3 comments

  1. Jeff Sharritt

    What does it mean by free school?

    1. Alabama Pioneers

      Prior to this time, parents paid for their children to attend school, either at their own home or with a private teacher in the community. The free school described in the article was the first one in Birmingham where the teachers and principal were paid by the city government through taxes. All students in the community could attend for free – that is all white students in Birmingham could attend. Schools were segregated and I don’t believe there was a free school for African-American students. In 1901, one African-American man started a school for wayward boys with his own funds in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I wrote a story about him here. http://alabamapioneers.com/sam-daleys-school-in-tuscaloosa-have-you-ever-heard-of-it/

    2. Donna R Causey

      Before free schools, parents had to pay tuition at private schools or pay to have their children tutored. There were very few schools that were free for the public.

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