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The American Missionary
(QUARTERLY)
APRIL }
MAY } 1900
JUNE }
VOL. LIV.
No. 2.
* * * * *
[Illustration: AVERY NORMAL INSTITUTE, CHARLESTON, S. C.]
* * * * *
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION,
THE CONGREGATIONAL ROOMS,
FOURTH AVENUE AND TWENTY-SECOND STREET, NEW YORK.
* * * * *
Price 50 Cents a Year in advance.
Entered at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., as Second-Class mail
matter.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
PAGE
FINANCIAL--SIX MONTHS 49
A WORD AS TO THE MAGAZINE 49
FIFTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING 51
TILLOTSON COLLEGE, AUSTIN, TEXAS (Illustrated) 52
AVERY NORMAL INSTITUTE, CHARLESTON, S. C. (Illustrated) 61
SOUTHERN FIELD NOTES 67
BITS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY 69
CHRISTIAN ENDEAVORS OF A HIGHLAND SCHOOL AND VILLAGE (Illustrated) 72
OBITUARIES--MRS. MARY T. CHASE 74
MISS SUSIE T. CATHCART 75
A SUGGESTIVE SUBSCRIPTION 75
RECEIPTS 76
WOMAN'S STATE ORGANIZATIONS 94
SECRETARIES OF YOUNG PEOPLE'S AND CHILDREN'S WORK 96
* * * * *
THE 54th ANNUAL MEETING
OF THE
American Missionary Association
WILL BE HELD IN
SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
October 23-25, 1900.
* * * * *
The AMERICAN MISSIONARY presents new form, fresh material and
generous illustrations for 1900. This magazine is published by the
American Missionary Association quarterly. Subscription rate fifty
cents per year.
Many wonderful missionary developments in our own country during
this stirring period of national enlargement are recorded in the
columns of this magazine.
* * * * *
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
VOL. LIV. APRIL, 1900. No. 2.
* * * * *
FINANCIAL--SIX MONTHS.
The first six months of the present fiscal year of the American
Missionary Association closed March 31st. The receipts are
$18,961.74 more than for the same period last year. The increase in
donations is $10,699, and in estates $6,433.24, exclusive of the
reserve legacy account. The tuition and similar receipts are
$1,829.49 more than last year. This is a favorable and encouraging
showing. We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the friends of
the great missionary work carried on by this Association, as evident
in their increased donations.
The payments during this period have been $17,595 more than for the
same months last year. The net balance, exclusive of the reserve
legacy account, is $1,366.74 more favorable than that for the first
six months of last year. The increase in current receipts has been
expended in the mission fields which have been so greatly crippled
by the enforced retrenchments during recent years.
The Association rejoices in its freedom from debt and in the
favorable showing for these first six months. The next six months
include the summer season, in which missionary gifts are often
greatly reduced and the income suffers. We would again remind the
pastors, Sunday-school superintendents, officers of Endeavor
Societies and Woman's Missionary Circles of the great and pressing
need upon the Association, both in old and new fields, among the
many millions for whom our faithful missionaries labor. Porto Rico
demands increased gifts. The field is opening with great hopefulness
both in educational and evangelistic lines. Word comes from
missionaries there urging reinforcements, which means more
consecrated money to meet this pressing necessity.
* * * * *
A WORD AS TO THE MAGAZINE.
Letters frequently come to the editor of this magazine expressing
regret that it does not reach the subscriber regularly each month.
No one can regret this fact more than the editor. It must be
remembered that the magazine is no longer a monthly, but a
quarterly. This reduction in the frequency of the issue of our
periodical was found necessary by the Executive Committee during the
hard financial conditions through which we have recently passed. In
order to economize in the expenditures, the four numbers per year
were decided upon. The economy was necessary. The disadvantages,
however, are very apparent. Large space in each magazine is
necessarily occupied by the statistical report of receipts. This is
essential. It is an important financial safeguard and an evidence of
the thorough business administration of the Association.
However, less space is left for general matter. Partially on account
of this restriction of space the magazine has taken a slightly
different complexion. It is our desire to present as complete as
possible the nature and conditions of the missionary work in our
various fields. The discussion of incidental or even fundamental
problems connected with the work of this Association is not often
possible. Those who contribute to this work either money or prayers
have a right to know what is being accomplished. Nothing can present
it so clearly as illustrated articles, prepared by those who are in
these mission fields. In the current issue two important schools are
presented in this way.
In the Department of Christian Endeavor the development of work
among the young people of the Highlands is interestingly presented.
During the current year we plan to present our secondary
institutions as the higher institutions were presented--through
illustrated articles during the last year.
We acknowledge with gratitude the pleasant words spoken concerning
the AMERICAN MISSIONARY in various periodicals. The cordial notices
in missionary cotemporaries of other denominations, and those of our
own mission schools, is especially appreciated.
