fertile counties not only would settle as much land as a family of four
or five in number could cultivate, but as much as they were able to buy
Negroes to cultivate. Quite a few families with only five or six in
number would have land enough to work from 100 to 1,000 Negroes. One can
see from this how a few white families would, as they often did, own a
whole county. Now the Negro is not migratory in his nature; having been
brought to these counties during slavery, he has remained here in
freedom. He is not, therefore, primarily responsible for his being here
in such great numbers. These white families settled in little villages
seven or eight miles apart. The distances between were made up of their
plantations, on which were thousands of slaves. Only a few Negroes were
employed as domestics in comparison with the great numbers who worked on
plantations. It was only these few who, in learning to serve the white
man, properly got a glimpse of real home life. The masses had absolutely
no idea of such a life; nothing was done that would lead them to secure
any such knowledge.
Since their emancipation the masses of these people have had neither
competent preachers nor teachers; consequently most of them have
remained hopelessly ignorant even until this day. One hearing the great
condemnation heaped upon the Negro in these sections for his failure to
measure up to the standards of true citizenship and to proper standards
of life would get the idea that the proud Anglo-Saxon has spent a great
deal of time in trying to teach him the fundamental principles that
underlie life; but this is not the case. There are exceptions to all
rules, however, and here and there one may find noble and patriotic
white men laboring for the uplift of fallen humanity without regard to
race, color, or previous condition.
During the summer of 1893, after returning from Tuskegee, being anxious
to learn more of the real condition of our people in the "Black Belt," I
visited most of the places in Wilcox County and a few places in the
counties of Monroe, Butler, Dallas, and Lowndes, making the entire
journey on foot.
It was a bright and beautiful morning in June when I started from my
home, a log cabin. More than two hundred Negroes were in the near-by
fields plowing corn, hoeing cotton, and singing those beautiful songs
often referred to as plantation melodies. Notably, I am Going to Roll in
my Jesus' Arms; O Freedom! Before I'd be a Slave I'd be Carried to My
Grave, etc., may be mentioned. With the beautiful fields of corn and
cotton outstretched before me, and the shimmering brook like a silver
thread twining its way through the golden meadows, and then through
verdant fields, giving water to thousands of creatures as it passed, I
felt that the earth was truly clothed in His beauty and the fulness of
His glory.
But I had scarcely gone beyond the limits of the field when I came to a
thick undergrowth of pines. Here we saw old pieces of timber and two
posts.
"This marks the old cotton-gin house," said Uncle Jim, my companion, and
then his countenance grew sad; after a sigh he said: "I have seen many a
Negro whipped within an inch of his life at these posts. I have seen
them whipped so badly that they had to be carried away in wagons. Many
never did recover."
From this our road led first up-hill, then down, and finally through a
stretch of woods until we reached Carlowville. This was once the most
aristocratic village of the southern part of Dallas County. Perhaps no
one who owned less than a hundred slaves was able to secure a home
within its borders. Here still are to be seen the stately mansions of
the Lydes, the Lees, the Wrumphs, the Bibbses, the Youngbloods, and the
Reynoldses. Many of these mansions have been partly rebuilt and
remodeled to conform to modern styles of architecture, while others have
been deserted and are now fast decaying. Usually these mansions are
occupied by others than the original families. The original families
have sold out or have died out.
In Carlowville stands the largest white church in Dallas or Wilcox
Counties. It has a seating capacity of 1,000, excluding the balcony,
which, during slavery, was used exclusively for the Negroes of the
families attending.
Our stay in Carlowville was necessarily short, as the evening sun was
low and the nearest place for lodging was two miles ahead. Before
reaching this place we came to a large one-room log cabin, 30 feet by 36
feet, on the road-side, with a double door and three holes for windows
cut in the sides. There was no chimney nor anything to show that the
room could be heated in cold weather. This was the Hope-well Baptist
Church. Here 500 members congregated one Sunday in each month and spent
the entire day in eating, shouting, and "praising God for His goodness
toward the children of men." Here also the three months' school was
taught during the winter. A few hundred yards beyond this church brought
us to the home of a Deacon Jones.
