EVIDENCES OF PROGRESS
AMONG
COLORED PEOPLE.
BY
G. F. RICHINGS,
_Originator of Illustrated Lectures on Race Progress_.
_EIGHTH EDITION._
PHILADELPHIA:
GEO. S. FERGUSON CO.,
1902.
Copyrighted, 1902, by G. F. RICHINGS.
INTRODUCTION.
It is a pleasant thing to introduce an individual or a friend to
another individual or a friend; but to introduce a book is more
important than an individual introduction. Books are good and they are
bad, just in proportion as their contents tend to producing right or
wrong action of life; or convey truth or error. When the mission of a
book is to present facts _versus_ theory about an individual or a race,
it ought to be encouraged by all who believe in fair play.
The author of this book has for a number of years been collecting facts
in relation to the Progress of the Race since Emancipation. He has
traveled East and West, North and South, with his eyes and ears open.
For several years he has thrown these facts on the canvas to be seen
and read in the New and Old World. He now proposes to present them to
a larger and greater audience. It was impossible for all to attend his
entertainments, but now he proposes to send the entertainments to the
audience.
The pages of this book will take the place of the canvas; the dim light
of the lantern will be superseded by the clear light of reason, and
the race that has been so long misrepresented will appear in a new
light as the representative characters of this book pass a thorough
examination as to their capability of self-culture, self-improvement,
self-support and self-defence.
[Illustration: BISHOP B. W. ARNETT.]
The Home, the Store, the School and Church, and the Factory are the
infallible signs of civilization; the people who support these exhibit
the true signs of enlightenment.
In this volume you will have an opportunity of learning how the leading
schools were started by the friends of the race. You will learn how
men and women left their homes of ease and comfort and went among the
new-born Freedmen, and assisted in reconstructing the individual and
home life. You will also learn the names of noble men and women who
have founded, supported and endowed institutions for the training of
the head, hand and heart of the coming generation.
An account will be given of the schools founded, manned and supported
by the race itself; and, for the first time, the world will be
enlightened as to what the race is doing for its own education;
illustrations of buildings, presidents, professors and students will
gladden your eyes.
Short sketches of men and women who have shown skill in the
professions, and achieved success in business, will be presented,
calculated to give inspiration to the youth of the future.
Having witnessed the instructive exhibitions of the author of this
volume, and heard with pleasure his instructive Lectures, I take
great pleasure in introducing to the present and future generations
"EVIDENCES OF PROGRESS AMONG COLORED PEOPLE." For I know no man
better qualified by his knowledge of the history of the race and by
his personal examination and careful study of our problem, also his
intimate acquaintance with individuals about whom he writes, than Mr.
G. F. Richings.
I am yours for God and the Race,
BENJAMIN W. ARNETT.
TAWAWA CHIMNEY CORNER,
WILBERFORCE, OHIO, _March 20, 1896_.
PREFACE.
There seems to be a general impression and a growing sentiment in this
country that the colored people, as a class, have not, and are not,
making any progress; or, that they have not improved the educational
opportunities offered them by the philanthropic white people who have
proven themselves friendly to the cause of Negro education. This
feeling has developed from two causes: First, we have a large and
wealthy class of white people who go South every year during the cold
season for either their health or pleasure, and while in the South,
they see a great many colored people on the streets of Southern cities
who appear to have no employment. In many cases this may be true;
sometimes because they do not want to work; but in the majority of
cases the true cause of so much idleness among the colored people in
the South lies in the fact that they are not able to get work, no
matter how much they may seek it. Let this be as it may, the presence
of these people on the streets, dressed as the unemployed usually
dress in the South, gives these Northern white people an unfavorable
impression of the colored brother and an erroneous idea of the real
condition of these people. Hence they return to their Northern homes
with a very pessimistic story to tell regarding the Southern colored
people.
The second reason for this erroneous impression regarding the condition
of the colored people of the South, lies in the fact that white people
never look in the right direction for evidences of race progress, but
are continually drawing their comparisons from the lowest types and
judging the whole race by a few who occupy only the lowest levels in
common society. For an illustration: A country girl from the South, who
has never spent six days of her life in a school-room, is employed in a
Northern family to do menial work. The mistress of the household finds
her ignorant and sometimes absolutely stupid, and instead of classing
this girl where she belongs, as all races are divided into classes, she
immediately arrives at the conclusion that because the girl hails from
the South, she must be a fair specimen and a true representative of all
the colored people in that section. And she further concludes that all
this talk about the wonderful progress made by the Negro since the war
is mere talk, having no foundation in fact, and that this talk is kept
up in order that the people may be misled into subscribing their money
for educational work.
I have talked with a great many white people on this subject, and they
have, in almost every instance, expressed about the same sentiment I
have given above. One lady, in Boston, Mass., said to me: "But colored
people are so ignorant." I asked her with whom she was acquainted among
colored people. "Why," said she, "we have employed colored help for
years, and one colored woman has washed for our family ever since I
was a child." It will be seen that her conclusions were drawn from a
very low level, and that her contact with colored people had always
been limited to the poorer, working classes. Indeed, so general is
the impression among white people that no real progress has been made
by the ex-slaves, that at least seven out of every ten seem to think
of the colored people as a worthless, inflexible element, incapable
of mental, moral and other developments essential to a high state of
civilization.
