The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-10
GREAT AID TO SOUTH.
Summer School for Teachers at Knox
 vile Is Power for Education.

Summer School for Teachers at Knox
 vile Is Power for Education. William E. Curtis. in Chicago Record Herald.
 large gang of carpenters are at work on the grounds of the University of Tennessee. building pavilions to accommodate the Summer School for Teachers of the South which will hold its second session from June 23 to July 3l. This school Is the outgrowth of the work of the Southern Education Board. Certainly there waa, never before anything like 1t in the South. and Dr. Dabney. President of the Uni- versity of Tennessee. who is the dynamo that drives the wheels of the Summer school, tells me that there was never large an attend ance at any school for teachers except at some of the Chautauqua assemblies. The school is made possible by the generous contributions of public-splrited citizens in the North. the liberality of the trustees of the University of Tennessee and the public-spirited citizens of Knoxville. who have again this year sub- scribed SEQ, GOO to pay the expense of put ting up temporary buildings which are nec- essary because there are no lecture-rooms dor mitories other structures In this part of the country big enough to accommodate the crowd.
 Last year the attendance reached 2,oI9, of whom 6s7 were men and 332 women. Two thirds of them were graduates of colleges or of normal schools, l.5oo were teachers in the common schools of the South and represented the best blood and brains and culture of this section. They met and mingled with great cordiality and enjoyment. and the social fea- lures of the gathering were quite as impor- tant and beneficial as the professional train ing and intellectual culture the yacquired. By the contributions of the friends of education in the North. the generous policy of the railroads all over the South and the low rates for board and lodging charged by tho people of Knoxville. which barely covered the cost of the food. the expense of attending the school was reduced to a minimum and did not exceed $50 for the entire six weeks of the session, including the railway transpor- tation from the neighboring States.
 Those who attended the school last year need no further demonstration of the impor- tance of this movement. It WAS manifest that every person present was hungry for eo-op- erative sympathy and felt the qualification of exchanging experiences with others rounded by the same difficulties and subject ed to the same trials that the great majority of Southern teachers are compelled to en- dure.
 South. inspired by unprecedented success at permanent. and more extensive preparations are in progress for the approaching assembly. because a much larger attendance of students is expected. All the temporary features have been eliminated, and the organization has been perfected upon the experience of the first year. It is to be made a genuine Summer uni versity of broad scope and high character and will Include about 50 courses in subjects ranging from the Kindergarten to the high school. and covering especially the work of the elementary country school. Ninety men and women distinguished for their scholarship. ability and experience have been engaged as instructors.