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William James Edwards
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Title: Twenty-Five Years in the Black Belt
Author: William James Edwards
Release Date: January 23, 2010 [EBook #31055]
Language: English
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TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE BLACK BELT
[Illustration: WILLIAM J. EDWARDS]
Twenty-Five Years
in the Black Belt
BY
WILLIAM J. EDWARDS
ILLUSTRATED
THE CORNHILL COMPANY
BOSTON
Copyright, 1918
by
THE CORNHILL COMPANY
TO MY LOVING WIFE WHO ENCOURAGED ME IN ALL MY
EARLY STRUGGLES AND AIDED ME IN
ALL MY ACHIEVEMENTS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
1. CHILDHOOD DAYS 1
2. SHADOWS 7
3. A RAY OF LIGHT 13
4. LIFE AT TUSKEGEE 18
5. RECONNOITERING 26
6. FOUNDING THE SNOW HILL SCHOOL 35
7. SMALL BEGINNINGS 37
8. CAMPAIGNING FOR FUNDS IN THE NORTH 43
9. RESULTS 49
10. ORIGIN OF THE JEANES FUND 54
11. APPRECIATION 56
12. GRADUATES AND EX-STUDENTS 63
13. THE SOLUTION OF THE NEGRO PROBLEM 77
14. THE GREATEST MENACE OF THE SOUTH 86
15. THE NEGRO EXODUS 94
16. THE NEGRO AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE SOUTH 100
17. WHERE LIES THE NEGRO'S OPPORTUNITY? 104
18. SCHOOL PROBLEMS OF A TUSKEGEE GRADUATE 109
19. BENEFITS WROUGHT BY HARDSHIPS 115
20. THE NEGRO AND THE WORLD WAR 120
APPENDIX 127
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
WILLIAM J. EDWARDS _Frontispiece_
UNCLE CHARLES LEE AND HIS HOME IN THE BLACK BELT _Facing Page_ 32
FIRST TRUSTEES OF SNOW HILL AND TWO OF THEIR WIVES " " 36
PARTIAL VIEW OF SNOW HILL INSTITUTE " " 48
A NEW TYPE OF HOME IN THE BLACK BELT " " 52
TYPICAL LOG CABIN IN THE BLACK BELT " " 60
HOME OF A SNOW HILL GRADUATE " " 60
GRADUATES OF SNOW HILL INSTITUTE " " 72
TEACHERS OF SNOW HILL INSTITUTE " " 100
PREFACE
In bringing this book before the public, it is my hope that the friends
of the Snow Hill School and all who are interested in Negro Education
may become more familiar with the problems and difficulties that
confront those who labor for the future of a race. I have had to endure
endless hardships during these twenty-five years, in order that
thousands of poor negro youths might receive an industrial
education,--boys and girls who might have gone into that demoralized
class that is a disgrace to any people and that these friends may
continue their interest in not only Snow Hill but all the schools of the
South that are seeking to make better citizens of our people. I also
hope that the interest may be sustained until the State and Nation
realize that it is profitable to educate the black child as well as the
white.
To me, these have been twenty-five years of self denial, of self
sacrifice, of deprivation, even of suffering, but when I think of the
results, I am still encouraged to go on; when I think of the work that
Mr. McDuffie is doing at Laurinburg, N. C., Brown at Richmond, Ala.,
Knight at Evergreen, Ala., Mitchell at W. Butler, Ala., Carmichael at
Perdue Hill, Ala., Brister at Selma, Ala., and hundreds of others, I
feel that the sacrifice has not been in vain, so I continue believing
that after all the great heart of the American people is on the right
side. I think that to-day, the Negro faces the dawn,--not the
twilight,--the morning,--not the evening.
In my passionate desire to hasten that time and with the crying needs of
my race at heart, I choose this opportunity for making an appeal in
their behalf.
"Lord, and what shall this man do?" (John 21.)
Man is a relative being and should be thus considered. The status of my
brother then will always serve as a standard of value by which my own
conduct can be measured; by his standard mine may become either high or
low, broad or narrow, deep or shallow. This is the theory that underlies
all humanitarian work. This is the great dynamic force of the Christian
life.
No question is being asked by the American people more earnestly today
than this one: "Lord, What shall this man, the Negro, do,--this black
man upon whom centuries of ignorance have left their marks?" He has made
a faithful slave, a courageous soldier, and when trained and educated,
an industrious and law-abiding citizen, yet he is troubled on every
side. What shall he do? Uneducated, undisciplined, untrained, he is
often ferocious or dangerous; he makes a criminal of the lowest type for
he is the product of ignorance.
Crime has increased in proportion as educational privileges have been
withdrawn. This brings the Negro face to face with a most dangerous
criminal force. What shall this man do? It is true that the white man is
further up on the ladder of civilization than the Negro, but the Negro
desires to climb and has made rapid strides, according to his chances.
Christ's answer to Peter was, "What is that to thee, follow thou Me."
John's future welfare evidently depended upon Peter's ability to follow
Christ. So the future work and welfare of the Negro in the Black-Belt of
the South depend largely upon the Christian work of the southern white
man. The Negro needs justice and mercy from the courts of the land and
asks for equal rights in educational opportunities.
We admit that there is a difference between the white man and the Negro,
but the difference is not as great as was the difference between Christ
and His disciples. We admit that the white man is above the Negro, but
not so high as was Christ above His disciples. The very fact that Christ
was superior to His disciples served to Him as a reason why He should
minister unto them. The superiority of the white man to his black
brother can only be shown by the white man's willingness to minister
unto him. Lord, what shall this black man do?
Many great problems confront the people of the rural South, namely, this
Negro Problem and the problem of sufficient labor supply. In a practical
way I wish to consider the relation of the Negro to the labor problem of
the rural South. It is a fact that today many of the best farms of the
South have been turned into pastures because of the lack of labor; other
farms have been sold, and still others are growing up in weeds because
there is no one to till them. This condition obtains in a very marked
degree in almost every southern state. Certainly in most of the
Agricultural Sections.
Before investigating the cause of this condition, men of influence and
power have hastened to proclaim through the press and otherwise, that
the responsibility rests upon the Negro. They say that the Negro is
lazy, worthless, criminal and will not work and therefore they are
compelled to have immigrants to work these fields. That there are lazy,
worthless and criminal Negroes, we do not deny, but we do deny that as a
race they are such.
The facts are these: first, the South, unlike other sections of the
country, has not had thousands of immigrants to come into her borders
year after year to do her work, but has depended solely upon the
increase in her native population for this purpose. This increase has
not kept pace with the marvellous growth and development of that
section, hence, the cry for labor. Second, scarcity of labor in that
section is due in part, to ignorance and a false idea of real freedom.
Men with such ideas do not work long in any one place, but rove from
section to section and work enough to keep themselves living. This labor
is not only unprofitable to the individual, but is not satisfactory to
the employers. Third, the labor trouble in the rural South is due mostly
to the way in which the landlords and merchants treat their tenants and
customers.
The great mass of Negroes in the South either rent the lands or work
them on shares. This rent varies according to the kind of crops that are
made. If the tenant makes a good crop this year, he must expect to pay
more rent the next year, or his farm will be rented to another at higher
figures. Of course, the Negroes are ignorant and are unable to keep
their own accounts. Sometimes these Negro farmers pay as much as 50%,
75% and 100% on the goods and provisions which they consume during the
year.
This method of renting lands and selling goods according to the
condition of the crops, is repeated year after year. I know ignorant
farmers who have been working under these conditions for twenty-five and
thirty years, who have never been able to get more than $15 or $20 in
any one year during this period. These are not worthless and shiftless
Negroes, but persons who work hard from Monday morning until Saturday
night. As a rule, they are on their farms at sunrise, and remain there
until sunset. They have their dinners brought to them in the fields. I
have seen small families grow into large ones under these conditions. I
have also seen infants grow to manhood under same. Now, these people who
have been working in this way for twenty-five and thirty years are
becoming discouraged. When you ask them why they do not ditch,
fertilize, and improve their farms, their answer is, that if they do
this, the next year they will either have to pay more rent or hunt
another home for themselves.
It seems to be the policy of the landlords and the merchants of the
rural South to keep their tenants and customers in debt. It is this
abominable method of the landlords and tenants of the rural South more
than anything else, that has caused many of the best farming lands there
to be turned into pastures, others to be sold at sheriff sale, and still
others to be growing up in weeds. Another menace is loss of fertility of
the soil.
The problem is, how can we stop these people from leaving the country
for the cities and other places of public works and again reclaim these
waste fields? It was once thought that the places of these Negroes could
be supplied by immigrants from foreign countries, but this hope is now
almost abandoned. In fact, the few immigrants who have gone into that
section have, in many instances, been oppressed almost as much as the
Negroes, many have gone to other parts of the country or have returned
to their homes. So we find ourselves face to face with large and fertile
agricultural areas in the South with no labor to till them.
The remedy of these evils lies in the Negro himself. He is best suited
to the work, best adapted to the climate, and understands the southern
white man better than anyone else. Furthermore, he knows the white man;
knows his disposition and inclinations, and therefore, knows what is so
called his place. He feels that justice is wanting in the courts of the
South and he therefore tries to avoid all troubles. Most of all, he
prays for a chance to work and educate his children. He labors and waits
thus patiently because he has faith in the American people. He believes
that ere long the righteous indignation of this people will be aroused
and like the great wave of prohibition, will sweep this country from
center to circumference, and then every man will be awarded according to
his several abilities.
These waste places can be reclaimed and the guttered hills made to
blossom, only by giving the Negro a common education combined with
religious, moral and industrial training and the opportunity to at
least own his home, if not the land he cultivates. The Negro must be
taught to believe that the farmer can become prosperous and independent;
that he can own his home and educate his children in the country. If he
can, and he can be taught these things, in less than ten years, every
available farm in the rural South will be occupied.
WILLIAM J. EDWARDS.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE BLACK BELT
CHAPTER 1.
CHILDHOOD DAYS.
All that I know of my ancestors was told to me by my people. I learned
from my grandfather on my mother's side that the family came to Alabama
from South Carolina. He told me that his mother was owned by the Wrumphs
who lived in South Carolina, but his father belonged to another family.
For some cause, the Wrumphs decided to move from South Carolina to
Alabama; this caused his mother and father to be separated, as his
father remained in South Carolina. The new home was near the village of
Snow Hill. This must have been in the Thirties when my grandfather was
quite a little child. He had no hope of ever seeing his father again,
but his father worked at nights and in that way earned enough money to
purchase his freedom from his master. So after four or five years he
succeeded in buying his own freedom from his master and started out for
Alabama. When he arrived at Snow Hill, he found his family, and Mr.
Wrumphs at once hired him as a driver. He remained with his family until
his death, which occurred during the war. At his death one of his sons,
George, was appointed to take his place as driver.
As I now remember, my grandfather told me that his mother's name was
Phoebe and that she lived until the close of the war. My grandfather
married a woman by the name of Rachael and she belonged to a family by
the name of Sigh. His wife's mother came directly from Africa and spoke
the African language. It is said that when she became angry no one could
understand what she said. Her owner allowed her to do much as she
pleased.
My grandfather had ten children, my mother being the oldest girl. She
married my father during the war and, as nearly as I can remember, he
told me that it was in 1864. Three children were born to them and I was
the youngest; there was a girl and another boy.
I know little of my father's people, excepting that he repeatedly told
me that they came from South Carolina. So it is, that while I can trace
my ancestry back to my great-grandparents on my mother's side, I can
learn nothing beyond my grandparents on my father's side. My grandfather
was a local preacher and could read quite well. Just how he obtained
this knowledge, I have never been able to learn. He had the confidence
and respect of the best white and colored people in the community and
sometimes he would journey eight or ten miles to preach. Many times at
these meetings there were nearly as many whites as colored people in the
audience. He was indeed a grand old man. His name was James and his
father's name was Michael. So after freedom he took the name of James
Carmichael.
One of the saddest things about slavery was the separation of families.
Very often I come across men who tell me that they were sold from
Virginia, South Carolina or North Carolina, and that they had large
families in those states. Since their emancipation, many of these have
returned to their former states in search of their families, and while
some have succeeded in finding them, there are those who have not been
able to find any trace of their families and have come back again to
die.
Sometimes we hear people attempt to apologize for slavery, but slavery
at its best was hard and cruel. Often the old slaves tell me of their
bitter experience. Even today, there are everywhere in the South many
ex-slaves who lived their best days before and during the civil war.
Many of these men and women found themselves alone at the close of the
war, having been sold away from their families while they were slaves.
I was born at Snow Hill, Wilcox County, Alabama, September 12th, 1869,
three-quarters of a mile east of where Snow Hill Institute now stands.
My mother died September 9th, 1870, at which time I lacked three days of
being one year old. From all I can learn my mother was very religious.
She was a great praying woman and almost at every meeting held in the
neighborhood she would be called upon to pray. In fact, she was sent for
miles around to pray at these meetings. My mother's death left my father
with three children, I being the youngest. He succeeded in getting his
mother, who was cooking for her white people in Selma, Alabama, to come
and take us in charge. My name was Ulyses Grant Edwards, but my
grandmother, who had been with white people since emancipation, changed
my name to William. I afterward added to this my grandfather's name of
James.
My father went away to work and I remained with my grandmother. We lived
about one mile from the "quarter,"--that is, the collection of slaves'
cabins. We had about three acres of ground cleared around our cabin and
my grandmother and I farmed. I do not know how old I was when I began
working, for I have been a farm hand ever since I could remember
anything. We usually made one bale of cotton each year and about
twenty-five or thirty bushels of corn. Sometimes my grandfather would do
our plowing and at other times,--as we had no stock,--my grandmother and
I worked out for others to get our plowing done.
In the summer time it was the custom for little Negro boys to wear only
one garment, a shirt. Sometimes, however, my grandmother would be unable
to get one for me and in that case she would take a crocus sack or corn
sack and put two holes in it for my arms and one for my head. In putting
on a sack shirt for the first time the sensation was extremely
irritating. It seemed as if a thousand pins were sticking me all at
once, but after a few days it would become all right and I could wear it
comfortably. For several summers this was my only garment.
Sometimes we would raise a pig during the summer to kill in the winter
and sometimes we had a cow to milk. At such times we had plenty to eat,
but at other times we had neither a pig nor a cow and then we had hard
times in the way of getting something to eat. Some days our only diet
was corn-bread and corn coffee.
When I was old enough, I was sent to school for two or three months each
winter. Here again I had a hard time, as we usually carried our dinner
in a little tin bucket. Sometimes I had nothing but bread and when
recess came for dinner, I went away by myself and ate my bread and drank
water. As long as I could keep out of the way of the other children, no
one was the wiser and I did not mind it, but some of the children began
to watch me and in that way found that I had nothing but bread, and when
they told the others, they would laugh and make fun of me. This would
make me feel badly and sometimes I cried, but I did not stop school for
this. My one desire was to learn to read the Bible for my old
grandmother, who like my mother, was very religious. At last I was able
to read the Bible for her. She would listen for hours and too, she would
sing such songs as, "Roll, Jordan Roll."
Saturdays were mill days and I had to take the corn on my shoulder and
go to the mill, which was four or five miles away. It always took me
from four to five hours to make this trip, as I had to stop by the way
several times to rest.
By this time my brother and sister were large enough to do good work on
the farm. My grandfather and grandmother for whom they were working, now
desired to take them wholly from my old grandmother. The Justice of the
Peace said that the children might decide the matter. My brother chose
to go to my grandfather's but my sister came back home with the
grandmother who had reared us from infants. Of course, I did not go to
court, because they all knew that there was no chance of my leaving my
grandmother.
In the early spring of 1880 while on one of my trips to the mill the
thought dawned upon me that my grandmother was very old and must soon
die. I cried all the way to the mill and back. I could not see how I
would live after she was gone. I did not tell anybody why I was crying.
On a June night, she became severely ill and died. All she said to us
during her illness was: "Children, I have been waiting for this hour a
long time."
After the death of my grandmother, her daughter Marina Rivers, who was
herself a widow and well on in years, came to live with us that year. I
soon learned to love her as I had my grandmother and never once thought
of leaving her for my mother's people. We gathered the crop that fall
and when all was over, my father, whom I had not seen for five or six
years, came to carry my sister and myself to Selma, where he was
staying. The thought of going to the city filled me with joy and the
time to go could not come too soon for me.
CHAPTER 2.
SHADOWS.
We arrived in Selma several days before Christmas. Here everything was
strange to me, as I had never been in a city before. I did not know any
one and it was not long before I was crying to return to Snow Hill. My
father gave me to understand then, that Selma was my home now and that I
should not be permitted to return to Snow Hill. He said that he was
going to put me in school when the New Year came, but when the time came
nothing was said about school. He gave us little care and often we were
in need of food and clothes.
After spending a few weeks doing nothing, I went out one day to hunt for
work and succeeded in getting a job at the compress, where they reduced
the size of a bale of cotton by one-half and clipped the tires. My job
was to straighten out the bent tires. I got twenty-five cents a day for
this. That week I made one dollar and fifty cents. This was the most
money I had ever had. I spent almost all of it for provisions and that
night my sister cooked a great supper. Finally, my father said that he
would save my wages for me, but if he did he has it still, as I never
have seen any that he collected.
I had not been in Selma long before I was taken ill. That misfortune
changed my whole life. I had no medical attendance and suffered
greatly. Sometimes I prayed and sometimes I cried. The news reached Snow
Hill that I was sick and not being cared for. As soon as she could, my
aunt Rina came to Selma for me and carried me home.
On my return to Snow Hill I was sick and emaciated, but few people
welcomed me. Many tried to discourage my aunt for bringing me back. They
gave me about three months to live. I was glad to be at home again and
had the consolation of knowing that should I die I would be buried in
the old burying ground.
I was unable at the time to do any work on the farm, so I was put to the
task of raising chickens. I took personal interest in the little chicks.
I had a name for each one of them. I would follow them around the yard
and see them work for their food. When I was weary of this I would go to
an old deserted cabin nearby, taking a few old books and the Bible;
there unmolested I would spend hours at a time reading the Bible and
pondering over the books. One of the books was an old Davies' Practical
Arithmetic. Nothing gave me more pleasure than working out new sums for
the first time. I kept up this practice until I had read the New
Testament through several times and had worked every problem in the
arithmetic. In addition to this I would gather up wood and carry it home
for the people to cook with.
My aunt and her daughter were very poor and had to work each day for
what they could get to eat. It pained me because I could not go out and
work for something to eat as I had done in Selma. I never ate a full
meal although my aunt and her daughter insisted upon my doing so; I felt
that I had no right to eat up what they had worked so hard to get, while
I was doing nothing that was worth while. My aunt's daughter had a son
who was one month older than I; he was well grown for his age and always
was the picture of health. We all lived in a one-room cabin and there
were three beds in it, besides it was the kitchen and dining-room as
well. My aunt and her daughter wanted me to sleep at nights with their
boy, but he objected, so I would not force myself upon him. I asked them
to give me one or two old quilts and I would spread these upon the floor
of the cabin at night for my bed. I would get up early and roll them up
and store them away in some dark corner of the cabin until the next
night. I slept in this manner for several years.
After I had been at home for several months and my condition did not
improve, my aunt went about begging people for nickels and dimes to take
me to the local physician. I think she raised about three dollars in
this way and succeeded in getting a doctor to treat me, but he gave my
aunt to understand that she had to pay cash for each treatment.
I shall never forget one Sunday when a great many of the neighbors came
to our home, they began telling my aunt what they would do with me if
they were in her place. At the time I was in the back-yard watching the
chicks. Some one said that she should send me to the poorhouse, others
said that she had done so much for me, it was time that some of my other
people should take me and share in the burden, while others said that I
should be driven away and go wherever I could find shelter. I was so
offended at hearing this that I hobbled down the hill and there under a
pine tree, which now stands, I prayed for an hour or more for God to let
me die. After this prayer I lay down, folded my arms and closed my eyes,
to see if my prayer would be answered. After waiting for awhile I
finally decided to get up and I felt better then than I had felt for
several months. I have made many prayers since then, but never since
have I prayed to die.
None of the solicitations and advices from our good friends could change
my aunt's attitude towards me. In fact, she was more determined now than
ever to care for me. The next year she rented a little patch and worked
it as best she could and that fall she cleared a little money. As the
local physician had done me no good, she took me to Dr. George Keyser
who lived in the town of Richmond, eight or ten miles away. Dr. Keyser
had the reputation of being the best physician in that section of the
state and people would come for twenty-five and thirty miles around to
be treated by him. But we had also heard that he was a man who would not
treat any one without having his money down. As I remember, my aunt paid
him five dollars on the first visit and each time after that she would
send whatever she could get. I used to borrow a mule from one of the
neighbors to ride to see him. Sometimes when my medicine gave out and I
had to go without any money, I would pray to God the whole distance that
he might soften the doctor's heart so that he would let me have my
medicine. I don't know whether my prayers were needed or not, but I do
know that the doctor always treated me kindly and finally he told me
that I could be treated whenever my medicine gave out, money or no
money. He treated me in this way until the early fall of '84 when he
told my aunt that I needed an operation and she must try and get me a
place to stay nearby so that he could see me daily. After looking around
she found on the doctor's place an old fellow-servant, that is, an old
lady who belonged to the same man my aunt did in slavery time. Her name
was Lucy George; she was near the age of my aunt, and had never been
married. They were indeed glad to meet and she readily consented to take
me to her little cabin where she lived alone. The doctor visited his
plantation two or three times a week and usually came to see me. He
operated on me twice during my stay there.
