LA 
 216 
 
 M47
 
 Ministry of Education 
 in the South. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. A. D. MAYO.
 
 Ministry of Education 
 in the South. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. A. D. MAYO, 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 PRESS OF GEO. H. ELLIS, 141 FRANKLIN STREET 
 1889
 
 A MINISTRY OF EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 AT the beginning of the tenth year of our Ministry of Educar 
 tion in the Southern United States, we respond to inquiries for 
 information in regard to the character and present condition of 
 the work, too numerous to be answered by personal interview, 
 correspondence, or occasional statements through the press. The 
 sole object of this publication is to furnish reliable information 
 concerning our ministry in the North and South, especially to 
 serve as a fit introduction in portions of the country not yet vis- 
 ited. The testimonials from prominent public men and leading 
 educators of all the Southern States are only a selection from a 
 mass of similar material, and give a fair account of the estima- 
 tion in which the Ministry is held where it is best known. 
 
 It is our intention to supplement this pamphlet by the repub- 
 lication of a number of addresses, delivered on different occa- 
 sions, in various portions of the country, bearing on this work. 
 The wide distribution of such publications and the constant use 
 of the press have been among the most effective agencies of the 
 Ministry. It is our pleasure to acknowledge, here, the great kind- 
 ness of the leading Southern press, from the first, in heartily co- 
 operating with our work during the past ten years. 
 
 In the year 1862, we accepted a call to the ministry of the 
 Church of the Redeemer, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and remained in 
 that city ten years, till 1872. In addition to the laborious charge 
 of a growing church, we served as a member of the City Board 
 of Education for eight years, during a very important period in 
 the development of its public schools. The interest in popular 
 education from the beginning of our professional life was inten- 
 sified by the duties and opportunities of this position, which 
 brought us into intimate acquaintance with the common- school 
 public of the Western States. The great Civil War was at its 
 most critical period, and Cincinnati was a favorable point for an 
 outlook over a vast field of operations. The valley of the Ohio
 
 was swarming with refugees from the colored and poor white 
 population of the South-west. For the first tune, we became 
 personally acquainted with this aspect of Southern life. Unable, 
 from imperfect health, to join the ranks of the Union Army, our 
 attention was all the more concentrated on the issue of the con- 
 flict and the long period of the rehabilitation of Southern society 
 that would inevitably follow changes so radical through half the 
 area of the Union. An irresistible impression forced itself upon 
 us that, in some way, a providential " call " might come to our- 
 self for useful service in this stage of the great revolutionary 
 epoch. But no favorable opportunity appeared during the ten 
 years of our residence in Cincinnati, although a journey of a few 
 weeks, in 1868, through the South-west, and a valuable personal 
 acquaintance in Kentucky and Missouri, gave occasion for much 
 thought and confirmed our undefined purpose. 
 
 In the autumn of 1872, we removed to Springfield, Mass, (our 
 native State), and, for nearly eight years, were occupied by the 
 duties of our fifth and last position in a parish ministry extend- 
 ing through thirty-five years, in Gloucester, Mass., Cleveland, 
 Ohio, Albany, N.Y., and Cincinnati, Ohio. In Springfield, we 
 were called again to the work of public school administration ; 
 and our acquaintance with leading educational people in the 
 East, through constant lecturing, visitation of schools, and educa- 
 tional journalism, was largely extended. But the old desire to 
 be of service in the rising educational life of the South grew with 
 every year, and became, at last, an overpowering consideration. 
 Our ecclesiastical connections with the Unitarian denomination 
 of Christians were a bar to any position of influence in the great 
 and good work of the "evangelical" churches in behalf of the 
 freedmen, although subsequent experience has brought us into 
 the most friendly and mutually helpful relations with all the 
 Protestant Christian and Hebrew organizations. Besides, it was 
 not as a teacher, or the representative of any religious or eccle- 
 siastical body, or as a government official, that we desired to go to 
 the Southern people. From the first, it seemed to us that there 
 was a place, in this vast enterprise of educating the children and 
 youth of these States, for a friendly private citizen of the United 
 States, who, with some reputation as an educational worker, 
 might go on "a labor of love" to all the people of the South,
 
 following the lead of Providence, and, with the exception of 
 teaching, organizing schools, and becoming an " agent " of any 
 kind, serving as " a man of all work " in a field so extensive and 
 attractive. 
 
 With these earnest hopes and vague plans in mind, we visited 
 Washington, D.C., in the winter of 1879, and presented our 
 views to the Hon. John Eaton, United States Commissioner of 
 Education, President R. B. Hayes and his estimable wife, and 
 other public men interested in the educational welfare of the 
 South. The idea at once found unexpected favor. There were 
 no provisions for government aid to such an undertaking, save 
 the hearty sympathy of the National Administration and the 
 National Bureau of Education. The question, therefore, nar- 
 rowed itself at once to the probability of the friendly reception 
 of such a " Ministry of Education " by the Southern people, and 
 its adequate financial support to the extent of from three to five 
 thousand dollars, annually, from the North. 
 
 To the first of these questions we addressed ourself, through 
 extended interviews with leading Southern members of Con- 
 gress, especially the Senators, whose knowledge of the field was 
 supposed to be most reliable. To our gratification, the statement 
 of our intentions brought the heartiest response. Nobody op- 
 posed, all approved ; and many of the most eminent Southern 
 statesmen heartily welcomed it. In their opinion, the visits to the 
 Southern States then engaged for the first time in the estab- 
 
 o o 
 
 lishment of the American system of free common schools for all 
 classes of an educational missionary, adequately endorsed, with 
 a single eye to " building for the children," would be received in 
 the spirit in which they were offered. 
 
 The result of these interviews was a subsequent visit to Wash- 
 ington in the spring of 1880. At this visit, a circular letter from 
 the White House, signed by President Hayes and several mem- 
 bers of his Cabinet, and, subsequently, by many of the leading 
 educators in the country, was given us as an evidence of confi- 
 dence in the plan. Numerous letters of introduction were also 
 cheerfully furnished by the most eminent of the Southern public 
 men, which placed us at once in communication with the people 
 of the South. In this preliminary work, we gratefully acknowl- 
 edge the co-operation of Hon. John Eaton, late United States
 
 6 
 
 Commissioner of Education, whose broad patriotism and Chris- 
 tian philanthropy were so conspicuous in building up the Na- 
 tional Bureau of Education. His successor, the Hon. N. H. 
 Daw son, has also been helpful in the encouragement of our 
 work. 
 
 The agent of the Peabody Educational Fund, Dr. Curry, and 
 Dr. Haygood, of the Slater Fund, have been devoted friends of 
 the Ministry. 
 
 We then turned to the practical side of the plan, how to 
 meet the considerable annual expenses of such a ministry. It 
 was evident that, outside of entertainment and travelling ex- 
 penses, at the utmost, little pecuniary assistance could be ex- 
 pected from the South. The eleven ex-Confederate States, 
 which would be our special field of labor, were struggling with 
 the prodigious work of establishing, for the first time, a system 
 of free education for their children, in the face of such a com- 
 plete financial ruin as had not been known in modern history. 
 In this respect, our experience has been more favorable than was 
 anticipated ; for considerable sums of money, at different times, 
 have been contributed by leading Southern citizens, while the 
 well-known hospitality of the Southern people and the good will 
 of the great travelling corporations have rarely failed us. But 
 the money was to be raised at the North, and we returned to 
 the city of Boston and our native State as the place to find it. 
 
 A contribution raised by Rer. E. E. Hale, D.D., enabled us to 
 make our first visit to the South in the early summer of 1880. 
 Our route included the Hampton (colored) and Tileston (white) 
 Schools in Virginia and North Carolina and the public schools of 
 Richmond, Va. This was followed by a month, in midsummer, 
 at the first State Institute of white teachers ever held in Vir- 
 ginia, at the University of Virginia, and a corresponding visit to 
 a similar body of colored teachers at Lynchburg; under the 
 direction of Dr. W. H. Ruffner and Hon. William A. Newell, 
 most eminent of the early State Superintendents of public schools 
 in Virginia and Maryland. 
 
 The reception at these visits removed all doubt that we had 
 chosen the right path. Returning to Massachusetts in the au- 
 tumn of 1880, we accepted the position of Associate Editor of 
 the New England (weekly) Journal of Education in Boston.
 
 The American Unitarian Association, which has no system of 
 denominational schools, voted an annual appropriation, as a testi- 
 monial of its deep interest in the common-school work of the 
 South, with no limitation of activity or expectation of denomi- 
 national missionary work. The American Missionary Associa- 
 tion (Congregational) and the Freedman's Aid Society (Metho- 
 dist) gave us a commission to visit their schools for colored 
 youth in the South, and deliver courses of lectures on teaching 
 to their pupils. 
 
 In this way, half the expenses of the early years of the mission 
 were met ; but at no time since have the receipts from these and 
 similar sources, even when supplemented by our own vacation 
 labors, amounted to one-half the sum required for the successful 
 prosecution of our work. The greater portion of the money has 
 been collected in our brief summer and autumn vacations by 
 application to friends of Southern education, largely in Boston, 
 with occasional aid from a few smaller New England cities, and 
 Brooklyn and New York. So far, the money has always come, 
 though the yearly labor of its collection has almost become a 
 burden. The increasing duties of the field work compelled us, 
 in 1885, to retire from educational journalism. Yet the literary 
 labors of the Ministry increase with every year, the press being 
 everywhere open to our word. A large number of pamphlets 
 bearing on the condition of the South have been issued, of which 
 two, " Building for the Children of the South," and " Industrial 
 Education in the South," have been published and widely circu- 
 lated by the National Bureau of Education. This feature of the 
 work has never been thoroughly developed; and it would be 
 easy to circulate an indefinite number of these publications, 
 which are everywhere eagerly read by the people and often repro- 
 duced in the Southern press. 
 
 In December, 1880, we entered on the first extended tour of 
 our Ministry of Education, visiting the most important educa- 
 tional centres and schools in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, 
 Louisiana, and Texas, and, on the return, Alabama and Georgia, 
 including all the larger institutions of learning for the colored 
 people supported by the different denominations of Christians in 
 the North. The information thus obtained in these colored 
 schools was of the greatest value, and these pleasant relations
 
 continue, whenever we are in the neighborhood of this class of 
 establishments. But our chief interest was enlisted in the new 
 public schools of all the States visited. These visitations were ? 
 always made on the invitation of the local school authorities. 
 The schools were inspected, with frequent talks to the children, 
 addresses to teachers, conferences with school boards and friends 
 of education, numerous public lectures to white and colored 
 people, frequent invitations to speak before legislative bodies, 
 constant Sunday services in leading Christian and Hebrew 
 churches, and perpetual conversation on educational topics. For 
 six years, this work was carried on in connection with the duties 
 of editorial writer of the New England and National Journal of 
 Education ; a larger amount of weekly writing than the ordi- 
 nary demand for the supply of a pulpit. 
 
