history of public school education in alabama

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UNITED STATES BUREAU Of EDUCATION.
BULLETIN, 1915, NO. 12 , WHOLE NUMBER 637
HISTORY OF
PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION
IN ALABAMA
I
By STEPHEN B. WEEKS
OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1915
ADDITIONAL COPIES
THIS PUBLICATION MAT BE PROCURED FROM
T11 SUPERINTENDENT Or DOCUMENTS
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON, D. C.
AT
20 CENTS 1'E11 COPY
In The same series:
Bulletin 1912, No. 27. History of Public School EduostIon in Arkansas.
In preparation:
History of Public School Education In Tennessee.
'2,90 9
^
,
(e,
ktAN 11 19i5
1915
CONTENTS. 12 -23
tags.
Letter of transmittal
5
('hapter I.- Evolution of the State
7
Growth.of population of Alabama, 1800-1910 9
First centers of American settlement
11
The lines of travel and the influence of roads on settlement
12
The distribution of incoming settlers
14
Chapter 11.-Private schools before the CivilViiar
16
Schools supported from private sources-
17
Schools supported in part out of public funds
23
Chapter 111.-Administration of the sixteenth sections, 1819-1914
26
The laws of the thirties and the failure of the State bank
27
Judge Porter's bill in 1847-48
30
Proposed comnlidation, 1852-53
33
Transfer of trumagement to State superintendent, 1854
35
Auditor Reynolds's strictures, 1869
36
The law of 1881 lays foundation of a State fund 4 38
The act of 1899 and the case of Alabama r. Schmidt
39
Principal of the sixteenth sectidls fund, 1851 and 1912. 41
Chapter 1V.-The rise of public schools in Mobile.,1826-1865
42
Public schools reorganized, 1852..
44
Development, 1853-1865
45
('hapter V.-The experimental period in the organization ofa State system.
1819-1854
48
The laws of 1839-40 49f
Messages of Gov. Chapman and Gov. Collier in 1849 -t 51
'It. The house report of 1851-52
53
Gen. Perry's reminiscences
56
Chapter VI.- O.ganization of the public-school system, 1854-4856
58
Meek's report on education
59
The act of February 15, 1854
60
W. F'. Perry chosen firstsState superintendent
63
. The course of study and textbooks
65
The amended act of February 14, 1856
67
Chapter VII.-The work of the public schools, 1836 -1865
69
The condition of schodlliouses r-20
Indifference of the people and weakness of the law a \ 71
Equalization and distribution of the sixteenth-section fund
74
The Alabama educational association and the educationalpress 76
Gabriel B. Duval becomes the second superintendent
77
The Civil War and after
80
Chapter VIII-Reconstruction in the public schools, 1865-1876
84
' I. The intermediate period, 1865-1868
84
II. The old regime and the new, 1868-1876
87
The State board of education
88
Reorganization and new legislation
89
The contest for supremacy in Mobile 90
Income, misappropriations and investigations
93
Conservatives in power, 1870; economy and reform 96
.
3'
----4----- uurrrzarria.
Chapter VIII.Recoustruction in the public schools,
1865-4876--Continued. Page.
III-. School legislation in 1872, 1873, and 1875 e -101 -
Law of December 14, 1872, practically suspends schools for 1873
101
i Tho appeal of the State board of education; arrears a 103
Act ef March 8. 1875, and .constitntioa of 1875 reduce school fund
110
The general situation in 1874 -1876 ,
-I 111
CAapter IX.Reorganization and advance. 1876-1898
114
I. The constitution of 1875.
1 -14
II. The school tmdes pf 1877 and 1879
116
The admipistration.of Laroy F. Box, 1876-1880
118
111. Progrosl4n the eighties
119 W
The administration of Henry Clay Arnistrong,.1880- ISS-I
119
The administration of Solomon Palmer, J681-1890 120 ,
Rise of the special school district
122
Local taxation and the rise of city systems T
123
IV. The Handley amendment anti after ,
The administration of John Gideon 'Parris. 1S90-189-1 4.*i 127
127
The administration of John Orman Turner, 1894-1898 ,
131
'Chapter X.The awakening, 1898-1914.
.115
I. The beginning of a new era
135
The administration of John W. Abercrombie. 1898-1902..:......
° 136
II. The constitution of 1901 ' 140
III..Contemporaneous conditions and Ili'ogress . .., 142
The administration of Isaac W. Hill, 1902-1906
.. 142
The administration of Harry C. Gunnels, 1906-1910; of Henry J. Wil-,
lingham, 1910-1913; and of William F. Feagin, 1913 to date
146
.Chapter ILMiscellaneous and supplementary agencies
155
I. Normal schools and other nobnal agencies
1'6,5'
II. City schools
IIIVI.. NReugrraol sscchhoooollhso.uses; rural tolpervision and school im"p..rovement 116628 ..
ciationa t 11M30-
172
V. Rural school libraries and library organization
177
Ji District agricultural school4
178
f VII. Industrial education
182
-"VIII: The county high schools
189 .
Chapter X11. Looking from the past and into the future .
18?
Puddle school statistics, 1855-1914
197
I. School population, teachers, property, and school year 197
II. Enrollment and attendance
- 198
III. School revenues
199
IV. School expenditures
200
V. Tax valuation
202
Addindum
Bibliography. .. SO2
. 203
INDEX ..
'"07
tk.
torER 01' TRANSMITTAL.
,
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
BtREAU OF EDUCATION,
Washington; February 19, 1915.
SIR: I submit heltewith for publicationas a bulletin of the Bureau
of Education a brief account of thetirogress of education in the State
of Alabama. This is the second in the series of brief histories of edu-
cation insome of the States of the Union which this bureau is having
prepared by and under the direction of Dr. Stephen B. Weeks, of this
bureau, for the purpose of providing accurate information for the
future historian, and the still more important purpose of helping
those who are now working for.the improvement of education in the I
States, Its set forth in my letter transmitting the manuscript of
Bulletin, 191,2, No. 27.
Respectfully submitted.
Commissioner.
The SECRETARY INTERIOR.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
The compiler wishes toacknowledge with thanks many courtesies
which he has received from
citizens of Alabama during the prepara-
tion of this bulletin.
Supt. John H. Phillips, of Biimingham;
Mr.
Henry J. Willingham,
now president of the State Normal
School at
Florence; and Mr. William F.Feagin, the present Statesuperintend-
ent, courteously answered
numerous questions; Hon. John W. Aber-
crombie. and Mr. Isaac W. Hill, former State superintendents,
read
parts of the paper and offbred
suggestions, while Mr. Thomas
M.
Owen, LL.D., director of the
State department of archives and
history, .put the historical
material in his office, including
many
pamphlets in the Curry Collection and the original manuscript letter
books of the State
superintendents.down to 1873, at the service of
the writer. Dr. Owen also read the
manuscript and freelygave the
benefits of his very wide knowledgeof the subject.
6
HISTORY. OF PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN
ALABAMA.
Chapter I.
EVOLUTION OF THE STATE.
The territory included within the present State of Alabama lies
between 30° 13' and 35° north latitude and between 84° 51' and 88° 31'
west longitude. It has a total land and water area of 51,998 square
miles, and was first visited by De Narvaez and later explored by
De Soto (1540); but the Spaniards madeno attempi at settlement and
for more than a hundred years there was no other visit to the ter-
ritory by white men. Then came La Salle, with his idea of a French
empire extending through the heart of North America, the Mississippi
to be the main artery of commerce, and a chain of forts to connect
Canada and Louisiana (1682). Under the impetus of this ideacame
the settlenient at Biloxi in 1699 and that
at Twenty-seven Milo
Bluff, on Mobile River in 1702. In ,1711 this latter settlement was
moved to the present site of Mobile. This removal marks the real
beginning of European settlement in that section of the United
States, and Mobile was for years the center of French'opposit.ion to
the westward thrust of the English-speaking
peoples from Georgia
and the Carolinas.
