I am well aware that, had it not been for the philanthropists who gave their money so freely at the close of the Civil War for the education of the freedmen, and the Christian and unselfish missionaries who went South to teach the ex-slaves, I would not have been able to present so many interesting and, in many cases, startling "Evidences of Progress Among Colored People." I want to mention most of the schools started by white friends. But I shall deal more at length and in greater detail with the school work carried on by the colored people themselves. There are many who are asking if the colored people are doing anything for themselves in an educational way. This question will be clearly answered in this book. I do not claim that colored people support entirely all of the schools managed by them, nor have the white people a right to expect that they should be able to do so, in so short a time. For my part, I shall feel that they will have accomplished a great deal if, in the next hundred years, they will have reached that point where they can support their own schools and meet all the financial obligations involved. I have no doubt but that many who shall read this book will be, as I was, greatly surprised, yes, astonished; for some of the sketches read like romances more than the ordinary things of life. I shall mention the names of one or more of the many men and women I have found engaged in all the pursuits and walks of life. I present in many cases the portraits of characters whose sketches appear, in order that the white people may make a study of their faces. Some, in fact many, of them are very dark. I mention this because I have been led to believe that it is the general opinion among Americans that quite a percentage of white blood runs through the veins of colored people who have proven their susceptibility to higher education. I believe, and I am confident, that the contents of this book will help me to demonstrate that the color of the skin, the texture of the hair, and the formation of the head, have nothing whatever to do with the development and expansion of the mind. I only hope that the white friends may be made to feel that the colored people are entitled to more consideration and ought to be given a better opportunity to fill the places for which they are being fitted, in the commercial and business life of this country. Among the colored readers I hope to stimulate a greater interest in these institutions and thereby help to bring the race up to a higher educational and social level. In order that my book might not be too large, I had to omit a great many sketches of worthy persons and institutions; but I tried to mention one or more persons engaged in the different branches of business and professions. So any who are omitted will please attribute it to a want of space and not a neglect or oversight on my part.