SCHOOL SYSTEMS OF CITIES WITH 7,500 OR MORE INHABITANTS.

ADMINISTRATION.

The State law provides a special system of administration of school matters for each of 6 cities. Of those with sufficient population for notice here, Mobile has a mixed city and county system under 9 school commissioners elected by the people and a superintendent of education elected by the commissioners. The commissioners are liable to a change of one-third biennially; the superintendent holds for 4 years. The schools of Montgomery are under the management of a city board of education of 6 members, who act without pay, 1 from each ward, elected annually by the city council at its first meeting in January, and a superintendent of education elected by the board. Selma has also a city board of education of 9 members for general management, and a city superintendent of schools appointed by the State superintendent.

a Census of 1884-'85.

bIncludes the port of Mobile and outlying precincts, containing 2,123. din State report (p. 90), 1,904.

c City return; the State report, p. 90, says 4,588.

State report, p. 90.

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

Birmingham, rapidly growing, reports, beside the statistics above given, 6 public school buildings seating 1,200 pupils, and valued with furniture at $40,200; an evening school, the attendance on which is not given, and a private or church school, with an estimated enrollment of 150. These statistics are from a written return, and considerably add to the figures of the State report. The State superintendent says that the city expended on its schools in 1884-'85 about $9,377, beside the State appropriation for them.

Mobile.In the absence of any report from this city that does not include the statistics of the county, the following statement from a resident is given: "The principal part of the teaching is carried on in a four-story brick building of imposing dimensions. In this building are the boys' junior and senior grammar school and the girls' junior and senior grammar and high school. In other parts of the yard are buildings in which are the primary and intermediate departments and the boys' high school. Each department is presided over by a principal having a suitable number of assistants. In the boys' department these are all young men, ranging from 20 to 30 years of age, the superintendent having found by actual trial that he could depend on young teachers with greater certainty than on older ones possessed of prejudices that could not be uprooted. *** School hours are from 8.45 a. m. to 3 p. m. in winter, and half an hour earlier in summer. Teachers are present a quarter of an hour before the opening of school. Pupils delinquent in their studies are detained after the dismissal of the others."

"On Friday afternoons a quiz meeting is held, and various questions in grammar and arithmetic are propounded and discussed. Only teachers in the public schools are allowed to be present at these meetings. The superintendent presides, and it is through him that questions are asked. The teachers are the pupils, and the superintendent is the teacher. There the teacher, now a scholar, obtains the views of others as to the best way of presenting a truth to the mind of the pupil, and this interchange of thought and experience has been of vast benefit to all concerned."

In 28 school districts there were reported 85 schools in 1884-'85, 56 of them for white, 29 for colored youth.

Montgomery, forming a single school district, reports to the State superintendent 3 schools for white pupils and 2 for colored; the former with 21 teachers, the latter with 10. Under the 21 white teachers were 960 pupils; under the 10 colored, 944; an inequality that looks inconsistent with the constitutional requirement that the schools shall be "for the equal benefit of all the children 7 to 21 years of age." Its schools for whites

1 Subsequent information shows great educational advance in Montgomery.

were held 156 days; those for colored the same time. Average monthly pay of teachers in the schools for whites, $60.05; in those for colored, $47.00.

Selma, also a single school district, had 1 school for each race, with 11 teachers for its 425 white enrollment and 6 for its 389 colored. Average monthly pay of the former, $70; of the latter, $60.90.

PREPARATION AND QUALIFICATIONS OF TEACHERS.

GENERAL STATE REQUIREMENTS.

Persons proposing to teach in the public schools must either present diplomas from a chartered school or college, or undergo an examination by the educational board of the county in which the applicant wishes to be employed. To those examined no certificate is to be given unless they answer correctly 70 per cent. of the questions asked. For a certificate valid for a year, the examination is in primary studies; for one valid for 2 years, it is in intermediate studies, including elementary algebra; for one valid for 3 years, higher algebra, natural philosophy, geometry, and the theory and practice of teaching are added. No certificate of the two higher grades is, from September 30, 1885, to be granted to any one that has not passed a satisfactory examination in physiology and hygiene, with reference to the effects of stimulants and narcotics on the human system. Those licensed are to attend at least once a year the county institutes held for their improvement.

STATE NORMAL TRAINING.

The 6 State schools for preparing teachers, noticed in the report from this Bureau for 1883-'84, were continued in 1884-'85; three of them for whites, at Florence, Jacksonville, and Livingston; and three for colored youth, at Huntsville, Marion, and Tuskegee.

