Robert W. Woodruff
Library
Gift of
Richard A. Long
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Special Collections & Archives
Progress of a Race
.. OR
THE REMARKABLE ADVANCEMENT OF THE
AFRO-AMERICAN NEGRO
From the Bondage of Slavery, Ignorance and Poverty
to the Freedom of Citizenship, Intelligence,
Affluence, Honor and Trust
BY
H. F. KLETZING, A. M.,
AND
W. H. CROGMAN, A. M.,
Professor in Clark University, Atlanta, Ga., Author of "Talks for the Times.*
& &
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON,
Principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama.
Jt
PUBLISHED BY
J. L. NICHOLS & CO.
Atlanta, Ga. Naperville, 111. Toronto, Ont.
(To whom all communications must be addressed.)
189S
I®"*Agents Wanted.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1897, by
J. L. NICHOLS & CO.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
Sold only by subscription and not to be bad In bookstores. Any one
desiring a copy should address the publishers.
Tbls book, Including' Illustrations, Is protected by copyright,
and any Infringement will be prosecuted to
tbe fullest extent of tbe law.
PREFACE.
Our apology for presenting to the public a new book
is not that there are not sufficient books already written
on the Negro, but that to our knowledge there has
been no attempt made to put into permanent form a
record of his remarkable progress under freedom—a
progress not equaled in the annals of history.
Although the "Progress of a Generation" might, as
to time, more accurately bound the limits of our theme,
we have preferred to record as well the struggles and
triumphs of the Race in the dark days of bondage, for
slavery, with all its appalling horrors, was neverthe¬
less in a sense educative to the Race.
We are not ignorant of the fact that the eye of the
critic will discern imperfections, but after much and
labored research we have followed the plan that, in our
judgment, would make the volume an incentive to
greater progress in the future.
In the chapter on Noted Men and Women we may
be charged with gross omissions, but the modesty of
many men and women worthy of mention has pre¬
vented a record of noble lives. In other cases the
manuscript did not reach us in time.
We have quoted largely from different authors, and
wherever possible have given credit, but in some cases
even this was not possible, as the author was not always
known. We are especially indebted to Dr. Hubbard,
of Meharry Medical College, and Prof. Spence, of Fisk
University, for valuable information.
Our motive throughout has been that of an increas¬
ing desire to aid in the work of elevating the Race for
which many noble lives have been given.
We shall feel well repaid for our labors, if, through
the perusal of these pages, there shall be an incentive
to even greater efforts, during the second generation
of freedom. With the sincere hope that our efforts
may aid in inducing the multitudes to catch the same
spirit of progress that imbues their leaders, we send
this volume forth.
THE AUTHORS.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.
INTRODUCTION.
The Progress of a Generation in the history of the
Negro is the most fascinating study modern times pos¬
sesses. Springing from the darkest depths of slavery
and sorrowful ignorance to the heights of manhood and
power almost at one bound, the Negro furnishes an un¬
paralleled example of possibility. In the pages follow¬
ing, the authors have performed a duty at once difficult
and needful—that of following the rise of the Negro
through the different stages of his career. It is a task
that merits respect, commands attention, and is, unhap¬
pily, too seldom attempted.
The task of a biographer of a people is too frequently
a thankless one. In sifting out the conflicting elements
which present themselves for his consideration he is
apt to injure tradition. In using material which he
thinks best he is likely to upset preconceived ideas of
theorists. His work must be the result of careful think¬
ing and an astonishing amount of finesse and diplomacy.
The historian of the Negro race has all this and more
too. He must, in addition to the other duties which
devolve upon him in his work, be able to prophecy and
foresee the days to come. For the progress of the
Negro is far from completed—it is yet in its incipient
stage—and the eyes of the prophet must discern
whither the road leads, upward or downward.
The unprecedented leap the Negro made when freed
from the oppressing withes of bondage is more than
deserving of a high place in history. It can never be
chronicled. The world needs to know of what mettle
these people are built. It needs to understand the vast
possibility of a race, so much despised and so thor¬
oughly able to prove without blare and flourish of
trumpet its ability to hold its own and compete, after
only thirty years of life, with those of centuries of
lineage.
The dawn of new life is again gleaming behind the
VI
INTRODUCTION.
horizon. After the words were spoken which pro¬
nounced the Negro free, he hesitated a minute, then
sprang towards the highest place at once. It was not
many days "before he was heard from in all positions,
in all walks of life; he was in high government posi¬
tions, his name was on the most exclusive professional
roles, yet the common horde lingered in surprised help¬
lessness, wondering what next. Such a state of affairs,
though brilliant, was without foundation and could
not last. In building the structure of his race-life the
Negro had begun at the top. The cupola could not last
without a foundation; the work was shaking without a
firm support. Of late years this is being realized, and
we are turning our attention to the foundation work.
It may be that some are blind to the crying needs
of an absolute and unwrenchable foundation in the soil
of the state, but those whose eyes are opened must
realize that we can advance no further, or do no better
work, until we have paused and implanted ourselves
firmly. The progress made thus far has been magnifi¬
cent, but like the house built upon sands. Ere*we
add another gable or tower to its structure we must
insure it against the lash of the storm's fury by placing
a solid rock beneath its surface.
This is where the progress of the Negro leads us
today—to pause in the brilliant meteoric advance and
stride forward henceforth as a solid phalanx of earnest,
industrious toilers, for a merited place in the world's
array of nations. By the work-shop, the well-tilled
farm, the scientifically conducted dairy, the mechanic's
well-done work, our advance is now being noted.
From gaining the wondering curiosity of the world for
a chosen, brilliant few, we are compelling its respect
and admiration for ourselves as a whole, as a people
upon whom the stigma of idle dreaming can no longer
be laid.
Thus, while the authors record m these pages the
progress of the Negro within the past generation, let
us hope that when another quarter century, has passed
away the race's biographer may have a still more
promising story to tell. Let us hope that it will be a
iNTRODUCTldN.
VII
story of a people taking part in the affairs of a
nation—not in isolated cases, but as an integral part of
a magnificent whole. Let us hope that there will be
manufacturers, as well as senators; good and success¬
ful business men, as well as politicians; reputable
artisans, as well as literateurs; millionaires, as well
as laborers. Let us hope that the wave of industrial
feeling now extending over the country may find its
culmination in the unmistakable and solid foundation
of a magnificent people, and crystallize a race into
conformation with the highest standard reached by
man in the present age.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON,
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.
Tuskegee, Ala., August 8, 1897,
WE ARE RISING.
by rev. george c. rowe.
Among the sayings of our race,
Suggestive and surptising,
That fill a most exalted place,
Is, "Tell them we are rising!"
The question asked for right and truth.
What to the North your greeting?
The answer from a Negro youth—
"Tell them we are rising!"
Within Atlanta's classic halls,
This youth, self-sacrificing,
Wrote high his name upon her walls,
His motto: "We are rising!"
Out in the world he makes his mark,
Danger and fear despising,
E'er soaring upward like the lark,
My brethren: "We are rising!"
He meets the foe with voice and pen,
With eloquence surprising!
Give us a chance, for we are men!
Most surely we are rising!
Rising to take our place beside
The noble, the aspiring;
With energy and conscious pride,
To the best things, we're rising!
Within the class-room is his place,
Greek, Latin, criticising,
To raise the youthful of his race,
And show the world we're rising!
Go forth, my friend, upon your way,
Each obstacle despising,
Prove by your efforts every day
To all that we are arising!
In farming, trade and literature,
A people enterprising!
Our churches, schools, and home life pure,
Tell to the world we're rising!
Note.—About a score of years since, Dr. Jos. Roy, of the American
Missionary Association, on visiting one of their schools in Georgia, asked
the children: "What message shall I take from you to the people of the
North?" An intelligent boy answered promptly: "Tell them we are ris¬
ing!" The boy was Richard Wright, of Augusta, Ga., who has since grad¬
uated from Atlanta University, ably filled the editorial chair, and is now
President of the Georgia Industrial College for Colored Youths, at Savan¬
nah. Indeed, he is "rising!"
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
History of the Race.
Unity of the race—Of one blood—No inferior race—
The curse theory—Base of arguments—The proper
interpretation — Josephus — Herodotus —The case
stated—The color theory—Plants and animals—
Gradations of color—Caucasians—Dr. Livingston—
Equator to polar circles—From inland to coast
—Black, a mark of reproach—Ideals of Negroes—
God knows best—Antiquity—J. P. Jefferis—Further
evidence—The word Negro—The term Negro—
Africa for the Negroes—Deportation—Not well
considered—Separation would not relieve—Not
possible—Points of superiority—Physical character¬
istics — Distinguishing traits — Drink traffic — In¬
genuity—In other continents—Unknown to He¬
brews—Liberia—Sierra Leone—Purpose and prep¬
aration—Africa's future.
CHAPTER II.
Slavery.
Knowledge worth knowing—In Africa — Sources of
slavery—Right of a free adult to sell himself—
Insolvent debtors—Sale of criminals—Kidnapping
—Capture in war—Slaves of slaves—Early history
of slavery—Livingston's tomb:—For what purpose—
European plantation "slavery—In Asia—Slavery in
Portugal—Columbus—Slavery in the New World—
First slaves—First liberty—Slavery in the United
States—Slavery contended for—The slave trade—
The slave dealer—Kidnapping—The middle pas¬
sage—The slave dealer and President Lincoln—
Profit—Slavery a curse—Fusion—Slavery not justi¬
fiable—Slavery degrading—A curious advertise¬
rs
X
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
ment—Slave trade in the United States—Abolish¬
ing African slave trade-*—Effects of slavery on slave
owners—The Negro not content in slavery—Serious
apprehensions—Uncle Tom's Cabin—Negro insur¬
rection—Restriction of slavery—Slavery in the
colonies—The Southern colonists — Maryland and
Delaware—Profitable in Maryland—Virginia—New
York—The Negro plot—Rhode Island1—Demand
for ignorance — New Jersey—South Carolina —
North Carolina—New Hampshire—Massachusetts
—Pennsylvania — Slave-breeding states — Not uni¬
versally countenanced—Border states—Pensioning
old and feeble slaves.
CHAPTER III.
The Negro in the Revolution.
Slave population—A great mistake—First blood for
liberty — Crispus Attucks — Hero and Martyr —
Committee of safety—Major Lawrence—Freeing
the slave — Colonial congress — Reorganization —
Lord Dunmore—The negro prince—Major Jeffrey
—Re-enslavement—The legislature of Virginia—
Simon Lee—Massachusetts—The British army—
The heroism of the Negro — Mr. Pinckney—Mr
Eustis—Rev. Dr. Hopkins—Colonel Laurens—Ne¬
gro soldiers.
CHAPTER IV.
Anti-Slavery Agitation.
Slavery established in the South—Responsibility—Agi¬
tation — Property in man — Quakers — Benjamin
Lundy — William Lloyd Garrison — Anti-slavery
societies—Silence of the pulpit—Leaders of the
anti-slavery party—Theodore Parker—Other agi¬
tators—Colonization societies—Wendell Phillips
Convention of colored people—The proposed col¬
lege— Anti-slavery women of America — Anti-
slavery orators — Literature — Harriet Beecher
Stowe—The pro-slavery reaction — Attempts to
■ stifle discussion—Mob riots^—Rifling the mails
Congress suppressing agitation—John Brown.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
XI
CHAPTER V,
Fugitive Slave Laws. Underground Railroad
System. Slave Papulation.
Calvin Fairbanks—Rev. John Rankin—W. L. Chat-
lain — Thos. Garrett — Levi Coffin — J onathan
Walker—Underground railroad—Different branches
—Agents—Stockholders—Methods pursued—Wm.
Jones—Henry Box Brown—Amanda Smith—Wil¬
liam and Ellen Craft—Emancipators tried—Seth
Concklin—Slave population.
CHAPTER VI.
The Negro in the Civil War.
Number enrolled—Ready for enlistment—Opposition
to enlistment—Objections—General Hunter—Mr.
Wyckliff—After a year—Public opinion changed—
In the Union ranks—Confederate measures—In the
navy—Official authority—Recruiting officers—In¬
dignation—Governor Yates—Discrimination—Gen¬
eral Butler—President Lincoln—In Congress—Prej¬
udice broken down—Colonel Shaw—Fort Wagner
—Milliken Bend—The First Regiment—Port Hud¬
son—Captain Callioux—In the Mississippi Valley—
Battle of Wilson's Wharf—Petersburg—General
Smith on Petersburg—Adjutant-General L. Thomas
— Strict obedience — Important addition — Heavy
guns—General Armstrong of Hampton—A cavalry
force—Few of the many tributes—Items of inter¬
est—In present service—In military academy —
Colored soldiers of Georgia.
CHAPTER VII.
Moral and Social Advancement.
Frederick Douglass—Statement verified—Hopeless
condition—Freedom gave him his hands—Not sur¬
passed in history—Degraded by compulsion—Slav e
breeders — Well known to slave-holders Why
stated—Heathenism—Humane masters—F ew in
number—Defending slavery—Financial considera¬
tion—A struggling race—Ignorance equaled by
XII
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
poverty—Difficult to comprehend—Moral improve¬
ment—Negro immoralities—In proportion to oppor¬
tunities—Negro domination—Inconsistent, incor¬
rect and narrow views—Look not for greatness—
Labor to become great—In America—Change dur¬
ing years of bondage—In twenty years—False hopes
—Charitable judgment—Thrift—Loyal American—
Thrift and self-respect—Negro homes—Legacy be¬
queathed by slavery — Happy and comfortable
homes—Do something—Cast down your bucket—In
our stead—The mule and forty acres—Freedom—
Rape — An awful charge — No attribute to side
with us — Counter-charged — One recourse left—
Heathen Africa—Not the nature of the black man
—Like begets like—A degraded condition—The
World's Fair—Half free and half slave—The great
desideratum — A dwarfed people — Gratitude —
Millions for education — Full-fledged men — God
hates cowardice—Physical resistance—Debt of our
nation—Bishop Gaines on lynching—Not in sym¬
pathy with crime—Innocent men victims—Justice—
Temperance—Soberness—Total abstinence—Lead¬
ers temperate—Cross-roads grocery—Crime trace¬
able to liquor habit—Delirium tremens—Not a
race of drunkards — Reliable allies — Educational
institutions—The shame of the Christian nation—
A sad end—Temperance resolutions—Woman in
temperance—Tobacco—Smoking a crime—Tobacco
a poison—Nicotine—Killed in thirty minutes—Hab¬
it of smoking—Filthy and pernicious — Leaders
needed—Moral status—Business world—Criminals
—Professions—Trade education — Patents — Debt
of gratitude—Our country—Does not crave dom¬
ination, but equality—Prejudice — Corruption of
public men—Toward the light—Progress since free¬
dom—Affections and friendships—When the war
ended—It was natural—Best specimens of physical
manhood—Not in color—Remarkable advancement
—Still in idleness—Honored mention—Just judg¬
ment.
table of contents.
xiii
CHAPTER VIII.
The Colored Woman of Today.
Womanhood — Appreciative — Good wives —- National
Association of Colored Women—False impressions
—Wants — Papers read — Resolutions — Provident
hospital — Womanhood insulted — Purity — High
sense of womanhood—Character—Unity of the race
—Virtue—Ebb and flow—Mother of Douglass—
Woman a teacher—Responsibility—Ignorance and
poverty—Great and multifarious—Power given to
woman—Drudge of the nation—The center—
Young women—Prepare yourself—Do not fail—
Begin now—The world will feel it—A new era—
Home life—One-room cabins—Organization—Sys¬
tem—Prejudice—Work left to colored women—Self-
respect—In bondage—No monopoly—How to win—
A tru& lady—Company—Books and papers—Homes
—Good taste displayed in dress—Amusements—
Duty to perform—Topmost round—Possibilities—
Difficulties—Great need — Our homes—Not con¬
fined to homes—Social purity among our girls—
Industrial schools—Professional and literary work¬
ers—Path of duty—Retrospective and prospective
view—Thirty years—Christian women—Home—
Marriage—Foundation stones—A good character—
A single standard—Ruined manhood—Wise moth¬
ers—Anti-natal life—H eredity—Aristocracy—Need
of the hour—Science of a true life.
CHAPTER IX.
Progress in Industries.
United efforts—No more speedy remedy—Race pride
—Consumers—Brains and Jabor—Testimonials of
Hampden students—Hope and progress—Dignity
and nobility of manual labor—In the business world
—Half free—Negro labor—Fears aroused—Capable
—Prospect—A business education—Tilling the soil
—Way marks — Waiting - for something to' do —
Skilled mechanics—Practical education—Higher
XIV
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
education—What the South needs—Go to the farm
—Buy a farm—Advancement—Worth of property
—Looking upward—A changed man—At progress¬
ive door—Atlanta's colored representatives—Forest
home—Items of interest—Gilchrist Stewart—H. D.
Smith—D. Rowan—John T. Schell—Alex. Hamil¬
ton—Henry A. Rucker—Bartow F. Powell—Mr.
Billlngslea—Deal Jackson—Joe Jeff—Thrift and
industry—Improving in morals—Peaceable com¬
munity.
CHAPTER X.
Financial Growth.
Property owners—Wealthy men of Richmond—Mort¬
gaged property—Wealthy colored New York men
—Twenty-five years' accumulations—The colored
churches—Much property—Rev. A. G. Davis—
Men of wealth—Jacob McKinley—Robt. Thos.
Taylor—Lewis Bates—Encouraged.
CHAPTER Xi.
Mortality.
The colored race of Nashville—Birth rate—Mortality
—Homes—Deaths—Children in public schools—Use
of educational advantages—Occupation and earn¬
ings—Enforced idleness—Constitutional diseases—
Crime of mothers—Lack of stamina—Keep up or
get out of the way—Social regeneration—A prob¬
lem—In cities—Five cities—Twenty-one families in
Washington — Income — Largest income — Negli-
gence a cause of mortality—Charitable institutions
—Physicians—Dispensaries—Hospitals—Intemper¬
ance a cause of mortality—Contagious and infec¬
tious diseases—Heredity—Principal factors—Pov¬
erty a cause of mortality—Mortality among children
of the. poor—Ignorance—Improper ventilation—
General condition—Wages—Contents of- a- room
Infants—Sociological condition—Savannah—Crime.
TABLE OF CONTENTS. XV
CHAPTER XII.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
Educational Institutions—Industrial Schools—
The Press.
Educational Improvements.—The great end—Not in
question—No higher duty—Knowledge not a sub¬
stitute for virtue — Color blind — Appreciating
advantages — Civilization progressing — Education
improves—Trained minds—Wisdom—Higher insti¬
tutions—Practicability—Thinkers—Needs of today
— Equal opportunities — Equal political rights —
Equal facilities and stimulus—Duty of government
—Slavery at the bottom—Power of law—Prejudice
—Key to problem—Not by magic spell—Education
the best means—Good government implies intelli¬
gence—Whites must also be educated—Wealth a
producer—Race pride—The question—Power of
education—Public school system—Outlay of money
— Number of .institutions — Twenty-five years'
profitable work — Practical training — Academic
instruction — Great danger — The New England
farmer boy—Only means of growth—Useful and in¬
dependent—America's prosperity—In one genera¬
tion— School population—Money expended—Illiter¬
acy of colored population—Illiteracy disappearing
— Secondary and higher education — Teachers —
High schools—Professions—Industrial training—
Industrial schools—Industrial education—Advan¬
tages—Respect for labor—Leaders—Importance—
Not limited mental development—Look at facts—
Ennobling labor—Higher forms of labor—Value of
culture—Friction—Privileges of the law—Mistakes
—Progress—A new nation—Primary, industrial
and higher education — Normal schools — State
Superintendent of Mississippi—Color—Intellect—
One-room cabins — President Gates — Industrial
training—Economic conditions—Mr.' Brice—A col¬
ored teacher-—Many sided —Effects of slavery—Poor
and ignorant—Not left alone—Tribute to northern
XVI
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
women — Imperishable — monuments — Opinions
Conclusions—Evolution not Revolution—Five great
institutions.—Address by Prof. Spence—Need and
fitness—No mistake—Question settled—Leaders—
Education required—Changed condition—Meharry
Medical College—Homes—Slave-pen—F ort—Col¬
lege—Life work—Early schools—Gen. Eaton—The
Freedmen's bureau—Assisting agencies—American
Missionary Association—Control and support—
Two-fold work—Teachers—The Freedmen's Aid
and Southern Society—Baptist Home Missionary So¬
ciety—Peabody Fund—John F. Slater Fund—
Reflex influences—Prime need—Incidents for prob¬
lems—Civilization—Industrialism—New Problem
— A question — Higher culture — A result not a
cause—A new factor—Greatness comes from alti¬
tudes—Culture of human society—Heritage—Lead¬
ers— Thought that makes the world — From the
schools—Opened to the Negro mind—Conclusions.
Educational Institutions.—Hampton Normal and
Agricultural Institute — Object — Annual cost —
Value of property—Teachers and officers—Girls'
industries — Boys' industries — Graduates — Field
missionary—Agriculture—Outgrowth of Hampton
—The Southern Workman—A record oi its work—
A remarkable record—Fisk University—Work of
the alumni—Bera College—Spelman Seminary—
Work of a generation—Beginning—Opening—Rev.
Frank Quarles—Second year—Coal bin—Rocke¬
feller Hall—Giles Hall—Buildings—Enrollment—
Success — Teachers — Influence — Prof. Holmes —
Bishop Haygood — Nora Gordon —Clara Howard
—Atlanta Baptist Seminary—Clark University
Atlanta University—Tuskegee Normal and Agri¬
cultural Institute—Georgia State Industrial Col¬
lege—Central Tennessee College—Meharry Medi¬
cal College—Leland University—Morris Brown
College—Southland College and Industrial Institu¬
tion—Livingston College—Howard University
Knoxvijle College—Shaw University—Roger Wil-
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
XVII
liams University — Selma University — Tougaloo
University — Tuskegee Conference — Roscoe C
Bruce—Freedmen's Savings Bank—Colored press
— Character — Able editors — Christian papers —
First daily—First newspaper.
CHAPTER XIII.
RELIGION AND THE NEGRO.
Churches and Charitable Institutions.
A religious nature—Sustained by faith—Cheerful
music—Noticeable fact—Harry Hosier—Genuine¬
ness—Strong characteristic—Progress phenomenal
-Organizations—Liberality—Achievements —The
future — Churches important — Denominations
Helping himself—Sums spent—Christian ministers.
Churches.—Regular Baptist, Colored—African Meth¬
odist Episcopal — Union Methodist Episcopal —
African Methodist Episcopal, Zion—Congregational
Methodist, Colored — Cumberland Presbyterian,
Colored—Sunday School Union of the A. M. E.
Church.
Charitable Institutions.—Carrie Steel Orphan Home
— Provident Hospital — Hale Infirmary —Mrs.
Watts' Orphanage.
CHAPTER XIV.
Noted Personages of the Afro-American Race.
Forerunners of Liberty.—Frederick Douglass—Wil¬
liam Still—Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.
Educators.—Prof. W. H. Crogman, A. M.—Prof. W.
S. Scarborough, LL. D—Principal Booker T. Wash¬
ington, A. M.—President Richard Robert Wright,
A. M.—Prof. William E. Holmes, A. M.—Prof.
John Wesley Gilbert, A. M.—Prof. W. E. Burg-
hardt Dubois, Ph. D.—W. Lewis Bulkley—Lucy
Laney—Mrs. Margaret Washington.
Ministers.—Bishop L. H. Halsey, D. D.—Alexander
Crummell, D. D.—Rev. E. W. Bleyden, A. M.,
D. D., LL. D.—Bishop H. M. Turner—Bishop
XVIII
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
B. W. Arnett—Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner—■
Henry Hugh Proctor—Francis J. Grimke—Bishop
James Walker Hood — Rev. G. W. Alexander
James A. Davis — W. D. Bailey — James Albert
Booker—E. R. Carter—Z. L. Pardee—James Robin¬
son Carnes—W. D. West—Bishop Daniel Payne—
M. C. D. Mason—Paul H. Kennedy—G. V. Clark
—W. Howard Day—Emperor Williams.
Lawyers.—First annual meeting—Politics—No hope
of success—Prejudice—Not all Succeed—An Oily
Tongue — A Good Education — Earnestness and
Enthusiasm—True to Our Native Land—History
and Patriotism—Hon. J. T. Settle—Hon. Samuel
McElwee—Older Members of Legal Profession—
Colored Bar of Chicago—Lloyd G. Wheeler—Lewis
Washington—E. H. Morris—J. W. E. Thomas—S.
Laing Williams—Franklin A. Dennison—Miss Ida
Piatt—Taylor G. Ewing—Alfred Menefee—J. W.
Grant—William Richard Morris—Hon. John M.
Langston, LL. D.—Isaac F. Bradley—B. F. Smith
—S. J. Jenkins—Daniel M. Mason.
Physicians.—The Colored Men in Medicine—Voodoos
—The Contrast — Patronage—Advantages—Physi¬
cians of Today—Women—Reception by White Phy¬
sicians—Their Wealth—American Medical Associa¬
tion of Colored Physicians — Georgia Medical
Association, Colored—Robert Fulton Boyd—Daniel
H. Williams—Lieutenant Henry R. Butler—David
Lee Johnson—J. B. Banks—W. A. Hadley—B. E.
Scruggs—Ferdinand A. Stewart—T. T. Wendell—
F. B. Coffin—J. B. Banks—Thos. A. Curtis.
Authors, Literary Workers and Lecturers.—Paul
Lawrence Dunbar—Mrs. F. W. E. Harper—Mrs.
Fanny Barrier Williams—Mrs. Mary Rice Phelps
—Mrs. M. A. McCurdy—Phyllis Wheatly—Mrs. Ida
B. Wells Barnett—Edward E. Cooper.
Artists.—Henry O. Tanner—Clark Hampton—Ed-
monia Lewis.
Miscellaneous—Authors and Books of the Race.
table of contents.
XIX
CHAPTER XV.
Plantation Melodies—Incidents—Pleasantries.
Hampton and its Students—Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
—The Danville Chariot—Viewde Land—Oh, Yes!
—My Lord Delivered Daniel—Nobody Knows de
Trouble I've Seen — Hail! Hail! Hail! — Wise
Sayings—Multum in Parvo—Miss Anita Hemming
—Frederick Douglass — Everything Must Go —
Faithful Service Rewarded—The Funeral—A Lul¬
laby—When the Warm Days Come—Thanksgiv¬
ing in Dixie—Thanksgiving Turkey—A Figurative
Prayer.
CHAPTER XVI.
Present Standing—Outlook—Just Judgment—Then
and Now — Education—Religion—Home—Social
and Family Ties — Financial — Unanswerable —
True Condition — Our Position — The Present
Status—Leaders—Levers That Move the World—
Warfare Against Wrong—A Hundred Men—
Aroused to Action—Just Tribute—Characteristics
—Unparalleled—Thought—Judge of Progress—
Companionship — Confusion—Marvel of Ages—
Handsome—Gratitude—Very Creditable—Merit¬
orious Conduct—The Future—Perished—Race
Prejudice —Two-fold—Advancement—Conclusion
—Evangelization Possibilities — Ability — Must
Be Recognized—Our Passport—Hopeful and
Cheerful Spirit—Be Charitable to the South—
Ever Courageous — Two Generations — Bishop
Duncan—Not in Congress—Not Imaginary, but
Real.
CHAPTER XVII.
Statistics of the Race.
Area and Population of the World—Population of the
Negro in the United States—Voting Population—
Population of Census Years—Conjugal Conditions
of Persons of Negro Descent—Illiterate Population
TABLE OP CONTENTS.
of Negroes—Ownership of Farms and Homes—
Tenants—Summary—Distribution of the Negro
Race—Negroes in Cities—Negroes in the Slave
States — Conj ugal Condition — Mortality—Crimi¬
nality—Paupers—Illiteracy and Education—Sum¬
mary—Colored Physicians—Common School En¬
rollment in Sixteen Former Slave States—Schools
for the Education of the Colored Race—Baptists
— Methodist Episcopal — United Presbyterian —
Episcopal—African Methodist Episcopal—Chris¬
tians — Presbyterians—Friends—Roman Catholic
—Congregational—Non Sectarian—Crime—Paup¬
erism—Benevolence—Negroes in All Occupations
—Illiterates in All Occupations—Population for
Cities Having Fifty Thousand or More Inhabitants
—White and Colored Population by Counties in
All Southern States.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
rtvgc.
Academic Instruction 318
Advancement 248
Africa for Negroes 32
Africa's Future 41
African Union M. P. Church 433
Ain't dat so 178
Alexander, Rev. W. G 505
Amanda Smith Orphan Home.. 446
America's Prosperity 321
A. M. E. Church 428
A. M. E. Zion Church 430
Am. Missionary Association 356
A. M. Sunday School Union 434
Amusements 209
A Ne-w Nation 338
Anti-Slavery Agitation 83
Anti-Slavery Orators 92
Anti-Slavery Societies 86
Anti-Slavery Women 91
Area of World 623
A Religious Nature 417
Aristocracy 221
Armstrong, Gen. S. C 138
Arnett, Bishop B. W 500
A Stitch in Time 600
Atlanta Baptist Seminary.. .382, 383
Atlanta's Representatives 251
Atlanta University 386
Attucks, Crispus 70, 72
Authors and Literary Workers.. 559
Balay, Rev. W. D 507
Banks, Dr. J. B 557
Baptist Missionary Society 359
Barnett, Mrs. Ida B.Wells 569
Bates, Lewis 276
Berea College 373
Biddle Univer&ity 407
Big Bethel Church, Atlanta 423
Bishop Duncan 621
Bishop Gaines on Lynching 171
Bishop Harris' Daughter 156
Blood Hounds, Encounter with.. 133
Blyden, Rev. E. W 498
Booker, Rev. Joseph A 508
Bowen, Prof. J. W. E 142,185, 195
Bowen, Mrs. J. W. E 203
Boyd, Dr. R. F 546
Bradley, I. F 538
Brown, Henry Box 108
Brown, John 97
Bruce, B. K 577
Bruce, Roscoe C 412
Bulkley, Prof. Wm.L 491
Business Education 244
Butler, Gen 126
Butler, Dr. H. R 550
Capt. Callioux 131
Captives Left to Their Fate 68
Carnes, Rev. J. R 510
Carney, Sergt. Wm. H 129
Carrie Steele Home 437
Carter, Rev. E. R 508
Cause of Mortality 286,288, 290
Central Tenn. College 395
Chaplain, W. L 100
Charitable Institutions 287
Chemistry Class 306
Children of School Age 623
Christian Ministry 425
Christmas Scene 586
Civilization Progressing 302
Clark, Rev. G. V 513
Clark University 383
Coffin, F. M 555
Coffin, Levi 100
Color Blind 301
Color-Intellect 340
Color Theory 26
Colored Authors 577
Colored Bar of Chicago 530
Colored Bar of Nashville 530
Colored Churches 275, 424
Colored Man in Medicine 541
Colored M. E. Ch urch 431
Colored Patentees 183
Colored Press 414
Colored Woman of Today 191
Colored Women Associates. .192, 223
Conflict in a Barn 104
Congregational Methodist 433
Conjugal Condition 626, 631
Conklin, Seth 114
Constitutional Diseases 281
Cooper, EE 569
Cotton States Exposition 268
Craft, Wm and Ellen 113
Crime 297
Crime of Mothers 281
Criminals 182
Criminality 631, 636
Crogman, Prof. W. H 467
Cross Road Grocery 173
Crummell, Rev. Alex 361, 496
Culture, Value of 334
Cumberland Presbyterians 433
Curtis, Thos. A 558
Danville Chariot 585
Dat Thanksgivin' Turkey 602
Davis, Rev. A. G 272
Davis, Rev. James A 507
Day, Rev. W. H 513
Deaths 280
Defects 225
Dennison, F. A 533
Denominations 424
Deportation 32
Difficulties....... 212
XXII
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Page.
Dignity of Labor 239
Discrimination in Pay 124
Disease, Contagious 289
Douglass, Fred'k 141, 447,448, 594
Douglass' Mother 197
Dress 210
Drink Traffic 37
Dubois, W. E. B 490
Dunbar, Paul Lawrence 559
Duty of Government 308
Earnings 279
Early Schools 355
Earnestness 518
Eatqn, Gen 355
Economic Condition 343
Education 310, 605, 632
Educators 467
Educational Improvement 299
Educational Institutions 367, 637
Emancipation of Slaves 69
Encouraged 276
Enlistment 117
Equal to Emergency 593
Ethiopia 461
Evolution, Revolution 348
Ewing, Taylor G.' 534
Ex-Slaves . .45, 46, 48
Fairbanks, Calvin 99
Farms and Homes 627
Figurative Prayer 602
Financial Growth 271
First Congregational Church,
Atlanta 432
First Newspaper 416
Fishing in Angola 36
Fisk University 354, 371
Fitzbutler, Dr. H 554
Fitzbutler, Dr. Sarah 556
Five Great Institutions 348
Forerunners of Liberty 447
Forest Home 254
Fort Wagner 128
Freedman's Aid Society 358
Freedman's Bureau 356
Freedman's Savings Bank 413
Freedom 165
Friction 335
Fugitive Slave Laws 99
Furness, Wm. H 297
Gammon Theological Students.. 362
Garrett, Thos 100
Garrison, Wm. Lloyd 85
Georgia State College 392
Girl's Industrial School 298
Givens, Miss L. Vina 577
Good Government 310
Gordon, Nora A 380
Grand Children of Slaves.' 66
Grant, Gen. and Guard 121
Grant, J. W 535
Great Danger 318
Greener, Richard T 576
Grimke, Rev. F. K 503
Page.
Grimke, Mrs. C. F 575
Hadley, Dr. W. A * 553
Hale Infirmary 441
Hamilton, Alex 257
Hampton, Clark 573
Hampton Institute 366
Hampton Students. 233, 583
Hapgood, Bishop 381
Harper, Mrs. F. E. W... .215, 460, 563
Harris, Bishop C. R 504
Heathens 146
Heathen Africa 167
Hemming, Miss Anita 592
Heredity 221, 289
Heroism of the Negro 79
Higher Culture 363
Higher Education 247, 325
Higher Institutions 303, 637
High Schools 326
History of the Race 23
Holmes, Prof. W. E 379, 480
Holsey, Bishop L. H 434
Homes 210, 216, 228, 279, 353, 606
Hood, Bishop J. W 503
Hope and Progress 238
Hopkins, Prof. M. A 577
Hospitals 288
How to Win 208
Howard, Clara 162, 381
Howard University 402
Humane Masters 147
Hunter, Gen 118
Ideals of Negro 29
Ignorance 292
Ignorance—Poverty 149
Illiteracy 323, 632, 645
Industrial Education 327
Industrial Schools 213, 326
Industrial Training 341
Insurrections 57
Jenkins, S. J 540
Johnson, Gen. Edw 137
Johnstone, D. L 552
Jones, Wm 107
Jubilee Singers 387
Kennedy, Rev. Paul 512
Kidnapping 50
King, W. E 577
Knowledge Not a Substitute 301
Knoxville University 404
Labor, Respect for 329, 333.
Laney, Miss Lucy 487
Langston, Hon. J. M 537
Lawyers 515
Leaders 351, 365, 608
Left to Their Fate 68
Leland University 324, 398
Lewis, Edmonia 574
Lewis, Rev. W. A 575
Levers That Move the Worltf... 609
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
XXIII
Liberality 421
Lincoln, Abraham 116, 127
Lincoln and a Slave Trader 52
Literary Workers 213
Livingstone, Col 402
Logan, Senator 155
Luckie, Prof. C. W 490
Lullaby 599
Lundy, Benjamin 84
Major Jeffrev 76
Many Sided 344
Marching Slaves to Coast 42
Marriage 217
Marvel of Ages 614
Mason, Daniel M 540
Mason, Rev. M. C. D 511
McCurdy, Mrs. M. A 208, 568
McElwee, Hon. Sam'l 524
McKinley, Jacob 275
McKinney, J. W 575
Means of Growth 319
Medical Associations 545
Meharry Medical College 35», 396
Menefee, Albert 535
Ministers^ 494
Mistakes 337
Mitchell, Pres. E. C 401
Mich ell, John 575
Moody, Mr 597
Moral Improvement 151, 232
Mortality 631
Monuments, Imperishable 346
Morris, E. H 532
Morris, W. R 536
Morris Brown College 314, 401
Mortality 279
Mortality of Five Cities 285
Mortgaged Property 273
Mother's Congress 226
Mrs. Watts' Orphanage 443
Murray, T L 320
Myers, Rev. Cyrus 576
Napier, Hon. J. C 526, 527
Nashvile Exhibit 269
Need and Fitness 349
Needs of Today 304
Negro Farmer s Cabin 235
Negro Homes 161
Negro in Civil War 117
Negro in Revolution 71
Negro Immoralities 152
Negro Labor 241
Negro in Politics 277
Negro Soldiers . 81
Negroes in Present Service 139
Negroes in Slave States 629
Negroes, Where Found 37
Normal Schools 339
Not in Color 189
Occupation.. 280,627, 643
Qtj Picket Duty 125
Page.
One Room Cabins 340
Opportunities, Equal 305
Pardee, Rev. Z. T 509
Parker, Rev. E. R 508
Parker Model Home 245
Paupers 632, 636
Payne, Bishop Daniel 510
Peabody Fund 359
Pensioning Old and Feeble
Slaves 67
Phelps, Mrs. Mary Rice. .192,197, 566
Phillips, Wendel 88
Physicians 287, 633
Physicians of Today 544
Physical Characteristics 35
Picking Cotton 243
Plantation Melodies 583
Piatt, Miss Ida 534
Political Rights, Equal see 307
Port Hudson ,... 130
Possibilities 212, 618
Population of World 623
Population of United States 623
Population of Each State 624
Population, Voting Ages 625
Population, Census Years 626
Population of Cities 645
Population of Counties 647
Powell, Bartow F 263
Power of Education 315
Practicability 304
Practical Education 246
Praise and Flattery 321
Prejudice.... 184, 307
Present Standing and Outlook.. 605
Price, Pres. J. C 484
Primary Education 339
Prime Need of Negro 361
Proctor, Rev. H. H 501
Proctor and Associates 180
Professions 182, 213, 326
Profitable Work 317
Progress 225, 338
Progressive Age 231
Progress in Industries 229
Progress Phenomenal 420
Progress Since Freedom 186
Provident Hospital 194,440, 442
.Public School System 316
Quarles, Rev. Frank 375
Race Prejudice 616
Race Pride 231, 313
Race Problem 313
Rankin, J ohn 100
Rape 165
Re-enslavement 77
Redmond, C. L 576
Regular Baptists' (Colored)
Church 426
Religion and the Negro 417, 606
Residence of Alex. Hamilton 230
Residence of Albert Nash 249
Residence of John T. Schell 353
XXIV
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Page.
Roger Williams University 405
Rucker, Henry A 259
Ruined Manhood "19
Sanders, Pres. D. J 342
Scarborough, Prof. W. S 473
Schell, John T 257
School Population 322
School Statistics 637
Scruggs, Dr. B. E 553
Selma University 404
Settle, Hon. J. T 520, 521
Shame of a Christian Nation 175
Shaw, Col 127
Shaw University 404
Si erre Leone 39
Slater Fund 359
Slave Pen, Fort, College 353
Slave Breeding States 65
Slave Population 71, 115
Slaves of Slaves 46
Slave Trade in Portugal 48
Slave Trade Horrors 50
Slavery 43
Slavery in Colonies 58
Slavery a Curse 53
Slavery in U. S 49, 55
Slavery Degrading 54
Slavery Not Justified 54
Slavery, Effects 345
Slavery at the Bottom 308
Slavery's Legacy 161
Smith, B. S 539
Smith, H. C 574
Smith, Amanda Ill, 445, 575
Social Regeneration 283
Social Purity 213
Sources of Slavery 44
Southland College 400
Spelman Seminary 375
Spelman Students 376
Spence, Prof. A. K 349
Stewart, Dr. F. A 554
Stewart, Gilchrist 256
Still, Wm 103, 452
Still, Charity Ill
Stowe, Harriett Beecher 93, 94
Stroke for Freedom 108
Sumner, Chas 91
Swing, Low, Sweet Chariot 585
Tanner, Henry 0 571
Tanner, Bishop B. T 418, 500
Taylor, Robt. Thos 275
Temperance Increasing 172
Temperance Resolutions 176
Tenants 628
Thankful Baptist Church 427
Thanksgiving in Dixie 601
Page.
The Negro in the Revolution.... 71
The Dying Bondman 564
The Funeral 597
The Future 615
Then and Now 605
Thomas, Gen. L 135
Thomas, J. W. E 532
Thought Makes the World 365
Thought 613
Thrift and Industry 232
Tobacco a Poison 179
Tougaloo University 405
Trained Minds 303
Trained Nurses, Spelman 332
True to Native Land 520
Turner, Bishop H. M 498
Tuskegee Conference 408
Tuskegee Institute 388
Tuskegee Saw Mill Men 240
Twenty Years' Improvement... 158
Uncle Ben 291
Uncle Tom's Cabin 57
Underground Railroad 102
View de Land 587
Voodoos 541
Wages 295
Walker, Capt. Jonathan 100
Washington, Booker T 4,328, 475
Washington, Mrs. Margaret.223, 480
Washington, Lewis 532
Watching the Parade 294
Wealth Producer 312
Wealthy Men 271, 273
Wendell, D. T 554
West, Rev. W. B 510
Wheatley, Phyllis 565
Wheeler, Lloyd G 531
When de Co'n Pone's Hot 603
When the Warm Days Come..,. 601
Whites Educated as Well 311
Williams, Dr. D. H 548
Williams, Mrs. Fannie Barrier..
203, 568
Williams, S. Laing 533
Williams, Rev. E 514
Wilson, Henry 96
Wise Sayings 591
Womanhood 191
Womanhood Insulted 195
Woman a Teacher 197
Woman in Temperance 177
Women, Tribute to 346
Worth of Property 250
Wright, Pres. R. R 149, 393, 477
Yates, Gov 124
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY OF THE RACE.
Unity of the Race.—Attempts have been made in
the past to prove that the Negro is not a human being-.
In this age of the world such a preposterous idea does
not receive countenance. The remarkable progress of
the Negro and the rapid disappearing of race malice
and prejudice, have made this theory so absurd that
to-day no one can be found to advocate it. It is, how¬
ever, to be noted that as late as 1868 a minister of the
South advocated this theory. Arguing from this stand¬
point he says, "Half an eye tells us the fate of the
Negro on this continent is fixed, his doom is irrevocably
sealed, he is out of his natural condition to which he
aspires. If he is separated from man he sinks speedily
to savage cannibalism. Men cannot refute the fixed
decree of Omnipotence; nothing but the power of God
can save the Negro from extinction. Four millions of
blacks are doomed to extinction. The history of the
Negro proves that he does not, never did possess, a self-
directing, independent mind. The white man regards
him as a natural, lawful slave, the Negro admits the
fact and instinctively seeks the condition of slavery to
man.''
Of One Blood.—Why should we here refer to this
theory so absurd and contradictory to all history?
Not that we place any confidence in any of the argu¬
ments, nor that we will refute the arguments, they
need no refutation; but that the young man of to-day,"
who is an American citizen, may know something of
the tendency of the times when slavery existed.
23
24
PROGRESS OF A kACfc.
To-day the -universal' belief is that God "Created of
one blood all nations of man to dwell on the. face of
the earth. " The unity of the race is demonstrated
with emphasis in the possible and actual"assimilation of
all the races in the one man, and is distinctly shown in
the personalities and careers of men like Benjamin
Banneker, Frederick Douglass, and Alexander' Dumas.
No Inferior Races.—God did not create an inferior
race; there are races with inferior conditions, and these
may be black or white, but, says Dr. Blyden, "There
is no absolute or essential superiority on the one" side,
nor absolute or essential inferiority on the other.
Man is a unity in the plan of salvation. No man is too
inferior to be saved. In all the wondrous work of
creation the making of man is God's crowning act, and
whoever has His image has infallible credentials of his
high origin and sonship. Man is our universal repre¬
sentative head and from him all peoples sprung. God
never made a superior race nor an inferior one; and
there is nothing in the heavens above, nor .in the earth
beneath, that can substantiate any such doctrine,
'' For God hath made of one blood all nations of men
to dwell upon the face of the earth.''
The Curse Theory.—Failing to establish the theory
that the Negro is not a human being, we find an attempt
on the part of those who would have held the Negro in
perpetual slavery to show that he belongs to an inferior
race. That against him an irrevocable' curse has been
pronounced. But the remarkable advancement of the
race in all lines of activity has dispelled even the
doubts of those who "hoped against hope" that this
might be the case, and has scattered the mists of
unbelief that rose above the horizon of a few of the
Anglo-Saxon race.
HISTORY OF THE RACE.
25
Base of Arguments,—Such arguments are based
upon'passages of the scripture in -which Noah cursed
Canaan in these words: "Cursed be Canaan, a ser¬
vant of servants' shall he "be unto his brethren. Blessed
be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his
servant. God shall enlarge J apheth, and he shall dwell
in the tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant.''
If this were a prophecy then the argument might have
some weight, but it is considered a prophecy only by a
very few writers, and these are those who would sub¬
stantiate preconceived opinions thereby. The best
evidence of a prophecy is its fulfillment. This state¬
ment was never fulfilled either in the case of Canaan,
whose descendants have often conquered and been
among the powerful nations of olden times, nor of
Shem and Japheth, whose descendants were frequently
enslaved. The Hebrews were in bondage in Egypt
for centuries, they were the descendants of Shem;
Egypt was peopled by the Children of Ham.
The Proper Interpretation.—We have neither incli¬
nation nor time to spend on extended argument against
this theory so contradictory to all facts revealed by
the light of true history and now no longer a question
of debate, and yet a statement is necessary for the
information of the youth who knows nothing of slavery,
and the arguments and the attempts to hold in per¬
petual bondage a race destined to play an important
part in the civilization and Christianization of the
world. Noah was once a preacher of righteousness,
but he afterward became drunk on the wine that he
made. The exposure to which he was subjected by his
drunken condition caused him in his irritable and self-
defensive mood to utter these words, which cannot in
any sense be prophetic. The best argument against
26
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
this theory is the remarkable progress of the race and
the moral and intellectual condition of the best of the
race in these closing years of the nineteenth century.
Josephus says: "The children of Ham possessed
the land from Syria to Amanus, and the mountains of
Libanus, seizing upon All the maritime ports and keep¬
ing them as their own. Of the four sons of Ham, time
has not at all hurt the name of Cush, for the Ethiopians
over whom he reigned are even at this day, both by
themselves and by all men in Asia, called Cushites."
Herodotus.—Herodotus states that Cambyses at¬
tempted to conquer Ethiopia but failed. He succeeded
in conquering Egypt, but he found the Ethiopian equal
to the Egyptian in refinement and intelligence and
superior in military skill. Cambyses attempted, by
means of spies and by means of various designs, to
entrap and enslave the Ethiopian, but was forced to
return to Egypt with but a remnant of his army.
The Case Stated.—Rev. Norman Wood puts it thus:
"Whereas, Noah got drunk and cursed Canaan, an
innocent party; and whereas, this curse was never
fulfilled; therefore, all to whom these presents may
come, greeting* Pagan, infidel, or pirate, are hereby
empowered to kidnap and to enslave all the sable
Africans who are descendants from Cush. We are here
reminded of the statement of Liliuokalani, the recent
dethroned queen of Hawaii, that the best blood of the
English flowed in her veins, because her grandfather
devoured Captain Cook."
The Color Theory.—Another argument in support
of the curse of Noah is the color of the African. This
argument also fails utterly when we take into account
the climatic influence. Climate, and climate alone, is
the sole cause. The predominant color of the inhabit-
HISTORY OF THE RACE.
27
ants of the tropical regions of Asia and Africa is black,
while the whites are found in the temperate and cold
regions. We see and admit the change which a few
years produce in the complexion of a Caucasian going
from our northern latitude into the tropics. If a few
years make such great changes why shall we hesitate
to recognize the changes of centuries and ages?
Plants and Animals.—There is perhaps no better
evidence of the influence of climate upon man than to
witness its effects upon plants and animals. The flowers
of the north are almost invariably white, while the
arctic rabbit is spotless white, and the fox and polar
bear are either white or pale yellow. The lack of color
in the northern regions of animals which possess color
in more temperate regions can be attributed only to
change of climate. The common bear is differently
colored in different regions. The dog loses its coat in
Africa, and has a smooth skin.
Gradations of Color.—Let us survey the gradations
of color on the continent of Africa itself. The inhabit¬
ants of the north are whitest; and, as we advance
southwards towards the line, we find in those countries,
in which the sun's rays fall more perpendicularly, the
complexion gradually assumes a darker shade. And
the same men whose color has been rendered black by
the powerful influence of the sun, if they remove to
the north, gradually become white (I mean their pos¬
terity), and eventually lose their dark color.
Caucasians.—The Portuguese, who planted them¬
selves on the coast of Africa a few centuries ago, have
been succeeded by descendants blacker than many
Africans. On the coast of Malabar there are two
colonies of Jews, the old colony and the new, separated
28
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
by color and known as the "black Jews" and the
'' white J ews.''
The old colony are the black Jews, and have been
longer subjected to the influence of the climate. The
hair of the black Jews is curly, showing a resemblance
to the Negro. The white Jews are as dark as the
Gypsies, and each generation is growing darker.
Dr. Livingstone says: "I was struck with the
appearance of the people in Londa and the neighbor¬
hood; they seemed more slender in form and their
color a lighter olive than any we had hitherto met.''
Lower down the Zambesi, the same writer says:
"Most of the men are muscular, and have large,
ploughman hands. Their color is the same admixture,
from very dark to light olive, that we saw in Londa.''
Equator to Polar Circles.—Under the equator we
have the deep black of the Negro, then the copper or
olive of the Moors of northern Africa; then the Span¬
iards and Italian, swarthy compared with other Euro¬
peans ; the French, still darker than the English, while
the fair and florid complexion of England and Germany
passes more northerly into the bleached Scandinavian
white.
From Inland to Coast.—As we go westward we ob¬
serve the light color predominating over the dark; and
then, again, when we come within the influence of the
dampness from the sea air, we find the shade deepened
into the general blackness of the coast population."
If these opinions, given by the best authorities, mean
anything, and if we shall credit them as having any
value, then the color line can be drawn only where
there is deep-seated prejudice.
Black, a Mark of Reproach.—Prof. Johnson, in his
school history, justly says: "Black is no mark of re-
HISTORY OF THE RACE.
29
proach to people who do not worship white. The West
Indians in the interior represent the devil as white.
The American Indians make fun of the 'pale face' and
so does the native African. People in this country have
been educated to believe in white because all that is
good has been ascribed to the white race, both in pic¬
tures and words. God, the angels and all the prophets
are pictured white, and the devil is represented as
black.''
Ideals of Negro.—The ideals of the Negro are the
ideals of the white man. The two races are both edu¬
cated to one standard, that is, the white man's
standard. While the white man would have the Negro
adopt his standard, at the same time there are those
who would repel him; somewhat like putting on steam
and throttling the valve. True manhood knows no
color. While the ideals are the same, the standards
the same, let all, black and white, aim to attain to a
virtuous manhood that would impress itself upon
mankind and make men more and more to see the
ideals shine out in the lives of all true leaders.
God Knows Best.—George Williams sa^s: "It is
safe to say that when God dispersed the sons of Noah
he fixed the 'bounds of their habitation,' and that
from the earth and sky the various races have secured
their civilization. He sent the different nations into
separate parts of the earth. He gave to each its racial
peculiarities and adaptability for the climate into which
it went. He gave color, language, and civilization;
and, when by wisdom we fail to interpret his
inscrutable ways, it is pleasant to know that 'he work-
eth all things after the counsel of his own mind.
Antiquity.—It is difficult to find a writer on ethnol¬
ogy or Egyptology who doubts the antiquity of the
80 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Negroes as a distinct people from the dawn of history
down to the present time. They are known as dis¬
tinctly as any of the other families of men. Negroes
are represented in Egyptian paintings. They formed
the strength of the army of the King of Egypt. They
came against the King of Rehoboam as well as the
armies of Sesostris and Xerxes.
John P. Jefferis, who is not friendly to the Negro,
in his criticism nevertheless makes this statement:
"Every rational mind must readily conclude that the
African race has been in existence as a distinct people
over four thousand two hundred years, and how
long before that period is a matter of conjecture only
there being no reliable data on which to predict a
reliable opinion."
Further Evidence.—Further evidence in favor of
*the antiquity of the Negro is found in Japan and East¬
ern Asia. In these large, magnificent temples, hoary
with age, are found idols that are exact representations
of woolly-headed Negroes; other inhabitants of the
country have straight hair. But why accumulate evi¬
dence, when monuments, temples and pyramids rise
up to declare the antiquity of the Negro race?
The Word Negro.—The word Negro is a name given
to a considerable branch of the human family possess¬
ing certain physical characteristics which distinguish it
in a very marked degree from the other branches or
varieties of mankind. "It is not wise," says George
Williams, "for intelligent Negroes in America to seek
to drop the word 'Negro.' It is a good, strong and
healthy word, and ought to live. It should be covered
with glory; let Negroes do it. "
The Term Negro.—The term, Negro, is properly
applied to the races inhabiting that part of Africa lying
ONE-ROOM LOG CABIN.
32
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
between latitude 10 degrees north and 20 degrees
south and to their descendants in the old and new
world. It does not include the Egyptians, Berbers,
Abyssinians, Hottentots, Nubians, etc., although in
some writings it comprises these and other dark-
skinned nations. One characteristic, however, the
crisp hair, belongs only to the true Negro.
Africa for the Negroes.—Centuries of effort and
centuries of corresponding failure have fully demon¬
strated that the white man cannot colonize the largest
part of the great continent of Africa. It seems that, in
the providence of God, this great and glorious conti¬
nent is chiefly for the colored races, and especially for
the Negro. Is it not possible that this great continent
with its millions of Negroes occupying the most fertile
portions, and in all more than one-half of the conti¬
nent, is to be enlightened, civilized and Christianized
by the American Negro?
Deportation.—Let it not be understood that the pre -
ceding paragraph argues in favor of deportation of the
American Negro to Africa. This is impossible, but
that the American Negro has a part in the elevation of
the black brother of the dark continent is as true as
that the Caucasian of America has a part in the Chris-
tianization of the white race in other parts of the
world. The Negro is better adapted to the climate
and can endure the hardships of mission work in Africa
much better than the Caucasian.
Not Well Considered—Booker T. Washington says:
"I recall that a few months ago, when, on the occasion
of six hundred deluded colored people sailing from
Savannah for Liberia, some of the newspapers and not
a few of the magazines gravely announced to an
expectant people that the race problem was in process
HISTORY OF THE RACE.
33
of solving itself. These newspapers and magazine
writers did not take into consideration the important
fact that perhaps before breakfast that same morning
six hundred colored babies were born. I have a friend
down in Georgia whose unfailing solution of the race
problem is, that the Negro should be cooped up in some
place, surrounded by a high fence, and kept separate
from the whites. That would not even reach the dig¬
nity of touching the question, since it would be utterly
impossible to keep the blacks inside the fence to say
nothing of the impossible task of keeping the whites
outside of it. If the Negroes were fenced in Africa
the white men would break in at the first cry that gold
existed in the inhabited territory. Besides, the Negro
has never yet been able to exile himself to any
place the white man would not follow him and break
in."
Separation would Not Relieve.—"Talks for the
Times" says: "If such a separation were even pos¬
sible, are we simple enough to believe that that would
relieve us of the presence of the white man? He who
is scouring the seas, dredging the oceans, tunneling
the mountains, boring his way into the frozen regions
of the North, parceling out the continent of Africa, and
giving civilization and laws to its tribes—it is not
likely, I say, that this restless, energetic white brother
will respect the boundary line of a state or territory at
home; he has not done so in reference to the Indian; he
would never do so in reference to us. Were it possible
for us to go off to-morrow to some territory by our¬
selves, within a week the Connecticut Yankee would be
there peddling his wooden nutmegs. The patent medi¬
cine man would be there selling his nostrums. The
Georgia Cracker and the Kentucky horse-trader would
3
34
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
be there with their horses and mules. The Southern
white man would especially be there, for he has been
so accustomed to us from his childhood that he does
not feel at home without us, although sometimes, in
the heat of political excitement, he wishes we were in
Africa or a warmer place.''
Not Possible.—Judge Gunby says: "The favorite
remedy for the race problem with some has come to be
the deportation of the Negroes. I am prepared to say
with the utmost confidence that this remedy does not
meet with general approval, although it is fair to con¬
cede that it has many able advocates. The Negroes do
not desire to leave and the great majority of the whites
do not want them to go. The enforced removal of the
Negroes would be unnatural and unjust; cruel, bitter
cruel, would be the task of tearing Negroes from their
genial Southern homes, their Southern friends, their
churches, their graveyards, and the haunts they love so
well. Sadder than the melancholy processions that
moved to the shore from Goldsmith's 'Deserted Vil¬
lage, ' sadder than the doomed band of Acadian farm¬
ers that looked for the last time on their burning homes
in Grand Pre, would be the final movement of the
Negroes from the South. It would be worse than slav¬
ery; for the Negroes in a colony of their own would
degenerate and speedily lose the civilization they have
derived from contact with the whites. Such a crime
would never be forgiven. It would raise a protest from
whites and blacks alike and from an indignant world.
The very stones would rise up and cry against it.
Deportation is not conceivable; because, although a few
might be transported to Africa or scattered elsewhere,
yet reproduction will increase their number in spite of
such trifling methods, and our only way to get rid of
HISTORY OF THE RACE.
35
their presence in the country is to kill them—which
would be difficult, for many of them already have
guns.''
Points of Superiority.—A certain writer says that
the Negro has less nervous sensibility than the white,
and is not subject to nervous afflictions. He is com¬
paratively insensible to pain, bearing severe surgical
operations well; he seldom has a fetid breath, but
transpires much excrementious matter by means of
glands of the skin, whose odorous secretion is well
known. His skin is soft, and his silky hair, though called
wool, does not present the characteristics of wool, and
differs but little from that of other races except in
color and in its curly and twisted form. He flourishes
under the fiercest heat and unhealthy dampness of the
tropics where the white man soon dies.
Physical Characteristics.—The physical characteris¬
tics of the black, or Negro, race are: A large and
strong skeleton, long and thick skull, projecting jaws,
skin from dark brown to black, woolly hair, thick lips,
flat nose and wide nostrils. The typical color of the
race is not coal black but the dark browji of a horse-
chestnut. Observation shows that the darkest speci¬
mens are found on the borders where Negroes have
been in contact with lighter races, while in the popu¬
lation of the Congo basin, which has been almost com¬
pletely free from mixture, the dark-brown type pre¬
vails. It should, however, be understood, that there
is as great a difference among Negroes as among
Caucasians.
Distinguishing Traits.—The Africans, as a race, are
passionately fond of music and have many ingeniously
contrived musical instruments. While some of their
inventions may have been borrowed from other people,
FISHING SCENE IN ANGOLA.
HISTORY OF THE RACE.
37
it is a well established fact that they are the inventors
of an ingenious musical instrument. They have a keen
sense of the ridiculous and are of a cheerful disposi¬
tion. They are naturally kind hearted and hospitable
to strangers and are generally ready to receive instruc¬
tion and to profit by it. They are quick to perceive
the beauty of goodness and hence they generally
appreciate the services of missionaries in their behalf,
and, but for the curse of intoxicating drinks brought
upon them by unscrupulous white traders, the dark
continent would shine more brightly with the light of
Him who is the light of the world.
Drink Traffic.—The drink traffic carried on by civil¬
ized nations in Africa is the curse of millions. The
same ship that carries missionaries to its shores carries
thousands of gallons of rum that does more to degrade
the helpless and ignorant Negro than many mission¬
aries through a lifetime can succeed in winning to a
better life. Let it be known that the Christian (?)
nations, Great Britain and the United States, are lead¬
ers in this degrading and soul destroying business.
This can be permitted only where dollars and the greed
of gain surpass in estimation the worth of true man¬
hood and of immortal souls.
Ingenuity.—The African Negroes display consider¬
able ingenuity in the manufacture of weapons, in the
working of iron, in the weaving of mats, cloth and
baskets from dyed grasses, in the dressing of the skins
of animals, in the structure of their huts and household
utensils and in the various implements and objects of
use in a barbarous state of society.
In Other Continents.—In addition to Africa, Negroes
are found in the United States, Brazil, West Indies,
Peru, Arabia and the Cape Verd Islands. They are
38
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
rare in Europe and the islands of the Pacific. Africa
is, however, the native home of the Negro. Whenever
he is found outside of this great continent it is because
he has been carried away and subjected to slavery.
Unknown to Hebrews.—Negroes were almost un¬
known to Hebrews. They were -unknown to the
Greeks until the seventh century B. C. About twenty-
three hundred years B. C. the Egyptians became
acquainted with the Negroes, who helped them on
their monuments as early as 1,600 years B. C.
Liberia.—Liberia is a Negro republic of western
Africa, on the upper coast of Upper Guinea. It was
founded by the American Colonization Company. The
first expedition of eighty-six emigrants was sent out in
February, 1820. It was organized as a home for the
Negro of the United States. The suffering that slavery
brought upon the Negro aroused his friends, and, fol¬
lowing the plan of Wilberforce and other Englishmen,
Liberia was founded as a refuge for the colored men
who would avail themselves of its blessings.
The constitution of Liberia, like that of the United
States, establishes an entire separation of the church
from the state, but all citizens of the republic must
belong to the Negro race. The constitution has recently
been changed and this point has been modified. Its
present constitution was adopted in 1847 and is similar
to that of the Constitution of the United States. The
article on slavery reads thus: "There shall be no slav¬
ery within the republic, nor shall any citizen of this
republic, or any person residing therein, deal in slaves
either within or without the republic.''
The first years witnessed the struggle of a noble band
of colored people who were seeking a new home on the
edge of a continent given over to idolatry. Immigra-
HISTORY OF THE RACE.
39
tion went forward slowly, but the republic continued
establishing and extending itself until it now numbers
more than one million inhabitants. Already in 1853
Bishop Scott, of the M. E. Church, stated that the gov¬
ernment of Liberia was extremely well administered.
In his visit of several months he saw no intoxicated
colonists, and did not hear a profane word, the Sab¬
bath was kept in a singularly strict manner and the
church crowded with worshipers.
Agriculture is carried on with increasing success.
Sugar was formerly the principal article of produce
and of manufacture, but through the efforts of Mr.
Morris, coffee has become the principal article. Rice,
arrowroot and cocoa are also cultivated; trade is rap¬
idly extending. Although the circumstances that led
to the founding of this republic passed away when the
shackles were torn from the Negroes of the South, yet
it had done a vast amount of good before the days of
the great rebellion, and to-day stands as a beacon light
penetrating the darkness and gloom of Africa. May
we not hope that through the ages to come the light of
this Christian republic will reach the dark, trackless
regions of African Paganism and bring millions to the
brightness of its shining?
Sierra Leone.—Sierre Leone is under the protecting
hand of England, it has a population of half a million.
Freetown, the capital, is a well built city, with a popu¬
lation of about seventy thousand, not more than 150
whites. There is no friction among the races. A man
is a man for what he is, what he knows and what he
has. The west coast of Africa is often said to be a
death trap on account of the malarial regions along the
coast. . This, however, is not substantiated by the
reports from Freetown. While it has little or none of
40
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
the modern hygienic and sanitary improvements and
only six physicians, four colored and two white, the
death rate in 1896 was lower than that of Atlanta
with all her advantages of altitude, hospitals, water,
sewers and other modern sanitary improvements,
together with her several hundred physicians and three
medical colleges. The reason given for this is that in
Freetown the majority of the colored people are in a
position to take care of themselves; while in Atlanta
the death rate is greatly increased by poverty and
ignorance.
The Mayor of Freetown is a rich colored man. The
streets of the city are lighted with oil lamps, there are
no street cars, and only one railroad entering the city.
The people are industrious and intelligent and hate
ignorance. A man going there, if he wishes the respect
of the people, must be a good mechanic, lawyer, doctor
or preacher. An American common laborer finds no
open door for the African can be secured much cheaper.
Africa, like other parts of the civilized world, is calling
for brains, morals and money; without at least one of
these Africa does not want you.
Purpose and Preparation.—"Unless the Negro out
of Africa goes to Africa seeking a home because he has
none; goes on his own volition, with as correct a knowl¬
edge of Africa as may be obtained from the writings of
trustworthy African travelers and explorers and mis¬
sionaries, reinforced by race loyalty, and with greater
confidence in himself and his race than in any alien
self and alien race; goes from a sense of duty imposed
by his Christian enlightenment, and not unprovided
with ability and previous experiences to organize and
control labor, with as ample means as he would go
from the Atlantis coast of the United States to the
HISTORY OF THE RACE.
41
Pacific slope for the purpose of engaging in business,
he is wholly and entirely tmsiiited for Africa, and
would impede by his presence not only the progress of
Liberia (if he went thither) but any part of Africa by
his unprofitable presence, and ought to be denied the
right to expatriate himself."
Africa's Future.—"If my opinion about the future
were asked," says Heli Chatelain, "I should not hesi¬
tate to declare my conviction that within one hundred
years all Bantu-land will contain more than 500,000,000
inhabitants, will equal Europe in civilization, will be
united in a great United States of Central Africa under
a new and improved edition of our American constitu¬
tion, will both speak and write a common language,
the mother-tongue of all Bantu dialects, as revived by
scholars and enriched with the best developments of
its daughters, and will produce masterpieces of litera¬
ture, science, and art, vying with all the best that
Europe and America will then be able to bring forth.
SLAVE TRADERS MARCHING THEIR CAPTIVES TO THE COAST, BUTCHERING DISABLED ONES ALONG THE WAY.
CHAPTER II.
SLAVERY.
Knowledge Worth Knowing.—Dr. Hamilton says:
' 'The popular notions which have prevailed concerning
African slavery have shaped imaginations and con¬
trolled opinions concerning the origin and destiny of
the African race. Men have asserted boldly and arro¬
gantly that the African people were designed in the
very first cosmogony to be hewers of wood and
drawers of water. Slavery was their natural relation.
As the slaves in America within the recollection of the
present generation have been Negroes, most persons
have thought that all slaves have been Negroes.
As Negroes have come from Africa, it has been com¬
monly believed that all Africans were Negroes. As the
sons of Ham in the dispersion went into Africa to live,
it has been supposed that all Negroes were the sons of
Ham. And as Ham is said in the book of Genesis to
have looked on the nakedness of his drunken father
and so incurred his anger that he visited the sin of the
father on the son of Ham, and in his anger cried out,
'Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall be
unto his brethren,' it has been claimed scriptural war¬
rant is found for the enslavement of all Negroes.
Of such knowledge and such argument it is pertinent
to affirm, in the language of Mr. Josh Billings, 'that it
would be better not to know so many things than to
know so many things that are not so.' "
In Africa.—From time immemorial slavery has
existed in Africa. The oldest records of the human
race, the inscriptions of the Nile valley, show us that
44
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Negro slaves from the Soudan were then, as to-day, one
of the principal articles of Egyptian trade.
Neither the institution of slavery nor the slave trade
were introduced into Africa or forced upon the natives
by Arabic, Moslems, or European Christians. At all
times, so far as human knowledge goes, slavery has
been a constituent element in the social order of Negro
Africa. It is said of two or three African Negro tribes
that they object to selling their own tribesmen, and
oppose slave dealing in a general way. But these
exceptions only confirm the rule that slavery is the
universal practice of native Africa. There the trade
in human beings is considered just as honest as trade
in any other merchandise.
All those who want to work for the extinction of
slavery in Africa should know from the start, that for
one Arab or European slave-holder, slave-raider, or
slave-dealer, there are hundreds of African slave¬
holders, slave-dealers and slave-raiders. Therefore,
in their effort to conquer that monster they will have
to face thousands of interested native opponents.
This will be made clearer by a consideration of—
Sources of Slavery.—Chief among these is (i) the
right of parents to sell their children. Every child
born is the property of its maternal uncle; in a few
tribes of its father. The uncle or the father has the
right to dispose of his property as he pleases. He may
even kill this human property and no one can prose¬
cute him, claim damages, or demand his punishment.
If he sells his children, separating child from mother,
nobody seems to think he is doing wrong. The victim
itself is expected not to protest against it more than a
young girl of our land would protest against being
sent to a boarding school for the first time,
SLAVERY.
45
(2.) The Right of a Free Adult to Sell Himself.—
Runaway slaves, or liberated slaves, rather than be kid¬
naped, prefer to sell themselves to masters of their
own choice. In times of famine hundreds are com¬
pelled to change their liberty for the food that will
keep body and soul together. In war, cowards would
rather live as slaves than die as freemen.
(3.) Insolvent Debtors.—Those who have lost all
resources of material, animal and human property,
sometimes give themselves for debt.
(4-) Sale of Criminals by Legal Action.—In Africa
there are no prisons, hence punishment is always paid
by death or the pay¬
ment of a fine. If
the fine cannot be
paid the individual is
sold to pay for it.
(5.) Kidnaping.
•—This is much more
frequent than is gen¬
erally supposed. The
kidnaped generally
resent the injustice
committed, and fre¬
quently, with tears
in their eyes, enter¬
tain a secret, though
forlorn, hope of re¬
gaining their liberty
an ex-slave. and returning to
their homes.
(6.) Capture in War.—Captives are often committed
to slavery, many wars are often even made that cap¬
tives may be taken and carried into slavery.
46
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Slaves of Slaves.—It is not an unusual thing for
slaves to own slaves, and in old Calabor plantation,
slave-holding by slaves is so common that you often
hear of slaves belonging to slaves of slaves. Any slave
may by industry and thrift redeem himself, take his
seat among the tribal headman, and aspire to the
kingship.
Early History of Slavery.—The history of Negro
slavery carried on by Europeans, beginning in Portu¬
gal over a period of
400 years, and in¬
volving the exporta¬
tion by violence from
their African homes
of forty million of
men, women and chil¬
dren, is one of ex¬
ceeding and unimag¬
inable bitterness. It
is too late to crimi¬
nate those who were
responsible for be¬
ginning the slave
trade and for perpet¬
uating the system of
bondage that grew
an ex-slave. ouj. Qf ^ Many of
them were conscien¬
tious, Christian men, who worked without a thought
of the wrong they were doing. Some of them really
believed they were benefiting the Negro by buying
him out of a condition of barbarism into the enlight¬
ening and purifying influences of Christianity.
Livingstone's Tomb.—On Livingstone's tomb-slab
SLAVERY.
47
in Westminster Abbey are engraved these, among the
last words which he wrote: "All I can add, in my
solitude is: May Heaven's rich blessing come down on
everyone, Americans, English and Turk, who will
help to heal this open sore of the world, the slave
trade.''
For What Purpose.—Slaves are hunted by Moslems,
Arabs, half-breeds, or Mohammedan Negroes, for the
three following purposes: i, To supply labor for their
fields and plantations in the Soudan, in Zanzibar and
the adjoining coast belt; 2, to supply Negresses for the
harems of Turkey, especially Arabia, Egypt, Tripoli,
and Morocco; 3, to obtain carriers for the trading cara¬
vans taking European goods to the interior and bring¬
ing down in exchange the tusks of ivory and the balls
of rubber so much coveted by Europeans and Amer¬
icans.
European Plantation Slavery.—Under the pretense
of redeeming slaves from patriarchal native slavery
these poor creatures are taken into European planta¬
tion slavery, which means that the slave has no more
free time, no accumulation of property, no hope of
redeeming one's self by thrift, no home life, no possi¬
bility of flight, but unremitting toil from morning until
night in the broiling sun, under the lash of the driver,
without pay, and often with insufficient food. His only
prospect is that he is being worked slowly to death.
In Asia.—Slavery existed in Persia, China and
India. Parents sold their children to be slaves. There
was slavery among the Hebrews. All Africans are
not Negroes, many of them are entirely distinct from
the Negro—the idea that a slave is always black is
erroneous. It is not Noah, nor Ham, nor Canaan, nor
Africa, but sin and slavery that has cursed the Negro.
48
PROGRESS OF*A RACE.
Portugal inaugurated the slave trade. Antonio
Gonsalve brought home some gold dust and ten slaves
in 1443. These were probably the'first*slaves taken
from western Africa by Europeans. They were pre¬
sented'to Pope Martin V., and he conferred on Portu¬
gal the right of possession of all countries discovered
between Cape Bo-
jado and the Indies.
Portugal also had the
first of many chart¬
ered companies to
trade in African gold
and slaves.
Columbus began
his intercourse with
the natives of Africa
by kidnapping and
he gave the word for
the opening of the
slave trade.
Slavery in the
New World. — Afri¬
can slavery was in-
an ex-slave. troduced into the
New "World by the
Spaniards. Their cruelty to the inoffensive Indians in
the islands of the West Indies had greatly reduced their
numbers. The poor Indian had been reduced to slavery,
and in order to prevent extermination the Spaniards re¬
sorted to importing slaves from Africa. The first cargo
of Negro slaves was landed at San Domingo on the Is¬
land of Hayti in the year 1565. These were at once put
to cultivating the plantations, and it was soon found
that, as Rev. Wood says, ''These hearty sons of Africa
SLAVERY.
49
not only, survived the oppressive cruelty of their heart¬
less taskmasters, but in time . they rebelled against
them, a;nd under tlieir invincible tBlack.Prince,' Tous-
saint,. killed them in'bat^le and. drove them from the
island."
First Slaves, First * Liberty.—Bancroft aptly says:
"Hayti,. the fii^st spot in Am'eriea that received African
slaves, was the .first spot to set the example-of 'African
liberty.''.
Slavery in the United States—Slaves were brought
by the Spaniards to.Florida soon after the founding of
St. Augustine, in 1565, but the first slaves brought to
the colonies were, landed at Jamestown, Va., in 1619,
by a Dutch trading vessel. Twenty Negroes were
exchanged for food and supplies. These had no per¬
sonal rights, were doomed to service and ignorance by
law, and could not leave the plantation to which they
belonged without a written, pass from-their master.
They received no religious-instruction, "and were some¬
times given to white ministers as pay for their ser¬
vices. It was, however, nearly a half century from
this time before the system of Negro slavery became
well established in the English colonies.
Slavery Contended for.—The slave trade was the
great industry contended for and carried on. In 1748
there were 97,000 slaves carried to America by all
nations, and up to that time the total number was
probably a million. During the eighteenth century six
millions were carried to America, besides the horrible
traffic which was kept up to the coasts of the Mediter¬
ranean, to Egypt and Asia, which has been carried on
from time immemorial. It is estimated that the profits
of the slave trade in the seventeenth and eighteenth
4
50
Progress of a race.
centuries from the Dark Continent were equal to that
on gold and all other products.
The Slave Trade.—:We cannot in a few paragraphs,
relate all the • Horrors and suffering entailed on the
African race by means of the slave trade. While it is
true that the revenue of the tings of the country some¬
times depended on the sale of slaves, yet it remains as
a blot on Christian England and America's record that
they were the means of carrying out this cruel work.
Some Americans, at . least, went one step further, and,
not content with selling slaves, sold their own sons and
daughters.
The Slave Dealer.—Many chapters might be written
upon the cruelties and inhuman treatment of the slave
dealers, but as all who have engaged in this nefarious
business have rendered their accounts to God, who is
just, and have been justly dealt with, we will pen but
a few items to show what the race has endured.
Kidnapping.—Probably the largest number of slaves
were obtained by a system of kidnapping. In this
case a village was often surrounded in the night and
torches applied to the combustible huts; the able-
bodied men and women were seized, bound, while
children, the aged and infirm were cruelly murdered in
the light of their burning homes. In journeying to
the seashore, over rugged mountain sides and through
fields of cacti, whose sharp thorns would lacerate and
tear their flesh, they endured more than can be
expressed. On reaching the coast the best of them
were selected and placed on board ships, while those
who had not endured the march, or were maimed,
were often murdered in cold blood.
It is said that King Loango, "rather than incur the
expense of feeding slaves for whom he found no mar-
SLAVERY.
51
ket, sent them to a side of a hill and cruelly butchered
them there.
Middle Passage.—The slave ships were frequently
crowded to such an extent that men were barely allowed
room enough to lie down.
Lord Palmerston says: "A Negro has not as much
CAPTURING SLAVES.
room in a sea ship as a corpse in a coffin." Bancroft
says: "The horrors of the middle passage correspond
to the infamy of the trade.'' Small vessels, of little
more than two hundred tons burden, were prepared
for the traffic, for these could most easily penetrate the
bays and rivers of the coast; and quickly obtaining
52
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
lading, could soonest hurry away from the deadly air
of Western Africa. In such a "bark, five hundred
Negroes and more were stored, exciting wonder that
men could have lived," within the tropics, cribbed in so
few inches of room. The inequality in force between
the crew and the cargo, led to the use of manacles; the
hands of stronger men were made fast together, and
the right leg of one was chained to the left of another.
The avarice of the trader was a partial guarantee of
the security of life, as far as it depended upon him;
the Negroes, as they came from the higher level to the
seaside, poorly fed on the sad pilgrimage, sleeping at
night on the damp earth, without covering, and often
reaching the coast at unfavorable seasons, imbibed the
seeds of disease, which confinement on board ship
quickened into feverish activity. There have been
examples where one-half of them—it has been said,
even two-thirds of them—perished on the passage.''
President Lincoln, who was always easily moved by
appeals for mercy, when appealed to by a slave trader,
promptly and sternly refused, although the appeal was
very pathetic, and the man had served a long time in
prison. The President said: "I could forgive the
foulest murder for such an appeal, but the man who
could go to Africa and rob her of her children and sell
them into endless bondage, with no other motive than
that of getting dollars and cents, is so much worse
than the most depraved murderer that he can never
receive a pardon at my hands. No! he may rot in jail
before he shall have liberty by any act of mine.''
Profit.—Dr. Roy says: ''Before the annual meeting
of the American Missionary Association, in 1859, Rev.
Dr. George B. Cheever, from Harper's Encyclopedia
of Commerce, made the following statements as to the
SLAVERY.
53
slave trade: For it every year twelve vessels were
fitted out by three cities each, Boston and Baltimore
being of the number, and from other places enough to
make forty slave ships, owned mostly by northern men.
Each made two trips a year, at a total cost of three
million dollars. The receipts being twenty million dol¬
lars, left for profit seventeen million dollars. One
voyage of the fleet would bring in twenty-four thousand
slaves, of whom four thousand were lost by death.
The two trips a year would make the total importation
forty thousand. These were mainly taken to Cuba,
but fifteen thousand were for the United States the
preceding year. A slave ship was landed after the war
broke out, in a distant part of the South, and there the
slaves were held till after the war. It has been esti¬
mated by Hon. John M. Langston and Col. Keating,
of the Memphis Appeal, that up to 1825, forty million
slaves had been imported to the West Indies and to the
American continent.
Slavery a Curse.—Some writers will insist that
American slavery has been a blessing to the race.
Slavery is dead, and there is no one that would revive
it. Ancient slavery may have been a step forward in
evolution, because it ended in emancipation, and ulti¬
mately in the fusion of the races. But American slav¬
ery was a long step backward.
It was carried on by a desire of Europeans in a lan¬
guid climate to have the work done for them instead
of doing it themselves.
Fusion in the case of Negro slavery was fatally pre¬
cluded by color; there could be no intermingling
except that which arose from the abuse of the Negro
woman by her white master. While household slavery
may frequently have been mild, the plantation slave
54
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
was overworked and tortured, and, with impunity,
sometimes murdered. If certain writers are correct in
attempting to show that the slave was contented in his
bonds, why those fetters, those cruel slave laws, those
bloodhounds? If he was fully content to live in slavery,
why the laws that forbade the holding of meetings, the
restraint from moving about freely, the liability to
arrest when found alone, and the subjection to flogging
when found away from the plantation Think of the
revolting sights when, at public auction, husband and
wife, parent and child, were sold apart,"a sight of
human cattle on the way to the auction and the adver¬
tisements of human flesh, especially of girls nearly
white. Negro quarters on the'plantation were hovels,
his clothes rags, his food coarse, his life foul; it has
been asserted that his life was happier than his African
home, but it remains to be proven that this is the case.
Slavery Cannot Be Justified.—"Slavery cannot be
justified," says Gov. Atkinson, "but may not God have
intended that you, who are the descendants of those
whom slavery has brought into the country, should
pray and work for the redemption of your fatherland?"
Slavery Degrading.—Judge Stroud, in his "Sketch
of the Laws Relating to Slavery," declares: "This
maxim of civil law, the genuine and degrading
principle of slavery, inasmuch as it places the slave on
a level with brute animals, prevails universally in the
• slave-holding states." "It is plain that the dominion
of the master is as unlimited as that which is tolerated
by the laws of any civilized country in relation to brute
animals to quadrupeds, to use the words of the civil
law." To the unprincipled observer, at thirty-five
years' distance, the whole system, as a system, was
"the sum of all villianies," one universal harem, that,
SLAVERY.
55
at the emancipation of the slave, had swept to the
vortex of tyranny, degradation, fornication and diabol¬
ism of the most vicous character.
"In the case of Harris vs. Clarissa and others, in
the March term, 1834, the chief justice, in delivering
his opinion to the court, said: ' In Maryland, the issue
(i. e., of female slaves) is considered not an accessory,
but as a part of the use, like that of other female
animals. Suppose a brood mare be hired for five years,
the foals belong to him who has a part use of the dam.
The slave in Maryland in this respect is placed on no
higher or different ground.' ''
The Slave Trade in the United States.—In 1774, the
Articles of the Continental Association agreed that no
more slaves should be imported and that the African
slave trade should be wholly discontinued. These
agreements were signed by the representatives of the
colonies, but it was left to the next generation to carry
out the agreement fully.
Abolishing African Slave Trade.—In his message to
Congress at the commencement of the session in 1806,
President Jefferson asked of that body the wisdom of
abolishing African slave trade. The message was
referred to a select committee, which reported a bill to
prohibit the importation of slaves into the United
States. This bill, of course, was fought by the South¬
ern representatives. A long and fiery debate ensued
and the act was finally passed, after several amend¬
ments, imposing a fine on persons engaged in the slave
trade were added.
A Baltimore journal of this period says: "Dealing
in slaves has become a large business. Establish¬
ments have been made in several places in Maryland
and Virginia at which they are sold like cattle. These
56
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
places of deposit are strongly bolted and are supplied
with iron thumb- screws and gags ornamented with
cows' skins, ofttimes bloody."
A Curious Advertisement in a religious paper of
Richmond, in March, 1850, is found the following:
"Who wants thirty-five thousand dollars in property.
I am desirous to spend the balance of my life as a
minister, if the Lord permits, and therefore offer for sale
my farm, the Vineyard, adjoining to Williams¬
burg * * * and also about 40 servants, mostly young
and likely, and rapidly increasing in number and
value.''
Effect on Slave Owners.—While the slave owner
may have been hospitable, courteous, grave, the char¬
acter of a true gentleman cannot be found where
reigns domestic despotism, amidst whips, manacles
and bloodhounds. The minds of young men were
tainted by familiarity with slaves. With slavery
always goes lust. If, as the advocates of slavery con¬
tended, the Negro was not a man, what were all these
half-breeds to be called. The tendency of slavery in
that which is not elevating in man is clearly seen in
the inferiority of Southern to Northern life. Culture,
invention, literature, scientific research, were not found
South as long as slavery existed. It is only since slav¬
ery has been abolished that the South is beginning to
rise in all these lines.
Not Content in Slavery.—The argument against the
Negro is that he has never rebelled or resisted slavery,
that his docility and contentment in slavery suggested
that this was this normal condition. But we need
understand the true condition of the Negro, his help¬
lessness and lack of leadership, to see the falsity of
such arguments. Negro insurrections, wherever the
SLAVERY.
57
opportunity presented itself, were not wanting in the
south land. We need but refer to what is called the
Nat Turner insurrection to show that the Negro was
struggling for freedom, and was not as docile as the
white slaver would make him.
The influence of this bloody insurrection in which
the lives of so many whites were taken spread through¬
out Virginia and the South. For years afterwards they
lived in a state of dread for fear another Nat Turner
might arise.
Serious Apprehensions.—"Talks from the Times"
says: "During the days of slavery there were con¬
tinuous and serious apprehensions on the part of mas¬
ters. The whole South was under patrol every night,
and the Negro, though regarded then, as many seem to
regard him now, as a harmless, spiritless being, a
'scrub race,'a'race of timid rabbits,' was an object
of suspicion and distrust, and not infrequently was
consternation thrown into whole states by apprehen¬
sions of servile uprisings."
Uncle Tom's Cabin.—Dr. Edwards says: "The key
to 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' is one of the most abhorrent
and appalling commentaries ever written on African
slavery. It has made the cheek of many a slave-holder
tingle. But the legislation at that time in Virginia
was deemed a life and death question Nothing short
of it, for the time being, could allay the painful and
distressing excitement that prevailed everywhere
throughout the country. It almost makes one's blood
run cold, even at this remote- period of time, to recall
the trepidation and alarm that pervaded the whole
community. The stoutest hearts were made to quail.
Negro Insurrection—Rumors of Negro insurrec¬
tion filled the air. Sleep ceased to be refreshing,
58 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
haunted as it was by hideous dreams of murder, blood
and arson. Mothers and maidens, and even little
children, for months, not to say years, following the
'Nat Turner Insurrection,' looked pale and ghastly as
the shadows of evening gathered around them, from
the horrifying apprehension that with bludgeon they
might be brained, or with torch might be burned to a
crisp before morning. I speak from experience. Nor
would I go through the agony of those years again for
all the gold that ever passed hands in the Negro traffic
from Colonial times till President Lincoln emancipated
them with a stroke of his pen. Pharaoh and his peo¬
ple, under the visit of the destroying angel, when the
first-born was convulsively quivering in the death
struggle in every household, did not more earnestly
desire the quick departure of the Hebrews out of the
land of Egypt than did the great majority of the slave
holders in the Carolinas and Virginias desire the
removal of the Negroes from among tliem immediately
after the Southampton Insurrection.''
Restriction of Slavery.—The African trade having
been abolished, the next question that agitated the
mind of the American abolitionist was that of restrict¬
ing slavery; while the North would restrict it to its
present limits, the South insisted that slavery should
be permitted to be carried into the new territory and
states as they entered the Union. The Congressional
discussion of the slavery question aroused the anti-
slavery sentiment of the North, and thereby hastened
the day when it was possible to liberate the last slave.
Slavery in the Colonies.—Slavery was early intro¬
duced into all of the thirteen original colonies. But
climate and other considerations proved that it was
not so profitable to the Northern colonies as to those in
slavery.
53
the South. After some years the Northern colonies
liberated their slaves and adopted laws against slavery.
While in the South, the large rice and cotton fields,
where labor was in demand, the slave was held in cruel
bondage, for no other reason than that of the profit
that it might bring the owner.
The Southern Colonists.—The Southern colonists
differed widely from the Northern in habits and style
of living. In place of thickly settled towns and vil¬
lages, they had large plantations, and were surrounded
by a numerous household of servants. The Negro
quarters formed a hamlet apart, with its gardens and
poultry yards. An estate in those days was a little
empire. The planter had among his slaves men of
every trade, and they made most of the articles needed
for common use upon the plantation. There were
large sheds for cutting tobacco, and mills for grinding
corn and wheat. The tobacco was put up and con¬
signed directly to England. The flour of the Mount
Vernon estate was packed under the eye of Washington
himself, and we are told that barrels of flour bearing
his brand passed in the West Indies market without
inspection.
Maryland and Delaware.—While the North liber¬
ated the slave, the Quakers of Maryland and Delaware
were rapidly emancipating theirs. Men felt that the
best interests of white society demanded that the curse
of slavery should be abolished. '4 The whole commerce
between master and slave," says Mr. Jefferson, "is a
perpetual exercising of the most boisterous passions,
our children see this and learn to imitate it. If a
parent could find'no other motive for restraining the
temper of passion against his slave it should always be
a sufficient one that his child is present. The man
5
60
Progress of a rac£.
must be a prodigy that can retain his morals and man¬
ners undepraved by such circumstances, and what exe¬
cration should come upon the statesman who permits
half the citizens thus to trample on the rights of others,
transform them into despots, and these into enemies,
destroy the morals of one, and the love of country of
the other.''
It was often difficult to tell whether the slave or the
master was injured the more, the ignorance of the
slave hid from him the great evils of his condition,
while the intelligence of the owner revealed the bane¬
ful effects of slavery upon all who came within its area.
It made men sectional, licentious, profligate, cruel,
and selfishness paled the holy fire of patriotism.
Profitable in Maryland.—In Maryland the slave
trade became a profitable enterprise on account of its
rich soil and cultivation of tobacco. Labor was scarce,
and the Negro slave labor could be made as cheap as
his master's conscience and heart were small. Slavery
gained a foothold and at once became the bone and
sinew of the working force of the colony. While many
attempted to persuade themselves that slavery was an
institution indispensable to the success of the colony
here, as elsewhere, it was impossible to escape the bad
results of the trade which made men cruel and
avaricious.
Virginia.—There is no doubt that the colony of
Virginia purchased the first Negroes, and thus opened
the nefarious traffic in human flesh.
It may, however, be stated, that the first twenty
were forced upon the colony by the Dutch sailors who
were famishing and insisted upon the exchange of
Negroes for food.
It is to be noted that even after the institution of
SLAVERY.
6i
slavery was founded, its growth was very slow in Vir¬
ginia; according to the census of 1624, there were but
twenty-two in the entire colony. The African slave
trader was some time in learning that this colony was
a ready market for his helpless victims. Whatever
compunction of conscience the colonists had in refer¬
ence to the sub-dealing in slaves, this was destroyed
at the golden hopes of immense gains.
Slavery existed in this colony from 1619 until 1662,
without any sanction of law, but in a later year slavery
received the direct sanction of statutory law, and it
was also made hereditary; with each returning year,
this cruel inhuman institution flourished and mag¬
nified.
While in some colonies efforts were made to put
down slavery from 1619 to 1775, there is nothing in
history to show that Virginia ever sought to prohibit
in any manner the importation of slaves. That she
enriched herself by the slave trade cannot be doubted.
The slave had no personal rank; if he dared lift up a
hand against any white man he was punished with
lashes, or if he resisted his master he could be killed.
Virginia, the mother of Presidents, was also the
mother of American slavery. In the absence of the
slave trade which Great Britain had suffered, the de¬
mand for more Negroes in the cotton fields of the South
was met by the conversion of Virginia, the old Dominion
state, into a breeding state, a shameful, degrading end
for the mother of Presidents.
New York.—An urgent and extraordinary demand
for labor, rather than the cruel desire to traffic in
human beings, led the Dutch to engage in Negro slave
trade. The majority of them were employd on farms,
and led quiet and sober lives. At first the Negro slave
62
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
was regarded as a cheap laborer, but after a time he
became a coveted chattel. It is stated that Queen
Elizabeth discouraged slavery and at one time
attempted to rebuke a slave dealer, but soon after was
found encouraging the slave trade. The condition of
the slaves in the Christian colony of New York was no
better than in many other colonies, they had no family
relations, for a long time lived together by common
consent, had no schools, neglected in life, and were
abandoned to burial in a common ditch after death.
The Negro Plot.—In I74X, through a combination of
circumstances, the Negroes of New York were accused
of plotting against the whites, and in less than three
months more than 150 Negroes were put into prison,
some of them burned at the stake, others hanged, some
transported, and the remainder pardoned. The hatred
and mistrust of the Negro was the occasion of much of
this supposed riot. Without evidence, and with the
mere form of a trial, many Negroes were convicted
and sentenced to death. The result of the supposed
Negro plot in New York is a stain upon the fair name
of that province. It is stated that the desperate valor
of the Negro in the war with Great Britain gave her
an opportunity to dispell injustice and wipe out with
his blood the dark stains of 1841.
Rhode Island.—The institution of slavery was never
established by statute in this colony, but in a few years
after the establishment of the government it became
so fully rooted that it was not possible to destroy it
without explicit and positive prohibition of law.
Demand for Ignorance.—The education of the Negro
in all colonies was considered to be a step against the
best interests of their masters. The flourishing of the
SLAVERY.
63
slave trade demanded that the slave be kept in
ignorance.
New Jersey.—It is not known when slavery was
introduced into New Jersey, but early in its history the
Dutch, Quakers and the English held slaves, but were
more humane in their treatment of them than in the
other colonies. Legislation on. the subject was not
undertaken until about the middle of the eighteenth
century, and at no time did it reach the severity that
exhibited- itself in the other parts of the country. In
this colony alone, of all the colonies north or south,
was the American Negro given the right of trial by
jury. In Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts and in
all other colonies, the Negro went into the court con¬
victed, and went out convicted, he was executed on
the flimsiest evidence imaginable, but be it said
to the praise of New Jersey that justice was shown
towards the Negro in this colony as in no other. The
Negro slave was given the privilege of being tried
by jury and permitted to be sworn in the courts.
South Carolina.—In South Carolina the inhumanities
of the slave trade reached its height. The entire slave
population of this province was regarded as a chattel.
Rice fields of this state demanded labor and the
increase of the slave was almost phenomenal. The
laws were not surpassed in stringency by any other
colony, and it was unlawful for any free person to
inhabit or trade with Negroes. The cruelties of the
code are without parallel.
Goldwin Smith says: "In the upshot she became
the typical slave state, the heart of slavery and the
focus of all the ideas and all the ambitions connected
with the system; while Charleston, her social capital
and seaport, became the paradise of planter society
64
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
with its luxury and pride. Her slave code transcended
even that of Virginia in cruelty and expressed still
more vividly the terrors of a dominant race. Every one
who found a slave abroad without a pass was to flog
him on the spot. All Negro houses were to "be searched
once a fortnight for arms and for stolen goods. For
the fourth larceny a slave was to suffer death, and the
kind of death was left to the discretion of the judge.
For running away a fourth time a slave was to undergo
mutilation. For punishing a slave so that he died no
one was to suffer any penalty. For the wilful murder
of a slave the penalty was a fine of forty pounds.
It need not be supposed that the most revolting articles
of the code were often put in force, or that they repre¬
sent the general relations between master and slave.''
North Carolina.—In this colony there was but little
improvement on the condition of the slave in South
Carolina. If any Negro showed the least independence
with white men he could be murdered in cold blood.
The free Negro population was small and were not
allowed any communion with the slaves; here, as else¬
where, the slave was left in a state of ignorance in
order to further the interests of his master.
New Hampshire.—Early in the history of New
Hampshire slavery was considered by the authorities
as a wicked, hateful institution. The colony never
passed any laws establishing slavery, but as early as
1714 passed several laws regarding the conduct and
service of the slaves. In New Hampshire there were
slaves up to the beginning of the war of the Revolu¬
tion, but they were slaves in name only.
Massachusetts.—In Massachusetts, as well as in
some other colonies, slavery was first introduced into
individual families and afterwards into communities
SLAVERY.
65
where, without the sanction of the law, usage and cus¬
tom made it legal. Finally, men desiring to enjoy the
field of unrequiting labor gave it the sanction of stat¬
utory law.
Pennsylvania.—Since the habit of enslaving the
Negro spread through the colonies north and south,
Pennsylvania, even, tolerated slaves within her borders.
It is said that William Penn himself once owned slaves.
Efforts were made in early years to pass laws emanci¬
pating slaves, but the mother country would not per¬
mit such laws at that time.
Slave-Breeding states.—After the establishing of
our republic, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky and Mis¬
souri were the border states of slavery. North of these
the slave was free, and even in these states slavery
was found to be an unprofitable business as far as labor
was concerned. We may well then ask,. "Why was not
slavery abolished in these states?" For the simple
reason that it was found that since the African slave
trade was abolished the South needed an increasing
number of slaves for the great plantations. Here was
found a profitable business, and these states became
breeding states for the propagation of the race, increas¬
ing the number so as to flood the markets of the South.
One of the largest exports of these states was slaves.
It was estimated that in 1836 the number sold from the
single state of Virginia was 40,000, yielding a return
of twenty-four million dollars. This business, horrible
as it seems in our day, was licensed and protected by
law, advertised in papers, and recognized as one of the
branches of legitimate production of trade.
Not Universally Countenanced.—It must not be
supposed that this trade was countenanced by all in the
South, even there, there were men who denounced in
GRANDCHILDREN OF SLAVES.
SLAVERY.
67
strong and vehement language the barbarous custom of
separating man and wife, mother and child, scattering
families never to meet again until at the great day
they meet their inhuman masters as common accusers.
The pathetic scenes that presented themselves to the
better element in the South brought words of condem¬
nation against the remorseless traffic that presented
scenes along the streets and highways where crowds of
suffering victims whose '' Miserable condition was sec¬
ond only to the wretched borders of Hell," were made
the victims of man's greed and gain.
Border States.—The states bordering on the slave
states, while not permitting slavery within their bor¬
ders, yet passed what were called ''Black Laws,"
which left the free Negro but little better off in Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois than in the Southern states. Black
or mulatto persons were not allowed to reside in the
state without having a certificate of freedom. Later,
amended laws in Ohio required that a bond be given
not to become a charge upon the county in which they,
settled. They were not permitted to give evidence in
any court of record or elsewhere in the state against a
white person. Severe penalties were inflicted on all
who harbored such as had not given bonds. Thus,
being denied the right of citizenship, ruled out of courts,
compelled to produce a certificate of freedom, and in
many other ways annoyed by laws limiting the rights
they were suffered to enjoy, the free Negroes of these
states were little better than slaves. That they endured
patiently these restrictions which public sentiment
threw across their social and political pathway is a
matter of record.
Pensioning Old and Feeble Slaves.—This question
has been discussed and urged upon our government
LEFT BY SLAVE TRADERS TO THEIR FATE.
SLAVERY.
69
repeatedly, but no definite action Has been taken.
While race prejudice is rapidly disappearing-, it may
be safe to say that before a sentiment can be obtained
that will enact laws favorable to pensioning old and
feeble slaves by congress or by any state legislature,
every ex-slave will have passed into that life where he
receives the recompense of reward for all his deeds, and
where he is beyond the reach of the inhumanities of
the slave master and needs no pension.
Added Items.—The emancipation of slaves in all the
French colonies took place February 4, 1794.
The complete emancipation of slaves in the English
colonies occurred in 1838 to 1839, when more than
800,000 men, besides women and children, were lib¬
erated.
Sweden emancipated her slaves in 1846, and this was
soon followed (in 1848) by the Danish colonies pro¬
claiming the freedom of her slaves.
Holland delivered her American colonies from slav¬
ery August 8, 1862.
The African slave trade was closed in this country
on the first day of January, 1862.
FALL OF ATTUCKS AND HIS NOBLE COMPANIONS, BOSTON, MARCH 5, 1770.
CHAPTER III.
THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTION.
Slave Population.—In 1715 the slave population
was about 60,000, but England's policy of crowding her
American plantations with slaves increased the num¬
ber rapidly, so that sixty years after, when the revolu¬
tionary war began, the slave population of the thirteen
colonies was about 500,000; 50,000 of these were found
in the North.
The desire to gain liberty with such a host of beings
was not to be despised, and both sides contended for
their services.
A Great Mistake.—If the colonists had at once will¬
ingly enlisted the Negro in the cause of liberty it can
hardly be doubted that the struggle of eight years
would have been shortened greatly, but in this case, as
in many other instances, their enemy, the mother coun¬
try, succeeded in using the slaves to a much greater
extent than the colonists-. Jefferson says: "That 30,-
000 Negroes from Virginia alone went to the British
army.'' Had the colonies permitted the Negro to enlist,
and had the Negro been urged from the first to stand
for the cause of liberty, much bloodshed might have
been avoided. The selfishness of the colonists, espe¬
cially in the South where the opposition to the arming
of the Negro was much stronger than the love for inde¬
pendence, asserted itself to such a degree that any
effort to enlist the Negro in that section seemed useless.
The First Blood for Liberty shed in the colonies
was that of a real slave and Negro. On the 5th day of
March, 1770, occurred the Boston massacre, which,
71
72
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
although not opening the real struggle, yet was the
bloody drama that opened the most eventful and thrill¬
ing chapter in American history.
CrispiIS Attucks, a runaway slave, at the head of a
crowd of citizens resolved that the conduct of the
British soldiers who marched through Boston as
through a conquered city could no longer be endured,
and led the charge against the British with the cry:
"The way to get rid of these soldiers is to attack the
main guard. Strike at the root, this is the nest."
The troops were ordered to fire, the exposed and com¬
manding person of the fearless Attucks went down
first. Three others fell in the same attack, Caldwell,
Gray and Maverick. This aroused the people of Bos¬
ton. The burial of these four men from Faneuil Hall
was attended by a large and respectable concourse of
people.
"Long as in freedom's cause the wise contend,
Dear to your country shall your fame extend;
While to the world the lettered stone shall tell
Where Caldwell, Attucks, Gray and Maverick fell.'
The following notice appeared in the Boston Gazette
twenty years before when Attucks ran away from his
master:
"Ran away from his master, William Brown, of
Framingham, on the 20th of Sept. last, a Mullato Fel-
lpw, about 27 years of age, named Crispus, 6 feet 2
inches high, short curl'd hair, his knees nearer together
than common; had on a light colored Bearskin Coat,
plain brown Fustian Jacket, or brown All Wool one,
new Buckskin breeches, blue Yarn Stockings, and a
checked woolen shirt. Whoever shall take up said
runaway, and convey him to his abovesaid master,
shall have ten pounds,, old Tenor Reward, and all
THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTION.
73
necessary charges paid. And all Masters of Vessels
and others are hereby cautioned against concealing or
carrying off said Servant on Penalty of the Law. Bos¬
ton, October 2, 1750."
Hero and Martyr.—Attucks cut the cord and knot
that held us to Great Britain. '' From that moment,''
says Webster, "we may date the severance of the
British Empire." It touched the people of the col¬
onies as they had never been touched before. Orators
poured out upon this former slave, now a hero and
martyr, their unstinted praise. At each succeeding
anniversary, of this eventful day Crispus Attucks
and his noble companions were lauded until our Na¬
tional Independence was achieved, when the 4th of
July was substituted.
Committee of Safety.—A committee of safety was
early appointed after the beginning of the war, and
according to its decision no slaves were to be admitted
into the army under any consideration whatever. Some
free men had already enlisted. Peter Salem was a
slave who fought side by side in the ranks with white
soldiers. It was he who, on that memorable occa¬
sion at Bunker Hill when Major Pitcairn, at the
head of the British army made an attack upon the
American forces, shouting, "The day is ours,"
poured the contents of his gun into that officer's body
killing him instantly, and checking temporarily the
advance of the British.
Of this occasion Mr. Aaron White, of the Massa¬
chusetts Historical Society, writes:
" With regard to the black hero of Bunker Hill,
I never knew him personally nor did I ever hear from
his lips the story of his achievements; but I have
better authority. A soldier of the. Revolution, who
74
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
was present at the Bunker Hill battle, related to my
father the story of the death of Major Pitcairn. At
the moment when the major appeared, startling the
men before him, a Negro stepped forward, and, aim¬
ing his musket at the major's bosom, blew him through.
I have frequently heard my father relate the story and
have no doubt of its truth. Salem was not the only
Negro at the battle of Bunker Hill. Others whose
bravery has not been recorded participated in the bat¬
tle, showing valor and fidelity.''
Major Lawrence, who fought through the war from
Concord to the peace of 1783, and who participated in
many of the severest battles, at one time commanded
a company of Negroes whose courage, military disci¬
pline and fidelity he spoke of with respect. On one
occasion, being out reconnoitering with his company,
he got so far in advance of his command that he was
surrounded and on the point of being made a prisoner
by the enemy. The colored men, soon discovering
his peril, rushed to his rescue and fought with the
most determined bravery till that rescue was effect¬
ually secured. He never forgot this circumstance,
and ever after took special pains to show kindness
and hospitality to any individual of the colored race
who came near his dwelling.
Freeing the Slave.—After the committee of safety
had excluded slaves from the army many of them
were freed by their masters on condition that they
join the army. But the prejudice against the Negro
asserted itself more and more until the legislative
bodies took action and entirely prevented Negroes
from enlisting.
Colonial Congress. — Edward Rutledge, of South
Carolina, moved that all Negroes be discharged that
THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTION.
75
were in the army. This proposition was strongly
supported by the Southern delegates, but the North¬
ern delegates succeeded in voting it down. The con¬
test, however, continued until a conference committee
was called at Cambridge, at which it was agreed that
the Negro should be rejected altogether.
Reorganization.—In the reorganization of the army
many officers who had served with Negroes in the
militia, and who had been enlisted in the Colonial
army, protested against the exclusion of their old
comrades on account of color. Washington saw what
might be the result if they were not permitted to
enlist, and gave his consent to the enlistment with this
proviso—"If this is disapproved by Congress I will put
a stop to it." It could be clearly seen that if a Negro
was not permitted in the army the British would gain
the advantage over the Colonial forces, and no one
could predict what the Negro might do. Congress
reluctantly receded from its position and granted per¬
mission to enroll Negroes under certain conditions.
Lord Dunmore, who had charge of the British forces
in the South, proclaimed freedom to all the slaves who
would repair to his standard and bear arms to the
king. The flocking of slaves to the British standard
greatly alarmed the Colonial forces and caused them
to utilize the Negro forces, but in this the British had
already preceded them.
The Negro Prince.*—It is impossible to recite all in¬
cidents and circumstances showing the heroism and
bravery on the part of the Negro in this war, but a
few stand out more prominently than others. Of
these one is the Negro Prince, in Colonel Barton s
command, who succeeded in capturing General Pres-
76
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
cott in bed. The daring part that this negro took
is shown in the following:
" The pleasing information is received here that
Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, of the Rhode Island mi¬
litia, planned a bold exploit for the purpose of sur¬
prising and taking Major-General Prescott, the com¬
manding officer of the royal army, at Newport. Taking
with him, in the night, about forty men, in two boats,
with oars muffled, he had the address to elude the
vigilance of the ships-of-war and guard boats, and,
having arrived undiscovered at the quarters of Gen¬
eral Prescott, they were taken for the sentinels; and
the general was not alarmed till the captors were at
the door of his lodging chamber, which was fast closed.
A Negro man named Prince, instantly thrust his beetle
head through the panel door and seized his victim
while in" bed. This event is extremely honorable to
the enterprising spirit of Colonel Barton, and is con¬
sidered an ample retaliation for the capture of General
Lee by Colonel Harcourt. The event occasions great
joy and exultation, as it puts in our possession an
officer of equal rank with General Lee, by which
means an exchange may be obtained. Congress re¬
solved that an elegant sword should be presented to
Colonel Barton for his brave exploit.''
Major Jeffrey.—Among the brave blacks who fought
in the battles for American liberty was Major Jeffrey,
a Tennesseean, who, during the campaign of Major-
General Andrew Jackson, in Mobile, filled the place of
'' regular '' among the soldiers. In the charge made
by General Stump against the enemy the Americans
were repulsed and thrown into disorder, Major Stump
being forced to retire in a manner by no means desir¬
able under the circumstances. • Major- Jeffrey, who
THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTION.
77
was but a common soldier, seeing- the condition of his
comrades and comprehending the disastrous results
about to befall them, rushed forward, mounted a horse,
took command of the troops, and by an heroic effort
rallied them to the charge, completely routing the
enemy who left the Americans masters of the field.
He at once received from the general the title of
"major," though he could not, according to the Amer¬
ican policy, so commission him. To the day of his
death he was known by that title in Nashville, where
he resided, and the circumstances which entitled him
to it were constantly the subject of popular conver¬
sation.
Major Jeffrey was highly respected by the whites
generally, and revered in his own neighborhood by
all the colored people who knew him.
A few years ago, receiving an indignity from a
common ruffian, he was forced to strike him in self
defense, for which act, in accordance with the laws
of slavery in that as well as many other of the slave
states, he was compelled to receive on his naked per¬
son, nine and thirty lashes with a rawhide! This, at
the age of seventy-odd, after the distinguished services
rendered his country, probably when the white ruffian
by whom he was tortured was unable to raise an arm
in self defense, was more than he could bear; it broke
his heart, and he sank to rise no more, till summoned
by the blast of the last trumpet, to stand on the bat¬
tlefield of the general resurrection.
Re-enslavement.—Many Negroes were, induced to
enlist in the Colonial army with the understanding
that they were to have their freedom at the close of
the war. But the re-enslaving of the Negro who
fought for American independence by stay-at-homes
78
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
was a flagrant outrage. In the legislatures of some
states they passed acts rebuking the injustice of such
treatment.
The Legislature of Virginia ordered that persons
in the states who caused the slaves to enlist as free
persons could not thereafter force them to return to a
state of servitude, so contradictory to that principle
of justice and their own solemn vows. Every slave
who had enlisted in any regiment, and who had been
received as a substitute for any free person whose
duty it was to serve in a regiment, was held and
deemed free in as full and ample a manner as if each
one who came had been especially named in the act.
Simon Lee.—Simon Lee, grandfather of Wm. Wells
Brown, was a slave in Virginia and served in the war
of the Revolution. Although honorably discharged
with the other troops at the close of the war he was
sent back to his master where he spent the remainder
of his life toiling on a tobacco plantation.
Massachusetts, although having abolished slavery
in 1783, it seems was still subjected to slave hunts,
and her Negro soldiers were insulted by attempts to
re-enslave them.
The British Army.—Not only did the soldiers of
the American army receive unjust treatment but the
British, who had' promised freedom to all who would
join their ranks, after enduring the hardships of the
war often committed them back to slavery.
Mr. Jefferson says: " From an estimate I made at
that time, on the best information I could collect, I
supposed the state of Virginia lost under Lord Corn-
wallis' hand that year, about thirty thousand slaves,
and that of these twenty thousand died of the small¬
pox and camp fever. The rest were partly sent to
the negro in the revolution.
79
the West Indies and exchanged for rum, sugar, coffee
and fruit, and partly sent to New York, from whence
they went, at the peace, either to Nova Scotia or to
England. From this place I believe they have lately
been sent to Africa. History will never relate the
horrors committed by the British army in the South¬
ern states of- America.''
The Heroism of the Negro.—The heroism of the
Negro has been eulogized by many of our American
statesmen, notably Mr. Pinckney and Mr. Eustis.
Mr. Pinckney says: " It is a remarkable fact that
notwithstanding, in the course of the Revolution, the
Southern states were continually overrun by the
British, and that all Negroes in them had an oppor¬
tunity of leaving their owners, few did, proving there¬
by not only a most remarkable attachment to their
owners, but the mildness of the treatment from whence
their affections sprang. They then were, as they still
are, as valuable a part of our population to the Union
as any other equal number of inhabitants. They
were in numerous instances the pioneers, and in all,
the laborers of your armies. To their hands were
owing the erection of the greatest part of the forti¬
fications raised for the protection of our country; some
of which, particularly Fort Moultrie, gave, at the
earlier period of the inexperience and untried valor
of our citizens, immortality to American arms. In
the Northern states numerous bodies of them were
enrolled into, and fought by the side of the whites,
the battles of the Revolution.''
Mr. Eustis, of Massachusetts, said: "At the com¬
mencement of the Revolutionary war there were found
in the Middle and Northern states many blacks and
other people of color capable of bearing arms; a part
So
PROGRESS OF a RACE.
of them free, the greater part slaves. The freemen
entered our ranks with the whites. The time of those
who were slaves was purchased by the states, and they
were induced to enter the service in consequence of
a law by which, on condition of their serving in the
ranks during the war, they were made freemen.''
"The war over and peace restored, these men re¬
turned to their respective states, and who could have
said to them on their return to civil life after having
shed their blood in common with the whites in the
defense of the liberties of .their country, You are not
to participate in the liberty for which you have been
fighting? Certainly no white man in Massachussetts.''
Rev. Dr. Hopkins, of Rhode Island, said:
" God is so ordering it in his providence that it
seems absolutely necessary something should speedily
be done with respect to the slaves among us, in order
to our safety and to prevent their turning against us
in our present struggle, in order to get their liberty.
Our oppressors have planned to get the blacks and in¬
duce them to take up arms against us, by promising
them liberty on this condition, and this plan they are
prosecuting to the utmost of their power, by which
means they have persuaded numbers to join them.
And should we attempt to restrain them by force
and severity, keeping a strict guard over them, and
punishing those severely who shall be detected in at¬
tempting to join our oppressors, this will only be mak¬
ing bad worse, and serve to render our inconsistence,
oppression and cruelty more criminal, perspicuous and
shocking, and bring down the righteous vengeance
of Heaven on our heads. The only way pointed out
to prevent this threatening evil is to set the blacks
at liberty ourselves by some public act and laws, and
THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTION.
81
then give them proper encouragement to labor, or
take arms in the defense of the American cause, as
they shall choose. This would at once be doing them
some degree of justice, and defeating our enemies in
the scheme that they are prosecuting,''
Colonel Laurens.—No man stands out more prom¬
inently in the war of the Revolution than Colonel
Laurens. He labored earnestly for the South to over¬
come the prejudices and to raise colored regiments.
Although supported by the general government the
selfishness of the Southern slaveholder frustrated his
plans. In one of his letters to Washington he says:
"The approaching session of the Georgia legislature
induces me to remain in these quarters for the purpose
of taking new measures on the subject of our black
levies. I shall, with all the tenacity of a man, do
everything that I can in regaining a last effort on so
interesting an occasion.'' Washington's reply showed
that he, too, had lost faith in the patriotism of the
citizens of the South to a great degree. He said:
"I must confess that I am not at all astonished at
the failure of your plan. That spirit of freedom which,
at the commencement of this contest, would have
gladly sacrificed everything to the attainment of its
object has long since subsided, and every selfish pas¬
sion has taken its place. It is not the public, but pri¬
vate interest which influences the generality of man¬
kind, nor can the Americans any longer boast an
exception. Under these circumstances it would rather
have been surprising if you had succeeded; nor will
you, I fear, have better success in Georgia."
Negro Soldiers.—George Williams says as soldiers
the Negroes went far beyond the most liberal expec¬
tations of their staunchest friends. Associated with
82
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
white men, many of whom were superior gentlemen
and nearly all of whom were brave and enthusiastic,
the Negro soldiers of the American army became
worthy of the cause they fought to sustain. Colonel
Alexander Hamilton had said: " Their natural facul¬
ties are as good as ours,'' and the assertion was sup¬
ported by their splendid behavior on all the battlefields
of the Revolution. Endowed by nature with a poetic
element, faithful to trusts, abiding in friendship, bound
by the golden threads of attachment to places and
persons, enthusiastic in personal endeavor, sentimental
and chivalric, they made hardy and intrepid soldiers.
The daring, boisterous enthusiasm with which they
sprang to arms disarmed racial prejudice of its sting
and made friends of foes.
Their cheerfulness in camp, their celerity in the
performance of fatigue-duty, their patient endurance
of heat and cold, hunger and thirst, and their bold
efficiency in battle, made them welcome companions
wherever they went. The officers who frowned at
their presence in the army at first, early learned from
experience, that they were the equals of any troops
in the army for severe service in camp and excellent
fighting in the field.
CHAPTER IV.
ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION.
Slavery Established in the South.—After, the Revo¬
lution, when the new nation was recovering- from the
effects of the long- continued war, it was found that
slavery had established itself in the Southern States
while in the North, slaves were being set free.
Responsibility.—The responsibility of fastening
slavery upon the new republic was not the fault of the
Declaration of Independence, which stated that all men
are created equal and are endowed by the Creator with
inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. Southern statesmen proved themselves
masters of the situation, and, seeing great gain in the
traffic in slaves, labored to establish it more and more in
the South. "While they could not hide behind the walls
of the constitution they took refuge, as they thought,
behind the Bible, and urged that the divine origin of
slavery was incontrovertible, that slavery was the nor¬
mal condition of every Negro, and that the white man
was God's agent to carry out the prophecy of Noah
respecting the descendants of Ham.
Agitation.—While in the slave states there was a
determined effort to establish slavery, yet throughout
the whole nation, especially in the North, the anti-slav¬
ery sentiment was being agitated and increased. Some
statesmen, notably Mr/ Jefferson, prophesied a dissolu¬
tion of the Union if the nation were to remain half
slave and half free.
The whole commerce between master and slave was
83
84
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
denounced as the most unrelenting despotism on the
one part and degrading submission on the other.
Property in Man.—Says George Williams: "When
the doctrine of property in man was driven out of
Europe as an exile and found a home in this New
World in the West, the ancient and time honored anti-
slavery sentiment combined all that was good in brain,
heart and civilization, and hurled itself with righteous
indignation against the institution of slavery the per¬
fected curse of the ages.
The Quakers.—Foremost in the anti-slavery agita¬
tion were the good and kind-hearted Quakers, or
Friends. In our poor Negro slaves they saw a brother,
and very early in the history of the nation emancipated
all their slaves and labored to increase the anti-slavery
sentiment.
Benjamin Lundy.—One of the first agitators of the
anti-slavery movement was Benjamin Lundy, who
traveled through a number of states and labored inces¬
santly for the freeing of the Negro. In 1830 he says:
"I have within ten years sacrificed several thousands of
dollars of my own earnings, I have traveled upwards of
5,000 miles on foot and more than 20,000 in other ways,
have visited nineteen states of this Union and held
more than two hundred public meetings, have per¬
formed two voyages to the West Indies, by which
means the emancipation of a considerable number of
slaves has been affected, and, I hope, the way paved
for the enfranchisement of many more.'' Considering
the extreme dangers to which any one agitating anti-
slavery was subjected in these times this was a remark¬
able work. He was afterwards associated with William
Lloyd Garrison. These men, together equally ardent
in their efforts to abolish slavery, were, however, not
ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION.
85
agreed as to the method. Lundy favored gradual
emancipation, Garrison immediate and unconditional
emancipation.
William Lloyd Garrison.—This young man devoted
his life to the cause of freeing the Negro. At an early
period he edited an anti-slavery paper and afterwards
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
united with Mr. Lundy in publishing a paper at Balti
more. Seeing a load of slaves for the New Orlean
market, the sundering of families, as well as the har
rowing cruelties that attended these scenes, he de
nounced in his paper in no measured terms, the whol*
institution, and expressed his determination to cove
with thick infamy all who were engaged in the trans
86
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
action. The result was that his paper was destroyed,
he was arrested, tried for libel, and convicted and
imprisoned. The exorbitant fine imposed upon him
was afterwards paid by the benevolent Arthur Tap-
pan. Garrison went forth from the prison if possible
a more inveterate foe to slavery than ever. It was not
popular to denounce slavery and hence this young
orator often encountered great dangers. When cau¬
tioned he replied: "I am aware that many object to
the severity of my language, but is there not cause for
severity. I am but as harsh as truth and as uncom¬
promising as justice. Tell a man whose house is on
fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately
rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the
mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire
into which it has fallen; but urge me not to use mod¬
eration in a cause like the present. I am in earnest.
I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not
retreat a single inch. And I will be heard.'' There
never was a more intrepid leader against slavery than
William Lloyd Garrison.
Anti-Slavery Societies.—In 1836 there were 250
auxiliary societies in thirteen states, and eighteen
months later they had increased to 1,000.
Silence of the Pulpit.—It is true that many of the
foremost ministers of the day maintained an unbroken
silence on the slavery question, but all could not be
kept silent. There were notable exceptions in many
parts of the north, while in some parts anti-slavery
men who had been hoping for aid from the church
went out of the church temporarily, hoping' that the
scales would drop from the eyes of the preachers ere
long. Dr. Albert Barnes stated: '' That there was no
power out of the church that would sustain slavery an
Jiour if it wer$ not sustained in it.''
anti-slavery agitation.
87
Leaders of the Anti-Slavery Party.—Am°ng the
leaders of the anti-slavery party we may mention Par¬
ker Pillsbury, Stephen Poster, James G. Birney and
Samuel Brooke. Mr. Pillsbury said: "The anti-
slavery movement has unmasked the character of the
American church. Our religion has been found at war
with the interests of humanity and the laws of God.
And it is more than time the world was awakened to
its unhallowed influence on the hopes and happiness
of man while it makes itself the palladium of the foul¬
est iniquity ever perpetrated in the sight of Heaven.''
Theodore Parker was another of the strong men who
lent his influence wholly against slavery.
Other Agitators.—Foremost among agitators were
such men as E. P. Love joy, who afterwards gave his
life for the cause, James G. Birney, Cassius M. Clay
and John Brown. Of John Brown it may be said that
it was given to him to write the lesson upon the hearts
of the American people so that they were enabled, a
few years later, to practice the doctrine of resistance
and preserve the nation against the bloody aggressions
of the Southern Confederacy.
Colonization Societies.—These were formed earlier
than any other anti-slavery organizations. Their objects
were to rescue the free colored people of the United
States from the political and social disadvantages and
to place them in a country where they might enjoy the
benefits of free government with all the blessings
which it brings in its train. The American Coloniza¬
tion Society was never able to secure the confidence
and the support of the anti-slavery societies of the day
nor the Negro in general. It did not oppose slavery in
its stronghold, but simply sought to secure a place for
freed Negroes. The press, in many cases, lent its aid
PROGRESS OF A RACfi.
to the colonization societies, but, notwithstanding the
apparent favor which it received, it was readily seen
that to send the Negro to Africa or some other favored
spot was an.impossibility. The society lost strength
WENDELL PHILLIPS.
yearly until all were convinced the race could not be
colonized, but that the Negro must be emancipated
here and remain here.
Wendell Phillips.—One of Mr. Garrison's most able
and earnest supporters was Wendell Phillips. Although
ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION.
89
in many-respects they strangely differed yet they stood
united for the cause of freedom; one was a self-made
man, the other a product of - New England. culture.
One was the executive of the anti-slavery movement,
the other the orator spreading the eloquence that melted'
the fetters from a race and transformed a nation. Mr.
Phillips was a reformer, and early espoused the cause
of anti-slavery. One of his most remarkable addresses
against slavery was made in Faneuii Hall, Boston,
where a number had gathered after the murder of Love-
joy to discuss the subject of slavery. Faneuii Hall was
secured by Dr. Channing. It was crowded at the time
of the meeting, thronged with three factions, some
being for free discussion, some to make mischief, and
others, idle spectators, were swayed to and fro by each
speaker in turn. Resolutions were offered denouncing
the murder of Love joy. To defeat the adoption of
these resolutions a popular politician, attorney-general
of Massachusetts, made a captivating speech and
„ almost succeeded in turning. the audience against the
cause for which they had met. The foes of freedom,
through this astute attorney, captured the hall and
were ready to vote down the resolutions. It was at
this important moment, under the very shadow of the
pending catastrophe, that Wendell Phillips claimed
the floor and with his marvelous voice captivated
the ears of his audience. Mr. Phillips soon made him¬
self master of the situation and hurled anathemas at the
previous speaker, and so completely carried his audi¬
ence with him that at the close, with a whirlwind of
applause, the resolutions were carried by an over¬
whelming vote. Oliver Johnson says of this speech:
"I had heard Phillips once before, and my expecta¬
tions were high, but he transcended them and took the
audience by storm."
00
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
It was a speech to which not even the ablest report
could do justice, for such a report could not bring the
scene and the speaker vividly before the people. Mr.
Phillips, by espousing the cause of anti-slavery, was
ostracised from social circles, for caste at that time in
New England knew no recognition of true moral worth.
It cost Wendell Phillips much when he became an
abolitionist. This speech on Lovejoy's murder in
Faneuil Hall, cut him from all social intercourse with
previous friends. No one but those who have endured
the persecutions of these days can understand what
it cost these men to stand so earnestly for the freedom
of the slaves. Their true moral worth cannot be toe
forcibly presented to the youth of to-day. Long live
in the memory of the present and future generations
men like Wendell Phillips who staked their all and
were ready at any cost to stand for the suppression oi
the slave trade.
Convention of Colored People.—As early as 1831 the
freed Negroes throughout the Northern states deter
mined to do what they could for their brethren ir
bonds. Several conventions were held. A college wa:
to be established and no doubt much good might hav<
been done had they been permitted to continue in thei
work. Able leaders succeeded in making the conven
tion a power, but the intense hatred of the slaver
element succeeded in abolishing these societies com
posed of persons of color. These societies were dis
banded and their members took their places in whit
societies.
The Proposed College.—A plan was proposed at on
of these conventions that a college on the manual-labc
system be established in New Haven. It seems, hovs
ever, New Haven resented the idea of having a colore
antl-slaverv agitation.
CHARLES SUMNER.
A staunch anti-slavery man who did more in Congress for the
freedom of the slave than any other man. He was
Senator from Massachusetts.
college and another site was selected. The disband¬
ing of the colored associations put a stop to this move¬
ment which might have brought so much good to the
whole of the colored race.
Anti-Slavery Women of America.—In 1837 the anti-
slavery women met in their first convention in New
York, and the question as to admitting colored women
92
PROGRESS 01? A RACE.
was discussed and ably defended. It was finally decided
that the society should admit colored members as well.
The following lines by a colored member, Miss Sarah
Forten, justified the hopes of her white sisters concern¬
ing the race:
"We are thy sisters. God has truly said
That of one blood the nations he has made.
Oh, Christian woman, in a Christian land,
Canst thou unblushing read this great command?
Suffer the wrongs which wring our inmost heart,
To draw one throb of pity on thy part.
Our skins may differ, but from thee we claim
A sister's privilege and a sister's name."
Anti-Slavery Orators.—The arguments of anti-
slavery orators were often met by rotten eggs and many
of them were abused. Mr. Garrison was dragged
through the streets of Boston with a halter about his
neck. Colored schools were broken up. Public meet¬
ings were disturbed by pro-slavery mobs. All this
violent, opposition added fuel to the flame and made
the anti-slavery-agitators all the bolder. While the
foreign slave trade had been suppressed slave popula¬
tion was increasing at a wonderful ratio. Garrison's
voice was not uncertain in those days. In July, i860,
he declared: "Our object is the abolition of slavery
throughout the land. I am for meddling with slavery
everywhere—attacking it by night and by day, in sea¬
son and out of season—in order to effect its overthrow.
Down with this slave-holding government! Let this
'covenant with death and agreement with hell' be
annulled! Let there be a free, independent Northern
republic and the speedy abolition of slavery will inev¬
itably follow.''
93
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Literature,—Anti-slavery literature was scattered
throughout the nation. Many pamphlets and books
were written by eminent Negroes informing the pub¬
lic mind, stimulating the action and touching the heart
of the civilized world of two continents. "Uncle Tom's
Cabin," however, pleaded the cause of slavery more
effectually than the millions of anti-slavery books and
pamphlets, presenting the despairing cry of the en¬
slaved, the struggle of fettered manhood, and touched
the sympathies of the youth as well as the aged with a
pity for the slave and a determination to abolish so
hideous an institution.
Harriet Beecher Stowe.—Although Harriet Beecher
Stowe was not permitted to take an active and direct
part in freeing the slaves, yet her work, "Uncle Tom's
Cabin,'' did more in bringing about the final liberation
of the slave than any other agency. This volume has
been translated into many languages. Everywhere
read it is destined to create a sentiment against the
traffic in man.
The Pro-Slavery Reaction.—The agitation of the
anti-slavery question brought about a strong opposition
to any effort made to free the slaves. Rewards of
$10,000 and even $50,000 were offered for the heads of
prominent abolitionists. Andrew Jackson in his mes¬
sage to Congress in 1835, suggested the propriety of a
law that would prohibit, under severe penalties, the cir¬
culation in the Southern states through the mails of pub¬
lications intended to incite the slaves to insurrection.
Attempts to Stifle Discussions.—The legislatures of
the different states, as well as Congress, were next
entreated to prohibit discussions of the slavery ques¬
tion. These efforts were generally defeated in the
North, but in the South were successful.
ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION.
95
Mob Riots.—In many places mob violence was re¬
ported to in breaking up meetings called for the discus¬
sion of anti-slavery questions. Philadelphia had a riot
lasting three nights and the harmless and powerless
blacks were mainly its victims. At Concord, N. H.,
the mob demolished an academy because colored boys
were admitted as pupils. At Northfield, N. H., George
Storrs attempted to deliver an anti-slavery lecture,
but was dragged from his knees while at prayer. On
trial he was acquitted, but soon after was again ar¬
rested and sentenced to three months' imprisonment.
He appealed and that ended the matter.
At Boston, William Lloyd Garrison was dragged
through the streets with a rope around his body, but
was finally rescued by the mayor who protected him
from further violence. In the same city a women's
anti-slavery society was dispersed by a mob while its
president was at prayer. In the South there was but
one mode of dealing with the abolitionists. "Let your
emissaries cross the Potomac and I promise you that
your fate will be no less than Haman's," says a South¬
ern writer.
Rifling the Mails.—Anti-slavery literature was not
permitted to be sent through the mails in the South
and a meeting in Charleston, S. C., unanimously
resolved that all mail matter of this kind should be
burned. The mails were searched and rifled for the
purpose. Attempts were made to bring offenders to
justice, but failure met them in every case.
Congress Suppressing Agitation.—Not only in the
state legislatures, but in Congress, measures were
adopted to suppress the discussion of the slavery ques¬
tion. In 1837 Congress adopted by a vote of 117 to 68
the following1 resolution: "That all petitions, mem-
96
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
orials, resolutions, propositions, or papers relating in
any way to the subject of slavery or the abolition of
slavery shall, without being either first read or referred,
HENRY WILSON.
An anti-slavery agitator and Vice-President in 1872. While in
Congress in 1862 he introduced a bill for the employment
of Negroes as Soldiers.
be laid on the table." Amazing as it may seem, this
heroic treatment was not successful in arresting agi¬
tation and restoring tranquillity to the public mind,
"anti-slavery agitation.
97
so that each succeeding Congress was necessitated to
do the work over again.
John Brown.—One of the most prominent of the
agitators of anti-slavery was John Brown of national
fame. The story of this man's life is too well known
to be repeated here. After laboring for many years
and succeeding in aiding the cause of anti-slavery in
many ways, he attacked Harper's Ferry in 1859 and,
with a number of associates was made a prisoner.
It is vain to under-rate either the man or his work.
With firmness of will and a purpose unconquerable, he
labored for the cause so dear to him and to which he
had given most of his years. After the fight at Har¬
per's Ferry he said: "I never intended plunder or
treason or the destruction of property, or to excite the
slaves to rebellion; I labored only to free the slaves.''
South Carolina, Missouri and Kentucky each sent a
rope to hang him, but Kentucky's, proving the strong¬
est, was selected and used. His last letter, written
before his death to Mrs. George L. Stearns, Boston,
Mass., follows:
"Charleston, Jefferson Co., 29th Nov., 1859.
"Mrs. George L. Stearns, Boston, Mass.
"My Dear Friend: No letter I have received since
my imprisonment here has given me more satisfaction
or comfort than yours of the 8th inst. I am quite
cheerful and never more happy. Have only time to
write you a word. May God forever reward you and
all yours.
"My love to ALL who love their neighbors. I have
asked to be spared from having any mock or hypocrit¬
ical prayers made over me when I am publicly mur-
7
98 progress of A RACE.
dered; and that my only religious attendants be poor
little, dirty, ragged, bare-headed and bare-footed slave
boys and girls led by some old gray-headed slave
mother. Farewell. Farewell,
"Your friend,
"John Brown."
John Brown gave slavery its death wound and his
immortal name will be pronounced with blessings in
all lands and by all people till the end of time.
JOHN BROWN, THE ABOLITIONIST.
CHAPTER V.
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS.
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD SYSTEM—SLAVE POPULATION.
Fugitive Slave Laws.—Very severe and stringent
laws were passed to prevent anyone from aiding the
slaves in attempting to escape to the North. These laws
permitted owners to follow slaves and legally claim
them in other states. Any one suspected of showing
even an act of kindness to a fugitive slave was liable
to be flogged, fined or imprisoned. The greater the
agitation of the question the more severe were these
laws.
Calvin Fairbanks.—Many respected citizens were"
imprisoned and fined for aiding slaves. Calvin Fair¬
banks spent nearly eighteen years in a Kentucky peni¬
tentiary for the crime of aiding poor slaves in gaining
freedom. It is said that during this time he received
35,000 stripes on his bare body. Early in life he had
heard of the sufferings and miseries endured by slaves
and had resolved then to do all in his power to right
the wrongs suffered by the race. He was one of the
first in the Underground Railway work along the Ohio.
A number of times he was arrested in the act of giving
assistance to slaves and committed to prison, where he
suffered untold cruelties from the hands of his keeper.
"I was flogged sometimes bowed over a chair or some
other object, often receiving seventy lashes four times
a day, and at one time received 107 blows at one time,
particles of flesh being thrown upon the wall several
feet away." All this was endured by a white man in
order to free the Negro.
99
100
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Rev. John Rankin, of Ohio, was fined $1,000, besides
serving a term in prison.
W. L. Chaplin aided two young slaves of Georgia to
escape. Caught in the act, he was imprisoned for five
months and releasee1 on a hail of $25,000. His friends,
knowing that he would be convicted and sent to the
penitentiary for a number of years, and perhaps for
life, resolved to pay his bail. All his property was
sacrificed, and through the liberality of that princely
man, Garrett Smith, the sum was raised.
Thomas Garrett, a Quaker of Delaware, one of the
most successful agents of the Underground Railway,
assisted nearly 3,000 slaves to escape from bondage ;
he was at last convicted and fined so heavily that he
lost all his property When the auctioneer had knocked
off his last piece of property to pay the fine he said:
"I hope you will never be guilty of doing the like
again.'' Garrett, although penniless at the age of
sixty, replied: "Friend, I have not a dollar in the
world, but if thee knows a fugitive slave who needs a
breakfast send him to me." It is with pleasure we
learn Mr. Garrett lived to see the day when the slaves
obtained their freedom.
Levi Coffin.—This man of high social position, a
Quaker of Cincinnati, was frequently called the presi¬
dent of the Underground Railway. He succeeded in
aiding about 25,000 slaves in gaining their freedom.
Captain Jonathan Walker.—Mr. Walker took a con¬
tract to build a railroad in Florida and for this purpose
employed a number of Negroes. By kind treatment he
gained the confidence of these slaves who afterwards
persuaded him to aid them in gaining their liberty.
They attempted to escape in a boat to an island not far
away. Captain Walker was taken violently sick, and
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS.
101
the Negroes, not understanding how to manage the
boat, were taken up by another vessel and taken to Key
West. Captain Walker was tried in the United States
Court and was sentenced to be branded on the right
hand with the capital letters "S. S." (slave stealer),
and to pay as many fines as there were slaves; to suffer
THOMAS GARRETT.
From "Underground Railroad," by permission of Author.
as many terms imprisonment; and to pay the costs
and stand committed until the fines were paid. The
initials of the words '' slave stealer'' were branded
upon his hand and he was imprisoned, but his friends
succeeded in raising money to pay his fines and he
was released in 1845. The following lines by Whittier
gave quite another meaning to the brand "S. S.,
102
fROGRESS OF A RACE.
making it a badge of honor, signifying the heroism
and self-sacrifice in spirit of these forerunners of
liberty.
" Then lift that manly right hand, bold plowman of the wave,
Its branded palm shall prophesy Salvation to the Slave;
Hold up its fire-wrought language, that whoso reads may feel
His heart swell strong within him, his sinews change to steel;
Hold it up before our sunshine, up against our Northern air.
Ho! men of Massachusetts, for the love of God, look there!
Take it henceforth for your standard, like the Bruce's heart of
yore;
In the dark strife closing round ye let that hand be seen
before."
Underground Railroad.—By this term we designate
the many methods and systems by which fugitive
slaves from the Southern States were aided in es¬
caping to the North or Canada.
After slavery was abolished in the North slaves
frequently ran away from their masters and attempted
to reach the free states of the North, or better still,
Canada, where they were beyond the reach of their
former masters.
These so-called railroads were most useful auxiliar¬
ies in giving aid to the Negro. Fugitive slave laws
gave masters the right to pursue the slaves into an¬
other state and bring them back. The men interested
-in these railways were men who felt they should fear
God rather than man, that the fugitive slave laws
were unjust and that they should not be obeyed.
They were composed of a chain of good men who
stretched themselves across the land from the borders
of the slave states all the way to Canada. Many fu¬
gitive slaves were thus permitted to escape. They
were carried by night to a place of safety and then
turned over to another conductor who very often
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS.
103
would load up and convey the fugitives in a covered
wagon to the next station. Thus they were carried
on from one place to another. As soon as leaders
rose among the slaves who refused to endure hard¬
ship, the fugitive then came north. George Williams
says? "Had they remained, the direful scenes of St.
Domingo would have been re-enacted, and the hot.
vengeful breath of massacre would have swept the
South as a tornado and blanched the cheek of' the
civilized world.''
Different Branches.—It would be very difficult to
name all the branches of the "Underground Railroad."
They extended all the way from New Jersey to Illi¬
nois. Probably those on which the greatest number
was rescued extended through Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Many local branches existed in different parts of the
country.
William Still.—One of the most active workers in
freeing slaves was William Still. He was chairman and
secretary of the eastern branch of the road. It is won¬
derful what work such men as Mr. Still did in those
days when opposition was so great. A part of the
work that he has done is recorded in " Underground
Railroad." In the preface of this work Mr. Still
says: "In these records will be found interesting nar¬
ratives of the escapes of men, women and children
from the present House of Bondage; from cities and
plantations; from rice swamps and cotton fields; from
kitchens and mechanic shops; from border states and
gulf states; from cruel masters and mild masters;
some guided by the north star alone, penniless, brav¬
ing the perils of land and sea, eluding the keen scent
of the bloodhound as well as the more dangerous pur¬
suit of the savage slave-hunter; some from secluded
DESPERATE CONFLICT IN A BARN.
From "Underground Railroad," by permission of Author.
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS.
105
dens and caves of the earth, where for months and
years they had been hidden away awaiting the chance
to escape; from mountains and swamps, where inde¬
scribable sufferings and other privations had patiently
been endured. Occasionally fugitives came in boxes
and chests, and not infrequently some were secreted
in steamers and vessels, and in some instances jour¬
neyed hundreds of miles in skiffs. Men disguised in
female attire and women dressed in the garb of men
have under very trying circumstances triumphed in
thus making their way to freedom. And here and
there, when all other modes of escape seemed cut off,
some, whose fair complexions have rendered them
indistinguishable from their Anglo-Saxon brethren,
feeling that they could endure the yoke no longer,
with assumed airs of importance, such as they had
been accustomed to see their masters show when trav¬
eling, have taken the usual modes of conveyance and
have even braved the -most scrutinizing inspection of
slave-holders, slave-catchers, and car conductors, who
were ever on the alert to catch those who were con¬
sidered base and white enough to practice such decep¬
tion." Mr. Still says that the passengers on the Un¬
derground Railroad were generally above the average
order of slaves.
Agents.—As the branches of the railroad were nu¬
merous it would be impossible to name any consider¬
able number of the agents of the road. Some of these
nobly periled their all for the freedom of the op¬
pressed. Seth Concklin lost his life while endeavoring
to rescue from Alabama slavery the wife and children
of Peter Still. Samuel D. Burris, whose faithful and
heroic service in connection with the underground
railway cost him imprisonment and inhuman treat-
106 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ment, at last lost his freedom by being sold from the
auction block.
WILLIAM STILL.
See sketch in Chapter XIV.
Stockholders.—Stockholders did not expect any divi¬
dends in this road, nor were any reports published.
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS.
107
Indeed, prudence often dictated that the recipients of
favors should not know the names of their helpers and
vice versa, they did not desire to know others. The
slave 'and his friends could only meet in private to
transact the business of the road. All others were
outsiders. The right hand was not to know what the
left hand was doing. The safety of all concerned
called for still tongues. For a long time no narratives
were written. Probably the best and most authentic
of these thrilling accounts of the struggle for liberty
are found in "Underground Railroad."
Methods Pursued.—Different methods were pursued
to aid fugitive slaves; some availed themselves of
steamboats, railroads, stage coaches, but more fre¬
quently a more private method was resorted to, so as
to escape detection. A number of cases are reported
where colored men were boxed up and shipped by
express across the line.
William Jones, from Baltimore, succeeded in having
his friends box him up and ship him by express to
Philadelphia; for seventeen hours he was enclosed in
the box, but friends at the Philadelphia underground
station succeeded in getting the box safely, and after a
time in sending the slave to Canada.
Mr. Pratt, in his sketches of the underground railway,
gives a number of interesting accounts of escapes,
among which are a mother and daughter who escaped
in a box from Washington to Warsaw, New York.
With the aid of a friend they secured a box, put in it
straw, quilts, plenty of provisions and water, and their
friend carried the box in a spring wagon to the North.
This friend, in order to succeed in his efforts, passed
himself off as a Yankee clock peddler, and as he drove
a wagon and good team, - no questions were asked.
8
108
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
When out of sight of settlements he would open the
box and give the inmates an opportunity to walk in
the night for exercise. The master heard of their
whereabouts and sent slave-hunters to recapture them,
A BOLD STROKE FOR FREEDOM.
From "Underground Railroad," by permission of Author."
but the sentiment against slavery was so strong that
they were not permitted to take them back.
Henry Box Brown.—The marvelous escape of Henry
Box Brown was published widely in papers when the
anti-slavery agitation was being carried on. In point
of interest his case is no more remarkable than any
other; indeed, he did not suffer near as much as many.
He was a piece of property in the city of Richmond.
He seemed to be a man of inventive mind, and knew
that it was no small task to escape the vigilance of
Virginia slave hunters, or the wrath of an enraged
master, for attempting to escape to a land of liberty.
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS.
109
The ordinary modes of travel, he concluded, might
prove disastrous to his hopes, he therefore hit upon a
new invention, which was to have himself boxed up
and forwarded to Philadelphia by express. Size of
box was 2 feet wide, 2 feet 8 inches deep and 3 feet
long. His food consisted of a few small biscuits. He
had a large gimlet which he intended to use for fresh
air if necessary. Satisfied that this would be far better
than to remain in slavery, he entered the box. It was
RESURRECTION OF HENRY BOX BROWN.
From "Underground Railroad," by permission of Author.
safely nailed up and hooped with five hickory hoops,
and addressed by his friend, James A. Smith, a shoe
dealer, to Wm. Johnson, Arch street, Philadelphia,
marked "This side up, with care." It was twenty-six
hours from the time he left Richmond until he arrived
in Philadelphia. The notice, "This side up," did not
avail, for the box was often roughly handled. For
a while the box was upside down and he was on his
head for miles. The members of the vigilance com*
110
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
mittee of Philadelphia had been informed that he
would be started. One of the committee went to the
depot at half past two o'clock in the morning to look
after the box, but did not find it. The same afternoon
he received a telegram from Richmond, "Your case of
goods is shipped and will arrive to-morrow morning."
Mr. McKim, who had been engineering this under¬
taking, found it necessary to change the program, for
it would not be safe to have the express bring it
directly to the anti-slavery office. He went to a friend
who was extensively engaged in mercantile business
who was ready to aid him.^ This friend, Mr. Davis,
knew all the Adams Express drivers, and it was left to
him to pay a trusty man $5 in gold to go next morn¬
ing and bring the box directly to the anti-slavery office.
Those present to behold the resurrection were J. M.
McKim, Professor C. D. Cleveland, Lewis Thompson,
and Wm. Still. The box was taken into the office.
When the door had been safely locked, Mr. McKim
rapped quietly on the lid of the box and called out "All
right." Instantly came the answer from within, "All
right, sir.'' Saw and hatchet soon removed the five
hickory hoops and raised the lid of the box. Rising up
in his box, Brown reached out his hand, saying, "How
do you do, gentlemen. " He was about as wet as if he
had come up out of the Delaware. He first sang the
psalm beginning with these words.- "I waited patiently
for the Lord, and he heard my prayer.'' At the home
of Lucretia Mott he received a cordial reception, and
was entertained for some time, when he went to Boston.
The success of this undertaking encouraged Smith,
who had nailed him up in the box, to render similar
service to two other young bondmen. But, unfortun¬
ately, in this attempt the undertaking proved, a failure.
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS.
Ill
The young men, after being duly expressed and some
distance on the road, were, through the agency of the
telegraph, betrayed, and the heroic young fugitives
were taken from the box and dragged back to helpless
bondage. Smith was arrested and imprisoned for
seven years in a Richmond penitentiary. He lost all
CHARITY STILL,
Who Twice Escaped from Slavery.
his property, was refused witnesses on his trial, and for
five long months, in hot weather, he was kept heavily
chained in a cell 4x8 feet in dimensions. Mr. Smith
had, by his efforts, aided many to gain their liberty.
He received five stabs aimed at his heart by a bribed
assassin. But all these things did not move him from
his purpose. After his release he went North and was
united in marriage at Philadelphia to a lady who had
remained faithful to him through all his sufferings.
Amanda Smith, in her autobiography, tells how her
112
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
father assisted runaway slaves. '' Our house,'' she says,
"was one of the main stations of the underground
railway. My father took the Baltimore Weekly Sun
newspaper, that always had advertisements of runaway
slaves. These would be directed by their friends to
our house and we would assist them on their way to
liberty. Excitement ran very high, and we had to be
very discreet in order not to attract suspicion. My
father was watched closely, as he was suspected of
aiding slaves. After working all day in the harvest
field he would come home at night, sleep about two
hours, then start at midnight and walk fifteen or
twenty miles and carry a poor slave to a place of
security, sometimes a mother and child, sometimes
a man and wife, then get home just before day. Thus he
many times baffled suspicion, and never but once was
thfere a poor slave taken from my father's hands, and if
that man had told the truth he would have been saved.
"One week the papers were full of notices of a slave
who had run away. A heavy reward was offered, a
number of men in our neighborhood deterimned to get
the reward if possible. They suspected our home as a
place of safety for the poor slave. We had concealed
the poor fellow for about two weeks, as there was no
possible chance for father or anyone else to get him
away, so elosely were we watched. One day four men
came on horseback. As father saw them he called to
mother that four men were coming. He met them
and they demanded of him to know whether he had a
nigger there. Father said, 'If I tell you I have not
you won't believe me, if I tell you I have it will not
satisfy you, so search for yourself.' Mother had in the
meantime concealed him between the cords and the
straw tick. The men searched the house, looked under
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS.
the bed, and satisfied themselves that he was not there;
thus we succeeded in saving him from slavery.''
William and Ellen Craft were slaves in the state of
Georgia. The desire to become free became so strong
that they commenced planning to escape. Ellen, being
fair, would pass for a white man, and was to act the part
of master, while William was to be the servant. She
dressed in a fashionable suit of male attire, and was to
pass as a young planter. But Ellen was beardless.
After mature reflection her face was muffled up as
though the young planter was suffering from a face or
toothache. In order to prevent the method of register¬
ing at hotels, Ellen put her right arm in a sling, put on
green spectacles, and pretended to be very hard of
hearing and dependent upon the faithful servant.
Ellen, disguised as a young planter, was to have
nothing to do but to hold herself subject to her ail¬
ments and put on the air of superiority. The servant
was always ready to explain in case of inquiry. They
stopped at first-class hotels in Charleston, Richmond
and Baltimore, and arrived safely in Philadelphia,
where the rheumatism disappeared, her right arm was
unslung, her toothache was gone, the beardless face was
unmufiled, the deaf heard and spoke, the blind saw.
The strain on Ellen's nerves, however, had tried her
severely, and she was physically prostrated for some
time. Her husband, William, was thoroughly colored,
and was a man of marked ability and good manners,
and full of pluck. They were sent to Boston, where
they lived happily until the fugitive slave law was
passed. Then slave hunters from Macon, Georgia,
were soon on their track, but the sympathy of friends
in Boston would not permit their being returned to
Georgia. It was, however, considered best for them
8
114
Progress of a race.
to seek a country where they would not be in daily
fear of slave capturers, backed by the United States
Government. They were therefore sent by their
friends to Great Britain.
In England the Crafts were highly respected. After
the emancipation they returned to the United States
with two children, and, after visiting Boston and
neighboring places, William purchased a plantation
near Savannah, and is living there with his family.
Emancipators Tried.—Those who aided slaves in
their struggle for liberty were often tried and impris¬
oned. Many of them lost all of their property and
suffered much from the hands of slave dealers.
Seth Concklin's noble and daring spirit induced him
to put forth the most strenuous efforts to redeem a
family of slaves. He learned to know Peter Still and
found that his wife and children were still in Alabama
in bondage. After considering the hazardous under¬
taking, he decided to make an attempt to bring the
wife and children of Peter Still to the North. He went
South, laid his plans well, and succeeded in carrying
the family for seven days and seven nights in his skiff,
then traveled hundreds of miles on foot. They at last
reached Vincennes, Indiana. By this time the adver¬
tisements of the runaway slaves had spread all over the
country, and at Vincennes they were arrested and
taken South to their former owner.
Imagine the state of mind of these enslaved ones,
who, after having endured so many hardships and pain,
so near to freedom's territory, were caught and returned
to slavery. Seth Concklin was brutally murdered on
the way south.
Thus we might give numerous cases where slaves
were secreted for months and endured the greatest
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS.
115
hardships and were willing rather to meet death than
to remain in slavery. Several girls made their escape
in male attire, some secreted themselves in woods,
traveling at night. Others succeeded in having friends
hide them in steamers, but the underground railroad,
with all its stations and well-planned schemes, suc¬
ceeded often in defeating the plans of the slave hunt¬
ers. As soon as a slave ran away papers were filled
with advertisements and rewards were offered for their
return. In this way many were looking for slaves so
as to secure the rewards, making the. escape of some
more difficult. One cannot read such books as "The
Underground Railroad, by Wm. Still," or the story of
Peter Still, the kidnapped and the ransomed, without
sincere thankfulness that . slavery is ended, and that a
man is a man without respect to the color of his skin.
Slave Population.—In 1800 the slave population was
over 900,000;. in 1830 it had reached about 2,000,000;
in 1840 it was estimated to be about 2,500,000; and in
1850 it was about 3,000,000. In i860 the aggregate
Negro population in the United States was about
4,500,000, of which about 4,000,000 were slaves. Nearly
3,000,000 of the slaves were in the rural districts of the
South. Southern prosperity depended upon the prod¬
uct of slave labor, which amounted to about $140,000,-
000 per year. It can be readily seen that the Civil
War, which commenced in 1861, was destined to shake
the very foundation of Southern civilization. While
both North and South attempted to keep the real
cause of the war in the background the maxim, "No
question is settled until it is settled right," asserted
itself here, and no real progress was made in the war
until the Northern leaders acknowledged slavery as the
issue, and met the question direct by freeing all slaves.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
116
CHAPTER VI.
THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR.
The part enacted by Negro troops in the War of the
Rebellion is the romance of North American history.
Number Enrolled.—The records of the war depart¬
ment show that there were 178,595 colored men regu¬
larly enlisted as soldiers in the Union army during the
rebellion who by their good conduct established a
commendable record and did efficient service in camp,
fortress and field. The first enlistment of Negroes was
by Gen. Hunter in the Department of the South in
June, 1862. It was made without the authority of the
War Department and was due to an emergency. Gen.
Hunter needed men.
Ready for Enlistment.—At the sound of the tocsin
at the North the Negro waiter, barber, cook, groom,
porter, boot-black, and laborer, stood ready at the
enlisting office- although the recruiting officer refused
to take his name he waited patiently for the prejudice
to be removed, waited two long years before the door
was opened, but even then he did not hesitate but
walked in, and with what effect the world knows.
Opposition to Enlistment.—From the beginning
there was great opposition to enlisting the Negro in
the army. The Northerners even went so far as to
return runaway Negroes to their owners, while the
South kept the Negro on the plantation. The Confed¬
erates, however, found it no easy task to watch the
Negro and the Yankee too; their attention could be
given to but one at a time; as a slave expressed it,
117
118
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
"When Marsa watch the Yankee, nigger go:—when
Marsa watch the nigger, Yankee come."
Objections.—The "New York Times," of February
16,1863,in an editorial summed up the objections to en¬
listing the Negroes as follows: " First, that the Negroes
will not fight. Second, it is said that the whites will
not fight with them. Third, that the prejudice against
them is so strong that our citizens will not enlist or
will quit the service if compelled to fight by their side,
and thus we shall lose two white soldiers for one black
one that we gain. Fourth, it is said that we shall get
no Negroes—or not enough to be of any service.
In the free states very few will volunteer, and in the
slave states we can get but few because the rebels will
push them southward as fast as we advance upon them.
Fifth, the use of the Negroes will exasperate the South.
We presume it will—but so will any other scheme we
may adopt which is warlike .and effective in its charac¬
ter and results. We are not ready with Mr. Vallandin-
ham, to advocate immediate and unconditional peace!
The best thing we can do is to possess ourselves in
patience while the experiment is being tried.''
The President and Secretary of War and a large
majority of the generals in the army acted on the
theory, "This is a white man's war, and the Negro has
no lot or part in it.''
They seemed to be ignorant of the fact that slavery
was the real cause of the war, and hence held to the
principal that all runaway slaves must be returned to
their owners by the Union army.
General Hunter.—To General David Hunter, com¬
manding the army in the South, is given the honor of
organizing the first southern colored regiment. He
could not get white recruits and wg.s surrounded by a
THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR. lid
multitude of able-bodied Negroes who were idle, but
anxious to serve as soldiers. In advance of public
opinion he organized a regiment and was called to
account for it by the Secretary of War. He replied
that he had instructions to employ all loyal persons in
defense of the Union and the suppression of the
rebellion, and hence was not limited as to color. He
informed the secretary that loyal slaves everywhere
remained on their plantations to welcome them, aid
them, supply the army with food and information, and
since they were the only men who were loyal, he had
organized them into a regiment and appointed officers
to drill them. He closed with these words: "The
experiment of arming the blacks, so far as I have
made, has been a complete and even marvelous suc¬
cess. They are sober, docile, attentive and enthusias¬
tic; displaying great natural capacities for acquiring
the duties of the soldier. They are eager, beyond all
things, to take the field and be led into action; and it
is the unanimous opinion of the officers who have
charge of them that in the peculiarities of this climate
and country they will prove invaluable auxiliaries.''
Mr. Wyckliff created a scene in the house by de¬
nouncing General Hunter and declaring that the enlist¬
ments of Negroes was an insult to every white soldier
in the army. Nevertheless Congress authorized the Pres¬
ident to enlist "persons of African descent," but pro¬
vided that they should be used as laborers in the camps
and forts, and were not to be allowed to bear arms.
After a Year.—Towards the close of 1862 the war
clouds were still growing thicker. The Union army
had won few victories; the Northern troops had to fight
in a tropical climate, the forces of nature and an arro¬
gant, jubilant and victorious enemy, but in the face of
120
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
all these discouraging features the President still held
to his views of managing the war without bringing the
subject of slavery to the front. In reply to a deputa¬
tion of gentlemen from Chicago, ;who urged a more
vigorous policy of emancipation, the President denied
the request and stated: "The subject is difficult and
good men do not agree. For instance: The other day,
four gentlemen of -standing and intelligence from New
York called as a delgation on business connected with
the war; but before leaving two of them earnestly be¬
sought me to proclaim general emancipation, upon
which the other two at once attacked them. You know
also that the last session of Congress had a decided ma¬
jority of anti-slavery men, yet they could not unite upon
this policy. And the same is true of the religious people.
Why, the rebel soliders are praying with a great deal
more earnestness, I fear, than our own troops, and
expecting God to favor their side; for one of our
soldiers, who had been taken prisoner, told Senator
Wilson a few days since that he met nothing so discour¬
aging as the evident sincerity of the prayers of those
he was among."
He admitted that slavery was at the root of the
rebellion, but was not willing to act, but just nine days
from that time when he thought a proclamation not
warranted and impracticable, he issued his first Emanci¬
pation Proclamation.
Public Opinion Changes.—When the Union men
began to see the worth of the Negro to the Confederate
army in throwing up breastworks that were often
almost impregnable, they began to complain that the
Negro with his'pick and spade was a greater hindrance
to their progress than the cannon ball of the enemy;
slowly but surely public opinion changed. Congress
GENERAL GRANT AND A COLORED GUARD.
The guard, being under instructions, would not permit even General Grant to pass before he
thrown away his cigar.
121
122
progress of a race.
prohibited the surrender of the Negroes to the rebels,
the President issued his Emancipation Proclamation
and the Negroes were rapidly enlisted.
In the Union Ranks.—Charles Sumner says: '' Those
who have declaimed loudest against the employment of
Negro troops have shown a lamentable amount of
ignorance, and an equally lamentable lack of common
sense. They know as little of the military history and
martial qualities of the African race as they do of their
own duties as commanders. All distinguished generals
of modern times who have had opportunity to use
Negro soldiers have uniformly applauded their subor¬
dination, bravery, and power of endurance.. "Washing¬
ton solicited the military services of Negroes in the
Revolution, and rewarded them. Jackson did the same
in the War of 1812. Under both these great captains
the Negro troops fought so well that they received
unstinted praise.''
Confederate Measures.—The enlistment of Negroes
in the Northern army changed the policy of the South,
and public opinion, now so strongly endorsed in the
North, affected the rebels, who soon passed a measure
for arming 200,000 Negroes themselves.
In the Navy.—In the navy a different course was
pursued from the first. Negroes were readily accepted
all along the coasts on board the war vessels, this being
no departure from the regular and established practice
in the service.
Official Authority.—General Rufus Saxon was the
first officer to receive official authority to enlist Negroes
as soldiers. On the 26th of August, 1862, the Secre¬
tary of War ordered him to proceed" to the Department
□f the South and organize 5,000 troops of "African
descent," which were to be designated for service in
THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR.
123
garrisons not in danger of attack by the enemy, to
relieve white regiments whose terms of enlistment had
expired. But one of General Saxon's first acts after
recruiting a regiment was to send it on a foraging
expedition into the enemy's country. The result was
entirely satisfactory. The colored men proved to be
remarkably good foragers, and brought in more sup¬
plies than three times the number of white men could
have secured.
Recruiting Offices.—Recruiting stations were estab¬
lished throughout the South, and officers were sent out
to enlist slaves. In these journeys through the country
officers often met with strange experiences. Recruits
were taken wherever found, and as their earthly pos¬
sessions usually consisted of but what they wore upon
their backs, they required no time to settle their
affairs. The laborer in the field would lay down his
hoe, or leave his plow, and march away with the
guard. On one occasion a large plantation was visited
and the proprietor asked to call in his slaves; he com¬
plied, and when they were asked if they wished to
enlist replied that they did, and fell' into the ranks
with the guard. As they started away the old man
turned and, with tears in his eyes, said: "Will you
take them all? Here I am an old man; I cannot work;
my crops are ungathered, my Negroes have all enlisted
or run away, and what am I to do?" Several recruit¬
ing officers were tarred and feathered and others were
shot. Several officers were dismissed from the army
for refusing to command Negro troops; others resigned
in preference to doing so.
Indignation.—Although the Confederates anticipated
the Federal government in the employment of Negroes
as military forces, they exhibited a good deal of indig-
9 .
124
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
nation when their example was followed, and the
Records of the Confederate Congress show some sensa¬
tional measures of retaliation threatened against the
government of the United States on this account.
It was proposed, among other things, to raise the black
flag against Negro soldiers and white officers who com¬
manded them, and in some cases this retaliation was
enforced, as at Port Pillow, but finally the Confederate
Congress formally recognized the usefulness of the
Negro as a soldier as well as a laborer, and authorized
President Davis to enlist an unlimited number of col¬
ored troops.
Governor Yates.—This fact was commented upon by
Governor Yates, of Illinois, in a message he sent to the
legislature of that .state, as a most extraordinary phe¬
nomenon in history. He said the leaders of the insur¬
rection had called upon the cause of the insurrection
to save it, and had recognized the intelligence and
manhood of the despised race by lifting it to a level
with themselves. A wise providence, he said, was
directing the destiny of the Confederates, so that they
will terminate the very evil they are fighting to main¬
tain. Slavery was to be the corner stone of their new
Confederacy, but, says Governor Yates, a man who has
been a soldier will never be a slave.
Discrimination.—In the matter of pay there was for
a long time discrimination against the Negro troops.
While the troops of the regular army were paid $13.00
per month, the Negroes received but $10.00, three of
which was deducted on account of clothing. Some
regiments refused to receive $10.00 per month and
others were paid in full. The injustice done the Negro
soldier in this discrimination was often a violation
of a solemn and written pledge of the govern-
126
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ment that declared that they should receive the same
pay and allowances as the white men. In definite
terms, Congress and the War Department was de¬
nounced as the enemy of the Negro in this discrimina¬
tion. All honor to the Fifty-fourth colored regiment
of Massachusetts that refused to receive the $7.00 per
month until the authorities were driven to give equal
pay to Negroes and whites.
General Butler.—Nearly all the generals of the army
opposed the enlistment of the Negro. General Phelps,
stationed at Louisiana, made a bold fight for the
Negro, and attempted to enlist them in and around
New Orleans, but being so strongly opposed by General
Butler, he was forced to resign and return to his home.
The sentiment of the North seemed to admit the
right of the South to hold slaves. That General Butler
afterwards entirely changed his opinion is seen by his
speech on the floor of Congress; when he saidr "It
became my painful duty, sir, to follow in the track of
the charging column, and there, in a space not wider
than the clerk's desk, and three hundred yards long,
lay the dead bodies of three hundred and fifty-three of
my colored comrades, slain in the defense of their
country, who laid down their lives to uphold its flag
and its honor as a willing sacrifice; and as I rode along
among them, guiding my horse this way and that' way
lest he should profane with his hoofs what seemed to
me the sacred dead, and as I looked on their bronzed
faces upturned in the shining sun as if in mute appeal
against the wrongs of the country for which they had
given their lives, and whose flag had only been to them
a flag of stripes on which no star of glory had ever shone
for them—feeling I had wronged them in the past, and
believing what was the future of my country to them
THE-NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR.
127
—among my dead comrades there I swore myself a
solemn oath: 'May my right hand forget its cunning,
and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I
ever fail to defend the rights of those men who have
given their blood for me and my country this day, and
for their race forever;' and, God helping me, I will
keep this oath.''
President Lincoln, when urged by Dr. Patton, of
Chicago, to press the Negro into service said: "If
we were to arm them, I fear that within a few weeks,
the arms would be in the hands of the rebels.''
In Congress.—In Congress a bill was passed to raise
and equip 150,000 soldiers of African descent. Colonel
T. Higginson now watched the acts of Congress and
ascended the St. John's river in Florida and captured
Jacksonville, which had been abandoned by white
Union troops.
The New York Tribune said: "Drunkenness, the
bane of our army, does not exist among our black
troops." "Nor have I yet discovered the slightest
ground of inferiority to white troops.''
Prejudice Broken Down.—The bravery and excel¬
lence of the Negro in the battlefield soon broke down
prejudices against the Negro on the part of the white
officers, and it was not long before 100,000 Negroes
were found in the Union ranks.
Colonel Shaw.—Colonel Shaw commanded the first
colored regiment organized in the free states, the
Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, and it "was this regiment
that played such an important part in the attempt to
take Fort Wagner. After making a forced effort and
march for a day and a night, through swamps and
drenching rains, without food or rest, hungry and
fatigued they reached General Strong's headquarters on
128
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
that memorable morning, just as they were forming
into line of battle. Colonel Shaw made a thrilling
patriotic speech to his men, and, after a most desperate
and gallant fight, succeeded in planting the regimental
flag on the works. The Negro color bearer, John Wall,
was killed. But. Wm. H. Carney seized it, and, after
receiving several wounds, one of which mangled his
arm, brought the flag to the standard with his own
blood on it and shouted, "Boys, the o}d flag never
touched the ground.''
Fort Wagner.—M. S. Littlefield, in writing of Fort
Wagner says: "Sergeant W. H. Carney, Company C,
writes he was with the first battalion, which was in
the advance of the storming column. He received the
regimental colors, pressed forward to the front rank,
near the colonel, who was leading the men over the
ditch. He says, as they ascended the wall of the fort,
the ranks were full, but as soon as they reached the top
'they melted away' before the enemy's fire 'almost
instantly.' He received a severe wound in the thigh,
but fell upon his knees. He planted the flag upon the
parapet, lay down on the outer slope, that he might
get as much shelter as possible; there he remained for
over an hour, till the second brigade came up. He
kept the colors flying until the second conflict was
ended. When our forces retired he followed, creeping
upon one knee, still holding up the flag. It was thus
that Sergeant Carney came from the field, having held
the emblem of liberty over the walls of Fort Wagner
during the sanguinary conflict of the two brigades, and
having received two very severe wounds, one in the
thigh and one in the head. Still he refused to give up
his sacred trust until he found an officer of his regi¬
ment
SERGEANT WM. H. CARNEY.
130
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
"When he entered the. field hospital, where his
wounded comrades were being brought in, they cheered
him and the colors. Though nearly exhausted with
the loss of blood, he said: 'Boys, the old flag never
touched the ground.' Of him as a man and soldier I
can speak in the highest terms of praise.''
Milliken Bend.—"Tauntingly it has been said that
Negroes- won't fight. Who say it, and who but a
dastard and brute will dare to say it, when the battle
of Milliken's Bend finds its place among the heroic
deeds of this war?. This battle has significance. It
demonstrated the fact that the freed slaves will fight."
General Grant says of Milliken Bend: "This was
the first important engagement of the war in which
colored troops were under fire. These men were very
raw, perhaps all had been enlisted since the beginning
of the siege, but they behaved well.''
First Colored Regiment.—The first colored regiment
raised in New Orleans under General Butler, after
remaining in camp for about six months, were quite
efficient in the use of arms. It was then ordered to
report to General Dwight. Its commanding officer,
Colonel Stafford, was disabled, and was not permitted
to go with the regiment. Before the regiment left the
officers assembled at the quarters of Colonel Stafford.
The colored guared marched up to receive the regi¬
mental flags. Colonel Stafford made a speech full of
patriotism and feeling, and concluded by saying:
"Colored guard, protect, defend, die for it, but do not
surrender these flags." The reply of the sergeant
was, "Colonel, I will bring back these colors to you in
honor, or report to God the reason why.''
Port Hudson.—At Port Hudson, "the deeds of hero¬
ism performed by these colored men were such as the
THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR. 131
proudest white men might emulate. Their colors were
torn to pieces by shot, and literally bespattered by
blood and brains. The color-sergeant of the First
Louisiana, on being mortally wounded, hugged the
colors to his breast, when a struggle ensued between
the two color-corporals on each side of him as to who
should have the honor of bearing the sacred standard,
and during this generous contention one was seriously
wounded. One black lieutenant actually mounted the
enemy's works three or four times, and in one charge
the assaulting party came within fifty paces of them.
Indeed, if only ordinarily supported by artillery and
reserve, no one can convince us that they would not
have opened a passage through the enemy's works.
"Captain Callioux, of the First Louisiana, a man so
black that he actually prided himself on his,blackness,
died the death of a hero, leading on his men in the
thickest of the fight. One poor wounded fellow came
along with his arm shattered by a shell, and jauntily
swinging it with the other, as he said to a friend of
mine: 'Massa, guess I can fight no more.' I was with
one of the captains, looking after the wounded going to
the rear of the hospital, when we met one limping
towards the front. On* being asked where he was
going, he said: ' I have been shot bad in the leg, cap¬
tain, and dey want me to go to the hospital, but I guess
I can gib 'em some more yet.' I could go on filling
your columns with startling facts of this kind, but I
hope I have told enough to prove that we can hereafter
rely upon black arms as well as white in crushing this
infernal rebellion. I long ago told you there was an
army of 250,000 men ready to leap forward in defense
of freedom at the first call. You know where to find
fTin-m nrii o f fllAV 23TP. WOTtll. "
132
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
"Although repulsed in an attempt which, situated as
things were, was all but impossible, these regiments,
though badly cut up, are still on hand, and burning with
a passion ten times hotter from their fierce baptism of
blood. Who knows but that it is a black hand which
shall first plant the standard of the republic upon the
doomed ramparts of Port Hudson.''
In the Mississippi Valley.—In many engagements of
the Mississippi valley the colored soldiers won for them¬
selves lasting glory and golden opinions from the
officers and men of white organizations.
The Battle of Wilson's Wharf.—The following ac¬
count is given : "At first the fight raged fiercely on the
left. The woods were riddled with bullets; the dead
and wounded of the rebels were taken away from this
part of the field, but I am informed by one accustomed
to judge, and who went over the fields today, that from
the pools of blood and other evidences, the loss must
have been severe. Finding that the left could not be
broken, Fitz-Hugh Lee hurled his cavalry—dismounted
of course—upon the right. Steadily they came on,
through obstruction, through slashing, past abattis
without wavering. Here one of the advantages of the
colored troops was made apparent. They obeyed
orders, and bided their time. When well tangled in
the abattis the death warrant, "Fire," went forth.
Southern chivalry quailed before Northern balls, though
fired by Negro hands. Volley after volley was rained
upon the superior by the inferior race, and the chivalry
broke and tried to run.''
Petersburg.—This was a stronghold of the Confed¬
eracy. To dislodge them tons of powder were buried
near their lines. It was to be exploded and in the con¬
sequent confusion in the Confederate ranks a charge
FIERCE ENCOUNTER WITH BLOODHOUNDS.
In October, 1862, the Confederates attacked the 1st South Carolina Regiment with bloodhounds. The hounds, so long a terror to
the Negro, rushed fiercely upon the troops. The troops, equal to the occasion, quickly shot or bayonetted them, and triumphantly
held up the beasts speared with their bayonets.
134 PROGRESS OF A RACfi.
was to be made and capture their forces. Four thou¬
sand four hundred Negro braves were on hand to do
this work. The refusal to allow them to do so, many
believe, lost the day to the Union army. Ah! but the
black braves that day proved that they were willing to
fight, bleed and die for their kindred in chains so
cruelly forged. Black men fell on the very parapet of
the enemy's works, in a hand-to-hand fight with their
white antagonists. The soil was saturated in the
blood of the colored valiants. When Petersburg did
fall into Federal hands, and Richmond followed later,
Negro soldiers were among the first to enter the field
and claim these cities in the name of the Federal gov¬
ernment. Close on the fall of these Confederate cities
Lee surrendered at Appomatox under the shade of the
old apple tree. Thus ended the war, leaving our brave
black heroes covered with glory crowned with imper¬
ishable laurels. When, therefore, the last drum shall
beat, the last bugle note shall sound, and the roll call
of nations shall be heard, and the names of Phillips,
Leonidas, Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Napoleon and
Wellington are sounded on the lips of the worshipers
of heroes, with equal praise shall be heard the name
of Attucks, Peter Salem, Captain Cailloux, Colonel
Shaw the talented, and Toussaint L'Overture. A race
with such indomitable courage, under such discourage¬
ments, must have under God a future inspiring and
glorious.
General Smith on Petersburg-.—"The hardest fight¬
ing was done by the black troops. The forts they
stormed were the worst of all. After the affair was over
General Smith went to thank them, and tell them he was
proud of their courage and dash. He said: 4 They can¬
not be exceeded as soldiers, and that hereafter he
THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR.
135
will enter them in a difficult place as readily as the
best.' ''
"The charge on the advanced works was made in
splendid style, and as the 'dusky warriors' stood shout¬
ing upon the parapet, General Smith decided that
'they would do,' and sent word to storm the first
redoubt. Steadily these troops moved on, led by
officers whose unostentatious bravery is worthy of
emulation. With a shout and rousing cheers they
dashed at the redoubt. Grape and canister were
hurled at them by the infuriated rebels. They grinned
and pushed on, and with a yell that told the Southern
chivalry their, doom, rolled irresistibly over into the
work. The guns w;ere speedily turned upon those of
our 'misguided brethren,' who forgot that discretion
was the better part of valor. Another redoubt was
carried in the same splendid style, and the Negroes
have established a reputation that they will surely
maintain.
"Officers on General Hancock's staff, as they rode by
the redoubt surrounded by a moat with water in it,
over which these Negroes charged, admitted that its
capture was a most gallant affair. The Negroes bear
their wounds quite as pluckily as the white soldiers.''
Adjutant General L. Thomas pays the following
tribute to the Negro soldiers: "On several occasions
when on the Mississippi river, I contemplated writing
to you respecting the colored troops, and to suggest
that, as they have been fully tested as soldiers, their
pay should be raised to that of white troops, and I
desire now to give my testimony in their behalf. You
are aware that I have been engaged in the organization
of freedmen for over a year, and have necessarily been
thrown in contact with their orders.
136
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Strict Obedience.—"The Negro, in a state of slav¬
ery, is brought up by the master from early childhood
to strict obedience and to obey implicitly the dictates
of the white man, and they are thus led to believe that
they are an inferior race. Now, when organized into
troops, they carry their habits of obedience with them,
and their officers, being entirely white men, the Negroes
promptly obey them.
Important Addition.—"A regiment is thus rapidly
brought into a state of discipline. They are a religious
people—another high quality for making good soldiers.
They are a musical people, and thus readily learn to
march and accurately perform their maneuvers. They
take pride in being elevated as soldiers, and keep them¬
selves, as their camp grounds, neat and clean. This I
know from special inspection, two of my staff officers
being constantly on inspecting duty. They have proved
a most important addition to our forces, enabling the
Generals in active operations to take a large force of
white troops into the field; and now brigades of blacks
are placed with the whites. The forts erected at the
important points on the river are nearly all garrisoned
by blacks—artillery regiments raised for the purpose,
, say at Paducah and Columbus, Kentucky; Memphis,
Tennessee; Vicksburg and Natchez, Mississippi, and
most of the works around New Orleans.
Heavy Guns.—"Experience proves that they manage
the heavy guns very well. Their fighting qualities
have also been fully tested a number of times, and I
have yet to hear of the first case where they did not
fully stand up to their work. I passed over the ground
where the First Louisiana made the gallant charge at
Port Hudson, by far the stronger part of the rebel
works. The wonder is that so many have made their
138
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
escape. At Milliken's Bend, where I had three incom¬
plete regiments—one without arms until the day prev¬
ious to the attack—greatly superior numbers of the
rebels charged furiously up to the very breastwork.
The Negroes met the enemy on the ramparts, and both
sides freely used the bayonet, a most rare occurrence
in warfare, as one or the other party gives way before
coming in contact with the steel. The rebels were
defeated with heavy loss. The bridge at Moscow, on
the line of railroad from Memphis to Corinth, was
defended by one small regiment of blacks. A cavalry
attack of three times their number was made, the
blacks defeating them in three charges made by the
rebels."
General S. 0. Armstrong, who for years was at the
head of Hampton Institute, says: "Two and one-half
years' service with Negro soldiers (half a year as
captain and major in the One Hundred and Twentieth
New York Volunteers) as lieutenant-colonel and
colonel of the Ninth and Eighth regiments of the
United States colored troops, convinced me of the excel¬
lent qualities and capacities of the freedmen. Their
quick response to good treatment, and to discipline,
was a constant surprise. Their tidiness, devotion to
their duty and their leaders, their dash and daring in
battle, and ambition to improve, even studying their
spelling books under fire, showed that slavery was a
false, though doubtless for the time being an educative,
condition, and that they deserve as good a chance as
any people.
A Cavalry Force.—"A cavalry force of three hun¬
dred and fifty attacked three hundred rebel cavalry
near .the Big Black with signal success, a number of
prisoners being taken and marched, t<? Vicksburg,
THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR.
139
Forrest attacked Paducah with 7,500 men. The garri¬
son was between 500 and 600, nearly 400 being colored
troops recently raised. What troops could have done
better? So, too, they fought well at Fort Pillow till
overpowered by greatly superior numbers. The
above enumerated cases seem to be sufficient to de¬
monstrate the value of the colored troops.''
Few of Many Tributes.—These are but few of the
many tributes that generals and white leaders have
cheerfully given to the loyalty, valor and bravery of
the colored troops during the war. George Williams
truly says: "No officer, whose privilege it was to com¬
mand or observe the conduct of these troops, has ever
hesitated to give a full and cheerful endorsement of
their worth as men, their loyalty as Americans, and
their eminent qualifications for the duties and dangers
of military life. No history of the war has ever been
written without mentioning the patience, endurance,
fortitude, and heroism of the Negro soldiers who
prayed, wept, fought, bled and died for the preserva¬
tion of the Union of the United States of America."
Items of Interest.—History records the fact that
during the late rebellion the Negro soldiers partici¬
pated in more than four hundred engagements.
There were between four and five hundred Negro
soldiers who were engaged in the battle of New
Orleans.
About 6,000 Negroes were connected in different
ways with the Confederate army.
The first colored regiment to enter the services of
the rebellion was the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Vol¬
unteers. ,
In Present Service.—At present time there are four
regiments of Qolorect me&. in. the regular service, two
140
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
of cavalry and two of infantry. They are commanded
by white officers and have done very good service in
Indian warfare. Their constitutions endure the heat
of the Southern states much better than those of the
white men, and they have been particularly valuable
along the Mexican border.
In Military Academy,—James Smith, of Columbia,
S. C., was the first colored student to enter the U. S.
military academy at New York. Up to date there
were ten colored cadets, admitted, of whom three
graduated.
Colored Soldiers of Georgia.—The colored soldiers
of the state are pleading for proper aid from the state
they have enlisted to defend. They deserve help,
if the following letter be true, which was written
by one of the oldest colored soldiers in the state.
"The colored soldiers of Georgia have maintained,
their military organizations for twenty-six years. At
the re-organization of the state militia in 1888, there
were forty-seven colored companies of infantry uni¬
formed and equipped by themselves at a cost of not
less than $25,000. Besides this, they furnished their
own armories, fuel and lights, the cost of which, added
to the above, would make the amount spent by the
colored soldiers themselves for their support and for
an opportunity to assist in defending the state for a
period of twenty-six years, more than $95,000. This
money has come from the poor or average colored citi¬
zen, as the majority of colored soldiers come from that
class of our people. Though these men are Georgians,
they love their name, they love their honor, and they
are willing to lay down their lives in the defense of
her soil. All they ask at the hands of those in power
is to treat them as citizens and as soldiers.
CHAPTER VII.
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT.
Hon. Frederick Douglass once said in a great pub¬
lic meeting in New York: "The colored race will not
crawl in the dirt forever. It is honorable to do white¬
washing, but there is no reason why my people should
do that and nothing else. The day will come in which
they will be found in all pursuits, achieving distinction
and showing capabilities which they were never sup¬
posed to possess. The destiny of the colored race is in
their own hands, they must bear and suffer, they must
toil and be patient, they must carve their own fortunes,
and they will do it.''
Statement Verified.—Thirty-five years have gone
since the shackles of the slave were broken. Is the
truth of Mr. Douglass' statement being verified? Look
at the colored race of that time, grossly ignorant, desti¬
tute of clothing, without homes, without name, perse¬
cuted, forced to bear much on account of the prejudices
against color. This despised race to-day after so few
years has made progress such as history nowhere else
records. Although much remains to be done, yet to¬
day we find the Negro recognized as a man, having the
sympathy and respect of all, filling important and hon¬
orable positions throughout the land; greatly improved
and exalted in his home life; recognizing that he has a
part to do in the elevation of his race, aiming at the
highest success, and determined to stand among the
best citizens and the most useful members of society.
He is determined that there shall be no better schools
than his own, no grander statesmen, no more success-
141
142
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
fnl business men, none better known in the professional
life, no happier homes, no more cultivated women,
none better, more moral, upright and righteous than
his own. Look at that picture and then at this, and the
fact that the Negro is rapidly rising will dawn at once
upon the most skeptical of minds.
Hopeless Condition.—Prof. Bowensays: "When the
famous edict of freedom went forth on January i, 1863,
the Negro, instead of being born into a state of liberty
and freedom, was damned into it. For well-nigh eight
generations he had been worked like dumb, driven
cattle and punished like a brute, crushed with the iron
hoof of oppression and repression; whipped, torn,
bleeding in body, mind and soul; day after day, year
after year, he had toiled, sweated, groaned and wept,
but there had been no hope of reward to lighten his
burdens. He had no wife, no children, no altar; no
home, no hope, no-purpose; no motive, no aspiration,
no thought, no life, but he had a God. He was a thing,
a dog, a brute, an animal. His notions, even among
his preachers, were crude.; he had seen her whom he
had desired to call his wife torn from his side, insulted,
degraded, banished; he had looked upon his fondlings
with an indescribable heartache as they were sold from
under his eye; he had been trained in theft, dishonesty
and duplicity; he had drank deeply from the bitter
waters of crime and lewdness. He was ignorant of the
duties, and even privileges of Christianity, and of the
responsibilities and possibilities of the family life.
Thus he walked forth on that famous morn, out from
the tomb of his living and torturing death, with abso¬
lutely nothing in his hands, his head, his heart, his
pocket, and he went forth to try his fortunes in a new
world.
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 143
Freedom Gave Him His Hands.—Freedom gave him
his hands and his wife to start with, two great boons;
with the hand to chip out his place and to work with 9,
royal will, and with a wife to build his altar and weave
his destiny, he is endowed as never before. Hence
the Negro at the close of the war, was all that Ameri¬
can slavery would make any people, viz., bestialized
and animalized; ignorant, poor, crude, rude, helpless,
moneyless and thoughtless. American slavery was not
a blessing; it was a curse. The good that came to the
Negro (and there was good even in so baneful contact)
came in spite of slavery. "Endeavor, then, to com¬
bine the whole in one view—to take in the full idea of
this mighty mass of evil, in all the suffering of mind
and body which it inflicts, in all its brutalizing effects
and demoralizing tendencies on the slave and on his
master—the misery which it entails on man, and the
guilt which incurs in the sight of God—and you will
have some conception of the multiplied and horrifying
evils of slavery.''
Not Surpassed in History.—This view represents
the status of the' Negro at the close of the war. No
other slavery in all history has ever succeeded to so
great an extent as has this American slavery in degrad¬
ing the women of a race and in corrupting the fountain
of every virtue; and were it not that the gospel is all
conquering and all purifying, we would be hopeless.
Degraded by Compulsion.—"The slave Negro," says
Professor Bowen, 1 'was taught by precept and authori¬
tative commandment, as well as trained by example and
driven by the merciless lash, to commit adultery and
fornication, and to live in the murky and unrestrained
passions of the flesh that rush on through the open
sluices of libertinism and shame down through the
144
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
gates of hell. W^° dare deny it, and will buttress that
denial with fact? A thousand trustworthy witnesses
will confirm it, who carry in their minds and souls the
imprint of that lustful period, and who can speak that
which they do know and testify to what they have seen
and felt." President Dewey, of William and Mary
College, in Virginia, speaking of the slave trade, says:
'' It furnishes every inducement to the master to attend
to his Negroes, to encourage breeding and to cause the
greatest number of slaves to be raised." "Virginia is,
indeed, a Negro-raising state for other states." "The
noblest blood of Virginia," says Paxton in a letter to
Jay, "runs in the blood of her slaves." The slave had
no marriage or family rights. Dr. Taylor, in his
'' Elements of the Civil Law,'' says: 4' Slaves were not
entitled to the condition of matrimony, and therefore
had no relief in cases of adultery, nor were they the
proper objects of cognation or affinity, but of quasi
cognation only.'' And the Louisiana reports quoted
by Wheeler in his "Law of Slavery,'' page 199, declare:
"It is clear that slaves have no legal capacity to assent
to any contract. With the consent of their masters
they may marry, but while in a state of slavery it can
not produce any civil effects." "No slave," says Jay,
"can commit bigamy, because the law knows no more
of marriage of slaves than it does of the marriage of
brutes. A slave may indeed be formally married, but,
as far as legal rights and obligations are concerned, it
is an idle ceremony.''
Slave Breeders.—The cruelties of the lash did not in
any measure equal in degradation the action of the gain-
greedy and conscienceless slave breeders, who sold
wives into separation from their husbands and com¬
pelled them to accept new partners in order that the
fruitfulness of the plantation might not suffer.
MORAL AND SOCiAL ADVANCEMENT.
145
Well Known to Slave Holders.—Professor Bow¬
ers says, "The deplorable condition of the slaves
was well known to the slave-holders and aboli¬
tionists. The legally closed school house and church,
and the cupidity of master, as well as his inhu¬
manity and brutality, were bringing forth fruit of the
blackest kind and in prodigious quantities. Human
reason hesitates to accept, without convincing proof,
the horrible tale of woe, and when this tale is well
authenticated it sits dumb and speechless in its pres¬
ence. These are not the fancies of verdant youth, nor
are they the ravings and discolorations of an unbal¬
anced brain, neither are they the highly colored tales
of the Arabian Nights; but they are the statements of
honorable slaveholders, the careful compilations and
observations of the white ministry in the South during
slavery, and the unvarnished accounts of the actual
sufferers themselves.
Why Stated.—Let it be borne in mind that these
facts are not written to feed the almost quenchless fires
of prejudices. I would walk, face forward, in the
presence of that harrowing and nameless shame and
cover it with the garment of Christian charity; but my
only apology for uncovering this pit of seething, reek¬
ing and nauseating corruption is to show from whence
we came, and to refute the statement that slavery
was the halcyon days of purity and moral power for the
Negro, and to show the absurdity of the claim that the
slave-driver's whip and bloodhounds are superior moral
teachers for a man to sympathetic, consecrated and
humanity-loving teachers with a spelling book in one
hand and the Bible in the other. And again these
words are written to show the Negro himself the black
heritage he has brought with him from slavery, and
10
146
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
to impress with, him the thought that heroic treatment,
patiently and persistently administered, will ultimately
develop in him those moral qualities that are necessary
to a happy life.''
Heathenism.—On the 5th of December, 1833, a com¬
mittee of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, to
whom was referred the subject of the religious instruc¬
tion of the colored population, made a report, which
has been published, and in which this language is used:
"Who would credit it that in these years of revival
and benevolent effort in this Christian republic there
are over 2,000,000 of human beings in the condition of
heathens, and in some respects in worse condition?
From long continued and close observation, we believe
that their religious and moral condition is such that
they may justly be considered the heathen of this
Christian country, and will bear comparison with the
heathen of any country in the world. The Negroes
are destitute of the Gospel, and ever will be under the
present state of things. In the vast field extending
from an entire state beyond the Potomac to the Sabine
river, and from the Atlantic to the Ohio, there are, to
the best of our knowledge, not twelve men exclusively
devoted to the religious instruction of the Negroes.
In the present state of the feeling in the south, a min¬
istry of their own color could neither be obtained or
tolerated. But do not the Negroes have access to the
Gospel through the stated ministry of the whites? We
answer, No; the Negroes have no regular and efficient
ministry; as a matter of course, no churches; neither
is there sufficient room in white churches for their
accommodation. We know of but five churches in the
slave-holding states built expressly for their use; these
are all in the State of Georgia. We may now inquire
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 147
if they enjoy the privileges of the Gospel in their own
houses and on plantations? Again we return a nega¬
tive answer. They have no Bibles to read by their
own firesides; they have no family altars; and when
in affliction, sickness or death, they have no minister
to address to them the consolations of the Gospel, nor
to bury them with solemn and appropriate services.
Humane Masters.—In every state there were masters
who were kind-hearted and genuinely sympathetic,
who treated their slaves with consideration, and some of
them taught their slaves to read; had them to marry
according to the requirements of the church; did not
allow them to violate with impunity, nor did these
masters themselves violate, the marriage vows of the
slaves; took them to their churches and had them to
share the benefits of the pulpit ministrations, and
thus acted towards them in the capacity of fathers and
mothers towards their children. There was genuine
affection between them, and these slaves were the fav¬
ored ones in the South, and the ex-slaves of to-day who
had such masters, never cease to sing their praise.
Few in Number.—But it must be borne in mind that
such slave-masters were exceedingly few and far
between, and what is still more remarkable, such
moral, intellectual and spiritual care of the slave by
these few noble spirits was contrary to the letter and
spirit of the law in every slave state.
The law of certain states forbade the use of the
Bible or any other .book, and also religious meetings of
the Negroes, unless a majority of whites were present.
All prohibited the impartation of instruction, while Vir¬
ginia unequivocally forbade all evening meetings. '' In
the House of Delegates of Viginia, in 1832, Mr. Berry
said: 'We have, as far as possible, closed every avenue
148
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
by which light might enter their (the slaves') minds.
If we could extinguish the capacity to see the light our
work would be completed; they would then be on a
level with the beasts of the field, and we should be safe!
I am not certain that we would not do it if we could
find out the process, and that on the plea of necessity.' ''
Defending Slavery.—Dr. Blyden, in his "Christian¬
ity, Islam and the Negro," says: "The highest men
in the South, magistrates, legislators, professors of
religion, preachers of the gospel, governors of states,
gentlemen of property and understanding, all united
in upholding a system which every Negro felt was
wrong. Yet these w;ere the men from whom he got
his religion, and whom he was obliged to regard as
guides. Saints, no doubt, there were among the bond¬
men, but they became so not in consequence, but in
default, and often, we may say, in defiance, of instruc¬
tions. '' The sacredness of the marriage relation, the
punishments for fornication and adultery, ethical integ¬
rity, the glories and rewards for faithful service, and
the duties, privileges, and opportunities of the Christian
life, were never discussed before and unfolded to the
slave. Where he was permitted to hold meetings he
was trained in the most grotesque types of. worship;
his emotions and wildest eccentricities were cultivated,
and his motives for life were drawn from no higher
source in the main than this temporary, enthusiastic
and emotional worship.
Financial Consideration.—He was trained in certain
handicraft for financial consideration. The lash was
his taskmaster, and from him he received no view of
the dignity of labor. A man may learn mechanics by
force, but not ethics. The last may make (?) a good
blacksmith, but not a good conscience, There was no
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 149
thought among the slaveholders of improving the slave
in any element for the slave's sake.
A Struggling Race,—President Wright saj^s: '' Ex¬
tremely interesting must such a task be when it is
understood that the history of the American Negro is
the history of a race struggling amid environments
and against difficulties such as no similar nation in all
history has had to meet. It is pretty generally agreed
that the Negro in America introduces a problem with¬
out a parallel. His history is unique. Properly given
in all its phases, the narrative would teem with inci¬
dents and achievements almost romantic.
''The surrender of General Lee was the occasion of
the total collapse of the social and industrial features
of the old Georgia progress. Society among the white
people for the time was thrown into almost chaotic con¬
dition, but it was for the moment only. They under¬
stood how to cover a rout, to gather the demolished
fragments and reform.
"But how was it with the Negro? Had he ever any
conception of society, of voluntary order? Had one-
tenth of one per cent of them ever looked into a book
or saved a dollar?
Ignorance Equaled by Poverty.—Their ignorance
was equaled only by their poverty. Improvident and
totally helpless, the freedman was well nigh friendless.
Considered by many as property illegally taken from
those among whom his lot was to be cast hereafter as a
citizen, he was looked upon as an intruder in the body
politic. Hindered, rather than helped, by those whom
he knew best; confused by his new surroundings, and
with his intellectual and moral abilities subjects of
misunderstanding and doubt on the part of his friends,
the Negro of Georgia was sent forth in 1865 to develop
150
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
character, to get education and money, and to prove
himself worthy the freedom which was thrust upon
him. In short, he was to maintain himself as a freed-
man and citizen in the midst of his old masters, who
had enjoyed centuries of civilization. That it was a
great task all will acknowledge; that under its environ¬
ments it was a feat fraught with much doubt, few will
deny. But while this condition was pitiable, it was
not hopeless. Under slavery, he, though a simple
child of the shovel and hoe, had developed a faith in
God which was abiding, and had obtained a working
knowledge of the English tongue. These were his sole
stock in trade, but they were very valuable. To under¬
stand, then, the difficulties which the Negro has over¬
come and to estimate the progress which he has made
in the past thirty years, his condition at emancipation
must be borne steadily and faithfully in mind.
Difficult to Comprehend.—It is difficult to compre¬
hend the utter poverty and disheartening ignorance
which enveloped the colored people at the beginning
of the period under discussion. They began without
any adequate amount of food, clothing or shelter; a
vast majority without the least conception of a school
or a home. Their exertions to obtain food, clothing,
and shelter, certainly greatly retarded their efforts
for book learning. They did not know how to make
contracts or agreements for wages. Consequently they
worked the first year for a bare subsistence; with a few
exceptions their first possessions outside of food and
clothing were bought during the second year, and con¬
sisted of oxen and mules and farming implements.
They began to rent lands in the third year, and in the
fourth to buy land. This was the rule; there were
exceptions. To fully understand the educational devel-
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 151
opment of the first decade, would require a thorough
knowledge of the colored man's progress and achieve¬
ments as a free laborer; for the labor question and
educational problem are, as Siamese twins, insepar¬
able. ''
Moral Improvement.—"Talks for the Times" says:
"To estimate fairly their improvement in this direc¬
tion it would be necessary to realize, if possible, the
depth of degradation to which two hundred and fifty
years of thralldom had sunk them, and to take into
consideration at the same time the fact that the moral
nature of man everywhere and among all people is by
far the most difficult to train. This being so, what
must be the task to repair it, after it has been bruised
and maimed and twisted and gnarled and distorted?
A crooked limb, by proper appliances, may be straight¬
ened. A bone of the body may be broken and set, and
become even stronger in the fractured parts; but man
cannot sin and be strong. The violation of the moral
law means, in every instance, the sapping of moral
foundations, the weakening of the moral nature. When,
therefore, I consider by what processes, during two
centuries, the moral groundwork of my people was
undermined and shaken, it is no wonder that to-day
many of them are found immoral. The greater won¬
der is that their moral perception has not been entirely
swept away. Many people,, however, and those,
especially, who stigmatize us as a race peculiarly
immoral, do not reason in this way. They do not seem
to realize that slavery was a school ill adapted to the
producing of pure and upright characters. Can you
rob a man continually of his honest earnings and not
teach him to steal? Can you ignore the sanctity of
marriage and the family relations and not inculcate
152 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
lewdness? Can you constantly govern a man with the
lash and expect him always to speak the truth? If you
can do these things, then, verily, are my people dishon¬
est, impure and untruthful. But our enemies demand
of us perfection. They are unreasonable. They require
among us in twenty short years a state of moral recti¬
tude which they-themselves, with far more favorable
opportunities, have not realized in one hundred times
twenty. They are unphilosophical, for they do not
perceive that diseases are more quickly contracted than
cured.
Negro Immoralities.—"Very amusing, too, it is to
listen to the hue and cry sent up every little while
against Negro immoralities; such a cry and howl as
went up but recently from the swamps of the Missis¬
sippi, and are still reverberating through the country
with a jarring sound. Very amusing, I say, it is to
listen to these cries against Negro immoralities, when
the same immoralities are continually cropping out
among the white people, professedly our superiors.
How many times within the last two decades, has this
nation had to hang its head in shame because of the
dishonesty of its public men! What about Credit
Mobilier and the Tamany frauds? What about whis¬
ky rings? What about cipher dispatches? What about
Star Route trials? What about the stuffing of ballot
boxes? What about the defalcation and impeachment
of high state officials? And* so on, and so on, ad
infi?iitum.
In Proportion to Opportunities.—"We have not had
a fair chance in this country; but, in proportion to our
opportunities we can show as many good, virtuous,,
law-abiding citizens as any other race on this "continent.
Wherever, in the South, Christian education has
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT
153
reached the freedmen it has awakened in them a taste
for the true and beautiful. This may be seen in the
changed manner of living of many of them. The dirty
shanty and clumsy log cabins in which, formerly, so
many were accustomed to be huddled together, are
retreating, step by step, before the steady advance of
neat and cozy cottages. Christian homes, the strength
of any nation, are being built up, decorated with the
beauties and improvement of modern art,
Negro Domination.—"Old civilizations die hard, and
old prejudices die harder. They have nine lives, like
a cat. For this reason, therefore, you may expect for
many a year yet to find those who are still living in
the dead past, and who feel it their duty to champion
the old order of things, and to throw stumbling blocks
in the path of progress. I entertain no ill will toward
this class of persons. I have for them no word of cen¬
sure or reproach. I give them the credit of even being
sincere; but I assure them from every page of history
and human experience they are mistaken. They are
at war with the spirit of the age and the sermon on
the mount. Nor are they even consistent. They
advocate the theory of repression. They say the
Negro must be kept down for fear of Negro domination.
On the other hand, they hold that he is an inferior race,
fundamentally inferior, created so by almighty God.
Why, in the name of righteous heaven should it be
necessary to keep down a race that is naturally inferior?
Why should there be any fear of its ever becoming
dominant? There is something crooked in this philos¬
ophy. To say the least, there is something in it
exceedingly incongruous. Nevertheless it is this kind
of philosophy that is sending armed ruffians into first-
class cars to drag them from their seats, for which they
154
Progress of a RAcfi.
have honestly paid their money, the best men and
women of our race. It is this kind of philosophy that
is shutting- everywhere in our faces the doors of public
accommodation. It is this false philosophy, I say, by
which it is made to appear that every advancement of
the Negro is a menace to the interests of the white
man; and it is this philosophy that will ever keep alive
in the South race antagonism.
Inconsistent, Incorrect and Narrow Views.—"The
men who,.advocate this philosophy are not only incon¬
sistent, but incorrect, and exceedingly narrow in their
views as to the nature of this government. They claim
that it is not only a 'white man's' government, but
an Anglo-Saxon government, thereby robbing of
their merit and glory the noble-minded foreigners who
helped fight for American independence, and the
hundreds of thousands more who were not Anglo-
Saxons, but who, during four years of a terrible civil
war fought as bravely and as heroically as any Anglo-
Saxon to save this nation from dissolution and ruin.
Did not Lafayette, that gallant Frenchman, fight for
American independence? Let the battle of Brandy wine
tell. Did not Count Pulaski, the noble Pole, fight for
American independence? Let the same battle of
Brandywine tell. Did he not afterward even fall in an
attempt to capture Savannah? Did not Kosciusko,
another Pole, and even far more distinguished than the
other, cast in his fortune with the cause of American
independence? And what shall we say of the hundreds
of thousands who were not Anglo-Saxons, but who
poured out their life blood at Gettysburg and the Wil¬
derness and Chickamauga, and around the defenses of
Richmond and Vicksburg? Indeed, it is my belief,
that if all the blood that is not Anglo-Saxon could be
MORAL AN£> SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 155
drawn off from the great stream supplying our national
life," that which remained would be conspicuous for the
insignificance of its quantity.''
Look Not for Greatness.—Senator Logan once said:
If there is any one -thing that will clog the wheels of
your material progress it is the fact that some of you
are trying to overreach yourselves. Do not become
dazzled at the splendor and magnificence of those who
had hundreds of years to make this country what it is
today. No man is a success who has not a fixed object
as a sign-post—an aim in life to attain unto. A man
should get that kind and that amount of education that
will best fit him for the performance and the attain¬
ment of his object in life. Too much Greek will do
you no good; what does a man want with Greek
around a table with a white apron on? I do not say that
you should not study Greek if you intend to fill a chair
in some institution of learning; I do not say that you
should not read medicine if you desire to become a
physician, or law if you wish to follow that profession..
But I tell you our white people are fast growing indo¬
lent and lazy. If you watch your chance and take
timely advantage of the opportunities offered you,
your race will be the wage workers, the skilled arti¬
sans, and eventually the land owners and the wealthy
class of this country. I advise you to learn trades,
learn to become mechanics. You have the ability and
the capacity to reach the highest point, and even go
further, in the march of progress than has yet been
made by any people.
Labor to Become Great.—It takes labor to become a
great man, just as it takes centuries to become a great
nation. Great men are not fashioned in heaven and
thrown from the hand of the Almighty to become
11
156 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
potentates here on earth, nor are they born rich.
I admit that there is, in some parts of this country, a
prejudice against you on account of your color and
former condition. In my opinion the best way to
overcome this is to show your capability by doing
everything that a white man does, and do it just as
well or better than he does. If a white man scorns
brooks sanders. daughter of
Son of Pres. Sanders, of Biddle bishop c. r. harris,
University, Charlotte, N. C. Salisbury, N. C.
you, show him that you are too high bred, too noble
hearted, to take notice of it; and, the first opportunity
you have, do him a favor, and I warrant that he will
feel ashamed of himself and never again will he make
an exhibition of his prejudice. The future is yours,
and you have it in which to rise to the heights or
descend to the depths.
moral And social advancement. 157
In America.—I believe that the future of the Negro
race is to be found in the segment of that race provi¬
dentially lodged on this soil. Say what we may about
this or that, these United States have given us the
most advanced, the most progressive Negro to be found
on the face of the globe. And this is true for the
reason that she is giving him the largest all-round
opportunities, the highest civil ideals, and the steadiest
aims. The troubles we suffer here in 5ur day are only
a part of the old, old conflict that has raged so long.
"Must we be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize
And sailed through bloody seas?"
No, we cannot be, and will not be, though we may
wish to ever so much. "Through conflict to the skies,"
is as true for dark humanity as for any other variety
of men. Had we then not better learn this lesson and
cease our shameful grumbling, as if the Almighty had
done us some special wrong? God has given us minds
to tfiink, hands to work and hearts to love. Let us
subject these God-given powers to the regimen of a
severe discipline, and, walking with hope to the future,
work out a noble destiny for ourselves and our children.
Change During Years of Bondage.—Said Rev. A. D.
Mayo, at the Mohonk conference in 1890: "It has
never been realized by the loyal North what is evident
to every intelligent Southern man, what a prodigious
change has been wrought in this people during its years
of bondage, and how, without the schooling of this era,
the subsequent elevation of the emancipated slave to a
full American citizenship would have been an impossi¬
bility. In that condition he learned the three great
elements of civilization more speedily than they were
158 PROGRESS OF A KAt.*,.
ever learned before. He learned to work, lie acquired
the language, and adopted the religion of the most
progressive of peoples. Gifted with a marvelous apti¬
tude for such schooling, he was found in 1865 farther
out of the woods of barbarism than any other people at
the end of a thousand years.''
In Twenty Years.—The scholastic education of the
Negro began in earnest only about twenty years ago,
1876 being the date of the complete inauguration of
the public school system of the South. This is too
short for us to expect great results. The educated
generation are not yet fairly out of school, but there
have already appeared some isolated cases which show
signs of promise. In the class of 1888 at Harvard
University were two Negroes, one of whom was selected
by the faculty to represent his class on commencement
day, as being the foremost scholar among his two hun¬
dred and fifty classmates ; the other was elected by the
class for the highest honor in their gift, by being made
their orator on class day. The circumstance reflects
honor, not merely on him, but on the democratic spirit
of our oldest university, which recognized merit with¬
out regard to color. Boston University has also yielded
first honors to a* Negro. A Negro professor of
theology at Straight University, at New Orleans, is a
graduate of Vermont University, who afterwards took
the prize for traveling scholarship from Yale Theo¬
logical Seminary, and spent a year in Germany upon
it. Professor Bowen, of the Gammon Theological
Seminary, delivered at the Atlanta Exposition opening
an address which in classic finish will bear comparison
with the best orations of Edward Everett. The prin¬
cipal of one of our auxiliaries, Mr. E. N. Smith, a
perfect gentleman and an excellent teacher, is a full
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 159
blooded Negro, a graduate of Lincoln University and
Newton Theological Institution, and pronounced by
Dr. Hovey one of the best scholars that have been
educated there.
False Hopes.—The most obvious hindrance in the
way of the education of the Negro has so often been
presented and discussed—his origin, history and envir¬
onment—that it seems superfluous to treat it anew.
His political status, sudden and unparalleled, compli¬
cated by antecedent condition, excites false hopes and
encourages the notion of reaching per saltum, without
the use of the agencies of time, labor, industry, discip¬
line, what the dominant race had attained after cen¬
turies of toil and trial and sacrifice. Education, prop¬
erty, habits of thrift and self-control, higher achieve¬
ments of civilization, are not extemporized nor created
by magic or legislation. Behind the Caucasian lie
centuries of the educating, uplifting influences of
civilization, of the institution of family, society,
the churches, the state, and the salutary effects
of heredity. Behind the Negro are centuries of igno¬
rance, barbarism, slavery, superstition, idolatry, fetish¬
ism, and the transmissible consequences of heredity.
Charitable Judgment.—Nothing valuable or perma¬
nent in human life has been secured without the sub¬
stratum of moral character, of religious motive, in the
individual, the family, the community. In this matter
the Negro should be judged charitably, for his aboriginal
people were not far removed from the savage state,
where they knew neither house nor home, and had not
enjoyed any religious training. Their condition as
slaves debarred them the advantage of regular, con¬
tinuous, systematic instruction. The Negro began his
life of freedom and citizenship with natural weaknesses
160
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
uncorrected, with loose notions of piety and morality,
and with, strong racial peculiarities and proclivities,
and has not outgrown the feebleness of the moral sense
which is common to all primitive races.
Thrift.—Professor Greenwood says: "Twenty-five
years ago the colored people of Missouri were unedu¬
cated, poverty-stricken, dependent, and helpless creat¬
ures. To-day they number 200,000. The value of their
real and personal property is more than $30,000,000.
"Thousands of them live in comfortable homes.
"Of the 50,000 children of school age, seventy per
cent, are now in attendance. They are as neatly and
cleanly clad as the average white child, and many of
them much better. Those who were the boys and girls
in school a few years ago are the leaders among their
people now. The self-denial practiced by parents to
educate their children is one of the strongest evidences
of parental affection that the world has ever beheld.
When the schoolhouse doors were opened for the
admission of colored pupils, they rushed in to get an
education, and the influx is unabated. I have seen old
white-haired men and women studying the first reader
and spelling book so as to be able to read the Bible, the
newspapers, and to write letters to relatives and
friends. Have you seen white people doing these
things?"
A Loyal American.—But let us look at these people
from another standpoint, and see what progress they
have made. In Missouri there are 45,000 of them
church communicants; more than 450 ministers of the
gospel; 400 church edifices and 60 parsonages. Do
these evidences of prosperity indicate the wretchedness
of this race? The Negro must be treated as a man,
neither cajoled nor despised. He is here to stay, and
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 161
it is our duty to help him make the most of himself as
an industrious, intelligent, law-abiding and faithful
citizen. Whether educated or uneducated, he is not a
dangerous element in our civilization. A thousand¬
fold is he to be trusted when compared with those dan¬
gerous elements which have swept in upon us from
European countries, and are now a standing menace to
our social and political institutions. The Negro is
thoroughly and loyally American.
Thrift and Self-Respect.—The thrift and self-respect
of the Negro has removed him from the dark and
cheerless abode in which he lived, and has placed him
in neat and well-kept homes.
Negro Homes, The Contrast,—The Negro whose
soul is free, like every other man, appreciates the sa-
credness and beauty which must be inseparable from a
happy home. On the other hand, the Negro, debased
and brutified by a servitude of centuries, has no desire
for home in any exalted sense.
Legacy Bequeathed by Slavery.—Perhaps the least
respected legacy left by slavery to the children of its
victims is the disintegrating and nomadic tendency to
a homeless and non-familied people. There are among
the Negroes those whom no wretchedness can impel,
no opportunity inspire to alter or make tolerable the
places in which their families exist, and many an old
Negro lives for years in a one or two room cabin, declin¬
ing to build another room "Kase he won't be g'wine
to leave.''
Happy and Comfortable Homes.—The influences
that are at work in transforming the women of the
race, making a generation of virtuous, clean, industrious
women, though they may not shine in society and speak
but one language, though they may be ugly in features
162
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
and unsophisticated m manner, though their names
are never heard outside of the limits of their own
state, these influences, I say, will improve the homes
CLARA HOWARD,
Who was educated at Spelman Seminary and is now a
missionary in Africa,
of the race more speedily than any other aspiration,
after the empty honors and applause of the multitude.
Do Something—Booker Washington says: "We
expect too often to get things that God did not mean
for us to have in certain ways. At one time an old
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 163
colored man was very anxious to get a turkey, and
prayed and prayed for the Lord to send him a turkey.
The turkey did not come, and finally the old man
changed his prayer somewhat* and said, ' O Lord, send
dis nigger to a turkey,' and he got it that night. God
means for us to get many things in about that same
way, that is, by working for them rather - than by
depending on the power of mouth.''
There are multitudes who are willing to accept
honors and advantages who are not ready to work for
them. It is necessary for all who would succeed to put
forth strenuous efforts in that direction. The days of
chance are gone, it is only the man who does not wait
for things to turn up, but turns up something, that suc¬
ceeds. Young man, do something; attempt something
that will be a benefit to your race. Something en¬
nobling, something enduring; something to elevate
manhood and win men to noble, virtuous, upright lives,
and your life will not have been lived in vain.
These thoughts must be impressed upon the humblest
of the race. Success comes not by waiting for it.
If the Afro-American race is to continue to rise, and
is to hold a prominent place in this nation, there must
be an effort. Empty wishes carry us nowhere. With¬
out an earnest effort on the part of those of the race
who hold the key to circumstances the race may as
well yield to the prejudice still existing, and hold for¬
ever an inferior position, but with a determination that
surmounts the obstacles and with a corresponding
effort to stand first in the industries of our nation, we
may well expect that the past achievement in this line
is nothing compared to the progress of the future.
Cast Down Your Bucket.—"At one time a ship was
lost at sea for many days, when it hove in sight of a
164
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
friendly vessel. The signal of the distressed vessel was
at once hoisted, which read: 'We want water; we die
of thirst.' The answering signal read, ' Cast down
your bucket where you are,' but a second time the dis¬
tressed vessel signaled, 'We want water, water,' and a
second time the other vessel answered 'cast down your
bucket where you are.' A third and fourth time the
distressed vessel signaled, 'We want water, water; we
die of thirst;' and as many times was answered, 'Cast
down your bucket where you are.' At last the com¬
mand was obeyed, the bucket was cast down where the
vessel stood, and it came up full of fresh and sparkling
water from the Amazon river. My friends, we are
failing to cast down our buckets for the help that is
right above us, and spend too much time in signaling
for help that is far off. Let us cast down our buckets
here in our own sunny South, cast them down in agri¬
culture, in truck gardening, dairying, poultry raising,
hog raising, laundering, cooking, sewing, mechanical
and professional life, and the help that we think is far
off will come and we will soon grow independent and
useful.''
In Our Stead.—In a speech before a National Council
of Colored Men, Bishop Turner made the following
excellent points: "I am willing to accord to the white
man every meed of honor that ability, grit, backbone,
sagacity, tact and invincibility can entitle him to. For
this Anglo-Saxon, I grant, is a powerful race; but
put him in our stead, enslave him "for two hundred and
fifty years, emancipate him and turn him loose upon
the world, without education, without money, without
horse or mule or a foot of land, when passion engen¬
dered by war was most intense, to eke out a subsistence
from nothing beyond the charity of an indignant people
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 165
on the one hand,and a cold shouldering and proscriptive
people on the other, and I do not believe he would
have equaled us in respect, obedience, fidelity, and
accomplished the results and maintained the pacific
equilibrium we have. For our nation freed the black
man as a war measure, I grant, but that freedom
entailed and left upon us a mendicancy that the unborn
will ask the reason why. Even the usufruct claim,
guaranteed to the serfs of Russia—a nation at that
time regarded as semi-civilized—was denied the freed-
men by this so-called enlightened and Christian
nation.
The Mule and Forty Acres.—The mule and forty
acres of land, which has been so often ridiculed for
being expected by the black man, was a just and right¬
eous expectation, and had this nation been one-fiftieth
part as loyal to the black man as he has been to it,
such a bestowment- would have been made, and the
cost would have been a mere bagatelle, compared with
the infinite resources of this republic, which has given
countless millions to foreigners to come into the country
and destroy respect for the Sabbath, flood" the land
with every vice known to the ends of the earth, and
form themselves into anarchal bands for the overthrow
of its institutions and venerated customs.
Freedom.—Nevertheless, freedom has been so long
held before us, as man's normal birth-right, and the
bas-relief of every possibility belonging to the achieve¬
ments of manhood, that we received it as Heaven's
greatest boon, and nursed ourselves into satisfaction,
believing that we had the stamina, not only to wring
existence out of our poverty, but also wealth, learning,
honor, fame and immortality.
Rape.—But, through some satanic legerdemain,
166
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
within the last years, the most fearful crimes have
been charged upon the members of our race known to
the catalogue of villainy, and death and destruction
have stalked abroad with an insatiable carnivoracity
that not only beggars description, but jeopardizes the
life of every Negro in the land, as anyone could raise
an alarm by crying rape, and some colored man must
die, whether he is the right one or not, or whether it
was the product of revenge, or the mere cracking of a
joke.
An Awful Charge.—The civilized world has been
informed through Christian Advocates and through the
public daily papers that Negroes have raped white
women in such numbers that the charge is undoubtedly
the most revolting and blood-curdling ever presented
against the people since time began.. Without affirm¬
ing or denying this monstrous imputation, we owe it
to ourselves and posterity to inquire into this subject
and give it the most patient, thorough and impartial
investigation that ever befell the lot of man.
No Attribute to Side with Us.—If the charges are
true, then God has no attribute that will side with us. Na¬
ture has no member,no potential factor, that will defend
us; and while we may not all be guilty, nor one in ten
thousand, it nevertheless shows, if true, that there is a
libidinous taint, a wanton and lecherous corruption,
that is prophetic of a dreadful doom, as there must be
a cardinal blood poison in the precincts of our race that
staggers the most acute imagination in determining its
woeful results.
Counter Charge.—Nor can we excuse it, palliate it,
or manifest indifference upon the postulation that it is
a righteous retribution upon the white man for the way
he treated our women for hundreds of years. For if
MORAL AND- SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 167
the counter-charge is true, we certainly did not visit
swift vengeance upon the white man, as he is doing
upon us by his lawless mobs.
One Recourse Left.—There is but one recourse left
us that will command the respect of the civilized world
and the approval of God, and that is to investigate the
facts in the premises, and if guilty, acknowledge it, and
let us organize against the wretches in our own ranks.
Let us call upon the colored ministry to sound it from
the pulpit, our newspapers to brand it with infamy
daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Let us put a thou¬
sand lecturers in the field, to canvass every section of
the land, and denounce the heinous crime.
Heathen Africa.—Among the heathen Africans,
whatever else may be said about them, the world will
have to admit that they are the purest people, outside of
polygamy, in their connubial and virgin morals, upon
the face of the globe. White women, to my personal
knowledge, hundreds of miles interiorward in Africa,
can remain in their midst and teach school for years
without being insulted, which proves to a demonstra¬
tion that where our natures have not been distorted
and abnormalized we are the most honorable cus¬
todians of female virtue now under Heaven. I have
been told by white ladies in Africa, from Louisiana,
South Carolina, New York, Nebraska, England, and
Ireland, that no white lady could be improperly
approached in Africa in a lifetime unless she made
herself unusually forward.
Not the Nature of the Black Man.—It is not the
nature of the black man to outrage white women,unless
it is one of our American retrogressive abnormalities;
wliicH Has possibly grown out of the degradation en-
168
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
conditions under which we exist. The whole range of
West India islands show by their records that only one
rape has been charged upon a black man since 1832, and
that occurred twenty years ago, while eleven rapes
were charged upon white men, nine of which were per¬
petrated upon black women and two upon white
women.
Like Begets Like.—It may, however, be due to the
fact that there the laws and institutions recognize the
black man as a full-fledged citizen and a gentleman,
and his pride of character and sense of dignity are not
degraded, and self-respect imparts a higher prompting
and gentlemanly bearing to his manhood, and makes
him a better citizen and inspires him with more gal¬
lantry and nobler principles. For like begets like.
A Degraded Condition.—While, in this country, we
are degraded by the public press, degraded by the
courts of the country from the United States Supreme
Court down, degraded on the railroads after purchasing
first-class tickets, degraded at the hotels and barber
shops, degraded in many states at the ballot-box,
degraded in some of the large cities by being com¬
pelled to rent houses in alleys and the most disreputa¬
ble streets. Thus we are degraded in so many
respects that all the starch of respectability is taken
out of the manhood of millions of our people, and as
degradation begets degradation, it is very possible that
in many instances we are guilty of doing a series of
infamous things that we would not be guilty of if our
environments were different.
The World's Fair.—Think of it! The great World's
Fair, or exposition, in Chicago, out of more than ten
thousand employes, gave no recognition to the colored
race beyond taking charge of the toilet rooms.
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 169
Half Free and Half Slave.—I would not have you
understand that I am denying, condoning or excusing
the crime of rape, as is being charged to a greater or
less extent upon the members of our race; nor must
we jump at a hasty or rash conclusion; but I fear much
of it, if true, is due to our natural and immethodical
environment and ignoble status, nor do I, for one,
believe that we will ever stand out in the symmetrical
majesty of higher manhood, half free and half slave.
The Great Desideratum.—The one great desider¬
atum of the American Negro is manhood impetus.
We may educate and acquire general intelligence, but
our sons and daughters will come out of the college
with all their years of training and thrift to the plane
of the scullion, as long as they are restricted, limited
and circumbounded by colorphobia. For abstract edu¬
cation elevates no man, nor will it elevate a race.
What we call the heathen African will strut around in
his native land, three-fourths naked, and you can see
by the way he stands, talks, and acts that he possesses
more manhood than fifty of some of our people in this
country, and any ten of our most distinguished colored
men here.
A Dwarfed People.—Until we are free from menace
by lynchers, hotels, railroads, stores, factories, restaur¬
ants, barber shops, machine shops, court houses and
other places where merit and worth are respected, we
are destined to be a dwarfed people. Our sons and
daughters will grow up with it in their very flesh and
bones.
Gratitude.—As one, I feel grateful for many things
that have been done for us within the last thirty years,
jt am thankful for Mr. Lincoln's manumitting proc¬
lamation, for its ratification by Congress, for the thir-
170
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
teenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the
Constitution, which were placed there by the American
people for the benefit of our race, even if the United
States Supreme Court has destroyed the fourteenth
amendment by its revolting decision.
Millions for Education.—I am thankful to our gen¬
erous-hearted friends of the North who have given
voluntarily millions upon millions to aid in our educa¬
tion. I am thankful to the South for the school laws
they have enacted, and for the generous manner in
which they have taxed themselves in building and sus¬
taining schools for our enlightenment and intellectual
and moral elevation,
Full-Fledged Men.—But, if this country is to be our
home, the Negro must be a self-controlling, automatic
factor of the body politic or collective life of the
nation. In other words, we must be full-fledged men.
Otherwise we will not be worth existence itself.
God Hates Cowardice.—To passively remain here
and occupy our present ignoble status, with the possi¬
bility of being shot, hung and burnt, not only when
we perpetrate deeds of violence ourselves, but when¬
ever some bad white man wishes to black his face and
outrage a female, as I am told is often done, is a matter
of serious reflection. To dp so would be to declare our¬
selves unfit to be free men or to assume the responsi¬
bilities which involve fatherhood and existence. For
God hates the submission of cowardice.
Physical Resistance.—But, on the other hand, to talk
about physical resistance is literal madness. Nobody
but an idiot would give it a moment's thought. The
idea of eight or ten millions of ex-slaves contending
with sixty millions people of the most powerful race
under Heaven I Think of two hundred and sixty-five
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 171
millions of dollars battling with one hundred billions
of dollars. Why, we would not be a drop in the
bucket. It is folly to indulge in such a thought for a
moment.
Debt of Our Nation.—This nation justly, righteously,
divinely, owes us for work and service rendered billions
of dollars, and if we cannot be treated as American
people, we should ask for five hundred million dollars
at least, to begin an immigration somewhere, if we can
not for service rendered receive manhood recognition
here at home. Freedom and perpetual degradation
are not in the economy of human events."
Bishop Gaines on Lynching.—"The better class of
colored people all over the South are unanimous in the
condemnation of the wretches who are guilty of this
unmentionable crime. They recognize the fact that
the whole race is suffering in the eyes of the world
through the conduct of the vile scoundrels who perpe¬
trate these crimes. In many places the white people
regard a Negro with detestation and suspicion, believ¬
ing him to be capable of any criminal act where he is
left unrestrained. From experience and observation I
know this to be true.
Not in Sympathy with Crime.—I for one am not
willing to be thought in sympathy with crime or crim¬
inals, and especially those of the character I am now
considering. If the colored people, as a race, expect
to gain the confidence and respect of their white -neigh¬
bors and to elevate themselves in the scale of civilized
life, they must emphasize in no uncertain way their
detestation of that most brutal of the race, who com¬
mit the horrible offense of rape, arson and the like.
There must be no maudlin sympathy for such charac¬
ters who disgrace their own race and bring the Negro
172
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Innocent Men Victims.—While I say these things I
would not be understood as favoring lynch laws.
Could the real criminal suffer it would not be so bad,
but when innocent men are frequently the victims of
excited and infuriated mobs, who take the law into
their own hands, the necessity of legal conviction is
apparent. Lynch law, too, no matter how justly
administered, is bad in its tendency, working a disre¬
gard for all laws and educating the people in the law¬
lessness it is intended to prevent.
Justice.—All our people ask is that justice be done—
that before the law the same evidence be required to
convict a Negro that is required to convict a white
man, and that the same punishment be meted out to
the one as to the other. Wherever the proof is con¬
clusive let the guilty suffer, though the heavens fall.
Lynching is not a race question but a national ques¬
tion, as is proven by the fact that of one hundred and
forty-one persons lynched in 1896, fifty-four were white
men.''
Temperance, Soberness Increasing.—"Remember¬
ing the circumstances," says Rev. J. C. Price, "in which
the Negro was placed by the dreadful institution of
slavery, it is not to be wondered at that he now culti¬
vates a taste, even a love, for alcohol. Yet it is re¬
markable to note the progress towards sobriety that the
race has made in the latter years of its emancipation.
A colored total abstainer is not a rare person in any com¬
munity nowadays. The various temperance societies,
and nearly all the other secret organizations supported
by the Afro-American race, uniformly require those
who seek admission to pledge themselves to be sober
men and women, and in most cases to be total abstain¬
ers. The drift is more and more in this direction, and
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 173
hence soberness in the race is constantly on the
increase.
Total Abstinence.—It is remarkable, too, to observe
the steadfastness and persistency with which the col¬
ored teachers, as a rule, hold to the idea that the race
is to be uplifted morally, as well as materially and
religiously improved, through total abstinence as? a
chief instrument. It is the rare exception, not the
rule, to find a colored teacher who does not hold to this
doctrine. The result is that many boys and girls in
the school-room all over the South and other sections
as well are being trained to habits of temperance, and
will in all probability develop into consistent temper¬
ance men and women. And it must not be forgotten
that the true and most influential leaders of the race,
the ministers, are molding and shaping the opinions
of both old and young in favor of soberness and total
abstinence.
Leaders Temperate.—I have watched closely the
men who are recognized as the race leaders in various
states and localities. It is acknowledged that they are
generally shrewd, calculating, and hard to circumvent
when they attempt political maneuvers. It is my obser¬
vation that these leaders are strictly reliable and
trustworthy when confided in, and—however surpris¬
ing the statement may be to some—that they are gen¬
erally sober, upright and honest. I confess that in
some localities this rule does not apply, but on the'
whole a more sober class of leaders does not exist in
any race than in the Afro-American.
Cross-Roads Grocery.—One of the evils against
which our people have to contend is the cross-roads
grocery store, to be found all over the Southland—the
bane of this section. Here, with no city or town
174
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ordinance to make drunkenness an offense, and to
threaten certain punishment, they congregate and
drink their fill, carouse, engage in free fights, and do
other hurtful and equally unlawful things, while no
one dares molest or make afraid, and the grocery
keeper, finding his trade benefited, encourages the
debauchery. This evil, instead of becoming less,
increases. The business of many prosperous towns
and villages is being injured seriously by the competi¬
tion at the cross-roads, and the resulting vice, violence
and impoverishment.
Crime Traceable to Liquor Habit.—The records of
the courts show that crime among our people is trace¬
able in a large majority of cases to a too free exercise
of the liquor habit. Of the men belonging to the race
who were hanged, I think it entirely reasonable to say
that at least four-fifths committed their offenses while
under the influence of liquor. But speaking of the
race broadly, and duly allowing for all the unusual cir¬
cumstances that ought to be taken into consideration,
I think it cannot fairly be charged with anything like
gross intemperance.
Delirium Tremens.—It is something out of the usual
order to come upon a case of delirium tremens among
the Negroes. Comparatively few of them drink any¬
thing of consequence during the week, but excessive
imbibation is mostly indulged in on Saturdays.
Not a Race of Drunkards.—Therefore this is not a
race of drunkards, and there is abundant reason for
believing that with proper education and training it
may be made a race of sober people and abstainers.
Reliable Allies.—In order to strengthen the cause
of temperance "in the South, nothing is more important
than to treat the Negro fairly, and to keep faith with
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 175
him, to permit no pledge to be broken. Once won, the
colored man is the most faithful and reliable of all
allies. It is, of course, needless to add that the supply
of temperance literature should be kept up and
increased.''
Educational Institutions.—Especially valuable is
the work of arousing total abstinence enthusiasm
among the students in the various educational insti¬
tutions—young men, and women too, upon whom the
future of the race and its influence for good or evil so
largely depends. I am indeed hopeful for the future
of the Afro-American race, and particularly hopeful
that it will become a positive and influential contributor
to the triumph of the temperance reform.
The Shame of a Christian Nation.—It is estimated
that Christendom has introduced 70,000 gallons of rum
into Africa to every missionary. In the great Congo
Free State there are one hundred drunkards to one
convert. Under the maddening influence of intoxicat¬
ing drink sent from New England two hundred Congo-
ans slaughtered each other. One gallon of rum caused
a fight in which fifty were slain.
A Sad End.—A generation since there lived in a
western city a wealthy Englishman who was what is
called a high liver. He drank his toddy in the morn¬
ing, washed down his lunch with champagne, and
finished a bottle of port for dinner, though he com¬
plained that the heavy wines here did not agree with
him, owing to the climate. He died of gout at fifty
years, leaving four sons. One of them became an
epileptic, two died from drinking. Called good fellows,
generous, witty, honorable young men, but before
middle age miserable sots. The oldest of the brothers
was a man of fixed habits, occupying a leading place
176
Progress of a race.
in the community from his keen intelligence, integrity
and irreproachable morals. He watched over his
brothers, laid them in their graves, and never ceased
to denounce the vice which had ruined them; and
when he was long past middle age financial trouble
threw him into a low, nervous condition, for which
wine was prescribed. He drank but one bottle. Shortly
after his affairs were righted and his health and spirits
returned, but it was observed that once or twice a year
he mysteriously disappeared for a month or six weeks.
Nor wife, nor children, nor even his partner, knew
where he went; but at last, when he was old and gray-
headed, his wife was telegraphed from a neighboring
obscure village where she found him dying of mania a
potu. He had been in the habit of hiding there when
the desire for liquor became maddening, and when
there he drank like a brute."
Temperance Resolutions Adopted by the A. M. E.
Church.—The African Methodist Episcopal Church,
at its General Conference, held in Indianapolis, Indi¬
ana, adopted the following resolutions:
"Resolved: i. That we discourage the manufacture,
sale and use of all alcoholic and malt liquors.
"2. That we discourage the use of tobacco by our
ministers and people.
"3. That we discourage the use of opium and snuff.
"4. That we endorse the great prohibition move¬
ment in this country, also work done by the Woman's
Christian Temperance Union, and will use all honora¬
ble means to suppress the evils growing out of intem¬
perance.
"5. That it shall be a crime for any minister or
member of the A. M. E. Church to fight against tem¬
perance, and if convicted of this crime he shall lose his
place in the conference and the church.''
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 17*7
The bishops at this same conference said in their
address.- "We should allow no minister, or member
who votes, writes, lectures or preaches to uphold the
fum trade to retain his membership, either in the con¬
ference or in the church. And those who are addicted to
strong drink, either ministers or laymen, should have
no place among us. Visit our station houses, bride¬
wells, jails, almshouses, and penitentiaries, and you
will there witness the effects of this horror of horrors.
Rum has dug the grave of the American Indian so
deep that it will never be resurrected. If we would
escape the same fate as a church and race, we must be
temperate.
"Some of the loftiest intellects have been blasted
and blighted by this terrible curse. The use of wine
at weddings should never be encouraged by our minis¬
ters ; it is often the beginning of a blasted life.''
Woman in Temperance. — Mrs. McCurdy, corre¬
sponding secretary of the Georgia W. C. T. U. for col¬
ored women, says: "The call for 'God and home in
every land,' is growing to be more popular than in
former years. Ministers all over the Southland are
taking hold of the temperance question and are agitat¬
ing it as never before. They see that
"Mental suasion for the thinker
Moral suasion for the drinker
Legal suasion for the drunkard maker
Prison suasion for the statute breaker "
are not virtues and therefore will not bring about
the desired end. We are growing in numbers and are
believing that among the Christian races temperance
is a cardinal virtue, upon which physical strength,
moral worth, social happiness and political tranquillity
depend.
178
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Give the women a free use of the ballot and the
Upas tree of intemperance will be hewn down by the
axe of prohibition.
We are in favor of having the saloons closed twenty-
four hours each day and seven days in each week."
Smoking a Crime.—Tobacco was early introduced
into Europe. Its use, however, was condemned, and
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 179
the Sultan of Turkey declared smoking a crime, and
death of the most cruel kind was fixed as the punish¬
ment. In Russia, the "noses of the smokers were cut
off in the earlier part of the seventeenth century."
Its use was described by King James I of England, as
"a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose,
harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in
the black, stinking fume thereof nearest resembling
the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottom¬
less."
Tobacco a Poison—Dr. J. H. Kellogg, M. D., in
Health Science Leaflet, No. 216, says: "Chemists,
botanists and physicians unite in pronouncing tobacco
one of the most deadly poisons known. No other
poison, with the exception of Prussic acid, will cause
death so quickly, only three or four minutes being
required for a fatal dose to produce its full effect.
Nicotine.—"The active principle of tobacco, that is,
that to which its narcotic and poisonous properties are
due, is nicotine, a heavy, oily substance which may be
separated from the dry leaf of the plant by distillation
or infusion. The proportion of nicotine varies from
two to eight per cent. A pound of tobacco contains on
an average 380 grains of this deadly poison, of which
one-tenth of a grain will kill a dog in ten minutes.
Killed in Thirty Seconds.—"A case is on record in
which a man was killed in thirty seconds by this poison.
Hottentots use the oil of tobacco to kill snakes, a single
drop causing death as quickly as a lightning stroke.
It is largely used by gardeners and keepers of green¬
houses to destroy grubs and noxious insects (its proper
usefulness)."
Habit of Smoking.—The habit of smoking was dis¬
covered on the island of Cuba. Two sailors who were
180 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
sent by Columbus to explore the island report that:
"Among many other strange and curious discoveries,
the natives carried with them lighted fire brands, and
puffed smoke from their mouths and noses, which they
supposed to be the way savages had for perfuming
themselves. They afterwards declared that they 'saw
ROBERT H. BONNER, ORISHANTKEH FREDREMAS.
New Haven, Conn. Grad. Theol. Dept.,Ceylon, West Africa.
CHAS. H. BOYER, HENRY H. PROCTOR.
Maryland Academical Dept. Graduate Theological Dept.,
Yale University.
the naked savages twist large leaves together and
smoke like devils.' ''
Filthy and Pernicious.—The use of tobacco is both
filthy and pernicious. "Keep thyself pure," was
Paul's injunction to Timothy; and again he says, "Let
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 181
us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit." "If any man defile the temple of God, him
shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which
temple we are.''
Leaders Needed.—Since the death of Dr. J. C. Price,
of Livingstone College, Rev. J. H. Hector, of York,
Pa., is the most popular temperance lecturer of the
race. The race sadly needs a great leader in the tem¬
perance work, a leader who will inspire the hosts to
active and progressive measures.
Moral Status.—President Wright says: "One who
does not know the character of the moral lives of the
colored people at the emancipation is incapable of ren¬
dering an opinion as to the Negro's moral status now.
It is extremely difficult to measure the distance of the
advancement or to estimate the weight and quality of
the good that has been done. No people have made
further advancement in moral and Christian character.
The schools have given them eyes to see. Eyes to
see themselves as others saw them, and year after
year vice and ignorance have become odious. In 1865
there was scarcely any Negro homes in all Georgia.
In 1870 they could be easily counted. Who but the
census taker would undertake such a task to-day?
There is taxable property of some sixteen millions of
dollars, and thousands of comfortable homes in the
city and rural districts. None have become very rich
but many have made a good start in life. There are
over five hundred good business establishments whose
affairs are conducted wholly by colored men.
Business World.—The Negro is taking a reliable,
useful, and honorable place in the business and indus¬
trial world. He is becoming an intelligent producer
and developer of the resources of this great state.
182
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Under the benign influence of private and public schools
he is becoming- patriotic; he is purchasing land and
fixing himself to the soil.
Discourtesies and Insults.—He is becoming more
sensitive with regard to discourtesies and insults. His
restiveness is the natural result of his increased intelli¬
gence and love for his country in common with others.
He may even grow defiant in the face of these out¬
rages, if continued. The intelligence and means
among the colored people inspire confidence and respect
on the part of the whites. There is practically no
trouble or possibility of trouble between the intelli¬
gent and upright colored people and the same class of
white people. This is what Christian and industrial
education has done. The Negro, or Southern prob¬
lem, finds its key in the education of the race. The
Negro should not only be given every opportunity the
state can afford for elementary education, but should
be urged to avail himself of these opportunities.
Criminals.—There are in Georgia more than five
thousand Negro criminals; about twice the number of
colored teachers. Very few of these criminals can read
or write. Here is found the connection between crime
and ignorance. Education is not a panacea for crime,
but, in proportion to the intelligence of the colored
people of a given community, the number of actual
and alleged crimes among that class of citizens has
decreased.
Professions.—There are in Georgia some twenty-
five physicians, two pharmacists, seven lawyers, and
half a dozen newspaper editors. Some of these, how¬
ever, have not been broadly educated. What Georgia
needs most is men who can clearly and wisely state the
needs of the colored people.
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 183
Trade Education.—While the work in the schools
has included industrial training, yet very little legiti¬
mate and genuine trade teaching has been done until
within the last few years. The entire number of per¬
sons who have learned, in all these schools, enough of
a trade to make them as safe in following it as it would
in attempting to teach school, is very small. This is
the natural result of the beginnings. There is, how¬
ever, an awakening on these lines, and a demand for
abler and better teachers and advantages in industrial
work. The colored people are at a point in their
natural and material development when everybody
recognizes the pressing need of more attention to the
teaching of trades. The march of the Negro race
towards the better day will not be only along the class
of classic learning, but its pathway of victory must be
as well through the physical sciences and along the
avenues of industrial and business enterprises. The
demands of the times are for genuine industrial teach¬
ing, which sends a young man into the world with an
industrial bent that fits him for his life work; that
gives him a trade by which he may support himself and
benefit the world.
Patents.—The colored patentees of the Union are
credited with more than sixty useful inventions. This
clearly shows that the Negro has genius and skill, and
the means and opportunities now presented aid in the
development and training of their genius. Perhaps no
other school can come nearer to filling the demands
than the industrial school well equipped and with a
liberal curriculum.
Debt of Gratitude,—The colored people of the South
are under an everlasting debt of gratitude to the phil¬
anthropists of the country, north and south, who have
184
PROGRESS OP A RACE.
done so much to raise them from their low estate.
While it is difficult to estimate the amount of money
spent by the states arid different benevolent institu¬
tions for the education of the colored people, the fact
remains that a great and grand work has been done,
and is being done, for their education.
Our Country.—There are many and almost ancient
ties that bind the Negro to the United Stats. There
are numerous reasons why he should feel as much at
hoihe on the American soil as any man of any other
nation that treads our . shores. Among America's
earliest explorers and discoverers, some of the boldest
and bravest, and most successful of our citizens, as
early as 1529, were woolly-haired Negroes. From then
until now, whether he is happy and prosperous in his
Southland, or fighting the battles of the nation, the Ne¬
gro, by sweat and blood, identified himself with every
phase and fiber of the American history and life. The
pathway of the race has not been strewn with flowers,
but it has steadily led towards the light. And to-day
the Negro stands upon higher ground, where the light
of liberty shines upon him. more steadily. Standing
here, new duties, new responsibilities, await him.
In this broader day the demand is for more men of
thought and action.
Does Not Crave Domination, but Equality.—The
Negro craves not domination. He simply asks for
equalization of rights and privileges, such as belong to
American citizens under the fundamental law of the
land. As an American citizen he cannot ask less nor
be contented with less.''
Prejudice.—"Talks for the Times" says: "There are
but very few white people in this country who are
capable of passing fair judgment upon us as a race, for
MORAL AN£> SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 185
the large majority of them do not associate with us.
The Jews have no extensive communion with the
Samaritans. Now, it is a law in optics that the size of
the visual angle varies with the distance of the body,
and an object looks smaller as we recede from it.
On this principle it is easy to account for the absurd
and strange opinions of many of our white friends con¬
cerning us. They stand off at so magnificent a dis¬
tance from the Negro that they either lose sight of him
altogether, or what they do see of him seems insignifi¬
cant and contemptible.
Corruption of Public Men.—I am proud, too, to
know, that in this transition period of ours we have
among us a few public men of unimpeachable charac¬
ter. When Oscar Dunn was lieutenant-governor of
Louisiana a certain white man, interested in a bill
before the legislature, endeavored by the use of
money, to secure Mr. Dunn's influence in favor of that
bill. The reply.of that noble Negro was as withering
as it was laconic: 'Sir,' said he, 'my conscience is not
for sale.' In that memorable presidential election
when Messrs. Hayes and Tilden were candidates, a
colored man in one of those Southern states, at that
time a member of the electoral college, was approached
by a white man and offered fifty thousand dollars for
his vote for Mr. Tilderi, being informed, at the same
time, that it was a 'graveyard secret,' and that if he
ever exposed the offerer of that sum death would be the
penalty. I am proud to say that brave and faithful
man rejected with scorn the proffered bribe. Would
Anglo-Saxon morality have stood a better test against
gilded corruption?"
Toward the Light.—Professor Bowen says: "Before
the war the Negro was a dumb driven and a dumb
186
progress of a race.
used cattle for work and for breeding. Shame, the
virtue that Eve brought out of the Garden with her,
that belongs alike to heathen and to Christian, was
mocked, insulted and trampled under the merciless
hoofs. The women were the tools for lechery. The
whole head of the race was sick and the heart was faint;
bruises and putrefying sores covered the body of the
race. To-day, in education, in morals, in spiritual
power, the Negro is far superior. He marries accord¬
ing to law, rears his family in a home of culture and
morality, and reaches up with divine aspirations to the
ideal perfections of human nature. The women are
women.. And while it is true that, as a mass, the race
has not yet attained unto all perfection, yet they press
with vigor toward the mark and are far removed from
that dark age. They are purer, their preachers have
improved and are still improving in all the elements
of moral power.
Progress Since Freedom.—Says E. A. Johnson, in
his history of the Negro race: "Through a century
and a half we have traced our ancestors' history.
We have seen how they performed the hard tasks
assigned them by their masters; followed the hoe and
the plow with a laugh and a song; making magnificent
estates, building mansions, furnishing them with the
splendor of the times; so eager in patriotism as to be
the first to shed their blood on the altar of their
country's liberty. All this they did with no other hope
of reward than a slave's cabin and a life of bondage for
themselves and children. Scarcely have they ever
sought revenge in riot and bloodshed. Stolen from a
home of savage freedom, they found themselves in
straitened circumstances as slaves in America, but
the greatness of the Negro's nature crops out plainly
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 187
in the wonderful way in which he adapted himself to
his new conditions. The fact that he went to work
Willingly, worked so long and faithfully, and rebelled
so little, marks him as far superior to the Indian, who
never accepts the conditions of labor, either for himself
or another; and universally enjoys the rank of a savage
rather than that of a civilized being. A plant placed
in the window of a dark chamber gradually bends its
foliage towards the sunlight; so the Negro, surrounded
by the darkness of slavery, bent his life toward the
light of his master's God. He found Him. In Him he
trusted, to Him he prayed, from Him he hoped for
deliverance; no people were ever more devout accord¬
ing to their knowledge of the word, no people ever
suffered persecution more bravely,-no people ever got
more out of the few talents "assigned them; and for
this humble devotion, this implicit trust and faithful¬
ness, God has now rewarded them. The race comes
out of slavery with more than it had before it went in.
But there was no need of any slavery at all. J ames-
town, New England, and other colonies might have
held the Negro long enough to serve out his passage
from Africa, and then given him his freedom, as they
did their white slaves imported from England. The
mistake was made then; the mistake became a law
which the people were educated to believe was just.
Many did not believe it, and some slave holders sought
to make the condition of their slaves comfortable. The
affection arising between the slave and his master often
governed the treatment. The Negro, being largely
endowed by nature with affection, affability and a for¬
giving spirit, generally won for himself good treat¬
ment. Then, too, the master had some soul, and
where that ingredient of his make-up was deficient, a
13
188
progress of a race.
selfish interest to the slave as his property somewhat
modified the venom that might have more often visited
itself upon the unfortunate slave in lashes and stripes.
Many Affections and Friendships formed between
master and slave exist to the present day. Some slaves
are still at the old homestead, conditions entirely
reversed, voting differently at the polls, but friends at
home; and in death the family of one follows that of
the other to the grave.
When the War Ended' the whole South was in an
unsettled condition, property destroyed, thousands of
her sons dead on the battlefield, no credit, conquered.
But if the condition of the whites was bad, that of the
blacks was worse. They were without homes, money,
or learning. They were now to feed, clothe and pro¬
tect themselves in a government whose treasury they
had enriched with two and a half centuries of unre¬
quited labor, and a country whose laws they must obey
but could not read.
It Was Natural that they should make mistakes.
But they made less mistakes than the bummers who
came south for plunder during reconstruction times,
and with the false promise of "forty acres and a mule,"
led the unlettered race into a season of idleness and
vain hopes. But this condition did not last. The
Negro inherited the ability to work from the institu¬
tion of slavery. He soon set about to utilize this
ability. I ask, what race could have done more. And
'this the Negro has done, though virtually ostracised
from the avenues of trade and speculation. His admis¬
sion to a trades union is the exception rather than the
rule in America. A colored boy taking a place as a
porter in a store at the same time with a white boy,
may find the white boy soon promoted to a clerkship,
MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 189
then to a partnership in the firm, if he is smart; but
the colored boy remains, year after year, where he first
commenced, no matter how worthy, no matter how
competent. His lot is that of a menial; custom
assigns him there, and in looking- for clerks and part¬
ners he is not thought of by the white business man;
and thus, by the rigid laws of custom, he has continu¬
ally lost golden opportunities to forge his fortune; yet
he has prospered in spite of this, and it bespeaks for
him a superior manhood.''
Best Specimens of Physical Manhood.—Under the
influence of civilized customs and habits, they have
improved in form and feature, until they have become
strong, well proportioned, and can furnish some of the
finest specimens of physical manhood in the world.
They have improved equally in mental and moral
traits. From naked barbarians they have become civ¬
ilised Christians. From groveling and stupid savages
they have become intelligent and industrious work¬
men, skilled in many of the arts and all of the handi¬
crafts of civilized life. By this vast progress in so
short a period, the Negroes have demonstrated a
capacity, an aptitude for improvement, which should
make us hesitate to predict that they cannot finally
ascend, under favorable conditions, to the highest
heights of human development. In that event the
argument based on the inferiority and the color of the
Negro must vanish.
Not in Color.—Dr. Haygood truly says: '' The Negro
cannot rise simply because he is black; the white man
cannot stay up simply because he is white. A man
rises, not by the color of his skin, but by intelligence,
industry and integrity. The foremost man in these
excellencies and virtues must, in the long run, be also
the brightest man."
190
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Remarkable Advancement.—It should be remem¬
bered that less than thirty years ago the Negro started
with less than nothing, having, as a slave, acquired
habits of thriftlessness and wastefulness, unfitting him
for the accumulation of property. In one generation
he has managed to accumulate and pile up an aggre¬
gate of wealth that is simply enormous.
Still in Idleness.—It is true that a considerable per¬
centage of the race still retain their habits of idleness
which characterized them as slaves. It is true that a
large percentage exhibit talents for accumulation, but
are content to earn from day to day the wages of the
day before, trusting to providence for the future.
But there is a rapidly increasing number of those who
exhibit decided financial ability.
Honored Mention.—Starting in the most humble
way, with limited intelligence and exceedingly circum¬
scribed knowledge in a manner in which economy is to
be practiced, they have gone on from year to year
accumulating a little until the savings, as represented
by their property, have built churches, erected schools,
paid teachers and preachers and greatly improved the
home and home life. These results, coming through
the humble earnings of day labor deserve honorable
mention.
Just Judgment.—It is frequently the case that in
contemplating the race as a mass it is judged by its
worst representatives. This is unkind and unjust.
The colored people of the South cannot justly be judged
by the criminals among them, who have become con¬
spicuous for their evil deeds. They should rather be
judged by the honest, hard-working men and women,
who, beginning with nothing, in the course of one gen¬
eration accumulated an amount of property that even in
CHAPTER VIII.
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
"Above all let the Negro know that the elevation of
his race can come only, and will come surely, through
the elevation of its women.''
Womanhood.—It is but a generation ago that the
colored woman had no stand, and the term womanhood
was not broad enough in this Christian republic to
include women of African descent. Her birthright
was supposed to be that of banishment from high social
circles. In spite of the prejudice against her she has,
in a remarkable way, emerged from obscurity and over¬
come the prejudice so that to-day she stands on such a
level that no one would have supposed her to have had
any relationship with slavery in the recent past.
Appreciative.—That the colored women of to-day
are appreciating the value of culture and industries is
shown in their readiness to enter all open doors in this
direction. Universities and professional industries of
this country and Europe find the colored women ready
as soon as permission is granted. There are very few
professions and callings into which they are not win¬
ning their way in spite of the prejudice that would
restrict them to the lower walks of life. There are
physicians and dentists, lawyers and linguists, musi¬
cians, stenographers and nurses, in this rising race that
are an adornment to the position they hold.
Good Wives.—Make it your highest aim to be good
wives; the race needs you and must depend upon you.
When we come to calculate the forces that decide the
destiny of nations it must be confessed that the
19X
192
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
MRS. MARY RICE PHELPS, AUGUSTA, GA.
See sketch in Chapter XIV.
mightiest and grandest come from home, good homes,
the very salt of society, the strength and joy of any
nation. Then banish from your minds, I pray you,
that labor in itself is harmful and degrading.
National Association of Colored Women.—That the
Afro-American woman appreciates her position is
shown by the federation of women of that race. The
second annual convention in 1896 was a representative
body, many of the states having appointed delegates.
In response to the address of welcome, Mrs. Sprague,
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 193
only daughter of the late Frederick Douglass, in behalf
of the federation said: "It is with gratification that I
respond in behalf of the colored women of the United
States to the gracious words just spoken."
False Impressions.—We are weary of the false
impressions sent broadcast over the land about the
colored woman's inferiority, her lack of virtue, and
other qualities of noble womanhood. We wish to make
it clear to the minds of your fellow countrymen and
women that there are no essential elements of character
that they deem worthy of cultivating that we do not
desire to emulate; that the sterling qualities of purity,
virtue, benevolence and charity are not any more dor¬
mant in the breast of the black woman than in the
white woman. While the white race has chronicled
deeds of heroism and acts of mercy of the women of
pioneer and other days, so we are pleased to note in
the personality of such women as Phyllis Wheatley,
Margaret Garner, Sojourner Truth, and our venerable
friend, Harriet Tubman, sterling qualities of head,
heart and hand.''
Wants.—Our wants are numerous. We want homes
in which purity can. be taught, not homes that are police
court feeders. We want industrial schools, we want the
dram shops closed, we want the pool rooms and gam¬
bling dens of every variety swept out of existence.
We want kindergartens largely established, we want
reform schools for our girls in such cities where the
conscience of the white Christian is not elastic enough
to take in the Negro child. Our progress depends in
the united strength of both men and women. This is
indeed the woman's era, and we are coming."
Papers Read.—The enthusiasm, as well as the merit,
of papers read before this convention is worthy of a
13
194
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
place in any woman's convention in our land. That
these representatives of the race are awake to the
interest of their people is shown in the following
Resolutions.—Whereas, The social conditions of the
Afro-American race render home-making and home-
getting questions of supreme importance;
Resolved, That we heartily endorse the movement
lately inaugurated in this city looking to the establish¬
ment and maintenance of industrial schools, wherein
our youth may, by the co-ordinate training of hand,
heart and head, thoroughly equip themselves for the
great battle of life.
Resolved, That we commend to the race the work
being done at all institutions whose purpose it is to
give our youth the higher and more truly practical
education.
Whereas, It is customary in some portions of this
country for whole families to live in one room; and,
Whereas, The mothers of our people are sadly in
need of appreciating the value of good homes; be it
Resolved, That we use our influence throughout the
country to have mothers' meetings held, where the
mothers of our race may be taught the necessity of pure
homes and lives and privacy in home apartment.
Provident Hospital.—The Provident Hospital and
Training School for Nurses, in Chicago, recently organ¬
ized, has opened a field for the colored ladies, and they
are availing themselves of opportunities and showing
to the world that they are efficient and capable of fill¬
ing positions where the highest ideals of womanhood
are needed. The colored women of to-day are proving
themselves progressive, and are fully alive to their
responsibilities, showing full well that out of "The
social disorder of a bondaged race there shall arise a
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
195
womanhood, strong, spirited, and chaste, in all the
things that make for social uplifting and refinement.''
Womanhood Insulted.—Dr. Crummell says: "In her
girlhood all the delicate tenderness of her sex has been
rudely outraged. In the field, in the rude cabin, in
the press-room, in the factory, she was thrown into the
companionship of coarse and ignorant men. No chance
was given her for delicate reserve or tender modesty.
From her childhood she was the doomed victim of the
grossest passion. All the virtues of her sex were
utterly ignored. If the instinct of chastity asserted
itself, then she had to fight like a tiger for the owner¬
ship and possession of her own person, and ofttimes
had to suffer pain and lacerations for her virtuous self-
assertion. When she reached maturity all the tender
instincts of her womanhood were ruthlessly violated.
At the age of marriage—always prematurely antici¬
pated -under slavery—she was mated as the stock of
the plantation were mated, not to be the companion of
a loved and chosen husband, but to be the breeder of
human cattle for the field or the auction block.''
Purity.—"From a recent careful survey of every
Southern state through nearly one hundred trusty
observers," says Professor Bowen, "I have the testi¬
mony that the young women are pure in large num¬
bers, and are rapidly increasing in an intense desire
and determination to preserve themselves chaste and
pure from the lustful approaches of the sinner; and
that the number of legally and lovingly married fam¬
ilies purely preserved in domestic and social virtues
among husbands and wives, sons and daughters, is so
far beyond the days of slavery that a comparison
would minify the difference. The marvel is that the
Negro had sufficient moral vitality left to make his way
196
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
through the whirlpool of licentiousness to the solid
rock of Christian character. From the harem life of
the promiscuous and unnameable sins of slavery, some
of which were the natural and fatal growth of pagan
vices, others the fruit of prostitution, to the making of
one clean, beautiful, noble and divine family and
home, covers a period of intense moral, spiritual and
intellectual development, more magnificent than the
geologic transformation of ages. Be it known that this
one family can be duplicated a hundred thousand times
and more.''
High Sense of Womanhood.—My experience has
taught me to advise the race to cultivate a high sense
of the womanhood of the race. This must begin with
the mother. There is little of the family idea. Here
the race is sadly deficient. The mother should teach
the boy to honor his parent, his mother, to respect his
sister, and, as a result, other men's sisters. To rever¬
ence the seat of the family. In this way alone will the
marriage relation which becomes less sacred year by
year, be the power and ennobling agency for the sal¬
vation of our people.
Character.—Learning, culture and wealth must not
be sought for as an end to existence, but as a means
to the only true purpose of life.
Unity of Race.—We must have a greater solidarity
of race. There are some individuals, but no classes,
of the white race in this country who love us. Some
of them give us money, but it is out of pity. With no
one to love us, we must love ourselves. Until the
Negro race is more united we can have no real and
lasting success.
Virtue.—Fear of God, love of true devotion to
righteousness must possess us. The principal virtues
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
197
to be maintained by the industries of families, by the
assiduity of teachers, and by the discipline of fathers,
by the tears, entreaties and prayers of the mothers,
by the devotedness of churches, by the zeal and purity
of the ministers, by the modest chastity of maidens, by
the morality and self-control of youths and young
men, by the piety and beauty of obedient children.
Ebb and Flow.—I have no fear of the ultimate tri¬
umphs of these principles. Great evil is manifest on
every side; once in a while it looks as though the devil
were going to be the charioteer of the race-course of
life, but you will notice that these abnormal things are
only phases of the ebb and flow of the great river of
life—the central current flows to God.
"A wiser spirit is at work for us,
A greater hand than ours."
The Mother of Douglass—Douglass, who, as many
able judges hold, was one of the most remarkable men
America has produced in this century—this Douglass
had a mother, who, though sold off from her boy on a
distant plantation, would walk, after her day's work,
in the darkness of the night, a number of miles and
back before the driver's call in the morning—and all
this that she might spend just one hour with her little
Fred. Who can love like a mother? Who can tell how
much that mother's love contributed toward the great¬
ness of the man? The exaltation of a race depends
largly upon the mothers of the race. Is the Negro
mother of today conscious of the fact that the ennob¬
ling and elevating of the race is largely to be decided
by her influences?
Woman a Teacher.—Mrs. Mary Rice Phelps says:
'' To what extent does woman teach, and where does
her tutorage begin? Every woman is a teacher,
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PROGRESS OF A RACE.
whether she be worthy or unworthy; whether educated
or ignorant. In the home circle, and around the fire¬
side, her teaching begins with the first dawn of intelli¬
gence. This is her inalienable right, the charter
given by the Almighty hand. It is she who first points
out those paths which are so full of pleasantness and
peace, and directs the innocent minds to a Heavenly
Father. She makes her own life a daily example (we
speak of the true woman) of all that is pure and ennob¬
ling. She it is who teaches those qualities that are so
essential to any race or tribe of beings—morality, the
.corner stone in the building of any race; Christianity,
the thread that must make the warp and woof of a pros¬
perous people; economy, one of the foundations stones
that cannot be dispensed with.
Responsibility.—It is a woman's responsibility to
teach the coming generations to live inside of their
means, and to reserve extra pennies for rainy days
(they will be sure to come), and secure a home for old
age. How many are paid large salaries, "live high,"
unmindful of the future, and end their existence in
the almshouse?
Ignorance and Poverty.—The time is fast approach¬
ing, so near that we can hear his footsteps in the dis¬
tance, when nobody will care for that class of persons
who are content to live in poverty. Such have neg¬
lected opportunities, misused means and wasted time.
They are content to know little, and possess less, a
universal sentiment, because it is a universal experi¬
ence.
Woman's responsibility is great, and its importance
vast, when we analyze it. She alone has the power to
set at naught the monster "ignorance," uproot "base
desire," break down the barrier, "prejudice," and
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
199
bury the race problem under the black pall of oblivion,
beyond the possibility of a resurrection. Why should
she fill a position as a public teacher? Why, because
our educated men are needed for so many vocations
that the work of teaching is left almost wholly to
women.
Great and Multifarious.—Woman's work in the
world is great and multifarious. It is a work which
she alone can do. We do not mean to compare her
with man, but compare woman with woman. Judge
of what I can do by what I have done; of what women
can do by what they have done. She can inspire when
man fails. 'Tis hers to uplift, purify and adorn. What
great cause of the world has brought about the desired
result without woman's help. She did not bring down
the lightning and connect electricity with thought,
that different countries could talk to each other; but
what did not the Reformation owe to the clear, womanly
insight of Catherine Von Bora? Does not American
independence owe much to the courage and steadfast
resolution of the women of the Revolution?
Power Given Woman.—'Tis woman's responsibility
to teach the young men what it is to be true men;
what it is to be a loyal man; 'a man' in every sense
of the word. To teach the young woman to be
womanly; that it is honorable to work; that fashiona¬
ble and frivolous women, who live only in self-indul¬
gence and to have a 'good time,' are a dead weight
upon their parents and a blot in society. In the age
of chivalry and knighthood the laws of human nature
were expressed when the crowning of the victor was
assigned to woman's hand. As on the knightly fields,
so it is on the great battlefield of life, contestants and
combatants are animated and encouraged by woman's
approval and cheering words.
200
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Drudge of the Nation.—In the dark ages of the
world's history she was the drudge of the nation, and
considered only capable of doing menial work. But
with the birth of Christianity she broke the manacle
of society and conventionalism and came forth full-
fledged, exerting power in every sphere of life. There
is no home where her power is not felt, from the low¬
liest cabin to the king's palace.
The Center.—Woman's power is very great. She
was not the first to pry with microscopic eyes and dis¬
cover the startling truth that a single drop of water
is crowded with a million living forms playing their
part in the great drama of life. But she may be styled
the axle on which the great wheel of society turns.
If you ask of her devotion, behold Rizah defending her
.dead. If you would know of her stern training we
have the words of the Spartan mother to her son as she
buckles on his shield and bids him 'Return from the
battlefield either with your shield or upon it.' If you
would know of her military ability, we point to 'Joan
of Ark,' as she clads herself in the warrior's apparel
and is victorious in battle.
There are hosts of women we might name of our
day, but suffice it to say, she is to mankind what the
sun is to the universe. She is the center around which
society moves and the light by which they are guided.
Young Women, did it ever occur to you that you had
a great and awful responsibility resting upon you, and
that you in part hold the destiny of our race in your
hands?
If you have never thought, I beg of you, in the name
of all that is pure and right, to think now. If you
have never been factors in the upbuilding of the Negro
race, begin now to do your part. It has been said,
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
201
'Whatever the women are the men will be sure to be.'
Knowing this, fit yourself for the great emergency
about you.
Prepare Yourself to raise those about you to a higher
standard of all that goes to make a true man and
woman. Educate yourself. Don't be contented with
mere smattering. 'A little learning is a dangerous
thing.' Educate your heads, your hearts and your
hands. Let your thought be as pure and your charac¬
ter as spotless as the snow upon the summit of the
loftiest mountain where the feathered songsters have
never plumed their wings for flight nor the sweet
sound of their notes have ever been heard.
Do Not Fail.—If you fail, young woman, to use this
power, you fail positively, not negatively; so fail that
you will drag down instead of elevate. This power is
yours, and you cannot change it. It belongs to you as
women.
Begin Now.—If you have never been a factor in the
upbuilding of your race, count up the cost and begin to
do your part. If you have never thought of your race
pride, think now. Not only think, but act well your
part. Without the ennobling power of the woman
we can never be a great and noble race. If young
men aspire to reach the highest pinnacles of fame,
they rise but to fall lower, unless the women are pure
and will demand respect. Learn to resent insults,
young women. Learn to respect and defend tne women
of your race, young men.
The World Will Feel It.—I would that I had a
thousand tongues, and every tongue a thousand voices,
and every voice a thousand echoes, that could reach
from America to the utmost parts of Africa, and I
would speak in loudest tone, with animating voice, to
202
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
every Negro woman, and bid her take up woman's
responsibility. Let colored women begin to act, begin
to do, and exert their power in the right direction,
and the world will feel it. Not as it would feel an
earthquake shock, but as the globe feels the grand
cohesive power which cements its heterogeneous masses
and binds them into one harmonious band.''
A New Era.—Mrs. Fannie Barrier Williams says:
"A whole race of women, whose only heritage has
been ignorance and isolation, needs no philosophers
to lead them into a higher state. Their needs are
elementary, and the duties of Christian women in their
behalf are near, direct, and easy of comprehension.
If the colored women who are sufficiently intelligent
and warm-hearted to share in the responsibilities of
helping where help is needed could be aroused from
their do-nothing, unsympathetic and discouraged con¬
dition, and could be conscious of their opportunities
for accomplishing good deeds, there would at once
come the dawning of a new and better era for the
American Negro. We would then understand that the
question is not what we ought to demand, but what
we can do; not what are our rights, but how we can
best deserve them; not so much how to condemn prej¬
udice, but how to remove its cause. The hour is not
for the lamentatio.ns of Rachel, but for the hopes, cour¬
age and duty becoming women who are called by large
opportunities to noble work. If we would have the
public interested in us and our needs, we must become
interesting, and we will become interesting just as
soon as we begin to help ourselves to the utmost extent
of our opportunities.
Home Life.—The one thing that should appeal most
strongly to our hearts is the need of a .better and purer
MRS. J. W. E. BOWEN,
President Georgia Women's Christian Temperance Union.
204
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
home life among our people in many parts of the
South. I scarcely need tell you that our most embar¬
rassing heritage from slavery was a homelessness and a
lack of home ties. All the sanctities of marriage, the
precious instincts of motherhood, the spirit of family
alliance, and the upbuilding of home as an institution
of the human heart, were all ruthlessly ignored and
fiercely prohibited by the requirements of slavery.
Colored people in bondage were only as men, women
and children, and not as fathers, mothers, sons and
daughters, brothers and sisters. Family relationships
and home sentiments were thus no part of the prepara¬
tion of colored people for freedom and citizenship.
It is not agreeable to refer to these things, but they
are mentioned merely to suggest to you how urgent
and immensely important it is that we should be
actively and helpfully interested in those poor women
of the rural South, who, in darkness and without
guides, are struggling to build homes and rear families.
When we properly appreciate the fact that there can
be no real advancement of the colored race without
homes that are purified by all the influences of Christian
virtues, it will seem strange that no large, earnest,
directed and organized effort has been made to teach
men and women the blessed meaning of home.
One - Room Cabins.—The first thing that should'
interest us is the fact that thousands of colored fam¬
ilies in the South are still living in one-room cabins.
Though the South is filled with our professors, minis¬
ters and smart politicians, yet few have attempted to
teach these people the difference between a slave
cabin and a Christian home.
Booker T. Washington, who has done- more for the
practical education of the colored people in all things
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 205
than any other one man in America, tells us that the
one-room cabin is the very root of all social evils in the
South. It also appears that this indiscriminate hud¬
dling together of a whole family, large or small, in one
room, is due more to ignorance of a better way than
to poverty. The reform so earnestly needed in the
mode of living in a large part of the South should not
be left to a few chance individuals who are struggling
to effect it.
Organization.—Colored women in every part of this
country, who know what good homes mean to the well
being of the colored race, should come together inorgan-
ization to study the situation, and earnestly put in mo¬
tion every possible agency for reform. Such organiza¬
tion would learn at once, to their surprise and shame,
how many things they could do that are not being done.
They will learn that those who need our hearts, hands
and advice are not suffering so much for want of equal
rights, and political rights, and some easy escape
from prejudice, as they are for the simplest necessities
that make for decency, order and the sanctities of
home making. Thousands of our women in the South
are eager to learn some of the primary lessons of house¬
hold sanitation, moral guides, mental stimulants, and
the purifying environments for the children of their
hearts; yet these yearnings are not heeded by those
who can help and comfort them.
System.—Thousands of capable young women and
men, who are eager for enlightenment and culture, are
without books, papers and pictures, yet good literature
and art of all kinds are prodigally wasted under our
feet, because there seems to be neither sense nor sym¬
pathy enough to know where to send them as rays of
light into dark places. In short, there are a thousand
206
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
sources of plenty and helpfulness for our fellow-men
and women, if we could but organize agencies to com¬
mand and use them.
Prejudice.—Do you know that thousands of our
bright young women, comely and capable, are -without
employment partly on account of American prejudice,
partly on account of their own timidity, and especially
because no effort is made to suggest or to show them
the many new fields of employment that they know
not of? Do you know that the tendency of our time
is to make all work respectable and honorable that is
well and honorably done? And that our girls who can
do housework better than anything else should be as
much respected for doing it as they would be if making
less wages as clerks? Do you know that thousands of
our young men are reckless and unworthy of their
privileges because they have no inspiration to better
things, and no rebuke from young women? Do you
know that our ministers would be nobler in all things,
in all the best attributes of their calling, if our women
were to insist upon it? Do you know that all things
that are pure, healthful and sacred, in the relations of
husband and wife and child, depend primarily upon
worthy women? All these things and many more of
like nature are suggested to women who come together
in a spirit of reform. Surely, we have something more
than sorrow, complaint and tears.
Work Left to Colored Women.—Colored women of
culture and force of character can do much to urge this
thought upon women of the dominant race. If I may
be pardoned a personal reference, I will say that my
best reward in meeting and talking to representative
white women, at all times and places, is that they are
§o susceptible to. the idea that they need us.to some
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
207
extent in the same way that we need them. All state¬
ments to them concerning- our wrongs and how we
suffer under all forms of injustice are received with
startling surprise. I have been happily repaid for all
my efforts by fewest assurances of many of the women
in the country that they have been converted to right
thinking concerning us. We may feel safe in the belief
that the women who are strong enough to resist the
domination of fashion's nonsense and the snobbery of
caste are ever ready to lay aside their false presump¬
tion against us, and accept the truth of our cause if we
would but put ourselves more in evidence in their
efforts to benefit humanity.
Self Respect.—I would also appeal to the hearts of
our women for a stronger sense of self-respect.
I believe that it is an infallible rule that people are
weak who believe themselves weak. We help to make
ourselves unimportant and underestimated by the habit
of confessing our inferiority. We are everywhere
hampered by the false and cringing notions that certain
positions and achievements are beyond our reach.
Hundreds of young men and women graduate with
high academic honors from schools and colleges and
pass at once into obscurity, as much because of their
own low sense of self-importance as from the resisting-
rce of popular prejudice.
In Bondage.—Thirty-five years ago we alone were in
the wilderness of bondage, crying aloud for freedom.
Our happy release from that condition thrilled men and
women everywhere with a most exalted sense of the
value and sweetness of liberty. To-day we are not
alone in any of our claims, disabilities, wants and
hopes. That large number of wretched women who
are stitching their lives out in the sweat shops of our
208
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
large cities in order to get a crumb of bread for their
children, the toiling men and women of the land who
groan and smart under the oppressions of wealth,
women of all kinds and conditions who are restive
under the restraint imposed by senseless customs and
unjust laws, in fact all our countrymen who are con¬
scious of being forced to live short of a complete enjoy¬
ment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are
with us in our every contention.
No Monopoly.—We as surely have no monopoly of
jnisery- as we have no monopoly of fortune; there is
somewhere and somehow a compensation for every
difficulty we meet and complain of. Our poetry has
opened the floodgates of philanthropy, prejudice has
multiplied our friends and has tended to sharpen the
mettle of our character, and all forms of injustice
against us react in terms of justice for us. Indeed,
our advantages and opportunities are large, exalting,
and a part of the very constitution of things.
How to Win.—We are women claiming, yearning
and aspiring for rights at a time when woman's win¬
some voice of supplication, of stern command, is heard
and heeded above the din and clamor of the times.
Would you win the interest and confidence of the
world? The answer comes from a thousand sources:
Be brave in the consciousness of your own worth, be
beautifully graced with all that virtue asks in woman
and you shall in time remove from all laws, ways and
customs the darkening blight of woman's prejudices
- against woman.''
A True Lady.—Mrs." M. A. McCurdy says: "A true
lady is, to a great extent, judged by her conversation
and behavior when on the street or in any public con¬
veyance. To hear a woman or a girl talk loudly on
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
209
the street or in a street car, is a practice quite unbe¬
coming and disagreeable, because it is common.
Company.—Our girls should beware the company
they keep, for "on the choice of friends our good or
evil name depends," and the girl who is seen with
common, ill-bred, or rude companions, no matter how
ladylike she herself may be, will, as a rule, be judged
by them.
Books and Papers.—The books and papers that a
girl reads have much to do in forming her habits and
character of conversation. If she reads the poor and
trashy books which she finds exposed for sale on many
newspaper stands, her mental life will, of necessity,
partake of the character of the poor, unwholesome
food with which she feeds it. If, on the other hand,
she reads instructive and interesting books and papers,
which she may obtain at no greater cost, she will be
laying the foundation of a good, useful and happy life
in the future.
Amusements.—The question of girls' amusement is
a very important one at the present time, because of
the silly and vicious attractions that are being offered
on every hand, and mothers should see that their girls
are not present on all occasions, regardless of the fact
that they are accompanied by some intimate gentleman
friend, because true enjoyment is not to be found in
continually attending places of amusement, but rather
in living a quiet, wholesome life, doing one's duty from
day to day, reading useful and inspiring books, doing
our daily work, striving to do service for Christ on
any and all occasions. Then let the girl be modest in
her dress, careful as to what and to whom she talks,
choice in her selection of books and companions, mod¬
erate as to her indulgence in amusements, and she will
14
210
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
find that she will not only win the approval of all who
casually come in contact with her, but the Lord will
greatly bless her, and open ways for her to fit herself
for usefulness in honored positions in the ranks of true
ladies.''
Homes.—The following paragraph from ' 'Talks for
the Times" is pertinent: "Young ladies, there is a
vast and important field open to you. You are to build
up the homes of a race. Having enjoyed the blessings
of one for several years in your school life, it is
expected that you will go forth to give deeper meaning
to home life among the people. It will devolve upon
you to teach them that, home life does not mean ken¬
neling together like wild beasts, nor does it mean
costly furniture and rich tapestry, for there may be
more moral worth upon homespun than under silk, and
more real happiness in a Christian log cabin than in a
Godless mansion, whose floors are spread with English
velvet, and whose windows are draped with lace cur¬
tains. It will devolve upon you to teach them that a
home means mutual respect and mutual affection,
mutual confidence and harmonious co-operation. May
it never be said of the young ladies who graduate in
colored schools that they were found standing before
the temple of fashion, while their ignorant and degraded
sisters were perishing for lack of Christian instruction.'1
Good Taste Displayed in Dress by the young colored
women of the South is noticeable. The girls who earn
money spend it to suit their own tastes, display good
discrimination in the harmony of colors and the use of
ornamentation, and a choice for delicacy of fabric.
Their scorn for high colors, especially red, and for
bizarre effects, is amusing, and at the same time most
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
211
suggestive, for here, too, we see the influence of tradi¬
tion and a rebound from previous conditions.
The Negroes are an emotional people; the emotions
are the roots from which the esthetic sentiments
spring, and in their education the development of the
esthetic sensibilities should receive its full share.
Duty to Perform.—"Young women, there is a duty
for you to perform, also. It has been well said that "it
is easy to judge what the men are when you know what
the women are." Oh, the word woman! We pause to
think of the purity and innocence which existed in her
when first placed in the garden of Eden. Make society
good by your Christian character, live so that the world
will be better for your having lived in it. The path of
duty in this world is not all gloom or sadness or dark¬
ness, and it is only when we turn to the right or left
that we are lacerated by piercing thorns and concealed
dangers. When we learn that doing our duty will help
some poor, weak one, it will strengthen us and we will
do more in the interests of our brothers and sisters.
When we have a task to perform, we should go about
it with a cheerful heart, with an eye single to doing
our best; then duty becomes a pleasure.
Topmost Round.—Now, having attained woman¬
hood, let us aim to be first in the pursuit of our life's
work; we cannot reach the topmost round at once, and
if we get there at all there must be something in us
worthy of the upper rounds. Can we ask Him to be
our guide who noticed the falling of a sparrow to the
ground? Do so; then we will not choose the wrong
path, we will not stumble in our darkest hours. We
will not think solely of our slavery, of our closing hour,
or how we will spend the evening, but will put our
mind on our duties and resolve that they shall have
212
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
the best that is in us; and, by and by, we shall enjoy
the reward which is laid up for the finally faithful."
Possibilities.—Her possibilities for usefulness • are
great. She is not less capable than other women, she
is endowed with the same emotions of love and of hate,
joy and sorrow, of fear and faith. Why may she not
be fired with the same ambition and have the same
sense of right and wrong, the same regard for human¬
ity and love for God as her sister in white? Look at
the host of noble, worthy women that have already
written their names high. Early in the history of the
race in this country Phyllis Wheatley, by her extraordi¬
nary intellectual power moved the hearts of men,
and to this day stands out prominently as a literary
genius. The posssibilities of the colored woman are
great. What she has done she can do again. Yea, can
increase in manifold ways.
Difficulties.—That there are great difficulties to
encounter in the work must not be overlooked;
that the negro woman is less fortunate than her white
sister, is a fact. Poverty and prejudice prevail on every
hand, but even this cannot quench her ambitions.
Seeing the need of help to a race rising from degrada¬
tion nothing should prevent her from overcoming
these great obstacles.
Great Need.—The condition of homes in the South,
languor and apathy of the many who have not yet real¬
ized their true condition and the possibilities of im¬
provement, suggests the great need of labor in brain,
help and information to those so sadly in need of it.''
Our Homes.—While it is true that our homes should
be models, that Christian character is most largely
built there, here more than elsewhere should the power
of woman exert itself in beautifying and cheering homes
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
213
and in cultivating a taste for the true, the beautiful,
and the ennobling. It is not necessary that wealth be
ours, but even a humble home may be made beautiful
and cheerful.
Not Confined to Homes.—Although the work of the
woman is largely in the homes, yet it is not confined
entirely to the homes. Woman's sphere is anywhere
where she may do good. Negro women are needed in
the school room, where, next to the home, is found the
place of character building, engraving on the tables of
the useful mind that which will brighten through all
eternity one of the noblest of occupations.
Social Purity Among Our Girls.—The young girls
of our race, especially those that throng larger cities,
and who have no home influences to hold them, are
being dragged down in numbers year by year. Here is
a great work for leaders. The work done in the larger
cities of the North in this line suggests to the colored
women something of what may be done for their race.
Be up and doing. Raise the fallen, and so fulfill the
law of Christ.
Industrial Schools. — Then again, the industrial
schools where dressmaking, cooking, and the work of
the home in general are taught, present a large field of
usefulness among the women of the race. The work of
Miss Lucy Laney, of Augusta, Ga., suggests what
might be done in these lines, were more to realize the
possibilities of so great a harvest.
Professional and Literary Workers.—Why should
not women of the race, as well as their sisters in
white, prepare to fill the professions of medicine, law,
etc. What a great field for usefulness is open! The
young ladies cannot too early enter this field, where
214
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
there is so great a need of work, and where such happy
results are attained.
Path of Duty.—The women of the race should then,
in whatever sphere their lot is cast, follow the plain
path of duty. Some may ask what recompense they
are to receive for years of self-denial and toil? Man's
ingratitude is not limited by race or color. Much may
be accomplished in lifting up humanity, we may not be
recognized, but we are not living with a view of
notoriety, but what we desire to accomplish is some¬
thing in the elevating and ennobling those around us.
With this end in view, let us follow closely in the path
of duty and we shall, in due time, receive recompense
and reward.
Retrospective and Prospective View.—"Take a re¬
trospective view of the condition of the colored women
a generation ago; the advancement in all times is cer¬
tainly remarkable. The home has been elevated and
home and family ties have ennobled many lives, and
the work of those who have so faithfully labored in
this field is crowned with blessing on every hand. Let
us not suppose that all has been done that can be done.
There are many that are living only a little, if any,
above the life of slavery, where true homes were un¬
known. It becomes the colored woman's duty of today
to take courage from what has been done and seek in
all the various avenues means and organizations to
continue the work of raising and elevating the people
of the race. We may not always realize our desires,
but be sure that the united efforts of our women will,
in time, demand the respect of every race on the face
of the earth.''
We take the following extracts from an address on
"Enlightened Motherhood," given by Mrs. Frances
COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
215
E. W. Harper, before the Brooklyn Literary Society:
Thirty Years.—"It is thirty years since an emanci¬
pated people stood on the threshold of a new era, fac¬
ing an uncertain future—a legally unmarried race, to
MRS. F. E. W. HARPER,
Author and Lecturer, Philadelphia, Pa. See sketch of Life in
Chapter XIV.
be taught the sacredness of the marriage relation; an
ignorant people, to be taught to read the book of
Christian law, and to learn to comprehend more fully
the claims of the gospel of the Christ of Calvary.
A homeless race, to be gathered into homes of peace-
216
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ful security and to be instructed how to plant around
their firesides the strongest batteries against the sins
that degrade and the race vices that demoralize.
A race unversed in the science of government and
unskilled in the just administration of law, to be trans¬
lated from the old oligarchy of slavery into the new
commonwealth of freedom, and to those men came the
right to exchange the fetters on their wrists for the
ballots in their right hands—a ballot which, if not
vitiated by fraud, or restrained by intimidation, counts
just as much as that of the most talented and influ¬
ential man in the land.
Christian Women.—While politicians may stumble
on the barren mountain of fretful controversy, and
men, lacking faith in God and the invisible forces
which make for righteousness, may shrink from the
unsolved- problems of the hour, into the hands of
Christian women comes the opportunity of serving the
ever-blessed Christ, by ministering to his little ones,
and striving to make their homes the brightest spots on
earth and the fairest types of Heaven. The school
may instruct and the church may teach, but the home
is an institution older than the church and antedating
the school, and that is the place where children should
be trained for useful citizenship on earth and a hope of
holy companionship in Heaven.
Home.—The home may be a humble spot, where
there are no velvet carpets to hush your tread, no
magnificence to surround your way, nor costly
creations of painter's art or sculptor's skill to please
your conceptions or gratify your tastes; but what
are the costliest gifts of fortune when placed in the
balance with the confiding love of dear children or
the true devotion of a noble and manly husband, whose
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 217
heart can safely trust in his wife? You may place
upon the brow of a true wife and mother the green¬
est laurels; you may crowd her hands with civic
honors; but, after all, to her there will be no place
like home, and the crown of her motherhood will be
more precious than the diadem of a queen.
Marriage,—As marriage is the mother of homes, it
is important that the duties and responsibilities of this
relation should be understood before it is entered on.
A mistake made here may run through every avenue
of the future, cast its shadow over all our coming
years, and enter the lives of those whom we should
shield with our love and defend with our care. We
may be versed in ancient lore and modern learning,
may be able to trace the path of worlds that roll in
light and power on high, and to tell when comets shall
cast their trail over our evening skies; we may under¬
stand the laws of stratification well enough to judge
where lies the strain of silver, and where nature has
hidden her virgin gold; we may be able to tell the
story of departed nations and conquering chieftains,
who have added pages of tears and blood to the world's
history—but our education is deficient if we are per¬
fectly ignorant how to guide the little feet that are
springing up so gladly in our path, and to see in unde¬
veloped possibilities gold more fine than the pavements
of Heaven and gems more precious than the founda¬
tions of the holy city. Marriage should not be a blind
rushing together of tastes and fancies, a mere union of
fortunes or an affair of convenience; it should be a
'tie that only love and truth should weave and nothing
but death should part.
Foundation Stones.—Marriage between two youth¬
ful and loving hearts means the laying of the founda-
218
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
tion stones of a new home, and the woman who helps
erect that home should be careful not to build it above
the reeling brain of a drunkard, or the weakened fibre
of a debauchee. If it be folly for a merchant to send
an argosy, laden with the richest treasures, at mid¬
night on a moonless sea, without a rudder, compass,
or guide, is it not madness for a woman to trust her
future happiness, and the welfare of the dear children
who may yet nestle in her arms and make music and
sunshine around her fireside, in the unsteady hands of
a characterless man, too lacking in self-respect and
self-control to hold the helm and rudder of his own
life; who drifts where he ought to steer, and only lasts
when he ought to live?
A Good Character.—The moment the crown of
motherhood falls on the brow of a young wife, God
gives her a new interest in the welfare of the home and
the good of society. If hitherto she has been content
to trip through life a light-hearted girl, or to tread amid
the halls of wealth and fashion the gayest of the gay,
life holds for her now a high and noble service. She
must be more than the child of pleasure or the devotee
of fashion. Her work is grandly constructive. A help¬
less and ignorant babe lies smiling in her arms. God
has trusted her with a child, and it is her privilege to
help that child develop the most precious thing a man
or woman can possess on earth, and that is a good char¬
acter. Moth may devour our finest garments, fire may
consume and floods destroy our finest homes, rust may
gather on our silver and tarnish our gold, but there is
an asbestos that no fire can destroy, a treasure which
will be richer for its service and better for its use, and
that is a good character.''
A Single Standard.—"I hold that no woman loves
the colored woman of to-day.
219
social purity as it deserves to be loved and valued, if
she cares i'or the purity of her daughters and not her
sons; who would gather her dainty robes from contact
with the fallen woman and yet greet with smiling lips
and clasp with warm and welcoming hands the author
of her wrong and ruin. How many mothers to-day
shrink from a double standard for society which can
ostracise a woman and condone the offense of the man?
How many mothers say within their hearts, 'I intend
to teach my boy to be as pure in his life, as chaste in
his conversation, as the young girl that sits at my side
encircled in the warm clasp of loving arms?' How
many mothers strive to have their boys shun the gilded
saloon as they would the den of a deadly serpent? Not
the mother who thoughtlessly sends her child to the
saloon for a beverage to make merry with her friends.
How many mothers teach their boys to shrink in horror
from the fascinations of women, not as God made
them, but as sin has degraded them?
Ruined Manhood.—If you and I could walk through
the wards of various hospitals at home and abroad,
perhaps we would find hundreds, it may be thousands,
of young men awaiting death as physical wrecks, hav¬
ing burned the candle of their' lives at both ends.
Were we to bend over their dying couches with pitying
glances, and question them of their lives, perhaps
numbers of them could tell sad stories of careless
words from thoughtless lips that tainted their imagina¬
tions and sent their virus through their lives; of young
eyes, above which God has made the heavens so elo¬
quent in His praise, and the earth around so poetic
in His ideas, turning from the splendor of the magnifi¬
cent sunsets or glorious early dawns, and finding
allurement in the dreadful fascinations of sin, or learn-
15
220
PROGRESS OF A RACfi.
ing to gloat over impure pictures and vile literature.
Then, later on, perhaps many of them could say, ' The
first time I went to a house where there were revelry
and song, and the dead were there and I knew it not,
I went with men who were older than myself; men
who should have shown me how to avoid the pitfalls
which lie in the path of the young, the tempted, the
inexperienced, taught me to gather the flowers of sin,
that blossom around the borders of hell.'
• Wise Mothers.—Suppose we dared to question a
little further, not from idle curiosity, but for the sake
of getting, from the dying, object lessons for the living,
and say, 'God gave you, an ignorant child, into the
hands of a mother. Did she never warn you of your
dangers, and teach you how to avoid them?' How
many could truthfully say, ' My mother was wise enough
to teach me and faithful enough to warn me'? If the
cholera or yellow fever were raging in any part of this
city, and to enter, that section meant peril to health
and life, what mother would permit her child to walk
carelessly through a district where pestilence was
breathing its bane upon the morning air and distilling
its poison upon the midnight dews? And yet, when
boys go from the fireside into the arena of life, how
many ever go there forewarned and forearmed against
the soft seductions of vice, against moral conditions
which are worse than 'fever, plague and palsy, and
madness all combined?'
- Ante-natal Life.—Among the things I would pre¬
sent for the enlightenment of mothers are attention to
the laws of heredity and environment. Mrs. Winslow,
in ,a paper on social purity, speaks of a package of let¬
ters she received from a young man of talent, good
education, and a strong desire to live a pure and useful
the colored woman op to-Day. 221
life. In boyhood he had ignorantly ruined his health,
and, when he resolved to rise above his depressed con¬
dition, his own folly, his heredity and environment,
weighed him down like an incubus. His appeals, she
says, are most touching. He says: 'If you cannot
help me, what can I do? My mother cursed me with
illegitimacy and hereditary insanity. I had left only
the alternative of suicide and madness.' A fearful
legacy! For stolen money and slandered character we
may make reparation, but the opportunity of putting
the right stamp on an ante-natal life, if once gone, is
gone forever; and there never was an angel of God,
however bright, terrible, or strong he may be, who was
ever strong enough to roll away the stone from the
grave of a dead opportunity.
Heredity.—Would it not be well for us women to
introduce into all of our literary circles, for the purpose
of gaining knowledge, topics on this subject of heredity
and the influence of good and bad conditions upon the
home life of the race, and study this subject in the light
of science for our own and the benefit of others? For
instance, may we not seriously ask the question, Can a
mother or a father be a habitual tippler, or break God's
law of social purity, and yet impart to their children,
at the same time, abundant physical vitality and strong
moral fibre? Can a father dash away the reins of moral
restraint, and, at the same time, impart strong will
power to his offspring?
Aristocracy.—Men may boast of the aristocracy of
blood; they may glory in the aristocracy of talent, and
be proud of the aristocracy of wealth, but there is an
aristocracy which must ever outrank them all, and that
is the aristocracy of character.
"The work of the mothers of our race is grandly
222
progress op a race.
constructive. It is for us to build about the wreck and
ruin of the past more stately temples of thought and
action. Some races have been overthrown, -dashed to
pieces and destroyed; but to-day the world is needing,
fainting, for something better than the results of arro¬
gance, aggressiveness and indomitable power. We
need mothers who are capable of being character
builders, patient, loving, strong, and true, whose
homes will be an uplifting power in the race.
Need of the Hour.—This one of the greatest needs
of the hour. No race can afford to neglect the enlight¬
enment of its mothers. If you would have a clergy
without virtue or morality, a manhood without honor,
and a womanhood frivolous, mocking and ignorant,
neglect the education of your daughters. But if, on
the other hand, you would have strong men, virtuous
women, and good homes, then enlighten your women,
so that they may be able to bless their homes by the
purity of their lives, the tenderness of their hearts, and
the strength of their intellects.
Science of a True Life.—From schools and colleges
your children may come well versed in ancient lore
and modern learning, but it is for us to learn and
teach, within the shadow of our own homes, the high¬
est and best of all sciences, the science of a true life.
When the last lay of the minstrel shall die upon his
ashy lips, and the sweetest numbers of the poet cease
to charm his death-dulled [ear; when. the eye of the
astronomer shall be too dim to mark the path of
worlds that roll in light and power on high; and when
all our earthly knowledge has performed for us its
mission, and we are ready to lay aside our environ¬
ments as garments we have outworn and outgrown: if
we have learned the science of a true life, we may rest
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
223
assured that this acquirement will go with us through
the valley and shadow of death, only to grow lighter
and brighter through the eternities. "
MRS. MARGARET WASHINGTON, TUSKEGEE, ALA.
Mrs. Washington is one of the ablest leaders of woman's meetings
of her race. See sketch, Chapter XIV.
National Meeting for 1897.—The National meeting
of the colored women for 1897 was held September 15,
in Nashville, Tennessee. The meeting was the most
representative and enthusiastic yet held. All sections
224
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
of the country we^e represented by the best, brightest
and most intellectual women of the race. We are glad
to see that even in this city of the South the whites
took more interest in this convention than in any pre¬
vious convention held.
Fourth Meeting.—This is the fourth national as¬
sembly of women of African descent for the purpose
of improving their social- condition. It is estimated
that the Association has a membership of ten thousand.
Previous meetings have excited a widespread interest
in the work. At a meeting a year ago the following
five points were discussed: Improvement of the home
life among the colored people; industrial improvement
of the girls; better and more practical schools for girls;
temperance; abolishment of the convict lease system.
There is not a phase of the many questions and reforms
that are of special interest to women that has not com¬
manded the earnest attention and support of the colored
women's organizations. There has been a stirring and
quickening among colored women of a sense of respon¬
sibility for whatever evil there is in the social life of
the race.
Finding One's Place.—It is certainly no unimportant
thing to witness how readily the colored women of the
country find their work and are going about it with the
directness and single heartedness of true apostles of
reform. They have faith in themselves and the sure
and virtuous outcome of all for which they pray, plan
and work.
President's Address.—The able address of the Presi¬
dent of the National Association, Mrs.- Mary Church
Terrell, should be read by every colored woman. We
have space for but a few short extracts:
JTot Discouraged.—It is not because we are dis-
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
225
couraged at the progress made by our people that we
have uttered the cry of alarm which has called together
this band of earnest women assembled here tonight. In
the unprecedented advancement made by the Negro
since his emancipation, we take great pride, and extract
therefrom both courage and hope. From a condition
of dense ignorance but thirty years ago, we have ad¬
vanced so far in the realms of knowledge and letters as
to have produced scholars and authors of no mean
repute.
Progress.—Penniless as a race but a short time
ago, we have among us today a few men of wealth, and
multitudes who own their own homes and make com¬
fortable livings. We therefore challenge any other
race to present a record more creditable, and show a
progress more wonderful than that made by the ex-
slaves of the United States of America, and that, too, in
spite of prejudice, proscription and persecution against
the like of which no other people has ever had to contend
in the history of the world.
Weakness and Defects.—And yet, while rejoicing in
our steady march onward and upward to the best and
highest things of life, we are nevertheless painfully
mindful of our weaknesses and defects. While we
know the Negro is no worse than other races equally
poor, equally ignorant and equally oppressed, we would
nevertheless see him lay aside the sins that do so easily
beset him, and come forth clothed in all those attributes
of mind and graces of character that stamp the real
man. To compass this end through the simplest,
swiftest, surest methods, the colored women have
organized themselves into this association, whose power
for good, let us hope, will be as enduring as it is un¬
limited.
226
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
A Mission to Perform.—Believing that it is only
through the home that a people can become really good
and truly great, the N. A. C. W. shall enter that sacred
domain to inculcate right principles of living and cor¬
rect false views of life. Homes, more homes, purer
homes, better homes, is the text upon which our ser¬
mons to the masses must be preached. So long as the
-majority of a people call that place home in which the
air is foul, the manners bad and the morals worse,
just so long is this so-called home a menace to health,
a breeder of vice, and the abode of crime. Not alone
upon the inmates of these hovels are the awful conse¬
quences of their filth and immorality visited, but upon
the heads of those who sit calmly by and make no effort
to stem the tide of disease and vice will vengeance as
surely fall.
- Mothers' Congress.—If the women of the dominant
race, with all the centuries of education, culture and
refinement back of them, with all their wealth of oppor¬
tunity ever present with them, if these women recently
felt the necessity of calling a mothers' congress, that
they might be enlightened as to the best method of
rearing children and conducting their homes, how
much more do the women of our own race, from whom
the shackles of slavery have just fallen, need informa¬
tion on the same subjects? Let us have a mothers'
congress in every community in which our women can
be found.
Self-Respect.—Among other practical suggestions as
to their duty in the home, let us urge upon our mothers
the necessity of increasing the self-respect of our chil¬
dren. Let the reckless, ill-advised, and oftentimes
brutal, methods of punishing children be everywhere
condemned. Let us teach our mothers that by punish-
THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY.
227
MRS. MARY CHURCH TERRELL,
President National Association of Colored Women, 1896-97,
ing children inhumanely, they destroy their pride, crush
their spirit, and convert them into hardened culprits
whom it will be impossible later on to reach or touch in
any way at all. More than any other race at present
in this country, we should strive to implant feelings of
self-respect and pride in our children, whose spirits are
crushed and whose hearts are saddened enough by the
indignities from which, as victims of an unreasonable,
cruel prejudice, it is impossible to shield them."
228
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Colored Youth.—"The colored youth is vicious, we
are told, and statistics showing the multitude of our
boys and girls who fill the penitentiaries and crowd
the jails appall and discourage us. Side by side with
these facts and figures of crime, I would have pre¬
sented and pictured the miserable hovels from which
these youthful criminals come. Crowded into alleys,
' many of them the haunts of vice, few if any of them
in a proper sanitary condition, most of them fatal to
mental or moral growth, and destructive of healthful,
physical development as well, thousands of our children
have wretched heritage indeed.
Work in Homes.—"It is, therefore, into the home,
sisters of the association, that we must go, filled with
all the zeal and charity which such a mission demands.
To the children of the race we owe, as women, a debt
which can never be paid, until herculean efforts are
made to rescue them from evil and shame, for which
they are in no 'way responsible. Listen to the cry of
the children, my sisters. Upon you they depend far
the light of knowledge, and the blessing of a good
example. As an organization of women, surely noth¬
ing can be nearer our hearts than the children, many
of whose lives, so sad and dark, we brighten and bless.''
CHAPTER IX.
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
FARMS AND HOMES—SKILLED LABOR.
Progress in Industries.—When we remember that
thirty-five years ago the Negro was in slavery it is
certainly remarkable to note the progress made in all
lines of industry. Keeping in mind some of the diffi¬
culties the Negro has had to strive against the progress
made in industries is commendable. All throughout
the South are found men who stand at the head in
the various lines of business. Be it said to the credit
of the colored people, and greatly to their benefit, that
the race has in its possession a sound means of dis¬
playing its progress.
United Efforts.—While much has been done in all
lines of business, yet very much more remains to be
done before the Negro holds that place in business to
which he is entitled. In order to accomplish what'
should be done in this respect it is necessary that there
be united efforts on the part of the race to assist one
another in every business enterprise. Wherever men
of the Negro race attempt to increase the advantages
of the race there should be found those who stand by
them and support them. With the full confidence and
patronage of the people the Negro race will have rich
merchants and capitalists carrying on rich business
enterprises in every section of the country, that will
demand the respect and recognition of the world.
No More Speedy Remedy.—Let the race continue
in the progress that it has made the last thirty years;
let the Negro push out into different enterprises and
229
RESIDENCE OF ALEX. HAMILTON, CONTRACTOR AND BUILDER, ATLANTA, GA.
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
231
assist in controlling large business enterprises, and
this alone will be worth more than any other remedy
in suppressing and eradicating prejudice on account of
color and blotting out the iniquitous legislation
against the race in the South, wiping every unjust law
from the statutes.
A Progressive Age.—We live in a progressive age;
here we are in the evening of the nineteenth century
with all the modern inventions and discoveries of the
telegraph, telephone and electricity. There is no rea¬
son why the race should remain any longer in the dark.
In unity there is strength, and when the colored people
stand shoulder to shoulder, advancing the standard of
the race in all industries, then will the colored man's
prospects in business be as bright as those of the
Anglo-Saxon.
Race Pride.—In order that progress in these lines
shall be made it is necessary that the colored men
everywhere encourage one another,-and when a colored
man progresses in business not to envy his prosperity,
but rather to be proud of him and his success, throw¬
ing away envy, jealousy and race hatred. Race pride
must be cultivated. As the different nationalities,
Irish, Jews, Germans and other people are recognized
and respected only as they are united and held
together, so it is essential that the Negroes should
stand united in helping one another by their speech,
by pen, by vote, and by money.
Consumers.—The Negro race is a race of consumers,
and it is essential that it be a race of producers.
When it reaches this point, that the colored man is able
to manufacture as well as consume, he will have the
respect of all. The industrial schools of the South are
232
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
doing more in this respect, in bringing up the masses
to a realization of their privileges, than any other
agency.
Brains and Labor.—If the Negro is to succeed it is
essential that in the first place he dignify labor, and in
the second place that he put brains into labor.
Thrift and Industry—Rev. J. E. Edwards, D. D.,
a white man of learning and exalted character, says:
"Hand in hand with the progress of education among
the Negro population of Petersburg, Virginia, there
has been a corresponding progress in industry, thrift,
morals and manners of the race. Their ability to live
at less expense' than the poor whites has enabled the
more provident of them to lay by a larger surplus from
their earnings, and, as a result, they are buying lots,
and in some instances putting up comfortable and taste¬
fully constructed residences. The marriage relation
is recognized by them as of more binding obligation
than formerly, both in its civil and moral respects.
The family idea is a healthful growth. Self-respect
and self reliance are on the advance.
Improving in Morals.—They are property owners,
shop keepers, manufacturers, contractors, master build¬
ers, mechanics and laborers, competing fairly and with
out let or hindrance with the whites. They are con¬
stantly improving in morals, in thrift and industry, and
are rapidly advancing in civilization, refinement and
learning.
Peaceable Community.—The present population of
Petersburg may be put down in round numbers at 22,000
—say 1 ©,000 whites and 12,000 colored—giving the
Negroes 2,000 majority in the whole populatipn. At
the ballot-box the Negroes can poll a larger number
than the whites. -But- with this predominance of the'
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
233
Negro population we have the most gratifying spectacle
presented of one of the most orderly, quiet and peaceable
communities anywhere to be found in all these broad
lands. There is, comparatively, but little litigation in
the civil courts of the corporation; and the police record
will compare favorably with that of any city of the same
population in the whole country. The Mayor's court
is often held without a case, even of misdemeanor.
Felonies are infrequent, and of those that do occur,
which are sent up to higher tribunals, the parties are
quite as often white as colored. Disturbances of the
peace are not more common among the Negroes than
among the whites. Life, limb and property are as
secure and as well protected in Petersburg by day and
night as in any city of 22,000 population in the United
States of America.
No Idle Boasting'.—The appeal from any question
of these facts is to our records—police, civil and crim¬
inal; and when it is remembered that there are 12,000
Negroes and only 10,000 whites in the city, the record
is as creditable as it is really wonderful. It is very
much questioned whether a parallel can be found in all
this country.
Testimonials of Hampton Students.—The following
items taken from "Twenty-two years' work at Hamp¬
ton," being the testimony of graduates of that school,
are worthy of consideration. If any one is unable to
judge whether the Negro is rising or not, the reliable
testimony of these graduates ought to decide the ques¬
tion :
James A. Fields, Hampton, Virginia.—"Airthings
considered, the condition of the colored people is good.
They are rapidly improving in religion, intelligence,
and-morals.- My'-property consists mostly of land and
234
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
house, in value six thousand dollars. I have only one
child, the finest boy in Christendom."
David D. Weaver, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.—"I
employ more help and do more work than any other
colored shoemaker in Philadelphia, and have had the
lead for five years. I am doing as much for my people
as I ccruld in the school room. The colored people are
progressing; they work. ' The money is made and the
money is spent. The greatest barrier is that they do
not look beyond to-day. They expect every day to
take care of itself. With such short calculations they
are often found wanting. There are many exceptions
to this rule. There are men here who are doing good
business and making great headway in the world.''
Lewis Peyton, Wabash, Indiana.—"The intellectual
religious, moral, industrious and economical status of
the people varies much in different sections of the
country. Where they are settled down and have their
homes and regular pursuits, they are" prosperous, and
every way in a prospering condition."
George F. Calloway, Halifax County, Virginia —
"In this section of the state our people show a decided
improvement. As a rule, they are farmers. Some
own their homes, and a few own large tracts of land
varying from forty to twelve hundred acres.''
William P. Henry, Berlin, Maryland.—In this com¬
munity, which I believe was one of the worst places
below Mason's and Dixon's line for prejudice and
Negro persecution, the Negro people are grasping
every effort that will lift them higher in the intel¬
lectual, moral and social scale. They are generally
sober and industrious, and they adhere strictly to
economy, through which the rude hut and log cabin
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
235
are rapidly being transformed into neat cottages, with
their domestic improvements."
L. L. Ivy, Danville, Virginia.—"The colored people
in this vicinity are improving slowly but surely, get¬
ting little homes, and making great sacrifices to do as
other people."
NEGRO FARMER'S ONE-ROOM LOG CABIN.
William B. Weaver, Sassafras, Virginia.—"The col¬
ored people in this neighborhood are industrious and
temperate. Some accumulate property and have good
homes, and are interested in the work of education."
R. H. Matthews, Pensacola, Florida.—'' On account
of the large number of dram-shops and the tendency
of our people to patronize them, their condition is not
what we might desire. They are badly divided and
will seldom unite for any public good; this is on
account of the narrow and ignorant spirit engendered
in our churches by ignorant ministers. Notwithstand-
16
236
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ing, there is gradual progress. Hard work, honesty
and frugality are the means by which we are to rise.
I own property in Columbus, Georgia, and in Pensa-
cola worth three thousand dollars.''
Robert H. Hamilton, one of the Hampton Student
Singers, now Assisting in the Normal at Tuskegee.—
"To the thoughtful Negro there is a great deal in the
condition of his people to make him sigh. Such a
dense mass of humanity steeped in ignorance! Who
can foresee the danger and bloodshed that may yet
overtake this sunny land? While these men and women
have the minds of children, they have the passions of
age. However, as dark as things may be, they are not
so bad as they were. It is fair to say the Negro of the
South is rising.''
Mrs. William Day, Greensboro, North Carolina —
'' The general condition of our people in Greensboro is
good. There are few renters now among good me¬
chanics. We have good schools and churches; one
colored doctor. Our people have certainly improved
themselves and are second to no other town in this'
respect.''
Mrs. F. Calloway, Lynchburg, Virginia.—"When I
first came to this place there were not many people
owning property. They were renting from their mas¬
ters or from some other white man, paying as much
for a cabin a year as it would take to buy an acre of
land. Some of the houses, actually, were not good
enough for horses to stay in. Today for two or three
miles around you will find colored people owning
from two to twenty acres of land, horses, cows, farm¬
ing implements, and raising their own bread. When
w.e were, married we did. not. own. any thing;, .now m
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
237
have two and one-half acres of land and a comfortable
little house to live in.''
Mrs. George E. Rumsey, Thomas Run, Maryland.—
"The majority of the colored people at Thomas Run
are property-holders, and are improving their lands
considerably. My husband has a farm, and owns thirty-
three acres of land."
C. R. Creekmur, Deep Creek, Virginia.—"I own a
house and lot with four and one-half acres of land,
farming utensils, etc. The people are poor and igno¬
rant. There are, however, signs of improvement.
Several have purchased homes and they are working
nicely in that direction.''
Mrs. Mary Owen, Warrentown, North Carolina.—
" Large numbers of Negroes here own homes. Some
have nice large houses, others have small but neat
ones. They are, as a rule, making rapid progress."
Mrs. Briscoe, Mecklenburg, North Carolina.—"The
general condition of the Negro people is improving.
There are many who do not take as much interest in
bettering their condition as they should, but there are
many who have made marked progress in business and
intellectual matters.''
E. D. Stewart, Farmville, Virginia.—"The condition
of the colored peope is hopeful. They are accumulat¬
ing property and educating their children.''
J. B. Tynes, Smithville, Virginia.—"The colored
people in the main are financially embarrassed, but
here and there are signs of improvement.''
Mrs. Martin, Carlisle, Ohio.—"We own property
valued at about three thousand dollars. I do not find
the majority of the colored people so far advanced as I.
expected, considering the advantages they have had
compare^, with the icolored people oi. the South." k ~
238
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Frances L. Butt, Germantown, Pennsylvania.—
'' The colored people are improving financially, but the
young girls are not doing well. Their standard is
low.''
C. E. Vanharler.—"The people are slowly climbing
the ladder of prosperity.''
Julia E. Coles, Halifax County, Virginia.—"In some
places the people are very well situated, owning a
small tract of land with a good house on it. In
they are in a worse condition than in any other place.
The people are very poor, living in houses no better
than sheds, and with the poorest kind of food. This
is true of the whites as well as the colored.''
J. W. Brown, Winchester, Virginia.—"The Negroes
in this section are industrious and independent, and,
although some spend the greater part of their hard
earnings foolishly, they have money enough to secure
for themselves comfortable homes, which the majority
have. The homes differ with the ambition of the
owner. Their cost ranges from one hundred dollars
up into the thousands. Some own farms of from
fifty to two hundred acres. The richest colored man
in the county is said to be worth more than fifty thou¬
sand dollars. I do not think you will find a dozen beg¬
gars in our town, and the Negro population is over two
thousand.''
Hope and Progress.—The best hope of the South is
in the manufacture of her raw material. The best
hope of the Negro is in his application to the various
callings of industry. The future commercial greatness
of the South depends upon the measure in which she
manufactures her iron, wood, and cotton into articles
of merchandise, and the happiness and well being of
the Negro depend upon the part that he elects to play
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
239
in this drama of industrial progress. Will he, by
careful training, fit himself as an artisan and thus con¬
tribute to his country's progress and to his own uplift¬
ing, or will he scorn the homely callings of industry
and devote himself to college lore and starvation?
The South will one day be the nation's workshop.
Whence will come her workmen? In the solution of
this problem is wrapped up the hope and progress of
the Negro.
Dignity and Nobility of Manual Labor.—When the
colored citizen can demonstrate his usefulness as a
member of society, his rise to a higher plane of liberty
and independence is assured. Industrial training will
help students to appreciate the dignity and nobility of
manual labor; will make them self-reliant, competent
to lay out work for others, to oversee the erection of a
dwelling house, a school house, a meeting house; will
make them industrial leaders, and, in a modest way,
capitalists, enabling them to own a house, a farm,
working with the hands in the intervals of preaching
or teaching; and all this not for themselves alone—they
should never lose sight of the idea of service, that he
who would be first must become the servant of all.
In the Business World.—If the Negro is to maintain
his place in the business world "as an industrial and
commercial factor, it behooves him to put on his think¬
ing cap; no force without will help him. He must rise,
if he rises at all, through his own efforts. He is not
wanted in many of the avenues of opportunity and will
be shut out if he does not get to thinking for himself.
The politician has no use for him excepting before elec¬
tion. If he would maintain his place, he must, of
necessity, think for himself.
Half Free.—Booker T. Washington, that wise leader
SAW-MILL MEN OF TUSKEGEE INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE.
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
241
of the colored race, never spoke more truly and pithily
than when he said: "The black man who cannot let
love and sympathy go out to the white man is but half
free. The white man who would close the shop or
factory against a black man seeking an opportunity to
earn an honest living, is but half free.''
Negro Labor.—Although the Negro is practically
barred from the great trade alliances of the land, and
denied a place in the industrial army which he would
so naturally and capably fill, the race is slowly edging
into labor equalities and must, ere long, be counted a
factor. The latest movement serving to bring Negro
labor to a permanent stage of discussion is the intro¬
duction of black labor into the cotton mills of the South.
Charleston Cotton Mills have recently introduced Negro
labor with excellent results. The Negro hands are
proving entirely satisfactory. It seems that colored
operators were employed successfully in several mills
before the war, but since then the Negro was denied
an entrance. This will open a new field for the Negro.
Besides this, all over the South colored men are being
employed in mechanical pursuits, as carpenters, masons,
wheelrights, engineers, while colored women are em¬
ployed as cooks, dressmakers, etc. This predicts a
brighter day for the colored race, and if the race is true
to its calling and exhibits true merit by rising and
showing proficiency in all these lines, the day is not far
distant when Negro labor in the South or in any other
section of our country will be in as great demand as
the labor of any other race.
Fears Aroused.—The danger that is feared by some
who have given any thought to the Charleston experi¬
ment is that the colored operators will succeed so well
there that they will gradually supplant the white opera-
is
242
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
tives in Southern mills, and that their success in Charles¬
ton will result in the establishment of many Negro cotton
mills in the South by New England capitalists. We
believe that the Charleston "experiment" will succeed
—we are told that it is succeeding; but we do not
believe that its most substantial success will greatly
interfere with the labor problem in the Southern mills.
It probably would result in the establishment of many
cotton mills in the black belt of the South, but it would
not, for years, if ever, result in the displacement of
white labor.
They will work the kind of hands they can hire at the
lowest wages and get good results. The agitation of
the Negro-in-the-cotton-mill question began among the
Southern mill managers. No Northern owned and con¬
ducted mill has been mentioned in connection with
Negro help.
Capable.—There is little reason to doubt that Negroes
will prove capable of performing the work required of
them in the cotton mills. With white superiors to
direct they can easily perform the duties of mill hands
in the manufacture of the coarser goods of cotton
cloth. Negro slaves, it is alleged, were successfully
employed in the cotton mills.
Prospect.—What a field is presented for speculation
as to the possibilities in this contrast! What if the
success of the experiment should give such an impetus
to the cotton mill industry in this city that soon not
only the spindles of the old mill would be humming
night and day under the inspiration of a happy, con¬
tented and economic labor, but other mills would start
up, giving hope, ambition and employment to thousands
more of our at present idle and non-productive surplus
colored population, who are a burden upon the com-
PICKING COTTON.
244
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
munity instead of a blessing! Does it not follow, as the
night the day, that more money would be put into cir¬
culation; more stores would be given patrons; more
business men and clerks would be needed, as, well as
that increase of forces in every other of the depart¬
ments of life preferred by white men which necessarily
follows an increase in the volume of business and of the
productive population of the community? The prospect
is a pleasing one. Let us hope that at last we have
found the true philosopher'£ stone, that with its magic
touch will bring about the renewed prosperity and
business revival which we have so long hoped for in
vain.
A Business Education.—Rev. A. A. Whitman says:
"We need to begin in a business way right at the bot¬
tom and grow up from the ground. We need to know
how to make a living. That education which fails to
fit one to do this fails to educate. He who has not the
business parts and qualifications in him to earn a living
is a dependent—a-pauper, as it were—and undesirable
as a citizen, regardless of any amount of useless informa¬
tion that may be found lying around loose in his
cranium. The Negro, the masses, must come back to
the ground. Business is the root and the bottom of the
education he needs now. The Negro must be found
taking a helping part—lending a helping hand in the
exercises and business of his day; thus making himself
needed by the state. This is the root of the whole
matter.''
Tilling the Soil.—Man's independence grows up out
of the soil. It is never a fungus. The Negro must be
trained to know how to intelligently and successfully
till the soil; and, what is more, he must learn to love
the occupation. He must know the farm, the orchard
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
245
and the vineyard. He must see that his farm is a duke¬
dom. He must find that stalwart independence comes
up with his cotton and corn. The landscape, beauti¬
fied and ennobled by the touch of care and endeared by
the fond and exalted idea of possession, must be to him
PARKER MODEL HOME.
. Made by Tuskegee Students.
the rallying point for his patriotism. Cincinnatus,
Washington, Lincoln, Grant, mightiest of earth, digni¬
fied their lives by tilling the soil. The Negro must
see this.
246
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Way-Marks.—Pastures filled with horses and cattle;
ample barns and great farm houses are grander way-
marks for civilization than all the monuments ever
reared on the fields of battle. Back to this idea the
Negro must come and make a start. It must be taught
into his brains to see this truth.
Waiting for Something to Do.—The man who reads
Greek and Latin while he sits in idleness waiting
for something to do is an inferior man; while he who
tills the soil is a sovereign, though he knows little of
books. The Negro must not be afraid of the clouds; he
must come out of the shade. He must learn that there is
more music in a hand saw than in a guitar, and a great
deal better pay. He must feel that it is no disgrace to
go to work after he has gone to school. He must
understand that a liberal education is as valuable to
him who tills the soil as it is to the professions.
Skilled Mechanics.—Next to tilling the soil, the
Negro must learn the value of being skilled in me¬
chanics. He must learn to mingle his thoughts with
his labor. He must be taught to see that if he can
chop wood and earn one dollar per day, he may, by
using saw and chisel, earn twice that amount and work
no harder than before; and again by using steam and
lathe and scroll he can earn ten times that amount and
still work no harder.
Practical Education.—This, we understand, is prac¬
tical education, to enlighten the citizen first concern¬
ing his nearest environments—earth, air, water, wood,
stone, metal—first become acquainted with these aiid
then come on with your theorems, your hypotheses,
your abstractions and such. First the dinner pot and
the loom, and then the beatitudes—poetry, painting
and the like,
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
247
Higher Education,—After a moral and industrial
training- those who have the talent, the means, and the
leisure, may pursue their studies into the province of
higher education, language, literature, the arts and the
sciences. All hold out brilliant inducements for such
as strive to find "room at the top."
What the South Especially Needs is Negro farmers
who study the "best methods of tilling the soil, and are
alert to find the most improved method and best imple¬
ments the market can supply. No profession is higher
or more honorable than that of farming. A farmer
supports the people.
Go to the Farm.—As Horace Greeley advised young
men to go west, so we would,advise young people in
cities and towns who cannot find anything to do, often
compelled to beg or to steal in order to live, we would
advise such to go to the farm, for there they can make
an independent living for themselves.
Buy a Farm.—By saving a little money a small farm
at least, can be bought, and by cultivating it carefully
more can be a'dded from time to time.
The European emigrants come to this country and
settle on homestead lands and soon become inde¬
pendent. Why should not the Negro do the same if he
is willing to lay aside extravagance and expensive
habits and devote, himself to industry, economy and
frugality. There is no reason why the average Negro
should not have a home of his own. Young men, aim
to have a home of your own.
Sound Advice.—A typical Louisa county, Va., Negro
tobacco raiser was asked very lately how he managed
to beat all his neighbors making tobacco, as was evi¬
denced by his having always led them in prices on the
market. Here is the secret in his vernacular;
248
fcROGfcESS OF A RACE.
"What I does make, I makes de bes' de lan' wil
fotch. I keeps puttin' back de manure on de same lan',
I makes dat manure myself, en I don't spread out none
like some folks does, who ain't never satisfied 'ceptin
dey allers plants more'n dey can ten' to. No matte:
how terbarker is sellin' I gits to de top price—it's alius
$10 to $12 roun'. Noc, sah, I ain't neber studyin'
'bout spreadin' out like some folks, 'case I dun seen um
try dat, an' my four acres beats der'n all de time. Dey
plant more'n double as much agin as me—an' more,
too; In course I know how to make fine sun-cured
terbaker, and I ain't trustin' dat to nobody else, nuther.
"Nor, sah, I ain't nuver grumble 'bout de price yit—
do I see plenty uv dem what duz, an' I ain't never
spec' to crap more'n dem four acres—sometimes a little
less dan dat. I ain't nuver hear nobody complain
■'bout my terbaker yit—alius 'pear to suit dem what
buys it, an' dey want more. Yas, I got 150 akers size
dese four, but dese four is dat rich as when I fust
started, and richer, too.''
We wish we could emphasize this good advice still
more strongly. What the market wants is quality, not
quantity. This applies to everything that the farm pro¬
duces. The way to get the prices that are paying ones
is to follow the old "darky's advice, to make the best
the land will make, by heavy and appropriate fertiliza¬
tion, on only such an area of land as can be properly
prepared and carefully and constantly attended to,
and then to give the greatest attention to the crop, so
as to make a type that the market calls for. You must
please the market, and the market will then please you.
Advancement.—Professor Glenn, state school com¬
missioner of Georgia, in an able address before the State
Teachers' Association, at Macon, recently said, in
RESIDENCE OF ALBERT NASH, BARBER, ATLANTA, GA.
250
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
speaking of the advancement of the colored people i
America, that in improvement along" all lines, in th
same length of time, they stood without a peer, eithe
in or out of history. He spoke of how they had reduce<
their illiteracy more than forty per cent in thirty-tw<
years, etc. He told how Georgia's colored citizen
alone had made returns for $16,000,000 worth of prop
erty, and, said he: "If they are as sharp about giving
in property as the white man, and they may be, insteac
of owning $16,000,000, they really own in this stat(
alone about $32,000,000 worth of property." What i:
true of Georgia is true of the colored people in all parts
of the United States.
Worth of Property.—The colored people in the
United States own today more than $325,000,000 worth
of property. They have about 27,000 school teachers,
more than 1,000 lawyers, and nearly 2,000 physicians
that have graduated from some of the best schools in
this and other countries. They have 3,068,822 mem¬
bers of the church, scattered among the various denomi¬
nations, including the Catholic church. These are led
by thousands of able and well-educated ministers,
including about twenty or twenty-five bishops. About
5,000,000 of the people can read. These, I think, are
worthy achievements for the colored people during one
generation, when we remember that they started empty-
handed, empty-headed and with empty pockets.
Looking1 Upward,—Of course we have had our trials,
tribulations and hindrances, and our many drawbacks.
These have come from all directions—from within as
well as from without—but by God's help, and with the
steady efforts of a few we find ourselves today far up
the hill toward the city of success.
A Changed Man.—The time was when, if you should
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
251
meet a colored man on the streets, you could soon
place him, so far as his business and intellectual
capacity was concerned, without asking a single ques¬
tion. But that is by no means the case to-day. When
you pass down the street to-day and meet a colored man,
he may be a wealthy merchant, a retired business man
with his thousands of dollars; he may be a prosperous
farmer owning his plantation, horses, mules and cattle;
he may be a banker, a bishop, an educated minister of
the gospel, with all the degrees that belong to that
high calling; he may be principal of a city school, pro¬
fessor of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, German, French,
mathematics, or science, in some college, or he may be
president of some great university or president of a
young republic in some part of the world; he may be a
lawyer, dentist, physician, pharmacist, or a telegraph
operator; he may be a man such as I have named here
—a man that is both an honor and a help to his city,
country and state.
At Progressive Door.—This is the colored man that
is standing at the progressive door of American civiliza¬
tion today and asks for a man's chance—for an Amer¬
ican citizen's chance in the race of life—this is the
colored man that asks for, and should have, a first-class
railroad ride for a first-class railroad ticket. I hope
Christian civilization, right and justice will soon per¬
meate the hearts of all the American people to the
extent that they may see the ten millions of colored
American citizens as they really are today and not as
they were a generation ago.
Atlanta's Colored Representatives. — Dr. Butler
says: "Atlanta has two oil dealers, one laundry,
several good coal and wood yards, seven or eight
tailoring establishments, one creamery, one real estate
17
252
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
dealer, one insurance agent, four undertakers, one
hotel, and restaurants and ice-cream saloons in¬
numerable. We have a large number of grocery
stores, well stocked and well patronized. It is impos¬
sible for me to call to mind all of our contractors,
blacksmiths, carpenters, brick - masons, and stone -
masons. We have several owners of hack lines. We
have a large number of railway mail clerks and letter-
carriers. We have one clerk in a white jewelry store.
He is well thought of by everybody and draws a large
trade to that firm from his people. This is a good
example for others to follow. We have one first-class
artist who has been working for one white firm for
more than fifteen years. We have one sewing-machine
representative, one plumber who has passed the re¬
quired examination and received his license; we have
two cleaning and dyeing establishments; we have five
public schools, with forty teachers; we have six col¬
leges and seminaries, in which are many colored pro¬
fessors ; we have four well-stocked and well-equipped
drug stores, several pharmacists, seven physicians and
two dentists. Besides, there are many dressmakers,
milliners, slaters, tinners, and hundreds of other good
professional businesses that I have not the time to
mention. These are the accomplishment of a c'olored
population of about forty thousand. I came near for¬
getting our three lawyers, who are doing a good prac¬
tice. We also have a Young Men's Christian Associa¬
tion in the city and one in each of our colleges; we
have eight organizations of the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union, all doing much good work. We
also have the Atlanta Woman's Club, of colored women,
one of the best and most active of its kind in the
country. 'We have the United Friendly Society, an
RESIDENCE OF JOHN T. SCHELL, ATLANTA, GA,
254
progress of a race.
organization that is doing much good work among our
people, and our women have an industrial club which
is turning in an excellent' profit to its members. This
is only a bird's-eye view of what our people are doing.
In conclusion, I would say, that Atlanta is the home of
the following newspapers: The Southern Age, The
Voice of Mission, The Gospel Trumpet, The Southern
Christian Recorder, The Social Gleaner, and The Paris
Visitor. I refer to these things to show our friends
that we are up and doing for ourselves, our children,
and our country.
'Forest Home' is the name of D. T. Howard's
country home, eight miles from Atlanta, on the Peach-
tree road. It is indeed a beautiful place, with groves,
lakes, and fruit trees of all kinds. There are five
springs on the property, and ,one of them is very val¬
uable. The lakes have been stocked with fish. He has
ordered 5,000 more fish from Washington^ D. C., to
place in his lakes. He also has a number of fine Jersey
cattle and many fine fowls out there. D. T. Howard
has quite an interesting family, and all of them take
a special interest in their country home. This is what
I have often advised my people to do—get homes in the
country and raise country produce and furnish this and
other markets. The money we spend for a small
25x100 foot lot here in the city, or any city, for that mat¬
ter, would buy from ten to fifty acres of good land in the
country. Talking about gold and silver, there is plenty
of it out in the country, under the soil—all we have to do
is to dig for it. It is there for the truck farmer; it is
there for the florist; and it is there' for the scientific
farmer; and our people can do all of these things if
they will only apply themselves.''
Items of Interest.—The city government of Phila-
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
255
delphia employs nearly 1,000 colored men. In the
bureau of health is David Brown, the oldest employe
in the service of the city. He was appointed in 1837,
and has held the position ever since. These men
receive salaries ranging from $800 to $1,000 and more.
There are sixty-one in the police department, one in
the fire department, and several clerks, among whom
is James F. Needham, a clerk in the tax office. He has
held the position twenty-five years at a salary of $1,500.
The inspector of gas meters is a colored man. C. J.
Perry, the colored councilman, is a clerk in the sheriff's
office. He is also editor of the Philadelphia Tribune.
This is another proof of how the colored people are
laboring for the welfare of their country and for the
honor of themselves, by faithfully discharging every
duty placed upon them.
The largest silkworm grower in the South is a col¬
ored man, S. R. Lowry, near Huntsville, Ala. He
took a premium at the New Orleans exposition over
several foreign competitors from China, France, Japan
and Italy. Mr. Lowry is of the opinion that the cul¬
ture of silk in the South will supersede that of cotton.
Wiley Jones, of Pine Bluff, Arkansas., is one of the
wealthiest colored men in his state, and is said to be
the largest blooded-stock breeder of his race. Besides
his herds of Durham and Holstein cattle, he has a stable
of trotting horses valued at $50,000.
Granville T. Woods, the electrician, mechanical
engineer, manufacturer of telephone, telegraph and
electrical instruments, was once a day laborer in Spring¬
field, 111.
There are more than fifty Negro establishments in
Atlanta, Ga., representing $100,000 invested in busi¬
ness, giving employment to not less than one hun-
256
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
dred persons of the race, and affording them an oppor¬
tunity to acquire a thorough knowledge of business.
Mr. John W. Wilson is the leading colored clothier of
Baltimore, Maryland. He has a good trade, and keeps
on hand a full supply of the latest goods.
Mr. Madison Short is one of the most prominent
farmers of Surry county, Virginia. He owns a beauti¬
ful farm and has some of the finest horses in the state.
There are over 2,000 colored people employed in the
executive departments of the government at Washing¬
ton.
The increase of colored population in the last decade
is greater in Arkansas than that of any other state.
Thirty-five Afro-Americans are employed on the
police force in Pittsburg, Pa.
Mrs. Alpha V. Miner, of Kansas City, Missouri, has
the reputation of being one of the most successful busi¬
ness women of her race in the west. She is quoted at
$10,000 and free from debt. She commenced business
several years ago as a dressmaker. She now has a
dozen or more employes.
Gilchrist Stewart, the great colored creamery man,
and dairy scientist of Wisconsin, has just been chosen
dairy editor of the Dakota Field and Farm, and
elected one of the editorial contributors for the coming
year of the Wisconsin "Agriculturist," one of the lead¬
ing agricultural papers in the country. Mr. Stewart
is a graduate of Tuskegee and of the Wisconsin Dairy
school. He is rapidly achieving fame and prominence
in the agricultural and dairy worlds. . He is yet a very
young man and the son of T. McCants Stewart of
New York.
H. D. Smith is the wealthiest colored man of Greens¬
ville county, Virginia. He owns a valuable farm,
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
257
At one time he represented his people in the state leg¬
islature.
Mr. D. Rowen, a merchant of Texas, after having
passed through varied scenes and hardships, finds him¬
self a prosperous merchant of Dallas. He paid taxes
on real estate in 1896 valued at $41,000. Mr. Rowen
has shown what can be done by a poor boy who is
determined to let the world know that he is living in it.
A colored planter now owns one of Jefferson Davis'
old plantations in Mississippi.
John T. Schell, one of Atlanta's progressive and
assiduous business men, has met with success by facing
adversity. Through poverty he ha$ pushed his way,
working [wherever he was- able to find employment.
Upon reaching Atlanta he could find no work, but at •
last succeeded in obtaining employment that hardly
paid his expenses, but, continuing this work, he was
soon offered a better position?. At last he succeeded in
gathering enough cash to open a small grocery store,
with shoe shop attached. From this time forth success
seemed to attend him, until he is to-day one of the
wealthiest citizens of that city. A cultured and
amiable wife presides over his comfortable and beauti¬
ful home, in which four happy children mingle their
glad voices. Besides a vast amount of real estate, he
owns a well-stocked dry-goods establishment. His
residence is, beyond doubt, the largest and, handsomest
and most complete residence of any colored man in
the state. Such houses as these are the monuments
the thoughtful men and women of the race are erecting
for their children. They are accumulating property
and improving themselves along all lines.
Alexander Hamilton.—In the dark days of recon¬
struction, when men of worth were comparatively few,
17
258
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Mr. Alexander Hamilton was one of those who stood
for the defense and for the interests of the race. After
the war he served two years in the Alabama legislature.
Mr. Hamilton ranks as one of the best contractors in
ALEX. HAMILTON, CONTRACTOR AND BUILDER,
ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
the city. He was the contractor of Morris Brown Col¬
lege and many of the most beautiful residences of
Atlanta. He is a gentleman of considerable wealth
and stands in high estimation among the representa¬
tives of his race. Mr. Hamilton is a Christian gentle-
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
259
man and is held in high respect by all who know him.
C. H. Jacksoil is a very successful grocery and dry
goods merchant in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hon. Henry A. Rucker has been appointed collector of
internal revenue for the state of Georgia. Mr. Rucker
HON. H. A. RUCKER, ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
is comparatively a young man, and his appointment
gives the greatest satisfaction to his friends. He is
one of the ablest men in the state and has the full con¬
fidence of all who know him. He has had considerable
260
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
experience as a revenue official and will make a most
efficient collector.
Henry Allan Rucker was born in Washington, Wilkes
county, Georgia, November 14, 1852. Three months
after his birth his parents moved to Kensington,
Georgia, residing there for five or six years, and from
there to Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, and back to Atlanta
in 1866, where he has ever since lived. Soon after
returning to Atlanta he entered a school which was
opened in the A. M. E. Church on Jenkins street by
Northern teachers. This school was afterwards moved
to a car box near what was then the famous Walton
springs, and again into the building on Houston street,
which, ever since its establishment, has been known as
Storrs' school. On account of the inability of his
parents to maintain him in a day school,, he had to seek
employment and attend school by night, and finally
was compelled to lay aside his books, which he had no
opportunity of taking up again, until, by steady appli¬
cation to whatever he could get to do, and by strict
frugality, he was again able to take them up in Atlanta
University in 1876. By teaching country schools dur¬
ing the summer months and by economizing, he kept
himself in this school until 1880, leaving off after finish¬
ing his sophomore year to take up the study of homeop¬
athy, which he pursued for one year. During this year
he also entered national politics and made a successful
race as a Blaine delegate to the national convention
which met in Chicago, Illinois, in 1881. He was given an
appointment as storekeeper and gauger in the Internal
Revenue Service in Georgia. In 1883 he was promoted
to a clerkship in the office of the collector, where he
remained until shortly after the inauguration of Prise-
dent Cleveland, when a new collector was appointed.
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
261
This Democratic collector, on assuming charge of the
office, asked Mr. Rucker, "How long have you been in
the service?" On being told about four years, he
simply said, "You have been in long enough." Four
years later, on the inauguration of President Harrison,
Mr. Rucker appeared before Secretary Windom, and,
in his speech urging a change in the Collector's office
of Georgia, repeated this little circumstance and wound
up by saying, "Now, Mr. Secretary, this Democratic
collector has been in a little over four years, and I,
with other Republicans of Georgia, believe he has been
in long enough to be removed without delay.'' At this
the Secretary smiled and said: "While this is not
poetic language, it is politic, and I'll see that the
change is made." In 1880, Mr. Rucker met Major
McKinley at Salt Springs, Georgia, where, while shak¬
ing hands with the major after his Chautauqua address,
he said, '' Major, I hope I may have the pleasure of shak¬
ing your hand when you are president of the United
States." In 1890, in September, large mass meetings
of a non-partisan character were being held in Atlanta
to nominate a reform city ticket, as municipal officers
were getting in a confused condition and taxation was
exorbitant and the city's credit was suifering. These
mass meetings resulted in a city convention, where
Mr. Rucker made the platform the reduction of taxa¬
tion from one and one-half per cent to one and one-
third per cent, and since that time this measure of
reduced taxation has become a law and the burdens of
the people relieved and the city's credit raised. Dur¬
ing the same year Mr. Rucker was called back to an
important position in the Internal Revenue Service,
discharging his duties honorably until he was again
released in consequence of the fortunes of- politics by
262
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
another Democratic collector. In 1895, Mr. Rucker
again met Major McKinley in Atlanta. The Major
was holding a reception at the time, and as one man
after another was introduced to the Major, one of them
holding his hand, inquired, "Are you Governor McKin¬
ley of Ohio?" and on being modestly informed that he
was said, "Well, Governor, you want to be president,
and I want to tell you that Georgia is against you.''
Mr. Rucker, who was standing on the right of the Gov¬
ernor, spoke up at once and said, "Governor, pay no
attention to that fellow, you shall have Georgia."
He was himself elected one of the delegates to the St.
Louis convention, and introduced a resolution condemn¬
ing lynching and mob violence, which became a plank
in the Republican platform upon which President
McKinley was elected. After the inauguration of
President McKinley, Mr. Rucker was appointed Col¬
lector of Internal Revenue for the District of Georgia,
and on the eve of the 5th day of August, 1897, had the
pleasure of succeeding the man who, four years before,
had relieved him from clerkship in the same office.
In 1889, Mr. Rucker was joined in marriage to Miss
Annie, the younger daughter of Hon. Jefferson Long,
the only colored man to represent a Georgia district in
the United States Congress. To them four children
have been born. Mr. Rucker is sober, honest and
intelligent, enjoying the respect and confidence of the
best people among whom he lives, as well as that of
many of the leading men of the country. When asked
to what he attributed his success, he emphatically says:
"To the faithful, patient training and earnest prayers
of a devout Christian mother.''
The following is taken from the Atlanta Constitution,
and may suggest to some young men the advantage to
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
263
be gained in not hurrying from the country to the city.
What these men have done can be done again by others,
if industry, economy and good management are not
wanting.
Bartow F. Powell was born a Negro in Bainbridge,
Georgia, tinder all the weight which must ever depress
a black race living in the midst of a dominant and all-
conquering white. Worse than that, there was added
to the natural disqualification of skin the stigma of
recent slavery, with the jealousy, as yet unabated, of
those who have been deprived of their ownership.
A more unpropitious beginning is beyond conception,
and, before the record which this man has achieved, is
there a man in Georgia who will idly fold his hands
and say that there is no room for him in the band
wagon of progress?
"Born in Bainbridge thirty-two years ago, Bartow F.
Powell ran the gauntlet through which all the boys of
his race have to go, but he had one quality not com¬
mon to all—and that was that a dime once reaching his
pocket stayed there. This qualification and the thorough¬
ness of his service secured for him constant employ¬
ment. Drifting from stores about town into the gov¬
ernment service in the dredge boats clearing out the
Flint river, his resources increased, and with the inter¬
est savings on money already acquired, he found him¬
self at the age of twenty the owner of $2,000, $100 for
each year of his life. That, as stated, was twelve years
ago, and the event was celebrated by a trip to Albany,
where a white landowner was committing the usual
mistake of parting with five hundred acres of Baker
county pine land. The white man got the $2,000,
which has most likely taken wings long ago, whilst the
Negro got the five hundred acres, which are to-day
worth three times tfye money.
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
265
*' 'I hired ten men,' describing his first year's work,
'for the year round, paying them $8 a month and
"board, and put eight mules to work. It was during
Christmas week that I bought the land, so I started in
with my force on the first day of January, because they
say whatever you do that day you will do the year
round. It proved to be so in my case, for it was not
until the Christmas week of the next year that I saw a
day off. We started clearing and tearing up in Janu¬
ary, and reached planting by March, which took up two
months. We then cultivated the crop regularly till
August ist, after which, gathering and ginning and
marketing took up our time.
" 'When I had sold my cotton, corn and sugar cane I
had $2,500. Besides that I had raised hogs and made
provender, potatoes and peas sufficient to offset the run¬
ning expenses of the farm. I found that the best way
to succeed is to hire men by the month, paying them
regular wages, and planning ahead for the work that
they must do the year round. You can command their
work better.
" 'Well, I just kept on the next three years, not
doing so well the second year. The fifth year I bought
a second farm of three hundred acres in the oaky
woods, for which I paid $3,000 cash, and the next year
I added a five hundred and sixty acre place in the ninth
district of Baker for $2,500 cash. I ran along two years
more this way, when I had some more money to spare,
when I took in another oaky woods farm of four hundred
and forty acres for $3,200 cash. My land, for which I
gave $10 an acre, has paid me fully twenty per cent, in
cotton returns, not to speak of my gains from other
sources. While I have been saving all this money and
buying land, I have freely stocked all my places out of
266
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
the proceeds which I do not count. I have now 2,100
acres of land, a town house and lot, forty-four head of
horses and mules, one hundred Jersey ^nd scrub cows,
one hundred and fifty head of improved hogs, besides
wagons, buggies, plows and all kinds of machines used
on a big farm. I now run a public gin on my home
place, as well as a grist mill.
" 'If I were to sell my land I could not make as good
use of the money as I can of my land. You see you
are always getting principal as well as interest back
from your land, and after you get it all back the land
still remains more valuble than it was at first. In
money you can only get the interest, and principal is
always likely to disappear. Every other kind of prop¬
erty wears away, but constant use improves land.
There is no such thing as wearing out land—it must be
kept at work, but rested by different crops. It is like
resting from walking by running a little, but never sit
down, because if you do you are sure to be left
behind.' "
Mr. Powell generally sells his cotton at the beginning
of the market season. Concerning the raising of cot¬
ton, Mr. Powell says:
"There's money in cotton all the time, said Powell,
only don't be paying this money for other things you
can raise at home. Five cents pays well and seven
cents is bushels. I can always make the difference good
by living at home.''
Powell is not the only man of his race who has made
what is called "big" money. As he is a mulatto, inher¬
iting, as will be seen from his picture, the phrenologi¬
cal cast of the Caucasian, it may be argued that his
success springs from that strain.
Mr. Billingslea is as black and full-blooded a Negro
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
267
as ever disported himself in the jungles of Africa, with
a greasy coal face, great lips, which, when parted, dis¬
play almost wealth enough of ivory for an elephant.
He has come right out of slavery itself, and is now the
owner of two thousand acres of land, from which he
markets four hundred bales of cotton annually. Besides
his success on the farm, he has developed the country
supply store idea, and thus rakes in thousands of dol¬
lars a year.
Deal Jackson is another typical "before the war"
Negro, who owns six hundred acres of land worth
$10,000, and who has money to loan at all times.
Joe Jeffis, still another full-blooded African, living
on the east side of the river, owns 1,500 acres of
superb land, out of which he makes equally good returns
with those already mentioned.
No white man should be afraid to do as well as these
men have done, and here is their greatest possibility;
the ownership of property makes good citizens of" the
Negroes. The influence of these men is great with
members of their race.
And they, in turn, help to preserve the good rela¬
tionship between the races, which has removed all the
rancor of former times. We always work together and
for the common good. You can go to these men at any
time and make suggestions as to proper lines upon
which to work, and they have the good sense to comply,
so that racial troubles never occur. Whenever you
hear of such trouble it is between a no-account white
man and a mean Negro, and we are then just as certain
to get rid of the one as the other. These men com¬
mand the highest credit in our banks and commercial
houses.
■ ■ Altogether these incidents furnish one of the. best
18
268
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
lessons as to the possibilities of the South, and now we
are talking, not in the interest of Northern immigrants,
but of our own Southern boys. Go to the commercial
college in our big cities; go to the stenographic schools;
go to the dry goods and other business houses, and see
the hundreds and thousands of bright young men
stunting their youth in the fever of exertion for callings
which will not bring them a livelihood in their maturi¬
ty, but out of which they will be crowded by a fresh
influx of boys. While these young men have turned
their backs upon the old homes, their patrimony is
being taken possession of by strangers, who are making
the waste spots bloom in luxuriance. In the days to
come, when these young men will have grown older,
they will seek a season's vacation, called up by a bub¬
bling of the old home feeling, and going there the very
face of nature will have changed, but the greatest
change, the one most cutting and heart-rending, will
be to see the face of the stranger peering out of the old
window, and the hand of the stranger holding, not ajar,
but firmly closed, the gate which once led to home,
with its smiles and tears which are now recalled through
the vista of time and adversity.
Look upon these broad and smiling acres, young
men of the South. There is more wealth concealed
beneath their carpeted green than all the eldorados
ever afforded; there is more joy and comfort cluster¬
ing around that old house; there is more of heart in
the handclasp; the more of Heaven in the prospect than
ever city, with its promises fulfilled, has been able to
give you.
Go to the country, young man, go!
Cotton States, Industrial Exposition, 1895.—The
Negro building of this exposition was erected by Negro
PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES.
269
hands and supervised by Negro skill and brain. Much
of the success which was realized is due to the chief
commissioner, Professor Crogman, who traveled
throughout the Southern states in the interest of the
Negro building. Those who are able to judge assure
ns that this exhibit was by far the best yet made by the
Negro race. The educational, business and industrial
development of the race during thirty years of emanci¬
pation was shown here in practical form. It was in all
respects a success.
The commissioner of education says of the exhibit:
"The very creditable exhibit made at the Atlanta expo-
sitition in 1895 by the more progressive element among
the Negroes aroused new interest in all parts of the
country in their educational advancement." There
arose a very general demand for information on the
subject, and this resulted in a special effort on the part
of the Educational Bureau to furnish more extended
information and statistics than ever before given.
Thus the Atlanta N egro exhibit was an occasion for bet¬
ter information on the subject. The commissioners who
labored so faithfully to make that exhibit a success, it
is safe to say, had hardly hoped to make their influence
and work felt throughout the nation, and yet this
was the case.
The Negro Exhibit at Nashville, 1897.—The one
hundredth anniversary of Tennessee as a state was cele¬
brated by the Centennial exposition at Nashville, from
the first day of May until the last day of October, 1897.
This occasioned for the Negro in particular an oppor¬
tunity to demonstrate to the world his capabilities in
everything that appertains to development of the
mental, moral and physical powers. To the Negro this
opportunity meant a reward of patient industry and
270
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
honesty. The Centennial exposition in general was a
great credit to the state. The Negro building in par¬
ticular attracted the attention of visitors. The people
of Tennessee generously erected, at a cost of twelve
thousand dollars, a handsome and imposing building,
known as the "Negro building." It was three hundred
feet long by one hundred feet wide, and the architec¬
tural plans were not surpassed by any other building on
the grounds. All the lines of progress were here
noted, but, as it is along educational lines that the
Negro race has made its greatest progress, the exhibit
of schools devoted to Negro education necessarily
occupied much space. Although the time since emanci¬
pation has been only a little more than that devoted to
the eduation of a single generation, the race has made
considerable progress in the arts, sciences, trades and
professions, commerce, agriculture, and all other call¬
ings of the world, as a people, making creditable show¬
ings in^these lines. The display of talent in art by the
Negro surprised and delighted the visitors to the
Atlanta exposition. At Nashville, this department sur¬
passed every other exhibit of the work of Negro artists
yet given. Miss E. Lewis, a talented young lady of
Tennessee, who is now studying in Europe, forwarded
some of her best paintings to the exposition. Mr.
Tanner, whose work recently received favorable atten¬
tion at Paris, also sent some of his pictures. Portraits
of famous men and women adorned the walls. On the
whole, the Negro building at the Tennessee exposition
was a decided success, and the works therein contained
have proved that the Negroes, as a race, have made
more progress in civilization since their emancipation
than any other race similarly situated has in the §ame
length of time.
CHAPTER X.
FINANCIAL GROWTH.
Property Owners.—It is said that the colored popu¬
lation of Georgia pay taxes on about $40,000,000 worth
of property; the amount of mortgage on lands is not
stated, but even if it should be one-half the value of
the real estate the result would be the possession by
these people of $20,000,000 worth of land, accumulated
since the war. It is probable from the estimates that
the Negro of the South owns, free of incumbrances,
from $250,000,000 to $300,000,000 worth of real estate.
Is not this result really unprecedented in the history
of our civilization?
The Negro of the South pays taxes on over $300,000,-
000 worth of real and personal property, indicating that
the true value of the race holdings in 1890 was not less
than $650,000,000. Practically, every dollar of this has
been accumulated in the last thirty years, about the
period of a single generation of our colored race; and
it shows, as nothing else can show, that the spirit of
thrift and enterprise is being acquired by the Negro,
from his white neighbors.
The race has in its possession, certainly, a sound
and strong basis of means for displaying its progress,
objectively, to the high credit of the colored people and
greatly to their benefit.
Wealthy Men; Examples.—Among the property
owners of Jackson ward, Richmond, Va., the following
are the most prominent: Mrs. Bettie T. Lewis, $15°,-
000; Mrs. Fannie C. Thompson, $15,000; W. I. John¬
son, $13,000; A. Hayes, $12,000; William Lyons,
271
272
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
$10,000; John Oliver, $10,000; Dr. S. H. Dismond,
$8,000; J. B. Harris, $7,000; William Tennant, $7,000;
W. H. White, $7,000; Rev. W. W. Browne, $6,000; Rev.
J. E. Jones, $5,000; B. P. Turner, $5,000; Dr. R. E.
Jones, $5,000; S. W. Robinson, $5,000.
Many other colored men of wealth in Richmond
deserve to be mentioned in this connection, but time
and space forbid. The above are only examples of
what can be done by the industrious, economical col¬
ored men in every city.
Much Property is owned by the colored people of
the North and West. Some of their estates run high
into the hundred thousands. Many of them, though
shut out almost entirely from the trades and business
avenues, have accumulated handsome homes, and live
in elegance and refinement.
Rev. A. G. Davis, of Raleigh, North Carolina, in an
address at the North Carolina Colored Agricultural
Fair, in reference to the Negro's progress, says that
among other things: '' Scan, if you will, the long line
of eight million Negroes as they march slowly but
surely up the road of progress, and you will find in
their ranks such men as Granville T. Woods, of Ohio,
the electrician, mechanical engineer, manufacturer of
telephones, telegraph and electrical instruments;
William Still, of Philadelphia, the coal dealer; Henry
Tanner, the artist; John W. Tarry, foreman of the
iron and fitting department of the Chicago West
Division Street Car Company; J. D. Baltimore, engi¬
neer, machinist and inventor, of Washington, D. C.;
Wiley Jones, of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the owner of the,
street railroad and park; Richard M. Hancock, fore¬
man of the pattern shops of the Eagle Works and Manu¬
facturing Company, and draughtsman; John Black,
FINANCIAL GROWTH.
273
the inventor, whose inventions are worth tens of thou¬
sands ; W. C. Atwood, the lumber merchant and capi¬
talist." To this we might add the following- list of
names of a few wealthy colored people in the United
States, as given by Prof. E. A. Johnson, of Raleigh:
Amanda Eubanks, of Georgia $400,000
Mrs. M. Carpenter, San Francisco 300,000
John McKee, Philadelphia 300,000
W. Q. Atwood, Baltimore 300,000
Fred Douglass Estate, "Washington, D. C 300,000
William Still, Philadelphia 200,000
Robert Purvis, Washington, D. C 150,000.
Mr. Smith, New York 150,000
Ex. Gov. P. S. B. Pinchback, Louisiana 150,000
John Thomas, Baltimore 150 000
Mr. D. C. White, New York. 130,000
The Morrisettes of South Carolina 130,000
Mrs. Mars, New York 100,000
Mr. W. C. Coleman, North Carolina 100,000
Bowers Estate, Philadelphia 80,000
Mr. Avery Smith, Florida 80,000
Mr. J. H. Lewis, of Boston, formerly of North Carolina.. 70,000
Bishop Beebe, North Carolina 50,000
Several in Alabama 50,000
Fifty in North Carolina 10,000
Fifty in Georgia. 10,000
One hundred in Louisiana 10,000
Twelve in Mississippi 10,000
Sixty in Texas 10,000
Fifty in Virginia 10,000
Wealthy Colored New York Men.—There are many
wealthy colored men who live in New York City.
Several who were formerly slaves count their money
by the hundred thousand. Four or five physicians in
this great metropolis have a practice of many
thousand dollars a year.
Mortgaged Property.—One of the notable showings
of the last census is the low percentage of mortgaged
18
274
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
property in the South. In Georgia this percentage
is 3.18; in Tennessee, 3.87; in Florida, 3.63; in Ala¬
bama, 3.98, and in Louisana, 3.94. The census of 1890
also gives another evidence, that is more direct, of the
improved condition of the Negroes in the South. In
1890 there were 12,690,152 homes and farms in the
United States, and of this number 1,186,174 are occu¬
pied by pure blacks and 224,595 by 'Mulattoes. Of
the Negroes, 207,616 own their own homes or farms,
and 978,558 rent them. Of the Mulattoes, 56,662 own
and 167,923 rent. The percentage of mortgaged prop¬
erty owned by Negroes is only 10.71, while the
percentage of mortgaged property for the whole
country is 38.97. Of the property held by Negroes,
88.58 per cent is owned without encumbrance. In the
North Atlantic states there are 5,808 homes and farms
owned by Negroes free from mortgage, and 3,921 that
are mortgaged; in the North Central states there are
20,060 homes and farms owned by Negroes free from
incumbrance, and 9,691 that are mortgaged; in the
South Central states there are 100,591 homes and farms
owned by Negroes free from incumbrances, and 7,608
that are mortgaged; in the Western states there are
1,204 farms and homes owned free by Negroes, and
289 that are mortgaged. In the whole country there
are 234,747 homes and farms owned by Negroes free
from all incumbrance, and 29,541 mortgaged. In the
South the percentage of home owners is larger than in
the North, and the proportion of these owners on
farms of their own is larger than that of those who
have homes in cities and villages. With the white
race the condition is just the opposite, the large per¬
centage of owners having homes in cities and villages
rather than farms.
FINANCIAL GROWTH.
275
Twenty-five Years' Accumulations. — Alabama,
$9,200,125; Arkansas, $8,010,315; Florida, $7,900,400;
Georgia, $10,415,330; Kentucky, $5,900,010; Louis¬
iana, $18,100,528; Mississippi, $13,400,213; Missouri,
$6,600,343; North. Carolina, $11,010,652; South Caro¬
lina, $12,500,000; Texas, $18,010,545; Tennessee,
$10,400,211; Virginia, $4,900,000.
The Colored Churches in the United States own
$16,310,441; the total amount of property owned by
the colored people in all the states is rated at over
$263,000,000.
Jacob McKinley.—Jacob McKinley, of Atlanta, Ga.,
was a man of worth and character. He was a man of
perhaps more than thirty years when Sherman cap¬
tured Atlanta and marched to the sea.
With many others of his race he came to Atlanta at
that time, having neither education nor money; but
he did have an enviable reputation as a Christian and
an honest man, and also had a good trade as a stone
mason.
With this capital he set to work to help rear Atlanta
from the heap of ashes in which he found her to the
great and prosperous city of more than a hundred
thousand inhabitants of today.
In this work he made both friends and money, and
when he passed from labor to reward in 1896 his
friends were found among both races and all classes of
men.
At his death his estate was valued at $40,000, all of
which he left to his wife and children, except a lot on
which he had erected a Baptist church, known as
" McKinley's Chapel." This he gave to his race and
left it as a monument to his name.
Robert Thomas Taylor was born a slave in Georgia.
276
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
He has shown what determined will and energy
might reveal to many others. Soon after he was freed,
he, with his wife and five children, moved to Texas,
and in a few years, through industry and economy,
was the owner of 100 acres of land. Mr. and Mrs.
Taylor are honored more for what they have made of
their sons than for what they are themselves. One of
them, after taking a course in a college, is principal of
a school in Texas; a second is pastor of a Baptist church
in Corsicanna, Texas, one of the largest Baptist
churches in the state. The third has completed a
course in the Meharry Medical College, and is now a
practicing physician in a city in Texas. The fourth,
who has completed a course in Shaw University,
Raleigh, North Carolina, is teaching in Texas. Mr.
Taylor may well be proud of the success of his sons.
He has, since freedom, learned to write and transact
his own business. He has accumulated property to the
amount of about $6, ooo, besides having paid out about
$4, ooo for the education of his sons.
Lewis Bates is probably the wealthiest colored man
in Chicago, being rated at nearly $500,000. He is
entirely uneducated, dresses poorly, and lives like a
poor man. He was born a slave nearly seventy years
ago. In 1861 he reached Chicago by the "Under¬
ground Railroad," and began working in a foundry.
He'soon became an expressman, and at once began in¬
vesting his savings in real estate. In this he has shown
excellent judgment, and nearly all his investments are
gilt-edged. Though he spends little money on him¬
self, he is open hearted and kind. He has no family,
and his only heirs are a few very distant relatives.
Encouraged.—Dr. Butler says: "Our people should
feel greatly encouraged when they learn that in 1894
FINANCIAL GROWTH.
277
their aggregate wealth, including church property, was
estimated at more than $325,000,000. At that time
there were many thousand men and women of the
race with fortunes ranging from $5,000 to $1,000,000.
Besides, they have many lawyers, preachers, teachers,
bishops, business men and women, and more than one
thousand physcians. They also have authors of poetry
and music, and over three hundred newspapers and
magazines. All this has been accomplished in one
generation. While it is a wonderful stretch, yet, if
we had started right, we might have been much fur¬
ther on the road of success. Therefore, I say, every
member of the race, old and young, great and small,
poor and rich, learned and unlearned, let us start out
with the year of 1898 to do all in our power to better
our condition—morally, mentally, spiritually, and
financially. Let us acquire intellect, morals and
wealth, and in the meantime, let us not fail to lay up
for ourselves treasures in the kingdom of God.''
The Negro in Politics.—While the emancipation
brought many blessings to the colored people of the
United States, it also brought with it many disappoint¬
ments. When the chains of slavery were broken many
colored people pictured to themselves a life of ease
and pleasure, as they had seen their masters living,
but instead they met stern responsibilities which com¬
pelled them to provide for themselves. It became
necessary for the race to learn, through the struggles
and persecutions, through want and poverty, how to
provide for themselves and become independent citi¬
zens.
Greed for Office,—Of course, there were a number
who expected to be promoted to offices at once. While
there were some of the colored race who held public
278
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
positions and acquitted themselves nobly, yet, this
greed for office has been detrimental to the advance¬
ment of the Negro in general. It is the general
opinion that the Negro, in many cases, has had too
much to do with politics. The greed for office has
often occasioned distrust and dread in the minds of
the whites, and thus the whole cause has been hindered.
Politics Should Follow.—Carl Schurz very aptly
says: "The wiser heads among the colored people
themselves can hardly fail to see that their political
preferment must not precede but' follow their advance¬
ment in the other walks of life. A goodly number of
Negroes achieving distinction as lawyers, or as phy¬
sicians, or as ministers, or as educators, or as business
men, will, by the impression produced upon public opin¬
ion, effect far more for the political advancement of
their race than ever so many Negro politicians getting
themselves elected to Congress or appointed to other
offices, and infinitely more than the horde of colored
place hunters who besiege party committees for "influ¬
ence" or appointing officers for favors in the name of
the colored vote, and who thus intensify the repulsive-
ness of one of the most baneful features of our political
life. In this respect nothing more helpful can happen
to the colored people than that all the government
employments be put under civil service rules, so that
every colored citizen who gets an appointment be
known to have obtained it on account of his own indi¬
vidual merit, in free competition on an equal footing
with other citizens, white or black, and that he is,
therefore, fairly and honorably entitled to it. Places
so won will indeed be marks of real proficiency and
distinction, and raise the colored people in that public
esteem which above all things they need,':
CHAPTER XI.
MORTALITY.
The Colored Race in Nashville.—Prof. Harris, *of
Fisk University, recently completed a canvass of the
colored people living in a certain district of Nashville.
He gives us the following striking and important facts:
Birth Rate.—I visited 145 families containing 649
people, or an average of something over four to a
family. In other words, each family contains on an
average between two and three children. This falls
far below what former literature on the rapid increase
of the Negro might lead us to expect. If one may
generalize from so limited a canvass, the Negro is not
the "prolific animal" that he has been termed. His
birth rate is considerably less than it ought to be.
Mortality.—This fact in connection with the exces¬
sive mortality among them is, to all thoughtful colored
men, an occasion of some alarm. The Negro popula¬
tion of Nashville is probably only half as great as the
white; yet they sometimes have not only relatively but
absolutely, a greater number of deaths. The excess
of deaths among the colored people is due largely and
perhaps altogether, to constitutional diseases. During
a short period of time some years ago the colored
death rate was far ahead of the birth rate; I estimated
that if emigration and immigration were shut off, and
the vital statistics were to continue right along as they
did that period of time, in less than one hundred years
there would not be a colored man, woman or child
living in the city of Nashville.
Homes.—Of the homes I canvassed in the territory
279
280 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
described, 77 are rented, 61 are owned by their occu¬
pants, and 7 are being bought in monthly payments,
averaging $8.00 per month; that is, nearly 47 per cent,
either own or are buying their homes. This is a very
good showing, when we remember that thirty years
ago they hardly owned even the clothes on their backs.
Of the 77 who rent, 12 pay above $6.00 per
month, 18 pay $6.00; 20 pay $5.00, and 27 pay less than
$5.00 The highest monthly payment made by those
who are buying is $12.00; the lowest $5.00.
Deaths.—Within the last five years there have been
92 deaths in this community, 19 of which were due to
consumption, .and 8 to pneumonia. The other 65
deaths were due to 34 different causes. It would seem
as if pulmonary consumption is the "destroying angel"
among us, and yet I am told that before the war this
dread disease was virtually unknown among the slaves.
During the year 1896, the people suffered from 43 dif¬
ferent diseases, seven dying from consumption. Thir¬
teen suffer from scrofula, occasioning the loss of an eye
in the case of six and rendering four others quite deaf.
Children in Public Schools.—Eighty-seven per cent,
of the children of scholastic age are in the public
schools. Many, perhaps most, of the 13 per cent, who
are out, have applied for admission to the schools, but
have been turned away because of lack of room.
Use of Educational Advantages.—The colored people
are making splendid use of their educational advan¬
tages, and however unfavorably their vital and social
statistics may compare with those of another race, in
educational progress they have equaled any, and sur¬
passed most other people.
Occupation and Earnings.—Among the colored
people of this community there are represented 51
MORTALITY.
281
different occupations: For the year 1896 the total
weekly income of the families investigated, including
all that was earned "by every member of the family,
was $1,321.65, or a weekly average of only $9.11 per
family. When we remember that more than one-half
of these families pay rent, and that some support a
large number of children, it is a true saying that "one-
half of the world does not know how the other half
lives." But of 133 families visited, 33 earned less than
$6 a week, 49 earned $6 or more, but not $10; 43
earned $10 or more, but not $20; 8 earned $20 or more,
but not $30, and 2 earned $30 or more, but not $40. It
is worthy of a remark that among the 649 people can¬
vassed, in spite of their poverty, I found only four pro
fessional beggars.
Enforced Idleness.—During the last year 61 col¬
ored people, 21 years old and above, who are habitually
employed, underwent a period of enforced idleness
aggregating 749 weeks, or an average of three months
per capita. When we remember how scanty is the
average income earned by the whole family, being
only $9 per week, three months of enforced idleness
must have intensified greatly their already hard battle
for life.
Constitutional Diseases.—The slow rate of increase
among the colored people is due to two causes, consti¬
tutional diseases and the crimes of mothers. More
white people die from contagious diseases than
colored. More white people die from local diseases
than colored; while more colored people die from con¬
stitutional diseases than white. In other words, the
excess of colored deaths over white is due to constitu¬
tional diseases.
Crimes of Mothers.—I also found by personal in-
282
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
vestigation that year that a large number of colored
washerwomen, finding it hard to get the husks to feed
and the rags to clothe their already large family of
little ones, living in one room like stock, rather than
to add to their burdens, resort to crime. This is also
a fruitful reason of the slow rate of increase in the
colored population. This state of affairs is not
confined to Nashville. It is true of nearly all our
large Southern cities; and whether we like it or not,
the hard fact remains that the enormous death rate
among us, together with our small birth rate, is one
of the signs of the times that, unless our home life be
radically changed, the Negro problem in America may
be ultimately solved by the extinction of the Negro.
Lack of Stamina.—Anglo-Saxons are exterminating
the inferior races more rapidly and more surely than
shot and shell and bayonet. Before the advancing
march of the Anglo-Saxon, the New Zealanders, the
Tasmanians, the Pacific. Islanders, the Negroes of
South Africa, and the aborigines of Australia have all
gone down to the grave; and, be it remembered,
brethren, that these races have all perished, not
because of destructive wars and pestilence, but because
they were unable to live in the environment of a nine¬
teenth century civilization. Their destruction was not
due to a persecution which came to them from without,
but to a lack of stamina within. Their extermination
was due to the inexorable working out of a law as
natural as the law of gravitation. And be it remem¬
bered, that these races perished in spite of the human¬
itarian and philanthropic efforts that were put forth to
save them. They perished because they had not power
of resistance within.
Keep Up, or Get Out of the Way.—If the fate of
mortality.
283
these races teaches me anything, it teaches me that in
the onward march of the nations the colored race in
America has "got to keep tip with the procession, or
else, like them, it has got to get out of the way. Now,
this may seem hard to you, "but hard as it is, it is a hard
fact, and we might as well face it. The social, intel¬
lectual, and scientific world is moving as fast in its
orbit as the earth "beneath our feet; and those of us who
cannot keep up with it are bound to be crushed to
pieces by it. Our white friends could not retard the
world's progress to accommodate us, even if they
would; and, men, I believe, that we are too manly to
ask them to do so, even if they could. ,
Social Regeneration.—We are apt to look to business
and to politics to bring about our social regeneration,
to give us civil standing and political recognition; we are
apt to look solely to business and to politics to do away
with the old order of things among us, and bring in the
new. We are looking to business and to politics to
give us a new home life, to give us new social status—
to give us a new earth—and we neglect Christian work
because we forget in a measure that before we can
have the new earth we must have the new heaven.
First, we must have the new heaven; then we can have
the new earth. First, new ambitions, new purposes, new
motives, new ideals; then the new home life, the new
social status, the new civil and business standing, and the
new political conditions. First, the new heaven, then
the new earth.''
Mortality.—In 1896 a convention on the mortality
among the Negroes in cities was held at Atlanta Uni¬
versity, and widespread interest was exhibited.* From
the proceedings of this convention we cull the following
items from papers read by eminent men through the
nation:
19
28i
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
A Problem.—The rapid growth of our great cities
within recent years is one of the phases of modern life
which "brings with it problems whose solution calls for
the best efforts of the leading men in the city commun¬
ities, whether white or black. Special courses for the
study of these problems have been established in the
N orthern colleges, and it is felt that the time has come
when Atlanta University must take up the study of
these problems of city life which its graduates are
called upon to meet and solve. It is none too soon to
begin this work, for each year a larger proportion of
the colored race are concentrated in the cities.
In Cities.—In i860 only 4.2 per cent, of the colored
population of the United States were living in the
cities. By 1880 the number had increased to 8.4 per
cent, of the whole colored population, while by 1890 it
had increased to 12 per cent. This process of concen¬
tration in the cities has been relatively much more
rapid among the colored people than among the whites,
the _ figures for whites during the same period being
xo.9 per cent, in i860, and 15.7 percent, in 1890, or an
increase of 4.8 per cent., against 7.8 per cent, colored.
How rapid this increase in the city population really
is may be illustrated by the growth of the colored popu¬
lation of Atlanta, where the increase has been at a
rate.three times as great as for the country at large.
For decade 1870-1880, the increase was 64 per cent.;
for 1880-1890, 72 per cent.; while the average increase
of colored population for the whole country during the
same period was only 20 per cent, in each decade.
Five Cities.—From the United States census for 1890,
we have the mortality for the white and colored popu¬
lation of five of our largest cities—Washington, Balti¬
more, New Orleans, Louisville and St. Louis—as
mortality.
285
given in a paper published by the trustees of the Slater
Fund:
/—Rates per i,ooo-^
White. Colored.
Washington 19 36
Baltimore 22 36
New Orleans 22 37
Louisville 18 32
St. Louis 17 35
The excess'of colored over white is 100, 63.6, 68,
77 and 106 per cent.
Twenty-one Families in Washington.—Dr. Evans
has furnished the information in regard to one group
of twenty-one families, and although it is impossible
for us to make from this one group any generalization
in regard to the colored population of the city of Wash¬
ington, a community of 86,000 persons, the information
is very interesting as representing the generally well-
to-do character of the twenty-one families represented.
The neighborhood in which they live is reported as
being fair or good, and this is confirmed by the follow¬
ing figures deduced from this report, thus:
Thirteen of the twenty-one families own their own
houses. The houses for the most part are supplied
with modern conveniences, nineteen having city water,
nine sewer connections, etc. The average number of
rooms occupied by the family is between five and six,
the smallest number being four, while over half have
six or eight.
The average number of persons occupying the same
sleeping room is two, although in four instances there
are four to a room, and in one instance five. There
are only four cases of sickness reported, while twelve
families report no sickness at all.
Income.—Only ten families report as to income, but
286
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
the average for the ten is high, being $664 a year, and
in seven families out of the ten the husband entirely
supports the family by his sole labor. It is interesting
to note the occupation of these seven men. The largest
income is earned by a carpenter, who reports his
earnings as $780; next comes a barber, earning $720 a
year; a teacher, earning $650; a janitor, $560; a
laborer, $480; a steward, $390; and laborer, $250.
Largest Income.—The largest income of one family
is that of a family of nine, the father and mother both
dead, and the eldest brother and two sisters supporting
the family. The brother is an expressman," earning
$500 a year; the two sisters are teachers, earning $450
each, making a total of $1,400 a year. This family
owns its own house, having eight rooms, with city
water, sewer connections and other conveniences.
Five of the families report savings averaging $123.52
per family.
Negligence a Cause of Mortality.—The average
laborer is exceedingly neglectful. He will drive or
walk all day in the rain or snow, come home and go to
bed with his wet clothes on, with the belief firmly fixed
in his mind that unless he lets these clothes dry on him
he will contract a cold, and no argument we might use
will convince him otherwise. Again, since the colored
people here compose the majority of the laboring
classes, it stands to reason that they are more exposed
than the whites, and are therefore more susceptible to
those diseases that may be caused by exposure. The
colored man sweeps the streets and fills his lungs with
the dust and dried bacteria expectorated on the streets
a few hours since from the lungs of some consumptive;
he drives the garbage carts, he digs the sewers, drives
the hacks and drays, and, in fact, does the most of
MORTALITY,
287
work involving exposure, which naturally makes him
more liable to contract such diseases as pleurisy,
bronchitis, pneumonia and consumption.
Charitable Institutions.—The city has neglected,
and is still neglecting, the colored people, and especially
that class of them which is dependent upon its charity
in times of sickness. It has millions to build prisons
with, but not a dollar with which to build charitable
institutions. It allows money grabbers to build small
huts and crowd into them five times the number of
people that should be allowed; it has no law by which
the owner of this property can be made to keep it clean.
The houses are never painted, the wells are filled with
the filth of the neighborhood, and the fences are never
whitewashed', and the city is powerless to interfere.
Family after family move into these places, and often
only one or two are left to tell the story. My friends,
it is one thing to stand here in this clean, well-lighted
hall and read papers on this subject, but it is altogether
different to go down into those dark, poor and humble
homes and see death going through destroying the old
and young because of the negligence on the part of
those in authority.
Physicians.—Some of the white physicians neglect
the colored people. I wish it to be understood, how¬
ever, that I mean some, not all, for there are some
honorable exceptions to the statement just made. I
say they neglect our people, and we cannot blame them.
Doctors can no more afford to work for nothing than a
teacher or- any other person who is working for an
honest living. Hence, he refuses to go to these people;
first, because they are not able to pay, and secondly,
because the city has appointed physicians whose duty
it is to attend the poor in their various wards. These
288
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
physicians are paid from $500 to $800 a year to do that
work, and then they neglect it, especially such cases as
diphtheria.
Dispensaries.—While this city has furnished physi¬
cians, it has furnished no medicine. It has no free
dispensaries, as it should, nor does it pay the physicians
money enough to furnish medicines applicable in every
case, and at the same time care for himself and family.
Hence, when he is called to see a patient, it matters not
what the disease may be, it is either compound cathartic
pills, calomel, epsom salts, blue mass, or castor oil.
Any case these remedies don't reach is left to get well
if it can, or die if it must. I ask, then, in all candor:
Is it any wonder that we die so fast when we get such
attention, doctors, such excellent nursing, such fresh
medicines, applicable in every case of our diseases?
Hospitals.—Here in Atlanta, a city of push, pluck
and Christian "progress, there is not a decent hospital
where colored people can be cared for. At the Grady
hospital, which takes about $20,000 of the city's money
annually to run it, is a small wooden annex down by
the kitchen, in which may be crowded fifty or sixty
beds, and that is all the hospital advantages 40,000
colored citizens have. But, on the other hand, our
white friends, with a population of about 70,000, have
all the wards and private rooms in the entire brick build¬
ing at this hospital, together with a very fine hospital
here, known as St. Joseph's Infirmary. Hence, my
friends, you can see that one of our greatest needs is a
first-class, up-to-date hospital, where the colored people
can not only get proper treatment, but can also have all
necessary operations performed..
Intemperance a Cause of Mortality—To ascertain
the truth of this subject concerning the relation of in-
MORTALITY.
289
temperance to mortality, it is necessary not only to
enumerate the deaths due to acute alcoholism, such as
delirium tremens and the various sudden congestions
and paralyses consequent upon the taking of excessive
quantities of strong drink, together with the great
majority of homicides, suicides and accidental deaths,
which may be traced directly to the use of alcoholics ;
but it is necessary, also, to inquire into the real cause
of the deaths ascribed to the ordinary acute and chronic
diseases, the contagious and the infectious diseases—
indeed, the whole category of classified diseases.
Contagious and Infectious Diseases.—With refer¬
ence to death from contagious and infectious diseases,
it is the unanimous testimony of the leading authorities
that during the scourges of cholera, yellow fever and
smallpox, it is the drinker who falls victim, the mod¬
erate drinker being no exception to the rule, while the
total abstainer is less liable to contract the disease, and
if affected, is far more likely to survive. The fact
holds good in such diseases as scarlet and typhoid
fevers, when there are unknown antidotes to the specific
poison, and the quality of the tissues is relied upon to
resist or survive the disease.
Heredity.—Alcohol, as a remote cause of death, is
none the less effective in cases in which the victim is
not himself addicted to the use of strong drinks, but
inherits from drinking parents a weak constitution,
which renders him an easy prey, an inviting field for
disease. To inherited weakness is due a large per cent
of the alarming, rate of infant mortality resulting from
cholera infantum, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria,
etc. Says our own Dr. Orme: "If it were possible
to separate deaths due to alcohol from the classified
diseases to which they are ascribed, the facts would
be astounding.''
19
290
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Principal Factors.—That intemperance is one of the
principal factors in the terrible death-rate among the
Negro population in the cities, there can be no ques¬
tion. It is in the cities that intemperance prevails. I
believe that no one at all informed would hesitate to
assert that ninety-nine per cent of the city population
are addicted to some extent to the use of strong drinks.
No one will deny that the Negro is no exception to this
rule. It is well known that that class of the Negro pop¬
ulation which furnishes the excessive death rate is that
class addicted to the use of whisky and beer in their
vilest forms. It is this ignorant, drunken class of
Negroes which furnish 90 per cent, of the criminals
which crowd our jails and penitentiaries, and who,
poorly clad and fed, exposed to the great extremes of
heat and cold, working rain or shine at most laborious
tasks, while serving terms in the chain-gangs, contract
diseases and die by hundreds annually. Those who
live to be released flock to the cities to furnish their
remaining weeks or months, and add their quota to
the death-rate. If this were the end alone of men and
women, old and hardened criminals, it would not be
so -serious, but this is the end of hundreds of boys and
girls arrested for misdemeanors.
Poverty a Cause of Mortality.—Slavery left the
colored man the rich inheritance of a log cabin and a
patch of turnip greens. This log cabin is a piece of
architecture that will soon be entirely relegated to the
barbarous past. Peace be to its ashes! It has disappeared
in the towns and cities, and is found only in the poverty-
stricken rural districts. Can not you recall the picture
of that poor family who worked hard all day in the field
while their little ones, almost nude, played around the
door until the sun dropped behind that hill studded
UNCLE BEN (OVER ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD) AND HIS SEVENTH WIFE.
Formerly a familiar figure on the streets of Chattanooga.
292
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
with beautiful trees? See the mother return and pre¬
pare her evening meal; the fire is lighted, the children
hungry and crying; behold the repast—fried bacon,
poorly-cooked bread and black molasses. A pine
torch illuminates the room that serves as a kitchen,
dining-room, bed and bath-room. After supper the
little ones are off to bed without being properly bathed
and dressed, and after the usual chair-nap, the father
and mother retire. There they are in a row, and only
one small window and door to let in nature's life-giving
air that keeps them from suffocating.
Mortality Among the Children of the Poor.—We
find great mortality among the children of the poor.
Evena before they can make their wants known, the
mother is compelled to leave them daily, and a sur¬
prising number are burned to death. The older chil¬
dren are taught to go out and pick up trash to burn,
rags, bones, and iron to sell, thereby inviting disease
and death. It is a strange fact, yet true, that all work
that is obnoxious, dangerous and laborious is given the
poor Negro at pay that would kill some people even to
think of having it to do for a living. These people, in
buying food etc., always seek quantity and not quality;
hence the butcher, fisherman, fruiterer, dairyman and
merchants are careful to anticipate their wants.
Ignorance.—Among the many causes which produce
death in our large cities, it is by no means an easy
matter to distinguish beween ignorance, poverty and
negligence. However, it is safe to assert that no few
of the deaths which occur in our large cities are the
result of ignorance, either directly or indirectly.
It will be seen from the outset that city life requires
a more accurate observance of the laws of health than
country or village life. With this fact in mind, all
MORTALITY.
293
cities have established their boards of health to look
after and remove any and all causes which in their minds
produce sickness or death. These boards are usually
composed of the best informed physicians who, from
time to time, make and publish rules which are to be
observed and obeyed by all citizens. These rules the
ignorant classes do not obey, not because they are will¬
fully disobedient, but because they are ignorant. They
cannot read, they have no interest in public affairs;
they know but little about the causes which bring sick¬
ness and disease among them, and hence are the easy
prey of epidemics and contagions.
Improper Ventilation.—Many suffer on account of
improper ventilation, not knowing that impure air is
the parent of every lung trouble known to the human
family. Pure air is one of the freest and best gifts
bestowed upon man by our beneficent Father; but
alas! how many thousands in our large cities die every
year from failing to use this gift! Man and woman,
through ignorance, shut the doors and windows of
their houses, thus barring out God's life-giving atmos¬
phere, and inviting consumption and death. Pure air
gives life, foul air gives death.
General Condition.—"Birds of a feather flock
together.'' In Augusta, as in most cities of America,
there are parts of the city occupied exclusively by
Negroes, except a few whites, usually German or Irish,
keepers of small stores, who live among the Negroes
for the sake of their trade. Although some do not
believe it, yet it is true that there are grades of society
among Negroes, as among other races, and the lines of
distinction are drawn for as wise and as silly reasons as
are those among the more favored people. As in other
things, this grading is seen in the choosing of a locality
WATCHING THE PARADE.
MORTALITY.
295
for a home. The poorest, most untidy and the most
ignorant seek each other. They always find homes in
the same neighborhood, if not in adjoining houses. As
each city has its Negro settlements, and as the great
rank and file of the race belong to the grade or class
called the poorest and most ignorant, the largest set¬
tlements are of this kind.
Wages.—These people have small wages, many with
nothing to do a great part of the year, and the
majority have no steady employment. For food, rent,
fuel and clothing they are dependent upon the odd jobs
that pay not more than fifty cents per day for two or
three days in a week. To eke out a living on such an
income requires, they know, the strictest economy,
but how to economize they know not, yet, thinking
they know, in their way they set about it. The first
step is to cut down the expense of living by taking no
more house room than barely enough in which to turn
around. A small family, parents and two or three
children, take one room.
Contents of a Room.—In this room, 15x15, some¬
times smaller space, are placed a bedstead, a three-
quarters bed, sometimes two (but in these days of
cheap furniture and installment sales, a folding
lounge very often takes the place of the second bed¬
stead), one or two tables, a trunk, bureau, not less than
four chairs, tubs, boards, etc., for laundering, cooking
utensils, and a lot of odds and ends. These, with the
family, give breathing space scarcely sufficient for one,
yet by some means it is hoped to get enough for the
whole family. It is not long before hypostatic pneu¬
monia or tuberculosis visits them, and finding the
atmosphere congenial abides with the family.
Infants.—The high rate of mortality among infants
296
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
is a subject well worthy the consideration of all thought¬
ful men and women, and naturally leads one to enquire
as to causes and possible remedies. Prominent among
the" causes of this high rate must be mentioned bad
heredity and injudicious and harmful management of
these little ones by their parents. As a result of these
two causes, many children are ill-prepared to meet and
battle with the acute diseases almost inevitably before
them; they are more apt to contract disease than a
healthier child; they are more apt to die from it, when
once contracted, as their resisting power is weakened
by their heredity and their management since birth.
Sociological Condition.—For a number of years I
have thought that the greatest danger to the real prog¬
ress of the colored people lies in this sociological con¬
dition in the large cities. It is difficult, however, to
get the facts. There is very little attention given in
the South to the vital statistics of Negroes. In fact,
the census is neither full nor altogether reliable. The
facts, if gotten at all, must be searched out by conscien¬
tious persons specially interested in this kind of work.
Nevertheless, any one who will give the least observa¬
tion to this matter will see that the cities are the hotbeds
of crime, misery and death among the colored people.
Here the people are huddled together, with often two
or three families in one room. Without employment
for more than half the time, they are consequently
insufficiently fed and poorly clothed. When sick they
are unable either to employ a physician or to buy
medicine. At least 25 per cent, of them die without
medical aid.
Savannah.—In the city of Savannah, during the year
1894, 251 colored persons died without medical atten¬
tion.-. This - is 33^ per cent, of the total, number of
MORTALITY.
297
deaths among these people for that year. About 60
per cent, of this number of deaths were children under
the age of ten. Twenty-four thousand of the 52,000
population of Savannah are Negroes. Hence, it will
be seen that whatever affects these people affects at
least nearly half the population of our chief seaport.
What is true of Savannah I judge to be approximately
true of all the cities of Georgia and most of the cities
of the South.
Crime.—The city colored people drift into crime be¬
cause they are idle and hungry far oftener than because
they are purposely vicious. All cities furnish far too
large a proportion of crime, ignorance and misery of the
colored people. Any movement, therefore, that will
bring to light the facts, lay bare the causes, and sug¬
gest the remedies in relation to this crime, misery and
death which affects our people in the cities will merit
universal applause.
REV. WM. H. FURNESS,
One of the foremost Abolitionists of Pennsylvania.
■ 'Death is the worst that can befall us. if so. be that we are faitMuUO tbs
right."
GIRLS' INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, CLARK UNIVERSITY.
CHAPTER XII.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
Educational Institutions — Industrial Schools — The
Press.
Next in importance to freedom and justice, is popu¬
lar education, without which neither justice nor free¬
dom can be permanently maintained. —Garfield.
Bishop Atticus Hay good says: "The most unique
and altogether wonderful chapter in the history of
education is that which tells the story of the Negroes
of the South since 1865."
Education.—The great end of education is to prepare
one for usefulness in life, and the education that does
not accomplish this is worse than useless. This age
calls for practical men and women. The man who
will continue to sit at his desk, the young woman who
will go butterfly chasing and then look for the fulfill¬
ment of dreams and visions, will awake and find that
the procession of progress has passed without a dis¬
covering of the true essentials of practical living.
It is vain to seek knowledge simply for the sake of
being smart, but this practical age needs practical men.
Casting a boy adrift with a mind stored with classic
lore, but not able to find an honorable means of sup¬
port, is, as Julia Hook says: "nothing less than a
crime, he is a miserable failure as a breadwinner.
Idleness and uselesness naturally follow, crime and
poverty come next in the train, crowding our peniten¬
tiaries and swarming our houses of prostitution.
Ignorance of industries and idleness are what cause
our people to lose their patriotism. The perpetuity of
300
PROGRESS OF A RACE,
our national life depends upon our knowledge and the
usefulness of industrial pursuits. We have more need
of carpenters than athletes, of educated farmers than
professionals. Industry is the bright ray of hope.
The industrial schools of the south are bringing us out
of ignorance and vice and make us a blessing to
society and posterity.
Not in Question.—The intellectual development of
the race is no more in question. The revelations of
history are indeed a reflective commentary upon the
so-called intelligence of those who went so far as to
affirm the impossibility of the intellectual improve¬
ment of the Negro. Today there may be found many
brilliant scholars in all the disciplines of learning.
Ignorance of the historical and present day facts is
inexplicable, except it be that American prejudice has
decreed what should be known and what left unknown.
These adverse views must be treated with the defer¬
ence that extreme antiquity, without the adjunct of
intelligence, deserves. The truth remains, seen or
unseen, that the Negro has a right and title to the
citizenship of the republic of thought.
No Higher Duty.—Gov. Atkinson says: "There is
no higher duty resting upon the governors of the
Southern states than to advance the education of the
people of the state without regard to color. If any
doubt that the colored man can be educated exists, it
will all be dispelled by attending the commencements
of the colleges for the colored.''
Education Improves.—Every one competent to speak
and honest enough to be candid knows that education
benefits and improves the Negro. It improves his
morals, his character, and his usefulness. It makes
him a better man and a better citizen, a better neigh-
educational improvement.
301
bor and a better workman, no matter what you put
him at. The slave-owners learned that it paid to take
good care of their slaves and the people of the South
will learn that it pays to educate their Negro employes.
Above all things, education of the Negro diminishes
if it does not totally banish all danger of race conflict
and trouble.
Knowledge Not a Substitute for Virtue.—Hear
what Dr. Haygood says: "No theory of universal edu¬
cation entertained by a rational people proposes knowl¬
edge as a substitute for virtue, or virtue a substitute for
knowledge. Both are necessary. Without virtue knowl¬
edge is unreliable and dangerous; without knowledge
virtue is blind and impotent." "I must say a word in
defense,'' says the same authority, "of the Negroes, par¬
ticularly those living in the Southern states. Considering
the antecedents of the race in Africa, in those states be¬
fore the emancipation, and their condition today, the real
surprise is that there is so much virtue and purity
among them. Above all things, let the white , people
set them better examplfes. Since progress has already
been made in this direction, we are permitted to hope
that education will continue its beneficent work in this
moral reformation of the people. Education will cer¬
tainly afford a better knowledge of the duties of the
home, a keener appreciation of the obligation of the mar¬
riage state, a more consistent regard for the rights and
the property of others, and a clearer conception of what
virtue in womanhood signifies, and", therefore, a more
determined purpose and means of defending that honor
from the assaults of any man, even at the very risk of
their lives.''
Color Blind.— President Ware, of the Atlanta Univer¬
sity, was one of the early workers in, the educational
302
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
field among the Negroes. On one occasion, being ser¬
iously asked by a Southern white man how, with all his
culture and qualifications, he could content himself to
live and labor among the blacks, he tersely replied:
4'Oh, I can easily explain that. I'm simply color-blind.''
Appreciating Advantages.—'' Talks for the Times''
says: "Last year, in the four institutions of higher
learning, established in Atlanta by Northern benevo¬
lence, there were, in round numbers, twelve hundred
students. Of these, Atlanta University enrolled 310;
Clark University, 222; the Baptist Seminary for Males,
about 140, and the Baptist Seminary for Females, 500.
But Atlanta is only one of the great centers of educa¬
tion in the South. There is Nashville, literally girdled
by institutions; there is New Orleans—in fact, you
will find today, in every Southern state, one or more
institutions for the higher training of Negro youth; and
the very fact that all these institutions are more or less
crowded yearly, and the very fact that frequent appeal
goes out from them to Christian philanthropy for more
buildings, for increased accommodations, are proof con¬
clusive, I think, that the Negro not only appreciates the
advantages held out to him, but is also exerting himself
to enjoy them."
Civilization Progressing.—Dr. Ruffner, for many
years superintendent of public instruction for the state
of Virginia, in one of his reports a few years ago, bore
this testimony to the credit of the Negro: "He wants
to do right and is the most amiable of races. The
Negro craves education, and I believe his desire has
increased; it certainly has not diminished. He makes
fully as great sacrifices to send his children to school as
the laboring classes of the whites. The civilization of
■the race is progressing, and even faster than his thought¬
ful friends anticipated."
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
Trained Minds.—At the 250th anniversary of Har¬
vard College, a profound student of public affairs,
James Russell Lowell, in a famous address, said:
"What we need more than anything else is to increase
the ntimber of thoroughly trained minds, for these,
wherever they go, are sure to carry with them, con¬
sciously or not, the seeds of sounder thinking and of
higher ideals. The only way in which our civilization
can be maintained, even at the level it has reached—the
only way in which that level can be made more general
and be raised higher—is by bringing the influence of the
more cultivated to bear with greater energy and direct¬
ness on the less cultivated, and by opening more inlets
which make for refinement of mind and body.'' This
is the testimony that runs along the history of educa¬
tion. Our New England fathers cherished sound learn¬
ing for Christianity's sake.
Wisdom,—But if this is wisdom, and continues to be
an ever-present necessity for people who have cherished
higher education for centuries, not less is it wisdom and
necessity for a race undeveloped, where the need of this
affiliation of learning and religion is absolute. No people
can rise who are shut in to limited and partial privileges.
Higher Institutions.—Indeed, except for higher insti¬
tutions, the public school system of the South for the
colored people could not be carried on with any degree
of worthiness. But the public schools did not exhaust
our reasons for our higher institutions. Our reasons
are in our pulpits. They are in necessary professions.
They are found among the bankers and builders and
editors and printers. They are rapidly raising the rank
of their race. This is very practical; for, when we con¬
sider the question of practicability in the salvation and
elevation of a people, we realize that our fathers were
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
right to conclude that the idea of education is short¬
sighted and bad which considers knowledge to be prac¬
tical only as it can be made at once to grind corn, or
can be measured by merely materialistic values.
Practicability.—Accepting the fact of the decrees
which decide the capacities of men and their limitations,
so that the rank and file must be prepared for and
engage in manual labor of some kind, it remains true
that those who can impregnate the minds of people
about them, who can quicken their thoughts, who can
rouse lower intellects and energize them, who can
change their low views to higher ones and give larger
and truer ideas of life and the world, here and hereafter,
and make their lives more vital with thought for daily
wants and uses, will be found to have a very practical
education.
Thinkers.—Moreover, by forces not material are the
material forces penetrated and stirred. When we see
how the thoughts of men are harnessed into service in
the places of industry then we understand that there is
no arithmetic with figures enough to compute the mere
money-value of the thoughts which are the secrets of
materialistic accomplishment. In education we cannot
forget that the world's advance in wealth, as in every¬
thing else, comes from those who know how to think,
and that those who develop the thinkers develop the
workers. The greater the intellectual wealth of a
people, the greater will be the aggregate of materialistic
wealth, and the developed material prosperity will
come more rapidly and surely with better developed
men.
Needs of Today.—Low-grade men are content with
low-grade things. Along all the lines of materialistic
development the great need of the Negro people today
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
305
is men of trained thought, thinking men, men of larger
vision, and more comprehensive, minds, who can and
will uplift and establish the material as well as the intel¬
lectual and spiritual standard of the race. Therefore
we are confident that the shortest path in the develop¬
ment of the colored people is in the more perfect devel¬
opment of their intelligence, in the more complete com¬
mand of their mental powers. With this there comes a
better industry in their habits, for ignorance and indo¬
lence are twins. We know also that all experience
stands back of this knowledge—that a low mental life
tends to a low moral life, and that both of these con¬
ditions are a natural prey for oppressors and for all who
do not wish to do justly.
Equal Opportunities—The African has a right to an
equal opportunity with every other man to show what
his competence is. This seed will not sprout, you say.
Of course it will not sprout if you leave it in the drawer.
Put it in the same soil with that other seed; let the same
sun shine upon it; let the same rain fall upon it, and
then see whether it will sprout or not. What we
demand for the colored man is tfiat all doors shall be
opened to him, all opportunities freely offered to him,
the right and the liberty of industry given to him. We
protest against a system which puts the wall of reserva¬
tion about the Negro, which denies him the fundamental
rights of a free man, the riglit of locomotion, the right
to buy in the cheapest market and sell in the highest
market, the right to dispose of his goods wherever he
can. We protest against a system which builds a wall
around any portion of our American people and con¬
fines them as paupers and classes them with other paup¬
ers. If we were to take a dozen young men and women
under twenty-one years of age out of Boston and shut
20
CLASS IN CHEMISTRY, ATLANTA BAPTIST SEMINARY.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
307
them up in some great wilderness and were to say to
them, "You shall not own the products of your industry,
you shall not sell them in the markets of the world, you
shall not have free access to the telegraph and the press,
you shall not know what is going on in the world; but
we will put a mission chapel and a mission school here
and there, and if you do not work we will feed you.''
How long would it take for them to become tramps and
paupers. We claim for the African absolute and equal
opportunities with the white man—the same door as
widely open, the same avenues as free, the same wages
for the same labor, the same chance to prove his man¬
hood in industrial relations.
Equal Political Rights.—This does not mean uni¬
versal suffrage, but it does mean the same conditions
of suffrage to the man of one color as to the man of
another color. The question whether there shall be a
property qualification or not is a very fair question, but
if there be such a qualification it must be, under any
just and equitable system of government, the same for
one race as for another. The law which says to a
thrifty Negro, "You shall not vote," and to a thriftless
white man, "You shall vote," is unjust and inequitable.
The law which provides one kind of educational quali¬
fications for one because his skin is tanned, and another
for the man whose skin is not tanned, is unfair and
unjust. We stand for equal rights in this republic of
republics.
Equal Facilities and Stimulus.—The Negro race
must have the same educational and religious facilities
and the same stimulus to intellectual and moral growth,
and any scheme of education which purposes to furnish
the Negro race only with manual and industrial educa¬
tion is a sly contrivance for putting him in serfdom; it
308
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
tacitly says that the Negro is the inferior of the white
race, and therefore we will educate him so as to serve
us. The race must have an education which in its final
outcome shall be complete, and which shall open oppor¬
tunities for the highest culture of which any individual
of that race is capable.
Duty of the Government.—Judge Gunby says: "The
failure of the Federal government to educate the slaves
they made freemen is a shame and a disgrace, a scarlet
letter on the garb of our history, a stigma which, like
the damned spot that soiled the little hand of Lady Mac¬
beth, will never wash out until the wrong has been re¬
paired. ''
Slavery at the Bottom.—President Price says that
slavery, as a system, degraded the Negro to the level of
the brute, because it denied him the untrammeled exer¬
cise of all the instincts of a higher and better manhood.
It recognized no moral sensibility in man or woman,
regarded no sacred and inviolable relation between hus¬
band and wife, sundered at will or caprice the tenderest
ties that the human heart is capable of forming or the
human mind is able to conceive. Such a system had
the support of the highest tribunal of men, and even the
representatives of the church of God came to its rescue
and defense, with all the weight of its divine authority
and power. From the maternal knee, the table, the
family altar, the forum, and the pulpit was the lesson
taught that the person of sable hue and curly hair was
a doomed, and therefore an inferior, race—not entitled
to a place in the brotherhood of men. This impression,
made on childhood's plastic nature, grew with his
growth, and strengthened with the power of increasing
years.
Power of Law.—To deepen the blot, and intensify
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
309
the damning heresy, the law of the land wrote him
down a chattel, that is, cattle, and forbade the training
of the mind and the culture of the heart, by making
learning, on his part, and teaching on the part of
others, a crime. It is not surprising, then, that men
brought up in the face of such a system for two hun¬
dred and fifty years should be skeptical as to the real
manhood of the Negro, and hesitate to give him a place
in the one-blood family.
Prejudice.—The feeling against the Negro which
helps to make our race problem is called prejudice,
and it is not without some grounds. For two hundred
and fifty years the white man of the South saw only
the animal, or mechanical, side of the Negro. Wher¬
ever he looked, there was degradation, ignorance,
superstition, darkness, and nothing more, as he thought.
The man was overshadowed and concealed by the
debasing appetites and destructive and avaricious pas¬
sion of the animal; therefore, the race problem of
today is not an anomaly, it is the natural and logical
product of an environment of centuries.
Key to Problem.—Now, if ignorance, poverty and
moral degradation are the grounds of the objection
against the Negro, it is not difficult to discover that the
knotty elements of the race problem are the intellectual,
moral, and material conditions of the Negro race. It
is reasonable, therefore, to suppose that if we can find
the means that will change these conditions, we have
found a key to the problem, and gone a great distance
towards its satisfactory solution. Of course, none of us
would dare argue that intelligence, or even education,
is a panacea for all the ills of mankind; for, even when
educated, a Nero, a Robespierre, a Benedict Arnold,
an absconding state treasurer, or a New York sneak-
thief, would not necessarily be impossibilities.
310
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Not by Magic SpellI do not argue that increased
intelligence or multiplied facilities for education will,
by some magic spell, transform the Negro into the
symmetry, grace and beauty of a Grecian embodiment
of excellence. It is certainly not my humble task to
attempt to "prove that ^education will, in a day, or a
decade, or a century, rid the black men of all the phys¬
ical peculiarities and deformities, moral perversions
and intellectual distortions which are the debasing
and logical heritage of more than two and a half cen¬
turies of enslavement.
Education the Best Means.—It is, nevertheless,
reasonable to presume that, admitting the ordinary
human capabilities of the race, which no sane and fair-
minded man will deny, it can be readily and justly
predicted that if the same forces applied to other races
are applied to the Negro, and these forces are governed
by the same eternal and incontrovertible principles,
they will produce corresponding results and make the
Negro as acceptable to the brotherhood of men as any'
other race laying claims to the instinct of our common
humanity. I believe that education, in the full sense
of the term, is the most efficient and comprehensive
means to this end, because in its results an answer is
to be found to all the leading objections against the
Negro which enter into the make-up of the so-called
race problem.
Good Government Implies Intelligence—Dr. A. G.
Haygood, of Georgia, in his "Pleas for Progress," says:
'' Good government implies intelligence, and universal
suffrage demands universal education.'' It cannot now
be said, as it was fifty years ago, that a Negro cannot
be educated. The history of education among the
colored people for a quarter of a century dees not con-
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
311
firm the statement. The noble men and women who
went into the South as missionaries, and felt their way
through'the smoke of battle and stepped over crimson
battle-fields and among the wounded and the dying to
bring intelligence to the Negroes, were taunted as
going on a fool's errand. But the tens of thousands of
young men and women in the schools of high grade
established by Northern service and philanthropy—a
million Negro children in the public schools in the
South—are an imperishable monument to the wisdom
of their action. I again quote from Dr. Haygood, who
is an authority on this subject: "All told, fully fifty
millions of dollars have gone into the work of their
(Negroes') education since 1865." Of this fifty mil¬
lions, more than half has been Southern money. The
Negroes have made more progress in elementary and
other education during the twenty-three years than any
other illiterate people in the world, and they have justi¬
fied the philanthropy and public policy that made the
expenditure.
Whites Must Also Be Educated.—President Price
aptly says that it must be remembered, however, that
more is to be done than the education of the blacks,
as a solution of the race problem; for much of the
stubbornness of the question is involved in the ignorant,
lawless and vicious whites of the South, who need
education worse that many of the blacks. To educate
one race and neglect the other is to leave the problem
half solved, for there is a class in the South to some
extent more degraded and hopeless in their mental
and moral condition than the Negro. This is the class
to which many of the actual outrages are more attrib¬
utable than to any other class. Educate these as well
as the blacks,' and our problem is shorn of its strength.
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
When we call to mind the fact that 70 per cent, of
the colored vote in the South is illiterate, and 30
per cent, of the white vote is in the same condition, it is
not difficult for one to discern that education of the
blacks and whites as well is not only necessary for the
solution of the race problem, and for good government,
but for the progress and prosperity of that section
where such illiteracy obtains. For the safety of the
republic, the perpetuity of its glory and the stability
of its institutions are commensurate, and only com¬
mensurate, with the intelligence and morality of its citi¬
zens, whether they be white men or black men. It is
sometimes harder to educate out of prejudice than out of
ignorance.
Wealth-Producer.—The Negro is a wealth-producer
now. Whether he reaps all the benefits of his labor or
not, it is clear that he is the prime element in the grow¬
ing and boasted prosperity of the South. The late
Henry W. Grady said, just before his death, that the
Negroes in his state (Georgia) paid taxes on twenty
million dollars' worth of property, and that the Negroes
in the South contribute a billion dollars' worth of prod¬
ucts every year to the material prosperity of that
section. The Atlanta Constitution, speaking of the
Negroes in Texas, said recently that they own a million
acres of land and pay taxes on twenty million dollars
worth of property, have 2,000 churches, 2,000 benevo¬
lent associations, 10 high schools, 3,000 teachers, 23
doctors, 15 lawyers, 100 merchants, 500 mechanics, 15
newspapers, hundreds of farmers and stockmen, and
several inventors. Now, these two states are but sam¬
ples of the wealth-producing results of twenty-five
years' labor. If this has been their progress when it
is admitted they have been under the hampering and
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 313
retarding influences of ignorance, not to speak of other
disadvantages, it is fair to assume that under the stim¬
ulus of intelligence they will do a hundredfold more,
and year by year and decade by decade change their
poverty-stricken state, and thus remove another element,
in the problem, and thereby hasten its solution.
Race Pride,—There seems to be quite as strong an
affinity for their own race developed among the colored
people, as a result of the improvement in their condi¬
tion, as among the whites. This improvement of both
implies purity of race blood, combined with the recogni¬
tion of legal and political equality.
This is manifest, not in the relations alone, but in
almost everything. Probably it would be found quite
as difficult to bring the colored people to consent to the
substitution of mixed for separate churches and schools
in the South as to reconcile the other race to the
change.
The Question.—The "race problem" in our country
includes not merely the question, What shall the white
man do with the Negro? There is another, still more
serious: What shall the Negro do with the white man?
The colored people number nearly, if not quite, ten
millions—one-sixth of our population. They are pos¬
sessed with a certain form of independence, which is
beyond the reach of adverse laws and unkindly sur¬
roundings, and which cannot be taken from them
without their consent to it—the independence which
comes of subjection to fewer wants than press upon the
white people who are about them, and who compose the
balance of the nation. If they get but little, they have
the advantage of being able to go without. Their
mental, spiritual and physical wants are few, because
of their lack of development. If they are ignorant,
MORRIS BROWN COLLEGE, ATLANTA, GA.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 315
they are accustomed to the consequences of ignorance;
and if they are deprived of their rights, they have the
advantage of having been slaves from the beginning.
But, on the other hand, it does not go so easy with
the white race, who compose the larger factor of the
American people. If the wants of the Negro are few,
on the contrary, those of the white man are many; and,
as in the struggle for life the opportunity to labor and
to produce is the opportunity to live—for only by pro¬
ducing something to sell can any one buy and thus pro-
cure the means of satisfying wants—it follows that if
the man with few wants can get the work, he has the
advantage of the man with many wants, who must
suffer in being deprived of his purchasing power.
Power of Education.—4'The same light lighteth
every man that cometh into the world.'' Says Henry W.
Blair: "Educationis the solution of the Southern prob¬
lem ; education is the solution of the Norther a problem;
education is the solution of the problem of all human
advancement. Right education of the physical, mental
and spiritual powers of each individual will perfect
society, and nothing else will do it.
"Five hundred thousand teachers, who constitute
the great profession in our country, are solving the
difficulties which environ the nation.
"True, there be other agencies—the church, the
pre'ss, and the influences of the daily contact of life.
"But the work of the teacher is fundamental, and is
necessary, in order that intelligence may criticise creed
and prevent religion from degenerating into supersti¬
tion; in order that the press may perform its work at
all, and. that daily contact with others may not simply
reproduce in coming generations the imperfect envi¬
ronment of. the present.
21
316
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
"The public school system is the only hope, in the
sense that it is the great creative and saving institution
of the republic. The general diffusion of knowledge,
intelligence and virtue made us a republic.
The Public School System.—The public school sys¬
tem is the army which wages everlasting war upon
ignorance and all whose victories are peace.
Taxation by the public must be for the general good,
and of necessity results in the public school, without
which at least one-half of the property of the country
would escape its just contribution to the education of
the people, and not less than one-half the children
would grow up in ignorance, by reason of the poverty
of those who, while they have produced life, may not
have made money.
The Outlay of Money and means for the education
of the Negro during the last twenty-five years has ex¬
ceeded that of all the centuries of his enslavement. It
is estimated that the Southern states have expended for
his education $55,000,000, and the Northern states $20,-
000,000, making a total from the states of $75,000,000.
Number of Institutions.—Among the public and pri¬
vate institutions set apart for this purpose, there were,
in 1891, 52 normal and industrial schools maintained
by the states and by various religious denominations,
having 10,000 students; 25 denominational and non-
denominational universities and colleges, having 8,000
students; 47 institutions for secondary instructions,
having 12,000 students; 25 schools in theology, having
700 students; 5 schools of law, with 100 students; 5
schools of medicine, with 240 students; all, with two
exceptions, located in the states formerly known as
slave states. Besides these, there are in the South 16
schools receiving both state and federal aid, and offer-
Educational Improvement, 317
ing to the colored youth industrial and agricultural
training, having about 2,500 students.
Twenty-five Years.— Said the Honorable William
B. Webb, District Commissioner, having in charge the
schools of the District of Columbia, in presenting the
certificates of graduation to the graduating class:
"Twenty-five years ago colored men were not allowed
upon the streets of the city of Washington after sun¬
down without passes. Twenty-five years ago I, myself,
as Superintendent of Metropolitan Police, issued passes
permitting colored persons to be found on the streets
after sundown in the city of Washington. Tonight I
am permitted, and I assure you it is no small pleasure
to me, to give young colored people, not unlikely the
sons and daughters of those to whom I issued passes
twenty-five years ago, certificates showing that you
have completed a course of instructions, including that
of the high school, provided for the young people of
the District of Columbia, white and colored alike."
Profitable Work.—Prof. W. B. Powell says: "The
colored people should be educated as other people are
educated, but the beginnings of such education should
be wisely determined. They must be made industrious.
I have said they are not idle, but to be made industrious
they must be taught to work profitably. They must be
made provident; to do this they must be trained in the
arts and processes of economy. They must be taught
the meaning and value of thrift; to accomplish this they
must learn to work intelligently, to plan economically,
and patiently to wait. They must learn the value of
the investment of labor, and patience and faith, and
waiting.
Practical Training.—These valuable qualifications
come not through books or letters alone; they come by
818
PROGRESS OP A RACE.
doing. So while I would say, teach, the colored youth
in and of books, I say, emphatically, train him also in
the arts and processes of agriculture and gardening, and
train him in these while he is learning to read; thus
will he learn to do both better. Train him in the proc¬
ess of the most useful mechanical arts, and let him get
this training contemporaneous with the acquirement of
his primary scholastic education; train him in the arts
and processes of barter and sale, and let this be done
while he is taking his first steps in reading and arith¬
metic; thus, becoming a man of affairs, his scholastic
training will be intelligible to him.
A supervisor (a colored man, graduate of the Ver¬
mont State Normal School), having in charge a
hundred schools, when asked what he would do to
educate the colored race if he were given authority to
act and the disposition of the money now expended on
their education, replied, that he would foster the lower
graded schools, but instead of the colleges and high
schools he would establish agricultural and trade
schools; and perhaps more normal schools.
Academic Instruction.—Academic instruction alone
never reached such results; it never can. I am not
discussing the question of manual training; I am talk¬
ing about the education of a people who know liow to
do a very little in harmony with the governing civiliza¬
tion on this continent. Our civilization represents, in
the process of its growth, all the qualifications for which
I plead. They cannot be omitted in the growth of any
people. They cannot be transmitted from one people
to another by any process of philanthropic endeavor or
legal enactment. The people who would have the
growth must themselves do the growing.
The Great Danger of academic education for the
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT,
319
colored youth as now given by the schools in their
developed condition, successful and brilliant as it is, is
that it leads them away from the bread-winning pur¬
suits of life, which must necessarily be the lot of the
great mass of them as it is of us all. This must be so
while their manual pursuits are so rude and uninterest¬
ing. Unless the colored youth are made to know and
feel that successes in manual labor are respectable and
honorable, as honorable as purely scholastic successes,
and unless they are made acquainted with, and given
skill in, modern industrial arts and appliances, their
education will be to them a source of restlessness and
discontent, and may be to the community a source of
danger. This is not true because of their color.
The New England Farmer Boy did not learn to
despise his home work by attending school three or
four months in the winter. He was learning, under
the skillful management of the father, more and more
rapidly, at home than he learned at school. What he
learned at school was only an additional acquisition that
helped him in his home work. His chief learning was
at home. The daughter of the colonial days made her
chief acquisitions at home under the skillful manage¬
ment of the mother, where she learned to spin and
weave and darn and patch. Her school life added
accomplishments to these useful arts, and made her
more intelligent and useful.
Only Means of Growth.—The school is to the
colored youth of whom I speak his only place of learn¬
ing. He learns nothing at home; nobody is competent
to teach him advantageously; he learns nothing from
his neighbors; nobody with whom he associates does
anything better than he finds it done in his own home,
fie comes to look on the school, therefore? as the only
320
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
means of growth, as the only means of bettering his
condition; he comes to look on school and scholastic
acquisition as the only means by which he can become
PROF. J. L. MURRAY.
Principal Normal School, Albany, Georgia.
(Graduate of Fisk University.)
respectable and grow to be like the white man. Will
he not learn to despise labor? This is a new view of
life, its possibilities and opportunities, that means
defeat to the race that holds it, that is fraught with
danger to the community. This may all be avoided by
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
321
training" the hand and the mind simultaneously and
proportionally. If the colored man has not been so
trained, it is not his fault; it is the fault of those who
gave him the schools, the fault of those who builded for
him. He knew not how to build for himself.
Useful and Independent.—The colored youth can be
educated to usefulness, respectability and honor. The
education that the colored man receives, however,
should be so directed as to make him useful and inde¬
pendent at the earliest possible moment. The philan¬
thropist will give alms to the unfortunate, will feed the
man temporarily out of employment, but he will not
give employment to the unskilled man when one who
is skilled can be found. Not many years ago it was
found that skilled persons from foreign lands were
occupying the most lucrative positions in the factories
of America. Aroused by this fact and further awak¬
ened by the Centennial Exposition of 1876, the public
schools of the nation began in earnest the training of
hand and eye. Polytechnic schools sprang up in all
parts of the land. These things were done for the
benefit of America's bread-winners.
America's Prosperity is due less to her agricultural
interests than to her making powers. She has made
herself wealthy, respected, and powerful, by transform¬
ing raw material into valuable and useful things.
There is more of this to be done in the future than there
has been in the past, and skilled hands will do it. The
colored man should be made to appreciate this fact.
If the colored man is not trained in the useful arts of
life, in those arts that have made the best citizenship of
America, in those arts that have given the greatest
wealth to America, in those arts that have given the
greatest dignity to America, in thpse arts that havQ
322
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
brought the greatest renown to America, in those arts
that have made it possible for the people to preserve a
united interest and a common pride, tinder one govern¬
ment, the skilled white laborer will occupy the paying
positions, leaving the unskilled colored laborer the poor¬
ly paid places of helpers and assistants. I wish only to
see things as they are.''
In One Generation.—It is only thirty years since all
the learning of his race was embodied in its folklore,
when the written literature of the white man among
whom he lived was sealed to him by the compulsory
ignorance in which he was kept. The Negro in the
old days must spend his time thinking and talking, where
the white man by his side spent it in learning through
the medium of books; and thoughts and beliefs must
be perpetuated by him in stories, songs, rhythmic utter¬
ances and rites and ceremonies which could by the
whites be committed to paper, to survive or be forgot¬
ten as the case might be. In consequence of this short
distance in time that lies between the Afro-American
and the unwritten learning that belongs to the child¬
hood of his past, he may look back with ease and gather
up for himself and his future history the small begin¬
nings of learning which preceded literary attainment.
School Population.—The report of the Commissioner
of Education for 1895 gives the following reliable infor¬
mation and statistics for the colored schools for that
year. In the sixteen slave states and the District of
Columbia, the estimated number of persons five to
eighteen years of age, the school population, was 8,297,-
160. Of this number 5,573,440 were white children
and 2,723,720, or 32.9 per cent., colored. The total
enrollment in the white schools was 3,845,414, and in
the colored schools 1,441,282. The per cent, of white
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
323
school population enrolled was 69, and the per cent, of
the colored school population enrolled was 52.92. The
whites had an average daily attendance of 2,510,907, or
65.30 percent, of their enrollment, while the average at¬
tendance of the blacks was 956,312, or 58.41.per cent, of
their enrollment. There were 89,276 white teachers and
27,081 colored teachers in the public schools of the South
in 1895.
Money Expended.—An accurate statement of the
amounts of money expended by each of the Southern
states for the education of the colored children cannot
be given, for the reason that in only two or three of
these states are separate accounts kept of the moneys
expended for colored schools. Since 1876 the Southern
states have expended about $383,000,000 for public
schools, and it is fair to estimate that between $75,-
000,000 and $80,000,000 of this sum must have been
expended for the education of colored children.
Illiteracy of the Colored Population.—What have
the Negroes themselves accomplished to justify the
generosity' of the white people of the South and the
benevolence of the people of the North? It may be said
that in i860 the colored race was totally illiterate. In
1870 more than 85 per cent, of the colored population of
the South, ten years of age and over, could not read
and write. In 1880 the per cent, of illiterates had been
reduced to 75, and in 1890 the illiterates comprised
about 60 per cent, of the colored population ten years
of age and over. In several of the Southern states the
percentage is even below 50 per cent. In the states
where the colored population is greatest in proportion
to the total population, or where such colored popula¬
tion is massed, as in the black belt" of South Caro¬
lina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana,
there the per cent, of illiteracy is highest.
UNIVERSITY HALL, LELAND UNIVERSITY.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
325
Illiteracy Disappearing.—In thirty years 40 per cent,
of the illiteracy of the colored race had disappeared.
In education and in industrial progress this race had
accomplished more than it could have achieved in
centuries in a different environment, without the aid
of the whites. The Negro has needed the example as
well as the aid of the white man. In sections where the
colored population is massed and removed from contact
with the whites, the progress of the Negro has been
retarded. He is an imitative being, and has a constant
desire to attempt whatever he sees the white man do.
He believes in educating his children, because he can
see that an increase of knowledge will enable them to
better their condition.
Secondary and Higher Education.—There are in
the United States 162 institutions for the secondary and
higher education of the colored race. Six of these
schools are not located within the boundaries of the
former slave states. Of the 162 institutions, 32 are of
the grade of colleges, 73 are classed as normal schools,
and the remaining 57 are of secondary or high school
grade. While all these schools teach pupils in the ele¬
mentary studies, they also carry instructions beyond
the common school branches. State aid is extended to
35 of the 162 institutions, and 18 of these are wholly
supported by the states in which they are established.
The remaining schools are supported wholly or in part
by benevolent societies and from tuition fees. In these
schools were employed 1,549 teachers, 711 males and
838 females. The total number of students was
37,102; of these 23,420 were in elementary grades,
11,724 in secondary grades, and 1,958 were pursuing
collegiate studies. Of the 13,682 students in secondary
and higher grades, there were 990 in classical courses,
326
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
811 in scientific courses, 295 in business courses, and
9,331 in English courses.
Teachers.—There were 4,514 colored students study¬
ing to become teachers, 1,902 males and 2,612 females.
Many of these students were included among those
pursuing the English and other courses.
High Schools.—The number of students graduating
from high school courses was 649, the number of males
being 282 and the number of females 367. There were
844 graduates from normal courses, 357 males and 487
females. The number of college graduates was 186,
the number of males being 151 and the number of
females 35.
Professions.—There were 1,166 colored students
studying learned professions, 1,028 males and 138
females. Of the professional students 585 were study¬
ing theology, 310 medicine, 55 law, 45 pharmacy, 25
dentistry, and 8 engineering. The 138 female students
were receiving professional training for nurses. There
were 42 graduates in theology, 6 7 in medicine, 21 in law,
2 in dentistry, 16 in pharmacy, and 25 in nurse train¬
ing.
Industrial Training.—The importance of industrial
training is almost universally recognized by teachers of
the colored race, and the Negroes themselves are be¬
ginning to see its value. There are about 13,000
pupils receiving industrial training in the schools.
Industrial Schools.—* 'Talks for the Times" says:
"The wisdom and foresight in the establishment of these
industrial departments are apparent. We cannot all be
teachers and preachers and lawyers and doctors. This
has never been the condition of any people, and the
colored people are no exception. Somebody must push
the saw and drive the plane. Somebody must plow.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT,
327
There must be somewhere among us a strong, intelli¬
gent, virtuous middle class, the salt of society in all
ages. Moreover, the demand for skilled labor becomes
more and more imperative, and, unless the ranks of the
colored mechanics and artisans can be recruited from
these schools, or some other schools, if you please, with
workmen of higher intelligence, the South will be
flooded with foreigners to meet the demand. This, of
course, would be bad for the Negro, but perhaps worse
for the South and the nation; for, with Europe in her
present condition, an influx of foreigners may be accom¬
panied by an influx of dangerous isms—Fenianism and
Socialism and Communism and Nihilism, and all those
isms whose arguments in the settlement of social ques¬
tions are dynamite and assassination. Surely, then, it is
as politic as it is provident in the leaders of our educa¬
tional work in the South to guard against this train of
evils by educating and training for the management of
our ever-increasing industries a people born to the soil,
a people whose characteristics, tested during two cen¬
turies and a half, have been found to be love, affection,
gentleness, fidelity, forgiveness, and whose only crime
has been the color of their skin. This, then, in brief,
is what the Christian church has done and is doing
for us.''
Industrial Education,—Industrial education is gain¬
ing many friends all through the Southland, and while
there are multitudes who speak in praise of the indus¬
trial schools of the South there are others who object
to the methods pursued.
"Industrial training," says President Mitchell, of the
Leland University, New Orleans, "is good and useful to
some persons if they can afford time to take it, but in its
application to the Negro several facts should be clearly
328
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
understood. It is a mistake to suppose that industrial
education can be applied to the beginning of school
life; it is not possible or desirable to train large bodies
of youth to superior industrial skill without a basis of
sound elementary education. You cannot polish a brick¬
bat, and you cannot make a good workman of a planta¬
tion Negro or a white ignoramus until you first wake
up his mind, and give him the mental discipline and
knowledge that come from a good school. Industrial
training is expensive of time and money, as compared
with its results as a civilizer. Wliem you have trained
one student you have simply fitted one man to any ordi¬
nary living. When you have given a college education
to a man with brains it is sending forth an instrument
that will fit hundreds and thousands. Again, industrial
training is liable to divert attention from the real aim and
end of education, which is manhood. Lastly, the industri¬
al schools of the South seem to show that even their
students are not proficient. Of 18 colored schools in
which industrial instruction is given, such as carpentry,
tinning, painting, plastering, shoemaking, tailoring,
blacksmithing, farming, gardening, etc., having 1243
graduates, there are found to be only 12 farmers, 2
mechanics, 1 carpenter.
The employments of the graduates were: Teachers,
693; ministers, 117; physicians, 163; lawyers, 116;
editors, 5; merchants, 15; U. S. government service,
36, etc.
We take the following extracts from an address
delivered by Booker T. Washington, principal of the
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute:
Advantages.—Industrial training, combined with
the mental and religious training, has several emphatic'
advantages, Few- of the young men an# women who
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
329
came to us were able to remain in school during the
nine months and pay in cash the $8 per month charged
for board. Through our industries we give them the
chance of working out a part of their board, and the
remainder they pay in cash.
Respect for Labor.—Industrial training gives to stu¬
dents the respect and love for labor, helps them to get
rid of the idea so long prevalent in the South that labor
with the hands is rather degrading, and this feeling is
not altogether original with the black men of the South.
The fact that a man* goes into the world with the con¬
sciousness that he has within him the power to make a
wagon or a house gives him a certain moral backbone
and independence in the world. At the head of each
industrial department there is a competent instructor, so
that the student is not only learning the practical work
but is taught as well the underlying principles. When
the student is through with brick masonry he not only
understands the trade in a practical way, but also
mechanical and architectural training to such an extent
that he can become a leader in this industry.
Leaders.—In everything done, in literature, religion
and industrial training, the question kept constantly
before us all is that the institution exists for the pur¬
pose of training a certain number of picked leaders who
will go out and reach the masses, and show them how
to lift themselves up. It must be remembered that 85
per cent, of the colored people in the South live in the
country districts, where they are difficult to reach
except by special effort.
Importance.—The question is often asked me, why
is it important to emphasize industrial education in the
South, especially among the colored people? Let me
try to give the answer. For three hundred years th§
330
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
influence of slavery had the effect to educate the white
man and black man away from loving labor. The
white man's aim was to have the Negro perform the
labor, and the Negro's aim was to escape as much of it
as possible. Then all the conditions that surrounded
slavery made intelligent labor impossible. Under such
circumstances no class in the South was trained to dig¬
nify labor, to look upon it as something ennobling, but
the reverse. In addition, slavery left 4,000,000 slaves
and twice as many whites practically empty handed so
far as material and industrial possessions were con¬
cerned.
Not Limited Mental Development.—Confining the
discussion now to the nearly 8,000,000 of Negroes in
the South, let any one come into the South and go into
the country districts especially, where 85 per cent of
our people live, and a few cardinal needs will at once
become evident—ownership of land, proper food, shel¬
ter, clothing, habits of thrift, economy, and something
provident for a rainy day. Since these are emphatic
needs, is it not common sense as well as logic to direct
a large proportion of our educational force along lines
that soonest cure these very needs? Too often when
the object of industrial education for the black man is
mentioned, some get the idea that industrial education
is a synonym for a limited mental development. This
is not true. This important question should not be
befogged by any such argument. It requires as much
brain power to build a Corliss engine as to write a Greek
grammar. I would say to the Negro boy what I would
say to any boy—get all the mental development possi¬
ble ; but I would also say to a large proportion of the
black boys and girls, and would emphasize it for the
next fifty years or longer, that, either at the same time
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
331
that the literary training is being got, or after it is got,
they should devote themselves to the mastery of some
industry.
Look at Facts.—Praise is good for a race as for an
individual, but flattery is not good for either. To tell
us as a race that our condition is now the same as that
of any other race, and that our training at present
should not differ from that of other races, is to tell us
something that makes the average black man feel good,
but it is not telling him that which is true, nor that
which on the long run will benefit him most. It is far
better for us as a race to look facts honestly in the face
—to recognize that three hundred years of slave labor
and ignorance have left our condition far from being
the same—and apply the remedy accordingly. In our
education of the black man so far, we have failed in a
large degree to educate along the very line in which most
of the colored people especially need help. At least
85 per cent, of our people in the South depend on agricul¬
ture in some form for their living, and yet, aside from
what has been done at the Hampton Institute in
Virginia, the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and two
or three other institutions, almost no attention has been
given to providing first-class training in agriculture,
dairying, horticulture, poultry raising, and stock raising.
We have given colored men the highest training in
theology, medicine, law, oratory, the classics, etc., and
this is right. The colored boy has been taken from the
farm and taught astronomy; how to locate Jupiter and
Mars, how to measure Venus—taught about everything
except that, which he depends upon for daily bread.
The great problem now is, how to get the masses to the
point where they can be sure of a comfortable living
and be prepared to save a little something each year.
22
TRAINED NURSES, SPELMAN SEMINARY.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
833
This can be accomplished only by putting among the
masses as fast as possible strong, well-trained leaders
in the industrial walks of life.
Ennobling Labor.—Objection is sometimes waged
against pushing industrial education for the Negro, on
the ground that the Negro has had a training in work
for three hundred years, and does not need help along
that line. Right here the mistake is made. Industrial
education, so far from teaching an individual how to
work, teaches him how not to work—teaches him how
to make the forces of nature work for him, to lift labor
up out of toil and drudgery into the atmosphere where
labor is ennobled, beautified and glorified. Industrial
education is meant to take the boy who has been follow¬
ing an old mule behind a plow, making corn at the rate
of ten bushels an acre, and set him upon a machine,
under an umbrella, behind two fine horses, so that he
can make four times as much corn as by the old process,
and with less labor. Without industrial education,
when the black woman washes a shirt, she washes it
with both hands, both feet and her whole body. An
individual with industrial education will use a machine
that washes ten times as many shirts in a given time,
with almost no expenditure of physical force—steam,
electricity, or water power doing the work. It is safe
to say that 90 per cent, of the colored people, as is per¬
haps true of most races, depend for their living on the
common occupations of life. Since this is true, it seems
to me that it is part of wisdom to give much attention
to fitting these masses to do an ordinary task in an
extraordinary way.
High Forms of Labor.—For want of the highest intel¬
ligence "and skill, the Negroes' labor is confined to what
is termed the lower forms of labor. We must not only
334
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
teach the Negro to improve the methods of performing
what is now classed as the lower forms of labor, but the
Negro must be put in a position, by the use of intelli¬
gence and skill, to take his part in the higher forms of
labor, up in the regions where the profit appears.
When it comes to the production of cotton, for example,
the Negro is the main factor; when it comes to the
working of this cotton up into the finer fabrics,
where the profit appears, the Negro disappears as a
factor. This defect can be remedied only by teaching
the Negro that a man with the highest education can
make his life useful by giving the race the benefit of his
training along the lines of agriculture, dairying, horti¬
culture, laundering, and manufacture in its various
forms. If the educated men of the race do not come to
the rescue of the masses along these industrial lines, the
Negro, instead of being the soul and the center of im¬
portant industries, will be relegated to the ragged edge.
Slowly the colored mechanics, who receiyed their train¬
ing in slavery, are dying, and their places are being
filled with white men of skill and intelligence. At
present, the colored man in the Gulf states has a
monopoly of the skilled labor, but he will not hold it
many years unless he has men of his own race who can
not only perform the mechanical work, but can draw
the plans and make estimates on large and compli¬
cated jobs.
Value of Culture.—In thus pleading the importance
of industrial training for our people, I have often been
criticised and misunderstood, because I seem to over¬
look the ethical, religious side, or seem to underesti¬
mate the value of culture. I do not overlook the
value of these elements, for they are as valuable for
the Negro as for any race; buUt is a pretty hard thing
educational improvement.
335
to give a man much culture when he has no house to
live in, and it is equally hard to make a good Christian
of a hungry man. I claim for the Negro all the rights
and privileges enjoyed by any other race, but also
maintain that we must have a foundation on which to
rest our claims. Nothing will so soon cause prejudice
against the Negro to disappear as industrial or com¬
mercial development, ownership of property; the
production of that which others must buy, soon results
in an individual's securing all his rights; and the same
is equally true of a race.
Here at the Tuskegee Institute, with its 25 indus¬
tries, 800 students, 78 instructors, we are doing all we
can to send out a constant stream of young men who
go as leaders to put in force the very ideas that I have
tried to mention. Had we the means we could make
our work 50 per cent, more potent. Any American
who wants to do the most toward producing good citi¬
zenship should see that such a movement as is now on
foot at Tuskegee does not suffer, as it is now suffering,
for want of money.
Friction.—Whatever friction exists between the
black man and white man in the South will disappear
in proportion as the black man, by reason of his intel¬
ligence and skill, can create something that the white
man wants or respects; can make something, instead
of all the dependence being on the other side. Despite
all her faults, when it comes to business pure and
simple, the South presents the opportunity to the
Negro for business that no other section of the country
does. The Negro can Sooner conquer Southern prej¬
udice in the civilized world than learn to compete
with the North in the business world. In field, in
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
factory, in the markets, the South presents a better
opportunity for the Negro to earn a living than is
found in the North. A young man educated in head,
hand and heart, goes out and starts a brickyard, a
blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, or an industry by
which that black boy produces something in the com¬
munity that makes the white man dependent on the
black man for something—produces something that in¬
terlocks, knits the commercial relations of the races
together, to the extent that a black man gets a mort¬
gage on a white man's house that he can foreclose at
will; well, the white man won't drive the Negro away
from the polls when he sees him going up to vote.
There are reports to the effect that in some sections
the black man has difficulty in voting and having
counted the little white ballots which he has the privi¬
lege of depositing about twice in two years, but there
is a little green ballot that he can vote through the
teller's window three hundred and thirteen days in every
year, and no one will throw it out or refuse to count
it. The man that has the property, the intelligence,
the character, is the one that is going to have the
largest share in controlling the government, whether
he is white or black, or whether in the North or South.
Privileges of the Law.—It is important that all the
privileges of the law be ours. It is vastly more impor¬
tant that we be prepared for the exercise of these
privileges. Says the great Teacher: "I will draw all
men unto me." How? Not by force, not by law, not
by superficial glitter. Following in the tracks of the
lowly Nazarene, we shall continue to work and wait,
till by the exercise of the higher virtues, by the prod¬
ucts of our brains and hands, we make ourselves so
valuable, so attractive to the American nation, that
educational improvement.
S37
instead of repelling we shall draw men to us because of
our intrinsic worth. It will be needless to pass a law to
compel men to come into contact with a Negro who is
educated and has $200,000 to lend. In some respects it
is already acknowledged that as a race we are more
powerful, have a greater power of attraction, than the
Anglo-Saxon race. It takes 100 per cent, of Anglo-
Saxon blood to make a white American. The minute
that it is proved that a man possesses one one-hundredth
part of Negro blood in his veins it makes him a black
man; he falls to our side; we claim him. The 99 per
cent, of white blood counts for nothing when weighed
beside 1 per cent of Negro blood.
Mistakes.—None of us will deny that immediately
after freedom we made serious mistakes. We began at
the top. We made these mistakes, not because we were
black people, but because we were ignorant and inex¬
perienced people. We have spent time and money
attempting to go to congress and state legislatures that
could have better been spent in becoming the leading
real estate dealers or carpenters in our own country. We
have spent time and money in making political stump
speeches and in attending political conventions that
could better have been spent in starting a dairy farm or
truck garden, and thus have laid a material foundation,
on which we could have stood and demanded our rights.
When a man eats another person's food, wears another's
clothes, and lives in another's house, it is pretty hard
to tell how he is going to vote or whether he votes
at all.
Men may make laws to hinder and fetter the ballot,
but men cannot make laws that will always bind or
retard the growth of manhood:
22
338
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
"Fleecy locks and black complexion
Cannot forfeit Nature's claim;
Skins may differ, but affection
Dwells in white and black the same.''
Progress.—We went into slavery Pagans, we came
out Christians. We went into slavery a piece of prop¬
erty, we came out American citizens. We went into
slavery without a language, we came out speaking the
proud Anglo-Saxon tongue. We went into slavery
with the slave chains clanking about our waists, we
came out with the American ballot in our hands. Prog¬
ress is the law of nature; under God it shall be our
eternal guiding star.''
A New Nation,—A new nation, says President
Mitchell, has now come upon the stage. Eight millions
of people have been thrust into the center of our civi¬
lization. They have been endowed with citizenship,
with all its responsibilities, with all its possibilities for
good or evil. They constitute about one-eighth part of
our body politic. Among them is over one-third of the
Baptist denomination of this country. Shall they be
educated? Can we afford to leave one stone unturned,
one; agenCy unemployed, which might lead this mighty
force out of the slough of ignorance and poverty and
vice and into the plane of Christian manhood and use¬
ful citizenship? There can be but one answer to this
question. If we have any regard for our brethren in
Christ Jesus; if we have any loyalty to our great
Baptist brotherhood, we can not withhold any possible
facility for that self-improvement of which, through no
fault of their own, they have for centuries been depriv¬
ed. It goes without saying that education is what they
need—education, moral, intellectual, physical.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
339
Primary, Industrial and Higher Education.—
Mr. Fortune says: "I do not hesitate to say that if
the vast sums of money already expended, and now
being spent, in the equipment and maintenance of col¬
leges and universities for the so-called higher education
of colored youths, had been expended in establishing
and maintaining primary schools and schools of applied
science, the race would have profited vastly more than
it has, both mentally and materially, while the result
would have operated more advantageously to the states,
and satisfactorily to the munificent benefactors. I do
not inveigh, against higher education. I simply main¬
tain that the sort of education that the colored people
of the South stand most in need of is elementary and
industrial.''
Normal Schools for colored teachers must be estab¬
lished a.nd maintained, until all schools can be provided
with colored teachers who are thoroughly trained, and
who will live in the communities for whom they teach,
and who will in every way be united in interest with
the pupils and patrons whom they serve. Aside from
these peculiarities, the school education of the Negro in
the South seems to me to present no new or difficult
educational problem. In like manner I see no reason
why he may not be allowed or required to construct for
himself, apart from the white race, his family, church
and civil society; but it is well to be remembered that
he can do these well only after he has had guaranteed
to him his privileges as component part of the state.
The property of the state—of the white man and the
black man alike—must be pledged to the equal educa¬
tion of the children of both; and I myself should not
in the least object if this principle should be interpreted
to have a national application,
340
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
The State Superintendent of Mississippi reports
there is not a white teacher in the colored schools of
the state, and this is substantially true of every state
in the South. The entire public school system for the
Negro is carried on by Negro teachers In Mississippi
there are over 600 colored teachers who hold first grade
certificates; these teachers are examined by a white
board, and have just the same questions that the white
teachers have. Virginia reports 700, North Carolina
761, Arkansas 500; Texas, with a different method of
classification, reports 1,900. Of 19 colored teachers
in an institute, 18 were found to be college graduates,
while in an adjoining county, in a white institute, with
37 in attendance, there were only about one-fourth of
them college graduates.
Color-Intellect.—If color has anything to do with
intellect, it should appear when the two colors or races
are brought into contact and competition. After a care¬
ful inquiry the almost universal opinion is that there is
no difference of mental ability between the races where
the same privileges have been enjoyed. If they have
come from ignorant districts and dark surroundings,
their intellect is inferior to those who come from culti¬
vated homes, although it is frequently found the
greatest ignorance of the former counterbalances this
ability.
One-Room Cabins.—The Southern Negroes are not
all living in one-room cabins, of which we have heard
much recently. There are beautiful and pleasant
homes owned by Negroes in New Orleans. There are
plenty of ex-slaves in Louisiana that are richer now
than their former masters. There are over 300,000
homes and farms owned by Negroes in the South. Six
years ago Southern Negroes were paying taxes on
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT,
341
nearly $300,000,000. The white Baptists of the South
had church property worth $18,000,000, the accumula¬
tion of 200 years. The Negro Baptists at the same
time (only twenty-six years out of slavery) had acquired
church property of over $9,000,000.
President Gates says: "My observation leads me to
believe that the proportion of truly successful men,
tried by the highest standards of success, among the
colored men who study in our Northern colleges is
quite as great as is the proportion of successful men
among the whites who have the same, or equally good,
opportunities for an education.''
Industrial Training.—Since industrial training has
become so prominent in some of the schools of the
South, it seems that other educational circles are not in
sympathy with the idea of making industrial schools
the prominent school of the South. A crisis in the prog¬
ress of Negro education has been reached. A new
generation of educated youth, wiser than their parents,
wiser than their ministers, approaching manhood and
womanhood, are ready to take control of affairs and of
public sentiment. They already know the difference
between learning and ignorance, between religion and
superstition. They have no knowledge of slavery.
The fact that less than one thousand of the whole South
are in collegiate study is to be accounted for not by want
of capacity for higher studies, but for want of motive.
Education costs them a great deal. Nearly every one
earns every dollar which he pays for his learning. With
most it has been a great struggle to reach the point of
normal graduation, and then the best salary for teaching
at present available is open to them. Every influence
urges them to stop here and reap the fruits of their
hard-earned attainment. Some have brothers and
U2
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
sisters to educate, annd some must stay at home to earn
the money. Others have mothers and fathers who are
struggling with poverty and debt. All this tends to
REV. D. J. SANDERS, D. D.
President of Biddle University, Charlotte, N. C.
keep them from finishing a course in a higher institu¬
tion.
educational improvement.
343
Economic Condition.—Dr. J. M. Curry, Secretary of
Trustees of Slater Fund, says: "The economic condi¬
tion is a serious drawback to mental and moral progress.
Want of thrift, frugality, foresight, skill, right notions,
of consumption of property, right to acquire and hold
property, has made the race the victim and prey of
usurers and extortioners. The Negro rarely accumu¬
lates, for he does not keep his savings, nor put them
into permanent and secure investments. While it is
true that a limited number of colored people are becom¬
ing wealthy, it is equally true that the masses have
made but little advancement in acquiring property
during their thirty years of freedom. On the great
plantations the majority live in one-room cabins, taber¬
nacling in them as tenants at will. The poverty, wretch¬
edness, hopelessness of the present life are sometimes
in pitiable contrast to the freedom from care and
anxiety, the cheerfulness and frolicsomeness of ante¬
bellum days."
Mr. Bryce, the most philosophical and painstaking of
all foreign students of our institutions, in the last edi¬
tion of his great work, says: "There is no ground for
despondency to any one who remembers how hopeless
the extinction of slavery seemed fifty or even forty
years ago, and who marks the progress the Negroes
have made since their sudden liberation. Still less is
there reason for impatience, for questions like this have
in some countries of the old world required ages for
their solution. The problem which confronts the South
is one of the great secular problems of the world, pre¬
sented here under a form of peculiar difficulty. And as
the present differences between the African and the
European are the products of thousands of years, during
which one race was advancing in the temperate, and
Mi
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
the other remaining stationary in the torrid, zone, so
centuries may pass before their relation as neighbors
and fellow-citizens have been duly adjusted. It would
be unjust and illogical to push too far the comparison
and deduce inferences unfair to the Negro, but it is an
interesting coincidence that Japan began her entrance
into the family of civilized nations almost contempo¬
raneously with emancipation in the United States."
A Colored Teacher says: "I can do my people more
good than I am doing now, if you will let me devote
two afternoons of the week teaching them to sew.
They come to school untidy; their garments are torn;
their sleeves are out at the elbow; they represent the
condition of their homes largely. Now, if you will let
me teach these young girls to sew, I can teach them
to be ashamed to come to school with torn clothes, and
I believe that by doing this I will influence the lives of
these people at their homes, and thereby do much
more than I am now doing.''
'' Well, this is the key to it. The young woman who
teaches the country school should be something more to
the community than a teacher of letters to the children.
She should be a person who would teach the entire com¬
munity, either directly or indirectly, in many of the
simpler home arts, those arts that are taught in all
cultivated homes, white or colored. A school thus
presided over would do much more good than is now
done by the ordinary school of letters, and would
accomplish, I believe, at the same time better scholastic
results; for who does not know that, other things being
equal, the best scholastic results are reached by men of'
affairs.
Many-Sided.—T. Thomas Fortune says: "There are
so many sides to a race problem nearly 300 years old,
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
345
only thirty-two years of which has been worked out
under conditions of freedom, that a reasonable amount
of conservatism should govern all those who undertake
to discuss any phase of it. The Afro-American prob¬
lem is such a one. Slavery was a hard school in many
respects; freedom is a harder one.
Effects of Slavery.—Slavery destroys entirely the
self-dependence and reliance of the slave; and when he
has had 255 years of slave education and only thirty-two
of freedom education to offset it, it is not ease to
determine just what is best for him, to prepare him for
the responsibilities of manhood and citizenship.
Poor and Ignorant.—When slavery was abolished
the 4,000,000 people who came out of the house of
bondage possessed, in the main, no book education
whatever. They were equally destitute of moral and
spiritual education. They possessed no self-reliance.
They were poor in head and heart and purse. They
were compelled to begin at the bottom and build from
the ground up in all the essentials that make for char¬
acter and worth. They had no leaders, no teachers, to
guide them out of the shadows into the sunlight of
freedom. If they had been left to their own devices,
they would have gone to pieces; they would have
justified the doleful predictions of those who insisted
that they were destitute of the common attributes of
human kind.
Not Left Alone.—But they were not left to their
own devices. The friends who had fought their battles
when they were slaves remained constant to them when
* they were" turned loose upon the land with freedom as
their whole stock in trade. As the flower of the
Northern manhood had poured out its life's blood on
the battlefield to save the Union and crush the slave
346
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
power through four years of war, making desolate
thousands upon thousands of homes, so, in the wake of
the vanishing Northern army, there followed an army
of Northern women, and a few men, imbued with the
finest missionary spirit that ever actuated human beings,
who planted schools and seminaries and colleges on
the ruins of the war, and began the completion of the
work where their brothers and fathers and husbands
had left it off at Appomattox Court House, when
' The war drams throbbed no longer, and the battle flags
were turl'd,
In the Parliament of man, The Federation of the world.'
Tribute to Northern Women.—Without the work
of these Northern women in the schoolhouses and the
churches and the homes of the freed men, the sacrifices
of their male relatives in the war would have been in
vain. The brave soldier laid the foundation when he
achieved the freedom of the blacks; his sister built
upon the foundation a superstructure of mental and
moral training which will abide and influence the desti¬
nies of the republic as long as the Afro-American shall
remain an indivisible factor of our national life. The
public school systems of the Southern states owe their
origin to the devoted efforts and sacrifices of the
Northern men and women who flocked into the South
when the war closed, and who remained there as long
as their services were needed.
Imperishable Monuments.—All the colleges and
seminaries scattered all over the South, devoted to the
higher education of the manumitted slave, were founded
and fostered by the same devoted spirits. They will
stand through the ages as imperishable monuments,
living witnesses that selfishness is not always the con¬
trolling influence in the conduct of mankind. The vast
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 34?
volume of energy and wealth lavished by the North upon
the education of the freedmen of the South was a service
to humanity and to the republic which can yield no
return to the benefactors save the satisfaction of having
done their duty.''
Opinions.—Dr. Curry truly says: "Whatever may¬
be our speculative opinions as to the progress and
development of which the Negro may be ultimately
capable, there can hardly be a well-grounded opposition
to the opinion that the hope for the race in the South
is to be found not so much in the high courses of
university instruction or in schools of technology as in
handicraft instructions.
Conclusions. — i. It follows that in addition to
thorough and intelligent training in the discipline of
character and virtue, there should be given rigid and
continuous attention to domestic and social life, to the
refinement and comforts and economies of home.
2. Taught in the economies of wise consumption, the
race should be trained to acquire habits of thrift, of
saving earnings, of avoiding waste, of accumulating
property, of having a stake in good government, in pro¬
gressive civilization.
3. Besides the rudiments of a good and useful educa¬
tion there is imperative need of manual training, of the
proper cultivation of those faculties or mental qualities
of observation, of aiming at and reaching a successful
end, and of such facility and skill in tools, in practical
industries, as will insure remunerative employment and
give the power which comes from intelligent work.
4. Clearer and juster ideas of education, moral and
intellectual, obtained in cleaner home life and through
respected and capable teachers in schools and churches.
The ultimate and only sure reliance for the education
23
348
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
of the race is to be found in the public schools, organ¬
ized, controlled and liberally supported by the state.
5. Between the races occupying the same territory,
possessing under the law equal civil rights and privi¬
leges, speculative and unattainable standards should be
avoided, and questions should be met as they arise, not
by Utopian and partial solutions, but by the impartial
application of the tests of justice, right, honor, humanity,
and Christianity.''
Evolution, not Revolution.—The emergence of a
nation from barbarism to a general diffusion of intelli¬
gence and property, to health in the social and civil
relations; the development of an inferior race into a
high degree of enlightenment, the overthrow of customs
and institutions which, however indefensible, have their
seat in tradition and a course of long observance; the
working out satisfactorily of political, sociological and
ethical problems, are all necessarily slow, requiring
patient and intelligent study of the teachings of history
and the careful application of something more than mere
empirical methods. Civilization, freedom, a pure
religion, are not the speedy outcome of revolutions and
cataclysms any more than has been the structure of the
earth. They are the slow evolution of orderly and
creative causes, the result of law and pre-ordained
principles.
Five Great Institutions.—Now, there are, as we
well know, five great institutions that are so distinctively
educational that they must be taken into consideration
in every attempt to educate the Negro. They are the
family, the church, the state, civil society, and the
school. The Negro needs the influence of the respon¬
sibilities and the privileges of all these five institutions.
He must be taught the sacred character and educational
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT,
value of the family, and his ideals of this institution
must be elevated and refined. No community—North
South, East or West—having the Negro to educate,
can afford to neglect this important matter, or so to
treat him in any way that he shall fail of its high civiliz¬
ing influence. So of the church. Its theory of life, its
view of the world and of the destiny of man, its method
and practices, must all be made plain to him, and he
must be taught to organize the church and must be
allowed to carry it on in accordance with its sacred
character. In like manner he must be taught to con¬
struct and carry on a civil society whose public opinion
shall stand for purity, honesty and morality. Again,
he must be allowed to take his rightful part in the
responsibilities and the privileges of the state; for the
institution of the state is little less educational than is
the school itself. The state cannot afford to practice
injustice upon even its poorest subject, lest it thus give
him the ideal and the excuse for the practice of injustice
himself. In all these respects the Negro is susceptible
to the same general action and reaction of institutions
as is the white man, and those who have his education
in charge 'will succeed well or ill in proportion as they
regard in these respects his human characteristics.
Prof. Spence.—The following is taken from an
address delivered at an annual meeting of the Ameri¬
can Missionary Association, by Prof. A. K. Spence,
Dean of Fisk University, after an experience of twenty-
five years in Negro Education.
Need and Fitness.—I am asked how the work of
colored education looks to me after being engaged in
it a quarter of a century. Just twenty-five years ago,
after teaching twelve years in the University of Michi¬
gan, I went to Nashville, Tennessee, to help build up
350
-PROGRESS OP A RACE.
Fisk University, the first established Negro college in
the world, as far as is known. The venture seemed to
many great, to most, perhaps, even rash. What need
had a people just out of bondage of a college—what
fitness for it? One little girl in the school could read
eight or ten lines of easy Latin in a day. Nearly all
the pupils were in primary grades of English studies.
These studies still went on with the mass, while the
few were carried toward college, and, in time, through
it.
No Mistake.—Was that early effort a mistake? Cer¬
tainly it was one of intense interest to those who made
it. Like early navigators we were out on new seas of
discovery. Would we come to the charmed circle
beyond which the Negro mind could not go? We would
try, and when we came to that fatal place we would
stop, not sooner. There may be some question of
.relative speed in advancement, but we never came to
that stopping place. For twenty years now college
classes have been graduated with a fairly high standard
of scholarship, making in all a total of nearly one hun¬
dred and fifty, not to mention an equal number of
graduates from the normal course, and several in the¬
ology and music. Three hundred graduates as the
result of thirty years of labor, beginning at the zero
point in 1865, seems to me a large result. Besides this,
great numbers have been educated in the institution
who do not complete a course, but have been fitted
to do much good among their people.
Question Settled.— By this experiment certainly
one thing has been settled—the ability of a goodly num¬
ber of those of the colored race to receive what is called
a liberal education. A person who denies that shows a
lack of intelligence on the subject.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
351
But the possibility granted, the utility of this educa¬
tion is doubted both as to the individual and as to the
race. First, then, as to the individual, aside from the
mere mercantile advantage derived from education,
does not "the hunger of the Negro mind for knowledge
prove its right to know, its capacity show that it should
be filled, its longing that it should be satisfied ?
And as to the race at large, does it not need within it
men and women of education? How would it be with
us of the white race if we had none such with us—no
educated ministers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, profes¬
sors, writers, thinkers? All the preaching to eight mil¬
lions of people in the United States is done by colored
preachers, with the merest exceptions here and there.
Do these Negroes not need preparation for their vastly
responsible calling? The entire work of instruction
in the colored public schools of the South is done by
colored teachers.
These teachers cannot be prepared in the white
schools and colleges of the South. Where, then, shall
they be prepared, if not in special higher institutions of
learning open to them? What is to become of the mil¬
lions of colored people in the United States.
Leaders.—Who are to be their leaders? Doubtless
persons of their own race. Do they need less prepara¬
tion for their calling than do members of the white
race for theirs? Is not their task even more difficult?
Have they not questions of greater intricacy to solve?
Did not Moses when leading ex-slaves out of Egypt
need special wisdom? Are not the colored people of
today "perishing for lack of knowledge"?
Education Required.—But the objector will say, Why
have these long courses, these colleges for colored peo¬
ple? Would not shorter courses be as well or even better?
352
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
The following is my belief on this point, after twenty-
five years of thought and experience: If the Negro is
equal to the white man in heredity and environment, he
needs an equal chance in education; if he is superior,
he can get on with less; if he is inferior, he needs more.
The education required is not simply that of books, but
of life in Christian homes, such as are supplied in nearly
all our missionary schools for that people, and of religion
through the Christian church and its influences.
Changed Condition.—In the city of Nashville we have
now many most encouraging examples of the new colored
South, not only in schools, but in neat and commodious
houses, with the appointments of modern civilization in
which refined manners prevail; libraries and instru¬
ments of music are found, and children are growing up
like those in the better white families. There are already
among the graduates of our colored institutions of learn¬
ing and others educated in them, able doctors, lawyers,
ministers,,teachers and men of business, who form a
society but little known among many, who speak as by
authority and say that the case of the Negro is hopeless.
There was a club formed recently of men of that race
who gather to discuss sociological questions as to health,
thrift and general welfare pertaining to their people.
It is in these things that the men who think are the
men who do. Colleges and schools and churches are
the nerve centers of the race.
Meharry Medical College—There is in Nashville a
very successful colored medical college, the Meharry
Medical, a department of the Central Tennessee Col¬
lege. A number of Fisk graduates have gone there for
their medical education. The dean has informed me
that they stand especially well because of their "college
training." Many Fisk graduates choose the medical
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
353
profession, to which there is a great call in the needs of
the colored people. Several of them have attended
Northern medical colleges. One of these stood first in
scholarship in a class of one hundred in the medical
department of Harvard University. A few are succeed¬
ing in law, but with greater difficulty. A dozen or more
are ministers of the gospel, mostly in Congregational
churches. The girl whom I found in 1870 reading daily
a few lines of easy Latin, is now, after many years of
teaching and having the care .of a family, "Field Mis¬
sionary' ' for a large part of Tennessee under a board of
Baptist women.
Homes.—I wish I could take you to many homes in
Nashville and elsewhere occupied by our graduates and
former students. Say what you will as to the new white
South, there certainly is a new colored South, one very
interesting and hopeful, and much needing both our
sympathy and aid.
Slave Pen, Fort, College.—Where Fisk now stands
in its beauty, a beacon of hope to a race, stood once a
frowning fort, and before that a slave pen. When
the Union troops took possession of Nashville, they girt
it about with a series of fortifications filled with men
and bristling with cannons, that swept the whole field
of vision. Vast forces were concentrated in these forts.
Areas outside were taken and retaken by the enemy,
but these, never. Rejecting any idea of hostility, ex¬
cept to ignorance and sin, let us in our turn, at all
hazards, hold these school fortifications; hold these forts
with men and women, and sympathy and prayer. Let
this work of Christian patriotism go on. If we do not,
God will require it at our hands or those of our children.
Life Work.—I entered this work young. I come back
to report upon it. old. If I had many lives? I .would
23
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
355
give them over again to this cause. It is yet in its
infancy, as human history goes. Already from the
altars of our schools and churches many have lit their
torches and carried them into the darkness, which now
twinkles with its stars. The full day is not yet. We
will not see it. But it will come. Let us be patient
and full of courage. In one of the quaint songs of my
people, for myself I can say, 'I ain't got weary yet.' "
Early Schools.—As soon as any part of the seceding
states was occupied by the Union army, efforts were at
once begun to give the Negro some schooling. Sep¬
tember, 1861, under the guns of Fortress Monroe, a
school for the "Contrabands of War" was opened.
In 1862 they were extended south to the Carolinas.
The Proclamation of Emancipation in 1863 gave free¬
dom to all slaves reached by the armies, increased the
refugees, and awakened an enthusiasm for meeting the
physical, moral and intellectual needs of those suddenly
thrown upon charity. The first public school for
Louisiana was opened in October, 1863.
General Eaton.—As early as 1861 schools were open¬
ed at Hampton, Virginia, near the spot where the first
slaves were landed in 1619. In 1863 there had collected
in one place in Mississippi so many colored people eager
to be taught that General Grant called to the charge of
this work General John Eaton, who afterward was made
United States Commissioner of Education. General
Eaton served the freedmen from 1863 to 1865. He
had under him at one time as many as 770,000 people.
The work which General Eaton did for the colored
people was truly wonderful. One of the most creditable
and noteworthy features of his work was the fact that the
colored people paid out of their own earnings for their
education under him nearly a quarter of a million
dollars.
356
PROGRESS OP A RACE.
The Freedmen's Bureau.—By act of Congress, March
3,1865, the Freedmen's Bureau was created. Its work
extended far beyond education, embracing abandoned
lands, and supplying the Negroes with food and cloth¬
ing. General Howard was appointed Commissioner,
with assistants. The Bureau founded many schools in
localities which had been in the line of the Union armies,
and these with the others established by its agency,
were placed under some systematic supervision. In
some states schools were carried on entirely by aid of
the funds of the Bureau, but it had the co-operation and
assistance of several religious and benevolent societies.
A full history of the Freedmen's Bureau would furnish
an interesting chapter in Negro education. But it
seems that no complete report can be given on account
of the disordered state of the records.
Assisting Agencies.—The Freedmen's Bureau was
authorized to act in co-operation with religious and
benevolent societies in the education of the Negro. A
number of these organizations had done good service
before the establishment of the Bureau, and continued
their work afterwards. The teachers earliest in the
field were from the American Missionary Association,
Western Freedmen's Aid Commission, American
Baptist Home Missionary Society, and the Society of
Friends. After the surrender of Vicksburg others were
sent by the United Presbyterians, Reformed Presby¬
terians, United Brethren of Christ, Northwestern
Freedmen's Aid Commission, and the National Freed¬
men's Aid Association. The first colored school in
Vicksburg was started by the United Brethren in the
basement of a Methodist church.
American Missionary Association.—The American
Missionary Association was the chief body apart from
educational improvement.
§57
the government in the great enterprise of meeting the
needs of the Negroes. It did not relinquish its philan¬
thropic work "because army officers and the Federal
government were working along the same line. Up to
1866 its receipts were swollen by "the aid of the Free
Will Baptists, the Wesleyans, the Congregationalists,
and Friends in Great Britain.'' From Great Britain it
is estimated that "a million dollars in money and cloth¬
ing were contributed through various channels for the
Freedmen." The third decade of the association, 1867-
1876, was a marked era in its financial history. The
Freedmen's Bureau turned over a large sum, which
could be expended only in buildings. A Congressional
report says that between December, 1866, and- May,
1870, the association received $243,753.22. Since the
association took on a more distinctive and separate
denominational character, because of the withdrawal of
other denominations into associations of their own, it,
along with its church work, has prosecuted, with una¬
bated energy and marked success, its educational work
among the Negroes.
Control and Support.—It has now under its control
or support 78 schools, consisting of: Chartered institu¬
tions, 6; normal schools, 29; common schools, 43. In
these schools are 389 instructors and 12,609 pupils.
The pupils are classified as follows: Theological, 47;
collegiate, 57; college preparatory, 192; normal, 1,091;
grammar, 2,378; intermediate, 3,692; primary, 5,152.
Two-fold Work.—The work of the association is
among all kinds of people, from Florida to Alaska,
education and evangelization going hand in hand.
Its educational work stretches all the way from ele¬
mentary teaching in small schools through the various
grades to large institutions for higher education. It
358
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
always emphasizes self-help and self-education. It
everywhere provides for the industrial training of both
boys and girls.
Teachers.—A great share of its work consists in sup¬
plying hundreds of teachers every year for tens of
thousands of pupils all through the needy rural com¬
munities of the South. It also has in training ministers
who are rapidly developing churches and church mis¬
sions. During the last year forty new churches have
been organized with over a thousand members. At
the present time great demands come to it for mission
work among the country districts of the South. Both
our pastors and its teachers in the mountain fields
report growth and a still more rapid increase of oppor¬
tunities for service. Indian schools and missions are
being carried on with severe self-denial on account of
the lessened resources. The woman's work continues
its activities in co-operation with forty-two state organ¬
izations whose increased contributions last year amount¬
ed to over $29,000.
Freedmen's Aid and Southern Society.—In 1866
was organized the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Society
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Under that
compact, powerful, well-disciplined, enthusiastic organ¬
ization more than $6,000,000 have been expended in
the education of the Negroes. Dr. Hartzell, said before
the World's Congress in Chicago, that Wilberforce
University, at Xenia, Ohio, was established in 1857 as
a college for colored people, and "continues to be the
chief educational center of African Methodism in the
United States." He reports, as under various branches
of Methodism, 65 institutions of learning, for colored
people; 388 teachers; 10,100 students; $1,905,150 of
property, and $652,500 of endowment.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
359
Baptist Home Missionary Society.—This society
supports Spelman Seminary, Shaw University, Atlanta
Baptist Seminary, and other schools, and has done a
good work among the Negroes.
Peabody Fund.—On February 6, 1867, George Pea-
body gave to certain gentlemen $2,000,000 in
trust, to be used "for the promotion of intellectual,
moral or industrial education among the young of the
more destitute portions of the Southwestern states of
our Union." The fund now acts exclusively with state
systems, and continues support to Negroes more
efficiently through such agencies. To realize what it
has accomplished is difficult—impossible unless we esti¬
mate sufficiently the obstacles and compare the facilities
of today with the ignorance and bondage of a generation
ago when some statutes made it.an indictable offense to
teach a slave or free person of color. The results have
truly been remarkable.
John F. Slater Fund.—In his letter establishing this
trust is the following clause: '' The general object which
I desire to have exclusively pursued is the uplifting of
the lately emancipated population of the Southern states
and their posterity, by conferring on them the blessings
of Christian education." This fund has been the
potential agency in enlightening public opinion and in
working out the problem of the education of the Negro.
In view of the apprehensions felt by all thoughtful
persons, when the duties and privileges of citizenship
were suddenly thrust upon millions of lately emancipated
slaves, Mr. Slater conceived the purpose of giving a
large sum of money to their proper education. After
deliberate reflection and much conference, he selected a
board of trust, and placed in their hands $1,000,000.
This unique gift, originating wholly with himself, and
360
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
elaborated in his own mind in most of its details, was
for "the uplifting of the lately emancipated population
of the Southern states and their posterity, by conferring
on them the blessings of Christian education." "Not
only for their own sake, but also for the sake of our
common country," he sought to provide "the means of
such education as shall tend to make them good men
and good citizens.''
Reflex Influence. — The reflex influence of Mr.
Slater's beneficence, we are persuaded, has been great.
We cannot estimate the good we do when we do
good. The effect of this splendid beneficence in stimu¬
lating philanthropic enterprise, passing as it has into
the currency of popular thought as a quickening inspir¬
ation, its impetus to the noble army of workers for the
uplifting of the race, has been enormous. Its inspira¬
tion and influence upon this greatest decade of giving
in all the history of the world has been immense,
we are confident. Other millions have gotten into
the wake of this one; and we believe that other
men to whom God has given wealth, and into whose
hearts the passion of the cross has been poured, are to
be moved by it to the breaking of their costly boxes of
alabaster in the presence of the world's Christ. Such
men are, and are to be, the saving and enduring forces
of the world.
The following article, taken from the Independent
of August 19, 1897, is commended to the reader. Its
author's ability is well known. His opinions deserve
consideration
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
361
THE PRIME NEED OF THE NEGRO RACE.
BY ALEX. CRUMMELL, D. D.
Late Rector of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church,
Washington, D. C.
Incidents for Problems.—Unfortunately, men often
misconceive some of the larger incidents of life for its
problems, and thus, unconsciously, they hinder the prog¬
ress of the race.
Just such a mistake, if I err not, has arisen with
regard to the solution of the "Negro Problem" in the
South. It may be seen in the divergence of two classes
of minds: the one maintains that industrialism is the
solution of the Negro problem; and another class, while
recognizing the need of industrial skill, maintains that
culture is the true solution.
Civilization.—The thing of magnitude in the South,
all must admit, is the civilization of a new race. The
question is, then, how is this civilization to be produced?
Is industrialism the prime consideration? Is the Negro
to be built up from the material side of his nature?
Industrialism.—But industrialism is no new thing in
Negro life in this country. It is simply a change in the
old phase of Southern Society. It is, in fact, but an
incident; doubtless a large, and in some respects, a
vital one. It would be the greatest folly to ignore its
vast importance. Yet it is not to be forgotten that the
Negro has been in this "school of labor" under slavery
in America, fully two hundred and fifty years; and
every one knows that it has never produced his civiliza¬
tion. That it was crude, previous to emancipation; that
it is to be enlightened labor now, in a state of freedom,
is manifestly but an alteration in the form of an old and
settled order of life.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
363
New Problem.—When the l^egro passed from under
the yoke he left a state of semi-barbarism behind him,
put his feet for the first time within the domain of
civilization, and immediately there sprang up before
him a new problem of life. But that problem is not
industrialism. That is simply the modification of an
old. condition; for it is but the introduction of intelli¬
gence into the crudeness of the old slave-labor system.
A Question.—The other question, then, presents
itself—is not the Negro's elevation to come from the
quickening and enlightenment of his higher nature? Is
it to come from below or from above?
Higher Culture.—It seems manifest that the major
factor in this work for the Negro is his higher culture.
There is not dispute as to the need of industrialism.
This is a universal condition of life everywhere. But
there is not need of an undue and overshadowing exag¬
geration of it in the case of the Negro.
A Result, not a Cause.—And, first of all, industrial¬
ism itself is a result in man's civilization, not a cause.
It may exist in a people and with much excellence for
ages, and still that people may "lie in dull obstruction,"
semi-barbarous and degraded. We see in all history
large populations moving in all the planes of industrial
life, both low and high, and yet paralyzed in all the high
springs of action, and for the simple reason that the
hand of man gets its cunning from the brain. And
without the enlightened brain what is the hand of man
more than the claw of a bird or the foot of a squirrel?
In fine, without the enlightened brain, where is civili¬
zation.
A New Factor.—The Negro race, then, needs a new
factor for its life and being, and this new factor must
come from a more vitalizing source than any material
24
364
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
condition. The end of industrialism is thrift, prosperity
or gain. But civilization has a loftier object in view.
It is to make men grander; it is to exalt them in the
scale of being; and its main energy to this end is the
"higher culture,"
Greatness Comes from Altitudes.—Observe, then,
just here, that "every good gift and every perfect gift
comes from above.'' I have no hesitation in using this
text (albeit thus abbreviated) as an aphorism. And
what I wish to say in its interpretation is this, viz., that
all the greatness of men comes from altitudes. All
the improvement, the progress, the culture, the civili¬
zation of men come from somewhere above. They
never come from below!
Culture of Human Society.—Just as the rains and
dews come down from the skies and fall upon the hills and
plains and spread through, the fields of earth with fertil¬
izing power, so, too, with the culture of human society.
Some exalted man, some great people, some marvelous
migration, some extraordinary and quickening culti¬
vation, or some divine revelation, "from above" must
come to any people ere the processes of true and
permanent elevation can begin among them. And this
whole process I call civilization.
A Heritage.—If a more precise and definite meaning
to this word is demanded, I reply that I use it as
indicative of letters, literature, science and philosophy.
In other words, that this Negro race is to be lifted up to
the acquisition of the higher culture of the age. This
culture is to be made a part of its heritage; not at some
distant day, but now and all along the development of
the race. And no temporary fad of doubting or pur¬
blind philanthropy is to be allowed to make "industrial
training" a substitute for it.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
365
Leaders.—For, first of all, it is only a dead people
who can be put into a single groove of life. And, next,
every live people must have its own leaders as molders
of its thought and determiners of its destiny; men, too,
indigenous to the soil in race and blood.
Thought Makes the World.— It is thought that
makes the world—high, noble, prophetic, exalted and
exalting thought. It is this that makes races and
nations, industries and trades, farming and commerce;
and not the reverse of this, i. e., that these make
thought and civilization. And without thought, yea,
scientific thought, peoples will remain everlastingly
children and underlings, the mere tools and puppets of
the strong.
From the Schools.—And such thought, in these days,
comes from the schools. The leaders of races must
have wisdom, science, culture and philosophy. One
such man has often determined the character and
destiny of his race for centuries.
Opened to the Negro Mind.—This does not mean
that noodles and numbskulls shall be sent to.college;
nor that every Negro shall be made a scholar; nor that
there shall be a waste of time and money upon inca¬
pacity. No one can make a thimble hold the contents
of a bucket! But what it does mean is this, that the
whole world of scholarship shall be opened to the Negro
mind; and that it is not to be fastened, temporarily or
permanently to the truck-patch or to the hoe, to the
anvil or to the plane; that the Negro shall be allowed
to do his own thinking in any and every sphere, and not
to have that thinking relegated to others. It means
that when genius arises in this race and elects, with
flaming torch, to push its way into the grand arcanum
of philosophy or science or imagination, no bar shall
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
be raised against its entrance; albeit it be incarnated in
a form deeply tinged with
"The shadowed livery of the burnished sun."
Conclusions.—I submit:
1. That civilization is the foremost, deepest need of
the Negro race.
2. That the "higher culture" is its grandest source.
3. That the gift to the Negro of the scientific mind,
by Fisk and Clark and Lincoln, and Oberlin and
Howard and Yale, and Harvard and other colleges, is
of the most incalculable value to the black race.
United Action.—There is probably no dissent from
the above opinion of Dr. Crummell. Even the leaders
in industrial education have repeatedly declared them¬
selves in favor of the broadest culture possible. While
there may be differences of opinion in the practical
working, yet all are laboring diligently for the one great
end—the elevation of the race.
Educational Institutions.—It is impossible in the
brief space allotted to us to make special mention of
many of the excellent schools for the colored race.
Some that are not mentioned we would have been
glad to mention, but were unable to secure the need¬
ed information. This chapter is prepared at a
time when the schools are closed. No doubt when
the forms are closed much of the desired informa¬
tion will be at hand, too late to use. We have done the
best with the facts at hand.
In the last chapter will be found statistics of all
schools of the colored race.
Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute —
This institution was opened in April, 1868. In 1870 it
was chartered by special act of the General Assembly
of Virginia. It is not owned or controlled by state or
868
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
government, but by a board of seventeen trustees,
representing different sections of the country, and six
religious denominations, no one of which has a
majority.
Object.—The object of its founders was to train
selected Negro youth so that they could go out and teach
and lead their people, first, by example, and by getting
land and homes, to give them not a dollar they could
earn for this, to teach respect for labor, to replace stupid
drudgery with skilled hands, and to these ends to build
up an industrial system for the sake not only of self-
support and intelligent labor, but also for the sake of
character. From the first it has been true to the idea
of education by self-support. Nothing is asked for the
student that he can provide by his own labor.
Annual Cost.—The school is maintained at an annual
cost of about $175,000; deducting the labor payments
of Negro students, say $55,000, $120,000. This is pro¬
vided for in part by one-third of the amount allowed
the state of Virginia under the Land Grant Act and the
Morrill Act in aid of agricultural schools, by an appro¬
priation from Congress to pay the board, etc., of 120
Indians, with aid from the Slater and Peabody funds.
The large balance is met by contributions from friends
of the Negro and Indian races.
Valuation of Property.—The cost or the valuation
of property owned by the institution is about $600,000.
There are about fifty buildings. The home farm con¬
sists of 150 acres, the grass and dairy farm, four miles
distant, 600 acres. Both are cultivated by students,
and the products used or sold.
Enrollment.—The enrollment for the years 1896 and
1897 is as follows: Negro young men, 305; Negro
young women, 187; making a total of 492. Indian
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
869
young- men, 87; Indian young women, 51; total, 138.
Besides these there are 320 children in the Whittier
School, or primary department, making a total of 950
students, representing twenty states and territories.
Teachers and Officers.—There are 80 teachers,
officers, assistants and managers, about half of whom
are in the industrial department.
Girls' Industries.—Housework, laundering, sewing,
tailoring, dressmaking, cooking, and training in the use
of carpenter's tools.
Boys' Industries.— Farming, carpentering, house
painting, wheelwrighting, tailoring, harness making,
printing, engineering, machine knitting, floriculture,
and the machinists' trade.
Graduates.—Nine-tenths of the 909 Negro graduates,
besides many undergraduates, have done good work in
teaching, and about three-fourths have made it their
life work. They are also earnest workers in the Sun¬
day school, and in behalf of temperance.
The thirty-thousand free Negro schools of the South
need nothing so much as well-trained teachers. Vir¬
ginia's twenty-five hundred colored schools are not
nearly supplied. No harvest field in the land, or in the
world, is more urgent than this.
Trade Schools.—The need of a trade school to equip
young men who could not only do good work themselves
but also reach others has long been felt, and in the fall
of 1896 a large and thoroughly equipped building was
opened, followed by a very successful term, and another
building of similar size is now going up in which the
young men receive a like training in domestic science.
Field Missionary.—One of the colored graduates is
employed as field missionary, whose work is to visit
graduates and ex-students, their homes, schools, farms,
24
370 Progress of a rac£.
shops, and also to keep the school informed as to what
they are doing, to assure them of continued interest in
their welfare and usefulness, and to encourage and help
them to be in their communities ministers of Christ,
cultivating industrious habits and intelligent labor. He
visits schools for the purpose of selecting good student
material for Hampton.
Negro Education.—The North and South are work¬
ing together for the Negro for whose education no less
than $4,000,000 annually in .taxation and donations are
raised.
Agriculture.—The need of developing and improving
agricultural work in the school, always a prominent
feature, has taken new impetus and a thoroughly organ¬
ized system for teaching agriculture scientifically and
practically has been introduced. Seventy-five per cent,
of the Southern Negroes are still renters of land held
under a mortgage system in a very real sort of slavery.
Outgrowth of Hampton.—Tuskegee, Calhoun, Mt.
Meigs, Gloucester, Kittrell, Laurenceville, and other
outgrowths of Hampton are showing what can be done
toward helping the people to get land for their own and
making them self-respecting citizens.
"The Southern Workman."—This is the paper pub¬
lished by the school and is a great help in bringing to
the country a knowledge of the true condition of the
Negro. It probably gives fuller and juster information
regarding the condition and wants of the Southern col¬
ored people than any other periodical.
A Record of Its Work.—If any one should doubt as
to the advisability of educating the Negro we would
recommend the reading of the volume, "Twenty-two
Years' Work of Hampton Normal and Agricultural
Institute.'' This certainly must satisfy every one that
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
371
the colored people are improving both in morals and
intelligence; that they are becoming less dependent
■upon the charities of the white race, and that they now
see that it is no disgrace to work.
A Remarkable Record.—This volume gives a remark¬
able record of more than nine hundred graduates of
Hampton. A large number of them are engaged in
teaching, others are in the ministry, a number are
merchants, and not a few are cultivating farms. Most
of them have homes of their own and property worth
from five hundred to five thousand dollars. Not the
least benefit that Hampton is to the race is the influ¬
ence that these graduates exert in the communities in
which they live.
Fisk University is now in the thirty-second year of its
existence. From its incipiency until today it has been
under the auspices and fostering care of the American
Missionary Association. The school was formally
opened January 9, 1866, in the old army hospital west
of the Chattanooga depot. In the year 1871 the univer¬
sity sent out a concert troupe, known as the Jubilee
Singers. For seven years they sang with great accept¬
ance both in this country and in Europe, and realized
the sum of $150,000, with which the present site of
the university was bought and Jubilee Hall was erected.
There now stand upon the university grounds five
beautiful brick buildings, the Memorial Chapel, built
of stone, and one frame building. The present plant
of the university could not be replaced with $350,000.
The campus comprises thirty-five acres ~of land, and
the site is universally conceded to be one of the most
beautiful about Nashville. From the beginning the
university has stood for the higher education of the
colored race | and, although it embraces departments
372
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
of domestic science and industrial training, the empha¬
sis is laid upon its classical course of study. Since 1875
there have been graduated 163 from college and 150
from the normal department, making a total of 313, or
an average of ten alumni for each of the thirty years of
the university's existence. This is a good showing of
the work done by the school, when we remember that
it started thirty-two years ago with freedmen who had
not more than the barest elements of primary educa¬
tion. In addition to the college and normal alumni,
there have been graduated five from the theological
department, which is • only four years old, and six
from the department of music.
Work of the Alumni.—The excellence of the work
done in Fisk University has elicited again and again
the warmest praise of the friends of higher education.
Nearly all the alumni are holding positions of honor
and trust. Eight of the teachers at Tuskegee are grad¬
uates from Fisk University. For a number of years the
presidents and most of the faculty of Alcorn Industrial
College, at Rodney, Mississippi, have been alumni from
Fisk. The same thing is true of the State Normal
School at Hempstead, Texas. An alumnus of Fisk,
who was recently professor of Greek and Latin at Wil-
berforce University, then had a fellowship in the Uni¬
versity of Pennsylvania, is now professor of economics
in Atlanta University. Another alumnus is instructor
in Greek in Howard University, in Washington; and
still another is instructor in Hebrew and Old Testament
literature in his Alma Mater. Eight of the alumni have
done missionary work in Africa. The young woman
who is in charge of the musical department in Booker
T. Washington's School at Tuskegee is a graduate in
musi? from Fisk. The reputation of the school for
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT
373
broad and thorough scholarship has gone throughout the
South, and the president, E. M. Cravath, D. D., often
receives applications for teachers from school superin¬
tendents and principals in different sections of the
South. The character of the work done in Fisk "Uni¬
versity has gained for it the confidence of the people in
the North as well as in the South; and, as a conse¬
quence, from' twenty-three to twenty-five states are
annually represented among the students.
Berea College.—The founder of Berea College, Rev.
J. G. Fee, was convinced of the evil of slavery while
taking a course at Lane Seminary, Ohio. On account
of his anti-slavery views his father disinherited him.
Before he became an abolitionist his father had given
him a farm in Indiana, which he sold for $2,400 and
spent the whole of it in buying and liberating a female
slave, raised and married on the plantation, to prevent
her being sold away. Mr. Fee early began his work of
teaching and preaching, but was frequently interrupted
by disturbances from slave holders. In 1858 the first
charter for Berea was drawn up. It opposed sectarian¬
ism, slave holding, and every other wrong institution
or practice. On account of the persecution of all men
holding anti-slavery views, Mr. Fee and his associates
were compelled to flee from the state. Some of them
endured much from the hands of the mob. John G.
Hanson, one of the trustees of the college, and for a
short time a teacher, was almost miraculously protected
from a mob. Several efforts were made to return to
the state, but nothing could be done until the close
of the war. In 1865 the school was opened, and a
charter for the college was obtained. Three colored
youths asked admission, and but one decision was pos¬
sible to men like Mr. Fee and his associates. The
374
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
morning' that these three harmless youths walked in,
half the school walked out. But these brave teach¬
ers kept on with their work. The vacancies made by
the white deserters were soon filled with colored stu¬
dents, and eventually all who left returned and became
fast friends of Berea. At no time have the colored pupils
exceeded two-thirds of the school. The evils which
were predicted have never appeared. There is no school
in the state more easily governed than this. The ques¬
tion whether the colored pupils are not necessarily a
drag upon the school would never be asked by one who
had any fair criterion by which to judge. A certain
amalgamation which was to follow is all in the future.
The school regulations make no distinctions whatever
on account of color. They recite in the same classes,
eat at the same table, room in the same buildings,
attend the same meetings, and meet in all general social
gatherings. In 1869 E. H. Fairchild was called to
the presidency of Berea College. Besides the build¬
ings, which are estimated at $82,000, the college owns
three acres of land, not including the ground about the
buildings, worth about $15,000. It has an endowment
of about $100,000 besides the land. In 1892 Professor
W. G. Frost, of Oberlin, was called to the presidency.
The following paper, signed by such, men as George
Cable, Herrick Johnson, Frederick Douglas, Josiah
Strong, Cassius Clay, M. D. Mayo and others, will
suggest Berea's work and influence.
"The peculiar work and opportunity of Berea Col¬
lege place it quite apart from all other institutions, and
give it a special claim upon the attention of every
Christian and patriot. Situated near the center of pop¬
ulation, and furnishing an education of the best type—
industrial, normal, collegiate—to multitudes who would
Educational improvement.
375
otherwise fail of such advantages, it exerts a potent in¬
fluence in favor of progressive and Christian ideas. But
beyond this, having been founded by anti-slavery Ken-
tuckians before the war, and having shown a courage
that compels respect, Berea is in a position to do an un¬
paralleled service in opposing the spirit of caste and ef¬
facing sectional lines. Berea is distinctively Christian,
but controlled by no sect, and there is no denominational
school which has before it this providential opening.
Until larger endowments can be secured, about $12,000
must be procured each year from friends of the cause.
We not only seek the large benefactions of the rich, but
earnestly invite every one who approves of this work
to contribute, according to his ability, any sum from
$5 to 5>000-"
spelman seminary.
Work of a Generation.—The contrast between a
slave pen of a generation ago, with its chain-gang, its
auction block, its profanity, vulgarity and other acces¬
sories, and a modern school for Negro girls, like Spel-
man Seminary, with its beautiful buildings, its attrac¬
tive rooms, its chapel and Bible, its corps of Christian
workers, the smiling faces of hundreds of pupils bud¬
ding into strong and useful womanhood, is wonderfully
suggestive of the new era that has dawned for the
Negroes of the South. Surely, we have reason to
thank God and take courage.
Beginning.—The evolution of Spelman Seminary is
one of the marvels of the age. Beginning in a damp,
dark, desolate basement of a colored Baptist church,
without any of the accessories needed for successful
work, with two teachers and less than a dozen pupils, it
has, within the last fourteen years, grown to be the
largest, best equipped school for colored girls in the
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
377
world. It has a most choice location, with a magnifi¬
cent outlook over the surrounding country; has build¬
ings specially suited for its need; has a large and able
faculty of 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 the
very highest order.
Opening.—Spelman Seminary was opened on the
nth of April, 1881, in the basement of Friendship
Baptist church. Two ladies, Miss S. B. Packard and
H. E. Giles, journeyed south that they might have a
better knowledge of the condition of the freedmen.
This visit opened their eyes to the appalling need of
help for the colored women and girls. They came
north and, after many discouraging efforts, they suc¬
ceeded in raising funds to start the school. Arriving
at Atlanta, they at once called on Pastor Quarles, the
leading colored Baptist minister of the state. When
he learned their mission, he said: "While I was pray¬
ing, the Lord answered.'' For fifteen years I have been
pleading with God to send teachers to the Baptist women
of Georgia, and now you have come.''
Rev. Frank Quarles.—The enthusiasm of this man
to establish the work among the colored women was
great and he was anxious lest the teachers should become
discouraged. He went North to enlist the sympathies
of the people and to get further support for the school.
His last words to the school were: "I am going North
for you. I may never return. Remember, if I die, I
die for you and in a good cause." To his people he
said: "Take care of those ladies who have come to.us
as angels of mercy. Don't let them suffer." The
378
PROGRESS Of A RACE.
northern climate was too severe for his Southern consti¬
tution, and he died in New York at the home of his son.
The Second Year.—During the second year 175 were
enrolled, one-third of them were of ages ranging from
twenty-five to fifty years, and had known and felt the
evils of slavery. Touching were the incidents showing
the eagerness and perseverance of these women.
Often were they laughed at and even persecuted, be¬
cause they showed a determination to get a little light.
Some walked seven and eight miles to and from
school, hardly missing a day, even in the severest
weather.
The Coal Bin.—In January, 1882, the school was so
large two of the recitations were already heard in the
main room; a third teacher, Miss Champney, took as
her recitation room the coal bin, in which there was one
small window.
Rockefeller Hall.—Miss Packard and Miss Giles went
North in 1882 to secure funds for the school. When some
thousands had been raised, Mr. John D. Rockefeller
came to their relief and gave a large sum, and the school
was named Spelman Seminary in honor of Mr. Spelman,
the father of Mrs. Rockefeller. Rockefeller Hall was
dedicated in 1886. It contains recitation rooms, dormi¬
tories, and a beautiful chapel, on whose walls is inscribed
the motto: '' Our whole school for Christ.''
Giles Hall.—In 1892 Mr. Rockefeller again presented
the institution with a building 170 feet long and four
stories high, and requested that it should be called Giles
Hall. On the first floor are a large school room and
ten class rooms for the use of the primary department;
on the second floor are similar rooms for the interme¬
diate department; the third floor contains a laboratory
and science lecture room, commodious recitation rooms
educational improvement.
379
for the normal and training and missionary training
classes, and dormitories for the students of these depart¬
ments. The building was dedicated in December, 1893.
Buildings.—Spelman Seminary now has six brick
buildings, four frame dormitories, and a frame hospital
for the sick, and about fourteen acres of land. The
property is now estimated at about $150,000.
Enrollment.—The aggregate enrollment for fifteen
years has been about 6,500. Fifty-one certificates
have been given in the nurse training department.
Ninety-two have gone out from the academic depart¬
ment, a majority of whom are teachers. Two are on the
Congo as missionaries; one, a Congo girl, was sent to
be educated, and returned in 1895 as an appointed
missionary from the Woman's Baptist Missionary
Society of Boston.
Success.—The success which has attended this work
has proved how valuable and important normal train¬
ing is. There are hundreds whose circumstances would
not allow them to remain longer in school who have
gone out to do efficient services and become centers of
influences for good in the communities where they
live.
Teachers.—The number of teachers has greatly in¬
creased, until at present there are 38. The Women's
American Baptist Missionary Society provided for a
number of these; the Slater Fund for others, while
some of them labor unselfishly and faithfully with only
a meager salary.
Influence.—Spelman Seminary is a power for good.
It is to the colored women of the South all that Vassar
is to the white women of the North. It is an enterprise
of quick growth and phenomenal proportion.
prof. Wm. E; Holmes.—The Negro Baptists of the
25
380
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
South show their appreciation of the school by the
hundreds who have already enlisted as members. The
intelligent interest and helpful co-operation of Prof.
Holmes of the Baptist Seminary from the very com¬
mencement have been of inestimable value, a means of
elevating the race. The colored people more and
more appreciate the worth and work of this noble sem¬
inary. They feel they have now a training home for
their daughters where correct discipline is administered
by consecrated Christian women, who give their lives,
while many give their money, to prepare toilers for
service as a means in the elevation of the race. Spel-
man is invaluable and indispensable.
Nora A. Gordon,—Nora A. Gordon was born in
Columbia, Georgia,
in 1866. Herparents
were formerly slaves,
belonging to the well-
known General Gor¬
don, from whom they
received their name.
She attended the pub-
1 i c schools of La
Grange, Georgia,
where she resided.
In the fall of 1882 she
entered S p e 1 m a n
Seminary. She was
ignorant and super¬
stitious, and had many
mistaken ideas about
nora a. Gordon, religion. She soon
Missionary in Africa. became a Christianj
and joined the Baptist Church of Atlanta. She then
educational improvement. 381
began organizing temperance societies, Sunday schools,
and caused family altars to be erected in the homes of
her pupils. She was a diligent student, completing the
course in Spelman in 1888, and at once accepted the
position as teacher in one of the Atlanta public schools,
but in 1889 an urgent call came for her to go to Africa.
She said: "Christ's preciousness to me makes me feel
that I wish my feet had wings, that I might hasten to
take the Bread of Life to the poor heathen. I have
counted the cost of missionary service, and my love for
Christ makes me willing to bear the many peculiar
trials through which I am confident I must pass.'' At
the farewell services in Atlanta she said: "This has
been a peculiar day to me, the happiest of my life, as I
am so soon to realize a long cherished hope. I feel
that perfect peace which passeth understanding.
'' Some friends have asked me why I go,
What may my reason be;
You have my answer in these words,
'God's love constraineth me.' "
Miss Gordon labored in Africa until 1893, when
broken-down health compelled her to return to Amer¬
ica, but in 1895, her health being restored, she was
married to Rev. S. C. Gordon, of Stanley Pool, and
again returned to the Congo.
Bishop Hapgood says: "No money apportioned by
me from 1882 till 1891 was ever better used than that
I gave to Spelman. Whatever concerns bodily, mental
or spiritual health is considered and provided for at
Spelman. The houses and premises are clean; the
discipline and instruction are of the very best; the
atmosphere is religious.''
Clara Howard.—Clara Howard was born in Green¬
ville, Georgia. At nine years of age she entered a little
ATLANTA BAPTIST SEMINARY.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
383
private school and afterwards Atlanta University, where
she remained nearly three years. Afterwards she eii-
tered Spelman Seminary, and graduated in 1887,and was
at once appointed teacher in the Atlanta public schools.
She was appointed missionary to the Congo, in 1890,
where she remained until 1894, when she was compelled
by ill health to leave her work, and returned to Spel¬
man. She hopes again to take up her chosen work
after regaining health.
Atlanta Baptist Seminary.—The work of this semi¬
nary was begun in 1871, and carried on for some years
at Augusta, Georgia, but in 1879 it was removed to the
capital of the state and buildings erected at a cost of
$12,500. The special aim of the school is the education
of preachers and such teachers as can be classed with
them profitably. A strong sentiment in favor of edu¬
cation of young women was soon developed after the
removal of the school to Atlanta. The Spelman Girls'
School and Atlanta Baptist Seminary are located on
almost the same grounds. The site contains about
eight acres. The colored people of the state have taken
a deep interest in the work, and have succeeded in rais¬
ing money for the purpose. The future work of the
school is great, the developing of thought among the
100,000 colored Baptists in the Empire State of the
South. In 1888 a new site of eighteen acres was pur¬
chased in West Atlanta. The new buildings cost $30,-
000. The value of the property at present is $40,000.
Clark University, like most schools of its kind, had an
humble beginning. Starting as an ordinary grade
school, in the city of Atlanta, in the year 1869, it has
come, through various changes of fortune, to be what
it is today—the largest and best located of the schools
of the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Epis-
CLARK. UNIVERSITY, ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
385
copal Church. Confined for many years to narrow
quarters in the city, it was moved to its present spacious
site in the year 1880, when its first new building-, Chris-
man Hall, was erected.
Its charter was secured in 1877, and the first meeting
of the trustees took place on the fifteenth day of Feb¬
ruary of that year.
The land, 450 acres, was secured through the untir¬
ing efforts and far sightedness of Bishop Gilbert Haven,
and its first building owes its existence chiefly to the
generosity and benevolence of Mrs. Eliza Chrisman, of
Topeka, Kansas.
From 1880 to 1884, Bishop Henry W. Warren made
his home at the institution, and rendered to it the most
substantial aid it has had since its foundation. It was
in this period that the industrial department, under the
patronage of Bishop Warren, came into being—depart¬
ments that had steady and rapid growth, and continued
in operation until two years ago, when, because of the
great financial stringency, they were closed—yet with
the hope of opening again. In these departments were
taught carpentry, blacksmithing, carriage making,
carriage painting, harness making, and printing. Sim¬
ultaneously with the establishment of the shops, was
also established the "Model Home," for the instruction
of girls in all domestic arts and duties. This home
accommodates twenty pupils. No department of the
institution has been richer in good results.
In the year 1883, the Gammon School of Theology
was founded in connection with Clark University, by
Rev. Elijah H. Gammon, of Batavia, Illinois. This
school remained a department of the university until
the year 1888, .when it became a separate institution
under the corporate name of Gammon Theological
Seminary.
25
386
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
The property of the university, situated just outside
the city limits, is at present valued at $400,000. Its
value will be enhanced, probably, twice that sum, as
the city pushes out around and about it. With proper
management, the school has unlimited possibilities for
good.
Atlanta University, originally under the auspices of
the American Missionary Association, but now independ¬
ent and unsectarian, was organized in the year 1869. Its
organization was largely due to the energy and foresight
of Rev. Edmund Asa Ware, who became its first presi¬
dent, and continued in that position twenty years, or up
to the time of his death. The school had phenomenal
growth during those twenty years, and became, per¬
haps, the best known institution of its kind in the South.
It offers its advantages to both sexes, without regard to
race, color, or nationality.
The property of the school is valued at about $200,-
000, and is situated on a commanding elevation in the
city, easily accessible by the street cars, which, indeed,
run through its grounds.
Like most schools of its kind in the South, it has some
industrial features, but unlike the other schools, it has
now no grade work, that work having been discontinued
three years ago. The efforts of the institution are now
directed solely towards building up a college proper.
The standard is being gradually raised, and it is the
laudable ambition of the authorities to have here, in the
Central South, a university worthy of the name, that
shall supply the educational needs of the people.
For the last few years, however, the school has been
much hampered for lack of funds, the $8,000 annual
appropriation granted by an act of the Georgia legisla¬
ture in 1874 having been withdrawn by the Glenn bill,
Who for seven years gave concerts in this country and in Europe, and secured funds sufficient to erect
Jubilee Hall.
388
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
passed a few years ago by the same legislature. The
reason given for the withdrawal was the presence of
white pupils in the school. These white pupils, it
ought to be said, were children of some of the teachers.
The school, nevertheless, lives, has a warm place in
the hearts of the people, and a high reputation for the
work it has done and is doing.
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.—In 1881
the Alabama legislature passed a bill appropriating
$2,000 yearly for the support of a school at Tuskegee for
the education of Negro youth. General Armstrong
was asked to suggest a suitable man to establish and
direct the work, and he recommended Booker T. Wash¬
ington. The district in which the school is located is
one in which the black people outnumber the whites
three to one. Here, on the fourth of June, 1881, he
opened the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute
in a small church and shanty. Since that time the insti¬
tution has grown until it has now 80 instructors, about
40 buildings, and over 800 students, all over fourteen
years of age, the average age being eighteen and one-
half years. Students come from twenty-four states.
From the first industrial training has been a prominent
feature of this school. This is kept uppermost, to train
men and women in head, heart and hand; to meet con¬
ditions that exist right about them rather than conditions
that existed centuries ago, or that exist a thousand
miles away. The institution is Christian, but not
denominational. Professor Washington says it is not
the type of Christianity that prevails in some places
among the colored race, where, as an example, is told
the story of the colored man who went to his weekly
class meeting and said to his class leader, "I's had a
ha'd time since our las' meetin'; I's been sometimes
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 389
up and sometimes down. 'Spects I's broken eb'ry one
ob de ten comman'ments since our las' meetin', but I
tanks God I's not los' my 'ligionyet."
In connection with literature and Christian training
the students are trained in industrial pursuits. Over
twenty-four hundred acres of land are owned by the
institute, 650 of which are cultivated. The students
receive instruction in various branches of agriculture,
horticulture, dairy products, brick masonry, wheel-
wrighting, black smithing, tinning, carpentering, paint¬
ing, shoemaking, tailoring, dressmaking, and various
branches of industrial training, besides preparing men
and women as teachers, preachers, physicians, lawyers,
clerks, merchants, machinists, etc. This system enables
them to make practical application of the theories which
they learn in the class room. The principles of physics
are immediately applied in the machine shop, those of
chemistry in farming and cooking, those of mathematics
in carpentering, etc. There are no idlers in Tuskegee.
They erect their own buildings, even manufacturing
every brick; they also do the carpenter and other work.
Thus the institute secures buildings for permanent use
with a minimum of expense, and the students have the
industrial training. This also helps the young men and
women to get rid of any old idea they may have had
that labor is disgraceful; that it is beneath one to use
his hands if he has any education. The Tuskegee
property is now valued at $300,000, on which there is
no mortgage. One great difficulty in endeavoring to
better the condition of the Southern Negro is the "mort¬
gage system,'' which makes them virtually the property
of well-to-do planters, taking away all their independ¬
ence, ambition and self-respect. They live in little
cabins, and try to pay sometimes 40 per cent, interest
390
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
on their property and on their crops, which are often
mortgaged before they are raised. The result in pov¬
erty and lack of hope for better things can be imagined.
Tuskegee Institute is seeking to find and apply a rem¬
edy for this state of things. This work they do not
consider hopeless or even discouraging. The Negroes
acknowledge their ignorance and low condition, but
they think that there is no help for it. What they need
is intelligent and unselfish leadership in their religious,
industrial and intellectual life, and this is what the
Tuskegee institution is endeavoring to give them. The
trouble is that these people do not know how to utilize
the results of their labor. What they earn gets away
from them in paying mortgages, and in buying lace,
snuff, and cheap jewelry. They have not yet learned
the distinctions between cheap and showy imitations of
wealth and education, and the culture and refinement
which only comes by slow and labored progress. A
one-roomed cabin will sometimes have clocks bought
on the installment plan for $12, when, in nine cases out
of ten, not one in the family can tell when the hands
point to six o'clock and when to twelve; or a family
will mortgage a year's crop to pay for a funeral or a
wedding.
Tuskegee has already succeeded in reforming many
districts. At the time of their emancipation practically
all of the Negroes lived in one-room cabins; ten years
ago nine-tenths of them lived in the same way; whereas
today one-third of them have at least doubled their
accommodations, and many of them own their farms
and homes. The students who come to Tuskegee from
wretched, single-roomed hovels, go back to transform
them into homes where peace and purity can thrive.
Already the graduates of the_ institution are in great
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 391
demand all over the South, and other schools are apply¬
ing the Tuskegee principles and methods of education.
The chief requisites for admission to the institute are
a good moral character, attested by recommendations
from reliable persons, a good physique and a fair ability
to read, write and cipher. No student who cannot read
and write will be admitted to the institute. No student
is admitted to any department on any terms under four¬
teen years of age; this rule is rigidly enforced.
Ten years ago a young man born in slavery found his
way to the Tuskegee school. By small cash payments
and work on the-farm he finished the course with a
good English education and a practical and theoretical
knowledge of farming. Returning to his country home,
where five-sixths of the citizens were black, he found
them still mortgaging their crops, living on rented land
from hand to mouth, and deeply in debt. School had
never lasted longer than three months, and was taught
in a wreck of a cabin by an inferior teacher. Finding
this condition of things, the young man took the three
months' public school as a starting point. Soon he
organized the older people into a club that came
together every week. In these meetings the young
man taught them the value of owning a home, the evils
of mortgaging, and the importance of educating their
children. He taught them how to save money, how to
sacrifice—to live on bread and potatoes until they got
out of debt, begin buying a home and stop mortgaging.
Through the lessons and influence of these meetings
during the first year of this young man's work, these
people built by their contributions and labor a good
frame school house, which replaced the wreck of a log
cabin. The next year this work was continued, and
those people, by their own gifts, furnished funds for
392
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
adding two months to the original school term. Month
by month has been added to the school term, till it now
lasts seven months every year. Already fourteen fam¬
ilies within a radius of ten miles have bought and are
buying homes, a large proportion have ceased mortgag¬
ing their crops, and are raising their own food supplies.
In the midst of all is the young man educated at Tusk-
egee in a model cottage and a model farm that serve as
a center of light for the whole community.
A few years ago a young woman was educated and
converted at Tuskegee. After her graduation she went
to one of the plantations where they only had school for
three months in the year in a broken-down log cabin.
She took charge of the school, and went among the
mothers and fathers of the pupils and found out what
their resources were. She] taught them how to save
money. The first year many men decided not to mort¬
gage their crops, but to provide suitable homes and a
good schoolhouse. They added to the school term until
now they have a season of eight months. The com¬
munity is transformed, and the very faces of the peo¬
ple show the revolution that has been wrought in their
lives by that one Christian leader. Every improve¬
ment has come through this young woman in their
midst showing them how to direct their efforts, how
to take the money that had hitherto gone for mortgag¬
ing, snuff and tobacco, and to use it for their own
uplifting.
The Georgia State Industrial College was estab¬
lished in 1891, beginning its first regular session in
October of that year. In the summer of 1891 a pre¬
liminary session was held in Athens, Georgia, while a
permanent location was being selected for its establish¬
ment.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
393
Prof. R. R. Wright, A. M., who was a member of
the class of 1876 of the Atlanta University, and who
had been for eleven years principal of the Ware High
School of Augusta, was chosen as its first President.
RICHARD R. WRIGHT, A. M.
President of Georgia State Industrial College.
See sketch, page 393.
During the session at Athens, President Wright was
assisted by Prof. L. B. Palmer and Mrs. Addrienne
McNeal Herndon, both graduates of the Atlanta Uni¬
versity.
394
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
The Georgia State College was established in pursu¬
ance of an act of the state legislature in 1890, when the
act of 1874 appropriating to the Atlanta University a
sum of $8,000 per annum was repealed, and an enact¬
ment made providing for the establishment of a state
school for colored youth. This institution is a branch
of the State University now at Athens, so is under the
general supervision of the Chancellor of the University
of Georgia and its Board of Trustees.
The Georgia State College is the only one of its kind
in the state for the education of colored youth. A
more beautiful as well as healthful situation for a col¬
lege could not be found in the state.
The main buildings are Boggs Hall, the principal
recitation building; Parson Hall, constituting the
dormitory and dining hall; and a shop for training in
architectural and mechanical drawing, wood and iron
working, masonry and decorating. In 1892 three neat
cottages were erected as homes for the President and
the professors. A magnificent chapel and model school
building has just been completed, which stands as a
monument to the industrial feature of the College. This
building was erected entirely by the students, working
under the direction of the principal of the Manual Train¬
ing department. This department was awarded a
medal at the International Exposition held in Atlanta
in 1895.
There is a Normal Course of three years besides a
regular College department. Industrial Training, which
is one of the prominent features, extends throughout
the entire course. The last year of this department,
however, is elective. There have been eleven grad¬
uates from the Normal Course. There- is also a
Teachers' Training department for the benefit of those
who contemplate entering that profession.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
395
Since its first session it has been necessary for the
College to almost double the number of instructors,
which evidences the steady growth of the institution.
Its energetic and persevering President and his assist¬
ants have labored untiringly to make of this institution
a first-class college for the industrial as well as intellect¬
ual training of the colored youth in the state.
The enrollment has increased from forty-two for
the first year to more than two hundred. At present
there are no scholarships belonging to this institution,
though needy students aid themselves by work. In
connection with the College there is a farm containing
fifty-four acres on which most of the necessary vege¬
tables are cultivated by student labor under the super¬
vision of an experienced agriculturist.
As the result of the generosity of Miss Jennie E.
Bill, of Norwich, Connecticut, and other friends, there
is for the students an excellent library to which
collections are being added from time to time. There
are two literary societies, besides a Young Men's Chris¬
tian Association under whose direction are conducted
the prayer meetings and other devotional exercises.
The present faculty is composed of some of the best
talent afforded by the race.
Central Tennessee College.—Central Tennessee Col¬
lege was chartered in 1866 by the legislature of
Tennessee. It is supported by the Methodist Epis¬
copal Church. A large number of the students have
engaged in teaching. Many of these teachers have
charge of Sunday schools as well as day schools, thus
aiding in the religious instruction of the communities
where they labor. Many of them are professed Chris¬
tians. Some are successful preachers, while over
three hundred have graduated in the medical depart-
26
396
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ment and are now practicing successfully. There are
more than five million colored people in the South who
are asking for more competent teachers, doctors,
dentists, pharmacists and preachers, who can teach the
people, better educated farmers and mechanics and
more enlightened wives and mothers to lift the home
life of the entire people. The aim of this school is to
aid in this great work. With a history of nearly a
third of a century, the different departments of the
College, now fully organized, have accomplished a great
work. This gives hope for the future. The College
buildings consist of seven brick edifices.
The "Tennesseeans" were a popular troupe who
established a national reputation and delighted thou¬
sands of intelligent audiences with their popular plan¬
tation melodies. With the proceeds obtained by these
gifted singers an elegant and commodious four-story
brick structure was added to Central Tennessee
College.
Meharry Medical College.—The Meharry Medical
Department of Central Tennessee College was organ¬
ized in 1876, for the purpose of furnishing to the col¬
ored people of the South an opportunity of obtaining
a medical education. At that time there was no med¬
ical school in the Southern states that would admit
colored students, and in the North the doors of many
of the medical colleges were closed against them.
It takes its name from the generous and philanthropic
family who so liberally contributed towards its estab¬
lishment and support. In 1879, through the munifi¬
cence of the Rev. Samuel Meharry, Shawnee Mound,
Ind., and his brothers, Rev. Alexander Meharry,
D.D., and Hugh Meharry, Esq., aided by Rev. R. S.
Rust, D. D., corresponding secretary of the Freedmen's
MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE,
Nashville, Tennessee.
397
398
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a lot
was purchased, and the beautiful and commodious brick
building, now known as the Meharry Medical College,
was erected..
This school has conferred the degree of M. D. on
308 students, nearly all of whom are now engaged in
the successful practice of their profession. They have
been kindly received by the white physicians, whose
uniform testimony is that the colored physicians sent
out by this school give evidence of very thorough prep¬
aration for their work. More than one-half of the
educated colored physicians in the Southern states are
graduates of this institution. The success of this
department is largely due to the untiring zeal and
energy of Dr. Hubbard, who has for so many years
stood at the head of this department. Dr. Hubbard is
probably better informed on the work done by colored
physicians of the South than any other man. Meharry
Medical college stands today as the most prominent of
all the medical schools for colored people. Ninety-six
per cent of her graduates are practicing medicine.
Leland University, New Orleans, La.—Leland Uni¬
versity was founded, as its name implies, for high¬
er education, a just provision for which is the
essential factor in all education, as its source and
mainspring. It was founded in New Orleans, a great
center of the region of the greatest illiteracy and
therefore of greatest need. It was by its founder and
its charter opened to all classes of citizens, without
distinction of sex or color, and therefore became avail¬
able, as it was intended to be, to the descendants of
the class which was at that time most needy, because
of having been shut out from the privilege of educa¬
tion.
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
399
At first it was found that this class were unprepared
for higher education, not having received the lower,
and to accommodate them a temporary provision of
primary instruction was made in the university. After
thirty years of opportunity and, in view of the progress
which the people have made, in both primary and sec¬
ondary education, a similar necessity no longer exists.
During the first year of the work of the present faculty
(session of 1887-88) there were 185 students enrolled,
of whom 109 were primary scholars, 76 of the grammar,
school grade, and only 14 in the normal department,
with no college students. For three years about 90
per cent, of our students were below the normal grade,
and of these over a hundred were primary, crowding
our rooms and our classes with a heterogeneous mass of
beginners in the very rudiments of knowledge. By
authority of the Board in 1890 was commenced the work
of establishing auxiliary schools in the state for primary
work. Howe Institute, Alexandria High School and
Leland Academy at Donaldsonville, were among the
first inaugurated, the object being to bring preparatory
work nearer to the people and thus make it available
to a larger number. At the same time the terms of ad¬
mission were, by order of the trustees, raised in the uni¬
versity to prevent competition with country schools, and
to improve the work in the higher classes. The plant¬
ing of these schools has stimulated others, until now
ten such institutions exist, where an eight months'
course of study like our preparatory department has
been given this year to 1,276 pupils, more than ten
times as many as could have come to New Orleans if
they had desired to do so. Three of these schools are
directly auxiliary to Leland. The names of their
teachers and pupils appear in its catalogue, and their
400
PROGRESS Of A RACfi.
interests are under the fostering- care of its faculty and
the thoughtful benevolence of its trustees.
Rev. Edward Cushing Mitchell, D. D.—Since 1887
Dr. Mitchell, a distinguished divine, teacher and
author, has been President of Leland University.
Through his untiring zeal he has succeeded in raising
the standard of the institution and in enlarging and
extending its work. The University owes its existence
to the late Holbrook Chamberlain, Esq., of Brooklyn,
N. Y., who erected the buildings, assisted in its man¬
agement, 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.
Southland College and Normal and Industrial In¬
stitute.—This school was organized by the Indiana
Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends in
1864; the College department was organized in 1872.
The first class was graduated in 1876. "The leading
object of the school is to qualify teachers, and about
five hundred have already gone out into the free schools
of Arkansas and adjoining states, while some have
been employed in schools of higher grade.
The primary object of the school is the preparation
of teachers, but other lines of work have been taken
up. An Industrial department has been added where
is given a practical knowledge of the use of tools in
such lines of work as will make students self-sustaining
and will fit them for the duties of useful citizenship.
The school is at present in charge of Prof. Wm.
Russell and wife. During the past few years the
amount of land owned by the College has been more
than doubled. A printing press has been put in, a
kindergarten department established, and other valua¬
ble improvements made. The expenses for tuition,
educational improvement.
401
board and washing range from eight to ten dollars per
month, and many of the students pay nearly all by
work.
The funds to carry on the institution are obtained
from the income of an endowment fund of $35,000,
from annual ^appropriations of the Indiana Religious
Meetings and from voluntary donations of friends of
the school. Of course, the products of the farm and
the tuition fees paid, help to increase the income. The
school is located at the foot of Crowley's Ridge, nine
miles northwest of Helena, Arkansas, in a remarkably
healthy climate. A high moral tone and deep relig¬
ious convictions are characteristics of the students who
remain long enough in the school. Southland College
has been a factor of peace, true to the teachers who
founded it. Leading citizens of Helena attribute
much to the Institution in promoting peace and harmony
in the county in which it is located. No .mob violences
have occurred here, and county offices are frequently
filled by colored men of the different political parties.
Morris Brown College.—Morris Brown College, the
principal school of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church, was founded in 1881. The site overlooking
the city of Atlanta was purchased at a cost of $3,500.
During the first year 107 students were enrolled; about
$25,000 has been spent in erecting two large buildings.
The present corps of teachers numbers 16; the number
of students 430. The course of instruction embraces
English, Academic, Normal and Industrial depart¬
ments. All the members of the faculty are Negroes.
Every dollar of the funds which are used in supporting
this college comes from Negroes. We run no risk in
saying that the work of these Negro minds and hearts
suffers nothing in comparison with the best of any race.
20
402
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
A number have graduated from the lower classes.
It will have its first classical graduates in '98. This
institution bids fair to become the leading institution
entirely manned by Negroes. All that it needs is to
be properly encouraged and fostered. It has the
advantage of Wilburforce in that it is situated in the
very heart of the South, where so many of the colored
race are anxious to obtain an education.
It needs funds to complete the central building, as
well as to carry on the work in general. This institu¬
tion is indeed an honor to the race. Theory sometimes
fails of conviction, but the most obdurate mind will be
convinced of such a practical proof of the Negroes'
ability.
Prof. James Henderson is president since 1888.
Livingstone College.—Livingstone College is the
principal college of the A. M. E. Zion Church. It was
organized in 1882, in Salisbury, N. C. Its existence is
largely due to the energy of that prince of orators,
Rev. J. C. Price, who afterwards became its president.
He collected funds both in this country and in Europe.
The valuation of the buildings and grounds, now
about 50 acres, is estimated at $100,000. Although
young in years its graduates have already passed the
hundred mark. President Price, its efficient and
popular president, devoted his life to the work of this
institution. There have been enrolled more than three
hundred students. The death of President Price, in
1893, was a blow to Livingstone. The work is being
carried on by his successor, Dr. H. Goler.
.A humble colored man recently loaned the Baptists
of Virginia $13,000, with which to build a seminary
at Lynchburg.
Howard University.—Howard University was estab-
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
403
lished by the government primarily through the instru¬
mentality of General O. Howard, the distinguished
soldier whose name it bears, and whose spirit its
teachers seek to emulate. It has always welcomed all
nationalities alike. The work of this university is now
well known to the country. It is confessedly the
leader in the education of the Afro-American race.
Every year the trustees seek to enlarge its scope and
fit it for greater usefulness. With its departments of
theology, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law, indus¬
try, music and nurse training, it is accomplishing much
in elevating the Negro.
Knoxville College, Knoxville, Tennessee.—This col¬
lege is under the care of the United Presbyterian
Church of North America. It is sustained mostly by
contributions from the various congregations to the
Board of Missions of the Freedmen. It is the result of
benevolent effort to benefit the colored people. Its
design is to train teachers for colored schools and
preachers for the churches; also to encourage a thor¬
ough education of those who wish to advance beyond
the studies ordinarily taught in common schools.
Medical Department: The Medical Department was
opened in 1895. A four years' course has been pro¬
vided for and a number of students have already
entered this department. Arrangement has been
made with the University of Tennessee by making
provision for its colored students in Knoxville College.
According to agreement with the university, all col¬
ored students over fifteen years of age have free
tuition. Its location in the chief city of Tennessee
gives advantages that are not found elsewhere. As a
denominational school, students are received from all
parts of the South \vhere the church is represented,
4(M
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Selma University.—A convention of colored Baptists
at Tuscaloosa in 1873, decided to establish a school for
preachers and asked the white brethren for money
and advice. Receiving no encouragement they went
to work among themselves and succeeded in opening
"the school at Selma in 1878. In that year property
was bought at a cost of $3,000, and paid for wholly by
the colored people. Improvements have since been
going on so that the property today is worth about
$20,000. In 1881 Rev. W. H. McAlpine, who was a
slave until 1865, and who had done more for the school
than any other man, was chosen President. The pros¬
pects for the great work are flattering.
Shaw University, Raleigh.—This school was estab¬
lished by Rev. H. M. Tupper, of Massachusetts, in
1865, under the auspices of the American Baptist
Home Missionary Society. The work of construction
was slow in the beginning but by liberal contributions
from Mr. Shaw, J. Estey & Co., George M. Moore
and other New England men, enough was raised to
erect the Shaw building. In 1875 the school was in¬
corporated as Shaw, University. The medical depart¬
ment was begun in the summer of 1881, a fine building
having been furnished by the Leonard family of
Hampden, Massachusetts. President Tupper opened
his first Sunday school in Raleigh in 1865 under an oak
tree; in 1892 he presided over an institution having
five large brick buildings and in all parts unequaled
by any other educational institution in the state. To
him is largely due the success of the project, for he,
by persistent effort even to the manufacture of brick
on the farm and the construction of the building,
devoted his whole strength to the work. The school
has six departments and is doing a great work in pre-
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
405
paring teachers and ministers for the South as well as
for Africa.
Roger Williams University.—The beginning of the
work of the Baptist Home Missionary Society in Nash¬
ville dates back to the close of the war. Rev. H. L.
Wayland was the first missionary teacher in that place.
Rev. D. W. Phillips succeeded him, and in 1875 a
large building was erected at a cost of nearly fifty
thousand dollars. The school, from the beginning,
has maintained a high reputation for thorough work.
The institution was incorporated in 1883. With a
number of buildings and a small endowment Roger
Williams University is doing a great work at Nashville,
although from the beginning it has had powerful com¬
petitors. The number of students is gradually increas¬
ing. The graduates are widely scattered throughout
the South occupying positions of influence and useful¬
ness.
Tougaloo University, Tougaloo, Mississippi.—This
is emphatically the "Black Belt" plantation school of
the American Missionary Society, located in the midst
of America's "Darkest Africa," touching by far the
most numerous and important class on which the future
of the Negro rests, the plantation Negro. The school
was established in 1869. Five hundred acres were
purchased and with them a fine mansion. The work
of chief importance is that of the normal department,
for the future of the race depends largely upon the
teachers trained for the common schools. Stieby Hall,
erected in 1882, is the boys' dormitory, accommodating
from seventy to eighty boys. The Theological depart¬
ment was established about seven years ago and is
doing a great work in that direction. Senator Beard
says it would quite repay those who would study the
406
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
problem of saving Negro children of tlie rural districts
of the '' Black Belt," to go far out of their way to visit
Tougaloo. Tougaloo is a great school where efficiency
and economy are found pulling quietly in the same
harness as in few institutions.
Biddle University, Charlotte, North Carolina, was
opened at the close of the war between the states. The
first teachers were Rev. S. C. Alexander and Rev. W.
G. Miller. The liberality of Mrs. Mary D. Biddle, of
Philadelphia, gave to the institution its first generous
contribution. Her husband had yielded his life in the
cause of the Union, and Mrs. Biddle requested the
privilege of perpetuating his memory in connection
with the school. Generous gifts from friends in the
North have not been wanting, and the school is on a
good financial basis.
The property is vested in a board of trustees, and a
clause in the charter makes it the perpetual heritage
of the colored people in connection with the Presby¬
terian Church. There are thirteen buildings. The
main building, devoted to recitation rooms, library,
chapel, etc., was built at a cost of $40,000. The
grounds include sixty acres situated one mile west of
Charlotte. The total valuation of grounds and build¬
ings is $125,000. There are four departments, the
School of Theology, School of Arts and Sciences,
Normal and Preparatory School, and School of Indus¬
try, in which are taught the various trades.
Self Support.—The students are being educated to
rely upon themselves and become self-supporting.
The total earnings of the students for the year ending
October, 1895, amounted to $11,291.
Graduates.—The graduates are distributed as fol¬
lows; Theology, 73; School of Art and Sciences, 118;
BIDDLE UNIVERSITY (MAIN BUILDING), CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA.
408
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Normal and Preparatory School, 183; 62 are active
ministers "of the colored Presbyterian Church; 6 are
serving at Biddle as professors; 1 is a foreign mis¬
sionary in Africa and professor of Latin and Greek in
Liberia College; 1 is a bishop in the A. M. E. Zion
Church. A number are lawyers and physicians, and
many are teachers in normal, high and public schools.
Since 1891 Rev. D. J. Sanders, D. D., is president.
The faculty and not a few of the students are aware of
the important part played by the spiritual tone of the
university life. Earnest efforts are made to induce
new students to enter upon a spiritual life. The col¬
lege classes contain very few unconverted persons, and
the close of each year sees seven-eighths of the entire
body of students professed followers of Jesus Christ.
Tuskegee Conference.—One of the helpful features
in industrial training in the South is the annual Negro
Conference, held at Tuskegee, Alabama. In this con¬
ference are found men of all classes, ministers and
teachers, as well as farmers and laborers, and these,
too, have had an education. The reports from differ¬
ent parts of the South are encouraging. We append
extracts from a few of them.
"Willis Ligon said: "The first crop I made I was har¬
nessed like a mule to a plow, and my little boy held
the handles. Many colored men are getting cotton-
gins, grist mills and saw mills, as well as land. I am
going to start a new town at my settlement and call it
Nazarene.'' Mr. Ligon has never missed a conference.
He owns several large farms and is a stockholder in
both the banks of Tuskegee.
Father Mitchell, a gray-haired farmer, said: "I
tank God I is living yet. My people has been eating
too much. Don't laugh, now. Mr. President, you
educational improvement.
409
preached a mighty good text last night. I liked yer
prayer 'bout gettin'-all de obstacles out ob de way
first. I am a hard-working man, I've got sons and
daughters. De Nigger race can make the best people
in de world. Jest allow me to call you Niggers, case
you'se all black. We can get land if any people can.
We knows how to work and make a happy home and
a good school. I has learned more in de last five years
since dese conferences started, dan I ever knowed
before in all my sixty years. We wants good leaders
as will take de difficulties out of our way. * * *
De people don't count as much on religion as dey
ought. Religion is a mighty nice thing if you use it
right. It takes a pious man to live religion. De longer
de worl' stands de wiser it grows. Some of our people
is getting too wise. Many likes to dance too much.
De jail-house is full and we is running excursions. If
you see a man crooked, straighten him by the grace of
de Lord. We hollers and shouts too much, and jumps
like we was crazy. It is a sad thing to preach de Gos¬
pel, de saddest thing dis side ob de grave. Our
churches is plumbfull of hypocrites. If a man preaches
de pure Gospel dey don't want to hear it. If we had
de truth, white folks could live and Niggers could live.
Dey tinks more of a bad person than dey does ob a
good one. You let a man preach de true Gospel and
he won't git many nickels in his pocket; but if he hol¬
lers and jumps he gits all the nickels he can hold and
chickens besides. I has been in de cause forty-five
years, and I knows what preachin' is, and I tell you,
if our young race don' do better in ten years we're
gone. Now, Mr. President, I fotch you a hog yester¬
day to help feed this conference, I hoped to see eight
or nine in de pen, but mine is de only one. I'll bring
410
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
you a hog or a cow next year. Father Washington,
I'se a-gwine to stick to you as long as I live."
One report for a county in Alabama said: "We have
one hundred families owning 4,000 acres of land, and
not more than ten live in one-roomed houses.''
Another reported fifteen persons owning nearly 2,000
acres and living in good houses. Many similar reports
were given from other states. It is not always an easy
matter for colored people to purchase land. Many
land owners do not like to sell in small tracts; others
will not sell to Negroes. The mortgage system has no
friends in this conference, not one word being raised in
its favor. The tide is turning. Many are still, how¬
ever, sadly in its clutches but struggling hard to free
themselves from its power. In one community the
wives have an organization by which to reduce home
expenses; instead of buying on credit at greatly in¬
creased prices, they bring together their butter, eggs,
chickens and the like, till enough is collected to pur¬
chase one hundred pounds of meat for cash at half the
price they formerly paid. This meat they divide
among themselves and save money; 1,300 pounds have
thus been bought. The one-roomed cabin was thor¬
oughly dfscussed and the reports show that its days
are numbered. Houses with two, three, four or five
rooms are to be seen where formerly the cabin was
thought to be sufficient. Tenants are demanding bet¬
ter houses, and land owners are forced to give them or
lose good farm hands.
Mr. R. L. Smith, of Oakland, Texas, a young man
with only one arm, a school teacher, practical farmer,
and a member of the state legislature, said: "About
five years ago I began to look into the condition of my
people. I found them making good crops, from one
educational Improvement. 4il
and a half to two bales of cotton per acre, but their
homes were small and the influences surrounding them
bad. In 1892 I started a society called the 'Village
Improvement Society.' We have fifty-six members
in a village of two hundred people. In five years
fifteen families have spent $10,000 in improvements.
The surrounding country has been helped by our work.
Our smallest house now has four rooms in it and some
have eight rooms. Last year we extended the order
and called it 'The Farmers' Improvement Society,'
with about seven hundred members. We have five
purposes: to get out of debt, and-keep out, to adopt
improved methods of farming, to co-operate in buying
and selling, to get homes and to improve them.
* * * One result of our efforts has been a marked
change in the treatment we have received from the
white people. Texas is more liberal than most of the
Southern states. I was more or less guided in my
work by what I had heard or read of the Tuskegee
conferences." Mr. Smith showed many pictures of
homes and families in Oakland. He said he had car¬
ried on this work in connection with his school and
farm, and that the legislature of Texas was so much
interested in his coming to Tuskegee that it gave him
a leave of absence and promised to defer action on a
bill in which he was interested until his return home.
A young teacher and farmer from Choctaw county
said: "When we heard what Tuskegee was doing I
said to our people, 'We can do it, too.' So we organ¬
ized a conference in our county. We are under the
mortgage system. Our labor is unskilled. Last year
of twenty-five families with mortgages on their crops
only twelve were able to pay them. Forty-four fam¬
ilies lived on rented lands in one 'beat,' six of them in
27
412
Progress of a race.
houses with only one room; some raised nothing "but
cotton. Twenty-four families have recently bought
land, ten are building better homes, nine report that
they lived for the year without a mortgage. The
average length of our school term is three months.
We have no school houses but use the churches, which
are not fit for service in winter. Sixty per cent, of
the teachers hold third-grade certificates, 30 per cent,
second grade, and 4 per cent, first grade. Morals are
better than they used to be; women are treated better
on the whole; less whisky is used, and, as we have
no railroads in our county, we are not troubled with
excursions. We propose to organize conferences
throughout the whole county and gradually bring the
people up. Our people get money enough but don't use
it right.''
Roscoe 0. Bruce.—Roscoe C. Bruce, the son of Ex-
Senator Bruce from Mississippi, who went from the
colored high schools of Washington to Phillips Exeter
Academy, New Hampshire, was honored in 1897 by
an election as assistant editor for the magazine pub¬
lished by the students of that institution. The color
line was not drawn here. Young Bruce is a remarka¬
bly bright and handsome fellow and has made many
friends at Phillips Exeter. He has distinguished him¬
self for scholarship and oratory. He will graduate in
1898 and will probably enter Harvard University.
The catalogue of Harvard University now contains the
names of six colored men, three of them in the senior
class. In the "Life and Letters of Roscoe Conkling,"
the circumstances under which young Bruce was
named are given, and there appears a letter from
Senator Bruce in which he asks permission to christen
his son in honor of Mr. Conkling, because when he first
educational improvement.
413
entered the senate chamber to take the oath of office
Mr. Conkling was the first man to. offer him welcome.
"The effect upon some members of the senate," wrote
Mr. Bruce, '' was so marked that when I was called to
be sworn in, my colleague, Mr. Alcorn, a man who
owed his seat in the senate largely to my efforts, took
refuge behind a newspaper to avoid extending the
courtesy usual upon such occasions. It was at this
point that the grasp of your hand—the first token of
friendship that I had received—and your warm wel¬
come, made me feel and know that in that august body
I had a friend. No one who has not undergone a
similar ordeal can understand and appreciate my feel¬
ings on that occasion."
Alabama appropriates $2,000 annually for the sup¬
port of a Normal School for the training of colored
teachers. Nearly all the Southern States make annual
contributions for the education of their colored
citizens.
Freedman's Saving's Bank.—Still another agency
in the education of the colored people was the Freed¬
man's Savings Bank. While it existed it was one of
the most powerful agencies in the education of the
colored people. The Freedman's Savings Bank was
organized March 3, 1866. It had thirty-three branches,
four of which were located in Georgia, at Atlanta,
Macon, Augusta and Savannah. During the nine
years of its existence the total deposits amounted to
$56,000,000 for the entire South.
When it failed it owed the colored people of Georgia
$57,149.38. While its loss entailed great misery on
many, it taught the colored people that they could
save, and thus laid the basis of the material prosperity
which has attended the efforts of the colored people of
'414
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Georgia. The colored people of Georgia pay taxes
now on about $16,000,000 worth of real and personal
property, and have, perhaps, not less than $2,000,000
on deposit in the banks of the state and in bonds.
Such were some of the various agencies which were
at work during that early formative stage of Negro
education. And such and so great was the work of
preparing the colored people for the public school sys¬
tem which was inaugurated in 1871.
The Colored Press.—Considering the time since the
Negro was freed there has been a remarkable advance¬
ment in providing literature for the colored people.
There have been not a few authors of note of the race,
but in the colored press we find a repetition of the
press in general. There are in the United States be¬
tween three hundred and three hundred and fifty
colored newspapers, the number varying with the
-campaigns, etc. There are at least twenty colored
papers of large circulation and influence and standing;
among these may be mentioned: The Christian Record,
The Star of Zion, The American Baptist, The Christian
Index and The Afro-American Presbyterian. The best
secular papers are The New York Age, The Itidianapolis
Freeman, The Colored American, of Washington, D. C.,
The Richmond Planet, and The Philadelphia Tribune.
Character.—Of many of the papers for colored peo¬
ple it might be said, as of many other papers, that it
would be better that they had no existence. The hope
of the race lies in education. The colored man must
read, and, as has been said before, it would be better
for him not to read at all than to read the trashy liter¬
ature of today. While the colored press in a general
way is doing much for the elevation of the Negro, yet
the number of papers published and the large circula-
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT.
415
tion of some of them is not a criterion of good work
done. The press, pulpit and the platform have been
great liberators of the nations, but," in order that this
should be the case with the Afro-American press, like
that of any race, there must be an ennobling and ele¬
vated tone. Without this the daily and weekly paper
becomes a curse instead of a blessing. Records of
riots, mobs, murders, and every-day misdoings do
not elevate the morals of the reading public. Too
often it is forgotten that the editorial chair requires
more culture than is gotten by reading the newspapers,
and to the detriment of the race there are those who
are editing some of these race journals that ought to
be relegated to the rear.
Able Editors.—The editor who is sending out week
by week into the families of his patrons, a paper that
is to benefit its readers, ought to be able to grapple
with the problems of the day, the problems upon
which depend the elevation and the continued
advancement of the race. With Dr. Crummell we
believe that it would be better that many of these race
journals were not to exist, because of the incompetency
in the-editorial management. Ministers, physicians,
lawyers and leaders in general, can do much toward
suppressing objectionable literature of today, by advo¬
cating the patronizing only of such papers as are
ennobling and are building up the race. Select your
paper, not for its value in dollars and centa, but rather
for the contents of its columns. .
Religious Papers.—Every family should have at
least one religious paper. Even in religious papers
some might be greatly improved, but when it comes
to the secular paper it were much better not to take a
paper at all than to allow the trashy and objectionable
416
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
newspaper, that has no definite aim, to enter the
home. Here is a field that ought not to be overlooked.
The colored youth of today will read.
Good Literature.—Let parents and leaders in society
everywhere see to it that the literature placed in the
hands of the youth of the race is ennobling, elevating
and instructive, and a great forward movement will
have been made in advancing the interests of the race
in general. Banish the low, trashy and sensational
literature from your homes. Avoid it as you would a
pestilence, and your sons and daughters will in the
future rise up and in improved manhood and woman¬
hood pronounce blessings upon your heads.
The First Daily Newspaper published by the colored
people was the Cairo Gazette, owned, edited and pub¬
lished by Hon. W. S. Scott, of Cairo, Illinois. The
first issue came from the press April 23, 1882.
First Newspaper in the South.—The first race news¬
paper published in the South for the colored men
was the Colored American. It was published in Augusta,
Georgia, and was edited by J. T. Shuften in 1865.
We find the following description of this paper in the
Afro-American Press: "It is designed to be a vehicle
for the diffusion of religious, political and general intel¬
ligence. It will be devoted to the promotion of harmony
and good will between the whites and colored people
of the South, and uniting in its advocacy of industry
and education among all classes; but particularly the
class most in need of our agency. It will steadfastly
oppose all forms of vice that prey upon society, and
give that counsel that tends to virtue, peace and pros¬
perity and happiness."
CHAPTER XIII.
RELIGION AND THE NEGRO.
A Religious Nature.—Whatever else the Negro may
or may not possess, it is generally conceded that he has
an intensely religious nature. His religion, it is true,
does not always manifest itself according to the precise
rules and requirements of cultured and refined society.
He is sometimes boisterous, very demonstrative, and
altogether emotional. By the superficial observer,
these characteristics are regarded as extremely ludi¬
crous, if not disgusting, and are usually catalogued,
with great self-complacency, among the "idiosyncrasies
of the Negro.'' The thoughtful mind, however, recog¬
nizes beneath all these crudities a buoyant spirituality
—a spirituality which even the malign influences of
slavery could not suppress. It was Burke who said,
"Religion, to have any force upon men's under¬
standings,—indeed, to exist at all,—must be sup¬
posed paramount to law, and independent for its
subsistence upon any human institution.'' This glori¬
ous truth, arrived at through reasoning and reflec¬
tion by England's great political philosopher, seems
to have been grasped intuitively by the ignorant
Negro in the days of his bondage. Above the law
that fixed his hard condition and held him therein,
above the sophistry of ecclesiasticism that perverted
truth to justify unrighteous legislation, his faith rose
sublimely and took hold upon the unseen "Power that
maketh for righteousness.''
Sustained by Faith,—It was this faith that sustained
417
BISHOP BENJAMIN TUCKER TANNER, KANSAS CITY, KANSAS.
See sketch in Chapter XIV.
418
RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 419
him in his darkest hours, that caused melody to well
up in his soul, and gush forth in his voice. It was
this faith that enabled him to endure patiently, with¬
out cherishing feelings of vengeance against those
whom he might justly have regarded as oppressors.
Finally, it was this faith that formed the substratum
of his preliminary training, however inadequate, for
the larger life that was to be realized under freedom.
"By that mysterious influence," says Dr. Blyden,
"which is imparted to man independently of outward
circumstances, to not a few of them the preaching of
the Gospel, defective as was its practical exemplifica¬
tion, opened a new world of truth and goodness. There
streamed into the darkness of their surroundings a
light from the Cross of Christ, and they saw that,
through suffering and affliction, there is a path to per¬
fect rest above this world; and in the hours of the most
degrading and exhausting toil, they sang of the eternal
and the unseen; so that while the scrupulous among
their masters often, with Jefferson, "trembled for their
country,'' the slaves who had gained a new language
and new faculties were enjoying themselves in raptur¬
ous music—often laboring and suffering all day, and
singing all night sacred songs which, in rude but
impressive language, set forth their sad fortunes and
their hopes for the future.
Cheerful Music.—No traveler iii the South, who
passed by the plantations thronged with dusky laborers,
and listened to their cheerful music, could ever dream
that they beheld in that suffering but joyous race the
destroyers of the Southern whites. The captive Jews
could not sing by the waters of Babylon, but the
Negroes, in the dark dungeons of American slavery,,
made themselves harps and swept them to some of the
most thrilling melodies.''
420
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Noticeable Fact.—It is a noticeable fact, and indic¬
ative of the susceptibility of the Negro's nature to
religious influences, that, with such limited insight
into divine truth, there should have sprung up all over
the South among them so many effective preachers
and exhorters—some of them men of extraordinary
natural endowments. Stevens, in his history of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, has the following inter¬
esting statement:
"Harry Hosier, better known as 'Black Harry,' was
the traveling servant of Bishop Asbury, and had a
popularity as a preacher which excelled that of the
bishop himself. Dr. Rush, whose predilections for
Methodist preaching are well known, did not disdain
to hear him, and making allowance for his illiteracy
(for he could not read), pronounced him the greatest
orator in America.''
Genuineness.—As to the genuineness of the Negro's
religion, the late Bishop Haygood has said: "I know
that the religious life of the colored people in the days
of slavery was not what it ought to have been, yet
among them were the holiest of men and women."
Strangest Characteristic.— The same author has
elsewhere expressed an opinion which those endeavor¬
ing to educate the race might do well to consider. He
says: "As to my opinion—with as good opportunity as
most men to know what the religious life of the col¬
ored people really is—I say unhesitatingly that his
religion is his strongest and best characteristic. All
there is of hope for him in this country will rise or fall
with the healthy development or the decay of his
religion.''
Progress Phenomenal.—Under freedom the religious
progress of the race has been phenomenal. It would
kELIGION AND THE NEGRO.
421
be difficult to find its parallel in the whole history of
missions. Over a million of these people are today
within the communion of the Baptist churches. Con¬
siderably over a million more are within the Methodist
fold, while they are to be found also in the Congrega¬
tional, Presbyterian, and other evangelical denomina¬
tions. As before the war, even so now, a goodly
number of them are adherents of the Romish Church.
They are intensely loyal to their denomination, and
possess in a larger degree than many other people
what is commonly called "church pride."
Organizations. — The most remarkable, however,
and at once the most promising feature in their
religious development, is the organizations, which,
independently of outside patronage, they have created
and sustained. The African Methodist Episcopal
Church, The Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church,
and the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, in
America, are large and influential bodies, containing
eight hundred thousand members or more. These
bodies, officered and managed throughout by colored
men, are ocular demonstrations of the capability of
the race, and are inspiring in the people self-respect
and self-reliance. Many of their general officers are
men of great power and personal magnetism, while
some have a national reputation.
Liberality.—In the August (1897) number of "The
Gospel in All Lands," appears the following with
reference to the religious growth of the colored people
since emancipation:
"They have shown a remarkable degree of liber¬
ality in contributing toward religious purposes. Not¬
withstanding their poverty and the discouraging
circumstances surrounding them, they have, in addition
422
PROGkESS OF A fcACE.
to the ordinary expenses of maintaining religious
worship, including pastors' salaries, contributed prob¬
ably not less than ten million dollars for the erection
of meeting houses. Some of these buildings are large,
comparatively costly, convenient and attractive.
Noble Achievements.—"They have done remarka¬
bly well, considering all the circumstances, in the mat¬
ter of educational, missionary, charitable, and philan¬
thropic work; many of their religious institutions of
learning being managed by Negro boards of trustees,
taught by Negro teachers, and supported largely or
entirely by themselves. They are also represented on
the boards and in the faculties of the schools main¬
tained for them by Northern benevolence. The
aggregate amount which they pay annually toward
the education of their children in Christian institu¬
tions is a .very considerable sum. They have their
local, state, and national educational and missionary
organizations, and are year by year making progress
in the art of organization and administration. While
they have very much yet to learn in the matter of sys¬
tematizing their beneficence, of keeping and rendering
accurate accounts of money received and disbursed,
they are apt learners, and are making good progress.
They edit and publish numerous religious periodicals,
some of them evincing vigor, independence, [and no
little ability.''
The Future.—With such a showing, made under the
most discouraging circumstances, what may not be
expected of the race under improved and constantly
improving conditions?
Churches Important,—There are at present between
nine and ten millions of Negroes in this country.
This includes all who have any computable fraction of
A. M. E. BIG BETHEL CHURCH, ATLANTA, GA.
424
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Negro blood in their veins. All of these, with the
exception of about five hundred thousand, are in the
Southern states where the emancipation proclamation
reached them and made them forever free from invol¬
untary bondage. The Negro churches of the South
are, therefore, a large and important factor in the
Christianity of that section. In point of church mem¬
bership the Negro is quite as devoted as are his white
brethren. The proportion of colored people who are
connected with the churches in the United States is
larger than that which obtains among the white
people.
Denominations.—As to denomination, the Negro is
predominantly Baptist. More than one-half of all
Negro communicants are of this faith; next come the
Methodists and other branches of the church. The
increase in the number of colored corpmunicants since
the emancipation proclamation has been marvelous.
There were at the outbreak of the war about 275,000
Methodists of color, while at the present there are
over a million. Colored Baptists in i860 did not
exceed 250,000, while today they number 1,500,000.
Helping Himself.—The Negro, considering the little
wealth he had at command when slavery ceased, has
achieved wonders in the accumulation of church prop¬
erty. The value of the churches he owns is $26,626,-
000, the number of edifices being 23,770. Making
due allowance for the generous help which the whites
have given, it still appears that the Negro has not
been unwilling to make large sacrifices for the sake of
religion, and that his industry, thrift and business
capacity have been made to contribute to his successful
endeavors to provide himself with suitable accommo¬
dations for public worship.
RELIGION AND THE NEGRO.
425
Sums Spent.—In education and evangelization among
the Negroes, the various religious bodies have been
specially active. Among these bodies the Congrega-
tionalists claim to have spent $11,000,000 for the
Negro, and spend now nearly $400,000 a year. The
Methodists have spent since emancipation $6,000,000,
and are now spending annually through the Freed-
man's Aid and Southern Education Society $350,000;
the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen in
twenty years have spent $2,400,000, and in addition to
this contribution founded Lincoln University, Penn¬
sylvania, in 1859. The Baptists since 1865, $3,000,000;
the Southern Presbyterian Church, $55,000, between
1878 and 1894; the Christian Church, $100,000. This
vast outlay has produced a result known and read of
all men. No man has attempted to deny the statement
that the Negro has improved intellectually. Not even
the bitterest of his enemies have denied this statement,
and it may be said modestly that there are men and
women among the Negroes who can compare favor¬
ably with some of the best of the other race.
Christian Ministry.—Professor Bowen says: "A
vital question in this consideration is, has the character
of the Negro Christian Ministry improved? The bald
statement of truth is that the distance between the
ministry of today and that of slavery days, or the days
immediately following freedom, cannot be measured
in words. Then, we had no regularly constituted
Negro ministry. A few of our fathers in whose heart
the 'woe is me if I preach not' burned with an un¬
quenchable fire, were permitted to speak occasionally
to the slaves, and that under the freezing gaze of an
overseer's eye, and to this day it is a miracle unsolved
how God preserved a knowledge of the truth through
426
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
the broken vessels of thought amid the dervish wor¬
ship of the ignorant slaves.
Educated and Consecrated.—Since that day there
has- been a constant stream of educated and consecrated
ministers flowing into the ranks of the Negro popu¬
lation. These have been trained in the great universi¬
ties of the North. Besides these, there have gone
forth from the institutions established in the South for
colored people large numbers of genuinely consecrated
ministers of every denomination. Whether it be
accepted or reflected, the fact is that there are in Negro
pulpits all over the land and in the South some Negro
preachers who, in intellectual ability, in moral power
and purity, and in spiritual insight and breadth of wis¬
dom, are the equal of some of the best of the Anglo-
Saxon race."
CHURCHES.
Regular Baptists (Colored).—The colored Baptists
of the South constitute the most numerous of regular
Baptists. Not all colored Baptists are embraced in
this division; only those who have separate churches,
associations, and state conventions. There are many
colored Baptists in Northern states, who are mostly
counted as members of churches belonging to white
associations. None of them are included in the fol¬
lowing estimates and figures.
The first convention of colored Baptists was organ¬
ized in North Carolina in 1866, the second in Alabama,
and the third in Virginia in 1867, the fourth in Arkansas
in 1868, and the fifth in Kentucky in 1869. There are
colored conventions in fifteen states and the District
of Columbia.
In addition to these organizations the colored Bap¬
tists of the United States have others more general in
428
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
character: The American National Convention, the
purpose of which is "to consider the moral, intellectual
and religious growth of the denomination," to delib¬
erate upon questions of general concern, and to devise
methods of bringing the churches and members of the
race together; the Consolidated American Missionary
Convention, the General Association of the Western
States and Territories, the Foreign Mission Conven¬
tion of the United States, and the New England
Missionary Convention. All except the first are mis¬
sionary in their purpose.
The Regular Baptists (colored) are represented
in fifteen states, all in the South, or on the border,
and the District of Columbia. In Virginia and Georgia
they are very numerous, having in the latter 200,516,
and in the former 199,871 communicants. In Alabama
they have 142,437; in North Carolina, 134,445; in
Mississippi, 136,647; in South Carolina, 125,572, and
in Texas, 111,138 members. The aggregate is 1,348,-
989 members, who are embraced in 12,533 organizations,
with 11,987 church edifices, and church property
valued at $9,038,549. There are 414 associations, of
which 66 are in Alabama, 63 in Georgia, 49 in Missis¬
sippi, and 39 in North Carolina.
African Methodist Episcopal. — This branch of
American Methodism was organized in Philadelphia in
1816 by a number of colored members of Methodist
Episcopal Church. They withdrew from the parent
body in order that they might have larger privileges
and more freedom of action among themselves than
they believed they could secured in continued associa¬
tion with their white brethren. The Rev. Richard
Allen was elected the first bishop of the new church
by the same convention, that organized it. In the
RELIGION AND THE NEGRO.
429
year 1787 Mr. Allen had been made the leader of a
class of forty persons of his own color. A few years
later he purchased a lot at the corner of Sixth and
Lombard streets, Philadelphia, where the first church
erected in this country for colored Methodists was occu¬
pied in 1794. This site is now covered by an edifice
dedicated in 1890, valued at $50,000.
In doctrine, government and usage, the church does
not essentially differ from the body from which it
sprang. It has an itinerant and a local or non-itinerant
ministry, and its territory is divided into annual con¬
ferences. It has a general conference, meeting once
every four years; bishops or itinerant general super¬
intendents, elected for life, who visit the annual
conferences in the episcopal districts to which they are
assigned, and presiding elders, who exercise sub-
episcopal oversight in the districts into which the
annual conferences are divided, and it has the proba¬
tionary system for new members, with exhorters, class
leaders, stewards, stewardesses, etc.
There are in the United States, 2,481 organizations;
4,124 edifices, with church property valued at $6,468,-
280, and 452,725 communicants or members.
The church is widely distributed, having congrega¬
tions in forty-one states and territories. The states
in which it is not represented are the two Dakotas,
Idaho, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire and Vermont,
the territories being Alaska, Oklahoma, and Arizona.
Its members are most numerous in South Carolina,
where there are 88,172. Georgia comes second with
73,248; Alabama third, with 30,781; Arkansas fourth,
with 27,956; Mississippi fifth, with 25,439; Tennessee
has 23,718; Texas .23,392, and Florida 22,463. In no
other state does the number reach 17,000. The eight
430
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Southern states above given report 315,169 members,
or considerably more than two-thirds of the entire
membership of the church.
African Union Methodist Protestant.—This body,
which has a few congregations divided among eight
states, came into existence at about the same time the
African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized
(1816), differing from the latter chiefly in objections
to the itineracy, to a paid ministry, and to the episco¬
pacy. It has two annual conferences, with 40 organi¬
zations, 27 church edifices, church property valued at
$55,440, and 3,415 communicants.
African Methodist Episcopal Zion.—A congregation
of colored people, organized in New York city, in 1796,
was the nucleus of the African Methodist Episcopal
Zion Church. This congregation originated in a
desire of colored members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church to hold separate meetings, in which they
"might have an opportunity to exercise their spiritual
gifts among themselves, and thereby be more useful
to one another.'' They built a church, which was
dedicated in 1800, the full name of the denomination
subsequently organized being given to it. The church
entered into an agreement in 1801, by which it was to
receive certain pastoral supervision from the Meth¬
odist Episcopal Church. It had preachers of its own
who supplied its pulpits in part. In 1820 this arrange¬
ment terminated, and in the same year a union of
colored churches in New York, New Haven, Long
Island, and Philadelphia was formed and rules of gov¬
ernment adopted. Thus was the African Methodist
Episcopal Zion Church formally organized.
The first annual conference was held in 1821. ;It
was attended by nineteen preachers, representing six
religion and the negro.
431
churches and 1,426 members. Next year, James
Vanck was chosen superintendent of the denomina¬
tion, which was extended over the states of the North,
chiefly, until the close of the civil war, when it entered
the South to organize many churches.
In its policy, lay representation has long- been a
prominent feature. Laymen are in its annual confer¬
ences as well as in its general conferences, and there
is no bar to the ordination of women. Until 1880 its
superintendents, or bishops, were elected for a term of
four years. In that year the term of the office was
made for life or during a good behavior. Its system
is almost identical with that of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, except the presence of laymen in the annual
conference, the election of presiding elders on the nom¬
ination of the presiding bishop, instead of their
appointment by the bishop alone, and other small
divergences.
Its general conference meets quadrennially. - Its.
territory is divided into seven Episcopal districts, to
each of which a bishop is assigned by the general con¬
ference.
The church is represented in twenty-eight states
and the District of Columbia. It is strongest in North
Carolina, where it has 111,949 communicants. Ala¬
bama comes next with 79,231 communicants; South
Carolina third, with 45,880, and Florida fourth, with
14,791. There are in all 1,704 organizations; 1,587
church edifices; church property valued at $2,714,128,
and 349,788 communicants.
Colored Methodist Episcopal.—The Colored Meth¬
odist Episcopal Church was organized in 1870, of
colored members and ministers of the M. E. Church,
South. Before the war this church did a large evan-
RELIGION AND THE NEGRO.
433
gelistic work among the Negroes. Many of the Negro
slaves received the gospel from the same preachers
and in the same churches as their masters, the galleries
or a portion of the house being assigned to them. For
those who were not privileged to attend organized
churches, special missions were begun as early as 1829.
In 1845 there were 124,000 members of the slave pop¬
ulation, and in i860 207,000 members. In 1866, after
the opening of the South to Northern churches had
given the Negro members opportunity to join the A.
M. E. Church, the A. M. E. Zion and other Methodist
bodies, it was found that there were only 78,000 mem¬
bers left. The General Conference of 1866 authorized
these colored members to be organized into separate
conferences, and in 1870 two bishops were appointed
to organize the colored conferences into a separate and
independent church. This church has the same articles
of religion, the same form of government, and the
same discipline as its parent body. Its bishops are
elected for life.
Bishop Holsey declares that the great aim of the
church is to evangelize the Negro, and to educate and
elevate him. There are 23 annual conferences, 129,383
members. There are 1,750 organizations, with 1,653
church edifices. Valuation of property, $1,713,366.
This church is strongest in Georgia, where it has more
than 22,coo members, Mississippi comes next with
20,000, Tennessee third, with 18,968, and Alabama
fourth, with 18,940.
Congregational Methodists (Colored).—This body
consists of congregations of colored members organ¬
ized into conferences by presidents of the Congrega¬
tional Methodist Church, to which it corresponds in all
particulars of doctrine, polity and usage. The only
434
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
difference in the churches of the two bodies is that
they are composed of white and colored persons,
respectively. There are in all nine organizations and
319 communicants.
Cumberland Presbyterian (Colored).—This body
was organized in May, 1869, at Murfreesboro, Ten¬
nessee, under the direction of the General Assembly
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It was con¬
stituted of colored ministers and members who had
been connected with that church. Its first synod, the
Tennessee, was organized in 1871, and its general
assembly in 1874. It has the same doctrinal symbol
as the parent body, and the same system of govern¬
ment and discipline, differing only in race. It has
twenty-three presbyteries, and is represented in nine
states and one territory. It has 224 organizations,
183 church edifices, 12,956 communicants and church
property valued at $195,826.
It has 81 organizations, 72 church edifices, with an
approximate seating capacity of 24,125 ; 7 halls with a
seating capacity of 825; its church property is valued at
$88,660, with 2,202 communicants or members.
Sunday School Union of the A. M. E. Church.—Of
all the public institutions owned and controlled by
Afro-Americans, the Sunday School Union of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church deserves special
mention. From a purely business standpoint, it has
been a decided success.
Organized August 11, 1882, it has just completed
the first fifteen years of its existence. What as to
results? It is the first colored religious denomination
to adopt "Children's Day" as an anniversary of annual
observance, and to apply the collections received there¬
from to the extension of Sunday school work. It is
RELIGION AND THE NEGRO.
435
the first colored religious organization in the world to
purchase and possess-
real estate paid for
by moneys raised ex¬
clusively by Sunday
. school children. It
is the first colored
~ religious denomina-
■ tion to issue a series,
o f graded Sunday
■: school helps, such as
quarterlies, and les¬
son papers. It is the
first colored religious
denomination to
print and publish
with the aid of its
own machinery and
material Sunday
v school literature and
requisites.
From the returns
of Children's Day, it
"has received $56, -
969.57, while the
W} receipts to business
aggregate $158,658.
It has donated to
^ needy Sunday
|f|S schools, in the way
of books and periodi¬
cals, $5,057.98.
It owns a solid stone front, brick building, situated
on the public square, in Nashville, Tennessee, which
436
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
is of inestimable value to the A. M. E. Church, and
would not be parted with for any sum less than $25,000.
It is five stories high, including the basement.
Its periodicals have a circulation in almost every
state and territory in the West Indies and West and
South Africa.
Its property and business is easily worth $40,000,
and is free and unencumbered, except a current debt
of $1,500, which is partially offset by a cash balance.
It has never assumed the attitude of a public beggar,
nor asked a white person for a single penny. Its
support from all sources has come absolutely and
exclusively from colored people.
Its founder, Charles Spencer Smith, has been its
secretary and treasurer from its organization to the
present.
Items.—Hon. Frederick Douglass, in his early life,
was a local preacher in the A. M. E. Zion Church.
The first A. M. E. Zion church established south of
the Mason and Dixon line, was St. Peter's at New-
berne, North Carolina, in 1862.
The American Baptist Home Missionary Society
has expended in Georgia for educational work among
the 200,000 Negroes there, more than $500,000. Two
of the most important schools—Spelman Seminary
and the Baptist College—are located at Atlanta.
The colored Baptists of the United States report a
membership of 1,348,000, with 11,000 ordained minis¬
ters; 13,000 church buildings, valued at $10,000,000,
and 9,000 Sunday schools, with more than 500,000
scholars.
Rev. Lott Carey was born in Virginia in 1780, and
died November 10, 1828, in Liberia. He was the first
colored American missionary to Africa,
RELIGION AND THE NEGRO.
437
Fully nine-tenths of the colored church members
are Methodists and Baptists, and between these two
they are pretty equally divided.
The oldest colored church in the South is Evans1
Chapel, Fayetteville, North Carolina (A. M. E. Zion).
Remember, Christian Negroes black as Cain may
be refined and join the angelic train.—Phillis Wheatley.
Negroes are more religious than white folks. They
are more emotional. Emotion is not a virtue, for some
emotionalists are sadly wanting in all the virtues.
The amount of knowledge a man has does not
secure his usefulness if he has so taken it in that he is
lop-sided.—Blyden.
If a man wants to know his own strength, he need
not measure himself. He needs only to size up the
fellows who are pulling against him to find out how
strong he is.—Bishop Grant.
The Carrie Steele Orphan Home.—This institution
is located at Atlanta, Georgia. There is perhaps no
colored institution in Georgia that is more worthy of
public consideration and help than this orphan home.
Carrie Steele was a slave until the Emancipation
Proclamation set her free. As a slave she learned to
read and write. For a long time she was employed at
the depot in the city of Atlanta, where she saw many
half-clad ignorant children wandering about the streets,
being tossed hither and thither by the blue wants of
adversity. These sights touched her heart, and she
resolved to do something for the children of her race.
She has done a remarkable work that will make her
memory imperishable, her name immortal.
Carrie Steele has been identified with charitable in¬
stitutions for years, and is in many respects a remark¬
able character and the promulgator of a wonderful
438
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
undertaking; she has given her life to this work and
her influence has been felt in many channels; her
especial work has been along the line of rescuing un-
CARRIE STEELE ORPHAN HOME, ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
fortunate children. Seven years ago she conceived
the idea of building an orphan asylum, where she
could pursue her labors more successfully. She con¬
sulted her friends and in a short time had sufficient
RELIGION AND THE NEGRO.
439
funds subscribed to erect a two-story brick house.
Here she can be found having charge of sixty-four
crinkey headed pick-a-ninnies. She teaches her chil¬
dren first of all to be Christians and industrious. All
are made to work and have very few idle moments.
They are allowed to remain at the home until they get
old enough to make their own living, when they are
thrown upon their own resources, profiting sufficiently
by the religious training to make honest, industrious
men and women. Although the institution has been
in existence for but a few years, nearly fifty have
already gone forth, and are occupying responsible posi¬
tions of trust. Recently, a little church was erected
on the premises for the use of the children.
There have been many gloomy periods, when money
was scarce and prospects for more were not provided,
but her steadfast faith prompted her not to surrender,
and she has always succeeded in securing. from the
friends of the institution whatever was needed.
About the most unique spectacle in the world is .a
happy pick-a-ninny, but with sixty-four of them, all
ages, colors and sizes, together—well, they must be
seen to be appreciated.
The Carrie Steele Orphanage is moving forward,
and is accomplishing much good. The good work that
she is doing there for the city, county and state cannot
be told, it must be seen to be appreciated. When we
go there and see three score or more little motherless
and fatherless children, which have been taken from
the door of • starvation by that good woman, and
through her efforts and those of other friends and the
city and county, and given a home, clothing, and some¬
thing to eat, and see how they are taught their books
and taught to work, it is only then that we can fully
440
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
appreciate the scope of the work in which this good
woman is engaged. Go and see for yourself, and help
her if you can.
.
CARRIE STEELE.
Provident Hospital.—This institution, located at
Chicago, was founded in 1891, and incorporated
through the united efforts of a few earnest men. With
the exception of Freedman's Hospital at Washington,
it is the only institution engaged in special work in
behalf of the colored people. It is unique in its
RELIGION AND THE NEGfcO.
441
character, and those for whom its benefits are more
specially intended are grateful for and appreciative of
its advantages.
Training School for Nurses.—In it is established a
school in which young colored women are fitted for
nurses, and thus a new field for their independence has
been developed. A course of two years has been laid
out, and already three classes have graduated.
In addition to the regular hospital duties, visiting
nurses are sent out among the poor and sick colored
people, with most gratifying results.
Receipts.—The fifth annual report of the board of
trustees gives as the total receipts nearly $30,000, of
which more than $11,000 were voluntarily contributed
by patients themselves, and the remainder by friends
of the institution.
Patients.—The number of colored patients in the
hospital for the first five years was 655.
Gratitude.—Words cannot express the gratitude of
the colored people in the establishment of this home
which has brought new and liberal facilities to the
needy of the colored race.
Hale Infirmary.—In Montgomery, Alabama, in the
eastern part of the city, near Hall street, is a large
eighteen-room building with this inscription on the
corner-.stone: "Infirmary, given by James Hale, for
the benefit of his race, and erected by his wife, as a
memorial to their deceased daughter and son, Sarah
and James."
It was the desire of James Hale to do something to
help the poor and aged of his people, but before he
was able to carry out his plans, he was called away to
"that home over there," in the heavenly city of rest.
He told his wife, however, to carry out his wishes;
PROVIDENT HOSPITAL, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.
RELIGION AND THE NEGRO.
443
and, faithful tc her promise to her dying husband, this
good woman did not cease work until the desires of her
husband were fulfilled. And indeed, although the in¬
firmary is in full operation today, she has not stopped
work, but is going about among the poor, the aged
and the homeless, doing all she can to lighten their
burdens of life. Those who are sick, those who
are alone, those who have no homes, and those who
have fallen among thieves, she is lifting them up,
building up their wounds and taking them to her inn,
the Hale Infirmary. " The property as it stands today
is worth $7,000, and, knowing the needs of my people
as I do, I can say for a truth, James Hale could not
have left his money to a better cause. Our people
have been buying church property and building
churches and preparing to live' in heaven, for more
than a generation. To this I have no objection, but
I think the time is near at hand when we should begin
to mix a little business with our religion, and while
building our churches, let us also build homes for our¬
selves, homes for the orphans, the poor and the aged
of our race, and also infirmaries and hospitals where
the lame, sick and the injured can be cared for."
Mrs. Watts' Orphanage.—At Covington, Georgia,
is located an institution which is doing much good for
the state and for our people. There, in that quiet
little city, is an orphanage and industrial school under
the management of Mrs. D. Pace Watts. That good
woman is toiling on with her work, spending her earn¬
ings and her life, all for the good she may do for the
poor and parentless of her race, and is building up the
kingdom of God among them, and, in her way, as best
she can, is teaching them how to make honest and
honorable citizens.
29
444
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
How sweet must be the lives of those who pass be¬
yond the whirlpool of society and lose themselves in
the midst of spiritual work among- the poor, the friend¬
less, the motherless and the fatherless of the communi¬
ties in which they live. There they work and pray to
make the world better, often without pay, without
thanks, and without encouragement, but they labor on
with the belief that some day, and somewhere, they
will be rewarded.
Such lias been the life work of Mrs. Diana Pace
Watts. She has toiled with her work at Covington
almost single-handed, and has overcome many obsta¬
cles. The extent of her work cannot be told in such
a short article; suffice it to say, however, she is doing
much good for her race and the state, and deserves
the co-operation and support of all who are interested
in Christian work among the lowly.
To Rescue Colored People.—The Rev. George W.
Dickey, pastor of the Burning Bush Mission, Chicago,
Illinois,.recently purchased the three-story brick build¬
ing at 2838 Dearborn street, for the purpose of con¬
verting it into a home for homeless and unfortunate
women. It will be called a Rescue and Industrial
institute. The plan has been under consideration for
some time, and recently a few wealthy Baptists took
hold of the matter, with the -Rev. Mr. Dickey, and the
result is that the home will be opened as soon as the
alterations can be made in the two upper floors.
The property cost $10,500, and is a three-story brick
building, 25x98 feet, on a lot 110 feet deep. There
will be sleeping apartments on the top floor, and on
the second floor the women will be taught sewing,
housekeeping, cooking, stenography, and typewriting,
and whatever else will enable them to be self-support-
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
445
ing. The plan of Rev. Dickey is one of several to
give practical aid to the unemployed among the col¬
ored people. The Rev. Dickey, in speaking of his
work, says:
"We need to do something for our young women.
AMANDA SMITH.
They come to Chicago in large numbers from the South
every year, and drift about in this great city without
any guidance or friends. In a short while they go to
the dogs. It is the one reason why one can go into
446
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
the various stations of the city and see such a large
percentage of colored criminals. I think it is about
time for the Christian people to bestir themselves and
do something practical in the way of giving protection
and kindly assistance to unemployed colored men and
women. Our home is established for this purpose.
And, while we are colored people, J can assure you
that we will not close our doors against the needy of
any race or color.''
Amanda Smith Industrial Orphan Home for Col¬
ored Children.—Amanda Smith, who has labored
much for the elevation of her people, was greatly im¬
pressed with the need of an orphan home for colored
children, and in 1895 secured possession of a property
in North Harvey, Chicago, Illinois, worth $6,000.
Through the sale of her book, evangelistic work and
donations, she has already secured considerable
toward the payment for the building. She is putting
all her time and strength into collecting funds so that
the Home may be free of debt. While she is spend¬
ing her time in the evangelistic field, and in collecting
for the orphanage, her permanent address is 2940 South
Park avenue, Chicago, Illinois.
There is no doubt that this institution will be a
great blessing to the colored people of Chicago and the
North when it is once fully established.
Other Institutions.—The presence of the orphanage
at Covington, the Carrie Steele Orphan's Home, and
the Carter Home for old people and boys, in Atlanta,
the Old Folks' Home at Norfolk, Virginia, the Old
Folks' Home at Philadelphia, the Orphans' Home at
St. Louis, and the Home for Working Girls at Wash¬
ington, D. C., are only some of the evidences which
show "to what extent and with what earnestness the
women of our race have entered upon the work.
CHAPTER XIV.
NOTED PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE.
FORERUNNERS OF LIBERTY.
Frederick Douglass, the most remarkable man of
Negro blood yet produced in the United States was
born in Talbot county, Maryland, in February, 1817,
and had just completed his seventy-eighth year, at the
time of his death. He was the mulatto son of a slave
mother, and consequently himself born a slave. At a
very early age he went to Baltimore to live, where he ac¬
quired a rudimentary education. His owner allowed him
to employ his own time at three dollars per week, and he
obtained work in a shipyard. When just twenty-one
years old he ran away to New York, and from there went
to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he supported
himself as a laborer. He came, by some means, under
the observation of William Lloyd Garrison, who assisted
his efforts at self-education, and under Garrison's aus¬
pices he was brought out as an orator at abolition meet¬
ings in New England. In 1841 he attended an anti-
slavery meeting at Nantucket, and made a speech that
brought him into national notice. - After this, as agent
of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, he traveled
through the Northern states making abolition speeches.
Anti-slavery agitation was a sensitive and exciting
theme at that period of the country's history, and the
bold utterances of the colored orator, the first person
of his race to display such capability, made him a very
much discussed person. He afterward edited The
North Star, an abolition paper, at Rochester, New
York, and published one or two books giving his
417
HON. FREDRICK DOUGLASS.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 449
experience as a slave, and intended to promote the
then fast growing abolition sentiment.
The Maryland family to whom Douglass had always
belonged as a slave were named Lloyds, but after
going North he adopted for himself the name he has
since borne. When he had become distinguished his
friends in England raised a purse of $750 with which
his freedom was legally purchased.
He visited England in 1845, and made many speeches
there that were well received. He was charged with
conspiracy in the John Brown raids into Virginia in
1859, and Governor Wise made a requisition for his
arrest on the governor of Michigan. Legal complica¬
tions were avoided by a second visit to England. Of
this visit Douglass later beautifully said: "I fled from
the talons of the American eagle to nestle in the mane
of the British lion.'' When the Civil War broke out he
urged emancipation and the employment of the Negro
troops. Later he was active in organizing Negro regi¬
ments in the North. After the war he held various
offices under Republican administration. Mr. Cleveland
removed him from his office of Recorder of Deeds of
the District of Columbia in 1886, and three years later
Mr. Harrison made him minister to Hayti, the last
official position that he filled. The Haytian govern¬
ment made him one of the commissioners for its exhibit
at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago.
In early life, while residing at New Bedford, Mas¬
sachusetts, Douglass was married to a woman of his
own color, by whom he had two sons and a daughter,
who survive him. A few years ago he was married to
Helen Pitts, a white woman from New England, who
was employed as clerk in the office when he was
Recorder of Deeds. In appearance, Douglass' Cau-
450
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
casian blood was very manifest. He was of bright com¬
plexion, with prominent, clearly defined features, and
hair only slightly curly. In old age he wore his hair
and beard long, which gave him an air at once striking
and venerable. His oratorical gift was of no ordinary
quality, and no man in American public life was a
greater factor in that agitation which led up to the
events of 1860-65, an(^ created such a revolution in the
country's condition. He leaves a fortune, the accu¬
mulation of savings during a long life, estimated by
some as high as $200,000.
William Lloyd Garrison relates the following story of
Douglass and Sojourner Truth, a character as remark¬
able in her way as Douglass was in his. She was a
thorough African of unmixed blood, gaunt and black.
She was born a slave in New York, and emancipated
when slavery was abolished in that state. She could
neither read nor write, whereas Douglass had educated
himself and was the peer of any so-called self-educated
white man. At an anti-slavery meeting, when the
aspect of affairs was particularly dark, Douglass was
speaking and indulging in gloomy views of the situa¬
tion. Sojourner, who was a listener, and was pos¬
sessed with an intense religious faith, was disturbed
at the tone of his despondency, and in a moment
relieved her feelings and those of the meeting as well,
by saying in her deep voice: "Is God dead, Fred¬
erick?" Nobody could appreciate the hit better than
himself, and the closing remarks were in a more hope¬
ful strain.
Hon. Josiah T. Settle, of Memphis, says: "On one
occasion, some time before emancipation, he attended
the Fourth of July celebration, I think, at Rochester;
he was then a man of international fame, and was
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE, 451
called upon to speak I have not seen the speech in
print for more than thirty years, but as I read it then
and remember it now, taken in connection with the
times and circumstances under which it was made, the
man and the occasion, nothing could have been more
truly eloquent. When he arose and looked over his
audience, among other things he said: 'Why am I
called upon to speak on an occasion such as this?
Why should I celebrate your Fourth of July? What
freedom have I and my people to celebrate? Above
your shouts and the roar of your cannon I can hear
the crack of the slave whip, the clanking of the chains,
and the groans of my oppressed brethren in the South.
Your rejoicings do but fill to overflowing my cup of bit¬
terness. You were willing to bare your breasts to cannon
to evade a tax on tea, but you turn a deaf ear to three
millions of human beings, made in the image of God,
who are vainly pleading to you in chains that they may
own their own bodies, and that they may be protected
in the commonest ties of husband and wife, parent and
child. While you celebrate the anniversary of your
independence, you have coiled up in the youthful
bosom of your republic the serpent of slavery, sucking
her life's blood, and sending its poison into every mem¬
ber of her body. Your Declaration of Independence
is a lie! And your flag contaminates the very air of
God. Every stripe upon it represents the blood and
bondage of my people, and every star glitters to your
country's shame.' "
From a memorial address in "Talks for the Times,"
we take the following; "If I were asked to sum up in
a word what made Frederick Douglass great, I should
say a noble purpose, fixed and unchangeable, a pur¬
pose to render to mankind the largest possible service.
452
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Verily, he has served us well, faithfully, unselfishly,
and now, full of years, and full of honors, loaded with
such distinctions as this poor world has to give, he
dies, dies as he lived, a brave, strong-, good man. No
more shall we behold that manly form. No more
shall we listen to those eloquent lips upon which, for
over fifty years, so many thousands have hung with
rapture, those eloquent lips that made his name
famous in two hemispheres, and will surely keep it
so as long as freedom has a history. God grant that
the mantle of this old hero may fall upon a worthy
successor! God grant that our young men, contemplat¬
ing his life and emulating his example, may be lifted
up to a higher conception of life, of duty, of responsi¬
bility, of usefulness!"
William Still.—We abridge the following from the
"Life of William Still," as it is given in the revised
edition of the "Underground Railroad":
His parents, Levin and Sidney, were both slaves
on the eastern shore of Maryland. "Massa, I'd sooner
die than stay a slave!" was the declaration of his
father to his young master before either was twenty-
one years of age. The master saw that it would be
impossible to change this determination of the slave,
and felt that it would be policy under the circum¬
stances to drive the best bargain he could. He decided
to sell him to himself, or, in other words, give him
the chance of buying his freedom. The price was
named and accepted by the slave. His former dili¬
gence was now doubly taxed to complete the hard task
of working out his freedom. At last, by dint of perse¬
verance and economy, he succeeded. Being free, he
could not breathe the air tainted by slavery, hence,
severing the sacred ties of family, bidding good-bye
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 453
to his wife and four children (two boys and two girls),
and trusting God for the future, he started northward
and located near Greenwich, New Jersey. The wife
felt more keenly than ever the yoke of bondage; she,
too, resolved to break it, but not in the tedious way
her husband had done. For the sake of liberty and of
being reunited to her husband, she resolved to accept
the trials and dangers of escape, and if not successful,
the death which such an attempt often involved.
Under the influence of a mighty resolution, hoping for
such indirect aid as her husband could furnish, she set
out with her four children on her toilsome fugitive
journey. Then came days of watching, waiting and
fear of detection, nights perilous with forced travel,
times of despair as swamps and forests interposed,
rivers intervened or starvation threatened. Success
crowned her perils and sacrifices. The father's heart
and hand had been diligent in her movements, as she
had anticipated. The family was joyfully reunited,
and a home was provided near Greenwich. The old
name of Steele became Still. Every precaution was
taken to preserve the secret of their past existence.
But the scent of the slave hunter was not to be baffled
by these precautions. In a few months, a capturing
gang, terrible as an army with banners, suddenly
pounced upon the peaceful household, and the wife
and four children were dragged back to their old slave
quarters in Maryland. Liberty's draught once tasted,
the lips of the slave mother longed for it again. Plans
for a second attempt were laid. None seemed feasible
that included her four children. Agonizing as was
the thought of severing herself from her children, she
could not overcome the dreadful alternative by any
ingenuity of her own. At last, the plan was laid out;
454
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
she would leave her two boys tinder the care of her
dear mother, who was also in bondage. What tears
watered the sad conclusion! She would save the girls,
the youngest and weakest. The sorrowful night came.
Nerved for the hour and the painful occasion, she
rushed to the little straw bed on which her four chil¬
dren were sleeping, kissed her boys farewell without
waking them, clasped her two little girls in her
strong, true arms, bade her mother good-bye, and
trusting in God, began again the perilous march to
freedom. Not recounting the trials and hardships and
dangers overcome, she reached the free soil of New
Jersey, and rejoined her husband with her two little
girls. And now greater precaution was necessary,
hence a home in the depths of the Jersey pines, seven
miles east of Medford, was chosen. Guarding their
family history, working peaceably and industriously,
dealing honestly, walking reverently, Levin Still was
permitted to escape the pursuit of the slave hunter,
and to enjoy the blessings of home. His acres became
his own; thrift brought this reward to him. His family
increased until it numbered eighteen children in all,
the youngest of whom was William Still, the subject
ofVur sketch. Suffice it to say of the two sons in
slavery, that they were sold and taken South. One of
them died in slavery, and the other, Peter Still,
returned to the family forty years later. When old
enough, William began to work on the farm, the stock
of which consisted of a horse and a yoke of oxen. The
cranberry meadows near by furnished employment
for him and his brothers. In the winter, the Still
family were occupied in putting up cordwood. In the
rich agricultural district west of Medford, he succeeded
in obtaining work during harvest, always receiving
PERSONAGES. OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 455
kind treatment and good wages. Whisky was served,
according to custom, to the harvest hands. One day,
William, exhausted by the heat, and his efforts to do
a full hand's work, was induced to take a drink. It
sickened him so that he was forced to return home,
and report a quarter of a day's work lost labor. This
humiliated him so that he resolved never to touch the
accursed stuff again. If there is anything in his life
of which he is proud, it is the faithful keeping of the
vow then registered.
William received no schooling until he was seventeen
years of age, when a teacher was secured who was
favorably inclined to the colored race. He then drop¬
ped all work and attended school. He subscribed for
The Colored American, but the postmaster did not con¬
sider it proper to dispense that kind of literature
through the mails, and so withheld the paper for a
number of weeks. At last he was informed that he
could have his papers if he paid what was due on them.
He paid thirty cents postage, and was given a bundle
of papers which, when he got home and unfolded,
were undelivered numbers of other papers not his
own. He, however, applied at once to the postmaster,
and carried his point. In 1844, when he was twenty-
three years old, he went to Philadelphia with only $3
in his pocket. Here he was obliged to confront the
question of color. He was not able to secure steady
work, discouragement and failure met him on every
hand. After being engaged in work for some time,
he found that he was not making enough to pay his
modest board bill. During the next summer, he
worked in a brick yard. Determined to provide for
the coming winter better tha.n he did for the first win¬
ter spent"in Philadelphia, he resolved to start a busi-
456
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ness of his own. He engaged in the oyster business,
but a very brief experience proved to him that he was
not capable of carrying it on. Through the pious rep¬
resentations of a rogue the money he had on hand was
temporarily loaned, and the prospective profit became
a real loss. He then became a second-hand clothing
dealer, but this plunged him into bankruptcy. He
then got a position as a waiter in a Broad street house,
but the surroundings were so disgusting and the work
so hard that in three weeks, hearing of a vacancy in
the family of an aged widow of great wealth, he
ventured to try for the place. Here lie was engaged
after a searching examination at $14 per month. By
faithfulness, he soon won the esteem of the lady, and
found that, although she was exacting in requiring her
rules to be obeyed, yet she was kind and always ready
to aid him. His duties were light, and as the good
lady discovered his taste for books, she extended all
encouragement to him that she could. She permitted
him to keep up his connection with the Sunday school
at the Moral Reform Retreat, and assisted him in
acquiring knowledge of books. After spending eight¬
een months very profitably and pleasantly in the home
of this old lady, she left the city to reside with her
daughter in New York. This ended William's engage¬
ment, and he was sorry enough to part with one who
was so kind to him. With the references from the
good old lady, he soon secured a place with the family
of a retired merchant until he heard that a clerk was
needed in the office of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery
Society. He made application for the position, and
was informed that the committee would employ him
provided the salary suited, $3.75 per week In the
meantime, having wdn a lady and made her his wife,
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 457
he looked around for further employment in order that
he might eke out a comfortable subsistence for himself
and wife. This he procured as janitor of the library
building, at a salary of $6 per month. His wife, in
the meantime, carried on dressmaking. His faithful¬
ness and ability in office work soon induced the
committee in charge of the Anti-Slavery office to
increase his salary. He had become an earnest, con¬
fidential worker in the underground railroad matters,
and his house had been known as a safe and con¬
venient station on the line of northward march. He
was ever on the alert to aid slaves to escape. Many
of the successful attempts that he made to liberate
Negroes are recorded in his volume, "The Under¬
ground Railroad.'' He resigned as chairman of the
committee in 1861, and immediately began business
as a dealer in stoves, also the sale of coal on a small
scale, and this business increased until he has become
one of the noted coal dealers of the city. He was
unanimously elected a member of the Philadelphia
Board of Trade, and has for years been reaping the
reward of energy and integrity in the shape of a daily
enlarging confidence. In 1872 he published his work,
"The Underground Railroad." The manuscript had
been very carefully secreted during the war, as no
other of the underground railroad managers had
dared to make any note of the work. At the Centen¬
nial Exposition in 1876 his book attracted much atten¬
tion. Mr. Still, although past seventy-five years of age,
is still vigorous and active. He is still engaged in phi¬
lanthropic Work. He is actively engaged as president,
etc., on the b6ard of "The Homfc for Aged and Irifirm
Colored People,'' for more than thirty yestrs, His-Hfe
has been a busy and useful one. He was connected
458
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
with a society for improving the condition of the Negro
race, of which Benjamin Franklin was first president,
and which was organized one year before the United
States government.
The reader will, no doubt, desire to know something
concerning the two boys who were sold in slavery into
the South. We take the following from the life of
William Still, giving an account of his meeting with
his brother:
"One summer day, in 1850, as I was busily engaged
in mailing "the weekly issue of the Pennsylvania Free¬
man,, two colored men entered the office. One of them
was a resident of Philadelphia, and well known to me;
the other I never had seen. My acquaintance intro¬
duced the stranger as coming from the South, and with
the added remark, 'He will tell you his own story.'
I paused, and the stranger began in a very deliberate
manner, saying: 'I am from Alabama. I have come
in search of my people. I and my little brother were
kidnapped about forty years ago, and I thought by
coming to Philadelphia and having notices written and
read in the colored churches old people would remem¬
ber about it, and I could find my mother and people.'
"After going on with his story for a few mintues in
this way, I became fully satisfied that, if his story were
as he had given it thus far, I could save valuable time
by asking a few questions. I -therefore asked:
" 'Where were you kidnapped from?'
"A.—'I don't know.'
"Q.—'Don't you know the name of the place?'
"A.—'No.'
"Q.—Don't you know the name of any town, river,
neighborhood or state?'
"A.—'No.'
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE.
459
"Q.—'What was your name?'
"A.—'Peter.'
"Q.—'What was your little brother's name?'
"A.—'Levin.'
"Q.—'What were the names of your father and
mother?'
"A.—'Mother's name was Sidney and father's name
was Levin?'
"Q.—'Do you remember the name of any other
person?'
"A.—'I know the name of one white man.' (Here
he named him.)
"By this time I was simply thunderstruck,' so to
speak. I had to summon all my powers of control in
the presence of the stranger, so fully was I convinced
by this time that he was one of my long-lost brothers.
I scarcely knew what to do. for a little time, but by
and by I dismissed the pilot, saying I would look further
into the case after I got through with my mailing and
take care of the stranger over night. This was satis¬
factory to the pilot, but hardly so to the stranger, till
he was advised by his friend that it would be all right.
"Before intimating to my brother the discovery I
had made, I allowed a full hour to pass, meanwhile
plying him with a thousand questions touching his
entire life. Then, seating myself by his side, I said:
'I think I can tell you all about your kinfolk—mother,
father, etc.,' and went on to say, 'You are an own
brother of mine.'
"As anxious as he had been all his life to find his
lost parents and relatives, this news was at the moment
too good for him to fully credit. He was as one dumb¬
founded. I went on to assure him of the truth of all I
had said,.by relating our family history in detail, and
460
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
dwelling particularly on mother's escapes, and how,
in her second attempt, she was obliged to leave her
two little boys, Levin and Peter, behind, in the care
of their grandmother.
"Having explained the matter to Peter thus fully,
his doubts vanished and he went home with me. Our
two sisters living in Philadelphia, who were acquainted
with all the secrets of the family history, were soon
called in, and became joyful witnesses of the marvel¬
ous restoration. Outside of myself and sisters, I felt
sure he might have enquired the city over without
having obtained the slightest cue to his lost relations.
"The next day he was taken to our mother's home
in New Jersey, and fully recognized by her, not a
shadow of doubt appearing as to his identity, as he was
her very image.
"Allow me to remark just here that it was this
heartrending history connected with my own family
that first prompted me to keep the records of the
underground railroad. Thousands of escapes, har¬
rowing separations, dreadful longings, dark gropings
after lost parents, brothers, sisters, and identities,
seemed ever to be pressing on my mind. While I
knew the danger of keeping strict records, and while I
did not dream that in my day slavery would be blotted
out, or that the time would come when I could publish
these records, it used to afford me great satisfaction to
take them down fresh from the lips of fugitives on the
way to freedom, and to preserve them as they had
given them. But, thank God! the end of slavery came
ere we looked for it, and the records are no longer
preserved in secret, nor is their presence a source of
danger."
" Francis Ellen Watkins Harper was born in Baltimore
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 461
in 1825, not of slave parentage, and yet subjected to
the oppression which bond and free alike endured
under the slave laws. Since reaching her majority, in
looking back, the following sentences from her own
pen express the loneliness of her childhood days:
"Have I yearned for a mother's love? The grave
was my robber. Before three years had scattered
their blight around my path, death had won my
mother from me. Would a strong arm of a brother
have been welcome? I was my mother's only child. "
An aunt cared for her during her early years. She
was sent to school until she was about thirteen years
of age, and then put to work to earn her living. It
was her fortune to work for a lady willing to let her
have any book in her library to read at her leisure,
except a novel.
She had an ardent thirst for knowledge, and a
remarkable talent for composition. She was noted for
her industry, rarely trifling away time, as many girls
are wont to do. In early life she acquired a taste for
reading and poetry, and soon found, as she says, ''she
could string verses together and make them jingle.''
Scarcely had she reached her majority before she had
written a book, "Forest Leaves," consisting of prose
and poetry. The following is one of the poems of
the volume. At the time it was also printed in an
English paper. Not having either the volume or the
paper at hand, Mrs. Harper has kindly sent us a copy
which she has quoted from memory, although she is
seventy-two years of age:
ETHIOPIA.
Yes, Ethiopia yet shall stretch
Her bleeding hands abroad;
Her cry of agony shall reach
The burning throne of God.
462
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
The tyrant's yoke from off her neck,
His fetters from her soul,
The mighty hand of God shall break
And spurn the base control.
Redeemed from dust, and freed from chains,
Her sons shall lift their eyes;
From lofty hills and verdant plains
Shall shouts of triumph rise.
Upon the dark, despairing brow
Shall play a smile of peace;.
For God shall bend unto her woe,
And bid her sorrows cease.
'Neath sheltering vines and stately palms
Shall laughing children play;
And aged sires, with joyous psalms,
Shall gladden every day.
Secure by night and blest by day,
Shall pass her happy hours;
No human tigers hunt for prey
Within her peaceful bowers.
Then, Ethiopia, stretch, O, stretch
Thy bleeding hands abroad;
Thy cry of agony shall reach
And find the throne of God.
Her taste for poetry was nurtured and fed in her
uncle's school, which she attended for a number of
years. Among the early recollections of her life are
some reminiscences of Whittier and Garrison. Of
her uncle, she says: "Our teacher, in instructing his
pupils, did more than simply carry us through the
routine of lessons, and nearly sixty years have not
affected what I learned in that little school room,
which was only a few yards from a slave-pen."
All her writings have a highly moral and elevated
tone. In 1851 she left Baltimore to seek a home in a
free state, and for a short time resided in Ohio, where
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 463
she was engaged in teaching. She soon left that state,
and engaged in teaching in Little York, Pennsylvania.
While in York she had frequent opportunities of seeing
passengers of the underground railroad. In one
of her letters, she alluded to a traveler, thus: "I saw
a passenger per the underground yesterday. Not¬
withstanding the abomination of the nineteenth
century, the fugitive slave law men still determine
to be free. Notwithstanding all the darkness in which
they keep the slaves, it seems, that somehow light is
dawning upon their minds. These poor fugitives are
a property that can walk. Just to think that from the
rain-bow crowned Niagara to the swollen waters of the
Mexican Gulf, from the restless murmur of the
Atlantic to the ceaseless roar of the Pacific, the poor,
half-starved, flying fugitive has no resting place for
the sole of his foot." In 1853 Maryland, her native
state, enacted a law forbidding free people of color
from the North from going into the state, on pain of
being imprisoned and sold into slavery. A free man,
who had unwittingly violated this infamous statute,
had recently been sold in Georgia, but had escaped
thence by hiding behind the wheel-house of a boat
bound northward. Before he reached the desired
haven, he was discovered and remanded to slavery,
and soon after died from the effects of exposure and
suffering. In a letter to a friend referring to this
outrage, Mrs. Harper wrote: "Upon that grave I
pledged myself to the Anti-Slavery cause.'' She soon
went to Philadelphia, making her home at the station
of the underground railroad. Although anxious to
enter the anti-slavery field as a worker, her modesty
prevented her from pressing her claims, and, being
but little known, no especial encouragement was ten-
464
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
dered her. From Philadelphia she went to Boston, and
soon was found lecturing in New Bedford Her first
effort made such an impression that she was at once
engaged by the State Anti-Slavery Society of Maine.
Her ability and labors were everywhere appreciated,
and her meetings were largely attended. Open doors,
hospitable homes, and helping hands were proof that
she had found her field of labor in pleading for the
cause of her people in bondage.
For a year and one-half, she continued in the Eastern
states, and then visited" the fugitives in Canada. Her
newly acquired reputation as a, lecturer opened wide
for her the door in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Her con¬
stant traveling required her absence from what she
might call home, and she often expressed the desire
that she might be able to enjoy the blessings of a
home, "and yet," says she, "I do not regret that I
have espoused this cause. Perhaps I have been of
some service to the cause of human rights, and I hope
the consciousness that I have not lived in vain will
be a halo of peace around my dying bed, a heavenly
sunshine lighting up the dark valley and shadow of
death." She was far from desiring at her death a
burial in a slave state, as expressed in the following
language:
"Make me a grave wher'er you will,
In a lowly plain or a lofty hill;
Make it among earth's humblest graves,
But not in a land where men are slaves."
In the fall of i860, Mrs. Harper was married to
Fenton Harper, a widower and a resident of Ohio.
The means she had saved from the sale of her books
and from lectures she invested in a small farm near
Columbus. Notwithstanding her family cares, she
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 465
only ceased from her literary and anti-slavery labors
when compelled to do so by other duties. In 1864
death deprived her of her husband. After the war,
she spent much of her time in laboring for her people
in the South. Mrs. Harper traveled extensively,
going on the plantations among the lowly as well as
to the cities and towns, addressing schools, churches,
meetings in court houses, etc., influenced wholly by
the noble impulses of her own heart, working her way
along unsustained by any society. The work among
the freedmen of today may sometimes have difficulties
and trials to encounter, but for Mrs. Harper, in' the
days of reconstruction, when the Negro had no rights
that a white man might respect, to go alone into these
waste places of the South and bring comfort and
encouragement to the down-trodded of her race, often
endangering her life, was more than the average indi¬
vidual _of today would consent to do. After many
years of hard labor in the South, Mrs. Harper
returned to Philadelphia, where she has since had her
home. She is, however, not idle, but is always look¬
ing to the necessities of those around her, whom she
may lift up by her encouraging and helpful advice.. Mrs.
Harper is a woman of high moral tone, with superior
native powers, highly cultivated, and a captivating
eloquence that hold her audience in rapt attention
from the beginning to the close. She always speaks
well, but particularly so when the subject relates to
the condition of her people, in whose welfare, before
and since the war,'she has taken the deepest interest.
The following lines were written by Mrs. Francis
E. Harper on the return from Cleveland, Ohio, of a
poor, ill-fated girl, under the Fugitive Slave law:
so
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
TO THE UNION SAVERS OF CLEVELAND.
"Men of Cleveland, had a vulture
Sought a timid dove for prey,
Would you not, with human pity,
Drive the gory bird away?
Had you seen a feeble lambkin
Shrinking from a wolf so bold,
Would ye not, to shield the trembler,
In your arms have made its fold?
But when she, a hunted sister,
Stretched her hands that ye might save,
Colder far than Zembla's regions
Was the answer that ye gave.
On the Union's bloody altar
Was the hapless victim laid;
Mercy, truth, and justice shuddered,
But your hands would give no aid.
And ye sent her back to torture,
Robbed of freedom and of right,
Thus the wretched captive stranger
Back to slavery's gloomy night.
Back where brutal men may trample
On her honor and her fame;
And unto her lips so dusky,
Press the cup of woe and shame.
There is blood upon your city,
Dark and dismal is the stain;
And your hands would fail to cleanse it
Though Lake Erie ye should drain.
There's a curse upon your Union,
■ Fearful sounds are in the air;
As if thunderbolts were framing
Answers to the bondsman's prayer.
Ye may offer human victims
Like the heathen priests of old;
And may barter manly honor
For the Union and for gold.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 467
But ye cannot stay the whirlwind
When the storm begins to break;
And our God doth rise in judgment
For the poor and needy's sake.
And your sin-cursed, guilty Union,
Shall be shaken to its base,
Till ye learn that simple justice
Is the right of every race."
Since freedom she has also been engaged in the tem¬
perance field, and for many years has held the position
of superintendent of colored work in the Woman's
Christian Temperance Union. She has contributed
freely to the columns of the Union Signal, the weekly
paper of that organization. She has been a member
from the beginning of the "Woman's Congress,"
holding for a time the position of director. She has
spoken at and attended the "National Council of
Women." Although seventy-two years old, she is
still in the lecture field, and is actively engaged in
different lines of literary work. Her home is 1006
Bainbridge street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There
is probably no woman, white or colored, who has
come so intimately in contact with the colored people
in the South, for she has labored in every Southern
state except Arkansas and Texas. She has never
lacked for evidences of hearty appreciation and grati¬
tude.
EDUCATORS.
The items of the following biographical sketch have been
gleaned from different sources but principally from an article by
Dr. Parks, of Gammon Theological Seminary.
(H. P. Kletzing.)
Prof. W. H. Crogman, A. M., who occupies the chair
of Greek and Latin in Clark University, Atlanta,
Georgia, in Christian character, scholarship in his
468
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
department, literary ability, general culture, and
distinguished services, stands, it is safe to say, at the
very head of the colored race. In all the particulars
mentioned, he would honor a professorship in any
college in the land.
The subject of this sketch was born on the Island of
St. Martin's, May 5, 1841. In 1855 he went to sea on
a vessel on which Mr. B. L. Boomer was mate. Mr.
Boomer took a deep interest in him, and afterwards
took him to his home in Massachusetts. Mr. Boomer's
brothers were sea captains. The boy, Willie Crog-
man, followed the sea with this family for eleven years.
He visited many lands, and, observant and thoughtful,
obtained a wide knowledge of various nationalities
and parts of the world. His visits included especially
England, various points of the continent of Europe,
Calcutta and Bombay in Asia, and various places in
South America. Mr. Boomer says:
"It has been my good fortune to know our good
friend all the way since he was fifteen years old, and
it would afford me the greatest satisfaction if I could
feel that his great success in all these years had in any
manner been furthered by me. On the contrary, his
untiring perseverance, diligent, wise and studious use
of his time and money, made him from the first inde¬
pendent of all save our love, respect and never-ceasing
interest.''
In 1866, at the suggestion of Mr. Boomer, he began
to earn means to attend an academy, and in 1868
entered Pierce Academy, in Massachusetts. Of his
work during the two years in this school, Prof. J. W.
P. Jenks, of Brown University, who was then the
principal of the academy, says:
"Beginning with me in the elementary English
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 469
branches, I may safely say, in them all, he accom¬
plished in one quarter as much as the average student
did in two, mastering almost intuitively, and with
equal facility, both mathematical and linguistical prin¬
ciples. I formed him into a class of one, lest he
should be hindered by the dullness of others. In the
third quarter he commenced French, and, as I have
often said, surpassed every one of the hundreds of
students, in both rapidity of advancement and accuracy
of scholarship. I need say no more, except that his
record since leaving the academy, taking all the exten¬
uating circumstances into the account, has reflected
greater honor upon me as its principal, and his almost
sole instructor while connected with it, than any other
alumnus.''
After completing this academic course, Prof. Crog-
man started South to give his life to the Christian
education of his race. He spent three years as instruc¬
tor in English branches at Claflin University, Orange¬
burg, South Carolina. The experience of these years
'impressed upon him the need of a knowledge of Greek
and Latin, and at the age of twenty-nine he began the
study of Latin by himself. In the fall of 1873, he
entered Atlanta University, completing the full clas¬
sical course in 1876. Through industry, thorough
scholarship and rapid advancement, he completed the
four years course in three, then carrying off as his bride
one of the noblest and most gifted and cultured young
ladies, Miss Lavinia C. Mott, of Charlotte, North
Carolina, Professor Crogman entered upon the
work to which he has given all these years. Called at
once to the position in the faculty of Clark University,
he has occupied his present chair since 1880. For more
than twenty long years, Professor Crogman has been
470
PROGRESS OF A RACE,
an incessant laborer, and continuous in self sacrificing,
in order that he might break the fetters of ignorance
and superstition, and give liberty to the captives. His
earnestness and faithfulness in the class-room, where
he is so much at home, produces an eloquence more
effective than a thousand orators upon the stage.
Learned and yet modest, humble and yet dignified, he
carries with him a personality that is his own. As the
result of his labor, let the voices from a thousand ham¬
lets in this and adjoining states speak out; let the
young men and women from a thousand homes, who
have imbibed knowledge and manhood at his feet,
come forward and tell the story.
Pages might be written containing tributes from his
students through all these years. His is a life whose
influence is not bounded by any section of country.
To him more than to any other instructor are many of
the educated colored people of the South indebted for
the success with which they are meeting.
At his fiftieth anniversary, letters from students
expressive of their highest appreciation of him were
read, the excellent qualities that characterize him as
a man and as a teacher were vividly set forth, as well
as his thorough work in class-room, system and method
in instructing, manly and helpful talks that often
were a source of inspiration and led many to noble
resolves.
Professor Crogman's library is large, choice and
costly, and every book in it shows that it has been
used. He is a close and thorough student.
He was a lay delegate to the General Conference of
the M. E. Church of 1880, 1884 and 1888, and one of
the secretaries of the last two of these, being the first
colored man placed on the staff of secretaries of a gen¬
eral conference of that church.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 471
At his fiftieth anniversary, already referred to, his
friends presented him with an elegant gold watch, a
beautiful set of Carlsbad china, nine handsomely bound
volumes of ancient classics, and a large ornamental
inkstand, from which rolled out one hundred dollars
in gold.
Mrs. Crogman, a graduate of Atlanta University, in
her character and services as his helpmeet, and as
queen of one of the most refined and cultured homes,
and as mother of eight most promising children, is
worthy of no less honor than the professor himself.
Some years ago a university of good standing
conferred upon Professor Crogman the degree of
LL. D., but in his modesty he insists on declining the
honor, and most of his friends defer to his wishes in
not using the title, though they regard him as worthy
of the honor it implies. Professor Crogman, though
closely confined to his class-room for most of the year,
has addressed with great acceptability not only his own
people, on various occasions, but some of the most
prominent audiences in this country, notably at Ocean
Grove, in Beecher's church, and at the National
Teachers' Association. His address, a few years ago,
at the meeting of the last named in Madison, Wiscon¬
sin, was generally regarded as one of the ablest and
most eloquent.
His life is a busy one. Besides attending to the
many duties devolving upon him, he is author of a
volume, "Talks for the Times," which cannot but be
a blessing to all who read it. This volume is receiving
the highest encomiums from both press and educators
in all parts of the land. These addresses are rhetori¬
cally beautiful, intellectually brilliant, and show the
author to be perfectly familiar with history, philosophy
and current literature.
472
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Bishop Mallalieu says of him: "He is a man in whom
I have the greatest confidence. He is an honor to the
human race. I wish the world was full of such men."
As chief Exposition Commissioner for the colored
people of the state of Georgia, it was he who made the
exhibit of the cotton states and international exposition
of Atlanta, in 1895, such a remarkable success. His
race feels proud of him. Well may they wish that he
were many times multiplied.
Professor Crogman has been presiding in the school
room for more than twenty years, and has occupied
the chair of languages at Clark University for nearly
that length of time, and during these years he has
been secretary of the trustee boards of both Clark
University and Gammon Theological Seminary. Be¬
sides these heavy duties, he has taken an active part
in all movements that had for their object the better¬
ment of the state, the city, the United States and his
people.
The story of his life shows something of the adverse
circumstances under which he has labored, the man¬
hood, scholarship, usefulness to his race and humanity,
and the honor his indefatigable industry, perseverance,
hard work, and Christian faith have achieved, and
points the way to every aspiring youth, however lowly
and unfavorable his circumstances. Few men have
rendered more faithful and useful services in educa¬
tional work than Professor Crogman. Few men have
steadily and unwaveringly maintained a more straight¬
forward and manly course, or acted more wisely under
all circumstances, than has he. He is every inch a
Christian gentleman, a living teacher in no mere tech¬
nical nor narrow sense. His platform utterances
show thorough preparation and are received with
delight by whites and blacks alike.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 473
Well does Professor Parks say: "In a true estimate,
not only of many enlarged and ennobled individual
lives, but also of the great movement since emancipa¬
tion in the elevation of the colored people, he must be
given an important place."
PROF. W. SCARBOROUGH, LL. D.
For twenty years Professor in Wilberforce University.
Prof. W. S. Scarborough, LL. D.—The subject of
this sketch was born in Macon, Georgia, February 16,
1852. He inherited a passionate love for knowledge,
besides an aptness to overcome all obstacles in obtain-
474
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ing it. The Georgia law required that any Negro
caught with a spelling book in his hand should receive
severe punishment, and the white man who taught the
Negro should pay a heavy penalty or go to the peni¬
tentiary. Yet, young Scarborough was so keen that
with his book concealed he spent part of the time in a
private school ostensibly to play. He continued in
this clandestine way to attend undisturbed one of the
few private schools up to the close of the war, and was
then placed under the instructions of a Miss Kidd,
from the North. Later he entered the Atlanta
University, where he spent two years in preparation
for a Northern college. In 1871 he graduated from
the preparatory department of the Atlanta University,
and in the fall entered Oberlin College, where he
spent four years. He was a hard working student,
which made him popular with his classmates; his
genial disposition and gentlemanly bearing won for
him many friends. Immediately after graduation in
1875, he taught Latin, Greek and mathematics in the
Lewis High School, but in 1876 he returned to Oberlin,
and spent some months in studying Hebrew and
Hellenistic Greek. He then became Principal of
Payne Institute, Cokesville, South Carolina, and in
1877 was called to the chair of ancient languages in
Wilberforce University, near Xenia, Ohio, which posi¬
tion he has held for many years with marked ability.
His experience is large and varied. Clear in explana¬
tion, polished in language and bearing, profound in
scholarship, a perfect gentleman, he has been able to
impress himself upon many young minds as few young
men have been able to do. With unflinching steadfast¬
ness of purpose, unwavering uprightness and straight¬
forward devotion to principle, lie has been enabled to
PERSONAGES OP THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 475
attain the heights and win the fame so undeniably his.
In 1880 he prepared his "First Lessons in Greek,"
which was published by Barnes & Co. This book has
received the highest encomiums from the press, and
what is still better, received practical recognition,
that of adoption by schools and colleges, both white
and colored. He has been a frequent contributor to
the press, and has been quite active in political life,
being elected to state conventions, and quite frequent¬
ly an active worker in the campaigns as speaker.
Professor Scarborough has, however, won his laurels
as a scholar. As a teacher and philologist his ability
is unquestioned. He has paid especial attention to
Sanscrit and other old languages, and has not neglected
the modern. He is author of a number of works,
notably "Latin Moods and Tenses," "Questions on
Latin Grammar, with Appendix." As a member of
the American Philological Association, he has con¬
tributed valuable papers at different times. Prof,
Scarborough stands out as one of the ripest scholars
and prominent educators of his race.
Principal Booker T. Washington, A. M.—"I was
born a slave on a plantation in Virginia, in 1857 or
1858,1 think. My first memory of life is that of a one-
room log cabin with a dirt floor and a hole in the
center that served as a winter home for sweet potatoes,
and, wrapped in a few rags on this dirt floor, I spent
my nights, and, clad in a single garment about the plan¬
tation, I often spent my days. The morning of free¬
dom came, and, though a child, I recall vividly my
appearance with that of forty or fifty slaves before the
veranda of the 'big house,' to hear read the docu¬
ments that made us men instead of property. With
the long-prayed-for freedom in actual possession, each
31
476
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
started out into the world to find new friends and new
homes. My mother decided to locate in West Virginia,
and after many days and nights of weary travel, we
found ourselves among the salt furnaces and coal
mines of West Virginia. Soon after reaching West
Virginia I began to work in the coal mines for the
support of my mother.
"While doing this, I heard, in some way, I do not now
remember how, of General Armstrong's school at
Hampton, Virginia. I heard at the same time, which
impressed me most, that it was a school where a poor
boy could work for his education, so far as his board
was concerned. As soon as I heard of Hampton, I
made up my mind that in some way I was going to find
my way to that institution. I began at once to save
every nickel I could get hold of. At length, with my
own savings and a little help from my brother and'
mother, I started for Hampton, although at the time
I hardly knew where Hampton was, or how much it
would cost to reach the school. After walking a por¬
tion of the distance, traveling in a stage coach and cars
the remainder of the journey, I at length found my¬
self in the city of Richmond, Virginia. I also found my¬
self without money, friends or a place to stay all night
The last cent of my money had been expended. After
walking about the city till midnight, growing almost
discouraged and quite exhausted, I crept under a side¬
walk and slept all that night. The next morning, as
good luck would have it, I found myself near a ship
that was unloading pig-iron. I applied to the captain
for work, and he gave it, and I worked on this ship by-
day and slept under the sidewalk by night, till I had
earned money enough to continue my way to Hampton,
where I soon arrived, with 50 cents in my pocket.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERlCAN RACE. 477
"I at once found General Armstrong, and told him
what I had come for, and what my condition was. In
his great hearty way, he said that if I was worth any¬
thing he would give me a chance to work for my
education. While at Hampton, I resolved, if God
permitted me to finish the course of study, I would
enter the far South, the black belt of the Gulf states,
and give my life in providing as best I could the same
kind of chance for self-help for the youth of my race
that I found ready for me when I went to Hampton,
and so, in 1881, I left Hampton and went to Tuskegee
and started the Normal and Industrial Institute in a
small church and shanty, with one teacher and thirty
students.
"Since then the institution of Tuskegee has grown
till we have connected with the institution eighty-one^
instructors and 850 young men and women, represent¬
ing nineteen states; and, if I add the families of our
instructors, we have on our grounds constantly a pop¬
ulation of about 1,000 souls. The students are about
equally divided between the sexes, and their average
is 18*4 years. In planning the course of training at
Tuskegee we have steadily tried to keep in view our
condition and our needs rather than to pattern our
course of study directly after that of a people whose
opportunities of civilization have been far different
and far superior to ours. From the first, industrial or
hand training has been made a special feature of our
work."
Pres. Richard Robert Wright, A. M.—The parents
of Richard Robert Wright were South Carolinians.
Coming to Georgia in 1853, they first settled in Dalton,
where Richard was born. In his boyhood he worked
on the farm. Immediately after the war, he attended
478
PROGRESS OP A RACE.
school in Cuthbert. Subsequently, on the removal of
his parents to Atlanta, he enjoyed the privileges of the
city schools, and in course of time was graduated from
the college course of Atlanta University.
Immediately upon graduation he returned to Cuth¬
bert, and was made principal of the Howard Normal
School, which position he held for four years. In
1878 he called the first convention of Negro teachers
ever assembled in Georgia, and was for three years
president of that body. When, in 1880, it assumed
the name of the Georgia State Teachers' Association
he was again elected president. In the same year he
was called to the principalship of the Ware High
School, in Augusta, the first high school ever estab¬
lished in the state, and supported by city funds. For
ten years Mr. Wright remained at the head of this
school, or until he was called by the state to organize
the Georgia State Industrial College, over which he
now presides. He is also vice-president of the Board
of Trustees of Atlanta University. By request, he
represented, in 1881, the work of the American Mis¬
sionary Association, at its annual meeting in Worces¬
ter, Massachusetts.
Besides his services to education, President Wright
has mingled some in politics, both state and national.
He was a member of the National Republican Conven¬
tion that nominated Garfield; also a member of the
one that nominated and of the one that renominated
Harrison. In one of the national conventions he
served on the platform committee with Governor, now
President, McKinley.
For ten years President Wright was editor of an
influential newspaper, and wrote for others, being once
a regular correspondent of a Democratic daily.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 479
Recently the following tribute to President Wright
appeared in a reputable newspaper. Coming from
Prof. Thomas N. Chase, one of President Wright's old
teachers, the tribute has the more force:
"Pres. R. R. Wright became my pupil in 1869. I
have had an intimate acquaintance with him ever
since. He was one of the brightest students Atlanta
University has had, and is its most prominent
graduate. Col. A. E. Buck has said to me more than
once that President Wright was the ablest colored man
in Georgia, and I concur with him in his estimate. As
principal of the Howard Normal School at Cuthbert,
and then as principal of the Ware High School in
Augusta, and later as president of the State College
at Savannah, as editor of a paper for many years, as
trustee of Atlanta University, as the institution's
commencement orator, by his public addresses in all
the large cities of his state, by conducting of teachers'
institutes, by his printed speeches and essays, and in
other ways, President Wright has come to be the best
known and most influential colored man in the state
of Georgia, and best of all, he has maintained an untar¬
nished reputation, and his example and teachings have
always been on the side of morality and virtue.''
Such, in brief, has been the life and career of the
little black, barefooted boy who, shortly after the war,
when General Howard, addressing a school in the city
of Atlanta, asked the question, "What shall I tell your
friends in the North?" instantly replied: "Tell them we
are rising.'' The poet Whittier, hearing of this, immor¬
talized it in verses, of which the following is a stanza:
'"Oh, black boy of Atlanta, but half was spoken;
The slave's chains and the master's are broken,
The one curse of the races held both in tether,
They are rising, all are rising, the black and white together.
480
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
PROF. WM. E. HOLMES, ATLANTA BAPTIST SEMINARY.
Prof. Wm. E. Holmes, A. M.—Prof. William E.
Holmes of the Atlanta Baptist Seminary is another
worthy representative of his race. Like many others
born in obscurity, he has, by honesty, diligence, and
studious habits, lifted himself to a position of respect¬
ability and great usefulness among his fellow men.
Born of slave parents, he has, at least, shown that he
deserved to be free.
His taste for books developed early, and in the last
years of the war we find him attending school. Im-
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 481
mediately after the war, he had the privilege of sitting
as pupil under the "Yankee school mar in." To him,
as to so many others, the quickening of the heart was
also the quickening of the brain. Converted at eigh¬
teen, he became the more desirous to enlarge his
mental vision, and fit himself for service to his race in
the large field opened up by emancipation. Conse¬
quently, he entered, in his native city, the Augusta
Institute, where he spent several years. Subse¬
quently, on the removal of that institution to Atlanta,
under the changed name of the Atlanta Baptist
Seminary, Mr. Holmes followed it, and in a few years
was graduated from it. The best proof, perhaps, of
his worthiness is seen in the fact that on graduation
he was given a position in the seminary, which he has
held up to date with efficiency and honor. His degree
of Master of Arts is from the University of Chicago.
Personally, Professor Holmes is a royal man. Court¬
eous, kind, obliging, free from the ambition that is
always "o'erleaping itself," ever ready to contribute
to the happiness of others, he becomes an object of
love and esteem wherever known. In his home life
he has been blessed with the companionship of a
devoted and sympathetic partner, formerly Miss Eliza¬
beth Easley, a graduate of Atlanta University, but
now the proud mother of several intelligent children.
Prof. John Wesley Gilbert, A. M.—The subject of
this sketch was born July 6, 1864, in Hephzibah,
Richmond county, Georgia. His mother, herself a
slave, brought the young Gilbert, when six months
old, to Augusta, the city which, with little interrup¬
tion, has been his home as well as the scene of his
early struggles for a livelihood and an education. The
only son of a widow, he was nursed in the arms of
81
482
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
poverty. '' Six months of the year,'' to use his own
words, "I ploughed, hoed, picked cotton, split rails,
and spent the other six months in the public schools
of Augusta." In this and other honorable ways he
supported himself and helped his mother.
Having completed the work of the public schools,
he attended for some months the Baptist Seminary, in
his own city, but for lack of means was obliged to
withdraw from the school for three years. At this
period in his life he began to despair of securing a
liberal education. Nevertheless, he kept up his
studies, working by day and perusing books by night.
In the year 1883, the "Paine Institute," under the
patronage of the Methodist Church, South, opened in
Augusta. This Mr. Gilbert attended for three years,
or rather for six months in each of three years.
About this time Rev. George Williams Walker became
president of the Institute—a noble-hearted Christian
man, and as sincere a friend as the Negro ever had.
This gentleman became interested in Mr. Gilbert, and
after his graduation from the institute loaned him
money enough to enter Brown University, Providence,
Rhode Island. This money was supplemented by such
as he could earn while a student. He shoveled snow
in the winter, taught pupils at night, availed himself
of every opportunity to gain "an honest dollar." To
his very great credit, it should be said that, notwith¬
standing this extra demand upon his time and strength,
he maintained a uniformly high standing in his classes,
and, upon his graduation from the classical course, was
awarded the scholarship for "excellence" in Greek in
the American School at Athens, Greece. He was the
first and only Negro admitted to-that school. He
traveled all over Greece, took part in the excavations
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 483
in Eretria, carried on by the school during the session
of 1890-91, contributed accounts of that year's excava¬
tions to the New York Independent, found and traced
the ancient walls of Eretria, locating the towers of
that structure, made, in collaboration with Professor
Pickard, a map of ancient Eretria, and wrote a thesis
on the Demes of Attica. Before returning to his
native land, Professor Gilbert visited all the largest
and most important cities of Europe, getting thus a
comprehensive view of the customs, manners and
political systems of that ancient land—the nursery of
arms, the prolific mother of arts and sciences. In
recognition of his work in Greece, Brown University
conferred on him, in 1891, the degree of Master of
Arts.
With the exception of the time spent in Europe, Pro¬
fessor Gilbert has taught in Paine Institute since 1888.
Affable, kind-hearted, sympathetic, he wins admira¬
tion and respect among all classes. To the responsi¬
ble duties of teacher he has now added those of
preacher, being at present a minister in the Colored
Methodist Episcopal Church in America. Few yoimg
men have achieved as much, and few have a brighter
future.
To close this sketch, however, without referring to
the gentle partner of- his life would be like leaving
Hamlet out of Hamlet. In the spring of 1889 he was
happily and pleasantly married to Miss Osceola K.
Pleasant, a young lady of one of the best families in
Augusta. Educated at Fisk University, she also holds
a diploma from Paine Institute. To this true and
affectionate helpmeet, the fond mother of his chil¬
dren, he is indebted for no small degree of his success,
for every true wife is an inspiration to her husband.
484 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
In conclusion, we are happy to say that, while
penning" this sketch, the announcement is made that
Professor John Wesley Gilbert has recently been
elected a member of the American Philological Associ¬
ation.
President J. C. Price, D. D., Livingstone College.—
We take the following extracts from the memorial
address given by President Goler, the successor of
President Price:
President Price was born in North Carolina, in the
dark days when the outlook for Negro development
was exceedingly discouraging. Emancipation and
the opening of the schools to all classes found him a
lad of nine years in the eager pursuit of the rudiments
of. knowledge, under the care and keeping of a self-
denying Christian mother, who early instilled in his
mind those principles which subsequently developed
into that manly deportment, that uprightness of char¬
acter, that geniality and pliability of disposition which
captivated his companions and made him everywhere
a favorite. It was while still a youth, studying law
in Shaw University at Raleigh, that it pleased God to
reveal Himself to him. He sought and found salva¬
tion in the crucified Redeemer, was saved by the
working of the mighty power, and experienced the joy
that comes from believing. Soon after his conversion,
he felt that necessity was laid upon him to preach the
gospel, to lift up Jesus by his voice as well as in his
exemplary life, and so for better preparation he
entered Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1875.
It was there I first met to admire and afterward to love
him. Lincoln is a Presbyterian institution, but opens
wide her doors to all creeds and all colors. He was a
Methodist, and brought with him to the university
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 485
some of the distinguishing characteristics of that
denomination. He invariably absented himself from
the dining hall on Fridays, and spent the time in fast¬
ing and prayer. As a student, he was docile, obedient
to his instructors, courteous to his companions, true to
his books, honest in the class-room, industrious in his
studies and punctual at the prayer meeting. He
exerted a healthy influence in the institution. He
was one of those whom we find occasionally, yet
rarely, in all schools, a model young man. It was
while finishing up his course in theology that Bishop
Hood, quick to see what is in a young man, and recog¬
nizing his rare qualities of head and heart, ordained
him to the order of deacon, and finally of elder in the
A. M. E. Zion Church. He was subsequently elected
to the general conference of 1880. There, coming in
contact with the superior minds of the general church,
his gifts and graces were recognized and readily appre¬
ciated and here won for himself the distinguished
honor of representing, with others, the A. M. E.
Church at the ecumenical conference in England in
1881. His efforts there laid the foundation of Living¬
stone College. This work was near his heart and in
its interest, as one of the means of race elevation, he
spent the energies of his short but eventful life. He
was no self-seeker. He did not labor for the notice
of socifety or the prizes of the world, but the one con¬
trolling idea of his life was to lift his race out of the
ignorance and moral degradation into which the mis¬
fortune of a cruel past had sunk them, and to lead
them to higher planes of intelligence and social refine¬
ment. He was forcible in his appeals for justice and
fair dealing; honest in his statements, and true to his
convictions, yet he carried no gall in his nature. No
m
Progress of a kacij;
bitterness escaped his lips. There was no fancor ill
his bosom. He had faith in the power of Christ to
eradicate the evils of society. He believed in the ulti¬
mate triumph of truth and righteousness and was
satisfied that the evils of society will be rooted out,
when men receive the power of Christ in their hearts
rather than the knowledge of Jesus in their heads.
As president of this institution he governed by love.
He held his teachers about him in hearty co-operation
with all his plans. They stood by him, not because
they received their pay—for there was not and is not
much pay here—but because they loved the president.
I remember a letter he wrote to a friend to teach here
with him at the beginning of this work, and here is
the inducement he offered: "We are just starting the
work. I cannot promise you any pay the first year,
but after that some provision will be made." With
this not over-bright prospect, two teachers, who are
still in the institution, came to him.
It pained him to send a needy student away, and so
large was his heart and so sympathetic withal, that
none appealed to him in vain, even to the denying
himself of home necessities.
He was devoted to his work, he apprehended that
God had called him to it, and no inducement could
draw him away. Men, recognizing the great powers
of oratory and the logical acumen with which God
endowed him, urged him to seek for himself honors in
the paths of politics, and pave his way to the legisla¬
tive halls of the nation. The President of the repub¬
lic, appreciating his ability and his moral worth,
appointed him to a post of honor in a foreign country.
There was money in it, and he needed money, there
was honor in it, and men love honor, but he refused
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 487
the honor and the emolument, preferring to labor for
his little school in North Carolina, simply remarking,
"I think I can do more good in Salisbury." The
honors that have come to him, both at home and
abroad, would have had an inflating effect upon the
self-seeker and the egotist. But who ever saw Price
inflated? Who ever charged Price with egotism?
If there was one thing that particularly character¬
ized him, it was modesty; he was as unassuming
as a little child. As we stand off and hold up his
qualities, oh, how they loom! He envied no man his
gifts or his prosperity, but unostentatiously endeav¬
ored to do his own work faithfully and well. An
undisputed leader of his people, he came to them
always in the character of a helper, and appeared un¬
conscious of his leadership. Where is there a greater
Negro than Price? Great, not in the sense that men
ordinarily estimate greatness, but great in goodness,
great in devotion to duty, great in his faith in the possi¬
bilities of the future for the race, great in his concep¬
tion of individual responsibilities, great in his humility
and unshaken faith in the living God. Frederick
Douglass calls him '' the ablest advocate of the race.''
And Price is dead. How befitting the words of David,
"Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man
fallen this day in Israel?"
Miss Lucy Laney.—There is probably no one of all
the educators of the colored race who stands higher,
or who has done more work in pushing forward the
education of the Negro woman, than the subject of our
sketch. Miss Laney is a graduate of Atlanta Uni¬
versity, and, after graduation, she taught school in a
number of places in Georgia. Relinquishing a salary
. of $400 a year in 1886, she went to Augusta for the
488
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
purpose of establishing an industrial boarding school.
No aid was promised her, but she went forward and
became responsible for the support of the teachers
and the expense of the institution. The first year her
school enrolled 140 pupils. It has steadily increased
in power and influence, as well as numbers, from the
first. It is, at present, under the auspices of the
Presbyterian Church, and through the benevolence of
a Northern lady, a five-story brick building has been
erected. Miss Laney's assistants, Miss Jackson, Miss
Smallwood and Mrs. Mary R. Phelps, are competent
teachers, and together they are doing a great work in
that part of the state. Dr. George C. Rowe puts it
in this way:
"Among the women of our race
We know of few, if any,
Who fill a nobler, worthier place—
Than earnest Lucy Laney."
Miss Laney; who conceived the idea of founding this
school for the uplifting of the Negro woman, and who
began it on her own responsibility, has succeeded in a
remarkable manner. Haines Normal and Industrial
Institute has two departments, a normal and a college
preparatory. The normal department prepares the
students for teachers. This department is ably presid¬
ed over by Miss M. C. Jackson, who in her training
class succeeds admirably in making practical teachers.
The college department fits young men and women so
that they are able to pass entrance examinations in
our best colleges.
HaineS Normal Institute and its noble workers, Miss
Laney and Miss Jackson, are doing a great and good
work in Augusta. This is the only Presbyterian
school for the colored in Georgia. It deserves what
it is receiving—the liberal support of the church.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 489
Margaret Murry Washington was born in Macon,
Mississippi, March 9, 1865, being one of ten children.
Here she received her early English education. After
spending nine years at Fisk University, in 1889 she
graduated from the classical course in that institution,
one other girl and herself being the only girls in a
large class of -boys. While in school Margaret Murry
had very poor health, and the same ambitious spirit
and iron will that now master her physical weakness
pulled her through the long years of study during her
college course.
When she graduated from Fisk University she was
employed as teacher of English literature at the Tusk-
egee Normal and Industrial Institute. Recognizing
exceptional strength of mind and disciplinary power,
the trustees of the above mentioned institution the
next year appointed her Lady Principal, which position
she so well filled that now many matters naturally
falling to the duties of the lady principal are carried
to Mrs. Washington both by teachers and students.
She not only in position, as the wife of the principal
of the institution, but in reality, stands next to him in
power and influence.
In the fall of 1892 Margaret Murry became the wife
of Booker T. Washington, and is a power in the home
as well as in the public. Her boys, the youngest of
which was three years old when she went into their
home, are as fond of her as any boys are of their
own mother.
As to personal appearance, Mrs. Washington is a
mulatto, with reddish-brown hair, gray hazel eyes,
strong features, and a large, commanding figure.
Mrs. Washington is the leader of the movement to
work directly for and among the less fortunate class
490
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
of the Negro race, and has promoted social settlement,
organizations and various other clubs and movements
looking to the elevation mentally, and especially
morally, of the women of her race.
There are few women who have so strong a person¬
ality as Mrs. Washington, which power directs while
others execute her commands.
Mrs. Booker T. Washington has the honor of being
the first president of the National Federation of
Colored Women's Clubs, now the National Association
of Colored Women.
Prof. W. E. Burghardt Dubois was born in Great Baf-
rington, Massachusetts, February 23, 1868. He was
educated in the public schools, and at Fisk University,
Harvard University and the university at Berlin. He
was two years a fellow of Harvard, and holds her
degree of Ph. D. He taught at Wilberforce, Ohio,
two years, and was assistant in sociology in the
University of Pennsylvania in 1896, for the purpose of
studying the Negro in Philadelphia. He is at pres¬
ent professor of economics and history in Atlanta
University. Professor Dubois is the author of''Sup¬
pression of the African Slave Trade," also ''Harvard
Historical Students, No. 1." He was married in 1896
to Nina Gomer, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Of his ap¬
pointment as professor in Atlanta University the
Independent says: "We are very glad that this insti¬
tution, devoted to the education of colored people, has
elected to so important a professorship a thoroughly
competent colored man.''
Prof. C. W. Luckie graduated from the college
department of Atlanta University in the class of 1883.
He went directly to Texas, spending four years as
principal of the colored schools of Huntsvilfe. Then,
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 491
he was elected to the professorship of English in
Prairie View State Normal School, which position he
has since held to the satisfaction of all. With such a
grand field as Texas in which to labor, Professor
Luckie may look for laurels yet unearned.
Prof. Wm. Lewis Bulkley.—The subject of this
sketch was born of. free parents in Greenville, South
Carolina, on the 23d day of March, 1861.
His father, Vincent Henry, and his mother, Madora,
being also of free parentage, had enjoyed educational
advantages before the war. Vincent Henry Bulkley
became, shortly after the war, a Methodist Episcopal
clergyman, and remained in the service of this church
as one of its most faithful ministers till the day of his
death. He was sent as a delegate to the Ecumenical
Conference of Methodism, which met in London,
England, in 1881.
The parents of William Lewis, having "tasted of
the Pierian spring," had a consuming desire that at
least their eldest son should "drink deep," and began
by sending him to school at a very early age.
His earliest recollections of school life are a poor
frame building, with an old, gray-haired Negro school¬
master, who had picked up a little "larnin' 'fo' de
wah." The curriculum in this institution was a Web¬
ster's blue-back speller (a species fast becoming
extinct). The magic wand that made the pupils look
studious and "wondrous wise" was a well-grown
hickory switch, an article that was neither an orna¬
ment or a mere scarecrow, as the back of more than
one dullard can testify. In fact, that period of life
was to William "the reign of terror."
From this school he passed into one taught by some
Northern missionaries, wjiose great-lieartedness had
32 '
492
progress of a race.
brought them into that dark section of South Carolina.
Prominent among these early teachers were Rev. L.
nM. Dunt'on and wife, of New York state, two of the
most faithful workers that ever came to help degraded
mankind. By a strange ordering of fate, he is asso¬
ciated at present with these last two persons in Claflin
University.
At sixteen he began to teach in the public schools
of his state, when scholars were legion, books were
few and salaries were mere promissory notes.
In 1878 he entered Claflin University, where, through
the assistance of self-sacrificing parents, and whatever
work he could get to do at the school, he continued in
study four years, finishing in 1882 as the first college
graduate.
He taught two years in his Alma Mater, and then
went, in 1884, to Wesleyan University, Middletown,
Connecticut. At this, the best institution of learning
in the Methodist Church, he paid his expenses by
different jobs, and by what money he could raise
during vacations in a hard canvass for nursery goods,
pictures, or steam cookers.
It often affords amusement to him to tell of how he
cooked his own meals, consisting largely of oatmeal or
pancakes, at an outlay of 10 cents a day, and how he
used to wash such of his clothes as did not need starch
and hang them by the stove to dry. He saved many
a nickel by folding his rough-dried handkerchiefs in a
book and then sitting upon it, while he "ground"
trigonometry or tackled the mysteries of logic.
The death of a devoted father precipitated his return
(o South Carolina. He resumed work at Claflin, and
has taught there ever since, sav$ a year and a half
which he spent with his wife.and child in study at
Strassburg, Germany, and Paris.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 493
In 1893 he completed his "in absentia" study of the
Latin language and literature at Syracuse University,
Syracuse, New York, and received the degree of Ph. I>.
Professor Smalley, of the Latin department, says;?
"I have, been well pleased with Professor Bulkley's
work. He has the spirit of an investigator, and of an
independent thinker, that refuses to accept the con¬
clusions of editors without a careful examination of
the reasons for himself. He has done much work on
the literature, and toward mastering the principles of
the languages, and shows excellent ability in grasping
the thought of an author, and has unusual facility in
rendering into idiomatic English.''
Professor Bulkley's forte is in the field of languages.
In addition to the Latin and Greek, he has spent
some time in the study of French, German and
Spanish.
In reviewing a new French book for English stu¬
dents, he detected an error which was subtle and mis¬
leading. He called the attention of the author to the
fact, and received a long reply, from which the follow¬
ing is clipped: "I shall certainly introduce this excep¬
tion in subsequent editions of the French book, and
wish to thank ,you for bringing this omission, singu¬
larly committed by so many of the highest authorities,
and most complete books and dictionaries, to my
attention.''
Professor Bulkley was elected to the World's Sunday
School Convention which met in London, England,
in 1889, and was also a delegate to the General Con¬
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cleve¬
land, Ohio, in 1896. In 1888, he married Mary Fisher
Carroll, of Columbia, South Carolina, an honor
graduate of Claflin. Three promising little girls now
bless their happy home.
494
PROGRESS OF A U-A.CE.
He is a member of the American Philological Asso¬
ciation. His present position is the professorship of
Latin and Greek and the vice-presidency ift Clafiin
University, Orangeburg, South Carolina.
BISHOP L. H. HOLSEY, D. D.
MINISTERS.
L. H. Holsey, D. D., Bishop C. M. E. Church, was
born in the state of Georgia, July 3, 1842, near the
city of Columbus. His mother was the slave of
James Holsey, who was also his father. His mother
PERSONAGES OF THE AFR6-AMERICAN RACE. 405
was of African descent, and of pure blood of that
race, with fine form and features. When he was
about seven years of age, his father and first master
died.
He was then taken away from his mother, and
never lived with her again, except about three or four
years, during which time she lived on the same place
in Hancock county that he did with his second owner.
Tn 1857, Mr. T. L. Wynn, his second owner, died,
and he became the servant of Col. R. M. Johnstone,
who resided in the same place. He lived with him
until emancipation. The first three years after
emancipation, he conducted a farm in Hancock county,
near Sparta. He felt that he was called to preach
from his youth, and the brightest place in his memory
is vivid with the aspirations and longings that then
glowed upon his heart, and framed and flashed through
his soul. He was licensed to preach in 1868, and
served nearly two years on the Hancock circuit. On
January 9, 1869, he was sent by Bishop Pierce to
Savannah, Georgia, to serve there that year. In 1871
he was sent to Augusta, Georgia, as pastor of Trinity
Church, which at that time was one of the largest and
most prominent churches belonging to the colored
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
At this church he remained two years and three
months, at the end of which time (March, 1873) he
was elected to the Episcopal office, and was ordained
by Bishop W. H. Miles, one of the first bishops of the
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America. He
was a delegate to the first General Conference of his
church, which convened in Jackson, Tennessee, 1870,
at which time and place the church was organized as a
separate and distinct organization from that of the
496
PROGRESS OP A RACE.
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which it had
formed a part. He was delegate to the first Ecumen¬
ical Conference, which met in London in 1881, and
also a delegate to the one that was held in Washington
in 1891. He was a delegate, and the first delegate of
his church, to the Conference of the Methodist Epis¬
copal Church, South, held in Nashville, in 1882.
He founded the Paine Institute, located in Augusta,
and made the initiatory steps for the beginning of the
Lane College, at Jackson, Tennessee. For twenty
years he has been secretary of the College of Bishops,
and the general corresponding secretary of the connec¬
tion, and perhaps has been most prominent in all the
leading movements of the church.
He also compiled the Hymnal and Manual of the
Discipline of his church, and is editor-in-chief of The
Gospel Trumpet, a paper that is published in the interest
of the church and race. This paper is published in
Atlanta, Georgia, where he lives at present (1897).
In this year (1897) he has been appointed as Commis¬
sioner of Education for his church. He has been
prominent in all the movements connected with his
church and race, and has traveled and labored success¬
fully throughout all parts of the Southern states, and
has done much to educate and Christianize his
people.
Alexander Crummell, D. D., was born in New York
city, March 3, 1819; educated with Henry Highland
Garnet at Canaan, New Hampshire (1835); he remained
at Canaan till the school was broken up by a mob,
when he went, in 1836, to Oneida Institute, New
York.
Under the direction of Rev. Peter Williams, rector
of St. Phillip's Church, New York, he became a candi-
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 497
date for orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church in
1839, but, on account of color, was refused admission
in the General Theological Seminary.
Having been ordained deacon by Bishop Griswold,
and having studied with Rev. Dr. A. H. Vinton, he
was ordained priest in Philadelphia by Bishop Lee of
Delaware. This was in 1844.
Doctor Crummell graduated from the University of
Cambridge, England, in 1852. Thereafter removed to
Liberia, West Africa, where he was a professor and
minister of the gospel for twenty years. From 1873
till 1894, Doctor Crummell was rector of St. Luke's
Church in Washington, D. C. Having retired from
the ministry, Doctor Crummell is giving himself up to
work for the Negro race, in which he is intensely
interested.
In March, 1897, at the formation of the American
Negro Academy, "an organization of authors, scholars,
graduates and writers, men of African descent, for
the promotion of letters, art, literature and science,"
Doctor Crummell was chosen president unanimously.
Doctor Crummell recently celebrated the fiftieth
anniversary of his ordination. Referring to his early
days he says: "The pro-slavery and caste spirit
dominated the country, and it was as strong in the
church as in the state. Three other colored candidates
had been admitted to seminaries, but with limitations
and indignities to which it was impossible for me to
submit." Concerning his reception in England, he
says: "I was received in England with a generosity
which almost bewildered me after such sufferings in
my native land. I preached in London, Liverpool,
Birmingham and other cities of England. This was a
period of grand opportunities and richest experiences,
32
498
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
almost unlimited privileges and cherished remem¬
brances. I was introduced into the best society of
England, and made friends with the Froudes, Thack-
erays, Thorntons and other distinguished gentlemen."
He is a fluent speaker and writer; scholarly, instruct¬
ive and entertaining in all that he says and does.
Doctor Crummell stands among the first of those who
have labored for the elevation of the African race. He
is at present in England.
Rev. Edward W. Blyden, A.M., D.D., LL.D.—Rev.
Edward Blyden was born in the West Indies, he is of
Negro parentage. Early in youth he was impressed
with the love for his fatherland. He came to the
United States in his seventeenth year and sought admis¬
sion to an institution of learning, but the prejudice
against his race was so great that he was not admitted.
He went to Liberia and there entered the Presbyterian
school, and after some years was elected to professor¬
ship in the newly founded college of Liberia. In 1864
he was appointed Secretary of State by the President
of Liberia. In 1877 he was appointed Minister Pleni¬
potentiary of the Republic of Liberia at the Court of
St. James. In 1880 he was elected Fellow of the
American Philological Association. The honorary de¬
grees he holds were conferred upon him by Ameri¬
can colleges.
He is a strong man and careful instructor, a diligent
student, and is constantly seeking new plans and
methods by which he may be able to elevate his
people. Dr. Blyden has written many articles and is
the author of several books. He has in his labors
come in contact with some of the literary men of his
day.
Bishop Henry M. Turner, of the A. M. E. Church,
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 499
was born in Newberry, South Carolina, in 1834. His
parents were free, but be was bound out to a slave
owner and was required to work side by side with slaves
until he was fifteen years old, when he ran away from
his master and entered the service of a firm of attor¬
neys in Aberville. Here he learned to read and write,
often spending much time at night after his employers
had gone home.
He was licensed as a minister at twenty years of
age; he then entered Trinity college, Baltimore, where
he spent four years, intending to go to Africa after
completing his education. He was made chaplain of
the first regiment of colored troops. He was then
under the Freedman's Bureau service for a time, but
the necessity of religious and educational work among
his people caused him to resign and enter the ministry
of the A. M. E. Church. He was once appointed post¬
master at Macon, Ga., but resigned on account of the
opposition of the white people. In 1880 he was elected
bishop of the A. M. E. Church.
Bishop Turner has written much on the Negro ques¬
tion. He has visited Africa three times and Organized
conferences in Sierre Leone and Liberia. The bishop
is a firm believer in deportation, and insists his race
will ultimately return to Africa, and that it is the duty
of our government to help them to return. He thinks
the black man will have greater opportunities, and
will improve faster if he is placed in a republic by
himself, and that this alone will bring peace and quiet
to our country as far as the- race question is concerned.
He insists upon it that two races of people under the
same government, the same institutions, and subject
to the same laws with no social contact is an impossi¬
bility and will only produce evil results.
500
progress of a race.
Bishop B. W. Arnett.—Bishop B. W. Arnett's boy¬
hood days were spent on a farm in Pennsylvania, where
he had figured as a cow boy; afterward he took to
bishop b. w. arnett. where he delivered an
address upon " The
Stand the W. M. C. A. Takes in Relation to Colored
Young Men."
He served in the lower house of the Ohio Legislature
in 1876 two years; in 1876 he was elected secretary of
the General Conference of the A. M. E. Church, at
Atlanta, Georgia.
Bishop Arnett is an entertaining speaker and stands
high in the estimation of his people.
Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner was born in Pitts¬
burg, December 25, 1835. Studied at Avery College
and Western University, Allegheny, Pennsylvania;
entered ministry in i860; editor of Christian Recorder
from 1868 to 1884; then elected editor of A. M. E.
Church Review till his election to the Bishopric, in
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 501
1888, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He
is author of "Apology for African Methodism," "Out¬
line of History," "Negro Origin," "Theological
Lectures," "The Color of Solomon," "Is the Negro
Cursed?" etc. He is a contributor to numerous jour-
REV. HENRY HUGH PROCTOR.
nals, among them the Independent. He now presides
over the district including Kansas, Missouri, Colorado,
Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico.
Henry Hugh Proctor, B.A., B.D.—In a one-room log
cabin, ante-bellum in type, near Fayetteville, Ten-
502
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
nessee, the subject of our sketch was born, December
8, 1868. Ten years were spent on the farm. To get
better school advantages, the family moved to town.
After "going through the public schools, he began to
teach. Later he became principal of the school of his
native^town.
In the fall of 1884 he entered Fisk University, Nash¬
ville, Tennessee. By digging, type-setting, teaching
and preaching, he helped pay his way. During his
course he was, among other things, society president,
college paper editor, and intercollegiate oratorical con¬
testant. At Fisk he experienced a call to preach, and
began [to exercise his talents in the vicinity of the
university. On the completion of his literary course
in 1891, he entered the Divinity School of Yale Uni¬
versity, New Haven, Connecticut. He spoke and
sung his way through Yale, and during his three years
of study in the East he was heard in many of the
leading churches of New England. His classmates
chose him among the eight out of a class of thirty to
deliver commencement addresses, and to him the
faculty assigned the coveted post of honor, that of
delivering the final oration of the day. He was the
first Negro to speak at a Yale commencement, and his
address on the African's forthcoming contribution of
love to Christianity was widely published.
Called to the pastorate of the First Congregational
Church of Atlanta, Georgia, he entered the practical
work of the ministry immediately after his graduation.
After three years of hard and tactful labor the church,
which had been somewhat disintegrated, secured a
firm financial footing, and doubled its membership,
thus becoming the largest Congregational church in
the South. The pastor is broad but aggressive
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 503
liberal but positive in his views on social and religious
questions. In his preaching he deals with questions of
practical Christianity with simplicity. He is frequently
called upon to make addresses on popular occasions
throughout the state. He is correspondent for a
number of first-class Northern periodicals. In connec¬
tion with the publication of an article from his pen,
the Boston Congregationalist says of him: "He is one of
the best equipped and trained of the Afro-American
clergymen in the South, and is an orator of much
promise.''
Rev. Francis J. Grimke was born in Charleston, S.
C , in 1850; came North in 1865, and entered Lincoln
University in 1866, from which he graduated in 1870;
studied law three years, and then decided to enter the
ministry; entered Princeton Theological Seminary in
the fall of 1875, and graduated in 1878. He immedi¬
ately afterwards became pastor of the Fifteenth Street
Presbyterian Church in Washington, D. C., where he
continued until the fall of 1885. Owing to failing
health, he resigned his charge, and accepted a call to
the Laura Street Presbyterian Church of Jacksonville,
Florida, where he continued to labor until the winter
of 1889. His health having improved, he accepted a
call to return to the church in Washington, where he
has been ever since.
Bishop James Walker Hood, D.D., LL.D.— Doctor
Hood is the oldest Negro bishop in the world. He
was elected bishop by the American Methodist Epis¬
copal Zion Church at Charlotte, North Carolina, in
1872. The church has ordered a celebration of the
bishop's episcopal labors. An extended programme
has been prepared by a committee of which R. S.
Rives is chairman. This anniversary was celebrated
September 18, 1897.
504
Progress of a ra£e.
Bishop. C. Rv Hafris was born in Fayetteville, North
Carolina, His father died when he was three years
old, and left his widow with ten children. The mother,
at once finding that the discussion of slavery was det¬
rimental to free colored people in the South, sold out
her little property, and went to Ohio, where Harris
was educated in good schools, and when the war closed
Robert and Cicero^ Harris were among the first to
enter the "field in the South. They went to Fayette¬
ville,, and established- a colored school under the
auspices of the American Missionary Association.
Through their efforts an appropriation was secured
from the Freedman's Bureau, and a two-story school
building was erected. Afterwards Governor Vance
visited the school, and at his suggestion the legislature
established this, the first colored state normal school.
Rev. J. W. Smith, the able editor of the Star of Zion,
Charlotte, North Carolina, was a pupil in this school
when Governor Vance visited it, and he gave several
figures on the blackboard in multiplication, division
and fractions for Mr. Smith to solve, and encouraged
him by saying he would make a good bookkeeper.
Professor C. R. Harris taught at Fayetteville until
1872, when he took charge of a public school at Char¬
lotte. Later he was connected with what is now Liv¬
ingstone College, and assisted much in building up
that institution in its early days. In 1880 he was
elected Bishop of the A. M. E. Zion Church. He has
been a member of every general conference since 1876,
and as an educator he stands high. His success in
Episcopal work has been as pronounced as in other
fields of labor in which he has worked.
Howard University conferred upon him the degree
of Doctor of Divinity in 1881. A person must merit
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 5()5
what he gets from this institution*, for it bestows its
honors with great caution. The life of Bishop Harris
has been spent in the unselfish service of his fellow
men, and is an illustration of fair» opportunities in
youth worthily followed up, and of energies devoted
to the service of humanity receiving their due recog¬
nition and reward.
Rev. W. G. Alexander, D. D., was born December
25, 1856, in Orange county, Virginia. Early in life
he was employed by Rev. Thomas E. Green, of Wash-,
ington, D. C. Rev. Mr. Green, being a man of large
means, took a great interest in young Alexander, and
educated him as if he were his own son. After finish¬
ing his course in preparatory work, he was admitted
to Howard University. At the age of twenty-two,
he entered the African Methodist Episcopal ministry .
His early years in the ministry were spent in hard
circuit work. He has successfully filled pastorates at
many prominent places in the South, and at present is
pastor of Big Bethel, Atlanta, Georgia. "While pastor
in Virginia, he was appointed by Governor Lee Cura¬
tor of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute.
In 1889 he was elected Fraternal Messenger to the
General Conference of the Colored Methodist Episco¬
pal Church at Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1892 he
was elected to the Presidency of Payne University,
Selma, Alabama, but declined, preferring to remain
in the ranks of the traveling ministry. He was
one of the principal colored speakers at the Con¬
gress of Religions at the Columbian Exposition in
Chicago in 1893. He is at present dean of the theo¬
logical department of the Morris Brown College,
Atlanta, and acceptably fills the professorship of
theology and sacred literature.
506
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
As the pastor of Big Bethel, he has succeeded
admirably in canceling the debt by means of a debt
REV. W. G. ALEXANDER.
chart which he has invented. This chart consists of a
number of squares, and as soon as any one has contrib¬
uted ten dollars the name of the contributor is placed
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 507
in a square. The church is valued at nearly $100,000.
Reverend Alexander is very popular among his people.
He has a large and choice library of books.
Wilberforce University, Xenia, Ohio, conferred
upon him the honorary degree of D. D.
He is the author of "Living Words," "The Negro in
Commerce and Finance,'' and '' The Efficient Sunday
School." Many of his friends think that he would
grace a bishop's chair. His experience and ability
make him one of the most popular and ablest ministers
of his denomination.
Rev. James. A. Davis, D.D., is one of the prominent
ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for
the past ten years has filled some of the best and most
influential churches. Doctor Davis is a native of Ken¬
tucky. He was taken to Ohio by his mother in his in¬
fancy, who, in company with others, was set free, and
located in Mercer county. His father, who belonged to
a different master, in the meantime escaped to Canada,
and in 1862 his mother joined him in Windsor,
Canada, where they remained until after the war.
He .was licensed to preach in 1879. In 1887 he was
sent to Greencastle, Indiana, where, in connection with
his pastorate, he completed a course of theology in De
Pauw University. He is at present stationed in Nash¬
ville. For him the years are full of promise.
Rev. W. D. Balay is the organizer of the Afro-
American Industrial Union of America; the object of
the organization is to elevate and uplift the race.
Besides spending his time on the work of the union,
he is pastor of the Baptist Church of Oak Cliff,
Texas. Mr. Balay has labored hard to make himself
useful to his race, and has succeeded in a remarkable
way.
33
508
PROGRESS OF A RACfe.
Rev. Joseph Albert Booker, A. M., was bom at
Portland, Arkansas. His mother died when he was
but one year old. His father, having been found
guilty of a knowledge of books, and of communicating
the same, was charged with spoiling the "good
Niggers." For this he was whipped to death when
the son was three years of age. With such adverse
circumstances to begin with, young Booker was sent
to school by his grandmother. He soon acquired
sufficient education to teach at the age of seventeen.
He first taught a subscription school. He afterward
entered Roger Williams Academy, graduating there¬
from in 1886. Soon thereafter he was elected President
of Arkansas Baptist College. President Booker is one
of the youngest of our Negro college presidents, and
with a long life before him, and great opportunities
about him, he bids fair to become a useful and influ¬
ential man in the great work of elevating the race.
Rev. E. R. Carter was born in Clark county, Georgia,
in 1856, and was a slave until the overthrow of the
Confederacy in 1865. Soon thereafter he entered
school, and in 1874 began teaching. He entered
Atlanta Baptist Seminary in 1879. Poverty compelled
him to subsist upon the scantiest meals, but undaunted,
the youth held to his purpose through all his experi¬
ences of hardship, self-denial and sacrifice. In 1882
he was called to the First Baptist Church of Atlanta,
which position he has most acceptably filled since. In
1884 he graduated from the the theological department
of the Atlanta Baptist Seminary. Mr. Carter enjoys
the esteem and confidence of all classes and denomina¬
tions. He is the author of several books: '' Our Pulpit
Illustrated," "The Black Side." Rev. Mr. Carter has
traveled extensively. His is a busy life. ' To serve
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 509
others and to do his part in the great work of elevating
the race is the supreme aim of his life.
REV. E. R. CARTER, ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
Rev. Z. T. Pardee, who was born a slave at Sparta,
510
progress of a race.
Georgia, is one of the pioneer preachers of the Baptist
Church in Texas.
Rev. James Robinson Carnes, pastor of the A. M. E.
Bethel Church of Dallas, Texas, was born in Tennessee.
His parents were slaves, his grandmother a pure
African woman and his grandfather a Guinea Negro.
Before the breaking out of the civil war, Texas was
supposed to be the best place to send slaves for safe
keeping. In i860 he and his mother were sent to
Columbus, Texas. Without having the privilege of an
education as many others have had, he nevertheless
has worked his way to the front, and has served many
prominent churches in Texas. He is a ready speaker,
and takes high grounds on all moral and religious
subjects He is a progressive and successful worker
for the elevation of his people along all lines.
Rev. W. B. West studied at Gammon Theological
Seminary, Atlanta, and is now presiding elder of the
Dallas District of the C. M. E. Church, and editor of
the Western Index, published at Dallas. He was born
a slave and was raised on a farm, but like many others
has pushed his way to the front, and is now one of the
leaders of the race.
Bishop Daniel Payne is sometimes called "The
Apostle of Education." He was a carpenter by trade
He taught school until his school was closed by slave¬
holders. He then left his native city, Charleston,
South Carolina, with the determination never to
return until slavery was abolished. In 1840 he joined
the Philadelphia Conference of the A. M. E. Church
as a local preacher. After serving churches at Wash¬
ington, Baltimore and other cities, he was elected
bishop. In 1863 he purchased for the A. M. E.
Church Wilberforce University, Ohio, and the success
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 511
that this school has met with is altogether due to the
energy and earnest zeal of this devoted man. In 1881
he presided over the Ecumenical Conference in London
of the M. E. Church, and in 1893 was one of those
REV. W. B. WEST.
who presided over the World's Parliament of Religions
in Chicago. He died in Wilberforce, Ohio, in 1893,
being at the time President of the Payne Theological
Seminary at Wilberforce.
Rev. M. C. D. Mason was born of slave parents on a
sugar farm near Houma, Louisiana, in 1859. In 1875
512
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
he entered the State Agricultural College at New
Orleans. From 187 7 to 1880 he taught a town school and
then entered New Orleans University. In 1883 he joined
the Louisiana Conference of the M. E. Church. He
won great popularity as a preacher and a pastor while
serving Lloyd Street Church, Atlanta. He completed
a course of theology in Gammon Theological Seminary
while in Atlanta, and immediately thereafter was
appointed field agent of the Southern Educational
Society of the M. E. Church. He still holds this
position, and is doing a good work for the race. He
is a man of fine scholarly ability, discriminating min¬
utely in choice of books and the subjects of which he
treats. His life is an inspiration to all who come
under his influence.
Rev. Paul H. Kennedy was born in Elizabethtown,
Kentucky. He had an earnest desire to acquire an
education, but was hindered by that institution,
slavery. During the early part of the Rebellion the
Union soldiers appeared near his home, and he
expressed the desire to be free. The soldiers con¬
cealed him in a wagon, but he was afterward returned
to his master. Soon after he set out on foot, and
walked to Louisville, and enlisted in the 109th Regi¬
ment of Colored Troops. He declares that the walk
from slavery to freedom, although a long one, was a
pleasant trip. In 1876 he was appointed pastor of the
First Baptist Church of Clarkesville, Tennessee.
Afterward he entered Roger Williams University,
where he prepared himself for his life work. He has
served as pastor of some of the largest Baptist Churches
of the colored race in the country. He is author of
several books, and also designed the Afro-American
chart, which was exhibited at the World's Fair, Chicago.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 513
Rev. G. V. Clark was brought by his slave mother
to Atlanta when about three years old. In 1862 he
was put "by his master in the service of the Confederate
hospital, where he remained until the close of the war.
He began going to school in his seventeenth year, and
soon after entered Atlanta University, and then How¬
ard University, Washington. After teaching for a
time, he graduated in Howard University in 1881. He
was pastor of the First Congregational Church in
Atlanta for.seven years. Since then he has served
some of the largest Congregational churches of the
South. He is a popular lecturer and speaker.
Rev. Wm. Howard Day, A.M., D.D.— Dr. Win.
Howard Day, General Secretary of the A. M. E. Zion
Church, and Chief Secretary of the Philadelphia
Conference, was born in New York city, and is the
only man living who when a babe was baptized by
Bishop Varick, the founder of the Zion Church. He
prepared for college at New York city and Northamp¬
ton, Massachusetts, but on account- of color prejudice
he was obliged to go to Oberlin College, Ohio, as the
only institution with a curriculum equal to that of
Yale, admitting men of color. Graduated in 1847,
and taking the degree A. B., he received the degree of
A.M. in 1859 from Oberlin, his alma mater, and later
on D.D., from Livingstone College. He was elected
professor of languages and mathematics by two col¬
leges, 1857; offered Latin tutorship, Lincoln, Eng¬
land, 1862. He visited Great Britain 1859, and was
received by the] Rt. Hon. the Earl Spencer at
Spencer house, England; and by her grace the
Duchess of Sutherland, the first lady in the kingdom
next to her majesty, the Queen, at Stafford house,
London. Subsequently by the lord provost of Edin-
38
514
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
burg, Scotland; main speaker at a meeting of 3,000
persons, in Music Hall, Dublin, Ireland, presided over
by the Lord Mayor, clad in his official robe and jewel
of office; addressed other thousands in England,
Ireland and Scotland; in 1866 was ordained Deacon
and Elder at Petersburg, Virginia, by Rt. Rev. J. J.
Clinton; elected General Secretary by the General
Conference in 1876, 1888, 1892 and 1896, for four years;
pastor, presiding elder, general missionary, supervisor
of missions, intellectual instructor, etc., during the
past fifteen years in the Philadelphia and Baltimore
Conference; unanimously elected President of the
Board of School Control, Harrisburg, 1891-92, the
only instance on record in the United States where a
man of color, and the .only colored member, has been
successfully elected president of twenty-five men,
fifteen Republicans and ten Democrats. Elected
President of the Dauphin county (Pennsylvania)
Directors' Association (comprising all the educational
boards in the county), for five successive years, he the
only colored member in the county, 1891-96, the only
instance in the United States where such a fact appears.
The fact carries its own comment, and in every respect
is doubly creditable to the Board and to Doctor Day.
Rev. Emperor Williams was born a slave in Nash¬
ville, Tennessee. He was sold into Louisiana .in 1841
to a builder. The builder had a difficult piece of
cornice, and none of his white men could put it up. Wil¬
liams told his master that he could do it, and his master
replied that if he could put it up he should have his
freedom. Williams studied over the plan all night,
and the next day took a gang of men and accomplished
the difficult task. He was given his freedom. After¬
ward he attempted to buy his wife, offering $2,000 for
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 515
her, but her master would not sell her. Soon afterward
General Butler took New Orleans, and Williams got
his wife for nothing and took his money and bought a
home. While a slave Williams frequently wrote passes
for himself. His master once asked him where he
learned to write the passes. He said: "While I was
collecting your rents for you." Thus frequently did
the Negro succeed in getting the rudiments of an
education.
LAWYERS.
The following is taken from an address by the Hon.
J. T. Settle, delivered at Greenville, Mississippi:
Gentlemen of the Colored Bar Association of Missis¬
sippi : I have listened with pleasure and profit to your
excellent addresses on different legal topics, and I can
pay you no higher compliment than to say you are an
honor to the profession. I look upon this meeting as
the dawn of a new era in the history of our race. It
is no new thing for us to meet and participate in the
public assemblages of men; in fact, one of the misfor¬
tunes of our people has been a too great love for meet¬
ings and conventions of every kind, out of which little
if any permanent good has ever accrued to us. The
emotional side of our nature has ever been so easily
reached that we have been too often used as instru¬
ments in the hands of others.
First Annual Meeting.—This organization, of which
this is the first annual meeting, marks the advent of
the colored citizen into a new field of labor. It
evidences the existence of a sufficient number of col¬
ored lawyers in Mississippi engaged in active practice
of the law to form a state organization to promote
their interests individually and 2ollectively, and in
doing this they cannot fail to promote the interests of
516
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
the entire race and to contribute to the general welfare
of our common country, for we are as much a part of
our composite nationality as any element it contains.
It is no new thing for the residents of this beautiful
delta to see gatherings of colored men.
Politics and Religion have given us conventions and
conferences at short intervals until some have come to
believe that we take to them as naturally as birds to
the air and fishes to the sea. But whoever thought
that here in this beautiful city, queen of the valley,
beside this great inland sea, would meet the first col¬
ored bar association iever organized in the United
States? And I think I may safely say that never in
the history of the race has there been a meeting
fraught with more significance. It shows that the
various and trying ordeals through which we have
passed during the last fifteen or twenty years in this
beautiful Southland, have evolved a class of men,
educated, thoughtful and conservative—indeed, men-
who are alive to the present and prepared to meet the
demands of the future.
No Hope of Success.—Many of our friends and all of
our enemies discourage us by saying that this was the
one profession in which we could not hope to succeed.
We have been compelled to realize that we are the
representatives of that race which has labored in
mental and physical servitude and suffered from polit¬
ical and social degradation since the planting of civili¬
zation on this continent. We realize in the beginning
that the undertaking to become practical lawyers,
and to acquire such a mastery of the law as to enter
favorably upon its practice, was a serious one, and
doubly so to us.
Prejudice.—We have met unreasoning prejudice
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 5lt
which denied us excellence of any kind, which declared
that we were without intellectual vigor and inventive
power, and destitute of strength to grasp and persis¬
tency to retain and master any complex and profound
proposition. In many instances we have commenced
our trial before a jury whose pre-formed judgment
would disqualify them from sitting in any other case.
We have often found, not our clients, but ourselves
on trial, and not ourselves alone, but the whole race
with us—a race which is condemned for the failure of
its individuals, while the success of every member of
it. is pronounced exceptional and due to incidental
conditions.
Equal to Struggles.—We have made good soldiers
and successful teachers, we have produced some great
preachers and distinguished speakers, and this meeting
demonstrated the fact that we are equal to the hard,
tough and long continued struggles of the bar, in some
respects the severest test that can be applied to a
man; and yet the world may be slow to admit our
success until, perhaps, we have produced an attorney-
general or a justice of the supreme court.
Not All Succeed—I do not mean to say that every
young man of color who has begun the practice of law
has succeeded; no, not by any means. Nor is this
true of the young men of any race, for along life's
highway, in all of the professions, are many wrecks
which mark the weakness and frailty of human char¬
acter; and here I think I may safely say that one of
the principal causes of failure in the legal profession
is the want of sufficient preparation.
An Oily Tongue.—Some persons unwisely think
that all that is necessary to constitute a successful
lawyer is an oily tongue, a vivid imagination and a
518
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
great capacity to lie; in fact, some people profess to
think that lawyer and liar are synonymous terms.
Such persons, it is needless for me to say, know but
little of the law and still less of the lawyer. They
forget or do not think, that the contests of lawyers are
not "ex-parte." They confront each other before
learned and astute courts and in the presence of the
world, where lies and frauds have the least possible
chance of success, and where exposure would usually
prove fatal to a cause.
A Good Education.—No lawyer can build a splendid
professional career upon an insufficient education any
more than he can build a monument of stone upon a
foundation of sand. I do not mean to say a collegiate
education is absolutely necessary to a successful career,
but it is a great help. Few men ever reached distinc¬
tion in the law who were not thorough scholars. Many
also fail who are well equipped intellectually because
they depend upon the oily tongue and vivid imagina¬
tion rather than real earnest work.
Courage.—Courage, moral and physical, are both
necessary elements of character. There is probably
no element of character that inspires so much admira¬
tion and creates so quick and enthusiastic a following
as this. A man who is afraid of nothing in the
discharge of his duty, afraid of no consequence
personal to himself, has his battle half won before he
strikes a blow. So great is the popular admiration of
courage that it has always been surrounded by a halo
of romance. -
Earnestness and Enthusiasm are also so essential
that I cannot refrain from mentioning them in this
connection. I name them together because they are
so nearly akin; indeed, enthusiasm is only earnestness
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 519
carried to white heat; they are the only qualities that
can take the place of personal magnetism in compell¬
ing sympathy. Earnestness comes from strong
conviction and strong feeling; enthusiasm rising out
of it is the fusion and sublimation of all the elements
of power within a man, and is strong in proportion as
it is rational; the moment it becomes mere passion it
becomes weakness. The world refuses to be moved
by men who are not in earnest. Human nature is
very much like iron—if you would bend it or shape it
you must heat it Earnestness is the furnace ;
enthusiasm the fire whose flames need only to envelop
other minds to make plastic or ductile.
Citizens.—We are citizens of this country by nativity,
not by choice or adoption, and here, under God's
providence, we mean to stay, and strike glad hands
with all lovers of justice, work out our own destinies
and vie with every other nationality in developing the
material resources and contributing to the greatness of
our beloved Southland. Agitators may discuss the so-
called race problem, but in the busy, active duties of
life we have no time for theories. We should prepare
ourselves by every energy of mind and soul to solve
the problem put to us by those by whom we are
surrounded, and with whom we live, viz.: "The
survival of the fittest." Citizens by nativity, we have
no other land to love. To this we have given our
labor for more than one hundred years; in defense of
her flag we have given our lives; to sustain her integ¬
rity we have contributed whatever was demanded of
us. At all times have we been faithful and reliable.
We have never been numbered among our country's
enemies. We have never been found in the ranks of
the Socialists and Anarchists in their attack upon
520
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
social order and our free institutions. Yet we have
lived under a condition of things at times unequaled
in the history of civilized government.
True to Our Native Land.—Erin's sons were never
truer to the Emerald Isle, nor the Highlander to Scot-
HON. J. T. SETTLE.
land's cliffs and crags than we to the land of our birth.
What member of any race ever gave expression to
loftier sentiments of patriotism in the American Con¬
gress than the distinguished lawyer and scholar, Hon.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 521
John M. Langston, of Virginia, when from his seat in
that august body he said: -"Ah, my white fellow
citizens on. the other side of the house, and on every
side, black as we are, no man shall go ahead of us in
devotion to this country,- in devotion to its free insti¬
tutions, for we hold our lives, our property and our
sacred honor in pledge to the welfare of our country
and of all our fellow citizens. Do you want us to
fight for our flag? Call on us and we will come. Do
you want men to tarry at home and take care of your
wives and children, to take care of your homes and
protect your interests? Call on us, and we will sacredly
keep and perform every trust and obligation.''
History and Patriotism.—Every member of the
race echoes these sentiments, and in the years to come,
when man's passions and prejudices have subsided,
impartial history will give to no race a prouder place
in their country's history than we shall possess, and no
race or condition of people will be prompted by a purer
or loftier patriotism than we, in our efforts to make
our beloved South the home of a happy, prosperous
and contented people.
Hon. J. T. Settle.—The subject of this sketch was
born upon the mountains of East Tennessee, Septem¬
ber 30, 1850, while his parents were "in transit" from
North Carolina to Mississippi. In 1856 he was carried
to Ohio and located at Hamilton, where he attended
the public school until 1866, when he was sent to
Oberlin, where he prepared and entered college in 1868.
He was one of the three or four colored boys in a class
numbering forty-five or fifty. Yet he was chosen as
one of the eight orators to represent his class when
they entered college, an honor much coveted by all
students.
522
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Mr. Settle completed his Freshman year and entered
the Sophomore class at Oberlin. In 1869, having lost
his father, who had indeed been a father in the broadest
sense of the word, he left Oberlin, went to Washington
City, and entered the Sophomore class of Howard Uni¬
versity, where he pursued his college studies and taught
in the preparatory department.
He graduated from the college department of
Howard University in 1872. In the latter portion of
his senior year he was elected "Reading Clerk" of the
House of Delegates (the District of Columbia then
being under a territorial form of government) and at
the time of his graduation was performing his duties
as reading clerk of the legislature, teaching a class in
Latin and one in mathematics daily at the university
and pursuing his own studies at the same time.
Immediately upon his graduation from college he
entered the law department of the same institution.
Upon his graduation from the law department he
was selected as one of the orators to represent his class.
He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of
the District of Columbia, but having determined to
make his chosen profession his life's work, he left the
District of Columbia in the spring of 1875 and located
in North Mississippi, where he at once engaged in the
practice of law. He returned the same year and was
married to Miss Therese T. Voglesong, of Annapolis,
Maryland, and again made his home in Mississippi.
In 1876 h£ was a delegate to the National Republican
convention. He was the only delegate from Mississippi
who voted for the nomination of Roscoe Conkling for
President, and continued to vote for him as long as his
name was before the convention.
Mr. Settle was elector for the state at large on the
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 523
Hayes and Wheeler ticket. In 1880 he was Presi¬
dential elector on the Garfield and Arthur ticket.
In 1883 Mr. Settle was nominated and elected to the
legislature upon an independent ticket, being strongly
opposed to the fusion his party made with the Democ¬
racy. It was during this canvass that he made the
most brilliant efforts of his life. He was met by the
ablest speakers on both sides; but before the people
he was irresistible, and was triumphantly elected by
more than 1,200 majority.
Upon his return from the legislature he determined
to abandon active participation in politics and devote
his time and energy to the practice of law; he left
Mississippi and located in Memphis, where he is now
living. About two months after his location in Mem¬
phis, he was appointed assistant attorney-general of
the criminal court of Shelby county; which position he
held over two years. The manner in which he dis¬
charged the responsible duties of prosecuting are thus
put by the Hon. A. H. Douglass, who was upo;n the
bench at that time: "His uniform attention to official
business, his manly courtesy and amiability, won him
the esteem and respect- of the bench, the bar and liti¬
gants, and went very far to break down the existing
prejudices against his coloi; in the profession. His talent
is fully recognized and his integrity has in no instance
been in the least questioned from any source. He
prosecuted without acerbity and with fairness, but
neglected no legitimate resources to fix the conviction
on the really guilty. He is such a master of elocution,
and displays such fluency, and indeed brilliancy, that
he invariably captivated those1 who listened to him.
He is remarkably simple in his manners, and utterly
without ostentation, and is an honor to his profession.
34
524
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
He is now comfortably situated in a handsome two-
story residence in a beautiful part of the city, where he
enjoys the esteem and confidence of a large circle of
friends.
Hon. Samuel McElwee, Lawyer, Legislator, Orator.
—It is wonderful how easily some men rise in the
world, and how hard others struggle to accomplish the
same things. Every step with some seems marked
with severe toils, bitter hardships, and apparently
insurmountable difficulties. But when at last the goal
has been attained, the prize seems ever so sweet, aye,
sweeter that it could possibly be without the conflicts
and discouragements. Samuel Allen McElwee is a
brave soul, who can wear on the forehead, "Through
difficulties to the stars." The chains of slavery bound
his body not half so tightly as ignorance his mind.
When the war ended he could not write. He was a
farmer's boy, for many years going to school but three
months in the year. Yet he studied until midnight,
burning patiently the light which would give him an
opportunity to read, which in future years gave him a
brighter light whereby he might see the condition of
his race, and find a remedy for their many ills. Though
worn with the daily toil, he never neglected his studies,
and on examination day entered with his class and
passed the tests from the year 1868 to 1874. He then
taught school. He often tells how, at that time, he
was influenced by The National Era, Fred Douglass'
paper, and how he longed for more education. He
matriculated at Oberlin, and waited on the table, picked
currants^ and washed dishes for his board. At the end
of . the year . he. went to Mississippi, where he taught
school. for-five years. Then he tatight a year ill
Alabama. He once walked thirty miles to secure a
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE, 525
school in Tennessee. He was often without money,
and even a place to sleep. Anxious to obtain means
to return to college, he commenced selling Lyman's
Historical Charts, Bibles and Medicines. Failing to
make enough money to return to college, he deter¬
mined to study under a private teacher. After teach¬
ing a large school in the day, he would walk ten miles
two nights in the week to recite in Latin, Greek,
German and Algebra to a white student at Vanderbilt
University. Mark that, young man; victory awaits
the daring, and reward always follows the persevering.
The student teacher was so impressed with the story
of this Negro's perseverance in seeking an education
that he told the president of Fisk University of the
ambitious boy. The president invited him to enter
the University. After a year in the senior preparatory
class, he entered college and graduated in 1883. In
the campaign of 1882, he traveled over the eighth and
ninth districts of Tennessee for the Republican party,
advocating a just settlement of the state debt. While
he was yet a student in January, 1883, he took his seat
in the Tennessee legislature, and served three terms
as a statesman and orator. He studied law in Central
Tennessee College, and was graduated in 1885. He
was a delegate to the Chicago convention which nom¬
inated Hon. J. G. Blaine, and with six others voted for
him on every ballot. Mr. McElwee takes a deep in¬
terest in the moral, social and industrial future of his
people. He is a magnetic speaker, forcible debater,
and an indefatigable worker, a manly man and a truly
honest citizen. His speech on "Mobs," in the Ten¬
nessee legislature, was widely . circulated. Mr. Mc-
Elwee's popularity with the people of his fade is
unbounded. He lives honestly and soberly, thus
526
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
challenging their admiration and winning their friend¬
ship. Mr. McElwee was married in 1888 to Miss
Georgia Shelton, the daughter of one of Nashville's
most prominent and refined families. In a beautiful
HON. J. C. NAPIER.
residence, opposite Central Tennessee College, Mr.
and Mrs. McElwee, with their two children, reside.
Their hospitality is widely known. The past few
years have been devoted solely to the practice of law,
in which he ranks with the best white legal lights
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 527
before the national bar. He has a lucrative practice.
His impassioned and forcible eloquence appeals to
judge and jury in defense of right and condemnation
of wrong. Mr. McElwee declares that his color is no
barrier to his practice, and that he receives due recog¬
nition from the judges and the legal fraternity in
general. He is still a hard student, and finds pleasant
society with his books, and in keeping abreast with the
latest legal news of the day. He is a brilliant conver¬
sationalist, of pleasing address, and a ready speaker.
He is a devout member of St. Paul's Methodist" Epis¬
copal Church, and perhaps the fact that he is a true
Christian gentleman speaks the best for the man.
Among the Older Members of the Legal Profession
are D. Augustus Straker, of Detroit; J. C. Napier and
S. A. McElwee, of Nashville; Hale G. Parker, of Chi¬
cago; J- Madison Vance, of New Orleans, O. F. Gar¬
rett, of Greenville, Mississippi; H. F. Bowles, of
Natchez; J. E. Burgee, Chattanooga, Tennessee; W.
M. Gibbs and S. A. Jones, of Little Rock, Arkansas;
J. T. Little and B. F. Booth, of Memphis, Tennessee.
James Carrol Napier.—The subject of this sketch
was born near Nashville, Tennessee, June 9, 1848.
He received his primary education in such schools as
were permitted for colored people in Nashville before
the war, and in 1859 was sent to Wilberforce Univer¬
sity, near Xenia, Ohio. From thence he went to
Oberlin, where he remained until near the completion
of his junior college year, when he left school to accept
a position in the government service in the War depart¬
ment at Washington, D. C. In 1873 he was graduated
from the law department of Howard University, and
was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of the
District of Columbia. Passing a civil service examina-
528 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
tion, he was appointed to a first-class clerkship in the
bureau of the Sixth Auditor, the first of his race in that
branch of the government service. His services in that
position were so satisfactory that he was in a short time
promoted to a clerkship in the bookkeeping division,
which position he resigned, after three years' service,
to take the responsible position of Revenue Agent for
the Internal Revenue District embracing the states of
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana, in
which position he was repeatedly complimented by the
department for the efficiency with which he performed
his duties. Desiring to return to his home at Nash¬
ville, he resigned the position of Internal Revenue
Agent to become a Gauger in the Fifth Internal Rev¬
enue District of Tennessee, and after a long and hon¬
orable service in such capacity, was promoted to be a
Deputy Collector, which position he filled with great
credit to himself and the entire satisfaction of the
government until the advent of Cleveland's first
administration, when he was relieved to give place to
a Democrat.
In 1878 Mr. Napier revisited Washington to marry the
only daughter of Hon. John M. Langston, then Min¬
ister to Hayti, a woman of broad culture, high educa¬
tion and superior intellect, a step which has never been
regretted by either.
Immediately after his retirement from the govern¬
ment service, Mr. Napier entered upon the practice of
law at Nashville, and has been engaged therein con¬
tinuously to the present time. Beginning as an inex¬
perienced practitioner, he has, by dint of-industry
and close application, advanced step by step to the
enviable position which he now occupies as a citizen
and a member of the Nashville bar. As was natural,
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 529
he has associated politics with law, and in this field he
has been eminently successful also. Never descend¬
ing to the plane of the ward politician, his political
life has been so straightforward, clean and fearless as
to give confidence and inspiration to his party asso¬
ciates and demand the respect of men of all parties.
He was four times elected a member of the City
Council of Nashville, and as the representative of the
colored population of that city, with the assistance of
his fellow citizens, secured the appointment of colored
teachers in the public schools, the erection of new and
additional school buildings, and did much to better
their educational and financial condition. He is the
representative of the colored Republicans in the State
of Tennessee, and has been a member of the Repub¬
lican State Executive Committee for sixteen consecu¬
tive years, during which time he has served a
considerable period as its acting chairman, and six
years as its secretary. He has been four times elected
a delegate to the National Republican Convention,
once as the representative of his Congressional District,
and three times from the state-at-large, one of the
highest honors within the gift of the Republicans of a
state. He is at present a member of the National
Executive Committee of the Republican League.
Mr. Napier has not only been successful as a lawyer
and politician, but financially as well. Fortune has
followed honor, and he is regarded as one of the most
substantial citizens of Nashville. May we not hope
that such an exhibition of tact, industry and intelli¬
gence will be an inspiration to the youth of the
country wherever this sketch is read.
34
530
PROGRESS OF A RACE:.
Colored Attorneys of Nashville, Tenn.:
Abbot, G. T.
Anderson, G. F.
Cheairs, H. B.
Cameron, H. A.
Crosthwait, W. A.
Ewing, P. A.
Ewing, T. G., Sr.
Grant, J. W.
Hodgkins, W. H.
Kizer, J. W.
Menefee, A.
Napier, J. C.
McElwee, S. A.
Robinson, G. T.
Smith, N. B.
Woods, Z. T.
The Colored Bar of Chicago.—Over thirty colored
men and one colored woman have been regularly admit¬
ted to the Illinois bar, and are now practicing law in
Chicago. Considering the fact that less than forty
years ago a large majority of the race in this country
to which these colored lawyers belong, and that sev¬
eral of the lawyers themselves, were slaves, the
race prejudice that they had to overcome, and the dif¬
ficulties they had to encounter, with no rich and influ¬
ential friends to give them a helping hand, the record
they have made at the bar is an honor to the race, and
well may their example be held up to the colored men
and women of other cities as worthy of imitation. It
is stated on .good authority that no other city has had
as large a number- of colored lawyers. They are not
only graduates of law colleges, but of universities as
well. Some of them have been teachers for years.
Names.—The names of the colored lawyers of
Chicago in the order in which they were admitted to
the bar are: Lloyd G. Wheeler, Richard A. Dawson,
Ferdinand L. Barnett, Louis Washington, Edward H.
Morris, J. W. E. Thomas, Maurice Bauman, John G.
Jones, R. O. Lee, George W. W. Lytle, S. Laing
Williams, Franklin A. Dennison, Charles P. Walker,
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 531
Edward G. Alexander, Lewis W. Cummings, W. W.
Johnson, S. A. T. Watkins, William H. Ward, M. A.
Mardis, Albert G. Hubbard, James H. Lewis, J. Gray-
Lucas, Hale Giddings Parker, Jas. E. White, W. B.
Akers, Charles W. Scrutchin, R. M. Mitchell, William
G. Anderson, Thomas L. Johnson, Miss Ida Piatt,
John L. Turner, Beauregard F. Mosely, E. H.
Wright.
Lloyd G. Wheeler was the first colored man ever
admitted to the Chicago bar. Mr. Wheeler is an in¬
telligent and worthy gentleman, an honor to his race,
and no disgrace to the
bar of Illinois. He
married the niece of
John Jones, now de¬
ceased, one of the
most worthy and re¬
spectable of Chicago
colored citizens, who
had been a slave,
and who, by work¬
ing over hours at tail¬
oring, purchased his
freedom. It was at
Mr. Jones' house that
John Brown was se¬
creted when a reward
was offered for his
delivery. Mr. Jones
died in 1879, wealthy,
LLOYD G. WHEELER. ' y\ \'
and at the time of his
death was carrying on a profitable business. To this
business Mr. Williams has given his undivided atten¬
tion since that time.
532
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Louis Washington was born in Alabama. His com¬
plexion is no counterfeit, it is plain, genuine black.
He was a slave until 1863, when, inspired by the love
of freedom; not having heard of President Lincoln's
proclamation freeing the slaves, and having been told
there was a large army at Vicksburg which liberated
all the slaves who came into its lines, he left his mas¬
ter's service unbidden, walked barefooted from Enon
to Vicksburg, and there entered the service. After
"the war, by dint of hard work and strict economy, he
succeeded in acquiring money enough to attend school.
While at Wheaton College, Illinois, the bank in which
he deposited his money failed, and he lost nearly three
hundred dollars, which compelled him to forego the
pleasure of completing his course. He afterward took
a course in the Union College of Law, and was admit¬
ted to the Illinois bar in 1879.
E. H. Morris, the leader of the colored bar in Chi¬
cago, was born a slave in Kentucky in 1859. He has
lived in Chicago twenty-six years. When he was
admitted to the bar, in 1879, he was unable to purchase
a suit of clothes to make himself presentable, and so
kept on his long overcoat, and during the examination
had it buttoned up so as not to show the fractures
which time and wear had made in his antiquated pants.
Contrast the situation of this poor lawyer with that of
the Mr. Morris of today! He now receives in cash for
his professional services over ten thousand dollars a
year, not including his services as south town attor¬
ney. He is worth more than $50,000 in Chicago real
estate.
J. W. E. Thomas served a year in the Illinois House
of Representatives, and is among the wealthiest
Qolored men in the city of Chicago.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE.. 533
S. Laing Williams entered the University of Mich¬
igan and graduated with the class of 1881, receiving
the A. B. degree.
After teaching for
some time in Ala¬
bama, he was ap¬
pointed to a position
in the Pension office
at Washington. In
1885 he resigned and
came to Chicago to
practice law. While
in Washington he en¬
tered the law depart¬
ment of the Colum¬
bian University, and
after finishing his
course took post¬
graduate work in the
same school. Mr.
Williams is a fine
, „ , S. LAING WILLIAMS.
student, and m schol¬
arly ability has no superior among the colored lawyers
of Chicago. He is the husband of Mrs. Fannie Barrier
Williams, who is the first and only colored woman ever
admitted to membership in the Chicago Woman's
Club.
Franklin A. Dennison was born in San Antonio,
Texas, and educated at Lincoln University, Pennsyl¬
vania, and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1879.
For a number of years he was chief assisting prose¬
cuting attorney.
Miss Ida Piatt was born in Chicago of colored
parents, September, 1863. She was educated in the
534
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
public schools of Chicago, and graduated from the
High School with honor at the age of sixteen. She is
the only colored woman admitted to the Illinois bar.
For nearly nine years she was private secretary in
an insurance office,
then, while stenog¬
rapher in a law
office, commenced
the study of law.
She graduated from
the Chicago College
of Law in 1894, and
received her license
to practice in June
of that year. One
of the judges of the
court, in signing his
name to her license,
said: "Wehave done
today what we never
did before; admitted
a colored woman to
the bar; and it may
now be truly said
MISS IDA PLATT, OF CHICAGO. that persons are nOW
First colored lady admitted to the bar .. ^ ru¬
in Illinois. admitted to the Illi¬
nois bar without re¬
gard to race, sex or color." Miss Piatt is a woman of
very decided ability, and entered upon her professional
career with talents possessed by few.
Taylor G. Ewing was born of slave parents near
Nashville in 1849. He experienced all the horrors of
slavery until 1861, when he ran off, going to Nash¬
ville, where he managed to get work at Fort Negley.
Personages of the afrO-american race. 535
After the close of the war, he began work as a barber.
During the evening he attended school with the deter¬
mination to obtain an education. He then went to
teaching, and taught school for four years, and then
received an appointment in the revenue service, which
he held until 1885. During this time, he began the
study of law, and in 1886 he was admitted to the bar,
and since then has engaged in the practice of law, and
has succeeded in building up a large and lucrative
practice. By thrift and economy he has accumulated
considerable property, and is estimated to be worth
about $10,000.
Alfred Menefee.—Probably the oldest colored man
practicing law is Alfred Menefee. He is seventy
years of age, and is a successful lawyer in Nashville,
although he has never had the advantages of a schol¬
astic training.
J. W. Grant.—In the fourth year of the war, J. W.
Grant was taken from his home near Sparta, Tennes¬
see, by the 14th U. S. colored troops. After expe¬
riencing the hardships of soldier life, he returned to his
mother, and then, besides attempting to support his
mother and sisters, he attended school as best he could
until he was sufficiently educated to teach. He enter¬
ed Fisk University in 1871. The close of the first year
found him without a dollar or any opening to make a
cent. Not being able to secure means to return to
school, he taught for twelve successive years. In 1887
he entered Central Tennessee College, graduating in
1890, and immediately entered the law department of
that institution. In 1894 he was chosen a member of
the faculty of the law department of Central Tennes¬
see College, and in 1895 he was elected Dean of the col¬
lege, which position he now holds. He is worth $10,000,
586
PROGRESS OF A RACK.
and has a beautiful residence in Nashville. His only
daughter will graduate from Fisk University in 1899.
William Richard Morris was born February 22,
1859, near Flemingsburg, Kentucky. He entered
Fisk University at Nashville, Tennessee, when seven¬
teen years of age, and graduated with high honors
from the classical department in the class of 1884. As
a student he was apt, studious, strictly first grade in
all his studies, and was known as a bright scholar, a
fine essayist, a logical debater, a correct thinker, and
an eloquent, forcible speaker. For five years he taught
in Fisk University, givingentire satisfaction in teach¬
ing mathematics, languages and the sciences. He was
at the time the only colored teacher of the institution.
In 1885, he represented the colored people of the
South at the annual meeting of the A. M. A., at Mad¬
ison, Wisconsin, and delivered an address entitled,
"The Negro at Present," that won for him a broad
reputation. In 1886, the State Superintendent of
Education of Tennessee employed him to hold insti¬
tutes for colored teachers of that state.
He,received the degree of Master of Arts from his
Alma Mater in 1887, and the same year was admitted
to the bar by the Supreme Court of Illinois in a class
of twenty-four, he being the only colored man. In
the examination he and two others received the same
and highest mark. He has also been admitted to the
bar by the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and practiced
some .at Chicago and Nashville.
In June, 1889, he resigned his position at Fisk
University, came to Minneapolis, and, having been
admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court, opened a
law office, and was the first colored lawyer to appear
before the courts of Hennepin county, Minnesota.
personages of the afro-american race. 53?
hon. john m. langston.
Hon. John M. Langston, A. M., LL. D., was born a
slave in Virginia. He takes the name of his mother.
His father was his owner, and upon his death John
538 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
was set free. Thereupon he was sent to Ohio, and
educated at Oberlin, graduating in 1853. In 1867
he was appointed inspector of the colored schools,
and made a trip through the South, and the same
year was admitted to practice in the United States
Supreme Court. For some years he was dean of
the law department of Howard University. In 1877
he was appointed Minister to Hayti by President
Hayes. Upon his return in 1885, he was elected
president of the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Insti¬
tute, which position he filled for two years, and was
then elected a member of the List Congress to represent
the state of Virginia. Mr. Langston has exerted a
wide influence for good on the race in the many posi-
tions he has held. He has for years been at the head
of the legal profession among men of his color in
Washington. He is a man of wealth, and lives in his
beautiful "Hillsdale Cottage" in Washington. Mr.
Langston is one of the ablest lawyers of his race. He
is author of "Freedom and Citizenship" and "From
the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol."
Isaac F. Bradley.—This gentleman is a rising young
lawyer of Kansas City, Wyandotte county, Kansas. He
is studious, honorable and upright in his dealings, and
is highly respected by both bench and bar of Wyan¬
dotte county, and well deserves the success he is now
enjoying.
Mr. Bradley was born at Hazelwood Hall, near Cam¬
bridge, Saline county, Missouri, September 8, 1862.
As a result of the criminal practice of that cruel
institution which flourised at that time, he never saw
his father; hence, from the beginning his way was
not smooth, thus he received very little schooling in
his youth. Being anxious, however, to obtain a good
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERIC AN RACE. 539
education, he saved his earnings, and in 1881, entered
Lincoln Institute at Jefferson City, Missouri, from
which he graduated with the full course in June,
1885. In the fall of the same year he entered the law
school of the Kansas State University; took the degree
LL. B., June 1887, and was admitted to the practice
of law; opened an office in Kansas City, Kansas, and
now enjoys a good practice. In April, 1889, he was
elected justice of the peace for two years, and dis¬
charged the duties with credit. He is active in polit¬
ics, ready and willing at all times to espouse the cause
of his race. He is now first assistant prosecuting
attorney of Wyandotte county, Kansas, the most pop¬
ulous and wealthy county in the state.
B. S. Smith, the subject of this sketch, is one of the
most widely, as well as favorably, known negro attor¬
neys west of the Mississippi river. He was born in
Arkansas, August 6, 1862, of slave parentage. Left
an orphan at an early age, he wandered to central
Illinois, where in 1876 he took up his residence in
Springfield, and entered the public schools of that
city, working for his board and lodging, and in 1883
graduated with honor from the High School (one of
the finest in the state). Thereupon he immediately
secured employment on a stock farm in Logan county,
where he worked until October, 1884, when, having
earned sufficient money to attend college, he entered
the law department of the University of Michigan,
and graduated from that institution in 1886.
Mr.. Smith immediately entered upon the practice of
his profession, locating in Kansas City, Kansas, in
1887^ where he now has a lucrative and growing prac¬
tice, stands high in the community, having served
four years as an alderman in his adopted home, and
35
540
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
was elected on the '^Republican ticket, presidential
elector in 1892. He has now abandoned politics
altogether, and devotes his entire time to his practice.
HON. S. J. JENKINS, AUSTIN, TEXAS.
S. J. Jenkins is a prominent lawyer of Austin, Texas.
He has been prominent in politics, and is at present
President of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Asylum at
Austin.
Daniel M. Mason is one of the prominent lawyers of
Dallas, Texas. Mr. Mason entered Howard Univer¬
sity in 1886, graduating- in 1890. He then entered
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 541
the law department of this institution, and graduated
with honors two years later. Since then he has prac¬
ticed law in Dallas, Texas, and as a young man of his
profession is meeting with success.
THE COLORED MAN IN MEDICINE.
Voodoos.—When the civil war was over, and the
smoke of battle had cleared away, the field in the
South was occupied by the red-eyed "voodoo," who
styled himself a '' doctor.'' There were, at that time,
possibly two or three exceptions to this rule, but only
two or three.
Should you ask these voodoos, better known among
the illiterate as " root-workers," what might be their
business, the answer would quickly be given something
like this: "My trade, dat am a doctor." "Is that so?"
"Yes, sar, I is a root doctor from 'way back; and when
I gets done standing at de forks ob de road at midnight,
pullin' up roots twixt de hollowing ob de owels, and
gittin' a little fresh dirt from de grave yard, honey,
der am suffin 'agwinter drop."
This being, with his weird stories, went forth among
a people who were rocked, as it were, in the cradle of
superstition, and early became monarch of all he sur¬
veyed. He was known and feared throughout the
country. He claimed to be able to cure anything from
consumption to an unruly wife or husband, and fur¬
nishing charms to make love matches, and to keep the
wife or husband at home, was one of his specialties.
Every patient they called on they diagnosed the
trouble thus: He or she was tricked; if pneumonia,
they were tricked; if a fever, they were tricked; or if
a case of consumption, they were tricked.
Their stock of medicine, if such we must call it,
542
progress of a race.
generally consisted of such things as these: small bags
of graveyard soil, rabbits' feet, rusty nails, needles,
pins, goose grease, snake skins, and many other such
things.
I say, a little more than a generation ago, this was
the class of so-called "colored doctors" that predomi¬
nated in the South, and which for many years was a
great stumbling block to the educated physicians of
our race, because it seemed to be understood that all
"colored doctors" were and must be "root doctors."
But thank Him who holds the destinies of races in
His hands that in the flight of years, and in this
electric age of progress, this "voodoo doctor" has
almost—not entirely, but almost—passed away, while
his territory is being occupied by colored physicians
whose qualifications in education, character and honor
are equal to similar qualifications in the physicians of
any other race.
The Contrast.—Thirty years ago, there were few, if
any, Negro physicians to be found, says Dr. L. T.
Burbridge, while today there is scarcely a Southern
town and a large proportion of the Northern towns
and cities that cannot boast of one or more colored
physicians, regular graduates of authorized medical
colleges. While this is true, we are compelled to
admit that there is a field for many more. It is esti¬
mated that there is one white physician to every 300
of his people, while there is only one colored doctor to
every 9,000 of his people. This furnishes an idea of
our need, for we feel assured that when the colored
physician become more numerous, so as not to be a
rare object, then he will be more respected by all
classes of people. Then, too, we feel proud to state
that the practice of the colored doctor is by no means
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 543
confined solely to his own race. The Negro physician
enjoys in many instances a small but growing white pat¬
ronage. This, in itself, is a confession of a recognition
of skill and ability, wrung, a 3 it were, from the lips
of the oppressor.
Patronage.—The colored physician does not ask
patronage on the score of color, and on the other hand
he does not want to be denied work on that account.
He does not ask that allowances be made for his defi¬
ciencies because he is a Negro, and on the other hand^
he does not want to be denied the privileges that skill
and ability should demand for any medical man,
whether white or black. A recognition of skill and
competency is all that he asks, regardless of color. In
other words, he wants to be treated as a man—one
who has fully prepared himself to do the work as
thoroughly and skillfully as any other man, of what¬
ever nationality. The Negro physician realizes the
fact that this is his only hope for successfully overcom¬
ing the many discouraging features of his work, and
with this fact in view, he has ever bent diligently to
the accomplishment of the task set before him.
Advantages.—The advantages offered to the colored
man for a medical education are good. Meharry, New
Orleans and Shaw Medical Colleges, in the South, are
doing good work, and in the North but few, if any,
doors are closed against the colored aspirant; while
England, France and Germany all extend to him a wel¬
coming hand. And, if yet we have not a Treve, we
have a Newman, if we have not a Koch, we have a
Stewart, and if we have not a Sims, we have a Boyd.
These are among the pioneers of the Negro medical
profession, and where they leave off their posterity
will take up and carry on the work so well begun.
544
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Influence.—While the farmer, the mechanic, the
teacher, the newspaper man, and the lawyers of our
race are laboring in their spheres, the physicians of
the race are spending their talents, their little means,
and their life for the elevation of their people, physi¬
cally, morally and spiritually, and too often without
remuneration. These men are doing much good for
their people and the communities in which they live.
Physicians of Today.—The colored physicians in
the South today are men .and women fully equipped
in education, morals and integrity for the high calling
they have elected, as their noble work will show.
In the United States today there are about one thou¬
sand colored physicians, men and women, and more
than seven hundred of them are located in the Southern
states. While they represent the homeopathic and
eclectic schools, yet the regulars are largely in the
majority.
Women.—The colored women have gone into the
profession very rapidly. They are scattered through¬
out the South, and are doing a good practice. While
most of the medical schools are open to them, they
come largely from Ann Arbor, Howard, Meharry and
the school in Kentucky, and also the Woman's Med¬
ical College of Philadelphia. Dr. Alice McCain, of
Savannah, Georgia, is the only lady physician in that
state. Her husband is a fine physician also. She is a
graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Philadel¬
phia, and he of the University of Vermont.
There is one thing commendable about our female
physicians, as well as our male physicians, and that is
they come from good schools, and are fully prepared
for their work. They, too, should be encouraged as
they go forth to their labors.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 545
Reception by White Profession.—The white phy¬
sicians of the South, especially the better class of
them, give the colored members of the profession a
hearty welcome into the field. They always have a
kind word for them; they encourage the people to
employ their own physicians; they lend them their
instruments, and come in consultation whenever called.
This is not local, but is reported to us from all parts
of the South.
Their Wealth.—The colored physicians in the South,
most of them, are in better circumstances than their
brethren in the North and East. Most of them have
beautiful homes, fine horses, city and town lots; while
some have plantations and others large bank accounts.
One of the wealthiest colored physicians with whom
we are acquainted is Dr. H. T. Noel, of Tennessee,
whose wealth is estimated to be about $85,000.
The American Medical Association of Colored Phy¬
sicians and Surgeons was organized in November,
1895, at Atlanta, Georgia. Its necessity grew out of
the fact that colored physicians of the South are not
admitted to the old organization. The second bi-ennial
meeting will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, October
15 and 16, 1897. A large attendance is expected.
Dr. R. P. Boyd, of Nashville, Tennessee, is presi¬
dent; Dr. D. L. Martin is secretary. The programme
of the coming session includes many of the most
prominent colored physicians of the country.
The Southern Empire State Medical Association
of Georgia held its fourth annual meeting in Macon,
July 1 and 2, 1897. This association is composed of
the colored physicians and surgeons of the state. It
is in a flourishing condition. It was organized by Dr.
H. R. Butler, A. M., M. D.r who was elected the first
president and served one year.
546
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
The colored physicians are organized in six states:
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee,
Florida and Texas.
Dr. Robert Fulton Boyd was born in Giles county,
DR. R. F. BOYD,
Professor in Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.
Tennessee, where he spent his early boyhood days.
At the age of eight years, he was taken to Nashville
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 547
to live with Dr. Paul Eve, a noted surgeon of his day.
It was here that he first conceived the idea of making
a physician of himself. He attended night school at
the old Fisk School, and learned to spell and to lead
from McGuffey's First Reader; from 1868 to 1870 he
worked on a farm, then returned to Nashville to learn
the brick trade. He had not yet learned to write, and
was anxious for an education, and in 1872 hired himself
to Gen. James Hickman to work half a day and go to
school the other half. He earned enough for clothing
by teaching old colored people their letters, so that
they might read the Bible. In 1875 he began teaching
school and rapidly rose in that profession. He became
principal of the Pulaski schools, and was employed by
the State Superintendent to hold state institutes for
colored teachers in middle Tennessee. In 1880 he
entered Meharry Medical College, and graduated in
1882. In the same year he was appointed adjunct pro¬
fessor of chemistry in Meharry Medical College, and
at the same time entered the college department of
Central Tennessee College, graduating in 1886. He
then entered the dental department of Meharry Medi¬
cal College, and graduated in 1887. He paid his ex¬
penses all this time by teaching in the various depart¬
ments of the Central Tennessee College. In 1887 he
entered the practice of his profession in Nashville,
where he has since done a work second in importance
and magnitude to no other physician.
Mr. Boyd is a hard worker, and uses all his powers
to elevate and educate his race. He is a typical ex¬
ample of what young men can do in spite of the
greatest opposition. He has built for himself a
practice that is an honor to any man. His office, in¬
struments, horses and buggies compare favorably with
548
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
those of any other physician. He has instituted a
society for the study of sociology and ethics among
colored people. In this respect alone he has done
much for the betterment of the colored people in Nash¬
ville. In 1890 he took a post-graduate course, and in
1892 he took a second post-graduate course in a Chicago
medical college. He is at present a member of the
faculty of Meharry Medical College, being professor
of gynecology and clinical' medicine. He owns the
valuable property, 4x7 and 419 Cedar street, Nashville,
worth $20,000. It is a building used for offices, and
contains forty rooms. He was once nominated candi¬
date for mayor of Nashville, and the legislature of
Tennessee. Connected with his office is an infirmary
for the care of the sick and surgical cases. Trained
nurses are always on hand. He gives two hours three
times a week to the sick and indigent poor during the
college year. Many now attend his free clinic and are
helped. Dr. Boyd is a polite and affable gentleman,
respected both by whites and blacks, and an honor to
the race which he so ably represents. He is president
of the American Medical Association of Colored Phy¬
sicians and Surgeons, and in every respect leads his
race in everything that is elevating and ennobling.
His friends are urging him for surgeon-in-chief of the
Freedman's Hospital at Washington, D. C. He is
well endorsed, and has numerous letters of recom¬
mendation and petitions to President McKinley to
appoint him. While the people of Nashville are glad
to see Dr. Boyd honored and have his ambitions
and aspirations gratified, they do not want him to
leave them.
Daniel H. Williams,- Chicago, 111., son of Daniel and
Sarah (Price) Williams, grandson of Daniel Williams,
personages of the: afro-american race. 549
was born January 18, 1858, at Hollidaysburg, Pa.
He attended the Janesville, Wis., high school, and was
graduated from the Janesville Classical Academy in
1878. Commenced the study of medicine at Janesville in
1880, under Surgeon-General Henry Palmer; attended
three courses of lectures at Chicago Medical College,
from which he was graduated March 28, 1883, his
education having been obtained through his own exer¬
tions, his parents being unable to render financial
assistance. In May, 1883, he located permanently in
the practice of medicine in Chicago.
Dr. Williams is a member of the American Medical
Association, Illinois State Medical Society, Chicago
Medical Society, and Ninth International Medical Con¬
gress. He was surgeon to South Side Dispensary,
Chicago, 1884-'92; Surgeon to Provident Hospital,
i89o-'93; physician to Protestant Orphan Asylum,
r884~'93; member of Illinois State Board of Health,
1889; reappointed, 1891. He is also a member of the
Hamilton Club, of Chicago. Was appointed surgeon
in charge of the Freedmen's Hospital, Washington,
D. C., February 15, 1894.
Dr. Williams stands at the head of the list of the
great surgeons of our country. He came into promi¬
nence when a very young man a few years ago by per¬
forming one of the most difficult of surgical operations
on the heart and pericardium, which properly consisted
in operating upon and saving the life of a man who
had been stabbed in the heart. Since his advent to
Freedmen's Hospital he has continued to perform very
difficult operations, and has directed more attention to
Freedmen's and the work being done there than many
institutions of the kind in the country. He recently
performed an operation which is regarded by the med-
550
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ical profession as not only one of the rarest, but also
one of the most hazardous—the Caesarian section. The
race has reason to be proud of him for the great service
he is rendering it.
Lieut. Henry R. Butler, A. M., M. D.—The subject
of this sketch was born of humble parents in Cumber-
LIEUTENANT HENRY R. BUTLER, A. M., M. D., ATLANTA, GA.
land county, North Carolina, in 1862. He spent his
early life on the farm, where he suffered many hard¬
ships. His parents being poor, he was compelled to
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 551
work all the while, hence his early schooling was lim¬
ited. He received only three months' free schooling
in his life. In 1874 his parents moved to Wilmington,
North Carolina, where he worked as a stevedore for
the Colville-Taylor Lumber Company. Here he made
money enough to enter school and, through the kind
assistance of Professor E. E. Greene of that city—now
Dr. Green, of Macon, Georgia—he was given a pre¬
paratory training at night. He entered Lincoln
University in 1882, from which, after five and one-half
years of hard study, much work and many privations,
he was graduated, receiving the degree of A. B., June
18, 1887. In October of the same year, he matricu¬
lated at Meharrv Medical College, from which he was
graduated in February, 1890. Here he won the H. T.
Noel gold medal for proficiency in operative surgery
and dissection. He began the practice of his profes¬
sion in Atlanta, March, 1890. For several years he
was senior member of the drug firm of Butler, Slater
& Co., which was the first drug store opened in the
state owned and operated by colored men. In 1891
Governor Northern appointed him surgeon of the
Second Georgia Battalion of Colored Volunteers, with
the rank of First Lieutenant. He is an active mem¬
ber of the Atlanta Sociological Club, and spends much
time in studying the social conditions of his people,
and is an able speaker and writer on these and other
topics. In May, 1893, he married Miss S. May Sloan,
who has proved a worthy and helpful companion.
During 1894 and 1895 he took a special course in the
diseases of children, and in surgery at the Harvard
Medical School. He was the first colored man to be a
regular contributor to the great Southern daily, The
Atlanta Constitution. His articles are read by both races,
552
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
and are doing much good in bringing about a better
feeling between the races throughout the South. He
has a large and lucrative practice, but does a great deal
of charity work. He throws himself into every move¬
ment that has for its object the elevation of his people
and the advancement of the country.
David Lee Johnstone enrolled as a student at the
State Normal School at Tuskegee, September 14, 1885,
completing the course in 1889. His vacations were
spent at Pratt City, Alabama, working there as a
miner to earn money enough to return to school in the
fall and to support an invalid father.
After completing his course he returned to Pratt
City, and found employment as a teacher in the public
schools, which position he held for four years. Having
a desire to complete a course in pharmacy and not
being able to accumulate a sufficient amount at teach¬
ing, he resigned and accepted a contract in the mines
at Milldale, Alabama. This employment, although
very hard, was more lucrative, and the 1st of Septem¬
ber, 1894, he entered the pharmaceutical department
of Meharry Medical College, Nashville. During
vacation he continued working in the mines. At
graduation he was elected by the members of his class
to represent them in the commencement exercises.
He soon found employment with the Peoples' Drug
Company, of Birmingham, Alabama.
In April, 1896, he opened the Union Drug Store, at
Birmingham, Alabama, and continued in it until
December of that year, when it was swept out by fire.
His purpose, however, was not to be defeated by losses,
and in April, 1897, he again opened the doors of the
Union Drug Company, and is doing a prosperous bus¬
iness.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO*AMERICAN RACE. 553
Dr. W. A. Hadley was born of slave parents in 1850.
He attended Fisk University, and was one of the first
normal teachers sent out from that institution. In
1878 he entered Meharry Medical College, from which
he graduated in 1880. After practicing medicine four
years, he returned to teaching, and is at present prin¬
cipal of one of the Nashville schools. His house is
modern in every respect, and is a perfect, ideal home.
One remarkable feature in Dr. Hadley's home is a col¬
lection of pictures, all of which were painted by his
daughter, who is the principal of music in the Tuskegee
Normal School, and enjoys the distinction of being
the first graduate in music from Fisk University. Dr.
Hadley's real estate and other property are valued at
$14,000.
B. £. Scruggs, M. D.f was born of Christian parents
i n Huntsville, A1 a-
n. bama. He received his
' I \ Alabama College and
/ m ' ' Central Tennessee Col-
^ lege, at^ Nashville. He
/ the state medical exam-
^ est any of t-llose who
were examined at that
.X time. He has had a
b. e. scruggs, m. d„ successful practice ever
Huntsville, Alabama. since. In 1892 he was
elected alderman of the city of Huntsville, and re-
554 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
elected in 1897 by the largest vote of any aspirant.
He is the first Afro-American of Alabama to graduate
from a school of medicine. Dr. Scruggs was married
to . Miss Sophia J. Davidson in 1881. He owns some
property, and is in good circumstances.
Dr. Ferdinand A. Stewart was born in Mobile, Ala¬
bama, in 1862. He completed the classical course in
Fisk University in 1885, and three years later grad¬
uated in the medical department of Harvard University
with the first honors of his class of over one hundred,
all of whom were white excepting himself. Since
1888 he has been practicing medicine in Nashville, and
has succeeded admirably, both professionally and
financially. He has no other ambition than to serve
his people in his professional capacity.
Dr. Henry Fitzbutler, of Louisville, was born Decem¬
ber 22, 1842. He graduated in the Michigan University
in 1872. He was granted a charter by the legislature
of Kentucky in 1888 to practice medicine, having
graduated at the Louisville National Medical College.
He was the first regular physician of the Negro race
to enter upon the practice of medicine in the state of
Kentucky.
T. T. Wendell.—The subject of this sketch, Mr. T.
T. Wendell, was born July 24, 1871, at Nashville, Ten¬
nessee. At an early age he evinced great aptitude for
study, and very often led his classes in the public
schools of his native city. After completing the pre¬
scribed course in the city schools, and possessing a
strong desire to become proficient in medicine, he
entered Meharry College, where he pursued his studies
with diligence and vigor, graduating from the phar¬
maceutical department in the class of 1894, with marked
distinction, being the valedictorian of the largest class
graduartingfrtfm that famo'us institutib'n.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 555
Mr. Wendell, now realizing that it was time for Him,
to repay his widowed mother for the care and many-
sacrifices she made for his advancement, secured a'
position at Henderson, Kentucky, as manager of The
Citizens' Drug Company, which position he held until
a more remunerative one was offered by Dr. W. H.
Ballard at Lexington. He is now filling this position
to the satisfaction of his employer and his many
friends, who are numerous, which is testified to by the
fact that although in the Leader (a daily paper) contest
for the most popular clerk in the city, he was opposed
by ten others, all white, yet when the votes were
counted Mr. Wendell had over five hundred votes
more than his next highest competitor.
F. B. Coffin, Ph. G., Pharmacist and Poet.—F. B.
Coffin was born in 1869, in Holly Springs, Mississippi.
His father being poor and having a large family, Frank
had very meagre educational advantages. At the age
of ten, he lost his best earthly friend, his mother. His
older brothers and sisters scattered over the South as
teachers, and morally and intellectually he was left to
his own guidance. He was raised in the sturdy mold
of tireless industry. Against his will, but to please
his father, he stayed on the farm until seventeen years
of age, receiving three months' schooling annually.
He read all kinds of literature that came to his hand,
good and bad, but through the influence of his brothers,
he cast away the trashy novel and more than ever
desired an education. His elder brothers having left
home, he was his father's only stay, and the remark
was often made, "What would I do without Frank."
Through correspondece with his brothers, the desire to
attend school was constantly increasing, and in 1886,
by the aid and consent of his father and brothers, he
36
556
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
entered Fisk University, where both his brothers had
graduated. He spent his vacations' on the farm, and
in 1889, with his father's consent, he remained in
Nashville, where he was able to earn more money. At
the beginning of his senior year, he was called home by
the sickness of his father. This was a severe trial to
him, as he was thus cut off from his classmates, and
not permitted to graduate with them. In writing to
one of his classmates, he says: "If misfortune pre¬
vents my graduating with you you will hear from me
somewhere, for Fisk has kindled a fire of determina¬
tion and it cannot be extinguished.'' After his
father's death, he taught school for a time, but was
disgusted with it through the fact that in gaining and
holding a position merit was drowned by political wire¬
pulling. In 1891 he entered Meharry Medical College
and graduated in 1893. He is now conducting a drug
store at Little Rock, Arkansas, and is thoroughly
awake to the necessity of competing if he would excel.
He takes as his motto, "No step backward," and is
working with all the energy of his soul to range among
the successful ones of our closing century. Mr. Coffin
has just published a volume of poems of about two
hundred pages, forty of which relate to the crime of
lynching. He is preparing another book of poems,
which he hopes to publish in the near future. He is a
lover of children, and is actively engaged in Christian
work. He stands fearlessly for right, without regard
to what the effect may be upon his business.
Dr. Sarah Helen Fitzbutler graduated in medicine
and surgery in the Louisville National Medical College
with the class of 1892. Doctor Butler is the first
woman to receive the regular degree to practice medi*
cine in Kentucky.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 557
The Louisville National Medical College is doing
much, by its thorough work, to disarm the public mind
of race prejudice. The race may justly feel proud of
what its representatives are achieving. Its attain¬
ments are worthy of schools that boast of much
higher standing.
J. B. Banks, M. D., taught school for a short time,
DR. J. B. BANKS, NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI.
then entered Leland University, New Orleans, in 1877,
working evenings and mornings for his board and
558.
.Progress of a race.
' lodging/ The yellow fever compelled him to leave.
tHe then went to the- country where he obtained a
-private school of teh or .fifteen pupils!"- After'paying
his board of $5 a month, he had one dollar left for his
work. He afterward succeeded in finding better pay¬
ing employment and -managed, -besides supporting his
aged grandparents, through the next winter, to save
$30. ' He then "taught for a number of years,' and
entered Meharry • Medical College in 1885. After
graduating h'e .at oncfe returned to Mississippi, and
passed his examination before the - State Medical
Board. 'He, with seven white applicants, was success¬
ful, while the same number of whites were unsuccess¬
ful. He at once began practicing medicine, and in
1889 moved to Natchez, Mississippi, where he has a
fair practice. In 1890 he was appointed a member of
the Board of Surgeons of the United States at Natchez.
Doctor Banks enjoys the esteem of his own race and
of the white citizens of Natchez and the surrounding
country. He owns a comfortable home, valued at
$3,000; is married and has two - children. He is a
prominent member and officer of the African M. E:
Church of Natchez.
Thomas A. Curtis, was born in Alabama. His
parents were slaves, but. by earnest effort his father
educated himself ^,nd became state senator from Ala¬
bama. The son, after graduating from the State
Normal School, taught for some years in Texas, and
then entered Meharry Dental School, from which hp
graduated in 1889. His success as the first colored
dentist of Alabama is assured. During the first year
he earned more than $2,000. With such an energetic
spirit as he possesses it is needless to say. that he has
each year • improved in proficiency in his profession
and in~th*e increase of his practice.
PERSONAGES OF THE \AFR.O-AM-ERICAN RA(?£.559
AUTHORS AND LITERARY WORKERS.
Paul Laurence Duiifcar.—'The first poet of his race
in the English language was Paul Laurence Dunbar,
PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR,
The Famous Colored Poet.
whose parents were full blood Negroes. His father
escaped from slavery in Kentucky to freedom in Can¬
ada, and at a time when there was no hope of freedom
560
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
otherwise. His mother was liberated by the Emanci¬
pation Proclamation, and came North to Ohio. Paul
was born at Dayton, Ohio, and grew up with such
opportunities for mental training as befalls the chil¬
dren of the poor. His father was a plasterer, and
after learning to read, he loved chiefly to read history.
His mother had a passion for literature, with a special
delight for poetry.
■ After his father died, mother and son struggled on
in still deeper poverty. His writings attracted many,
and it was not long before his friends recognized that
in him was found the first instance of an American
Negro who had evinced an innate distinction in litera¬
ture, although many of his race had proven themselves
proficient in music, oratory, and some of the other
arts. It is said that Paul Dunbar was the only man
of pure African blood and of American civilization to
feel the Negro life aesthetically and to express it lyrical¬
ly. While all of his poems are beautiful in sentiment,
yet those pieces where he studied the modes and traits
of his race we find the most charming. His refined and
delicate art is shown most clearly where he describes
the range between appetite and emotion. He reveals
in these an ironical perception of the Negro's limita¬
tion with a tenderness that is quite new.
If Mr. Dunbar does nothing more than he has done,
he may rightfully be said to have made the strongest
claim for the Negro in English literature that the
Negro has ever made. Although we may not agree in
all he says, we can hardly refuse to enjoy it.
Well may it be said of many of his productions that
they are works of art. Let us notice a few of the
many beautiful and practical sentiments expressed.
The following is from "Accountability":
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 561
"But we all fits into places dat no othah ones could fill,
And we does the things we has to, big er little, poor er ill.
John cain't take the place o' Henry, Su an' Sally ain't alike;
Bass aint nuthin' like a sucker, shad ain't nuthin' like a pike.
When you come to think about it, how it's all planned out,'it's
splendid.
Nuthin's done ere evah has been 'dout hit's somefiir* dat's intended;
Don't keer what you does, you has to, an' hit sholy beat£ de
dickens.
Viney, go put on de kettle, I got one o' mastah's chickens."
Then again, notice the sentiment expressed in the
following stanza on the grand old man, Frederick
Douglass, in all respects the representative of his
race:
"Through good and ill report, he cleaved his way right, with his
face set towards the heights,
Nor feared to face the foeman's dread array—
The lash of scorn, the sting of petty spites.
He dared the lightning in thejightning's track,
And answered thunder with his thunder back."
What poet has more graphically and in fewer words
expressed the realities of life than Mr. Dunbar in the
following stanza:
"A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in,
A minute to smile, and an hour to weep in;
A pint o£'joy to a peck of trouble,
And never a laugh but the moans come double;
And that is life!"
"Rising of the Storm" is "beautifully expressed,
while "An Ante-bellum Sermon" gives us an insight
into the real life of the Negro of those days. The
"Banjo Song" carries back many a gray-haired freed-
man to the time when the banjo, taken from the wall^
brought cheer and comfort to the weary slave.
Who has more really pictured the lawyer's ways
562
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
than he when he describes the effort of the contending
sides to paint either in blackest ^crime the condition of
the' persons on one .hand, and to "gild, with virtuous
graces-the fair name as seen from the ^other side?
^Pertinently does he. ask:
"How an angel an' a devil
Can persess the .self-same "soul!"
Our sympathies, are aroused- in r<Deacon Jones'
Grievance, " wlien he' so pathetically pleads with the
parson to modify the "hifaluting style"' of .modern
song in the churches, and the objection to being made .
an object of ridicule, when a solo was being sung and
he struck in to help the poor fellow out, and the whole
church scowled at him. "The Spelling Bee" brings
to mind the days of yore so vividly that we wish we
were there. "Keep Pluggin' Away,although a
quaint motto, carries with it many a noble and worthy
truth. . . •
All the gallant sons of Ham that have fought for
freedom are anew fired with the spirit of patriqtism
and loyalty to Uncle Sam in reading "The Colored
Soldiers," in which the bravery of the Negro at Fort
Wagner and Fort Pillow are so graphically set forth.
Well does it close with this stanza:
"So all honor and all glory to these noble sons of Ham,
The gallant colored soldiers who fought for Uncle Sam."
A sigh escapes many a longing heart as we read the
"01' Tunes," as the new-fashioned anthems prevent
the 'joining of the uncultured and untrained voices.
Every Negro rejoices in freedom, and yet what ex-slave
who was blessed with a humane and kind master does
not sigh when he reads "The Deserted Plantation,"
which brings to the mind the days of long ago?
PERSONAGES Of THE "AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 563
We have space for but one more selection from this
gifted author of the colored race:
MORTALITY.
"Ashes to ashes! dust to dust! •
What of his loving?* What*of his lust?
What of his passion? What of his" pain? •
What of his poverty? What his '(pride?
Earth, the great mother, has*called him again;
Deeply he sleeps, -the world's verdict defied. .
Shall he be tried agaifi?. 'Shall he go free"?
Who shall the court convene? Where shall it be?
No answer on the land, none from the sea!
Only we know that as he died, we must— •
You with your theory, you with" your trust—
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust!" -
A London correspondent says: "Paul Dunbar, the
American Negro Poet, has captured London. He has
been received with marked attention by good society,
and he is in big demand in the most fashionable draw¬
ing-rooms.' No color line is drawn in England, and
the talented American is much sought after. He
reads his verses at receptions, garden parties and other
•'entertainments, and he has received the most favora¬
ble criticisms from the press. Mr. Dunbar came to
London well recommended by W. D. Howells and
other American literary lights well known to the
British public. His humble origin and the story of
his self-culture, struggles and final triumph have won
him a peculiar regard here, where the Negro slave and
the prejudices against him and his descendants have
never existed. Mr. Dunbar expects to spend several
months in London, and he will have no lack of occu¬
pation, judging by his early successes. His mission
promises to be all that he hopes it to be.
Frances E. W. HarperWe have already notice^
564
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Mrs. Harper as one of the forerunners of liberty. It
is, however, due Mrs. Harper that we also mention
her as an author, for, since the emancipation she has
written a number of works besides spending much of
the time in the lecture field. Some of her writings are
the following: "Moses, a story of the Nile;" "Sketches
of Southern Life,'' in which she portrays the life of
the Negro; "Shalmanezer." Her book of poems con¬
tains some excellent and practical thoughts. "The
Dying Bondman" is so touching that we reproduce it
here:
THE DYING BONDMAN.
Life was trembling, faintly trembling,
On the bondman's latest breath,
And he felt the chilling pressure
Of the cold, hard hand of Death.
He had been an Afric chieftain,
Worn his manhood as a crown;
But upon the field of battle
Had been fiercely stricken down.
He had longed to gain his freedom,
Waited, watched and hoped in vain,
Till his life was slowly ebbing—
Almost broken was his chain.
By his bedside stood the master,
Gazing on the dying one,
Knowing by the dull-grey shadows
That life's sands were almost run.
"Master," said the dying bondman,
"Home and friends I soon shall see;
But before I reach my country,
Master, write that I am free.
"For the spirits of my fathers
Would shrink back from me in pride,
If I told them at our greeting
I a slave had lived and died.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 565
"Give to me the precious token,
That my kindred dead may see—
Master! write it, write it quickly!
Master! write that I am free!"
At his earnest plea the master
Wrote for him the glad release,
O'er his wan-and wasted features
Flitted one .sweet smile of peace.
Eagerly he grasped the writing;
"I am free at last!" he said.
Backward fell upon the pillow,
He was free among the dead.
Among other interesting poems are found, "Saving
the Boys;" "Nothing and Something;" "My Mother's
Kiss;" "Home, Sweet Home." Probably the volume
which has received the most favorable reception is her
"Iola Leroy," presenting a vivid view of scenes at
the South before, during and after the war. It is
written in a vigorous and graphic manner, and is effec¬
tive in appealing to the finer sensibilities of the Amer¬
ican public and, at the same time, addresses itself to
those logical sequences of mind that follow out of that
fundamental principle of Christianity, the fatherhood
of God and the brotherhood of man.
Mrs. Harper introduces into her work many thrilling
war scenes and succeeds in making her romance one
of the most interesting. It pleads the cause of the
race whose destinies were never more closely involved
with those of the nation than at the present time.
Mrs. Harper is one of the ablest writers among the
women of the colored race.
Phillis Wheatley.—This girl was brought on a slave
ship from Africa to Boston in 1761, and bought by
Mrs. John Wheatley, an intelligent and cultured lady.
When bought her clothing consisted of a piece of dirty
566
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
carpet around her loins. Mrs. Wheatley was impress¬
ed by her intelligent countenance, and selected her
from a large number of slaves. Through kind treat¬
ment and encouragement she learned easily, and devel¬
oped a talent for, poetry. She wrote a book of poems
of about forty pieces, and the literary merit of these
poems disposed some to question their origin. At one
time she addressed a poem to George Washington,
and received a kind and courteous reply.
Mrs. Mary R.' Phelps.—In Union county, South Car¬
olina, on the first day of May, 1867, was born to
Adeline and Hilliard Rice the subject of this sketch.
Many names of the rising young women of her race
have, doubtless, received more public eulogy, but few
names deserve a more worthy mention than that of
Mrs. Mary R. Phelps. There were many qualities
noticeable about her when quite young, all significant
of her future usefulness. But the one especially inter¬
esting to her parents and friends was the voluntary
devotion to books and other reading matter. Her
perusing picture books, papers, etc., awakened an
interest in her to enquire about the words which often
accompanied such pictures. In this way she learned
to read simple readings by the time she was four years
old. At the age of five years, she entered the public
schools of Union county, the annual terms of which
were of but two or three months' duration. So remark¬
able was her progress as a student and scholar under ad¬
verse circumstances;that at the age of thirteen she ac¬
cepted, with consent of her parents, the charge of a large
school in a rural district of Spartanburg county, South
Carolina, was examined, received a certificate of qualifi¬
cation, and taught the term with such remarkable credit
as to win the approval of both her patrons and trustees.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERIC AN RACE. 56,7
Her parents, being thus encouraged, determined with
renewed efforts to#have her educated, notwithstanding
their limited advantages. They sent her to Benedict
Institute (now Benedict College), Columbia, South
Carolina, and" afterward to Scotia Seminary, at Con¬
cord, North Carolina, from which institution she grad¬
uated. Since completing her course in school, she has
contributed to various journals, etc., and has been
offered a liberal salary for her services. "But, in con¬
sideration of the need of well-prepared educators
among the race, that it may become what it can be,
she chose to use her talent in assisting that grand
purpose. Aside from her accomplishment in the
literary line, Mrs. Phelps has acquired a practical
knowledge in the arts of music, painting, dressmaking,
etc., to any of which she can creditably apply herself.
Her career as a teacher has been one of usefulness and
success. She spent each vacation of her school life in
teaching, which experience greatly increased her devo¬
tion to that work. Hence, when she was no longer a
school girl she entered into the teachers' field as a pro¬
fession. She was principal of a public school at Glenn
Springs, South Carolina, for three years. In 1890 she
resigned that school to accept a position in the graded
school at Rome, Georgia, where she taught for some
time. She then taught in Milledgeville, afjer which she
was married to Mr. J. L. Phelps in 1891. The demand
for well trained teachers was so great that in 1893 she
again consented to act as assistant principal in Cleve¬
land Academy, Helena, South Carolina, and more
recently has held a position in Haines [Institute,
Augusta, Georgia. Mrs. Phelps is an earnest Sabbath
school worker, and her labors for God and the church
have been greatly blessed.
568
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Mrs. Fanny Barrier Williams came into prominence
during the World's Columbian Exposition. Her ad¬
dress at the Woman's Congress on the "Intellectual
Progress of the Colored Woman" created a profound
impression. Since the close of the Exposition, Mrs.
Williams has received invitations from all parts of the
country to deliver addresses. She was born in Brock-
port, New York, and received a collegiate education.
Her complexion is a clear, light brown, and her voice
is singularly soft and sympathetic in tone. She is a
woman of more than usual intelligence, and as a lecturer
is in great demand. Her most popular lectures are:
"What Will You Do with Our Women;" "Christianity
and the American Negrp;" "Prudence Crandall, or, a
Modern Canterbury Tale;" " Opportunities of Western
Women;" "The Opportunities and Responsibilities of
American Colored Women."
Mrs. M. A. McCurdy was born in Carthage, Indiana,
in 1852. She acquired the rudiments of an education
in the mixed schools of that place, but, being deprived
of attending any other school by the death of her
father, she labored diligently, and before she was nine¬
teen years of age had prepared herself for teaching,
and secured a school near her home. After teaching
for some time, she was married to J. A. Mason, and for
more than eight years filled with profit and precision
the worthy position of wife and mother. The hand of
death removed from her four precious jewels and her
husband, leaving her alone to battle life's conflicts.
She then entered thQ temperance work, and became a
noted worker in Richmond, Indiana. For a time she
edited a temperance paper in that city. A desire to
go South and labor among her people seemed to im¬
press itself more and more upon her mind until 1886,
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 569
when she was led to Atlanta, where sne became editor
of the Southern Recorder. Here, besides her work in
temperance and as editor, she built up a fine mission
during her four years' stay, St. James' M. E. Church,
of that city. In 1890 she was married to Rev. C.
McCurdy, of Rome, Georgia. Her labors in Rome
since that time have been varied and greatly appre¬
ciated by the people. She is engaged in industrial
work among the women of her race; is corresponding
secretary for the W. C. T. U. for the state of Georgia;
president of the missionary work in the Presbyterian
Church, and editor of The Woman's World, a paper
devoted to the intellectual, moral and spiritual prog¬
ress of the people. In all these departments of work
she has made herself known and felt not only in the
city of Rome, but throughout the state. Her work
will outlive empires and the stars.
Mrs. Ida B. Wells Barnett.—The subject of this
sketch became noted for her crusades against the
lynching evil. Shocked by the awful barbarity of
that species of outlawry, brought home to her by the
lynching of three highly respectable colored men of
Memphis, because of a neighborhood quarrel, Miss
Wells started out to call the attention of the American
people to the dangerous growth of this evil. Denied a
hearing in America she went to England and there
from pulpit, platform and in the public press her
appeal was effectively made. In 1895 she married
Ferdinand L. Barnett, Jr., of the Chicago bar.
Edward E. Cooper.—Among the strange happenings
in Washington is to see many new men, unknown
quantities in the politics and history of our people,
pushing themselves to the front, clamorously calling
upon the President to give them an office for their
570
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
great services to the party m power. On the other hand,
you see the real leaders, men of thought and action,
quietly and modestly moving on in the even tenor of
their way, working out their own destinies and the des¬
tinies of the people, asking no political favors. To one
of these latter men we wish to refer, a quiet, modest,
resolute man, who,by his indefatigable will and tenacity
of purpose, is making a
name which will be
honored when many of
our so-called great men
will be forgotten, E. E.
Cooper, editor and man¬
ager of the Colored Am¬
erican. Mr. Cooper was
born in Tennessee about
thirty-five years ago.
He early went to India¬
napolis, where he was
educated. After gradu¬
ation he entered upon his
journalistic career, which
has been a unique one.
He established in India¬
napolis the first colored
illustrated paper pub¬
lished in the United States, The Freeman, a new order
in colored journalism. Everybody knows of its phe¬
nomenal success. After seeing The Freeman estab¬
lished on a firm financial basis, Mr. Cooper sold his
interest and turned his travels toward the National
Capitol, where he founded the Colored American a
paper which has lifted colored journalism in the Capi¬
tol to a plane it never reached before. Here his best
E. E. COOPER,
Editor "Colored American,'
Washington, D. C.
Personages of the afro-american race. 571
work is being done; bravely does he champion the
Negro's cause. His influence is widespread, it is
national. His acquaintanceship with political leaders
has given him an influence not possessed by any other
young man of his race. His success with the American
has been gratifying, some weeks during the last cam¬
paign it having reached a circulation of 100,000
copies.
Henry 0. Tanner.—Henry O. Tanner, son of Bishop
Benjamin Tucker Tanner, of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, was born and reared in the city of
Philadelphia. As a boy he enjoyed the privileges of
the city schools. Early in life the natural bent of his
genius began to manifest itself. Consequently, he
entered the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and.
became a pupil of Professor Eakins. Under this
efficient and faithful instructor, Mr. Tanner secured
that foundation upon which he ■ has since so magnifi¬
cently built.
Like many others, however, Mr, Tanner has had to
struggle with the gaunt wolf, poverty. Shortly after
leaving the academy he, among other ventures, started
a photograph gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. This was
not a success. He then spent a year at Clark Univer¬
sity, where he taught freehand drawing and gave
instruction in painting to private classes, colored and
white, at the institution and in the city. One summer
vacation he spent at Highlands, North Carolina, a
health resort, where he also instructed classes of white
people, some of them Southern.
For a long time it was the topmost desire of Mr.
Tanner's heart to go to Paris, and study under the
great masters of art in that brilliant metropolis. It
was by the severest economy, together with assistance
37
5?2
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
from friends, that he was enabled to gratify his desire.
Nor waS -he altogether relieved from embarrassment
after reaching Paris, for, within a short time after his
arrival, he fell sick, and lay in the hospital t for two
' months with typhoid fever. On his recovery he* again
resumed with a hopeful heart, but under discouraging
circumstances, the pursuit bf his studies.. For two
years he .was. a pupil of Benjamin Constant.^ '' Becom¬
ing stranded again,'' - as he quaintly states it, he return¬
ed to* America for about eighteen months. Within
this time he. sold several pictures. " Of these "The
Banjo Lesson* " his "first picture exhibited at the Salon,
was sold to Mr. - Robert C. -Ogden, a tried frierid and
p^tron^of Mr! Tanner, and to whom, as*Mr. Tanner
acknowledges,*.he "is-much indebted for whatever
of success her has had.■ .Another picture* entitled, ■
"Thankful Poor,""he. .sold to Mr. John Tl Morris.
• Here, "too, it may be said that at the'Columbian Expo-,
sition were, exhibited 'one hundred pictures.-'from
American aft students, at home and abroad. -Of this
'hundred was one of *.Mr. Tanner's, '"The First Lesson
on*the Bagpipe," painted from--'a scene in Brittany.
' At the close of the exposition a committee,of art critics
was appointed to select from the hundred the forty
best, and catalogue them, inserting^cuts-of each. Mr.
Tanner's picture was one of the forty. This picture
was afterwards exhibited at the "Cotton States and
International Exposition,'' Atlanta,. Georgia, and at¬
tracted the attention of many.
With moneys realized from his sales while in America
he returned to Paris in 1894, and resumed his studies
under Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin- Constant. His
first picture to receive any official recognition was the
one entitled, "Daniel in the Lion's Den"—mention
personages of the afro-american race.. 573
# ■$*
honorable, 1896. Then came the picture of the year,
"Lazarus Rising from the Dead," which' received
"third medal," and was purchased by the French gov¬
ernment. These, now, are the achievements of a
# *
young man. What may the race expect of him?
• • But, putside his art, much might be said of the man.
He belongs to that elites whom tq* know is to admire
and to love. - GeniS.1, syliple »in manner,, generous,
with an intense desire to* serve and u'plift his race," he
moves amohg his fellows with tlie appearance .of a man
* who has found his life-work and is in love with it. To
such men the people must look 'for loftiest inspiration
and -safest guidance. •
. Mr. Tanner is spending his summer vacation (1^897)'
'with His parents at Kansas City,'"Kansas. He likes
Paris bdtkuse of the companionship of artists, and he,-
will probably spend the rest of his'life-time there; still,'
he glories in tbe fact that he is an Arherican citizen;
and ,he will retain .that title"as long as he lives. Diir-*
ing his stay at home he has been painting portraits of
his parents.. Widen he returns to. Paris he will begin
work on another Biblical painting, "The Annuficia-
tion," which he* Jiopes will surpass his "Raising of,
Lazarus, " which made him famous as an artist.
Clark Hampton.—Young Clark Hampton, whose
painting of "Napoleon at Waterloo" is receiving such
widespread attention, is really a genius. He is only
eighteen years old, and the sole support of a widowed
mother. In his modest studio is to be. found a charm¬
ing original sketch, "Waiting in the Wildwood." The
boy is ambitious, and, although finding it difficult to
support his mother and to continue his work, he is
determined to press forward. "If I live, the race
shall yet be proud of me,'' says this youth.
574
PROGRESS OP A RACE.
Edmonia Lewis probably surpasses every other per¬
son of her race as a sculptor. She is of lowly birth,
and was left an orphan when quite young, but her
determination has enabled her to overcome difficulties.
When visiting Boston the first time, she saw a statue
of Benjamin Franklin. She was so touched by the
sight that the latent talent within her broke forth in,
"I, too, can make a stone man!" She was introduced
by William Lloyd Garrison to one of Boston's famous
sculptors, and as she triumphed in her work she has
won a position as an artist on two continents. Some
of the masterpieces of her hands are: "Hagarinthe
Wilderness," "Hiawatha's Wooing," busts of Long¬
fellow, John Brown and Wendell Phillips. Her studio
in Rome has become an object of interest to travelers
from all countries.
MISCELLANEOUS.
We have mentioned in these pages a number of col¬
ored men representing the different classes. There
are many others as able as these who may imagine that
we have neglected to mention them. This is not a
biography, but our object in mentioning a number of
these different classes is to show the progress made
since freedom. Many colored women might be named.
It should be remembered that they have had fewer
privileges of education before the war and since than
the men of their race, yet there are a number of them
who have shown themselves capable and useful.
Hon. H. 0. Smith, who has represented one of the
districts of Ohio in the legislature for a number of
years, and is editor and proprietor of the Cleveland
Gazette, is one of the young men of whom the race may
feel proud. It is but fitting to say that his election to
the Ohio legislature in 1893 has made him even more
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 575
popular than before among the people. He has made
a record that has amply vindicated the choice and
judgment of his constituents.
John Mitchell, Jr., who was born of slave parents,
has for a number of years been editor of the Richmond
Planet, a weekly paper.
Amanda Smith, born in slavery, has, through pov¬
erty and adversity, pushed her way upward until she
is one of the most spiritual and eloquent exhorters and
lecturers of her race in the world. She is a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has traveled
extensively in America, Europe and Africa. She has
written her biography, which has a wide sale. She is
now engaged in raising funds for a home for colored
orphan children in Chicago. Her visits to the churches
throughout the North and West are an inspiration and
a blessing, and she has succeeded in a remarkable
manner in the work for which she has so long been
laboring.
Mrs. Charlotte Fortune Grimke is a native of Penn¬
sylvania. She was educated in Massachusetts, and
proved to be a student of more than ordinary ability
and application. Mrs. Grimke has been a contributor
to the columns of the Atlantic Monthly and other repre¬
sentative magazines of the East.
Rev. W. A. Lewis, of West Tennessee, was com¬
pelled to work at home by his stepfather, who thought
it a crime for a stepson to attend school. He worked
hard on the farm in the day. and walked a mile at
night to take lessons of a white lady, paying a dollar a
month for instruction. He picked berries and sold
melons at odd times to pay his tuition. Such qualities
might worthily be emulated today.
John William McKinney is a successful lawyer in
576
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Sherman, Texas. He was admitted to the bar in 1891,
and was elected delegate from the state at large by the
Union Republican convention in 1892. In 1894 he
was nominated by the Republicans for Congress.
Richard T. Greener, one of the most cultured Afro-
Americans, was for many years dean of the law depart¬
ment of Howard University.
REV. CYRUS MYERS.
Rev. Cyrus Myers, of Simpson county, Mississippi,
who has become prominent in his efforts to have Con¬
gress pass a bill pensioning ex-slaves, is a remarkable
Negro of the old slave class. Rev. Myers brought
with him over 6,000 signatures of Mississippi ex-slaves.'
He is seventy-nine years old, and was a slave forty-
seven years. He is black, tall, eloquent and full of
reminiscences. He was a novelty at Washington in
that he is not an office-seeker, but is working for his
race.
Charles L. Remond was the first Negro to take the
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. "577
platform as a regular lecturer in the anti-slavery cause, ■
and was the ablest representative that the race had
till the appearance of Frederick Douglass in 1842.
W. E. King is one of the rising young men of Dallas,
Texas. Improving the opportunities given him in his
youth, he has succeeded in making himself useful. He
is at present editor of the Weekly Express, and is yield¬
ing an influence for true worth and progress with his
race. Among the young men of the gtaite who are.
devoting their lives to the welfare of the .race Mr..
King stands prominent. - ' ' -
B, K. Bruce. On the 23d day of May, 1881, Presi¬
dent Garfield appointed ex-Senator B. K. Bruce, of
Mississippi, Registrar of the United States Treasury.
This was the first colored man whose signature made
money of worthless paper.
Professor M. A. Hopkins, of Franklintown, North
Carolina, a colored teacher of marked ability,, was ap¬
pointed by President Cleveland, first term, as Minister
to Liberia.
Miss L. Vina Givens, of Dallas, Texas, has, by her
natural ability, become prominent in the musical
world of Texas. Through adverse circumstances she.
has risfen, and is today one of the sweetest singers of
Dallas.
COLORED AUTHORS AND NAMES OF PUBLICATIONS.
Albert, A. E. P., D. D.—The Negro Evangelist.
Plantation Melodies.
Universal Reign of Jesus.
Alexander, William T.—History of the Colored Race
in America.
Alexander, Rev. W. G.—Living Words.
The Negro in Commerce and Finance,
The Efficient Sunday School,
578
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Anderson, Rev. J. Harvey—Directory of the A. M. E.
Zion Church.
Arnett, Bishop.—Negro Literature.
The Centennial Budget.
Bannecker, Benjamin.—Science.
Bates, R. C.—Architecture and Building.
Benjamin, R. C. O., D. D.—Africa, the Hope of the
Negro.
Future of the American Negro.
History of the British West Indies.
Life of Toussiant L'Ouverture.
Origin of the Negro Race.
The Southland.
The Boy Doctor.
Don't.
Blackwell, G. L.—The Model Homestead.
Blyden, E. W., LL.D.—Christianity, Islam and the
Negro Race.
From West Africa to Palestine.
Liberia's Offering.
Booth, Rev. C. O.-—Plain Theology for Plain People.
Bowen, J. W. E., D. D.—Plain Talks.
Africa and the American Negro.
Brawley, Rev. E. M.—The Negro Baptist Pulpit.
Brown, Rev. R. T.—Doctrines of Christ and the
Church.
Pastor's Annual and Financial Report.
Brown, William Wells.—The Black Man.
The Negro in the Rebellion.
The Rising Sun.
Carter, Rev. E. R.—Our Pulpit Illustrated.
The Black Side.
The Holy Land.
Clark, P. H.—Black Brigade.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 579
Coleman, Mrs. L. N. C.—Poor Ben.
Cooper, Mrs. A. J.—A Voice from the South.
Crogman, W.H., A. M.—Talks for the Times.
Crummell, Rev. Alex., D. D.—Africa and America.
The Future of Africa.
Davis, D. W.—Poems.
Douglass, Frederick.—Life and Times of Frederick
Douglass.
My Bondage and My Freedom.
Narrative of My Experience in Slavery.
DuBois, W. E. Burghardt, Ph. D.—The Suppression of
the African Slave Trade to the United States of
America, 1838-1870.
Dunbar, Paul L.—Oak and Ivy.
Poems.
Negro Love Song.
Dyson, J. F., B. D.—Are We Africans or Americans?
Origin of Color.
Political X Roads—Which Way?
Richard Allen's Place in History.
Earl, Victoria.—Aunt Linda.
Early, Sarah.—Life and Labors of Rev. J. W. Early.
Embry, J. C., D. D.—Digest of Christian Theology.
Our Father's House.
Fortune, T. T.—Black and White.
Gordon, J. E.—Political Works.
Gregory, J. M.—Hon. Frederick Douglass.
Green, Dr. A. R.—History of Independent Method¬
ism.
Hagood, Rev. L. M., M. D.—The Colored Man in the
M. E. Church.
Harper, Mrs. F. E. W.—Iola Leroy; or, Shadows
Uplifted.
Forest Leaves.
580
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Sketches of Southern Life.
Moses: A Story of the Nile.
Miscellaneous Poems.
Shalmanezer.
Hood, Bishop J. W., D. D.—Book of Sermons.
History of the A. M. E. Z. Church.
Johnson, Mrs. A. E.—Clarence and Corinne.
The Hazely Family.
Johnson, E. A.—School History of the Negro Race in
America.
Jones, S. T., D. D.—Book of Sermons.
Langston, Hon. John M.—Freedom and Citizenship.
From the Virginia Plantation to the National
Capitol.
Lectures and Addresses.
Majors, M. A.—Noted Negro Women.
Matthews, Mrs W. E.—Aunt Linda.
Moore, Bishop J. J.—History of the A. M. E. Church.
Mossell, Mrs. N. F.—The Work of Afro-American
Women.
Payne, Bishop Daniel.—Domestic Education.
History of the A. M. E. Church.
Recollections of Seventy Years.
Official Sermons of the A. M. E. Church.
The Semi-Centenary of the A. M. E. Church.
Pegues, Rev. A. W., Ph. D.—Our Baptist Ministers
and Schools.
Pendleton, Lewis.—The Sons of Ham.
Penn, I. Garland.—The Afro-American Press and Its
Editors.
Ransom, R. C.—School Days at Wilberforce.
Rowe, Rev. George C.—Patriotic Poems.
The Aim of Life.
Thoughts in Verse.
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 581
Rush, Bishop.—Rise and Progress of Zion Church.
Scarborough, W. S.. A. M., Ph. D., LL. D.—First
Lessons in Greek.
Latin Moods and Tenses.
Questions on Latin Grammar.
Scruggs, L. A.—Afro-American Women of Distinc¬
tion.
Grammar Land.
Simmons, William, D. D.—Men of Mark.
Smith, Rev. C. S.—Glimpses of Africa.
Smith, Rev. S. E.—Anti-Separate Coach History of
Kentucky.
Smith, W. H.—Earnest Pleas.
Smith, Amanda.—A Story of My Life.
Stevenson, Rev. J. W., M. D.—Church Financiering.
Stewart, T. McCants.—Liberia.
Still, William.—The Underground Railroad.
The Kidnapped and Ransomed.
Straker, D. A.—The New South Investigated.
Tanner, Benjamin Tucker.—Apology for American
Methodism.
Is the Negro Cursed?
Outline of History.
The Negro's Origin.
The Negro (African and American).
Theological Lectures.
Taylor, M. W.—Plantation Melodies.
Trotter, J. M.—Music and Some Highly Musical
People.
Troy, Rev. William.—Hairbreadth Escapes from Slav¬
ery to Freedom.
Turner, Bishop—African Letters.
Methodist Polity.
Negro in All Ages.
582
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Wayman, Bishop A. W.—Cyclopedia of the A. M. E.
Church.
Wheatley, Phillis.—Memoirs of Poems.
Wheeler, B. F., A. M.—Sacred Heart.
Whitman, A. A.—Not a Man, and Yet a Man.
The Rape of Florida.
Poems.
Wells, Ida B.—A Red Record.
Williams, Prof. D. B.—Science and Art of Elocution.
Freedom and Progress.
Williams, George W., LL. D.—A History of the Negro
Troops in the Rebellion.
History of the Negro Race in America.
Wilson, J. T.—Black Phalanx (History of Negro
Soldiers).
Emancipation.
Twenty-two Years of Freedom.
Voice of a New Race.
Wright, Prof. R. R.—A Brief Historical Sketch of
Negro Education in Georgia.
CHAPTER XV.
PLANTATION MELODIES.
INCIDENTS, EXPERIENCES AND PLEASANTRIES.
Hampton and Its students.—For many years the
Hampton school has been making an effort to preserve
and collect the spiritual songs of the Negroes in Amer¬
ica, and to give to its students so great a love for these
beautiful utterances of the emotions of an enslaved and
deeply religious race that they would strive as they
went out to gather up and preserve a form of emotional
expression only too likely to pass away in the transition
period through which the colored people are now pass¬
ing. So impossible is it to reproduce this music under
changed conditions that there is danger lest even where
both words and music are preserved, the spirit which
gives it its peculiar charm may be lost forever. The
educated Negro cannot sing the old songs as his father
sang them. He may yet evolve a higher and nobler
music of his own, but the old spirituals, squeezed as
it were out of the human heart by the pressure of slav¬
ery, are a part of his history that he cannot afford to
lose—a breaking forth from bondage of that thing which
could never be enslaved, the genius of a race.
Hampton and its students have done more to pre¬
serve Negro melodies than any other agency.
The following are a few of the many songs that might
be given. Most of them are taken from the Hampton
collection.
588
584
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
THE ANGELS DONE CHANGED MY NAME.
" I went to the hillside, I went to pray;
I know the angels done changed my name—
Done changed my name for the coming day;
I knew the angels done changed my name.
" I looked at my hands, my hands was new,
I knew the-angels done changed my name;
I looked at my feet, and my feet was, too—
Thank God the angels done changed my name."
While the Negro brought out from bondage no liter¬
ature and no theology, yet he did bring with him the
plantation songs which show in Christian song that
the doctrines of Christianity were held by these people
in the days of slavery. We cannot expect to find the
same modes of expression now that prevailed among
them while, in slavery, but that they held to the funda¬
mental truths of religion must be recognized by all who
study these songs. That they believed in Christ as a
Savior from sin and in the Atonement is beautifully
illustrated in the refrain—
"I've been redeemed! I've been redeemed!
Been washed in de blood ob de lamb."
The Divinity of Christ is shown in—
" Jus' stan' right still and steady yo'self:
I know that my Redeemer lives.
Oh, jus' let me tell yo' about God hisself:
I know that my Redeemer lives."
At Tougaloo, Mississippi, they sing a hymn which
especially emphasizes the personality of Satan, which,
it seems, they never doubted—
" Ole Satan he wears de.hypocrite shoe;
If yo* dcjn' min' he slip it on yo'."
Frederick IMxgl^ss.says.that—
" Run to Jesus, shun the danger,
I don't expect to stay much longer here."
PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC.
585
sung on the plantation where he was a slave, first sug¬
gested to him the thought of escaping from slavery, or,
as he put it, " Praying with his feet.'5
While their lives were full of misery on account of
the oppressions of their masters, their songs do not
show anywhere a revengeful spirit. They looked for¬
ward with confidence, expecting to be relieved in the
land of the redeemed.
" Shine, shine, I'll meet you in that morning.
Oh, my soul's goin' to shine, to shine:
I'm goin' to sit down to a welcome table—
Shine, shine, my soul's goin' to shine."
SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT.
Oh, de good ole chariot swing so low,
Good ole chariot swing so low,
Oh, de good ole chariot swing so low,
I don't want to leave me behind.
Chorus.—Oh, swing low, sweet chariot.
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
I don't want to leave me behind.
Oh, de good ole chariot will take us all home,
I don't want to leave me behind.
Cho.—Oh. swing low, sweet, etc.
THE DANVILLE CHARIOT.
Chorus.—Oh, swing low, sweet chariot;
Pray let me enter in,
I don't want to stay here no longer.
I done been lo heaven/ an' I done been tired,
I been to the "water, azi' I been baptized—
I don't want to stay no longer.
0,'. dpwn to tha yrater I was led,
My soul gpt fed. with heav'nly bread—
; want to stay here no longer.
Cho.—Oh, swing low, sweet chariot, etc.
CHRISTMAS SCENE.
" Fo' de land's sake! I done forgot de chillun's candy J"
PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC.
587
I had a little book, an* I read it through,
I got my Jesus as well as you;
Oh, I got a mother in the promised land.
I hope my mother will feed dem lambs—
I don't want to stay here no longer.
Cho.—Oh, swing low, sweet chariot, etc.
Oh, some go to church for to holler an' shout,
Before six months they're all turned out—
I don't want to stay here no longer.
Oh, some go to church for to laugh an' talk,
But dey knows nothin' 'bout dat Christian walk—
I don't want to stay here no longer.
Cho.—Oh, swing low, sweet chariot, etc.
Oh, shout, shout, de deb'l is about;
Oh, shut your do' an' keep him out—
I don't want to stay here no longer.
For he is so much-a like-a snaky in de grass,
Ef you don' mind he will get you at las'—
I don't want to stay here no longer.
Cho.—Oh, swing low, sweet chariot, etc.
VIEW DE LAND.
I'm born of God, I know I am—View de land, view de land!
And you deny it if you can—Go view de heav'nly land.
I want to go to heaven when I die—View de land, view de land!
To shout salvation as I fly—Go view de heav'nly land.
Chorus.—
Oh, 'way over Jordan—View de land, view de land!
'Way over Jordan—Go view de heavenly land.
What kind of shoes is dem-a you wear? View de land, etc.
Dat you can walk upon the air? Go view, etc.
Dem shoes I wear are de Gospel shoes—View the land, etc.
An' you can wear dem ef-a you choose—Go view, etc.—Cho.:"
Der' is a tree in paradise—View the land, etc.
De Christian he call it de tree ob life—Go vjew, etc.
I spects to eat de fruit right off o' dat tree—View de land," etc.
Ef busy old Satan will let-a me be—Go view, etc;—Cho.
You say yer Jesus set-a you free—View de land, etc.
Why don't you let-a your neighbor be? Go view, etc.
38
588
PROGRESS OT A RACE.
You say you're aiming for de skies—View de land, etc.
Why don't you stop-a your telling lies? Go view, etc.—Cho.
OH, YES.
Ef eber I land on de oder sho'—Oh, yes!
I'll neber come here for to sing no more—Oh, yes!
A golden band all round my waist,
An' de palms of victory in my hand,
An' de golden slippers on to my feet—
Gwine to walk up an' down o' dem golden street.
Chorus.—Oh, wait till I put on my robe—
Wait till I put on my robe. Oh, yes! Oh, yes!
An', my lobely bretherin, dat ain't all—Oh, yes
I'm not done a-talkin' about my Lord.
An' a golden crown a-placed on-a my head,
An' my long white robe a-come a-dazzlin' down;
Now wait till I get on my Gospel shoes,
Gwine to walk about de heaven an' a-carry de news.—Cho.
I'm anchored in Christ, Christ anchored in me—Oh, yes!
All de debils in hell can't a-pluck me out;
An' I wonder what Satan's grumbling about
He's bound into hell, an' he can't git out,
But he shall be loose and hab his sway—
Yea, at de great resurrection day.—Cho.
I went down de hillside to make a-one prayer—Oh, yes,!
An' when I got dere Ole Satan was dere—Oh, yes!
An' what do you t'ink he said to me? Oh, yes!
Said, "Off from here you'd better be." Oh, yes!
And what for to do I did not know—Oh, yes!
~But I fell on.my knees and I cried 'Oh, Lord!'—Oh, yesl
Now, my Jesus bein' so good an' kind,
Yea, to the with-er-ed, halt, and blind—
My Jesus lowered His mercy down,
•An.' snatch-a me from a-dem doors ob hell.
He a-snatch.-a me fronx dem doors ob hell, .
An' took-a me in a-wid. hurt to dweUv-r-Chov--
I was in de.cjiujeh^ an' prayinJ lou(l.
An' onmy_ knees to Jesus bowed;
Ole Satan tole me tq- my face
.PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC.
"I'll git you when-a you leave dis place."
Oh, brother, dat scare me to my heart,
I was 'fraid to walk-a when it was dark.—Cho.
I started home, but I did pray,
An' I met ole Satan on de way;
Ole Satan made a-one grab at me,
But he missed my soul an' I went free.
My sins went a-lumberin' down to hell,
An' my soul went a-leaping~up Zion's hill.
I tell ye what, bretherin, you'd better not laugh,
Ole Satan'll run you down his path;
If he runs you as he run me
You'll be glad to fall upon your knee.
Chorus.—Oh, wait till I put on my robe.
Wait till I put on my robe—Oh, yes! Oh, yes
MY LORD DELIVERED DANIEL.
I met a pilgrim on de way,
An' I ask him whar he's a gwine. .
I'm bound for Canaan's happy land,
An' dis is de shouting band. Go on!
Chorus.—My Lord delibered Daniel,
My Lord delibered Daniel,
My Lord delibered Daniel—
Why can't he deliber me?
Some say dat John de Baptist
Was nothing but a Jew;
But de Bible doth inform us
Dat he was a preacher, too.—Yes, he was!
Chorus.—My Lord delibered Daniel, etc.
Oh, Daniel cast in the lions' den,
He pray both night and day;
De angel came from Galilee,
And lock de lions' jaw. Dat's so,
Chorus.—My Lord delibered Daniel, etc-.
He delibered Daniel from de lions' den,
Jonah from de belly obde. whale.
An' de Hebrew children from de fiery; furnace—
An' why not eW^.jnan? Oh, yes'.. .
Chorus.—My Lord delibered Daniel, etc.
590
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
De richest man dat eber I saw
Was de one dat beg de most;
His soul was filled wid Jesus,
An' wid de Holy Ghost. Yes, it was.
Chorus.—My Lord delibered Daniel, etc.
NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLE I'VE SEEN.
Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down—Oh, yes, Lord.
Sometimes I'm almost to de groun'—Oh, yes, Lord.
Although you see me goin' long so—Oh, yes, Lord.
I have my trials here below.—Oh, yes, Lord.
Chorus.—Oh, nobody knows de trouble I've seen,
Nobody knows but Jesus;
Nobody knows de trouble I've seen—
Glory Hallelujah!
. One day when I was walkin' along—Oh, yes, Lord.
De element opened, an' de love came down—Oh, yes, Lord.
I never shall forget dat day—Oh, yes, Lord.
When Jesus washed my sins away.—Oh, yes, Lord.
Chorus.—Oh, nobody knows the trouble, etc.
HAIL ! HAIL ! HAIL !
Oh, look up yander, what I see—
I'm on my journey home;
Bright angels comin' arter me—
I'm on my journey home.
Chorus.—Children, hail! hail! hail!
I'm gwine jine saints above;
Hail! hail! hail!
I'm on my journey home.
If you git dere before I do—
I'm on my journey home;
Look out for me, I'm comin' too—
I'm on my journey home.
Chorus.—Children, hail! etc.
Oh, hallelujah to de Lamb!
I'm, on my journey home;
Kitig Jesus died' for ebery man—
I'm on my journey home.
Chorus.—Children, hail! etc.
plantation melodies, etc.
591
SCRIPTURAL REMINISCENCES.
Aunt Patty: "Bress me, Uncle Abum, ef yer doesn't call to
mind Baalam gwine down ter J'rusalem."
Uncle Abram (with a weakness for Aunt Patty): "Yaas, and
does yer 'member dar stood an angel in de way? "
WISE SAYINGS—'" MULTUM IN PARVO."
" Long ha'r don't hide de brand on de horse."
" Muddy roads call de mile-post a liar."
" 'Tis hard to make clo'es fit a miserbul man."
" De stopper gits de longes' res' in de empty jug."
" De church bells sometimes do better wuk dan de sermon."
" Some o' de wus lookin' animals at de county fa'r got to pay
to get in."
" De price ob your hat ain't de medjer ob your brain."
" Ef your coat-tail cotch a-fire, don't wait till you kin see de
blaze 'fo' you put it out."
" De graveyard is de cheapes' boardin'-house."
" Dar's a fam'ly coolness 'twix' de mule an' de single-tree."
" It pesters a man dreadful when he git mad an' don' know
who to cuss."
" Buyin' on credit is robbin' next 'ear's crop."
" Chris'mas without holiday is like a candle without a wick."
592
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
• " De crawfish in a hurry look like he tryin' to git dar yistiddy."
'' Lean houn' lead de pack when de rabbit in sight.
'' Little flakes make de deepes' snow.
'' Knot in de plank will show froo de whitewash.
" A short yardstick is a po' thing to fight de debbul wid."
" Dirt show de quickes' on de cleanes' cotton."
" De candy-pullin' kin call louder dan de log-rollin'."
" De bes' apple float on de top o' de peck medjer."
" De right sort o' 'ligion heaps de half-bushel."
" De steel hoe dat laughs at de iron one is like de man Hat is
'shamed o' his grand-daddy."
" A mule kin tote so much goodness in. his face dat he don't
hab none lef for his hind legs."
" Some grabble walks may lead to de jail."
" De cow-bell can't keep a secret."
" Ripe apples make de tree look taller."
" De red rose don't brag in de dark."
" Blind horse knows when de trough empty."
" De noise of de wheels don't medjer de load in de wagon."
" Las' 'ear's hot spell cools off mighty fast."
" Little hole in your pocket is wusser'n a big one at de knee."
" Appetite don't reggerlate de time o' day."
" De quagmire don't hang out no sign."
" One pusson kin th'ead a needle better than two."
" De pint o' de pin is de easiest en' to find."
" De green top don't medjer de price o' de turnup."
" Muzzle on de yard dog unlocks de smokehouse."
" 'Tis hard for de bes' an' smartes' folks in de wul' to git 'long
widout a little tech o' good luck.''
" De billy-goat gits in his hardes' licks when he looks like he
gwine to back out o' de fight.''
Miss Anita Hemming, tall, brunette, and graceful,
was one of the graduates at Vassar in 1897. and, although
the "world did not know it, there was then enacted a
great scene, showing the advance of woman into the
life-giving but long-forgotten precept that all men are
born free and equal. This young woman, who stood
side by side with her classmates, keeping pace with
them in studies and accomplishments, for four years
EQUAL TO THE EMERGENCY.
Hebe: "Unc Isrul, mammy says, huccome de milk so watery on top in de mornin'?"
Patriarch: "Tell you' mammy dat's de bes' sort o' milk, dat's de dew on it—de cows been layin' in de dew."
Hebe: " An' she tell me to ax you what ineck it so blue."
Patriarch: " You ax your mammy what meek she so black! "
594
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
kept the secret of her birth from her associates—the
secret that blood that marks a race of slaves flowed
through her veins. It was just before examination
when the faculty, to their utter astonishment, learned
that into that stately and exclusive institution an alien
race had gained admission. To this school for young
ladies of the highest circle of society this modest,
studious, refined young lady had gained admission
without making known the secret of her birth. The
question for the faculty to decide was a hard one. The
girl, in deportment, scholarship, and in every way,
was worthy, but yet would the public receive the inno¬
vation. After due consideration the young woman,
whose only fault lay in the accident of her birth, was
informed that she would be allowed to graduate with
her class.
Then the girls of the finishing class heard the story.
Some of them were from the proudest old families of
the South, but they took her hands with right good
comradeship, and the real ordeal for her had passed.
Miss Hemming stood among her associates at com¬
mencement in her simple white gown, a mark for
many eyes. Her dark hair, with its burnished waves,
was brushed back from her low, broad brow; a deep
flush burned in her cheeks, and she was fairer than
many of the blue-blooded girls around her. Then
she went out into the world. But the attitude taken
by Vassar's august faculty could not be ignored, and
the young alumnus of 1897 gained the position of
assistant in the Boston public library.
Fred Douglass.—In the course of an address made
to a colored school in Talbot county, Maryland, where
he was born a slave, Frederick Douglass said: "I once
knew a little colored boy, whose father and mother
PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC.
595
died when he was six years old. He was a slave, and
had no one to care for him. He slept on a dirt floor
in a hovel, and in cold weather would crawl into a
meal bag, headforemost, and leave his feet in the
ashes to keep them warm. Often he would roast an
ear of corn and eat it to satisfy his hunger, and many
times has he crawled under the barn or stable and
secured eggs, which he would roast in the fire and eat.
This boy did not wear pants, like you do, but a
tow linen shirt. Schools were unknown to him, and
he learned to spell from an old Webster's spelling
book, and to read and write from posters on cellars
and barn doors, while boys and men would help him.
He would then preach and speak, and soon became
well known. He became presidential elector, United
states marshal, United States recorder, United States
diplomat, and accumulated some wealth. He wore
broadcloth, and didn't have to divide crumbs with the
dogs under the table. That boy was Frederick
Douglass.
What was possible for me is possible for you.
Don't think because you are colored you can't accom¬
plish anything. Strive earnestly to add to your
knowledge. So long as you remain in ignorance, so
long will you fail to command the respect of your fel¬
low men.''
Fred Douglass.—Fred Douglass has said that Presi¬
dent Lincoln was the only white man with whom he
ever associated in this country who did not make him
feel that he was colored and a supposed inferior, and
that only in England and on the continent among the
Caucasians had he been permitted to realize that he
was a man and an equal.
Everything Must Go.—In a lecture by Rev. William
596
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Johnson, illustrating the law that ''everything must
go," he gives the following: "A minister told me that
he fell in love with his wife at first sight, and married
after six months' acquaintance. 'But,' said he, 'dur¬
ing that whole time I went to see her every day. At
four o'clock I was always there.' Some young men
do not choose that delightful hour to visit, but go
later. One young man lingered at the gate after a
long visit, and the girl began to cry, He said, 'Dear,
don't cry; I will come to see you again.' But she
cried on. 'O, darling, don't cry so; I will be sure to
come again.' Still she cried. At last he said: ' Love,
did I not tell you that I would soon come again to see
you?' And through her tears she replied: 'Yes, but I
am afraid you never will go; that is what is the mat¬
ter with me.' We must all go."
In the same lecture on the subject of practical phil¬
osophy, he gives the following:
"Uncle Jim was once asked a great question. It
was: 'If you had to be blown up which would you
choose, to be blown up on the railroad or the steam¬
boat?' 'Well,' said Uncle Jim, 'I don't want to be
blowed up no way; but if I had to be blowed up I
would rather be blowed up on de railroad, because,
you see, if you is blowed up on de railroad, dar you
is, but if you is blowed up on de steamboat, whar is
you?' He was practical in his philosophy."
Faithful Service Rewarded.—On July 10, 1897,
Alexander B. Williamson, colored, of Memphis, Ten¬
nessee, didn't have a cent that he could call his own.
July 11 he went to the probate judge, J. S. Galloway,
and qualified to take possession of a fortune valued at
$45,000, that had been left him under the will of the
late Mrs, Clara Mariani. This is the reward the Negro
PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC. 597
gets for a lifetime of devotion to duty in the service
of the family of the woman who has just died. He has
for years been in charge of the affairs of Mrs. Mariani,
and has always been found honest, diligent and pecul¬
iarly trustworthy. She gave him credit for having
done much to make the fortune she left behind, and
as she had no relatives living to whom she could leave
her property, she thought it was only just that it
should go to this faithful servant.
Mr. Moody.—When Mr. Moody was preaching in
Washington, he asserted that if Jesus Christ should
return to this world in person and appear in that city
the people would not consent to be governed by him.
He asked the audience if they would receive him, and
to emphasize the assertion, he appealed to an aged
Negro man sitting near the pulpit. "Would you vote
for him?" The reply came promptly, "It would do
no good; they wouldn't count my vote."
A Negro Huckster was driving his wagon through
the streets of Richmond, yelling at the top of his
voice, " 'Tatoes, 'tatoes!" A black woman standing
at a gate said to him: "Hush yo' mouf, nigger, an'
stop makin' such a fuss!" "Yo' he'rd me then?" he
said. "He'rdyo'! I could hear yo'a mile!" "That
is why I am yelling," said he. 'Tatoes! 'tatoes!"
THE FUNERAL. .
I was walking in Savannah, past a church decayed and dim,
When there slowly through the window came a plaintive funeral
hymn;
And a sympathy awakened and a wonder quickly grew,
Till I found myself environed in a little Negro pew.
Out in front a colored couple sat in sorrow, nearly wild,
On the altar was a coffin, in the coffin was a child.
I could picture him when living—curly hair, protruding lip—
And had seen perhaps a thousand in my hurried Southern trip.
598
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
But no baby ever rested in the soothing arms of death
That had fanned more flames of sorrow with his fluttering breath;
And no funeral ever glistened with more sympathy profound
Than was in the chain of tear drops that enclasped those mourn¬
ers round.
Rose a sad old col'ored preacher at the little wooden desk,
With a manner grandly awkward, with a countenance grotesque;
With simplicity and shrewdness on his Ethiopian face,
With the ignorance and wisdom of a crushed, undying race.
And he said, " Now don' be weepin' for dis pretty bit o' clay—
For de little boy who lived there he done gone an' run away!
He was doin' very finely, an' he 'predate your love,
-But his sure 'nuff Father want him in de large house up above.
" Now He didn't give you dat baby, by a hundred thousand mile!
He just think you need some sunshine, an' He lend it for a while!
An' He let you keep uan' love him till your heart was bigger
grown;
An' dese silver tears you're sheddin's just de interest on de loan.
" Here yer oder pretty chillun!—Don't be makin' it appear
Dat your love got sort o' 'nopolized by this little fellow here.
Don't pile up too much sorrows on deir little mental shelves,
So's to kind o' set 'em wonderin' if dey're no account demselves!
"Just you think, you poor deah mounahs, creepin' 'long o'er
sorrow's way,
What a blessed little picnic dis yere baby's got to-day!
Your good faders and good moders crowd de little fellow round
In de angel-tended garden in de Big Plantation Ground!
" An' dey ask him, ' Was your feet sore?' an' take off his little
shoes.
An' dey wash him, an' dey kiss him, an' dey say, ' Now, what's
de news?'
An de Lord done cut his tongue loose, den de little fellow say,
' All our folks down in de valley tries to keep de hebbenly way.'
" An' his eyes dey brightly sparkle at de pretty tings he view;
Den a tear come, an' he whisper, ' But I want my parents, too!'
But de angel Chief Musician teach dat boy a little song-
Says, ' If only dey be faithful, dey will soon be comin' 'long.'
Plantation melodies, etc.
599
" An' he'll get an education dat will probably be worth
Seberal times as much as any you cou.d buy for him on earth;
He'll be in de Lawd's big schoolhouse, widout no contempt or fear,
While dere's no end to de bad things might have happened to
him here.
" So, my poor, dejected, mounahs, let your hearts wid Jesus rest,
An' don't go to criticism' dat ar One wot knows de best!
But have sent us many comforts He have right to take away—
Tc de Lawd be praise an' glory, now an' ever! Let us pray."
—Will M. Carleton.
A LULLABY.
Bedtime's come fu' little boys,
Po' little iamb.
Too tiahed out to make a noise,
Po' little lamb.
You gwine t' have to-morrer sho'?
Yes, you tole me dat befo',
Don't you fool me, chile, no mo',
Po' little lamb.
You been bad de livelong day,
Po' little lamb.
Th'owin' stones an' runnin' 'way,
Po little lamb.
My, but you's a-runnin' wild!
Look jes' lak some po' folks' chile;
Mam gwine whup you atter while,
Po' little lamb.
Come hyeah! you mos' tiahed to def,
Po' little lamb.
Played yo'sel' clean out o' bref,
Po little lamb.
See dem han's now—sich a sight!
Would you evah b'lieve dey's white?
Stan' still 'twell I wash dem right,
Po' little lamb.
Jes' cain't hoi' yo' haid up straight,
Po' little lamb.
Hadn't oughter played so late
'Po' little lamb.
PLANTATION MELODIES, £TC.
601
Mammy do' i now whut she'd do,
Ef de chillun's all lak you;
You's a caution now, fu' true,
Po' little lamb.
Lay yo' haid down in my lap,
Po' little lamb.
Y'ought to have a right good slap,
Po' little lamb.
You been runnin' roun' a heap.
Shet dem eyes an' don't you peep—
Dah now, dah now, go to sleep—
Po' little lamb.
—Paul Lawrence Dunbar.
WHEN THE WARM DAYS COME.
When the warm days come, an' the green is all around,
An' the bushes are noddin' to.their shadders on the ground;
When the meader lark is singin' 'round its nest hid in the grass,
An' the brown thrush is a-swingin' 'mongst the thorn an' sassa¬
fras.
When the Juneberry's in blossom, tho' the oak tree still is bare;
When the blows are all a-fallin' from the cherry an' the pear;
When the orchard is in blossom, an' the roads are gittin' dry,
An' the lilacs are a-flirtin' with the lazy butterfly.
When the world is full of sunshine, an' workin' seems a sin,
An' you dcn't want to do nothin' but jest sit an' soak it in;
When the very fields look sleepy from the wild bee's drowsy hum,
An' the birds all go to matin', when the warm days come.
THANKSGIVING IN DIXIE.
Now de fros' am in de meader,
An' we's habin' chilly weader,
An' de owel air a hootin' ter de moon,
An 'de cotton 'pears to thickin,
Atter ebery curful pickin',
An' de bossman call de niggers good an' soon.
Fur de lighted knot air burnin',
An' de cider mill air turnin',
An' de taters air all ready futter roas'.
602
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
An' de possum he's er feelin'
Of de 'simmon's juicy peelin',
Whattle make him fat and fitten futter roas'.
An de sunshine's pale an' sailer,
An' de leaves air turnin yaller'
An' de turkey gobbler gobbleth in de lan';
An' de pound cake air a bakin',
An de fat'nin' pigs er quakin',
For Thanksgivin' Day air mighty close at han'.
Hit's de day 'at saint an' sinner
Has good eatin's fur his dinner,
An' thanks de Lord 'at's kep' him safe an' soun'.
An' I hopes de sin confessin's
An' de Heabenly Father's blessin's
Will be plentiful enough to go er roun'.
—Ellen Frizell Wycoff,
DAT THANKSGIVIN' TURKEY.
Turkey gobbler, proud and fat,
Scratchin' grabble like a cat—
Now he don't know where he's at—
Oh, dat wishbone!
Scratchin' grabble wid his feet,
Dat's what makes such tender meat.
Golly! ain't he plump and sweet—
Sweet wishbone!
Now's de snowflakes in de sky,
Co'n pones costin' mighty high,
I must make dese feathers fly—
Oh, dat wishbone!
Lightwood fire de cabin cheer—
Turkey, now we're glad you's here,
Thanksgivin' come but once a year—-
Sweet wishbone!
A colored philosopher is reported to have said:
''Life, my bredden, am mos'ly made up of prayin' for
rain an' then wishin' it would cl'ar off."
A Figurative Prayer.—A white minister was con¬
ducting revival services in a colored church in North
PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC
603
Carolina. After exhorting a bit he asked an old col¬
ored deacon to lead in prayer. According to the
Roanoke News, this is the appeal which the brother in
black offered for his brother in white:
"O Lord, gib him de eye ob de eagle, det he spy out
sin afar off. Wav his hands to de gospel plow. Tie
his tongue to de line ob truth. Nail his ear to de
gospel pole. Bow his head 'way down between his
knees, and his knees way down in some lonesome, dark
and narrer valley where prayer is much wanted to be
made. 'Noint him wid de kerosene ile of salvation,
and sot him on fire.''
The above is matched by the white clergyman in a
northern town, who warned his hearers lately "not to
walk in a slippery path lest they be sucked, maelstrom¬
like, into its meshes!" This metaphor suggests that
of another clergyman who prayed "that the word
might be as a nail driven in a sure place, sending its
roots downward and its branches upward.''
WHEN DE CO'N PONE'S HOT.
Dey is times in life when Nature
Seems to slip a cog an' go,
Jes' a-rattlin' down creation,
Lak an ocean's overflow;
When de worl' jes' stahts" a-spinnin*
Lak a picaninny's top,
An' yo' cup o' joy is brimmin'
'Twell it seems about to slop,
An' you feel jes' lak a racah
Dat is trainin' fu' to trot—
When yo' mammy ses de blessin'
An' de co'n pone's hot.
When you set down at de table,
Kin' o' weary lak an' sad,
An' you'se jes' a little tiahed,
An' purhaps a little mad;
39
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
How yo' gloom tu'ns into gladness,
How yo' joy drives out de doubt,
When de oven do' is opened
An' de smell comes po'in' out!
Why, de 'lectric light o' Heaven
Seems to settle on de spot,
When yo' mammy ses de blessin'
An de co'n pone's hot.
When de cabbage pot is steamin'
An' de bacon's good an' fat,
When de chittlin's is a-sputter'n'
So's to show yo' whah dey's at;
Take away yo' sody biscuit,
Take away yo' cake and pie,
Fu' de glory time is comin',
An' it's 'proachin* very nigh,
An' yo' want to jump an' hollan,
Do' you know you'd bettah not,
When yo' mammy ses de blessin'
An' de co'n pone's hot.
I have heerd o' lots o' sermons,
An' I've heerd o' lots o' prayers;
An' I've listened to some singin'
Dat has tuk me up de stairs
Of de Glory Lan', an' sent me -
Jes' below de Mahster's th'one,"
An' have lef' my haht a-singin'
In a happy af tah tone;
But dem wu's so sweetly murmured
Seem to tech de softes' spot,
When my mammy ses de blessin'
An' de co'n pone's hot.
—Paul Lawrence Dunbar.
CHAPTER XVI.
PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK.
Just Judgment.—It is frequently the case that we
judge by our immediate surroundings. Upon these
surroundings will depend our decisions, whether pes¬
simistic or optimistic in sentiment. It were better for
us as individuals, as well as a people, if more frequently
we were to permit ourselves to take a wider range,
both as to extent and as to time.
Compare, if you will, the condition of the Negro
race half a century ago with that of today, and the
most despondent must dismiss his fears and acknowl¬
edge the progress so marked.
Then and Now.—Then the Negro was a piece of
property; now he is an American citizen.
Then chains and the lash and hounds were sending
a constant terror to, the heart of the poor slave; now
the most humble of the race may claim the ballot and
protection from wrongs under the law of the state.
Then the Negro had - no rights that the white man
need respect; now the Negro and the white man are
equal before the iaw.
Education.—Then it was thought that the Negro
could not learn; now he has demonstrated that such
thoughts were born of ignorance and prejudice.
Then there were laws against Negro education; now
laws adorn our statute books that require the educa¬
tion of the black man.
Then there was not a school for the Negro; now
there are more than twenty-five thousand schools.
605
606
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Then a Negro teacher was an impossibility; now
twenty-five thousand Negro teachers are instructing
the youth of the race*.
Then the number of Negroes that could read were
easily counted; now it .requires a census-taker to in¬
form us that four millions have learned to read and
write.
Then there were no Negroes in our public schools; .
now there are over a million being instructed iri them.
Then there was gross darkness of ignorance through¬
out all the realms, of the race; now the light of intelli¬
gence has pierced these clouds and illumined the minds
of thousands, who find a black skin no impediment to
broad scholarship and astute and clear-sighted compre¬
hension.
Then the conception of a college or professional
school for Negroes would have been regarded the prod¬
uct of a demented brain: now colleges and universities,
medical schools and schools of law for the colored race
are freely dotted on the map of our Southland.
Then the charming Negro melodies'were unknown;
now the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the Tennesseeans and
the Hamptons have sung the fame of the Negro around
the world.
Religion.—Then the colored man, naturally inclined
to religion, had neither churches nor preachers; now
there are thousands of colored churches, owning
nearly twenty millions of property, with a membership
of nearly four millions, besides publishing houses and
a number of religious educational institutions wholly
controlled by colored men.
Home.—Then the Negro had no place that to him
would express one of the most endearing words in the
language; now a great multitude can truly say, "There
is no place like home."
PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. 607
Social and Family Ties.—Then these sacred ties
were ruthlessly broken by thQ auction block; now no
power aside from the. individual's themselves can sun¬
der these ties-while life remains.
Financial.—Then the Negro owned no foot of land,
nor property of any kind; no.w-his accumulations are
rated at three, hundred millions. •
Unanswerable.—Behold this array of contrasted
facts, undisputed' and unsurpassed. Who will deny
that they'furnish an unanswerable argument of pro¬
gression in all lines. Mark the long column of Amer¬
ica's dark sons moving steadily and surely up the hill
of progress, removing one by one the obstacles imped¬
ing the onward step and spirit of advancement of the
age.
. Then, although with the unthinking and unreflect¬
ing multitude you may say, "It does not move," your
better judgment and nobler self asserting its rights
with the Galileo of old, must exclaim, "Nevertheless,
it moves.''
True Condition.—We are not blind to the true con¬
dition of the race. When we assert that great progress
has been made by the race, we would not have it un¬
derstood that the race as a whole has caught this spirit
of progress. This is not the case; there are thousands
today who are removed but a step above slavery. The
means at hand and the short period of time that has
elapsed since emancipation have not permitted the
work to be as general as might be wished.
Our Position.—We must emphatically assert that,
considering circumstances, the Negro has made re¬
markable progress. The work still remaining to be
done is great and large, but, noting advantages, the
Negro compares favorably with any race. Just judg-
608
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ment demands that in considering the lower, ignorant,
immoral class among the blacks, we must not overlook
the same condition among the whites who have had
the benefit of centuries of civilization. Point one
hand to the awful condition of the lower classes of the
Negro and with the other you may single out similar
conditions among the slums of our large cities and
other places where the refuse of Europe's depraved
classes are dumped in masses upon our shores. Mark,
also, the fact that alleged immorality among Negro
women is largely due to the immorality of white men.
Then will the Christ spirit labor for elevation of man
as man, without regard to the color of his skin.
The Present Status.—The present status of the Negro
is such as is highly commendable. Paying taxes upon
$300,000,000 worth of property throughout this country,
occupying offices of high trust and honor as national
gifts, educating his children, accumulating wealth, and
advancing in every line of industry, the Negro has
need to congratulate himself and praise his Maker for
such full and free benedictions so copiously showered
upon him the past dark and stormy thirty years.
Leaders.—"Talks for the Times" says: "At the
close of the war, the Negro found himself in the con¬
dition of a man who wakes up out of sleep in the midst
of a dream in which all things seemed strange and
confused. It took him some time to adjust himself to
the new state of affairs. He was restless; he could
hardly realize that he was free. As the impotent
man, sitting at the gate of the temple, when healed by
Peter, not only praised God, but walked and leaped to
satisfy himself of the genuineness of his cure, so the
Negro, to test his freedom, began to move about. His
movements, at first, were individual, then general, as
PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. 609
leaders sprang into existence; and it is really remark¬
able how many are the leaders when the masses are
ignorant. For -the first ten or twelve years after the
war, nothing was more common in the South than
leaders. Every little politician, every crank, consti¬
tuted himself a Moses to lead the Negro somewhere;
and various were their cries. One cried, 'On to
Arkansas!' and another 'On ta Texas!' and another
'On to Africa!' and each one had a following more or
less. One man told me that he had succeeded in lead¬
ing away from South Carolina and Georgia to Arkan¬
sas and Texas 25,000 persons."
Levers That Move the World.—Professor Harris
says: "The most powerful men of the world are not
those who control the markets, but they who control
the hearts and direct the thoughts of their fellow
men. Jesus Christ, in His life and teachings, has left
us a much richer legacy than if He had turned every
stone of Judea into a nugget of gold; than if He had
forecast all the inventions of all the ages.and had
made the streams of Palestine resonant with the hum
of factory wheels, had lighted up the streets of Jerusa¬
lem with the electric light, and had enabled Herod to
talk with Augustus Caesar by means of the telephone.
Homer, singing his Iliad, while begging his bread;
poor blind Milton, in his Paradise Lost; the thinker,
Bunyan, in his Pilgrim's Progress; Carlyle, writing
his Heroes and Hero Worship, with only a silver spoon
between him and the wolf at the door, have made the
world far richer and happier and better than they ever
could have done had they devoted their lives to the
amassing of wealth. These are the men who hold the
levers that move the world. Their influence is far
deeper and longer lasting than that of any Wall street
610
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
broker or railroad king. These are the men who
fashion the lives and determine the character of gener¬
ations to come. These are the men to whom the world
looks for hope in time of despair, and light in time of
darkness. They are the very salt of our civilization,
and without the impulse, the hope and the inspiration
which we gather from them and their lives, we should
relapse into barbarism. Let us imitate them.
Warfare Against Wrong.—As Hannibal, almost
as soon as he was born into th« world, was made to
swear eternal warfare against Rome, so should the
educated, Christian young men of our race, as soon as
they are born into the Kingdom of God, dedicate them¬
selves to" a life-long warfare against the degradation
and wrongs of our people. As Cato was so possessed
by the sense of danger that threatened Rome from
Carthage that he ended all of his speeches with
'' Carthage must be destroyed,'' so should the educated
young men of our rate be so possessed with a sense of
the dangers that are not only coming to us from
without, but are also existing within, that the remedy
for these evils should be the keynote of every song,
the burden of every prayer, and the theme of every
address.
A Hundred Men.—Dr. Josiah Strong is authority for
the statement that at one time Napoleon Bonaparte
wanted one hundred men to do a piece of strategic
work. In calling for a hundred volunteers, he explain¬
ed to his regiment that although ultimate victory
would be secured, every one of those one hundred men
would be instantly killed. Notwithstanding this warn¬
ing of certain death, not only one hundred soldiers,
but the whole regiment, down to a man, stepped for¬
ward and offered themselves to the Emperor's service.
PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK.. 611
Arouse to Action.—If one man, like Napoleon Bon¬
aparte, could waken such enthusiasm among his
soldiers that they were willing to die for him, how
much more should, the condition and needs of our
people awaken a similar enthusiasm among us? How
much more should we be aroused to action by the pit¬
iable condition of our race—by their moral degrada¬
tion, by their intellectual poverty, and by their wrongs
which cry day and night unto the God of heaven for
vengeance. How much more should we be moved by
that large army of rag-clad, husk-fed, unwashed,
disease-breeding colored people, so ignorant that, like
the Ninevites, they do not know their right hand from
their left, and by that nearly two hundred who are
lynched every year, men who are "butchered" by
midnight revelers, "to make for them a Roman
holiday?"
Just Tribute.—Dr. Haygood says: "With all
his faults and imperfections, many of them cruelly
exaggerated by caricaturists and sensational writers,
I bear this testimony to the Negro preacher in the
South: Life would be much harder there without him.
With rare exceptions, they have been found on the
side of law and order, and in our days of distress and
storm they were, as a class, conservators of the peace.
There are some shocking exceptions. They have
urged their people to send their children to school, and
have been useful in a thousand ways. The tens who
fall into disgrace and sin are widely advertised; the
hundreds who simply do their duty are unknown to
the newspaper world. I have seen them in their many
religious moods-; in their most death-like trances, and
in their wildest outbreaks of excitement. I have
preached to them in town and country and on the plan-
612
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
tations. I have been their pastor, have led their classes
and prayer meetings, conducted their love feasts and
taught them the catechism. I have married them,
baptized their children and buried their dead. In the
reality of religion among them I have the most entire
confidence, nor can I ever doubt it while it is a reality
to me. In many things their motions may be crude,
their conceptions of truth realistic, sometimes to a
painful, sometimes to a grotesque, degree. They are
more emotional than ethical.
' "Strongest Characteristic.—The average of their
morals is not high; they do many things they ought
not; nevertheless, their religion is their most striking
and important, their strongest and their most forma¬
tive characteristic. They are more remarkable here
than anywhere else; their religion has had more to do
in shaping their better character in this country than
all other influences combined; it will most determine
what they are to become in their future development.
It is wrong to condemn them harshly when judged by
the standard white people hardly dare apply to
themselves with their two thousand years the start of
them. The just God did not judge half-barbarous
Israel, wandering in the twilight about the wilderness
of Sinai, as he judges us on whom the sun of right¬
eousness has risen with the full light of the Gospel
day.''