"In 1888 the subject of this sketch, W. J. Edwards, was sent to me
by his aunt, Rina Rivers, for medical treatment. He had been sick
for several months from scrofula and it had affected the bone of
his left arm (hinneras) near the elbow joint, and the heel bone (os
calcis) of his left foot. It was with much difficulty and pain that
he walked at all.
The boy was kind, courteous and polite to every one, white and
colored, and all sympathized with him in his great affliction, and
manifested their sympathy in a very substantial way, by sending him
many good things to eat. This enabled me to build up his general
health.
I had to remove the dead bone (necrosed bone) from his arm and heel
many times. He always stood the operation patiently and manifested
so great a desire to get well, I kept him near me a long time and
patiently watched his case.
After four years' treatment his heel cured up nicely, and he was
enabled to walk very well, and the following fall he picked cotton.
With prudence, care and close application to cotton picking, he
saved money enough to very nearly pay his medical account, and his
fare to Booker Washington's School at Tuskegee, Alabama.
The work of this pupil of Booker Washington,--carried on under
adverse circumstances,--is worthy of emulation. He has, and is
now, doing much good work for his race. He has won the confidence
and esteem of all the white and colored citizens of this section of
the country. He is a remarkable man, a great benefactor to his
race, and it affords me great pleasure to testify as to his history
and character. Mr. R. O. Simpson, on whose plantation he lived and
who aided him materially,--is one of the Trustees of his
Institute."
GEORGE W. KEYSER, M. D.
Richmond, Dallas County, Alabama.
CHAPTER 3.
A RAY OF LIGHT.
For three months after my first operation I could not walk. My aunt
would come from Snow Hill once a week to bring my rations and to see how
I was getting along. I always cried when she went home.
During my first month's stay on the doctor's place, "Aunt Lucy" George
with whom I lived, was at home most of the time, but when the cotton
season came on, she had to go to the doctor's field, which was a mile
away, to pick cotton. This left me alone for five days in the week.
"Aunt Lucy" would get up early and prepare her breakfast, take her lunch
to the field with her, and would not return until night. She would also
leave me something to eat, and I could crawl about the house and get
such other things as I needed.
The first few days that I was alone were the most miserable days of my
life. I tried to walk, but fainted once or twice at these attempts, so I
had to be contented with crawling. Soon, however, I began crawling about
the yard. I found several red ants' nests within about twenty or
twenty-five yards of the house, and soon made friends of the ants. I
would crawl from nest to nest and watch them do their work. I became so
interested in them that I would spend the whole day watching and
following them about the yard. I would be anxious for the nights to pass
that I might return to them the next day.
I found that the ants worked by classes. One class would bring out the
dirt, another would go out in search of food, another would take away
the dead, another would over look those that worked, and still another
class, though few in numbers, would come out and look around and then
return. These had much larger heads than the average. Some few, however,
with great heads, would come out once or twice a day. I never learned
what their business was, as they did not seem to do much of anything.
They very seldom went more than a few inches from the nests. I noticed,
too, that those that went in search of food and failed to get it, would
come back to the nests and stand around and consult with the guards and
then would return. They did this several times. Sometimes they would go
away and get into the weeds and rest awhile. However, when they saw
others coming, they would start out again. Sometimes, after making
several trips without success, I would give them crumbs of bread, and
they would hasten away to their nests. They never hesitated when they
had food, but would run right in. This was great fun for me, and I spent
most of the remainder of my time in this manner.
This was during the fall of '84. By the first week in December I had
recovered sufficiently to be able to walk very well with a stick and
could do a little work. I then returned to Snow Hill with my aunt, and,
though I was anxious to return home, I hated very much to leave my
little friends. I got home in time to make toy wagons for my Christmas
money.
The following year, although far from being well, I could do a little
work on my aunt's farm. I ought not to call it a farm, because it was
only a few acres which she rented from one of the tenants on Mr.
Simpson's plantation. The habit of sub-renting was very prevalent on
this plantation. A tenant with one mule would rent twenty-five acres, if
he had two mules he would rent fifty acres. Now in order to get work
done on his farm, he would sub-rent four or five acres, to some one who
would do this work for him. It was in this way that my aunt could get
land to work. We usually made on these few acres about twenty bushels of
corn and sometimes a half a bale or a whole bale of cotton.
Having to work for our plowing and to pay the rent of the land, we had
but little chance to do much work for ourselves. We very seldom had
enough to eat. Some days we would work from the rising of the sun until
dark without anything but water. Then my aunt would go out among the
neighbors in the evening and borrow a little corn meal or get a little
on condition that she would work to pay for it the next day. While my
aunt would go to hunt for the bread I would go out and beg for some milk
from some of our friends. I would always add water to my milk to make it
go a long way. This bread and half-water-and-milk constituted our supper
for many nights.
In spite of these hard times I always found time to study my books.
Sometimes I borrowed books from the boys and girls who had them. We were
too poor to buy oil so I would go to the woods and get a kind of pine
that we called light-wood. This would make an excellent light and I
could study some nights until twelve o'clock. When the blackberries,
peaches, apples and plums were ripe, we fared better, as these grew wild
and we could have a plenty of them to eat. As the season came for the
corn to mature, we would sometimes make a meal of green corn. When the
corn became too hard for us to use in this way, we used to make a grater
out of an old piece of tin and would grate the corn and make meal of it
in this way until it was hard enough to go to the mill.
When the cotton picking season came on we could pick cotton for the
neighbors and in that way could have a plenty to eat. They paid fifty
cents a hundred pounds for picking cotton. I sometimes picked two
hundred pounds a day, but by picking at night, I occasionally got almost
three hundred. We children thought it great fun to go into the swamps at
night to pick cotton. We would go at seven o'clock in the evening and
spend the whole night in the cotton fields. When we got sleepy we would
lie down in the cotton row with our cotton sacks under our heads. We
would sleep a few hours and get up and begin picking again. In the
swamps at night the owls and frogs made plenty of music for us. Such was
my life for several years.
During all these years the one thing uppermost in my mind was the desire
to attend some school, but I could not see how I would ever be able to
do so. I had heard much of Talladega College, the school at Normal and
the state school at Montgomery, but board at these schools was from
seven to eight dollars per month and this had to be paid in cash. This,
of course, would keep me out, as I could never see how I could get so
much money.
It was during the month of August '87 that I first heard of Tuskegee.
There was a revival meeting going on at one of the churches at Snow
Hill. I was determined to visit this meeting. I did not have suitable
clothes, neither did I have any shoes, so my people told me that I would
not be able to attend church.
I had not been to church in seven years, and I was very anxious to hear
some preaching. Notices were sent out that on a Wednesday night a
Presiding Elder would speak. This man had the reputation of being a
great preacher. All of our people prepared early, and went to church.
When I thought the services had begun, I too went. Though I was far from
being well, I did not have much trouble in reaching there. I did not go
in, however, but went around to the rear of the church. The building was
a large, box-like cottage, and contained many cracks. One could hear as
well on the outside as on the inside. I stood directly behind the pulpit
and heard all that the preacher said.
At the close of his sermon he spoke of the school at Tuskegee, where, he
said, poor boys and girls could go without money and without price, and
work for an education. From that night I decided to go to Tuskegee.
Before the meeting closed, I returned home, and when the others got
there, I was in my place fast asleep. I wrote Mr. Washington the next
day, and he sent me a catalogue immediately.
CHAPTER 4.
LIFE AT TUSKEGEE.
In the fall of '87 I told my aunt that I wanted to go to Tuskegee the
next year, and that in addition to her little farm, I wanted to rent an
acre of land and work it for that purpose. She encouraged me in this
idea and said that she wished so much that she could do something for me
that was worth while, but she was poor and could do but little, as she
was now well advanced in years. She said, however, that she would help
me to work my patch.
About this time I learned that my brother Washington, who had been away
for a number of years, was living at Hazen, Alabama, about fifty miles
northeast of Snow Hill. He was working in the bridge-gang on a railroad
and was making good money. I learned also that my father and sister had
died several years before. Now as there were but two of us, and I was
cripple, I thought that I would write my brother and get him to help me
go to Tuskegee. So I started out for Hazen and reached there after two
days' journey on foot. My brother did not seem to care for me and gave
me no encouragement whatever. This was a sore disappointment to me and I
did not remain there more than a few days. I returned to Snow Hill very
much discouraged, but the warmth with which my old aunt greeted and
welcomed me back home, helped me much.
Soon we were all busy getting ready to plant our little farms. That year
there were four of us still living in the one room log cabin, my aunt,
her daughter, her grandson and myself. Each of us had a little farm.
About mid-summer when our provisions had given out, my aunt's daughter
and her son mortgaged their crops for something to eat, and wanted that
we should do the same, but I would not agree to do so. This, of course,
made it hard for me to get anything to eat. My cousin and her son were
perfectly willing that their mother and grandmother should share in
their provisions, but would see to it that I got none. I did not think
hard of them for this, because I felt that I had no right to what they
had. I continued to live on water and bread, and sometimes I would get a
little milk from the neighbors as I had formerly done. I asked them,
however, if I might have the water in which they boiled their vegetables
whenever they had a boiled dinner. We called this water "pot liquor." Of
course, they readily consented to this and sometimes I would get enough
of this liquor to last me two or three days. In fact, I was poorly
nourished all the time.
About this time someone came through the county selling clocks, on
condition that we pay for them later in the fall. I objected to this but
the other members of the family over-ruled my objections and the clock
was bought on the condition stated above. The clock cost $12 and each of
us agreed to pay $3.00 each. When the time came to pay for this clock no
one had any money, and so I paid what I had saved to prepare myself for
Tuskegee. I thought now that I would never get to that school as I had
spent most of my money in paying for a worthless clock. However, I
picked cotton day and night for almost two weeks, and succeeded in
making all the money back which I had spent for the clock. I was now
able to finish paying Dr. Keyser and get a few clothes and start for
Tuskegee. For a long time the people in the quarter did not believe that
I was going, and many tried to discourage me. Had it not been for my
aunt's encouraging words and sincere efforts, I believe that I could not
have overcome the efforts of others to keep me from going. When,
however, they all found that I was determined to go, they all became my
friends and each would give me a nickel or a dime to help me off.
The night before I left for Tuskegee, one of the neighbors told me that
while he did not have anything to give me, he had a contract to get a
cord of wood to the woodyard for the train by six o'clock the next
morning and if I would take his team and haul it, he would give me one
dollar for my services. I agreed to do it and at two o'clock the next
morning I was at his home hitching up the team to haul the wood. I had
to go about two miles for the wood and there was a very heavy frost that
morning. By five o'clock I had hauled the wood and had the team back to
my neighbor's home waiting for my dollar. I thought this to be the
coldest morning that I had ever experienced up to that time. I then got
my few things together and was off for school.
I reached Tuskegee the first day of '89. I found things there very
strange indeed. Hundreds of students were going to and fro. Some were
playing football, others were having band practice, and still others
were going around doing nothing, as the first day of the New Year was a
holiday. I was placed with a crowd of boys from Pensacola, Fla. I
learned afterwards that they were the roughest boys in school. They made
it very unpleasant for me, so much so that I decided to return home. In
going back to the office I met Mr. Washington for the first time. He
wanted to know why I was not satisfied, and after I told him my
troubles, he said that he would remedy them. I was deeply impressed with
him and from that day to this, I loved him as a father. He changed my
room and I found a crowd of very congenial boys.
The next ordeal through which I was to pass, was going into the
dining-room and using knives and forks, but I avoided all humiliation by
simply watching. I have made it a rule of my life to never be the first
to try new things, nor the last to lay old ones aside.
After supper, I was worried about sleeping. I had heard the boys talking
about night shirts and I knew I had none; in fact, I did not know their
purpose. So when time came to retire, one of the boys in my room who had
several, gave me one, then I was undecided just whether it was to go
over my day shirt or over my undershirt, but I did not want to ask how
it should be worn, so I decided to sit up until some one had gone to bed
and by watching him I knew I would learn just how to use mine. In this
way I came through all right. The habit of using the tooth-brush was not
so hard.
The next day the regular routine work of the school began and I was
given my examination. I took examination for the B-Middle class. This is
the second year normal. Miss Annie C. Hawley of Portland, Maine, who was
then a teacher there, gave me the examination. I made the class in all
of the subjects except grammar. Of this subject I knew absolutely
nothing. I did not know what a sentence was. I could not tell the
subject from the predicate, so I was put back two years into what is
called the A-Prep. class.
After my examination I was assigned to my work. I was placed in the tin
shop, which was then being placed as one of the industries, under Mr.
Lewis Adams. I was the first student to work in this shop, but it did
not take two days to learn that I could never be a tinsmith. Next I was
assigned to the printing office, but here too I found that I could never
become a printer; so finally, I was put on the farm and there I remained
during my whole stay at Tuskegee. The farm manager at that time, Mr. C. W.
Green, had charge of the brick-yard, poultry, dairy, landscape gardening,
horticulture, as well as the general farm and truck-farm. I worked some
in all of these departments and enjoyed my work immensely. I considered
the work in the brick-yard as being the hardest of all and that was the
only work which I could not do without suffering great pain because of
my physical condition. Still I was willing to endure suffering if by so
doing I could obtain an education.
I did not go to night school because I was given extra work, such as
keeping the clocks on the campus regulated and making fires in the
girls' buildings, and too, they had a system of electric bells which
were used for the passing of classes, and I kept these in order. In this
way I worked enough each month to pay my board and stay in day school.
Of course, I did not have, or get any money for my work, but I did not
worry about that. Miss Maggie Murray (afterwards Mrs. Washington) kept
me well supplied with clothes from the supply of second hand garments
which came to the school from northern friends.
The remainder of the time that I was at Tuskegee was spent in
practically the same way that I have already described. Many of the
students would complain about the food, but the fact that I was getting
three regular meals a day was enough for me. And too, I was now sleeping
in a bed, something that I seldom had done.
When burning bricks they would pay students cash for working at night,
and it was by this work that I got a little money now and then. It
usually takes from seven to eight days to burn a kiln of brick and
sometimes I would work every night until the kiln had been burned.
The one thing that made the deepest impression on me while at Tuskegee
was Mr. Washington's Sunday evening talks to the students. He used to
tell us that after getting our education we should return to our homes
and there help the people. He said that the people were supporting
Tuskegee in order that we might be able to help the masses of our
people. I could understand every word he said, and too, I felt always
that he was talking directly to me. These talks of Dr. Washington's
changed the course of my whole life and they are responsible for my
being at the Snow Hill School today.
It was when I reached the senior class that I came in personal touch
with Dr. Washington, as he taught that class in two or three subjects.
Here I could study him as I was never able to do before. He had a
thorough grasp upon all subjects he taught and would accept nothing but
the same from his students.
As the time was nearing for my graduation, I was deeply worried about my
Commencement suit. All of the other members of the class were sending
home for their suits or for the money with which to get them, but I knew
that my aunt was not able to help me, so I was at a loss to know where I
should get mine. Finally, I decided to write to Mr. R. O. Simpson of
Furman, Alabama, the man on whose plantation I was reared, and ask him
to loan me fifteen dollars. I prayed during the entire time it took me
to write the letter and when I had sealed it I prayed over it again. In
two days' time I had an answer with the fifteen dollars. So all of my
troubles and worries were banished and I proceeded to get ready for
Commencement. I graduated second, with a class of twenty, on May 17,
1893. Our class motto was "Deeds Not Words."
The morning of May 18th found me packing my few clothes in an old trunk
which one of the young men had given me, and getting ready to return to
Snow Hill. All the while I was thinking of what I could do to live up to
this new training which I had received at Tuskegee, and above all, how
could I make good our class motto: "Deeds Not Words." Although it has
been now well nigh 25 years since my graduation, those words still ring
in my ears: "Deeds Not Words." I should like so to live that when the
summons come for me to join Dr. Washington in the Great Beyond, these
words might be written as an epitaph on my tomb:
"DEEDS NOT WORDS."
CHAPTER 5.
RECONNOITERING.
When I returned from Tuskegee on the 19th of May, 1893, I found my old
aunt, her daughter and her grandson still living in the one-room log
cabin in which I had left them four and a half years before. Their
condition was much the same as when I left them. My first work was to
build another end, a log pen, to the one room cabin; this gave us two
rooms, something we never had before. As it was too late for me to pitch
a crop, I worked with them until their crop was clean of weeds and then
I went from farm to farm in the neighborhood, helping all the farmers
that I could. The only pay I received was three meals a day wherever I
worked. I usually worked from one to three days on each farm. All the
while I was making a close study of the people's condition. I continued
working in this way until I was convinced that I had a thorough
knowledge of their condition. I then ventured to carry the investigation
into other sections of Wilcox County and the adjoining counties. I
visited most of the places in the counties of Monroe, Butler, Dallas and
Lowndes. These constitute most of the Black Belt counties of the State.
I made the entire journey on foot.
It was a bright beautiful morning in July when I started from my home,
a log cabin. More than two hundred Negroes were in the nearby fields
plowing corn, hoeing cotton and singing those beautiful songs often
referred to as plantation melodies: "I am going to roll in my Jesus'
arms," "O, Freedom," and "Before I'd be a Slave, I'd be carried to my
Grave." With the beautiful fields of corn and cotton outstretched before
me, and the shimmering brook like a silver thread twining its way
through the golden meadows, and then through verdant fields, giving
water to thousands of creatures as it passed, I felt that the earth was
truly clothed in His beauty and the fulness of His glory.
But I had scarcely gone beyond the limits of the field when I came to a
thick undergrowth of pines. Here we saw old pieces of timber and two
posts. "This marks the old cotton-gin house," said Uncle Jim, my
companion, and then his countenance grew sad; after a sigh, he said: "I
have seen many a Negro whipped within an inch of his life at these
posts. I have seen them whipped so badly that they had to be carried
away in wagons. Many never did recover."
From this our road led first up-hill, then down, and finally through a
stretch of woods until we reached Carlowville. This was once the most
aristocratic village of the Southern part of Dallas County. Perhaps no
one who owned less than a hundred slaves was able to secure a home
within its borders. Here still are to be seen stately mansions and among
the names of the owners are those of Lyde, Lee, Wrumph, Bibb, Youngblood
and Reynolds. Many of these mansions have been partly rebuilt and
remodeled to conform to modern styles of architecture, while others
have been deserted and are now fast decaying. Usually the original
families have sold out or many have died out.
In Carlowville stands the largest white church in Dallas or Wilcox
Counties. It has a seating capacity of 1,000, excluding the balcony,
which during slavery was used exclusively for the Negroes of the
families attending.
Our stay in Carlowville was necessarily short, as the evening sun was
low and the nearest place for lodging was two miles ahead. Before
reaching this place we came to a large one-room log cabin, 30 by 36 feet
on the road-side, with a double door and three holes for windows cut in
the sides. There was no chimney nor anything to show that the room could
be heated in cold weather. This was the Hopewell Baptist Church. Here
five hundred members congregated one Sunday in each month and spent the
entire day in eating, shouting, and praising God for His goodness toward
the children of men. Here also the three months' school was taught
during the winter. A few hundred yards beyond this church brought us to
the home of a Deacon Jones. He was living in the house occupied by the
overseer of the plantation during slavery. It was customary for Deacon
Jones to care for strangers who chanced to come into the community,
especially for the preachers and teachers. So here we found rest. At
supper Deacon Jones told of the many preachers he had entertained and
their fondness for chicken.
After supper I spent some time in trying to find out the real condition
of the people in this section. Mr. Jones told me how for ten years he
had been trying to buy some land, and had been kept from it more than
once, but that he was still hopeful of getting the right deeds for the
land for which he had paid. He also told of many families who had
recently moved into this community. These newcomers had made a good
start for the year and had promising crops, but they were compelled to
mortgage their growing crops in order to get "advances" for the year.
When asked of the schools, he said that there were more than five
hundred children of school age in his township, but not more than two
hundred of these had attended school the previous winter, and most of
these for a period not longer than six weeks. He also said that the
people were very indifferent as to the necessity of schoolhouses and
churches. Quite a few who cleared a little money the previous year had
spent it all in buying whiskey, in gambling, in buying cheap jewelry,
and for other useless articles. After spending two hours in such talk, I
retired for the evening. Thus ended the first day of my search for
first-hand information.
Instead of going farther northward, we turned our course westward for
the town of Tilden, which is only eight miles west of Snow Hill. The
road from Carlowville to Tilden is somewhat hilly, but a very pleasant
one, and for miles the large oak trees formed an almost perfect arch.
On reaching Tilden we learned that there would be a union meeting of two
churches that night. I decided that this would give me an opportunity to
study the religious life of these people for myself. The members of
churches number one and number two assembled at their respective places
at eight o'clock. The members of church number two had a short praise
service and formed a line of procession to march to church number one.
All the women of the congregation had their heads bound in pieces of
white cloth, and they sang peculiar songs as they marched. When the
members of church number two were within a few hundred yards of the
church number one, the singing then alternated, and finally, when the
members of church number two came to church number one, they marched
around this church three times before entering it.
