American Missionary | Page 6

faith and trust in God of these colored Christians, their belief in
prayer and the contrast between them and an equal number of white
brethren under the same circumstances.
* * * * *
THE SOUTH.
OUR SCHOOL WORK.
PROGRESS--OVER-CROWDING.
From Wilmington, N.C.--Instead of sixty pupils as a year or two ago,
we now have over ninety, and next year the number will be fully one
hundred or more, if we have room. The classes are very large.

From Grand View, Tenn.--The classes are full and the accommodations
inadequate. The school numbers one hundred and eleven. It is
necessary to crowd four boys into each room of the Boys' Hall. Four
boys are boarding themselves in a shackly log building at the foot of
the hill. Their grit is admirable.
From Tougaloo, Miss.--Both the dormitories are crowded. The Ladies'
Hall is supposed to accommodate seventy-five girls. One hundred and
six are crowded into it to-day. We have turned away nearly one
hundred more because we had not room for them. Every indication is
that the crowd of applicants will be greater next year than ever. Already
applications are coming in. The American Missionary Association has
the lead in Mississippi to-day.
From Marion, Ala.--We need another grade established. Our primary
has numbered nearly or quite one hundred pupils. The average
attendance has been large and the school-room over-crowded. Three
grades are now virtually working in the primary department. We may
look for a large increase of attendance in all grades next year.
From Florence, Ala.--We need a building if the school is to be
continued. We are now inconveniently crowded, one hundred and sixty
children in a 20 x 40 room, with all the teaching to be done in the same.
To fail in giving us a building will certainly narrow our usefulness in
this field. Our school is constantly increasing in popularity. We can
safely count on an enrollment of over two hundred next year, with
someplace to accommodate them.
From Meridian, Miss.--The work of the school is hindered by lack of
room. We have enrolled this year two hundred and thirty two pupils,
and many have been turned off because we could not seat them. We
opened in December of 1888 with twenty-eight pupils. A school for
more advanced pupils is needed in this part of Mississippi. We have
thirty young people in school who come from the five adjoining
counties. They are boarding in good families and I have every reason to
believe that they have used their time and opportunities well; most of
them are this summer to teach.
From Straight University, N.O.--It has been a golden year for Straight
University. Financially it has been our best year. A larger proportion of
students able to pay came to us. We want to grow, and have every
opportunity to do so save that our quarters are too small. We have

turned away during the year probably two hundred applicants, many of
them for the boarding department. We have had to put cots in nearly all
the rooms, packing them too full for comfort, as it was very hard to say
No! to young people who came hundreds of miles and begged tearfully
for admission. The school has grown during the last eight years from
two hundred to six hundred, and only is not one thousand because we
had no room for them. Our graduates are filling important positions all
over the South. Several are Superintendents in Texas, Kansas,
Mississippi and Louisiana. One holds an important office in Honduras;
others are doing good work in Cuba and Mexico. Eight are filling
important positions in this city. We have no trouble in getting positions
for our young people. Indeed, we cannot supply as fast as demanded.
Often as many as twenty are called for when we have none to send.
From Fisk University, Nashville.--The evidence of progress in the
educational department of the University is found in the very marked
increase of numbers in the first year of our normal course and of our
college preparatory department. Last year there were fifteen in the first
year of the latter department; this year there are thirty-one. Last year
there were thirteen in the first year of the normal department; this year
there are thirty-one. Last year there were in the normal, college,
preparatory and college departments, one hundred and forty-five
students; this year there are one hundred and seventy-six. At the
coming Commencement, we expect to graduate twelve young men, and
from the normal ten young women and one young man; making a total
of twenty-three. This is a little more than one-sixth of the entire number
of present graduates from these departments.
From a Teacher in the Tennessee Mountains:--Let me tell you of the
general interest manifest in several of the counties