There were nineteen churches
owned and supported by colored people of Philadelphia, with a seating
capacity of about 10,000 and valued at about $250,000.
[5]The schools set apart for colored children were very inferior and
were often kept alive by great sacrifices on the part of the colored
people themselves. Prior to the war and in many cases for some time
afterward, the colored public schools were a disgrace to the country.
A correspondent writing from Hollidaysburg, Pa., says, speaking of the
school there: "The result of my inquiries here is that here, as in the
majority of other places, the interest manifested for the colored man
is more for political effect, and that those who prate the loudest
about the moral elevation and political advancement of the colored man
are the first to turn against him when he wants a friend." The
correspondent then goes on to say that the school directors persist in
employing teachers "totally incompetent." What the schools were in New
York the report made by the New York Society for the promotion of
Education among Colored Children to the Honorable Commissioners for
examining into the condition of Common Schools in the City and County
of New York, will show. Reverend Charles B. Ray, who was President of
this Society, and Philip A.
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