Education for 1895-6 shows how well the race is meeting the demand for
teachers in its schools, everywhere in the South kept separate from
the public schools for white children. For the year above mentioned
there were employed 26,499 colored teachers, who had under their care
1,429,713 pupils. For the same year there were in the various Normal
Schools for colored people 4,672 students, 966 of whom were graduated;
826 were graduated from high schools and 161 from college courses,
making in all 1,953 graduates from courses of study considered
sufficient in extent to fit more or less thoroughly for the work of
teaching; not to mention the even greater numbers who engage in
teaching before having completed any higher course of training. So
much as to mere numbers. Now, in general, as to the advancement being
made by schools of this class. Without exception, the reports of
school officers give credit for constantly increasing excellency and
proficiency of both schools and teachers, and certain it is, that the
public appreciation and esteem is shown by an increasing patronage and
a more substantial provision for the improvement and support of the
schools.
In particular, while it is not always safe to draw sweeping
conclusions from facts gathered within a limited area of observation,
it may yet be confidently asserted, that what is true of the schools
and teachers of any fairly representative city or community in the
South, is likely to be measurably true wherever similar conditions and
opportunities prevail. My own direct experience and observation have
had to do with the colored schools and teachers of a single city of
sixty to eighty thousand people, nearly one-half colored, and the
counties and towns adjacent. These I have followed very closely for
over twenty-five years. I can testify positively that there has been a
steady raising of the standards of qualifications and proficiency with
regard both to intellectual and moral attainments among the teachers
of colored schools, and in this I shall be borne out by the testimony
of superintendents and school officers, as well as by all observing
people of these communities. In many cases teachers and schools of
this class have attained an enviable reputation and are often
mentioned as models of excellence in many ways.
The process of growth here, as elsewhere, has been one of the
"survival of the fittest," the ill-trained, inefficient teachers
gradually giving place to the better qualified, more capable class.
The initial influence in this line of succession dates back but little
more than thirty years, to the founding of "mission" schools at
centres of influence throughout the South; "a handful of corn on the
top of the mountain" from which has come the wide-spreading harvests
of the present. It is a statement well within the facts that nine out
of ten of the colored schools of all grades in the South are taught by
those who had their training in these mission schools, or else by
teachers who owe their education to those of their own race who were
so trained. No more powerful or far-reaching influence was ever set in
operation than that which had its origin in the cabin where taught the
first humble missionary among the people freed by the war. The whole
power and potency of all that has followed was represented in that
first despised and humble effort.
From that day to this seems a long call. The passage has been made
almost unobserved, like the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. It now
not unfrequently happens that a colored public school stands
accredited in a community with excellencies to distinguish it as an
example worthy of imitation. Such is the colored high school in the
city of my direct observation, in the two respects of self-control and
government of its pupils, and in its movement toward a collection of
miscellaneous books for a school library--excellencies not ascribed,
so far as I know, in anything like the same measure to any other
public school. It is perhaps needless to add that the principal of
this school, as well as the teachers of a large percentage of the
other best schools of the city and county, have had their training in
one of the "mission" normal schools above mentioned.
To remove or weaken these centres of power would be to strike the most
deadly blow at the education of the colored people. It would be the
removal of so many nerve centres out from which still flow the stimuli
needful to keep in active operation and growing power the entire
system.
John F. Slater and Daniel Hand and a hundred other individual
benefactors have seen this vital fact and have done what they could to
build up and strengthen such influences. The church will make a great
mistake if it ignores this fact or relaxes its efforts in the support
of the institutions so wisely planned and so greatly efficient for
good in the past.
* * * * *
NOTES.
CLOSING EXERCISES AT LE MOYNE.--Le Moyne Normal Institute, Memphis,
Tennessee, closed on the 2nd of June. Not less than 2,500 people
crowded the auditorium at the closing exercises. The large attendance
betokens the influence of the school in the community and the esteem
in which it is held.
