USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee, its people and its institutions > Part 27
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This institution, while under control of the Methodist Church, provides a university course of instruction free from sectarian bias. Since its establishment it has received additional dona- tions from the descendants of Commodore Van- derbilt.
BISHOP H. N. MCTYEIRE.
The University of the South would, perhaps, have been the most largely endowed institution in the South had not the Civil War
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interrupted the plans of its founders. The idea of founding a great university, located in the healthful region of the Cumberland plateau, and far removed from the temptations which beset young men, originated with Rt. Rev. James Hervey Otey, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee. Aided by Bishop Leonidas Polk and cthers, he secured large donations of land and money. The institution was chartered by Ten- nessee in 1858. Before the plans of the founders could mature the Civil War intervened. After
the close of the war Bishop Quintard took up the work, and the Junior Department of the Univer- sity was opened September 18, 1868. The death BISHOP JAMES HERVEY OTEY. of Bishops Otey and Polk, and the impoverishment of the friends whose wealth and liberality were relied on, prevented the magnificent endowment which was expected. Large amounts of money, however, were raised by the zealous efforts of Bishop C. T. Quintard, and the University was put into efficient operation. It now has a large attendance of students, and enjoys a high reputation.
Female education has received especial attention in Tennessee. The first institution for the separate training of females was founded by Moses Fisk. Subsequently many such institutions, "academies." "seminaries," "institutes," "colleges for young ladies," were established all over the State. Some of these have developed into excellent institutions, and have attained high reputation, attracting large numbers of pupils from outside of the State, and especially from the more Southern States.
There are institutions for giving professional instruction in law, medicine, theology, pharmacy, dentistry, engineering. pedagogics, art. manual training, business education. etc. Some of these schools are departments of the great universities, and others operate under inde- pendent organizations.
After the close of the war various religious denominations estai)- lished institutions of high grade for the education of negroes. Among these are: Fisk University, Roger Williams University, Central Ten- nessee College, Le Moyne Institute, Knoxville College. These institutions receive aid from the Slater Fund, and are in prosperous condition. Jubilee Hall, at Fisk University, was built by the proceeds derived from the European tour of the famous "Jubilee Singers."
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
513. The Academies .- In pursuance of the Academy grant of the United States in 1806, the Legislature, by the Act of September 13. 1806, incorporated 27 academies, one for each county, and made them recipients of so much of the Academy Fund as could be made available. This fund was insufficient for endowments. It was supplemented in most of the counties by private subscriptions, and was devoted to building purposes. Good and substantial structures were erected, some of which are still standing and are now used as public schools. These academies were maintained by tuition fees, and were practically private schools. For many years they gave direction to education in the State.
These academies were not sufficiently distributed to meet the wants of education. To meet the necessity for more schools a number of academies, seminaries, etc., before mentioned, were established by private donations, by social orders, and by religious denominations. and many other schools were established by teachers as private enter- prises. These academies, seminaries, and private schools constituted the educational system of the State until 1873. In 1823 the germ of the public school system was planted, but it did not bear fruit for many years.9
514. The Grant to Public Schools .- In the compact of 1806 it was provided, in addition to the lands to be set apart for colleges and academies, that where existing claims would permit, six hundred and forty acres in every six miles square of the territory north and east of the Congressional line should be appropriated for the use of schools for the instruction of children forever.10 The endowment, which, on its face, seems so munificent, failed practically on account of the interier- ence of "existing claimns."
Some of our far-seeing statesmen, among whom James K. Polk was conspicuous, made strenuous efforts to have the deficiency made good out of the unappropriated land in the Congressional reservation.
515. Petitioning Congress .- As a member of the Tennessee Legislature in 1824, Mr. Polk was the author of a memorial to Congress, which presented in unanswerable argument the duty of Congress to make good to Tennessee, for the use of common schools. the proportion of public lands within her borders that had been donate .!
" Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction for Tennessee, 1891. pp. 22-26.
10 Acts of 1806, Chapter X, Section 2; 2 Haywood & Cobb's Laws, p. 13. .
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for that purpose to every other Territory and State erected out of the public domain. Two years later, as a member of Congress, he prepared the able report of the select committee to whom the memorial of the Tennessee Legislature was referred.
In all these proceedings it appeared beyond controversy :
I. That it had been the uniform custom of Congress to appropriate one thirty-sixth part of the public domain to the cause of education in the district where it lay.
2. That by this rule the State of Tennessee was entitled to 666.666 acres for school purposes.
3. That of the 444,444 acres which Congress authorized the State to appropriate north and east of the Congressional line, only 22.705 acres were open to appropriation.