I think that I can safely say that the only white people who are
willing to admit that there is a better class of colored people, are
those who have either taught in their institutions, or have intimate
friends engaged in that kind of work. Friends who are anxious to help
the race, find that these wrong impressions have been so thoroughly
established, that the educational work is very much hampered and
interfered with from year to year; and the success of Southern schools,
dependent on Northern philanthropy, has been very much hindered on
account of the gloomy aspect given by Northern people visiting Southern
cities. The contributions from the North to these schools, have been
very meagre and, of course, the higher possibilities of negro education
have not been reached. Enemies of the race, and those laboring under
false impressions, are led to believe that the money invested in
Southern Educational Institutions has been simply thrown away. We
cannot hope for a change for the better as long as colored people are
only known as coachmen, waiters, cooks, and washerwomen.
I have called your attention to a very gloomy aspect of the Southern
situation. But while the aspect is a gloomy one, it represents the true
attitude of the American people, with a few exceptions. I have put
forth this effort to set my friends right on this important question,
and I sincerely believe that the time is not far distant when the white
people will see to it that these Southern Institutions are guaranteed
more liberal support and better encouragement. I see the colored people
in a much brighter light and in a more hopeful condition than the men
of my race who visit the South for the purpose of making superficial
observations. And because I have found so many interesting "Evidences
of Progress Among Colored People," I offer this as my apology for
writing this book. The facts contained in this work have been gathered
during sixteen years of actual labor and contact with the colored
people in all parts of the United States. I have had to go deeper
into the question, to secure my information, than merely to visit
street-corners and hold casual conversation with the unfortunate and
the unemployed, North or South.
When those who read this book take into consideration the fact that
many of the characters herein mentioned started some thirty years ago
without a dollar, without a home, and without education, except here
and there a few who had, in some mysterious way, learned to read and
write, they will, I am sure, be willing to admit that some progress
has been made by the people in whose interest this book is published.
I wish to make prominent four phases of the race question, namely:
(1) The schools which have been built for colored people and managed
by whites; (2) The schools managed by colored people; (3) The church
work carried on among them, and (4) The business and professional
development as the result of education.
I am well aware that, had it not been for the philanthropists who gave
their money so freely at the close of the Civil War for the education
of the freedmen, and the Christian and unselfish missionaries who went
South to teach the ex-slaves, I would not have been able to present so
many interesting and, in many cases, startling "Evidences of Progress
Among Colored People." I want to mention most of the schools started by
white friends. But I shall deal more at length and in greater detail
with the school work carried on by the colored people themselves.
There are many who are asking if the colored people are doing anything
for themselves in an educational way. This question will be clearly
answered in this book. I do not claim that colored people support
entirely all of the schools managed by them, nor have the white people
a right to expect that they should be able to do so, in so short a
time. For my part, I shall feel that they will have accomplished a
great deal if, in the next hundred years, they will have reached that
point where they can support their own schools and meet all the
financial obligations involved. I have no doubt but that many who shall
read this book will be, as I was, greatly surprised, yes, astonished;
for some of the sketches read like romances more than the ordinary
things of life.
I shall mention the names of one or more of the many men and women I
have found engaged in all the pursuits and walks of life. I present
in many cases the portraits of characters whose sketches appear, in
order that the white people may make a study of their faces. Some, in
fact many, of them are very dark. I mention this because I have been
led to believe that it is the general opinion among Americans that
quite a percentage of white blood runs through the veins of colored
people who have proven their susceptibility to higher education. I
believe, and I am confident, that the contents of this book will help
me to demonstrate that the color of the skin, the texture of the hair,
and the formation of the head, have nothing whatever to do with the
development and expansion of the mind. I only hope that the white
friends may be made to feel that the colored people are entitled to
more consideration and ought to be given a better opportunity to fill
the places for which they are being fitted, in the commercial and
business life of this country.
Among the colored readers I hope to stimulate a greater interest in
these institutions and thereby help to bring the race up to a higher
educational and social level. In order that my book might not be too
large, I had to omit a great many sketches of worthy persons and
institutions; but I tried to mention one or more persons engaged in
the different branches of business and professions. So any who are
omitted will please attribute it to a want of space and not a neglect
or oversight on my part.
I shall feel that I have accomplished a good work if I have set before
my readers food for earnest thought on the questions involved.
G. F. RICHINGS.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION iii
PREFACE vii
CHAPTER I.
BAPTIST SCHOOLS MANAGED BY WHITE PEOPLE 17
CHAPTER II.
BAPTIST SCHOOLS MANAGED BY COLORED PEOPLE 41
CHAPTER III.
CONGREGATIONAL SCHOOLS 71
CHAPTER IV.