After entering the church, six sermons were preached to the two
congregations by six different ministers, and at least three of these
could not read a word in the Bible. Each minister occupied at least one
hour. Their texts were as often taken from Webster's blue-back speller
as from the Bible, and sometimes this would be held upside down. It was
about two o'clock in the morning when the services were concluded. Here,
again, we found no school-houses, and the three months' school had been
taught in one of the little churches.
The next day we started for Camden, a distance of sixteen miles. This
section between Tilden and Camden is perhaps the most fertile section of
land in the State of Alabama. Taking a southwest course from Tilden, I
crossed into Wilcox County again, where I saw acres of corn and miles of
cotton, all being cultivated by Negroes.
The evening was far advanced when we reached Camden, but having been
there before, we had no difficulty in securing lodging. Camden is the
seat of Wilcox County, and has a population of about three thousand. The
most costly buildings of the town were the courthouse and jail, and
these occupied the most conspicuous places. Here great crowds of Negroes
would gather on Saturdays to spend their earnings of the week for a fine
breakfast or dinner on the following Sunday, or for useless
trivialities.
On Saturday evenings, on the roads leading to and from Camden, as from
other towns, could be seen groups of Negroes gambling here and there,
and buying and selling whiskey. As the county had voted against
licensing whiskey-selling, this was a violation of the law, and often
the commission merchant, a Negro, was imprisoned for the offense, while
those who supplied him went free.
In Camden I found one Negro school-house; this was a box-like cottage,
20 by 16 feet, and was supposed to seat more than one hundred students.
This school, like those taught in the churches, was opened only three
months in the year.
After a two days' stay in Camden, I next visited Miller's Ferry on the
Alabama River, twelve miles west of Camden. The road from Camden is one
of the best roads in the State, and for miles and miles one could see
nothing but cotton and corn.
At Miller's Ferry a Negro school-house of ample proportions had been
built on Judge Henderson's plantation. Here the school ran several
months in the year, and the colored people in the community were
prosperous and showed a remarkable degree of intelligence. Their church
was as attractive as their school-house.
Judge Henderson was for twelve years Probate Judge of Wilcox County. He
proved to be one of the best judges this county has ever had, and even
unto this day he is admired by all, both white and black, rich and poor,
for his honesty, integrity, and high sense of justice.
From Judge Henderson's place we traveled southward to Rockwest, a
distance of more than fifteen miles. During this journey hundreds of
Negroes were seen at work in the corn and cotton fields. These people
were almost wholly ignorant, as they had neither schools nor teachers,
and their ministers were almost wholly illiterate. At Rockwest I found a
very intelligent colored man, Mr. Darrington, who had attended school at
Selma for a few years. He owned his home and ran a small grocery. He
told of the hardships with which he had to contend in building up his
business, and of the almost hopeless condition of the Negroes about
there. He said that they usually made money each year, but that they did
not know how to keep it. The merchants would induce them to buy buggies,
machines, clocks, etc., but would never encourage them to buy homes. We
were very much pleased with the reception which Mr. Darrington gave us,
and felt very much like putting into practice our State motto, "Here We
Rest," at his home, but our objective point for the day was Fatama,
sixteen miles away.
[Illustration: UNCLE CHARLES LEE AND HIS HOME IN THE BLACK BELT]
On our journey that afternoon we saw hundreds of Negro one-room log
cabins. Some of these were located in the dense swamps and some on the
hills, while others were miles away from the public road. Most of these
people had never seen a locomotive.
We reached Fatama about seven o'clock that night, and here for the first
time we were compelled to divide our crowd in order to get a night's
lodging. Each of us had to spend the night in a one-room cabin. It was my
privilege to spend the night with Uncle Jake, a jovial old man, a local
celebrity. After telling him of our weary journey, he immediately made
preparation for me to retire. This was done by cutting off my bed from
the remainder of the cabin by hanging up a sheet on a screen. While
somewhat inconvenient, my rest that night was pleasant, and the next
morning found me very much refreshed and ready for another day's
journey. Our company assembled at Uncle Jake's for breakfast, after
which we started for Pineapple.
We found the condition of the Negroes between Fatama and Pineapple much
the same as that of those we had seen the previous day. No school-house
was to be seen, but occasionally we would see a church at the
cross-roads. We reached Pineapple late in the afternoon.
From Pineapple we went to Greenville, and from Greenville to Fort
Deposit, and from Fort Deposit we returned to Snow Hill, after having
traveled a distance of 157 miles and visiting four counties.
In three of these counties there was a colored population of 42,810
between the ages of five and twenty years, and a white population of
7,608 of the same ages. The Negro school population of Wilcox and the
seven adjoining counties was 11,623. Speaking of public schools in the
sense that educators use the term, the colored people in this section
had none. Of course, there were so-called public schools here and there,
running from three to five months in the year and paying the teachers
from $7.50 to $18 per month.
Our trip through this section revealed the following facts: (1) That
while many opportunities were denied our people, they abused many
privileges; (2) that there was a colored population, in this section
visited, of more than 200,000 and a school population of 85,499; (3)
that the people were ignorant and superstitious; (4) that the teachers
and preachers for the most part, were of the same condition; (5) that
there were no public or private libraries and reading-rooms to which
they had access; (6) that, strictly speaking, there were no public
schools and only one private one. Now, what can be expected of any
people in such a condition? Can the blind lead the blind? They could not
in the days of old, and it is not likely that they can now.
CHAPTER 6.
FOUNDING THE SNOW HILL SCHOOL.
After this trip through the "Black Belt" I was more convinced than ever
before of the great need of an Industrial School in the very midst of
these people; a school that would correct the erroneous ideas the people
held of education; a school that would put most stress upon the things
which the people were most likely to have to do with through life; a
school that would endeavor to make education practical rather than
theoretical; a school that would train men and women to be good workers,
good leaders, good husbands, good wives, and finally train them to be
fit citizens of the State and proper subjects for the Kingdom of God.
With this idea the Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute was started
twenty-five years ago in an old dilapidated one-room log cabin with one
teacher and three students, with no State appropriation, and without any
church or society responsible for one dollar of its expenses. Aside from
this unfortunate state of affairs, the condition of the people was
miserable. This was due partly to poor crops and partly to bad
management on their part.
In many instances the tenants were not only unable to pay their debts,
but were also unable to pay their rents. In a few cases the landlords
had to provide at their own expense provisions for their tenants. This
was simply another way of establishing soup-houses on the plantations.
The idea of buying land was foreign to all of them, and there were not
more than twenty acres of land owned by the colored people in this whole
neighborhood. The churches and schools were practically closed, while
crime and immorality were rampant. The carrying of men and women to the
chain-gang was a frequent occurrence. These people believed that the end
of education was to free their children from manual labor.
They were much opposed to industrial education. When the school was
started, many of the parents came to school and forbade our "working"
their children, stating as their objection that their children had been
working all their lives and that they did not mean to send them to
school to learn to work. Not only did they forbid our having their
children work, but many took their children out of school rather than
allow them to do so. A good deal of this opposition was kept up by
illiterate preachers and incompetent teachers, who had not had any
particular training for their profession. In fact, ninety-eight per cent
of them had attended no school. We continued, however, to keep the
"Industrial Plank" in our platform, and year after year some industry
was added until we now have fourteen industries in constant operation.
Agriculture is the foremost and basic industry of the institution. We do
this because we are in a farming section and ninety-five per cent of the
people depend upon agriculture for a livelihood.
[Illustration: FIRST TRUSTEES OF SNOW HILL AND TWO OF THEIR WIVES]
CHAPTER 7.
SMALL BEGINNINGS.
The early years of the school were indeed trying ones. There are however
in all communities persons whose hearts are in the right place. I found
it so in this case, for while there were many who opposed the industrial
idea, there were those who stood for it and held up our arms. I refer to
that noble class of old colored men who always seek for truth. The men
who stood so loyally by me in the founding of the school were Messrs.
Frank Warren, Willis McCants, Ellis Johnson, John Thomas, Isaac Johnson,
Tom Johnson and P. J. Gaines. These men and their wives were ready at
every call. They gave suppers, fairs and picnics as well as other
entertainments to raise money for the school. Not only would they help
in the raising of money, but they would come to the school and work for
days without thinking of any pay for their work. When we got ready to
put up a new building, we would have what we called a house-raising and
would invite all the men in the neighborhood to come out and help us. On
these days the wives of these men would compete with each other to see
who could bring out the best basket.
At the end of the first school year it was clearly seen that we needed
two assistant teachers; but the question that puzzled us was, where
could they work. We had only one room and none of us had the money to
buy the lumber needed. But there was a saw-mill near by and finally I
sought work at this mill with the understanding that I would take my pay
in lumber if the people would agree to feed me. This they readily
consented to do. So I worked during May, June, July and August at the
saw-mill and took my wages in lumber. This enabled us to get sufficient
material to erect two of the rooms of our present Training Building. The
following October we opened school with three teachers and 150 students.
These two teachers had graduated at Tuskegee with me in '93. They were
Misses Ophelia Clopton and Rosa Bradford. They spent four years in the
work here and we never had two teachers who did more for the old people
in the community and who were loved more by them.
In the fall of '95 Mr. Barnes, who was also a member of the class of
'93, joined us, and has been connected with the school since then except
for two years which he spent in Boston.
In the fall of '96 another one of our class-mates, Julius Webster, a
carpenter, joined in our work here. We now had five teachers, all of
Tuskegee and all class-mates. I can never forget these old people and
these early teachers, for we all shared our many sorrows and our few
joys. No work was too hard for us and no sacrifice was too great.
Another Tuskegee student was with us almost from the beginning. While
Mr. Rivers did not graduate from the Academic Department at Tuskegee, he
finished his trade, Agriculture, there. Mr. Rivers has had charge of
our farm off and on since '95. I should say to his credit that he is in
charge today and last year he made the best crop the school has ever
made.
Thus far, I have spoken of the assistance given me by the colored people
and teachers, but no chapter about the founding of Snow Hill Institute
would be complete without a mention of Mr. R. O. Simpson, the white man
on whose plantation I was reared. Mr. Simpson must have known me from my
birth. I well remember that in '78 and '79 he used to stop by to see my
old grandmother when riding over his plantation. I think that my
grandmother prepared meals for him on some of these visits to the
plantation. I also remember that after the death of grandmother, when I
was sick and living with my aunt Rina, some days he would see me lying
on the roadside and would toss me a coin.
On my return from Tuskegee I found Mr. Simpson deeply interested in the
welfare of my people; in fact, it seemed as if he was looking for some
one to start an industrial school upon his place. We had many talks
together. When he found out that I had returned to cast my lot with my
people, he seemed highly pleased and said that he would give a few acres
for the school if I thought I could use it to advantage. I decided that
this was my opportunity and told him that I could. He first gave seven
acres, and then thirty-three, and finally sixty more, making in all one
hundred acres that he gave the school. In later years we bought one-half
of his plantation, making in all nearly two thousand acres. While all of
the white people in Snow Hill have been friendly towards the work, I
have found Mr. Simpson and his entire family to be our particular
friends and I have yet to go to them for a favor and be refused.
One of the cardinal points in Dr. Washington's Sunday evening talks to
the students and teachers at Tuskegee was that they should buy homes of
their own. I felt that the best way to teach the people to get a home
was for me to own one myself. I thought that it would be useless for me
to talk to them about buying homes as long as I did not have one for
myself, so I secured a home.
After the school was thoroughly planted and I had bought and paid for my
home, we began to encourage the people to buy homes. This was done
through several agencies, the Negro Farmers Conference, the Workers
Conference and the Black-Belt Improvement Society. The aim of this
Society is clearly set forth in its constitution, a part of which is as
follows:
(1) This society shall be known as the Black Belt Improvement Society.
Its object shall be the general uplift of the people of the Black Belt
of Alabama; to make them better morally, mentally, spiritually, and
financially.
(2) It shall further be the object of the Black Belt Improvement Society
as far as possible, to eliminate the credit system from our social
fabric; to stimulate in all members the desire to raise, as far as
possible, all their food supplies at home, and pay cash for whatever may
be purchased at the stores.
(3) To bring about a system of co-operation in the purchase of what
supplies cannot be raised at home wherever it can be done to advantage.
(4) To discuss topics of interest to the communities in which the
various societies may be organized, and topics relating to the general
welfare of the race, and especially to farmers.
(5) To teach the people to practice the strictest economy, and
especially to obtain and diffuse such information among farmers as shall
lead to the improvement and diversification of crops, in order to create
in farmers a desire for homes and better home conditions, and to
stimulate a love for labor in both old and young. Each local
organization may offer small prizes for the cleanest and best-kept
house, the best pea-patch, and the best ear of corn, etc.
(6) To aid each other in sickness and in death; for this purpose a fee
of ten cents will be collected from each member every month and held
sacred to be used for no other purpose whatever.
(7) It shall be one of the great objects of this society to stimulate
its members to acquire homes, and urge those who already possess homes
to improve and beautify them.
(8) To urge our members to purchase only the things that are absolutely
necessary.
(9) To exert our every effort to obliterate those evils which tend to
destroy our character and our homes, such as intemperance, gambling, and
social impurity.
(10) To refrain from spending money and time foolishly or in
unprofitable ways; to take an interest in the care of our highways, in
the paying of our taxes and the education of our children; to plant
shade trees, repair our yard fences, and in general, as far as
possible, bring our home life up to the highest standard of
civilization.
This Society has standing committees on Government, on Education, on
Business, on Housekeeping, on Labor, and on Farming. The chairman of
each of these committees holds monthly meetings in the various
communities, at which time various topics pertaining to the welfare and
uplift of the people are discussed. As a result of these meetings the
people return to their homes with new inspiration. The meetings are
doing good in the communities where they are being held, and our sincere
hope is that such meetings may be extended. It is the aim of the school
and of its several organizations, to reach the ills that most retard the
Negroes of the rural South. The articles of our simple constitution go
to the very bottom of the conditions.
Thus it will be seen that the work of the class-room is only a small
part of what we are trying to do for the uplift of the Negro people in
the Black Belt.
CHAPTER 8.
CAMPAIGNING FOR FUNDS IN THE NORTH.
The matter of raising money for undenominational schools in the South is
no easy task, and right here I ought to state just why I preferred to
have such a school. Our people in the rural South are mostly Baptists
and Methodists, and of course the denominations have their schools,
located in certain cities. While no one is barred from these schools, it
is a fact that undue influence is exerted upon the pupils to make them
become members of the church that supports the school. This is not only
true of the Methodist and Baptist schools, but is also true of all
denominational schools in the South. I did not like that and our people
do not like to have any one influence their children to join churches
other than the one of their choice. We may shut our eyes to this truth,
but the fact remains that Methodists do not want their children to be
persuaded to join some other church, neither do the Baptists want theirs
taken away from them.
Now, I wanted that my school should be free from such "isms." I wanted a
school for all the Negroes, thoroughly religious in its spirit, but
entirely undenominational. For twenty-five years now we have adhered
strictly to this policy. Many times when all was dark and there seemed
to be no way, some of these denominations would come and offer me the
money to run the work, provided I would accept their faith. But this I
have never done, I had rather that the work should die than to sell my
principle for money. I repeat that raising money for such a school is a
hard task. I have never been particularly interested as to the choice of
the church that my students make, but I have been profoundly interested
in their finding salvation.
A great many people to whom I appeal for aid from time to time, tell me
that they give all their alms through their church. But in spite of all
this, I feel that the kind of schools most needed for our people, should
be broad and not narrow, deep and not shallow.
After winning the approval of the people in the community, both black
and white, and getting whatever help I could from them, my thoughts
turned towards the North for means to run the work. My first attempt was
in March, '97. I got as far as Washington, D. C., and saw the
Inauguration of President McKinley, and then I returned home.
The following June Dr. Washington wrote me to come to Tuskegee so as to
accompany the Tuskegee Quartet North that summer. It must not be
understood that I was one of the singers; that was not my good fortune.
I was to tell what Tuskegee had done for me and was to show in turn what
I was trying to do for my people. Dr. Washington reasoned in this way I
would have a chance to meet some of the best people of the country and
thereby gain support for my work. There was to be no collection taken
for Snow Hill, but those who became interested would often come up
after the meetings and give me something for my work.
We left Tuskegee about the first of July. We spent most of the month of
July in the southeastern part of Massachusetts, known as the Cape and
South Shore. We had meetings at most of the churches and resorts in that
section. Dr. Washington himself met us at the most prominent places.
In August we came to Boston and from there went up the North Shore. This
was my first visit to Boston and it was here that I met Miss Susan D.
Messinger and her brother William S. Messinger. Their home was at 81
Walnut Avenue, Roxbury, Mass. Miss Messinger had been an abolitionist.
Both she and her brother were deeply interested in the welfare of my
people. They listened attentively to my story and from that day became
my best friends.
Although I have been going North now for twenty years, I have never met
such welcome as was shown me at their home. I think I have never met
such Christ-like people anywhere. It was largely through Miss
Messinger's appeals in the "Transcript" that the people of Boston and
New England learned of our work at the Snow Hill Institute. Through her
appeals from time to time, we raised much money for our school. I
cannot, in words, express the valuable aid these people gave us in our
work. Sometimes when I had worked hard all day with poor results, I
would go to their home in the evening discouraged and low-spirited, but
would always find there a hearty welcome and a word of cheer. I would
always leave with new zeal and fresh courage. Their home has been to me
a home now for twenty years and although they are now dead, I never go
to Boston but that I find time to go out to Mt. Auburn and put a fresh
flower on their graves. The old home is lonely now, but the Messinger
spirit still abides there in the person of Mr. Reed, their nephew. I
still receive from him the hearty welcome and support that they used to
give in days of old.
Another friend whom I met that summer was Mrs. J. S. Howe of Brookline
(now Mrs. Herman F. Vickery). She became interested in our work through
Miss Messinger and from that time to this her interest has steadily
grown. Had it not been for the encouragement and aid received from the
Messingers and Mrs. Howe on this trip, I am sure that I should have
given up the struggle.
After leaving Boston, the Tuskegee singers went up the North Shore and
on to the Isles of Shoals. There we had a very good meeting, and as Mr.
Washington could not be present, I was the principal speaker. The people
were greatly interested in what I said and although we took up a good
collection for Tuskegee, my private collection was equally large. This
the leader of the quartet did not like. It was the duty of this man who
was a teacher at Tuskegee, to speak as well as myself, but for some
reason he did not like to do it and would always shirk it when he could.
But after this meeting he cut off my support and when we reached
Portsmouth, he told me that I was dividing the interest and that he
could not use me further on that trip. Of course, what little money I
had been getting I had sent to the school, so I was almost penniless
when he turned me off. I ought to say, however, that he gave me my fare
back to Boston. I reached Boston that night about eight o'clock with no
money and nowhere to go, but finally, I went to the place where we had
stopped when the quartet was in Boston and I found R. W. Taylor, who at
the time was financial agent in the North for Tuskegee. He saw that I
was discouraged and insisted that I tell him why I had come back to
Boston. When he had learned the facts he told his landlady to provide
lodging and board for me at his expense until I could do better.
It was some time before Dr. Washington found out that I was not with the
quartet, and as soon as he knew it, he wrote me to meet him at Lake
Mohonk, N. Y. When the leader of the quartet found out that I was to be
at Lake Mohonk, he tried to interfere so as to prohibit my going there,
but when Dr. Washington said a thing, it had to be done, and I went to
Lake Mohonk and I met the quartet again; also Dr. Washington. We had a
great meeting at Lake Mohonk and after the meeting Mr. and Mrs. S. P.
Avery, who were guests there, gave me $200. From here we returned South
and reached Tuskegee about the first of September. From there I returned
to Snow Hill.
My trip North during the summer of '98 was very much saddened by the
illness and death of my aunt Rina Rivers, whom I had learned to love as
a mother, and to whom I always feel that I owe my life, for had it not
been for the care she gave me during my sickness, I could not have stood
the ordeal. Her death came while I was in Boston and without sufficient
funds to take me either to her bed-side or to her funeral. This incident
in my life has always been a cause for deep sorrow and as the years go
by I feel it more keenly. I had always hoped that she could have lived
until I could make her life happy, but this pleasure has been forever
denied me. However she left behind four daughters and many grandchildren
and I have tried to be unusually kind to them because of my great love
for their mother and grandmother. Again this was a hard year because of
the Spanish War and the consequent excitement.
I returned to Snow Hill early in the fall, cast down, but not destroyed.
I had to adjust myself to the loss of my best earthly friend. In the
meantime, our enrollment was constantly increasing and new teachers and
industries were being added from year to year.
My campaign in the North during the summer of 1899 was made alone, just
as the previous one had been. I got much needed experience during this
summer.
In this house-to-house campaign for money, one must expect many rebuffs,
but on the other hand one meets some of the finest people that have ever
lived. I find, however, that as I grow older the strain is harder. I
don't think that I am a very successful money raiser. However, on April
5th, 1906, at the 25th anniversary of Tuskegee, I delivered an address
that interested Mr. Andrew Carnegie and he gave the Snow Hill Institute
ten thousand dollars. (See Appendix.)
[Illustration: PARTIAL VIEW OF SNOW HILL INSTITUTE]
CHAPTER 9.
RESULTS.
In the preceding chapters I have tried in a plain and practical way to
tell the story of my life and struggle for twenty-five years. I now
purpose to tell some results of this effort.
