Wi)t Wmk 0i ^miptm THE HAMPTON NORMAL AND AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE HAMPTON. VA. SAMUEL CHAPMAN ARMSTRONG (1839— '93) Founded Hawpton Institute 186S Hampton Institute Press igos SOARD 6F TRUSTBES PRESIDENT ROBERT C. OGDEN, LL.D, Firm of John Wanamaker, N. Y. VICE-PRESIDENTS REV. ALEXANDER McKENZIE, D. D, Cambridge, Mass. RT. REV. W. N. McVICKAR, S.T. D, Providence, R. I. SECRETARY H. B. FRISSELL, Hampton, Va. TREASURER ALEXANDER PURVES, Hampton, Va. GEORGE FOSTER PEAB0DY,5^ William St, N. V. REV. CHARLES H. PARKHURST, D. D, ijj East 35th St, N. Y. REV. F. G. PEABODY, D. D, 13 Kirkland St, Cambridge, Mass. RT. REV. D. H. GREER, D. ^1,342 Madison Ave, N. Y. CHARLES E. BIGELOW, 40 Hudson St, N. Y. ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES, gg John St, N Y. WM. JAY SCHIEFFELIN, PH.D, 170 William St, N. Y. HON. L. L. LEWIS, Richmond, Va. REV. JAMES W. COOPER, D. D, 287 4th Ave,N. Y. W. W. FRAZIER, 25g Sonth i8th St, Philadelphia, Pa. ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON, jj Wall St, N. Y. HON. B. B. MUNFORajjoj East Grace St, Richmond, Va. VIEW FROM THE SCHOOL WHARF LOCATION None of the branches of the Chesapeake (Mother of Waters) can compare in beauty with Hampton Roads, that famous battlegi-ound of the Monitor and Merrimac. Hampton Institute is situated at the mouth of a broad inlet overlooking these historic waters, about three miles from Fort Monroe, Old Point Comfort. Between the Institute and the Fort lies the National Soldiers' Home, and six miles away on the James are the famous shipyards of Newport News. A few miles farther up the river are the historic ruins of Jamestown, whose tri-centennial is to be celebrat- ed with a great exposition in 1907. There is a significant interest in the fact that the first cargo of Negro slaves was landed there in 1619, not far from this institution, the first one founded for the industrial train- ing of their emancipated descendants. INCORPORATION The school was started soon after the war, under the auspices of the American Missionary Association, at the suggestion of Gen. S. C. Armstrong, who was made its principal. In 1870 it was chartered by special act of theGeneral Assembly of Virginia, thus becoming independ- ent of any church organization. It is not a government, state, or de- nominational school, but is a private corporation controlled by a board of seventeen trustees, representing different sections of the country and seven religious denominations, no one of which has a majority. STUDENTS From its modest beginning 37 years ago, with 15 colored students, the numbers have steadily increased. In 1878 Col. R. H. Pratt brought 15 Indian prisoners of war from St. Augustine to Hampton. The enroll- ment for the present year has been 715 Negro and 100 Indian boarders, and 465 colored children from the neighborhood, who receive instruction in the Whittier Training School, making a total of 1280. MANSION HOUSE, CHURCH, AND ACADEMIC HALL EQUIPMENT The school grounds contain over x88 acres, exclusive of the Shell- banks Farm. There are 60 buildings, including the church, library, museum, dormitories, recitation halls, trade school, domestic science and agriculture building, hospital, gymnasium, printing office, greenhouses, barn, workshops, laundry, offices, and dwellings of the officers and teach- ers. The equipment of many of these buildings is excellent, but in some cases quite inadequate for the needs of the students. All of the young men have military drill, which is of incalculable value in teaching habits of promptness, neatness, and obedience. The teachers are the best that can be found, men and women inspired with a noble purpose. AIMS Before industrial education was introduced into this country. Gener- al Armstrong, from his experience in the Hawaiian Islands with one of the undeveloped races, realized its importance. In his own words: "What the Negro (and Indian) needs at once is elementary and industrial edu- cation and moral development. The race will succeed or fail as it shall devote itself with energy to agriculture and the mechanic arts or avoid those pursuits, and its teachers must be inspired with the spirit of hard work and acquainted with the ways that lead to material success." Hampton's aim has always been the training of sane and sound leaders for Negro and Indian communities through the development of character, economic independence, and the power of initiative. WHITTIER PRACTICE SCHOOL DEPARTMENTS The academic course is four years in length and includes Araiifinir English branches in both grammar and high school grades. The Negro's melodious voice is trained in sing- ing