THE BAPTISTS.
The Baptists, who conduct their work, both educational and church, among the Freedmen, through their Home Missionary Society, entered early into the establishment of schools; beginning in the Spring of 1862 with schools at St. Helena and Beaufort, S.C., and afterwards adding others at Fortress Monroe, Washington, Knoxville and New Orleans. Missionaries were appointed to preach, and to teach day-schools, and assistants, both male and female, were sent out; from 3,000 to 5,000 pupils were taught yearly, until about 1872, when the secular or day-school system was given up, and efforts concentrated on permanent or higher institutions, some of which had been planted in 1865. In 1882, the Society has under its care 12 schools as follows: Wayland Seminary, Washington, D.C.; Richmond Institute, Richmond, Va.; Shaw University, Raleigh, N.C.; Benedict Institute, Columbia, S.C.; Atlanta Seminary, Atlanta, Ga.; Nashville Institute, Nashville, Tenn.; Leland University, New Orleans, La.; Natchez Seminary, Natchez, Miss.; Alabama Normal and Theological School at Selma, Ala.; Florida Institute, Live Oak, Fla.; Bishop College, Marshall, Tex.; Louisville Normal and Theological School, Louisville, Kentucky. Normal instruction is given in most of the schools; industrial education in several; and Biblical instruction in all. In four institutions a collegiate course is pursued. Five are chartered institutions. In 1882, Schools, 12; Teachers, 79; Pupils, 2,397. The Free Will Baptists have an excellent institution, Storer College, at Harper’s Ferry, W. Va., with 5 Teachers and 245 Students.
THE FRIENDS.
The Friends, true to the principles of the founder of their denomination, George Fox, entered at once the opened door for relieving the physical necessities of the Freedmen, and at length established schools among them; but when the public schools furnished the education, they gradually withdrew. They now maintain Southland College, Helena, Ark., with 277 Pupils, a school in Maryville, Tenn., with 13 Instructors and 211 Pupils, and one in Philadelphia with 291 Pupils, with the supervision of 22 other schools in the South sustained for several months in the year. The Friends (Hicksite), entered the work in 1862, furnishing supplies at first, afterwards sustaining schools numbering at one time 25. They now have one school with 150 scholars.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The Methodist Episcopal Church had from the first co-operated with the undenominational Aid Societies in the care of the Freedmen, in relieving physical suffering and in giving instruction in primary education. But it concentrated its efforts by the organization, in Cincinnati, Aug. 6, 1866, of “The Freedmen’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.” This Society now reports six chartered institutions, viz.: Central Tennessee College, Nashville, Tenn.; Clark University, Atlanta, Ga.; Claflin University, Orangeburg, S.C.; New Orleans University, New Orleans, La.; Rust University, Holly Springs, Miss.; Wiley University, Marshall, Texas. Four theological schools, viz.: Centenary Biblical Institute, Baltimore, Md.; Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Ga.; Baker Institute, Orangeburg, S.C., and Thomson Biblical Institute, New Orleans, La. One medical college, viz., Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.; and 14 institutions not chartered. Total number of institutions, 35; teachers, 95; pupils, 3,506. It gives special attention to Biblical instruction, and at Clark University a Department of Industry is established. The African Methodist Episcopal Church founded and sustained Wilberforce University at Xenia, Ohio, with 13 teachers and 170 students.
THE PRESBYTERIANS.
The “Presbyterian Committee of Missions for Freedmen,” was organized by the General Assembly in 1865 and began its work at once, by sending preachers and teachers to the South. Its efforts thus far are confined to the two Carolinas, Virginia and Tennessee, with a few missions and schools in Georgia, Kentucky and Florida. It has under its care three chartered institutions: Biddle University, Charlotte, N.C. (with a Theological Department), Wallingford Academy, Charleston, S.C., and Scotia Seminary, Concord, N.C.; 2 normal schools; 3 graded schools, and 50 parochial schools. Total number of schools, 58; teachers, 108; scholars, 6,088. Lincoln University (Lincoln University P. O.), Oxford, Pa., has an able corps of 13 professors and 200 students—18 theological, 100 collegiate, 82 preparatory. The United Presbyterians have two schools, one in Abbyville, Va., with 4 teachers and 245 students, the other in Chase City, Va., with 3 teachers and 251 students.