The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.2, page 18, 20 Nov. 1868, U. of Illinois Press

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The BOOKER T. WAS HINGTON Papers tended. The school was owned by the freedmen of the Malden area and was a one-room, one-teacher operation. The average day-school attendance in 1867-68 was twenty-seven pupils, generally more males than females except in the spring, when girls outnumbered boys. Most of the students were less than sixteen years of age and were learning the rudiments of reading and writing. Other courses included geography and arithmetic, but it is clear from the statistics of Davis's reports that less than half the students were ''advanced readers'' or arithmetic students. A greater number of students, averaging approximately forty during 186768, attended the Sabbath school held in conjunction with the regular day school. In 1867 Davis felt that the black schools in the Malden area were not well received by the whites. In November ~ 867 he reported to John Kimball that ''General apathy prevails, where there is not decided prejudice and opposition.'' The following year Davis thought conditions were ''very good.'' The Freedmen's Bureau encouraged students in the black schools to form temperance clubs, and Davis was proud to report that in August ~ 868 he had twenty pupils in the ''Van Guard of Freedom No. 64.'' (Reports, William Davis to John Kimball, Nov. 1867Sept. ~ 868, RG~ on BRFAL DNA. ~ in ~ 868 there were eight day schools, one night school, and five Sabbath schools for black children in the Kanawha Valley. These schools ranged from run-down log cabins to small buildings erected and owned by local black school patrons. Charleston boasted the best facilities, valued at $~,300. The Tinkersville school used a small black church, which may account in part for the high attendance at the Sabbath school. (Sub-Assistant Commissioner's Report on the Education of Freedmen and Refugees in the 6th Sub-District, West Virginia, Jan.-June 1868, RG~os BRFAL DNA.) IS