playing “house” or some other amusement relative to home life. Have you not noticed how the little girl will assume the manner and actions of her own mother? Supposedly, the “dolly” has been taken suddenly ill and the doctor has been sent for. It is a most critical case and the little boy who is playing doctor will knit and pucker up his brow and will imitate the solemnity and dignity of the professional man most vividly. He even tries to make his voice lower and gruffer in tone, so as to make the “doctor” more real. Yes, children in their play are prime representatives of realities and are often good teachers in some respects, for they are not only good imitators but good observers.

CHILD’S FUTURE MOLDED BY EXAMPLE

Everything to a child is a model of manner, of gesture, of speech, of habit, of character. Let these models be of the highest type. If we would have fine characters we must necessarily present before children fine models. The model the child constantly has in his mind’s eye is the mother. She it is through the example she provides who sets the standard for the child’s future. The child comes into the world with its plastic mind open to all impressions and these it receives and retains by outside forces. It is a very poor plan to take children to a theatre. They cannot help but hear and see things which will cause them often to imitate, and which may result in disaster.

A true story is told of a boy, ten years old, who was taken by his mother to see a show. During the play the audience was treated to an exciting domestic quarrel on the stage. One of the characters, a young boy, was supposed to protect his mother by shooting an intruder. The boy was applauded by the audience, which plainly showed they considered him a hero. Henry, for this was the boy’s name who was witnessing the play, was carried away with all that he saw and decided that he, too, would deal likewise to anyone who would harm his mother. Some weeks later a peddler came to his mother’s house and insisted that she buy some of his wares. She told him she didn’t care for any, but the peddler’s voice was rather loud and he seemed very persistent. Henry, hearing it all, thought the time had come to imitate the actor’s bravery. He turned to a drawer, took his father’s pistol and without one moment’s reflection shot the peddler, but, fortunately, did not kill him. This plainly shows what imitation in the young mind can lead to.

Example is far better than precept. In the face of bad example, the best of precepts are of little use. Can you expect a child who constantly sees before him ignorance, coarseness and selfishness, to grow up anything more than the reflection of these faults?

It sometimes happens that a child brought up under these circumstances finds himself, in adult life, placed amidst other scenes. He immediately sees the difference and compares his training to those around him. If he is ambitious and wants to change his mode of life, he has to commence all over again his work of imitation. He has reason with him now to help him, yet he will at first find it uphill work; but when he succeeds, he will be the much better man. Should a child when he reaches adult age care not to pluck these traits from his character, he becomes at once a rude, dangerous member to society and a grievance to those with whom he comes in contact.

Too much care cannot be taken in teaching the children the avoidance of sham. This must especially be insisted on in the matter of dress. Most all of us are fond of “fine raiment,” and we cannot help but feel that appearances play an important part in life. It must be the avoidance of imitating of finery and the adoption of the substantial in dress, that we must teach our children.

GLITTERING IMITATIONS A SERIOUS EVIL

In the matter of dress, girls are more influenced by its grandeur than are boys, and the wise mother will do well to teach her daughter simplicity in everything. Never allow her to wear imitations of precious stones or jewelry. This is not only bad taste, but it is a bad habit to form. Many a poor girl has fallen from grace just through the love of glittering baubles. Teach her never to rouge her cheeks or use cosmetics. If Nature has not given her a perfect complexion, she can never get it by imitation. “You can’t cheat Nature,” but you can aid it. Have her imitate God’s creatures by copying cleanliness, simple eating and regular habits. She may not get a faultless complexion—few people have this gift—but she can get that soft texture of skin, that buoyancy of spirit, that brightness of eye with the soul showing through. Let these be her models and the imitation will be of real worth.

GUIDANCE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

While the imitation of dress and the lighter vanities of life are more indulged in by the girl, the boy also is a decided imitator in other weaknesses. A boy will imitate any quality which he thinks manly. Would that the points they imitate deserved this name, but most of the things they copy are those which will sooner or later, make slaves of them. How early we see the tiny tot of three or four years placing a piece of stick or anything which resembles a cigar, between his lips. Watch him puff at it; see him imitate the strut of a man. This sometimes appears comical, and the child is often prevailed upon to show how clever he is. Alas, this is only the first attempt to imitate the manly arts, and if not guided in the right direction his imitations may become a tragedy instead of a comedy.

By imitation of acts the character becomes slowly and imperceptibly, but at length decidedly formed. Do not think, mother, that because your child is young it cannot judge. In this you are greatly mistaken. Children are very clever judges and especially do they see through any inconsistency. They hear you say: “You mustn’t do thus and so.” What do you think is in their childish minds when they discover you doing it? Children do not appreciate the motto which the preacher gave to his congregation: “Do as I say, not as I do.” No, indeed, they follow the example. The precept is forgotten.

