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Vocational Work for Adult Negroes

During the school year 1924-1925 the Department of Vocational Education spent $3,750 State and Federal funds on evening classes for adult Negro farmers.

There will be 15 classes running from 10 to 12 nights with an enrollment of 273. All students were required to take at least 10 lessons. Such subjects as science, poultry, soils, crops, cotton and tobacco and home gardening were taught.

$2,000 of State and Federal money was spent on part-time work for young folks between the age of 16 and 25, who on account of economic ncessity were compelled to leave school.

In this division there was an enrollment of 118 in 10 classes. Theres young people were taught such subjects ans fertilisers, animals, crops and poultry.

A man is paid in part in Wilmington for giving trade work such as masonary and the like for Negroes.

In Greensboro a man is employed, who devotes his full time to trade and industries for Negroes. He teaches what is known as parttime classwork. Quarters have been provided for him at A & T College. Courses in masonry and other trades are given. In the part-time class work elementary English and arithmetic are taught. This is not permitted in the evening schools mentioned above as the regulations require that all the time be devoted to the teaching of vocational subjects.

At Durham a pre-mill course in hosiery is given to the girls, 57 were enrolled in this class. They run for 180 hours and the girls are trained in piece work which enabled them to enter the factories at a much higher salary than they would be able to without the training.

expanHome Economics

Last year over 500 were enrolled in evening Home Economic classes. These classes were held at the A & T College, Greensboro, at the Durham College for Negroes and at the second ward in Charlotte. Such subjects as food nutrition, cooking, dress making and millenary were taught. The personnel of the classes included servants, cooks, professional dress makers and tailors.

The work is done on a unit basis and certificates are given when a unit is completed. This work is being extended as rapidly as possible all over the State. Durham is typical of what is trying to be done. Two teachers were employed. A unit of 20 lessons was given before Christmas

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and a unit of 20 lessons after Christmas. It was, therefore, possible for a student in these classes to complete two units in a single year.

April 26, 1926

Report on Schools in Wilson County

1. Yelverton: This is a good two-teacher school with cloak rooms and in-dustrial room. It is properly located on a good site. I recommend that the following improvement be made:

Put in at least 30 feet of blackboard to the room. This should be provided with a chalk rail.

Put in terra cotta thimbles in all chimneys.

Provide good stoves. Jacketed stoves are to be desired. We furnish blue prints for jackets and they can be made for about $20.00 a piece at any good tinner's.

Hooks for cloaks and shelves for lunch boxes should be provided in the cloak rooms.

The seats now in the building should be reconditioned and a sufficient number of new ones provided to accommodate the enrollment. The old seats that are badly cut can be put in very good condition by planing of the rough tops and staining and varnishing.

Finally the privies should be removed to the line of the school property. They should be provided with pits and the houses should be made fly proof.

The patrons should be encouraged to clean off the lot so as to provide play ground for the children.

2. Saratoga: This is a good three-teacher school with cloak rooms and industrial room. Practically the same things should be done at Saratoga as are recommended for Yelverton.

In addition to reconditioning the seats and making the other improvements, good locks should be provided for all the classrooms, and ventilators should be provided for the curtain wall.

3. Evansdale: This is a two-teacher building and both the grounds and the building were in better condition than Yelverton and Saratoga.

The toilets at this place were provided with pits and were in very good condtion.

4. Stantonbury: This is a three-teacher building similiar to to the Saratoga building. However, the building and grounds were in better condition.

As in the other schools the chimneys should be provided with terra-cotta thimbles and the equipment should be reconditioned and more seats should be provided.

This building is provided with a stage which should be removed. as it takes up a large part of the classroom space in one of the classrooms

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and its location makes it necessary for the seats to face in the wrong direction. If a stage is permitted in any small building, it should be a removeable affair to be used only for public exercises and at commencement time.

The military privies at this school were provided with pits and were in very good condition.

There was evidence that the teachers at this school took pride in their work and in the building.

5. New Vester: This is a building of the two-teacher type provided with cloak rooms and industrial room.

The windows in this building are too close to the foor and there is no lattice between the brick piers.

There was but little equipment in the New Vester school and modern desks should be supplied.

A further criticism of this building is that the piers under the center girders were very crude. Good piers should be provided as early as possible for if the building once sags it will be almost impossible to ever get it in good condition again.

Summary

Without a very great expenditure all the above projects can be put in condition to receive aid from the Rosenwald Fund. The main things to be done are to put thimbles in al the chimneys, provide additional equipment, oil all the floors and provide samitary toilets.

Our appropriations on the Yelverton, Evansdale and New Vester schools is $700 each and on the Saratoga and Stantonbury school is $900 each, makein a total of $3,900 on the five buildings.

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W. F. Credle