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The American Missionary
JUNE, 1898.
VOL. LII.
No. 2.
* * * * *
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT--SUCCESS IS COSTLY, 57
WAR AND ITS RESULTS, 58
COLORED PEOPLES OF CUBA--MISSIONARIES MURDERED 59
NEWSPAPERS, 60
THE SOUTH.
SAMPLES AND EXAMPLES (ILLUSTRATED), SECRETARY A. F. BEARD, 61
STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS, LA., 70
TOUGALOO UNIVERSITY, TOUGALOO, MISS., 72
DORCHESTER ACADEMY, MCINTOSH, GA., 73
COLORED TEACHERS IN THE SOUTH (ILLUSTRATED), 75
NOTES, 77
SKETCH OF STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY GRADUATE, 78
ITEMS, 81
THE INDIANS.
NEW TYPE OF INDIAN UPRISING, 82
THE CHINESE.
THE CALIFORNIA CHINESE MISSION (ILLUSTRATED), 85
OBITUARY.
REV. C. L. WOODWORTH, D.D., 87
RECEIPTS, 88
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK, 102
WOMAN'S STATE ORGANIZATIONS, 103
* * * * *
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.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
CONGREGATIONAL ROOMS,
Fourth Avenue and Twenty-second Street,--New York City.
PRESIDENT, MERRILL E. GATES, LL.D., MASS.
_Vice-Presidents._
Rev. F. A. NOBLE, D.D., Ill.
Rev. ALEX. McKENZIE, D.D., Mass.
Rev. HENRY HOPKINS, D.D., Mo.
Rev. HENRY A. STIMSON, D.D., N.Y.
Rev. WASHINGTON GLADDEN, D.D., Ohio.
_Honorary Secretary._
Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, D.D.
_Corresponding Secretaries._
Rev. A. F. BEARD, D.D.
Rev. F. P. WOODBURY, D.D.
Rev. C. J. RYDER, D.D.
_Recording Secretary._
Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, D.D.
_Treasurer._
H. W. HUBBARD, Esq.
_Auditors._
D. C. TIEBOUT.
CHARLES NEWTON SCHENCK.
_Executive Committee._
CHARLES L. MEAD, Chairman.
CHARLES A. HULL, Secretary.
_For Three Years._
WILLIAM HAYES WARD,
JAMES W. COOPER,
LUCIEN C. WARNER,
CHARLES P. PEIRCE,
LEWELLYN PRATT,
_For Two Years._
CHARLES A. HULL,
ALBERT J. LYMAN,
NEHEMIAH BOYNTON,
A. J. F. BEHRENDS,
EDWARD S. TEAD,
_For One Year._
SAMUEL S. MARPLES,
CHARLES L. MEAD,
ELIJAH HORR,
FRANK M. BROOKS,
CHARLES S. OLCOTT.
_District Secretaries._
Rev. GEO. H. GUTTERSON, _21 Cong'l House, Boston, Mass._
Rev. JOS. E. ROY, D.D., _153 La Salle Street, Chicago, Ill._
_Secretary of Woman's Bureau._
MISS D. E. EMERSON, _New York Office_.
COMMUNICATIONS
Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the
Corresponding Secretaries; letters for "THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY," to
the Editor, at the New York Office; letters relating to the finances,
to the Treasurer; letters relating to woman's work, to the Secretary
of the Woman's Bureau.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
In drafts, checks, registered letters, or post-office orders, may be
sent to H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer, Fourth Avenue and Twenty-second
Street, New York; or, when more convenient, to either of the Branch
Offices, 21 Congregational House, Boston, Mass., or 153 La Salle
Street, Chicago, Ill. A payment of thirty dollars constitutes a Life
Member.
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.--The date on the "address label" indicates the
time to which the subscription is paid. Changes are made in date on
label to the tenth of the month. If payment of subscription be made
afterward the change on the label will appear on the next number.
Please send early notice of change in post-office address, giving the
former address and the new address, in order that our periodicals and
occasional papers may be correctly mailed.
FORM OF A BEQUEST.
"I GIVE AND BEQUEATH the sum of ---- dollars to the 'American
Missionary Association,' incorporated by act of the Legislature of the
State of New York." The will should be attested by three witnesses.
* * * * *
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
VOL. LII. JUNE, 1898. NO. 2.
* * * * *
THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
The outlook for the American Missionary Association while hopeful, yet
appeals most earnestly for increased contributions. The debt has been
steadily reduced. At the Annual Meeting in 1895, it was reported to be
$96,147. At the Annual Meeting in 1896 it was $66,572. At the last
Annual Meeting it was $54,945, and now at the close of eight months of
this fiscal year, May 31st, it is $39,527--a reduction from the
highest figure above of $56,620. This reduction is largely due to the
cutting down of expenditures, which has now reached a limit beyond
which no friends of these needy races would wish it to pass. For these
last eight months the total receipts show an increase of $25,800 in
legacies, and at the same time a decrease of $22,800 in collections.
In view of these facts the duty is plain. Further reductions should
not be made. The income from legacies is an uncertain quantity, and an
increase of contributions is the only hope that can be given. Better
times are coming, the responsibility to the poor of our land is
urgent, and the generous response of philanthropic and Christian
givers alone can meet the emergency.
* * * * *
SUCCESS IS COSTLY.
When the early Abolitionists entered upon their contest against
slavery, they found that they had no holiday business on hand. Some
faltered, but others grew stronger as they realized the greatness of
the conflict before them. They saw that their warfare would cost much
in reputation, money, and even life itself. They succeeded, but only
because they were willing to pay the cost.
When the next form of the conflict came--the terrible Civil War--the
cost was so great as to be without a parallel in human history. That
great cost was paid and success was won--a crowning success that
could only come because the full cost was paid. And now the third part
of the struggle confronts us--the redemption of the millions of blacks
still in the bondage of poverty, ignorance and vice. This is the
culmination of these past conflicts. If this be not successful, the
rest has been in part in vain. Four millions of slaves were freed, and
now four millions of their descendants are as helpless and hopeless as
they--as great a curse to themselves and as dangerous an element to
the nation. Now this great and crowning struggle is upon us. Other
interests may for a time hide it from view, but it must be met, and
here again, only that which costs will win. It is to be hoped that
prosperity will return and make it easier to raise the needed funds.
But continued depression will not hinder, for, as in the past, so
here, self-denial and self-sacrifice will bear the burden which God
has imposed, and the result will be success. Our appeal, therefore,
for aid in this great conflict is not based on a mere hope of a better
financial outlook in the nation, but on the consecration and
benevolence of those who are ready to win a success that costs.
* * * * *
WAR AND ITS RESULTS.
If war is simply to kill people and destroy property, it is an unmixed
calamity. But often there are great and valuable results. Our War of
Independence gave birth to this nation and to its amazing
possibilities. The civil war confirmed the unity of the nation and
wiped away the blot and curse of slavery. The present war with Spain
is waged for the humane purpose of delivering Cuba, our near neighbor,
from manifold forms of oppression, crippling its life, hindering its
industries and impoverishing its people. It is earnestly to be hoped
that the results of the struggle will secure deliverance from these
evils.
Other blessings are already beginning to be realized. The war unites
the North and the South as they have not been for thirty years. Our
diverse peoples are united in enthusiasm under a common flag. The
colored people of the country invited to join the armies are yet in
some portions of the country received coldly or even with taunts and
abuse. But they bear it all cheerfully, devoting themselves to the
interests of our common country. Two brief extracts from papers edited
and published by colored men give evidence of their patriotism and
forbearance under these trials.
From the _Fisk Herald_, Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.:
"The duty of the colored citizens of America in the impending conflict
between our country and Spain is clear, and we are exceedingly glad to
note that they are eager to go to the front to uphold the United
States in its just demands upon Spain for the freedom of Cuba. No
people ought to sympathize more with the oppressed than the negroes of
America."
From the _Christian Recorder_ of the A. M. E. Church:
"At all times the colored citizens of this country have proven loyal
to the Government, and while they smart under the unjust treatment
accorded them here, at no time and under no circumstances have they
shown a lack of patriotism when the conditions demand it.
"In the present crisis the colored citizens are maintaining their past
record for loyalty and devotion, and though our soldiers of color have
been insulted and subjected to great indignities while on their way to
defend their country, still their patriotism is not lessened nor their
ardor cooled."
* * * * *
THE COLORED PEOPLES OF CUBA.
We understand that about a half a million of the people of Cuba are
Negro or mulatto, making nearly one-third of the population, and we
learn that there is no such race antagonism between these Negroes and
the Creoles as there is with us. The Maceos, who are among the finest
specimens of patriotic manhood on the island, are mulattoes. If now,
Cuba should be made free and become a part of these United States,
these colored people would claim the sympathies and services of the
American Missionary Association in giving to them those educational
and religious advantages so promptly and freely given to the
emancipated blacks of our own land. Such a service would bind these
two peoples together and aid in uplifting both to the intelligence and
privileges of free Christian citizens.
* * * * *
MISSIONARIES MURDERED IN WEST AFRICA.
It is with heartfelt sorrow that we chronicle the murder of six
missionaries in West Africa. They were sent by the Society of United
Brethren in Christ, whose central office is in Dayton, O., and which
has for many years carried forward very successful work in the Sherbro
country, Sierra Leone, West Africa. This mission was contiguous to the
Mendi Mission, founded by the A. M. A., and worked with it in
Christian harmony and fellowship. When the Association retired from
foreign mission work, the Mendi Mission was turned over to the Sherbro
Mission, and aid was furnished for a time with funds from our board.
The slaughter of these devoted missionaries was brought about in
consequence of a tax on houses or huts imposed by the Sierra Leone
government. The savage people in the remoter districts pushed forward
a resistance to this tax, and, confounding all white men and women
together as responsible, committed these murders and destroyed mission
property. Redress may come for property destroyed and other
missionaries may take the place of those who have fallen, but we mourn
for those who have been martyrs in the cause of the Master.
* * * * *
WORKING, THINKING, WRITING.
To _print_ a newspaper, though it be a small one, requires dexterous
hand work. To _publish_ such a paper demands business gifts to secure
means and to plan the work. To _edit_ such a paper calls for readable
and racy writing. Few forms of business require a greater variety of
manual, skilful and facile ability. For these reasons we are glad to
find that in nearly all our larger schools in the South, monthly
papers are printed and published--with little or no expense to the
Association. The printing office teaches a useful and profitable trade
to the student, the editing is usually done by the professors and
students, and the publishing is managed so that by the aid of
advertising and paid subscriptions, the expense is mainly met. These
periodicals contain much valuable information. The professors
contribute well-written papers, the students furnish articles or
copies of orations or essays delivered on public occasions, and the
graduates write sketches of their life struggles and successes since
leaving the institutions. Well selected items from the world outside
enrich these pages, and brief, personal paragraphs give varied and
useful local information. We present below a partial list of these
publications, giving their name, place of publication, size, etc.
THE FISK HERALD, published by the literary societies of Fisk
University, Nashville, Tenn., is a pamphlet of 24 pages, with an
editor-in-chief and assistants selected from the students. The price
is 75 cts. a year.
THE OLIO is published by the printing department of Straight
University, New Orleans, La. This also is a pamphlet, of 20 pages.
Price, 25 cts. a year.
TALLADEGA COLLEGE RECORD, published by the printing department of
Talladega College, Talladega, Ala., is a four page sheet well printed,
edited by students appointed for the purpose.
TOUGALOO NEWS. A well-printed sheet, 8 pages, issued quarterly at
Tougaloo University, Tougaloo, Miss.
HEAD AND HAND. Issued monthly from the Normal Training Department of
Le Moyne Institute, Memphis, Tenn., a four page sheet, 25 cts. a year.
It is now in its 12th volume.
THE WORD CARRIER, published by the Normal Training School press at
Santee Agency, Neb., is a four page paper edited and published by Rev.
A. L. Riggs, D.D. This sheet, well printed and well edited, is now in
its 27th volume, and presents many important phases of the Indian life
and work. 50 cts. a year.
THE GLOUCESTER LETTER, devoted to education and industry, published
monthly at Cappahosic, Gloucester Co., Va., Prof. W. B. Weaver,
editor; a four page publication in its tenth year, price, 50 cts. a
year.
THE PARISH VISITOR, the official organ of the First Congregational
Church, Atlanta, Ga., a church paper edited by Rev. H. H. Proctor,
with several assistants. 25 cts. a year.
* * * * *
The South.
* * * * *
SAMPLES AND EXAMPLES.
BY SECRETARY A. F. BEARD.
It is my lot on the routes of less frequented travel to fall in with a
class of my fellowmen distinctively known as "Commercial men." It is
their business to be both inquisitive and communicative. While waiting
at some little tavern or railroad station often the right hand of
fellowship has been extended to me with the question "What is your
line?" or "I see you have no trunks, how do you carry your samples?"
They do not always quite understand "our line" when I tell them that
our samples have learned to carry themselves and even to carry others.
Then I am called to explain how they began their intelligent life with
us, how we took the raw material and in process of time sent out our
products from our schools and institutions with their thought of life
widened, with enlarged mental vision and the great majority of them
with hopeful religious characters and purposes. Sometimes these fellow
travelers hear, and sometimes I marvel because of their unbelief. If
our readers could see our samples as we see them in their varied
vocations and places they would not soon forget them.
Not long since in Alabama I came across certain ones which are types;
and as types I present them. The environment which conditions their
work and gives the color of it must needs be included. Situated among
the hills of Eastern Alabama is a thickly settled community of people
about two-thirds of whom are colored. It is in the County of Elmore,
and bears the Indian name of Kowaliga. Being near the corner of two
adjoining counties, it is a rural centre from which large numbers of
children can be reached who ought to be educated, and who are anxious
to "get an education" as their one chance in life, a chance which so
far has been beyond them.
Kowaliga settlement is remote from any railroad and consists wholly of
plantations. These plantations were formerly tilled by slaves, but
since freedom came to those who gave their unrequited labor, the rich
white planters have become poor and many of their sons now may be seen
themselves following their plows, tilling the fields and driving mules
instead of men. The country is fertile and repays intelligent tillage.
The American Missionary Association has been applied to repeatedly for
help in this settlement of Kowaliga. Under the lead of two young
college graduates, both of whom I had met while they were students at
Fisk University, the colored people with great sacrifice had
contributed building material and labor in the construction of a very
substantial two-story building with attic and basement, which,
however, is yet incomplete and unfurnished. The people with few
exceptions, are extremely poor and very ignorant, and have an
imperfect idea of what a school means with its proper appointments and
teachers.