The habits, which are our constant companions and followers through life, are based on imitation. If good habits are to be formed, childhood is the time to plant them. You cannot begin too early. The little tot who sees her mother throw down her belongings cannot be expected to take care of her playthings, nor, as she grows up, to be neat and tidy. Order is Heaven’s first law and the successful mother will start with having a place for everything and have everything in its place.

GOOD MANNERS AND SOCIAL ETIQUETTE

The demeanor of a child is also a vast reflector of home training. You cannot always teach morals by imitation, but you can the custom of manners and social etiquette. In the primitive appetites of eating and drinking, imitation is a very strong force. How easily a little child will imitate the smacking of lips after some article of diet especially enjoyed. How easily he comes to use his knife in conveying food to his mouth, if he has seen this performance. How anxious he is to rush from the table as soon as he has finished eating. These, and many other breaches of good manners, I am sorry to say, come as a result of seeing others do likewise.

It is our duty to read up on all manners and customs of etiquette. The mother must acquaint herself with all its details; then your child will be a credit as well as a joy to his parents.

One of the best illustrations of the power of imitation is in the way the deaf are taught. The natural way of speaking any language is by hearing; by trying to imitate the sounds which are made. In the case of the deaf, they learn their expression of thought through imitation entirely, the lips and gestures of the hands and fingers being the only source of communication.

We have learned that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So long as this imitation is of sterling value, let us all become flatterers. Let us flatter Love, which lightens labor. Let us flatter Care by crowning and beautifying its rugged and repellant features. Let us all endeavor to flatter the serenity of Life by being constantly on the outlook for the foes without and the foes within—the “little foxes that seek to destroy the vines.”

GIVE YOUR BOYS AND GIRLS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP THEIR TRUE NATURES

The child must be encouraged to unfold. Its thoughts, its ideas, its method of carrying out its ideas, its instincts and intuitions, in a word, its genius must be brought forward, never suppressed. If the ideas are wild, the play rough, the instincts perverse and the child is unruly, the mother must seek ways to direct them.

How can you judge the workings of that mind and soul? You must study your little one’s motives, in order to pass a sentence on the act he has committed. If your boy is noisy, rough, pugnacious, you may lay it to a surplus of nervous energy that has no proper outlet.

He is ungovernable perhaps, neither you nor his father nor the teacher at school can manage him. What are you going to do? His father whips him, but the youth is India rubber—he rebounds. The rod has not reached his inner consciousness. The teacher keeps him in after school, and on being freed, he rushes into a fight. You, his mother, are distracted, for although he seems to listen to you, he pays little heed to your commands.

DIRECT YOUR CHILD’S ENERGY

What are you going to do with such a child? Send him to a reform school, and ruin his life? Beat him until all the buoyancy has gone out of his nature? Keep him in after school until he becomes irritable and nervous? No, indeed! The best thing to do with a lively and unrestrained child is to set his energies in a safe and sane channel. Teach him field sports, open up for him the delights of the manual training room. Give him a hammer, a few nails, a bit of lumber, a paste pot, some cardboard. Boys love to work with their hands, so let your boy make things. He will like to build stools and coat racks, boxes, broom-holders, anything that is useful. That is one of the great secrets of bringing up a boy, make him useful. He likes the little sense of power, the natural feeling of pride that comes from a knowledge that he is of some consequence, that his work counts. The boy who is taught to do something well, will not long be unmanageable.

KEEPING THE BOY BUSY

Supposing the boy is not to be directed at once into the enchanting field of handcraft; supposing his mother has allowed him to run wild a little too long or has not noticed that he was evincing signs of lawlessness until the neighbors or teachers send home uncomplimentary reports, what’s to be done? Try another tactic. See if you cannot interest him in outdoor sports to a point where he reaches self-respect. Baseball will do, a bat and a ball may help him to rouse the best that is in your lad. Then let him help his father with chores, let him drive the team to town, or sell a load of produce—nothing brings out a boy’s incipient manhood like the thought that he is helping his “dad,” that he can be depended upon, and held responsible for something really worth while.

I know a fine boy of twelve, the son of a store-keeper in a small Georgia town, who is raising hens. He has forty flourishing Wyandottes, a couple of dozen Leghorns and as many Buff Cochins. He has built a substantial hen house, and fenced in a part of the yard. Friends and relatives became interested in his enterprise and gave him suggestions, the benefit of their experience, until now he is a thriving chicken farmer. Last summer, he sold on an average of five dozen eggs a day. We were among his customers, and we paid him thirty cents a dozen, his regular price, which means that the twelve-year-old made $1.50 a day, or $10.50 a week. Besides earning a little money he was having a lot of fun.

He had enough on his mind to keep him out of trouble, and enough on his hands to work off the physical force that otherwise might have gone to waste, making him an undesirable citizen.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE BOY

If your boy is mischievous, can you not make a merchant or a farmer or a gardener out of him? It need not be his vocation. Let it be his avocation, his hobby. Don’t shut him in, don’t keep him down; encourage him to come out along life’s highway and show the world the sort of stuff he’s made of.

A very noble-minded woman of my acquaintance is suffering from the effects of having been constantly restrained when she was a child. She is in consequence, diffident, lacking in self-confidence, liable to become the victim of a strong-willed person’s whim. She says that, as a girl, all her natural instincts were put to scorn. Full of abounding life, she loved to leap down the stairs, throw herself into her mother’s arms, shout with laughter, sing at the top of her voice as she went about her tasks. This was looked upon with horror by her sedate and cautious parent. “Don’t run down the stairs,” her mother would say. “Don’t laugh so loud!” “Don’t shout like that!” Don’t, don’t, don’t, until the poor girl did not really know what she might do with impunity. She was constantly being humiliated before visitors, and the joy in life that might have been cultivated and utilized, nay, even glorified, was driven quite out of her soul. Yet her mother was an excellent woman, who meant to do just the right thing by that little girl of hers. She had her own idea of what a young girl should be. This gay, hilarious creature was not just what the mother desired. She had hopes of bringing up a dignified, gentle, lady-like, delicate, feminine daughter rather than a hoyden. What might not that mother have done had she but understood the glorious material God had lent her to work with a little while!

If she had only realized that the quality she was stamping out was a radiant, winged, rare, inspired and inspiring touch of nature springing out of a fullness of life, a superabundance of health, she might have made her child a queen among women, a leader, a creature admired and adored.

THE SOUL NEEDS SPACE TO DEVELOP

Instead, she accomplished not the dainty, refined model she set her unwise hands to, but an anomaly, an unwieldy statue with the helmeted head of Athene and the dancing body of Terpsichore. The mother can do much for her child, but she cannot put her soul into the other body. The child’s soul is its own. Inspirations and energies can be directed, that is all. The soul must grow; it must develop, and for this it must have a wide space. Do not bind the growth with a too compelling hand. Let cooperation, not coercion, be the stimulus between you.

The whole world is yours and your child’s, dear mother, therefore do not cramp his mental or spiritual gymnastics. There are a thousand outlets, a hundred thousand modes of expression. Find your child’s height and depth; sound him, measure his capacity for learning, pleasure, pain, work, and let him grow in beauty, wisdom and peace ever unfolding into the Infinite.

DEVELOPING MORAL CHARACTER

The whole field of our obligation both positive and negative; that is, the “I oughts” and the “I ought nots”; what we ought to do and what we ought to avoid; our duty toward ourselves, our duty toward mankind and our duty toward God, come to us through what we term moral or ethical science. A mental construction having as its basis purity and duty. When the moral nature is cultivated and developed it controls every action of man, radiating from the individual to society and from society back again to the individual.

We study moral science in order that we may conduct ourselves properly in all relations of life; that we may be inwardly pure and outwardly moral; that we may be harmonious in our mental construction and in our relations with the world. It is true that we may attain some degree of morality without giving it especial study, just as we may live in the world and perform the ordinary work of life without scholastic learning. There is a natural desire for knowledge—we seek a rational account of things. Moral science endeavors to give us this rational account of moral conduct which we find everywhere in some form, to correct and improve it, to elevate and purify our moral ideals.

HOME THE PLACE FOR STUDY

We know of no more appropriate place for the practical beginning of this most important duty than in the home. The influence of the parents’ character upon the children cannot be estimated. Everything that we come in contact with has a certain influence upon us. A man took a political paper only to laugh at it, but he read the same theories over and over until at length they became truths to him. As the constant dropping of water will wear away the stone, so will constant association have an everlasting influence upon the character. It may be changed—either elevated or degraded—but it never can be destroyed.

Every child is born with a natural temperament or disposition, which is the product of two elementary factors. (1) Inheritance—those qualities which are transmitted by nature from one’s ancestors and (2) maternal impression—the impression made upon the plastic brain of the foetus. The first comes from generations of ancestry, whereas the last is entirely dependent upon the mother; the influence of what she sees, what she hears and what she thinks. These qualities combine for good or for bad, to influence the life of the child.

Fortunate indeed is the child who is well born, but doubly fortunate is he who may also be well trained.

IMPRESSIONS MADE BY THE EYE

The home is the true soil for the cultivation of virtue. Mere cultivation of intellect has little influence upon character. Most of the principles of character are implanted in the home and not in the school. Children are more apt to learn through the eye than through the ear. That which is seen makes a much deeper impression on the mind than that which is read or heard, and that which they see they will unconsciously imitate.

Notice the little mannerisms of your children. It may be a way of walking, or a twist of the mouth or an accent. How easily you can detect the origin! Therefore it behooves parents to place before their children examples of character that as nearly as possible approach perfection. Whatever benefit there is derived from the schools, the examples set in the home are of far greater influence in forming the character of our future men and women.

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