At Florence, under 9 instructors, were 224 students, 102 of them preparatory and academic, and 122 in classes more advanced. Those preparing to teach numbered 118, their names appearing in all the classes from preparatory to senior. In music there were 40 pupils; in penmanship, 126. Instruction in French, German, Spanish, AngloSaxon, and Historical English Grammar also was announced for 1885-'86. Receipts of treasurer on school account from the State, $7,500.

At Jacksonville, under 5 instructors, were 106 pupils in a 3-year course, 26 of them preparing to teach. Appropriation from the State toward such preparation, $2,500; from other sources, $2,073.

At Livingston, in the Alabama Normal College for Girls, where are collegiate-academic, collegiate-normal, preparatory, and primary classes, 25 normal pupils are reported in 2-year and 4-year courses, under 10 instructors, out of a total attendance of 125, according to an official return, the figures of which differ slightly from those in the State report. Receipts from the State for teachers' fund, $2,000; for apparatus, $500. Graduates of the year, 15.

The normal school, Huntsville, for the education of colored teachers, has had its title changed to Huntsville State Colored Normal and Industrial School; has organized a collegiate class with 3 students; and, with this and the students of the higher normal, normal, and normal preparatory departments, shows 167 pupils, besides 61 in a model school. Total number of normal students 164, under 4 instructors. Appropriation from the State $2,000 for 1884-'85, to be made $4,000 from September following that school year; from the Peabody fund $500, according to a written return; according to the State superintendent's report, $300; from the Slater fund, $1,000. Through this last, 11 classes, with a total of 55 students, were instructed in the elements of carpentry, painting, printing, sewing, and gardening, apparently in a new industrial building erected for this purpose within the year at a cost of $610. In this department appear 3 teachers for the next following year.

Marion State Normal School and University for Colored Students, formerly Lincoln Normal University, reports 373 students, an increase of 70 over 1883-'84. Graduates of the year, 17; graduated since the school was established, 60. These graduates are said to have taught during the year upwards of 15,000 children in 20 counties of the State. The training school noticed above was one of the growths of the year, and was under the charge of a graduate from a normal school in Indiana. In an industrial department, under 2 teachers, girls were instructed in plain and fancy sewing; young men in the use of carpenters' and wood-turners' tools, and in the making of plans and estimates of work. State appropriation for the year, $4,000; from Peabody fund, $400.

These figures for general and normal pupils are from a written return. The report from the school to the State superintendent says that the roll-book shows for the year a total attendance of 203 pupils, 32 of them in the normal department.

For the same year, Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers, Tuskegee, reports a State appropriation of $3,000, $1,000 from the Slater fund, and $6,573 from other sources; a new 4-story brick building, a new 2-room cottage for boys, several new outhouses, and other aids to more effective work. Brick making, farming, carpentering, printing, and cutting and making of garments, have helped the students to pay for their instruction, and have trained them to industries that may secure them a support. A written return tells of 207 normal students 'under 12 instructors; graduates of the year, 10.

In all these State normal schools students that do not otherwise pay for their tuition are required to do it by teaching in the public schools of the State for 2 years after graduation. Music, vocal and instrumental, is taught in all, and drawing in all but one.

OTHER NORMAL TRAINING.

Rust Normal Institute (Meth. Ep.), Huntsville, with 3 teachers and 81 normal pupils, besides 88 others, continued its work in 1884-'85, as did also Emerson Institute (Cong.), Mobile, with 9 teachers, 22 normal pupils, and 307 others; Alabama Baptist Normal and Theological School, Selma, with 148 pupils under 8 teachers, without distinction of the two kinds of students; and Talladega College, Talladega, with 6 teachers of preparatory grades and 6 of normal grades, the normal pupils numbering 51, others 60. These figures all indicate advances on preceding years. Rust Normal and Talladega add instruction in drawing and music to their other training.

INSTITUTES.

Each county educational board is required to organize and maintain teachers' institutes, one for the colored race and one for the white, where there are not less than ten licensed teachers of the race for which such institutes are held, and to hold three or more meetings of such institutes annually for the improvement of the teaching force. How many such institute meetings were held in 1884-'85 does not appear. A union institute, composed of teachers from Bibb, Jefferson, and Tuscaloosa counties, is the only one of that character mentioned. This is said to have been a great success, and to have stimulated the large number of teachers and citizens present to earnest efforts for increased efficiency in school work.

SCHOOL JOURNALS.