[Illustration: KOWALIGA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL.]
In answer to the most urgent appeals of the two young educators, I
arranged in my recent journeying in the South for a personal
investigation. One of the former student acquaintances came for me in
his "one horse shay" and with him as my courier and companion I rode
through this rural district. I found that the white farmers are
gradually leaving their plantations while the colored people are as
gradually becoming land owners. Abandoned farms, which through poor
culture have not paid the farmers for cultivation, can easily be
secured by industrious colored people who are willing to deny
themselves and work hard for an independent start in life.
The father of the young man whom I accompanied on my long ride through
the country is one of these who has already won his success. His
experience and achievement are typical in illustrating the trends and
the probabilities.
Mr. J. A. Benson--at this present time forty-six years of age--was
born a slave three miles from the great plantation which he now owns.
When his owner's estate was divided he was a part of the property
which fell to an heir in Talladega, Alabama. There as property he was
sent, and there he worked as a slave until emancipation came. At the
age of nineteen years, with a hundred dollars saved from his earnings
as a free man he returned to his birthplace and purchased on credit
160 acres of land. His first year of crops gave him a handsome profit
and soon he was able to pay for this land. Again he bought land, and
again more year by year. Now I found him with his new house of twelve
rooms nearly completed on the site of his old one, the construction of
which was under the direction of a Negro contractor whose leading
workman was a white man; a native of that same community. The mason
who did the masonry was also a Southern white man. While engaged on
this "job" both white men ate at the same table with the owner. In the
"Merchant of Venice" we read of one who said, "I will buy with you,
sell with you, talk with you, walk with you and so following, but I
will not eat with you." Nevertheless there are times when "Necessity
knows no law" and this was one of the times. It was the common
opinion, however, that the excellent mason was much more expeditious
than is common about his job, though he was working by the day. His
work was completed in about one-half the usual time allowed for it. He
stayed, not upon the order of his going. Doubtless a second experience
would come with less self conquest than the first.
Mr. Benson began his independent life with his unpaid farm of 160
acres. Now he owns 3,000 acres of land paid for and without
encumbrance, with the virtual ownership of a fine stream, at some
points 500 feet wide, which for five miles runs through his extensive
plantations. On this stream he has a brick yard, a saw mill, a grist
mill and a cotton gin and compressing mill combined in one and
operated by the water of this stream. The farm is worked on shares
chiefly, the owner furnishing the land and the stock, the laborers
dividing the products half and half.
[Illustration: KOWALIGA CREEK--THROUGH MR. BENSON'S PLANTATIONS.]
The leases are taken by a dozen responsible and experienced farmers,
who sub-contract with the laborers under their immediate supervision.
Of the 3,000 acres, one-half is devoted to corn, cotton, cane, etc.;
500 are used for pasturage and 1,000 furnish ample supply of pine, oak
and hickory timber for the greedy teeth of his saw mill and the
willing embrace of his planing mill. He has cows, cattle, mules,
horses, barns and farm implements to meet all necessities. His teams
go regularly to Montgomery markets and return with stores for the
forty families who live upon his lands and work them, and for the
community who purchase of him what things they have. Besides his
possessions in land, Mr. Benson has been able to loan to his white
neighbors some $6,000, which are secured by mortgages upon their
farms. They are running behind and he is running ahead. While I was
the guest of this man, opposite me at the table dined a white man who
was engaged on the carpentry of the new house. He was a native
Southerner but he showed no evidence of social injury, and if he did
his carpentry work as thoroughly as he did that of the table he
certainly earned his wages.
Mr. Benson has managed with his uncommon ability to pick up education
enough to achieve and handle successfully and shrewdly these large
interests; not only to know their details but also to realize their
significance and somewhat of the larger world beyond his own
dominions. The success of this self-made colored man may be somewhat
exceptional in degree, but it is not at all phenomenal. The story with
the variations of personality and place could be told a hundred times
over among the colored people who began thirty years ago without a
foot of land or a dollar of money.
Among the colored people in this rural community this man is one. For
the most part life has gone on for the others without much
advancement. They have not been left without a certain kind of school
for their children taught for three months out of twelve chiefly by
students who are themselves getting an education in institutions
sustained by Northern benevolence; but the teaching has been without
continuity and insufficient to make much impress on character. This
far-seeing colored man realized this, and his own influence in life
might have been greater if chances had come to him in his earlier
days. He has, therefore, given his son a liberal education at college
and has daughters now in the same path.
When the young man returned from his studies with Christian love in
his heart to assist his father in business he took in the situation
that there must be a school here commensurate with the needs, where
the colored boys and girls might receive the blessings of an education
large and thorough enough and of such a positive Christian quality as
should change the life of the community. In some aspects it sadly
needs radical change.
