_Work Among the Colored People_
Bishop Cheshire's active interest in the church's work among the Negroes
began when he was rector of St. Peter's Church, Charlotte. His
organization of the colored mission of St. Michael and All Angels and
the part he took in helping to establish the Good Samaritan Hospital
have already been related. When he became bishop he continued and
greatly enlarged his activities in behalf of the Negro work.
In the early part of his episcopate the Bishop made an address to the
Conference of Church Workers Among Colored People, in which he expressed
some interesting ideas on the colored work. He first pointed out that
the reconstruction acts had failed to accomplish for the Negro many of
their designed objectives. Although those acts were for the most part of
a purely political character, he realized many sincere people in the
North had advocated them in the belief that they would help the Negro.
In his opinion, the legislation of the reconstruction period had not
accomplished for the colored people what its sincerest advocates had
confidently expected. If the Negroes are to play a significant role in
the future of this country, the Bishop declared, "it will be only
because they shall have become fitted for that part. No theories of
predominant political equality will avail for preserving privileges
which are not exercised for the benefit of the community...." He
believed that the disabilities of the Negro could not be removed, nor
the disadvantages under which he worked conquered, by legislation
against particular evils, "but simply by changing the actual conditions
of the race itself." Those who are interested in the welfare of the
Negro must work for the elevation of his ideals of living, of working,
and of self-restraint. The Bishop emphasized the importance of
developing a spirit of self-reliance and self-help among the colored
clergy and laity, believing this to be the best means by which they
could strengthen their economic and social position.
The colored churchmen of the Diocese soon learned that in Bishop
Cheshire they had a staunch friend and one from whom they could count
upon receiving a fair and sympathetic hearing. He reciprocated this
confidence with a like faith in them. It was a regular practice of the
Bishop to attend only the first day's session of the annual meetings of
the white and colored convocations. He did this in order to give the
clergy an opportunity of "speaking their mind freely." He always
remembered an observation of George Eliot that "the first thing the
clergy do, when they get together in convocation, is to abuse the
Bishop." In this connection Bishop Cheshire once remarked: "I do not
know what the white clergy may do, but I do not believe my black clergy
will have anything to say against me even in my absence."[49]
At the opening of the twentieth century one of the most important
questions facing the Episcopal Church in the South was the separation of
the Negro work in each diocese from that of the white. Bishop Cheshire
was strongly opposed to any separation of the church's work founded
solely on the racial feeling. He disliked to see the unity of the
Diocese disrupted, and believed the ideal situation was "a church and a
diocese which in its annual gatherings should represent visibly the
oneness of all races and colors in Christ."[50] He realized, however,
that he could not be guided entirely by his personal feelings on a
question of such importance. A large body of the Negro clergy and many
white churchmen throughout the South felt that the welfare of the church
demanded some sort of separate organization for the colored work.
When he met his diocesan convention in the spring of 1907, Bishop
Cheshire announced his position on this question. Since the colored
people seemed to desire an organization of their own, he believed the
time had come for the church to take some definite action. He asked the
convention to make known its views on the question of separation, since
it would come up for discussion in the General Convention that fall. The
Bishop stated that two plans of organization for the Negroes were being
considered. One provided for the consecration of suffragan bishops who
should have charge of the colored clergy and laity and should be under
the diocesan bishop. The other called for the consecration of missionary
bishops who should have charge of the colored work in contiguous
dioceses and who should be responsible to the General Convention. The
Bishop declared that he was heartily in favor of the latter plan,
believing that it met the needs of existing conditions much more justly
and adequately than the former. Moreover, the colored people themselves
seemed to favor the plan of using missionary bishops. If they were used
they would be under the direct control of the General Convention and
would be given more independence than suffragan bishops, who would be
under the administrative jurisdiction of the white diocesan bishop.
Bishop Cheshire felt that if the colored work was to be made independent
of the white, the Negro bishops should be given some administrative as
well as spiritual responsibilities.
When the convention took up the question of the colored work, it
referred the whole matter to a special committee. After careful study,
the committee recommended that the Negroes be given a separate
organization, that the plan of missionary bishops be adopted, and that
the deputies from the Diocese should present these recommendations to
the General Convention. The committee's report was adopted.
