SPEECHES & WRITINGS FILE Published writings by Terrell, 1930-39 17 additional copies declared duplicate 1931 THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D.C., A[?] TUSKEGEE OF 193[?] FROM OLD SHANTY OF 1881 Material Growth Remarkable, but Influence It Has Exerted Upon Character of Colored Race is More Striking. BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL. If it is possible for those who have departed this life to know what is happening on earth, Booker T. Washington must have been very happy during the recent celebration of Tuskegee's fiftieth anniversary. It is hard to believe that by any possible stretch of imagination or exercise of faith he could have visualized such a wonderful school as those who attended the exercises beheld, when it opened for its first session July 4, 1881, in a dilapidated shanty with 30 pupils, of whom he was the only teacher. It is indeed a far cry from that poor little shanty to the 122 substantial buildings which are well equipped for the purposes for which they are used. The campus, with its 110 acres, is really a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Wherever one looks there is a perfectly kept green lawn with a wealth of shrubbery and trees. In a section where the schools provided for colored children are often unsightly and in need of repair, the physical surroundings of Tuskegee are object lessons to the pupils in neatness, cleanliness and order as well as a delight to the eye. Dr. Washington felt that not a penny spent in making the school a model in this particular and in cultivating the taste of the pupils was wasted. School Owns 1,850 Acres. In addition to the 110 acres of campus, there are 500 acres of farm land, which are cultivated, and 1,240 acres of pasture and woodland, which make a total of 1,850 acres owned by the school. But as remarkable as has been the material growth of the school, the influence which it has exerted upon the life and character and progress of the race for which it was established has been still more gratifying and striking. When the school began to function, only 25 out of every 100 colored people knew their letters. Today approximately 90 out of every 100 can read in that section where 85 per cent of the race lives. In the black belt of Alabama, where Tuskegee is located, it has made getting an education the fashion. Many more children are attending school today than were enrolled as pupils 50 years ago. When Booker Washington founded Tuskegee, less than 100 colored people graduated every year from college. Last year more than 2,000 received diplomas from accredited institutions of learning. The value of school property for colored people has greatly increased, as has also the annual appropriation of public school funds for their group in the 15 Southern States. Many changes have taken place to promote the welfare of colored people in that section where the majority live. While it can not be claimed that Tuskegee Institute, single-handed and alone, has been instrumental in making these changes for the better, there is no doubt whatever that the influence exerted by it has been an important factor in achieving this result. Practical Education. The founder of the school believed in educating the hand as well as the head. He wanted to give his pupils who belonged to a retarded, handicapped group a practical education. He set out to teach them "to do common things in an uncommon way." In the language of another, "he refused to join [ ? ? ? ] parade of other institutions." And now that Booker Washington's idea has been carried out with such gratifying results, it is not only considered a good thing for the group for which it was originally planned, but it is highly recommended for the masses of all races without regard to color or clime. From the nature of the case the young people who first attended Tuskegee had had little training in learning to do things systematically and scientifically. Mr. Washington decided to teach them to inject system into everything which they did. He himself had been taught the necessity of doing this when he attended Hampton Institute, which was established by Gen. Armstrong. He was convinced that the only solution to the vexatious race problem lay in training the colored American's hand as well as his head. This idea was put into practice by having the pupils devote as much time to their vocational training as they did to their academic tasks. Sometimes they labored longer at the industrial stints than they did at the academic. At present the students attend their classes in the school room three days and spend the same length of time learning their respective trades. The pupils who are able to pay for their education are obliged to work at some trade just as do the pupils who are helping to support themselves through school. All Must Learn Trade. Six or seven years ago Tuskegee was raised to the dignity of a full-fledged college, in which 477 students are now enrolled. There is a good high school, too. Nevertheless, the school has never budged an inch from the system of education as originally planned. It clings tenaciously to the point of view