and the proper place the attitude of this large group of American citizens about his future welfare.

Now, I think I know something about the negro problem. I was born and bred in a western county of Tennessee, and for eight years was superintendent of a county where there were 25,000 school children, 16,000 of whom were negro children. When I assumed the responsibility for caring for the educational interests of this large group the budget was less than $300,000. You will agree with me it was a staggering proposition. The great problem was where to begin and how, with that great body of negro children.

ILLITERATES IN UNITED STATES "NO SCHOOLING WHATEVER"

4931,905 TOTAL ILLITERATES

3084733 NATIVE BORN 1.842161 NEGRO

1242572 NATIVE WHITE

531,077 NATIVE MINOR

These figures are all from the Federal census. The three words at the top are also quoted from the census.

Fortunately, I came upon this man in my search for negro teachers. He had a theory that appealed to me. He seemed to be able to know what to do and how to do it. He was willing to begin with what he had, the people around him, and the material put into his hands, in order to do his job, and there seemed to me great hope in that, and so I employed him and watched him work for eight years, and worked with him. I think you will agree with me that his was a very good theory and one which many of us might adopt to-day with profit.

The school which he developed has attracted a great deal of attention all over the Southern States; and it has attracted attention not because I contributed in any sense to the development of that school,

These figures as to the number of native-born illiterates in each State are from the Federal census. There are more native-born than foreign-born illiterates in the United States.

but because I helped him carry out his own sound and practical ideas.

This man is president of the West Tennessee Colored Teachers' * Association; he is a graduate of Alcorn University. He was for five summers a student of that very celebrated institution at Hampton, Va. He has attended five times the farmers and teachers' conference at Tuskegee, Ala. He has been the recognized leader of a body of 300 colored teachers in this community. He was appointed during the war to a very responsible position by the Memphis Chamber of Commerce and worked with George R. James, who is now a member of the Federal Reserve Board, but who at that time was the chairman of the race relations committee.

I don't care to go further into this, but I think this introduction is due you that you might understand why I have asked him to come here. Now, I belong myself to that younger generation of people in the South who view this problem in a different era and from a somewhat different viewpoint, and we are sincerely interested in the education of the Negro race. I think you will all agree that no law is stronger than the public sentiment which backs it up. This man is representative of several hundreds, perhaps thousands, of alert intelligent, earnest men and women in his own profession who are trying to find a way-and I think they are doing it successfully-in developing the right kind of spirit between the white race and the colored race in the South. He believes, as do many of his people, that the strong bond of friendship, which is a very real thing between the southerner and the negro, ought to be developed and encouraged for the best interests of both. I take pleasure in presenting to this committee and to these people here a representative of the Negro race, who was born and bred in Dixie-Thomas Jefferson Johnson, principal of the Woodstock Training School, Shelby County, Tenn., whose inspiring name, I fear, is no indication of his political faith. STATEMENT OF MR. THOMAS JEFFERSON JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE WEST TENNESSEE COLORED TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.

Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Chairman, I thank Miss Williams very much for the kind things that she has said about me. I am very sorry that I can not talk on this bill just as I would like, for many reasons that I can not explain here, and I have put on paper just what I should like to say, and I would be glad to read what I should like to say.

First, as Miss Williams has stated, because of the invitation that was extended to me, and because I am interested in the Sterling-Reed education bill, for the purpose of creating a department of education with a secretary in the President's Cabinet.

Second, because I believe the creation of such a department will meet many of the needs of education as pertains to my people, especially in the rural districts where I am at work. The Sterling-Reed bill is very important as regards my people. I have always lived in the South, finished both my public-school and college education there. My observation of the white people of the South has shown that we have two classes of them as pertains to negro education— those who favor the education of the negro and those who are opposed to the education of the negro. The bill, to my mind, would help both classes in their relation to negro education. It would

help those who favor negro education by placing in their hands funds with which to work. Too often when we ask for better salaries and longer terms for colored teachers and children we hear the cry We would do this or that but the limited amount of funds we have will not permit it."

With the amount of money appropriated annually which this bill provides for, a hush would be put to that cry, especially so since the bill provides in section 9 that in order to encourage the States to equalize educational opportunities, $50,000,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is authorized to be appropriated annually to be used in public, elementary, and secondary schools, for the partial payment of teachers' salaries, for providing better instruction and extended school terms, especially in rural schools, and for the extension and adoption of public libraries for educational purposes and otherwise, providing equally good educational opportunities for the children of the several States.

Now, I also believe that the passage of the bill will help those who oppose negro education, and through them, help the negro, for the increase in the spending of money for negro education in the South has largely been the result of building up sentiment among the white people of the South in favor of negro education. That has been a slow process. It requires publicity to build sentiment, and money for publicity, but section 5, lines 16 to 25 reads:

That the department of education shall conduct studies and investigations in the field of education, and report thereon, research shall be undertaken in illiteracy, immigrant education, public school education, and especially rural education, physical education, including health education, recreation and sanitation, preparation and the supplying of competent teachers for the public schools, higher education, and any such other fields as in the judgment of the secretary of education may require attention and study.

Now, I take for granted that this clause means that the department of education will make studies and investigations similar to those being made annually by the Department of Agriculture, and issue bulletins and other sheets that will educate the citizenship of this country along educational lines, just as the Department of Agriculture does along agricultural lines.

If this is the meaning of section 5, the part I read, then we shall through the passage of this bill educate those who are opposed to negro education, and then there can be no more effective or sure way of educating the negro in the South than to educate the opponents to his education. A man who is physically, spiritually, and intellectually educated can not oppose the education of any other.

There is an economic effect attached to this bill also. I believe it would help to stabilize labor. All the colored people who have recently left the South and migrated to the North have not done so solely for the purpose of receiving better wages for their labor. Many of them were already getting adequate pay for their services, but there were other things dearer to them than even their wages, chief among those being the proper education of their children.

The lengthening of the school terms and the compulsory attendance law as provided in the section where the school term is to be not less than 24 weeks-" a legal school term of at least 24 weeks in each year for the benefit of all children of school age in such State; (b) a compulsory school attendance law requiring all children be

tween the ages of 7 and 14 years to attend some school for at least 24 weeks in each year."

Now that has been true in my county for some time. I believe that the passage of this bill will encourage colored teachers and give them an inspiration to do their work in the best possible way, especially with that part of section 11, to provide and extend facilities for the improvement of teachers in service and for a more adequate preparation of prospective teachers.

In order to show you just how enthusiastic the colored teachers of the South are becoming about improving themselves along educational lines, I might say that last summer there was a special trainload, consisting of 400 teachers, that left Shelby County to go to Nashville, Tenn., to the State normal for the purpose of better preparing themselves to do their work. When these teachers reached there there were 1,200 teachers at that summer school, and it was found that 90 per cent of the 1,200 who attended from all parts of the State did not have to attend. They already had certificates with which to teach. Their desire was to better prepare themselves.

Now, I know you have heard of the negro excursions that we used to have in the South, where crowds went from one town to another, but this is the first time that you have ever heard of a negro excursion of teachers leaving a place and going to another place for the purpose of better preparing themselves to make citizens. out of the boys and girls of their race.

Now, I believe in the bill, Mr. Chairman, because I believe in the chairman of the education committee, who is promoting the bill for the National Education Association and other organizations. She was born, bred, educated in Shelby County, of which Memphis is the county seat, and in its rural schools she served for eight years. as its superintendent, and left for a larger field of activity without having a single blot upon her career as a public servant for all the people. No colored person in Memphis or Shelby County will say other than what I do, that her record is clean and spotless as it pertains to the education of the colored youth of Shelby County.

Now, I have not lost faith in the South. I mean the South that disfranchises and discriminates against my people; I mean the South that educates us to become good citizens and at the same time passes laws to prevent us from exercising that citizenship. I still have faith in the South, but I know that it can not get anywhere without the negro in things essential to its development. The two races are like the Union, one and inseparable, and if she tries to leave us behind I know she can not. It is like popping pop corn. I happen to be a countryman, and we pop pop corn. You know when the corn gets white it tries to get away from the dark grains, but we place the lid on the skillet and tell that corn to stay until every grain as you are." The South may try to leave the negro behind in the march of world progress, but the great light of world progress is shining upon her, and she can never leave until the most illiterate of my race has been educated to be an intelligent and useful citizen

66

Miss WILLIAMS. The next speaker represents one of our very first supporting organizations, Mr. Wallace, of the American Federation of Labor.