The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-04-29
THE ATHENS CONFERENCE.

Inc EuuCdIlOndl conference IiS "4AA
meet in Athens, Georgia, this week, is in
many respects the most important edu-
~cational meeting that has ever been held
in the South. The conferences that have
preceded it have been Of great interest
and value and have set the influences in
motion that have resulted in the past
year in the organization of an Educa-
tional Board, with large means, inter
ested in helping in the education Of the
Southern children. 1t is understood that,
since the Wi~nston-Salem conference, Mr..
Rockefeller has given ore million dollars
to- the Board to be used to advance public
education in the South. That money, and
other sums that will be given, IS to be
employed to assist those communities
that vote a local tax. One Of the plans
outlined by the Board was put in opera
ton recently at Greensboro. The people
OF that city gave $4,000 to help the rural
districts to build better school houses.
This Educational Board duplicated the
amount They will follow the general
idea of helping those communities that
show q disposition to help themselves,
but lack the means to make the neces-
sary progress in providing school houses
and larger school income at the same
time. The Peabody fund helped Raleigh,
Charlotte, Goldsboro and the other lar
ger towns establish their graded schools.
his Board proposes to do the same thing
1o-~z, - - lJ.-- 49, r-aa ~,
cities, and particularly the rural dis
tricts.
The men who are behind this move
T ent have no ulterior purpose. They rec
Cenize the fact that for thirty years the
Southern taxpayers have had q burden
greater than they could bear in paying
for the education Of their own children
and the children of the newly enfran-
chised negroes. They know that with this
burden, the Southern taxpayer could not
provide long term schools with sufficient
teachers. They are willing to help in this
good work. not in the spirit of pauper-
izing the South, but in the desire to as
sist in the great work the Southern edu-
~ . "iA ~ p>otiS ~ 'o-ho
with small means. They DO not come
with ready-ma1e plans, seeking to die
tate methods. Their spirit is in harmony
with the best Southern sentiment and
they seek TO cooperate with the South
cln educational leaders N the new edu-
~cationaI revival that is giving a new i'm
petus to public education in the South.
North Carolina will be we'll represented
in the conference. The Governor, State
superintendent of Schools Joyner and
Congressman Small will represent the
official side of the State, and most of the
heads of the States great educational in
situations will be present.
Raleigh would be glad to entertain the
conference at its next session.
A staff correspondent of the Baltimore
Sun, writing from New York, throws
light upon the work and the men who
are at the head of it. We quote:
John ID. Rockefeller's gift of 81, 900, 900
TO the cause OF education in the South,
which was announced in The Sun, is but
the beginning. There may be another
million in sight from the same source,
if otner wealthy men do their share and
contribute as literally for education in
the Southern States as they have for the
same purpose IL the North; and there
are indications that other minionaires
Will join in the movement.
"This gift, which means so much to
the South, is peculiar in many ways. The
money, 81 ,0o0, 900, was given outright, and
as 1T was put today, Not as an enGow-
ment of which the income only is to be
spent, but as a fund to be used outright
as the General Educational Board sees
fit
This is to be the beginning of more
general education in Gle South, and Mr..
RocKefell2r said at the time the gift was
made: L hope this is to become the chan
mel through which many large benefac-
tons Will go tC hasten the ObliteratiOn
of illiteracy.'
Those interested today told just how
the money was given. 1t was given to
the General Education Board and this
board Will d~iSperse the funds as it sees
III, Iii connection with the executive COM
mlttee OF the Southern Educational Con-
ference, which meets Thursday at Athens,
Ga. The members of the General Board
OF Education are w. H. Baldwin. il.
CHAIRMAN; George Foster Peabody. treas
ureI; Rev. Wallace Buttrick. secretary
ana executive officer, and j. l.. NJ. Cur
~, Frederick r. Gates, Daniel G. Gil
nan, Morris K. Jessup, Walter H. Page
and Albert Shaw.
John Rockefeller, Jr., is said to be
partly responsible for his fathers great
interest in the cause Of education in the
South, but Booker T.. Washington is also
said to nave been influential in the mat
ter.
Young Mr.. Rockefeller did not go
South with the large party headed by
X. {. Ogden, which left this city Mon
day afternoon TO visit the various edu-
cation centers il the South and to at
tend the educational conference in
Athens. He left the city tonight. and
IL is believed he will join the party at