entertained by the founder, who declared, "We shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify labor [ ?? ] doctrine of buying and owning land in season and out. In short, he devoted much of his time, energy and money in teaching the farmers improved methods of tilling the soil and in showing them how to raise their rural life to a higher plane. Booker Washington's influence has been felt in may ways, but in none more than in the success which he achieved in inducing the farmers to buy the land which they cultivated. Colored people own much more property today than they did 50 years ago and there is no doubt that some of the improvement in this direction was made because they followed Booker Washington's advice. Went Out to Teach Farmers. But even the Farmers' Conference did not entirely satisfy his desire to the interests of his race. He conceived the idea of sending out a wagon to the farmers to teach them the in agriculture and sanitation which he wished them to learn. If the mountain would not go to Mahomet then Mahomet made up his mind to go to the mountain. Farm demonstration service was carried on the the Jesup Wagon, which was named for the donor, until it was taken over by the Department of Agriculture. One of the most interesting sights at the recent celebration was the old, broken-down wagon which was the first to go on its rounds of education, demonstration and inspiration to the farmers of that section. All the sessions of the recent celebration held the attention of the audiences closely, but none captivated them more than that one in which they were shown by experts how the people of the rural sections are taught to do certain kinds of work. It was an atmosphere of "make believe" in which they lived for the time being. For instance the men who came to teach us how to plant sweet potatoes started out by asking "How many of you are going to plant sweet potatoes this Spring? Those of you who are going to do so, raise your hands." And we all entered into the spirit of the occasion and raised our hands. Forthwith the instructor told us exactly how to plant them—what kind of soil should be used, how to keep them warm enough, how deep to plant them and so on. Nurse Gives Instruction Then there was a visiting nurse who gave a thorough lesson on how to care for the sick. On the platform before our very eyes there was a sure-enough bed in which a student who played the part of the patient was lying. The nurse showed how to change both sheets without disturbing the patient, explaining just how it was done as she deftly did the job. Valuable information was also given about the steps to be taken to restore the patient to health and prevent the spread of disease. Next to the visiting nurse was the young woman who taught the audience how to "tie and dye." She held in her hand a piece of white material which looked like silk. There were several pans. One of them contained green dye and the other yellow. The dyer plunged the whole material into the yellow dye and wrung it out. After she shook it out, she rolled the center into a tight wad and dipped the loose ends into the green dye. She shook that out also and sure enough the material had been metamorphosed into a pretty green and yellow scarf. But the ends did not exactly suit the young woman, so she dipped the green ends again into a dark blue dye and intensified the green, which greatly improved the color scheme. Then followed alluring and encouraging suggestions about the wonders which could be accomplished in the home and for one's wardrobe, if one only knew how to dye. Old, faded dresses could be made to look like new, to say nothing of faded draperies and spreads. Next to the "tie and dye" lady was one who sounded the praises of the fireless cooker and showed exactly how to make one. Nothing was more simple than the process used to convert an ordinary galvanized pail with some excelsior plus several other little accessories into a cooker which the audience was told would greatly reduce the housewife's labor and improve the quality of the food as well. Bug Spray Demonstration. Then came the man who urged the to spray potato plants so as to destroy the bugs which devour them. And there were sure-enough potato bugs crawling on the leaves of the plants as lively as crickets till the deadly spray was applied to them when they soon ceased to do their evil deeds. This instructor gave explicit directions concerning the best sprays to use and how to make them. A note of warning was uttered against some which were injurious to human beings. Next to this demonstrator came the man who showed how to test milk, so as to see the amount of butter fat in the different grades. Everybody was pleased to learn that by the test exhibited the sins of the milkmen who water their product could be easily found out. The farmer was exhorted not to insist upon "tea cup cows," which give such a small quantity of milk that they eat their heads off and do not pay for their board. A great deal of fun was poked at [ ] [ ??? ] school. But, as remarkable as has been the material growth of the school, the influence which it has exerted upon the life