N. Work, Director
of Research and Records, Tuskegee Institute, and President John W.
Davis of the West Virginia Collegiate Institute.

At two o'clock the Association held a business session. The general
routine of business was followed. There being no unfinished business
or reports of special committees, the Association heard the reports
of the officers of last year. The Director read his report and the
report of the Secretary-Treasurer was presented by his assistant, Miss
A. H. Smith. They follow:

THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR

During the year 1919-1920 the Association has made steady
progress in spite of the difficulties resulting from the
increasing cost of labor and supplies. There has been some
difficulty in raising additional funds adequate to the needs of
the Association and for this reason the organization is now
suffering from a deficit of about $2500. Persons of means,
however, have from time to time volunteered so as to give
sufficient relief to keep the work going. Efforts are now being
made to remove this deficit in the near future through the
increase in the contributions annually received and gifts from
other friends who will be asked to make sacrifices for the cause.

The study of Negro history has not extended by leaps and bounds
but the progress of the work is in every way encouraging. The
number of subscribers to the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY has not
increased because of the necessity to double the subscription
price in keeping with the demands of high prices, but the
influence of the work has considerably expanded. This magazine is
now being used as collateral reading in most of the leading white
and Negro institutions of the country and the number of classes
thus engaged are increasing every year. There is also a healthy
public opinion in favor of prosecuting the study of Negro history
more vigorously. Almost any book setting forth facts as to what
the Negro has thought and felt and done now has considerable
demand among persons in this country and abroad. While this
Association does not claim credit for all which has been
accomplished in this field, it has certainly given a decided
stimulus to the work.

It will be interesting to report, moreover, the number of
institutions closely cooperating with the Association in
prosecuting the study of the