STUDENTS ENLISTING.--Many of the students of our colleges and Normal
Schools have enlisted in the service of their country. From Talladega
College, Alabama, we receive the following: "We send a score of our
choice young men off to the army to-morrow." From Lincoln School,
Meridian, Miss., the Principal writes: "One young man is away in the
interests of his company, of which he is Captain. He wrote, 'This is
the time to show of what clay we are made, and I trust each student
of Lincoln School will prove himself loyal to his country.' Four of
the officers of his company are graduates of Lincoln School."
* * * * *
A SKETCH OF THE CAREER OF A STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY GRADUATE.
BY REV. GEORGE W. HENDERSON, D.D.
Among the young colored men who heard the call of God for the
uplifting of their race was Mr. H----, whose home was in Arkansas.
From the first, with him Christian faith meant Christian service, and
he at once became active in church and Sunday-school. Nature was
generous to him in the saving gift of common sense, and he was not
long in perceiving the incompetency of the ministers to whom the
people at that time looked for religious instruction and leadership.
A fortunate providence brought him into contact with a teacher from
Straight University. The information she gave him of this institution
opened the way to execute the purpose which he had been cherishing for
some time, to fit himself to become a missionary to his people in his
own home. The loss of a leg at this time, through the carelessness of
another, instead of discouraging, strengthened his resolution.
Penniless, like Booker Washington, he set out for this missionary seat
of learning, his only resource, prayer, his only support, hope and
faith.
One bright morning, this brave Arkansas lad presented himself at
Straight University. Hobbling up the walk to the main building, and
assuming an air of confidence quite in contrast to his internal
emotions, he hailed a passing student in the familiar vocabulary of
the plantation--"Say, Sonny, is the Boss in?" The "Boss" was in, and
on meeting this new candidate for academical honors, quite took away
his breath by addressing him as "Mr." Such courtesy was a surprise and
a revelation to him. That he was somebody in the eyes of heaven was
the gracious revelation of his Christian faith; it now for the first
time dawned upon him that the recognition of his manhood was possible
on earth.
Eight years of earnest study followed, years full of happiness,
because they were years of progress, of growing religious experience,
of expanding intellectual and spiritual vision. The dream of his
uncared for boyhood was in process of realization. He enjoyed the
confidence of teachers and scholars alike, for he was the soul of
honor, and his word was the word of truth. His vacations were spent in
teaching in the common schools of Louisiana. Success always crowned
his efforts; his schools were usually full to overflowing. He taught
in the Sunday-schools and made himself useful in every form of
Christian service. On one occasion the school house was destroyed by
fire, but nothing daunted, the enthusiastic teacher rallied the
neighbors, and with them and the scholars he went into the woods,
chopped down the trees, hewed the logs, and in a few days replaced the
old building with a better, and the school went on more successfully
than ever.
And so on till the end of his life, difficulties were faced bravely
and successfully. With the assistance of friends, a cork leg took the
place of the pole which he had lashed to the stump of his lost limb.
After completing the normal course, he took the usual course in
theology.
On Vermillion Bay, not far from the Gulf Coast, and at the terminus of
a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, about twenty miles from
Bayou Teche, the stream that keeps green and beautiful the year round
that section of Louisiana which was first settled by the exiled
Acadians and made famous in Longfellow's "Evangeline," is a thriving
village. In the patois of the country the people are called "Cajians,"
a corruption of Acadians. As a rule, they are non-progressive and
ignorant. But the spirit of modern progress, brought in on the
railroad, is putting new life into old customs.
In this village just waking into its new life, a humble man of faith,
in the year 1885, organized a Congregational church. The organizer of
this new church, having only a limited education, soon found himself
at the end of his resources. The people were still hungry and still
unfed. One plants, another waters. Unknown to the people, and in his
own good way and time, God was preparing to answer their prayer for a
shepherd who could lead them into the green pastures and by the side
of quiet waters.
The Arkansas lad, proud of the possession of his normal and
theological diplomas, and now ready for service, was sent by the A. M.
