never contending for honors. Several years ago, at its
annual exercises, his alma mater conferred upon him the
degree of A. M. as a deserved tribute and recognition of the
literary work he has accomplished. As a polished orator Mr.
Walker has been heard with profit and delight in all parts
of the State. Some of his addresses before the State
Teachers' Association are considered real gems of
literature.
After a lapse of some thirty-eight years, or a little better than a
generation, we are asking the question, "What is the Negro Teacher
doing in the matter of uplifting his race?" In so brief a period of
years it would seem to savor of arrogance to ask a question so
seemingly fraught with significance, so inopportune and, too, about a
people so recently freed from bondage that they have not yet had the
time to grow a generation of teachers. It took England more than a
generation to grow an Arnold at Rugby. It took France more than
several generations to produce a Guizot, and Pestalozzi, whose
reputation as a teacher widens with the universe, is the product of
years of experimental accumulations of Swiss ingenuity. And yet it may
be pardonable arrogance on our part to say that at this first
milestone in our educational career we pause here long enough to take
an inventory of what the Negro teacher has done and is still doing in
the matter of uplifting his people. In the pioneering or experimental
period of Negro education there were no Negro teachers, but it is safe
to say that as early as 1875 a few Negroes, daring to rush in where
angels would fear to tread, began the profession of school teaching.
It is from this date that we may safely begin to reckon the services
of the Negro teachers as a class. I make bold to lay down the
proposition that wherever God has ordained intellect that intellect is
capable of the highest development; for mental ability is a divine
endowment. The intellect may be the possession of an Indian, a
Mongolian, an Arab, a Negro, a Hindoo or a Caucasian. Textures may
differ, but all mental organisms are the same in color, fiber, and
mode of operation and development. It must then follow that the proper
training of the intellect must produce the same results upon all races
when properly applied. That training which has made the Mongolian, or
the German, or the Caucasian race great and powerful will of
necessity, under similar conditions, produce like results in the Negro
race. Let us now see what the facts show. It is largely through the
instrumentality of our schools that Negroes have been taught to place
a higher and a proper valuation upon their citizenship, and the
importance of the ballot when it is wielded for the maintenance and
perpetuation of good government. As a class of citizens Negroes are
peaceable and law-abiding, and must not be reckoned with the migratory
hordes of anarchists, nihilists, and the wreckers of law and order
that infest our Eastern and Western shores. In our schools, too,
Negroes have learned that it is theirs to petition respectfully for
the enjoyment of their rights, and the redress of grievances so often
unjustly imposed upon them. In the last two decades the influence of
the schools, colleges and industrial institutions and seminaries of
all kinds has wrought wonderful changes in the home life of the Negro
race. Purer homes now abound; intemperance is giving way to sobriety
and economy; love and order have driven out hate and confusion; the
golden rule and the Bible are taken as the measurement of conduct;
and, where-ever Negro communities are found, cozy little cottages, and
often palatial homes with thoughtful and convenient appointments, have
taken the place of the very many little one-room huts in which all the
whole range of domestic life was wont to be performed. In these new
homes a better and more intelligent class of children is being reared
to fit in the scheme of our advancing civilization. These are very
hopeful signs of a better generation and a brighter day for the
American Negro.
Our Negro teachers and leaders have instilled into the race a desire
for the accumulation of property and wealth, and the keeping of bank
accounts. "Put money in thy purse," "Put money in thy purse." This
advice from Shakespeare is ripening in the minds of all thoughtful
Negroes, and the results are being universally manifested. In the
United States the valuation of Negro property runs far into the
millions. In the state of Georgia alone Negroes are paying taxes on
$15,629,811 worth of property; of this amount $1,000,000 represents
the increase of a single year--1900 to 1901.
In the domain of literature and the varied professions the education
of the Negro has furnished us as lawyers, Hon. D. Augustus Straker,
Detroit, Michigan; Hon. R. B. Elliott, late of Columbia, South
Carolina; Hon. Jno. R. Lynch, Washington, D. C., paymaster United
States Army; Hon. J. W. Lyons, Augusta, Georgia, register Treasury,
Washington, D. C.; Hon. H. M. Porter, Augusta, Georgia, lawyer at the
bar.
As statesmen Negro education has produced Hon. Frederick Douglass,
"The old man eloquent," late of Washington, D. C.; Hon. B. C. Bruce,
ex-registrar Treasury, late of Washington, D. C.; Hon. Geo. W. Murray,
ex-member Congress, Columbia, D. C.; Hon. Geo. H. White, ex-member
Congress, North Carolina.
As poets, Mrs. Frances E. N. Harper and Paul Lawrence Dunbar are
samples of a splendid class.
As musicians it might suffice to say that Blind Tom, Black Patti and
Madam Selika are only samples of a large class.
Negro education has furnished us pulpits better filled with
intelligent men, devout and pious; and with modern churches that are
in harmony with the Christian demands of the age. In the Ecumenical
Conference recently held in London, the Negro clergy represented there
were from all parts of the civilized world, and the high tribute paid
to their ability and ecclesiastical character was the comment of all
the English papers. Our bishops and eminent pulpit divines are largely
young men, the product of our Negro schools. Dr. C. T. Walker, now of
the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, New York, and the foremost pulpit
orator in all the Baptist ranks, perhaps, is a native of Georgia soil,
and a product of our Georgia schools. But I must not prolong this
account with a long list of bishops, D. D's., LL. D's., M. D's.,
diplomats, artists, painters, mechanics, inventors, and successful
business men, who are the product of Negro education, but before
closing this humble effort it is but proper that we should make
mention of some of the men who are universally regarded as masters in
the profession of teaching, and who in themselves are great
benefactors of the Negro race. The following educators have wrought
much in the matter of elevating their race in all the essentials of
right-living. The most conspicuous figure just now in the firmament of
Negro educators is President Booker T. Washington, who has at his
command both the hand and the heart of the American people. The
far-reaching influences of his work at Tuskegee, Alabama, where,
perhaps, more than 1,300 Negro youths are taught all the useful and
honorable methods of labor, are too well understood to merit further
comment here. President J. H. Lewis, president of Wilberforce
University, Ohio, has and is still doing a work that will tell on ages
and tell for God in the matter of developing Negro ability along the
lines of higher intellectual manhood. Prof. R. R. Wright, president of
the State Industrial College, Savannah, Georgia, is a pioneer in the
work of uplifting the Negro youth, and his excellent work recently
begun at the state college is already teeming with fruit. Miss Lucy C.
Laney is a woman of rare and well-developed intellectual attainments.
The Haines Normal and Industrial School, with all of its influence for
good, will ever be an imperishable monument to her memory. Her
reputation as a woman of ability and culture is universal. Prof. W.
H. Council, of Alabama, is hardly second to President B. T. Washington
in his noble work in Alabama of uplifting Negro youth.
In professors, W. S. Scarborough, who holds the chair of Latin and
Greek in Wilberforce University, Ohio; Prof. W. H. Crogman, chair of
Latin and Greek, Clark University, Atlanta, Georgia; Prof. Kelly
Miller, chair of mathematics, Howard University, Washington, D. C.;
Prof. J. W. Gilbert, chair of Latin and Greek, Paine College, Augusta,
Georgia; and Prof. W. E. B. DuBois, chair of science and economics,
Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia, we have the ripest examples of
high-class scholarship. These men, steeped in the love and sciences of
all ages and people, have won respect and recognition in all the
institutions, and among all educators of world-wide reputation, both
European and American. They are only samples of a large class of
educated Negroes who have given a very high literary tone to Negro
intelligence. In an account like this, which necessarily must be
brief, it must not be expected that we could elaborate into details
about any one of the features above mentioned. In mentioning them thus
briefly it is only our purpose to call attention to the great work now
being accomplished by the Negro teachers.