At the General Convention, which met in the fall of 1907, the Conference
of Church Workers among Colored People presented a memorial in which it
advocated a separate organization for the Negroes and the election of
suffragan bishops. A joint committee of the House of Bishops and the
House of Deputies, of which Bishop Cheshire was made a member, was
appointed to consider the memorial. This committee recommended the
adoption of the principal features of the memorial. Bishop Cheshire and
one other member of the committee presented a minority report in which
they urged the use of missionary bishops. Their report was defeated in
the House of Bishops by a vote of fifty to thirty-four, while that of
the majority was carried, forty-five to thirty-three. After the defeat
of his proposal, Bishop Cheshire voted for the majority's report,
believing it preferable to no action on the subject.
The question of the racial episcopate was, however, far from being
settled. During the next three meetings of the General Convention Bishop
Cheshire and a few others continued to work for the adoption of the plan
of missionary bishops. In 1913 they succeeded in getting the plan
approved by the House of Bishops, but it was defeated by the House of
Deputies. The southern bishops and clergy were the most undecided as to
what plan they wanted to put into effect. Up to 1918 the Diocese of
North Carolina had taken no action towards electing a suffragan bishop
for the colored work. In 1917 Bishop Cheshire advised his diocesan
convention to consider the question. The next year the convention voted
to proceed to the election of a suffragan bishop.
Before nominations for the office were called for, Bishop Cheshire
gathered together the colored clergy and laity of the convention for an
informal discussion. He told them that, in his opinion, Rev. Henry B.
Delany, who was then archdeacon of the colored convocation, was the best
man for the office. Rev. M. A. Barber strongly represented the
qualifications of the Rev. Mr. Baskerville, who had been recommended by
Bishop Guerry, of South Carolina. Mr. Delany then withdrew from the
conference, and Bishop Cheshire asked the colored clergy to express
themselves frankly on their preference. Every one of them expressed the
opinion that, while they thought Baskerville was an excellent man, they
did not think he could compare with Delany in qualifications for the
office of bishop. Of this unanimity of opinion, Bishop Cheshire
remarked: "It was something of a surprise to me—for I really did not
know how strong their feelings were."
When the convention proceeded to the election of a suffragan bishop,
Delany was the only man nominated. He received every vote of the clergy
and laity. When he was presented to the convention and asked to say a
few words, he simply remarked: "I cannot speak. I cannot utter what I
feel. I thank you." Bishop Cheshire characterized his laconic expression
as "about the best speech he could possibly have made."[51]
Archdeacon Delany was highly esteemed by both white and colored
churchmen, and his election met with general satisfaction throughout the
Diocese. Bishop Guerry wrote Bishop Cheshire that he thought Delany was
"the logical man and I believe you have made a wise choice.... I envy
you the privilege of having been the first Diocese in the Carolinas to
take the lead in so far reaching a policy."
It will be remembered that while rector of St. Peter's, Bishop Cheshire
had established in Charlotte a mission for Negroes, St. Michael and All
Angels. Shortly after it was well started, Rev. Primus P. Alston, a
colored priest, was placed in charge of the mission. Alston was an
energetic and progressive man. He soon began a manual-training school
for Negro boys and girls, which he called St. Michael's Industrial
School. In time he erected buildings at a cost of about eight thousand
dollars, raising almost all of the money by himself. After some twenty
years of splendid work as head of this school, Rev. Mr. Alston died in
1910. Bishop Cheshire at once decided that something must be done to
preserve the valuable work which Alston had carried on so successfully.
Realizing the high regard which the people of Charlotte had for the man
and his work, the Bishop determined to lay the question of the future of
St. Michael's School before a body of representative citizens of
Charlotte in the hope of making it a civic enterprise, irrespective of
denominational interests but still under the official administration of
the diocesan bishop. Acting upon this decision, the Bishop called
together in Charlotte a group of progressive men representing different
denominations. He pointed out that the school was the property of the
Diocese of North Carolina, that it had for more than twenty years done a
great work for the community, and that no religious test was made an
entrance requirement, although religious training was a part of the
school's work. The Bishop then asked the group if it would act with him
as a board of managers for the direction and maintenance of the school.
The men displayed a sympathetic interest, and promised to co-operate
with him in any plan for making permanent the work of the institution.
The Bishop thereupon organized the Board of Managers of St. Michael's
Industrial School, under whose control it continued to operate.
