The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-09-26
W!HITE.H|AIRED
Negro Women and
Men i'm Schools
Great Interest Manifested by the
Aged, Some Seventy Years Old,
Who Are Regular Attendants.

! New York, Sept. 21.-A white
haired Negro. nanny and her hus-
band, both past three score and ten,
learning their A B C's in a public
night industrial school, is one Of the
oddities of New York's free educa-
tional system.
At this same school in the heart Of
Negro district, $500 other Negroes
| are pupils and many Of these also
are grandparents or fathers and
| mothers, from the cotton fields of
| the far South. The oldest student is
| man of"T4 years, who Is in the
primer class, but pupils Of SO and
go years are not unusual in the first
primary grade, which, in the day
schools, is for children of six.
Two septuagenarians whose first
childhood was in the fields, won the
prizes for regularity of attendance
last year. Those old people had tot
tered to school every night and had
never been tardy even in the bliz-
yards.
Ih1s eagerneSs for education has
been developed at this school, it
seems, chiefly through the industrial
classes. For while common branches
are taught to those who wish them,
the great feature Of this night school
has been the trade school introduced
by its principal, DR.. William L.
Bulkley, himself a member Of the
race he Is helping.
DR.. Bulkley found that in his dis
trict were many illiterate adults who
were not attracted by ordinary/even-
ing schools. In 1905 he opened a
night school In which there was sys-
tematic training for Negro men in
carpentry, electrical installation, care
of steam boilers, architectural and
mechanical drawing. For women
there was instruction III cooking,
housekeeping, dressmaking, milli-
merry, ,Afiower. making and embroidery
There we're also classes for CONNER
cial subjects. a,.l<.. &c.,. ~.
| 4 BY the :eftd@ef the first year every
seat was taken, and the second year
it was necessary to move the school
to much larger building. Some of
the pupils, 1T was found, spent three
hours each night on trains in order
to reach this trade school. An odd
development was that Negro men en-
tered the classes in cooking that
they could become chefs in clubs, or
stewards on yachts.
The school was visited recently by
Investigators from the National So
Cfety Tor the promotion Of Industrial
Education, which is collecting data
about all phases of trade education
for discussion by educators, manu-
facturers and representatives Of Or
ganiZed labor at. it's annual meeting
in Chicago on December S. These
representatives of the National So
cieyt found the school crowded with
earnest Negro men and women from
Is years Of age up to the white
haired septuagenarians. Many of
them were expert mechanics who had
come, attracted by the trade idea, to
learn to read and write, or interpret
written specifications, as most Of
them had been in the habit Of work
ing by rule Of thumb or oral in
structions, and were helpless in the
face Of blue print or written con-
tract. The majority, however, were
youngerHstudents, many of them ele-
vator boys or bell hops" IN hotels,
or household servants, who wished
to lear n a trade because Of the linn
tied chance for a Negro to get
place, above labore.' or scrub wo-
man. in an ordinary business house.
Questions asked of the pupils in
dicated to the society's representa-
tives that the main reason for attend
ing the school was an economic one.
They were after higher wages, or
else domestic training which would
save money for their families.