at Hilton Head and Beaufort, S.C.  Then came the Emancipation Proclamation, throwing wide open the door of the great need.  Rev. John Eaton, army chaplain from Ohio, afterwards United States Commissioner of Education, was placed in charge of the instruction of the Negroes, and in one way or another by the close of the war probably as many as one million in the South had learned to read and write.  The 83 missionaries and teachers of the Association in 1863 increased to 250 in 1864.  At the first day session of the school in Norfolk after the Proclamation there were 350 scholars, with 300 others in the evening.  On the third day there were 550 in the day school and 500 others in the evening.  The school had to be divided, a part going to another church; the assistants increased in number, and soon the day attendance was 1,200.  For such schools the houses on abandoned plantations were used, and even public buildings were called into commission.  Afterwards arose the higher institutions, Atlanta, Berea, Fisk, Talladega, Straight, with numerous secondary schools.  Similarly the Baptists founded the colleges which, with some changes of name, have become Virginia Union, Hartshorn, Shaw, Benedict, Morehouse, Spelman, Jackson, and Bishop, with numerous affiliated institutions.  The Methodists began to operate Clark (in South Atlanta), Claflin, Rust, Wiley, and others; and the Presbyterians, having already founded Lincoln in 1854, now founded Biddle and several seminaries for young women; while the United Presbyterians founded Knoxville.  In course of time the distinctively Negro denominations—­the A.M.E., the A.M.E.Z., and the C.M.E. (which last represented a withdrawal from the Southern Methodists in 1870)—­also helped in the work, and thus, in addition to Wilberforce in Ohio, arose such institutions as Morris Brown University, Livingstone College, and Lane College.  In 1867, moreover, the Federal Government crowned its work for the education of the Negro by the establishment at Washington of Howard University.

As these institutions have grown they have naturally developed some differences or special emphasis.  Hampton and Atlanta University are now independent; and Berea has had a peculiar history, legislation in Kentucky in 1903 restricting the privileges of the institution to white students.  Hampton, in the hands of General Armstrong, placed emphasis on the idea of industrial and practical education which has since become world-famous.  In 1871 the Fisk Jubilee Singers began their memorable progress through America and Europe, meeting at first with scorn and sneers, but before long touching the heart of the world with their strange music.  Their later success was as remarkable as their mission was unique.  Meanwhile Spelman Seminary, in the record of her graduates who have gone as missionaries to Africa, has also developed a glorious tradition.