It should be noted that the Spaniards never formally surrendered
their claims to the countrynow represented by the State of Alabama,
but included it within the ill-defined boundaries of Florida, and that
the English made a similar claith to it as a part of their province
of.Carolana, "the east of Carolana joining to the west of Carolini"
according to Coxe, who wa's the leading exponent of the Eng1M
contentioA; but the French remained in actual possession of the soil
till the peace of 1"aris in 1763, by the_ terms of whichCanada and all
of that pall of Louis.&na east of the Mississippi River, with the excep-
tion of the island of Orleans, was ceded to England,and the city of
New Orleans with all of Louisiana west of the river to Spain. By
these cessions France was ,forced out of the Continent of North
America, and the visions of. La Salle's American empire vanished.
7
8 MIMIC _SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ALADAMA.
By a treaty of 1762 East and West. Florida had been ceded by Spain
to England in exchange for Havana, and the English flag then
waved over all the territory of _North America east of the Mississippi
except the city of New Orleans.
In reorganizing the territory of West Florida the English in 1767
extended its boundary northward to the line of 32° 28', about the
latitude of the present city. of Montgomery. The' territory north of
32° 28' was included'in the English province of Illinois. During the
American Revoltition, Bernardo Galvez, Spanish governor of Louis-
iana, captured both Pensacola and Mobile, and by the treaty of
Versailles in 1783 the Flor;das were retroceded to Spain by.England,
which at the same/hue acknowledged the southern boundary of the
United States to run awn to 31°, thus ignoring her own boundary
of West Florida and bequeathing a bone\ of contention to the United
States and Spain. This territory remained a subject. of dispute till
1795, when under the Jay treaty Spain acknowledged the American
contention for 31°, -although it was not till 1798 that the Spanish
colonial cfliciala were forced to yield recognition of the treaty. By
the Federal act of April 7; 1798, a ttvritoriat government was elltab-
lished for the MissiSSippi Territory then embraced between 31' and
32° 28', of like charactei in all respects to that over the Northwest.
Territory,'save as to the last ordinance (slavery). A commission was
provi<ted* the act for settling the contention between the United
States and the State of Georgia over all lands lying north of 310 and
south of the South Carolina cession of 1787 which Georgia claimed
as a Tottrt of her territory under the original charter of Oglethorpe, In
1802 Georgia ceded to the United States all her claims to this terri-
tory; and in-1804 the territory between 32° 2S' and 35°, including the
strip of land 12 miles wide known as the South Carolina cession, was
annexed to the 'Mississippi Territory. In 1812 Congress added to
that Territory what was known as the district of Mobile, being the
lands between the Pearl and the Perdido Rivers, recently taken from
Spain and extending from tho Gulf northward to Ellicott's line in
31°. By aot of March 3, the Territory of Alabama was estab-
lished by Congress,' with boundaries corresponding to those of the
present. State. This Territory was admitted as a State of the Union
by the act of Congress. of March 2 and resolution of Deeethber 14,
1819.
tVOLUTTON OF TRW STATE.
The growth-in population has been as follows:
Statistical view of yroto th of .ilubanta population, 1000-1910.
Prat, White. Colored. I Total. Ptiiennrce r(e*W alaisltes otf PPo"ipnui lea.t'ion
COMM
115541201 . I 19,. 0r1s6'l
1.15 25,00u
1520 ..... - 55.4'4 ,' 42.450 127,961 2.19
0530 190 4491 119,121 309.527 162.542 6.03
11835(140........ 343256,,155154 I, 233452 .517019 577910..672316 9360.. 6826 1161..0552
1500.. . 530.271 ' 437,170 964,24n 24.98 13.50
1570 5.11 . 384 475.510 696,092 210 19. 44
15.50 . 662.155 000,103 1,262,505 26.63 14.62
1890 8.0, 715 674,459 1,513,401 19.87 29. SI
1900. 1.ti11. 152 .527,307 1, 6:14, 691 21 83 13.66
1910 . 1,125, 532 St*, 252 2.118,09i 56.9.5 41.67
I In 1910 land area 5-1 .279 square mile. In W Williston 'aunty, Ala only. Pickett.
issiadp pi Territory. Excludes a few nil lams, Chinese, and Japsnese.