We started our work with no land, no building, and no assurance of any
support from any source. In fact, we rented an old log cabin in which to
begin our work. On the first day of opening, we had one teacher, three
pupils and fifty cents in money, a pretty small capital with which to
build a Normal and Industrial Institute. As I now look back on this
early adventure of mine, I am amazed at the undertaking. Although
penniless and almost without a place to rest my head, I had an abundance
of hope and great faith in God. These have always been my greatest
assets in this work. The people in the community were equally poor; not
more than ten acres of land were owned by the colored people within a
radius of ten miles, and there was even a mortgage on these ten acres.
The homes of the people consisted chiefly of one-room and two-room log
cabins. There was not a single glass window to be found. I remember that
shortly after the founding of the school a Negro built a house and
fitted it up with glass windows and people would go ten miles to see
it.
The economic condition of the people was deplorable. They all carried
heavy mortgages from year to year. These mortgages ranged all the way
from $100 to $1500. The people were thoroughly discouraged, and
seemingly had lost all hopes. Everywhere in their religious services,
they sang this song: "You may have all the world, but give me Jesus."
The white man was taking them at their word and giving them all of
Jesus, but none of the world. So disheartened were the people that when
Mr. Simpson offered to give us the first seven acres of land for the
school, many tried to prevail with him not to do so, saying that they
did not want any land. But as I have said, you can always find in any
place a few of our people whose hearts are in the right place; it was so
in this instance; a few of the old men were very stanch friends,--they
stood by me in this fight and we won. Such was the condition of the
people here twenty-five years ago.
Now how changed are these conditions? From the rented log cabin the
school has grown until we have at present, to be exact, 1940 acres of
land and twenty-four buildings, counting large and small. It enrolls
each year between three and four hundred students, teaches fourteen
trades, putting most stress on agriculture. The entire property is
valued upwards of $125,000 and is deeded to a Board of Trustees.
But the worth of an institution is not judged by houses and land, but by
its ability to serve the people among whom it is located. It has never
been our end to acquire houses, land and industries, these we have used
as means of enabling us to accomplish our end, which was and still is
to seek and to save that which was lost. For twenty-five years then we
have been here, seeking lost boys, lost girls, lost men and lost women.
We have tolled our bells that they might hear, and preached the gospel
of work in order that they might understand; we have used the church,
the Sunday-School, Bible classes and other religious societies that they
might feel; the class-rooms that they might know; the shops and farms
that they might handle and do. And so all of our material acquisitions
have been used to drive home one great end; social service, better men
and better women.
Now how well we have accomplished this end may be seen from the
following: Counting those who have finished the course of study and
others who have remained at the school long enough to catch its spirit
and be influenced by its teaching, we have sent out into various parts
of the South more than a thousand young men and women who are today
leading useful and helpful lives. They are farmers, blacksmiths,
wheelwrights, carpenters, housekeepers, dressmakers, printers, railway
postal clerks, letter carriers, teachers, preachers, domestic servants,
insurance agents, doctors, expressmen, contractors, timber-inspectors,
college students. In fact, they are to be found in every vocation known
to the South. Many of these young people have bought farms and homes of
their own, have erected neat and comfortable cottages; have influenced
their neighbors to buy land, to build better homes, better churches and
better school-houses. They have also been instrumental in securing a
higher type of teachers and preachers. They make a special effort
always to cultivate a friendly relation between the two races. In this
particular they have been remarkably successful. I shall speak more
directly about their work under the chapter on Graduates.
Perhaps I can in no way better show the effects of the school upon the
immediate community than by referring to an address given by me and
quoted in the appendix of this book.
It is the custom at Tuskegee to have each class reassemble at the school
twenty years after graduation. Some one of the class is chosen by the
school, to represent the class and is placed on the Commencement
program. It fell my lot to represent my class on this occasion.
Of course at the anniversary of each class, that class is expected to
make a donation to the school. Although this had been the custom for
several years, the class donations very seldom amounted to more than
$100. Sometimes they were as small as $25.00 or less. Somehow I have
always felt that the graduates of Tuskegee owed that institution a debt
of gratitude which they can never pay, and thought that they should make
the class anniversaries mean something more substantial to the school
than they had meant. So long before our time came, I wrote the members
of my class telling them that it should be our aim to give Tuskegee
$1000 at our Anniversary. They readily agreed with me and the class set
itself to the task of raising the $1000. This was done because we felt
that the time had come for the graduates to give more substantial aid to
their Alma-Mater, and as a stimulus to those who are to follow. I think
in a small way it has served that purpose, because these class
anniversary donations have never been less than $500 since that date.
[Illustration: A NEWER TYPE OF HOME IN THE BLACK BELT]
I think of all the talks I have ever made, none have given me the real
joy that this one gave. I feel that this was true for the reason that
this was a giving talk rather than a receiving one. The address is also
given in the appendix.
CHAPTER 10.
ORIGIN OF THE JEANES FUND.
In the fall of 1902 I received a letter from Dr. Washington requesting
me to speak at a meeting in Philadelphia in the interest of Tuskegee.
Miss Cornelia Bowen, also a graduate of Tuskegee, was asked to speak at
the same meeting. We both accepted. During my stay in the city Mr. Henry
C. Davis, a trustee of Tuskegee at the time, gave me a letter of
introduction to Miss Anna T. Jeanes, a wealthy woman who seldom gave to
schools as large as Tuskegee and Hampton, but who would, in all
probability, be interested in my school.
In going to Miss Jeanes's home on Arch Street I had many apprehensions
but I found her very cordial and deeply interested in the welfare of my
people. I told her of my struggle to get an education and how, after
finishing at Tuskegee I had returned to my home in Alabama. I described
the condition of the public schools in the rural districts. She gave
keen interest to this part of my story. Finally, she asked me if I was
aiming to build a large school such as Tuskegee or Hampton. I told her
that I had no such idea; that I only wanted to build a school that could
properly care for three or four hundred students, and try as best I
could to help the little schools throughout that section. When I
returned to Snow Hill I found a check from her for five thousand dollars
for the work at Snow Hill.
Each year after this Miss Jeanes gave me from $300 to $2000 for the work
at Snow Hill. Finally, in the fall of 1906 when she had moved to the
home in Germantown which she had established for the aged, I called to
see her. She was then ill and although the nurse said that I could not
see her, after my card had been taken to her, she sent for me. She was
quite feeble, but said to me: "I have been deeply interested in what
thee has been telling me all these years about the little schools. I
would give largely to them if thee thinks that thee could get Dr.
Washington or Dr. Frissell to come to see me." I am sure she was
thinking of the large experience of those men. She said also that she
thought if she would make such a gift as she contemplated, it might
induce other great philanthropists to do as much.
At my suggestion Dr. Washington visited Miss Jeanes who gave $11,000
each to Dr. Washington and Dr. Frissell to be used as they thought best
for the small schools.
I am positive that the Jeanes Fund originated in this way, and I am
proud of the part that I had in this affair and that so many Negro
children can be helped by the fund that is destined to do so much for
the elevation of our people in this country.
CHAPTER 11.
APPRECIATION.
In building up an institution such as we have done at Snow Hill, no one
man is entitled to all the credit. On the contrary, it is impossible to
name all to whom credit is due. We can only speak of those who have been
closely allied with us and whose work has been prominent in the building
of the institution. Perhaps of these, the Trustees come first. We could
never have gone on with the work from year to year without their aid and
assistance.
Without Mr. R. O. Simpson there could not have been any Snow Hill
Institute. We might have built a similar school elsewhere, but we could
not have built it at Snow Hill. Mr. Simpson gave the first site for the
school and from the start has been one of our best friends. He stood for
Negro Education when it was unpopular for him to do so. He allied
himself with this cause, at the risk of being ostracised by other white
people. Because of his firm stand, most of the white people in this
section have been won over to his way of thinking, and now there is
scarcely if any opposition hereabouts to the Snow Hill Institute.
Mr. R. O. Simpson is one of the noblest men that I have ever met, North
or South. He is absolutely free from all racial and petty prejudice that
we so often find in the average man of today. I feel safe in saying
that he is living at least fifty years ahead of his time. The things
that he stands for and have been fighting for, for thirty years, are
coming more and more to pass, and although it seems hard for the present
generation to accept them, they must be accepted if we would make the
world safe for Democracy. He is a true patriot, a true democrat, and a
zealous Christian gentleman. Mr. Simpson has a family of five children,
three sons and two daughters, all of whom possess his spirit to a large
degree.
I first met Rev. R. C. Bedford at Tuskegee while I was there in school.
I loved him from the first time I saw him and I feel that this was
because of his deep and sincere interest in our people. Until I met Mr.
Bedford, I had always distrusted the white man and thought it was
impossible for any white man to be free from race prejudice. After my
graduation at Tuskegee, as I said before, I returned to Snow Hill and
seeing that Mr. Bedford and Mr. Simpson had something in common,
arranged to have Mr. Bedford come to Snow Hill and meet Mr. Simpson.
Their meeting resembled that of Jonathan and David, and I believe their
friendship was equally great. It continued until Mr. Bedford's death.
Mr. Bedford was one man who understood what it was to build up an
institution from nothing. He knew the hardships one had to undergo to
meet bills when there was no money appropriated for these bills. He knew
what it was to make brick without straw. Ofttimes when the burden was
heavy and the yoke rough, it was the encouraging words from Mr. Bedford
that gave me strength and courage to continue. While his particular
mission was to look after the Tuskegee schools, he loved every good work
and would always lend a hand to a good cause. He was thoroughly imbued
with the Christ-spirit.
I cannot express in words the great debt of gratitude that I owe the
immortal Booker T. Washington, for I owe all to him. It was he who
changed my view of life. He changed me from the visionary to the
substantial, from the shadow to the substance, from the artificial to
the real, and from words to deeds. Dr. Washington became a trustee of
Snow Hill Institute from its beginning and remained as such until his
death. He made three visits to Snow Hill, the last being November 18th,
1914. Dr. Washington always did what he could to help us in our work. He
seemed to appreciate the efforts that we were putting forth to uplift
our people. He could sympathize with us; he could understand that an
institution that had no permanent support, but had to depend upon the
efforts of one man to raise money, could not be perfect, and many things
were not as well as they should be. Dr. Washington could sympathize with
us because he knew what it was. He had borne the burden in the heat of
the day. But I find that persons who have done nothing themselves, but
have lived as parasites most of their days, are much more critical than
Dr. Washington ever could be. Sometimes I am asked to what I attribute
Dr. Washington's success in life. My answer to this question has always
been the same: to his spirit and simplicity. He possessed in a very
large degree, the spirit and simplicity of the Master. He never struck
back. He always sought to do good to those who would do evil to him. He
was meek and lowly of heart, and I know that he has found rest for his
soul.
There are other trustees who have played a prominent part in the
development of the work here, among whom may be mentioned Mr. James H.
Post, Rev. Henry Wilder Foote, Prof. William Howell Reed and Mr. William
H. Baldwin, 3rd. The trustees are now taking a more active part in the
work than ever before. This is their bounden duty, because the school is
theirs, not mine.
Next to the Trustees, the officers and teachers have played a prominent
part in the work here. My classmate, Henry A. Barnes, has been treasurer
of the school for twenty-three years, which period of service is, in
itself, a tribute to his faithfulness. Mr. Barnes not only does the work
of treasurer, but is also Acting Principal during my absence from the
school, and under him the work of the school continues with little or no
interruption while I am away. What Mr. Barnes has been to the Financial
Department, Mr. R. A. Daly has been to our Industries. I consider Mr.
Daly the best Industrial man that we can have.
The Academic Department has been developed under the management of
Messrs. Whitehead and Handy, and it stands well in comparison with that
of other similar schools in the State.
I cannot overestimate the value of the conscientious work done by my
secretaries during all these years. Miss Rebecca Savage (now Mrs. R. V.
Cooke) served in this capacity for fourteen years and Miss O. H.
Williamson has served one way or another for five years. Much of the
office work and responsibility fall upon the secretaries and this
responsibility they have borne without complaint. Sometimes we have been
compelled to work night and day, but they have always been willing to
serve. Not only have the officers been willing to serve, but the rank
and file of our teachers have shown the same spirit of willingness from
year to year. Sometimes they would get their pay promptly and at other
times they would have to wait for months, but always they have been
willing to do what they could to cheer and help me in the darkest hour
of the struggle. I believe that the spirit of the officers and teachers
of Snow Hill Institute is: "Not to be ministered unto, but to minister."
Aside from Trustees, officers and teachers, there is that great cloud of
witnesses which no man can number, who have helped by their aid, their
words of cheer and their presence from time to time. These are in all
parts of the country, but principally in the North and East. How shall
we thank them for what they have been to us? We cannot do it by words,
because there are no words that could adequately express our deep sense
of gratitude to this host of friends. We must, therefore, be contented
to show them by our acts and deeds that we are ever mindful of their
help and that each day we are striving more and more to make ourselves
and our work worthy of their aid and encouragement. Among this cloud of
witnesses are some of the best people that God has ever made. They deem
it a privilege to give and to help the lowly.
[Illustration: TYPICAL LOG CABIN IN THE BLACK BELT]
[Illustration: HOME OF A SNOW HILL GRADUATE]
In speaking of our debt of gratitude to the forces that have helped in
building up our work here, we must not overlook the press. There are
certain great papers in this country that have been fearless in their
advocacy of right and justice to the Negro, and have always opened their
columns to any cause that has for its end the uplift of the lowly. Among
these may be mentioned especially _The New York Evening Post_, _The
Boston Transcript_, _The Springfield Republican_, _The Hartford
Courant_, and in the South _The Montgomery Advertiser_.
One also receives much aid and encouragement from those who are in
similar work. It has been my good fortune to meet in the North from time
to time with those who have similar work as mine. In this way I have met
most of the Principals of Southern Schools. Perhaps Mr. W. H. Holtzclaw
of Utica, Mississippi, comes first in this class. This is true, because
I have known him the longest. I first met him in Tuskegee in the early
nineties, when we both were in school there. His life was similar to
mine, as we both had a very hard time in trying to get an education. I
became interested in him there and when he finished I took him to work
with me at Snow Hill. It was at Snow Hill that he met and married Miss
Mary Ella Patterson, one of our teachers. They remained with us at Snow
Hill four years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Holtzclaw have always seemed more
like my relatives than like friends. Some of Mr. Holtzclaw's best
teachers today are graduates of Snow Hill Institute. I have always been
deeply interested in the welfare of Utica for it is in reality an
outgrowth of Snow Hill.
Other Principals whom I meet occasionally, are President Battle of
Okolona, Mississippi, where a number of our graduates have worked. I
have found Mr. Battle interested in the general cause of Negro
Education, and too, we found in our case that the cause is the same. I
have had occasion to ask Mr. Battle just how our graduates measure up
with his other teachers, and he tells me that Snow Hill graduates are
among his best helpers. By this I know that in deeds, not words, we are
making good.
Another most interesting character whom I always meet on my tours North
is Mr. Frank P. Chisholm, Financial Secretary of Tuskegee Institute. I
have been knowing Mr. Chisholm for a great many years. We have attended
the Summer School at Harvard several summers together and it has been
both a pleasure and benefit to me to be associated with him in this way.
Although working directly for Tuskegee, he has always been willing to
speak a word for Snow Hill wherever the opportunity presented itself. I
have obtained many suggestions from Mr. Chisholm which have been very
beneficial to me in my work here. I consider Mr. Chisholm a
representative type of the new Negro of to-day. He is a brilliant
scholar, a clear thinker, and is doing a very effective work for
Tuskegee.
Others with whom I come in contact on such trips are Principal Hunt of
Fort Valley, Ga.; Principal Minafee of Denmark, S. C.; Principal Long of
Christianburg, Va. These young men and many others are doing a greater
work than they know, and all possess in a smaller or larger degree the
spirit of dear old Tuskegee. They are all preaching the gospel of
Service.
CHAPTER 12.
GRADUATES AND EX-STUDENTS.
Prof. Bagley in his "Classroom Management," page 225, has the following
to say in "Testing Results":
"The ultimate test of efficiency of efforts is the result of effort.
Unhappily this test is seldom applied to the work of teaching. We judge
the teacher by the process rather than by the product, and we introduce
a number of extraneous criteria to hide the absence of a real criterion.
We watch the way in which he conducts a recitation, how many slips he
makes in his diction and syntax, inspect his personal appearance, ask of
what school he is a graduate and how many degrees he possesses, inquire
into his moral character, determine his church membership, and judge him
to be a good or a poor teacher according to our findings. All of these
queries may have their place in the estimation of any teacher's worth,
but they do not strike the most salient, the most vital, point at issue.
That point is simply this: Does he 'make good' in results? Does he do
the thing that he sets out to do, and does he do it well?"
I agree wholly with Prof. Bagley in this particular and on these grounds
we are willing to stand or fall by the results of our graduates.
Speaking of our graduates and ex-students, I wish to point to the life
and work of a few written by their own hands because in these particular
cases I can testify to the truth of every word they say, having known
them from early childhood. Their record follows and they speak for
themselves:
"I was born in Snow Hill, Wilcox County, Alabama, about 30 years ago. I
was the 14th child of a family of 17. My father was a very prosperous
farmer and believed in educating his children. Each year he would send
them by twos off to schools, such as Talladega, Tuskegee and Normal,
Alabama. Some of the older children, however, did not take advantage of
the great opportunity they had. He spent his money lavishly on them and
about the time I was large enough to go off to school, he was not as
prosperous. As soon as I was old enough he kept me in the public and
sometimes private schools, both summer and winter. Yet, he had promised
to send the remainder of us off to school. Fortunately for us, however,
Snow Hill Institute had been established by Mr. W. J. Edwards, and my
father being very much impressed with Mr. Edwards and his teachers,
consulted him about entering three children, I being the youngest. Mr.
Edwards kindly consented and we were at once put in school there. I was
also fond of music and after learning that Snow Hill Institute had such
an efficient music teacher, I was very much pleased to attend school
there. So in the year of 1900 I entered. I was enabled to develop my
musical talent to the extent that I was selected to play for my home
church, and that inspired other students to attend Snow Hill Institute.
"During my first year in school there I was undecided as to just what I
was going to follow as a trade. I worked awhile in the sewing room then
in the laundry--was also interested in cooking and took special lessons
in cooking under Miss Mabry. In fact, I studied cooking the first two
years. Finally, in my senior year, Miss C. V. Johnson, then Secretary to
Mr. Edwards, asked me to clean the offices of mornings for her and work
with her on my work days. I began this work and would watch her using
the typewriter so much until I fully decided that I wanted to make an
efficient secretary for someone, and began working to that end. On my
work days she would have me copying letters with ink. I would be careful
not to make a mistake. During the time I was working in the office, Mr.
Edwards would often send me on errands and tell me to see how quickly I
could go and come. He seemed to have been very much impressed with my
work as a student in both the Academic and Industrial departments. There
were several prize contests given my class by different teachers, and I
won each prize. This was in the Academic department. There were twelve
members in the class. Mr. Edwards had the members of my class to write
some friends of the school for scholarships (this being the request of
the friends) and of the two persons that received favorable answers, I
was one. During the whole time I was in school I did not receive one
demerit, or a black mark. Our teachers seemed perfect, and it was a
pleasure for me to try to please them.
"In the year 1903 I graduated from the institution with a splendid grasp
of all that the school stood for and in favor with all of my teachers
and friends. Mr. Edwards, knowing my ability to do things as I was
instructed, employed me to work in his office as clerk. I then put forth
more strenuous efforts to do efficient work and would try to improve
myself along that particular line of work. So in the summer of 1905 I
attended school at Cheyney, Pa., taking a special course in English,
typewriting and shorthand. I did my best to give satisfaction in my
work.
"In the year 1909 I was made Private Secretary to Mr. Edwards and a
member of the Executive Council. I still had a desire to make further
improvement, and in the summer of 1911, I attended Comer's Commercial
College in Boston, Mass., trying to become more efficient in the work
that was assigned to my hands. Principal Edwards would have to be away
from the school most of the time soliciting means to carry on the work,
but I tried to not leave a stone unturned in accomplishing the work he
left behind. Snow Hill Institute succeeded in inculcating into my life a
love for work, and I am not satisfied unless I have some work to do.
"I worked for Mr. Edwards untiringly until October, 1917. I was married,
however, in July, 1917. I have often wondered where my lot would have
been cast had there been no Snow Hill Institute."
"I was born of ex-slave parents on the Calhoun plantation in Dallas
County, Alabama. I am not quite sure of the exact date of my birth, but
at any rate, as nearly as I have been able to learn, I was born near the
village called Richmond, in the month of May, 1883. My life had its
beginning under the most difficult circumstances. This was so, however,
not because of any wilful neglect on the part of my parents, but as
ex-slaves they naturally knew but little as to the providing for the
maintenance of their family and home. I was born in a one-room log cabin
about 14 x 15 feet square. In this cabin I lived with my mother, father
and the other eight sisters and brothers until providentially I found an
opportunity to enter school at Snow Hill Institute, Snow Hill, Alabama.
"I went to Snow Hill in the year of 1896, and there remained for eight
years receiving instruction at the hand of a loyal band of
self-sacrificing teachers, who not only taught me how to read, write and
to cipher, but in addition they taught me lessons of thrift and industry
which have proven to be the main saving point in my life.
"I completed the prescribed course of study at the Snow Hill Institute
in 1904 and returned home as I had resolved to do, before entering
school there, for the purpose of helping the people of my home
community.
"The Street Manual Training School (Incorporated) at Richmond, Dallas
County, Alabama, was started in 1904 with one teacher, fifteen pupils
and no money. Since that time it has grown to the point where it now has
thirty acres of land, four buildings, and an enrollment of three hundred
pupils. The entire property is valued at fifteen thousand dollars
($15,000) and deeded to a board of Trustees. Among the members of this
board are: Mr. J. D. Alison, President, Mrs. Edwin D. Mead, the Rev. Mr.
Emmanuel M. Brown, Mr. Wm. D. Brigham, Mr. Walter Powers, Mr. Edwin W.
Lambert, Mr. W. J. Edwards, Mrs. Francis Carr and Mr. Henry A. Barnes.
"This school is training some three hundred Negro children between the
ages of six and eighteen years in the practical arts necessary to enable
them to make an earnest, comfortable living. There is no attempt made to
teach them foreign languages, either dead or living; but they are well
grounded in the English language. They do not study higher mathematics,
but they learn simple arithmetic. They spend no time on psychology,
economics, sociology, or logic; their time is taken up trying to raise
crops, to manage a small farm, to cook and to sew."
SKETCH OF MY LIFE.
"I was born in Snow Hill, Wilcox County, Alabama, December 24th, 1883.
My parents were Emanuel and Emma McDuffie. I was brought up under the
most adverse conditions. My father died about six months before my
birth, thus leaving my mother with the care of seven children. As I had
never seen my father, I was often referred to by the other children of
the community, as the son of "none." In July, 1893, my mother died and
the burden of caring for the children then fell upon my old grandmother,
who was known throughout the community as "Aunt" Polly. In order to help
secure food and clothing for myself and the rest of the family, I was
compelled to plow an ox on a farm and as we usually made from four to
five bales of cotton and 40 and 50 bushels of corn each year, she was
looked upon as a great farmer. When I was fifteen years of age, my
grandmother was called to her heavenly rest, thus leaving a house full
of children to shift for themselves. After her death I became interested
in education and immediately applied for admittance to Snow Hill Normal
and Industrial Institute, which had recently been established. I was
admitted as a work student, working all day and attending school about
two hours and a half at night. Until I entered Snow Hill Institute, I
had a very vague idea about life as it pertained to the Negro. In fact,
up until that time, I was of the opinion that the Negro had no business
being anything; but after entering the school and being surrounded by a
different atmosphere and seeing what had already been accomplished by
Mr. Edwards, I soon realized that the Negro had as much right to life
and liberty as any other man.
"While it was great joy for me to be in school, I was woefully
unprepared to remain there. Really, I am unable to tell the many
obstacles that confronted me while in school. But one of my many
difficulties was to get sufficient clothing, for when I entered, I had
on all that I possessed and day after day I wore what I had until
finally they got beyond mending. The teachers at Snow Hill were just as
they are now, extremely hard against dirt and filth. As I only had one
suit of underwear and as we were compelled to change at least once a
week, I could plainly see that my condition was becoming more alarming
each day. So I would go down to the spring at night, wash that suit and
dry it the best I could by the heater that was in my room. Quite often
I would go for days wearing damp or wet underwear, which has caused both
pain and doctor bills in after years. Finally, Mr. Edwards relieved me
of this situation when he sent me to the sales-room to get a pair of
second-hand trousers and another suit of underwear. My trousers didn't
begin to fit, for they were both too large and too long, but I wore them
with pleasure because I went to Snow Hill in search of an education and
I was willing to make any sacrifice to obtain my desire. Through all of
my troubles I never became discouraged, because I felt that some day I
would be prepared to be of service to my people.
"Of all things that gave me inspiration while in school, Mr. Edwards's
own Christian life which he lived before us day after day had more to do
with keeping me there than anything else. His courage and perseverance
under difficulties, which we all could see, were noble lessons to me. In
his Sunday evening talks in the chapel, he would plead with us to shape
our lives for work among those who were less fortunate than we. One
Sunday evening, he made a powerful and vivid appeal, admonishing the
students to go out, when they had finished their education, and start
their life's work among the lowly in the rural districts. He spoke these
words many times during the term. In fact, so often did he repeat them
that the very thoughts of them inspired me and I soon learned to love
the cause of humanity as well and as dearly as did Mr. Edwards himself.
Soon after completing my course in May, 1904, a call came from the Black
Belt of North Carolina for a man to go to Laurinburg and build up an
Industrial school there. After talking the matter over with Mr. Edwards,
I decided to go.
"I reached the town of Laurinburg September 15, 1904. When I got there I
found that the people had been so often deceived and hoodwinked by
political demagogues and supposed race leaders, that they had no
confidence in any one. But I made a start and opened school in an old
public school building with seven students and fifteen cents in cash. As
the people had no confidence in me, it was hard for me to increase my
enrollment, but I continued to labor with them on the streets and in the
churches until I gradually won their respect. Then we started the
erection of a new school building and from that day until now, both
white and black have taken the deepest interest in the work and we now
have the absolute confidence of all the people.
"The work has constantly grown from year to year and results have been
obtained. From one teacher, seven students and fifteen cents in cash,
thirteen years ago, the institution now has fourteen teachers, upwards
of four hundred students from all over North Carolina, Virginia, South
Carolina and Georgia, and counting land, livestock, five large and three
small buildings, it has a property valuation of $30,000 all free of
debt. Each year our teachers are selected from some of the best schools
of the South; such as Tuskegee Institute, Shaw University, Snow Hill
Institute, Claflin University, Benedict College, etc. Eight industries
are taught, consisting of farming, blacksmithing, wheelwrighting,
sewing, laundering, printing, domestic science and home nursing.
"We are kept in immediate need of money for current and building
expenses, but we are going on accomplishing results with what we have at
hand. Boys and girls are being sent out each year to work among their
fellows. These young men and women are reaching the masses and as a
result, the moral tone of the people is being aroused to the
contemplation of higher ideals and they are at last becoming serious as
to the sober side of life. Excursions, parties and a good time generally
are slowly but surely being relegated to the rear. Our farmers are
studying how to become better farmers and in all walks of life, we are
improving in workshop and the various industries.
"Verily, the school room is doing much in awakening the dormant energies
of the Negro for good. In fact, the school's influence is helping the
people generally. Where there were ignorance and indifference, now we
have a fair measure of intelligence and thrift. The people are buying
homes and property, and in many ways showing signs of aspiration.
"We have also organized a farmers' conference and it is gratifying
indeed to see how hundreds of farmers, with their wives and children,
turn out seeking information, demonstration and co-operation. I have
been thus enabled to help my people here in North Carolina by giving
them the new truth and the new light and pointing them on to a better
way."
Waverley Turner Carmichael was born at Snow Hill, Ala., in 1888, and was
reared on the farm as all country negro boys are. All of his education
was obtained at the Snow Hill Institute except for six weeks he spent in
the Harvard Summer School last year.
[Illustration: GRADUATES OF SNOW HILL INSTITUTE
EMMANUEL MCDUFFIE. Principal Laurinburg Normal and Industrial
Institute, Laurinburg, N. C.
JOHN W. BRISTER, who established a prize at Snow Hill Institute.
REV. EMMANUEL M. BROWN of Street Manual Training School,
Richmond, Alabama.
WAVERLEY TURNER CARMICHAEL, Poet of Snow Hill.]
I had been deeply impressed with the poems which he had been writing for
several years, but as I was no judge of poems, I thought I would give
him a chance to bring his poems before those who could judge, so I
received for him a free scholarship at the Summer School at Harvard. He
read his poems to the class on several occasions and I had the
opportunity of hearing him several times. They had a deep impression
upon the class, so much so that his professor wrote the introduction to
his book in the following words:--
"When Waverley Carmichael, as a student in my summer class at Harvard,
brought me one day a modest sheaf of his poems, I felt that in him a
race had become or at least was becoming articulate. We have had, it is
true, sympathetic portrayals of Negro life and feeling from without; we
have had also the poems of Dunbar, significant of the high capabilities
of the Negro as he advances far along the way of civilization and
culture. The note which is sounded in this little volume is of another
sort. These humble and often imperfect utterances have sprung up
spontaneously from the soul of a primitive and untutored folk. The rich
emotion, the individual humor, the simple wisdom, the naive faith which
are its birthright, have here for the first time found voice. It is
sufficient to say of Waverley Carmichael that he is a full blooded
southern Negro, that until last summer he has never been away from his
native Alabama, that he has had but the most limited advantages of
education, and that he has shared the portion of his race in hardship,
poverty and toil. He does not know why he wrote these poems. It is an
amazing thing that he should have done so--a freak, we may call it, of
the wind of genius, which bloweth where it listeth and singles out one
in ten thousand to find a fitting speech for the dumb thought and
feeling of the rest.
But we need not base the claim of Carmichael to the attention of the
public merely on considerations of this sort. His work speaks for
itself. It is original and sincere. It follows no traditions and suffers
no affectation. It is artless, yet it reaches the goal of art. The
rhythms, especially of some of the religious pieces, are of a kind which
is beyond the reach of effort. He has rightly called them melodies.
Occasionally there is, it seems to me, a touch of something higher, as
in the haunting refrain of the lyric "Winter is Coming."
De yaller leafs are falling fas'
Fur summer days is been and pas'
The air is blowin' mighty cold,
Like it done in days of old.
But this is rare. Oftenest the characteristic note is humor, or tender
melancholy relieved by a philosophy of cheer and courage, and the poetic
virtue is that of simple truth. We are reminded of no poet so strongly
as of Burns.
What Waverley Carmichael may accomplish in the future I do not know. But
certainly in this volume he has entitled himself to the gratitude of his
own race and to the sympathetic appreciation of all who have its
interests and those of true poetry at heart."
JAMES HOLLY HANFORD.
Mr. William Stanley Braithwaite speaking of his poems had the following
to say:
"Many have claimed the mantle of Paul Laurence Dunbar, but only upon the
shoulders of Waverley Turner Carmichael has it fallen, and he wears it
with becoming grace and fitness. For this poet, a veritable child of
Negro folk, gives expression to its spirit in need and language more
akin to the ante-bellum 'spirituel' than any writer I know. Like those
'black and unknown bards' he sings because he must, with all their
fervid imaginativeness, symbolizations, poignant strains of pathos and
philosophic humor."
Mr. Braithwaite is the best known Negro critic of poetry in the world
today.
As for me who has always lived in the South and know the Southern Negro
through and through, I feel and believe that Carmichael has interpreted
Negro life as never before.
We hope and pray that Carmichael will live through this great ordeal and
come back to us and continue his work of interpreting Negro life.
There are hundreds of other graduates and ex-students who have won
distinction in other fields and are doing equally as well as those who
have been mentioned here. We have their record at the school, and any
one can have them for the asking. I only wish to mention in a brief way
two other graduates because they have established a first and second
prize at Snow Hill. They are John W. Brister and Edmond J. O'Neal.
Several years ago the late Misses Collins (Ellen and Marguerite) of New
York, two of the most sainted women whom I ever met, established an
annual prize at the school known as the Sumner Peace Prize, of $15.00.
But at their death this prize would have stopped unless some one had
taken it up. Both Mr. Brister and Mr. O'Neal had won these prizes
several times while they were in school. So at the death of the Misses
Collins they came forward and said that they would be responsible for
the prize each year on condition that the school make a first and second
prize instead of one, Mr. Brister giving $10.00 in gold for the first
prize and Mr. O'Neal giving $5.00 in gold for the second. This they have
done for several years, and they constantly assure me that it will be
kept up during their lifetime. This shows that our graduates are
carrying with them the spirit of Christ, "Freely receive, freely give."
CHAPTER 13.
THE SOLUTION OF THE NEGRO PROBLEM.
All prophecies pertaining thus far to the solution of the Negro Problem
have failed. Men in all parts of the country are becoming alarmed over
the situation and are asking, "whither are we drifting?" And yet
although everyone admits that there is a Negro problem, few are agreed
as to the exact nature of the problem, and still fewer are agreed as to
what the final answer should be.
Generally speaking, the Negro problem consists of twelve millions of
people of African descent living in this country, mostly in the Southern
states, and forming one-third of the population of this section and
one-eighth of the entire population of the United States.
Notwithstanding the fact that we are far from an agreement as to the
answer to this problem, we are all agreed that the solution must be
sought in the answers to the following questions: What is to be the
economic, the political, the civil, and the social status of the Negro
in this country?
It is true that there are criminals in the Negro race for whom no legal
form of punishment is too severe. It is also true that the better and
best classes of Negroes are daily being insulted in the streets, on the
street-cars, on the railroads, at the ticket offices, at the baggage
rooms, the express offices, and in fact, in all places pertaining to
public travel. They are persecuted, despised, rejected, and
discriminated against before every court in the South. Since the Negro
is now being lynched as readily for his sins of omission as he is for
his sins of commission, it is quite necessary for him when traveling in
the South, to keep constantly in telegraphic communication with the
agent at the station ahead as to the movement of the mob. In addition to
this, the Negro is subjected to many other forms of persecution and
discrimination in almost every walk of life. These things go to make up
what we call the Negro problem.
_The White Man's Solution._
A large majority of the white men in the South believe that this problem
is to be solved by the Negro "learning his place" and keeping in it.
Though they do not say just what this place is, they purpose to teach it
to the Negro by disfranchisement, by limiting his education, by
discrimination on the streets and on the railroads, by barring him from
public parks, public libraries, and public amusements of any kind, by
insulting replies to courteous questions, by conviction for trivial
offences, and, finally, by judge lynch and the shot gun. This class is
called the rabble.
There is another class of white men in the South, though fewer in
number, who deprecate all such views and actions (as advanced by this
first class). They believe that the Negro should have equal legal
rights, but that he should be denied equal political and educational
rights. They believe the Bible to be the panacea for all the ills of the
Negro. To bear out their contention, they often revert to the time when,
they say, there was no race problem. This, they say, was during slavery,
when the master taught his slaves the beneficent influence of the Holy
Bible. They are now appealing to the white men of the South to return to
this practice. In this class would fall a large number of politicians,
statesmen, educators, and ministers. This is called the conservative
class.
There is still a third class of white men in the South, who believe that
the Negro is a man, nothing more and nothing less. They believe that
under similar circumstances the Negro will act as other races do. They
contend that the Negro should have equal rights in every respect; they
believe that worthy Negroes like worthy white men, should vote, and that
ignorant and vicious Negroes like ignorant and vicious white men, should
not; that the school money should be divided equally among the children
of the state regardless of race, color or previous conditions; that the
Negro should be given justice in all of the courts; that the criminal
and lawless Negro, like the criminal and lawless white man, should be
punished to the full extent of the law. They believe that a strict
adherence to this view will result in the final solution of the problem.
There are, however, so few who feel in this way, and they are so widely
scattered, that they can hardly be called a class. The other classes of
white people consider them insane and accuse them of advocating social
equality. They are given no voice in the government and their wishes are
disregarded as readily as those of the Negro. They are sometimes
persecuted, ostracised, and harmed in every conceivable way. This class
is increasing and the two other classes decreasing.
_The Negro's Method of Solution._
There are three classes of Negroes in the South, but only one desires a
solution of the problem and that is class number two, of those I shall
mention. Class number one is composed chiefly of the illiterate and
superstitious Negroes. They usually work on the railroads, on the
steamboats, in the large saw-mills, and on the farms for wages. They
have no homes and do not want any; but float from place to place. This
class is contented to be let alone, but is quick to resent an insult,
and will shoot almost as readily as the white man, and make no attempt
to choose their victims. Among this class are to be found the whiskey
seller, the drunkard, the gambler, and the criminal of the lowest type.
It is the low, degraded and depraved criminals of this class who stir up
and incite race hatred, which always results in race riots. They do not
attend church or any other religious meeting. The better class of
Negroes are as anxious to get rid of these as the white man.
The second class is composed of the renters of farms, the owners of
farms, of homes, of preachers, teachers, students, professional and
business men. They believe that the Negro should be educated in the
trades as well as in the professions; that they should own homes, pay
their taxes and perform their civic duties like all other citizens and
that they should possess all of the rights and privileges that are
delegated to them by the Constitution of the United States. They believe
in the purity of the state and in the sanctity of the home. They are
enduring, self-sacrificing, patient, and long suffering, and desire the
good of all. It is this class that always assists in quelling race riots
and is constantly seeking the co-operation of the best class of white
people in order that the relation between the races may be of the most
cordial nature. It is this class also who do not lose their heads though
innocent members of the race be murdered by the mob. Though this class
is rapidly increasing, it is still far inferior in number to the first
class.
The third class is composed chiefly of the ante-bellum Negroes. They are
well advanced in age and are contented with their present lot. Many of
them have waited for years for the forty acres and mule and having been
disappointed in their expectation, they have lost all hopes. They are
fast losing sight on the things of this world and gaining sight on the
things of the world to come. Ofttimes, they sing, "You may have all this
world, but give me Jesus." They are perfectly harmless and have no
earthly ambition. This is what the white man here calls a good Negro;
for him they act as pall-bearers when he dies and for him they weep when
he is gone. In many instances they erect monuments to his memory.
_Fallacy of the Master and the Bible Remedy._
Since the recent riots that have occurred in Georgia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Arkansas and other Southern States, many white ministers and
other prominent citizens of the South have been advocating a return to
the master and Bible theory of slavery days, when, they say, there was
no race problem. But every student of history knows that at the same
time the master was carrying the Bible to his slaves this country was
struggling with one of the greatest race problems that the world has
ever witnessed and the slavery phase of this problem was settled by one
of the bloodiest wars in the annals of history. Furthermore, the student
of history knows that the master carried the lash more often to the
slave's back than the Bible to the slave's heart; that the lash kept the
slave in subjection.
If the relation between the races now seems most strained and the
solution of the problem seems farther away than ever, we must be candid
and seek the cause of failure in the methods that we have been using. In
the past, the white man's idea of the solution has been contrary to the
Negro's idea. The white man has been trying to circumscribe the Negro's
sphere, at the same time, the Negro has been trying to know the truth
which would make him free; yet, both claim to be trying to solve the
same problem. Before a satisfactory solution of the problem can be had,
it will be necessary for the best white people and the best class of
Negroes to get together and agree as to what the solution must be. Is it
to consist of the Negro knowing his place and staying in it, or is it to
consist of the Negro knowing the truth and being free? Which shall it
be? Unless they can agree as to the answer there can be no satisfactory
solution.
In a democratic form of government having one language, one history,
one literature, one religion, one Bible, and one God, there can be only
one man who is the sum total of these, only one man who is the typically
good democratic citizen, and this man will be known by his
accomplishments and not by the color of his skin. If we should have two
types, two men, then we must have two governments, two languages, two
histories, two literatures, two religions, two Bibles, and two Gods.
If the shiftless, ignorant, superstitious, and criminal class of Negroes
is increasing, it is because the ruling class of white men have been
limiting his education, disfranchising him, and in other ways trying to
doom him to serfdom. The great race riot in Atlanta was simply the
culmination of the ten months' campaigning of race hatred. Men who are
now writing resolutions and sound and sane editorials, were then
rivaling each other in their abuse of the Negro. The nominee for
governor seemingly, was to be given to the one who could prove himself
the greatest enemy of the Negro. It is a divine and immutable law that
if we sow the wind we will reap the whirlwind.
_Only One Road to the Solution._
Lynchings and mobs will not solve the problem, for it has been proven
that such actions beget crimes. Depriving him of educational advantages
and disfranchising him, will not suffice, for on the one hand this
method produces ignorant Negroes, and on the other hand it increases in
the white man the belief that the Negro has no rights which a white man
is bound to respect. These two states of mind in the last analysis will
always produce crime. The master and Bible theory will not solve it,
because the criminal and lawless Negro does not attend church. There is
but one true solution and that lies in compulsory education for all the
children of the state with religious, moral and industrial training. If
the South is sincere in its efforts to help the Negro, or even if the
ministers and other citizens who are now filling the daily press with
suggestions as to the practical solution of this problem are sincere,
they will advocate the enacting of compulsory educational laws and see
to it that all children between the ages of six and fourteen are kept in
school. They will also advocate a more equitable division of the school
fund between the races. The great factor in the solution of this problem
is education and the Negro schools are the hope of the race.
_The Attitude of the North Towards This Problem._
Just now, the attitude of the North towards this problem is that of an
onlooker and well wisher. For a number of years the South has been
saying to the North, "Hands off, we understand the Negro and we can
solve our own problem." The North, seemingly, has heeded this injunction
and the press and politicians of the North, barring a few, have been
inclined to take sides with the so-called conservative class of white
men of the South.
The philanthropist of the North, however, while being a friend to the
white South has been none the less a friend to the black South, and has
kept constantly aiding Negro education and it is the schools thus
supported that are doing the most effective work in the uplifting of the
race. It was the wise guidance, judicious and calm leadership of the men
in these schools that saved the day at Atlanta. All of these schools
have the record of their graduates and ex-students opened to the public
for inspection. And an impartial inspection of these records will show
that these students and graduates have made since leaving school,
according to their circumstances, as creditable a mark as the graduates
and ex-students from any of our Northern schools. These schools do not
give college training.
In these perilous times when the race is passing through such trying
ordeals, and when the souls of men are being tried, I trust that our
friends will not forsake us. Our industrial schools and colleges and the
better element of the race, need their sympathy, encouragement, and
assistance now as never before. My prayer is for a double portion of
their spirit and an increased amount of their assistance.
