Peabody Education Fund
Encyclopedia
Founded of necessity due to damage caused largely by the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, the Peabody Education Fund was established by George Peabody
George Peabody
George Peabody was an American-British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Trust in Britain and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and was responsible for many other charitable initiatives.-Biography:...

 in 1867 for the purpose of promoting "intellectual, moral, and industrial education in the most destitute portion of the Southern States." The gift of foundation consisted of securities to the value of $2,100,000, of which $1,100,000 were in Mississippi State
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 bonds, afterward repudiated. In 1869 an additional $1,000,000 was given by Mr. Peabody, with $384,000 of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 funds, also repudiated later. The main purpose of the fund was to aid elementary education by strengthening existing schools. Because it was restricted from founding new schools, it did not benefit freedmen in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

, as there were no established schools for blacks.

"The fund introduced a new type of benefaction in that it was left without restriction in the hands of the trustees to administer. Power to close the trust after thirty years was provided on condition that two-thirds of the fund be distributed to educational institutions in the Southern states."

The rules of the Peabody Education Fund were strict, allowing for the distribution of about $80,000 per year over a period of thirty years. By the time of the termination of the fund in 1898, about $2,500,000 had been distributed. In 1875 the trustees of the Peabody Education Fund founded the Peabody Normal School
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...

 of the South which promptly became the Peabody Normal College (1875-1911). It was maintained in connection with the University of Nashville
University of Nashville
The University of Nashville was an educational institution that existed as a distinct entity from 1826 until 1909. During its history, it operated at various times a medical school, a four-year military college, a literary arts college, and a boys preparatory school...

 and supported by annual donations from the Peabody Education Fund. In 1910 the Peabody College for Teachers
Peabody College
Peabody College of Education and Human Development was founded in 1875 when the University of Nashville, located in Nashville, Tennessee, split into two separate educational institutions...

 was organized. Placed adjacent to Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

, the college opened its doors on June 14, 1914 for summer school. In September 1915, four new buildings had been completed at a cost of $750,000. About 1915, the Peabody Education Fund ceased to exist.

The Southern Education Foundation
Southern education foundation
The Southern Education Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation created in 1937 from four different funds — the Peabody Education Fund, the John F Slater Fund, the Negro Rural School Fund, and the Virginia Randolph Fund. Their main goal is to promote quality education for traditionally...

, a not-for-profit foundation, was created in 1937 from the Peabody Education Fund and three intended to support education for blacks: the John F Slater Fund
Slater Fund
The John F. Slater Fund for the Education of Freedmen was created in the United States in 1882 for the encouragement of industrial education among negroes in the South....

, the Negro Rural School Fund, and the Virginia Randolph Fund.

Literature

L. P. Ayres
Leonard Porter Ayres
Leonard Porter Ayres was an American educator, soldier, and statistician.-Biography:Ayres was born at Niantic, Conn. He received his college and graduate training at Boston, Harvard, and Columbia universities....

, Seven Great Foundations (New York, 1911)

Orr, D. (1950). A History of Education in Georgia. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK