Report for the Williams School in Virginia, filed September 1867, by Sam'l. C. Windsor, Teacher. Sam'l C. Windsor was the sole teacher at the Williams School, a Freedmen's Bureau-supported school, in Elizabeth City County, Virginia in September 1867. The Freedmen's Bureau schools would submit monthly reports of statistics about their students, the classes taught, the amount of money paid by parents for tuition, and other details. This report is particularly memorable because of several things Mr. Windsor added to it. In the last blank space for “Remarks”, he wrote this heartfelt line:
The people are not able to pay the tuition; but they want to send their children to school. The other memorable thing that Sam'l. C. Windsor did was to seize the opportunity to define his own identity, outside of the boxes given. Where the form asked “What number of Teachers and Assistants at your School?”, he answered “1”. When provided space to fill in the number of “White?”s, he responded “0”. When provided space for “Colored?”s, he again responded “0”. Instead, he wrote down in words that ring with self-determination and pride, underscored twice: I am a Negro. “they want to send their children to school” http://www.digitalvaults.org/#/detail/1708/?record=1708
“Freedmen's Bureau Records: An Overview” http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1997/summer/freedmens-bureau-records.html