legitimate sphere in the world. The best colleges that a few years
past closed their doors against her, have gradually put the latch
strings on the outside. The coeducation of the sexes and the attendant
results have displaced the old idea of the moral and intellectual
inferiority of women. The learned professions are subject to her
choice. She stands beside her brother as a partner, sharing equally
with him in the world's work for humanity. Of one flesh God made all
men. Hence they have the same general tendencies or inclinations, the
same likes and dislikes, the same sympathies and the same
indifferences, the same joys and the same sorrows manifested in a
greater or less degree as their sensibilities have been cultured and
developed. The Negro is no exception to this general rule. The
centuries of servitude when he dared not of his own volition pursue
courses for intellectual growth now place the Negro as an adolescent
race, yet one that has made wonderful strides in improving its
condition morally, intellectually and financially. The Negro is
grateful for much in past experiences, which experiences have been
rigid disciplinarians, urging him to _think_ and _act_ for himself.
Therefore his hopes and aspirations grow stronger for more glorious
results for the future. Compare the first thirty-six years _of_ the
independence of any civilized race with the progress made by the
Negroes since their emancipation; who can, in a spirit of justice, say
that the Negro has not made a very creditable record wherever the
opportunity to show himself a man has presented itself. The Negro is
grateful that there are many Southern as well as Northern friends in
the dominant race who publicly commend him, and give him due credit
for his energy and perseverance in making the best use of his time and
talents. The fact is generally known that whatever success has been
made was achieved through many difficulties. The best class of Negroes
is not discouraged by the ravings and unjust criticisms of certain
classes of people who do not know the Negro, having had little chance
of intercourse with him even in the years prior to and during the
Civil War. Yet he is far, very far from being contented with his
present condition. The harvest is great, and many sheaves are yet to
be gathered. He knows that the number whose eyes are opened to the
beauties and utilities of life, and whose souls can discern the grand
possibilities of the future, is a great contrast to the masses of the
race that must yet be induced to appreciate the light of day. More
teachers are needed to point out and supply this light. Who can better
perform this duty than the unselfish, humane, intelligent Negro woman?
Who can better feel the touch of sympathy and get out of self to help
by lifting as she climbs? Who can better see the need than one who is
interested in the lowly of her own household? Who but the educated
Negro woman will feel more keenly the stigma of the depravity of her
weak sister who has wearied of the struggle for a higher plane of
living? To whom is the call to this duty more urgent? Will she answer?
She must do so. Her advantages, intellectually and socially, demand
that she should take a front rank in the crusade against ignorance,
vice and crime. She is the lighthouse, giving warning of the hidden
shoals and guiding away from the rocks which are wrecking the lives of
many capable young men and women. These young people are anxious in
many cases to be led into paths of purer man and womanhood. They
incline toward leaders. But they will follow only good leaders in
whichever course they take, whether the straight and narrow path of
integrity and upright Christian character, or the broad road which
leads to shame, degradation and death. They must and will follow
leaders. But they require of leadership a reflection of their ideals.
In other words, they require them to be as leaders all that they would
admonish others to become--models of true, intelligent, morally pure
women and men. Not only must these upright Negro women take their role
as counselors and teachers, but it is highly essential that they be
WITH the element to be uplifted, yet, certainly NOT OF it. It is
impossible to help a fallen or weak sister to rise if the helper, like
the Levite, pass by on the other side, and merely call out, Arise and
stand in the beauty of pure womanhood--rather than like the Samaritan,
she goes to her and lifts her to her feet. The touch of the hand, in
proof of a heart full of sympathy, goes a long way in winning and
holding a living, lasting evidence of the regenerating influence of
charity to the recipient. The alarming death rate among the Negro
population is largely due to ignorance of the laws of health, and the
proper care of children. Such people need instruction in their homes,
for you will reach them nowhere else. They will not attend public
meetings nor church services; they feel out of place in them. Hence
there is no way to reach such people other than by going among them.
This act will not mar the reputation of a true leader, one whom they
can emulate, and in whom they have confidence. It rather increases her
influence; for they know she is NOT OF them, but WITH them in their
efforts to improve. The magnitude of the work may sometimes cause one
to shrink, when the progress seems slow. But all reforms require
deliberation, endurance, and perseverance. Occasionally we get an
encouraging comment which comes like a calm after storms of criticisms
and abuse. Two of the daily papers of Richmond, Virginia, made very
favorable statements in regard to the conduct of the colored people
during the week of the carnival--October 7th-12th, 1901. For
violations of the law there were about two hundred arrests, and not
one colored person of the number. The colored schools came in for a
liberal share of praise for their attendance during said week. All
colored groups of schools were way up in the nineties. Baker School
(colored), of six hundred and twenty-seven pupils, led the city
schools, with 98.9 per cent of attendance. We hailed the announcements
with delight, for they strengthened our belief that "Negro education"
may not always be considered "a failure." We are stimulated to more
earnest endeavor when we find persons of great minds and large hearts
voicing such helpful sentiments as expressed by Mr. Joel Chandler
Harris, in his article to the New York Journal, November 3, 1901, on
"Negro Education," from which I quote:
"What is called the Negro problem is simply the invention of men with
theories.
"The spectacle spread out before us is not in the nature of a problem.
"It is made up of the actual efforts and movements of a race slowly
and painfully feeling its way toward a higher destiny.
"The conditions and circumstances being without parallel or precedent
in the history of the world, it was inevitable that serious mistakes
should be made; that misunderstandings should arise, that philanthropy
should stretch out full hands in the wrong direction, that partisan
politicians should pour out the vials of wrath.
"But what of it?
"The real progress of the race has not been retarded a moment. Nothing
has been lost. And now, at last, the whole conservative and
intelligent element of the race is placing itself under the leadership
of men well qualified to lead it, and is making a new start.
"If the philanthropists and rich men of the country will hold up the
hands of such Negroes as Booker T. Washington they will be able to
forget in a few years that any serious mistakes have been made.
"More than that, they will be able to view leniently the mistakes that
are still to be made."
And, I add, if the hands of such women as Mrs. Booker T. Washington of
Tuskegee, and Miss Georgie Washington of Mt. Meigs, Alabama, be upheld
by friends of the North, South, East and West, many skeptics would, in
a comparatively short time, forget that they had at any time doubted
the ability of the Negro to make for himself a creditable place in
history. Such are the women needed to-day. Women who teach by doing.
Women who can take a basket of soap on the arm, and in a gentle,
winning way present it to homes that need it, while at the same time
extol its merits in a pleasant manner. Women are needed who can teach
the lesson of morality, cleanliness of soul and body, and the hygienic
and economic management of the humble home, by showing them how to
perform these acts, and furnish examples. Women who can arouse their
sense of propriety to such a degree that by frugal habits they may
abandon the one-room cabin in which a family of eight or ten eat,
cook, sleep, wash and iron, for the neat two, three, or four-room well
ventilated cottage. The laundry tub may be an excellent substitute
when no better can be provided, but they will be taught to see the
need of a genuine bath tub in every home. They will be taught that
honest labor is no disgrace; that, however much education one may
acquire, the deftness of the hands to execute the mandates of the mind
tends rather to elevate the possessor, and hastens the day of a full
developed man or woman with mind, heart, and hand trained to the best
service--thereby dignifying labor. Above all, the thought must be
impressed indelibly upon the hearts and consciences of the youth that
the men can be no better than the women. Men are what the women make
them. If a woman is refined, and exhibits a modest, dignified bearing,
men can not fail to appreciate her demeanor and conduct themselves
accordingly. While, on the other hand, boisterous, uncouth conduct
upon the part of women will encourage boldness toward them, disrespect
for them, and win the contempt of the men of a community for such
women. Hence, wherever uplifting influence is needed, the result of
the labor depends upon the compliant nature of the element, upon which
they are working, whose persuasive power is more efficacious in
directing the _upward_ and _downward_ trend of the masses. The women
who can best appreciate this fact have the very grave responsibility
of keeping the lesson constantly before the people--"Lest we forget,
lest we forget." The so-called Negro problem must be solved by the
Negro. The plane to which he must attain is limited by the energy and
persistency of the most competent and sympathetic leaders, in piloting
the followers in such a manner that they may realize that
"Life is real. Life is earnest,
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul."
FOURTH PAPER.
WHAT ROLE IS THE EDUCATED NEGRO WOMAN TO PLAY IN THE UPLIFTING OF HER
RACE?
BY MRS. C. C. PETTEY.
[Illustration: Mrs. Bishop C. C. Pettey]
MRS. SARAH DUDLEY PETTEY.
Mrs. Sarah Dudley Pettey, the brilliant and accomplished
wife of the late Bishop Charles Calvin Pettey, A. M., D. D.,
was born in the historic city of New Berne, North Carolina.
She is the daughter of Hon. E. R. and Caroline E. Dudley.
Her father is a gentleman of great prominence. He was a
member of the General Assembly of North Carolina during the
reconstruction period, and has held important local, state
and national positions, and his services are now in great
demand as a political orator and editor. Her mother, the
lamented Mrs. Caroline E. Dudley, was a lady of refinement
and of natural gifts.
From environments, contact and association at home, Mrs.
Bishop Pettey always had the instruction and advice of
intelligent parents. At the age of six she could read and
write. She entered the graded school of her native city, and
after finishing her course she entered the State Normal
School and remained three years; then she entered the famous
Scotia Seminary at Concord, N. C., from which institution
she graduated with distinction June, 1883.
In addition to her inherited gifts, Mrs. Pettey is a woman
of great acquired ability. She reads the classics well, has
a taste for the higher mathematics. She is a student of
current events and a close observer of human nature. Upon
graduating at Scotia Seminary she was, in October of the
same year, tendered the position as second assistant in the
New Berne graded school. Next year she was promoted to
vice-principal, which position she held with credit and
honor until she was married. For two successive summers she
taught in the Craven County Teachers' Institute.
As a teacher, she was able, brilliant and magnetic. Popular
with her associates, she was loved and honored by her
pupils. She ruled with kindness and love, and punished with
a flash of her eye. Well versed in the theory and practice
of teaching, she soon won the sobriquet "Model Teacher."
She is a gifted musician; and for several years was the
organist for one of the most prominent churches in her
native city. On the morning of September 19, 1889, she was
married to Bishop Charles Calvin Pettey, A. M., D. D.
Immediately after her marriage she became the private
secretary of her husband; and with him traveled extensively
in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain and
Continental Europe. She is an able writer and eloquent
speaker.
For several years she has been General Secretary of the
Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the A. M. E.
Zion Church. As wife, mother and Christian worker, Sarah
Dudley Pettey is a model woman, endeavoring to lead men and
women upward and Heaven-ward.
Woman's part in the consummation of any project which has to do with
the elevation of mankind is of paramount importance. With her
influence eliminated or her work minimized failure is inevitable. This
is true regardless of race or nationality. In the civilization and
enlightenment of the Negro race its educated women must be the potent
factors. The difficulties that the Negro must labor under, in his
effort to rise, are manifold and peculiar. The critics of the Negro
have assaulted him at the most vital point, viz., character. In their
onslaught they have assailed the morals of the entire race. To meet
this criticism the Negro must establish a character of high morals,
which will stand out so conspicuously that even his bitterest foe will
acknowledge its reality. In establishing this our women must lead. It
must be understood that their virtue is as sacred and as inviolate as
the laws of the eternal verities. They must not compromise even with
an apparent virtuous sentiment; it must be real. Nothing great is
accomplished without the shedding of blood. To convince the world of
the virtue of the Negro race, Negro blood must be shed freely. Our
young women must be taught that gorgeous dress and fine paraphernalia
don't make a woman. They should dress modestly, becomingly and
economically.