A commission consisting of two members of the Executive Committee
have recently visited the mission field. Rev. E. S. Tead, of Boston,
and President T. J. Backus, of Brooklyn, were selected by the
committee for this special service. They were accompanied by the
senior secretary, Rev. A. F. Beard, and through a part of the field
by Sec. G. H. Gutterson, of the New England District. They carefully
inspected several of the schools of the Association, and their visit
was of great value. The testimony they bear to the efficiency of the
work and to the interests of the field is pronounced and emphatic.
In a future issue of this magazine we hope to present articles from
members of this commission which will be of great interest to our
readers. The testimony of an experienced pastor and prominent
educator must have great weight.
Strong testimony to the value of the educational work among the
negroes is found in _Harpers' Weekly_ for February 10th. In an able
editorial on "Negro Education," we find the following: "The storm
and stress period of the South is still upon it. The curse of
slavery has not yet been removed. But it is clear that the schools
are sending the light into the dark places, and that everything that
shuts off or reduces the brilliancy of the light is inimical not
only to the negro, but to the whites themselves, to the South, and
to the whole country." No truer word than this could be spoken. The
education of the negro is not a question of sectional or local
importance alone. It is fundamental to the safety and development of
our country. There are in the Southern public schools 27,445
teachers employed in teaching negroes. Twenty-six per cent. of the
average attendance of school children in the Southern States,
including the District of Columbia, are negroes. The total
enrollment of the blacks constitute, however, only 52 per cent. of
the children of that race of school age. This fact again emphasizes
the necessity of such schools as the American Missionary Association
plants among these black people. The high grade and exceptional
character of these schools are certainly worthy of commendation. The
report of our commissioners based upon facts personally and
independently gathered by each will present the conditions as they
are. The years of heroic and sacrificial service on the part of a
body of missionaries and teachers, unsurpassed in any field, are
bringing their legitimate and noble fruitage.
* * * * *
FIFTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING.
Springfield, Mass., has set the doors of its hospitality wide open
in its welcome to the Fifty-fourth Annual Meeting of the American
Missionary Association. This city occupies an ideal position for
such a convention. It is the center of many railroad lines, both
steam and electric. A large population are resident in the towns and
cities and countryside, easily accessible through these lines of
transportation. It is so located geographically that many of our
most populous states are within easy distance. Add to this the
cordial enthusiasm of the churches and citizens who invite the
Association, and we have every element of a great and inspiring
meeting. Already committees are organized and arrangements are being
perfected for this meeting.
Full particulars will be given in a future number of the MISSIONARY,
and in our Congregational papers. Rev. Philip S. Moxom, D.D.,
Springfield, Mass., is the chairman of the general committee, and
will receive and pass over to the proper sub-committee any
correspondence which may reach him.
* * * * *
TILLOTSON COLLEGE, AUSTIN, TEXAS.
M. R. GAINES, PRESIDENT.
[Illustration: ALLEN HALL, TILLOTSON COLLEGE]
January 17, 1881, witnessed the opening of this institution. It was
christened "Tillotson Institute." The age of "romance" in the
education of the negro was well-nigh passed. The matter-of-fact
brain of the late Rev. George J. Tillotson, of Wethersfield, Conn.,
formulated the plan, and his generous heart enabled him, with the
aid of individual contributors and the American Missionary
Association, to carry his plan into execution. His purpose was to
give the negroes of this far-away Southwest opportunities for
securing an education equal to those of any other portion of our
fair land. With this end in view he visited Austin and secured an
ideal site for the coming college, destined to become the "Yale of
the Southwest." Austin contains the magnificent Capitol, the State
University, St. Edward's College and other schools, public and
private, besides the state institutions for the insane, the blind,
the deaf, the aged soldier and the orphan. Within the limits of the
city, and yet removed from its din and dust, commanding views of
many of these buildings, and of the far-reaching valley of the
Colorado and the wooded hills beyond, our campus of twenty acres is
a delight to the eye. Undulating, well suited for drainage, well
stocked with shade trees and a profusion of wild flowers in their
season, it is at once beautiful, healthful and inspiring.
[Illustration: CARPENTER SHOP, TILLOTSON COLLEGE.]
The first building erected on this lot was Allen Hall. It stands on
a hill of easy ascent, and is a substantial structure of stone and
brick, five stories in height. While it was approaching completion,
as story after story was added, the ambitious and intelligent young
colored people watched its growth, eagerly anticipating the time
when they would "enter its basement and ascend story by story, till
they should step out upon the roof full-fledged college graduates."
Money for the purchase of the lot came mostly from Mr. Tillotson's
own purse. His efforts in soliciting funds were largely instrumental
in securing the means for erecting and furnishing the building. The
list of contributors to this part of the undertaking included the
names of men well known for their literary works, philanthropy,
patriotism and fidelity to the Saviour of Men. Most of those early
donors have passed from earth, but they are still an inspiration to
all engaged in the work, and we of this generation can clasp hands
with them in the purpose and effort to make real their intentions.