The Alabama Progress, noticed in the report of 1882-183 as established at Montgomery April, 1882, ceased to appear at this Bureau, May, 1883, and has not been since heard from. The Southern Journal of Education began monthly issues at Birmingham March, 1885, and is believed to be still issued, though its appearance at the Bureau has not been continuous. The Alabama Teachers' Journal appeared first in July, 1885, at Huntsville, as a monthly, and has already reached a circulation of some 3,000 copies. It has the full indorsement of the State superintendent.

SECONDARY INSTRUCTION.

PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS.

Schools of this class do not formally enter into the State school system, but rely entirely upon local support. What information the Bureau possesses in regard to them is of a fragmentary character.

In the State report of 1870-'71 there were 251 high schools presented; in that of 1874-75, 218; in 1875-'76, 169; in 1876-'77, 166. There the record of them seems to cease, the form of return from teachers and school officers being changed to include elementary branches almost wholly. In the State tables for 1884-'85, beyond the 6 common elementary studies, appear 13,733 pupils in history and 3,675 in algebra.

OTHER SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

For information concerning business colleges, private academic schools, and preparatory departments of colleges, see Tables IV, VI, VII, and IX of the Appendix; for summaries of same, the report of the Commissioner preceding.

SUPERIOR INSTRUCTION.

COLLEGES FOR YOUNG MEN OR FOR BOTH SEXES.

The collegiate institutions of this State continue to be the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Southern University, Greensborough; Howard College, Marion; and Spring Hill College, Mobile. The three last mentioned have preparatory, all have classical, and all but Spring Hill scientific courses; all but the State University give instruction 1 Talladega College, Talladega, does not appear to have yet reached full collegiate instruction.

in business; Howard gives instruction in theology; the State University, in law; Spring Hill, in music; and all, in German and French.

The University of Alabama continues to arrange the studies of its classical, scientific, and engineering courses of 4 years each, under 10 schools, each having its own head and giving attention wholly either to one specific study or to two or three closely-related ones. Appropriate combinations of these studies form a classical and a scientific course, the same for the first 2 years, and lead to the degree of A. B. Other combinations beyond the first year lead to the degree of Eng. B. Students unable to complete a regular course may take an elective one, combining the studies of at least 3 schools, and on completing the subjects taught in these may graduate in them. The degree of A. M. or of civil engineer is obtained by bachelors of arts or of engineering that pursue advanced studies in arts, science, or engineering, under the direction of the professors at the university, for a year after graduation, and reach 90 per cent. of the merit marks possible at the final examination.

Southern University and Howard College also have their studies, the former under 7, the latter under 11 schools, including a business school and one in military science. The former institution confers the degrees of graduate of a school, bachelor of civil engineering, Ph. B., Sci. B., A. B., and A. M.; the latter those of Sci. B., A. B., A. M., and C. E. Spring Hill College has a preparatory course of 1 year, followed either by a classical course of 6 years or a commercial course of 4 years. All but Spring Hill have schools of military science.

For statistics of these institutions, see Table IX of the Appendix; for summary of same, the report of the Commissioner preceding.

INSTITUTIONS FOR THE SUPERIOR INSTRUCTION OF YOUNG WOMEN.

Of this class of schools only 7 of the 12 on the list of this Bureau report for 1884-'85. Of those reporting all show primary or preparatory courses.

SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION.

SCIENTIFIC.

Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College, Auburn, offers three regular courses of four years each, in 1884-'85, each leading to the degree of Sci. B.,-the first in agriculture and chemistry, the second in mechanics and engineering, the third a general course. Besides these there appear in 1884-'85, two partial courses of two years each. The State agricultural experiment station being now a part of the institution, and the State affording aid for the equipment of the farm and scientific department, the college is in accord with the purpose for which it was founded by the Federal and State laws, which is to give a liberal and practical education to the farming and industrial classes.1

Scientific instruction is also given by the Southern and State Universities, and at Howard College, in courses of general science and engineering, each of four years. For statistics see Table X of Appendix; for a summary of same, the report of the Commissioner preceding.

PROFESSIONAL.

THEOLOGICAL.-The Alabama Baptist Normal and Theological School, Selma, presents still a three-year theological course of 32 weeks each year; the Talladega Theological Seminary, Talladega (Cong.), a like one of 36 weeks each year; the Institute for Training Colored Ministers (Southern Presbyterian), at Tuscaloosa, one of 4 years, with 44 weeks each year. At this last the attendance was 28 in 1884-'85; at Selma there was a total attendance of 148 normal and theological students; at Talladega of 365, 10 of them theological.

Some training for ministerial work is given also at Howard and Spring Hill Colleges; the former, Baptist; the latter, Roman Catholic.