 We were soon convinced that we had been led by a gracious 
 Providence into a field of labor wonderfully broad, inspiring, and 
 hopeful, the only difficulty being the ability of the worker to fill 
 its vast possibilities. Not only the public schools, but all private 
 seminaries, colleges, universities, State and denominational, Sun- 
 day-schools, and benevolent institutions were flung open. The 
 Southern " latch-string was out," and a welcome never denied 
 from within. We can recall no marked instance of discourtesy 
 and but few cases of courteous non-acceptance of our proffered 
 work. No Southern journal of influence has opposed, and no 
 public or educational man of note has come across our path. 
 This is the more gratifying since we have used the utmost free- 
 dom of speech in discussing the subject at hand, with the widest 
 application of educational principles to social and public affairs, 
 in constant intercourse with both the white and colored people. 
 There has been no difference between the character of our 
 addresses or our bearing as an educator in the Southern and 
 Northern field of our labors. Usually, at least eight months of 
 each year have been spent in the South, the remaining four 
 busily occupied in the Northern States, with brief time for vaca- 
 tion. 
 
 Our habit has been, on going to a State not previously visited, 
 to put ourself in communication with the educational authori- 
 ties at the capital, and, following their suggestions, take up the 
 work where it would tell most powerfully, especially on the com-
 
 9 
 
 mon-school interest. We have been called in this way to all the 
 sixteen States of this section, several of which have repeatedly 
 been visited. It is impossible for a visitor to do profitable work 
 of this sort, to a large extent, in the open country, from the 
 sparseness of population and the difficulty of reaching the people. 
 
 But many of the important schools of the South are situated in 
 the country, and, at numerous institutes and conventions and at 
 college commencement seasons, we have been brought in contact 
 with the rural districts. The teachers from the country have 
 been often called to the county seats to meet us. But most of 
 the leading centres of education in the South have been visited 
 in the past ten years, thousands of teachers and school officials 
 known, with a constant appearance before large bodies of the 
 people, of both races, in week-day lectures and Sunday dis- 
 courses. Strength has been given us to do twice the amount of 
 work of any previous years, although approaching the time of 
 life when men generally seek rest rather than extended labors. 
 But the field grows broader with every year, whitening for the 
 harvest ; and, though laborers of all sorts and of great experience 
 abound, yet our Ministry of Education, a labor of love for the 
 people of the South, at home, with a constant effort to set before 
 the Northern people the great element of hopefulness and encour- 
 agement in their Southern neighbors, opens each new year with 
 a wider outlook enforcing a deeper sense of responsibility to God 
 and the Republic. It is our special work as long as life and 
 strength are given us to do it and good men and women can 
 be found to hold up the hands, strengthen the knees, and cheer 
 the heart of him whose constant prayer is for wisdom, power, 
 and love to compass the glorious opportunity of a mission so 
 unique and full of significance. 
 
 In these years we have probably delivered from two to three 
 thousand addresses, reached many hundred thousand people 
 through the press, visited the higher institutions of learning and 
 the graded schools of the majority of the larger Southern towns, 
 become acquainted with many distinguished Southern educators, 
 and lived among the most progressive and hopeful class of the 
 South; the superior teachers, children, and youth, young par- 
 ents, professional and public men, and good women; the Edu- 
 cational Public, of whose labors and sacrifices for the past
 
 10 
 
 twenty-five years the people of the United States are so im- 
 perfectly informed, but on whose growing influence the future of 
 these great commonwealths, and through them of the Republic, 
 so largely depends. It is not for us to magnify our mission or, 
 to attempt to set forth in detail what may fairly be claimed a 
 its legitimate results. Enough to say that the demands upon f 
 were never so great as at present, as the testimonials here pre- 
 sented give ample assurance. 
 
 The result of our past ten years' Ministry of Education in the 
 South has been a deeply seated conviction that this section must 
 look to education in its broadest sense ; the training of the 
 younger third of its population in mental, moral and religious, 
 and industrial ways for a true citizenship of the Republic, for the 
 solution of all its social and political problems, the development 
 of its magnificent material resources, and the union of both races 
 and all classes in an enduring bond of patriotism and consecra- 
 tion to American ideas. We have no faith in the gloomy prog- 
 nostications of men who live only in the past, or attempt to repro- 
 duce the follies and perils of European society in this new land. 
 We work for the lohole American people in working for the chil- 
 dren of the South. 
 
 At the end of a quarter of a century from our great sectional 
 conflict, the most thoughtful observers of national affairs are see- 
 ing most clearly that it is no more a new South than a new East 
 and West that must come forth from the issues of "the grand 
 and awful time " in wliich our lot is cast. Called by Providence 
 to work in the Southern portion of this vast seed-field of God 
 and humanity, we rejoice at the opportunity to labor with such 
 people as have given us their confidence, and, heaven willing, 
 shall not abate our effort during the brief years allotted to us 
 for service in this world. 
 
 A. D. MAYO.
 
 TESTIMONIALS. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D.C., March 1, 1880. 
 REV. A. D. MAYO. 
 
 Dear Sir, We have heard with pleasure of your intention to devote 
 yourself to the general work of public-school education, through the 
 press, through personal visitation of -schools, lectures to the people, 
 teachers, and school children, and friendly consultation with local 
 school authorities. Having, for several years past, been acquainted 
 with your increasing labors in this field, and deeply feeling the necessity 
 of this educational enterprise to which you now propose to consecrate 
 your whole strength and time, we desire to express our entire confidence 
 in your eminent fitness for this work, so fully assured by your extended 
 acquaintance with the common-school systems of our country and your 
 practical and acceptable labors, now continued through many years. 
 We trust that, everywhere, your endeavors will meet the hearty accept- 
 ance and support of those seeking to promote a cause that appeals so 
 strongly to the mind and heart of every true American citizen. 
 
 R. B. HAYES, President of United States. 
 
 WM. M. EVARTS, Secretary of State. 
 
 C. SCHURZ, Secretary of Interior 
 
 CHAS. DEVENS, Attorney-General United States. 
 
 GEO. F. HOAR, United States Senator, Massachusetts. 
 
 JOHN D. LONG, ) Governors 'of Massachusetts and Members of 
 
 JOHN D. LONG, ) Governors 'o 
 
 . TT T* i VjTU VCl 1L\JL O \J 
 
 ALEXANDER H. RICE, V n nn0TP , 
 GEO. D. ROBINSON, J 
 
 JOHN EATON, United States Commissioner Education. f 
 
 W. H. RUFFNER, State Superintendent Education for Virginia. 
 
 B. G. NORTHROP, State Superintendent Education for Connecticut. 
 
 M. A. NEWELL, State Superintendent Education for Maryland. 
 
 J. W. DICKINSON, Secretary of Board of Education for Massachusetts. 
 
 Jos. DE SHA PICKETT, State Superintendent Education for Kentucky. 
 
 O. W. HOLLINGSWORTH, State Superintendent Education for Texas. 
 
 GUSTAVUS J. ORR, State Superintendent Education for Georgia. 
 
 LEON TROUSDALE, State Superintendent Education for Tennessee. 
 
 J. H. SMITH, State Superintendent Education for Mississippi. 
 
 H. CLAY ARMSTRONG, State Superintendent Education for Alabama. 
 
 J. H. GROVES, State Superintendent Education for Delaware. 
 
 F. W. PARKER, Superintendent Schools, Quincy, Mass.
 
 12 
 
 JOHN HANCOCK, Superintendent Schools, Dayton, Ohio. 
 
 ANDR. J. RICKOFF, Superintendent Schools, Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
 WM. O. ROGERS, Superintendent Schools, New Orleans, La. 
 
 J. ORMOND WILSON, Superintendent Schools, Washington, DC. 
 
 E. E. WHITE, President State Agricultural College, Indiana. 
 
 J. L. PICKARD, President State University, Iowa. 
 
 R. H. JESSE, President University of Louisiana, New Orleans. 
 
 EBEN S. STEARNS, Chancellor of University of Nashville and Peabody 
 
 Normal School, Nashville, Tenn. 
 H. H. SMITH, President Sam Houston Normal School, Huntsville, 
 
 Texas. 
 
 LARKIN DUNTON, Principal Normal School, Boston, Mass. 
 W. E. WARD, President Ward Female College, Nashville, Tenn. 
 S. C. ARMSTRONG, President Hampton Institute, Hampton, Va. 
 AMY M. BRADLEY, Principal Tileston School, Wilmington, N.C. 
 ELLEN HYDE, Principal State Normal School, Framingham, Mass. 
 THOS. W. BICKNELL, Editor New England and National Journal of 
 
 Education, Boston, Mass. 
 
 HENRY W. BELLOWS, D.D., New York City, N.Y. 
 EDWARD E. HALE, D.D., Boston, Mass. 
 JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE, D.D., Boston, Mass. 
 A. A. Low, Brooklyn, N.Y. 
 
 WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 1881. 
 
 The Rev. A. D. Mayo undertakes a work in behalf of education in the 
 South which has my most hearty commendation. 
 
 It would afford me great pleasure to know that every boy and girl in 
 the land has the opportunity of a good free public-school education. 
 
 CHESTER A. ARTHUR, President United States. 
 
 From the National Bureau of Education. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
 
 BUREAU OF EDUCATION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, Dec. 27, 1881. 
 
 The bearer, Rev. A. D. Mayo, of Massachusetts, in the midst of his 
 ministerial labors for many years past, has found time for constant 
 attention to educational subjects, observing carefully the condition of 
 instruction, and speaking and writing frequently and with great effect 
 upon educational topics. This love of the work has induced him to 
 withdraw from church care and devote himself to the much needed 
 revival of interest in education. His friends, recognizing the necessity 
 of such efforts, and impressed with his fitness and success, have fur- 
 nished him means. Two years ago, in response to invitations, he began
 
 IB 
 
 to visit portions of the South. Last winter and spring he spent entirely 
 there. The correspondence of this office gave abundant evidence of the 
 welcome he everywhere received and of the satisfaction which his 
 addresses and visits gave the friends of education. I shall count every 
 institution and community fortunate that is able to secure a visit and 
 address from him. I recommend him to the confidence and good 
 offices of all on whom he may call. 
 
 JOHN EATON, 
 
 United States Commissioner Education. 
 
 fr WASHINGTON, B.C., Aug. 14, 1883. 
 
 REV. A. D. MAYO : 
 
 My dear Sir, Your labors in behalf of education in the South have 
 been full of interest to me. The plan of your work going by your own 
 direction, in the most informal way accords with my judgment. Your 
 love of the work and large observation and knowledge of education 
 elsewhere, your ready and effective presentation of it in all its phases to 
 all classes of people, and your devotion to the single subject of education, 
 have given you great advantage. It is especially gratifying to me that 
 you have so thoroughly won your way to the favor of the Southern peo- 
 ple, who must take up this work of the education of their children if our 
 nation is not to perish from off the earth. There is new encouragement 
 to all who are in this work, that the Southern people come to hear you so 
 gladly and in such large numbers. Your work has clearly increased in 
 value from year to year, that of last winter being by far the most 
 effective. 
 
 JOHN EATON, 
 
 United States Commissioner of Education. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
 BUREAU OF EDUCATION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 27, 1888. 
 
 Rev. A. D. Mayo, well known for his unwearied labors in promoting 
 and improving public schools, proposes, during the coming winter, to 
 visit such places in the valley of Virginia as may be open to him, for the 
 purpose of delivering free lectures on topics of interest to public-school 
 officers and teachers. I hardly need to add that Mr. Mayo is a gentle- 
 man in education, speech, and character, and that he has been doing 
 noble work for public schools and popular enlightenment in many parts 
 of the South for several winters past. 
 
 N. H. R. DAWSON, 
 
 United States Commissioner of Education.
 
 14 
 
 WASHINGTON, B.C., Dec. 6, 1886. 
 
 Dear Sir, This letter will introduce to you the Rev. A. D. Mayo, of 
 Boston, Mass., for many years an ardent friend of common schools and 
 popular education in the South. Mr. Mayo is widely known, and is 
 respected wherever he is known, as a gentleman of high character and 
 culture, whose voice and pen have been devoted with effect to the agen- 
 cies and methods of education and conduct. Mr. Mayo visits Alabama 
 and your town in the interests of education ; and I take great pleasure 
 in commending him to you, feeling that your acquaintance will be 
 pleasant and beneficial. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 N. H. R. DAWSON, 
 
 United States Commissioner of Education. 
 
 From introduction to " Building for the Children of the South " and 
 44 Industrial Education in the South," published by the National Bureau 
 of Education : 
 
 4< The educational labors of Rev. A. D. Mayo, in different parts of the 
 country, are among those which have proved the most effective and have 
 been most widely appreciated. His addresses on education in the South 
 have been most beneficial in reviving the interests of education in that 
 section, and have been called for there and wherever there is an interest 
 in the success of the cause in that portion of the country." 
 JOHN EATON, 
 
 United States Commissioner of Education. 
 
 44 For the past eight years, Dr. Mayo has been engaged in a Ministry 
 of Education through all the Southern States. With no official relations, 
 and with the sole end in view of observing educational affairs in the 
 South, together with all forms of service and labor found to be practical 
 in the communities visited, with the most hearty co-operation of the 
 leading educators and public men everywhere, and the most kindly recep- 
 tion by teachers and pupils, his opportunities of studying the situation 
 have probably not been surpassed. 
 
 44 The great interest in the subject of the industrial education of both 
 races, through the school systems of the South, the extent to which this 
 form of instruction has already been carried, the means available for its 
 further development, and the practical ways of engrafting it upon the 
 present school life of that region, have all been the subject of careful 
 observation and anxious inquiry, from the beginning of the Ministry of 
 Dr. Mayo." 
 
 N. H. R. DAWSON, United States Commissioner of Education.
 
 15 
 
 [From the American Missionary Association.'] 
 
 NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 1882. 
 To the Teachers of the American Missionary Association Schools in the South : 
 
 Dear Friends, The bearer, Rev. A. D. Mayo, D.D. , has visited the 
 South so frequently, and has been welcomed so heartily everywhere, that 
 he needs no introduction from me. Yet, as he proposes to return thither 
 this winter, we are desirous that he should be heard in our schools where 
 he has not lectured, and that he should receive the hospitalities of our 
 homes where he sojourns, in all cases where the accommodations and the 
 arrangements in the home will render it convenient for him and the in- 
 mates. I need not commend him further, for he has made for himself 
 a record which places him beyond the need of commendation. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 M. E. STRIEBY, 
 I Corresponding Secretary, A.M.A. 
 
 [From the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.] 
 
 CINCINNATI, OHIO, December, 1881. 
 REV. A. D. MAYO: 
 
 I am suddenly called South, and hope to meet you in your travels. In 
 the places you visit where we have schools of any importance, I should 
 be happy to have you visit and address them. Nashville, Tenn., Atlanta, 
 Ga., Orangeburg, S.C., Holly Springs, Miss., Greensborough, N.C., 
 Marshall, Tex., Huntsville, Ala., New Orleans, La., might be visited in 
 connection with your visits to these places and the schools of the 
 A.M.A. Do all the good you can. If we cross each other's tracks, we 
 will confer together on the matter. 
 
 R. S. RUST, Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 805 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 1883. 
 REV. A. D. MAYO : 
 
 My dear Sir, On conference with Dr. Rust, we agreed to ask you 
 to visit all our schools that come in your way, and speak three or four 
 times to them on teaching. This letter may be an introduction to any 
 of our schools ; and, when it seems to you and the principal that more 
 work could be advantageously done, you may do it. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 HENRY W. WARREN, 
 
 Bishop of the M. E. Church.
 
 16 
 
 From Educational Associations, Missionary Bodies, etc. 
 
 [From Peabody Education Fund.~\ 
 
 UPLANDS, BROOKLINE, MASS., Aug. 2, 1889. 
 REV. A. D. MAYO : 
 
 My dear Sir, I thank you for sending me your articles on Texas. I 
 have read them with great interest, and I rejoice at such encouraging 
 accounts of the progress of education, under the "Lone Star." Your 
 Ministry of Education in the Southern States has often attracted my 
 attention. All that I have observed of it, and all that I have heard of 
 it from Southern friends, confirms me in the impression that you are 
 doing an excellent work, and doing it efficiently and successfully. 
 Believe me, dear Dr. Mayo, respectfully and truly yours, 
 
 ROBERT C. WINTHROP. 
 
 [Peabody Education Fund.] 
 
 RICHMOND, VA., Nov. 20, 1888. 
 
 Dr. A. D. Mayo for several years has given his best energies to the 
 cause of education in the South. His addresses and writings have been 
 prudent, wise, able, healthful, and stimulating. His demeanor as a 
 gentleman and a scholar has commended him to the confidence and 
 esteem of all good people. His " Ministry of Education " has been a 
 potent factor in school work. To governors, superintendents of educa- 
 tion, teachers, editors, and all interested in the true upbuilding of the 
 South, I wish to commend Dr. Mayo most heartily. 
 
 J. L. M. CURRY, 
 General Agent of the Peabody Education Fund. 
 
 [From the Slater Educational Fund for the Education of the Colored People.] 
 
 DECATUR, GA., Aug. 13, 1889. 
 
 My dear Doctor, I very much hope you will continue your gracious 
 " Mission " in the South. Some things I know : one is, that you have 
 been a blessing to our people. I believe you understand our case as no 
 other Northern man understands it. I have perhaps had better oppor- 
 tunity to form a just estimate of your work than any other Southern 
 man has had. I also " go to and fro," and I have crossed your path 
 many times, and have heard those speak of your work who knew its 
 great worth. 
 
 The good Lord send you among our schools again and again. 
 Your friend, very truly, 
 
 A. G. HAYGOOD, 
 Former Pres. Emory College, Ga., now Agt. Slater Fund.
 
 17 
 
 [From Society for Religious Education.'] 
 
 BOSTON, Aug. 30, 1883. 
 
 The Society for Religious Education commissions Rev. A. D. Mayo to 
 visit the Southern States in the interests of common-school education. 
 This note is to introduce him to any friend of education. 
 
 EDWARD E. HALE, Chairman of Committee. 
 
 [From the Louisiana Educational Society.] 
 
 At a conference of this society in New Orleans, Jan. 5, 1886, the fol- 
 lowing gentlemen were present, the Hon. Louis Bush presiding: Hon. 
 Louis Bush, Rev. I. L. Leucht, Rev. B. M. Palmer, D.D., Rev. J. K. 
 Gutheim, Colonel William Preston Johnston, Reuben G. Bush, W. F. 
 Halsey, R. M. Walmsley, Hon. G. A. Breaux, R. H. Browne, Professor 
 R. H. Jesse, Hon^C. F. Buck, Hon. Ulric Bettison, Dr. Sanford E. 
 Chaille, also the Rev. A. D. Mayo. 
 
 The subject of an Educational Visitation through the State of Loui- 
 siana, by the Rev. A. D. Mayo, under the direction of the Louisiana 
 Educational Society, elicited prolonged discussion, participated in by 
 nearly all present. The Rev. Dr. Palmer, Dr. Sanford E. Chaille, Rev. 
 J. K. Gutheim, Colonel Bush and others, most heartily endorsed the 
 Rev. A. D. Mayo as the best man that could have been secured to under 
 take this work. 
 
 Colonel William Preston Johnston handed in the following as express- 
 ing, in general terms, the views of this society concerning Dr. Mayo and 
 his proposed work : 
 
 The principal objects which the Louisiana Educational Society has set 
 before itself, in default of means to accomplish larger results, are 
 
 1. To arouse the public mind in Louisiana to a sense of our woful 
 deficiencies in education and the necessity of remedying them. 
 
 2. To afford to those who may interest themselves in the matter, 
 information as to school laws, the best modes for parish organization, 
 the progress of ideas in education and pedagogical methods, and kindred 
 topics. 
 
 While considerable interest has already been awakened in the State, 
 and something has been done toward organization and the improvement 
 of the schools, as yet this can be considered only the beginning. But 
 the Educational Society does not propose to rest until it drives the last 
 nail in the coffin of ignorance. , 
 
 In looking around for a person free from local complications, thor- 
 oughly informed, an enthusiast in educational work, and whose charac- 
 ter and talents would commend him to the good will and sympathy of 
 our people, the Louisiana Educational Society had no difficulty in select- 
 ing Dr. Mayo, not only as pre-eminently fit, but as, by all odds, the best 
 man in the United States for the work. 
 
 Dr. Mayo devoted himself some six years ago to the cause of Southern 
 education. Though a Bostonian and a Republican, he determined to 
 see with his own eyes the condition of things in the South before decid-
 
 18 
 
 ing for himself or informing others what ought to be done for education 
 in the South. Since then, he has passed most of his time in travelling 
 in this section, and in public discussion of what he has learned here. 
 