In closing these brief lines it might be well to consider several
charges made against the educated Negro. It is charged that education
teaches Negroes how to commit crime, etc. Because some educated
Negroes commit crime and do wrong that is no more of an argument
against the education of the Negro race than it would be an argument
against the education of the Caucasian race, because some educated
white men commit crime and do wrong. If a man has indigestion from
eating the wrong kind of food that ought not to be taken as an
argument against eating. Educated Negroes as a class are among our
best American citizens.
Again, there are still some "back numbers" belonging to the old school
of thought who still charge a lack of ability on the part of Negro
scholars to absorb and assimilate the same amount of intelligence that
the Caucasian race does.
In our humble school career in the state of Georgia we have sat on the
same seat with the boys and girls of the Caucasian race, and, often,
in the recitation room, under the same professor in the higher
classics and sciences, we have shared the same book with them, and yet
at the time of reckoning term standing we have seen those white
professors give the members of these mixed classes their class rating
in their various subjects, and the average percentage of Caucasian and
Negro pupils in all these subjects would be a matter of significant
comment.
In many instances like these, both in the North and South, the ability
of our Negro scholars is so forcibly demonstrated; and what the Negro
teachers may yet do for their race and for civilization will be left
as a rich inheritance for the enjoyment of an advancing civilization.
Of all teachers it may be said that he who shapes a soul and fits it
for an eternal habitation in the blissful Beyond has erected for
himself a monument that eclipses in grandeur and architectural beauty
all the conceptions of a Solomon, though Solomon was the wisest of
men.
TOPIC XXIII.
IS THE NEGRO NEWSPAPER AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE ELEVATION OF THE
NEGRO?
BY DR. D. W. ONLEY.
[Illustration: Dr. D. W. Onley]
DR. D. WATSON ONLEY.
Dr. D. Watson Onley, the eldest child of John E. and Mary J.
R. Onley (nee Wheele), was born in Newark, N. J. When but
two years old his parents moved to Brooklyn, N. Y. He was
early taught to read and write by his mother, afterward he
was sent to the Raymond Street public school, Prof. Chas. A.
Dorsey, principal. Here he showed a capable mind, by his
easy mastery of all the subjects assigned him, and by his
standing among his fellows.
At the age of thirteen, by force of circumstances, his
progress in school was checked, his parents having changed
residence, going to Florida, transferred him to entirely new
scenes, environments and conditions. After attending school
in Jacksonville, Fla., for three years, he entered the
college preparatory course of Atlanta University.
In 1876, returning North, he entered and took a collegiate
course in Lincoln University, after which he took two years'
technical course in Boston, Mass.
In 1880 he married an accomplished young lady of one of the
first families of Charleston, S. C., Miss Ella L. Drayton.
Two charming and accomplished daughters of this happy union
are Charlotte E. and Mary M., the elder one a graduate of
the Normal school at Washington, D. C., and a teacher in its
public school. The younger daughter is at present a pupil in
Normal School.
In 1885 he returned to Jacksonville, Fla., began business as
architect and builder. After three years of prosperous
business, he launched upon the world the first steam saw and
planing mill, owned and operated entirely by colored men to
manufacture lumber in all its forms for house building. The
plant grew rapidly, increasing in facilities and continued
prosperous until by the hand of an incendiary it was swept
by fire. The State Normal and Industrial College of the
State needing a practical and efficient man to take charge
of their technical department, solicited his services, where
he taught all branches of architectural and mechanical
drawing, manual training, uses and care of wood-working
machinery and steam engine.
Not being thoroughly satisfied with his surrounding
conditions, he struck out for a new line of work, that of
dentistry, which, after three years of hard study, struggle
and sacrifice, with the cares and responsibilities of a
family upon him all the while, he finished at Howard
University, dental department, and immediately opened an
office in Washington, D. C. where he enjoys a lucrative
practice. His life has been a busy one, and his success only
represents what many have accomplished who have on hand a
good stock of push.
