Speak about this to your Neighbor

The Work and Plans
OF

Association of Negro Industrial
and Secondary Schools

Organized in New York City,
April 17,1913, to promote selfhelp among the Negro Secondary and Industrial Schools of
the South, to increase their
efficiency, and to bring about
in t h e i r b e h a l f a w i d e r
public interest and support.

WHAT IT IS
The Association of Negro Industrial and
Secondary Schools is an honest effort among
Negroes at self-help. Its aim is the highest
efficiency. It is equally an honest attempt
to safeguard the public. It proposes to
undertake a part of the great national task
of educating public opinion by making
known the truth about Negro schools. It
appeals primarily for friends, for the hearts
and minds of all those who desire to promote good citizenship among Negroes. It
knows that financial support will not then
be lacking.
ORGANIZATION—PROBLEMS CONCLUSIONS
The Association was organized temporarily in New York April 17, 1913, when
representatives from Negro schools in
nearly every Southern State met to take
counsel as to the exact status of the smaller
industrial and secondary Negro schools of
the South. These men and women had become conscious that the old method of getting money for their respective schools by
house to house and office to office solicitation
was wasteful and increasingly less effective.
By common impulse and consent, the^ came
together to see if they might not combine
forces on a great common cause towards a
great common end—namely, the widening of
public interest in Negro education, and
thereby securing funds for its development.
These representatives, after two days'
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serious deliberation, came to the following
conclusions:
1. That these schools, in spite of the fact
that they are rendering a vitally important
national service, are woefully in need of
adeauate financial support.
2. That some better modern co-operative
method of getting absolutely necessary support is urgent, the old methods of raising
funds having become increasingly inadequate, wasteful and ineffective.
3. That fraudulent agents from pseudo
schools have greatly hurt the cause of Negro
education by weakening public confidence in
its reputable agents, the virtuous having to
suffer with the vicious.
4. That there is urgent need of improving
the quality of the Academic and Industrial
work done in these schools; that this need
ought to be met by requiring definite courses
of study and real correlation in the schools
of the Association, so that a diploma from
them may certify to some degree of actual
achievement.
5. That the dignity and moral and intellectual worth of the principals of these
schools are constantly impaired by their long
absences from their proper work, caused by
the need of getting money.
6. That the neglect of the strictest kind of
bookkeeping and authoritative auditing and
publication of accounts has been a fundamental weakness in the administration of
many of these schools. These a supporting
public and sound business policy demand.
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7. That undesirable duplication of schools
in many localities where there is no obvious
need and no reliable means of support entails waste, and, by placing an unnecessary
burden on the public, hurts the whole cause
of education among colored people.
8. That in view of all these problems, and
many others of great importance, which the
conference could only touch upon, it seemed
imperative that these schools should make
some effort, without further delay, to unite
their interests, energies and resources on
some co-operative basis to the end that their
own efficiency might be increased, and the
general public awakened to the need of a
wider interest in Negro schools throughout
the land.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The result of these deliberations was that
a special committee, consisting of Mr. W. H,
Holtzclaw, Utica, Miss.; Miss Emma Wilson,
Mayesville, S. C ; Mr. Leslie Pinckney Hill,
Cheyney, Pa.; Mr. W. T. B. Williams,
Hampton, Va.; Mr. H. A. Hunt, Fort Valley, Ga.; Mr. W. J. Edwards, Snow Hill,
Ala., and Mr. O. L. Coleman, Gibsland, La.,
was appointed to meet in Atlanta, Georgia,
June 17th, 1913, to work out a definite form
of organization and report at the second
conference which was held in New York,
November 13th, 14th. This committee submitted a minimum course of industrial and
academic work and study for the schools of
the Association and a Constitution and By4