When Bishop Cheshire met his diocesan convention in 1912, he reported
what he had done and asked for its endorsement of his action and its
assent to the new plan for operating the school. The convention
confirmed the Bishop's work and consented to his plan for continuing St.
Michael's School. Thus, by his promptness and resourcefulness, he
preserved for the church and the community of Charlotte a valuable
institution.
Bishop Cheshire's work among the Negroes of his Diocese received
recognition from the national church when, in 1911, he was elected
chairman of the Advisory Council of the American Church Institute for
Negroes. The Institute had been organized in 1906 for the purpose of
aiding the larger Episcopal schools for Negroes, such as St.
Augustine's, the Bishop Payne Divinity School, and others. From this
time forward he received a number of invitations to speak in the
dioceses of the North on various phases of the church's work among the
Negroes of the South. One of his most interesting addresses on this
subject was made before the Woman's Auxiliary of the Diocese of Long
Island at its annual meeting in 1915.
In this address the Bishop declared that the fact the Negro was
increasing in population meant to him that "God is not done with him. He
has something for him to do." The Negro had not only survived his
contact with a higher civilization, but had made in it a place for
himself. "Protected and trained by his two and a half centuries of
American slavery, the greatest blessing which up to this time he has
ever known," the Negro had lived through emancipation and the
"incalculable injustice of his premature enfranchisement." He was
turning from false political and social aspirations and attempting to
lay sound foundations for his moral and material development. Referring
to the religion of the Negro, Bishop Cheshire observed that he found it
very little different from that of the white man. He spoke of the
Negro's gift of religious emotion, which might be dangerous, "yet it is
a gift; and it is needed to give power and life to faith." The Bishop
declared that the church set up a standard for the Negro to live by, it
acknowledged him as a brother, and it gave him a definite place in its
organization.
In answer to the question of what the Woman's Auxiliary could do for the
Negro, Bishop Cheshire replied it should try to teach the colored
churches to support themselves and to be willing and able to aid others.
As for a particular work the organization could undertake, he emphasized
the importance of hospital care. This was a vital need and one which the
Negro by himself could not supply.[52]
The address was well received, although a few of the ideas contained in
it were doubtless a little disturbing to some of the listeners. The
Bishop was fearless in expressing his convictions, and was ever ready to
defend them when necessary.
St. Augustine's School for Negroes was founded in 1867 by North Carolina
churchmen. It was built and maintained, however, by northern churchmen
and agencies. While the school was not a diocesan institution, Bishop
Cheshire throughout his episcopate gave it his full co-operation and
support. He had a personal interest in the school, for his father had
been one of the original incorporators. As ex-officio president of the
Board of Trustees he kept in close contact with the development of St.
Augustine's. Realizing that his state benefited most from the school,
Bishop Cheshire time and time again urged his people to give it every
encouragement and assistance within their means.
In appreciation of his services to St. Augustine's, the authorities of
the school resolved to name a proposed new building for Bishop Cheshire.
Of this decision, the presiding bishop, John Gardner Murray, remarked:
"I can conceive of nothing more splendid that the Church or community
could do than to erect at St. Augustine's a building in honor of Bishop
Cheshire. The work itself is most deserving in every way, and the Bishop
whose name you propose to have associated with it, is one of the
greatest Bishops in our Church in his every relationship thereto."[53]
The dedication of the Cheshire Building at St. Augustine's College took
place on Bishop Cheshire's eightieth birthday, March 27, 1930. In the
course of the ceremony the Bishop delivered an address in which he
traced the history of St. Augustine's from its establishment as a simple
normal school to its present collegiate status. He touched upon the
development of Negro education in the South since 1865, and emphasized
the importance of this fact in the growth of a better relationship
between the races. St. Augustine's, said the Bishop, in a larger sense
represents the church's attitude towards the Negro problem in America
and what it has done to solve that problem.
Dr. A. B. Hunter, principal of the school for twenty-five years, made a
short talk in which he spoke of the Bishop's loyal support of St.
Augustine's. He ascribed much of the institution's success to the
"unfailing sympathy and material assistance of the Bishop." Towards the
end of the ceremony a portrait of Bishop Cheshire, hanging in the hall
of the new building, was unveiled.
Coming as it did towards the end of his life, this expression of
appreciation from the colored people was a fitting close to the Bishop's
work among the Negroes. He understood and respected his colored people,
and in return they loved him and gave him their loyalty and confidence.