One of the leading Baptist Colleges. It is owned and controlled by the
American Baptist Home Mission Society. It was founded in 1867, and
now has 20 teachers, about 300 students and property valued at
$185,000.
]
The history of the work of the American Baptist Home Mission Society in
the south begins with the following resolution passed by its executive
committee in 1862:
_Resolved_, That we recommend the society to take immediate steps to
supply with Christian instruction by means of missionaries and teachers,
the emancipated slaves—whether in the District of Columbia or in other
places held by our forces—and also to inaugurate a system of operations
for carrying the Gospel alike to free and bond throughout the whole
southern section of our country, so fast and so far as the progress of
our arms and the restoration of law and order shall open the way.
From that day to the present time the society has worked unceasingly for
the education and religious development of the colored people. Some
measure of the remarkable success achieved in these fifty years of
service is given in the educational institutions described in this
report. The efforts of the society have doubtless been strengthened by
the consciousness of a certain responsibility for the colored Baptists,
who constitute such a large proportion of the membership of all colored
churches.
Most of the schools are well known. They number among their graduates
some of the ablest leaders of the colored race. The most widely known
schools are: Morehouse College and Spelman Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia;
Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina; Virginia Union University, and
Hartshorn Memorial College, Richmond, Virginia; Jackson College,
Jackson, Mississippi; Arkansas Baptist College, Little Rock, Arkansas;
Roger Williams University, Nashville, Tennessee; Storer College,
Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia; and Selma University, Selma, Alabama.
The names of the men and women who gave many years of faithful service
would constitute a list too long to be entered here. Two of those whose
wisdom has directed the policies in recent years should be mentioned.
Dr. H. L. Morehouse belongs to the past as well as to the present. He
began as secretary of the society in 1879, and has continued until the
present time. Dr. George Sale was superintendent of education for
several years until his death in 1912. His influence on the educational
methods of the institutions under his direction was a valuable
contribution to the education of the colored people.
[Illustration:
MOREHOUSE HALL, GIRLS DORMITORY.
]
[Illustration: