The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-06-22
Educational Progress
In North Carolina
Strides Made Under Administration of DR.. J. Y
Joyner, State Superintendent of
Public instruction.

Public instruction.
H. tBy FRANK sMETHURsrs)
North Carolina is a great State. That goes without saving .nvn,o.
between Virginia on the north and South Carolina or the south " .,na,
Tar Heel car fling up his hat and sing Justify m time:
scarolna, Carolina, Heavens bkssings attend her.
While we live we will CHERISH. protect M defend her."
But tn question u.s. how many Of those singers appreciate, even as hev
swell the chorus that at the beginning of this century, North Carolina ar.
parenty, expected to train hr future cnizenshi to greatness nro+e+ .na
defend her good name, and wipe away IN stain of imteracy with s7 os1
sohoo population. 1882 schools am 3 ssa teachers Now - ana.
4351s5 OF these children composed thu toal enrolment, making an average
of on teacher t ffty-eght pupils n one school house, too in about seven
thousand cases for eve a late IS 1905 just 51 schools could claim more
than n teacher. Those 4s5,1s5 children, Or those of them who would
trudsed to 1882 ohools for a aSerase term of 90 days and those 1853 teach
es for their services received a IL Of ss7. The remaining nine months in the
year they devoted o earning a livelihood.
But the State vas ready ITO sweep into tn broad current of educatonal
progress and there vas need. too. With 80 per cent Of III total school po-
pulaion in ruraI districts at the beginning Of thu century 2ssses ruralw white
chooi hhdre were oeng mnistered to- In heir cropping for h light, by
557O teachers in 5o4s school houses he latter nor or less dsrepuabe, in
every case. Seventy-sx days annually were those teachers engaged receiv-
ing the doubtful sum OF little nor than $ss. In those day h total value Of
school property vas III sssoooo. and h State was spending annually or
education s1.o1s157s4. lust sxty-hve per cent OF he school population
was even virtually enrolled, and the total number Of special tax districts only
eighteen.
VOICE IN THE DARKNESS.
Now came a voice in the darkness Of this educational wndness pointing
back to tn hopeless IN ilterate masses. pleading with the people, even as
now, to take up h banner for a neratec citizenship, n saying:
'chhdren crying in tn night
Children crying for the light
That cry. from the depths of some divine despair rising from mountain
top "a nd ao aotsm -, asnns plain ans M d. valley ant ss sins hs gin sn n ears nnt If men, as see ding
and bid them in the nam Of Jesus Christ Of Nazaret to Prise u p walk?
QarKneS n o more IOT0VO.
DR. JAMES YADK1N JOINER.
It vas Dr. James Yadkin Joyner tina quiet nan Of great mind n ~on
derful leadership, snatched from h head of Goldsboros school system to
buld ot of a rugged race If earnest, loyal but to largely iHteratem men,, a
new Worth State. He nhredu upon tn task with a good equipment a staunch
heart, a steady head, a willingness, yes a zelf for work, above all a God
given and a God kept determination to free his people from h bondage Of
ignorance. The canking of those chains sirred his soul, nerved his heart,
n steeled his courage to temporary disappointment to opposition, to crh-
cfsm, kept him clear Drained, answering, with unchanged vision in more
han ten years If unequaned achievement. And the m is nt yet
H vas strained for the work before him.. Entering The University of
North Carolina in 1878, and graduating in three years. became in turn the
principal of the LAGRANGE Academy, Superintendent Of tn Lenor Public
Schools, teacher in the Winston graded schools, law student, prachcing at
torney in Godsboro, Chairman of he Boar Of Education OF Wayne County
Superintendent Of Gohsboro schools Here re was when the larger call
came in 1902. 1t vas the vote of Aycock, the educational Governor. He
heard, needed, and mad good.
1t wa several years later hat Governor r. B Glenn in a message to the
General Assembly took occasion to ~ 1.-THE present superintendent with n
dsrespect for others, is in m opinion, he ablest ana m@te efficient h State
has ever had"
THE TEMPTING OFFER.
State and following the death of Charles Duncan Mc1ver, every eye turned to-
and Industrial College a Greensboro. When the Board of Directors met II
1903 to select president, re was offered the position. With it was a salary
If $4,000 annually for lifetime practically, and a residence lie pondered
outside thu scufle and pull of politics, there went will it in amount abou
$1,000m more han he vas then receiving. But h made u p his mind.
MY heart is with the Normal" lie declared. "bu my duy: IS along Other
be a ne who standing shoulder to shoulder with his comrades in battle. ha
MUCH OFFICERED MAN.