She is a true woman whose honor must not be insulted; who, though
poorly paid, pursues her honest labor for bread and would scorn the
obtaining of a livelihood any other way, regardless of the magnitude
of the inducement. The foundation for this high sentiment finds its
initiative in the home. Home life is the citadel and bulwark of every
race's moral life. The ruler of home is mother. A faithful, virtuous
and intelligent motherhood will elevate any people. The impress of
mother follows her children to the grave; when her form is changed and
her physical existence extinct the footprints of her noble and pious
life live long after her. Womanhood and manhood begin in the cradle
and around the fireside; mother's knee is truly the family altar. True
patriotism, obedience and respect for law, both divine and civil, the
love and yearning for the pure, the sublime and the good, all emanate
from mother's personality. If mother be good all the vices and
shortcomings of father will fail to lead the children astray; but if
mother is not what she should be all of the holy influences of angels
cannot save the children. I would urge then, as the first prerequisite
for our work, a pure, pious and devoted motherhood.
Secondly, a firm stand for right and truth in all things. Woman's
power is her love. This pure flame lights up all around her. Her
wishes and desires men love to satisfy. There are many things in
society, politics and religion that ambitious men would seek to obtain
by all hazards, but when woman takes her stand against these things
she invariably wins. Our first stand must be for intelligence. No
woman of to-day, who is thirty years of age, has the right to be
queen of a home, unless she is intelligent. In this advanced day, to
rear up a family by an illiterate woman might well be considered a
crime. As a race, if we would possess the intelligence desired, our
children must be kept in school, and not allowed to roam idly through
the streets when the schoolhouse is open. Since, in most of the
Southern states, countless numbers of our people have been
disfranchised, our educated women should institute a movement which
will bring about compulsory education and a general reform in the
educational system of the South. We need better schools and a higher
standard of education for the masses. In our homes wholesome
literature, periodicals, papers and books must be had. Mother must be
acquainted with these herself. She introduces the little ones to them
by the story form. This catchy method soon engrosses their attention,
and they become wrapped up in them. Great care must be exercised in
the selection of reading matter for our girls. Nothing is more hurtful
than obscene literature.
When our homes become intelligent, we shall have intelligent
statesmen, ministers and doctors; in fact, the whole regime that leads
will be intelligent. In public affairs woman has her share. She must
speak through husband, son, father, brother and lover. Men go from
home into the world to execute what woman has decreed. An educated
wife formulates the political opinion of husband and son and though
she may remain at home on election day, her views and opinions will
find expression in the ballots of the male members of her household.
The same thing is true in the church. I shall not dictate what woman
should do here or limit her sphere of activity, but this I know she
can with propriety--in her auxiliary work to the church she can become
a mighty power. Woman's Missionary Societies, Christian Endeavor
Societies, Sabbath School work, etc., afford a broad field of labor
for our educated women. Her activity in all things pertaining to
racial advancement will be the motive power in establishing firmly and
intelligently an enlightened racial existence. Thirdly: The educated
Negro woman must take her stand among the best and most enlightened
women of all races; and in so doing she must seek to be herself.
Imitate no one when the imitation destroys the personal identity. Not
only in dress are we imitative to the extreme, but in manners and
customs. When our boys and girls become redeemed from these evils a
great deal will have been accomplished in the elevation of our race.
There are some noble women among other races whom we may imitate in
virtue, morality and deportment. Those women come not from the giddy
and gay streets of London, Paris or New York; but such women as Queen
Victoria, Helen Gould, Frances Willard and others. These women have
elevated society, given tone and character to governments and other
institutions. They ornamented the church and blessed humanity. I can
say with pride just here that we have many noble women in our own race
whose lives and labors are worthy of emulation. Among them we find
Frances Watkins Harper, Sojourner Truth, Phillis Wheatley, Ida Wells
Barnett and others. Our educated women should organize councils,
federations, literary organizations, societies of social purity and
the like. These would serve as great mediums in reaching the masses.
I cannot refrain from mentioning public or street decorum here. Woman,
as she glides through the busy and crowded thoroughfares of our great
cities is eyed and watched by everyone. It is here that she impresses
the world of her real worth. She can by her own acts surround herself
with a wall of protection that the most vicious character would not
dare attempt to scale or she can make it appear otherwise.
Beware then, mothers; accompany your daughters as often as possible in
public.
In this advanced age, if the Negro would scale the delectable heights
already attained by more highly favored races, our women must unite in
their endeavors to uplift the masses. With concentration of thought
and unity of action, all things are possible; these can effect
victories when formidable armies and navies fail. The role that the
educated Negro woman must play in the elevation of her race is of
vital importance. There is no sphere into which your activities do not
go. Gather, then, your forces; elevate yourself to some lofty height
where you can behold the needs of your race; adorn yourself with the
habiliments of a successful warrior; raise your voice for God and
justice; leave no stone unturned in your endeavor to route the forces
of all opposition. There is no height so elevated but what your
influence can climb, no depth so low but what your virtuous touch can
purify. However dark and foreboding the cloud may be, the effulgent
rays from your faithful and consecrated personality will dispel; and
ere long Ethiopia's sons and daughters, led by pious, educated women,
will be elevated among the enlightened races of the world.
TOPIC XI.
HOW CAN THE NEGROES BE INDUCED TO RALLY MORE TO NEGRO ENTERPRISES AND
TO THEIR PROFESSIONAL MEN?
BY REV. H. T. JOHNSON, D. D., EDITOR CHRISTIAN RECORD.
[Illustration: H. T. Johnson, D. D.]
H. T. JOHNSON, PH. D., D. D.
H. T. Johnson, Ph. D., D. D., educator, minister, author,
journalist, scholar, was born in Georgetown, S. C., October
10, 1857. Early life was spent in the public schools of his
native town. Apprenticed to learn the printer's trade in his
fifteenth year; worked for three years on the "Georgetown
Planet" and "Charleston Independent." Gave up newspaper
service for school teaching, in which occupation he earned
sufficient means to enable him to enter the State Normal
School in the Capital of his native State and subsequently
the State University, at the same place continuing his
studies with credit until the Fall of 1876, when Colored
students were no longer allowed to enjoy such advantages by
the Democrats who gained control of the State. For a time
checkmated, young Johnson returned to the labors of the
school-room until the autumn of 1878, when, having been
licensed to preach a year earlier, he entered Howard
University as a divinity student, graduating in the Spring
of 1880.
While at Howard, Johnson took special studies in mathematics
and the classics in the college department of the
university. After preaching and teaching in his native State
for two years, he resumed his student life, this time at
Lincoln University, Chester County, Pa., graduating with
honors in the class of '83. While at Lincoln he engaged in
pastoral labors at Oxford, Kennett Square, Hosanah, Little
Wesley and Morris Brown, Philadelphia; was ordained elder by
Bishop Brown in Bethel Church, Philadelphia, June, 1883,
having won the highest encomium for creditable examination
passed in biblical, classical and metaphysical studies. The
same year, the subject of our sketch was transferred to the
New England Conference: was stationed at Chelsea,
matriculated in the Boston University, where he studied for
three years in the schools of Theology, Expression,
Elocution, Voice Culture and Metaphysics, until from failing
health he was compelled to change climate and sacrifice for
a season at least his ambition for learning.
Between ministerial and educational services our subject
applied his time in Tennessee until the winter of 1889, when
he transferred to Arkansas and was stationed at Visitor's
Chapel, Hot Springs, where he remained for two years. From
here he was assigned the presiding eldership of the then
leading district in the State, which position he held until
the General Conference of 1892, which elected him to the
editorship of the "Christian Recorder," the leading official
organ of the A. M. E. Church, and the oldest and most widely
known Colored newspaper in the world.