A. to this prosperous village in the beautiful Teche country. When Mr.
H. arrived in the fading twilight of a June evening, and looked over
the situation--a rude, unfinished edifice, a scattered congregation,
and a membership that had diminished almost to the vanishing
point--for the first time he began to have serious doubts whether
after all he had not mistaken his calling. After much searching, only
ten or twelve discouraged members could be found. Neither party was
unduly impressed with the other. His doubt that he could do anything
for the church was probably fully respected by the members as they
looked him over and took his measure. The thoughts that came to him
that night as he lay upon his restless and dreamless pillow, were
decidedly Jonah-like. Nor were the means lacking to follow the example
of that ancient prophet. Ships lay at anchor in Vermillion Bay ready
to carry him out into the gulf and the great sea beyond. The question
what he should eat and drink, and wherewithal he should be clothed,
seemed to justify his flight. He was now learning that missionary
service is a fine thing to talk about in prayer meetings and
missionary gatherings, but that the reality often possesses a stern
and forbidding countenance. Nor was much reflection needed to show him
that though the ships might take him away from the place of duty,
they could not take him away from duty itself; that it were better to
bear poverty and privation than to bear a guilty conscience.
It is always darkest before day. In a few weeks an ordaining council
has assembled, his old pastor and theological teacher being among the
number. The harvest was ripe, waiting for the reapers to put in the
sickle, and what began as ecclesiastical council ended in a gracious
revival. The Arkansas lad was now a minister; the dream of his boyhood
was rapidly fulfilling.
Three years and a half passed. The field which at first seemed so
barren of promises had proved to be rich in opportunities. The
Louisiana Congregational Association holds its annual meeting with
him. His old pastor sends three other teachers. One of them, the wife
of "the Boss," returns with the other members of the ordaining council
to see what progress has been made.
Yes, this must be the place; for the railroad stops here, and yonder
is Vermillion Bay, and the anchored ships. This, too, must be the
young pastor; his limp betrays his identity, but the face, whose pure
native hue three years ago was darkened by the cloud of doubt is now
wreathed in smiles. Here, too, is the church, the same, yet not the
same; its former disfigured and unwashed face now shines in a new coat
of paint; the unfinished and leaky bell-tower has been repaired and
beautified; and those old benches, apparently designed for those
condemned to do penance, have been replaced by comfortable modern
seats, so that the worshipper's attention is no longer diverted from
the sermon by the painful consciousness of his physical sufferings.
But these changes, excellent in themselves, are by no means the
highest test of these years of faithful and consecrated service. The
twelve members with whom the new pastor began, have been nearly
sextupled; the Sunday-school has been organized, enlarged and
developed; a flourishing Christian Endeavor Society started; and right
conceptions of practical righteousness enforced. The pastor's
conception of his ministry includes a practical interest in education,
and since his advent an increasing stream of young people has been
flowing to Straight University. Thrifty himself, his contagious
enthusiasm has not only affected his own flock, but the community
generally, filling them with ambition to save their humble earnings,
and become owners of their own homes, and send their children to
school.
The esteem in which Mr. H. is held by the best white people of the
town was well illustrated at the recent meeting of the State
Association. They not only crowded into the church, filling every
available space for standing, but stood outside at the windows for
hours in earnest attention, in the chilly night air. So great had
their interest become that the last night of the Association, one
white man offered the pastor any price for a reserved seat for himself
and lady friends, and the town representative wrote him a polite note
asking for a seat for himself and family, and the next day the white
people offered to procure the courthouse, that we might have a larger
place for our meeting.
Newspapers and magazines are teeming, nowadays, with articles claiming
that our people's supreme need is industrially trained men to indicate
the road to prosperity. We gladly concede that there is need enough
and room enough for such men, but we part company with these advocates
when they intimate that we have too many liberally educated men. The
value of such well educated men may be seen in the example of Mr. H.,
who is only one of many young men who have gone forth from Straight
University and other A. M. A. institutions.
* * * * *
ITEMS.
