Virginia 8-12 12 weeks. First, $2 to $10; subsequent, $5 | 13 years, after March 1, 1909; 14 after to $20. 14 years, in mines; females may not Children under 15 may not be employed No child under 14 shall be so employed Children 12 to 14 may not be employed eTo 16 if unemployed. d Inclusive. e Not applicable to children over 13 who can read and write English and are regularly employed in useful service. The compulsory attendance act applies to 18 counties, in addition to which 13 counties are under special laws. Compulsory attendance law optional with the voters of any county, city, or town. XX. EDUCATION OF THE COLORED RACE. NEGRO RURAL SCHOOL FUND-ANNA T. JEANES FOUNDATION. [Compiled from statements made to the board by James H. Dillard, president and general agent.] FROM STATEMENT IV, APRIL 10, 1909. We have paid for salaries to date, $9,862; for building and equipment, $1,905; for extension of term, $407.50. The disparity in salaries is striking. As a rule the higher salaries are at the instigation of the county superintendents, and at times the amount per month has apparently been regulated by the lateness of beginning the work. In two places the salary has been divided by special arrangement. In the contributions made for building and equipment, and for extension of terms, I have asked to be assured that at least an equal amount had been raised. Certain offers for these purposes are still outstanding. In selecting the schools in which we were to pay the salary of an industrial teacher, I have had in mind mainly the consideration whether the point seemed one in which the work would be encouraged and supported, and where its influence would be likely to spread. It can hardly be expected that some mistake has not been made, but from all the information I can obtain, I believe that our teachers have the right spirit and are trying to do good work in school and neighborhood. I have studiously avoided the danger of having our teacher used to supplant the work of other teachers, and have found but one instance in which this was being done, namely, at Rutherfordton, N. C. I found that the industrial teacher to whom, at the request of the county superintendent, we are paying $40 a month was devoting only six hours a week to industrial work, being used, contrary to our understanding, to save the expense of an assistant teacher. Our teachers offer an excellent clientele for the distribution of leaflets and pamphlets dealing with any feature of rural improvement. I have sent out a pamphlet on school gardens, and am preparing to mail others on this and other subjects. Two of our teachers in the eastern part of North Carolina have begun to do good work in the way of organization. Both of these are men, and one of them, a graduate of the North Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical College at Greensboro, will work for us in this direction a month or perhaps two months after the close of the school. I hope gradually to find more men like this one. I think very highly of the Henrico plan and hope that its suggestion will be adopted and tried in other places, and I have some reason to believe that it will be. Already five superintendents have expressed a desire to try the plan next session. In my opinion the money expended has nowhere counted for so much as here. Good results are shown not only in the extension of the industrial work, but in the additional important fact that such a teacher serves incidentally as a supervisor, and supervision is one of the greatest needs of the rural schools. If we could have a hundred counties in the South supplied with supervising teachers of this kind the influence would be tremendous. In February, March, and April I visited 2 counties in Virginia, 4 in North Carolina, 1 in South Carolina, and 3 in Alabama. I everywhere met with a cordial reception from both white and colored people in the community where I stopped. With rare exceptions I found wretched conditions in the way of schoolhouses and school equipment. As has been previously stated to the board, and especially to the members of the executive committee, all of our efforts the present year seem to be somewhat in the way of experiment and will supply data for information and discussion in the meeting of the executive committee soon to be held. The larger work and influence of the fund must, I think, be based upon actual accomplishment in the line of some constructive policy. My efforts during this first year have been largely directed toward getting some portion of the fund into use. In doing this I have had constantly in mind the policy which seemed announced in the very composition of this board, namely, union of effort. I believe this influence is already beginning to be felt. I am sure that whatever brings together the efforts.of North and South is good. I was glad to hear a few days ago that a southern association is likely to assist a negro institution which has hitherto been entirely supported from the North. All such movements are good. With patience, tact, and wisdom I see no reason why there may not be a constant increase of harmony and cooperation in all the work that is being done for the education of the colored population of the South. FROM STATEMENT V, JUNE 5, 1909. THE HENRICO PLAN. Members of the board may recall that in my last statement I mentioned a plan of work which we have been carrying on in Henrico