In April, 1919, at the request of the Board of Education of Memphis, Tennessee, the United States Commissioner of Education submitted the conditions on which the Bureau of Education would make a survey of the public school system of that city. This study of the Memphis schools is intended to be a study of policies and practices; not of persons. The report is issued in seven separate parts for general circulation. Part I is divided into three distinct chapters. Chapter I, An industrial and social study of Memphis, contains the following sections: (1) Introduction; (2) Strategic position for trade; (3) Population and nativity; (4) Memphis a distributing center; (5) Industries of Memphis; (7) Social consciousness of Memphis; (8) Memphis on the threshold of a new era; and (9) Educational needs of Memphis. Chapter II, School organization, supervision, and finance covers: (1) Politics, the board of education and the superintendent; (2) Qualifications of teachers; (3) Salaries of school employees; (4) Pupil promotions and failures; (5) Ability of Memphis to finance proposed program; and (6) Summary of conclusions and recommendations. Chapter III, The building program, concludes the bulletin with: (1) A far-sighted building program needed in Memphis; (2) Congestion greatest in 13 elementary buildings; (3) One method of relieving school congestion; (4) A second method--the work-study-play plan; (5) The principle of multiple use of school facilities; (6) A building program for Memphis based on the work-study-play plan; (7) Summary; (8) General recommendations--selection of sites, lighting, cloakrooms; and (9) Suggestions regarding individual buildings. Individual sections contain footnotes. (Contains 88 tables.) [For Parts 2-7, see ED541285-ED541290. Best copy available has been provided.]