In answer to this question I would say that the press next to the
school has done more for the intellectual advancement, hence,
elevation, of the Negro, than anything else. When I say press, I mean
specifically the Negro press, which is an integral part of the
American press of the country. It is his positive mouthpiece,
effective when other audiences are denied him. Before Negro
newspapers, the Negro had nothing to set forth his claims and true
status. The race consequently speaks through the press to plead its
cause.
Reviewing the history and growth of the Negro press of this country
since it was launched by John B. Russwurm in New York City, March 30,
1827, to the present, comparing style of form, character of matter,
increase of circulation, widespread and universal interest, the great
host of contemporaries that have joined in making a vast throng of
channels through which we can advocate our cause without fear of
having it misrepresented or smoothed over, but bringing forth our
opinions to truly enlighten the world. The general support given
speaks volumes for the good it has done in elevating the Negro.
In conducting the Negro newspaper of to-day as compared with fifteen
years ago there is a marked change. The success then in maintaining
and increasing the circulation depended largely in appealing to the
vanities of the subscribers in parading their name in print, calling
attention to many things of no consequence to the public, less to
themselves; but to-day in a very large degree that is changed; it has
become distasteful, which is a very healthful sign along the lines of
improvement of taste.
While it is true the majority of Negroes care little but for local
news, doings of their own race, care but little for the news of the
great wide world, it must be conceded a step far in the right
direction if they can be interested at all. The Negro press, like all
others, had to begin at the bottom and grow, not patterned
particularly after any other paper, but fashioned to suit the tastes,
conditions and interests of its customers. It is the privilege of the
editor, not only to shape public opinion, pointing out the policy that
alone will conserve to our best and lasting interest, but to develop
the tastes, and so elevate the race which he serves. Through the press
the editor sees that the interests, as far as our freedom and rights
are concerned, are in no wise abridged, circumscribed or destroyed. In
a large measure this has been one of the great benefits to the race;
through the medium of the press we have been awakened to our
condition, and our rights, and we jealously guard and clamor for their
enjoyment and recognition. Although dark clouds of prejudice and
lawlessness obscure our pathway, yet we are surely though slowly
moving on in the pathway already blazed before us.
In the hands of the Negro, the press has been an educator to the
whites as well as to the Negro, reflecting his manhood and capacity;
this, too, has elevated the Negro's appreciation of manhood and
appreciable standing among men.
Before Negro newspapers we were unknown in history, art and science.
Like the Negro exhibits at all the great fairs, they have served to
open the eyes of the blind, and to remove an ignorant prejudice which
was against us.
To-day we find the leading journals of this country clipping and
editorially commenting upon topics discussed and articles appearing
originally in Negro newspapers, and more than this, find the Negro
newspapers for sale on the principal stands where newspapers are to be
had, indicating the demand. In this city it would be hard not to find
the "Colored American" and "Washington Bee" at the newsdealer's. "Yes,
we keep them," I have heard to the query about the above papers; "they
are good sellers." Now what is true in this city is no doubt true in
other places where the local papers have secured recognition from
their standing and worth.
The Negro newspaper has taken such a stand that its columns are read
by white patrons, many of whom take pride and interest in noting the
advancement of their brother in black.
Many newspapers published by whites have taken advantage of this
condition, and the Negro's interest in the press, and have set aside
columns devoted to his individual interest; have procured competent
Negro reporters to gather all facts and doings of the race of special
interest to it, and are published daily.
This has increased the circulation by thousands of new subscribers who
eagerly seek to know just what is going on among them. The causes of
non-support of the Negro press is no argument that the press has not
been elevating, nor any argument against its possibilities. This is
largely a condition due to poverty, illiteracy and inferiority of
paper, but time will bring about a change. In the hands of the Negro
the press has been a success. Failure in management and poor financial
profit have been to one and all engaged in the pursuit, yet the net
result shows success, not failure; and its success demonstrates the
possibilities of the race, notwithstanding the lack of encouragement.
SECOND PAPER.
IS THE NEGRO NEWSPAPER AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE ELEVATION OF THE
NEGRO?
BY WALTER N. WALLACE.
[Illustration: Walter N. Wallace.]