and character and progress of the race for which it was established has been still more gratifying and striking. When the school began to function, only 25 out of every 100 colored people knew their letters. Today approximately 90 out of every 100 colored people can read in that section where 85 per cent of the race lives. In the black belt of Alabama, where Tuskegee is located, it has made getting an education the fashion. Many more children are attending school today than were enrolled as pupils 50 years ago. When Booker Washington founded Tuskegee, less than 100 colored people graduated every year from college. Last year more than 2,000 received diplomas from accredited institutions of learning. The value of school property for colored people has greatly increased, as has also the annual appropriation of public school funds for their group in the 15 Southern States. Many changes have taken place to promote the welfare of colored people in that section where the majority live. While it can not be claimed that Tuskegee Institute, single-handed and alone, has been instrumental in making these changes for the better, there is no doubt whatever that the influence exerted by it has been an important factor in achieving this result. Practical Education. The founder of the school believed in educating the hand as well as the head. He wanted to give his people who belonged to a retarded, handicapped group a practical education. He set out to teach them "to do common things in an uncommon way." In the language of another, "he refused to join [ ? ] parade of other institutions." And now that Booker Washington's idea has been carried out with such gratifying results, it is not only considered a good thing for the group for which it was originally planned, but it is highly recommended for the masses of all races without regard to color or clime. From the nature of the case the young people who first attended Tuskegee had had little training in learning to do things systematically and scientifically. Mr. Washington decided to teach them to inject system into everything which they did. He himself had been taught the necessity of doing this when he attended Hampton Institute which was established by Gen. Armstrong. He was convinced that the only solution to the vexatious race problem lay in training the colored American's hand as well as his head. This idea was put into practice by having the pupils devote as much time to their vocational training as they did to their academic tasks. Sometimes they labored longer at the industrial stints than they did at the academic. At present the students attend their classes in the school room three days and spend the same length of time learning their respective trades. The pupils who are able to pay for their education are obliged to work at some trade just as do the pupils who are helping to support themselves through school. All Must Learn Trade. Six or seven years ago Tuskegee was raised to the dignity of a full-fledged college, in which 477 students are now enrolled. There is a good high school, too. Nevertheless, the school has never budged an inch from the system of education as originally planned. It clings tenaciously to the point of view entertained by the founder, who declared, "We shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify labor and put skill and brain into the common things of life." It believes the better the brain has been trained and the more knowledge a human being possesses the better he can maser a trade. A visit through the various trades building is most impressive. One sees the boys learning brickmaking, bricklaying, plastering, blacksmithing, wood turning, scroll and machine work, cabinet making, printing, men's tailoring, wheelwrighting, carriage trimming, sheet metal work, tinsmithing, plumbing, shoe mending, automobile repairing and other trades. The objects which the boys have actually made lie before one's eyes. They speak for themselves. The girls learn laundering, plain sewing, dressmaking, millinery, mattress making, broom making and basketry. Some of the scarfs, purses and bedspreads which the girls have woven are works of art. Instrument for Progress. The students who have been graduating from these trades for the last 50 years have literally been the little leaven of skill and efficiency which has been leavening the whole lump. It does not require a great stretch of the imagination to understand what a powerful instrument for progress the Tuskegee idea has been for half a century among a group of people who needed sorely the information and the inspiration which it alone could impart. The students have literally buckled on the armor of knowledge and skill and have gone forth to was against ignorance and efficiency, especially in that section where opportunity for such instruction as they received could have been obtained at no other school for many years. Now, however, there are many little housekeepers all over the South which are each doing their share to solve a difficult problem in the quickest, surest way. In his scheme for promoting the welfare of his race Booker Washington did not confine his efforts solely to the children, but he mapped out a well defined plan to include their parents as well. The first step in this direction was a Farmer's Conference, which was held on the institute grounds. He literally went out into the byways and hedges of this section and compelled the farmers to come in. He and his assistants showed them the right way to cultivate their land and pointed out the mistakes they made. He preached the [ ??? ] rural sections are taught to do certain kinds of work. It was an atmosphere of "make believe" in which they lived for the time being. For instance the men who came to teach us how to plant sweet potatoes started out by asking "How many of you are going to plant sweet potatoes this Spring? Those of you who are going to do so, raise your hands." And we all entered into the spirit of the occasion and raised our hands. Forthwith the instructor told us exactly how to plant them - what kind of soil should be used, how to keep them warm enough, how deep to plant them and so on. Nurse Gives Instruction. There was a visiting nurse who gave a thorough lesson on how to care for the sick. On the platform before our very eyes there was a sure-enough bed in which a student who played the part of the patient was lying. The nurse showed how to change both sheets without disturbing the patient, explaining just how it was done as she deftly did the job. Valuable information was also given about the steps to be taken to restore the patient to health and prevent the spread of disease. Next to the visiting nurse was the young woman who taught the audience how to "tie and dye." She held in her hand a piece of white material which looked like silk. There were several pans. One of them contained green dye and the other yellow. The dyer plunged the whole piece of material into the yellow dye and wrung it out. After she shook it out, she rolled the center into a tight wad and dipped the loose ends into the green dye. She shook that out also and sure enough the material had metamorphosed into a pretty green and yellow scarf. But the ends did not exactly suit the young woman, so she dipped the green ends again into a dark blue dye and intensified the color scheme. Then followed alluring and encouraging suggestions about the wonders which could be accomplished in the home and for one's wardrobe, if only one knew how to dye. Old, faded dresses could be made to look like new, to say nothing of faded draperies and spreads. Next to the "tie and dye" lady was one who sounded the praises of the fireless cooker and showed exactly how to make one. Nothing was more simple than the process used to convert an ordinary galvanized pail with some excelsior plus several other little accessories into a cooker which the audience was told would greatly reduce the housewife's labor and improve the quality of the food as well. Bug Spray Demonstration. Then came the man who urged the farmer to spray potato plants so as to destroy the bugs which devour them. And there were sure-enough potato bugs crawling on the leaves of the plants as lively as crickets till the deadly spray was applied to them when they soon ceased to do their evil deeds. This instructor gave explicit directions concerning the best sprays to use and how to make them. A note of warning was uttered against some which were injurious to human beings. Next to this demonstrator came the man who showed how to test milk, so as to see the amount of butter fat in the different grades. Everybody was pleased to learn that by the test exhibited the sins of the milkmen who water their product could be easily found out. The farmer was exhorted not to insist upon keeping "tea cup cows," which give such a small quantity of milk that they eat their heads of and do not pay for their board. A great deal of fun was poked at farmers who keep what the demonstrator called "sentimental" cows, which are allowed to cumber the ground, not because they yield a satisfactory suply of milk, but solely because of a maudlin sentimentality which prevents their owner from selling them even though they are keeping him poor. The parting injunction to farmers was "Whatever you do, don't associate scrub cows." A pig was injected with something which made him immune to cholera; a horse's teeth were treated little ducks enjoyed themselves in a coop which kept their drinking water clean. All this was done on the platform in an incredibly short time. After each demonstration announcement was made that if anything had been done or said that was not thoroughly understood, the county agent would give the necessary information if requested to do so. This is the kind of practical work which Tuskegee has been doing for years. It was fitting that a part of an afternoon session should have been set aside during the celebration in which to exhibit it. It was literally a "panorama of the school's industries," as the official program called it. Developing Musical Talent. Tuskegee has been doing and is still doing much to develop the race's talent for music. There is a fine department of music, whose instructors hold degrees from the best conservatories in the land. A pupil may pursue