 The reports which he carried North were very different from the lying 
 bulletins of the carpet-baggers, which had done so much to prejudice the 
 Northern mind against us. While he showed a true picture of the 
 nakedness of the land, the poverty, the ignorance and great discourage- 
 ments of our populations, he called attention in a very pointed manner 
 to the heroic efforts of our people to rise above these adverse circum- 
 stances and do justice in educational matters to both races. He testified 
 to the real loyalty of our people to American ideas, their present fidelity 
 to the Union, and to their native vigor and intelligence, in which he 
 hopefully saw the promise of social progress and political resurrection. 
 Dr. Mayo's exceptionally high character, political affiliations, and per- 
 suasive oratory secured him a hearing among the most intelligent people 
 of the North which would have been accorded to no Southern man or 
 Northern partisan politician, especially among the educators who wield 
 a great though silent influence on the popular t-i ought. 
 
 Dr. Mayo's words had a most powerful effect. I think it can be truly 
 said that no one man in the North has in the last six years done more 
 to soften asperities between the sections and to promote a feeling of 
 brotherhood among the States than this gentleman. 
 
 The report of the committee was then adopted. 
 
 Dr. Palmer said that it is his conviction that the society was fortunate 
 in securing the assistance of Dr. Mayo. During his previous visits he 
 has won the confidence and esteem of the people here. He will go forth 
 bearing their cordial and entire sympathy, indorsement, and support. 
 Dr. Palmer said he would be exceedingly disappointed if his tour does 
 not produce large results in the future. The State needs to be aroused 
 on the subject of education, and the best way to arouse it is for the liv- 
 ing voice and the living heart of a living man to stir it up. Under 
 God's will, Dr. Mayo will do it. 
 
 Dr. Chaille, Dr. Gutheim, Dr. Leucht, Colonel Johnston, Mr. Browne, 
 Colonel Breaux, Colonel Rogers, President Bush, Mr. Buck, and others 
 discussed the objects of the tour, the educational situation and interests 
 of Louisiana, and the necessity of promoting a spirit of organization for 
 educational purposes throughout the State. 
 
 Drs. Chaille and Richardson have given Dr. Mayo a general letter of 
 introduction to the medical profession of the State, many members of 
 which were educated in the college in which they are professors, asking 
 them to afford him every facility to make his trip a success. 
 
 Under the auspices of this society of which Hon. Louis Bush 
 is president, W. O. Rogers, vice-president, Rev. I. L. Leucht, 
 secretary, and Cartwright Eustis, Esq., treasurer, Dr. Mayo made 
 an extended canvass of Louisiana in the winter and spring of 
 1886. He bore the following letters of introduction :
 
 19 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 5, 1886. 
 To all Friends of Education throughout the State of Louisiana : 
 
 Permit us to introduce to you, herewith, the Rev. A. D. Mayo, who, 
 under the auspices of our society, visits you in the interest of public 
 education. 
 
 His labor in this grand enterprise is one of love and marked unsel- 
 fishness, and therefore we request you to assist him in his undertaking 
 to the best of your ability. 
 
 Dr. Mayo has the enthusiastic endorsement of every member of our 
 society and of the philanthropic gentlemen of this community. 
 
 All favors extended to him will redound to the progress and develop- 
 ment of our beloved State. Very respectfully, 
 
 I. L. LEUCHT, Secretary. 
 
 . -NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 4, 1886. 
 
 To Members of the Louisiana State Medical Society and to all reputable members 
 
 of the Medical Profession in Louisiana : 
 
 Gentlemen, The Rev. Mr. Mayo, for the sake of his mission in behalf 
 of public education and because of his own abundant personal merits, 
 is entitled to your highest consideration, to your kindest courtesies, and 
 to your most generous hospitality. 
 
 We specially request that all personal friends and acquaintances to 
 whom these lines may be made known will give to them the same con- 
 sideration which they would pay to a private letter of introduction. 
 
 Yours very respectfully, 
 
 SAXFORD E. CHAILLE, M.D., 
 
 Dean of Medical Department of Tulane University. 
 J. G. RICHARDSON, M.D., 
 
 Professor of Medical Department. 
 
 At the close of this tour, Dr. Mayo delivered an address in 
 New 'Orleans on "Education in Louisiana," which, with his 
 report of his mission, was approved by the Louisiana Educational 
 Society, and widely circulated by the leading press of the 
 State.
 
 20 
 
 Testimonials from Institutions of Learning, School Authorities, City 
 Governments, Public Men, and other sources in the Southern States, 
 extending through Nine Years of the Ministry of Education. 
 
 [From Tulane University of Louisiana, under whose auspices Dr. Mayo has 
 delivered several courses of educational lectures to the teachers, labor organiza- 
 tions, and the general public of the City of New Orleans.'] 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 17, 1889. 
 To whom it may concern, Rev. Dr. A. D. Mayo, of Boston, has devoted 
 eight years to the study of Education in the South, and I regard him as 
 the best informed person of my acquaintance on this question. His 
 study of it has been made in a broad and charitable spirit, and with an 
 eye to practical conditions. His missionary zeal, his homely way of 
 putting vigorous thought, his conciliatory address, his exalted yet expan- 
 sive patriotism, and his most excellent common sense, have enabled him 
 to achieve a vast deal of good. 
 
 Much work has been done by him under my own eye, and it has been 
 of the best kind. I trust that he may long be able to continue his valu- 
 able services, which inure to the benefit of both the white and black 
 races. I wish him God-speed in this great and good work. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 WM.' PRESTON JOHNSTON, 
 President Tulane University, New Orleans, La. 
 
 I Work in the City of Charleston, S.C.'] 
 
 CITY HALL, CHARLESTON, S.C., 
 
 OFFICE OF CLERK OF COUNCIL, 
 
 Feb. 14, 1882. 
 
 At a meeting of the City Council, held this evening, the follow- 
 ing resolutions, offered by Alderman G. W. Dingle, were unani- 
 mously adopted : 
 
 Whereas the Rev. Dr. Mayo is shortly expected to visit this city in 
 the interest of Public Education, be it therefore resolved by the City 
 Council, 
 
 1. That they have learned with great pleasure of the intended visit of 
 the Rev. Dr. Mayo. 
 
 2. That his Honor the Mayor be requested to invite the Rev. Dr. 
 Mayo to be the guest of the city, during his stay. 
 
 3. That his Honor the Mayor be requested to make all necessary 
 arrangements for the delivery of the lectures of the Rev. Dr. Mayo. 
 
 (Seal of City) Attest: W. W. SIMONS, 
 
 Clerk of Council.
 
 21 
 
 In response to this invitation, Dr. Mayo spent two weeks in 
 the visitation of the educational and charitable institutions of 
 Charleston, and was received with gratifying courtesies, public 
 and private. 
 
 On several subsequent visits, Dr. Mayo has been " the guest of 
 the city," and continued the work then begun. At the close of 
 the first visit, he delivered an address, the report of which is thus 
 introduced in the Charleston News and Courier: 
 
 LIFTING UP THE NATION. DR. MAYO'8 LECTURE ON UNIVERSAL EDUCA- 
 TION. A DELIGHTED AUDIENCE AT THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC LAST 
 NIGHT. 
 
 " The Academy of Music last night was filled with a large and appre- 
 ciative audience to hear the public lecture of the Rev. A. D. Mayo, D.D., 
 of Boston. The seats upon the stage were occupied by the Mayor of the 
 city and the Board of Aldermen, a number of the clergymen of the city, 
 the trustees and faculty of the College of Charleston, the faculty of the 
 Medical College, the principals of the city schools, several members of 
 the Charleston delegation to the General Assembly, and a number of dis- 
 tinguished citizens. 
 
 " Mayor Courtenay presided, and presented the lecturer as follows : 
 
 "It is with the greatest pleasure that I introduce to you a distin- 
 guished citizen of a sister State, who is on a visit to South Carolina in 
 the interest of universal education. For several years, his thoughtful 
 mind has been considering the conditions of Southern education, and 
 a year or two since he concluded that the time was propitious for arous- 
 ing a general interest in this momentous subject. He has gone to this 
 work with an earnest purpose to accomplish a great change, and his 
 reward is assured. It will come to him in the near future, in the multi- 
 plication of schools, a higher standard of teaching, and the grateful 
 thanks of tens of thousands who will have profited by his laborious and 
 far-reaching efforts. I present to you Dr. Mayo of Boston. 
 
 " Without reference to notes or manuscript, Dr. Mayo proceeded to de- 
 liver one of the most entertaining and instructive public addresses that 
 has ever been heard in Charleston." 
 
 Dr. Mayo was also requested to prepare an article for the press, 
 giving the results of his observation of the schools of Charleston, 
 with suggestions concerning the concentration of effort by the 
 numerous excellent institutions of the city. This was prepared 
 and published in the Neics and Courier, then edited by the late 
 and greatly lamented Colonel Dawson. 
 
 On leaving the city, Dr. Mayo was presented with an engrossed 
 document :
 
 22 
 
 The City Council to Rev. A. D. Mayo, D.D. 
 
 CITY OF CHARLESTON, 
 
 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, 
 
 April 18, 1882. 
 
 Dear Sir, I have the honor to transmit the following resolutions, 
 unanimously adopted by the City Council, on the llth of April, 1882. 
 
 "The Committee, appointed under resolution of Council to prepare 
 suitable resolutions to be sent to the Rev. A. D. Mayo, D.D., expressive 
 of the thanks of our citizens for his recent visit to our city in the 
 interest of public education, respectfully recommend the adoption of 
 the following resolutions : 
 
 " Resolved, That the City Council herewith express their sincere grati- 
 fication at the recent visit of the Rev. A. D. Mayo, D.D., to our city. 
 
 " Resolved, That we herewith return to the Rev. A. D. Mayo, D.D., our 
 hearty thanks for the able, eloquent, and instructive address delivered 
 by him in the Academy of Music, and the addresses delivered by him in 
 the several educational institutions of our city. 
 
 " Resolved, That we regard with high appreciation the zeal and interest 
 manifested by the Rev. A. D. Mayo, D.D., in the cause of public educa- 
 tion, and cherish the hope that his varied and earnest efforts in this 
 direction may be rewarded with deserved success." 
 
