DEPARTMENT OF THE COLORED BLIND. In 1882 a department for the colored blind1 was opened, and is doing a good work for this class. Of the ninety-one names on the 1885-86 register, twelve belonged to colored pupils. Of the two hundred thousand dollars and more which the State has appropriated, first and last, for grounds and improvements, fourteen thousand were for the benefit of the colored blind." The establishment of this department was largely due to Hon. L. N. Whittle, who was the first, it is believed, to suggest the advisability of calling the attention of the State Legislature to the colored blind, and requesting an appropriation from them "to purchase or rent necessary buildings and provide for the support and education of such pupils as may offer." 2 Henderson's Commonwealth of Georgia, p. 293. CHAPTER IX. INSTITUTIONS FOR COLORED PEOPLE. These institutions are all of recent growth, having come into existence since the War. So long as slavery continued, little attempt was made to educate the blacks, except in a religious way. In fact, it was forbidden by statute to teach a slave to read or write. This inhibition did not, however, deter some masters and mistresses from teaching their domestics to read the Scriptures, and sometimes to use the pen. Field hands, as a class, were almost universally illiterate. Carpenters, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, and mechanics often read and understood something of arithmetic. The instances of slaves being able to read, write, or cipher were, however, very few. 1 Religious Instruction of the Negroes in the United States, by Charles C. Jones. Savannah, 1842. Part II, Chapter II. An Historical Sketch of Slavery from the Earliest Periods, by Thomas R. R. Cobb. Philadelphia and Savannah, 1858. Chapter XVII. The Education of the Negro--Its Rise, Progress, and Present Status: being an Address delivered before the National Educational Association at its Late Meeting at Chautauqua, N. Y., by Hon. Gustavus J. Orr, LL. D., State School Commissioner of Georgia. Atlanta, Ga., 1880. Pp. 15. 2 By Section 39 of “An Act for ordering and governing slaves within this Province, and for establishing jurisdiction for the trial of offences committed by such slaves, and other persons therein mentioned, and to prevent the inveigling and carrying away slaves from their masters, owners, or employers," approved May 10, 1770 (Cobb's Digest of Georgia Laws, p. 981), it is declared "that all and every person and persons whatsoever, who shall hereafter teach, or cause any slave or slaves to be taught to write, or read writing, or shall use or employ any slave as a scri be in any manner of writing whatsoever, every such person and persons shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of twenty pounds sterling." Again, in Section 11 of an act approved December 22, 1829 (Ibid., p. 1001), we find this provision: "If any slave, negro, or free person of color, or any white person, shall teach any other slave, negro, or free person of color, to read or write either written or printed characters, the said free person of color or slave shall be punished by fine and whipping, or fine or whipping at the discretion of the court; and if a white person be found so offending, he, she, or they shall be punished with fine, not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisonment in the common jail at the discretion of the court before whom the offender is tried." See also act of March 7, 1755. (Acts passed by the General Assembly of the colony of Georgia from 1755 to 1774-now first printed,-pp. 73-99. Wormsloe, 1881.) It was there provided that the penalty for teaching or causing any slave or slaves to be taught to write, or for employing a slave as a scribe, should be fifteen pounds ster ling. 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 multitudes1 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.? 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 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. 2 Janes's Hand-Book of Georgia, pp. 187-8. 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. acre. 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 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, vig. orous 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 appro priation; 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 expen diture 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 Uni versity of any of its portion, as such action would cripple it in its agricultural department at Athens and the branch college at Dahlonega. Laws of Georgia, 1874, pp. 32-3. |