The sources of this population, as far as it concerns the older
States, lire shown for different decades in the following table, wlah
includes every State which has in any decade contributed as much as
1,000 to the - Stat'e's population.
Statistical ring of the sources of Alabama's population.
Slat, 15: A) i 1410 I 1870 1660 1890 1900
I
'GSeoourthg iaCarotin,' J 5455../999..17 5453.,155557 9423,.907218 S25W, 796724 9246,, 837355 9198,,496241
Tennes5ee 22, Al 19,139 19,197 23.669 25,186 31,023
North Carolina 28.321 M,504 30.290 21,2011 13,491 12,102
%)F(LloAcr:rciiddisaa:1,1 (nadnd W......t Virginia! a, 1021,,, 305563720II 741,,.655494485 21920,,,671361549 21443,,,300324196 11653,,,200306299 03,,29Z53IO64
OKNeehnwito.u .Y.c..ko...yr..k... .......... 21,,462497674 I1,.592466586 21., 56'.535.920 211,,,864267487 323,,,790688436 424,,,201020709
LOU Isiana 625I 1,149 1,753 1,753 2,38e 2,730
peunsyl v anis 575 659 727 1,199 3,313 2,533
Maryland 757 653 2, 209 1, KV 1.457 1,121
Texas 55 275 . 640 1,251 1,812 3,230
IInllidnioainsa I 1t1i4l 211546 :247689 878056 11,,734714 22,,167715
A11rk1a,snosuaris I 119014 319413 651560 . .656132 1,089614 21,,036033
AssuMing these figures to he correct, t nd a proper foundation on
which to base generalizations, it is evident that in the development
of Alabama immigration _has, eome primItrily from the Stares imme-
diately adjoining; that it has been in direct proportioh to distance;
that it has been in this case, as in most others, in the main along lines
of latitude; that the population coming into Alabama in the early
days was distinctively southern, and that it was not till 1890. that an
increatie in the northern and western elements began to command
atten tion.
The States that seem to:. have contributed most to the population
of-Alai , in ths order of importance: Georgia, South Carolina,
10 PUBLIC SCIT001. EDUCATION IN ALABAMA.
Tennessee, North Carolina, inidl:irginia; these States In the four
censuses between 1850 anttl 880, stand with three exceptions in the
above ordei. Two of them, Georgia and Tennessee, represent a
migration frOm the neighboring older States, Virginia and the Caro-
linas. It is probable that an overwhelming per cent of the Alabama
-
population of the ante bellum period. traced its origin directly or'
indirectly to Virginia and the Carolinas, as is shown hy the following
tables:
Total population Alabama, 18,50 425, 779
Born in the State 236,332
Born out of Stale, but in United State 183, 913
Born in 'foreign countries 7, 509
Birthplace unknowti 1,1125
428,779
Born ottaide of State, but in United Struve . 183 913
Boin in
deorgia 58, 997
South Carolina 48, 663
North Carolina. 28, 521
Tennessee,. 22, 54 1
Virginia 10, :SS;
_ 169,.132
Born in foreign countries 7, Soy ,
Born in
941
1
Ireland 3.639
.Seotland.. 584
Wales., 67 --
Germany rod aria 1, 112
France ... . ..... 503
Austria .. . 33
Switzerland 113
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden 74
British America ... 49
7, 116
It is t evident that the States which in the decade between
1840 1850 made the largest contribution to Alabama's population
furnished no new ethnic elements; and that tile, foreign contribution
was neither sufficient' in size, nor sufficiently different in character;.
to produce variation in type. 'There was in geteral large racial
homogerfeity.
.It may be interesting to inquire at this point how and along what
linen df travel, and over what roads, these immigrants got into Ala-
bama. If the lines of travel and the location of earliest settlement
are known, theie facts will help explain why certain sections. were in
advance of others in the organization of schools.
After the province of Louisiana came into the hands of the English
as a result of the Treaty of Paris in 1763; they began to encourage
immigration, and the first -immigrants found homes not in what is