They knew their work was important. But they had no way of knowing the true, lasting impact they had on generations of students, on the American South at large, and, consequently, on America as a whole. In one of his reports fourteen years into the existence of the Jeanes teacher program, William Dillard, the president of the Jeanes Fund, wrote, “There have been no nobler pioneers and missionaries than these humble teachers. They have literally gone about doing good.”[17]