Though dead "their works do follow them."
For fourteen years Allen Hall afforded all the space available for
dormitories for teachers and students of both sexes, dining-room,
study-room, recitation rooms, chapel and church services. A series
of partitions divided each floor, from basement to attic, into east
and west halls. A small addition in the rear served for kitchen.
[Illustration: BOYS IN CARPENTER SHOP, TILLOTSON COLLEGE.]
At the opening of the school there was no charge for tuition. The
aspirants for an education "without money and without price" carried
the enrollment to a point never since reached in the history of the
school.
In 1888 the carpenters' shop was built and industrial training was
introduced. An appropriation of $900 from the Slater Fund aided in
meeting the additional expense. A marked evidence of the
appreciation of this advance is shown in the record of attendance,
which increased nearly eighty per cent., and reached the highest
figures it has ever done under a charge for tuition.
A material enlargement to the accommodations for teachers and
students came in 1894, in the new Girls' Hall, that was occupied for
the first time in the autumn of that year. This was erected with
funds provided by the American Missionary Association, and is a
beautiful and convenient structure. The main part is three and a
half stories in height, with wing and rear extension two and a half
stories in height. It contains kitchen, dormitories and
sitting-rooms for teachers and girls, and a spacious, airy and
attractive dining hall for all.
The same year a new charter was obtained and the name changed to
"Tillotson College."
[Illustration: DINING ROOM, GIRLS' HALL, TILLOTSON COLLEGE.]
The Tillotson Church of Christ in Austin was organized January 4,
1885. Rev. J. E. Roy, D.D., Rev. Jeremiah Porter, D.D., and Rev. J.
H. Parr, conducted the services. Twelve members were received by
letter and seven on profession. While a large majority of the
students are members of churches at entrance, comparatively few have
joined the church of the school. The entire enrollment of active
members has been one hundred and eleven. This, by no means, gives a
fair indication of the Christian spirit and activity of the school.
In the religious meetings there is never any reference to
denominational or sectarian differences.
On the 1st of February, 1899, the church adopted the "Mt. Holyoke
Plan" of a "Wayside Covenant," and thirty-five teachers and students
have signed that and entered into fellowship with us, while
retaining membership in their own churches.
Porter Chapel, erected for outside missionary work in a needy part
of the city, has had a checkered but useful experience. Once it was
burned. It was rebuilt in 1890. Here Miss Martha J. Adams was wont
to meet people, young and old, and dispense aid and comfort along
many lines. Here, too, have been held for many years Sunday-school
services, and preaching services from time to time, as strength and
opportunity allowed.
[Illustration: MECHANICAL DRAUGHTING CLASS, TILLOTSON COLLEGE.]
In the early years there were a few students, mostly children of
teachers, in college courses, and a still smaller number in
theology. The aim from the first has been to give instruction in the
elements of a good common school education, and to provide advanced
work for such as could complete a high school course, or were
preparing to teach, or to continue their studies in higher
professional schools elsewhere. The list of graduates is still a
short one. The motto, "QUALITY NOT QUANTITY," finds its illustration
here as in all the rest of the work of the school. The standard of
scholarship has always been high and is steadily advancing. Many who
have never graduated have done excellent work as teachers in the
public schools of the state. "Tillotson" students are in demand and
are known and respected for their honesty and reliability. Of the
graduates, some are in responsible positions in this state, while
others are pursuing courses of study in higher institutions at the
North, or have already entered upon professional work. The great
work of such a school is in its "leveling up." Who shall measure
this? When a boy on retiring at night folds and carefully lays away
the sheets and pillow slips from his bed, to "keep them clean," or
when he thinks, on entering the dining-room, that he has "reached
heaven," evidently there is room for such work.
Teachers and students together strive to make Tillotson a place of
refined and Christian culture. The chapel bell calls all to morning
prayers, on school days, and to Sunday-school, church services and
Christian Endeavor, on Sundays. Each evening the family gathers
about the Word at its altar in the dining-room. Bible-study is a
part of the regular course through all the grades.
[Illustration: SEWING CLASS, TILLOTSON COLLEGE.]
Twenty years is a short time for estimating the harvest from such
sowing as this. The beginning was small. The annals are meagre. Here
have labored earnest and consecrated men and women from the best
institutions of the North. The citizens of Austin have always been
sympathetic and helpful. Several of the most prominent of them have
served on the board of trustees. Many of them have contributed
towards the equipment of the industrial departments of the school.
A small blacksmith shop on the place was a gift of the business men
of Austin. The colored patrons of the school, in all sections of the
state, have always been most cordial and enthusiastic in their
commendation and confidence. It is little wonder that, with the
passing of the years, the school has grown steadily in the
estimation and affection of all classes. In the early days, the hall
at commencement was occupied largely by white people. In these later
years the audiences are composed largely of intelligent and
appreciative colored people.
When one considers the scanty equipment of the school he can but be
surprised that it has accomplished so much.