and the members of the school band receive some necessary instruc- tion in instrumental music, but foreign languages are not taught. A large proportion of the colored students, including the trade-pupils, work dur- ing the day, and attend night school. Normal courses are given in Business, Agriculture, Pnat-gratiuatf and Trades, as well as in kindergarten and public school teaching. The importance of agriculture in the solution of the AgriritUurp Negro and Indian problems is fully recognized and every student in the school now receives more or less instruction concerning the soil, and vegetable and animal life. In addi- tion to the model farm, poultry yards, dairy, orchards, and experiment garden, the school has a well-stocked farm of six hundred acres in prac- tical operation six miles away. The young men who work there rise before the sun, but even a long day's labor does not deter them from attending the night school where they receive instruction which fits them to enter the regular academic classes. A class of earnest young women also attend this farm school, preparing themselves, not only through books, but through the domestic duties of farm life, for their future re- sponsibilities in teaching their people right ways of living. ARMSTRONG-SLATER MEMORIAL TRADE SCHOOL The Trade Department includes courses in carpentry, wood ®rai»pa turning, bricklaying, plastering, painting, wheelwrighting blacksmithing, machine work, steam fitting, tailoring, shoe and harness making, tinsmithing, upholstering, and printing. A trade course usually occupies three years — the first in the trade school ; the second in one of the productive industries, where the student gets an idea of the commercial value of his work; and the third in the trade school again, where the course is completed. Besides offering opportunities for teaching the student the market value of his work, the productive industries, including the various shops, two large farms, and the boarding departments, enforce Hampton's prin- ciple of self-help, by providing the students with work for which they are credited on their accounts. Each trade is taught with a view to supplying the special needs of the communities to which the students expect to go. The largest number of students take up carpentry, and to this has been added instruction in bricklaying, painting, and tinsmithing, in order to give the all-round mechanical training which is so greatly needed in the isolated country districts of the South and West. The mental and moral improvement which is made through the careful work exacted of these young men is in itself a result well worth the effort and expense of such training. DuiMESTlC SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE BUILDING In this department the young women are prepared to teach Bottifattr their people the art of home making, sewing, dressmaking, S»nfnrf laundering, cooking, and housekeeping. A special course prepares advanced pupils for the position of matron, lady principal, or domestic science instructor. A summer institute of six weeks is held for the colored ^untmpr teachers of the South, especially those of rural schools, to ilnatttutt afford them opportunity for studying methods of teaching the common school branches, and such simple industries as bench work, cooking, sewing, upholstering, agriculture, and dairying. Nature-study is emphasized, and competent lecturers give addresses on a variety of topics. Over four hundred teachers thus gain subject matter and inspiration to take back to communities, the darkness and igno- rance of which are quite inconceivable to one who has not traveled through the black belts of the South. This conference is held for three days during the session of Jffijrn the summer institute and affords opportunity for hundreds &onfettnte of teachers to listen to important social problems pertain- ing to the welfare of the race, as discussed by the prominent Negro men and women of the country who gather to participate in these meetings. Learning by Doing at Hampton CLASS IN BLACKSMITHING CLASS IN CARPENTRY PRODUCTS OF THE TRADE SCHOOL CLASS IN BRICKLAYING AND PLASTERING r T'm' CLASS IN DAIRUNG CLASS IN AGRICULTURE Learning by Doing at Hampton IN THE WHITTIER GARDEN A FIEl.U LESSON IN AGRICULTURE CLASS IN WEAVING IN THE LAUNDRY CLASS IN SEWING CLASS IN COOKING THE ONE-ROOM CABIN WHAT HAS BEEN DONE FOR THE NEGRO The influence of Hampton does not cease when the student receives his diploma and leaves the school grounds. A regular system of corres- pondence is carried on and reports are asked of each ex-student and graduate, at least once a year. In this way the needs of the communities