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WORKS
OF
Katherine D. Tillman
THIRTY YEARS OF FREEDOM
HEIRS OF SLAVERY
LINCOLN'S PROCLAMATION
MEN MAKERS' CLUB
AUNT BETSY'S THANKSGIVING
RFCITATIONS
PHILADELPHIA
A. M. E. PUBLISHING HOUSE
631 PINE STREET
1909
£)ratnds
HEIRS OF SLAVERY.
A LITTLE DRAMA OF TODAY.
DRAMATIS PERSONAL.
Hero.—A Negro youth attired as an American citizen.
Father Time.—An old man leaning on his staff, with
an hour-glass in his hand.
History.—A tall, beautiful woman in a robe of purple
velvet, with a crown upon her head and an Aladdin's lamp
in her left hand. .
Miriam.—Jewish maiden in national costume.
Gladiator.—A Greek in a Greek garb.
Virginia.—A maid in ancient attire.
Anglo-Saxon Digger.—A man in workman's garb of
early English period. Yoke around his neck and spade
in one hand.
Slave Woman.—A beautiful Negro woman in a cos¬
tume of rich fantastic colors.
Poesy.'—A slender girl in robe of delicate pink and
green, flowers in her hair and scroll in left hand.
Art.—A girl in dark crimson robe, cream colored
girdle and roses, which she carries in her left hand.
Chorus of Singing Girls.—White robes with long,
flowing sleeves. Wreaths upon their heads.
110
Dramas
Scene.—[A beautiful wood. A rustic seat appears in the
background. Soft music is heard in the distance.]
[Enter Hero.]
Hero :
Tired out with life and color-blinded men,
I'll rest me in the shade of this attractive glen
/\nd think, what brought me to this restful place,
And of the woes of my unhappy race.
Born of a race of slaves, my father paid
Our ransom and us freemen made;
And when great Lincoln signed tJie Black Man free,
We northward came to breathe true liberty,
raid upward ever have we struggled since,
Our world of snarling critics to convince
Man's merit on no color's shade depends;
And here and there, we've found some honest friends.
Up from the depths and studious nights I've come,
No loud acclaims proclaimed my welcome home,
The little children cry me on the street,
And taunting words my tingling ears must greet.
In market-place, in courts and all by-ways
The Negro-hater dams my gates of praise;
In every way, our foe this thought would teach:
Manhood in highest forms above the Negro's reach,
Then why should I contend'when all seems vain?
I'm down, why struggle sore to rise again ?
My state, my hue, my race, all keep me back
From equal chance with others on life's track.
[Hero sinks down on seat and falls asleep.]
[Enter Father Time.]
Father Time:
Hot-blooded youth must have some time to cool.
I'll patience have with this misguided fool,
And flag his spirits with historic wine—
Till light upon his struggling soul shall shine.
[Time stamps on ground. Enter History.]
Dramas
ii f
Time:
History, thou glittering torchlight of the Age,
My idle whims must for the time engage,
Show to this youth of sunny Afric race
What other nations have been made to face.
Discouraged by his seeming sad young fate,
Teach him himself at proper worth to rate,
Disadvantages proudly to despise
And to the utmost heights in spite of all to rise;
For I have been e'er since existed Man,
And e'en before, and I know his race can
Prove to the world, despite their lowly birth,
Of one blood, hath God made all nations of the earth.
History :
Thy wish my law, oh, Father Time,
Man's history in every clime
I keep alone, and he shall see
Some other heirs of slavery.
i
[History rubs lamp. Enter Miriam.]
Miriam :
Upon the Nile we have laid our pretty boy,
Our little Moses of our hearts the joy;
Oh, woe to us, proud Egypt's daily scorn,
Oh, woe that e'er an Israelite is born;
Abused and scourged, with backs kept raw,
We now must make bricks, without straw.
[Miriam goes out weeping. Enter Gladiator.]
Gladiator :
Alas! that I, a freedom-loving Greek,
Must now of shameful ignominy speak. -
Rome's wretched slave, I at Nero's behest
Must stake my life; strength against strength must test.
'Mid scenes of slaughter all my days are sped,
When shall I reach the realms.of the dead?
112
Dramas
The gods attend my unpropitious life
And grant this day may end its bloody strife!
[Gladiator goes out. Enter Virginia.]
Virginia :
A slave! Oh, Venus, hear; I'm Marcus' slave.
Oh dark the hour, that birth unto me gave.
Oh Father, haste Virginia's cries to hear;
Oh haste thee and relieve Virginia's nameless fear!
[Virginia rushes out. Enter Saxon.]
Saxon Digger:
'Neath Norman yoxe, tne Anglo-Saxon bend,
Their homes, their lives upon their lords depend,
Sad to relate, four oxen equal all
Tue value of the life of an unhappy thrall!
Slave Woman :
All gone, my children gone,
And I am left alone;
All auctioned off for gold—
May curses deep untold
Fall on this Slavery's cursed mai
That tears me from my own apa± ...
[Slave Woman goes out weeping. Enter Poesy.]
Poesy :
I inspired song of Miriam's heart
When Jordan's waters rolled apart
I guided David's gracious song,
And dwelt with patient Job full long;
From classic hills of Greece arid Rome
Homer and Sappho's strains have come;
In England, Shakespeare's soul I filled
Till he the passing years had stilled;
Longfellow and Whittier well I loved,
Their poet-hearts 'gainst. Wrong I moved';
And I have not forgotten thee—
Recitations
lhe Negro's harps of minstrelsy
Shall ring with strength throughout the land
Till laurel-crowned thy poets stand.
[Poesy remains standing over Hero. Enter Art, who
scatters roses over Hero as she speaks.]
Art:
Egypta, Rome and mighty Greece
The fabled land of Golden fleece—
Their marble pillars, temples grand
Despairing joy of every land,
The painting of old masters great,
The works of man ancient and late,
Are due to Art's inspiring love.
And now thy petty fears remove,
I love thy bright warm-hearted race,
And high o'er all thy name shall trace.
[Art steps beside Poesy. Enter Chorus of Singing
Girls, who form a circle around Hero and chant.]
Ringing Girls :
Arouse, oh youth, from thy slumber deep,
Too long have ye lain in enchanted sleep,
Arouse to conquest, great and vast,
Arouse, for thou the power hast.
[All leave. Hero starts up and yawns.]
Hero :
In faith, I've had a long and curious dream,
For it somehow to me in sleep did seem
I saw Semitic slaves 'neath Hamite rule!
Romans and Greeks I saw in slavery's school.
And much do I despise my childish speech.
If we to loftiest heights aspire to reach,
We must both toil and suffer; 'tis the way
All nations conquered in the heated fray.
Allen and Douglass shame my sorry plight
Toussaint and Dumas star my gloomy night.
H4
Recitations
Resolved am I no little part to play;
Upon our night must dawn a fairer day.
I'll do my best, proving where'er I can
Despite his skin, a man is but a man!
Curtain falls.
A LIST OF
MRS. TILLMAN'S
WORKS
Thirty Years of Freedom, Price, 10 cents
Very successful
Heirs of Slavery, - - Price, 5 cents
Lincoln's Proclamation, - Price, 10 cents
Recitations, - Price, 15 cents
Aunt Betsy's Thanksgiving, - Price, 10 cents
Men Makers' Club, - - Price, 10 cents
Send order prepaid to
R. R. Wright, Jr.,
Manager,
631 Pine Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.
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