He was living in the house occupied by the overseer of the plantation
during slavery. It was customary for Deacon Jones to care for strangers
who chanced to come into the community, especially for the preachers and
teachers. So here we found rest.
His family consisted of himself, his wife, and six children--two boys
and four girls. Mrs. Jones was noted for her ability to prepare food
well, and in a short while invited us to a delicious supper of fried
chicken, fried ham, some very fine home-made sugar-cane sirup, and an
abundance of milk and butter. At supper Deacon Jones told of the many
preachers he had entertained and their fondness for chicken.
After supper I spent some time in trying to find out the real condition
of the people in this section. Mr. Jones told me how, for ten years, he
had been trying to buy some land, and had been kept from it more than
once, but that he was still hopeful of getting the right deeds for the
land for which he had paid. He also told of many families who had
recently moved into this community. These newcomers had made a good
start for the year and had promising crops, but they were compelled to
mortgage their growing crops in order to get "advances" for the year.
When asked of the schools, he said that there were more than five
hundred children of school age in his township, but not more than two
hundred of these had attended school the previous winter, and most of
these for a period not longer than six weeks. He also said that the
people were very indifferent as to the necessity of schoolhouses and
churches. Quite a few who cleared a little money the previous year had
spent it all in buying whisky, in gambling, in buying cheap jewelry, and
for other useless articles. After spending two hours in such talk I
retired for the evening. Thus ended the first day of my search for
first-hand information.
We had a fine night's rest. Mr. Jones was up at early dawn to feed his
horses and cattle, and before the sun was up he was out on his farm.
Mrs. Jones and one of the daughters were left to prepare breakfast, and
soon they, too, were ready to join the others on the farm. We took
advantage of this early rising and were soon off on our journey.
Instead of going farther northward, we turned our course westward for
the town of Tilden, which is only eight miles west of Snow Hill. The
road from Carlowville to Tilden is somewhat hilly, but a very pleasant
one, and for miles the large oak-trees formed an almost perfect arch.
On reaching Tilden we learned that there would be a union meeting of two
of the churches that night. I decided that this would give me an
opportunity to study the religious life of these people for myself. The
members of churches No. 1 and No. 2 assembled at their respective places
at eight o'clock. The members of church No. 2 had a short
praise-service, and formed a line of procession to march to church No.
1. All the women of the congregation had their heads bound in pieces of
white cloth, and they sang their peculiar songs as they marched. When
the members of church No. 2 were within a few hundred yards of church
No. 1, the singing then alternated, and finally, when the members of
church No. 2 came to church No. 1, they marched around this church three
times before entering it. After entering, six sermons were preached to
the two congregations by six different ministers, and at least three of
these could not read a word in the Bible. Each minister occupied at
least one hour. Their texts were as often taken from Webster's blue-back
speller as from the Bible, and sometimes this would be held upside down.
It was about two o'clock in the morning when the services were
concluded.
Here, again, we found no schoolhouses, and the three months' school had
been taught in one of the little churches.
The next day we started for Camden, a distance of sixteen miles. This
section between Tilden and Camden is perhaps the most fertile section of
land in the State of Alabama. Taking a southwest course from Tilden, I
crossed into Wilcox County again, where I saw acres of corn and miles of
cotton, all being cultivated by Negroes.
The evening was far advanced when we reached Camden, but having been
there before, we had no difficulty in securing lodging. Camden is the
seat of Wilcox County, and has a population of about three thousand
inhabitants.
The most costly buildings of the town were the court-house and jail, and
these occupied the most conspicuous places.
Here great crowds of Negroes would gather on Saturdays to spend their
earnings of the week for a fine breakfast or dinner on the following
Sunday, or for useless trivialities.