are studied and the results of the work are to a certain extent known. The total number of Hampton's Negro graduates is 1158, the num- ber of Negro ex-students, not graduates over 5000. A much larger proportion of those who now enter the school, remain to graduate than was the case in former years. Of 277 Negro trade-school graduates, over 60 per cent, are known to be either teaching or practicing their trades. Over 23 per cent, of the men and 47 per cent, of the women graduates now living are teaching at the present time. After following this profes- sion for a few years, the women in many cases marry and the men go in- to business, buy land and engage in farming, or work at trades. It is impossible for a man to bring up a family on the salary that is paid to a country teacher in the South. Hampton's plan is to give instruction in HOMES OF NEGRO GRADUATES trades or farming to those who are to become teachers in rural districts, thus sending properly trained men and women into the country schools and at the same time providing means whereby they can supplement their meager salaries. Over 35 per cent, of Hampton's graduates are either farmers or mechanics. In twelve counties in the immediate vicinity of the school, over 90 per cent, of the Negro farmers own and manage their own farms. It is not too much to claim that these achievements, which have been made entirely since the war, are very largely due to Hampton's teaching. It has often been said that if Hampton had done nothing more than to train Booker T. Washington its work would have been well worth all the money and effort it has cost. But Hampton can point not only to Booker T. Washington and Tuskegee as examples of its handiwork but to hundreds of other men and women who on a smaller scale but with a like consecration are striving to leaven the whole lump. r#^ i INDIAN TEPEE WHAT HAS BEEN DONE FOR THE INDIAN Notwithstanding the temptations and difficulties of reservation life Hampton's policy has been to send her children back to their own peo- ple where, through the strength and knowledge they have gained, they will be able to aid others in treading the ways of Christianity and civili- zation. Of the Indians who have been taught here during the past twen- ty-seven years, seven hundred and twelve are living, and according to the best information obtainable have been classified by their work and in- fluence as follows: Excellent 154, Good 354, Fair 154, Poor 42, Bad 8. According to this classification, 508 returned students are entirely satis- factory, 50 have poor records, and 154 amount to but little either way. They are largely the physically weak and deficient. The first three Indians were graduated from the academic course in 1882. Since then ninety-three (including those of 1904) have been gradu- ated. Of this number seven have died and the others rank as follows: Ex- cellent 49, Good 25, Fair 7, Poor 4, Bad i. Twenty-one of these have ta- ken post-graduate courses at Hampton and seventeen have taken ad- vanced courses elsewhere. All those classified as "good" live Christian lives, are industrious, temperate, moral — in a word, those who may be considerd as examples worthy of emulation by the less favored of their people. As a rule, we believe that these are the ones destined to accomplish most among 12 HOME OF AN INDIAN GRADUATE a slow-moving people like the Indians, gradually raising the race to higher ways of thought and life without the use of extreme measures such as grate upon the sensibilities of the old Indians and are apt to offend rather than help them. At the agencies where the Indian returned students are to be observ- ed in the greatest numbers it is found that most of the important posi- tions — those of intepreter, clerk, head farmer, and policeman — are fill- ed by the educated Indians and nearly every place in the trade shops, except that of foreman, is filled by boys who have learned more or less of a trade at school. In the boarding schools, one or more teachers will usually be found in the classrooms and several in industrial positions. Among the camp schools — little oases in the desert of ignorance— a young educated Indian and his wife are very often in charge, doing their best teaching by providing a living object lesson, not only to the chil- dren, but to the parents. At several of the agencies influential societies have sprung up among the returned students, holding the leaders to- gether, and sustaining the weak; these organizations have proved of po- itical as well as of ethical value, supplying the places made vacant in civil affairs by the deposition of the chiefs. ^3 ■''"^l(iTi>*- V*^K^-' ^^^'^ ^-" %£gAAat.