 G. W. DINGLE. 
 A. JOHNSON. 
 A. B. ROSE. 
 (Seal of City) WM. A. COURTENAY, Mayor. 
 
 W. H. SIMONS, Clerk of Council. 
 
 At a subsequent visit, under the same invitation, Dr. Mayo 
 gave his entire attention to the colored schools and people of the 
 city. The following account of an interesting incident in this 
 visit is from an address entitled, " The New Education in the 
 New South " : 
 
 " More than twenty years ago, one of the bravest of the young com- 
 manders in the national army, Colonel Shaw, of the city of New York, 
 fell, at the head of his brigade of colored soldiers, in a desperate assault 
 on Fort Wagner, during the siege of Charleston. He was buried with 
 his men, and his body was never found. After the close of the war, 
 the families in New York and Boston, connected with the fallen 
 soldier, built a school-house in Charleston for colored children, estab- 
 lished the Shaw School, and for several years supported it as a private 
 beneficence. Some five years since, the use of the building was granted 
 to the public school authorities of the city, on condition of the support 
 of the school as a part of the general system of instruction. Later still,
 
 23 
 
 the building was virtually given to the city, and all the funds of the 
 corporation passed over for its enlargement ; and now one of the public 
 schools of Charleston bears the name of the New York colonel who died 
 at the head of his black brigade, forcing the entrance to that beleaguered 
 city. 
 
 " Last April, for the third time, I visited the city, the guest of its gov- 
 ernment, this time for the sole purpose of speaking to, and advising 
 with, the colored people. And I saw that nowhere in this country is 
 there now a more thorough and honest purpose to give these people a 
 fair elementary education than in the city that first threw out the flag 
 of revolt and shot the first gun turned against the Union in '61. 
 There are several large schools, supported from the North, which were 
 visited. But the most interesting of all were the two great free schools, 
 containing two thousand colored children, many of their teachers repre- 
 senting the old respectable white families of the city. No portion of 
 the public school system receives more cordial and careful attention than 
 this from the able superintendent, the patriotic and energetic Mayor, 
 and the School Board, whose president is the former Secretary of the 
 Treasury of the Confederate Government, Colonel Memminger. 
 
 My last visit was to the Shaw School, now a collection of several hun- 
 dred children, with white and colored teachers ; the principal, like the 
 city superintendent, an officer in the Confederate army. After suitable 
 inspection, I was invited to the great hall to listen to some exercises by 
 the higher classes, prepared, as I understood, for their coming com- 
 mencement exhibition. The first was a recitation, by a hundred of the 
 older pupils, from Longfellow's ' Building of the Ship ' : 
 
 'Sail on, Ship of State! 
 Sail on, O Union, strong and great ! 
 Humanity with all its fears, 
 With all its hopes of future years, 
 Is hanging breathless on thy fate ! 
 
 Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, 
 Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 
 Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, 
 Are all with thee, are all with thee ! ' 
 
 Then a boy, as black as night, George Washington by name, was sum- 
 moned from his seat to recite a pathetic poem, " The Dying Soldier." 
 It didn't need comment to show for what cause that soldier died ; for 
 the poem was a most touching story of peril and suffering, even unto 
 death, for the saving of the Union. As the soldier neared his end, he 
 called to his companions for one more of the old songs of the village 
 Sunday-school ; and the whole body of children took up the theme and
 
 24 
 
 sung, with a pathos only heard in the tones of the freedmen, the dying 
 refrain. The soldier breathed his last with a prayer for his country; 
 when the entire crowd sprang to their feet and, led by their teachers, 
 pealed forth, 
 
 ' The star-spangled banner, long may it wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ! ' 
 
 " Two weeks later, I stood at the other end of South Carolina, in the 
 thriving town of Chester, in another colored school, supported by North- 
 ern funds, for the higher and industrial education of colored youth. 
 Beside me was Colonel Coward, the excellent State Superintendent of 
 Public Instruction. We stood in the halls of a great plantation house, 
 and overlooked a broad estate on a beautiful hill-top, now owned and used 
 for this end. That estate in 1860 was held by the largest slaveholder 
 in northern South Carolina; and here was the official of the State bid 
 ding God-speed to the new work of uplifting to which it is conseccrated 
 to-day." 
 
 Dr. Mayo visited South Carolina, for the first time, in the year 
 1882, bearing the following letters : 
 
 U. S. SENATE CHAMBER, 
 
 WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 1881. 
 HON. H. S. THOMPSON, State Supt. Education, Columbia, S.C. : 
 
 My dear Sir, I beg to commend to you Dr. Mayo of Massachusetts, 
 who is devoting himself to the cause of education, and any co-operation 
 rendered his efforts in South Carolina will be gratefully appreciated 
 by him. 
 
 Have the kindness to give him the benefit of your intimate knowledge 
 of the educational wants of South Carolina, and show him such atten- 
 tion as his high character and laudable mission deserve. 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 M. C. BUTLER, U. S. Senator from South Carolina. 
 
 I take pleasure in concurring in the letter of Gen. Butler. 
 
 WADE HAMPTON, U. S. Senator from South Carolina. 
 
 i 
 A similar letter, originally addressed to the people of South 
 
 Carolina, was indorsed, for general use in the South, by the fol- 
 lowing Senators in Congress : 
 
 Wade Hampton, M. C. Butler, Senators from South Carolina. 
 
 Thomas F. Bayard, Eli Saulsbury, Senators from Delaware. 
 
 James B. Beck, Senator from Kentucky. 
 
 Joseph E. Brown, Alfred H. Colquitt, Senators from Georgia.
 
 25 
 
 Isham G. Harris, Howell E. Johnson, Senators from Tennessee. 
 Augustus H. Garland, Senator from Arkansas. 
 L. Q. C. Lamar, James Q. George, Senators from Mississippi. 
 William Call, Charles E. Jones, Senators from Florida. 
 Randall L. Gibson, Senator from Louisiana. 
 
 STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, 
 
 COLUMBIA, Feb. 13, 1882. 
 
 Dr. Mayo visits this State in the interest of education. He brings 
 with him the highest recommendations, and is commended to the cour- 
 tesy and co-operation of our people. 
 
 JOHNSON HAGOOD, Governor South Carolina. 
 
 [From Hon. Hugh S. Thompson, State Superintendent Education, Governor 
 of South Carolina, First Agent U. S. Treasury, Member U. S. Civil 
 Service Commission.'] 
 
 WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 24, 1889. 
 
 Having personal knowledge of the work of the Rev. A. D. Mayo in 
 South Carolina, I take pleasure in bearing testimony to the great good 
 which he has accomplished in arousing interest in popular education. 
 His energy and his power as a public speaker have enabled him to 
 render most valuable service to the cause in which he labors with a 
 zeal and diligence worthy of all praise. I sincerely hope he will be able 
 to continue his good work in behalf of education in the South. 
 
 HUGH S. THOMPSON. 
 
 [From Hon. William A. Courtenay, Mayor of Charleston, S.C., Member of 
 Board of Directors of Peabody Education Fund.~\ 
 
 CHARLESTON, S.C., Sept. 1, 1889. 
 
 Rev. and dear Sir, It is a gratification to know that your thought 
 and labor are still enlisted in that great and good work of quicken- 
 ing the public sense in the Southern States for larger opportunities 
 and better schools in this wide-extended and rapidly-developing area 
 of our Union. 
 
 It is now almost a quarter of a century since the close of the war 
 between the States ; and as, against the sombre shadow which rested on 
 the Southern States in those succeeding years, we recall the radiance 
 of George Peabody's educational gift, with its manifold encouragement 
 and its sweet message of "peace and good-will," so, in later years, in 
 pleasant retrospect is your " Ministry of Education," which has unques- 
 tionably strengthened the whole South in its purpose to do its full duty 
 in its educational work.
 
 26 
 
 It has been ray privilege to welcome you, officially and personally, to 
 Charleston on several occasions; and I cheerfully testify to your good 
 influence there and to the high appreciation in which your services are 
 held. I am yours truly, 
 
 WILLIAM A. COURTENAY. 
 
 OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK AND TREASURER, 
 BEAUFORT, S.C., March 9, 1882. 
 
 Whereas the Town Council of Beaufort has learned with pleasure of 
 the proposed visit of the Rev. A. D. Mayo to our town in the interest 
 of public education, and, whereas, it is the desire of council to encour- 
 age all workers in aid of this important instrument for the welfare of 
 the Republic, therefore, 
 
 Be it resolved by the Intendant and Wardens of the town of Beaufort, 
 in council assembled, that the hospitality of the town be and is hereby 
 extended to the Rev. A. D. Mayo, accompanied by their best wishes for 
 the success of his undertaking while visiting the State. 
 
 And be it further resolved that the Intendant be requested to appoint 
 a committee of members of Council and citizens, to meet the Rev. A. D. 
 Mayo upon his arrival, and extend the kindly offices as set forth in the 
 foregoing resolutions. 
 
 Adopted iu Council this ninth day of March, A.D. 1882. 
 
 ALFRED G. THOMAS, Clerk of Council. 
 
 STATE OF ALABAMA, EXECUTIVE OFFICE, 
 
 MONTGOMERY, Jan. 18, 1887. 
 HON. N. H. R. DAWSON, 
 
 Commissioner of Education, Washington, D.C. : 
 
 Dear Sir, I have received your favor of a few days since, advising 
 that the Rev. A. D. Mayo, D.D., anticipates visiting Alabama in the in- 
 terest of education, and will await his coming with pleasure. 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 THOMAS SEAY, Governor. 
 
 U. S. SENATE, WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 1880. 
 To MAJOR E. W. CABE, Houston, Texas : 
 
 Dear Major, This will introduce to you Rev. A. D. Mayo, of Boston, 
 Mass., who is on an educational tour through the South. His purposes 
 are inspired by sympathy and friendship for our people. He comes to 
 me recommended most highly as a gentleman of culture, whose time has 
 for years been devoted to educational interests, and the benefits of'whose 
 experience will be valuable to us. Please show him attention, and see 
 that he meets the reception he so well merits. 
 Your friend, 
 
 RICHARD COKE, 
 
 U. S. Senator, Texas.
 
 27 
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, 
 
 BOSTON, Sept. 8, 1883. 
 
 Reposing full confidence in your desire and ability to aid the cause of 
 education, in compliance with the request of the Governor of the State 
 of Kentucky, that a delegation consisting of a number of the ablest citi- 
 zens of this Commonwealth should be appointed delegates to attend a 
 convention to be held in Louisville, Ky., on the 19th, 20th, and 21st 
 inst., for the purpose of advancing the cause of popular education, I, by 
 these presents, do appoint you one of such delegates to represent, in 
 said convention, in all due and proper proceedings, the Commonwealth 
 of Massachusetts. 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this eighth day of 
 September, 1883. BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, 
 
 By His Excellency the Governor. 
 Witness the seal of the Commonwealth. 
 
 HENRT B. PEIRCE, Secretary of the Commonwealth. 
 
 U. S. COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY, 
 
 NORFOLK, VA., Jan 6, 1882. 
 
 My dear Sir, Permit me to introduce Rev. A. D. Mayo, of Boston, 
 who visits you in the interests of a cause I know you have at heart, 
 that of education in the South. He is accredited by the President of 
 the United States and the United States Commissioner of Education. 
 I am sure you will like to aid him in his great and unselfish work. 
 