That the literary and moral worth of Dr. Johnson is
recognized locally and in general is indicated by the place
he holds in the confidence of the church. His two books,
"The Preacher" and "Divine Logos," have been adopted in the
ministerial course of studies of his church. He was the
first course lecturer at Payne Theological Seminary at
Wilberforce and is annual lecturer at Phelps Bible School at
Tuskegee Institute at this writing. Is President of the
National Association of Educators of Colored Youth,
Treasurer of Douglas Hospital, Philadelphia, and Trustee of
the New Jersey Industrial School at Bordentown, prior to its
incorporation by the State Board of Education.
At the General Conference of 1900, Dr. Johnson was a popular
candidate for the Episcopal honors of his church, and would
have been numbered among the chosen ones had it not been for
the triumph of foul methods rather than fair, as his votes
on the first and only ballot (other ballots being thwarted)
being in evidence.
As a man of liberal and progressive ideas and striking force
of character, Dr. Johnson has already exerted an abiding
influence in his race and generation.
Before an opinion uncomplimentary to the colored man's interest in the
professional and business ventures of his race-variety can be of
weight, there are several antecedent facts of primal value to be
considered. If devotion to either class is lacking, it must be
remembered, that shortcoming is traceable to causes which, however
marked may be their effects in the Negro's case, are equally marked
and striking in others of similar condition. Given centuries of
environments and discipline hostile to the development of racial pride
and co-operation, the result will not be unlike, whether the subject
be the Red Man of America, the Yellow Man of Asia, the White Man of
Europe or the Dark Descendants of Africa.
Time is an all-potential healer in the life of any progressive people
and it is only when races are viewed in the light of extensive
discipline and persistent struggles that achievements gratifying and
reassuring are to be seen. The Rothschilds, Carnegies, Vanderbilts,
and towering lights in the business and professional worlds at large
are but well-favored children of a long-drawn ancestry, men in whose
ancestral veins, the blood and iron of hope, pluck, anticipation and
realization found outlet through the ravines and across the hill-tops
of centuries bygone. However the claims of heredity may be made to
appear in other directions, they carry weight when applied to an
infant race and the traits which distinguish the more advanced
varieties of the human family.
As it is futile to attempt the solution of any problem by eliminating
any of its salient factors, so it would be well for us to admit the
factor of unfavorable environment while that of an unfriendly heredity
cuts so large a figure in the shortcomings and strivings of a race.
The curse of slavery has so marred the visage of this otherwise comely
and coming race that it will be the work of centuries to completely
eradicate the awful results of its deeply imbedded hoof-marks. The
lack of mutual confidence and inter-race alienation were among the
most cherished tendrils to which the hot-bed of slavery gave birth for
ages. That the sour grapes on which their ancestors fed should set on
edge the incisors of their descendants is no less a deduction of
common sense and history than the unavoidable finding of iron-clad
logic.
The far-reaching effect of the unwholesome environment and heredity
mentioned, is seen in the business and professional struggles of the
more resolute and enterprising members of the race on every hand.
While these endeavors are in many instances healthy and promising in
character, the greater multitude are skeleton-like in shape and
dwarfish in proportion, indicating to a pitiful degree the lack of
blood to supply and brain to conduct the enterprise, it matters little
whether it be of the professional or business type. The medical
practitioner and undertaker are striking exceptions to the
non-prosperous and unsuccessful class, although the good fortune of
both is due chiefly to giant causes which account for the business and
professional dearth of the race in other directions. While the
physicians and funeral directors of the dominant race will not refuse
service to colored applicants who seek them, the fee they charge,
together with the cruel usages of certain social institutions, almost
invariably drift or drive the trade in question in the direction of
the professionals mentioned.