feels that the Negro is very unlike him. He does not know that a
similar education and a like environment have made the new Negro and
himself alike in everything except color and features. Did he but know
this he and the new Negro would join hands and work for the best
interest of the South and there would be no Negro problem. At present
he does not and cannot know this, for the white trash and vagrant
Negro form a wedge separating the new Southerner from the new Negro so
completely that they cannot know each other. Every unmentionable crime
committed by the vagrant Negro, every lynching bee conducted by white
trash, every Negro disfranchisement law passed by misguided
legislators, every unjust discrimination against the Negro by the
people drives this wedge deeper and deeper.
Render this wedge so thin that it will no longer be a barrier and the
Negro problem is solved. This cannot be done by banishing white trash
and the vagrant Negro; for that is neither possible nor practicable.
The only way to accomplish the thinning of this wedge is to transform
a large number into the new Southerners and the new Negroes. Will
education do this?
In order to transform the majority of white trash and vagrant Negroes
into new Southerners and new Negroes it will be necessary to instill
into them the following regenerating virtues:
1. The manners of a gentleman. Not the swagger of the dude nor the
cringing of a scapegoat, but the manners of a being permeated with the
Golden Rule.
2. Cultured homes. Not necessarily extravagant mansions, but
comfortable dwellings, wherein impoliteness, intemperance, slander and
indecent tales have given place to politeness, temperance, intelligent
conversation and refined pleasantries.
3. Business honesty. Not only punctual in the payment of debts, but
also truthful in making sales.
4. Thrift. Not the ability to hoard as a miser does, but the ability
to spend one's earnings economically, to purchase property and to lay
by a little for a rainy day.
5. Christian morality. Not the ability to shout well, and pray well
and testify well, but the ability to live the Christ life.
6. The ability to do something well that the world desires bad enough
to be willing to pay a good price for it. This includes not only
mechanical but also commercial and scholastic achievements.
7. Ability to lead in the light of modern civilization.
8. Love for justice and contempt for lawlessness.
Experience and thought convince me that the "highest education" is the
only agency that will instill all of these virtues into a people
without detriment to the multitudes that are forced to stop school
before graduation. Highest education is a new phrase; but can we not
truthfully say that there are three system of education in the world
to-day: the lower or industrial education, the higher education and
the highest education?
In each of these three systems the student begins his education by an
attempt to master the English branches, and in each attention is given
to developing the moral side of the pupil.
In the lower or industrial education, parallel with the elementally
English training, or after its completion, the student learns how to
work at one or more trades, but he gets no training in the higher
English branches nor in languages nor science. This system may instill
into students the majority of the regenerating virtues mentioned
above, but it is impossible for this system to impart the ability to
lead in the light of modern civilization. Without this virtue one is
not fit to lead in this strenuous age. A race without competent
leaders is doomed, and any system of education which does not furnish
such leaders is defective and doomed. It has been well said that the
advocates of the lower or industrial education are welding a chain
that will bind the race in industrial servitude for ages.
In the higher education, after completing an elementary English
training, the individual takes a collegiate course in science,
literature, history and language; but no attention is given to
industrial training. Such a course does instill into those who
complete it all of the regenerating virtues mentioned above; but how
about the multitudes that necessity forces to drop out before the
course is completed? It is a sad, sad fact that the taste they have
had of something different renders them not content to be servants,
yet their training is not sufficient to enable them to be anything
else.
In the highest education a thorough training is given in the common
English branches, but parallel with it instruction is imparted in the
care and practical use of tools. The elementary course is followed by
a secondary course, in which, along with instruction in the elements
of languages, literature and sciences, is given a thorough training in
some trade. Above this come the colleges and technological schools,
wherein the pupil specializes according to his natural tastes. In its
ability to instill into those who complete it the regenerating virtues
mentioned above this highest education ranks with the higher
education. In this respect neither is superior to the other. But when
it comes to fitting those who stop before the complete course has been
mastered to successfully fight the battle of life, then highest
education is infinitely superior to the higher education. Indeed it is
the only education that helps abundantly not only the graduates, but
also those unfortunate legions that drop out while yet undergraduates.