PENALTY FOR LYNCHING.--The Legislature of Ohio has passed the
Anti-Lynching amendment which makes it possible for the heirs of a
person lynched to sue the county in which the crime is committed for
from $500 to $5,000. This is the right way to do. Every state in the
Union ought to be made to pay either one of these amounts. Why not let
us agitate on these lines. The government can never find the
offenders, but under this law they can find the county.--_The
Conservator of Chicago._
THE BLACK MILLIONAIRE ON HIS WAY.--Mr. T. Thomas Fortune, Editor of
the _New York Age_, one of the bright papers published by colored men,
stated at a recent meeting that the race problem, instead of being
solved in the South, is being intensified by the present condition of
things. He deplored the fact of the black man being excluded by the
labor unions from earning an honest living, and, while the poor white
people are employed in mills and factories of the cities, the black
man is left to till the soil. He is barred out from manual labor and
in many cases must either "starve or steal." This despised individual
who "befo' de war," performed all the labor, is now hardly able to
earn a living. Yet, for all that, Mr. Fortune is confident that in the
future a "monstrosity" is coming. "I may not live to see him, but the
black millionaire is on his way."
THE TRIUMPHANT DEATH OF A CHRISTIAN INDIAN.--"It was my privilege to
see her very frequently in these last days and to be with the family
circle when she died. Whenever I intimated that my presence seemed
like an intrusion, poor Uncle Elias always said, 'No, I like to have
you here; it strengthens me.' And when I was not there, he sent to
have me come. It was just the sympathy he felt. He was sure of that,
for I loved her, too. Through it all Elias had been lovely, a constant
wonder to me in the strength of his beautiful faith which never
faltered for a moment. Again and again in those last hours, his voice
led in prayer as we stood around her bedside, and it seemed the
spontaneous overflow of his soul. And in the accompanying hymn each
time, he also led. The last one which he gave out, only a few minutes
before the faint breathing ceased, was 'Praise God--', the doxology,
(as it is in the Dakota, of course). His faith triumphed over his
sorrow for he knew she was going home to God. Only in that last prayer
from his breaking heart, his voice trembled as he pleaded that God
would help him. Surely He has helped him wonderfully."
FAMILY AFFECTION AMONG INDIANS.--I am impressed with the great degree
of family affection in some cases. I know one young girl who would
profit much by going for several years to Santee. Her parents are past
middle life, and have buried many sons, and Millie is their only
daughter, so naturally they cling most tenderly to her, and it seems
to me most a necessity that the sacrifice should be made, and yet--I
wish it could be different.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, FROM MRS. A. E. R. JONES, MISSIONARY TO THE
CHINESE.--Since writing you last month I am happy to say that two of
our pupils have entered Salt Lake College as students. They have
joined the preparatory classes in arithmetic and grammar. It is a
great step for them. We help them in our evening school in the lessons
for the next day.
But this encouragement is little in comparison with the great blessing
that has come to us. By God's grace we trust three persons have been
led to Himself. These desire to be baptized next Sunday. It is no
hasty act, but has been postponed for some time rather than to make
haste. We believe that their conversions are of the Lord and are true
and genuine.
* * * * *
The Indians.
* * * * *
NEW TYPE OF INDIAN UPRISING.
REV. GEORGE W. REED, FORT YATES, N. D.
The missionaries' correspondence begins to bring inquiries concerning
an Indian uprising. With the war news are mingled expressions of fear
that the Indians will be only too ready to seize upon the opportunity
to avenge fancied wrongs. Most of the soldiers have been withdrawn
from the frontier posts. In regard to the Sioux, those who know them
best have no fear. They recognize the progress made by them in the
last ten years. Too many of them have become followers of the Prince
of Peace. These ten years of splendid school training have given us a
new type of young men and women, who have more of home love and who
are beginning to think for themselves. The majority are no longer
roused to action by the harangue of a petty chief. The day of the
chief is rapidly passing away. The thinker and not the talker is
becoming the leader.