EPISCOPAL SCHOOLS 88
CHAPTERS V. AND VI.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL SCHOOLS 97
CHAPTER VII.
A. M. E. SCHOOLS 117
CHAPTER VIII.
A. M. E. ZION SCHOOL 143
CHAPTER IX.
PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOLS MANAGED BY WHITE PEOPLE 154
CHAPTER X.
PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOLS MANAGED BY COLORED PEOPLE 158
CHAPTER XI.
TUSKEGEE AND NORMAL, BOTH IN ALABAMA 189
CHAPTER XII.
ECKSTEIN NORTON UNIVERSITY, GLOUCESTER, AND OTHER SCHOOLS 218
CHAPTER XIII.
ATLANTA UNIVERSITY AND BEREA COLLEGE 248
CHAPTER XIV.
INSTITUTE FOR COLORED YOUTH, CAMP NELSON, AND SCHOOL
WORK IN WASHINGTON 254
CHAPTER XV.
NASHVILLE, TENN. 264
CHAPTER XVI.
ATLANTA, GA., AND INDIANAPOLIS, IND. 273
CHAPTER XVII.
FINE PENMEN 278
CHAPTER XVIII.
COLORED LAWYERS 284
CHAPTER XIX.
J. H. LEWIS AND OTHER BUSINESS MEN 297
CHAPTER XX.
WALTER P. HALL AND OTHER SUCCESSFUL MERCHANTS 316
CHAPTER XXI.
BANKS, INSURANCE COMPANIES, ETC. 334
CHAPTER XXII.
PATENTS AND OTHER BUSINESS INTERESTS 342
CHAPTER XXIII.
COLORED EDITORS AND JOURNALISTS 349
CHAPTER XXIV.
CHURCHES 375
CHAPTER XXV.
HOSPITALS AND HOMES 392
CHAPTER XXVI.
PROMINENT COLORED WOMEN 411
CHAPTER XXVII.
DR. JOHN R. FRANCIS AND HIS PRIVATE SANATORIUM 429
CHAPTER XXVIII.
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOLS, BOYDTON INSTITUTE, AND
CHRISTIANSBURG INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE 436
CHAPTER XXIX.
HAMPTON INSTITUTE, HAMPTON, VA. 445
CHAPTER XXX.
STATE SCHOOLS AND CALHOUN SETTLEMENT 461
CHAPTER XXXI.
C. M. E. SCHOOLS 472
CHAPTER XXXII.
CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 476
CHAPTER XXXIII.
COLEMAN MANUFACTURING COMPANY 481
CHAPTER XXXIV.
RICHMOND, VA. 486
CHAPTER XXXV.
HERE AND THERE 498
CHAPTER XXXVI.
NATIONAL BAPTIST PUBLISHING BOARD 564
CHAPTER XXXVII.
COLORED SOLDIERS 569
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
CONCLUSION 572
INDEX TO PORTRAITS OF PEOPLE 574
EVIDENCES OF PROGRESS AMONG COLORED PEOPLE.
CHAPTER I.
BAPTIST SCHOOLS MANAGED BY WHITE PEOPLE.
In 1865 four million colored people suddenly emerged from bondage,
poor, ignorant, and in many cases with very crude notions of religion
or morality. Not one-third of those who had arrived to years of
understanding at that time can be found among the eight millions of
colored population to-day. And consequently, the younger element
of this race know little or nothing about the great conflict, the
culmination of which brought to their fathers and mothers that boon of
all human aspiration--liberty. "With the mutations of time in Egypt, a
king arose who knew not Joseph. In these changes here, a new generation
comes on, to whom occurrences of the past are but dim and sometimes
distorted traditions."
To my mind, the last generation has been characterized by greater
conflicts and has been freighted with more thrilling events than any
generation through which the history of this country has brought us.
Through ignorance, and sometimes indifference, we are in serious danger
of depreciating the wonderful agencies that have been such potent
factors in the growth and development of a people. It is, therefore,
important that some close observer of events constantly keep before the
people, in whose interest these factors have been set in operation,
full accounts of all the developments, that the young may be inspired
to noble aims and lofty endeavors.
While such a task is not an easy one, I feel it my duty to attempt its
performance. All the data and every observation set forth in these
chapters have been the result of personal investigation among the
colored people. I shall give in this chapter a brief history of the
schools conducted by white people of the Baptist denomination for the
education of colored people. In this work the American Baptist Home
Mission Society has expended since 1862 $3,000,000. The value of school
property acquired by the society amounts to $900,000.
When before this society "came the vision of emancipated millions,
desperately needy, in dire distress and full of forebodings, stretching
forth their unshackled, but empty, unskilled and helpless hands
for friendly aid and guidance," this society at once took them in
and offered them shelter and comfort. The society has accomplished
wonders for the colored people, and I am sure that the colored people
appreciate all that it has done for them.
I shall begin my history of Baptist schools with Spelman Seminary.
SPELMAN SEMINARY.