 C. O. BOUTELLE, U. S. C. and G. Survey. 
 
 From U. S. Commissioner, and State and City Superintendents of 
 Education. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
 
 BUREAU OF EDUCATION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 1880. 
 
 Rev. A. D. Mayo has long been an ardent friend and wise promoter 
 of popular education. Of all the able speakers now discussing this sub- 
 ject, he is one of the most effective in arousing public attention to its 
 importance. He is always entertaining and instructive. 
 
 JOHN EATON, Commissioner. 
 
 The Rev. A. D. Mayo is a sincere and devoted friend of popular edu- 
 cation, and an earnest and effective advocate of the cause he has so 
 much at heart. He has achieved a high reputation as a lecturer on edu- 
 cational topics. On the platform, he is never dry or dull. His style is 
 remarkable for its vivacity. He has the happy faculty of adapting his
 
 28 
 
 discourses both to teachers and popular audiences. He is an honest 
 man, and speaks from conviction. He deserves special credit as a stal- 
 wart advocate of the most liberal provision for public education. 
 
 JOHN D. PHILBRICK, Superintendent Schools, Boston, Mass. 
 OCT. 30, 1880. 
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, 
 
 RICHMOND, VA., Oct. 25, 1880. 
 
 The Rev. A. D. Mayo is an exceptionally good lecturer on education. 
 He always entertains while he instructs, and often excites enthusiasm. 
 His special power is before a popular audience, or in giving to teachers 
 liberal views. He stands up boldly for the New Education. 
 
 W. H. RUFFNER, State Superintendent, Va. 
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, 
 
 HARRISBURG, Oct. 20, 1880. 
 
 I have heard Dr. A. D. Mayo on the platform frequently, and consider 
 him one of the ablest and most interesting educational lecturers in the 
 country. 
 
 J. P. WICKERSHAM, Superintendent Public Instruction. 
 
 STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 
 
 OFFICE COMMISSIONER PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 
 
 PROVIDENCE, Oct. 23, 1880. 
 REV. A. D. MAYO : 
 
 Dear Sir, I am very glad to learn that your pen and voice are now 
 both fully enlisted in the cause of education. I know of no one better 
 calculated to do effective work with either agency. Whenever you have 
 met and addressed our people, they have been more than pleased ; and I 
 have every reason to believe that permanent results have been secured, 
 through your efforts, in every instance. 
 We shall certainly call upon you again. 
 
 With best wishes for a constantly increasing field of labor in the 
 good cause, I am very truly yours, 
 
 THOMAS B. STOCKWELL, Commissioner Public Schools. 
 
 OFFICE OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, 
 
 BALTIMORE, MD., Oct. 20, 1880. 
 
 My dear Sir, I cannot deny myself the gratification of thanking you 
 explicitly for the series of lectures which I had the pleasure of hearing 
 you deliver at the University of Virginia last summer, to the Teachers' 
 Institute, then under my charge, and to the large audience of cultivated 
 persons who gladly embraced the opportunity of being present. For
 
 29 
 
 appropriateness of subject, beauty of style, clearness of thought and 
 general effectiveness, your lectures are not surpassed by any to which I 
 have ever listened on similar themes. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 M. A. NEWELL, 
 
 Superintendent Public Instruction. 
 
 STATE OF CONNECTICUT, 
 
 OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF BOARD OF EDUCATION, 
 
 STATE HOUSE, HARTFORD, Oct. 27, 1880. 
 
 Few clergymen in America have devoted so much time and thought 
 and heart to the great questions of popular education as Dr. Mayo. He 
 is a vigorous writer, an impressive speaker, and has that tact and quick 
 perception that enable him to happily adapt his addresses to the practi- 
 cal wants of the company or locality he is called to address. His ample 
 resources are drawn from wide and varied studies and experience. I can 
 cordially recommend him to those who are seeking valuable and practi- 
 cal lecturers for Teachers' Institutes and educational gatherings, a ser- 
 vice in which he has been long and most successfully engaged. 
 
 B. G. NORTHBOP, Secretary Connecticut Board of Education. 
 
 IN THE SERVICE OF THE 
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
 
 STATE LIBRARY AND OFFICE OF 
 
 SECRETARY OF BOARD OF EDUCATION, 
 
 STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, Dec. 13, 1880. 
 
 Rev. A. D. Mayo has been employed for the last three or four years by 
 the Massachusetts Board of Education as a lecturer before the State 
 Teachers' Institutes. He is considered to be an able writer and lecturer 
 on educational subjects. I most cheerfully recommend Mr. Mayo to any 
 who may desire the services of an able educator. 
 
 J. W. DICKINSON, Secretary of Massachusetts Board of Education. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, 
 
 AUSTIN, TEX., May 18, 1889. 
 REV. A. D. MAYO: 
 
 Dear Sir, At the close of your labors in Texas, which have extended 
 from the middle of January to the middle of May, I deem it proper to 
 give you my impression of the value and effect of the work which you 
 have done in this State. 
 
 You have visited all sections of the State, delivered about one hun- 
 dred addresses on popular education, visited all of the State educational 
 institu. ions, met and conversed with a large number of the leading men 
 of the State, by whom public opinion on educational subjects is formed 
 and directed.
 
 30 
 
 I am deeply impressed with the value of the work which has been done 
 by you in strengthening and broadening the sentiment in favor of public 
 education in this State. The expressions which have reached me from 
 the places which you have visited and from the institutions which you 
 have addressed are well summarized by a remark of the superintendent 
 of the city schools of Dallas, who says that " he feels himself a stronger 
 man, intellectually and educationally, for the work that you have done in 
 that city." The superintendent of another of our largest cities assures 
 me that the attendance of the children in the colored schools of the city 
 has been materially affected by the address delivered there to the colored 
 people. 
 
 I am so strongly impressed with the value of your work in this State 
 that I venture to ask that you will repeat your visit next year, if it shall 
 be practicable for you to do so, as I feel assured that your work, next 
 year, will be more effective than it has been this year. Your study of 
 our educational condition will enable you to direct the discussion of 
 educational themes more closely to the defects of our system, which 
 are felt more and more by the friends of public education in this 
 State with each year. 
 
 With assurances of highest respect and cordial regard, I have the 
 honor to be, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 OSCAR H. COOPER, 
 State Superintendent Public Instruction. 
 
 BATON ROUGE, LA., March 11, 1884. 
 
 Dear Sir, Permit me to introduce to you Dr. A. D. Mayo, of whose 
 useful and benevolent work in the cause of education in New Orleans 
 and throughout the entire South you have been kept advised through 
 the public prints. I commend him to your well-known and generous 
 hospitality. 
 
 With much regard, sincerely yours, 
 
 W. H. GOODALE.
 
 SERVICES IN CHURCHES AND SUNDAY-SCHOOLS, AND 
 MORAL AND RELIGIOUS ADDRESSES. 
 
 One of the most effective features of our Ministry of Educa- 
 tion is that portion indicated by the word "Ministry." From 
 the first, it has been evident to us that any largely effective mis- 
 sion in behalf of education in the South must deal in the most 
 thorough and persistent way. with that fundamental character- 
 training without which education is a house built on a shifting 
 sand-reef assailed by a stormy sea. 
 
 The peculiar condition of Southern society emphasizes this 
 fact. Without admitting the reckless and uncharitable impeach- 
 ment of the colored population as hopelessly immoral, the most 
 hopeful friends of this race know too well that the permanent 
 structure of good citizenship for the seven millions of their peo- 
 ple must be laid in the common virtues that underlie the home, 
 industrial, social, and civil life. And, with all allowance for sec- 
 tional, sectarian, partisan, and ignorant exaggeration in the 
 North, every thoughtful Southern educator understands how 
 much is to be done in the training of large numbers of its lower 
 white people in the virtues of a peaceful, tolerant, and progress- 
 ive civilization. 
 
 The evil of youthful vagrancy is one of the most serious perils 
 of the South, and must be taken in hand erelong. The favor- 
 able elements of the problem are the strong tendencies to relig- 
 ious sentiment and church observance among all classes of the 
 people. 
 
 With these facts in mind, we have aimed to make character- 
 training and the most generous moral and religious development 
 the key-note of our Ministry. The work is not a lectureship, or, 
 in any technical sense, educational in its relation to schools ; 
 although including a great deal in the line of pedagogic discourse 
 to teachers. The larger half of our public talk is to children of 
 all ages, and students in every variety of educational establish- 
 ment. Here is the most attractive field of labor among both
 
 32 
 
 races and all classes ; and, without trenching on properly theo. 
 logical or ecclesiastical ground, the burden of our instruction is 
 in that broad region where religion and morals are the soul of 
 all worthy living and all exalted patriotism. One of the most 
 encouraging features of our work is the hearty sympathy with 
 our Ministry among the clergy and most influential laity of all 
 denominations, including the Hebrew faith. It is rarely the case 
 that we are not invited to occupy a pulpit for a Sunday dis- 
 course; and frequently the clergy unite to give us a larger 
 hearing. 
 
 The Sunday-school has always an open door. In this way, the 
 Sunday often becomes the best occasion of our visit, with oppor- 
 tunity to reach numbers in public address who are unable to at- 
 tend a week-day lecture. Every denomination of Christians, 
 whose custom permits the invitation of clergy outside their own 
 priesthood, has extended these courtesies. The Hebrew Syna- 
 gogue and Temple are hospitable. The colored folk are always 
 ready for another sermon, especially bearing on the duties and 
 opportunities of their new life and the training of children. It 
 is with great pleasure that, here, we can make this acknowledg- 
 ment, in which should be included many churches in the North 
 and the religious press of all sections. We regard our present 
 occupation not as a giving-up of the Ministry to Education, but 
 as a natural expansion of a parish ministry of many years into 
 the larger opportunity of the " evangelist," or missionary in be- 
 half of the moral, religious, mental, and industrial training of the 
 younger third of the American people, for that American citizen- 
 ship which is, to-day, the noblest distinction on earth. 
 
 THE PRESS, PUBLICATION, EDITORSHIP, AND THE 
 
 RECEPTION OF THE MINISTRY BY LEADING 
 
 JOURNALS OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 At the beginning of our work, in 1880, realizing the immense 
 influence of the press, we accepted the position of assistant edi- 
 tor of the New England and National Journal of Education 
 (weekly), published in Boston and Chicago under the efficient 
 management of Dr. Thomas W. Bicknell. For six years this 
 publication, most widely read at home and abroad, offered a large 
 opportunity of communication with the educational public. The
 
 33 
 
 increasing demands of our Ministry compelled a partial retire- 
 ment from educational journalism at the end of the sixth year. 
 But the call for the written word has not abated. Every new 
 year affords new openings through the general press, which, 
 with unprecedented generosity, has opened its columns to reports 
 of lectures, sermons, school talks, interviews, and articles in 
 great variety, especially, in the Northern press, setting forth our 
 general view of life and affairs in the South. To these articles, 
 and numerous addresses delivered and published, we are largely 
 indebted for the hearty expression of confidence that appears in 
 the testimonials of Southern educators and public men. The 
 Southern press, from the first, has been a strong right hand in 
 city and country, urging the claims of our ministry, either in 
 hearty approval of our views, or, with rare exception, discussing 
 points of difference with intelligent courtesy. With some not- 
 able exceptions, the press of the North has been equally generous 
 and appreciative of the purpose of our ministry. Several vol- 
 umes of letters from the South, elaborate essays and reports of 
 discourses, might be gathered from the leading journals and mag- 
 azines of the North. The limits of this pamphlet will not per- 
 mit even a selection from the notices of our work, general and 
 local, which have abounded in the Southern press from its begin- 
 ning. Of the pamphlets published and largely circulated, we 
 mention "Building for the Children of the South" and "In- 
 dustrial Education in the South," published and widely circu- 
 lated by the National Bureau of Education. Others, originally 
 published as pamphlets and extensively copied by the news- 
 papers, are : " The South at School," " National Aid to Educa- 
 tion," " The City of Washington a National University," " Last 
 Words from the South," " The South, the North, and the Na- 
 tion keeping School," " The New Education in the New South," 
 "The Normal School in America," "Governor Butler and the 
 Schools of Massachusetts," " The Common School and Common 
 Morality," " The Academy, Old and New," " American Brains in 
 American Hands," "A Southern Graded School," " The Educa- 
 tional Situation in the South," " The Training of the Southern 
 Teacher," " The New Version of the Children in the Wood."
 
 84 
 
 OUR MINISTRY TO THE COLORED PEOPLE OF THE 
 
 SOUTH. 
 
 Our first visit to a Southern school, in May, 1880, was to the 
 celebrated Hampton Institute for colored and Indian students, 
 established by General S. C. Armstrong, at Hampton, Va. In 
 August of the same year, we delivered a course of lectures be- 
 fore the State Institute for colored teachers, at Lynchburg, Va. 
 In January, 1881, the first visitation' of our first extended tour in 
 the South-west was at Berea College, Kentucky. 
 
 In 1881-82, we visited all the leading schools for colored 
 youth established by the American Missionary Association (Con- 
 gregational) and the Freedman's Aid Society (Methodist) in 
 the South, under an arrangement to deliver courses of lectures on 
 teaching, inspect and report on. the school work, and do whatever 
 might be suggested by the government on the ground. At the 
 same time, by personal invitation, we did the same work in the 
 colored seminaries established by other religious bodies, private 
 institutions, State schools, etc. In this way^at the beginning, we 
 were able to come into the most familiar and helpful relations 
 with one of the most important systems of schools in the Union ; 
 a group of possibly a hundred institutions, of various grades, 
 in the South, that are now training the superior colored teachers 
 for that section. Educated almost exclusively in separate 
 schools, the colored people naturally wish to have their children 
 taught by instructors of their own race. 
 
 A few of the Southern cities still insist on placing white 
 teachers in the colored public schools, although, as fast as these 
 positions can be filled with suitable colored teachers, the change 
 invariably comes. No body of young people in any country has 
 now a nobler field for work, sacrifice, and Christian and practical 
 service than the better class of colored teachers in the South. In 
 the public schools, city and country, they are protected by the 
 organization of the system against the personal, local, political, 
 and sectarian contentions that still work so much mischief 
 among these people. They are regarded, by parents and teach- 
 ers, with a respect equal to the Christian ministry; while in 
 education, manners, character, and general resources, they far
 
 35 
 
 excel the majority of the colored preachers. The young women 
 do excellent service, and many become experts, especially in the 
 primary departments. The competent colored teacher in a 
 Southern community occupies a unique position, a man or 
 woman " of all good work," a missionary of American citizen- 
 ship to the school and the people, with the best opportunity 
 for representing them to that substantial class of the white 
 population pledged to the education of the colored folk. To 
 have been in constant and confidential relations with such a body 
 for ten years, in all the Southern States and in Washington, has 
 been an opportunity rarely enjoyed, whose importance can hardly 
 be overestimated. Beside this, we constantly visit the public 
 schools of the colored people, give instruction to their teachers 
 through lectures, talk to the children and youth, and, wherever 
 convenient, speak to general audiences. These addresses are 
 almost invariably in their churches, in connection with religious 
 services, and are rather of the type of the religious lecture than a 
 technical educational address. In all this work, great attention is 
 paid to the important subject of industrial education, in which 
 the leading school public of the South is now deeply interested. 
 Especially in the schools for colored youth, some of the simpler 
 forms of industrial education should always be incorporated ; 
 while their higher seminaries are still doing more in manual train- 
 ing than similar institutions for white youth. The solution of 
 " the race question," like " the labor question " in the North, is 
 largely involved in the progress of the educational movement, 
 including the church, Sunday-school, temperance reformation, and 
 all efforts at the general elevation of the masses. 
 
 Southern illiteracy, like the same thing everywhere, is far more 
 than ignorance of letters. It means a condition compounded of 
 ignorance, superstition, shiftlessness, vulgarity, and vice, which 
 involves a considerable population of these sixteen American 
 States in a sort of semi-barbarism, against which the upper re- 
 gion of society struggles with all the force of desperate con- 
 viction, with only partial success. That the higher civilization 
 of the community shall lead in all affairs; educate, direct, and, 
 if necessary, suppress and control the lower elements ; is the 
 commonplace of every civilized community.
 
 36 
 
 The only peculiarity of the South is the temporary power of 
 the lower element in a transition state of society. That so few 
 disorders break out is a strong tribute to the firmness, wisdom, 
 and forbearance of the better class of both races. The tele- 
 gram that reports an "outrage," generally originating in the 
 lower and more turbulent classes in neighborhoods away from 
 centres of population, is flashed into every newspaper office in 
 the land, and read at every breakfast-table ; while the patient, 
 continuous, and powerful co-operation of the better sort of people, 
 of all classes and both races, which has already wrought such a 
 mighty change in Southern life, and is all the time preventing 
 disorder and educating the people in mutual understanding, for- 
 bearance, and appreciation, goes on silently, like the beneficent 
 powers of nature, rarely noticed by the press, and almost un- 
 known to whole classes of excellent people through wide reaches 
 of the Union. We are able to say with truth that, to our best 
 knowledge, our labor and constant association with the colored 
 people has been no bar to our corresponding work in other 
 quarters. Indeed, it has been gratifying to note the deep inter- 
 est, especially of the foremost public-school people, in the educa- 
 tional progress of the negro, and the cheerful co-operation of 
 school, city, and State authorities in this part of our work. As 
 an expression of our general views on this matter, we offer a pub- 
 lic letter, written in response to an open invitation from a leading 
 colored citizen of Louisiana, Mr. T. T. Allain. The offer made 
 in our letter was heartily accepted; and a great meeting of 
 colored people, attended by the leading white citizens of the 
 place, was held at Plaquemine, Iberville County. 
 
 [From the New Orleans Picayune.'} 
 
 TO THE COLORED PEOPLE. 
 
 DR. MAYO TALKS TO THEM OF EDUCATION. 
 
 In response to the letter of T. T. Allain, published in Sunday's 
 Picayune, concerning the education of colored teachers, Dr. 
 Mayo writes : 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, March 20, 1886. 
 MR. THEOPHILE T. ALLAIN : 
 
 Dear Sir, I read your letter with deepest interest, because it is in 
 the line of all I have been and am still doing in the South. 
 
 You judge rightly that I have a deep interest in the education of your
 
 37 
 
 people; and by education I mean the entire mental, moral, and indus- 
 trial training of children and youth. In my view, all classes of Ameri- 
 can youth need this ; and I speak to your people, not as freedmen, but 
 as American citizens, everywhere, urging them to push for this as their 
 one hope of success. For thirty years in the North, before 1865, I 
 labored to bring freedom to your people, not only for their sake, but 
 because I was sure that the Union, and especially the South, could only 
 survive ou the basis of a true democracy in civil affairs. I never 
 expected to see such wondrous changes as I now behold, and can hardly 
 believe in my own identity, as I traverse the South, everywhere wel- 
 comed by the best people of "all sorts and conditions," my message of 
 universal education always received with as great attention and respect 
 as in any portion of the country. 
 
 In Louisiana, I have been doing for the past five years just what you 
 suggest. My first visit to your State, five years ago, was almost 
 entirely occupied by work on just the lines you indicate, in the colored 
 schools and churches of New Orleans. It is significant that every lect- 
 ure I have given to audiences of white people this year in Louisiana was 
 first delivered in the schools and churches of your people in New 
 Orleans; and they seem equally to suit my hearers in every locality. 
 I helped ordain one of the presidents of these schools in New York, and 
 have never slackened in my interest and labors in your behalf. 
 
 Within the past month, I have addressed half-a-dozen large and 
 attentive audiences between New Orleans and Shreveport. In April, 
 I may be in your parish; and any reasonable invitation within my 
 overtaxed strength to speak to your people will be responded to. And 
 I should say, also, that all I can do in this way is with the heartiest 
 encouragement of the whole educational public of Louisiana, as I every- 
 where come in contact with it. 
 
 You seem to me to have " hit the nail on the head " in your urgent 
 desire for the normal and industrial training of your superior young 
 people. 
 
 The great lever to raise up any class of the American people is the 
 common school, taught by trained teachers, who will also enforce the 
 idea by precept and example that intelligent labor education in 
 the fingers can alone rescue the working masses from all the evils 
 that now beset them. 
 
 Ignorance and whiskey are the twin demons that scourge your people ; 
 and the common school and the temperance reform are the twin angels 
 that will lead them out of the most fearful bondage that can afflict hu- 
 manity. 
 
 These agencies, persistently worked, cannot fail, in time, to do every- 
 thing that can be done for your own as for every class of our people.
 
 38 
 
 I would say that at present the opportunities for training common- 
 school teachers in Louisiana are really better for your own than for the 
 white people. The three colleges in New Orleans are good normal 
 schools ; and, though not free, your young people can be carried through 
 them more cheaply than the white youth at the State Normal at Natchi- 
 toclies. I find in these schools graduates of our best Northern normals 
 as teachers. If your people could aid young men and women to come 
 to these schools, it would be a great help. As fast as possible, these 
 schools are including industrial training. The State school you speak 
 of in New Orleans should certainly have a strong industrial and normal 
 department, if it has not now ; and I am confident that the petition of 
 a strong body of your representative people to the State authorities 
 urging this development would receive attention. I am told that your 
 teachers also attend the institutes held by the State Board. The public 
 school in Louisiana, out of New Orleans, has been greatly hindered for 
 all children ; but there seems to me a better day coming for it. 
 
