The Pennsylvania Freedmen's Bulletin

The primary source I found was from the Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Bulletin that was a monthly journal put out to show all the progress being made by people volunteering to go south and help the freed people.  This monthly journal combines July, August, September, and October of 1867.  

The first part of this journal speaks of the courage teachers returning from the south and all their great works.  It asks that people donate money, clothes, food, or anything.  It also describes how much it would mean to a teacher if they received a letter of support.  They talk about the school buildings being in poor condition but the prosperity of the “colored people” depends on their children being educated.  They mentioned that the children voted unanimously to cancel recess to continue their studies.  They even indicate that the colored children are making more progress than their white counterparts.

Another article in this journal tells the story of Robert P. Martin of Person County, North Carolina.  He was a young man whom had been a slave since he was born.  He had traveled north to request $500 to build churches and schoolhouses.  The northern freedman’s organization was fascinated by his life story.  When he was 16 he had found God.  Going to church and learning how to pray made him want to learn how to read so he could preach the Word.  A friend of his taught him the alphabet on their lunch breaks and from that point on he taught himself how to read.  He was able to get his hand on a bible and continued to progress.  He had to be secretive about this since it was illegal for slaves to learn how to read.  The story so fascinated his northern friends that they were willing to donate money.  He only received a little over $200, but he believed it was a great start.