There must be convincing proof of a good cause and of beneficial
results before another Indian war is undertaken under the most
favorable circumstances. In territory there is nothing to be gained.
They cling tenaciously to what they have, but they are not grasping
for more, for they realize that their vast hunting grounds have been
lost to them forever. The young men and women in going half across the
continent to Carlisle and Hampton, being educated there and in summer
homes in the East, come back impressed with the largeness of the
country, the prosperity and vast numerical superiority of the people.
They care not to war against so strong a foe.
There is an uprising of the Indians, however, which is being too
slowly recognized. They are slowly but surely rising above
superstition and ignorance, yes, even above indolence. The old roving,
restless, tramp-like spirit has not wholly disappeared. Some are still
living only a stomach level life, with apparently no thought of head
or heart. The old Indian life is self-centered, hence selfish, ever
gathering to itself, never giving out, hence stagnant, non-progressive.
Religion has given the life a new center and indefinite breadth. The
Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man are truths which once
accepted must change the whole life, and he who teaches them to an
Indian becomes a friend and not an enemy, and becomes loved for what
he brings and not hated for what he has taken away. The Indian and the
white man have gone into partnership in building churches. The Indian
has been giving liberally to missions outside of his own little land.
The progress in educational work has been marked in the last decade.
Today every healthy boy and girl over six years of age is supposed to
be in school. More than half of these are for ten months of every year
in a boarding school, well cared for, well fed, well instructed. To me
one of the greatest evidences of progress is that so many of them
uncomplainingly--some eagerly--part with their young children during
these many months. The large majority of the parents have never
attended school a day in their lives, yet they make this large
sacrifice for the child's good. Ten years ago there was a dance house
in nearly every village, and the senseless gyrations were in progress
every week. The larger portion of the two weeks' rations was given to
the dancer's feast, and the half fed children were the sufferers.
Today there is not a dance house for the whole 90 miles along Grand
River.
Ten years ago the first Indian returning with his bi-weekly rations
would invite his neighbors as they came home to help him eat in one
day, often in one meal, all this food. For the remainder of the two
weeks the family would be driven to live upon other feasts, or to the
fields for the wild turnip, the few berries or the plum. If four or
more feasts were called daily, the feasts gave way to famine before
the coming ration day. Often a week of feasting, then a week of
famine, became the rule. This state of things is becoming more and
more a thing of the past. Hospitality is as marked, but is not
carried to starvation extremes. Recently passing some trees in which
twelve or more years ago seven bodies were placed, and contrasting
this with the last funeral I attended, impressed upon me progress in
another line.
Ten years ago last Jan. 12, a day made memorable by the great blizzard
which swept over our land with death and destruction, in the early
morning, long before daylight, I was aroused from slumber by a knock
at the door of our little log house on Oak Creek. One stops to think
twice before he jumps out of a warm bed when the temperature is out of
sight below zero in the room, the fire has gone out and a blizzard is
howling outside. The rapping at the door was continued till I opened
it. A rope was placed in my hand in which were two knots. They showed
the length and width of a coffin the man wished to make, and for which
he wanted lumber. I had only an old packing-case to give him. At
daylight, breakfastless, I went over to the tent and helped him make a
coffin from the case, a soap box and a small stable door. It was a
crude and weak affair. Ignorant of the language, I could only read
words of comfort from the Word of God and try to sing two Indian
hymns. Only a few of us stood about the grave, which the husband and
myself had dug.
In the coffin had been placed dry crusts of bread, waste pieces of
meat, a rusty knife, fork and spoon. In the grave were first placed
some thick comfortables and a filthy pillow, on which the coffin,
warmly wrapped, was placed. Then over the mouth of the grave was laid
the broken tent poles, the tent covering folded and laid over, then a
great mound of earth. At the grave everything the family had was given
away. And this was only ten years ago. But how great an improvement on
the custom of laying the body on the top of a high hill, or in the
branches of a tree, or even leaving the top of the coffin even with
the surface of the ground, which has been done away with only in the
last twelve years.