On Saturday evenings, on the roads leading to and from Camden, as from
other towns, could be seen groups of Negroes gambling here and there,
and buying and selling whisky. As the county had voted against licensing
whisky-selling, this was a violation of the law, and often the
commission merchant, a Negro, was imprisoned for the offense, while
those who supplied him went free.
In Camden I found one Negro schoolhouse; this was a box-like cottage, 20
by 16 feet, and was supposed to seat more than one hundred students.
This school, like those taught in the churches, was open only three
months in the year.
After a two days' stay in Camden I next visited Miller's Ferry; this is
on the Alabama River, twelve miles west of Camden. The road from Camden
is one of the best roads in the State, and for miles and miles one could
see nothing but cotton and corn.
At Miller's Ferry a Negro schoolhouse of ample proportions had been
built on Judge Henderson's plantation. Here the school ran seven months
in the year, and the colored people in the community were prosperous and
showed a remarkable degree of intelligence. Their church was equally as
attractive as their schoolhouse.
Judge Henderson was for twelve years Probate Judge of Wilcox County. He
proved to be one of the best judges this county has ever had, and even
unto this day he is admired by all, both white and black, rich and poor,
for his honesty, integrity, and high sense of justice. From Judge
Henderson's place we traveled southward to Rock-west, a distance of more
than fifteen miles. During this journey hundreds of Negroes were seen at
work in the corn- and cotton-fields. These people were almost wholly
ignorant, as they had neither schools nor teachers, and their ministers
were almost wholly illiterate.
At Rock-west I found a very intelligent colored man who had attended
school at Selma, Ala., for a few years. He owned his home and ran a
small grocery. He told of the hardships with which he had to contend in
building up his business, and of the almost hopeless condition of the
Negroes about there. He said that they usually made money each year, but
that they did not know how to keep it. The merchants would induce them
to buy buggies, machines, clocks, etc., but would never encourage them
to buy homes. We were very much pleased with the reception which Mr.
Darrington gave us, and felt very much like putting into practise our
State motto, "Here We Rest," at his home, but our objective point for
the day was Fatama, sixteen miles away.
On our journey that afternoon we saw hundreds of Negro one-room log
cabins. Some of these were located in the dense swamps and some on the
hills, while others were miles away from the public road. Most of these
people had never seen a locomotive. We reached Fatama about seven
o'clock that night, and here for the first time we were compelled to
divide our crowd in order to get a night's lodging. Each of us had to
spend the night in a one-room cabin. It was my privilege to spend the
night with Uncle Jake, a jovial old man, a local celebrity. After
telling him of our weary journey, he immediately made preparation for me
to retire. This was done by cutting off my bed from the remainder of the
cabin by hanging up a sheet on a screen. While somewhat inconvenient, my
rest that night was pleasant, and the next morning found me very much
refreshed and ready for another day's journey. Our company assembled at
Uncle Jake's for breakfast, after which we started for Pineapple.
We found the condition of the Negroes between Fatama and Pineapple much
the same as that of those we had seen the previous day. No schoolhouse
was to be seen, but occasionally we would see a church at the
cross-roads. We reached Pineapple late in the afternoon.
From Pineapple we went to Greenville, and from Greenville to Fort
Deposit, and from Fort Deposit we returned to Snow Hill, after having
traveled a distance of 157 miles and visiting four counties.
In three of these counties there is a colored population of 42,810
between the ages of five and twenty years, and a white population of
7,608 of the same ages. In fact, the Negro school population of Wilcox
and the seven adjoining counties is as follows: Wilcox, 11,623; Dallas,
18,292; Lowndes, 13,044; Monroe, 5,615; Butler, 5,924; Marengo, 12,362;
Clark, 6,898; Perry, 10,723; making a total of 85,499. Speaking of
public schools in the sense that educators use the term, the colored
people in this section have none. Of course, there are so-called public
schools here and there, running from three to five months in the year
and paying the teachers from $7.50 to $18 per month; but the teachers
are incompetent, and the schools are usually in the hands of those not
too much interested in the cause of education. Many of these trustees do
not visit the schools once in ten years, and they know absolutely
nothing of the methods of discipline even used by the teachers.
