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Talladega College. Talladega. Ala.
Rev. J. M. P. Metcalf, President
I . Talladelra. a t wn of uPI er Alabama, n ar th picturCJu
hills of the DIu Rin~e. an impo ing brick buildinO'
\Va ered d in 1 .52. bv the lav ,a a hiO'h chool for
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the . n. of th ir ma·t rs. During the war it wa u ed a a
pri. on for Ih F deral oldieI'. and in ] 67 wa pl.lrcha ed by
1h American ::\li ·siomu)·. ociation ( onO'r (ratIonal) a a
ehool buildinO' for the ra e who e labor had erected it and
who e frel'dom \Va' du to the arm~' who furni hed the prisoners.
Thi wa the beginnjng of Talladega ollege, the first
ehartered ehool in Alabama opened to the colored people of
that tate.
The lave carpenter who awed the fi t plank for the builrunO',
siO'hinO' becau e hi children would never have a chance for
edu ation like the childr n of hi rna tel'. lived to ee three of ill
children I' ceiye diplom from TalladeO'a, pur uinO' advanced
tudie in a I' citation room containinlY It window pane on which,
in ] 62 a .orth('rn oloier had ut the word, "Pri oner of
War." Two of th childr n of the former lav carpenter are
teacher in the in titution, ann the third urrendered a po itlon
II;" tach I' to borne th wife of a mini t l' who wa trained in
the am ·hool.
Remarkable Changes in a Generation
Th rcmarknble chanO'e , b th in hllman opinion and in
. oeial condition within a in ylc tY n rati n, find illu. tration in
nn in('id nt which il1dude~ both: "" I n, in ] 61. thf> newly
organi7.ed Confcdcl"Ute . late' govcrnm'llt called for volunte l'
10 aid ill mnil1tninin~ if exi.t nee. 110 more hearty I' pon wa
made than b.\' th pupils of th Doy HiO'h. -ho lloeat d on on
f Tnlladq~a .. uburban hill. Among tho' who volunte l' d
\Va.., a YOUII~ man. eight en y ar of aO'e. known Ih n as " Joe"
John. ton. He was 'oon .ent to th front, and, after erving
througb the war. he wn: ll1U t red out b arin a captain com-
1111- IOn.
Y a pa d. th whit Ooy • hi.,h -h I buildin had ('.hang d
hands and had bee me the wam Hall of Tallad ga 011 g
for Tegroe , and ju t a third of a century aft l' til do of the
j,-il War .\Jabama hief x cutiv wru apt. Jo eph F. John _
ton. gOY rnor of th tat.
138
In 1 98 another call for volunteers came to that arne sellOol
building. It was from Governor Johnston, and was sent in the
name of the government of the nited States to the boy of the
'I.' 0'1'0 colleO'e invitinO' them to enlist in the Third Alabama .l"l: b b ' 0 .
Regiment. and, if nece ary, to fight. for the ltberty of
uha. orne thirtv of them responded, and all who were
mu tered in brought. honor to their race and to the country
which (~lIed them.
The Present Talladega College
Talladega forty-two years ago had a single building and 140
pupils, scarcely one of whom could read. The present Talladega
College has 20 buildings clustered about the original ca~pus;
a large farm and property which. with endowments, IS
worth $400,000; 35 professors and instructors. It has an
annual attendance of more than ix hundred students in its
. everal departments - preparatory, normal, college, theological,
mu ic - and conducts department of wood working, iron and
printing, an agricultural department with a farm of 800 acres,
and nul' e training, cooking and sewing work.
The chool for forty-two years ha both developed the colored
people and developed with them. In 1868 a chUl'ch was organi7.
ed, and a department of theology with 18 members but three
year out of slavery. Now, ten churches in Alabama are the
outgrowth of this first Congregational church. Talladega was
the fir t. hoarding school for the freedmen in Alabama, and
aid to be the first in the United States to introduce among
them indu trial training.
Eminent Graduates of Talladega
Among th graduates are the presidents of three colleges in
Alabama, Florida and Texa; the dean of a theological
emjnar.v in Atlanta, and principals of city schools in Montgomery,
Tu ke<ree, Girard. Ala., Dallas and Forney, Tex.
Durin' 1908 fiftv-five graduate. of Talladega were employed in
the churches and chool of the American Missionary Association
in nine of the Southern tates.
The annual requir ment for the expense of the college
ar 20.000. Two third of this amount i secured from
'th American Mi ionary ociation, and the remainder
from tuition, income from endowment funds, and inruyidual
contribution..
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