The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-10-02
A Noble Institution for


In n late number of the Independent We find al
account of the Hampton Normal and Agriculture
Institute, located ut Hampton, Virginia, which IL
Of interest to IIawaiians from the fact that TIN
idea of establishing il, and the credit of carrying
1t to its present state of efficiency, belongs to Gen.
eral Samuel e.. Armstrong. n son of HdNraii nai
and formerly editor Of the Hae Hairoii. Genera
Armstrong has furnished US with 4 lithograpll o
the principal building of the Institute, which
represents n fine brick edifce. three stories high.
built in most substantial manner. He suggested
the idea to the American Missionary Association,
and ut once enlisted their sympathy and hearty
cooperation.
The Institute is located about two miles from
Fortress Monroe, near the spot where the first
slaves brought to the United States were landed ;
where General Butler first refused to deliver up
fugitive slaves, where stood the hospital bar
racks of McClellan's and Grants armies, and in
sight Of which the famous Monitor and Merri-
mac fought the first iron-clad battle. What
changes have been wrought in II few years ?
Upon ground made memorable by such incidents
is now reared the first school for the purpose ofin-
structing the freed colored youth of the South.
The Independent says:
The fundamental principle of the Normal School is
the combinations Of study with practical work-closely.
indeed, resembling in its way the system of the Cor
nell University. The charges for board and tuition
are 50 low rs TO be actually surprising indeed, the
charge for tuition is justly described as nominal
one dollar n month for The whole range ofinstruction.
which rises from the most elementary to quite a high
class Of studies. In the farm-work the male students
learn the theory and practice Of the best methods Of
agriculture the female students (and rs regards the
reception Of female scholars this institution IS in adj
"A TT
the boarding department and make clothes. Many
Of the male students have earned, during certain
parts Of the year, more than the amount Of their ex-
penses. The farm or mechanical labor is from three
to FIVE hours q day. There are now about seventy
pupils in attendance and, as the accommodation az
forded by the present house is not enough. another
large building, suitable, and even 10 some extent
handsome, is about to be Immediately erected. The
great object aimed at in the plan Of this institution is
that the students are to have an opportunity Of learn
ing q the three great lessons of hfe-how to live, how
to labor, and how to teach others" For the pupils
Of this institute are trained there in order that they
may themselves become teachers. Already, for in
stance, the pupils Of this Normal School do the prin-
cipal work Of teaching the 20 children in the Butler
School-which latter school may be said to have been
the parent of the whole institution-and in the Lin
coin School in the village Of Hampton.
The Normal School has Just been visited and
inspected by q distinguished delegation. The Rev.
Mark Hopkins, ID. D., the venerable President of
Williams College, Mass. /; Alexander Hyde, Of the
~
Secretary Of the Connecticut Board Of Education /;
and the Hon. James a. Garfield, the distinguished
member Of Congress from Ohio, went over the place,
inspected IL, tested the system Of education, and have
made n valuable report, full of encouragement ap-
proval, and hope. They testify that "thc closing
examination and exercises of the school indicated a
thoroughness and faithfulness on the part Of the
teachers that nothing but missionary zeal could have
inspired - and that on the part Of the scholars
there was indicated q diligence and proficiency quite
remarkable, and that would have done credit to stu
dents similarly situated Of any race or color There
was great correctness in reading and spelling. Nearly
all wrote n good hand /; and the blackboard exercises
in map-drawing, with the new method Of triangula-
ton. would have been creditable to the pupils in any
normal school at the North" Alexander HYDE, one
Of the delegation, has written, for his own part, q
letter on the subject TO the Springfield Republican,
in which be says: al must confess that my preju-
dice against the intellectual power of the negro has,
in a measure. yielded TO the stubborn array of facts
presented by the Hampton Normal School. This in
stitution has proved that the negro can learn and can
work. / have been somewhat conversant with the
schools and farms Of Massachusetts, but il has sell
dom been my privilege TO listen to better recitations
or to see better farming than the negroes furnished at
Hampton"