El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-07-16
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ever was quite so timely as the Pea
body fund for the institution of pub
lie education in the south. While in
comparison with some of the gifts
that have followed, ii seems small vet
the desperate need there was for il at
the moment when it was given served
to multiply its value a hundredfold.
The Civil war had ended. 1t had left
the states which had staked their an
on the lost cause in bankruptcy and
their people impoverished The one
hope of the future seemed to lie in
public education. The affected states
could not provide it and the people
were too poor to support it At this
Juncture came George Peabody the
wealthy American banker, then resi-
dent in London, with a letter annOunc-
ing the creation of a fund for the es-
adjustment of education systems in
the southern states. He appointed a
board of trustees, and left them prac-
tlcally free to handle the fund as they
might see fit.
Came When Most Needed.
When the income from the Peabody
endowment became available not one
Of the southern states had a public
school system; not one of them had a
single normal school Tor training
teachers; even the cities were without
public schools, and the rural schools
were almost minus quantity. Today
every one of these states has a public
school system that is flourishing and
nal schools flourish where none then
existed; and the new rural school
framed to meet the needs OF rural COM
munities, promises to be the main fea-
ture OF educational progress of Amer
lea during the next decade.
When George Peabody made his gift
to the cause OF southern education the
south was going through the thrOes of
reconstruction, and there was a Bit
terness between the two sections that
caused even the kindly acts or each To
be misunderstood by the other. But
the gift OF Peabody man who had
been loyal TO the United states. but
who understood that the issue was
political one in which there was room
for an honest difference OF opinion
came in such a generous spirit that II
did more than any one thing to heal
the wounds OF the Civil war and bring
the people of the two sections back
into cordial relations.
Starts Public Schools.
The trustees OF the fund early de-
termlned to use 1t where 1t would give
the maximum results. The first effort
was 10 establish public school systems
in the various cities of the II south
ern states. While the Iund was esJaD-
Hshed in 1867 it was not until 1870
that the encoUra cement 1t lent TO the
city public schools OF the south had
borne sufficient fruit to warrant its
diversion TO broader work During the
ensuing five years the trustees directed
the fund to aiding the states in estaD-
fishing statewide public school sys-
tens By 1873 the agent OF the fund
was able to report TO the trustees tnul
all OF the states involved has eStab-
lished such systems and that the next
work to which the fund ought TO De
directed was the furnishing OF teaon~
ers to take charge of the public
schools.
It was therefore decided that there
after the income from the fund should
be used in the encouragement OF
teacher training schools. To that end
the PEABODY normal college was IOuaIu-
ed at Nashville, Tennessee, and here
teachers from every part OF the south
were trained on scholarships prOviueo
from the Peabody fund. These teach
erS went back to their Respective
states after graduation, and became
the centers of influence in a thousand
different communities. The various
southern states were also encouraged
to established normal schools, which
were partially supported through the
fund. There now are 81 schools in the
south which were established with the
aid of the Peabody educational fund
Under the terms of the trust, the
trustees were empowered, upon two
thirds vote, to distribute the principal
after the lapse of 80 years. In 1885
committee was appointed to consider
the question, but there were so many
protests against distribution that al
though the so years expired in 1891
nothing was done toward distribution
until 1905, when a resolution was
passed providing that the principal or
the fund should be distributed.
The Final Distribution.
The first step in the final distribu-
ton of the fund was the setting aside
of S1,OO0,000 for the establishment of
the George Peabody College for Teach
ers, at Nashville. This college VIII
be conducted in close cooperation with
Vanderbilt university, and is expected
to take its position alongside the
81 az a
cagO universities After the endoW-
ment of this institution, which became
effective in the latter part OF 1910,
there still remained 81, 400, 600 to be
distributed. This also - to be used
largely for the better education of men
and women engaged in the broader
phases of public educational work IL
was decided that an extra half million
should 90 to the George Peabody Col
lege for Teachers, making the total
gift TO that institution Sl,5O0,0OO,
$1,000, 900 of which must be set aside
as a permanent endowment. The later
gift was on condition that an extra
$1,000, 900 be raised from other sources
Gifts to Universities.
In the further distribution the uni
versities Of North Carolina, Georgia,
Louisiana and Arkansas each are given
$40 600 for the erection at each OF a
building to house the school OF educa-
ton, on condition that each university
spend $4,000 a year for the mainten-
universities of Virginia and Mississippi
get the same gifts but are allowed one
year to comply with the condition. The
Universities of Florida has been given
the benefit of a sliding scale of sup
port until 1915, when the annual con-
tributiOn for the maintenance Of the
school of education shall become $1O,-
600 as in the case of the other uni
versities. The University of Kentucky,
having a building already, gets its S4o.-
600 in the shape of an endowment. The
universities of South Carolina and
Texas, and Johns Hopkins university
each get $4,000 for the endowment OF
a Peabody scholarship in the depart
ment of education
A straight gift of 100000 to the
Winthrop Normal and Industrial school
at Rock Hill, South Carolina, and $780,
600 to the John +. Slater fund, the
income to be used for the betterment
of country schools for the negro race,
was added. 1t is tentatively proposed
that any surplus remaining shall 20 TO
the Winthrop Normal and Industrial
school.
Thus will pass Il fund whose useful
ness has been out of all proportion 10
its size. 1t was always the policy OF
the trustees not TO help the state TO
do what they could do themselves. but
to put in a pulling car when needed In
this way the states were encouraged