a course of music for an incredibly small fee. It costs him only $9 a semester to get instruction on the piano twice a week for 25 minutes each lesson. Included in this tuition is permission to practice on a piano furnished by the school together with the music he needs for his work. Careful attention is given the choir, the orchestra and the band, so as to keep them up to the high standard they have already attained. Unstinted praise was bestowed upon the festival of Negro music, which was given one evening during the celebration. The head of the music department is an alumnus of the Chicago Conservatory and is a composer of note. Tuskegee has always made a specialty of the Negro spirituals. Time was when they were called plantation melodies, and many colored people objected to them strenuously. But now that they have a more sonorous and dignified name, these same conscientious objectors not only hear them gladly but draw themselves up proudly as they declare they are the only original music this country has produced. The teachers of Tuskegee are se- (Continued on Fourth Page.) KING ALFONSO'S FALL OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE Lloyd George Says People Will Revolt Against Loss of Constitutional Government. (Continued From First Page.) satisfactory means of limiting its power save by throwing it overboard. None of the new kingless countries could have dealt with its monarch as peacefully as Norway did, when in 1905 it calmly dismissed the King whom until then it had shared with Sweden and without the slightest fuss chose a fresh one for itself. Italy Curious Example. Italy presents a curious example of a nation which after developing a constitutional monarchy and a democratic government has replaced its democratic government by the dictatorship of a commoner, leaving the monarchy undisturbed but impotent. This is hardly the place to discuss the relative merits of dictatorship and democracy as applied to Italy, or to speculate whether the ultimate passing of the dictatorship will involve peril to the throne. But it may be noted that the Italian position differs markedly from the Spanish, where a dictatorship was set up on the authority of the crown and operated largely under its direction. In Italy the dictatorship resulted from a national revolutionary protest against the failure of democracy in a land whose people lacked the temperament and long training to make this form of government efficient, and the King appears to have had little to do with its establishment and equally little with the responsibilities of government since the Duce took charge. Civilization is the art of living together in an ordered society. In the steady progress of civilization from the tribal unit to an organization such as the United States, the British Commonwealth or the League of Nations, monarchy has had a vitally important part to play. It has been everywhere the instrument for uniting independent groups into organized nations, and administering internal justice and external defense, which permitted these nations to begin to develop their social life, their arts and sciences, their commerce and industry. Public Demands Voice. As society within a nation becomes more firmly organized, the strength of central government naturally increases. But with the growth of a prosperous and educated community, there will be a larger tendency for the general body of the nation to watch with critical eye the doings of its monarch and demand a voice in his councils. Eventually it is inevitable that the personal autocracy of the sovereign should be limited in fact, if not in theory, by the will of the people. If a constitutional form is provided by which this will can be expressed, its pressure can be peaceably exerted. if not, it will express itself eventually by revolution and the overthrow of the monarch; possibly also of the throne. The liberties won by two revolutions no constitute a firm foundation for the British monarchy. Constitutional monarchy is the form of government which has developed in this country and among its neighbors around the North Sea. It is the system under which the nation is furnished with democratic means of letting the Sovereign know its will and insuring that he and his ministers carry it into effect. Before the war German political theorists, such as Troitschko, attacked the theory of a constitutional monarchy on the ground it demanded mediocrity in the [Sover?? ??? ???? ???] gent and tactful Sovereign. If the King has less to do with the daily mechanics of political administration, there is a great scope for his energy and ability in innumerable highly important directions closely effecting the daily affairs and social well being of his people. A stupid, self-willed or vicious King would quickly imperil the safety of the throne. Monarchs who have lost their seats since the war were not those who ruled constitutionally, and they were turned away not for being merely unnecessary but for being definitely obstructive. Folly has lost the throne of Spain. Wisdom preserves that of Britain. The functions of a constitutional monarch call not so much for high