Unparalled.—The history of the Negro on this con¬
tinent is full of pathetic and tragic romance, and of
startling, unparalleled incident. The seizure in Africa,
the forcible abduction and cruel exportation, the coer¬
cive enslavement, the subjection to environments which
emasculate a race of all noble aspirations and doom
inevitably to hopeless ignorance and inferiority, living
PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. 613
in the midst of enlightenments and noblest civilization,
and yet forbidden to enjoy the benefits of which others
were partakers, for four years amid battle, and yet,
for the most part, having no personal share in the
conflict, by statute and organic law of nations held in
fetters and inequality, and then, in the twinkling of
an eye, lifted from bondage to freedom, from slavery
to citizenship, from dependence on others and guard¬
ianship to suffrage and eligibility to office, can be
predicated of no other race. Other peoples, after long
and weary years of discipline and struggle against
heaviest odds, have won liberty and free government
This race, almost without lifting a hand, unapprecia-
tive of the boon except in the lowest aspects of it, and
unprepared for privileges and responsibilities, has been
lifted to a plane of citizenship and freedom such as
is enjoyed, in an equal degree, by no people in the
world outside of the United States.
Thought.—Professor H. T, Kealing, A. M., editor
of the A. M. E. Church Review recently said: "One
does not begin to be a man till he rises above physical
sensation into thought realms. Man should feel the
mind and soul as well as the body. What a pitiable
sight to see a 300-pound body inhabited by a two-ounce
mind. The Negro can look for honorable connection
with the progress, invention and civilization of the age
only by his thought relation to it. It is not sufficient
that when a telegraph system is begun we should dig
the postholes. It will not give us a place among the
great American forces that are threading this country
with railroads for us to cut the ties. Muscle is not
manhood. Physical size is not greatness. If it were,
the elephant is ^ greater man than man. Thought,
power, character, and integrity are the elements we
need.
614
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Age of Progress.—"It is not enough to congratulate
ourselves on living in aji age of progress. If a train is
passing through this city, and a passenger in the rear
coach hopes to sit still and overtake a passenger in the
front coach, his hope will be vain. He must put forth
personal locomotion. Now the train of progress is
passing through the land. There is a man on the
front coach, we call him the white man. There is a
man on the rear coach, we call him the black man.
We must do something ourselves for ourselves before
we enter among the producing forces.
Companionship,—"Give us men who can retrospect
the past and project intelligent glances into the future.
Make your companionship with Homer, Dante, Darwin,
Emerson, and Carlyle.
Confusion.—"Some assert that the Negro is retro¬
grading, and they cite the confusion and unclassified
state of our society in proof. But this confusion is to
me a strong sign of advancement.
"Suppose two men are asleep in the dirt and mud.
There is no confusion there. All is peace—the peace
of common filth and lethargy. But suppose one of
them attempts to get up. The other insists that he
lie still; now arises a struggle; now comes confusion.
There was once no confusion among us. We were all
down and asleep. Now some of us are getting up,
and the struggle is on; but who would not rather have
confusion of getting up than the peace of slumber?
Rise above adverse circumstances. Be masters of
circumstances."
Marvel of Ages.—"Talks for the Times" says: "But
it may be well for us now to take a retrospective view of
the path we have traveled as freedmen. It is thirty-
two years since Abraham Lincoln gave to the world
PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK
615
his immortal proclamation. For thirty-two years we
have enjoyed, freedom, however imperfect it may have
been. Have we shown ourselves worthy of it? Thanks
be to God, we are not our own judges! The world
has- sat in judgment upon us. Our friends and our
enemies have united in the confession that the progress
of the American Negro under freedom is one of the
marvels of. the age. • It has no parallel in the world's
history. National statistics, statistics of states, reports
of benevolent organizations, all prove this beyond the
shadow of a doubt. We have written the last thirty-
two years of our history in acts. We have done a great
many things which the philosophers prophesied we
could not do. First, it was predicted that we should
all die out under freedom, and many simple-minded
people slept soundly on that theory until the census of
1880 revealed the startling fact that, instead of dying
out, we are increasing fearfully and wonderfully. It
became evident then that, although we are a race of
idiots and fools, we are not such fools as to live through
American slavery and die out under American free¬
dom—live, forsooth, when we ought to die, and die
when we ought to live! No, no, no, we are not so
demented as all that, whatever may be the shape and
thickness of our skulls.
The Future.—George Williams aptly says: "But
what of the future? Can the Negro endure the sharp
competition of American civilization? Can he keep
his position against the tendencies to amalgamation?
Since it has been proven that the Negro is not dying
out, but, on the contrary, possesses the powers of repro¬
duction to a remarkable degree, a new source of danger
has been discovered. It is said that the Negro will
616
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
perish, will be absorbed by the dominant race ere long;
that where races are crossed the inferior race suffers;
and that mixed races lack the power to reproduce
species; and that hence the disappearance of the Negro
is but a question of time.
Perished.—Whatever merit this view possessed be¬
fore the war of the Rebellion, it is obsolete under the
present organization of society. The environment of
the Negro, the downward tendencies of his social life,
and the exposed state in which slave laws left him, have
all perished. In addition to his aptitude for study and
capacity for improvement, he is now under the protect¬
ing and restraining influence of congenial climate; and
pure sociological laws will impart to his offspring the
power of reproduction and the ability to maintain an
excellent social footing with the other races of the
world.
Race Prejudice.—Race prejudice is bound to give
way before the potent influences of character, education
and wealth. Without wealth there can be no leisure,
without leisure there can be no thought, and without
thought there can be no progress.
Twofold.—The future work of the Negro is twofold;
subjective and objective. Years will be devoted to
his own education and improvement here in America
He will sound the depths of education, accumulate
wealth, and then turn his attention to the civilization
of Africa. The United States will yet establish a line
of steamships between this country and the Dark
Continent. Touching at the grain coast, the ivory
coast, and the gold coast, America will carry the Afri¬
can missionaries, Bibles, papers, improved machinery,
instead of rum and chains. And Africa, in return, will
send America indigo, palm-oil, ivory, gold, diamonds,
PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. 617
costly wood, and her richest treasures, instead of slaves.
Tribes will be converted to Christianity; cities will
rise; states will be founded; geography and science
will enrich and enlarge their discoveries; and a telegraph
cable binding the heart of Africa to the ear of the civil¬
ized world, every throb of joy or sorrow will pulsate
again in millions of souls. In the interpretation of
History, the plans of God must be discerned, "For
a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday
when it is passed, and as a watch in the night.''
Advancement.—Doctor Carroll says: "What he has
done for himself under great difficulties and discourage¬
ments in the last third of the nineteenth century is a
splendid prophecy of what he will be in the twentieth
century. He has quickly learned that superior position
is open to him in just the same terms as to any other
citizen, and that if he would have his superiority recog¬
nized he must demonstrate it. Prejudice cannot with¬
stand demonstration. It must yield, however, slowly;
and colored statesmen, merchants, bankers, lawyers,
doctors, ministers, educators, will win their way by
forces which are not an accident of race or color, but
are developed by culture.
Difficulties.—The strong, senseless, but galling prej¬
udices which confront the Negro are by no means his
greatest obstacles to success. There are ignorance,
vice -and thriftlessness, which, like their opposite
virtues, are not confined to a particular race, but beset
humanity in general. He has shown that he has the
power to rise above the condition of a slave, and I look
confidently forward to a brilliant future for him. I'
have no idea- that he will leave this country. His
greatest achievements will be here on the5 soil th&f is
as much his as ours. Here are found the conditions
618 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
which are needed for his development, and here
he will stay to contribute his share to the pros¬
perity and glory of our great nation. L should expect
to see a larger immigration from Africa in the twentieth
century than emigration to Africa.''
Evangelization.—It is not his duty to evangelize
Africa. The responsibility for that great work rests
on Christians in every nation. He will simply take
his part in it. We may expect it will be a large part.
His zeal will be great, his qualifications unquestiona¬
ble, and we may hope that the redemption of his own
race in the Dark Continent will stimulate his heartiest
endeavors and his largest sacrifices.
Possibilities.—We see in him as a free man excel¬
lencies and possibilities to which slavery made us
blind. He has struggled against our doubts and fears,
and has fairly conquered our long-lived, pertinacious
prejudices. Many, even of those who wanted him to
be free and gave him their sympathy, had grave mis¬
givings as to his capacity for the highest duties of cit¬
izenship. He has had to prove, since the war, that
schools^ and educational processes are of use to him.
The first teachers who came South to instruct him
were eagerly questioned as to his ability to learn.
When this doubt was satisfied, another was expressed:
Was not his ability to learn exceptional? Was the
higher education possible to any of his race? We feel
a sense of shame in simply recounting the historical
fact; but it is a fact, and the greatest achievement of
the Negro of the nineteenth century is in forcing from
us the acknowledgment of his large capacity.
Ability Must Be Recognized.—Professor Booker T.
Washington says: "The race problem will work itself
out in proportion as the black man, by reason of his
PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. 619
skill, intelligence and character, can produce some¬
thing that the white man wants or respects. One race
respects another in proportion as it contributes to the
markets of the world, hence the value of industrial
training. The black man that has mortgages on a
dozen white men's homes will have no trouble in vot¬
ing. The black man that spends $10,000 a year in
freight charges can select his own seat in a railroad
car, else a Pullman palace car will be put on for him.
When the black man, by reason of his knowledge of
the chemistry of the soil and improved methods of agri¬
culture, can produce forty bushels of corn on any acre
of land, while his white brother produces only twenty
bushels, the white man will come to the black man to
learn, and they will be good friends. The black man that
has $50,000 to lend will never want for friends and
customers among his white neighbors. It is right and
important that all the privileges of the Constitution
should be ours; but it is vastly more important to us that
we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges.
Those who died and suffered on the battle field per¬
formed their duty heroically and well, but a duty
remains to you and me. The mere fiat of law could
not make a dependent man an independent man; could
not make an ignorant man an intelligent voter; could
not make one man respect another; these results come
to the Negro as to all races, by beginning at the bot¬
tom and gradually working toward the highest civiliza¬
tion and accomplishments.
Our Passport—"Tell them that by the way of the
shop, the field, the skilled hand, habits of thrift and
economy, by way of industrial school and college, we
are coming. We are crawling up, working up, yea,
bursting up. Often through oppression, unjust discrim-
40
620
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
ination and prejudice, but through them all we are com¬
ing up, and with proper habits, intelligence and
property, there is no power on earth that can perma¬
nently stay our progress. During the next half century
and more, my race must continue passing through the
severe American crucible. We are to be tested in our
patience, our forbearance, our perseverance, our power
to endure wrong, to withstand temptations, to econo¬
mize, to acquire and use skill; our ability to compete,
to succeed in commerce, to disregard the superficial
for the real, the appearance for the substance, to be
great and yet small, learned and yet simple, high and
yet the servant of all. This—this is the passport to
all that is best in the life of our republic, and the
Negro must possess it or be debarred.
Hopeful and Cheerful Spirit.—"I am exceedingly
anxious that every colored man and woman should
keep a hopeful and cheerful spirit as to the future.
Despite all of our disadvantages and hardships, ever
since our forefathers set foot upon American soil as
slaves, v our pathway has been marked by progress.
Think of it! We went into slavery a piece of property;
we came out American citizens. We went into slavery
without a language; we came out speaking the proud
Anglo-Saxon tongue. We went into slavery with
slave chains about our wrists; we came out with the
American ballot in our hands.''
Be Charitable to the South.—Some of our Northern
people are very impatient with the'manner in which
the Southerner treats the Negro.
Let it be known to such that as late as 1831 Miss
Prudence Crandall, who first admitted a colored girl
into her school and afterwards established a school for.
colored girls, was subjected to all kinds of inhumani-
PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK 621
ties. Dealers in all sorts of wares and produce agreed
to sell nothing to Miss Crandall, the stage driver
declined to carry her pupils, neighbors refused a pail
of fresh water, even though they knew that their own
sons had filled her well with stable refuse. Boys and
rowdies were allowed unchecked liberty, and were
even encouraged to exercise their utmost ingenuity in
mischievous annoyances. Stones and bad eggs were
thrown against her windows. Her parents were threat¬
ened with heavy fines for visiting her. She was
arrested and put into jail. Town meetings were held.
The legislature, upon petition, passed laws against her
action, the crime being nothing more than teaching a
dozen Negro girls. Religious services were disturbed,
efforts were made to set fire to her house, and finally,
in the darkness of the night, a body of men beat in
the windows of her house with iron bars. This brave
woman was then compelled to break up her school,
and send her pupils home.
Do you say this was in the Sunny South? No; this
happened two generations ago in the sober state of
Connecticut.
Have Courage.—Let those who think that the Negro
has no rights that the white man need respect look at
that picture and then compare it with the unbounded
enthusiasm and the royal welcome give,n Booker T.
Washington at the unveiling of the Shaw monument
in Boston in 1897.
Two Generations.—If two generations have made
such a change in sentiment, the most despondent and
disheartened may take courage, for prejudice against
color is certainly dying out.
Bishop Duncan once said: "I was born among you.
Don't think yourselves as 'colored people,' but think
622
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
about yourselves as those whom God has called to be
men. I never put in my definition of 'man' the idea
of color. Be men, and I assure you that lines of long¬
itude will not measure the respect given you. Deter¬
mine that you will solve your own problem by being
true to the estate to which you are called in these
latter days.''
Not ill Congress.—The future of the race is not so
much in Congress and the legislature, as in man him¬
self. While, on the one hand, the white man must
learn in many cases to treat the colored man as a man,
on the other hand,. nothing will so soon bring about
the harmony and pleasant feeling desired as the up¬
right conduct of the Negro himself. His progress in
the past generation has surprised the most sanguine
and hopeful ones. The solution of the Negro problem
lies in the same direction.
Not Imaginary, but Real.—There is a future before
the race. In the face of many opposing forces, in
defiance of the predictions of despondent ones, a great
and useful future lies just beyond. Home life, for no
people rises higher than its home life, must be pure,
happy and intelligent. Then will the future waft upon
its breezes sweet and noble influences and results that
will touch every phase of the world's life, and bring
men into sweeter harmony with one another and with
God.
CHAPTER XVII.
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
AREA AND POPULATION OF THE WORLD.
Area of the World No. of
in Square Miles. Inhabitants.
Asia 14,710,000 855,000,000
Africa 11,514,000 130,000,000
North America 6,446,000 89,250,000
South America 6,837,000 36,420,000
Australia ' 3,288,000 4,730,000
NUMBER OF INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD BY RACES.
Caucasian 545,000,000
Mongolian 630,000,000
Negro 225,000^000
Malay 35,000,000
Indian 15,000,000
POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
(Census of 1890.)
Total population 62,622,350
White population 54,983,250
African population 7,470,040
Pure Africans... 6,337,980
Mulattoes (one-half pure) 956,989
Buadroons (one-quarter pure) 105,135
ctaroons (one-eighth pure) .. 69,936
Mississippi contains the largest number of pure
Negroes—657,393; Virginia the next largest number
—621,781. Virginia contains the largest number of
Mulattoes, Quadroons and Octaroons—122,441; Louis¬
iana the next largest number—90,953.
MALE AND FEMALE CHILDREN OF SCHOOL AGE IN
THE UNITED STATES.
Total number of white males from 5 to 20 years of age
inclusive 9,655,372
Colored 1,587,328
Total number white females from 5 to 20 years of age
inclusive 9> 595,193
Colored 1,609,499
623
624
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
POPULATION OF EACH STATE AND TERRITORY IN
THE UNITED STATES ARRANGED IN
ALPHABETICAL ORDER.
CENSUS OF 1890.
1 Alabama
2 Arkansas
3 Arizona
4 Connecticut
5 Colorado
6 California
7 Delaware •
8 District of Columbia.
9 Florida
10 Georgia
11 Idaho
12 Illinois
13 Indiana
14 Iowa
15 Louisiana
16 Kansas
17 Kentucky
18 Maine
19 Massachusetts
20 Maryland
21 Michigan
22 Minnesota
23 Missouri
24 Mississippi
25 Montana
26 Nebraska
27 Nevada
28 New Hampshire
29 New Jersey
30 New "Mexico
31 New York
32 North Carolina
33 North Dakota
34 Ohio
35 Oklahoma
36 Oregon
37 Pennsylvania
38 Rhode Island
39 South Carolina
40 South Dakota
41 Tennessee
42 Texas
43 Utah
44 Vermont
45 Virginia
46 West Virginia
47 Washington
48 Wisconsin
49 Wyoming
The United States
Persons of Negro Descent.
Males. Females. Total.
336,997
159,014
1,173
5,930
3,602
6,347
14,455
33,721
83,967
430,072
118
30,148
23,523
5,712
277,134
25,248
133,547
614
10,879
105,684
7,986
2,167
75,336
3?'2,278
1,053
5,243
162
323
23,410
1,220
33,503
275,230
219
45,076
1,613
743
54,731
3,394
341,821
363
213,521
245,461
392
493
310,828
17,991
1,104
1,363
652
3,725,561
341,492
150,103
184
6,372
2,613
4,975
13,931
41,851
82,213
428,743
83
26,880
21,692
d. Q""-t
282,'059
24,462
134,524
576
11,265
109,972
7,237
1,516
74,848
370,281
437
3,670
80
291
24,228
736
36,589
285,788
1^4
42,037
1,360
443
52,865
3,999
347,113
178
217,157
242,710
196
444
324,610
14,699
498
1,081
270
3,744,479
679,489
309,117
1,357
12,302
6,215
11,322
28,386
75,572
166,180
858,815
201
57,028
45,215
10,685
559,193
49,710
268,071
1,190
22,144
215,657
15,223
3,683
150,184
742,559
1,490
8,913
242
614
47,638
1,956
70,092
561,018
373
87,113
2,973
1,186
107,596
7,393
688,934
541
430,678
488,171
588
<K7
635,438
32,690
1,602
2,444
922
7,470,040
White.
833.718
818,752
55,580
733,438
404,468
1,111,672
140,066
154,695
224,949
978.357
82,018
3.768.472
2,146,736
1,901,086
558,395
1,376,553
1,590.462
659,263
2,215,373
826,493
2,072,884
1,296,159
2,528,458
544,851
127,271
1,046,888
39,084
375,840
1,396,581
142.719
5,923,952
1,055,382
182,123
3,584,805
58,826
301,758
5,148,257
337,859
462,008
327,290
1,336,637
1,745,935
205,899
331,418
1,020,122
730,077
340,513
1.680.473
59,275
54,983,890
♦This includes 168,320, Chinese, Japanese, and civilized Indians.
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
625
POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. VOTING
AGES—MALES, 21 YEARS AND OVER.
State or Tebeitoby.
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
N ebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire...
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
White.
Colored.
Total.
184,059
140,763
324,822
21,160
2,536
23,696
188,296
69,572
257,868
390,228
72,061
462,289
161,015
3.905
164,920
220,115
3.976
224,092
40,007
7,552
47,559
46,159
18,346
64,505
58,068
38.145
96,213
219,094
179,028
398,122
29.525
1,965
3i>49°
1,054,469
18,200
1,072,663
581,987
517,006
13,070
595,066
3.326
520,332
370,688
12,543
383,231
387.371
63,421
450,792
130,748
119,815
250,563
200,609
' 632
201,241
218,843
51.835
270,738
657,042
7.967
665,009
611,008
6,437
617,445
374,027
2,009
376,036
I20,6l I
150,469
271,080
667,451
38,267
705,718
61,984
3,467
65.415
297,281
4,219
301,500
17,002
3.949
20,951
117,889
246
118,135
398,966
14,564
413,530
41,478
3.473
44,951
1,745,418
24,231
1,769,649
233.307
109,346
342,653
55.769
190
55.959
990,542
25,922
1,016,464
18,238
923
19,161
102,113
9.631
111,744
1,426,996
34,873
i,46i,86g
97,756
2,261
100,017
102,657
132,949
235,606
96,177
588
92,462
96,765
310,014
402,476
434,010
101,932
535.942
53.235
1,236
5I.47I
826 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES—Continued.
State oe Tereitobtt.
White.
Colored.
Vermont
Virginia
Washington..
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
101,369
248,035
141,934
172,198
459.893
26,050
328
I30.747
4,984
9,202
1,829
994
POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE
CENSUS YEARS.
Aggregate
Census Year. White. Negro. Population.
1790 3,172,002 757,202 3,929,214
1800 4,306,446 1,002,037 5,308,483
1810 5,862,166 1,377,808 7,239,881
1820 7,862,073 1,771,656 9,633,822
1830 10,537,378 2,328,642 12,866,020
1840./ 14,195,805 2,873,648 17,069,453
1850 19,553,068 3,638,808 23,191,876
1860 26,922,537 4.441,836 31,443,321
1870 33.589,377 4,880,009 38,558,371
1880 43,402,970 6,580,793 50,155,783
1890 54,983,890 7,470,040 62,622,250
CONJUGAL CONDITION OF PERSONS OF NEGRO
DESCENT IN THE UNITED STATES.
(Census of 1890.)
Single 4,669,513
Married 2,363,231
Widowed 411,888
Divorced 15,907
Unknown 9,501
Total 7,470,040
CONJUGAL CONDITION OF PERSONS OF NEGRO
DESCENT TWENTY YEARS OF AGE AND OVER.
Males. Females. Total.
Single 424,552 271,224 695,776
Married 1,171,671 1,122,619 2,294,290
Widowed 9i>633 317,893 409,526
Divorced 5,199 IO,39i 15,590
Unknown 4,408 4,563 8,971
STATISTICS OF THE RACE. 627
ILLITERATE POPULATION OF NEGRO DESCENT TEN
YEARS OF AGE AND OVER.
Males 1,438,923
Females 1,603,745
Total 3,042,668
Total Negro population of the United States ten years
of age and over 5,328,972
SKETCH OF THE NEGRO IN THE UNITED STATES.
Occupations.—In 1890 out of a total population of 62, -
000,000, 34 per cent, were engaged in gainful occupa¬
tions; of the Negroes, numbering 7,500,000, 3,000,000,
or 41 per cent., were engaged in gainful occupations.
The proportion was much greater than with the total
population. According to the statistics of 1890, the male
Negroes were slightly more occupied than were the
native whites, while among the female Negroes, the
proportion of wage earners was much greater. Out
of every 100 native whites, all pursuing gainful occu¬
pations, 85 were males and 15 were females; out of
every 100 Negroes, 69 were males and 31 females. A
larger proportion of women pursued gainful occupa¬
tions among the Negroes than among the whites. Of
the male Negro wage earners, more than three-fifths
were farmers, and a little less than one-fourth were
servants; of the females, less than one-half were
farmers, and more than one-half were servants. This
large proportion of female Negro farmers was doubt¬
less made up principally of women and female children
employed in the cotton fields.
Ownership of Farms and Homes.—The statistics of
farm and home ownership and mortgaged indebtedness
throw some light upon the pecuniary condition of the
Negro. The total number .of farms and homes in the
country in 1890 was a little more than twelve millions,
628 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
of which the Negroes occupied nearly one and a half
millions. The proportion of Negroes of the total pop-
illation at that time was about 12 per cent., showing
a deficiency in the proportion occupying farms and
homes. The number of farms in the country was
4,767,179; of these 549,642 were occupied by Negroes.
The number of homes in the country was 7,922,973,
of which 861,137 were occupied by Negroes.
Tenants.—Of the farms occupied by Negroes, 120,-
738 were owned by the occupants; more than three-
fourths of the farms occupied by Negroes were rented.
In other words, more than three-foe.-hs of the Negro
farmers were tenants, while less than one-fourth of the
white farmers were tenants. Of farms owned by
Negroes, more were without indebtedness than those
owned by whites; of houses owned by Negroes, 126,264
were free from incumbrance, showing a greater pro¬
portion of homes without indebtedness than among
the whites.
Summary.—In summing up the principal points, it
is seen that in the matter of occupation the Negro is
engaged in agriculture or personal service; he has
made little progress in a generation in manufacture,
transportation or trade. This could certainly not be
expected of the first generation out of slavery. The
Negro has, during this generation, however, made
good prospects toward acquiring property, especially
in farms and homes, and in just so far as they have
acquired possession of real estate it is safe to say they
have become more valuable citizens. The outlook for
them is very favorable as agriculturists, but it will
require considerable time for them to become an im¬
portant factor in manufacture, transportation or com¬
merce,
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
629
Distribution of the Negro Race.—Negroes are dis¬
tributed very unequally all over tlie country; while
they are found in every state and territory, and in
almost every county in the land, the vast body of them
are found in the Southern states, in those states lying-
south of the Mason and Dixon line and the Ohio River,
to the north boundary of Missouri, and westward as
far as Texas. They are most plentiful in Maryland,
Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi, and secondary
in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and
Louisiana. In the Northern and Western states they
are very sparsely distributed, with scarcely an excep¬
tion, being less than four of them to a square mile,
while in many places there is less than one to a square
mile.
The Negroes in Cities.—The tendency, as a popula¬
tion of a country increases, is that the increase
constantly raises the proportion of the population in
the cities. The proportion of the Negroes in the cities
has, however, been less than that of the whites, but
they have gained upon the whites in this regard.
NEGROES IN THE SLAVE STATES.
Delaware.—In Delaware, the proportion of Negroes
in 1790 was about 22 per cent. This proportion in¬
creased greatly until 1840; since then it has diminished,
and in 1890 was about 17 per cent.
In Maryland over one-third of the population were
Negroes in 1790, and in 1810 it had increased to 38 per
cent.; in 1890 it was but 21 per cent.
District of Columbia.—Here the proportion of
Negroes in 1800 was about 29 per cent.; in i860 the
proportion was 19 per cent. During the war many
Negroes took refuge within the capital, since which
time it is about one-third of the total population.
680
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
In Kentucky one-sixth of the population were
Negroes in 1790; in 1830 it was about one-fourth; at
present it is about 14 per cent., less than one-sixth.
In Tennessee one-tenth of the population were
Negroes in 1790; in 1880 it was a little more than one-
fourth, since which time it has diminished a trifle.
Missouri had about one-sixth of its inhabitants
Negroes when the first record was given. It has
diminished rapidly, and in 1890 it was less than one-
sixteenth of the population.
Virginia.—In 1790 the Negroes constituted not less
than two-fifths of the inhabitants. The proportion
increased until 1810, and in 1890 it was little more
than one-fourth.
All of the above are border states, and show a sim¬
ilar history, excepting Tennessee and the District of
Columbia; the remaining show a different history.
North Carolina started in 1790 with 27 percent.,
and has increased slowly until it reached 38 per cent.
South Carolina started with 44 per cent., and in
1880 more than three-fifths of the population were
Negroes; since then there has been a trifling decrease.
Georgia started with 36 per cent., and continued to
increase until 1880, since when there has been a slight
reduction.
Florida began with 47 per cent, of the population
Negroes, but in the last decade has been diminishing
rapi.dly.
Alabama commenced with one-third of her people
Negroes, and increased until 1870; since then there
has been a decrease.
Mississippi began with 41 per cent, of her people
Negroes, and has increased up to the present time.
Louisiana began with 55 per cent., but on the whole
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
631
diminished, and in 1890 one-half of the people were
Negroes.
Texas began in 1850, when 28 per cent, of her people
were Negroes, and increased to 31 per cent., and then
decreased rapidly, largely due to immigration to the
central part of the state.
Arkansas began when a little less than one-eighth
of its people were Negroes. In 1890 the Negroes formed
more than one-fourth of the total population.
Conclusions.—This indicates in a general way the
southward migration of the race to the cotton states,
and an increase until in the recent past.
Conjugal Condition.—Comparing the conjugal con¬
dition of the Negroes with those of the whites there
are two points of difference: First, the Negroes marry
younger than the whites, and second, the proportion of
widows at most ages is greater than among the whites.
The first is in accord with a shorter life period of the
race, and the second is a result of a greater death rate
in the race.
Statistics of divorce show more frequent divorces
among the Negroes than among the whites.
Mortality.—The rate of mortality among the Negro
population is considerably greater than among the
whites; it is, however, difficult to obtain an accurate
record of the relative death rates of the two races. In
some of the larger cities the death rate is very nearly
if not quite double that of the native white. The rural
districts seem to show that the disproportion among
the death rates is not so great as it is in the larger
cities.
Criminality —The proportion of criminals among
the Negroes is much greater than among the whites.
The last census shows that the proportion of Negroes
632
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
was only four times as great as the whites. It should,
however, be kept in mind that the statistics include
among its criminal class the commitments of Negroes
for petty offenses, which with that race is a greater
offense in proportion than among the whites.
Paupers.—No investigations have been made among
these persons receiving out door relief either perma¬
nently or temporarily. The census reports are of those
who receive aid from alms houses. As these are not
found in large numbers in the South the Negro
paupers, compared with the whites, cannot be accur¬
ately stated.
Illiteracy and Education.—There has been a remark¬
able increase of the race in the elements of education.
During the prevalence of slavery this race was kept in
ignorance; indeed, generally throughout the South,
it was held as a crime to teach the Negro to read and
write, and naturally, when they became freedmen,
only a trifling proportion of them were acquainted
with the elements of education. Five years after they
became free, the census shows that only two-tenths of
all Negroes over ten years could write. Ten years
later the proportion had increased to three-tenths, and
in 1890, only a generation after they were emanci¬
pated, not less than forty-three out of every one hun¬
dred were able to read and write. These figures show
a rapidly increasing progress in elementary education.
In i860 the number of Negroes who were enrolled in
the schools of the South was trifling. Since the aboli¬
tion of slavery the number has increased with great
rapidity.
Summary.—The following conclusions may be stat¬
ed from the preceding investigations. The Negroes,
without increasing rapidly in this country, are dimin-
Statistics of the race.
ishing in numbers relative to the whites. They are
moving southward from the border states into those
of the South Atlantic and Gulf states. They prefer
the country rather than the city life. The proportion
of criminals is much greater than among the whites,
and the paupers at least as great, and the indications
are the number of attendants at school is far behind
the number of whites, but is rapidly gaining upon the
race. To raise a people from slavery to civilization is
a matter, not of years, but of many generations. Their
industry, morality and education is a source of highest
gratification to all friends of the race excepting those
who expected a miraculous conversion.
Colored Physicians.—It is difficult to give the exact
number of colored physicians in our country. Of
course, in the term -"colored physicians" we include
only those who have received diplomas from reputable
medical schools. The first attempt ever made to
compile a list of these was made by Dr. Hubbard,
Dean of Meharry Medical College, through whose
kindness we are enabled to give the following table.
This table was first compiled at the close of 1895, and
there is probably no one who would be able to give
more accurate statistics concerning colored physicians
than Dr. Hubbard. We have added one column,
bringing the list up to 1897, and have made it as com¬
plete as possible. The numbers in the last column are
given bv officers of the different institutions, and
include all the graduates in medicine, dentistry and
pharmacy, while the remaining table gives only the
graduates in medicine who practice in the Southern
states;
634
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
| Alabama. ||
| Arkansas, ||
| Florida. ||
| Georgia. ||
| Kentucky. ||
| Louisiana. ||
'S
a
at
'$
{E
3
| Missouri. ||
| North Carolina. ||
| South Carolina. ||
I Tennessee. ||
| Texas. If
| Virginia. ||
| West Virginia. ||
| Total, Dec., 1895.
1 Total No. Graduates
1 Oct. 1, 1897. 1
5
17
7
19
IR
8
8
17
A
5
51
55
m
37(1
Howard University
3
1
1
9
9
7
9
2
2
2
19
11
9
1
2
12
9
64
51
500
103
13
«
19
27
20
8
1
?
1
24
49
3
1
4
?,
1
1
1
2
27
13
22
11
39
53
25
9
19
23
26
55
65
23
9,
385
The following institutions have been established for
the education of colored physicians:
The Medical Department of Howard University,
Washington, D. C., was established in 1868, and has,
we are informed by the secretary, graduated about
500 colored and 200 white .students. This includes the
medical, dental and pharmaceutical departments.
Meharry Medical College is the medical department
of Central Tennessee College, Nashville. It was
opened in 1876, and has had* 308 graduates in medi¬
cine, 40 in pharmacy, and 31 in dentistry. The med¬
ical department has been in operation 21 years, the
dental department 11, and the pharmaceutical 8.
Over one-half of the colored physicians of the South
are graduates of Meharry Medical College. Ninety-
two per cent, of the graduates of this medical college
are practicing medicine. Meharry is under the care
of the Freedman's Aid and Southern Educational
Society of the M. E. Church.
Leonard Medical , College, of Shaw University,
Raleigh, North Carolina, has had 80 graduates in
medicine, and 22 in pharmacy. Leonard Medical Col-
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
635
lege is supported by the Baptist Home Missionary
Society.
The Louisville National Medical College was opened
in 1888, and in 1897 had 49 graduates.
The Medical Department of New Orleans Univer¬
sity was organized in 1889. Twenty-seven Negroes
have received diplomas from this department. It is
under the care of the same society as Meharry Medical
College.
The Medical Department of Knoxville College was
opened in November, 1895.
There are about one thousand colored physicians in
the United States, of which number Nashville has
twenty-three.
The first female student in the world who received
a diploma in law was Miss C. B. Ray, a colored lady
of New York city. She graduated at Howard Univer¬
sity, Washington, D. C.
Doctor Hubbard bears testimony to the fact that the
colored physicians are kindly received by all the best
Southern white physicians. The white physicians find
the colored practice is not desirable, and since such
institutions as Meharry are able to come up to the
standard, they are welcomed by the profession. The
colored physicians undergo the same examinations as
the whites.
Three counties in Tennessee — Fayette, Haywood
and Shelby—have more colored persons than white.
The colored scholastic population of Tennessee is
176,614, while the daily attendance will average
105,458.
According to the latest census report, there are
3,115 deaf and dumb and 7,060 blind Afro-Americans
in this country.
41
6J36 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
The Bureau of Education furnishes the following
suggestive table:
SIXTEEN FORMER SLAVE STATES AND THE DIS¬
TRICT OF COLUMBIA.
Year.
Com. School.
White. "
Enrollment.
Colored.
Expenditures.
(Both Races.)
1876-77
1,827,139
57J,5o6
$11,231,073
1877-78
2,034,946
675,150
12,093,091
1878-79
2,013,684
685,942
12,174,141
1879-80
2,215,674
784,709
12,678,685
1880-81
•2,334,877
802,374
13,656,814
1881-82
2, 249,263
802,982
15,241,740
1882-83
2,370,-1 IQ
817,240
16,363,471
1883-84
2,546,448
1,002,313
17,884,558
1884-&5
2,676,911
1,030,463
19,253,874
1885-86
2,773,145
1,048,659
20,208,1x3
1,886-87
2,975,773
1,118,556
20,821,969
1887-88
3,110,606
1,140,405
21,810,158
1888-89
3,197,830
1,213,092
23,171,878
1889-90!.. .,
3,402,420
1,296,959
24,880,107
1890-91 :
3,570,624
1,329,549
26,690,310
1891-92.
3,607,549
1.354,316
27,691,488
1892-93
3,697,899
1,367,515
28,535,738
1893-94
3,835,593
1,424,995
29,170,3s1
Total-amount expended in 18 years $353,557,559
- CRIME," PAUPERISM, AND BENEVOLENCE.
The following is taken from the census report of
1890. It is interesting to compare the numbers of
the different races:
Prison¬
ers.
Juvenile
Offend¬
ers.
Paupers.
Inmates
of
Benevo¬
lent Insti¬
tutions,
Insane
Paupers.
Total.
White
57,310
24,277
322
407
13
12,903
1,930
12
I
66,578
6,418
36
13
106,836^
4,102
923
41
8
55,053
3,601
28
184
298,680
40,328
1,321
646
21
Negroes.
Indians
Chinese
Japanese ....
Total
82,329
14,846
73.045
I II,9IO
58,866
340,996
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
§37
COMMON SCHOOL STATISTICS CLASSIFIED BY
RACE—1894-95.
Enrolled in the "Public Schools of sixteen Southern States and
District of Columbia. ' ,
No. of Teachers.
White.
Colored.
White.
Colored
Alabama.,.
190,305
115,709
4,412
2,196
Arkansas
216,863
82,429
5,124
1,796
Delaware
28,316
4,857
'734
106
Dist.of Columbia
" 26,903
14,654
660
- 331
Florida
* €9.503
37,272
2,151
772
Georgia
262,530
174,152
5,827
3,206
■Kentucky
394,508
73,463
8,578
1,373
Louisiana
92,613
63,313
2,506
915
Maryland
161,252
43,492
3,797''
716
Mississippi
162,830
187,735
4,59i
3,264
Missouri
612,378
32,199
i3,75o
737
North Carolina.: •.
242,572
128,318
5,285
3,o75
South Carolina
103,729
119,292
2,696
1,869
Tennessee
381,632
101,524
6,928
1,309
Texas
463,888
' 134,720
9^960
2,502
Virginia
235,533
.120,453
.6,211
2,081.
West Virginia
210,059
7,649
6,066
*' 233
.Total
3,845,414
1,441,282
89,276
27,081
There are 1,441,282 Afro-American* children in the
public schools of the sixteen Southern states. This
is an encouraging showing. # A generation ' ago
it was a penitentiary offense in all the South to educate
"an Afro-American.
SCHOOLS FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE COLORED RACE.
- The following are the latest statistics of schools for
the education of the colored race taken from the
report of the Commissioner of Education for the year
1895. Since many of them are controlled by churches
we give them under the heads of the different churches
supporting and controlling them.
We give the institution, its location, and the number
of students in each.
638 PROGRESS OF A RACE.
BAPTISTS.
Students.
Selma University, Selma, Alabama 2I8
Arkansas Baptist College, Little Rock, Ark 15°
Arkadelphia Academy, Arkadelphia, Ark 86
Wayland Seminary, Washington, D. C 161
Florida Institute, Live Oak, Fla 136
Jerual Academy, Athens, Ga 124
Atlanta Baptist Seminary, Atlanta, Ga 217
Spelman Ladies' Seminary, Atlanta, Ga 491
Walker Baptist Institute, Augusta, Ga 91
La Grange Academy, La Grange, Ga 425
Leland University, New Orleans, La 439
Jackson College, Jackson, Miss 167
Shaw University, Raleigh, N. C 362
Shiloh University, Warrenton, N. C 95
Water's Normal Institute, Winston, N. C 211
Benedict College, Columbia, S. C 135
Roger Williams University, Nashville, Tenn 227
Hearne Academy and Normal and Industrial School, Hearne,
Tex 76
Bishop College, Marshall, Tex 368
Richmond Theological Seminary, Richmond, Va 5°
Curry College, Longfield, Va 95
Hartshorn Memorial College, Richmond, Va 97
Storer's College, Harpers Ferry, W. Va 135
Total number of students in Baptist Schools 4.5 5 6
METHODIST EPISCOPAL.
Central Alabama Academy, Huntsville, Ala 130
Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Ark !. 312
Shorter University, Arkadelphia, Ark 82
Cookman Institute, Jacksonville, Fla 247
Emerson Home for Ladies, Oklahoma, Fla 50
Payne Institute, Augusta, Ga 181
Gammon School of Theology, Atlanta, Ga 86
Clark University, So. Atlanta, Ga 341
Gilbert Academy, and Industrial College, Baldwin, La. ..,. 170
New Orleans University, New Orleans, La 603
Morgan College, Baltimore, Md 160
Rush University, Holly Springs, Miss 230
STATISTICS. OF THE RACE.
680
Students.
Meridian Academy, Meridian, Miss 169
G. R. Smith College, Sedalia, Mo 80
Bennett College, Greensboro, N. C 203
Browning Industrial Home, Camden, S. C 150
Allen University, Columbia, S, C 253
Morristown Normal Academy, Morristown, Tenn 290
Central Tennessee College, Nashville, Tenn., Including Me- -
harry Medical College, the number in attendance at this
school for '96 and '97 564
Wiley University, Marshall, Tex 284
Total number of students in Methodist Episcopal Schools, 4585
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN.
Knoxville, Tenn 3*7
Norfolk Mission College, Norfolk, Va 686
Total number of students enrolled in United Presby¬
terian Schools 1003
EPISCOPAL.
St. Paul Normal and Industrial School, Lawrenceville, Va.. 256
Bishop Payne's Divinity and Industrial School, Petersburg,
Va 10
Total number of students in Episcopal Schools 266
AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL.
Edward Walter's College, Jackson, Miss 159
Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Ga 484
Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, O 3°5
Paul Quinn College, WacOj Tex 125
Total number of students in A. M. E. Schools 1073
CHRISTIAN.
Christian Bible School, Louisville, Ky 26
Southern Christian Institute, Edwards, Miss 82
Franklinton Christian College, Franklinton, N. C 162
Total number of students in Christian Schools 270
A. M. E. ZION.
Livingston College, Salisbury, N. C *48
640
PROGRESS OF A. RACE.
• PRESBYTERIAN. Students.
Stillman Institute, -Tuscaloosa, Ala.- 31
Hayne,'s Normal and Industrial School, Augusta, Ga '. 398
Biddle University, Charlotte, N." C * 260
Scolia Seminary for Ladies, Concord, N.C 283
Alvi on Academy, and Normal, School, Franklin ton, N. C... 235
Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. ± . .1....... 167
Harbison University, Beaufort,-S. C. - .... , 105
Brainard Institute, Chester-, S. C.*....- J.. v 151
Mgleside, Ladies' Seminary, Burkeville, Va...: • 111
Total number of students in Presbyterian Schools-...1741"
FRIENDS.'
Southland College, Southland, Ark..:..- 179
Freedman's Normal-Institute, Maryville, Tennk 253
Total-number of students'-in Friends'Schools 432
ROMAN CATHOLIC..
St. Augustin Ladies' Academy, Lebanon, Ky 76
Mt. Carmel Convent, New Liberia (no report.)
CONGREGATIONALISTS.
Trinity Normal Schools, Athena, Ala 268
Lincoln Normal Schools, Marion, Ala 140
Burrell College, Selma, Ala 276
Talladega College, Talladega, Ala 581
Orange Park Normal and Manual Training School, Orange
Park, Fla 106
Knox Institute, Athens, Ga 244
Storr's College, Atlanta, Ga 222
Dorchester Academy, Mcintosh, Ga : 425
Ballard Normal School, Mafcon, Ga 400
Allen Normal and Industrial School, Thomasville, Ga 175
Chandler Ladies' Normal School, Lexington, Ky 238
Straight University, New Orleans, La 569
Tougaloo. University, Tougaloo, Miss 377
Lincoln Academy, King's Mountain, N. C 198
Gregory Normal Institute, Wilmington, N.C 360
Avery Normal Institute, Charleston, S. C 410
Brewer Normal School, Greenwood, S. C 231
Warren Institute, Jonesboro, Tenn in
STATISTICS OF" THE RACE.
641
Students'.
Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn 539
Tillotsan College, Austin, Tex! I93
x* !
Total number of students in Congregationalist .Schools.. 6063
* • NON-SECTARIAN.
Calhoun Color-ed School, Calhoun, Ala.. 271
State Normal""Siphool, Montgomery, Ala. w 859
State Normal and Industrial School, Normal, Ala.' 407
Tuske'gee Normal and industrial Institute, Tuskegee, *Ala.. 809
Arkansas.Normal College,- Pine Bluff, Ark. 192
State College for Colored Students, Dover, Del. 29
Howard University, Washington, D. C.'. ' 5S.7
Normal School, Washington, D. Q. > 26
High School, Washington, D. C v ^ 518
State Normal and Industrial School, Tallahassee, Fla.58
Georgia State Industrial College, College, Ga.. 201
Beech Institute, Savannah, Ga (no record)
Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga . . '217
Haven Normal Academy, Waynesboro, Ga„ 272
Roswell Public School, Roswell, Ga 289
West Broad Street School, Athens, Ga 457
Sumner High School, Cairo, 111 28
Governor High School,- Evansville, Ind - 65
Scribner High School, New Albany, Ind 125
Berea College, Berea, Ky 460
State Normal School, Frankfort, Ky . 105
Central High School, Louisville, Ky 806
Paris Colored High School, Paris, Ky ; 336
Southern University, New Orleans, La 308
Alexandria Academy, Alexandria, La (no report)
Baltimore City High School, Baltimore, Md.. 140
Baltimore Normal School, Hebbville, Md 17
Industrial Home for Girls, Melvale, Md 160
Princess Anne Academy, Princess Anne, Md 102
Mount Hermon Female Seminary, Clinton, Miss 192
State Colored Normal School, Holly Springs, Miss ^ ... 167
Alcorn Agricultural School and Medical College, West Side,
Miss 305
Douglas High School, Hannibal, Mo 45
Lincoln Institute, Jefferson City, Mo 235
642
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Students.
Lincoln High School, Kansas City, Mo IQo
Hale's College, Mill Springs, Mo 73
Colored Normal and Industrial Schools, Bordentown, N. J.. 42
Ashboro Normal School, Ashboro, N. C 190
Washburn Seminary, Beaufort, N. C 163
Clinton Normal School, Clinton, N. C 75
State Colored Normal School, Elizabeth City, N. C 164
State Colored Normal School, Fayetteville, N. C 106
State Colored Norman School, Franklintown, N. C 256
State Colored Normal School, Goldsboro, N. C 105
Agricultural and Mechanic College, for the colored race,
Greensboro, N. C 63
Whitin Normal School, Lumberton, N. C 81
Barrett Collegiate and Industrial Institute, Pee Dee, N. C.. 135
State Colored Normal School, Plymouth, N. C i3o
City High School, Reedsville, N.C 811
State Colored Normal School, Salisbury, N. C .* 101
Rankin-Richards Institute, Windsor, N. C 110
Scofield Normal and Industrial School, Aikin, S. C 223
Wallingford Academy, Charleston, S. C 221 .
Claflin University, Orangeburg, S. C 570
Beaufort Academy, Beaufort, S. C 388
Penn Industrial ard Normal School, Frogmore, S. C 254
Austin High School, Knoxville, Tenn 620
Hannibal Medical College, Memphis, Tenn 7
LeMoyne Normal Institute, Memphis, Tenn 670
Meig's High School, Nashville, Tenn 584
Bradley Academy, Murphysboro, Tenn 342
Mary Allen Seminary, for Ladies, Crockett, Tenn 232
Central High School, Galveston, Tex 212
Prairie View Normal Institute, Prairie View, Tex 221
East End High School, Brenham, Tex 448
Hampton Normal Institute, Hampton, Va 813
Public High School, Manchester, Va 50
Peabody School, Petersburg, Va 747
Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, Petersburg, Va.. 329
Valley Training School, Staunton, Va 41
West Virginia Colored Institute, Farm, Va 78
Manasas Industrial School, Manasas, Va 77
Valley Training School, Staunton, Va 51
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
643
The following' table, abstracted from the census pub¬
lications, shows the number of Negroes in all occupa¬
tions and in each of the five groups of occupations by-
sex and by states and territories:
States or Territory.
The United States
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
All Occu¬
pations.
Males. Females
2,101,233
192,
1.
86:
1,
2,
4.
9,
21,
16,
216,
19,
14.
3,
13.
76,
159.
63,
7,
5,
1,
198,
43,
23,
148,
28
37
2
186
121
123,
169,
11
,534
,337
714
284
,016
,395
298
322
,343
902
,478
855
563
971,890
101,085
71
30,115
1,041
792
1,964
3,016
18,770
19,071
122,352
23
4,713
4,210
730
3.400
31,255
83,978
145
32,642
3,435
1,329
883
105,306
16,715
140
959
22
107
7,738
156
13,664
68,220
23
7,791
125
99
15,704
1,362
102,836
43
44,701
46,691
51
109
71,752
153
2,623
205
75
Agricultural,
Fisheries and
Mining.
Males. Females,
1,329,584
146,361
9Q
68,219
1,084
180
879
4,157
553
23,690
172,496
16
4,328
3,273
973
4,171
38,456
111,820
104
29,516
601
1,458
72
167,995
15,757
41
242
41
60
4,166
163
■ 3,031
106,493
35
6,201
635
106
4,602
270
149,915
33
72,316
85,824
21
112
93,745
250
4,790
168
141
427,835
66,123
19,069
14
4
1
34
15
7,629
54,073
1
134
87
11
110
1,013
49,428
- 2
743
4
45
2
77,925
324
3
1
29
3
25
33,796
108
17
2
29
2
73,588
1
12,510
20,758
1
10,164
2
50
4
Professional
Service.
OH PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Table showing the number of Negroes in all occu¬
pations, etc.—Continued-
Domestic or Per¬
Trade and
Manufacturing
sonal Service.
Transportation.
Industries
State oe Territory.
Males.
Females.
Males.
Females
Males.
Females,
The United States
457,426
505,898
143,350
2,399
146,126
26.929
Alabama
25,426
30,380
9,147
140
9,917
951
Alaska
Arizona
1,034
67
13
12
4
Arkansas
11,225
10,5(16
2,787
27
3,403
275
California
2,316
897
457
3
358
106
Colorado
1,702
715
406
5
402
55
Connecticut
1,4)25
1,781
634
7
565
165
Delaware
3,6bl
2,878
633
- 21
816
51
District of Columbia
12 6b0
16,734
4,776
195
2,839
1,490
Florida
13,299
10.421
4,106
52
4,501
746
Georgia
39,294
65,025
16,397
372
16,6U4
1,924
Idaho
57
21
8
2
1
Illinois
10,865
4,061
1,994
41
1,602
361
Indiana
7.950
3,849
1,426
23
1,669
175
Iowa
1,066
672
289
1
309
35
Kansas
6,89-<
3,077
1,148
20
1,315
124
Kentucky
22,649
28,916
7.381
66
6,519
840
Louisiana
31,609
31,292
6,045
129
8,455
2,774
Maine
174
i28
68
2
55
11
Maryland
21,014
30.406
7,538
144
4,458
1,074
Massachusetts
4,296
2,914
1,402
34
1,132
428
Michigan
2,495
1.102
448
6
549
137
Minnesota
1,286
315
216
5
88
48
Mississippi
17,209
25,729
5 671
74
5,686
803
Missouri
18,899
15,614
4,862
44
3,525
396
Montana
815
122
45
1
45
13
Nebraska
2,743
881
323
4
370
64
Nevada
67
18
17
1
5
2
New Hampshire
81
84
24
72
23
New Jersey
7,715
7,339
2,111
25
1,864
263
New Mexico
651
150
40
24
3
New York
13,151
12,445
4,231
54
2.288
1,005
North Carolina
20,580
90
31,393
7,564
10B
12,114
2,360
North Dakota
22
10
4
1
Ohio
14,814
6,955
3,027
40
3,426
442
Oklahoma
231
102
28
1
42
2
Oregon
328
81
42
1
37
10
Pennsylvania
22,505
14.297
5,213
104
4,630
322
1,077
Rhode Island
1,161
1,169
546
3
170
South Carolina
18,554
26.213
6,860
188
9,842
2,341
South Dakota
115
35
121
1
14
4
Tennessee
25,606
30,333
10,954
125
10,404
1,141
Texas
28,3fi0
24,840
6,386
69
5,794
451
Utah
2)8
48
14
1
14
2
Vermont
143
102
33
31
6
Virginia
39,425
55,941
15,655
253
18,864
4,483
Washington
480
134
69
87
15
West Virginia
3,515
2,462
2,080
7
927
41
Wisconsin
481
161
74
1
105
28
Wyoming
313
71
31
3
20
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
645
TOTAL ILLITERATE POPULATION OF PERSONS OF
NEGRO DESCENT IN THE UNITED STATES
TEN YEARS OF AGE AND OVER EN¬
GAGED IN OCCUPATIONS.
Male. Female. Total.
Agriculture, Fishing and Mining,
, 9*5,452
318,331
1,233,783
Professional services
1.559
81
1,640
Domestic and Personal Services,
221,003
303,591
524,594
Trade and Transportation
62,349
1,018
63,367
Manufacturing and Mechanical
Industries
64,099
7,947
72,048
In all occupations
1,264,462
630,970
1,895,432
POPULATION FOR CITIES
HAVING 50,000
INHABIT-
ANTS OR
MORE—1890.
Cities.
White.
Colored.
New York, N. Y
1
,489,627
25,674
Chicago, 111
i,
,084,998
14.852
Philadelphia, Pa
1
,006,59O
40,374
Brooklyn, N. Y
795,397
10,946
St. Louis, Mo
424,704
27,066
Boston, Mass
439,887
8,590
Baltimore, Md
367,143
67,296
San Francisco, Cal
270,696
28,301
Cincinnati, O
285,224
11,684
Cleveland, 0
258,318
3,035
Buffalo, N. Y
254,495
1,169
New Orleans, La
177,376
64,663
Pittsburgh, Pa
230,660
7,957
Washington, D. C
154,695
75,697
Detroit, Mich
202,422
3,454
Milwaukee, "Wis
204,001
467
Newark, N. J
177,559
4,27i
Minneapolis, Minn
163,384
1,354
Jersey City, N. J
160,766
2,237
Louisville, Ky
132,457
28,672
135,794
4,658
Rochester, N. Y
133,318
578
St. Paul, Minn
131,632
1,524
Kansas City, Mo
118,821
13,895
Providence, R. I
128,095
4,051
646
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
POPULATION OF CITIES.-
—Continued.
Cities.
White.
Colored.
Denver, Colo
102,642
4,071
Indianapolis, Ind
96,282
9,154
Allegheny, Pa
102,759
2,528
Albany, N. Y
93.782
1,141
Columbus, 0
82,603
5.547
Syracuse, N. Y
87,276
867
Worcester, Mass
83.679
976
Toledo, O
80,349
1,085
Richmond, Va
49.034
32.354
New Haven, Conn
78,795
2,503
Paterson, N. J
77,644
703
Lowell, Mass
77,390
306
Nashville, Tenn
46,773
29.395
Scranton, Pa
74,934
281
Fall River, Mass
74,189
209
Cambridge, Mass
68,001
2,027
Atlanta, Ga
37,416
28,117
Memphis, Tenn
35,766
28,729
Wilmington, Del
53,754
7,677
Dayton, 0
59,o54
2,166
Troy, N. Y
60,441
515
Grand Rapids, Mich
59.657
621
Reading, Pa
58,260
401
Camden, N. J
53.392
4,921
Trenton, N. J
55,726
1,732
Lynn, Mass
54,997
730
Lincoln, Neb ■
53,758
1,396
Charleston, S. C
23,919
31,036
Hartford, Conn
51.776
i,454
St. Joseph, Mo
48,628
3,696
Evansville, Ind
45,186
5,57o
Los Angeles, Cal
47.205
3,190
Des Moines, la
48,944
i,M9
The colored people of Massachusetts are taxed for
property valued at $9,004,122.
The increase £>f colored population in the last decade
is greater than that of any other state.
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
647
WHITE AND COLORED POPULATION BY COUNTIES OF ALL
THE SOUTHERN STATES.
ALABAMA.
Counties.
White. Colored.
Counties.
Wliite. Colored.
37
Lamar
ii,439
2,748
i Autauga
.. 4,796
8,418
38
Lauderdale..
.16,647
7,091
2 Baldwin
5,678
3,263
39
Lawrence ...
•12,553
8,171
3 Barbour
• -13,454
21,442
40
Lee
16,497
4 Bible
. . 9,080
14,744
41
Limestone...
.12,198
9,002
5 Blount
.-20,155
1,770
42
Lowndes
• 4,563
26,985
6 Bullock
.. 6,055
21,005
43
Macon
• 4,251
14,188
7 Butler
io,3i5
44
Madison
•19,345
18,769
8 Calhoun
•.23,947
9,879
45
Marengo
■ 7,946
25,149
9 Chambers ..
.. 12,460
13,858
46
Marion
578
io Cherokee...
. .17,656
2,803
47
Marshall
•17,652
1,279
ii Chilton
. .11,483
3,066
48
Mobile
.28,369
22,804
12 Costow
.. 8,209
9,313
49
Monroe
■ 8,379
10,608
13 Clarke
.. 9,685
12,939
5o
Montgomery.. 14,682
41,485
14 Clay
.. 14,061
1,704
• 5i
Morgan
.18,013
6,073
15 Clerburne ..
..12,427
791
52
Perry
. 6,812
22,516
16 Coffee
1,933
53
Pickens
13,185
17 Colbert
7,828
54
Pike
•15,349
9,070
18 Conecuh....
•• 7,987
6,606
55
Randolph ...
•13,914
3,303
19 Coosa
..io,552
5,354
56
Russell
■ 5,814
18,279
20 Covington..
.. 6,695
841
57
St. Clair ....
•14,303
3,050
21 Crenshaw ..
..11,745
3,679
58
Shelby
.14,289
6,596
22 Cullman —
38
59
Sumter
• 5,943
23,631
23 Dale .......
..13,867
3,358
60
Talladega
•15,399
13,944
24 Dallas
41,329
61
Tallapoosa ..
.16,951
8,508
25 DeKalb
. .19,897
1,204
62
Tuscaloosa ..
.18,261
12,091
26 Elmore
..ii,443
10,288
63
Walker
. 14,422
1,656
27 Escambia...
.. 5,843
2,650
64
Washington..
. 4,686
3,249
28 Etowah
..18,171
3,755
65
Wilcox
. 6,794
24,022
29 Fayette
1,682
66
Winston , .
. 6,516
36
30 Franklin
.. 9,520
1,160
ARKANSAS.
31 Geneva
1,026
1
Arkansas....
• 7,899
3,533
32 Greene
•• 3,235
18,771
2
Ashley
■ 6,427
6,868
33 Hale
22,321
3
Baxter
. 8,409
18
34 Henry
.. 16,038
8,8c9
4
Benton
94
35 Jackson
. .24,179
3,840
5
Boone
•15,723
93
36 Jefferson ...
• .56,334
32,142
6
Bradley
2,864
648
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Counties.
White. (
Colored.
7 Calhoun
• 4,547
2,720
8 Carroll
.17,205
" 83
9 Chicot
10,027
10 Clark
6,796
11 Clay
.12,156
44
12 Cleburne
• 7,832
52
13 Cleveland ...
. 8,034
3,328
14 Columbia....
7,313
15 Conway
7,671
16 Craighead...
.11,506
517
17 Crawford....
.19,410
2,304
18 Crittenden...
. 2,050
11,890
19 Cross
,. 3.802
2,891
20 Dallas
3,267
21 Desha
.. 2,119
8,205
22 Drew
,. 1,487
9.865
23 Faulkner
.14,994
3,346
24 Franklin
678
25 Fulton
»6
26 Garland
.12,547
2,781
27 Grant
• 6,750
1,036
28 Greene
• 7,747
161
29 Hempstead..
.11,819
10,977
30 Hot Spring..
.10,358
1,249
31 Howard
.10,734
3,o55
32 Independence 20,381
1,580
33 Izard
•12,776
262
34 Jackson
. 10,849
•4,330
35 Jefferson....
.10,941
29,930
36 Johnson
.16,125
613
37 Lafayette
• 3,157
4,543
38 Lawrence ...
.12,151
833
39 Lee
. 4,691
13,195
40 Lincoln
• 3,784
6,461
41 Little River.
. 4,902
4,001
42 Logan
.19,646
1,128
43 Lonoke
.11,278
7,985
44 Madison
•17,134
58
45 Marion
.10,358
39
46 Miller
• 8.147
6,566
Counties. White. Colored.
47 Mississippi.. . 5,735 5,9OT
48 Monroe 6,124 '9,212
'49 Montgomery.. 7,621 302
50 Nevada :.io,526 4,306
51 Newton 9^943' . ' 7
52 Ouachita 8,076 8,957
53 Perry .6,59^ 941
54 Phillips...- 5,695 19,646
55 Pike .... 8,053 484
56 Poinsett 3,726 546
57 Polk 9,237 48
58 Pope 17,837 1,621
59 Prairie 7,on 4,363
60 Pulaski 25,329 22,000
61 Randolph ... .13,890 596
62 St. Francois.. 5,141 8,002
63 Saline 9,827 1,478
64 Scott 12,601 34
65 Searcy 9,630 34
66 Sebastian 29,398 3,802
67 Sevier 8.616 1,456
68 Sharp ^...10,240 178
69 Stone 6,930 113
70 Union 8,605 6,372
71 VanBuren... 8,405 162
72 Washington. .31,004 1,010
73 White 2,379 2>567
74 Woodruff .... 6,452 7,557
75 Yell 16,652 1,363
DELAWARE.
1 Kent 24,625 8,036
2 New Castle . .82,779 14,365
3 Sussex 32,662 5,985
FLORIDA.
1 Alachua 9,673 13,260
2 Baker 2,588 745
3 Bradford 5,961 1,55s
4 Brevard 2,836 541
5 Calhoun 1,132- .549
6 Citrus 2,090 304
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
649
Counties. White. Colored.
7 Clay 2,632 1,521
8 Columbia 6,393 6,484
9 Dade. 640 87
10 DeSoto 4,805. 139
11 Duval.'-. 11,970 14,802
12 Escambia n,475 8,706
13 Franklin 1,950 1,358
14 Gadsden 4,446 7,448
15 Hamiltofi . '5,337 3,170
16 Hernando 1,584 892
17 Hillsboro 11,996 2,917
18 Holmes 4,152 184
19 Jackson 6,332 11,211
, 20 Jefferson 3,559 12,199
21 Lafayette ;... 3,447 239
22 Lake 6,190 1,844
23 Lee i,334 80
24 Leon 3,121 14,631
25 Levy 4,457 2,129
26 Liberty ...... 818 634
27 Madison 5,556 8,760
28 Manatee 2,714 181
29 Marion 9,310 11,485
30 Monroe 12,815 5,935
31 Nassau 3,951 4,338
32 Orange 9,039 3,536
33 Osceola 9,657 476
34 Pasco 3,872 376
35 Polk 7,121 784
36 Putnam 6,404 4,778
37 St. John 5,5o8 3,195
38 Santa Rosa... 5,768 2,192
39 Sumter 3-864 498
40 Suwanee 5,581 4,943
41 Taylor I.971 I5I
42 Volusia 6,004 2,462
43 Wakulla 1,738 1.379
44 Walton 4^072 743
45 Washington.. 5*087' ,1,339
GEORGIA.
Counties.
White. 1
Colored.
1 Appling
2,464
2 Baker
1,595
4,549
3 Baldwin
9,343
4 Banks
. 6,999
1,563
5 Bartow.
■14,574
6,041
6 Berrien
. 8,277
2,417
7 Bibb
.19,029
23,336
8 Brooks
• 6,342
7,637
9 Bryan
• 2,833
2,687
10 Bulloch
. 9,023
4,689
11 Burke
■ 5,817
22,680
12 Butts
■ 5,167
5,398
13 Calhoun
■ 2,239
6,199
14 Camden
4,137
15 Campbell ...
. 5,621
3,493
16 Carroll
.18,450
3,851
17 Catoosa*
• 4.795
636
18 Charlton
- 2,465
• 870
19 Chatham
.22,965
34,757
20 Chattahoochee 1,837
3,065
21 Chattooga...
• 9,204
- 1,998
22 Cherokee
■13,904
1,508
23 Clark
• 7,072
8,111
24 Clay
. 3,002
4,8i5
25 Clayton
3 075
26 Clinch
. 4,292
2,360
27 Cobb
.15,510
6,774
28 Coffee
. . 6,621
3,858
29 Colquitt.
• • 4,317
477
30 Columbia . .
• ■ 3,243
8,038
31 Coweta ....
• ■ 9,74o
12,612
32 Crawford...
• • 4,159
5,156
33 Dade
■ • 4,614
1,093
34 Dawson....
■ • 5,353
259
35 Decatur
10,811
36 De Kalb....
5,977
37 Dodge
• • 6,143
5,309
38 Dooley
8,914
39 Dougherty .
•• 1,975
10,231
650
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Counties.
White. Colored.
Counties.
White. Colored.
40 Douglas
• 5.993
1,801
80 Mcintosh
. 1,258
5,212
41 Early
• 3.67o
6,122
81 Macon
. 4,001
9,181
42 Echols
. 2,059
1,020
82 Madison
■ 7,361
3,662
43 Effingham...
• 3,388
2,2IO
83 Marion
• 3,467
4,261
■ 44 Elbert
• 7,492
7,884
84 Meriwether.
. 9,201
H,538
45 Emanuel....
• 9>396
5,306
85 Miller
• 2,701
i,574
46 Fannin
112
86 Milton
• 5,536
672
47 Fayette
• 5,654
3,074
87 Mitchell
. 4,800
6,106
48 Floyd
.17,970
IO,4I4
88 Monroe
. 6,621
12,516
49 Forsyth
1,288
89 Montgomery
5,990
3,658
50 Franklin
.11,372
3,298
90 Morgan
■ 5,043
10,997
51 Fulton
.49,238
35,397
91 Murray
■ 7,977
484
52 Gilmer
• 9,005
69
92 Muscogee ..
■ 12,395
15,362
53 Glascock
- 2,552
1,168
93 Newton
■ 7,145
7,164
54 Glynn
7,741
94 Oconee
. 3,881
3,832
55 Gordon
.11,030
1,727
95 Oglethorpe.
. 5,686
11,264
56 Greene
• 5,332
11,719
96 Paulding
■ 10,443
1,505
57 Gwinnett....
2,996
97 Pickens
• 7,832
349
58 Habersham..
. 9,984
1,589
98 Pierce
• 4,396
1,983
59 Hall
2,767
99 Pike
. B,223
8,077
60 Hancock
• 4,739
12,410
100 Polk
.10,289
4,654
61 Haralson
1,117
101 Pulaski
• 6,55®
1,001
62 Harris
• 5,999
10,797
102 Putnam
• 3,939
10,903
63 Hart
■ 7,930
2,957
103 Quitman
■ 1,421
3,o5
64 Heard
3,342
104 Rabun
5,440
166
65 Henry
. 8,629
7.591
105 Randolph
■ 5,794
9,473
66 Houston
• 5,272
16,341
106 Richmond...
22,346
22,818
67 Irwin
■ 4,241
2,075
107 Rockdale....
4,127
2,686
68 Jackson
.13,780
5,396
108 Schley
2,238
3,205
69 Jasper
• 5,392
8,487
109 Screven
6,916
7,507
70 Jefferson....
. 6,450
10,763
110 Spalding
5,835
7,281
71 Johnson
• 4,673
1,456
in Stewart
4,198
11,484
72 Jones
• 3,931
8,778
1x2 Sumpter
7,008
H,598
73 Laurens
• 7,654
6,093
113 Talbot
4,019
9,239
74 Lee
• i,432
7,242
1x4 Taliaferro...
2,464
4,227
75 Liberty
• 4,207
8,673
115 Tattnall
7,I38
3>ti5
76 Lincoln
• 2,473
3,673
116 Taylor
4,598
4,068
77 Lowndes....
. 7,128
7,974
117 Telfair
3,142
2,335
78 Lumpkin
• 6,453
414
11S Terrell
5,334
9,169
79 McDuffie
• 3,267
5,522
1x9 Thomas
U,122
I5,02g
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
651
Counties.
White. Colored.
Counties.
White. Colored.
120 Towns
74 •
22 Carter
137
121 Troup
. . 7,062
13,661
23 Casey
•11,331
5i6
122 Twiggs
■ ■ 2,748
5,447
c4 Christian....
.18,886
15.231
123 Union
• 7.584
165
25 Clark
.10,608
.4,826
124 Upson
, . 6,065
6,123
26 Clay
.12,034
4T3
125 Walker
.II,350
1,932
27 Clinton
• 6,859
188
126 Walton
7,155
28 Crittenden ..
.12,188
930
127 Ware
.. 5,178
3,619
29 Cumberland.
• 7,456
996
128 Warren
. . 4,201
6,756
30 Daviess
• 27,751
5,367
129 Washington. 10,312
14,925
31 Edmonson ..
• 7,547
458
130 Wayne.
. . 5,290
2,195
32 Elliott
• 9,*87
27
131 Webster ..,
• • 2,423
3,272
33 Estill
.10,255
581
132 White
. • 5,489
662
34 Fayette
.22,069
13,625
133 Whitfield .
. .10,984
1,930
35 Fleming
■ 14,453
1,625
134 Wilcox
.. 4.825
3,155
36 Floyd
.11,105
136
135 Wilkes.
• • 5,6I6
12,464
37 Franklin
4,757
136 Wilkinson.
• • 5,567.
5,2X4
38 Fulton
• 7,797
2,208
137 Worth ....
. • 5,872
4,176
39 Gallatin
. 4,114
497
KENTUCKY.
40 Garrard
. 8,114
3,024
i Adair
• .11,893
1,828
41 Grant
483
2 Allen
..12,650
1,042
42 Graves
■25,378
3J54
3 Anderson ..
•■ 9,547
1,063
43 Grayson
.18,199
489
4 Ballard
.. 6,978
1,412
44 Greene
• 9,572
1,891
5 Barren
• .17,765
3,724
45 Greenup
• 5,573
338
6 Bath
-.11,235
1,578
46 Hancock
• 8,476
758
7 Bell
• • 9-570
740
47 Hardin
■18,957
2,347
8 Bone
••11,134
1,112
48 Harlan
154
9 Bourbon ...
..10,179
6,797
49 Harrison
• -4,447
2,467
10 Boyd
• .13,328
705
50 Hart
• 14,437
2,002
11 Boyle
.. 8,139
4,809
51 Henderson..
•21,313
8,219
12 Bracken ...
..11,723
646
52 Henry
.11,799
2,365
13 Breathitt...
• • 8,536
169
53 Hickman...,
., 9,869
1,768
14 Breckenridge.16,896
2,080
54 Hopkins
.. 20,072
3.433
15 Bullitt
.. 7,243
1,048
55 Jacksou
54
16 Butler
..13,183
773
56 Jefferson...
.154,981
33.595
17 Caldwell...
..10,450
2,736
57 Jessamine..
•-17,542
3.7o6
18 Calloway ..
•.13,583
1,092
58 Johnson
..10,943
84
19 Campbell ..
•.43,522
686
59 Kenton
. .51,491
2,667
20 Carlisle
. . 7,213
389
60 Knott
• • 5,365
73
21 Carroll
757
61 Knox
•.13,984
778
42
652
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Counties.
White. '
Colored.
Counties.
White. Colored.
62 Larue
8,642
791
102 Rowen
. 6,023
106
63 Laurel
13,188
555
103 Russell
• 7,870
266
64 Lawrence... .
17,526
176
104 Scott
.11,482
5,063
65 Lee
• 5,746
459
105 Shelby
■ii,744
4,776
66 Leslie'
■ 3-932
32
106 Simpson
• 8,504
2,374
67 Letcher
6,845
75
107 Spencer ....
• 5,5io
1,250.
68 Lewis
.14,626
177
xo8 Taylor
• 7.879
*.474
69 Lmcoln
12,388
3,574
109 Todd
•10,513
6,301
70 Livingston..
■ 8,725
741
110 Trigg
.10,250
3,652
71 Logan
■ 17,243
6,560
hi Trimble....
. 6,819
321
72 Lyon
. 6,310
i,3i7
112 Union
•15,573
2,656
73 McCracken.
.15,346
5,703
113 Warren ....
.22,229
7,926
74 McLean.
. 9,101
786
114 Washington.
.11,528
2,094
75 Madison.
.16,949
7,399
115 Wayne
.12,234
618
76 Magoffin
■ 9>036
160
116 Webster....
.15,284
1,912
77 Marion
.12,500
3,148
117 Whitley....
.15,828
752
78 Marshall
.10,945
342
118 Wolfe
• 7,o5S
122
79 Martin
. 4,186
23
119 Woodford..
• 7,527
4.853
80 Mason
.16,604
4,168
LOUISIANA.
81 Meade
■ 8,715
769
x Acadia
.11,602
1,629
82 Menifee.
• 4,639
27
2 Ascension...
- 8,233
11,270
83 Mercer
11,959
3,o75
3 Assumption .
.10,726
o
co
co
84 Metcalfe
. 8,971
900
4 Aroyelles....
. 12,904
12,161
85 Monroe
■ 10,449
540
5 Bienville ....
• 7,840
6,268
86 Montgomery
8,724
3,643
6 Bossier
. 4,102
16,225
87 Morgan
. 11,200
49
7 Caddo
. 8,003
23,541
88 Muhlenberg.
15,596
2,359
8 Calcasieu....
.16,834
3,194
89 Nelson
,12,596
3,821
9 Caldwell ....
• 2,707
8,106
90 Nicholas
. 9,448
1,316
10 Cameron
. 2,402
426
91 Ohio
21,600
1,346
11 Catahoula...
• 6,992
4.976
92 Oldham
• 5,107
1,647
12 Claiborne ...
• 9,796
13,512
93 Owen
.16,249
1,427
13 Concordia...
• 1,757
13,112
94 Owsley
. 5,891
84
14 DeSota
• 6,638
13,220
95 Pendleton...
15,839
507
15 East B.Rouge 9,494
16,420
96 Perry
6,171
160
16 East Carroll.
• 997
11,360
97 Pike
,17,212
166
17 East Felicana 5,196
12,707
98 Powell
4,319
379
18 Franklin
, 2,860
4,040
99 Pulaski
,24,440
1,291
19 Grant
. 4,844
3,416
100 Robertson ..
4,529
155
20 Iberia
.10,519
10,477
xoi Rockcastle .,
, 9,686
155
21 Iberville
. 6,696
15,142
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
653
Counties.
White. Colored.
22 Jackson
■ 4,844
2,608
23 Jefferson.
. 6,716
6,484
24 Lafayette ...
. 9,080
6,884
25 Laforche
■*4,270
7,819
26 Lincoln
8,481
6,269
27 Livingston..
• 4,898
871
28 Madison
• 931
13,204
29 Morehouse..
• 3,519
13,267
30 Natchitoches
.10,254
15,551
31 Orleans
177,376
64,491
32 Ouachita....
■ 5,641
12,344
33 Plaquemines
• 5,283
7,258
34 Point Coupee. 4,696
14,917
35 Rapids
.11,823
15,800
36 Red River...
• 3,557
7,760
37 Richland .
• 3,oi7
7,2x3
38 Sabine
• 7,312
2,067
39 St. Bernard .
• 2,347
1,977
40 St. Charles..
. 1,986
5,751
41 St. Helena ..
• 3,473
4,589
42 St. James ...
. 5,691
9,997
43 St. John the
Baptist ...
, 4,680
6,637
44 St. Landry..
.17,856
22,274
45 St. Martin...
• 7,050
7,821
46 St. Mary
• '7,976
1,435
47 St. Tammany 6,398
3,702
48 Tangipahoa,
7,943
4,698
49 Tensas
■ • i,i53
i5,492
50 Terrebonne ,
..10,412
9,699
51 Union
■• 9,901
7,403
52 Vermilion..
..11,335
2,899
53 Vernon ....
.. 5,363
540
54 Washington
.. 4,635
2,632
55 Webster ...
.. 5,172
7,289
56 West B.Rouge 2,398
5,964
57 West Carroll.. 1,438
2,310
58 West Feliciana 2,276
12,785
59 Winn
6,072
1,010
MARYLAND.
Counties. White. Colored.
1 Alleghany ...40,135 1,431
2 Anne Arundel 19,580 14,509
3 Baltimore ....62,676 10,330
4 Balti're City 367,143
67,104
5 Calvert
• 4,796
5,064
6 Caroline
10,092
3,8h
7 Carroll
.30,241
2,133
8 Cecil
21,850
3,978
9 Charles
. 7,054
8,136
10 Dorchester...
.16,133
8,709
11 Frederick ...
.42,983
6,528
12 Garrett
185
13 Harford
22,617
6,376
14 Howard
.12,159
4,110
15 Kent
10,664
6,807
16 Montgomery
• 17,500
9,"68 5
17 Prince Georgei4,867
11,210
18 Queen Anne.
.11,904
6,567
19 St Mary ..
■ 8,153
7,666
20 Somerset
.14,650
9,505
21 Talbut
7,483
22 Washington.
.37,274
2,507
23 Wicomico ...
.i4,73i
5,199
24 Worcester..,
.13,012
6,734
mississippi.
1 Adams
6,128
i9,895
2 Alcorn
.. 9,605
3,5io
3 Amite
, 7,600
io,597
4 Attala
12,742
9,444
5 Benton ....
.. 5,665
4,9t9
6 Bolivar
26,737
7 Calhoun . ..
3,412
8 Carroll
8,161
10,611
9 Chickasaw .
.. 8,491
11,400
10 Choctaw
2,638
11 Claiborne . .
■ ■ 3.533
10,980
12 Clarke
.. 7,7i6
8,104
13 Clay
. • 5',627
12,982
14 Coahoma...
16,069
654
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Counties.
White. Colored.
Counties.
White. Colored,
15 Copiah
.14,632
15,600
55
Quitman
S94
2,392
16 Covington ..
• 5.319
2,971
56
Rankin
• 7,507
10,413
17 De Soto
• 6,955
17,224
57
Scott
, 7,000
4,616
18 Franklin
• 5,484
4,934
58
Sharkey ....
• 1,223
7,141
19 Greene
• 2,936
933
59
Simpson ....
. 6,229
3-909
20 Grenada ....
• 3,896
11,076
60
Smith
. 8,924
1,711
21 Hancock
• 5,770
2,509
61
Sunflower...
• 2.530
6,850
22 Harrison
• 9>i63
3,314
62
Tallahatchee.
• 5,154
9,207
23 Hinds
.10,892
28,368
63
Tate
• 8,495
10,756
24 Holmes
• 7,084
23,883
64
Tippah
.10,026
2,925
25 Issaquena...
• 736
",579
65
Tishomingo.
. 8,311
991
26 Itawamba...
.10,723
985
66
Tunica
■ 1,259
10,895
27 Jackson
■ 7,8i4
3,436
67
Union
.11,608
3.998
28 Jasper
. 7,368
7,238
68
Warren
■ 8,803
24.356
29 Jefferson....
• 3,589
15,356
69
Washington.
. 4,838
35.530
30 Jones
1,246
70
Wayne
• 5,799
4,011
31 Kemper
. 7,869
10,058
7i
Webster
. 9,080
2,980
32 Lafayette ....
.11,700
8,853
72
Wilkinson...
• 3,962
13,626
33 Landerdale..
.14,671
14,972
73
Wins tone...
• 6,987
5,061
34 Lawrence....
6,078
74
Yalobusha...
• 7,683
8,941
35 Leake
• 9,350
5,018
75
Yazoo
. 8,690
27,701
36 Lee
7,530
MISSOURI.
37 Leflore
. 2,597
14,267
1
Adair
.I7,"4
309
38 Lincoln
.10,325
7,587
2
Andrew
.15,751
249
39 Lowndes....
. 6,009
21,036
3
Atchison
.15.485
46
40 Madison
. 6,031
21,290
4
Adrain.
.20.230
1,840
41 Marion
■ 6,530
3,002
5
Barry
.22,846
97
42 Marshall
• 9,731
16,306
6
Barton
• 8,457
47
43 Monroe
.12,109
18,619
7
Bates
.31,817
404
44 Montgomery
• 7,448
7,009
8
Benton
.14,807
165
45 Neshoba
• 8,351
2,172
9
Bollinger ...
.13,097
19
46 Newton
.10,119
6,156
10
Boone
.21,364
4,677
47 Noxuber
• 4,709
22,629
11
Buchanan ...
..66,116
3,974
48 Oktibbeha...
• 5,759
",934
12
Butler
. 9,568
596
49 Panola
. 9.248
11,729
13
Caldwell ....
•14,777
374
50 Pearl River .
. 2,301
656
14
Calloway ...
.20,645
4,484
51 Perry
1,874
15
Camden
• 9-943
97
52 Pike
.10,581
10,620
16
Cape Girard'u2o,o22
2,038
53 Pontotoc
.10,583
4,355
17
Carroll
• 24,365
1,377
54 Preatiss
.10,833
2,845
18
Carter."
. 4,650:
9
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
Counties.
White. Colored.
rx) Cass
..22,517
784
20 Cedar
• .15,493
127
21 Chariton ...
. .22,763
3,490
22 Christian.. .
. .13,929
92
23 Clark
..14,956
170
24 Clay
1,348
25 Clinton
x,o86
26 Cole
■ .15,345
1,935
27 Cooper
. .19,161
3.539
28 Crawford...
. .11,883
78
29 Dade
. .17,238
287
30 Dallas
55
31 Daviess
..20,079
376
32 De Kalb....
no
33 Dent
. .12,108
41
34 Douglas ,..
. .14,078
33
35 Dunklin ...
. -14,927
158
36 Franklin ...
..26,262
1.794
37 Gasconade .
..11,620
86
38 Gentry
..18,982
36
39 Greene
..45,169
3,441
40 Grundy
. .17,620
254
41 Harrison ...
56
42 Henry
..27,076
1,158
43 Hickory
25
44 Holt
..15,389
80
45 Howard....
4,544
46 Howell
..18,410
208
47 Iron
.. 8,799
320
48 Jackson
.145,322
14,992
49 Jasper
...49.571
9*3
50 Jefferson...
..21,415
1,067
51 Johnson...
...26,302
1,829
52 Knox
-.13,287
214
53 Laclede
472
54 Lafayette .
...25,011
4,170
55 Lawrence .
. ..25,861
364
56 Lewis
1,050
57 Lincoln ...
...16,306
2,039
58 Linn
808
655
Counties. White. Colored.
59 Livingston . ..19,803 865
60 McDowell.... 11,270 3
61 Macon 29,378 1,196
62 Madison 91O27 241
63 Maries 8,597 3
64 Marion 22^510 3,721
65 Mercer 14,508 73
66 Miller 13,933 228
67 Mississippi... 8,025 2,108
68 Moniteau .... 14,787 843
69 Monroe 18,740 2,049
70 Montgomery . 15,183 1,667
71 Morgan 11,897 414
72 New Madrid. 7,284 2,033
73 Newton 21,417 68i-
74 Nodaway ... .30,777 135
75 Oregon 10,445 22
76 Osage 12,709 371
77 Ozark 9.783 12
78 Pemiscot. ... 5,563 412
79 Perry 12,745 492
80 Pettis 28,351 2,799
81 Phelps 12,355 281
82 Pike 21,400 4,919
83 Piatt 15.036 1,210
84 Polk 20,176 163
85 Pulaski 9.364 23
86 Putnam 15,331 34
87 Ralls 11,216 1,077
88 Randolph ... .21,957 2,935
89 Ray 22,460 1,749
90 Reynolds .. 6,784 19
91 Ripley 8,511 ' 1
92 St. Charles.. .20,656 2,315
93 St. Clair 16,503 244
94 St. Genevieve. 9,386 496
95 St. Francis. . .16,802 545
96 St. Louis 32,836 3,469
97 " City. .427,704 26,865
98 Saline 28,659 5>101
656
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Counties.
White.
Colored.
Counties.
White.
Colored.
gg Schuyler..
. .11,246
3
23
Columbus...
.11,804
6,052
100 Scotland ..
.. 12,562
112
24
Craven
• 7,175
13,358
xoi Scott
.-10,735
493
25
Cumberland.
.14,952
12,369
102 Shannon ..
• • 8,894
4
26
Currituck ...
■ 4,731
2,016
103 Shelby....
. .14,886
755
27
Dare
. 3.362
406
104 Stoddard..
..17,192
135
28
Davidson ...
.18,174
3,528
105 Stone
10
29
Davie
. 8,769
2,852
106 Sullivan ..
..18,955
45
30
Duplin
.ii,6oo
7,090
107 Taney
• • 7,97o
3
31
Durham ....
.10,712
7,329
108 Texas
••i9>385
21
32
Edgecombe .
• 8,513
15,600
109 Vernon . ..
■.31,273
231
33
Forsy the....
• 19,433
9,001
110 Warren ...
.. 9,188
725
34
Franklin ....
•IO,755
10,335
hi Washington. 12,381
772.
35
Gaston
.12,927
4,837
112 Wayne ...
. .11,823
104
36
Gates
• 5,539
4,713
113 Webster...
167
37
Graham
• 3,137
176
114 Worth
• • 8,737
1
33
Granville....
.12,122
12,362
115 Wright ...
• .I4,H5
364
39
Greene
. 5,281
4,758
north carolina.
40
Guilford
.19,820
8,232
i Alamance..
..12,688
5,583
4i
Halifax
. 9,614
19,294
2 Alexander.
.. 8,588
842
42
Harnett
■ 9,453
4,247
3 Alleghany..
.. 6,061
462
43
Haywood ...
.12,829
517
4 Anson
9,790
44
Henderson. .
.11,211
1,378
5 Ash
• .15,033
595
45
Hertford ...
. 5,906
7,945
6 Beaufort....
9,203
46
Hyde
. 4,962
3,941
7 Bertie
•• 7,885
11,291
47
Iredell
.19,516
5,946
8 Baden
8,117
48
Jackson
. 8,680
832
9 Brunswick .
. . 6,139
4,761
49
Johnson
.19,917
7,322
10 Buncombe .
..28,640
6,626
50
Jones
■ 3,885
3,5i8
11 Burke
■.12,378
2,561
51
Lenoir
. 8,517
6,362
12 Cabarrus...
5,459
52
Lincoln
.10,028
2,558
13 Caldwell ...
•.10,737
1,561
53
McDowell...
• 9,114
1,825
14 Camden
•• 3,347
2,320
54
Macon
• 9,436
666
15 Carteret
2,297
55
Madison
.17,09^
710
16 Caswell
. 6,639
9,389
56
Martin
• 7,838
7,383
17 Catawba ...
. .16,073
2,616
57
Mecklenburg. 23,141
19,532
18 Chatham...
• -17,214
8,199
58
Mitchell ....
.12,252
555
19 Cherokee...
321
59
Montgomery
. 8,982
2,257
20 Chowan
5,157
60
Moore
•13,985
6,494
21 Clay
• • 4,o55
142
61
Nash
.12,186
8,521
22 Cleveland..
. .17,301
3,093
62
New Hanover 10,089
13,937
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
657
Counties,
White. Colored.
Counties.
White. Colored.
63 Northampton. 9,224
12,018
6 Berkeley
. 7,686
47.739
64 Onslow
• 7,392
2,9x1
7 Charleston ...
,24,764
35,073
65 Orange
■ 9.705
5,243
8 Chester
. 8,482
18,178
66 Pamlico ....
• 4.767
2,379
9 Chesterfield..
IO,g88
7,479
67 Pasquotank .
• 5,201
5,547
10 Clarendon....
6,987
16,246
68 Pender
• 5,967
6,547
11 Colletton
.14,032
26,245
69 Perquimans.
• 4,719
5,574
12 Darlington :,
.11,749
17,384
70 Person
. 8,251
6,900
13 Edgefield
.17,340
71 Pitt
.13,192
12,327
14 Fairfield
■ 7,139
21,460
72 Polk
• 4.807
1,095
15 Florence
.10,471
14,554
73 Randolph...
.21,848
3,347
16 Georgetown.,
• 4,053
16,840
74 Richmond ..
.10,989
12,959
17 Greenville . .,
.27,516
16,789
75 Robeson
.16,629
14,854
18 Hampton
. 6,827
13,717
76 Rockingham
.15,197
10,166
19 Horry
.13,706
5,55o
77 Rowan
.17,142
6,981
20 Kershaw
■ 8,550
13,810
78 Rutherford .
.15,073
3,697
21 Lancaster....
10,411
10,349
79 Samson ....
.15,960
9>i36
22 Laurens
13,169
18,444
80 Stanley
.10,629
1,507
23 Lexington ...
.13,766
8,411
81 Stokes
.14,386
2,813
24 Marion
.14,519
15,436
82 Surry
.16,926
2,355
25 Marlboro
. 9,062
14,435
83 Swaim
• 5,652
925
26 Newberry...,
. 8,966
17,468
84 Transylvania. 5,368
513
27 Oconee
.13,678
5,008
85 Tyrrell
. 3,000
1,225
28 Orangeburg.,
•15,654
32,738
86 Union
.15,712
5,547
2f> Pickens
12,253
4,136
87 Vance
• 6,438
11,147
30 Richland. ...
•ii,993
24,885
88 Wake
.26,093
23,H4
3 v. Spartanburg
.36,857
18,527
89 Warren
. 5,88o
13,480
3d Sumter
.11,813
3i,792
90 Washington.
• 4,961
5,239
3'5 Union
■ io,973
14,390
91 Watauga....
.10,180
43i
34 Williamsburg
; 9,355
18,420
92 Wayne
. 15,115
10,985
35 York
18,245
20,525
93 Wilkes
.20,633
2,042
TENNESSEE.
94 Wilson
.10,884
7,760
i Anderson ...
.13,920
1,204
95 Yadkin
.12,421
1,369
2 Bedford
.18,411
6,327
96 Yancy
• 9»I97
293
3 Benton
10,609
021
SOUTH CAROLINA.
4 Bledsoe
• 5,643
491
1 Abbeville ..,
,.15,*42
3I,7o5
5 Blount
.15-954
1,632
2 Aiken
..X3,76x
18,059
6 Bradley
.11,816
1,788
3 Anderson ..
..25,268
18,428
7 Campbell....
58I
4 Barnwell —
30,416
8 Cannon
.11,250
947
5 Beaufort ..
.• 2,695
21,421
9 Carroll
17,926
5,701
42
658
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Counties. White. Colored.
10 Carter r2,688 701
11 Cheatham.... 7,297 1,548
12 Chester 7,228 1,841
13 Claiborne ... .14,577 526
14 Clay 6,880 380
15 Cocke 15,*78 i,339
16 Coffee 12,127 1,699
17 Crockette . .. .10,908 4,238
18 Cumberland. . .5,322 53
19 Davidson ... .66,612 41,549
20 Decatur 7,662 1,333
21 De Kalb 14.462 1,188
22 Dickson 14,493 2,152
23 Dyer .; ..15,193 4,762
24 Fayette 8,264 20,614
25 Fentress 5,180 46
26 Franklin 15,313 3,610
27 Gibson 26,386 9,473
28 Giles 22,427 12,530
29 Grainger 12,470 716
30 Greene 25,047 1,566
31 Grundy 5,909 436
32 Hamblen .... 9,867 1,546
W Hamilton ... .35,760 17,704
,>4 Hancock 9,598 744
35 Hardeman . . .12,082 8,947
^j6 Hardin 15,269 2,429
37 Hawkins 19,826 2,390
38 Haywood .... 7,835 15,723
39 Henderson ..13,894 2,442
40 Henry 15,202 5,868
<\i Hickman 11,729 2,770
.,2 Houston 4,553 837
43 Humphreys . .10,178 1,542
44 Jackson 12,835 480
45 James 4,362 534
46 Jefferson 14,269 2,206
47 Johnson 8,478 377
48 Knox 48,422 11,127
49 Lake 4,226 1,070
Counties. White. Colored.
50 Lauderdale ..10,810 7,946
51 Lawrence .... 11,492 794
52 Lewis 2,^.36 219
53 Lincoln 21,074 6,307
54 Loudon 7,805 1,459
55 McMinn 15,722 2,168
56 McNairy 13,602 1,908
57 Macon ^,095 782
58 Madison 15,809 14,684
59 Marion 12,977 2,434
60 Marshall 14,365 4,538
61 Maury 22,090 16,022
62 Meigs 6,208 721
63 Monroe 14,046 1,272
64 Montgomery . 15,793 13,903
65 Moore 5,434 541
66 Morgan 7,303 336
67 Obion ....... .£2,936 4,335
68 Overton 11,767 272
69 Perry 7,114 671
70 Pickett 4,725 11
71 Polk 7,77i 579
72 Putnam 13,045 638
73 Rhea 10,871 1,771
74 Roane 15,460 1,957
75 Robertson ...14,524 5,548
76 Rutherford . .20,595 14,502
77 Scott 9,423 371
78 Sequatchie ... 2,948 76
79 Sevier 18,134 627
80 Shelby 51,021 61,674
81 Smith 15,406 2,997
82 Stewart 10,015 2,177
83 Sullivan 19,457 1,422
84 Sumner 17,257 6,40)
85 Tipton 12,436 11,835
86 Trousdale.... 4,018 1,832
87 Unicoi 4,388 231
88 Union n,35i 107
89 VanBuren... 2,794 67
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
659
Counties.
White.
Colored.
Counties.
White. Colored.
go Warren
•12,391
2,022
33 Castro
9
91 Washington.
.18,389
1,964
34 Chambers. .,
• i,479
757
92 Wayne.'
. 10,600
871
35 Cherokee ...
15,265
7,705
93 Weakley
•24,330
4,625
36 Childress . .,
• 1,171
2
94 White
■",513
835
37 Clay
• 7,400
102
95 Williamson .
.16,162
10,159
38 Coke
. 2,058
96 Wilson
.19,798
7,350
39 Coleman
. 6,042
69
TEXAS.
40 Collin
,34.208
2,525
i Anderson ...
.11,420
9,502
41 Collingworth
' 357
2 Andrews....
24
42 Colorado
.10,666
8,845
3 Angelina ...
■ 5,705
607
43 Comal
6,218
180
4 Aransas
. 1,684
131
44 Comanche ..
,15,600
8
5 Archer
. 2,089
12
45 Concho
1,051
14
6 Armstrong..
• 943
I
46 Cooke
23,323
I.35I
7 Atascosa
• 6,157
285
47 Coryell ......
16,413
459
8 Austin
.12,673
5,8S
48 Cottle
240
9 Bandera
126
49 Crane
15
10 BastroD
.11,836
8,898
50 Crockett
194
11 Baylor
. 2,589
6
51 Crosby
345
1
12 Bee
• 3,401
317
52 Dallern
112
13 Bell
.30,716
2,650
53 Dallas
55,795
11,177
14 Bexar
5,504
54 Dawson
28
1
15 Blanco
210
55 Deaf Smith .
179
16 Borden
5
56 Delta
8,389
728
17 Bosque
.13,583
641
57 Denton
19,580
1,707
iS Bowie
.12,659
7,59i
58 De Witt
10,311
3-995
19 Brazoria
. 2,983*
8,523
59 Dickens
295
20 Brazos
. 8,213
3,433
60 Dimmit
1,012
37
21 Brewster
• 694
13
61 Donley
, 1,012
40
22 Brown
.11,348
73
62 Duval
• 7,59i
7
23 Buchel
287
11
63 Eastland...,
■ 10,347
25
24 Burleson
• 7,274
5,727
64 Ector
• 223
1
25 Burnet
.10,440
307
65 Edwards...
■ 1,964
6
26 Caldwell
,.10,890
4,878
66 Ellis
.28,397
3,376
27 Calhoun
• 647
168
67 El Paso....
.14,996
377
28 Callahan
• ■ 5,426
3i
68 Encinal ....
• 2,738
6
29 Cameron
.14,307
108
69 Ereth
.20,869
723
30 Camp
. . 3,328
3,296
70 Falls
■12,745
7,961
31 Carson
■ • 355
1
71 Fannen ....
• 34,459
4,241
32 Cass
. .14,041
8,512
72 Fayette
• 23,031
8,446
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
660
Counties. White. Colored.
73 Fisher 2,981 15
74 Floyd 529
75 Foley 8 17
76 Ft. Bend 1,605 8,981
77 Franklin .... 5,661 819
78 Freestone... 9,311 6,675
79 Frio 3,010 102
80 Gaines 68
81 Galveston.. .24,422 7,009
82 Garza 14
83 Gillespie.... 6,947 108
84 Glasscock.... 208
85 Goliad 4,266 1,644
86 Gonzalas... .12,146 5,869
87 Gray 202 1
88 Grayson ....46,453 6,712
89 Gregg 4,052 5,349
90 Grimes 9,648 11,664
91 Guadalupe... 10,799 4>4I5
92 Hale 718 3
93 Hall 702 1
94 Hamilton . .. 9,300 13
95 Hansford ... 133
96 Hardeman .. 3,880 21
97 Hardin 2,989 967
98 Harris 23,718 13,522
99 Harrison .... 8,528 18,191
100 Hartley 251 1
101 Haskell *>659 6
102 Hays 9,152 2,171
103 Hemphill . .. 508 9
104 Henderson.. 9,293 2,988
105 Hidalgo 6,457 76
106 Hill 25,485 2,096
107 Hood 7,339 274
108 Hopkins ... .17,726 2,838
109 Houston 10,892 8,467
no Howard .... 1,165 34
hi Hunt 28,917 2,953
112 Hutchinson .56 2
Counties.
White.
Colored.
113 Iron
868
2
114 Jack
• 9.643
97
1x5 Jackson....
• 1,459
1,822
116 Jasper
• 3,214
2,378
117 Jeff Davis .
• 1,352
37
118 Jefferson . ,
• -3,638
2,218
119 Johnson ...
• 21,459
852
x2o Jones
• 3,79°
7
121 Karnes , ,
• 3,093
544
122 Kaufman .
.18,418
3,176
123 Kendall
. 3,610
216
124 Kent
• 324
125 Kerr
• 4,355
106
126 Kimple
• 2,238
5
127 King
... 171
2
128 Kinney
. 3,527
253
129 Knox
• i,i34
130 Lamar
.27,883
9,378
131 Lamb
4
132 Lampasas .
■ 7,320
262
133 La Salle ...
. 2,072
67
134 Lavaca
.17,631
4,253
135 Lee
. 8,850
3,102
136 Leon
8,464
5-377
137 Liberty , , ,
. 2,512
i,7i5
138 Limestone .
■ 17,217
4,459
139 Lipscombe.
. 632
140 Live Oak . .
. 2,006
49
141 Llano
• 6,719
52
142 Loving . ,
3
143 Lubbock...
3i
2
144 Lynn
24
145 McCulloch .
. 3,205
12
146 McLennan.
. 2,8ir
10,381
147 McMullen..
• 994
44
148 Madison ...
• 6,439
2,070
149 Marion
. 3,861
6,989
150 Martin
264
151 Mason
• 5,149
31
152 Matagorda .
. 1,364
2,621
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
661
Counties.
White. Colored.
Counties.
White. Colored.
153 Maverick ...
3,547
142
193 San Jacinto ;
3,027
4,328
154 Medina
5,445
283
194 San Patricio.
1,287
25
155 Menard
1,192
23
195 San Saba ...
6,588
53
156 Midland
1,028
3
196 Schlicher ...
134
4
157 Milam
18,548
6,220
197 Scurry
I.4I3
2
158 Mills
5.436
57
198 Shackelford .
1,845
167
159 Mitchell
1,950
99
199 Shelby
11,411
2,95 +
160 Montegue ...
18.774
87
200 Sherman
33
I
161 Montgomery
6,275
5,488
201 Smith
15,633
12,690
162 Moore
15
202 Somerville ..
3,413
6
163 Morris
3.968
. 2,610
203 Starr
io,739
10
164 Motley
136
3
204 Stephens....
4,921
5
165 Nacogdochesn,7i3
4.257
205 Stonewall...
. 1,021
2
166 Navarro
20,105
6,266
206 Sutton
659
1
167 Newton
3,°92
i,558
207 Swisher
100
168 Nolan
i,54o
32
208 Tarrant
36,777
4,3i6
169 Nueces
7,384
707
209 Taylor
6,768
174
170 Ochiltree ...
198
210 Terry
21
171 Oldham
267
3
211 Trockmorten
L 89I
11
172 Orange
3.937
829
212 Titus
6,430
1,760
173 Palo Pinto ..
■ 8,253
67
213 Tom Greene
4,944
202
174 Panola
■ 7,978
6,35o
214 Travis
26,222
10,090
175 Parker
,21,009
671
215 Trinity
5,740
i,903
176 Parmer
7
216 Tyler
8,484
2,392
177 Pecos
• 1,307
8
217 Upshur
8,766
3,929
178 Polk
. 6,272
3,834
218 Upton
51
X
179 Potter
. 830
14
219 Uvalde
3,720
84
180 Presidio
. 1,669
26
220 Valverde . ..
2,758
108
181 Rains
• 3.494
415
221 Van Zandt..
15,127
1,098
182 Randall.
. 187
222 Victoria.
• 5,217
3,519
183 Red River .
.14,832
6,628
223 Walker
. 5,642
7,382
184 Reeves ....
• 1,224
7
224 Waller ....
■ 4,184
6,703
185 Refugio ...
• 915
324
225 Ward
74
3
186 Roberts....
■ 324
2
226 Washington. 13,957
15,200
187 Robertson .
. 12,326
14,142
227 Webb
.14,625
214
188 Rockwall ..
• 5,756
216
228 Wharton ..
■ 1,461
6,119
189 Rumiels ...
. 3.162
31
229 Wheeler ...
761
16
190 Rusk i
.10,026
7,624
230 Whithita.. .
. 4,700
128
191 Sabine
. 3.885
1,004
231 Wilbarger .
• 7.057
26
192 S. Augustine 4,557
2,131
232 Williamson
.23,146
2.755
662
PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Counties.
White.
Colored.
Counties.
White.
Colored.
233 Wilson
9,602
-1,053
33
Fluvanna ...
5,051
4,457
234 Winkler ...
18
34
Franklin . ..
18,737
6,248
235 Wise
.23.971
161
35
Frederick . ..
15,652
2,228
236 Wood
10,680
3,249
36
Giles
8,253
837
237 Yoakum ...
4
37
Gloucester ..
5,437
6,216
238 Young
• 3,034
15
38
Goochland ..
7,083
5,875
239 Zapata
• 3,56I
39
Grayson ....
13,473
921
240 Zavalla
• 1,094
8
40
Greene
4,114
1,508
VIRGINIA.
41
Greensville .
2,919
5,3H
1 Accomac
•17,547
.9,730
42
Halifax
15,008
19,416
2 Albemarle ..
.18,252
14,127
43
Hanover ..,
9,188
8,214
3 Alexandria. .
.11,361
7,236
44
Henrico
59,775
43,619
4 Alleghany ..
• 6,955
2,328
45
Henry
9,928
8,283
5 Amelia
• 3,023
6,045
46
Highland ...
4,930
422
6 Amherst
• 9,923
7,628
47
Isle of Wight
6,169
5,144
7 Appomattox
• 5,254
7,336
48
James City..
2,317
3,326
8 Augusta
.28,596
8,409
49
King George
3,433
3,208
9 Bath
• 3,827
761
5o
King & Queen 4,255
5,434
10 Bedford
20,064
11,149
5i
King William
' 3,783
5,822
11 Bland
4,888
241
52
Lancaster...
3,i7i
4,020
12 Botetourt...
.11,122
3,782
53
Lee
17,002
1,214
13 Brunswick ..
. 6,651
10,584
54
Loudoun
16,696
6.578
14 Buchanan...
• 5,843
24
55
Louisa
7,192
9,8o5
15 Buckingham
. 6,786
7,587
56
Lunenburg..
■ 4,636
6,736
16 Campbell ...
.21,283
19,804
57
Madison
6,260
3,965
17 Carolina
• 7,359
9,322
58
Mathews....
5,447
2,136
18 Carroll
■15,135
362
59
Mecklenburg
9,329
16,030
19 Charles City.
■ 1,348
3,7i8
60
Middlesex ..
3,i4i
4,317
20 Charlotte . ..
• 5,7i6
9,36I
61
Montgomery.
14,227
3,515
2fi Chesterfield
•15,399
10,812
62
Nansemond..
8,925
10,767
22 Clark
• 5>'6L7
2,454
63
Nelson
9,033
6,303
23 Craig
. 3,686
149
64
New Kent. .
1,956
3,555
24-Culpepper ..
• 7,147
6,086
65
Norfolk
37,497
39,571
25 Cumberland
..2,860
6,622
66
Northampton. 4,833
5,48o
26 Dickenson . .
■ 5,051
26
67
N'th'berland.
4,795
3,090
27 Dinwiddie . .
■ 15,570
20,619
68
Nottoway
3,959
7,623
28 Elizabeth City 8,278
7,890
69
Orange
6,573
6,241
29 Essex
- 3,584
6,463
70
Page
11,320
1,772
30 Fairfax
.11,586
5,069
71
Patrick
12,079
2,068
31 Fauquier ....
14,686
7,904
72
Pittsylvania..
30,847
29,094
32 Floyde
.13,230
1,175
73
Powhatan
2,358
4,433
STATISTICS OF THE RACE.
663
Counties. White. Colored.
Counties.
White. Colored.
74 Pr. Edward. 7,770
9,924
14 Hampshire..
. 10,852
567
75 Pr. George.. 2,732
5.140
15 Hancock
• 6,392
21
76 Pr. William.. 7,210
2,595
16 Hardy
• 6,977
590
77 Prin'ss Anne 4,I3*
5,379
17 Harrison
760
78 Pulaski 9,669
3,121
18 Jackson
•18,934
87
79 Rappah'nock 5.863
2,818
19 Jefferson....
•11,437
4,116
80 Richmond... 3,998
3,148
20 Kanawka ...
•39,554
3,402
81 Roanoke 21,082
9,019
21 Lewis
• 15,627
261
82 Rockbridge . 17,931
5,i3i
22 Lincoln
.11,035
211
83 Rockingham 28,485
2,814
23 Logan
.10,416
685
84 Russell i4»923
1,203
24 McDowell...
. 5,909
x,59i
85 Scott 20,726
968
25 Marion
.20,617
104
86 Smyth 12,136
1,224
26 Marshall
.20,499
236
87 Shenandoah. 18,829
842
27 Mason
.22,104
759
88 Southampton 8,293
11,785
28 Mercer
•13,979
2,022
89 Spottsylvania 8,156
6,077
29 Mineral
481
90 Stafford 5.893
1,469
30 Monongalia .
•15,477
227
91 Surry 3»238
5,018
31 Monroe
.n,45o
979
92 Sussex 3.524
7,776
32 Morgan
275
93 Tazewell 16,395
3,504
33 Nicholas
.. 9.287
21
94 Warren / 7,016
1,264
34 Ohio
.40,452
1,098
95 Warwick 2,884
3,866
35 Pendleton...
• 8,585
126
96 Washington.25,215
2,805
36 Pleasants ..,
. • 7,530
9
97 Westmorel'd 3,662
4,737
37 Pocahontas .
. 6,461
353
98 Wise 8,763
582
38 Preston
..20,221
134
99 Wythe 14,849
3,i7o
39 Putnam
..14,105
237
100 York 3,201
4,395
40 Raleigh
.. 9,5i8
79
WEST VIRGINIA.
41 Randolph .
••II.37I
262
1 Barbour 12,204
498
42 Ritchie ....
•.16,585
36
2 Berkeley 17,005
1,664
43 Roane
•.15,274
. 2g
3 Boone 6,715
170
"44 Summers ..
..11,990
1,127
4 Braxton 13,794
134
45 Taylor ....
• .H,785
362
5 Brooke 6,545
114
46 Tucker ....
.. 6,276
183
6 Cabell 22,101
1,493
47 Tyler
. .11,960
2.
7 Calhoun 8,074
81
48 Upshur
. .12,458.
256
8 Clay 4,659
49 Wayne
. .18,491
160
9 Dodridge ... .12,052
131
50 Webster ...
•• 4,772
11
xo Fayette 17.488
3,o54
51 Wetzel
. .16,805
36
11 Gilmer 9,696
5o
52 Wirt
•• 9,387
24
12 Grant 6,423
379
53 Wood
27,700
910
13 Greenbier... .16,041
1,993
54 Wyoming..
.. 6,177
70
COLORED MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
SENATORS.
Length of
Name. Elected. Service. State.
Bruce, B. K 1875-81 6 years Mississippi
Revells, Hiram Feb. 23,1870, to Mch. 3,1871 Mississippi
REPRESENTATIVES.
Length of
Name;
Elected.
Service.
State.
Cain, Rich. H
,43d and 45th Cong.
4 years
S. Carolina
Cheatham, H. P..
,52d and 53d
4 "
N. Carolina
De Large, Robt. C.42d "
2 "
S. Carolina
Elliott, Robt. B..
,42d
2
S. Carolina
Haalson, Jerry...
.44th
2 "
Alabama
Hyman, John ...
44th
2
N. Carolina
Langston, John M.
,51st "
2
Virginia
Long, Jeff
41st "
2 "
Georgia
Lynch, John R...
.43d, 44th and 47th "
G "
Mississippi
Miller, Thos. H..
,51st 1!
2 "
S. Carolina
Murray, Geo. W.
. 53d and 54th "
4 "
S. Carolina
Nash, Chas. E
,44th "
2 "
Louisiana
O'Hara, Jas. E ...
,48th and 49th "
4 "
N. Carolina
Rainey, Jos. H...
.44th et seq "
10 "
S. Carolina
Ransier, A J
43d
2 "
S. Carolina
Rapier, Jas. T....
'43d
2 "
Alabama
Smalls, Robt
44th, 45th and 47th "
6 "
S. Carolina
Turner, Benj. S. .
,42d
2 "
Alabama
Wall, Josiah T...
42d, 43d and 44th "
6 "
Florida
White, Geo. H...
55th
Present member
N. Carolina
DEPARTMENT OF STATE.-—There are nine colored employes in
the Department of State at Washington (all men).
DEPARTMENT OF JllSTiCE.—There are ten colored employes in
the Department of Justice at Washington—seven males and three
females.