County, Va. I beg again to call the attention of the board to this plan, because it seems to me a most excellent one for us to adopt and promote as far as we can. In brief, the plan was this: We supplied the county superintendent with the salary for a competent teacher, whose duty it should be to introduce industrial work into the 22 colored rural schools of the county and to supervise the work. This teacher, Miss Virginia E. Randolph, began the work on October 26, 1908, and the schools closed June 1. She has spent her whole time in visiting these schools, sometimes two or three a day, so that the schools have had the benefit not only of the industrial training, but of constant supervision, suggestion, and encouragement. It has also been a part of her work to form, in the various communities, organizations for school and home improvement. Miss Randolph writes to me that the work of the schools is now on exhibition at the Henrico County Court House, and that the members of the Henrico board are agreeably surprised. I can state from letters received that the work is very heartily approved by the county superintendent. MODIFICATION OF THE ABOVE PLAN. There are very many counties in which it would be impossible at present to carry out this plan. Whether from lack of schools, or the wide separation of those that exist, or the shortness of term, or the incompetence of the teachers, the plan would not yet be feasible. I find, however, that it will be possible in many places to adopt a modification of the plan; that is, we can supply the salary for a teacher at the most favorable point in the county, have this teacher give three or four days' work to this school, and let her give the rest of her time to two, three, or four neighboring schools, with the intention of influencing these schools and communities in the same manner as has been done in Henrico County. I have just returned from a trip through parts of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and at a number of places I found that this plan seemed feasible and that it met with very hearty approval. I believe that it can be carried out at most of the schools in which we have been supplying a teacher during the past session. The principals and school authorities whom I have so far heard from have approved the idea and have expressed a willingness to assist in carrying it out next session. FINANCIAL. I beg to report that during the present session, up to date, we have paid out in salaries to teachers $14,011.50; in contribution toward building and equipment, $1,965; and in contribution for extension of school term, $470. FROM STATEMENT V (SUPPLEMENTARY), JUNE 10, 1910. ADVANTAGE OF THE HENRICO PLAN. The great majority of the outlying rural schools are hopelessly isolated. They have practically no supervision. The work, so far as I have been able to see, is crude and inefficient. The school build ing, if there be one at all, shows neglect without and within. There is oftentimes not even the equipment which could be provided on the spot. I have seen benches supported on brickbats, holes in floors and roofs, doors and windows sagging, and other such signs of neglect which could easily be remedied. Neither within the school building nor on the school grounds is there any effort at tidiness. There are, of course, exceptions; but the picture is true for the great majority of cases, nor under all the circumstances should we be surprised that it is true. Yet it is these schools, and only these schools, which are within reach of the masses of children throughout the rural districts. It can readily be seen what a change might be effected in such schools, and in the neighborhood, by the supervision and the influence of a trained teacher, even if there were only two or three visits a month. FROM STATEMENT VI, JULY 31, 1909. At a meeting of the executive committee held on July 1 the following expenditures during the first year of the use of the fund were reported: For salary of teachers, $15,059; for building and equipment, $1,965; for extension of term, $547.50. Subject to the approval of the board at its next meeting, the committee agreed upon a tentative appropriation of $28,000 for carrying on the work. Several important matters were discussed, such as the appointment of an assistant to the president to aid in influencing legislation and public sentiment, the use of county organizers, and the gathering of reliable statistics. About three weeks ago an application came from State Supt. T. H. Harris, requesting that we supply to Louisiana a number of teachers to work in accordance with the Henrico plan. This is the first important business communication that has come from a state official. I may add that I know Professor Harris to be thoroughly interested in the improvement of the negro schools, and that he favors a fairer distribution of the school funds. Knowing his sentiments, I can not but think that we should do what we can to cooperate with him. COMMITTEE OF TWELVE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE INTERESTS OF THE NEGRO RACE. The committee of twelve for the advancement of the interests of the negro race was appointed at a conference of prominent colored men held in the parlor of Carnegie Hall, New York City, January 6, 7, and 8, 1904. At present, Booker T. Washington, president of Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala., is chairman, and Hugh M. |