He called to his side one of his mates at Fisk University--a graduate
of the college department--under the conviction that for such work as
this there was a call for a thorough as well as a technical education;
that there must be breadth of mental knowledge and mental vision as
well as skill of hand. The young college man with his diploma in his
pocket heard the call, as scores of samples from our institutions in
our great system of schools are hearing theirs every year; and when
once there these two young men began what is to be the KOWALIGA
ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. They each had taken industrial
training enough with their studies to know what they were about. They
sought good counsel from others and thus the main school building was
begun. Mr. Benson, the father, furnished a sufficient allotment of
land for the site, the timber and the lumber which his mills sawed and
planed, and which his teams carted. The Samples supervised and the
young people and old wrought with their own hands. Generous friends
from the North lent their names to the undertaking and from and
through them contributions came in amounts sufficient to encourage but
not large enough to complete. From these were named an advisory board
of friends who with an equal number of colored people in the
neighborhood were called trustees.
These are the conditions in which I introduce our Samples. It was at
this stage of the proceedings when these children of the American
Missionary Association called to us for the second and third time,
"Come over and help us." We came, we saw, and they conquered. How
could we do other than honor their faith and patience with our "watch
and care," and with a little faith on our part that help enough would
come to us to make their own helpfulness successful. Here in the
darkness these light bearers will give light and save life and they
will do this better because light has been given to them and they
themselves have been saved.
[Illustration: PROF. T. S. INBORDEN.
Principal Joseph K. Brick Normal, Agricultural and Industrial School
at Enfield, N. C.--A. M. A.--born a slave. Struggled up through
poverty, educated himself by teaching vacations and working his way.
Was graduated from Fisk University. A Sample.]
I have given this story of Samples because it is our latest. Our
picture would be out of perspective, however, should it lead any to
the conclusion that this typical illustration of conditions and work
is other than a sample in itself. Let it be known that this is what is
going on in the work of the American Missionary Association constantly
year by year, every year, as it reduplicates itself in every State of
the South.
Above ten thousand of these Samples are examples. They have taken the
torches lighted at our fires and have borne the light of their
knowledge on to others in darkness. They are doing it this year. They
will do it next year. There are entire counties in the South in which
our schools have supplied nine-tenths of all the colored teachers.
These teachers, graduates of Normal Schools and higher institutions,
are good samples, making full proof of their enlarged powers in the
Christian upbuilding of their own race. The man who thinks leads.
Samples, also, in strong ministers of Christ, good and true, who are
in "our line," planting little churches and developing little churches
into larger ones, bringing dependent churches forward into
self-support, and leading the colored people out and away from
old-time superstition and evil ways into the pure life of intelligent
faith.
[Illustration: PROF. JAMES L. MURRAY.
Born a slave. Educated by his own endeavors. Taught his way through
College. Was graduated at Fisk University. Principal of the Albany
Normal School, A. M. A. A Sample.]
In the more conspicuous places of life we find our Samples. Some of
their "examples" are already on the shelves of science in our
libraries, and are hanging in honor in the galleries of art. Not a few
of our graduates fill Professors' chairs. Many are already teachers of
teachers. They believe that the Negro has intellect as well as hands.
They believe in the development of manhood and womanhood along all
lines, and do not believe that an elementary education for an
elementary people is enough to save a race. They have been taught in
our schools that our thought of education is that the knowledge which
is of most worth "is that which stands in closet relation to the
highest forms of the activity of the spirit created in the image of
Him who holds nature and man and life alike in the hollow of His
hand." Our idea of the educational process is that it is vital and not
merely technical; that it is indeed but another name for the unfolding
and growth of the human spirit. It has not, therefore, been along a
single line of material helpfulness, and its ends are not reached with
mere technical skill.
Our supreme purpose is "to give light and to save life," but we have
never tried to save disembodied spirits. We have written Christianity
large over and in all of our work in the school rooms, in the manual
training shops, in the farm instruction, because we are sure there is
no recuperative energy in the colored race, nor in any other,
sufficient to save itself. There is nothing so practical to uplift men
or races as Christianity. Said Archdeacon Tiffany the other day at
Yale, "A prevailing idea is, to create an environment is to develop
Christian life. Put people in the right places and they will be all
right, a statement, however, which experience has denied from the
Garden of Eden until now. Environment is a great factor but it does
not furnish the life impulse. Recognize the help of environment but do
not depend on it. How often environment does not make character but
may retard it." Our work strikes its roots far deeper than in
externals. Nevertheless, Christianity assumes intelligence and depends
upon it. With Christian character and intelligence we hear the call
for technical skill and provide for it in our industrial annexes side
by side with our work in mental development. Hence you will find the
Samples "in our line" as easily as a commercial traveler finds the
stores which handle his goods.
[Illustration: INDUSTRIAL ROOM, ORANGE PARK, FLA. A SAMPLE.]
