History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880. Vol. 2: Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as CitizensWilliams, George Washington
History
History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880. Vol. 2: Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens
Williams, George Washington
African Americans -- History; Liberia; Sierra Leone
In 1849, a statistical return of the condition of the people of color
in the city and districts of Philadelphia shows that there were then
one grammar school, with 463 pupils; two public primary schools, with
339; and an infant school, under the charge of the Pennsylvania
Abolition Society, of 70 pupils, in Clifton Street: a ragged and a
moral-reform school, with 81 pupils. In West Philadelphia there was
also a public school, with 67 pupils; and, in all, there were about 20
private schools, with 300 pupils; making an aggregate of more than
1,300 children receiving an education.
In 1859, according to Bacon's "Statistics of the Colored People of
Philadelphia," there were 1,031 Colored children in public schools,
748 in charity schools of various kinds, 211 in benevolent and
reformatory schools, and 331 in private schools, making an aggregate
of 2,321 pupils; besides four evening schools, one for adult males,
one for females, and one for young apprentices. There were 19
Sunday-schools connected with the congregations of the Colored people,
and conducted by their own teachers, containing 1,667 pupils, and four
Sunday-schools gathered as mission schools by members of white
congregations, with 215 pupils. There was also a "Public Library and
Reading-room" connected with the "Institute for Colored Youth,"
established in 1853, having about 1,300 volumes; besides three other
small libraries in different parts of the city. The same pamphlet
shows that there were 1,700 of the Colored population engaged in
different trades and occupations, representing every department of
industry.[64]
In 1794, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society established a school for
children of the people of color, and in 1809 erected a school building
at a cost of four thousand dollars, which they designated as "Clarkson
Hall," in 1815. In 1813, a board of education was organized consisting
of thirteen persons, with a visiting committee of three, whose duty it
was to visit the schools once each week. In 1818, the school board, in
their report, speak very kindly and encouragingly of the Clarkson
Schools, which, they say, "furnish a decided refutation of the charge
that the mental endowments of the descendants of Africa are inferior
to those possessed by their white brethren. We can assert, without
fear of contradiction, that the pupils of this seminary will sustain a
fair comparison with those of any other institution in which the same
elementary branches are taught."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account