In attempting to solve the Negro problem, the industrial or lower
education has been tried on the Negro and found wanting; the higher
education has been tried upon both races and has succeeded but little
better than the lower education; if we will cast aside our prejudices
and try the highest education upon both white and black, in a few
decades there will be no Negro problem.
Clark University, December 1, 1901.
TOPIC X.
WHAT ROLE IS THE EDUCATED NEGRO WOMAN TO PLAY IN THE UPLIFTING OF HER
RACE?
BY MRS. R. D. SPRAGUE.
[Illustration: Mrs. Rosetta D. Sprague]
ROSETTA DOUGLASS SPRAGUE.
The subject of this sketch was born in New Bedford, Mass.,
June 24, 1839. She is the oldest child and the only living
daughter of the late Frederick Douglass. At the age of five
years she moved with her parents to Lynn, Mass., where the
first narrative of Frederick Douglass, written by himself,
was published. Its publication attracted widespread notice
and stirred the ire of slaveholders in the vicinity from
which he escaped. His many friends fearing for his safety
arranged to send him abroad.
His wife has often told of the demonstrative and
enthusiastic young father catching up his infant daughter
and fervently thanking God that his child was born free and
no man could separate them. Among the many friends who were
solicitous for the family were two maiden ladies, Abigail
and Lydia Mott of Albany, New York, who were cousins of
Lucretia Mott, the well-known philanthropist and friend of
the Negro. These women, who conducted a lucrative business
on Broadway, opposite Bleeker Hall, were also staunch
Abolitionists. Being anxious for the welfare of the little
six-year-old daughter of Douglass, they sought the privilege
of caring for her while the father was abroad. The wife and
three sons remained at their home in Lynn during the
father's absence. Mrs. Sprague has frequently spoken of her
stay with the Motts, who were in good circumstances, and
with their one servant lived in comfort. Their little charge
was amply provided for, and was made contented and happy.
She had a time for play and a time for study. Miss Abigail
gave her instruction in reading and writing and Miss Lydia
taught her to sew.
At the age of seven Rosetta wrote her first letter to her
father, and when her eighth birthday had passed she made a
shirt to give him on his return from England. At this early
age the child was painfully conscious of the trials and
misery resulting from slavery. Many slaves had sought and
obtained shelter with the Motts, and the anxious moments of
their stay made a deep impression on her childish mind.
After the establishment of the "North Star," by her father
in Rochester, N. Y., in 1847, the family were reunited in
that place, a governess secured and for several months the
children pursued their studies at home. Later the father was
convinced that as he was a taxpayer he ought to avail
himself of the privilege of the public schools: and,
accordingly, sent his sons there. But the little daughter
was sent to a private school but recently opened for girls.
Tuition was paid in advance, the little girl was sent, but
never saw the inside of the school-room nor met any of the
pupils. Finally she with her brothers attended the public
schools until the year 1850, when the Board of Education
decided that Colored children should no longer be permitted
to remain in the public schools. At the next meeting of the
Board Mr. Douglass and some Anti-Slavery friends were
present to debate the question why such distinction should
be made. As the result of that conference the doors were
opened to Colored children in that city.
Rosetta being the only girl of color in her room was
subjected for a time to such indignities as only the vulgar
are capable of inflicting. Her complaints pained her fond
father, but his counsel was, "Daughter, I am sending you to
school for your benefit; see to it that you are punctual in
attendance, that you do not offend in your demeanor and cope
with the best of them in your lessons--and await the
results." The daughter strove to obey, and soon found
herself appreciated by her teachers, who classed her as one
of their best pupils. Her companions also changed and sought
her aid in the preparation of their lessons. At the age of
eleven years Rosetta became her father's assistant in the
library. She copied for him, wrapped, addressed and mailed
eight hundred copies of the "North Star" each week.
Rosetta Douglass married December 24, 1863, Nathan Sprague,
who, like her father, had been a victim of the slave-holding
power.
The problems of life are manifold. Wherever we turn questions of
moment are presented to us for solution and settlement. At no period
in the history of the American Negro has his status as a man and an
American citizen been so closely scrutinized and criticised as at the
present time.
The galling chain and merciless lash were the instruments used to
accomplish the humiliation and degradation of the African. Avarice was
the factor in the composition of the character of a large number of
the white men of America that wrought such ravishes in the well-being
of the African.
To-day, after the short space of thirty-six years has passed over him,
from the deep degradation of centuries the descendants of these
Africans are wrestling with the situation as it exists to-day. Through
the avarice of the white man in the past the black man's physical,
moral and mental development was sacrificed. To-day egotism stalks
abroad to crush, if possible, his hopes and his aims, while he is
struggling from the effects of his thraldom.
This latter process is more subtle in its operation--placing, as it
does, a weapon that can with confidence be used by the most inferior
and degraded ones of the white race--so that _color_ and not
_character_ is made the determining factor of respectability and
worth, and as the target is to the archer, so is the Negro to the
white man.
Notwithstanding that the presentation of such facts are not flattering
to the white man or pleasurable to the black man, they are facts which
are to be considered.
Rapid changes have already been wrought in the condition of the
American Negro. His capabilities and possibilities as a factor in the
nation have been marked and encouraging, and yet there are labors to
be performed to further obtain and maintain his position in the land
of his birth. The Negro is but a man, with the frailties that bound
humanity, and cannot be expected to rid himself of them in any way
different from methods adopted for the betterment of mankind
generally. In view of much that has inspired the friends of the Negro
in the years now past with faith in him and the interest and belief in
him of his numerous friends at the present time, he is still an object
of hatred to a considerable number of his fellow citizens.
Ages of deception, vice, cruelty and crime, as practiced by the
Caucasian upon the African in this land, would in itself produce fruit
in kind. We would submit a suggestion to those who are disposed to
criticise very closely and to condemn in strong terms the
delinquencies of the Negro. Allow the Negro two hundred and fifty
years of _unselfish_ contact to offset the two hundred and fifty years
of Caucasian selfishness, and be as assiduous in his regeneration as
you were in his degradation--then judge him.
The twentieth century in its infancy is striving to grasp what it
pleases to call the Negro problem, when it is in reality only a
question as to whether justice and right shall rule over injustice and
wrong to any and every man regardless of race in this boasted land of
freedom. The Negro is made the test in everything pertaining to
American civilization. Its high principles of religion, politics and
morals all receive a shock when a Negro's head appears, upsetting all
theories and in a conspicuous manner proving that the structure of
American civilization is built higher than the average white man can
climb. At this stage of Afro-American existence the question is asked,
"What role is the educated Negro woman to play in the uplifting of her
race?"
As this is unquestionably the woman's era, the question is timely and
proper. Every race and nation that is at all progressive has its quota
of earnest women engaged in creating for themselves a higher sphere of
usefulness to the world--insisting upon the necessity of a higher
plane of integrity and worth--and thus the women of the Negro race
should be no exception in this land of our birth. Feeling thus, this
particular woman, previous to the question above presented, has
already in considerable numbers formed various associations tending to
the amelioration of existing conditions surrounding her race. The most
notable of them is "The National Association of Colored Women," for
several years presided over by Mrs. Mary Church Terrell of Washington,
D. C., but now under the guidance of Mrs. J. Salome Yates, a woman of
refinement, culture and education and an earnest worker in the cause
of the advancement of the race. It is with pride I point to this body
of women, as its scope is far-reaching, being composed of
organizations from every part of the country.