We have industrial samples also in educated farmers, architects,
carpenters, masons, contractors, merchants and bankers, who in the
industrial competitions of life are proving the mettle of their
pasture in the fields where they were fed and trained. While we were
teaching them first of all to be larger and better in mind, stronger
in heart and will, teaching them to have a large and intelligent faith
in God, and an honest following of Christ, we have taught them at the
same time how to till the soil wisely, how to excel in the trades, how
to keep their accounts accurately and how to have accounts to keep. We
would like to have the great American Missionary Association
constituency see these samples as we have seen them and do see them,
not alone in pulpits, in schools and on farms and in trades, but also
in commercial life and in places of extended influence. We should like
to show our Samples in their Christian homes, homes which are not made
of brick and mortar and boards and shingles, but which are only
sheltered by these; homes where there is educated intelligence, where
there are books and thoughtful minds that can appreciate them; homes
where there is refinement, and where samples are examples of exalted
life which in itself stimulates and uplifts life all around--these are
centres of untold good. The light streams out from them day by day.
They are the leaven of a rising race. I go not anywhere in towns or in
rural places in any Southern state where I fail to find such samples
and examples which in their various ways are thus holding forth the
word of life and justifying the farsighted wisdom and benevolence
which planted the system of American Missionary schools upon "our
line" and which in sustaining them is building up the Kingdom of God
on the Master's line as it builds up thousands of men and women
towards the mind and heart of God.
[Illustration: COLLEGE GRADUATES. SAMPLES.]
[Illustration: SMALL SAMPLES, _En Route_ TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.]
The little people pictured above are "children's children." Parents
who came under our care thirty years ago, but one remove from all that
was wrapped up in hopeless slavery, can now give their children better
chances than they themselves could secure in the early days of
freedom. In our great system of schools one may look into thousands of
such earnest faces turned inquiringly toward the twentieth century.
What the coming days shall hold for them and through them for the
kingdom of Christ is in good part to be answered in positive Christian
schools, where character building is made the supreme foundation for
future homes and opportunities. These "children's children" began
their climbing on a higher round than did their parents, and there are
more of them to climb--
"More and more, more and more,
Still there's more to follow."
* * * * *
COMMENCEMENT AT STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY, LA.
BY REV. G. W. HENDERSON, D.D.
Our school year, which closed May 25, has been crucial in many
respects. It has tested the attachment of the scholars to the school
on one hand, and their desire for an education and the willingness of
themselves and of their parents to make sacrifices to this end on the
other; for the fever and the rigid quarantine delayed the opening in
the fall, paralyzed business, and made it difficult for parents and
students to earn the means not only to meet school expenses, but even
to obtain the ordinary comforts of life. But, notwithstanding these
discouragements, our old scholars remained loyal and patiently awaited
the opening, and the attendance has been good--that in the higher
grades coming up to the average figure. How much solicitude, earnest
planning and brave self-sacrifice all this involved no one who has not
lived in the midst of the people can realize; no one but the
All-Knowing can understand.
The list of our various exercises is somewhat long, yet each
represents some special department of our work, or is a manifestation
of some special form of its manifold activities, and for this reason
cannot fail to be of interest to our readers.
Junior Exhibition, May 4, was the first exercise on the program; two
weeks later came the Recital by the Department of Instrumental Music.
The Address, Sunday morning, May 22d, to the Christian Associations by
Rev. J. M. Loring, D.D., of this city, and the Baccalaureate, Sunday
night, by President Atwood, were both greatly enjoyed by the large
audiences that came to hear.
A feature of growing power and usefulness is the Sumner and Alpha
Literary Societies, whose anniversary is always an occasion of great
interest. The able and eloquent address this year was given by Rev. L.
H. Reynolds, D.D., the successful pastor of the leading African
Methodist Church in this city. He made his auditors feel that, though
their lot had many hardships, it also had many compensating
advantages, and that to the educated and consecrated youth of the race
the field for usefulness and distinction was large and inviting.
The Class Day Exercise, Monday night, came up in point of interest and
attraction to the usual high standard. The Grammar Department had the
right of way Tuesday 1 P. M. Certificates admitting them to the Normal
and College Preparatory Departments were given to forty-two bright
boys and girls. And truly, the boys in their neat fitting suits and
the girls in their white gowns presented a beautiful sight. The
history of their efforts to reach this landmark in their educational
life is full of pathos and romance. Observe that girl sitting yonder
on the right. Her happy face glows with the interest of the occasion;
her dress is neat and cleanly. Yet that girl left the washroom or
laundry when she came to school this morning, and will return to it
when the school day closes. Back from the street and enclosed by
larger buildings and shut out from the blessed sunlight and pure air
is the house she calls her home. She is the oldest of five or six
children. The hard worked mother, who seldom leaves the wash-tub
except to retire to her weary couch, is only able to keep this girl in
school by the most rigid economy and self-denial, and when she has
finished her course, then by her help the others may have a chance.
