| FREEDMEN’S AID SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| States | Number of Schools | Counted Attendance | Teachers | Income for Current Expenses | Value of Property | ||
| Total | White | Negr. | |||||
| Total | 18 | 5,059 | 266 | 65 | 201 | $230,160 | $2,605,687 |
| Alabama | 1 | 190 | 11 | 11 | 5,657 | 42,500 | |
| Arkansas | 1 | 439 | 15 | 15 | 9,226 | 72,300 | |
| Florida | 1 | 408 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 9,387 | 101,578 |
| Georgia | 2 | 382 | 23 | 9 | 14 | 43,714 | 859,200 |
| Louisiana | 2 | 645 | 28 | 9 | 19 | 16,133 | 219,000 |
| Maryland | 1 | 81 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 16,419 | 96,874 |
| Mississippi | 2 | 504 | 23 | 5 | 18 | 21,850 | 146,200 |
| Missouri | 1 | 73 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 8,520 | 59,000 |
| North Carolina | 1 | 312 | 12 | 12 | 6,000 | 49,000 | |
| South Carolina | 1 | 814 | 27 | 6 | 21 | 39,547 | 362,035 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 365 | 42 | 24 | 18 | 25,084 | 274,000 |
| Texas | 2 | 761 | 43 | 43 | 25,223 | 293,000 | |
| Virginia | 1 | 85 | 5 | 5 | 3,400 | 35,500 | |
The annual income for current expenses of the 18 schools is $230,160, of which $105,835 is from the society. All of the schools have an annual income of $2,500 or over; two have incomes between $2,500 and $5,000; 12 between $5,000 and $15,000; three between $15,000 and $30,000; and one has an income of over $30,000. The total property valuation is $2,605,687, of which $1,824,778 is in the school plant and $742,874 in endowment. All of the schools have a property valuation in excess of $25,000, four have valuations between $25,000 and $50,000; five between $50,000 and $100,000; three between $100,000 and $150,000; three between $150,000 and $250,000; and three have valuations over $250,000.
MAIN BUILDING, GAMMON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, ATLANTA, GA.
The leading theological school for colored people. It is beautifully located and well endowed. It was founded in 1882, through a gift from Mr. Gammon, and is now under the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the M. E. Church. It has 6 teachers, 78 pupils and endowment of $420,000.
The attendance on these schools is 5,059, of whom 3,263 are elementary, 1,600 secondary, and 196 collegiate. All but 2 of the schools have elementary pupils, all are maintaining secondary classes, and 8 are offering instruction in college subjects. The number of teachers is 266, of whom 65 are white and 201, or 75 per cent. are colored; 109 are men and 157, or 59 per cent., are women; and 191, or 72 per cent., are academic teachers.
CHRISMAN HALL, CLARK UNIVERSITY, ATLANTA, GA.
One of the leading schools of the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was founded in 1870. It has 17 teachers, 304 students, and property valued at nearly $300,000.
The schools of the Freedmen’s Aid Society rank high in educational efficiency. Some of them are well known colleges for colored people. Claflin University, Orangeburg, South Carolina; Wiley University, Marshall, Texas; Rust College, Holly Springs, Mississippi; Walden University, Nashville, Tennessee; Morgan College, Baltimore, Maryland; Morristown Normal and Industrial College, Morristown, Tennessee; Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Arkansas; Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina; Samuel Houston College, Austin, Texas, and New Orleans University, New Orleans, Louisiana. Of these Wiley University, Walden University, Philander Smith College, Samuel Houston College and Bennett College are ably managed by colored presidents. Other institutions under this board are: Central Alabama Institute, Mason City, Alabama; Cookman Institute, Jacksonville, Florida; Gilbert Industrial Institute, Baldwin, Louisiana; Haven Institute, Meridian, Mississippi; George R. Smith College, Sedalia, Missouri, and Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute, Lynchburg, Virginia. In addition to these credit must be given to this society for the organization of Meharry Medical College, now managed by an independent board of trustees; for the maintenance and support of Gammon Theological Seminary, the best training school for colored ministers, and of the Sarah Goodridge Nurse Training School and Hospital at New Orleans, Louisiana. Princess Anne Academy which receives a portion of land-grant funds through the Federal Government is also supervised by the society.
The proportion of academic teachers is about the same as that in most of the denominational schools. The emphasis on the literary courses is marked. It is evidently unfortunate that this large denomination with 18 educational institutions should provide only three gardening teachers for the education of a people so largely rural. The percentage of men in the teaching force is above the average of church schools. This is probably explained by the fact that the proportion of colored teachers in these institutions is also above the average. The substitution of colored for white teachers in these institutions in the Freedmen’s Aid schools has evidently proceeded with considerable rapidity. The indications are that the change has been too rapid for the good of the schools. While democracy in education requires the recognition of the colored teachers, it is equally true that these schools need not only the financial aid of white people; but also their personal influence.
The Freedmen’s Aid Society was organized in 1866 “for the purpose of aiding the recently emancipated slaves and their children in securing the benefits of a good common school education, and such other educational preparation as was necessary to provide Christian ministers, physicians, school teachers, and industrial leaders for the race.” The colored members of the various branches of Methodism are next to the colored Baptists in number. The number of colored members in the Northern Methodist Church represented by the Freedmen’s Aid Society and the Woman’s Missionary Society is about 350,000. These members contribute about a fourth of the total sums collected by the Freedmen’s Aid Society for the education of colored people.