There is no woman, certainly no woman in the United States, who has
more reason to desire and more need to aspire for better opportunities
for her brothers and herself than the Negro woman in general and the
educated Negro woman in particular.
Avarice and egotism have done and is doing its work in retarding, but
not entirely subjugating, the advances that a respectable number of
the race are making.
The task that confronts the thoughtful woman as she surveys the field
in which she must labor is not a reassuring one. It will be through a
slow process that any good will be accomplished.
Much patient and earnest endeavor on the part of our women--a strong
missionary spirit needs to be exhibited before any appreciable results
may be reached. It will require the life work for many years to rescue
even a fractional part from the condition of to-day. Not only has the
Negro race to be uplifted but the white race need to stand on a
stronger platform than that of egotistical display of virtues which
are not wholly theirs.
As long as they deny to the Negro the fact of his brotherhood and his
consequent rights as a man, they are false to their God, and to the
nation. Happily for us there have been a considerable number of the
white race who are mindful of what is due to those of a race whose
tendencies are upward and onward.
It is with feelings of deep gratitude, love and respect when we
reflect upon the great work that was accomplished in the nineteenth
century for the Negro by the truly great and good men and women of the
white race. Now the twentieth century is confronted with the fact that
there is more work yet to do, and the Negro has his part to bear in
it. The progress of the race means much to the Negro woman, and as she
goes forth adding her best energies to the uplifting of her people the
work in itself will react upon her, and from a passive individual she
will be a more alert and useful factor in the regeneration of her race
and to the social system at large.
How to begin the work in a systematic manner for the further
advancement of a people struggling amidst so much that is
discouraging is puzzling to the would-be reformers within our own
ranks. We would have the Negro, now that the mantle of freedom is
thrown over him, and also as an acknowledged citizen, to fully
understand and appreciate the fact that now that his destiny is in his
own hands that he must make of himself a potential value.
In order to emphasize himself as a factor of value he must place
himself in touch with the highest and best thought of past and present
times.
Barring the barriers that avarice has placed in our way in the past or
the growing egotism of our brothers in white at this stage of our
progress, the women of the Negro race should put themselves in contact
with all the women of this land and espouse all worthy efforts for the
advancement of the human race.
The educated Negro woman will find that her greatest field for
effective work is in the home. The attributes that are necessary in
forming an upright character are each of them facts, the acceptance of
them making or marring the character as they are accepted or ignored.
In view of this thought I cannot see that any different role should be
adopted by us than by women in general in this land.
Industry, honesty and morality are the cardinal attributes to become
acquainted with in forming an irreproachable character, and each and
all of them must be dwelt upon in the home. Already the mothers all
over the country are uniting themselves in the one thought--_the
home_. No less should our women esteem it essential to place
themselves in line with the progressive mothers in our common country.
In advancing such a thought we are confronted with the fact that the
development of the homes of this land has not been a day's work, and
the improvement of the character of the homes will test the energies
of the women who preside over them. The home life of the Negro has
taken on a new significance during the past thirty or more years, and
the zeal required to show the parents to-day their duties in the
rearing of their children should be untiring. We have a few among us
that are interested workers for the maintenance of good government in
the home.
We would that in every city, town and village, where any number of the
race reside, they would form aid societies for the maintenance of
kindergartens and industrial schools, as well as to aid those already
established, and before the twentieth century has reached its quarter
century mark "The Colored Woman's Aid Societies" would have an
astonishing effect on the manners and morals of those who come under
its benefits.
It is a source of regret and deep concern to a number of our women
that there is so little attention paid to the labors of "The Woman's
Christian Temperance Union," when we reflect that through the medium
of rum, and, I may add, red beads, African homes were devastated. We
wonder at the apathy of our women in the matter of temperance. The
homes of the race can but be humble and poverty-stricken so long as
the men and women in them are intemperate. The educated women among us
need to set the pace in discountenancing the social glass in their
homes. In this transition stage toward a higher plane of civilization
we need every faculty pure and undefiled to do the work that will lift
us to a merited place in our land. Surely our women must see the
necessity of urgent endeavor against a traffic fraught with so much
that is inimical to the promotion of good citizenship and purer and
better homes.