[Illustration: CLASS GROUP, TILLOTSON COLLEGE.]
Endowment, aside from land and buildings, it has none. For income it
has always depended upon grants by the American Missionary
Association from its own funds and the Daniel Hand estate, the
direct contributions of individuals, and payments by the students
for board and tuition. The intention is to make the expenses for
students as light as possible. After the first session the charges
for tuition were fixed for the grammar department at $2.00 per
month; for the normal department at $2.50 per month; for board and
tuition together $12.00 per month. In 1887 the tuition for the
grammar department was dropped to $1.00 per month. The other charges
remained in force for ten years, when the tuition was made the same
for all, $1.00 per month. To meet the necessities of the case we are
forced to allow our students to work out at least half of these very
moderate charges. Nearly all the manual labor about the institution
is done by students. Thus, in a very practical way, they help
themselves pecuniarily and acquire knowledge of housekeeping in its
manifold lines.
To train the hand as well as the head the boys receive instruction
in carpentry and industrial draughting, and the girls have regular
lessons in needlework, dress-making and kindred subjects.
[Illustration: GIRLS' HALL, TILLOTSON COLLEGE.]
Tillotson has always done good work. She has made a name for
herself. Standing, as she does, for thoroughgoing, non-sectarian,
Christian education, for true manhood and womanhood, with mutual
co-operation and helpfulness, with so many from all parts of this
great State of Texas looking to her for light and leadership, her
opportunities for usefulness are out of all proportion to her means.
To properly meet these demands she sorely needs many things. A full
list of imperative needs would call for too much space. A few must
suffice.
A reasonable sum of money for endowment of professorships.
A great addition to apparatus and appliances for experiment and
instruction.
Refurnishing of present buildings from top to bottom.
Sanitary drainage and plumbing.
A neat and pleasant chapel. A library and reading-room, with funds
to purchase new books.
An extension to complete girl's hall, on the present plan, affording
needed rooms for girls and teachers.
Music rooms removed from study and recitation rooms.
A building, with power, for metal working, tinsmithing, etc.
A plant for typesetting and printing.
Additional teachers should be employed, and the courses of study
extended, so that men fully equipped for the demands of the new
century can be furnished here.
Tillotson thus sends forth her plea to Christian men and women all
over our land to be used as the means of untold blessing to needy
thousands. Her usefulness has been great. It can be indefinitely
increased with comparatively small outlay. Here are grand
opportunities for investment in "futures" that will yield large
returns. Just after the death of the late Dr. Joseph Hardy Neesima,
of Japan, who had been so generously aided by Hon. Alpheus Hardy, of
Boston, who had also died not long before, a Christian friend
wrote:--"I wonder what Mr. Hardy thinks now of his investment in
Joseph Hardy Neesima." They both can now realize so much more fully
the meaning of the Master's words: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto ME."
[Illustration: GROUP OF STUDENTS ON STEPS OF ALLEN HALL, TILLOTSON
COLLEGE.]
* * * * *
AVERY NORMAL INSTITUTE, CHARLESTON, S. C.
M. A. HOLMES, PRINCIPAL.
More than ordinary interest attaches to this institution for the
education of colored youth and the training of colored teachers,
located as it is in the very cradle of secession, and near the spot
from which was fired the first gun in the long war waged for their
perpetual enslavement; and in a city situated in the heart of the
cotton and rice-fields of the Southland.
[Illustration: AVERY NORMAL INSTITUTE, CHARLESTON, S. C.]
Scarcely had the smoke of the long conflict cleared away or civil
authority been fully restored in this long-besieged city, when
General Saxton, then Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen's
Bureau, opened a school in the Memminger building on St. Philip
Street, built for and since used for the education of white
children. Here, on the first day of October, 1865, were gathered a
thousand children eager for the education so long denied to their
race. So great was the pressure to gain admission to this school
that one hundred children were seated in the great dome that
surmounts the edifice.
The studies during the first year embraced the entire range of
elementary branches, from the primer to the Latin grammar. About
three-fourths of those who attended this first school were children
of freedmen; the others, making up the advanced classes, were born
free and constituted an aristocracy of color, a distinction which,
after a lapse of more than a third of a century, still exists.
The closing examinations of this first year were attended by a large
audience of both white and colored. There were present ladies and
gentlemen, missionaries and teachers, civil and military
dignitaries, and the leading representatives of both races. It was a
novel and moving sight, one that the wildest imagination could not
have foreseen or deemed possible five years before.
[Illustration: PROF. M. A. HOLMES, PRINCIPAL.]
In its second year the school, then known as the Saxton School, held
its sessions in the Military Hall on Wentworth Street, where with a
slightly reduced enrollment, it remained until removed to its
present quarters, May 1, 1865. The large and handsome building which
it now occupies was erected by the American Missionary Association
through the Freedmen's Bureau. Rev. Charles Avery, of Pittsburg,
Pa., had given a large sum for the education of the colored people,
and ten thousand dollars of his bequest were appropriated to the
institution, and in honor of this noble philanthropist the name was
changed to Avery Normal Institute. Here the enrollment was
necessarily reduced and the normal character of its work made more
prominent, a feature that had been contemplated from the beginning.
In any survey of the work of Avery, three principals should receive
special recognition for their thorough, enduring and Christian labor
in this needy field. They are the Rev. F. S. Cardozo, by whom the
school was first organized in the Memminger building, Prof. M. A.
Warren, who succeeded him and graduated the first class in 1872, and
Prof. Amos W. Farnham, now of the Oswego Normal School. Each of
these men was distinguished for unusual teaching skill, for great
administrative ability, and for complete consecration to the work to
which he was specially called. These worthy educators are still
remembered here with affection and gratitude, but the full fruition
of their labors will be known only in the great day when the books
shall be opened.
For over thirty years about four hundred colored students have
annually gathered here for the training which was to fit them for
life's work. For many years all grades, from the primary to the high
school and normal course, were maintained, but in later years the
primary and intermediate pupils have been excluded, their
instruction being amply provided for in the public and numerous
private schools of the city, thus leaving the Institute free to
devote itself to higher grades and normal work, in which Avery has
been from the first conspicuous and eminently successful. Its
graduates now number nearly four hundred and are found in almost
every department of human activity. Some are distinguished in
professional life, others in trade, or in business. Among them are
doctors, skilled and eminent in their chosen fields of labor,
clergymen of acknowledged ability, and teachers of long and
successful experience. About two-thirds of all its graduates choose
teaching as their special vocation; and nearly all prove their skill
and ability in the schoolroom, and have reflected great credit on
their alma mater and have been a blessing to their race. There has
been for the last ten years a steady and growing demand for colored
teachers of ability and with special training for their work; and
there is not a county in the state to which our graduates do not go
as teachers, and in the lower counties and along this malarial coast
nearly all the schools for colored children are taught by Avery
graduates. In many places conditions are such that no one can
undertake this work without jeopardizing health or risking life
itself. But there are not wanting those whom zeal and devotion lead
into these dangerous fields. Names might be given of those who have
even given up life itself at work in these malarial districts,
proving their zeal and the missionary spirit which actuated them.
Avery has cost large sums of money; to maintain such an institution
by charity through a third of a century is no small undertaking,
requiring faith and consecration. But it has repaid more than a
hundred-fold all that has ever been expended. Here in this historic
city, surrounded by lowlands of rice and cotton, the negro was found
in overwhelming numbers, and after emancipation, in utter ignorance
of book lore or a pure gospel. To this people the American
Missionary Association, through the Avery Institute and its
consecrated workers, has brought the light of knowledge and a pure
gospel, and awakened aspiration and hope of a better life. The
beneficial effects of this work upon such a people, and indirectly
upon the city and state, are incalculable. Intelligent Christianity
and Christian education has ever been the motto of Avery, and
faithfully has it been realized in the lives of its graduates, and
exemplified by them in all the relations that affect good
citizenship and true manhood. Race conflicts in this city have been
unknown since the days of reconstruction, and it is not too much to
claim that this better condition of things here is largely due to
the influence exerted by Avery.
[Illustration: NORMAL CLASS OF 1900, IN CHAPEL.]
Although it is in the strictest sense a school, in which all studies
in every department are prosecuted under a high pressure, which
knows no relaxation, yet religious teaching has ever been a
prominent feature, and the Bible is considered the best text book in
the school. It has never been sectarian, but always Christian in its
teaching and influence. No year passes without numerous conversions
among its pupils, and every church in the city has been blessed in
some measure by accessions to its membership from the students of
Avery.
The blessings which this school has brought to this people, and
indirectly to a far wider constituency, are not wholly a free gift
to them. A monthly tuition fee has always been required and
collected from all in attendance, except in special cases, in which
its collection would impose great hardship or compel the withdrawal
of worthy pupils from the school. But in spite of this monthly
charge and the sacrifices made to meet it and keep their children in
school, these people, out of their meagre earnings, which in so many
cases make accumulations impossible, have kept their children in
school, and to the end of a twelve years' course, in numbers that
would shame many a more prosperous community in more favored
sections of our land, where schools and books are entirely free. In
1895 twenty-four successfully completed its course and graduated
with honor; in 1896 twenty were added to the alumni roll; in 1897
twenty-eight; in 1898 thirty-one; in 1899 twenty-four; and at this
writing twenty-four are taking final examinations for graduation in
June. And from these large classes there is not one that is not an
honor to the community, scarcely one that has not found a position
as a teacher or in some useful calling or industry, while a few are
taking higher courses in other institutions. Are not these facts
sufficient answer to the charge so often made, that the colored
people are losing their interest in education, or that higher
education does not benefit them?
Our work has been mainly academic; that is the purpose for which
Avery was called into existence, to educate and train colored
teachers, and to fit them for honorable positions in trade or
business.
