The Harnett County Common Schools Collection contains a few pages from a Common School Register (1879) from a school for African American students, in District No. 1, Harnett County, North Carolina.
Common schools essentially were public schools and they were created to improve education through the use of public funds and to fully extend public education to more children. This movement was started by Horace Mann. The first common school in North Carolina was opened in Rockingham County (1840). With the adoption of North Carolina's "radical" Constitution of 1868, a "general and uniform" public school system which was free to both black and white children was established; although poorer rural communities of African Americans often could not support adequate facilities.
Source: https://www.ncpedia.org/education-public
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1871/Common-School-Movement.html
The Harnett County Common Schools Collection contains a few pages from a Common School Register (1879) from a school for African American students, in District No. 1, Harnett County, North Carolina. Included are the introductory pages which state that the register is required by law and is used to preserve "The Useful Statistics and Important Events of Each School," explain how to use the register, and give an example of how to fill out the register. Only one page from the completed register is present; it is dated August 11, 1879, and includes the names of the students and shows their attendance record for a month.
Anonymous gift
Encoded by Mark Custer, March 20, 2008
Processing completed December 20, 2017, by Morgan Gurganus.
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