 Permit me to suggest what seems to me, after six years' observation in 
 every Southern State, the true educational policy for your people. 
 
 1. Close up, solid, on a common school, with good teachers and as 
 much of industrial work, especially for girls, as can be combined within 
 it. Insist upon that everywhere. Discourage the private and sectarian 
 school movement, which so often destroys the public schools. Urge 
 the people to pay the poll-tax : and, when public money is exhausted, 
 combine to keep the school going, if possible, free to all. In great 
 numbers of localities, if your people would thus combine, they could 
 have a good public school, instead of dispersing their means, as too 
 often now, with general dissatisfaction. 
 
 2. Urge your young people to begin education at the bottom instead 
 of the top. There is no reason why your young men arid women should 
 not take the higher education when they get to it ; but nobody can safely 
 neglect foundations in building for the mind. Urge the matter of a 
 sound elementary education, with industrial elements everywhere. This 
 will create a soil out of which the big trees will grow naturally in due 
 time. 
 
 3. Urge your young people, while they can, to take up mechanical, oper- 
 ative, and general work of this sort, that they may be ready to answer 
 the great demand in this direction that is coming from the South. The 
 native Southern white people, I believe, as a body, will welcome the 
 entrance of your people on this wide field of labor; and I can see no 
 reason why workmen should be imported from Europe to do what your 
 own superior young folks can be trained to do as well. 
 
 4. Concentration of means on definite ends is the soul of success in 
 the upper side of life. It was probably a century before the people of
 
 39 
 
 Massachusetts stood on $30,000,000, as you people, after fifteen years of 
 free labor, stand in Louisiana to-day. The fame of Massachusetts in 
 education and kindred departments is owing to the early habit of saving 
 from the lower to spend on the higher side of life. Your people can do 
 great things, now, by the same simple method; and I know of no 
 decent class of folk, anywhere, who will not rejoice to see them do it. 
 
 Finally, I think I understand fully all the disabilities of your people 
 in the Southern States. But I also realize that, in the providence of 
 God, no people ever achieved so much, in three centuries out of barbar- 
 ism, as your own. You have the sympathy, the prayers, and the 
 material aid of Christendom in every worthy effort to fill an honorable 
 place in the industrial, mental, and moral upbuilding of the South. 
 I see no bar against your final success that you cannot remove, in the 
 same way that every set of people in American society is compelled to 
 succeed. All the higher elements of Southern society are with you in 
 this effort, and will combine with you in the gradual suppression of 
 injustice, prejudice, and obstruction in the lower regions of every com- 
 munity. I always feel like congratulating the superior class of your 
 people ; for I believe no class in Christendom, to-day, has before it a 
 grander mission than to work in the spirit of the Divine Master for the 
 uplifting of the ignorant, the poor, the lowly, and the sinful, in the 
 glorious mission of bringing the seven millions of colored American citi- 
 zens to their own providential position in American life. And, although 
 " neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet," I venture to predict that 
 in due time this will be done. When I go to Charleston, S.C., my 
 friend, Mayor Courtenay, first takes me to your great free school as one 
 of the things which this, the proudest old Southern city, shows to its 
 visitors with honest pride. Your children and mine, I believe, will see 
 the day when the whole Southern people will boast of their colored 
 citizens as one of the most valuable elements in the civilization of the 
 South and the Republic. 
 
 I would urge your people now, everywhere, to send petitions to the 
 House of Representatives at Washington for the passage of the Blair 
 bill for National Aid. That bill secures full justice to your people, and 
 is supported by a large majority of the Southern Senatorial delegation. 
 A general movement from your side of the House, in its favor, might 
 greatly help to its passage. So far, the nation and the people of the 
 North have contributed, within the past twenty-five years, not less than 
 $25,000,000 for Southern education, chiefly for the colored people. 
 The Slater fund is the last of these gifts, and I doubt not a portion of 
 this can be secured for some of the schools of your people in Louisiana. 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 A. D. MAYO.
 
 40 
 
 [Testimonial from Dr. William T. Harris, Present United States Commis- 
 sioner of Education."] 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
 BUREAU OF EDUCATION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, B.C., Sept. 30, 1889. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to say that I have known Rev. A. D. Mayo 
 for more than twenty yearS, as a friend of common-school education and 
 a laborer in its cause. In all iny experience, I have never known any 
 one able to set forth the true place and the function of the common- 
 school system in our civilization so effectually as Dr. Mayo. His lect- 
 ures have been very fruitful in creating and inspiring a healthy public 
 opinion on the subject of education, and I have called him the fittest 
 man as " missionary at large " of education. It is my sincere hope that 
 he may consent to continue in this field of work, and that he may 
 be generously supported and encouraged by those who have the best 
 interests of this country at heart. 
 
 W. T. HARRIS. 
 
 With this testimonial of the distinguished, recently appointed 
 United States Commissioner of Education, this " little book " of 
 explanation and illustration of our Ministry of Education comes 
 to an end. If too long for those who from the first have under- 
 stood and generously favored the work, or apparently too eulo- 
 gistic in its presentation of testimonials, we can only plead the 
 natural desire to be relieved from the perpetual demand for 
 explanation and incessant display of letters of introduction, 
 familiar to every one engaged in a similar work. Space alone 
 forbids the publication, to much greater length, of newspaper 
 notices which represent the response of communities to which 
 the Ministry has come. It is needless to say that in this record 
 we have purposely omitted the shadow-side, from which no man 
 or work of any real value is exempt. It would be easy enough 
 to fill pages with the record of difficulties met and overcome, in- 
 credulity at home, and suspicion now and then in our field of 
 labor; the varied trials, disappointments, rebuffs, and humilia- 
 tions to be faced every new year by one who depends on the 
 liberality and, to a considerable extent, the intelligence of a volun- 
 tary support ; at times, an open, violent, or contemptuous assault 
 from sources where charity would be glad to plead misapprehen-
 
 41 
 
 sion and misinformation in the assailants. Of course, all these 
 things are familiar to every earnest and progressive worker in 
 that central domain of universal education from which, as from 
 the grand hall of the house, a door opens into every department 
 of human society. We hint at this with the view of bearing 
 testimony to the fact that the difficulties and trials of our min- 
 istry have not been chiefly in the South, but rather from the 
 inevitable collision of our conclusions concerning this portion of 
 the country, after long and careful observation, with theories, 
 honestly held, but founded on partial knowledge, often magnified 
 by political partisanship and sectarian animosity. 
 
 Nobody has been in a situation to " spy out the nakedness of 
 the land" more effectually than ourself, in these ten years, living 
 among the Southern people in friendly and close observation of 
 all developments, social, industrial, religious, and political. If, 
 at the end of this interesting experience, we can speak with 
 growing confidence and rational hopefulness of the steady prog- 
 ress of all these sixteen commonwealths, and the entire section 
 once known as the South, in all the characteristic elements of 
 American civilization, it is because, on the ground, in sight of 
 both the encouraging and discouraging features of the situation, 
 the balance more decisively every year inclines to the former. 
 No well-informed and unprejudiced observer can fail to see the 
 present defects and perils of the Southern situation. Every State 
 in the Union contains a resolute body of people who, often with 
 good intentions, are none the less working with all their might 
 against American ideas. And, unhappily, this body is too often 
 made the " blind " behind which the forces of human selfishness, 
 in all its hideous developments, are marshalled for the never- 
 ending assault on the higher Christian civilization. The safety 
 of every community consists, not in the absence of both these 
 elements, but in the growing resolution, vitality, intelligence, and 
 consecration of that other portion of society which is resolved 
 "that the Republic shall receive no harm." And "the hiding- 
 place of power" for this party of progress is always found in the 
 reserve of righteousness and wisdom in thousands of people, 
 hardly known or noticed, until a crisis unmasks the real forces of 
 society, and strikes dumb and dead every revolt against the wel- 
 fare of the State. Here is the standing argument for universal
 
 42 
 
 education in its broadest sense ; the training of the head, the 
 hand, and the heart of every new generation according to the 
 best methods which represent the accumulated educational expe- 
 rience of mankind. A generation so trained can be trusted to 
 come to the front in any day of peril, and make impossible any 
 serious reaction in social, religious, industrial, or civic life. 
 
 The result of all our labors and observations in this field may 
 be summed up in this conclusion. First ; the educational public 
 of the South, in every community, is the party of progress in all 
 the elements of a true American civilization, is everywhere be- 
 coming more powerful and influential, and, in view of its environ- 
 ment, not surpassed in our own or any country in the qualities 
 which everywhere insure success. Second ; the educational insti- 
 tutions of the South, including the common school, are as cer- 
 tainly in the hands of the educational public as in the North. 
 There is no essential difference in the organization, aims, courses 
 of study, methods of discipline and instruction, the character and 
 devotion of teachers, between the school life of the South and 
 the North. All apparent differences are explained by the recent 
 establishment and experimental condition, not only of the new 
 public, but of great numbers of the restored or newly established 
 private and collegiate schools. The separation of the races in 
 education seems, at present, inevitable, and, on fair investigation, 
 appears in many ways more favorable to the mass of colored chil- 
 dren than any system now possible to enlist general support. 
 Third ; with all the disadvantages, failures, and discouragements 
 of the past twenty years, the new education has done more for 
 the building up of the South, in all her permanent interests, than 
 any, perhaps all, other influences combined. The man who says 
 that any portion of her people has not been greatly helped in 
 all the elements of good citizenship by the educational training 
 it has already been able to obtain, either does not know the 
 situation or is misled by prejudices or theories which prevent his 
 fair estimate of the facts. We believe so much has been accom- 
 plished, already, that the conservative and patriotic public opin- 
 ion of every State can be relied on in any emergency that may 
 be precipitated in the interest of any reactionary policy or not- 
 able injustice. And never was the conviction so strong among 
 all thoughtful Southern people that the great lines of progress
 
 43 
 
 are in the more complete development of the forces of universal 
 education as to-day. 
 
 It is because we hold fast the faith that Universal Education, 
 broadly conceived and thoroughly and persistently applied, is the 
 saving power of the American State and the assurance of the 
 indivisible Republic that we rejoice to labor with the noble men 
 and women enlisted in this warfare, and, in season and out of 
 season, summon every good citizen to his post and insist on the 
 obligation of family, church, township, county, city, common- 
 wealth, and Nation to co-operate in training the younger third 
 of the American people for God's reserve in the years to come. 
 
 

 
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