The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1912-02-22
AND MICRO CHILDREN ARE
BEING GIVEN "A BETTER
CHANGE TO. IMPROVE .
Texas Very, Liberal
Lone Star" State leads the South
In the Matter Of Providing Edu-
'cational Facilities for Her Negro
Citizens Who AFRO Rapidly I'M
proving. .-'.;.


Prairie View Texas, Feb. 30
Whatever one might say Of the dis
position OF the South towards Negro
education, It must be admitted that
In recent years sentiment has gradtl-
ally changed In favor of giving to
the children Of the Negro race bet
o. ter change to improve their condi-
ton. Practically every southern
state makes some provision for the
education of:Negroes beyond that at
forded I'm the public schools. Ten
nessee Is the latest state to make
such provision, the last legislature
providing handsomely gfor the COM
mencement or. the Negro State Nor
NAL School at Nashville. &~EIse- ~
In Texas, where more than In any
other state, ting Negroes have taken
advantage pr the opportunities offer
ed in this new country. and have
begun to make yEecords for themsel-
YES, the state I1as been very liberal
In his recent trip thru Texas, DIR.
Booker r.. Washington repeatedly
called attention to the fact in the
matter OF providing for the educa-
ton of Negroes, Texas led all other
Southern states. and that there were
more Negro high schools, in Texas
than in; all other Southern states
combined. !As is frequently stated
by Dr.. washington, 1t Is left largely
to the educated Negro himself just
to what extent the state will provide
for Negro education, for more and
more, 1t is CONCEDED that the Negro
must convince the public that educa-
ton for his children Is worth while.
The Prairie View State Normal
College has been In existence since
1879, and was establishe ed primarily
for the training Of oolored teachers.
Later, under the twenty-sixth legis-
lature the name was changed to tbs
Prairie View Normal and Industrial
College; and placed under the su-
pervision of the Board of Directors
of thea. & MI. College, and it's work
Is conducted practically along the
same lines. With the possible excep-
tion Of the fact that 'more pfoh6un-
ced industrial work is. done at the
Negro school. = g., -. 49,. " .>
iPrarie! View is best known. to the
public by reason Of the fact that
Prof. E. l.. Blackshear, a we'll known
Negro educator and leader has been
It's head for fifteen years, and that
much of it's real and substantial
growth Is due to his wise and eff
cient management! While the Texas
school under the management of
Prof. Blasksh has done good
work and hasfmade its influence to
be felt all over the Southland, there
is no getting, around the fact that
1T would have done much better
work, borne much better fruit, have
been able to do more real and SUBJ
stantial good with more common
surate appropriation. None of the
schools in the South get what tFay
deserve or what they need when the
work they are expected to do is Ia
ken into account.
The same may be said of all the
state schools, whether for white or
black. In the first place the legis-
latures are; not always made up Of
men to whom the needs of the young
people, SO far. as education Is con-
cerned are paramount. Then again,
the state treasures are not always In
condition to take care of the needs
OF these institutions for a future per-
Tod. The best that ean-be-- done
frequently is to take care Of the
, growth that has taken place, instead
OF making provisions for the future.
FOR example, time was when appro-
priations were made for the usual
accommodation of $50 or perhaps 500
students: Suddenly, In the face Of
this provision which was then ade-
Quate, the student body uddenly
jumped to about 500 due to an edu-
catiopal awakening that spread
throughout the South among the
colored people. Churches, fraternal
organizations, Negro nt,wspa pers
were crying out therneed Of educa-
ton and the response in the increase
enrolment and taxed facilities in all
negro schools was startling.
The appropriations by the recent
Legislature, seek to remedy that sit
uation within, the next few months.
and a new mess hall, capable of ac-
comodating thousand students,
with an assembly hall above Is now
being planned by Prof. Terrell, the
head Of the. mechanical department
A new dormitory for girls will also
be erected during the year which
will greatly increase the facilities
and relieve the oyer-crowded con-
dition.
That students are willing to come
to an institution and suffer over
crowded conditions means much Of
a tribute to the work done here.
Whatever may be said Of the over
crowded facilities, the fact remains
that the work of the Prairie View
Normal and Industrial College is of