Our trip through this section revealed the following facts: (1) That
while many opportunities were denied our people, they abused many
privileges; (2) that there was a colored population, in this section
visited, of more than 200,000, and a school population of 85,499; (3)
that the people were ignorant and superstitious; (4) that the teachers
and preachers for the most part were of the same condition; (5) that
there were no public or private libraries and reading-rooms to which
they had access; (6) that, strictly speaking, there were no public
schools and only one private one. Now what can be expected of any people
in such a condition? Can the blind lead the blind? They could not in the
days of old, and it is not likely that they can now.
After this trip through the "Black Belt" I was more convinced than ever
before of the great need of an industrial school in the very midst of
these people; a school that would correct the erroneous ideas the people
held of education; a school that would put most stress upon the things
which the people were most likely to have to do with through life; a
school that would endeavor to make education practical rather than
theoretical; a school that would train men and women to be good workers,
good leaders, good husbands, good wives, and finally train them to be
fit citizens of the State, and proper subjects for the kingdom of God.
With this idea the Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute was started
ten years ago in an old, dilapidated, one-room log cabin with one
teacher, three students, and no State appropriation, and without any
church or society responsible for one dollar of its expenses. Aside
from this unfortunate state of affairs, the condition of the people was
most miserable. This was due partly to poor crops and partly to bad
management on their part.
In many instances the tenants were not only unable to pay their debts,
but were also unable to pay their rents. In a few cases the landlords
had to provide, at their own expense, provisions for their tenants. This
was simply another way of establishing soup-houses on the plantations.
The idea of buying land was foreign to all of them, and there were not
more than twenty acres of land owned by the colored people in this whole
neighborhood. The churches and schools were practically closed, while
crime and immorality were rampant. The carrying of men and women to the
chain-gang was a frequent occurrence. Aside from all this, these people
believed that the end of education was to free their children from
manual labor rather than prepare them for more and better work. They
were very much opposed to industrial education. When the school was
started, many of the parents came to the school and forbade our
"working" their children, stating as their objection that their children
had been working all their lives, and they did not mean to send them to
school to learn to work. Not only did they forbid our having their
children work, but many took their children out of school rather than
have them do so. A good deal of this opposition was kept up by
illiterate preachers and incompetent teachers, here and there, who had
not had any particular training for their profession. In fact,
ninety-eight per cent of them had attended no school. We continued,
however, to keep the "industrial plank" in our platform, and year after
year some additional industry was added until we now have thirteen
industries in constant operation. Agriculture is the foremost and basic
industry of the institution. We do this because we are in a farming
section and ninety-five per cent of the people in this section depend
upon some form of agriculture for a livelihood. How changed are the
conditions now as regards our work! From the little one-room log cabin,
the school has grown so that it now owns 100 acres of land, 14
buildings, counting large and small, with property valued at $37,000.
From three students, it has grown so that we now have a school with more
than four hundred students annually in attendance, representing more
than a dozen Alabama counties and seven States. It has also grown from
one to twenty teachers and officers. Including the class that graduated
last term, thirty-seven have finished the course. All are living but
one. No charge of criminal wrong-doing has been brought against even one
of them. One of the young women is married to the head teacher, another
to the superintendent of industries, and seven other graduates are
employed in responsible positions by the school. One of these has taken
a special course at Harvard University, three have taken additional
courses at Tuskegee, one is in charge of the woman's department of a
large school in Mississippi, two have founded schools of their own, one
at Tilden, Ala., the other at Greensboro, Ala. All have remained in the
country among the masses whom they are helping to uplift, and most of
them in Wilcox County, the county in which the school is located. Of the
thirty-seven graduates, twenty-seven own their own homes. Aside from the
graduates, about five hundred others have been under the influence of
the school for a longer or shorter period; many of these are making
exceptionally good records.
The growth on the part of the people has kept corresponding pace with
the growth of the institution. The farmers, who ten years ago depended
wholly on the landlords for food supplies, have grown to be independent,
raising most of their own supplies. They are rapidly passing from the
renters' class to the owners' class; they are possessing themselves of
the soil. This may be seen from the fact that ten years ago they owned
in this county but twenty acres of land; to-day they own 4,000 acres of
land. Many of the most prosperous farmers have opened bank-accounts. The
people no longer oppose industrial education; they now refuse to send
their children to any school where they can not secure some industrial
education.
For our part we find it wholly impossible to accommodate all who come to
us from time to time to take the trades' instruction. The churches
hereabout have been revived, new and better schoolhouses have been
built, and the county school terms extended in many cases from two and
three to five and six months; competent teachers and preachers, both
intellectually and morally, have been employed. Crime and immorality are
being uprooted, and virtue and civic righteousness are being planted in
their stead. The commercial and economic conditions have improved in
every way, and there was never a more cordial relation existing between
the races in this section than now. With these things true, the one-room
log cabin can not survive, and is rapidly giving way to houses having
three, four, and, in some places, six and seven rooms.
After having been here at Snow Hill for a few years, we felt that while
we were helping the children in the class-room, something should be done
to help the parents; so we organized what we call the Snow Hill Negro
Conference, on January 13, 1897. This conference is modeled after the
famous Tuskegee Negro Conferences, and meets once a year. At this
conference the farmers from this and the adjoining counties come
together. There were 500 at our last conference. The school is almost
wholly given up to farmers on Conference day. Here we listen to
educational, religious, moral, and financial reports from many sections.
Those who have succeeded, tell the others how they have done so, and
those who have not succeeded tell how they are trying to succeed. From
these annual meetings the farmers get new ideas, new information, and
take fresh courage; they return to their farms more determined to
succeed than ever before. When we commenced these meetings the reports
were discouraging, and from many sections the condition of the race
thereabout seemed hopeless. Many said that in the same section they
could not buy land at any price. There were only twenty acres of land
reported at the first conference. At the last one, reports showed that
the people had purchased more than four thousand acres since the
beginning of these conferences seven years ago. At our first meeting the
reports showed that the one-room log-cabin home was the rule; at our
last meeting it had become the exception. These conferences have tried
all along to induce the people to raise more of their own food-supplies.
We also waged a ceaseless war upon the one-room log-cabin home, which
has resulted in almost annihilating them. This war shall never cease
until there is not a one-room log cabin left in all this section. The
one-room log cabin is a pestilent menace to decent living.
Following the farmers' conference, we have the workers' conference
during vacation. This conference is chiefly composed of teachers and
preachers, and represents an idea got from Tuskegee. In this conference
we get a clear idea of what the teachers and preachers are doing, the
methods they are pursuing, and the results being achieved. The teachers
are encouraged to make education less theoretical and more practical;
the preachers are urged to preach to our people less of the dying
religion and more of the living religion. While they are encouraged to
build better schoolhouses and churches, they are also reminded of the
fact that these are not the ends, but only the means to an end; that
they are only of value in proportion as they can be used to build up a
hopeful and noble life in the communities where they are located.
However much the material side may be held up to them, they are told
that in the last analysis the spiritual is always the end. The reports
at our last Workers' Conference were most encouraging. Wherever the
intelligent teacher and preacher have gone, the condition of the people
has been improved. To my mind this demonstrates most clearly that the
great need of our people is intelligent leaders, and it is this that we
ask for; it is this for which Snow Hill is striving. While much good is
being accomplished through the Workers' Conference, the "Black Belt
Improvement Society," which I have organized, deals more directly with
the people in our immediate neighborhood. The aim of this society is
clearly set forth in its constitution, a part of which is as follows: