GENERAL SURVEY.
THE SOUTH.
Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, gave evidence of a keen and just appreciation of the needs of a race just escaping from centuries of bondage, when he said to his son-in-law: “Thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk and the work they must do.”—Ex. xviii, 20. These freed slaves, under the leadership of Moses, needed instruction in reference to religious duties, the conduct of their lives, and the larger work that opened to them as free men. This counsel of the old Midian Priest applies equally in its principles to the problem the A. M. A. is helping to solve among the freed men of the South to-day. This work must be fundamentally that of instruction. No revival excitements, no moral shocks, will effect the cure of superstitious ignorance which the social, political and religious forces of the past have united to make most dense. Slow and patient methods of instruction only can dispel this darkness. This fact emphasizes the importance of the
EDUCATIONAL WORK
in the South. The total number of schools planted in the Southern States is fifty-four. Six of these are chartered institutions, fairly entitled to the rank of Colleges. Sixteen are Normal and Training Schools. Thirty-two are common schools, scattered throughout nine different States. In these schools are 246 instructors and 8,616 pupils.
In analyzing these figures, we find not a few encouraging facts. One school has been added to the total number under the care of the Association during the last year. Two new schools stand in the list of Normal Institutes. Normal work was begun by the A. M. A. in 1866; now we have sixteen well furnished schools, one great purpose of which is to instruct instructors.
Large additions have been made to the accommodations of our schools during this year. Three school buildings, and two buildings used for industrial training, have been erected. Tougaloo rejoices in the completion of the two Ballard buildings, one used for class rooms and the other for industrial training. These two buildings were erected by the students, under the direction of the Superintendent of Mechanical Training, who was also the architect. The saving in expense of building was not less than $3,000, and the Industrial classes were thus given the best instruction in this department.
The Girls’ Industrial School at Thomasville, Ga., has just entered its new and commodious home. This building accommodates forty boarding pupils, and contains furnished rooms for teachers, two offices, dining-room, reception room, kitchen and laundry, and all the appointments of a complete boarding school.