[1] Children of African blood were successfully admitted to the
New Bedford schools on equality with the white youth in 1838.[2] In
1846 the school committee of that town reported that the colored
pupils were regular in their attendance, and as successful in their
work as the whites. There were then ninety in all in that system; four
in the high school, forty in grammar schools, and the remainder in the
primary department, all being scattered in such a way as to have one
to four in twenty-one to twenty-eight schools. At Lowell the children
of a colored family were not only among the best in the schools but
the greatest favorites in the system.[3]
[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., p. 20, and _Niles Register_, vol. lxvi., p.
320.]
[Footnote 2: _Minority Report_, etc., p. 23.]
[Footnote 3: _Minority Report_, etc., p. 25.]
The consolidation of the colored school of Salem with the others of
that city led to no disturbance. Speaking of the democracy of these
schools in 1846 Mr. Richard Fletcher said: "The principle of perfect
equality is the vital principle of the system. Here all classes of
the community mingle together. The rich and the poor meet on terms of
equality and are prepared by the same instruction to discharge the
duties of life.
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