Great as had been the reaction, the Negroes of New
Jersey never entirely lost the privilege of attending school with
white students. The New Jersey Constitution of 1844 provided that the
funds for the support of the public schools should be applied for the
equal benefit of all the people of that State.[1] Considered then
entitled to the benefits of this fund, colored pupils were early
admitted into the public schools without any social distinction.[2]
This does not mean that there were no colored schools in that
commonwealth. Negroes in a few settlements like that of Springtown had
their own schools.[3] Separate schools were declared illegal by an act
of the General Assembly in 1881.
[Footnote 1: Thorpe, _Federal and State Constitutions_, vol. v., p.
2604.]
[Footnote 2: _Southern Workman_, vol. xxxvii., p. 390.]
[Footnote 3: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 400.]
Certain communities of New York provided separate schools for colored
pupils rather than admit them to those open to white children. On
recommendation of the superintendent of schools in 1823 the State
adopted the policy of organizing schools exclusively for colored
people.
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