The history of Spelman Seminary reads like a romance. Beginning
in 1881, in the gloomy basement of the Friendship Baptist Church,
Atlanta, Ga., a church owned by the colored people, without any of the
accessories needed for successful school work, with but two teachers,
Miss S. B. Packard and Miss Harriet E. Giles, and with less than a
dozen pupils, it has grown to be the largest and best equipped school
for the training of colored girls in the United States.
The institution has a magnificent location, and all of the buildings
are specially suited to its needs. Spelman has a large and able faculty
of earnest, devoted teachers, an attendance of pupils numbered by the
hundreds, a constituency of friends and patrons rapidly extending in
numbers and interest, and has made for itself a large place in the
educational forces of the South, and established a reputation of a very
high order.
The question of the education of the colored people as a preparation
for citizenship, just after the war, demanded careful thought and
prompt treatment, and among the noble women who ventured into the
South, fully equipped to do the service they felt was needed, were
Miss S. B. Packard and Miss H. E. Giles. The Southern white people
could not reasonably be expected to throw to the winds all their
cherished traditions and preconceptions simply because they had
acknowledged defeat at the hands of the Northern people. They could
not even be expected to at once admit their former slaves into
political fellowship, recognizing them as equals in all the rights of
citizenship; nor could they be expected to provide schools for the
education of these people. Out of a consideration of these facts,
Northern people, moved by noble and unselfish impulses, made their way
to the South and established these great institutions for the education
of colored people.
Both Miss Packard and Miss Giles had made for themselves a reputation
before moving from their homes in New England to Atlanta. They were
identified with the Woman's Baptist Home Mission Society and had
indicated their zeal for the promotion of the Society's interest in
the most practical manner. The work done at Spelman is a practical
Christian work, and the young ladies who graduate from that institution
are the very best specimens of cultured and refined womanhood. This
school is modeled after those of like grade established for white
people. This should be the case with all Southern schools. There are
required the same qualifications in the teachers, the same text-books,
the same course of study, the same kinds of discipline that are found
in similar institutions. There seems to be no point in the equipment
or general management of these institutions where they can diverge
safely from those which the history of education has shown to be most
desirable and best adapted to their purpose. The grounds, buildings,
furniture, libraries, text-books, apparatus, endowments of a Negro
school in Georgia, should not differ in any respect from the equipment
of a similar institution for white pupils in Massachusetts.
Spelman Seminary is a power for good, and since the death of Miss S.
B. Packard is managed by Miss H. E. Giles, principal, and Miss L. H.
Upton, associate principal.
ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY.
Roger Williams University was founded in 1863 by Rev. D. W. Phillips,
D. D., who was for many years its president. Its present president
is the Rev. P. B. Guernsey, A. M. The total enrolment for 1900 was
222--122 young men and 100 young women. The school is beautifully
situated in the suburbs of the city of Nashville, in the State of
Tennessee.
Nashville has become the chief centre of education in the South, both
for the white and colored people. No other city south of the Ohio
offers so many advantages as the seat of an institution for higher
learning. The University grounds lie close to the city limits, on
the Hillsboro' turnpike, just beyond the Vanderbilt University. The
location is high and airy, and commands an unsurpassed prospect of the
city and surrounding country.
It is a school for both sexes. It has Collegiate, Biblical and
Theological, Academic, Normal, English, Musical and Industrial
Departments.
The Collegiate Department aims at a thorough liberal education which
gives the student the possession of his faculties developed and
trained, a general acquaintance with the broad principles of all human
knowledge, and a preparation for a special study of any of the learned
professions. This department has two courses: the classical, leading to
the degree of B. A., and the scientific, leading to the degree of B. S.
The Biblical and Theological Department has a general and special aim.
Its general aim is to make the Bible a living book to each student.
Every pupil in the school receives during his entire course a daily
lesson in the Bible. Its special aim is to furnish better preachers of
the Gospel and better pastors of the churches. Every year a "ministers'
class" is conducted for ten weeks, beginning with the first day of
January. Members of the class have three recitations daily. They may
also attend such other classes as they can with profit to themselves.
The Academic Department prepares for college. It consists of a three
years' course in classic and mathematic studies that link the English
Department to the college work.
The Normal Department aims to furnish, for the public schools of the
land, teachers that will raise the tone of education and make these
schools more efficient. It consists of a three years course in subjects
best adapted for this purpose.
The English Department aims to give the pupil a thorough drill in the
elements of common intelligence. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Grammar,
Geography, Spelling and History are taught by the best of teachers, so
that the young people are prepared to take their places as citizens
alongside of pupils of the most favored city schools. Parents who live
in rural districts and in country towns, where the public schools are
of short duration and scant equipments and feeble teaching, will find
here facilities for English education that are not surpassed in the
South.
[Illustration: Roger Williams University, Nashville, Tenn.]
The Musical Department aims to give a musical education, both vocal
and instrumental, that will make the young people efficient workers in
church and Sabbath school and elevating and refining members of the
home and social circles.
The Industrial Department does not aim to fit students for the various
mechanical trades, but it does aim to give them instruction and
experience, that will train their eyes and hands and make them handy in
the use of tools.
