Viewing page 5 of 27

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-5-

and to try to integrate them into society. [[strikethrough]] It [[/strikethrough]] ^[[The Freedmen's Bureau]] also assisted the poor whites. ^[[In 1863, Abraham Lincoln appointed Henry McNeil Turner as the first Black [[strikethrough]] Chaplin [[/strikethrough]]^[[Chaplain]] in the  ^[[United States]] Army. When the war was over, Turner resigned from the ^[[United States]] Army and was then appointed to head the Freedman's Bureau ^[[in Georgia]]  President Andrew Johnson appointed a Negro Henry McNeil Turner, a member of an African Methodist Episcopal[[strikethrough]]ian [[/strikethrough]] Church, to head the [[strikethrough]] Freedman's [[/strikethrough]] ^[[Freedmen's]] Bureau ^[[in Georgia]].  The greatest achievement of the Bureau was the ^[[education of the]] Negro [[strikethrough]] education [[/strikethrough]] which was a Godsend.

^[[margin]]

In 1868, the [[strikethrough]] Freedman's [[/strikethrough]] ^[[Freedmen's]] Bureau established [[strikethrough]] the (Claxon?) [[/strikethrough]] ^[[Claflin]] school[[strikethrough]]s[[/strikethrough]] for [[strikethrough]] former slaves and their [[/strikethrough]] ^[[colored]] children. In 1872, when the [[strikethrough]] Freedmen's [[/strikethrough]] Bureau no longer operated, the Negro schools were incorporated into the public school system. In the 1880's, there were more Blacks enrolled in the public schools then there were whites. Most of the Whites attended the private schools. There were some private church schools for Negroes; they weren't very good. All of the [[strikethrough]] Canty [[/strikethrough]] ^[[Cantey]] children received their education in the public schools of Columbus. I heard my mother speak about the Catholic[[strikethrough]]s[[/strikethrough]] ^[[schools]]. I think that the Catholics had something to do with the education of Negro youth. Pat Mitchell, brother of Aunt Emma's husband [[strikethrough]] Cum [[/strikethrough]] ^[[Com]] Mitchell, attended ^[[the]] catholic school. [[strikethrough]] Momma [[/strikethrough]] ^[[Mamma]] always laughed at how Pat Mitchell, out of curiosity, knocked off ^[[one of]] the sister's wimple and found that the sister's hair was shaved off. He then said, "oh, excuse me; I didn't mean to do that". He was quite mischevious.