ability, as for sound instinct. Constitutional kingship is in itself an art. The Nordic Kings have learned it to perfection. Hence the complete absence of any republican movement in their kingdoms. Socialists accord to the throne the same acceptance as die-hard Tories. Military Movement. Alfonso lost his throne because the Spanish people hold him responsible for the abandonment of their constitutional government and for the rule of the country since September, 1923, by Dictator Gen. Primo de Rivera. Spain is not perhaps the most progressive country in Europe. But it was too far developed in the spirit of modern civilization for this autocracy to be permanently successful. It was an autocracy differing fundamentally from that of Mussolini in Italy, in that it was not the achievement of a great popular movement like Fascism, but was purely military in its basis. A modern civilized nation may submit for a considerable time to a government which represents a strong and vocal section of public opinion, even if it has not the support of a numerical majority of the people, but it bitterly resents being dragooned by a military despot set up not by any popular movement but by armed forces of the crown. King Alfonso is widely liked personally in this country, and there is a very strong personal sympathy with his English Queen and her family. But it is impossibly for us to ignore that fact that if the British Sovereign had used his position to upset our constitution in the same way we should have turned him out in a much shorter time than seven and a half years. It is 300 years since we last had a monarch in this country who tried the experiment of dissolving Parliament and governing autocratically with the aid of a dictator. On that occasion the English people chopped off the head of the Primo de Rivera of that day, and finally treated his royal master in the same fashion. Charles the First did not show the same good sense as Alfonso has done in leaving his country when the voice of the people made it quite clear that his method of government was unacceptable. (Copyright, 1931.) Two Rooms, Kitchen and Bath Electrical Refrigeration THE ARGONNE 16th and Columbia Road Reasonable Rentals LUCKY TIGER her stamp, and the less his ability, the more satisfactorily would he discharge his duty. In fact, however, the role of a constitutional monarch is one that may well exhaust the most energetic, dili- For Hair and Scalps A single bottle corrects scalp irritations; a Proven Germicide, delicately perfumed; safe for adults and children. World's largest seller at Druggists, Barbers, Beauty Parlors GUARANTEED Stop Roof Leaks Easily and Quickly Spring and summer rains have a habit of finding any budding hole or crack in your roof, which gets worse as time goes on . . . unless nipped in the bud. Use Our Special Roof Paint This Roof Paint makes roof fixing the easiest outdoor occupation. Just put it on with a brush. Seals all opening permanently. May be had in any quantity. Ask our experts about it. E.J. Murphy Co. INCORPORATED 710 12th St. N. W. National 2477 RESORTS. RESORTS. ATLANTIC CITY, N. J. ATLANTIC CITY, N. J. Hotels To Come To And Come Back To! That headline sums up the story of the Atlantic City Group...these exclusive hotels are just as eager to hold your business as they are to get it . . . they aim to build future patronage on present satisfaction . . . they want you now and they want you again . . . and whichever hotel you come to you'll come back to, for Repeat Business is the Big Business of the Atlantic City Group! THEATRES . MOVIES . SHOPS RIDING . GOLFING . SPORTS EVERY MINUTE SOMETHING TO DO ATLANTIC CITY Selected Group of the Finest and Most Representative Hotels PRESIDENT-A-E CHALFANTE - KNICKERBOCK-A-E ST. CHARLES-A-E HADDON HALL-A-E LAFAYETTE-A TRAYMORE-A-E DENNIS-A MARLBOROUGH- BRIGHTON-A GLASLYN-CHATHAM-A BLENHEIM-A-E COLTON MANOR-A-E HOLMHURST-A-E MORTON-A (A- American Plan E- European Plan A-E- Both Plans) Kindly Write for Rates and Reservations COPYRIGHTED, F. I. F., 1931 a committee of the House of Representatives and pleaded with Congress to create the employment service which the bill provided. He testified that the bill was not a blow, but a blessing, to the wage earners of the United States. Mr. Whitney, president of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, wrote the members of Congress asking them to vote in favor of the bill. Will any one believe that it was his purpose to inflict a blow on the 190,000 wage earners he represented? Mr. Sidney Hillman, president of the American Association of Clothing Workers, joined in the petition to Congress, urging the prompt enactment of the bill. Will any one believe that he was faithless to the thousands of workers for whom he spoke? The American Association for Labor Legislation fought an unremitting fight to secure the passage of the employment service bill. Will any one tell me that they did not know where the interests of labor lay? Indeed every labor organization throughout the country supported the measure. These are the witnesses I produce to establish that the bill was a boon to lsbor, not a blow . Mr. Hoover has