Freedmen

Cleveland County North Carolina Colored Apprentices

A list of Colored Apprentices that have been indentured in the County Court of Cleveland County since May 1866 Underage children who were not or could not be supported by their parents or were orphans were apprenticed by Freedmen’s Bureau officials to persons who would be responsible for their upbringing and welfare. North CarolinaCleveland County I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true list contains the names of all colored children that have been indentured by the County Court for the County aforesaid.S. Williams, Clk.Per M. F. Williams, D. C. D. Whisnant Chm. County Court Source National Archives Microfilm … Read more

Biography of Rev. William Butler

Rev. William Butler (B. 1859), pastor of St. Paul Presbyterian Church at Eagletown, and of Forest Church near Red River south of Millerton, is a native of the community in which he still lives. His parents, Abraham and Nellie Butler, were the slaves of Pitchlyn and Howell, Choctaws; and William was about seven, when freedom was accorded the family in 1866. His home and work as a minister until recently have been in localities remote from the railway and good schools. The short period of one and a half months was all the time he ever went to school. He … Read more

The Choctaw Freedmen and Oak Hill Industrial Academy

Oak Hill Industrial Academy

The aim of the Author in preparing this volume has been to put in a form, convenient for preservation and future reference, a brief historical sketch of the work and workers connected with the founding and development of Oak Hill Industrial Academy, established for the benefit of the Freedmen of the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, by the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., in 1886, when Miss Eliza Hartford became the first white teacher, to the erection of Elliott Hall in 1910, and its dedication in 1912; when the name of the institution was changed to “The Alice Lee Elliott Memorial.”

Voices from the Black Belt

In a discussion of the Negro problem it is eminently appropriate the Freedman and his neighbor be accorded the privilege of expressing their respective views. The thoughts expressed in this chapter have been gleaned principally from the columns of the Afro-American, a colored weekly, published by the faculty of Biddle University, Charlotte, North Carolina. The problem of the Negro relates to his capacity for improvement and self-support. Is the American Negro, after centuries of slavery that kept the race in an infantile condition, capable of development and self support? Over this question the people of our country have expressed differing … Read more

The Public School System

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The public school is the general and permanent agency for the education and uplift of the colored people. Religious and independent schools may do a splendid work in their several localities, but the public school is intended to be state-wide. It alone reaches the masses of colored children, and it should receive its due share of the public funds. The fact that they have not received any thing like a fair share of the public funds, for their equipment and support, has already been stated. This, to a great extent, is an act of injustice. Conditions however are gradually improving. … Read more

“Problem of the Negro”

The “Problem of the Negro” is an old and familiar phrase. It relates to the fact, that, however many and great have been the benefits derived from his labor and loyalty, the best management of him has been a troublesome problem to the statesmen of this country, ever since the declaration of independence, and especially the Freedman, since his emancipation.