The dignity of labor has always been faithfully inculcated, and
opportunities for it have not been wanting. Nearly all the normal
students and many in the lower classes go from school to some useful
occupation, learning trades, or engaging in other remunerative
employment. Large numbers not only maintain themselves but are
necessary helpers to the bread-winners of their respective families.
But in keeping with the tendencies of the times and of the newer
education, and with the traditions and practice of the American
Missionary Association, an industrial department has been added to
Avery, and it has aroused no little enthusiasm among students and
patrons. Needlework for the girls has been introduced, and under an
accomplished and efficient instructor it has been from the first a
great success. The girls from the lower grades as well as from the
normal classes are being systematically trained to do their own
sewing, and will in time be taught to make their own garments. Our
purpose is to add to this, cooking and other departments of domestic
science, as the resources of the Association will permit. Steps have
been taken to establish a printing department.
In 1892 Avery Normal Institute was incorporated under the laws of
the state, though the control of the school has been kept in the
same hands as before, a majority of the trustees being in the
executive committee or the administrative force of the American
Missionary Association. The purpose of the incorporation was to
secure for its graduates the advantages which the laws of the state
confer upon graduates of all incorporated institutions.
[Illustration: SEWING CLASS, SIXTH GRADE.]
An article of this nature would be incomplete without some reference
to charges so frequently made, and in high places too, that
education, and especially the higher education, does the negro more
harm than good, and that the educated classes furnish the larger
part of the criminals. That there are educated criminals is not
doubted, but they are not confined to one race, nor do they come
from the students of the American Missionary Association schools. Of
the nearly four hundred living graduates of Avery, not one is a
criminal nor has one ever been accused of crime, and the writer has
yet to learn of more than two who have proved unworthy of the
training they have received, or dishonored their alma mater by
immoral lives. These fell under a stress of circumstances that would
have ruined almost any young person. On the contrary, the graduates
of this and other schools under the auspices of the Association are
conspicuous for worthy and upright character, for thrift, for
industry and good citizenship.
And this is true not only of those who complete our course and
receive their diplomas, but of hundreds of others who do not go
beyond the grammar grades. Such invariably make better citizens. It
is a rare thing to learn that one of the students from any class of
our school has become a criminal. The criminal classes are not
recruited from the pupils in missionary schools.
OUR NEEDS.
We need large contributions of money or materials that will enable
us to enlarge and develop our industrial department. A promising
beginning has been made, but it is only a beginning, and we desire
to extend it in many lines, giving the widest possible scope to
individual talent or proclivities, without lowering in any degree
the present standard of scholastic attainment.
We need contributions of money and books to enlarge our library and
give to our students advantages which they cannot now find in the
city. A good library is absolutely indispensable in all educational
work. We have a few hundred well worn volumes, the merest apology
for a library, but it is the only one in the city to which colored
people have access.
We appeal to individuals, to Sunday-schools, to Christian Endeavor
societies and to churches for the establishment of scholarships for
worthy and capable pupils. We have many such, on whom the burdens
press so heavily that continuance in school to the end of the course
is an impossibility. We wish to help such after they have reached
the normal department. A small sum expended in keeping these worthy
students in the school may bring rich rewards when the harvests of
life are all finally gathered.
* * * * *
SOUTHERN FIELD NOTES.
GEORGE W. MOORE, FIELD MISSIONARY.
Early in the school year the teachers of Trinity School, Athens,
Alabama, made their annual visitation to the country people. They
carried with them the good cheer of the holiday season in the
distribution of odds and ends from barrels from Northern friends.
Gifts were distributed to a hundred persons, old and young. One old
lady, fearing that she had been overlooked, exclaimed: "Wat you
gwine to gib me?" and she was made happy by the gift of a bandanna
handkerchief. Trinity School fills a large place in that community,
as it is the only school for colored pupils in a radius of several
miles of Athens.
A revival followed the week of prayer service at Talladega College.
The school is full, and all are happy in the work.
Secretary Beard's trip through the Southern field was a delight to
the workers and students. His sermons and addresses and wise counsel
were helpful to all. Porto Rico was made very real by his graphic
descriptions of the country and people.
Our church at Shelby Iron Works, Ala., is flourishing under the
labors of Rev. E. E. Scott. Mr. Scott, with his rich tenor voice,
leads the people in the singing of the old spirituals, and the choir
in anthems and song.
Rev. T. J. Bell and his people are doing good service at Selma.
Miss M. L. Phillips and her associates are happy in their work at
Marion, Ala. A deep religious interest was awakened both at Marion,
Ala., and at our Lincoln School at Meridian, Miss. Rev. M. Jones, a
graduate of Tougaloo University, is pastor at Meridian, and Rev. C.
L. Harris, the former minister, is now at Mobile.
The Emerson Institute at Mobile is doing excellent work, under the
direction of Dr. Burnell and his teachers.
The meeting of the Louisiana Association was held with the Central
Church, New Orleans. The attendance was good, and the reports of the
churches, addresses and papers were full of interest.
The Woman's Missionary Union, Christian Endeavor and Sunday-school
Association also held interesting meetings.
The Straight University has a large attendance; the school is making
good progress in its various departments of literary and industrial
work.
After the meeting of the Louisiana Association, I visited the work
at Thibodeaux, Schriever, Chacahoula, Abbeville, Lake Charles and
New Iberia. At several places a deep religious interest was
awakened, and a large number avowed their faith in the Saviour.
A new church has been organized at Lake Charles, La., with thirty
members. It gives promise of growth and fruitful service. Rev. S. J.
Wood, a graduate of Straight University, is pastor. The people
bought a lot, and the Church-Building Society aided them in buying a
meeting-house which has been removed to their lot.
Three miles from Fort Davis Station, on the Georgia and Alabama
Railroad, and forty miles from Montgomery, is our Cotton Valley
School, which is located in the heart of the Black Belt of Alabama.
This country school is the one bright spot in the lives of the
large population of poor black people of Cotton Valley. It is in
charge of four young women, graduates of Fisk University--Miss
Carrie Alexander, Principal, and Misses Pearl Binford, Lelia Haynie
and Lizzie B. Moore. Besides the school work, the teachers visit the
people in their cabin homes, hold mothers' meetings, Sunday-school,
Christian Endeavor and Junior Endeavor meetings, sewing classes, a
literary society and singing-school. It is a veritable social
settlement. The people look to these young women for advice,
medicine and help in all kinds of ways. They have won the love and
confidence of the people, and gladly help them in all ways. The
school is under the management of the American Missionary
Association, and is supported by the Woman's Missionary Union of
Massachusetts. The school is located in a most needy field for
mission work. A teachers' home is greatly needed. The teachers
occupy the log cabin home built by the first missionary teacher,
Mrs. Lillian V. Courtney, _nee_ Davis. This cabin home has done good
service; but a larger home is needed for the teachers, with
facilities for industrial training for girls.
* * * * *
BITS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY.
MISS M. P. LORD.
Little-Dog was very sick, they said. We thought of the beautiful
two-year-old boy whom he had loved with all a father's tenderness,
and of the day when he had come and told us of the child's death;
and how his eyes were still inflamed with weeping; and how grateful
he was for the little food, and for the words of comfort we had
tried to give him.
His home was ten or fifteen miles up the winding river, with two
fording-places between. We found at the first a broad, swift stream,
swollen by a recent rain. We were glad we had made preparations
before starting in, for the water flowed six inches deep over the
buggy floor. At the village beyond, Cross-Bear advised us to return
by another road, as the river was still rising. Long-Feather, with
whose family we also stopped to shake hands, gave the same advice,
saying that he would see us safely over the next crossing, but that
he was just starting on a long drive in the opposite direction.
Good-Boy, who lived near the fording-place, would help, he said. So,
following directions, Good-Boy was found. His pony was quickly
saddled, and galloping on ahead he piloted us not only to the
river-crossing, but all the way to Little Dog's, some miles beyond.
Mrs. Little-Dog and ten-year-old Martin greeted us at the door, and
inside the house we were cordially welcomed by the blind and almost
helpless sufferer. The wife said, "I wanted to go and get medicine
for him, but there was no one to take care of him while I was gone."
They were miles from the nearest neighbor. And the sick man added,
"I didn't like to have our little boy go so far alone." When the
physical pain and needs were relieved so far as possible, I asked if
there was a Bible. In answer the sick man turned and reached under
the pillow at the farther corner of the bed, from which he drew out
a little bag, and from that he carefully--almost tenderly, it
seemed--took his Dakota Bible and handed me. Such times of drawing
near to God, in the homes of sick or sorrowing ones, mean quite as
much of added strength and cheer to the white visitor as to those
who are visited, and we always come away feeling so glad that we
went. Tears were in the woman's eyes as the good-byes were said; and
the little boy, with his pony saddled, watched us out of sight, to
be sure that we were started on the right road home, as we had been
directed.
On another day we heard that our good old friend
Afraid-of-the-Clouds had been thrown from his wagon and badly hurt.
We found the tall figure, which we had always been accustomed to see
so erect and soldierly in bearing, stretched on the ground in his
tent, silent and motionless. With evident pain and effort the dear
old man tried to explain how it happened. He did not complain and
spoke very gently, but the expression of suffering on the wrinkled
face made me fear he would never get up again, and my own sorrow at
the thought was hard to conceal. He was only (?) an "old Indian,"
one of those "old Indians" who are often so lightly spoken of as of
no account; but whose dignity and strength of character, and gentle,
gracious courtesy, command the respect of those who really know
them. And he had been a loyal friend and faithful helper in the
years that we had been neighbors. And though he still clung to his
old faith, he seemed as grateful for the reading of God's Word and
prayer as for the material help we tried to give.
Time passed, and by-and-by he was up and about again, and wanted to
be given some work to do. One day he came into the house and seated
himself in the deliberate way which told that he had something on
his mind, which would demand my undivided attention, and said: "You
are a white woman. I am a Dakota. But when I was sick your heart was
sad. I hold it in my heart." That was all; that and the silent
hand-grasp as he went out. But somehow I felt as if what the old man
felt in his heart was very secure there.
One bright Sabbath morning, with our deacon, One-Thunder, we visited
a neighboring church eight or ten miles up the river. The regular
native teacher was away, attending the great annual mission meeting;
but two other young men had been appointed to take charge of the
service together--Anselm Kill-the-Crow and Clinton High-Horse. The
latter took for his text, "Ye are the salt of the earth." Retaining
the figurative form of the verse, the young preacher made clear its
spiritual teaching, and by his direct and forceful application
revealed the thoughtfulness and earnestness of his own heart. The
remarks of the other alluded to the name chosen for the little
church. "The Church of the Messiah;" and he urged upon those present
that it be not in name only, but in deed and in truth, _His_ church.
The after-service greetings to the visitors were cordial, as
usual--even the babies being encouraged to hold out tiny brown
hands, with their mothers' injunctions to "nape yuza" (shake hands).
Hole-in-his-Tooth, who is always eager to take orders during the
plum season, consented to postpone business transactions until the
next day. The Woman's Missionary Society had five dollars to hand
over, to be forwarded to the "Wotanin Waste;" that is, far
missionary work. Everybody seemed wide awake and happy; and as we
drove away, the Y. M. C. A. were about to hold their services.
Next to their interest in church affairs, is that in the school; for
since the Grand River (Government) Boarding School has demonstrated
in their midst what faithful teachers can do for the children, the
whole community are ready to show their appreciation, from good old
Chief Grindstone to the wee little folk who carry flowers to their
white friends in the school; and every little circle of influence
widens.
The blizzard was fiercely raging outside, lashing the little house
in its fury. I had given up trying to warm more than one room, and
that was darkened by the snow piled against the windows, and the
panes above were so thick with frost that nothing could be seen.
The storm was so severe--so bitterly cold, with blinding snow and
wind--that I thought no one could possibly get out with safety to
come that day; when, to my surprise, there was a knock at the door,
and there was Maza--faithful Maza--smiling as usual, through the
frost and snow.
Glad, as well as surprised, I was to see him. "They told me not to
come," he said. "They said I would get lost or freeze to death;
but," he added, "I told them I was coming." So the big drift was
tunneled to the stable door, horses fed and watered, and all needed
help given.
By these little homely incidents I have only tried to introduce a
few of the many friends on the Reservation, of whom it is sometimes
asked, "Can Indians ever be really civilized?" "Do you see any real
results?" "Do you find them very treacherous?"
* * * * *
Department of Christian Endeavor.
* * * * *
CHRISTIAN ENDEAVORERS OF A HIGHLAND SCHOOL AND VILLAGE.
[Illustration: CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, WILLIAMSBURG, KY.]
Miss Ella M. Andrews, one of the teachers at Williamsburg Academy,
which is one of the interesting schools among our American
Highlanders, has been an efficient leader in the Christian Endeavor
movement in that school and village. She writes under recent date of
the Senior Endeavor Society, as follows:
"The Y. P. S. C. E. of Main Street Congregational Church of
Williamsburg, Ky., was organized in 1887 with about a dozen charter
members. From this beginning has grown our present flourishing
society of about fifty members, many of whom are our students. The
good it has done these young people cannot be estimated. Many of the
students organize C. E. societies in their home towns and in the
places where they teach. The Tri-State Union was organized in 1893.
The organization was made for the purpose of promoting the C. E.
work in the adjacent counties of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.
By bringing together the members of the societies in this section,
much has been accomplished in the way of strengthening the weak
societies and in the way of organizing and sustaining societies in
places where none existed. All societies in the Union have been
stimulated by its annual conventions."
The Junior Endeavorers in this field are under the especial care of
Miss M. A. Packard, also a teacher in this academy. Under her wise
supervision the Juniors have done much interesting and valuable
work. She writes as follows:
"The Junior Endeavor Society, a company of 76 bright, happy boys and
girls, representing two departments (the active members and the
trial members), is under the direction of the superintendent and two
assistants. The meetings are held every Sunday afternoon, led by one
of the members. We use the 'Junior Endeavor Songs,' and the Juniors'
voices are tuned to sing praise to Him who took little children in
His arms and blessed them. It is an inspiration to attend the
meetings, to hear the recital of the Pledge, the reading of the
Scripture verses and the precious season of prayer, when, with bowed
head, sentence prayers are offered, often two and three at a time.
During the past year the growth of the society has been marked, in
the Juniors learning to pray--God seems so near. Many precious
petitions have been made for self and others.
[Illustration: A MOUNTAIN HOME.]