A wonderful change occurred upon the termination of the War and the establishment of the public school system. Then the doors were freely opened for the instruction of the blacks in the elementary branches of an English education. They were allowed to participate with the whites in the benefits of the school fund raised by general taxation, and multitudes' availed themselves of the privileges thus afforded. Nevertheless, but little progress has been made by the race in what may be termed higher education. In the ordinary common schools of the rural districts the education, as we have previously shown (Chapter III), is of a very primitive sort, being confined to reading, writing, and arithmetic, and a smattering of geography and history. In certain localities, on the other hand, schools have been opened in which the pupils are fairly taught, not only reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also history, geography, mental and moral philosophy, and advanced mathematics, and where colored females are making commendable progress in learning to play upon the melodeon, the parlor organ, and the piano. To a consideration of the characteristics of, and the advantages afforded by, the six prominent institutions in Georgia for the higher education of the colored race, the remaining sections of this paper will be devoted. ATLANTA UNIVERSITY.2 At the close of the War the Freedmen's Bureau, together with various Northern aid societies, began the work of educating the negroes in the South. By far the most prominent among these aid societies was the American Missionary Association. They were not content with primary education, of which the negroes stood most in need, but they turned their attention to the erection of schools for their higher instruction. From its central and healthful location Atlanta was chosen as the best place for such a school. The efforts made to raise money through the North met with success; and in October, 1867, the board of trustees was organized and the Atlanta University was duly chartered. Funds were obtained from the bureau, and about fifty acres of land were secured in the western part of the city. In June, 1869, the corner-stone of the first building was laid, and in the following October the building was occupied by the school. It was designed for a girls' dormitory, but, during the first year, it furnished accommodations, both school and 1 From the State School Commissioner's last report (1888) we learn that during 1887 there were in attendance upon the public schools of Georgia 133,429 colored pupils, and this number is steadily increasing. Ibid., November, 1885. *Janes's Hand-Book of Georgia, pp. 187-8. The Bulletin of Atlanta University, June, 1883. Henderson's Commonwealth of Georgia, p. 274. The University of Georgia and the Atlanta University-Reports of the Board of Visitors, 1887. Pp. 7 and pp. 8. The writer is also indebted to Mr. C. Meriwether, of the Johns Hopkins University, for material collected by him. boarding, for boys and girls. In August, 1870, another building of the same style, but larger, containing sleeping apartments for about sixty boys, beside temporary school-rooms, was completed. To this, during the ensuing year, a wing was added, providing rooms for about forty additional pupils. None of the money expended in the erection of these structures was derived from the State. The last Republican Governor of Georgia, Mr. Conley, sold the land donated by Congress under the act of July 2, 1862, comprising some two hundred and seventy thousand acres, at the rate of ninety cents per acre. The sum realized from this sale, when invested in State bonds, was, in round numbers, two hundred and forty-three thousand dollars. When the Democrats came into power in 1872, under the administration of Governor James M. Smith, this entire fund was transferred to the State University at Athens. That college being already firmly estab lished and organized with suitable buildings, it seemed best to make this disposition of the fund. In 1870 the Legislature appropriated eight thousand dollars to the colored school at Atlanta. During the session of 1871-72, in which the colored race was strongly represented, vigorous attempts were made to undo the work of Governor Smith. A compromise, however, was effected for that year, on condition that the Atlanta University should receive eight thousand dollars from the State. This was deemed a fair offset to the seventeen thousand dollars annually given to the State University. The Legislature in the following year refused to continue this appropriation; but in 1874 a bill entitled, "An Act to equitably adjust the claims of the colored race for a portion of the proceeds of the agricult ural land scrip,"1 and providing for an annual appropriation to the Atlanta University of eight thousand dollars, was introduced and almost unanimously passed by the General Assembly. It appropriated the money with the understanding that the board of visitors of the University of Georgia should also visit that school; that the money should not be paid by the Governor until the plan of the trustees for its expenditure had been approved by a commission of three members of the faculty of the University of Georgia; and that the school should edu. cate, free of charge for tuition, one pupil for every member of the House of Representatives, to be nominated by the members. In defence of the bill it was urged that Congress could not have intended the agricultural fund for the whites alone; that on the ground of policy it was advisable to appropriate a large amount to the colored school, since measures were already pending in Congress for an increased appropriation of land, and the share of Georgia might be curtailed if the money should be confined to the whites; and that it would not be right to deprive the State University of any of its portion, as such action would cripple it in its agricultural department at Athens and the branch college at Dahlonega. 1 Laws of Georgia, 1874, pp. 32-3. Supported by these arguments the bill became a law, and its provis ions have been regularly carried into effect until a very recent date.1 THE UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM. The curriculum of the Atlanta University at first consisted of a preparatory and a normal department. In 1872 the collegiate department was opened, and provision was subsequently made for instruction in theology on a broad catholic basis, and without regard to any particular denomination.2 The preparatory department, in the second year of the school's operations, embraced higher arithmetic, algebra, geometry, ancient history, ancient geography, Latin, and Greek. The normal course then included a careful survey of the elementary branches, with reference to teaching them, algebra, geometry, natural science, mental and moral philosophy, drawing, English literature, Latin, and the theory and practice of teaching. This latter department has, in its conduct, subserved an important and useful purpose. It is steadfastly borne in mind by the institution, and every effort is made to prepare the pupils for their chosen calling of teachers. Many of those who have attended its classes are now busily engaged in teaching, not only in Georgia, but also in adjoining States.3 Beside the three courses already named-collegiate, preparatory, and normal-the University has a mechanical course and a grammar school course. INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. The former covers three years, and all male students above the third grade are required to take it in addition to their regular studies in other courses, six and a half hours in each week being devoted to this work. Those charged with the control and management of the Atlanta University having recently declined to stipulate against the co-education of the races, the payment by the State of its annual appropriation of eight thousand dollars for the support of that University, as an institution for the exclusive instruction and training of colored pupils, has been temporarily withheld. (See Laws of 1887, p. 901.) The Governor is directed not to draw his warrant for the amount until such a plan of expenditure as will secure the use of the same for the education of colored children only, in accordance with the declared and settled policy of the State on the subject of the co-education of the races, shall have been submitted and approved by the commission constituted in the act of March 3, 1874, for the supervision of the expenditure of the appropriation. See, in this connection, the section in Governor Gordon's Annual Message of November 9, 1888, relating to the Atlanta University and the eight thousand dollars appropriation. 2 The only theological classes graduated at Atlanta University were in 1871, when the class consisted of one member, and in 1876, when it was composed of three members. (Catalogue for 1886-87, p. 5.) 3 We find by the catalogue of 1886-87 that nearly all the graduates, and many who left before finishing their course, are now engaged in teaching during a portion or all of the year; and that beside these, during the four months of the summer vacation, a large number of students engage in teaching. It is estimated that over ten thousand children in Georgia are taught, annually, by those who have been connected as pupils with this institution. It is also stated that of the one hundred and fifty-five graduates up to 1886, one hundred and fourteen were from the normal classes. |