not been able to summon a single voice from the ranks of labor to give sanction to accusation. All Classes Backed Bill The spokesmen of labor were not alone in support of the employment service bill. They were joined by business men and bankers throughout the Nation; by economists, by churchmen, by all who have given time and effort to the study of the problem and have by experience learned of the bitter need in this country of an adequate service to help men and women find work. The commissioners of State employment services in 25 States indorsed the bill. Not one, yo my knowledge, opposed it. Surely, these men were in a position to know whether the plan established by the bill was sound. If the bill was not properly designed to promote the prosperity and welfare of the entire American people would it have won the indorsement and approval of economists like Prof. Tausig of Harvard, Prof. Fisher of Yale, Prof. Commons of Wisconsin, Prof. Douglas of Swarthmore, Prof. Seager of Columbia? Would churchmen like Father (rest cut off) ..a sentence in the bill reading. "The employment service now existing in the Department of Labor is hereby abolished." He would have the public believe that instead of creating an employment service the purpose of my bill was to destroy one. Obviously that is not the fact. The existing service is abolished and simultaneously there is erected in its place a new service, bigger, better, and more amply financed with greater powers and wider opportunities to serve the employers and employe[e]s of the Nation. Corrects President It is not my habit to offer corrections of a statement of fact made by the President of the United States. I do it very reluctantly. I must, nevertheless, insist that when the President announced that "the existing Federal employment service is today finding places of employment for men and women at the rate of 1,300,000 per annum" he was confusing the facts. It is the State and local agencies and not the Federal Government that have found these jobs. When he goes further and gives the impression that my bill would suspend the operation of the agencies that found these 1,300,000 jobs I fell it again my duty to make public correction. The bill I introduced would not abolish the State agencies. No Federal bill could abolish a State agency. Quite the contrary; under my bill these agencies would be strengthened by additional appropriations and fortified by the assistance of a larger and more adequate, non-political, Federal employment service. A very determined effort was made both by the President and by Mr. Doak to convey the thought that had the employment service bill become law there would have followed a period of time, measured by months, or possibly years, during which we should have had neither the old service nor the new one. No one who had read the whole bill would make that assertion. The bill very carefully makes provision for a two-year period of adjustment in which to pass over from the existing inadequate service to the Nation-wide service established by the bill. Not a single useful activity of the existing service would have been suspended for one second. There is ample authority in the bill for the continuation of the farm labor division and the service rendered to veterans in co-operation with Tuskegee of 1931 Far Cry from Shanty Where Booker T. Washington Taught (Continued From Third Page) lected with great care. Not only are proper scholastic attainments required, but the attitude of the teacher toward his group is carefully considered. Among the 234 faculty members may be found women and men who have consecrated their lives to their work with an earnestness and a devotion which largely explain the powerful influence for good which Tuskegee has wielded among the colored people of the South. But the influence of this school has been by no means confined to the South. Students have come from every State in the Union. They have also come from the West Indies and Central America, from Japan, India, China and the Philippines, as well as from Africa. There is always a large foreign contingency at the school. There were many interesting people on the program at the anniversary celebration of whom no mention can be made. But it would be a pity not to refer to three of them at least. One of these was William Davis of Charleston, W. Va., who was the first teacher Booker Washington had. Although well along in years, he journeyed to Tuskegee to describe the founder when he came to learn his lessons as a bare-footed, red-headed boy. Another was Rev. Ben Brave, a Sioux Indian, from Norris, S. Dak., who was president of "The Wigwam" at Hampton Institute when Booker Washington was housefather. Truth Stranger Than Ficton The other was Dr. George Denny, president of the University of Alabama. In introducing him, Dr. Moten told a story which was but another proof of the fact that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. He referred to him as "Little George" and explained as follows: Dr. Moten's mother was cook in the Viriginia home of Dr. Denny's father, and his own father was the head man around the place. Dr. Moten and Dr. