SPEECHES & WRITINGS FILE
[*[Testimonial to Rev. Lewis
C. Sheafe]*]

MRS. MARY CHURCH TERREL--1.

MRS. TERRELL. MR. Chairman and Friends: I have come to add my testimony to those which have already been given in honoring Rev. Lewis C. Sheafe. I haven't come to make a speech. I confess it is a great temptation to attempt to do so, but I shall not. Some of us have seen men who wanted to do right, who wanted to do a good thing, who wanted to help their fellow men, but even with the best intentions they had, they did not succeed because they were not properly prepared. And then we have seen men who are properly prepared to do something, some kind of work in a fine way who did not succeed because their hearts were not in the right place. And I believe we are all accustomed to think that it is a very rare combination when both the head and the heart are joined, when both the head and the heart are prepared to do the work in which any human being engages. And those of us who know Reverend Sheafe know that this is true in his case, that his head has been prepared and that his heart is in the right place. It would be very interesting, but of course it would be impossible for any human being to measure the amount of good which a man like Reverend Sheafe has done in a community like this--in any community. 

MRS. MARY CHURCH TERREL--2.
Of course you will agree with me, I am sure, when I say that there is no group of human beings who need the ministrations of a man who is well prepared for this work, and whose heart is in the right place, any more certainly than we do, and so, as I was trying to say, it will be impossible for any human being to judge the amount of good that a man like Reverend Sheafe has done in a community like this, or in any other community for that matter. We could say a great deal, but when we said a great deal we would still not have paid the tribute of praise which Reverend Sheafe so richly deserves.
I also want to say a word of praise for the committee who arranged this meeting. You know we are frequently accused as a group of not being able to appreciate those who really do a great deal for us. I  remember once hearing that people who were in a position to appoint officers, or to make officers in colored companies, had said they did not think it was a very wise thing to do so because colored people notoriously did not appreciate their own group--did not appreciate members in their own group, and these people who entertained that opinion said that it would be very unwise, very stupid, to appoint colored men as officers over colored soldiers because colored soldiers would


MRS. MARY CHURCH TERRELL--3.

have no respect for them.  And while I do not at all agree with that opinion,
sometimes when I see the lack of appreciation which we as a race show to those
who do try to help us, to uplift us, or help us in any way, sometimes I feel
that thee is just a modicum of truth in this charge which is preferred against
us by our enemies--I think they are our enemies. I will call them so, because
I think that nobody but an enemy would make a blanket charge like that against
any group of human beings.  And so when my good friend, Mrs. Alston, wrote
me a letter telling me about this testimonial, this Anniversary
Celebration, which was in preparation for Reverend Sheafe, and asked me would
I come here and say a few words, I was more than glad to do so.  I cheerfully
consented.  I was so glad to see that a group of human beings had come
together and had said here is a man who has done a great deal of good in this
community, and we are going to see that he knows how much we appreciate the
services he has so splendidly rendered in our behalf.  And so I congratulate
not only Reverend Sheafe upon the splendid work he has done in this community
along all of the lines of uplift, but I congratulate the people who were
appreciative enough of his services to prepare this Anniversary Celebration


MRS. MARY CHURCH TERRELL--4.

in which we are participating her tonight.  It is certainly a mark of
intelligence.  It is an evidence of progress on our part.  SOme years
ago it is said that a little colored boy away down South was asked by some
white people who were visiting the school in which this child was studying,
what they should tell white friends of this little boy when they returned
North, and this boy is said to have replied, "Tell them we is rising."
And so I felt tonight when I came here--as I felt when Mrs. Alston first
wrote, will you participate in this meeting--and I said to myself, verily,
verily. "We is rising!"    (PROLONGED HEARTY APPLAUSE.)

("Mother O'Mine" and introduction of Miss Coppage follow.)


Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.