The school has a total teaching force of sixteen persons. Six of these
are graduates of the best Northern Universities. Others are teachers of
excellent education and wide experience.
The young ladies are under the close and affectionate watchcare
of a New England lady, whose treatment of them is noted for its
conscientiousness, its piety and its motherliness.
A number of the male teachers live in the building with the young men
and thus become to them constant advisers, counsellors and friends.
The religious influences of the school are pure, constant and strong.
The University is grandly located for accessibility, healthfulness, and
beauty. It is near enough to the city of Nashville to give it all the
advantages of city life. Yet it is so far removed from the crowded
city with its slums, saloons and other evils, that it is virtually in
the country.
The property of the school is valued at $80,000. It has a small
endowment fund of less than $1,000. Several Indian youths from the
Indian Territory have been students in this institution. The graduates
are widely scattered throughout the South, occupying positions of
influence and usefulness.
VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY.
Virginia Union University has been formed out of two very excellent
schools, where a great work has been done for the education and
advancement of the colored people, namely, Wayland College, which was
located at Washington, D. C., and Richmond Theological Seminary, at
Richmond, Va. Both of these schools have a very interesting history.
Wayland Seminary, as it was called, was founded at Washington, D. C.,
in 1865. Rev. G. M. P. King was president of it for twenty-seven years.
The work began in 1865, was vigorously followed up by the purchase of
property on "I" street at a cost of $1,500 from monies contributed by
women of the North. The school was named in honor of President Francis
Wayland, of Brown University. In 1871 a new site, 150 feet square,
on Meridian Hill, in the northern part of the city, was purchased at
a cost of $3,375. The erection of a new building was begun in 1873.
It was a fine four-story building, with basement and accommodations
for seventy-five students, with recitation rooms and rooms for the
faculty. It cost about $20,000. The walls, from the foundation to the
crowning, were constructed by colored bricklayers under the supervision
of a master workman, an ex-slave from Virginia, who purchased his
freedom before the war. Wayland Seminary has turned out some very able
men, among them Rev. Harvey Johnson, D. D., of Baltimore, Md., who is
one of the most noted colored preachers in the country. He has held
charge of one of the largest Colored Baptist churches in the United
States for nearly thirty years.
The Richmond Theological Seminary, at Richmond, Va., has a very
remarkable history. It was first commenced in 1868, and started its
work in Lumpkin's Slave Jail, and was first known as Colver Institute.
In 1876 it was incorporated as the Richmond Institute. Subsequently
the trustees and officers of the American Baptist Home Missionary
Society decided to make it a school for ministers only, and in 1886 the
name was changed to the Richmond Theological Seminary. Rev. Charles
Corey, A. M., D. D., was elected president in 1868, and remained in
charge until 1899, when the school went into the Union University. In
speaking of the work, Rev. Corey said: "Of students there have been
in attendance nearly 1,100; total preparing for the ministry, 540;
graduates with diplomas from Richmond Institute, 73; total graduates
with degree of B. D. from Richmond Theological Seminary, 27. Some of
these graduates are now in charge of institutions of learning, others
are professors in seminaries and universities. Six entered the foreign
mission field. The former students of the Richmond Theological Seminary
are to be found from Canada to Texas, and in the lands far beyond the
sea." The school has had among its teachers such men as Prof. J. E.
Jones, D. D., and Prof. D. N. Vassar, D. D. Both of these men are well
educated and represent a high type of true manhood, and they have done
much to advance the race they are identified with. Now Wayland College
and Seminary and Richmond Theological Seminary are united under one
board of trustees. They have at present the Theological Department,
the College Department, the Academic Department and the Preparatory
Department. An industrial plant will, it is hoped, be built. They
already teach the students in a practical way the art of printing
and of managing the steam and electrical plant. This last gives them
quite a knowledge of engineering. The new buildings number eight--a
fine library building, including a chapel and library, a lecture
hall, a dining hall, a dormitory, a power plant, two residences and a
stable. They are constructed of the finest granite, and could not be
duplicated for $300,000. They are situated on a hill about fifty feet
above the valley--a beautiful location in the centre of thirty acres.
The buildings contain every modern improvement--steam heat in all the
rooms and halls, electric lighting and a complete telephone system for
the different buildings and floors, and most approved toilet and bath
arrangements. It is said to be the finest group of buildings in the
whole South.
Rev. M. MacVicar, Ph. D., LL. D., is the president of the University,
George Rice Hovey the dean of Wayland Seminary and College, Rev. George
F. Genung, D. D., the dean of the Theological School. The faculty
consists of fifteen teachers of unusual ability, graduates of the best
colleges, some of whom have made a name for themselves already. About
one-half are white. The courses of study are equal to those of the
ordinary Northern schools of similar grade. Virginia Union University
will doubtless be the largest Baptist school operated for colored
people, and it is located in a part of the country where the colored
population is very large, and especially among the Baptists.
ATLANTA BAPTIST SEMINARY.
