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Contents
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THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION
IN ALABAMA
(Alabama)
Tom's note:
This entry in the Federal Writer's Project had very extensive editing.
Point of view seemed to be removed in favor of facts in some cases, and in
other cases the editing was simply a rephrasing of the original text.
Public Schools
A chart line of Alabama's educational progress would be an irregular mark
on the graph, but it would show a steady upward climb since the days of
Bienville in Mobile. The soldiers of France brought education in the
person of Father Anastase, who presided over the stockade and taught the
children of settlers and friendly Indians. Governor Bienville attempted to
establish a school, but outside of teaching in the church, there is no
record of any great success. Education was entirely in the hands of the
priests and parents, with the exception of those few tutors employed by
the wealthier families.
The Old Boat Yard on the Tensas River marked the location of the first
school in Alabama and was established in 1779 by John Pierce, of
Connecticut. What prompted Mr. Pierce to come from Connecticut to Mobile
to open the school is not known, but it was in the old Boat Yard that the
descendants of the Taits, Durants, McGillivrays, and Weatherfords learned
to read and write.
Before 1800, with the exception of Mobile, Alabama was a wilderness filled
with settlers far too busy trying to earn a living and protect themselves
from hostile Indians to worry over general education, but in the minds of
a few who were fitted to cope with the situation, the progress of
education was the first consideration.
The Mississippi Territory assembly in 1811 saw introduced the first
legislation affecting education. A bill was passed appropriating $1,000
for academies, and to share this St. Stephens Academy was soon chartered
in Washington County, followed the next year by Green Academy in Madison
County.
When Alabama became a state December 14, 1819, the Federal Government gave
the sixteenth section of each township for common schools; two townships
for a "seminary of learning", and having fallen heir to the territorial
academies, plus ample natural resources, the state already was well
prepared for educational advancement at the time of entrance in the Union.
Immediately following entrance into the Union, the varying values of the
school lands created educational difficulty. The Government had given the
sections with the State as trustee and the land failed to produce an
adequate revenue. Settlements having the richest soil received the largest
endowment, whereas, in order to keep educational facilities on an even
basis over the State, the larger fund should have gone to the poorer
sections. This was largely due to the control of social and political
forces by wealthy land owners. Mismanagement in the purchase and sale of
these school lands, sometimes resulted in a complete loss. The legislature
comes in for its share of the blame for failure to enact constructive and
protective laws regarding school endowments. Despite the fact that the
first constitution of Alabama, adopted in 1819, provided for the
establishment and encouragement of public schools, education as a State
duty had not been recognized.
Tuition and subscription fees were introduced in 1823 by an act which
organized the school system under district trustees, and the revenue
derived from the school land was used for the tuition of the
underprivileged children. Recognition of education as a public duty became
established through the legislature creating, in 1826, a board of school
commissioners, whose duty was to establish and regulate schools. This law
was primarily for Mobile County schools, but it appeared applicable to the
State and was hailed as a solution of all school troubles.
Briefly, the law stated that school revenues were to be realized from land
grants, certain fines and penalties, small fees in court suits, 25% of
ordinary county tax, and taxes on auction sales and theatres. It seemed
logical that if sufficient finances could be had, constructive and
protective laws would come in due time. The school commissioners, however,
proved to be merely agents who issued receipts and disbursed money to
private instutions that should have been used in the organization of a
state-wide public school system.
To offset this failure, a law was passed in 1839 whereby the State bank
was to pay $150,000 annually to the schools and in 1840 this was raised to
$200,000. In 1843 the bank failed, throwing the schools entirely upon
their own resources.
This blow to financing seemed to doom the public school system to fail.
Elementary schools were maintained in the communities by private
subscription. The teachers fitted the schools. They weren't settled in
their positions nor prepared to hold them. Those students advanced beyond
the elementary grades and attended academies, which sprang up over the
State. Between 1819 and 1854, which finally saw the establishment of a
State public school system, there were 166 private academies.
A climax was reached in 1852 when the Barton Academy in Mobile, the first
public school in Alabama erected in 1835-36, was proposed for sale. This
situation awakened the State's leading citizens and so aroused the public
to the danger of an educational decline as to bring about in 1852 the
appointment, by the Governor, of a State superintendent of education.
After the organization of the public school system and until the outbreak
of the Civil War, Alabama had in operation one of the most effective
school systems in the South. In Superintendent G.B. Duval's report of
1858, the last before the war, the usual school term was 6 1/2 months with
several counties having a 9 month term. School enrollment was 54.5% of the
school population and the average attendance was 23.4%. There were 2579
schools and the total expenditure was $564,210.46, about $292,831.49 being
raised from tuition and other sources. In some counties the revenue from
the sixteenth section lands was sufficient to support their schools. The
State superintendent was instructed to equalize, as far as possible, the
distribution of revenue.
The war, despite its destructive results, failed to break the foundation
of the school system, and when the men of the former regime came into
power after the Reconstruction, they ignored the changes made by the
government and began where they had left off.
The constitution of 1875 provided a
State appropriation of $100,000 and directed that additional funds be
appropriated as conditions justified. A poll-tax, for the benefit of
public schools in the counties where collected, was authorized, and this
added revenue for education. A change resulting in improvement of school
supervision, was a requirement that teachers be certified. This
automatically raised the educational standards.
A branch experiment station was established in 1885, and the next ten
years saw one in each congressional district. This period also covered a
gradual expansion of teacher training.
John W. Abercrombie was appointed superintendent of education in 1898 and
it was on his recommendation that several progressive measures were
adopted in the constitution of 1901, the most important being a State
uniformity of text books, authorization of State certification of
teachers, and a five-months term of free school.
However, the people found disappointment in this constitution. It made no
provisions for local self aid, the State remaining the chief source of
support for the schools. A district tax was permitted in a few cities, and
a local tax for general municipal purposes still could be levied.
Provision was made for a ten-cent county tax and an obligatory State
school tax of thirty cents on the hundred dollars. It was the aggregate
school funds which showed the greatest increase. City schools flourished
due to municipal revenue, but in the rural sections, which were supported
only by State and county taxation, there was suffering from lack of funds.
Nevertheless, a renaissance of building and educations between 1901 and
1910 resulted from the act of 1907 which gave aid to rural schools. This
period covered the development of the high school system; the grading of
the elementary schools; improvement in the quality of teaching, and the
systematic organization and articulation of all the schools.
This system was under the direction of the superintendent of education
until in 1919, a State board of education was established. This and a more
comprehensive school system won the attention and approval of national
educators.
A special act in 1927 equalized instruction opportunities by placing all
county schools on a seven-months basis. $900,000 was appropriated and in
the next four years forty counties had received aid from it for one or
more of the four years. Thirty-two of the forty counties had benefited.
The average school term in these 32 counties previous to the equalization
law, specifically the period 1925-26, had been 119 days. The next four
years showed an average of 143 days, an increase of 24 days. One county
increased its school term three months, and three counties increased
theirs by two months. The remaining thirty-five counties had an average
increase of 8 days.
Among the school laws adopted in 1931 is an act permitting Commission
courts, county commissioners, and like governing bodies to use convict
labor and county equipment to build, improve, and beautify public schools.
Another act of the same year authorized appropriations for support of the
public schools out of county treasury funds.
The courts of county commissioners were authorized in 1932 to use 20% of
the fund received from the excise tax on gasoline to overcome difficulties
in paying teachers' salaries. This applied only to counties with
population under 18,000, but it was not entirely successful and in 1933
warrants were issued for back salaries in counties of not more than
150,000 population and not less than 111,000.
The 2% sales tax was levied in 1937, and the close of that year marked the
first full payment of appropriations to public education since 1932. The
tax was instituted primarily to equalize educational opportunities and
rural schools are its chief beneficiaries.
The State furnished 40% of revenue and local units 60% in 1929-30 as
compared to 53% for the State and 47% for local units in 1937-38.
Constitutional taxes are limited to 4 mills in counties and 3 mills in
districts. Attendance in public schools in 1937-38 increased 20% over the
attendance in 1929-30 and statistics also show a continued improvement in
the public school system since its creation in 1854. Numerous progressive
laws have been made, and the laws which fail to strengthen the school
system are usually swiftly repealed.
