662 Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer

public schools. The very name seemed to carry some reproach
with it. In fact, until comparatively recent times, the boast
of attending a “pay school” was thought to carry with it a mark
of certain personal distinction.

For the year 1870-71 a reference to the free schools of the
city is made in a letter to the commissioners of New Hanover

County by James H. Chadbourn, William T. Carr; and Wil-
liam A. French. They say: “In the first communication you
were informed that there were no schoolhouses within the
limits of the township belonging to the State or county.

“The committee subsequently, with the approval of the board
and the superintendent of public instruction, purchased the
Hemenway schoolhouse of Miss Amy M. Bradley for $3,000,
with the promise on her part that the money she received from
it should be expended in continuing her two schools, then in
successful operation.

“The cost of sustaining the Hemenway and Union Schools
for the last two years has been $10,850.40—$1,266.70 from the
State, $2,500 from the Peabody Fund, $3,000 from the sale
of the Hemenway schoolhouse, and the balance, $4,083.70, from
the friends of Miss Bradley and her work.

“Tt seems to the committee that the beneficial influence of
these schools for the young of the city can not be overestimated.”

The Wilmington Post of April 11, 1872, gives an account of
a visit at that time of the State superintendent of public in-
struction, Alexander McIver, to the city of Wilmington. It
says: “Mr. McIver comes to the work of educating the masses
and the establishment of free schools throughout the State of
North Carolina. His desire now is to interest the public in the
work. He desires that united effort be made at once, so as to
secure some complete system for the successful establishment of
free schools in the city of Wilmington, by the city, as provided
in its charter amended in 1868.”

DECADE OF 1880-1890—ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE WILMINGTON
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.

This sketch would not be complete without a reference to
the campaign of enlightenment carried on under the direction

of the Legislature by Dr. E. A. Alderman and C. D. McIver.

1While the public-school system was maintained during the War be-
tween the States, because of the results of the war the public schools

were closed in 1865-66. In 1867 there was Reconstruction, and there
were no public schools until 1872.

Peace Restored 663

They met the teachers in every county in the State and taught
them how to teach. They held public meetings and educational
rallies. They made eloquent speeches. They urged the people
to vote taxes to support schools. Since this notable campaign,
educational progress in North Carolina has been easier.

Information with regard to the two free public schools, Union
and Hemenway, between 1872 and 1882, is comparatively
vague and indefinite. The year 1882, however, marked the be-
ginning of an effective organization with an executive head,
whose office was that of superintendent of city public schools,
and the system then began to assume a different aspect as a
factor in the educational life of the city.

The situation is described by the superintendent himself, Mr.
M. C. S. Noble, who was elected to this responsible office in the
summer of 1882. Previous to this the authority over the two
white and colored districts was vested in the county superin-
tendent. It does not take a vivid imagination to see the situa-
tion as it appeared to him at that time. In referring to his first
visit to the schools, he says: “I pictured to myself large, im-
posing buildings, situated in well-kept grounds, when our buggy
stopped in deep sand out in front of the old Union School on
Sixth Street between Nun and Church, and just in the rear of
Fifth Street Methodist Church. It contained three rooms, and
had a seating capacity of one hundred and twenty-five pupils.
There were three teachers, and the average attendance was one
hundred. Lastly, we went to the Hemenway, then, situated on
the lot directly south of St. Andrew’s Church, on Fourth Street.
It was a little cottage-looking affair, with four rooms, a seating
capacity of about one hundred and fifty pupils, and an average
attendance of about one hundred and twenty-five.”

The growth of the enterprise is noted by a comparison of this
early report with that made by the superintendent of schools
for the year 1886: “Number of children in school, white,
2,051; colored, 3,209: total, 5,260. Average monthly enroll-
ment, white, 444; colored, 757: total, 1,201. Average daily
attendance, white, 363; colored, 550: total, 913.” This report
also states that there were at this time 575 white children en-
rolled in the Tileston Normal School.

The school committees consisted of the following: District
No. 1, Donald MacRae, chairman, William M. Parker, Joseph
E. Sampson; District No. 2, James H. Chadbourn, chairman,

Walker Meares, John G. Norwood.