Morning journal and courier., 1894-02-02
CLANDEsTINg SCHOOLS.
How the Negroes Were Taugnr fin The South Before the War.

South Before the War. ITrom the Bulletin of Atlanta UuiversityJ
 Perhaps 1t may be well to call attention to and explain the astonishing fact that after the war there could be found c few, or, rather, for that early period, 20 many, colored men and women capable of begin ming the school work even st the A O point.
 This wAs due to many in aaencss, open and secrst. Among the fsrorlDg intu. ences, first, was the fact that many hu- msne masters tsught their slaves, and oth- ers wipked st the violation of the law which forbade the teaching of slaves and permitted their children to instruct e fs- vorits slave to read and sometimes to write. Men now high In authority in eda- ostional natter taught their slaves to read and write, rendering tbemselves lia- ble to be punished as violAtors of the law on the statute book. The Christian in- struction of the slaves was encouraged and directed by many Christian bodies. Indeed, in the act permitting the introduc- ton of slaves, Christian training was en- joined upon the slave mssters- The Rev. 0. c. Jones, father of the late historian Jones, and the Rev. Josiah Law, both among the most distinguished ministers of the state, were engaged to devo.e their time to this work.
 Again, it is known that when uerro slavery, st irst prohibited, was finally in- troduced into Georgia in 1740, many of those slaves came from South Csrolins. AS in 1744. g negro school was opened In Charleston. 1t may be inferred that some of these slaves must have brought with them to Georgia some knowl.dse of read ing and writing. The Charleston school was still in hourishing condition in l752, and was taught by an educated negro, likely from England. Although 1t was for free negroes only, many slaves, who even then hired their time. sent their chfl- dren to this school. In time other schools were opened, and 8 hunter of colored persons from Ssvapnsh and Augusta, Gs seut their children to Charleston to be taught
 According 10 tradition some of these students returned and opened scho~ls in Savannah and in Augusta. No one, how ever, was lawfully permitted to give book instruction to slaves, not even in any one of the three R'e. Whatever was done in this way was done clsndestlbely, and. If discovered, wss sure to gs. its author into trouble. There gere, nevertheless, seve- ral schools kept clsndestinely in Augusta and in Savannah. Another class of teach ere were the poor whites, who eked out miserable living by clsndestinsly teaching free negroes and slaves. Some of them might we'll be deuominated. not ''old field schools" but "old chip schools" When some sged, impecunious white lady would agree to teach the children of such slaves SC he'd hired tbeir time. the children were ssid to 90 10 her house to ''pink up chips" They were bnsiiy epgssed in this work vh. D sn officer uss h&ely 10 be around.
 The most notsd nf fhsse elAncesiine schools for colorei children was tsugh; by 6 colnred man tn Savannah. IL was opsred In ISIS or 1879 by a cclored Frsncbmsu named Julian Fronmontsine, from San DO- mineo. Up to 1899 this school wAs taught openly, for before thst dsts the laws of GeorgIs did not forbid the teaching of free person of color. In referring 10 fhis pr0hibitnry law, in justice if ought to be sd uitted hat the rt requirements Of the 'in- stitntinns of slsvery" were Eueh that it would have been uuwise 10 undertake to msiDtsin the system of slavery and run the risk of having the slsves read such literature as began then to be circulated by the Abolitionists. It is proper, also, to add that many slsveholders did not share this fear, and were willing, in the fsce of slavery, to give thsir .lsves ele- mentsry teaching In reading sod writing.
 After December ss, 1899. 1t was made a penal offence to teach 6 negro or free per- son of color to read or write. Hence from that time all negro schols were olandestine. Froumontsins's school, however, four ished under him for more than fifteen years. It laid the foundation of the edu- cstionsl work among ths colored psople of Georgia. Several of his pupils clsndes- timely taught school to the beginning of the war.