On the corner of Hunter and Elliott streets, in the city of Atlanta,
Ga., there stands a smoke-begrimed and somewhat dilapidated
brick building bearing the inscription, "American Baptist Home
Mission Society, 1879." Directly in front of the building lies the
shunting-yard of the Southern Railroad. The locality is one of the
nosiest, dustiest and smokiest in the city. It was in this building,
among these unfavorable surroundings, that the work of the Atlanta
Baptist Seminary was carried on from 1879 till 1890.
In the old building no provision was made for dormitories. The
students, most of whom were from the country, were left to find
boarding-houses where they could, and besides living in close and
crowded homes, where the atmosphere was not specially intellectual
and where the opportunities for quiet study were not great, they
were, except for the few hours of school each day, beyond the control
and watchcare of the teachers and exposed to the distractions and
temptations of the city.
For twelve years prior to the year 1879 the Seminary had been located
at Augusta, Ga., and was known as "The Augusta Institute."
Upon the death of Rev. Joseph T. Robert, LL. D., president for
fourteen years, which occurred in 1884, Rev. Samuel Graves, D. D., was
appointed. Dr. Graves was quick to see that the first requisite to the
vigorous growth of the school was a transplanting. Accordingly, he set
to work to secure ground and building. As the result of his efforts the
present campus was secured and the present building erected, and in the
spring of 1890 the Seminary bade farewell to the old building and its
noisy neighbors and took up its abode in its new home.
The main building of the institution was erected in 1889 at a cost
of $27,000. In this beautiful building the visitor will find chapel,
library, eight class-rooms, president's apartments and rooms for six
teachers, dormitory accommodation for about one hundred students,
besides kitchen, dining-room and storerooms, laundry, printing office,
workshop and boiler-room. Rev. George Sales is president.
SHAW UNIVERSITY.
Shaw University is beautifully located in the city of Raleigh, North
Carolina, within ten minutes' walk of the post-office and capital. The
grounds, upon which have been erected five large brick buildings and
several of wood, are among the finest in the city, and include several
acres. This institution furnishes by far the largest accommodations
of any colored school in North Carolina, and, in the large number of
advanced pupils, it is not surpassed by any colored school in the
country.
Shaw University was founded in 1865 by Dr. H. M. Tupper, D. D., who
conceived the desire for school work among the colored people while
serving as a soldier in our late war. He started his first school,
which has grown into the present university, in a cabin scarcely ten by
twenty feet. The large brick structures, which now form a part of the
institution, are looked upon with great interest because of the fact
that the bricks in them were made by student labor under the direction
of Dr. Tupper.
There are normal, collegiate, scientific, music and industrial
departments, as well as schools of pharmacy, law and medicine, and a
missionary training school, and all doing good work. Every graduate
of the pharmacy school, class of 1900, recently appeared before the
State Board of Examiners and obtained certificates as required by law.
Prof. Chas. F. Meserve is its present president, since the death of Dr.
Tupper.
The Baptists have cause to be proud of the good work done at Shaw
University. Preachers and teachers by the hundreds have been educated
at this excellent institution for home and foreign mission work.
BISHOP COLLEGE.
Bishop College is located in the city of Marshall, the county-seat of
Harrison county, Texas. For beauty of situation, commodiousness of
buildings, and completeness of outfit for the work, this institution
is unsurpassed by any school for the colored people west of the
Mississippi.
The Rev. N. Wolverton has been succeeded as president by the Rev.
Albert Loughridge, who will push the work with the same degree of
vigor. The dormitories are spacious and pleasant, the grounds are ample
for recreation, and those who go there to live find all the advantages
of a Christian home.
Every student must understand that, in entering the school, he
stands pledged to willing and cheerful conformity to the regulations
prescribed by the faculty for its government.
This institution was founded in 1881. It now employs nine white
teachers and seven colored. Total number of students in attendance
daily about two hundred. Amount of money expended yearly for the
support of the school, $7,434.
BENEDICT COLLEGE.
In 1870 a desirable site for an institution for the education of
colored people was found available at Columbia, S. C. As this was the
capital of the State, and central, it was decided to locate it here. A
noble woman in New England, Mrs. B. A. Benedict, of Providence, R. I.,
gave $10,000 towards its purchase, the cost being $16,000. The property
consisted of nearly eighty acres of land. In honor of the deceased
husband of the donor, Dea. Stephen Benedict, brother of David Benedict,
the historian, the Board called the school "Benedict Institute."
It was opened December 1, 1870, under the charge of Rev. Timothy S.
Dodge, as principal. The first pupil was a colored preacher, sixty
years old. In October, 1887, Rev. Lewis Colby succeeded Mr. Dodge under
appointment of the Board.
Upon his resignation in 1879, Rev. E. J. Goodspeed, D. D., was
appointed. He entered upon his work in October, continuing until his
death, in the summer of 1881. Rev. C. E. Becker was selected as his
successor and went to Columbia in October, 1882, but at this writing
the president is Rev. A. C. Osborn, D. D.