WALTER N. WALLACE.
Walter N. Wallace, the organizer of the Colored Co-operative
Publishing Company, of Boston, Mass., publishers of the
"Colored American Magazine" and many other race
publications, was born at Boydton, Mecklenburg County, Va.,
in 1874.
His mother was Nannie J. Ellerson, who has the distinction
of being one of the first graduates of the Hampton Normal
School. Mr. Wallace is the oldest grandchild of that
institution. His father Merritt Wallace was also a student
of Hampton, and after leaving that school he settled in
Boydton, in educational work, where he became one of the
most prominent and energetic citizens of his community. He
was at one time Deputy Treasurer and Commissioner of Revenue
for the county.
At nine years of age Mr. W. Wallace was sent to school in
Richmond, where he completed the grammar course, then
spending two years preliminary training at the High, before
entering the State College (Virginia Normal and Collegiate
Institution, at Petersburg), where he spent another two
years. While at this college he was prominent in athletics
and a member of the institute band.
Later, determining upon the study of medicine, he entered
the Leonard Medical College, where he spent two years in
theory, then turning his face northwards he came to Boston
in 1896, where he secured a position as prescription clerk
in a prominent drug store, there becoming more practically
acquainted with medicines.
In May, 1901, he launched his pet scheme, the "Colored
American Magazine," and under his editorial care there is
now no question of its future, as it has passed far beyond
the experimental stage, and is now an assurity.
The confidence which has been displayed by him and his
associates in the belief "that a man is what he makes
himself," is wonderful, for they have, through strenuous
effort, brought the magazine up to an actual circulation of
over twenty thousand copies per month, with a steady
increase each month, besides publishing many Race books,
which are the equal of any in merit and mechanical makeup.
Personally, Mr. Wallace is of a kind and modest disposition
and hardly realizes that he has accomplished within such a
short while a thorough new departure in Negro journalism. If
ever persuaded to forget for a moment, and be drawn from his
business cares, you will find him a pleasant entertainer,
both in music and conversation, for beneath his seeming
austere countenance there lies an urbane streak of humor,
piquant with wit and pleasant cynicisms, much to be enjoyed.
In its entirety, yes. The power of the press is indisputable. To the
Negro youth of the land it should be put, as a beneficent educator,
next to our schools. In its pages they should be able to read the good
being accomplished by our prominent race-men in this glorious fight
now on; this will cultivate a desire to emulate them. They will read
of the bad being daily done and will learn to abhor such dastardly
actions. With such a mission to perform our newspapers should contain
the essence of truth and good and sensible instructions; for its power
of assimilating bad influences is equal to the good which would
accrue.
The Negro journal is an important factor, because it is a source
through which the younger generation should and must become acquainted
with the good accomplished by members of the race, with the possible
exception of a favored few whom the ordinary press seems to think is
all that is worth speaking of. Important because the rank and file is
utterly ignored and positively unnoticed by the American white press
(except as an example of the demonstrative inability to be an
intelligent and thrifty citizen), and from which they pick from day to
day the lowest as a type of Negro capabilities.
In order to fully explain the position taken in this matter we will be
compelled to deviate from the main question.
To rightly diagnose the cause, for the seemingly apathetic manner in
which the race appreciates its journals we must place the blame upon
the right parties.
A few hundred dollars, a set of type and a press do not make a
newspaper. A man with an education does not always make an editor.
Many of our editors grow discouraged over their failure to arouse a
support to their journals, blaming the race for non-appreciation, when
the fault lies with themselves. Do they give their readers news? If a
local sheet, they deal in stale generalities. If a general sheet, they
confine themselves to locals of no general interest.
Let our journals arise, procure competent help, give the news,
regardless of class, as the newspaper is for the masses. Make a
business of the paper, run it on strict business plan, have good
printing, be careful with proofs, avoid all mistakes as nearly as
possible; study their patrons' tastes and cater to them, for it is not
dealing fairly to require the masses to purchase for race pride when
they should receive the worth of their money.