4. And that of the 222,222 acres which she ought to have been allowed south and west of the Congressional line, she was not author- ized to appropriate a single acre, although the commissioner of the general land office reported that "whatever disposition may be made of the unappropriated lands south and west of the Congressional boundary line, the uniform practice of the government would require that a quantity of land equal to one thirty-sixth part of the whole dis- trict should be appropriated for the use of schools."11
But on account of the jealousy of the old against the new States on the subject of the public lands within their limits, Congress could not be induced to take any action in the matter. 12
516. First Public School Law .- In 1823 the Legislature passed the first public school law enacted in this State.13 But the system of public schools established, if it may be called a system, was peculiarly unfortunate. It provided that the school commissioners should apply the public funds to the education of the poor, either by establishing "poor schools" in their different counties, or by paying the tuition of poor children in other schools, and in the purchase of books for the use of such children. Its tendency and effect was to bring the public schools into such disrepute that they were for many years called "poor schools."
11 American State Papers, Public Lands, Vol. V, 353.
12 Address of the Democratic Members of Congress from the State of Ten- nessee to their constituents, 1841, pp. 14. 15.
13 Acts of 1823, Chapter XLIX. Sections 12-17, inclusive; 2 Haywood & Cobbs' Laws, p. 113. Proceedings of the Seventh and Eighth Annual Sessions of the Tennessee State Teachers' Association, 1871 and 1873, p. 27.
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
517. The Public School Fund .- Convinced that Congress could not be relied on to make good the proportion of the public lands which the State ought to have received for the benefit of public schools, the Legislature set itself earnestly to work to establish a public school fund out of the resources of the State. The provision for a school fund, in the Act of 1823, was too insignificant to be of value, except as a first step in the direction of a public system. A small addition was made to it in 1825, and a substantial fund was provided in 1827, which the Constitution of 1834 declared should be a perpetual fund, whose prin- cipal should never be diminished by legislative appropriation, and the interest of which should be inviolably appropriated to the support and encouragement of common schools.
518. Inadequate School Laws .- For many years the State made feeble efforts to encourage public schools. Laws were passed in 1829, 1837, 1844-5, all were little more than statutory exhortations, and rad- ically defective in failing to provide adequate revenue for the support of the schools.
The people did not demand a system of public schools, which were still reproached with the name of "poor schools." All their antece- dents and traditions had led them to view private schools with more confidence and favor. They distrusted the efficiency and economy of a system of free public schools, and the repeated failure of efforts to maintain such a system had not tended to remove their prejudices.14
519. The Nashville Public Schools .- The first long stride towards a more efficient system was made by the city of Nashville. Professor J. H. Ingraham came to reside in that city in 1847. His attention being drawn to the condition of the public schools, he determined to try to improve them. He proposed a plan, modeled on the schools in New Orleans and Natchez, which he presented in an address to a town meeting in 1848.13 The city authorities took the matter up with great enthusiasm. By their order, in 18:2. Alderman Alfred Hume, himself a distinguished teacher, visited the cities of Cleveland, Boston, Provi- dence, Philadelphia and Baltimore for the purpose of examining their systems of public schools, and on his return submitted an able and useful report.16
14 See Tennessee School Report. IS91, p. 34.
13 Report upon a proposed system of public education for the city of Nash- ville, respectfully addressed to its citizens : Nashville, 1848.
1ª Report on the subject of Public Schools in the City of Nashville, made to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. by Alfred Hume. August 31, 1852.
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The Nashville system of public schools was put in operation in 1855, and was a valuable object-lesson to the whole State. Its first public school building was named "The Hume School."
520. The First State Tax .- Governor Cannon, in his message in 1837, was the first governor to suggest the true remedy, but his recom- mendatiou was not heeded. Andrew Johnson made a stronger and more successful effort. In his message in 1853 he urged a State appro- priation to maintain schools. He says: "If we are sincere in what we profess for the cause of education, we should, without hesitation, pro- vide means to accomplish it. There is one way, if no other, that the children of the State can be educated, which is obvious to all, and that is, to levy and collect a tax from the people of the whole State, or to authorize the county courts, separately, to do so in their respective counties, in such manner as may be deemed by them most acceptable to the people, sufficient in amount, when added to our present school fund, to give life and energy to our dying, or dead, system of common school education."17 Accordingly the Legislature passed an Act taxing all the property of the State for school purposes, under which the fund available for public schools was doubled. This was the first school tax ever levied by the State. But the law was defective in many respects, and the Civil War came on before any successful system of public schools was put in operation.
521. First Efficient System .- The results of the Civil War changed the whole aspect of public education in Tennessee. In July. 1865, the Tennessee State Teachers' Association was organized, with Rev. Thos. W. Humes. President of East Tennessee University, as president, and passed resolutions favoring free schools. A bill was introduced into the Legislature for the "Reorganization. Supervision. and Maintenance of Common Schools." in October, 1865, but did not become a law until March, 1867. This law was based on the old law. with the important additions of :
I. State and county Superintendents.
2. The levy of an increased State school tax.
3. Authority for school districts to levy tax for school purposes; but this provision was declared unconstitutional by the courts.
