PROF. THOMAS HENRY KANE, AN HONORED NORTH LOUISIANA EDUCATOR.

        One of the most widely known teachers in the state is the subject of this sketch. He was born in slavery, of Mr. Samuel and Mrs. Amanda Kane in the state of South Carolina, February 6, 1853.

        After the horrors and besetments of American slavery had passed and freedom had been freighted with educational hope for the Negro, young Kane began to apply himself. The first school he attended was Providence, Benton, La., next Peter's School, Shreveport, La., and finally Bishop College, Marshall, Texas. Here he was a hard student, and through that pluck and indomitable will so characteristic of the professor, he laid the educational foundation on which he stands today, and on which he has stood and won his hard-fought scholastic battle from the country schools of Greenwood, La., and Kellyville, Texas, up to the principalship of the Antoine or Mt. Zion School, Shreveport. La.

        Prof. Kane is active in educational circles, both local and national, having conducted State Summer Normals for years in various parts of Louisiana and represented the State at the National Teachers' Association. He has been identified with the growth of public schools for years, being among the prime movers who influenced the public school authorities to grant and establish the Peabody Normal in Shreveport for Negroes; and through his untiring efforts the new school building where he now teaches was erected.

        His interest does not stop with the children in the day school, but extends to the Evergreen Baptist Church Sunday-School, which he has super-intended for a number of years. He came to this work shortly after he was converted and baptized into the membership of the Antioch Baptist Church in 1877 by Bishop Thomas Christian. He has been continuously engaged in Sunday-school work since uniting with Evergreen. For many years he presided over the children of the entire District, being President of the Thirteenth District Sunday-School Association. While holding this position he became endeared both to the children of his school and those of the District. He delighted in lecturing the Negro Boy's Improvement Association?a movement organized by Bishop Wm. Hicks, A. B., D. D., at Trinity Baptist Church. Professor Kane is a great reader, having read the Bible through several times, and reads almost daily some of the best authors of this and other ages, thus keeping abreast of the times and holding his own among the educators of his day.

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