This is one of many cases which the kind and faithful teacher has
discovered among her scholars. The lesson of it is that the race which
has such mothers, so patient, so self-sacrificing, is sure to rise,
and is worth taking some stock in by the friends of Christian
missions; nor need we be surprised to learn that out of a colored
voting population of 120,000 in Louisiana, nearly 39,000 have acquired
within thirty-five years the ability to read and write.
The Alumni Association held their annual meeting Tuesday night and
listened to a bright oration by Miss Annie Feyer, class '97.
And now let us look at the last scene in this drama of the closing
year at Central Church. It is the old story--old yet new and fresh in
its human element and its deep significance--of a packed house, and of
an attention so fixed and earnest that naught is heard during the
delivery of the pieces, though hundreds are standing, save the beating
of fifteen hundred fans against the warm air, and the clear
enunciation of the speakers, and the hearty, yet discriminating
applause.
The various subjects treated reveal, as usual, interesting traits in
the characters of the speakers, some breathing aspirations after a
larger liberty, and a more rational conception of it, some revealing a
deep consciousness of life's noble obligations and splendid
opportunities, some insisting on independence of mind as the basis of
true manhood. The graduate from the department of theology pleaded for
character in the ministry to the manifest satisfaction of the
audience. Here and there were heard echoes of the troubled past, some
sensitiveness to present hardships was manifested, but the prevailing
tone was a willingness to take hold of life bravely and seriously, to
redress the wrong and to glorify the right.
In beholding these ten graduates--six from the normal course, three
from the college preparatory and one from the theological--one could
not but compare the present with the not distant past, and rejoice in
the compensations of prudence. The proud father of one of the girls
who sat in the audience was once the body servant of Jefferson Davis.
The mother of one of the boys who acquitted himself with more than
usual ability came forward at the close of the exercises and looked
him in the face for several moments, too utterly happy to speak a
word.
The exhibits of the industrial department as well as the work of the
grades, notwithstanding the shortness of the year, showed no sacrifice
of quality.
Thus, in spite of many adverse circumstances, the year has been one of
signal blessing in all the departments; the religious life was never
sweeter or more earnest, the school was never more thoroughly
dominated by Christian motives and principles. President Atwood may
justly felicitate himself and his co-workers upon the good results
obtained.
* * * * *
COMMENCEMENT AT TOUGALOO UNIVERSITY, MISS.
BY PRESIDENT FRANK G. WOODWORTH, D.D.
The commencement exercises on May 19th closed one of the most
memorable years in the history of the institution. Quarantine delayed
the opening of the year until November 23d, and on the next night the
girls' dormitory was destroyed by fire. These two things greatly
reduced the attendance, and of course the fire entailed a great many
inconveniences. The school has gone bravely on, however, and the year
is now looked back upon as one of the most satisfactory in work and
general results that has been seen. Students and teachers have labored
with unusual diligence, crowding nearly the full work of the usual
school year into six months.
The year has been signalized by having a Freshman class, the first to
enter on college work. Four students have successfully completed the
year, and another class of the same size or larger is expected for
next year.
The president preached the Baccalaureate sermon from Gen. 5:24. All
the graduates are Christians; all but two of the Academy, and
three-fourths of the grammar pupils of the year have been Christians.
The annual concert always attracts much attention, and it has been a
problem what to do with the large crowds who attend. This year a
complimentary rehearsal was given on Monday evening to which friends
from Jackson were invited, a special train coming out on their behalf.
On Wednesday evening was the regular concert, and the room was again
crowded. A general program of fine selections was rendered, followed
by Rheinberger's "Clarice of Eberstein." Tougaloo's musical work is of
the highest order. At the graduating exercises on Thursday, nine young
people received diplomas of graduation from the Academy courses, five
of them young women. Four of the class expect to return for college
work, one to go on to college elsewhere, one to study medicine, one is
taking nurse training in a Chicago hospital, and the others expect to
teach. The spirit in which they go out is exemplified in the answer
made by one of them to the question, "What will you do if you fail to
get a school to teach this summer?" "Do what I can find. Dig, if need
be." A very similar answer was given by one of the most advanced young
women, except she said "Hoe corn or cotton" instead of "dig." The
higher education will hurt none who have that spirit.
The annual address was delivered by President Barrett of the Jackson
College, and was a most helpful and stimulating utterance on the
"Value of Purpose." Brief addresses were made by prominent visitors,
among them several pastors of the white churches in Jackson, the
principal of the city schools, and Col. Charles E. Hooker, for many
years congressman from this district. His address was specially
interesting in the strong feeling of sympathy which it exhibited for
the work of Tougaloo and similar schools, coming as it did from a
public man of such prominence, of a slave-holding family and himself a
former slave owner.
The industrial exhibit in one of the school rooms attracted very large
attention. It covered needle work, cookery, nurse-training, wood and
iron work, agriculture, and there was also a fine botanical exhibit.
While the manual training work has always made a fine appearance, it
was felt that this exhibit surpassed all that had preceded it. The
steel tools, made and tempered by students, were specially admired.
