Slater Fund facts for kids
The John F. Slater Fund for the Education of Freedmen was a special fund started in 1882 by John Fox Slater. Its goal was to help educate African Americans in the Southern United States after the American Civil War. Over the years, it gave out about $4,000,000 before it stopped working on its own in 1937.
Starting the Fund: How It Began
In May 1882, John Fox Slater gave $1,000,000 to a group of people called trustees. These trustees were officially recognized by the State of New York. The fund's main purpose was to help the "lately emancipated" people in the Southern States and their children. This meant giving them the benefits of a Christian education.
Another fund, the Peabody Education Fund, was started earlier in 1867. It could only support schools that already existed in the South. At that time, there were no public schools for freed African Americans before the Civil War. Also, after the Reconstruction period, public schools were still very limited for them.
The Slater Fund was different. It helped schools that taught colored students. Most Black people still lived in country areas. They had to go to separate public schools. These schools usually did not get much money from the state governments. This was because white Democrat leaders controlled these governments. The South was also trying to recover from the Civil War. Its economy was mostly based on farming, so there wasn't much money for public services like schools.
Important People Who Helped
Many important people were part of the original group of trustees for the fund. These included former President Rutherford B. Hayes, Morrison Waite, William E. Dodge, Phillips Brooks, Daniel Coit Gilman, and Morris Ketchum Jesup. John Fox Slater's son, William A. Slater, was also a trustee.
Later, other notable people joined the group. These included Melville Fuller, William E Dodge, Jr, Henry Codman Potter, Cleveland H Dodge, and Seth Low. By 1909, the fund had grown to more than $1,500,000. This was thanks to careful investments, even after spending money on education.
Some key leaders who managed the fund were Atticus Greene Haygood, Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, Wallace Buttrick, and James H. Dillard. They worked as general agents for the fund.
What the Fund Did: Its Work
The Slater Fund was very helpful in supporting vocational schools in the South. Vocational schools teach practical skills for jobs. The biggest schools that received help were:
- The Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Hampton, Virginia.
- The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama.
- Spelman Seminary in Atlanta.
- Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
- Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.
In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the Slater State Normal and Industrial School was founded in 1892. It was named after John Fox Slater. Today, this school is part of Winston-Salem State University. Other state normal schools for African Americans also got help from the fund. Some city school boards in the South received assistance too. The fund mainly supported practical skills training rather than general university studies.
The fund also helped pay for the yearly Hampton Negro Conference. This important meeting was held at the Hampton Institute.
Around 1915, the Peabody Education Fund closed down. Some of its money and resources were given to the Slater Fund. Then, in 1937, the Southern Education Foundation was created. This new foundation combined the money and resources from the Slater Fund, the Negro Rural School Fund, and the Virginia Randolph Fund.