4. Extending the benefits of public education to both white and black children, to be taught in separate schools.
17 Message of Andrew Johnson, Governor of Tennessee, 1853. pp. 6, 7.
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Gen. John Eaton, Jr., who was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction in August, 1867, gave earnest and diligent attention to the duties of his office, but he had difficulties to encounter which it was impossible for him to overcome. In 1870 the Legislature unwisely repealed the law of 1867, and remitted the support of the public schools to the action of the several counties.
522. The State Teachers' Association to the Rescue .- At a meet- ing of the State Teachers' Association in December, 1870, Dr. Barnas Sears, agent of the Peabody Fund, was present by invitation, and agreed to pay the salary of an officer to canvass the State to advocate the establishment of an efficient school system. Dr. Morrow, the State Treasurer, was er officio Superintendent of Public Instruction. He agreed to appoint as his assistant any person selected by the Associa- tion. Mr. J. B. Killebrew was unanimously chosen by the Association, and Superintendent Morrow made him his assistant. Mr. Killebrew put great energy and intelligence into his work, and embodied its results in an excellent report to the Legislature, which was ordered printed, and widely circulated.18 The statistics gathered by the Assist- ant Superintendent were sufficient to demonstrate the inefficiency of the system adopted under the Act of 1870, and did much to incline public sentiment to a better system.
523. The Present System Adopted .- The school law passed by the Legislature in 1873 was a bill drafted and recommended by a commit- tee of the State Teachers' Association, of which S. Y. Caldwell was chairman, and is entitled "An Act to establish and maintain a uniform system of public schools." It provides for State and County Superin- tendents of Public Instruction, and combines the State, county, and district systems. The permanent school fund of $1,500,000, ascer- tained and declared by Section 946 of the Code, together with the interest accrued thereon during the war, amounting to $1,012.500, were _ funded into a certificate of indebtedness for $2,512.500 bearing six per cent interest. The interest on the permanent school fund was supple- mented by a tax of one mill on the dollar levied by the State for school purposes, and by a State poll tax of $1. The counties and school districts were also authorized to levy taxes for the benefit of their local schools, but the provision respecting districts was found to be uncon- stitutional and was repealed in 1875.
15 Proceedings of the Seventh and Eighth Annual Sessions of the Tennessee State Teachers' Association, held in the city of Nashville, on November 1 and 2, 1871, and on January 22 and 23, 1873, pp. 15-17.
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524. The Growth of the Public School System .- When the public school system was instituted in 1873, it was regarded by many as an experiment. It was established in the face of strong opposition, and was obnoxious to the views and prejudices of a large proportion of the people. Its growth has demonstrated the wisdom of its founders. It has steadily improved in scope and efficiency, and has become engrafted in the affections of the people. There is no institution of their State in which Tennesseans now take a greater pride. Each successive Leg- islature has contributed to the upbuilding. The State tax for its support has been increased to fifteen cents on the hundred dollars. The counties have been given additional powers, and nearly every county has increased the county revenues for its maintenance. The restric- tions of the State Constitution prohibit the General Assembly from conferring on the school districts the power to levy taxes, yet the General Assembly has done all that is permitted in favor of local taxa- tion by conferring on all municipal corporations the power to levy taxes for school purposes, and nearly every municipal corporation in the State has taken advantage of the privilege.
525. Extension of the Course of Study .- The public school course has been extended by the enactment of the Secondary School law in 1891, which was framed in accordance with the wise recommendation of Governor Buchanan, to expand the curriculum, but not to impair "the efficiency of elementary instruction, which is, and always must be. the foundation of every good school system." In 1899 an additional step was taken by the enactment of the High School law, which confers on the several counties the power to establish High Schools, and thus render the school course of the county complete. Other important legislation has been enacted. The several steps of development have been heretofore enumerated chronologically, under the respective gubernatorial administrations.
526. The Peabody Education Fund .- The establishment of the public school system was greatly aided, and its subsequent development has been promoted by the important cooperation of the General Agents. of the Peabody Fund. The great philanthropist, George Peabody. a native of Massachusetts, and for many years a resident of England. in 1867 made a donation amounting to about $2,000,000 for the benefit of education in the Southern States. In the same year the Tennessee State Teachers' Association had secured the adoption of an efficient public school law in the State. When this law was repealed in 1870) Governor Neill S. Brown, Dr. J. Berrien Lindsley, and other warm
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
friends of education invoked the aid of the Peabody Board to assist in the effort to re-establish a public school system. Hon. Samuel Watson, of Nashville, who was a member of the Peabody Board, gave to this movement his earnest sympathy and influence. The result was the passage of the present school law in 1873, and the establishment of the Peabody Normal College in 1875. In aid of these movements, the Peabody fund furnished the means to put Col. Kil- lebrew in the field in 1870, to put the State Institutes in operation in 1874, to main- tain them until 1891, when the State made GEORGE PEABODY. its first appropriation, and to aid in their support ever since. In addition to this the Peabody fund stimulated the growth of the school system by aiding in the establishment of higli graded schools in municipal corporations. It conferred upon the State the signal benefit of maintaining the Peabody Normal College until the State made its first appropriation in I881, since which time the Peabody Board has aided the College by liberal appropriations. After the death of Dr. Sears Hon. J. L. M. Curry was appointed General Agent of the Peabody fund. His wise administration has led to increased liberality in the appropriations, and to expansion in the use- fulness of the Normal College and of the Teachers' Institutes.
The school system is in prosperous condition, but is not complete. The average school term is too short. The secondary school is not compulsory. There is a gap between the secondary school and the college, and the county high school law has not been put into successful operation. Now that provisions have been made by law for the increase of State revenues and for the gradual liquidation of the public debt. it would appear that the time is near at hand when the State can take the final steps to render its school system complete.
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CHAPTER L.
THE PRESENT TIME.
527. The Trend of Development .- During the past thirty years the attention of the people of Tennessee has been directed, as never before, to the physical and industrial development of the State, and to its sanitary, social, and educational conditions. This public sentiment has found expression partly in legislative enactments establishing State institutions, and partly in popular movements forming corporations for industrial and commercial enterprises and founding societies for benev- olent, educational, sanitary, historical, social, and literary purposes.
528. State Institutions .- During the thirty years preceding the war the energy of the State was directed mainly to establishing means of transportation. Turnpikes and railroads were constructed, canals and river improvements were projected. The term "internal improve- ments" was limited in its application to "the means of transportation." which at that time was the pressing need of the State. By the consti- tution of 1870 State aid to corporations was abruptly terminated, and county and municipal aid to corporations was carefully guarded. Ás soon as the immediate issues of the war had been settled, the State began legislation to regulate railroads and transportation companies. About the same time attention was turned to "internal improvements" in the broader sense. The State began the policy of aiding in the improvement of the agricultural, industrial, and social conditions. not through the intervention of corporations, but by establishing bureaus and commissions as direct agencies of the State.
Public Education was taken under the care of the State, is now supported by taxation and is placed under control of a State Superin- tendent, with local county and district officers. The State makes appropriations to three institutions purely educational. the Peabody Normal College, the University of Tennessee, and the Summer Normal Institutes ; and four institutions partly educational and partly char- itable, the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, the Tennessee School for the Blind, the Watkins Institute, and the Tennessee Industrial School.
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Agriculture is under the care of a State Commissioner and a corps of assistants, who hold Farmers' Institutes, inspect commercial fertil- izers, and distribute valuable information. This department has done much to improve the agricultural interests of the State.
Labor receives State attention. Its interests are provided for by the establishment of a bureau under charge of the Commissioner of Labor.
Sanitation was a lesson slowly learned. The epidemics at length pointed out the necessity for State action. The State Board of Health was established, and has rendered service far more important than is generally conceded to it. Its work is the work of prevention. When we escape dangers we do not always recognize the hand that warded them off. Dr. W. J. McMurray is the President of this Board, and Dr. J. A. Albrighit is the Secretary.
The Board of Railroad Commissioners is charged with important duties in the regulation of railroads and other public corporations.1
The Penitentiary is under the direction of the Board of Prison Commissioners, who also constitute the Board of Pardons. The abolition of the "Lease System" enabled the State to control the con- victs and to establish the present humane and excellent prison system."
The Board of State Charities, of which Rev. J. A. Orman is Presi- dent, was created by the General Assembly May 14, 1895. The Act provides :
"They shall investigate the whole system of public charities and correctional institutions of the State, examine into the condition and management thereof, especially of prisons, jails, infirmaries, public hospitals, and asylums, and the officers in charge of all such institutions shall furnish to the board, on their request, such information and statistics as they may require.
"The board may appoint a secretary, and shall prepare and print. for the use of the Legislature, a full and complete report of all their doings, stating fully and in detail all proceedings had, showing the exact condition of all State institu- tions under their control, with such suggestions as they may deem necessary and pertinent as to the management and conduct thereof."
The report of this Board to the Fiftieth General Assembly sets forth that the county jails and asylums are rot. in general, conducted on humane and sanitary principles. The Board appointed a County Board of Visitors in each county to give attention to ameliorating the condi-
See pages 282, 283.
* See pages 282. 297.
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THE PRESENT TIME.
tion of the county institutions. Since the date of the report, December 31, 1896, the condition of the county institutions has been greatly improved. The Board highly commended the condition of the State institutions, and reported the following statistics, showing the institu- tions supported by the State and counties and the total number of inmates in each :
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