Teachers and students had been dispersed; buildings had been burned or used for hospitals and laboratories; and public libraries had virtually disappeared.
The colleges made efforts to open in the fall of 1865.

Only one student presented himself at the University of Alabama for matriculation; but before June 1866, the stronger colleges were again in operation.

The public or semi-public schools for the whites also opened in the fall.
In the cities where Federal military authorities had brought about the employment of Northern teachers, there was some friction.

In New Orleans, for example, the teachers required the children to sing Northern songs and patriotic airs.

When the Confederates were restored to power, these teachers were dismissed.
The movement toward Negro education was general throughout the South.
Among the blacks themselves there was an intense desire to learn.