From the word of God we receive decided instructions against strong
drink, as in the instance of the instructions concerning the character
of John--his work was to be such that all his energies were to be
called in action, and there was to be no weakening of them. "He was to
be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink." We have a great work to perform in meeting the demands
of the hour, requiring all the energy possible of a brain
unclouded--pure and unsullied. The motto of the National Association
of Colored Women, "Lifting as we climb," is in itself an inspiration
to great activity in all moral reforms; and with a spirit of devotion
for the welfare of humanity we embrace the work of the Woman's
Christian Temperance Union in their motto, "For God and Home and
Native Land."
If the educated Negro woman will rally to the support of the
principles involved in the organizations already presented in this
paper, I think they will be amply repaid in the results accruing from
their labors.
SECOND PAPER.
WHAT ROLE IS THE EDUCATED NEGRO WOMAN TO PLAY IN THE UPLIFTING OF HER
RACE?
BY MRS. MARY CHURCH TERRELL,
PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COLORED WOMEN.
[Illustration: Mrs. Mary Church Terrell]
MRS. MARY CHURCH TERRELL.
In all matters affecting the interests of the women of her
race, Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, of Washington, D. C., is a
leading spirit. Three times in succession she was elected
President of the National Association of Colored Women by
most flattering majorities. When, according to the provision
of the constitution, which limits the term of officers, Mrs.
Terrell could not be re-elected president, she was made
Honorary President.
She has twice been invited to address the National Woman
Suffrage Association at its annual convention in Washington.
Her public utterances have always made a profound impression
on her hearers and no speakers associated with her have
received more applause from audiences or higher praise from
the public press than herself. Not many years ago when
Congress, by resolution granted power to the Commissioners
of the District of Columbia to appoint two women on the
Board of Education for the public schools, Mrs. Terrell was
one of the women appointed. She served in the board for five
years with great success and signal ability.
Mrs. Terrell is the only woman who has ever held the office
of President of the Bethel Literary and Historical
Association at Washington, the foremost and oldest Lyceum
established and controlled by colored people in America. Her
splendid work as presiding officer of this organization had
much to do with her other subsequent success in attaining
similar positions in other bodies of deliberation.
Mrs. Terrell's life has been an interesting one. She was
born in Memphis, Tenn., of well-to-do parents.
She graduated at Oberlin College in 1884 with the degree of
A. B. In 1888 she received the degree of A. M. from Oberlin.
She was for a while a teacher at Wilberforce University at
Xenia, Ohio. In 1887 she was appointed teacher of languages
in the Colored High School at Washington. She went abroad
for further study and travel in 1888 and remained in Europe
two years, spending the time in France, Switzerland, Germany
and Italy. She resumed her work in Washington in 1890. In
1891 she was offered the registrarship of Oberlin College,
being the first woman of her race to whom such a position
was ever tendered by an institution so widely known and of
such high standard. This place was declined because of her
approaching marriage. In 1891 she was married to Mr. Robert
H. Terrell, who is a graduate of Howard College and who was
recently appointed by President Roosevelt to a Federal
Judgeship in the District of Columbia, being one of the two
colored men first to receive this high distinction. Mrs.
Terrell has a daughter whom she has named Phyllis, in honor
of Phyllis Wheatley, the black woman whose verses received
the commendation of George Washington and many other
distinguished men of her time.
Mrs. Terrell is now engaged by a lecture bureau. She has
traveled extensively in the West, speaking before large
audiences and everywhere her talks have received the highest
praise. The Danville, Ill., "Daily News," speaking of her
address before the Chautauqua of that town, says: