OKLAHOMA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma.

The origin of the institution, which has come to be known as the Oklahoma School for the Blind, is to be associated with the name of Miss Lura A. Rowland, now Mrs. Lura A. Lowrey. Mrs. Lowrey, a graduate of the Arkansas School for the Blind, undertook in 1897, the establishment of a school for the blind in the Indian Territory. The school was organized, having a board of directors, and was known as the International School for the Blind.

Mrs. Lowrey traveled extensively in the Territory, and by various means, secured funds with which to equip a building for formal opening. The school was formally opened at Fort Gibson, in what was known as the Barracks building, with an enrollment of ten pupils, January 3, 1898. For approximately ten years the school was conducted under the direct supervision of Mrs. Lowery. There were in all, eleven terms, comprising each from six weeks to nine months duration. The school, being a private institution, was supported by private and public subscription. The Cherokee and Choctaw Nations appropriated for several years from thhree to six hundred dollars per annum for the maintenance of the school. Mrs. Lowery made repeated efforts to secure an appropriation from Congress-all of which were unsuccessful.

Mrs. Lowery, having resigned, was succeeded by C. E. Harmon, July 1, 1907. He moved the school, December 14, from Fort Gibson to Wagoner, at which place it remained until July, 1908, when it was relocated at Fort Gibsun.

The First Legislature of the State of Oklahoma appropriated $5,000, the act being approved May 29, 1908, for the maintenance of "The Lura A. Lowery School for the Blind," and provided in the same act, that the school should be under the control of the State Board of Education. In July, 1908, George W. Bruce was elected, by the board, president of the school. Under the new management, the school was opened October 15, 1908, in two residence buildings, with an enrollment of thirty-three pupils. Bruce served as president of the school until June 30, 1911. During his three years' presidency, the maximum enrollment was forty-two. The State Board of Education, on May 25, 1911, elected as superintendent of the Oklahoma School for the Blind, which name was given to the institution, Oscar W. Stewart, who began his duties July 1, 1911.

The Legislature of 1909 and 1911 each appropriated money for the maintenance of the school for the blind, but declined to permanently locate it. The school is being conducted in buildings formerly occupied by officers when a United States fort was maintained at Fort Gibson.

Superintendent Stewart is a graduate of the Texas School for the Blind, and has been for several years unofficially active in behalf of

the welfare of this school. Upon taking charge, he immediately arranged for other buildings and now there is capacity for sixty pupils. The State Board of Education prescribed the course of study in the literary department to be that of the common and high schools of the State, and plans are under way whereby the school will be technically articulated with the State University, Thorough courses in music, piano tuning and repairing, weaving, sewing and typewrit ing, are given in this school. The eligibility of pupils has been stated as follows: "All persons over six and under twenty-one years of age, who are of such mental and physical ability as to enable them to do systematic study, whose vision is so impaired as to make it impossible for them to attend the schools for the sighted, are proper persons to be received in the school for the blind."

COLORED AGRICULTURAL AND NORMAL
UNIVERSITY

Langston, Oklahoma.

This institution was established at Langston by an act of the Territorial Legislature in 1897, for the purpose of giving the negroes of Oklahoma, normal collegiate, industrial and agricultural training. Forty acres of land for building and agricultural purposes were donated by the people of Langston and its immediate vicinity. The same legislature which established the school, appropriated the sum of $5,000 for its benefit, but this amount proved inadequate for the erection of a suitable building, the employment of teachers and the purchase of necessary aquipment. At this time, the land lease money was so divided among the territorial institutions as to make it possible for the school to continue its work without serious embarassment until an appropriation could be made for its support by the next legislature.

The legislature which met in 1899, made an appropriation of $10,000 for building purposes, provided a tax levy on one-tenth of a mill, set apart one-fifth of the land lease money and one-tenth of the amount which was given the Territory annually by the Federal Government, in compliance with the Morrill Act, and made an appropriation of $15,000 from the accrued Morrill fund for the maintenance and equipment of the university.

Owing to the fact that this last appropriation was not approved by the Secretary of the Interior because he was of the opinion that it was made in violation of law, the regents, at the suggestion of Governor Barnes, adopted a resolution asking the delegate in Congress to introduce a bill providing for the ratification of that part of the act of the ligislature which contained the appropriation. The bill passed.

Two new buildings were then erected-a dormitory for young women and a mechanic arts building, and the amount of acreage was increased to one hundred and sixty acres.

The First Legislature of the State of Oklahoma appropriated a fraction over $40,000 for the maintenance of the university for the year 1908-1909, which amount, added to the income from the rental of section thirteen and from the Morrill fund, raised the total annual income to $48,000.

To relieve the crowded condition, due to the destruction by fire of the main building in November, 1907, and to the increased attendance, the same legislature, also, appropriated $100,000 for the erection of a new main building and for additional improvements. The enrollment totals 673 students. The Second Legislature appropriated $85,000 for maintenance and improvements, and the Third, $82,400.