The recent race troubles should not discourage us or our friends. In
fact, we should be encouraged, for during these troubles the better
element of the race has been severely tried and they have stood the
test. Everywhere their advice has been for moderation, patience, and
forbearance. It is true, we are troubled on every side, yet not
distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. Our records will show that we
have been faithful over a few things, may we not retain the faith and
trust of friends?
CHAPTER 14.
THE GREATEST MENACE OF THE SOUTH.
In every age there are great and pressing problems to be
solved,--problems whose solution will have seemingly, a far reaching and
lasting effect upon the economic life of the country concerned. It was
the case in this country from its very beginning and the same condition
obtains today, although each section of the country has its own peculiar
problems the true American citizen recognizes the fact that the success
of one section in solving its problems will be beneficial to the entire
nation.
Perhaps, no section of this country has been confronted with more
difficult problems than the South. I therefore, wish to present what I
consider to be the greatest menace of this section, not as a prophet
foretelling future events, but humbly expressing my views of the
situation after careful study.
If you were to ask the average white man of the South today what is the
greatest menace to this section, his answer, undoubtedly, would be, the
Negro and Negro domination. At least this would be the answer of the
politician. That he would take this view, is shown by the great amount
of legislation that has been enacted, aiming either directly or
indirectly to retard the Negro's progress. I do not believe that there
has been one piece of legislation enacted in the South within the last
thirty years for the express purpose of promoting the Negro's welfare.
This does not mean, however, that the entire white South is against the
Negro or that it means to oppose his advancement. There are thousands of
white men and women throughout the length and breadth of the South, who
are today, laboring almost incessantly for the advancement of the Negro.
To these, we owe a great debt of gratitude, and to these should be given
much credit for what has been accomplished. This class of white
southerns are not, as a rule, politicians and it is seldom, if ever,
they are elected to office. When we speak of the average southern white
man then, we have particular reference to the great horde of office
seekers and politicians that infest the entire south-land. It is this
class that will tell you that Negro domination is the greatest menace to
the South.
Now, Negro domination may be a menace to the South, but it is certainly
not the greatest. Neither is the extermination of our forests to be
greatly feared. There are organizations and societies on foot in all
parts of the South for the conservation of our forests.
Southern citizenship is suffering much from child labor, but even this,
although being a great danger to our future development and prosperity,
cannot rightly be classed as our greatest menace. The one thing today,
in which we stand in greatest danger, is the loss of the fertility of
the soil. If we should lose this, as we are gradually doing, then all is
lost. If we should save it, then all other things will be added. Our
great need is the conservation and preservation of the soil.
The increased crops which we have in the South occasionally, are not due
to improved methods of farming, but to increased acreage. Thousands of
acres of new land are added each year and our increase in farm
production is due to the strength of these fresh lands. There is not
much more woodland to be taken in as new farm lands, for this source has
been well nigh exhausted. We must then, within a few years, expect a
gradual reduction in the farm production of the South. Already the old
farm lands that have been in cultivation for the past fifty or
fifty-five years are practically worn out. I have seen in my day where
forty acres of land twenty or twenty-five years ago would produce from
twenty to twenty-five bales of cotton each year, and from 800 to 1000
bushels of corn. Now, these forty acres will not produce more than eight
or nine bales of cotton and hardly enough corn to feed two horses. In
fact, one small family cannot obtain a decent support from the land
which twenty years ago supported three families in abundance. This farm
is not on the hill-side, neither has it been worn away by erosion. It is
situated in the lowlands, in the black prairie, and is considered the
best farm on a large plantation. This condition obtains in all parts of
the South today. This constant deterioration of land, this gradual
reduction of crops year after year, if kept up for the next fifty years,
will surely prove disastrous to the South.
Practically, all the land in the black belt of the South is cultivated
by Negroes and the farm production has decreased so rapidly during the
last ten or fifteen years that the average Negro farmer hardly makes
sufficient to pay his rent and buy the few necessaries of life. Of
course, here and there where a tenant has been lucky enough to get hold
of some new land, he makes a good crop, but after three or four years of
cultivation, his crop begins to decrease and this decrease is kept up at
a certain ratio as long as he keeps the land. Instead of improving, the
tenant's condition becomes worse each year until he finds it impossible
to support his family on the farm. Farm after farm is being abandoned or
given up to the care of the old men and women. Already, most of these
are too old and feeble to do effective work.
Now, the chief cause of these farms becoming less productive, is the
failure on the part of the farmers to add something to the land after
they have gathered their crops. They seem to think that the land
contains an inexhaustible supply of plant food. Another cause of this
deficiency of the soil is the failure of the farmer to rotate his crop.
There are farms being cultivated in the South today where the same piece
of land has been planted in cotton every year for forty or fifty years.
Forty years ago, I am told by reliable authority, that this same land
would yield from one bale to one and a half per acre. And today it will
take from four to six acres to produce one bale.
Still another cause for the deterioration of the soil is erosion. There
is practically no effort put forth on the tenant's part to prevent his
farm from washing away. The hill-side and other rolling lands are not
terraced and after being in use four or five years, practically all of
these lands are washed away and as farm lands they are entirely
abandoned. Not only are the hillside lands unprotected from the beating
rains and flowing streams, but the bottom or lowlands are not properly
drained, and the sand washed down from the hill, the chaff and raft from
previous rains soon fill the ditches and creeks and almost any ordinary
rain will cause an overflow of these streams.
Under these conditions an average crop is impossible even in the best of
years. At present, the South does not produce one-half of the foodstuff
that it consumes and if the present condition of things continue for the
next fifty years, this section of the country will be on the verge of
starvation and famines will be a frequent occurrence. Of course, Negro
starvation will come first, but white man starvation will surely follow.
I believe, therefore, that I am justified in saying that there is even
more danger in Negro starvation than there is in Negro domination.
I have noticed in this country that the sins of the races are
contagious. If the Negro in a community be lazy, indifferent, and
careless about his farm, the white man in the community will soon fall
into the same habit. On the other hand, if the white man is smart,
industrious, energetic and persevering in his general makeup, the Negro
will soon fall into line; so after all, whatever helps one race in the
South will help the other and whatever degrades one race in the South,
sooner or later will degrade the other. But you may reply to this
assertion by saying that the Negro can go to the city and make an
independent living for himself and family, but you forget that all real
wealth must come from the soil and that the city cannot prosper unless
the country is prosperous. When the country fails, the city feels the
effect; when the country weeps, the city moans; when agriculture dies,
all die. Such are the conditions which face us today. Now for the
remedy.
It is worth while to remember that there are ten essential elements of
plant food. If the supply of any one of the elements fails, the crop
will fail. These ten elements are carbon and oxygen taken into the
leaves of the plant from the air as carbon dioxide, hydrogen, a
constituent of water absorbed through the plant roots; nitrogen, taken
from the soil by all plants also secured from the air by legumes. The
other elements are phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and
sulphur, all of which are secured from the soil. The soil nitrogen is
contained in the organic matter or humus, and to maintain the supply of
nitrogen, we should keep the soil well stored with organic matter,
making liberal use of clover or other legumes which have power to secure
nitrogen from the inexhaustible supply in the air.
It is interesting to note that one of the ablest chemists in this
country, Prof. E. W. Clark of the U. S. Geological Survey, has said that
an acre of ground seven inches deep contains sufficient iron to produce
one hundred bushels of corn every year for 200,000 years, sufficient
calcium to produce one hundred bushels of corn or one bale of cotton
each year for 55,000 years, enough magnesium to produce such a crop
7,000 years, enough sulphur for 10,000 years and potassium for 2,600
years, but only enough phosphorus for 130 years. The nitrogen resting
upon the surface of an acre of ground is sufficient to produce one
hundred bushels of corn or a bale of cotton for 700,000 years; but only
enough in the plowed soil to produce fifty such crops. In other words,
there are enough of eight of the elements of plant food in the ordinary
soil to produce 100 bushels of corn per acre or a bale of cotton per
acre for each year for 2,600 years; but only enough of the other two,
phosphorus and nitrogen, to produce such crops for forty or fifty years.
Let us grant that most of our farm lands in the South have been in
cultivation for fifty or seventy-five years, and in many instances for
one hundred years, it is readily seen that practically all of the
phosphorus and nitrogen in the plowed soil have been exhausted. Is it
any wonder then that we are having such poor crops? The wonder is that
our crops have kept up so well. Unless a radical change is made in our
mode of farming, we must expect less and less crops each year until we
have no crops, or such little that we can hardly pay the rent.
To improve and again make fertile our soils, we must restore to them the
phosphorus and nitrogen which have been used up in the seventy-five or
more crops that we have gathered from them. This is a herculean task but
this is what confronts us and I for one, believe we can accomplish it.
By the proper rotation of crops, including oats, clover, cowpeas, as
well as cotton and corn, and a liberal use of barn-yard manure and
cotton seed fertilizer, all of the necessary elements of plant food can
be restored to our worn out soil. But the proper use of these require
much painstaken study.
The black as well as the white should give this matter serious
consideration. The landlords and the tenants should co-operate in this
great work. The merchants and bankers must lend their aid and influence,
preachers and teachers should be pioneers in this movement to save our
common country. Our agricultural colleges should imprint their courses
of study in something more than their annual catalogues. They should be
imprinted in the minds and hearts of their students, and especially
those who are to do farm work. Thus far, but very little general good
has been accomplished by these schools. The reason is that the farmers,
those who till the soil, have not had access to these schools and those
who attend are not the farming class, and do not take to farming as
their life's work. The man who works the soil must be taught how to
farm. We have in this state nine purely agricultural schools, each of
which is a white institution. It is true that some agricultural training
is given for Negroes at Normal, Montgomery and Tuskegee, but these are
not purely agricultural schools and the great mass of Negro farmers
cannot hope to attend them.
If the Negro is to remain the farming class in the Black Belt of the
South, then he must be taught at least the rudiments of the modern
methods of improved farming. He must have agricultural schools and must
be encouraged to attend them. The loss of the fertility of the soil is
the greatest menace of the South. How can we regain this lost fertility,
is the greatest question of the hour.
CHAPTER 15.
THE NEGRO EXODUS.
The Negro has remained in the South almost as a solid mass since his
emancipation. This, in itself shows that he loves the South, and if he
is now migrating to the East, North and West by the hundreds and
thousands, there must be a cause for it.
We should do our best to find out these causes and at least suggest the
remedy, if we cannot accomplish it. The time has come for plain speaking
on the part of us all. It will do us no good to try to hide the facts,
because "truth crushed to earth will rise again."
In the first place, the Negro in this country is oppressed. This
oppression is greatest where the Negro population is greatest. The Negro
population happens to be greater in the South than in the North,
therefore, he is more oppressed in the South than in the North.
Take the counties in our own state. Some are known as white counties and
others as black counties. In the white counties the Negro is given
better educational opportunities than in the black counties. I have in
mind one Black Belt county where the white child is given fifteen
dollars a year for his education and the Negro child thirty cents a
year. See the late Dr. Booker T. Washington's article, "Is the Negro
Having a Fair Chance?" Now these facts are generally known throughout
this State by both white and black. And we all know that this is unjust.
It is oppression.
This oppression shows itself in many other ways. Take for example the
railroads running through the rural sections of the South. There are
many flag stations where hundreds of our people get off and on train.
The railroads have at these little stops a platform about six feet
square, only one coach stops at this point; the Negro women, girls and
boys are compelled to get off and on the train sometimes in water and in
the ditches because there are no provisions made for them otherwise.
Again, take the matter of the franchise. We all agree that ignorant
Negroes should not be entrusted with this power, but we all feel that
where a Negro has been smart and industrious in getting an education and
property and pays his taxes, he should be represented. Taxation without
representation is just as unjust today as it was in 1776. It is just as
unfair for the Negro as it is to the white man, and we all, both white
and black, know this. We may shut our eyes to this great truth, as
sometimes we do, but it is unjust just the same.
Take the matter of the courts. There is no justice unless the Negro has
a case against another Negro. When he has a case against a white man you
can tell what the decision will be just as soon as you know the nature
of the case, unless some strong white man will come to the Negro's
rescue. This, too, is generally known, and the Negro does not expect
justice.
None of us have forgotten the recent campaign of Mr. Underwood and Mr.
Hobson for United States Senator from this State. Mr. Underwood's
supporters attacked Mr. Hobson because he defended the Negro soldiers
when he was Representative, and Mr. Hobson's supporters attacked Mr.
Underwood because they said that he had a Negro secretary in Washington.
Any politician who dares defend a Negro, however just the cause may be,
is doomed to political death. This is another fact which we all know.
As yet, there has been no concerted actions on the part of the white
people to stop mob violence. I know a few plantations, however, where
the owners will not allow their Negroes to be arrested unless the
officer first consults them, and these Negroes idolize these white men
as gods, and so far not one of these Negroes has gone North. I repeat
that there are out-croppings of these oppressions everywhere in this
country, but they show themselves most where the Negroes are in largest
numbers.
All of these sorrows the Negro has endured with patience and long
suffering, and they may be all classed as the secondary cause of this
great exodus.
The primary cause is economics. The storms and floods destroy crops in
the Black Belt section. These people are hungry, they are naked, they
have no corn and had no cotton; so they are without food and clothes.
What else can they do but go away in search of work? There are a great
many wealthy white men here and there throughout the Black Belt section.
They have large plantations which need the ditches cleared and new ones
made to properly drain their farms. They could have given much work to
these destitute people; but what have they done? Nothing. They say that
it is a pity for the Negro to go away in such large numbers, and so it
is, but that will not stop them. They have it in their power to stop
them by making the Negro's economic condition better here.
The South must do more than make cotton and corn; it must begin to
manufacture some of the things that it uses. Why should we send our raw
material to the North to be manufactured? Practically all the furniture
we use comes from the North and they get the timber from us. The South
must be both a manufacturing as well as a farming section, if it would
hold its own with the other sections of this great country. The
capitalists of the South must turn loose their money if this section
would come into its own.
Thus far, the average white man of the South has been interested in the
Negro from a selfish point of view. He must now become interested in him
from a humanitarian point of view. He must be interested in his
educational, moral and religious welfare. We know that we have many
ignorant, vicious, and criminal Negroes, which are a disgrace to any
people, but they are ignorant because they have not had a chance. Why I
know one county in this State today with 10,000 Negro children of school
age and only 4,000 of these are in school, according to the report of
the Superintendent of Education. We cannot expect ignorant people to act
like intelligent ones, and no amount of abuse will make them better.
We know that our race is weak and that the white race is strong. We know
also that our race is sick and that the white race is well or whole.
Now, how should the strong treat the weak? How should the whole treat
the sick? Would a strong man say, here is a weak man with a heavy
burden, therefore, I will put more upon him? Would a well man say, here
is a sick man, therefore, I shall give him less medical treatment? Then
why do you say, here is the ignorant Negro, therefore let us give him
less educational opportunities than we give the white man? If the white
man would be logical in this particular, he would say in the courts,
because he is ignorant let us make his punishment less severe; because
he is weak, let us protect him, because he is ignorant, let us give him
greater educational opportunities. But this has not been done. There has
not been one dollar increase in the Negro public school fund in the
rural districts in twenty years; if anything, it is less today than it
was twenty years ago.
Sometimes we hear it said that the white man of the South knows the
Negro better than anybody else, but the average white man of the South
only knows the ignorant, vicious and criminal class of Negroes better
than anybody else. He knows little of the best class of Negroes. I am
glad to say, however, that there are a few Southern white men who know
the better class and know them intimately and are doing what they can to
better the Negro's condition. I would to God that the number of these
few could be increased a hundred fold.
We used to deride the North for giving the Negro a chance to spend a
dollar while withholding from him the opportunity to make one. But in
the Providence of God all this has been changed by the great war in
Europe, which has created a labor scarcity in the North, East and West,
and the Negro is now being given a chance to make a dollar there as well
as spend one. The white man of the North is due no special credit for
this, the credit belongs to God. He is the Righteous Judge of all the
earth and in the end He will do right.
We will hear many tales of the sufferings of these people who go from
this section. Many will die and some will come back, but still some will
never return. You remember the fate of the Pilgrims, and the early
colonists who first came to this country. You also know the fate of the
men in the world war; many must die that some be saved. It behooves us
of the South who remain here, both white and black, to re-dedicate
ourselves to unselfish service and try more and more each day of our
lives to live up to the great principle laid down in the memorable
Atlanta speech by the immortal Booker T. Washington when he said: "In
all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers,
yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress."
CHAPTER 16.
THE NEGRO AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE SOUTH.
Too much praise cannot be given to the General Education Board, Dr.
Dillard and Mr. Rosenwald, and others for what they have done and are
doing to improve Negro public schools of the South, for in the last
analysis it is there where the great masses of Negro children must be
educated.
We have in the South, as every one knows, a dual system of public
schools, one for the whites and one for the Negroes. This accounts in
part for our poor schools for both white and colored. Such a system is
expensive and, of course, the Negro gets the worst of the bargain. This
is not surprising to him; he expects it in all such cases. He has been
taught to expect only a half loaf where others get a whole one, but in
some cases he gets practically nothing from the State for education. For
an instance, I know four or five Negro public schools in the Black Belt
that get $37.00 for the school term of four months. It would be hard to
figure out how a teacher can live in these days on $9.25 per month. But,
as I have said, the agencies that I have mentioned above have done much
and are doing more to improve these conditions.
[Illustration: TEACHERS OF SNOW HILL INSTITUTE]
They endeavor to work with or through the State and county officials
wherever it can be done. This I think is perfectly right and proper
because the State must in the end direct the education of its subjects.
But where this cannot be done, I think provision should be made for the
thousands who are now being neglected.
Ever since I succeeded in getting the late Miss Anna T. Jeanes of
Philadelphia to give so largely towards the Negro public schools of the
South, I have been thinking how this work could be carried on in harmony
with the State and county officials. The General Education Board, Dr.
Dillard and Mr. Rosenwald have gone a long way towards solving this
problem.
At the present time every Southern State has a Superintendent of
Education and a County Superintendent. These officers are elected by the
people (white people, of course). Recently, however, there have been two
other offices created, State Supervisor of Education for the Negro and
County Supervisor. These officers are selected and not elected. I think
the offices came about as a result of the efforts of the General
Education Board and Dr. Dillard, and I think that the State Supervisors
of Education are selected largely through them.
Thus far all of the State Supervisors for Negro schools have been white
men, and they in turn have been given the power to select the County
Supervisor for the Negro schools, all of which are colored.
These white men are not always able to get the most efficient persons
for such work because I know of a few County Supervisors here and there
who are not competent to do the work that has been intrusted to them.
Now as the Negro has nothing to say as to who should be his State or
County Superintendent of Education, it seems that in the matter of his
State and County Supervisors he should have a word. (I think it is right
and proper that the great funds for Negro education should be spent
through the State and county officials wherever it can be done.)
The State Superintendent ought to be given the power to select the most
competent Negro educator to be State Supervisor of Negro Schools, and
the County Superintendent ought to be given the same. Furthermore, as
each State has a Negro Education Association which meets once a year, I
think this Association should recommend to the State Superintendent of
Education a number of persons from whom he may select the State
Supervisor. In each county we have an organization, which is known as
the County Teacher Institute. This organization could recommend two or
more persons to the County Superintendent from whom he might select the
County Supervisor.
I feel and think in this way because in order to really help the people
one must go amongst them and know of their hardships, struggles,
desires, sorrows, and their joys, must talk with them, eat and sleep
with them and know their hearts. It would be asking too much of the
Southern white man to do this.
We know that in order to save the world God gave His only begotten Son,
Jesus Christ, who came to earth in the likeness of man, to save man.
Perhaps He might have sent an Archangel or an Angel, but this work of
redemption could only be done by His sending a person who was a man,
just like the men He was to save, and so it is with all great work of
reformation and evolution.
In order to help the people we must become like them. In Christ becoming
like man is what we call the humiliation of the Incarnation, and in that
lies the great secret of redemption and reformation.
Again, I feel that this is a day of democracy, and that the Negro should
be given a voice in the government of his schools. If this democracy, of
which we are hearing so much, is for the white man alone, then I think
that the Negro should know it, and if it is for all people he should
know that.
The white man owes it to the Negro to make this matter plain.
CHAPTER 17.
WHERE LIES THE NEGRO'S OPPORTUNITY?
The liberation and enfranchisement of four million of slaves in this
country fifty years ago brought into the body politic a situation that
has ever since been a bone of contention. Because of their ignorance,
most of these people were without the slightest idea of the proper use,
or the power, of the ballot, and but few could properly exercise this
new and high prerogative.
As long as the federal troops remained in the South and supervised and
controlled the elections, these newly-made citizens retained their
rights, but when, during President Hayes' administration, the troops
were withdrawn, the South immediately set to work to remedy this
condition. Starting with Mississippi in 1890, state after state
disfranchised the Negro. Other discriminating laws have been enacted
setting apart "Jim Crow" apartments for the Negro on all public
carriers, establishing "Jim Crow" schools, and, in fact, segregating the
two races in all public places wherever it is possible.
This action on the part of the South brought forth a storm of criticism
from the North. The North accused the South of treating the Negro
unjustly and taking from him his constitutional rights. The South
answered the North, not by claiming its policy towards the Negro to be
right, but by accusing the North of hypocrisy; but both sections agree
that the Negro should be made as useful as his capacities will permit,
and that he should seek the place where this usefulness can be best
secured.
This long and constant agitation has led thoughtful students of the race
problem to ask the question:
Are the conditions in the South more conducive to the social efficiency
of the Negro than those offered to him in the North? This is a vital
question and a just answer to it will have a far-reaching and lasting
effect upon the future welfare of the Negro race in this country. By
social efficiency we mean that degree of development of the individual
that will enable him to render the most effective service to himself,
his family and to society. As has been defined, all will agree that
social efficiency is the chief end of life.
In the North the Negro lives mostly in the large cities, while in the
South he lives mostly in the rural or country districts. Both the North
and the South will admit this fact; the opportunities offered in the
North then must be largely the opportunities such as large cities can
offer, those in the South must be largely such as country districts can
offer.
But before further considering this question let us note for a moment
the opportunities offered in the South and those offered in the North.
It is true that, in the South, the Negro is disfranchised. It is also
true that he suffers many other injustices in that section, but on the
other hand he has a wide field of labor.
First of all he has almost an unlimited opportunity to farm. He is
better adapted to farm work in that section than either the native
white man or the foreigner. He stands the heat better and can do more
work under a burning Southern sun.
In railroad construction the Negro is preferred. The coal of the South
is dug by Negro labor, the iron ore is picked from the bowels of the
earth by his brawny muscles. The Negro finds work at the foundries, the
great pipe furnaces, the rolling mills, car factories and other
industries in the mineral districts. He is eagerly sought for the
sawmills, the turpentine orchard, and in fact for almost every industry
of the South.
Though the white man in the South is beginning to enter the field of
industry, he has not entered to the extent that the Negro's place is, in
the least, in jeopardy. Such are the opportunities offered the Negro in
the South, though he is largely deprived of political and social rights.
These facts are admitted by both the North and the South.
Now what are the opportunities offered him in the North? First of all,
the Negro is a free man in a political sense. He has the same right to
vote that other citizens have and, too, he can vote according to the
dictates of his own conscience.
President Roosevelt in his speech at Tuskegee in 1905, said that the
colored people had opportunities for economic development in the South
that are not offered to them elsewhere.
In the large cities of the North, where the Negro mostly lives, the
chances for good health and the purchase of a home are not so good. The
man with little means, such as the Negro usually is, must live in
either filthy streets or back alleys, where the air is foul and the
environments are permeated with disease germs. For the lack of fresh
air, pure food and proper exercise, his children are mere weaklings
instead of strong and robust boys and girls.
Dr. Robert B. Bean of Ann Arbor, in his essay on "The Training of the
Negro" in _Century Magazine_ of October, 1906, said that in the large
cities the Negro is being forced by competition into the most degraded
and least remunerative occupations; that such occupations make them
helpless to combat the blight of squalor and disease which are
inevitable in these cities, and therefore many of them are being
destroyed by them.
Mr. Baker says:
"One of the questions I asked of Negroes whom I met both North and South
was this:
"'What is your chief cause of complaint?'
"In the South the first answer nearly always referred to the Jim Crow
cars or the Jim Crow railroad stations; after that, the complaint was of
political disfranchisement, the difficulty of getting justice in the
courts, the lack of good school facilities, and in some localities, of
the danger of actual physical violence.
"But in the North the first answer invariably referred to working
conditions.
"'The Negro isn't given a fair opportunity to get employment. He is
discriminated against because he is colored.'"
These conditions instead of promoting the social efficiency of the
Negro, tend to degrade and demoralize him. The argument that the
deprivation of the Negro's political and social rights in the South
tends to crush his ambition, warp his aspirations and distort his
judgment, is unsound, because his self-reliance, ambition and
independence in the South can be traced partly to this very deprivation.
By it he has been forced to establish his own schools, his own churches,
educate his own children and train his own ministers. All of these make
for self-reliance and independence and are therefore conducive to his
social efficiency.
CHAPTER 18.
SCHOOL PROBLEMS OF A TUSKEGEE GRADUATE.
"Two distinct problems face the Tuskegee graduate who goes forth as a
leader of his people: the problem of extending education to the masses
of our people and the problem of so adjusting the people to their actual
conditions that the two races will be able to live and work together in
harmony and helpfulness.
It may as well be admitted at the outset that the public schools in the
rural districts of the lower South are not working toward this end. The
condition of the public schools for our people in the Black Belt section
of this state is disheartening. As unreasonable as it may seem, it is a
fact that as the Negro population increases, in this section, the
appropriation for Negro schools decreases. In many places the schools
have been abolished altogether.
From almost every nook and corner of the South there comes a cry that
the Negro as a laborer is unsatisfactory. It is said that he is
inefficient, unreliable, indolent, lazy, in short, that he is unfit to
do the work the South wants done. Less than two decades ago it was just
the opposite. Then, it was said that the Negro was unfit for everything
else except work. How inconsistent! We admit that there is a labor
problem in the South, but we deny that it is due wholly to the
inefficiency of the Negro as a laborer. In the first place, the natural
increase of the population of the South has not kept pace with the
marvelous growth and development of her industries. This in itself would
explain a scarcity of labor. Furthermore, it should be remembered that
the most industrious, the most frugal, and the most thrifty Negroes of
the South are rapidly changing from the wage hands, to contract hands,
and the day laborers, to the renters of their own farms, while thousands
of Negroes in different parts of the South are establishing independent
business enterprises for themselves. The South cannot hire that class of
Negroes from their work. This, again has a tendency to make labor
scarce. Added to this is the fact that thousands of Negroes are moving
into the cities. Some are going into other states seeking on the one
hand better educational opportunities for their children, and on the
other hand, protection from mobs and lynchers. This again has a
depressing effect upon labor.
While these underlying causes seem sufficient to account for the present
labor troubles of the South, we must admit that there are entirely too
many Negroes, particularly among those who work as wage-hands,
contract-hands, and day laborers, who are ignorant and superstitious,
too many who are gamblers and drunkards. Naturally, their work is not
satisfactory. But they are not wholly to blame since they have had
neither adequate educational opportunities, nor the proper home
training. If they lack character, it is largely because they lack
training. This is, as I understand it, what the President means when he
says that "ignorance is the most costly crop that any community can
produce."
Graduates from Tuskegee, a few years ago, received from our illustrious
Principal the injunction, "Go ye into all parts of the South and change
these conditions."
I will now try to give an account of my stewardship. I hail from Snow
Hill, which is located in the heart of the Black Belt of this State, in
a section where the colored people outnumber the white seven to one, and
in the center of a colored population of more than 200,000. When we
started work there twenty-five years ago the people as a whole were
poor, ignorant, superstitious and greatly in debt. They had no special
love for industrial training and not much general love for any kind of
education. The so-called public schools were then running three months
in the year and paying the teachers nine and ten dollars per month. We
started work in a dilapidated one-room log cabin with three students and
fifty cents in money. There was no state appropriation, neither was any
church or society responsible for one dollar of its expenses.
Today we have an institution of more than four hundred students and
twenty-two teachers and officers. We have 1940 acres of land,
twenty-four buildings, counting large and small, and fourteen industries
in constant operation. Being in a farming section, however, we are
putting more stress upon agriculture.
It is the aim of our institution to teach the beauty and dignity of all
labor and inculcate a love for the soil and for agricultural life. In
spite of the denial of political rights and of the poor educational
opportunities, and many other unjust discriminations, the South, just
now, is the best place in this country for the Negro, and especially the
agricultural section. We might as well recognize this fact and teach our
people to act accordingly.
Again, we aim to train leaders for the masses of our people; for this
purpose we need young men and young women imbued with the spirit of
sacrifice and service who will go into these rural sections and teach
our people how to live, how not to die; teach them how to live
economically, to pay their debts, to buy land, to build better homes,
better schools, better churches, and above all, how to lead pure and
upright lives and become useful and helpful citizens in the community in
which they live. Finally, we aim to train a high class of domestic
servants. There need be no fear or uneasiness for we have an abundance
of material for each class. But the worth of an institution is not
determined by the acquisition of houses and land, neither by the bare
statement of its aims, but by its actual power to serve the practical,
daily needs of the community in which it exists.
As a result of our twenty-five years' work at Snow Hill, we have about
one thousand graduates and ex-students who have either finished the full
or partial course at the institution and are now out in the world doing
creditable work as teachers, farmers, mechanics, and domestic workers.
Over fifty per cent of our students have bought homes since leaving
school. Many have houses with five and six rooms. Wherever a Snow Hill
student teaches the school term is lengthened and the people are
encouraged to buy land, build better homes, better school-houses and
better churches.
The people have not only been helped by our students and graduates, but
they have been helped directly through our Negro conference and Black
Belt Improvement Society.
Twenty-five years ago the people in the neighborhood of the school did
not own more than ten acres of land, while today they own more than
twenty thousand acres. Twenty-five years ago the one-room log cabin was
the rule, today it is the exception. Twenty-five years ago the majority
of the farmers were in heavy debt and mortgaged their crops, today many
of the farmers now have bank accounts, while a few years ago they did
not know what a bank account was. Throughout the community they are
building better homes, better churches, better school-houses, and the
relation between the races is cordial.
Just a word about our Black Belt Improvement Society. This organization
has ten degrees of membership and any one of good moral standing
desiring to better his condition, can become a member of the first
degree. A member of the second degree, however, must own a little
property, at least three chickens, and a pig. A member of the third
degree must own a cow, of the fourth degree he must own an acre of land,
a member of the fifth degree must have erected on that acre a house
having at least three rooms, a member of the sixth degree must own
twenty acres of land, of the seventh degree must own forty acres of
land, and of the eighth degree must own sixty acres, etc., until they
reach the tenth degree.
Then we have an annual fair at which prizes are given to those who have
excelled in any of the agricultural products, or those who have had the
best gardens, or who have kept the best house during the year. A special
prize is given to the party who has bought the most land during the
year.
This society has several committees. It has a committee on education.
This committee holds meetings in the various communities to arouse in
the people an interest in education. It encourages them to build better
school-houses, to extend the school term and it keeps their children in
school. It is the duty of the committee on labor to gather together
those of our race who still work as contract-hands, wage-hands,
day-laborers, and domestic servants, and impress upon them the necessity
of rendering the best service, tell them that the race is judged more by
what they do than what we do, and how great their responsibility is.
The farming committee is always active, trying to create in the people a
real love for agricultural life, trying to show them that the
opportunities which the country offers us are superior to those offered
in the cities. Other committees are the committee on good government,
committee on business, and committee on good roads. The influence for
good this society is exerting throughout the section can hardly be
estimated. Such is the nature of the work we are doing at Snow Hill.
CHAPTER 19.
BENEFITS WROUGHT BY HARDSHIPS.
The word "Offence" is a general and somewhat indefinite term. As defined
by the various dictionaries, it means an attack, an assault, aggression,
injustice, oppression, transgression of a law, misdemeanor, trespass,
crime and persecution. In all of these definitions there is implied an
act considered as disagreeable if not harmful to the recipient.
Of the various nations of the earth, those that are most powerful and
that have accomplished most good are those which have endured and have
survived the most offences. They have grown by reason of the obstacles
which they have overcome. It is singular, yet it is true, that offences
have never destroyed a nation. Those nations which have been destroyed
have been destroyed not by attack from without, but by their own
internal weakness.
Societies that are accomplishing the most good for the uplift of
humanity today are those against whom the most offences have been
committed. Take the Christian Church, the greatest of all societies. Who
can enumerate the offences which have been committed against the church?
Herod tried to behead it, but could not; Pilate tried to crucify it, but
instead sanctified it; Paul persecuted it and it redeemed him; poor
drunken and debauched Nero poured forth the fury of his wrath against
it in every conceivable, wicked way. He deliberately set fire to the
city of Rome and accused the Christians of the deed. He gave feasts in
his garden and the bodies of the Christians were burned as torches in
the evenings. Their groans and agonies constituted the music for their
dance and carousal. Other Christians were fed to half-starved lions. But
through it all the church has become more powerful and more glorious
than before; while Nero's name will forever be a stench to the nations
of the earth. In this particular case the prophecy of Christ "That
offences must need be but woe unto the man by whom the offence cometh"
is fulfilled. As with the church, so with all other societies and
institutions that are doing good in the community, they endure their
offences.
The history of the growth and rise of the various races will show that
they, too, have had their bitter as well as their sweet. In fact, they
have fought for every inch of territory which they now possess.
Let us consider some of the benefits which have been derived from our
hardships. That the enslavement of my people was a serious offence there
is no doubt. I should be the last one to apologize for slavery; but,
after all, we brought more out of slavery than we carried into it. We
went into it heathens, with no language, and no God; we came out
American citizens, speaking the proud Anglo-Saxon tongue, and serving
the God of all the earth.
Under the leadership of old Richard Allen and other noted colored
divines, the Negro church was set up under a bush harbor, but today they
own church property in this country valued at more than $26,000,000. As
a result of the educational offences committed against the Negro, today
he has 35,000 Negro teachers and more than seventeen million dollars'
worth of school property in this country. The Negro has been
disfranchised, but he is more capable of the ballot today than ever
before. Though the disfranchisement of the Negro has wrought great harm
to our Democratic form of government, it has increased in the Negro the
spirit of patience, self-reliance, self-sacrifice, and, in fact, it has
enhanced in him all of those virtues which make for true manhood and
womanhood.
In the business world there has been less offence committed against the
Negro than in any other way. What little there has been was rather
slight and it has been only in recent years that the Negro has began to
detect it, and establish business of his own. He has not so many stores
as he has schools, nor so many shops as he has churches, yet the reports
of the Negro National Business League, which recently met in Atlanta,
will show that he is making rapid progress in the business world.
All great men as well as races and nations suffered their offences.
Washington, Lincoln and Grant were great because they had to endure
hardships. Robert Small, Frederick Douglas and Booker Washington are
great because they were slaves.
The Negro of the South was emancipated 50 years ago without education,
without money, without clothes, without food, without even a place to
rest his head, and, in many instances, without a name. His greatest
possession was ignorance. If, during slavery, he was taught many useful
and helpful lessons, during slavery, also, he was denied the opportunity
of exercising and developing the greatest requisite of independence,
self-reliance. He was a new-born babe, as a ship in mid-ocean without a
rudder. It was nothing more than natural for him at times to drift, at
times to wander, and still at other times to steer in the wrong
direction.
Consequently, he made many mistakes, some of them serious. He made
mistakes in religion, mistakes in economics, and mistakes in politics,
but to my mind his greatest mistake was made in the matter of education.
Until the year '95 the masses of our people in the Black-Belt section of
the South believed that the end of education was to free one from manual
labor, especially from the labor of the farm. They furthermore believed
that it was the end of education to take the people from the country to
the cities and otherwise fit them for only three callings, namely, of
teacher, of preacher, and of politician. This conception of education
was entertained not only by the masses, but many of our schools and
colleges encouraged the same view.
Just at this period, when the relation between the races seemed most
strained, there loomed on the horizon the Booker Washington idea, "That
the kind of education most needed by our people was that which would
dignify, beautify, and make attractive and desirable country life and at
the same time fit our people for high and useful citizenship." Mr.
Washington further contended that any education which did not manifest
itself in the practical daily life of the people was not worthy of the
name.
This idea of Mr. Washington was indeed timely, but, like all other great
movements for reform, it was not accomplished without obstacles, but in
the face of many dangers and difficulties. But the dawn of a new day is
breaking and industrialism seems to be the spirit of the age. The very
fact that the Negro was not allowed to attend the white man's school in
the South gave the Negro a Tuskegee. The fact that no white educator was
willing to bear the black man's burden gave him a Booker Washington. For
similar reasons the Negro has been forced to build his own libraries,
his own theatres, his own hotels, and to establish many other business
enterprises.
Hardships, trials, persecution, and offences are a primary necessity in
life. We ought not, therefore, complain of them; our trials have made us
what we are.
This is pre-eminently a progressive age. The world no longer stands
still. We are either going forward or backward, rising or falling; there
is no such thing as standing still. Those phases of our human activities
that are standing still are dying. This forward movement is not
accomplished without obstacles, and what is true of politics and
business is equally true of individuals. The greatest strength comes
from overcoming--from resistance and struggle.
CHAPTER 20.
THE NEGRO AND THE WORLD WAR.
No book written in the year 1918 would be complete without a word about
this awful conflagration which is now sweeping over the earth.
One sometimes thinks that the end is near and that the world is being
destroyed.
We know that everything that has been invented to advance civilization
is now being used to destroy it. Our one consolation is that however
imperfect we may have been as a nation, we know that our cause is just
and because of this we believe that in the end we will and must win. The
right has always been more powerful than the wrong, even more powerful
than might and it will prove true in this case.
I am being constantly asked by white men in both the North and South,
"How does the Negro regard this war and what about his willingness to
share in its responsibilities." I have only one answer for such
questions: "The Negro now knows but one word 'Loyalty.' He is no alien,
he owes no allegiance to any other country, there is no hyphen to his
name, he is all American, he is willing to fight and die, that the world
might be made safe for democracy." He only asks that he may share in
this democracy.
Already there are practically 200,000 Negroes who have been called to
the colors and thousands of others are expected to be called. I hear of
but few if any slackers among them, while thousands of slackers of other
races are being rounded up by the police in various cities throughout
the country.
The 200,000 Negro soldiers who are now at the front and in the camps
have gone with as brave hearts as any American citizen. They say,
"Silver and gold, have I but little, but I give my life to Uncle Sam, it
is all that I can do."
The Negro is not only furnishing men to the National Army, but he is
doing his part to support the boys at the front. He has bought Liberty
Bonds to the fullest extent. Many of his business organizations,
societies and lodges have bought large blocks of these bonds.
On Sunday morning, June 14th, Dr. Cortland L. Myers of Tremont Temple,
Boston, in his sermon told of an incident of an old colored woman who
had worked hard and saved up three hundred dollars in order that she
might not at the end be buried in the paupers' field, but when she read
that the United States wanted money, took all she had and carried it to
the bank to the agent. When the agent gave her the Liberty Bond and told
her that she would get four per cent on her money, she was utterly
surprised and said, "Lord, Boss, I thought I was giving this money to
Uncle Sam." This woman had only three hundred dollars, but she gave all.
You remember what Christ said about those who were contributing to a
great cause on one occasion. Many made large gifts, but one poor woman
came up and gave a penny which was all she had. Christ on commenting on
this to his Disciples said that she had given more than all, because she
had given all she had. Many incidents of this kind may be cited as proof
of the Negroes' loyalty in this struggle.
Not only in the Liberty Loan drive, but in the Red Cross and War Savings
Stamp drives, the Negro is doing his part. There are Negro agents all
over the South who are educating our people up to what the Government at
Washington wants. Such schools as Snow Hill, Laurinburg, Denmark, Utica,
Okalona and Calhoun and many others are serving as bureaus of
information for this war work among the Negroes.
Nor is this all. The Negro is doing his part in the various industries
of the country. I have heard of many strikes and walk-outs since we
entered the war, but not once have a group of Negroes struck. In some
places where a few are working with the unions, the unions have forced
them out at the risk of their lives, but where he is free, nowhere in
this country has the Negro struck during the war.
He is doing his bit on the farm. Everywhere the Negro farmers, man,
woman and child, believe that they can help win the war by making a good
crop and they are at work on the farm trying to do this, so you see that
the Negro in every way is in the war to a finish.
These are answers to questions asked me by the white man both North and
South as to the attitude of the Negro toward this world's war.
But on the other hand the Negro soldiers and civilians are not asleep
and they too are asking such questions as these:--
"Are we to share in the democracy for which we are giving our lives?
When the world is made safe for democracy, will the entire country be made
safe for it?
Will my father, mother, sister and brother be allowed to share in this
democracy?
Will lynchings and burnings at the stake cease?
Will the white man who makes the laws allow these laws to take their
course?
Will they allow us or give us a fair trial before their courts, which
have only white men as jurors?
Will they cease taxing us without representation?
Will they give us an equal part of the money spent for education? (In
many places in the Black Belt the Negro child receives thirty cents a
year for education, while the white child receives fifteen dollars.)
Will the Negro be given any work that he is capable of doing and not
be denied it on account of his color?
Will it be possible for a Negro travelling from Alabama to California or
Massachusetts, to find a place to sleep at night?
Will the baggage masters and the conductors of the South ever treat the
Negro passengers with courtesy and respect and finally will the white
man in the South after making the laws for the qualifications of
voters, allow a Negro to vote if he measures up to these
qualifications?"
The Negro does not care what these qualifications may be. He only wants
a fair chance in case he measures up to them.
The Negro only seeks equal rights and justice before all the courts of
the land. He expects this because of his teachings. He was brought to
this country against his will, even against his protest. He has been
given the white man's language, his history, his literature, his Bible
and even his God. His aspirations, inspirations and desires have been
brought about as a result of these and if they are wrong, the white man
is to blame. The Negro has been taught to believe that God is no
respecter of persons and therefore his subjects should not be. He
thought that if he did what other men did he would obtain the same
results.
Now evidently the Negro is a man. He loves as other men do, he lives as
others do, he dies as others die, he has joy and sorrow as others do,
even hates as others do, laughs and cries as others. He must therefore,
be a man as man is the only being which possesses these faculties. Then
he asks for a man's chance and the world will never be right until this
is given him. The world will never be safe for democracy until all the
races of the earth are allowed to share in it.
In answer to all of the foregoing questions asked me by both the white
and black, I have said that things will be better for the Negro after
the war. I have said that it was impossible for the world to be made
safe for democracy unless every county in the South is made safe for it.
I have gone as far as to cite a recent occurrence in Camden, Wilcox
County, Alabama, where more than one hundred and forty Negroes were sent
to the cantonments and I was asked to be one of the speakers on the
occasion. The white people there gave the Negroes a great banquet and in
my remarks after thanking them for their hospitality, I said "That it
would be foolish and cowardly on my part to stand here in your presence
and say that as a race we have no grievances, for we have them, but this
is no time to air them. When the house is on fire it is no time for
family quarrels, but the thing to do is to put the fire out and then we
can adjust the quarrels after.
"Today our National house is on fire and it is the duty of every man,
both white and black, rich and poor, great and small, to rise in his
might and put the fire out and when the fire is out, we will see you
about these grievances."
I went a step further and told that "already the war had brought some
good results as this was the most democratic day that this little city
had ever seen." Before the war, two expressions were commonly used by the
white man and the Negro. The Negro's expression was this:--"I haven't
any country," and the white man's expression was:--"This is a white
man's country." Now both of these classes are saying, "This is our
country." I further said that "we should win this war, because democracy
was right and autocracy is wrong, and if we lose, and God forbid that we
should, the fault will not be in democracy, but it will be due to the
fact that we are not practicing what we preach."
At the close of my remarks many of the white citizens, including the
judge, the sheriff, lawyers and other prominent men came forward and
congratulated me on what I had said and some said that the white people
of Camden needed more of such plain talk. I took these signs to mean
that better things were coming for the Negro of the South after the war,
but I must admit that when I read in the evening papers of June 27th
that Senator John Sharp Williams of Mississippi had practically defeated
the bill for women suffrage, because he said that he favored the vote
for white women only and that the bill in its present form would not be
allowed in his state--I must confess that this action almost took away
all of my hopes especially after there was no one to rise and rebut his
argument. There was no one in the United States Senate to speak for
democracy for all the people. Now I think that just such spirit as this
exhibited by that great Senator from Mississippi is at the foundation of
this world's war and until that spirit is crushed, I fear that this war
will continue. For of a truth, "God is no respecter of persons."
Now I have given my answers to both the Negro and the white man. What is
the answer of the white man?
Are we fighting for democracy for all the people, or are we fighting for
democracy for the white man only?
This question has never been answered by the white man, but it must be
answered after this great war.
APPENDIX
_Address Delivered by Mr. Edwards on the Twentieth Anniversary of His
Graduation from Tuskegee._
"Two decades ago, twenty members constituting the class of '93, received
their commission from the illustrious Principal of this great
institution on yonder hill, to go ye into all parts of the South and
teach and preach Tuskegee's gospel. This gospel was then as it is now, a
gospel of service. Now after the lapse of twenty years we have assembled
here to review the efforts of past years. Although twenty years are not
long enough in which to record the life's work of a class, it is
sufficiently long to indicate the direction in which this work is
tending.
"So we come today, not so much to tell what we have accomplished as to
tell what we are doing to renew our allegiance to our Alma Mater, and to
assure its Principal and members of the Faculty that our motto, "Deeds
Not Words," is still our guiding star. Four of our number have passed to
the great beyond. We must therefore wait a later and greater day to hear
their record read or told. Of the remaining sixteen, we have lost all
communication with two, and it would be mere speculation for us to say
what these two are doing. We can only hope, and do most fervently pray,
that wherever they are they have with them the deep and abiding spirit
of Tuskegee, and this we believe they have. This leaves then only
fourteen live, vigorous and active members with which we are concerned.
All of these, except one, have been engaged more or less in teaching.
They are located as follows:
"Two in Normal School at Snow Hill, Alabama; one at the head of a large
Industrial School at Topeka, Kansas; three in Birmingham, Alabama; one
teaching in Miles Memorial College; one in Government Service; one doing
settlement work; two are in Asheville, N. C., where they are engaged in
teaching and doing settlement work respectively; another teaching in
Dothan, Alabama; two in Montgomery, one of these teaching and the other
doing settlement work; one in Selma, Alabama, farming and doing
extension work; one at the head of a prosperous Industrial School at
China, Alabama, and one teaching in Georgia. All have been remarkably
successful and they have touched and made better the lives of more than
five thousand souls. While losing their lives for others, they have
saved their own somewhat, materially.
"Having been out on the tempestuous sea of life for twenty years amidst
both storms and calms, it may not be out of place for us to speak a word
of warning or make a few suggestions to those who are to set sail today,
and to those who hope to go to sea at a later date. This, then, is our
message. First of all, it is necessary for you to know where the work of
the world is to be done.
"On one occasion during Christ's sojourn on earth, He took a few of His
disciples with Him upon the mountain and there transfigured Himself. He
clothed Himself in heavenly beauty and splendor; He arrayed Himself in
His Godlike power. These men were so overjoyed at this manifestation of
His glory and power, that old Peter, impulsive as he was, spoke out and
said: 'Lord, it is good for us to be here, if it be Thy will, let us
build here three tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for
Elias.' The place was so glorious that they wanted to abide there. But
at the same time the multitude was waiting at the foot of the mountain,
hungering and desiring to be fed; naked and desiring to be clothed;
sick, and desiring to be healed. The work of Jesus Christ and His
disciples was not on the transfigured mountain, but at the foot among
the masses. So as they came down from the mountain, there met Him a man
whose son was a lunatic, desiring that the Master might heal him.
"So on occasions like this when Dr. Washington takes us upon the
mountain and reveals to us Tuskegee in all of her beauty and splendor,
we are likely, in such a state of ecstasy, to cry out saying, Principal
Washington, it is good for us to be here, and let us build three
tabernacles; one for thee, one for Armstrong, and one for Douglas. But
my friends, we cannot abide here. We must go down to the foot of the
mountain among the masses. We must go out into the rural districts for
there it is that the people are a hungry and thirsty crowd, and there it
is that the harvest is great, but the laborers are few, and there it is
the work of the world must be done.
"Another suggestion is, that as you go out to work, you will find that
for the most part Negro society is built upon a false basis. Instead of
being built upon the sound basis of merit and character, it is built
upon display; instead of being built upon substance, it is built upon
shadow.
"We need young men and women who have confidence in themselves;
confidence in the race, and abiding faith in God. We need young men and
women who are more interested in the opportunity to make a dollar than
in the privilege to spend one. We need young men and women who are
imbued with the spirit of sacrifice and service, whose mission is, 'Not
to be ministered unto, but to minister.' We need young men and women
with a purpose.
"To illustrate what we mean by a purpose, we take the action of Grant
during the late Civil War. When Winfield Scott and McClellan had
practically failed with the army of the Potomac and things were looking
very dark for the Union forces, Lieutenant U. S. Grant was placed in
command of all the Union forces. From the date of his command, his
purpose was: 'On to Richmond.' Day after day his command was: 'On to
Richmond.' When they had rivers to ford and mountains to climb, his
command was: 'On to Richmond.' At times thousands were laid low by the
ravage of disease, but his command was: 'On to Richmond.' When the
cannon of his enemy roared like thunder and bullets like lightning
struck his men down by the tens of thousands, his command was: 'On to
Richmond.' He received letters and telegrams by the thousands saying:
'My God, General, are you going to kill all of our husbands, all of our
sons, our brothers? Are you going to make all of the North a land of
widows and orphans?' His reply was: 'On to Richmond.' When rivers of
blood were before him, flames of fire swept over his forces, his command
was: 'On to Richmond.' And the command never ceased until Lee
surrendered his sword to Grant at Appomattox Court House. We repeat,
that for the work that lies before us, we need young men and women with
a purpose.
"A third warning is, that we must not mistake the aim and end of
education. You will find somewhere in the Bible a sentence like this:
'And the word was made flesh and it dwelled among us.' The word had been
spoken by Abraham; Moses thundered it from Mt. Sinai's ragged brow;
Ezekiel preached it; David sang it; Solomon proclaimed it; Jeremiah
prophesied it; Elijah saw it in the whirlwind; Moses saw it in the
burning bush, and Isaiah saw it and in amazement cried: 'Who is this
that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Bazroh? this that is
glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength?'
But my friends, none of this would do. Speaking the word would not
atone; hearing it would not redeem; and seeing it would not save. The
word had to be made flesh and blood in the person of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, and then come down on earth and live, move, and dwell among
us.
"As with the word, so with education. You have been here a number of
years trying to obtain it. You have heard education from your teachers;
you have heard it in the class-rooms; you have heard it from the
platform; you have heard it in the Sunday-School; you have gleaned it
from your text-books; you have sung it; you have prayed it; you have
spoken it; you have walked it; you have assumed it. But none of these
will suffice. Education, in order to be real, must be applied; in order
to be effective, it must be digested and assimilated. It must become a
part of your flesh and blood; it must transform you into a new creature
and then go out and move, live and dwell among us.
"And now a final word for the class of '93. What of its loyalty to
Tuskegee, our Alma Mater? It is true that at times our purposes and aims
have been misunderstood and misconstructed; at times your attitude
towards us has been misinterpreted, but not once have we doubted your
love. We hope that you have never mistrusted ours.
"It is true that at times we are troubled on every side, yet not
distressed; we are perplexed, but not in dispair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. Through all of this, our love
and loyalty to dear old Tuskegee has never wavered, and now as a token
of this love and loyalty, I hand to Dr. Washington as a Memorial
Scholarship for the class of '93, a check for one thousand dollars."
I think that this act pleased Dr. Washington more than anything that had
ever been done by the class of '93. We all were proud of this because we
wanted Dr. Washington to see that we had not forgotten what he had done
for us. We wanted to do this during his lifetime, and this we succeeded
in doing.
An address before the Alabama State Teachers' Association, held in
Montgomery, Ala., the subject being:
_"School Building Under Difficulties."_
"There is no work pertaining to the welfare of our race that is of more
importance than that of the teacher, and no class of people has a
harder task to perform than the earnest and conscientious Negro teacher
of today.
"The problems that come before the large educational associations of
this and other countries, are problems dealing largely with the child,
such as the treatment of backward children, treating of abnormal
children, care of the blind, of the deaf, special treatment for
incorrigibles, the feeble minded, and many other kinds of mental and
physical defectives.
"Other problems that demand the attention of such meetings, are problems
dealing with the teacher, his preparation and qualification for the
various grades of our schools, for instance, preparation of the teacher
for the elementary school, for the secondary school, and for colleges
and universities. These associations also give much time to such
subjects as The Relation of Education to Real Life; The Defects of our
Present School System; and how these defects may be remedied. In other
words, how can the school better fit the student to take his place in
the social and economic life of today? I repeat, these are the problems
which largely consume the time of these educational meetings. They are
vital and far-reaching, and demand the closest attention of our wisest
and best educators. They are not racial; not sectional; not even
national, but are universal in their scope and teachers in all parts of
the world must contend with them.
"The average Negro teacher of the South today must assume his share of
the burden of these problems along with other teachers, whether he wills
it or not. In addition to this he has to deal with the serious problem
of his bread and butter. This makes the burden of the Negro teacher of a
two-fold nature, and in this respect he is at a disadvantage of the
average American teacher. He has not as yet been able to live up to the
Biblical injunction, 'Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat,
or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.' No
teacher can do his best so long as there is doubt and uncertainty about
his daily bread.
"The Negro student who finishes at one of our higher institutions of
learning today, and goes forth to teach, does not find everything to his
liking. He soon learns that there has been no voice before him crying in
the wilderness saying: 'Prepare ye the way of the teacher, make straight
in the desert a highway for our educator.' He learns here for the first
time that in addition to the ordinary educational problems, it is for
him to exalt every valley, make low every hill and mountain, make the
crooked straight, and the rough places plain. He finds no way prepared,
he must make one; he finds no school-house ready, he must build one; he
finds no people anxiously awaiting him, he must persuade them. In many
cases the Negro teacher who is imbued with the spirit of sacrifice and
service can truly say as did the Master, 'The foxes have holes and the
birds of the air have nests, but the teacher who would redeem a poverty
stricken and ignorant people, has not where to lay his head.'
"The purpose of the Snow Hill Institute is to prepare young men and
young women to go into communities where they propose to work and
influence the people to stop living in rented one-room log cabins, buy
land, and build dwelling houses having at least four rooms, and thus
improve the home life of the people. Second, to influence the people to
build better school-houses and lengthen the school terms and thus by
arousing educational interest, assist in bringing about the needed
reform that is so essential to economic and upright living; and finally
to promote good character building. To some extent the purpose is being
realized, for more than one thousand different students who have been
more or less benefited by having spent a year or more under its
guidance, are leading sober and useful lives. Two hundred fifteen have
either been granted certificates or diplomas, and are engaged as
follows: Fifty are teachers, twenty-five are housekeepers, three of the
teachers have founded schools of their own, one at Laurinburg, N. C.,
one at West Butler, Alabama, and one at Richmond, Alabama.
"Though the majority of the ex-students are located in the Black Belt of
Alabama and are engaged principally in farming, a large number of them
are found in the following states: Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia,
Florida, and the Carolinas."
APPENDIX
ADDRESS DELIVERED BY MR. EDWARDS IN BESSEMER, ALABAMA
"THE SIGNS OF TIMES"
It was customary in ancient times for nations to build walls around
their cities to protect them from the enemy. War was the rule, and peace
the exception. Nations therefore spent most of their time in preparing
for war, as they believed that their advancement depended largely upon
their conquest. Watchmen would be placed here and there on the walls to
keep a sharp look-out for the enemy and when detected, would warn the
inhabitants of his approach. As a result of these warlike times and
military activities, some of the world's greatest generals were produced
during that period.
Undoubtedly, conditions here mentioned, existed because of the poor
methods of transportation and communication that were uncertain during
that day, for since the advent of the steam-engine, telegraph,
telephone, the automobile, and other means of rapid transit, national
lines of demarcation have been becoming less distinct. As nations
communed with nations and understood each other better, they found less
causes for differences and less need of watchmen on the walls.
We cannot help but believe that with a better knowledge of each race by
the other and on the part of each a better understanding of the great
and common end of life, which is to serve and uplift, that racial strife
and conflict will cease and ere long this old world will become the
kingdom of our God.
But these are not ancient times and things that were are not now. The
cities of the plain are no longer separated, for the walls have been
demolished and instead of the watchmen we have the teacher, the preacher
and the politician to tell us the signs of the times.
This is, pre-eminently, a progressive age; an age of going forth; an age
in which things move. With the new and varied inventions of the 19th and
20th Centuries, old customs and conditions are rapidly passing away and
those nations, races, and individuals who cannot adjust themselves to
these new conditions must be left behind. Just now grave and serious
problems confront the American People and this, in itself, is a proof of
our going forth. We must not deprecate them, we must not shirk them,
they are ours, we must face them manfully, must shoulder them and stand
up and walk. These problems are the mothers of progress and instead of
trying to turn from them or to dodge them, we should rejoice because we
live at a time when we can help in the solution of such complex
problems, whose results will have such far reaching and lasting effect
upon the social and economic life of the American People.
This country is one and inseparable and whatever is beneficial to the
white man is beneficial to the black man also. The negro cannot hope at
the present to play a very important part in the solution of great
questions. At our best the part we must play can only be secondary.
First, because our business operations have not brought us into intimate
relation to these questions and we do not fully comprehend their
meaning. Second, we can do but little because these questions are
political in their nature and must be settled by the ballot. The Negro
in this section has been disfranchised and therefore he cannot play at
that game. Our being thus handicapped and prohibited from assisting in
the solution of these great problems, is no reason why we should say
there is nothing we can do.
"If you cannot cross the ocean
And the heathen lands explore
You can find the heathen nearer;
You can help them at your door."
There are some problems, however, that are within our reach, upon the
solution of which depends our future welfare in this country. They are,
inefficiency, vagrancy, and crime. For a long time we have been hearing
of the inefficiency of the Negro teacher, the inefficiency of the Negro
preacher, but all the while it was said that he was a good worker; that
he was only fitted to do manual labor. The cry has gone out and is
rapidly spreading to the effect that the Negro is worthless; that there
is inefficiency in the pulpit, inefficiency in the school-room, and now
inefficiency on the farm. Inefficiency everywhere. Our race has lost
many places of trust and honor because of this cry. I know personal
cases where Negro men have been replaced by white men because, they say,
the black men were inefficient. This is as much true in New York as it
is in Alabama. As the supply of efficient men increases, the demand for
inefficient men will decrease and sooner or later there will be no room
for the inefficient man. He will be idle, cannot get any work to do. He
will be added to the vagrant class. Already this class is too large
among us; strong able-bodied men walking about with no home and nothing
to do. This is a dangerous class. Of course, unless the vagrant gets
some work to do he will starve or have to leave the country; but this
man does not do either. He becomes a parasite and lives of the honest
toil of others. Sometimes he lives out of the white man's kitchen,
because his sweetheart is the cook; sometimes because his old mother is
a wash woman, and sometimes because his sister is a nurse. This is the
class, my white friends, that gives you trouble, this is the class that
gives us trouble, this is the class that will give trouble to any
community and we are as anxious as you are to rid ourselves of this body
of death.
Now the best class of Negroes and the best class of white people are
agreed as to the fact that this dangerous class must be gotten rid of,
but they differ as to methods. The Negro believes mostly in the
preventive method, the white man mostly in the cure method. The Negro
says a good school in every community will prevent, the white man says a
good jail in every county will cure. The Negro says teach the law, the
white man says enforce the law. The Negro cries for a state reformatory
for the boys and girls of his race, the white man cries for the
penitentiary for them. Now, this is not a very great difference after
all and we should get together by each asking for the best schools to
prevent these evils and then when the evils are committed, asking for
the strictest law for their punishment. As for my part, it is not a
question in my mind as to the cause of this increasing class among my
people. It is plain to me that ignorance is the cause of inefficiency,
inefficiency the cause of vagrancy, and vagrancy the cause of crime. We
must, therefore, seek the remedy in the removal of the cause. If
ignorance be the mother of inefficiency, inefficiency the mother of
vagrancy, and vagrancy the mother of crime, it is plain that the removal
of ignorance will stop the others. This can only be done by education
and civic righteousness.
I wish here to emphasize the fact that education is the source of all we
have and the spring of all our future joys. Our religion, our morality,
and that which is highest and best in our social and civic life, all
come from education. Therefore, it is the primary factor in the
elevation of all races.
Our education should be of a threefold nature, viz.: Literary,
Industrial and Religious. No limit should be placed upon the Negro's
literary qualification. A race so largely segregated as ours, needs its
own teachers, preachers, lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, and other
professional and business men, and therefore they should be given the
highest and best education that is obtainable. If our preachers and
teachers are inefficient, it is because they are improperly educated.
If the churches are growing cold and dying and the schools accomplishing
but very little good, it is because religion is not being made practical
and education not being made to apply to our every day life. Such an end
can only be accomplished through well and systematically trained
teachers and preachers. Better teachers and better preachers will go a
long way towards the alleviation of our ills. If we would secure the
kind of education here referred to, we must be willing to pay for it; we
must make a sacrifice, we must care less about forms and fashions and
more about the higher things of life. We must see less evils in the
dollar and more good.
We must not only have a good education, but we must have good industrial
training. This is a scientific as well as a literary age. A scientific
age is always an age of inventions and with new inventions comes the
demand for men qualified to manage large interests and complicated
machinery. This demand can only be supplied by industrially trained men
and women. This must be done in our industrial schools. Our hands should
be as truly trained to work as our minds to think, and any education
that teaches otherwise, is not worthy of the name.
I know that in some sections my people are prejudiced towards industrial
schools, but this is foolish in the extreme. If we are to hold our own
in this country, it must be by our ability to do work and to do it in
the most acceptable manner. We are in a farming section and I believe
that we should therefore strive to be the best farmers in the world. Let
us make a specialty of all the trades that are related in anyway to
agriculture; endeavor to become the best stock raisers, the best truck
gardeners, the best cooks, the best wash women, the best housekeepers,
the best dress makers, the best blacksmiths, and in fact, the best in
all that pertains to country life.
Let us get hold of the lands we cultivate as far as possible and build
better homes and keep our homes clean. But you say that we do not need
industrial training. Let us see. Many years ago Henry Clay, in order to
encourage home industry, introduced a bill in the Kentucky Legislature
to the effect that the people of that state should use nothing save what
could be produced in the state. Suppose today the white man of this
country should say that the Negro must use only the things which he
could make, what would be his condition? Could we cook with proper
utensils? Could we eat with knives and forks? Could we dress as we do
now? Practically everything we wear or use was made by the white man and
were he to institute such actions we would be helpless to provide for
ourselves.
In our quest for knowledge, we must not overlook the education of the
heart. Our religion should be made practical. It must be real and not
visionary. No other will suffice. Our religion must consist more in
deeds and less in words.
Transcriber's Notes:
Passages in italics are indicated by _underscore_.
The following misprints have been corrected:
"210" corrected to "120" (Table of Contents)
"Tuskeegee" corrected to "Tuskegee" (page 47)
"phosporus" corrected to "phosphorus"(page 91)
Some quotes are opened with marks but are not closed. Obvious errors
have been silently closed, while those requiring interpretation have
been left open.
Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in
spelling, punctuation, and hyphenation usage have been retained.
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