The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-10
Carly Seboofs in Alabama
BY MRS. BLANDlN.

1 Spelling Book served as speller and reading book slates were also scarce, { one often served family of three or | four; copy books were homemade. con- sisting of quire or half quire of fools cap paper covered with a sheet of | brown paper. The pens were made of goose quills.
 Primitive as this school was, 1t Is not able because it ushered in century of | enlightenment.
 No records of schools of the Pierce type" are extant, but much attention | must have been given to education, and | these schools must have multiplied rap | idly, because the Legislature of Missis- sippi Territory. of which Alabama was then 8 part, granted a charter to Wash ington Academy. located in St. Stephens. tin 1911. only eight years after the first l school began.
 The next year. 1872. Green Academy in Huntsville was chartered. These academies must have been sup ported. at least in part. by public funds; for in 1874 the Legislature appropriated s1, 900 for their use. Another academy. St. Stephens was chartered in 1877 by Territorial Legislature of Alabama. and the same Legislature. appropriated the excess of 10 per cent of the profits of the banks to the use of the three
 
 Stephens.
 When the Alabama Territory was formed, none of the academies for girls chartered by the Legislature of Mis- sissippi Territory. were within the Him. its of the Territory.
 No record of any school of high grade for girls within the limits of Alabama of fourishing school of high grade for girls, in Huntsville. but diligent search has failed to verify the tradition.
 It Is certain that. in several instances at least. the Territorial Legislature, al- so the State Legislature of Mississippi granted one charter for two schools. one for girls and one for boys: judg- ing from this and the custom of the Legislature of Alabama; 1t is not only possible but probable. that the charters of Washington, Green, and St. Stephens organized two schools each; 1t Is cer- tain, however, they were not co-educa- tional in the modern sense of that term.
 The School System of Alabama.
 By provision of the act admittingAla- bama as State into the Union of States the sixteenth section of every town ship was set apart for the use of schools; also two townships were set apart for the support of seminary of learning.
 Without delay the work of establish ing a system of schools was begun.
 The General Assembly. during its first session G819) passed an act ap- pointing commissioners to take charge of the school lands. The duties of these commissioners was def1nintely de- fined by act of Legislature. in 1920; one clause of this act directs that the lands be divided into farms of not less than forty acres, and not more than 160 acres. For many years each Legisla- ture spent much time in discussing ed- ucational measures, and in endeavoring to perfect the school system.
 In 1921 the Legislature passed an act requiring the appointment of township trustees and defining their duties; the principle duty of course was, to employ teachers, but they were also required to supervise the building of school houses, to see that the furniture, books and stationery were kept in good or- der.
 Again the school law was amended in 1922. an act requiring the examina- tion of teachers and forbidding the Trustees to employ any teacher who could not pass a satisfactory examina- tion in the studies of the usual academic course, and who did not have a good