The chairman of the trustees for many years was Robert C.Winthrop of Massachusetts, and the other members of the board were distinguished men, both Northern and Southern.

The first general agent, as the active administrator was called, was Barnas Sears, who at the time of his election was president of Brown University.
Dr.Sears was an unusual man, who comprehended conditions in the South and was disposed to improve them in every feasible way by using the resources at his command.

He had no inflexible program and was willing to modify his plans to fit changing conditions.

The income of the Fund appears small in this day of munificent foundations, but it seemed large then; and its effects were far-reaching.

Sears was not an educational reformer in the modern sense.