normal schools, and the Girl's Technical School at Montevallo. In addition, the state took control of the Alabama Boy's Industrial School. Comer's educational reforms influenced the state's educational system for a century. More than 25 percent of the state's revenue in 1910 was derived from leasing African-American convicts to private enterprises. The journalist Douglas Blackmon notes that Comer based his improvements for white citizens on funds derived from the slave labor of African Americans. The curriculum level was raised for white students, with resulting increases in literacy, but in the segregated system, African Americans did not get equal funding for their educational system. Under Comer, the money spent on education for black children on a per capita basis was one-seventh that for white children. Literacy climbed dramatically for whites but lagged for blacks (by 1920, the rate was less than 50% for African Americans in Alabama). Comer adamantly asserted that investment by the state in its educational infrastructure was "of the utmost importance, advising the legislature "...to be liberal in their appropriations to the University of Alabama, Auburn (University), (The University of) Montevallo, all the schools of Alabama, as much so as the finances of the state will admit, because the investment is the best." A testament to Comer's emphasis on education as the supreme attribute of any society, one of his final actions was to direct the construction of the Catherine Comer School in Barbour County. Due to mandatory segregation in educational facilities at the time, only white children could attend the Catherine Comer School. To ensure that all had access to educational opportunities, Comer also directed the construction of the Beckie Comer School, also in Barbour County. Prohibition Progressives were divided on prohibition, with some believing it should be decided by local jurisdictions and others supporting the passage of state laws against the sale of alcohol. During his gubernatorial campaign and first two years as governor, Comer viewed prohibition as a local matter. "By 1908…50 of the state's 67 counties had voted for prohibition." Despite the majority of the counties being "dry," the powerful Anti-Saloon League pushed for statewide prohibition. Other prohibition groups rallied to the League's push for a statewide law, forcing Comer to call the legislature into a special session to decide the matter. The 1909 special session enacted prohibition statewide, "but, not content with a mere statute, they also proposed a constitutional amendment to end