LEGAL.-The University of Alabama offers instruction in international and constitutional law; in common and statute law; and in equity jurisprudence. Moot courts are held for the practical application of the student's legal acquirements. By diligent study it is said that the entire course of three terms of five months each may be completed in nine months. The degree of LL. B. is conferred only upon those who complete the entire course and pass a satisfactory final examination in the presence of the faculty..

MEDICAL.-The Medical College of Alabama in 1885 had 8 professors, 1 assistant professor, 3 lecturers, and 2 demonstrators. It recommends, but does not require, attendance on 3 annual lecture terms of 20 weeks each; will graduate on evidence of full age, good morals, 3 years of study, attendance on 2 full courses of lectures and a course in prac

The beginning of a "Mechanic Art Laboratory," for giving instruction in practical mechanics, was made in 1884 through an appropriation of $5,000 of the amount given to the college for the year; this laboratory to be an auxiliary to a general industrial education, and not to teach any particular trade. The laboratory has been since completed and equipped, and other improvements made.

tical anatomy, and passing a satisfactory examination. Matriculates 75, graduates 12, alumni 364.

Graduation at this college or any other does not confer a right to practice medicine in the State. To secure this, graduates must obtain certificates of qualification from the medical examining boards of the counties in which they expect to practice; non-graduates, like certificates from the board of censors of the State Medical Association. Persons purposing to begin the study of medicine are examined as to their preparation for such study by the county boards of censors. The constant supervision of the State board is said to hold the county boards up to a high standard.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTION.

EDUCATION OF THE DEAF and DUMB AND OF THE BLIND.

The Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind, Talladega, reports for 1845 a total of 76 pupils-49 of them deaf-mutes, 27 blind-all under 8 teachers. Three teachers were for the blind pupils, 1 for a class of deaf who were under training in the utterance of oral sounds, by the provisions of a special act of the legislature of 1884-'85. An accomplished oralist from Philadelphia was in charge of this class. Music for the blind was also under charge of a special teacher. The buildings and premises of the institution are said to be in good condition, through an appropriation of $2,000 from the legislature for necessary repairs. The accommodations would suffice for 24 more pupils; yet it appears that there are not less than 200 mute and blind children in the State who ought to be under instruction, but are not.

EDUCATIONAL CONVENTIONS.

STATE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATIONS.

The Alabama State Teachers' Association for teachers of colored schools held its fourth annual meeting at Marion, May, 1885, and was in session three days. It is said to have been largely attended, most of the counties in the State being represented.

Papers were read and discussed on the following subjects: What are the greatest needs of the public schools?" "How can we secure good English?" "How can the teacher successfully imbue the minds of the pupils with temperance principles?” “The teachers' moral influence." Prof. James Storum, president of the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, at Petersburg, Va., delivered a lecture on "Our profession; what is it?" said to have been scholarly and instructive. The last evening of the session was occupied in hearing reports on the condition of the schools in the counties represented. This is said to have been the most interesting part of the programme, many of the reports being given in a very graphic manner.

The association is reported to have been admirably organized and most intelligently conducted.

The teachers of schools for whites met at Auburn, July 1, 1885, in the hall of the Agricultural and Mechanical College, to the number of 53, including 3 from Georgia and Virginia. The president of the college welcomed the association, and the State superintendent made an appropriate response. The first discussion was on the commonschool system of the State, when Mr. McAdory, of McCalla, pronounced the State school law good, but not as well administered as it might be, the State appropriating too little to its schools, the money being sometimes paid out illegally, and the school officers failing to meet fully either the requirements of the law or the needs of the schools. Professor O. D. Smith held that the State erred in not depending mainly on local taxation for support of schools, merely supplementing this with a certain measure of State funds. Professor Godsey, of Blount County, thought that county institutes were doing great good, and that county teachers should be compelled to attend them. To this there was a hearty assent from several teachers and school officers. A paper of Hon. J. N. Slaughter attributed the illiteracy of the South to its warm climate and the bad influences of slavery; Dr. A. S. Andrews held that it was due to want of money for support of schools, and to the difficulty of collecting children in the sparsely settled distri, evils which time would remedy. While "The analytic and the synthetic methods of instruction" was under discussion, a youth from the State school for deaf-mutes and blind was introduced and shown to be ready in algebraic solutions of problems. A paper on "Technical education," by Mr. Calloway, held that each child should have special preparation for his specific vocation in life. One on "Industrial training" dwelt on the advantages offered for this in the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State. "The functions of the normal school" were subsequently discussed, and the prerequisites of every normal teacher were declared to be: (1) to know what to teach, (2) to have a general knowledge of the science of teaching, and (3) to understand the best methods of teaching.