The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-08-14
THE COLORED TEACHERS.
An Interesting and Instructive sum-
mer school for Teachers Being
Held at the williams Academy,
Conducted by Rev. williams and
rhsaa Ahla Assistants.

If anvone has the Idea that the negro is
mentajiy Incapable OF receiving an education
| he would soon have such an idea dispelled
| from his mind il he will but spend couple Of
hours at the AboeVilie County Scnooi lor Gn., ba T.
Williams Academy, conducted by Rev. r.. w .
| Williams. most ably assisted by his vile ana
Misses +. Il. G. Merret and Lu la Chase ooth
connected with tne puollc schools Vi "asn
The branches taught are Algebra, Arithme-
tic, History. Geography, Grammar aud Phys
lology. Thorough instruction ls ,, gwen be,n1 40
required to answer orally as well as taRe
down notes for future reference.
l was especially interested In the quesGsI,ons =
asked by Rev. Williams on Physiology. That
is a branch of learning that is taught TOO
little in our public schools. There are, non
esty. plenty of people living IN AooeVilie 10.
day, who could not tell you Whether iheirl lser
was located underneath their shoulder. .pia9es
or at the pit of their stomach. And why: FOR
the simple reason that they nave never nau
the opportunity presented 10 tnen 10 iealn
anything about anatomy. III tn,s stuuy h",h mm
white and black, 1t would be OF untold oene.
fit to thousa nds OF the coming generation and
would be of detriment TO but one class, ana
that the doctors. If humanity had nttle
general knowledge Of physiology IT would
save them many a dollar and dollar-and.a'
half paid TO doctors TO hnd out "nat was tue
matter with them" This knowledge can
only De Ootalneu uuiSeieaiiS 'aioNSA Wv
public schools.
The number attending the teachers school
Is sixty-fve-ten men and hfty-nVe women.
The women teachers are, you see, oy lar I'D lue
majority amongst the colored as amongst
the white II is naturally woman's place 10
teach, especially children OF both sexes. out
after the boys get into the teens l tnlnk IL
would be much better to have a man leac9
than. and that understand is the iron clad
rule In the public schools OIL some couht'es
and some States. ,,,o. no .
I noticed around at the institute that, as
rule. the men did not seem TO be as bright
and ouick as the women In answering tne
Questions, but possibly that WAS because OF
the natural timidlty OF the men and and also
because of the more glib use The woman mas
noticed also that fully seventy.five per
cent, of the won en- teachers were orlgaL ekln
20 ulatoes. So mentioned to Kew. Wiliians
that had often heard 1t stated tnat tne 'nu, %
iatoes were, as rule, mnch smarter Gnan .os
simon pure negro, and asked him what naa
been his observation on the subject. ne SAID
the idea did not hold true at all, ana Ilnme
diateIy pointed out TO me the biacK est woman
In the room and said he knew ner 70 % Ine
smartest teacher there, and then pointed oui
another one who was almost white and SAID
she was about the dullest one there. bnt, 70
tell you the truth, there were none m oi vhoIa tnT
they were as bright and quick act OF colorea
wonne en- as ever saw, and none OF tusm We,e
very aged. Nine-tenths of them, Woulo
say, were still in their twenties, ana Some VI
Rev. Williams said, end know 1t to be
q fact, "that much more depended upon tne
environment than upon the snaoe oi 'ne
skip.' 49,,
Truly this is q good work among the ne
groes. Let them get rudimentary eouca-
ton, and II they but obtain Chrlstlanlty
along with IT, 1t will At them much better LOT
labor in the field, at homework, or whateVer
they set their hands to do. o,.io,a
noticed that at the top or each placKpoaFu
was written scripture texts.
II has been proven during the past thlrty-
Ave wears that 1t is best here In the Soutn-
which. by the way Is the negro's paradise,
whatever our Northern brethren may thlnR
or saw TO the contrarr-to have negro teacn-
ers teach negroes, and negro preachers preacn
TO negroes; but IL Is the daty OF the Wnlte
people to see to II that the negro preaoher ana
the negro teacher ia we'll educated. ana ABOVE
|sll moral, upright, Christian men and women.
II is a; biblical truth that you cannot change
the Ethiopians g skin, but 1t is not so that you
car 4 mt sense int bis brain as we'll es lnto
the brain OF the whites.
Beginning the I4th inst, there Will oegin an
|examination lasting four days. Then Will oe
found out what these teachers have learned
at the summer schools, and those receiving
the highest marks will get the best places.
Comparisons are odious, therefore VIII not
make them. But must say that IL dld ap-
pear TO me that there was more life and alert
ness amongst the 'scholar.teachers' at the
colored school than at the white school. II ~
certain that the colored women and coloreu
men both were taking lively interest In tne
duty OF the hour, and are 10 be commenced
for their earnest endeavors after better eau
cation. am, W. H. h'