The ultimate aim of the church bodies was usually religious. They endeavored to institute the true principles of Christianity among the blacks, but in order to do this, in order to raise up ministers and Christian leaders among them, schools were necessary.[43] The Baptists in particular emphasized the training of ministers and the reports of their agents in the field always included the number baptized along with the number of schools and students.
Establishment and Work of Schools
The schools established during this period may be roughly classified as primary and higher, under the auspices of the non-sectarian and denominational bodies respectively. They include day schools, night schools, and Sabbath schools.
The term "higher" includes secondary and college instruction, although within this decade only two or three schools were even doing secondary work while another which reports "classical" students was really of secondary rank. Some of the church schools were graced with the name "college" and "university" which in reality merely represents the expectation of the promoters. In later years at least two of the institutions begun at this time reached college rank.[44]
The Freedmen's Bureau assumed general charge and supervision of education for the State in the fall of 1865, under the direction of Superintendent Reuben Tomlinson. Schools were in operation, however, before this time—those at Port Royal and the Beaufort district, as mentioned above, continued in operation and in increased numbers. At Charleston schools were opened under the control of the military government on the fourth of March, 1865, only a few weeks after the surrender of the city. James Redpath was appointed as superintendent of these schools. Outside of these two places no regularly organized schools were begun until the Fall, when they were extended over all the State.
The Charleston and Columbia schools are of chief interest. On March 31, 1865, after the schools had just opened, Redpath reported the following in operation with the attendance of each:
| Morris Street School | 962 |
| Ashley Street School | 211 |
| Saint Phillip Street School | 850 |
| Normal School | 511 |
| King Street School (boys) | 148 |
| Meeting Street School | 211 |
| Saint Michael's School | 221 |
| Total | 3,114 |
There were employed eighty-three teachers, seventy-five of whom, white and colored, were natives of Charleston. The salaries of these teachers were paid by the New York and New England societies and cooperating with Redpath in organizing these schools were agents of these societies, one of whom served as a principal of one school. Within a month or two another school was added to this list, and during the same time there sprang up five night schools for adults. The students were made up of both white and Negro children and were taught in separate rooms. The whites, however, represented a very small proportion of the total number.[45]
In the fall of the year, with the reopening of the schools, the general organization underwent considerable changes due to the restoration of the regular civil government in charge of the ex-Confederates. Most of the schools mentioned above were now conducted for white children and taught by the native whites as of old. The Morris Street School, however, was kept for Negro children and taught by the native whites. The Normal School in time became the Avery Institute. The New England Society, which in the Spring had supported the Morris Street School, moved to the Military Hall and subsequently built the Shaw Memorial School. This school was named in the honor of Colonel Robert G. Shaw, who was killed during the war in the assault on Fort Wagner (Morris Island) while leading his Negro troops. The funds for the erection of the school were contributed by the family of Colonel Shaw and they retained a permanent interest in it. In 1874, when the New England Society dissolved, the school was bought by the public school authorities and used for Negro children.[46] During the course of four or five years other schools were established here or in the vicinity of Charleston by the several church organizations.
Charleston thus made a commendable start in education partly for the reason that the city had a school system before the war and for a while during the conflict. The free Negroes of this city likewise had been instructed under certain restrictions during slavery time.[47] The schools which were controlled or supported by the northern agencies were by 1868 offering an elementary grade of instruction corresponding to about the fourth or fifth grade with classes in geography, English composition and arithmetic. Just here, however, it must be said that the personnel of the student body was constantly changing or at least during 1865 and 1866. Charleston was merely a sort of way station for the blacks, who, returning from the up-country where they had fled or had been led during the war, were on their way to the sea islands to take up land as offered by Sherman's order.[48] During April, 1865, Redpath reported that at least five hundred pupils "passed through" the schools, remaining only long enough to be taught a few patriotic songs, to keep quiet and to be decently clad. Others in turn came and in turn were "shipped off."[49]