Laws for its government. The entire time
of the second conference was given to consideration of this Course of Study, of the
Constitution and By-Laws, and to their
adoption.
The conference expressed its
appreciation of the services of this committee by making it a regular Executive Committee for one year.
WHAT BUSINESS MEN THINK OF THE
ASSOCIATION IDEA
Every business man who has been consulted about the aims and methods of the
Association has thought that the experiment
ought to be tried out. Prominent in the
councils of the Association have been men
like Dr. James H. Dillard, President of the
Jeanes and Slater Funds; Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard, President of the New York
Evening Post Company; Mr. Clarence H.
Kelsey, President of the Title Guarantee and
Trust Company, and Mr. W. C. Biddle, of
the Biddle Purchasing Company.
Mr.
Martin A. Marks, President of the Cleveland
Federation for Charity and Philanthropy,
has said that if our Association of Schools
is organized in the right way, and can
secure the proper endorsement, it will unquestionably put all our struggling schools
on a firmer basis of public interest and
support.
Such faith has Mr. Kelsey in the feasibility of the plans of the Association that he
has offered one-fourth of the estimated three
thousand dollars necessary for the main5

tenance of the New York office for one year.
Not only has he given of his substance, but,
more significantly, he has given thought and
friendly counsel. The following suggestions
made by him seem so important that they
are herewith commended to the consideration of school men and philanthropists
Most of these will be considered at the next
meeting on March 25th.
SUGGESTIONS MADE BY
MR. CLARENCE H. KELSEY
Select office. Try to get it donated.
Get competent manager and competent
stenographer.
The manager should be Executive Secretary of the Association.
A careful statement should be prepared of
the purposes of the Association and its
plans of operation.
It should distribute much of the territory
so as to prevent overlapping of campaigns
for contributions.
The big cities, like New York, Boston and
Philadelphia, should be reserved for a general campaign in behalf of the Association,
the subscriptions resulting to be apportioned among the member schools, probably
according to their pay-rolls for teachers.
Each principal should retain all the subscribers which he has had at any time, and
be free to write them and solicit a continuation of their support. At the same time, he
should explain to them the new plan which
has been adopted, and if some other school
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is hereafter to work the territory in which
he has been laboring, should ask them to
support the plan; also should ask if they
are willing to increase their contributions to
the cause, or give something to that school.
At any rate, he should urge them to help
that school get new friends and to educate
the community to contributing to the work.
Literature should be prepared with great
care and the Secretary should carry on a
continuous campaign to get in touch with
men in every district who will help the
school get a footing. He should appeal to
the newspapers, enlist the sympathy of the
churches and ministers, get lists of names
in the various districts, and in every way
help the schools to get started in their
respective territories.
In districts in the country, some provision should be made by which, if new school
members are admitted, exclusive territory
can still be apportioned to them.
Schools having neighboring territories
should combine on glee club and other agencies used to interest and entertain contributors.
Much of the expense of campaigning and
of traveling can be saved in this way.
The general campaign in the big cities
which is to be conducted in behalf of the
entire Association should be worked up with
great care. It will probably be best to have
eight or ten principals divide up the year
so that one of them could be at headquarters
all of the time directing and stimulating
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this general campaign. In this way the absences from school would be very much reduced and perhaps even better results accomplished.
It is possible that salaried canvassers
should be selected, both for the general campaign and for the separate campaigns of
the schools so as to take less of the principals' time away from work.
At the headquarters, there should be an
elaborate Bureau of Records giving all the
facts regarding all the schools, both those
members of the Association and those outside of it, so that the manager can give
accurate and fair information regarding all
of them. The manager should also seek
information about the schools and be prepared to furnish and perhaps publish warnings against known frauds.
If the plan is carried out, perhaps an Advisory Committee could be organized which
would meet once a month to confer with the
manager and with the school principals,
when necessary, and publicly endorse the
plan and commend the work.
A great deal depends upon the manager
selected and upon the heartiness and sincerity with which the school principals set
out to carry through the plan.
HIGH AND CONFIRMING EXAMPLES
The Secretary-Treasurer has just been
making some studies in Cleveland, Ohio,
where the Federation of Churches and the
Federation for Charity and Philanthropy
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have set up very high and confirming examples for our Association. Under the first
of these organizations some two hundred
churches with a total following of some
sixty-five thousand souls are marshalled,
and great victories in civic, social and religious reform have already been won by
this union of forces. The platform and
aims of the Cleveland Federation for Charity and Philanthropy are impressively expressed in the subscription blanks sent out
by that agency as follows:
"Moved by the belief that co-operation in
benevolence will attain greater efficiency and
economy with deeper, more effective sympathy and wider social benefit than has
ever before been possible, fifty-five of Cleveland's charitable activities and a representative body of givers and citizens are allied
in the Cleveland Federation for Charity and
Philanthropy. The aim of this body is to
make charitable giving easier, more pleasurable, more general and more effective than
it ever has been before."
Is there any good reason why fifty-five
Negro schools should not combine their energies and directive intelligence in some
group endeavor just as dignified, broadminded, and effective? This is going to be
the twentieth century way.
PROGRAM AND SPEAKERS
FOR MARCH 25
The Association has been greatly encouraged by the men who have brought these
great enterprises into effective life in Cleve9

land, and there is good reason to expect
that Dr. T. S. McWilliams, one of the
founders of the Federation of Churches and
Mr. C. W. Williams, Executive Secretary of
the Federation for Charity and Philanthropy, will be the principal speakers at
our March 25 meeting. These men will
come not to talk generalities, but to
make clearer still ways and means of working out our great problem. Every Negro
school in the country ought to send a representative to hear these men.
In addition to these speakers, the following immediately urgent subjects will be considered to the end that definite conclusions
may be reached without further delay.
These great questions will not all be finally
settled, but the first steps must now be
taken. The establishment of the central office at once is of prime importance.
I. Certifying of all school accounts so
that the public may know exactly how every
dollar of the money given to the schools is
spent, and wide, methodical publicity of
their exact financial and educational standing. This means standardizing. Each member school and each prospective member
should bring to the meeting a most carefully made up budget of its absolutely necessary expenses for the next school year of
1914-1915, with exact statements of income
that can surely be counted upon for the
same year. Each school should also submit
its course of study, with lists and addresses
of teachers and students.
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2. The division of the country and the assignment of definite territory to each school
agent, so that well-planned, dignified, educational campaigns may be carried forward in
these several territories, to the end that
wider interest may be created and thus more
support secured.
3. The buying of stock supplies in common. The increasing difficulty in securing
funds makes it imperative that every dollar
given to these schools shall do a hundred
cents' worth of work. Joint purchasing is
a big and very difficult problem when applied to our schools, but it deserves our
study and, perhaps, some trial.
4. The establishment in New York City of
a central office that shall be a general Bureau of Information concerning all colored
schools, this office to be presided over by an
efficient Executive Secretary. This will be
the headquarters of the Association, and
from this central bureau the various activities of the Association will be directed.
The program will, of course, include also
the report of the President and SecretaryTreasurer, as to the progress of the Association.
POSSIBLE MISUNDERSTANDING
It is the duty of the Association to make
clear to the public, as well as to all prospective members, that it is not undertaking
to solve all the problems of all these Negro
schools at once, neither to pay off all their
debts, nor to enrich them immediately with
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handsome endowments. The first great aim
is to get our schools together on a co-operative working basis. On this basis an instructive educational campaign will be
undertaken for friends who will widen interest and thus secure needed financial support. This will require a little time. It will
require, still more, the loyal and untiring cooperation and enthusiasm of each member
school Wherever this plan has been carried out, as in Cleveland, results have abundantly justified the endeavor. The indifferent part of the public has been stirred up,
more money has been contributed, and each
separate charity, or philanthropy, has secured more adequate support in dollars and
cents, to say nothing of the saving in directive energy. Let each member school carefully consider these things. If a school is
really worthy, and is business-like, it will
unquestionably profit by membership in this
Association.
THE IMMEDIATE NEED
This little circular is sent forward with
the hope that all good citizens, both white
and colored, who are interested in the efforts
of the Association of Negro Industrial and
Secondary Schools, will help us to try out
the experiment for one year by sending in
at once to the Secretary-Treasurer some
contribution, large or small. We are profoundly convinced that there will be much
saving of time, energy and money by the
