Very soon Iola realized that while she was heartily appreciated by the freedmen, she was an object of suspicion and dislike to their former owners.

The North had conquered by the supremacy of the sword, and the South had bowed to the inevitable.

But here was a new army that had come with an invasion of ideas, that had come to supplant ignorance with knowledge, and it was natural that its members should be unwelcome to those who had made it a crime to teach their slaves to read the name of the ever blessed Christ.

But Iola had found her work, and the freed men their friend.
When Iola opened her school she took pains to get acquainted with the parents of the children, and she gained their confidence and co-operation.

Her face was a passport to their hearts.