Primary Source: Wealth and Education by the Numbers, North Carolina 1900

These tables of data appeared at the front of a 1903 State Board of Education report on the State Colored Normal Schools. They compare the wealth of black and white North Carolinians and provide information on the colored schools, the state’s free public schools for African Americans, for the time period. 


1. Value of property in North Carolina, 1903

  Amount Percent of Total
White property

 $332,978,471.00   

76.8%   
Colored property     

$14,852,811.00

3.4%
Railroads, etc.

$85,856,527.00

19.8%
Total

$433,687,809.50

100.0%

2. North Carolina population, 1870-1900

  1870 1880 1890 1900
Total Population   

1,071,361   

1,399,750    1,617,947    1,893,810   
White   

687,470

867,242 1,055,382 1,263,603
Colored   

392,891

532,508 562,565 630,207
Percent total population, white 

63.33%

61.69% 65.23% 66.7%
Percent total population, colored   

36.67%

38.04% 34.77% 33.3%

3. Facts about colored public schools, 1904–05

  Rural City Total
Colored school population

192,720

34,256 226,976
School enrollment

132,363

16,458 148,821
Average daily attendance

73,958

9,432 83,390
Percentage of enrollment in daily attendance

56%

57% 56%
Percentage of school population enrolled

68%

48% 55%
Average number of children enrolled with each teacher   

54

61 55
Teachers employed

2,413

269 2,682
Percentage of teachers women

60.9%

72.9% 62.1%
School term in days

80

159 82
Average monthly salary of teachers     

$22.20

$31.40 $25.62
Average annual amount paid each teacher

$89.08

$248.85 $105.10
Salary per school day

$1.11

$1.57 $1.28
Salary per week while employed

$5.55

$7.85 $6.41
Salary per week (52 weeks)

$2.41

$6.57 $2.85
Total amount paid teachers

$214,951.91        

$66,940.69         $281,892.60        
Total amount spent for buildings

$17,825.64

$4,677.58 $22,503.22
Total expenditures for colored schools

$232,777.55

$71,618.27 $304,395.82
Percentage of total expenditures spent for colored schools        

16.3%

13.5% 15.5%
Percentage of total school population colored

31.7%

38.3% 32.5%
Spent for each child enrolled

$1.76

$4.35 $2.05
Spent for each child in daily attendance

$3.14

$7.59 $3.65
Number of schools

2,284

52 2,336
Schools having only one teacher

2,168

2 2,170
Schools having two or more teachers

116

50 166

Average area covered by each rural school

----- ----- 21.3 sq. m.
School-houses

2,198

63 2,261
Log houses

293

----- 293
Value of school property

$273,368.00                

$197,438.00                 $470,806.00                
Average value of each house

$124.37

$3,133.93 $208.23

4. Increase in property values by races, 1891–1904

Year

Total Assessed Value of all Property Railroads, Telegraph, etc White Property Colored Property

1891

$262,796,816            $16,668,802            $234,109,568                  $8,018,446                 

1901

$342,222,009 $58,780,200 $271,981,493 $11,460,316

Increase ten years

$79,425,193 $42,111,398 $37,871,925 $3,441,870

Percentage increase ten years     

30.2% 252.6% 16.1% 42.9%

1904

$442,418,677 $87,022,746 $339,969,769 $15,426,162

Increase three years

$100,196,668 $28,242,546 $67,988,276 $3,965,846

Percentage increase three years     

29.2% 48.0% 24.9% 34.6%

1903

$433,687,809       $85,856,527       $332,978,471       $14,852,811      

Increase one year

$8,730,868 $1,166,219 $6,991,298 $573,351

Percentage increase one year

2.0% 1.3% 2.1% 3.8%

Primary Source Citation: 

Second Annual Catalogue of the North Carolina State Colored Normal Schools for 1905-'06 with Announcements for 1906-'07. Raleigh: E.M. Uzzell & Co., State Printers and Binders, 1906. Joyner Library Special Collections, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/13579

 

Credit text

Second Annual Catalogue of the North Carolina State Colored Normal Schools for 1905-'06 (Raleigh: E. M. Uzzell & Co., for the North Carolina State Board of Education, 1906), pp. ii, 2, and 4.