schools who join this movement. We must
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open our New York office at once. It is
estimated that the first year's expenses will
be about $3,000. This will include rent,
stenographic help, stationery and stamps,
and the salary of the Executive Secretary.
The other fundamental need is more paid
up member schools. There ought to be in
the year 1914 not less than fifty such members.
Any contribution you may be able to make
toward the absolutely necessary experiment
will be most gratefully received and acknowledged. The Secretary-Treasurer, who
is under bond for the satisfactory accounting for every penny received and disbursed
by the Association, will in all cases send
receipts to contributors.
Contributions
should be sent directly to Leslie Pinckney
Hill, Secretary-Treasurer, The Cheyney
Training School for Teachers, Cheyney, Pa.
PLACE AND HOUR OF MARCH 25
MEETING
The third regular session of the Association of Negro Industrial and Secondary
Schools will be held in The Hobart Library,
416 Lafayette Street, New York.
All
schools that expect to attend are urged to
notify the Secretary-Treasurer as soon as
possible. The Executive Committee -will try
to arrange for the comfort and convenience
of representatives who go to New York.
The meeting will be called promptly at 10
A. M. and 2 P. M. Representatives should
plan to reach New York in time to be present promptly at 10 o'clock.
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MEMBERSHIP
The following schools have paid the ten
dollars entrance fee to the Association and
are definitely committed to the task of working out together some of the big problems
that confront the schools of the South that
are entirely dependent upon the public for
support:
Manassas Industrial School, Manassas, Virginia, W. J. Decatur, Principal.
Florida Baptist Academy, Jacksonville, Florida, M. W. Collier, Principal.
Mayesville Institute, Mayesville,
S. C , Emma Wilson, Principal.
Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School, Daytona, Florida, Mary McLeod Bethune, Principal.
Palmer Memorial Institute, Sedalia,
N. C , Charlotte Hawkins Brown,
Principal.
Coleman Academy, Gibsland, La.,
0. L. Coleman, Principal.
Virginia Union University, Richmond, Va., George Rice Hovey, President.
Fort Valley High and Industrial
School, Fort Valley, Ga., H. A. Hunt,
Principal.
Christiansburg Industrial Institute,
Cambria, Va., E. A. Long, Principal.
St. Augustine School, Raleigh,
N. C , A. B. Hunter, Principal.
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Johnson-Home-Industrial College,
Archery, Webster County, Ga., Olive
G. Stuart, Financial Agent.
Snow Hill Normal and Industrial
School, Snow Hill, Alabama, W. J.
Edwards, Principal.
St. Paul Normal and Industrial
School, Lawrenceville, Va., James S.
Russell, Principal.
•Centreville Industrial Institute,
Centreville, Alabama, Henry D. Davidson, Principal.
The Utica Normal and Industrial
Institute, Utica Institute, Miss., W.
H. Holtzclaw, Principal.
St. Augustine Industrial Institute,
St. Augustine, Florida, E. Howard
Woods, Principal.
Waters Normal Institute, Winston,
N C , C. S. Brown, Principal.
The Normal and Industrial School,
Forsythe, Ga., W. M. Hubbard, Principal.
Kowaliga Academic and Industrial
Institute, Benson, Alabama, W. R.
Banks, Principal.
The Cheyney Training School for
Teachers, Cheyney, Pa., Leslie Pinckney Hill, Principal.
The Street Manual Training School,
Richmond, Alabama, Emmanuel M.
Brown, Principal.
Every school on this list is pledged
to the government of the Association
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as set down in the Constitution anc
By-Laws, and all are to foe tested b>
those standards.

The Secretary-Treasurer will be glad to
give further information to any one wko
will write to him for it. He will also -X
glad to confer personally with any p^rsoi;
who might be sufficiently interested to heir*
finance the experiment. Here is a new, un
tried field! Here is opportunity for genuine service to the country at large! There
is abundant faith and enthusiasm, but noi
much money. Some has come in. Mud
more is needed. Will you help?

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