IV.-EDUCATIONAL WORK AMONG THE COLORED RACE.

BY PROF. W. H. BARTHOLOMEW, OF LOUISVILLE, KY.

Mr. Chairman :

I wish to say in justification of myself that I received a request since I came here, to speak upon the education of the negro. Since my arrival I have been extremely busy in one department and engaged actively in the Council of the Association, so that I have not been able to put what I shall have to say in logical form. But my loss I think may result in your gain. Instead of having a long paper, wearing your patience, I shall say what I have to say as briefly as possible. There are some things which are settled so far as the negro is concerned, and one of those settled things is, that he is capable of receiving the highest order of education. We must remember, however, that when the war closed, and this large mass of illiteracy was thrown upon the southern states, that there was one virtue which was to be exercised in order that the education of the negro might be properly attended to; and that one virtue was patience. I undertake to say, that so far as the education of the negro in the South is concerned, that we are compelled, from the very necessity of the case, to consider the social environments and the conditions under which we find him. We have acknowledged in the South, long ago, with those of the North, that intelligence and virtue constitute the indispensable condition upon which the liberty of this government is to be secured. But when it comes to the proper education of the negro in the South, we have a right to say that, so far as the details of that education are concerned, we have the right to consider the conditions which surround us and to choose the very best thing we can under the circumstances, in securing the proper education of the negro. This we have done. I am not prepared this morning to state to you so as to give you an enlarged conception of what is done in the South in reference to the negro. I am prepared, however, to communicate to you that, as far as I am able to gain information, the same thought, the same conception, the same idea in reference to the education of the negro seems to prevail among all of those who are leading thought in this direction, in the entire South. We started out upon this question and we made some failures. We had to handle the question delicately, because it was the centre of attraction just then. We had to be very careful what we did and how we did it, and hence, therefore, perhaps the extreme influences

But I wish to state to There is no avenue to learn

had an undue weight upon us and what we did. you now that everything has adjusted itself. ing and to culture, to the development of character, in the State of Kentucky that is open to the white boy or girl, that is not as equally and as wide open to the colored boy or girl. I wish to say, also, to you that so far as purpose is concerned, so far as modern school buildings with all their modern appliances are concerned, so far as textbooks are concerned, so far as qualified teachers are concerned, whatever applies to the white boy or girl equally applies to the child of the negro. I wish to say more to you, and that is this. That in that State the per capita, or state tax, is equal for the colored and for the white. And I wish to say to you that so far as the State in which I live is concerned, they have organized a system of common schools, followed by a high school, followed by a training school for training teachers, in order that they may conscientiously and successfully perform their duties; and this has been organized for the colored race in the South. And I wish to say further to you that the salaries of the white and the salaries of the colored-those discharging equal responsibility-are exactly the same. Now I ask. in the name of reason, in the name of common sense, what more can you ask than these. They stand on an equality, they have equal advantages. The white tax payer in the city of Louisville and throughout the state of Kentucky, puts his hand in his pocket and pays the taxes; and he thinks that when he thus invests his money in building up character in these boys and girls, that they may discharge with conscientious fidelity all that the Government and State may require at their hands, that he is investing in that which will pay him the largest possible per cent. More than this, the recent legislature which met in the city of Frankfort, through the joint committee on Education from the Senate to the House, considered this question of the education, or rather of the preparation of the colored teachers of the state of Kentucky; and they have established a State Normal School for their instruction. So that, therefore, there is provided in the State which I have the honor to represent, that deep and profound conviction that the well being of our society, that the purity of our politics, that the purity of our social relation, depends upon the education of the children of the State, regardless of race and color. Now I say this to you-Be careful how you accept statements that are given out in reference to the education of the colored people in the South. I will speak confidently in reference to Kentucky. We are a band of men and of women who, when we learn our duty, when we are convinced of what we ought to do, we have the courage, regardless of consequences, to step to the front and do that thing which we believe it is right to do.

Any system of education, any plan or scheme-and that is where we made our mistake in the beginning-which does not require activity, that

plan or scheme will fail to produce the highest result. The negro, in the beginning, thought all he had to do was to sit passively by and receive, without any activity on his part, that which had been so lavishly prepared for him. He had to be taught that he was under a responsibility; that there was something for him to do; that he was to be actively engaged; that his mind was to be enlarged; that he was to discharge certain responsibilities. Then it was that there began to be that progress which we have witnessed in the state of Kentucky and in the city of Louisville. I have to-day in my mind three gentlemen who are occupying positions of educational work in the city of Louisville, who are the peers of any three men anywhere in this nation; and they are colored men, who have by indomitable energy, who have by perseverance, risen from the lowest round to the highest, and they are occupying those positions with distinguished honor in our State. And it does me great honor to-day, to say this to you and to communicate to you that we have all of the plans, all the facilities, and all the schemes by which the colored boys and girls of the city of Louisville and the state of Kentucky are rising to positions of usefulness and trust, within our borders. Therefore the great thing to be taught is, that a man, whether he be white or black, whenever he shall indicate that there is something meritorious in him, and not before this, can take his rank socially and politically.

Now I wish to say this in conclusion. It does us good to come up here and receive inspirations from you. It does me good to come and look in your kindly eyes. It does me good to realize when I look over this vast assemblage, that I do not stand isolated, as I seem to when I am at my home. After coming here before this grand army, sparkling with intelligence and wisdom, I can go back home with renewed energy and determination to continue the fight in this great contest against ignorance and. vice. I want to say to you, that we are in this army, and that this contest must continue until our fair land is freed from this insidious foe; until every boy and every girl within the boundary of this country shall be so enlightened as to see what are the secrets of success in life, and become strong in the pursuance of that which is right and true and beautiful and good. Until the reflex influence shall be such as to leave our nation far above all others, as the very embodiment of that which is right and just and true in itself. Let us put our hands together-those of the North into the hands of the South, those of the East into the hands of the West, and say that there shall be a war of extermination, until ignorance and vice shall be banished from our country; and say in the motto of my State, "United we stand, but divided we fall.”

MR. JOHN BALDWIN, of Texas.

Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen :-In addition to the remarks to which we have just listened, I wish to say that the same state of affairs exists, I believe, in all the southern states. In Texas, by constitutional enactment, the black man is placed on an equality with the white man. The constitution provides for a State University of the highest order, for the education of the colored youths, which has been located at Austin. We sustain a Normal school for the training of colored people. The State pays board, books, and tuition. In every city and town in the country where provisions are made for the education of white youths, the same provisions are made for the education of the colored people. I wish, Mr. President, to simply say this, that all over the South the colored people are taking hold with great earnestness in this educational work. They bend everything to embracing the opportunity. have in Texas a large number of the best equipped educational institutions, sustained by the various churches, for the education of the colored people, and these institutions, I believe, are thus pressing forward the work of the education of the colored people over the entire South, with the exception, perhaps, of two or three cities. We believe that many of our schools in Texas will compare favorably with those of any country.

FRIDAY EVENING.-SEVENTH SESSION.

PRESIDENT CALKINS :-Ladies and Gentlemen: :- At the last evening of our meeting it is customary to depart somewhat from the order of proceeding of the other sessions. I am aware that a great many of those who have participated in our meeting and who have interested and delighted us with their papers and with their remarks, have been obliged to leave the city. But there are many yet lingering here in the enjoyment of the hearty welcome which has been tendered them and of the pleasant associations which they have experienced in sharing the hospitality of the citizens. I shall take the liberty of calling upon representatives from different sections of the country, whom I suppose may be present to-night, to give you a few of their best thoughts in five minute speeches. I believe we have with us a representative from Colorado and I will take the liberty of introducing to you

PROFESSOR I. C. DENNETT, of the University of Colorado, at Boulder. Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen: - You cannot possibly expect me to represent the great State of Colorado in five minutes. I know that all you can expect me to do is simply to boast a little, and after having been with our good Kansas friends for some ten days, I think I should be rather a dull student if I could not boast,-just a little. But I well know that the people of Kansas boast with reason. I well know that they are great and rich and prosperous and intelligent and temperate and good, and if there is anything else, after having been so royally treated, that you claim, I am sure we will grant it to you, without investigation. I was amused as well as instructed the other day when I heard the Kansas people talking from the platform in relation to this great State; and after they had spoken of their wealth and their power, and rightly so, and gotten so far up into the clouds that they could not very well get down, what should they do but call upon Professor Canfield of the Kansas University to help them down. But instead of doing that he shot straight up into the sky and attributed all their glory unto God; and I suppose that that is where it belongs. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I think I ought to say one word for Colorado. Colorado is a big state with a little population; but we are growing. She has wonderful resources quite undeveloped but still developing. She pays twenty times as great tax in proportion to the valuation of her property, for higher education, than the great and noble State of Illinois. Colorado is a great big boy, with but few clothes on,