Problems confronting the school system today are being met by a
cooperative public; by coordination between communities and schools. This
condition was brought about by the Parent-Teachers Association, which
functions throughout the State. Its membership has grown to 40,228 since
its foundation in 1911. The organization meets at regular intervals, and
from their discussions of school affairs emerge decisions vital in matters
of procedures and method.
HIGHER EDUCATION
In early days the youth of Alabama, seeking education beyond grade school
and academy facilities found it necessary to go east. The arts and
sciences were the usual curricula for boys. The girls attended "finishing"
schools and completed their training for the responsibilities of maturity
with a tour of Europe. This method was costly and beyond the means of any
except the wealthy planter class.
The first attempt to bring higher education within reach of the average
student was made by the Jesuits, who opened Spring Hill College, near
Mobile, in 1830. Soon after this, the Methodist Episcopal Church South
founded La Grange College. These two schools in opposite ends of the State
afforded a greater impetus to educational development than had been felt
in the previous 125 years.
The Constitutional Convention, meeting at Huntsville, Alabama Territory,
had previously adopted an article providing for State encouragement of
schools and education, also that the General Assembly make plans for
improvement of land given by the United States, the money raised from such
land by rent, lease, or sale to be used for the support of a State
University. In 1819, the Congress of the U.S. donated 72 sections, and in
1820 the act was passed establishing the University. On the vote of both
houses, Tuscaloosa was selected as the site, and in 1831 the year after
Spring Hill College was established, the University of Alabama opened with
52 students matriculating the first day. The school progressed, despite
injuries suffered by the Bank failure of 1843, and demolition of its
property, with the exception of the astronomical observatory, by Federal
forces. Erection of new buildings began in 1867 and students resumed
studies in 1869. Through the efforts of the Hon. John T Morgan, U.S.
Senator from Alabama, Congress made a second donation of 72 sections of
land in 1884. This land has proved rich in mineral wealth, and with the
proceeds therefrom, the University of Alabama has strengthened its
facilities and won recognition through the nation and in foreign lands.
Congress, in 1862, approved an act providing for Land Grant Colleges which
were to embrace scientific, agricultural, and mechanical studies with the
regular classical studies and military tactics. Alabama accepted her
donations and appointed a commission to sell land script received from the
U.S. and to invest the proceeds. Three years passed before completion of
the sale. The proceeds were invested in Alabama State Bonds to the amount
of $250,000. This constituted the original endowment fund of the colleges.
In 1872, the Alabama Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South
offered donations for a college building and necessary apparatus and, the
State Legislature accepted and located the Agricultural and Mechanical
College at Auburn.
The first ten years of this college was an experiment. Its aims and
purposes involved new methods. All types of apparatus and appliances had
to be provided out of the interest on the bonds. The school was the object
of some prejudice and criticism, but it advanced steadily under the wise
and conservative administration of its first president, Dr. I.T. Tichenor,
and the next ten years were years of development and better understanding
by the public. State aid came in 1883 by an act appropriating $30,000 for
improvements and purchase of equipment. In the same year another act gave
the school one-third of the net proceeds from the tax on fertilizer, to be
used for an experiment station. The next year saw another appropriation of
$12,500 to the department of Mechanical Arts, which immediately developed
into what is now Mechanical Engineering.
An appropriation or $15,000 per annum by Congress in 1887 so greatly
facilitated instruction and investigation in agriculture that the college
became distinctive as a school of applied sciences. The ten year period
following was outstanding by its phenomenal development. Mechanical art
facilities increased by the construction of a separate building housing
Forge and Foundry work. Nine new laboratories were established in addition
to a Biology department. Before the end of the period, an act was passed
by Congress another $15,000 per annum for land grant colleges, 56% of
which goes to the school in Auburn. The name was changed to Alabama
Polytechnic Institute in 1899.
Since its inception in 1872 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College to
its present day status as the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, the school
has known a steady growth.
The establishment of Female Seminary at Marion in 1836 marked the
beginning of higher education for women. The school met with such
immediate success that Judson College for girls was opened at Marion two
years later. These two schools enrolled over 400 students within the next
five years. A steadily increasing need for higher educational facilities
for women led to the founding of Alabama College at Monticello in 1896.
The Church has been the State's staunchest support in the education of her
youth, from the days of the priests in Mobile through the present day. In
addition to contributions, the churches are responsible for Spring Hill
College, founded in 1830 by the Jesuits, Howard College by the Baptists,
Birmingham Southern by the Methodists, and Huntingdon College, for girls,
by Methodists.
Alabama is not neglecting Vocational Education. Manual labor institutes
have been established in Perry, Hale, Coosa, and Montgomery counties.
The State board of education under the Reconstruction government aware of
the need for trained teachers, passed an act in 1868 establishing eleven
normal schools. Under supervision of competent instructors, teachers were
permitted to do practice work providing they later taught two years for
the State when they completed a training course. The Legislature founded
the State Normal School at Florence in 1872 and schools at Jacksonville,
Livingston, and Troy were established in the eighties.
NEGRO EDUCATION
No organized education was available for Negroes before the Civil War, due
to a law passed in 1832 which made any such attempt illegal, and also
because of widespread white prejudice against education of the slave.
Despite the abolitionist propaganda and fear of insurrection that caused
this law, their education was not entirely neglected. Favorite servants
were sometimes taught to read and write. Anti-slavery enthusiasts gave
instruction in primary education, but the Negro's education for the most
part was manual, including such subjects as shoeing a horse, making
clothes, cloth, and bricks. Others became skilled in metal work and
carpentry.
The Reconstruction brought Federal teachers and schools, but ignorance of
the educational needs of the Southern slave made their efforts superficial
and sporadic.
The white people of the South were reluctant toward financing the negro's
education, but the Freedmen's Bureau, established to look after his
interests, took the matter in hand and opened the first Negro schools. The
Bureau was assisted by Northern and Western organizations, the American
Missionary Society, and certain philanthropic individuals. Talledega
College was founded by the American Missionary Association in 1857, but
did not open until 1890. Degrees were not granted until 1895.
Mobile was an exception. By 1868 four Negro schools were in operation with
an aggregate attendance of 919. A fifth school was added the latter part
of the year. A committee had been appointed in 1867 to study the
advisability of teaching the Negro under the existing educational system.
Working through the Freedman's Bureau, the committee acquired an
appropriation of $12,000 for buildings to be used as churches and schools.
With the aid of the American Missionary Society, a building known as
Penny's College was purchased for Negro schools. Other committees were
appointed to determine the amount of taxes to be used for Negro schools
and to see that these schools were properly located. The committee also
placed the school term at no less than three months. There was no mention
in the constitution of 1868 regarding separate schools for Negroes and no
provision was made until the constitution of 1875, which stated
specifically that separate schools should be maintained for children of
African descent.
The sixteenth section lands had all been sold or built upon, so the Negro
schools drew their funds entirely from private donors and sympathetic
organizations.
Secondary education was not neglected, but it was hampered by its cost to
a war-weakened State. The Burrell School was founded at Selma in 1875 and
was in operation until destroyed by fire in 1900. The school was moved to
Florence in 1907.
The Alabama Colored People's University, located at Montgomery, was
founded at Marion in 1883. It was called the Normal School and University.
The act of 1887 which moved the school from Marion to Montgomery also
appropriated $10,000 for buildings and $7,500 for support of the
University.
These schools, due to lack of funds, attempted only the academic subjects,
but vocational education was added with the growth of State appropriations
and private donations.
The ten years following 1880 marked progressive advancement in education
of the Negro. The State had begun liberal contributions and churches were
generous. Illiteracy among those over ten years of age was reduced from
80.6% to 57.4%.
The South's foremost contribution to Negro education came with the opening
of Tuskegee Institute in 1881. The buildings were erected by donations
from Northern friends and Tuskegee citizens. Contributions that year
amounted to $5,521.94. Since its opening under the first president, Dr.
Booker T. Washington, the institution has had the services of many
outstanding Negro leaders and teachers, among them the notable Dr. George
Washington Carver, eminent scientist who has achieved fame by extracting
about 300 ingredients from the lowly peanut.
Alabama is alive to its educational needs and a steady improvement in
standards of education and laws pertaining to education have improved its
position among the States. New eras bring new problems which can be met
only as they arrive. The day of awakening has passed. Alabama is now up
and about.
Woodrow Hand
Text from: Library of
Congress, Manuscript Division, WPA Federal Writers' Project Collection
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