During 1879-80, Rev. Lewis Colby, deeply impressed with the need of
better accommodations, especially for girls, devoted his time without
compensation, and with the approval of the Board, to raising $5,000
for a girls' building. This amount being secured, together with an
additional offering from Mrs. Benedict, two frame buildings were
erected in 1881. Towards the furnishing of the buildings, the colored
people of the State gave over $1,600. The girls' building is known as
"Colby Hall." Better quarters for the young men are greatly needed.
By special act of the South Carolina Legislature, through the efforts
of President Becker and the co-operation of leading Baptists, the
institution in 1882 was exempted from taxation.
LELAND UNIVERSITY.
Leland University was founded in 1870 for the higher education of such
men and women as desired to fit themselves for Christian citizenship,
either as ministers, teachers, or tradesmen. It is open to all persons
who are fitted to enjoy its advantages, without distinction of race,
color, or religious opinions. The University owes its existence to the
late Holbrook Chamberlain, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y., who erected the
buildings, assisted in its management, and at his death left to it
the bulk of his property, about $100,000, as an endowment fund, the
interest of which goes to the payment of teachers.
The University has a library and reading-room, which is supplied with
the leading journals and periodicals of the day.
There is a Literary Society, the "Philomathean," composed of young men
and young women, which holds weekly meetings for mutual improvement.
The students also constitute a recognized branch of the International
Young Men's Christian Association and of the National Society of
Christian Endeavor.
Dr. R. W. Perkins was elected president in 1901 to fill the place of
Pres. Mitchell, deceased. He will be supported by a corps of earnest,
faithful teachers.
The University is situated on St. Charles avenue, New Orleans, La., and
its retirement from the crowded part of the city renders it peculiarly
adapted to study.
HARTSHORN MEMORIAL COLLEGE.
This institution was chartered by the Legislature of Virginia, March
13, 1884, with full collegiate and university powers.
Hartshorn Memorial College is located at the west end of Leigh street,
Richmond, Va. The grounds comprise eight and one-half acres, well
elevated, and shaded in part by a belt of native forest trees. The
object of the institution is to train colored women for practical work
in the broad harvest of the world.
The president, Rev. Lyman B. Tefft, D. D., claims that among the
millions of colored women in the United States there is the same need
and the same field for trained and cultured Christian service as among
the whites. Life for them has the same meaning as for any other race.
They have the same social, intellectual and spiritual necessities. They
are a people essentially by themselves. There is, therefore, for the
educated colored woman, the same wide and ready field of Christian work
and influence as for any others.
THE MATHER INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL.
This school is located on a bluff in the suburbs of Beaufort, S. C.
It was established just after the war, by Mrs. Rachel C. Mather, of
Boston, Mass., who is still its principal, assisted by six other white
teachers.
Mrs. Mather was a teacher in the public schools of Boston during the
Civil War, and just after the conflict was over she went South to do
the work of her life. The history of her efforts are interesting in
every detail and inspires the reader with an appreciation for the noble
work of a noble woman.
Mrs. Mather conducts an orphanage in connection with the school, and
during the twenty-seven years of her labors in this section, a great
many orphan children have been cared for and trained from childhood to
noble manhood and womanhood.
It is the aim of this school to reach the homes of the common people
and develop the good qualities in the young men and young women of the
race.
I regard this work as being one of the most important schools in the
South. This lady has borne all the cares, anxieties and difficulties
engendered in this peculiar work for these many years, with remarkable
fortitude and courage.
People who have always lived in the North cannot appreciate what it
means to go South and take charge of a colored school. I have talked
with many of the men and women now at the head of such institutions,
and they tell me that it is the rarest thing for the Southern white
people to ever come near them, or even speak of them, except in the
most disrespectful manner. In fact, in the early days of freedom
Northern teachers could hardly stay, because of their treatment on the
part of the whites. There has been a great change, and many of the
Southern people are willing now to admit that the white teachers have
done a most excellent work for the race, but they still let them good
and well alone. But in many cases it is a great help to be let alone,
and especially when their recognition would not be friendly.
DAWES ACADEMY.
Dawes Academy is located at Berwin, I. T. Rev. Geo. Horne, principal.
This school has an average attendance of about 100. It is developing
rapidly. Rev. Horne is assisted by three teachers.
JACKSON COLLEGE.
This institution, as Natchez College, was founded by the A. B. H. Miss.
Soc. at Natchez, Miss., in 1878. In 1883, as Jackson College, it was
established in Jackson, the State capital. Rev. Luther G. Barrett,
A. M., is president, a graduate of Harvard College and of Newton
Theological Institution, a practical educator, and who was for a time
professor in Shaw University, Raleigh, N. C. It is beautifully and
healthfully situated in the outskirts of the city, with fine buildings
and an able corps of ten teachers. Its field is immense, Mississippi
having 800,000 negroes. It had, up to the present yellow fever scourge,
200 students, and will, no doubt, with the passing of the fever, soon
eclipse this number, as under its present efficient management it is
fast gaining in popularity. It does superior work, its academical
and classical departments comparing favorably with those of similar
first-class institutions of the North, while it is just beginning
regular college work. It has also a fine preparatory department and
excellent graded musical course. It is pre-eminently a Christian
school, the Bible being taught in grades one hour daily. Revivals are
frequent, and generally each session closes with nearly every student
a Christian. Its students stand high in the State as teachers, while
many go on to professional schools of law, medicine and theology. Its
great aim is to supply leaders.
STORER COLLEGE--FREE-WILL BAPTISTS.
At Harper's Ferry, W. Va., within sight of where John Brown made
his famous raid, stands Storer College. The beautiful valley of the
Shenandoah could not contain anything that would add more to its beauty
than this splendid institution of learning.
This school has a most interesting history. Just after the Civil War,
when the glare of cannon and the din of gun had faded away, this school
was started.
The school is conducted by the Free-will Baptists.
In February of 1867, President O. B. Cheney visited Mr. John Storer,
of Sanford, Me., in behalf of Bates College. Although not a Free-will
Baptist, Mr. Storer was deeply interested in the history and aims of
the denomination. During the conversation he said to Dr. Cheney: "I
have determined to give $10,000 to some society which will raise an
equal amount toward the founding of a school in the South for the
benefit of the colored people. I should prefer that your denomination
have this money, only that I fear that they will not or can not meet
my condition. I am old and I desire to see the school started before
I die; so as you came I was about writing to the American Missionary
Association, making them this proposal, and I am confident they will
accept and rapidly advance the project."
In reply Dr. Cheney pleaded that he be allowed to make an effort. He
told him of the Southern enterprise, of its needs, and added: "A school
there is just what we must have in order to carry forward the work. We
shall feel that God has heard our prayers and is blessing our labor if
you will give us your support. You may set your own time--one year, six
months, or less--_only let us try_."
Mr. Storer came to a favorable decision before twelve o'clock that
night.
Monday, Oct. 2, 1867, Storer College commenced its noble work--the
outcome of which eternity alone can truly unfold. It began with
nineteen pupils (from the immediate vicinity) and with one assistant
teacher, Mrs. M. W. L. Smith, of Maine, under Mr. Brackett as
principal. The school opened in the government building--known as the
"Lockwood House"--and this one building served for dwelling-house,
school and church.
The efforts to obtain a gift of this property were now redoubled. Dr.
James Calder of Harrisburg, Pa., was especially active in furthering
this project. Finally, through the earnest support of Mr. Fessenden in
the Senate and of Gen. Garfield in the House, a bill to this effect
passed Congress Dec. 3, 1868, and the four buildings, with seven acres
of land, worth about $30,000, became the property of the institution.
Had this failed, the site of the school would have been at the Bolivar
Farm. As it was, the farm, through cultivation and sale of lots,
largely assisted in supporting the school during its infancy.
In September of 1867 the Freedmen's Bureau donated $500, which was
used in making needed repairs, and soon after the school opened, paid
over the promised $6,000 to a temporary Stock Company organized under
the laws of West Virginia. But the "Bureau" did far more than it
promised, and as long as it existed ceased not to render generous and
efficient aid. Among its further benefactions were $4,000 to renovate
the shattered government buildings, and about $1,500 toward the running
expenses. Altogether, including about $4,000 for the erection, in
1868, of Lincoln Hall--a boarding-hall for boys--the Freedmen's Bureau
contributed $18,000 toward the upbuilding of Storer College. How the
institution could have flourished or even lived without this external
aid, it is difficult to realize, for the denomination was heavily
freighted with the needs of other important enterprises.
The school is now in a flourishing condition and is doing a noble and
elevating work in behalf of civilization.
Crowning, as they do, the heights of Harper's Ferry, the buildings of
Storer College are conspicuous objects in every direction. A passing
allusion should be made to the wondrous scenery which surrounds Storer
College--to witness which, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "It were worth a
journey across the Atlantic." And the most unappreciative observer can
but feel that the outspread grandeur and beauty must exert an elevating
influence.
The institution has three departments--Preparatory, Normal, and
Classical. It has had over 1,200 different pupils, has sent out more
than 300 teachers and about 30 ministers. In one year its students have
numbered 232, and both total and average attendance are constantly
increasing. In 1875 a summer term for teachers was inaugurated. Its
session holds through June and July, and it is greatly appreciated by
those whose only opportunity for further study and progress is at this
time.
No one can visit Harper's Ferry without coming away overflowing with
wonder and enthusiasm. One stands abashed before the brave spirit, the
devotion and never-mentioned sacrifices of our toilers there.
Rev. N. C. Brackett served this institution as its president from
its beginning until 1897, when he was succeeded by Rev. Ernest Earle
Osgood, a young man of most excellent qualifications for such a
position. He comes of that class of New England people who have done so
much for the education of colored people. Rev. Osgood will doubtless,
because of his youth, add vigor and energy to the school that will be
helpful in bringing a larger attendance.