It was matter of special gratulation that the work of excavation for
the foundation of the new dormitory, delayed because the Association
builder was elsewhere occupied, was well advanced. It is hoped that
the building will be nearing completion when the term begins on
September 28th next.
It is sometimes said that colored students show little gratitude for
what aid is given to them. Many instances to the contrary are
continually occurring. One of the graduates of this year, a young
woman, left a note for the president to be read by him after she had
gone, which shows so much in several ways that a portion of it may
well be quoted here. "Since I have been coming to Tougaloo, I have had
quite a little help. Although it was a blessing from God, you are the
agent through whom it came. These few lines are to let you know that I
appreciate and thank you for your kindness. I haven't gained as much
as I would like to have done, yet I have this consolation, and it may
be encouraging to you, that I got as much as I could mentally,
physically and spiritually. Since my connection with this school, my
knowledge has been increased, false ideas have been corrected, truths
have been established, life broadened, desires multiplied, faith in
Christ increased, and I have been enabled to advance a few steps
toward my ideal. My greatest desire is to do as much for Christ as I
may among my fellow men." Who could show better results of education?
Does not aiding such a student pay?
* * * * *
DORCHESTER ACADEMY, MCINTOSH, GA.
BY PROF. FREDERICK W. FOSTER.
The beginning of our Commencement Exercises occurred on Sunday
morning, May 15, when Rev. J. R. McLean, of Macon, preached an able
and instructive sermon to our graduating class. The speaker made very
apt and telling application of his subject, which, while especially
directed to the graduates, was good for all.
The examinations in the various grades took place on Wednesday, 18th,
lasting through the day. They gave evidence of good, thorough work on
the part of pupils and teachers, and that our school is moving upward
all along the line. Much interest was manifested in the recitations
and discussions by patrons and visiting friends. Although many of our
visitors were unlettered people, they showed that they could keenly
appreciate whatever they saw that was good.
A fine display of boys' and girls' clothing and quilts gave proof of
the diligence of teacher and pupils in the sewing and dressmaking
department, and of the progress made in that line both in the present
and past years. A display of household furniture, including tables,
stands, wash-stands, a side-board, hat racks and towel racks, showed
what our boys' manual teacher and his boys have been doing. To this
should be added a neat fence, built by the boys in the lower grades.
The neatness and thoroughness of the work on the furniture greatly
exceeds that of the same grade from a manufactory.
But our day of days came on Thursday, when a large audience from
various parts of Southeastern Georgia assembled at our church to
witness the exercises of graduation. Although this is only our third
exercise of this kind, it has already become one of the great annual
events of Liberty and neighboring counties. Notwithstanding the heat
of the day and the dust, the church was packed by an audience of at
least six hundred. In thought, force and plainness of expression and
delivery, the orations of the young men were well up toward
"high-water mark." The subjects chosen were eminently of a practical
nature, and were treated in a very practical and forceful way that
went right home to the understanding and appreciation of the hearers,
as was manifested by the close attention that was evident on every
hand. The music for the occasion was furnished by the Normal
department, assisted by the grammar grades, and consisted of
well-drilled choruses, a duet and a solo. The exercises closed with an
appropriate address by the pastor, Rev. A. L. DeMond, and the
presentation of the well-earned diplomas.
It should have been mentioned that, on Tuesday evening, a reception
was given by the teachers to the members of the graduating class and
the alumni, furnishing a very pleasant social occasion. On Thursday
afternoon, the alumni of the school organized and held its first
meeting, consisting of literary exercises; and in the evening gave a
reception to the teachers at a neighboring house, thus giving a
pleasant ending to the school year of 1897-8.
It has been a busy week and one filled with hard work, and moreover,
such work as could not have been possible a very few years ago. A
diploma received now by a graduate means the completion of a
four-years' Normal course, and the work satisfactorily done.
* * * * *
COLORED TEACHERS IN THE SOUTH.
BY PROF. A. J. STEELE, MEMPHIS, TENN.
A full generation has passed since the emancipation of the slaves in
the United States and since the avenues of knowledge were thrown open
to the colored people through the doors of the school house. During
this time portions of three generations, parents, children and
grand-children, literally "Children's children to the third
generation," have, to a greater or less extent, availed themselves of
the tuition of the schools.
[Illustration: CHILDREN'S CHILDREN.]
During the first decade, and in regularly decreasing ratio since, the
most difficult problem has been how to provide competent teachers for
the instruction of a race crowding and hungry for knowledge.
Fortunately, perhaps, in the long view, the teaching of colored youth
has never, from the first, in the South, been considered a popular
calling, and so the work has in the main devolved upon the colored
people themselves, a work to which, for years, from almost entire lack
of opportunity for training, they could bring but the scantiest
preparation and even less experience.
No more interesting or suggestive study could be undertaken than that,
of tracing the progress of the colored teachers of a race so recently
emancipated, as they have advanced in literary, mental and moral
fitness for a work thrust upon them by the exigencies of the
situation.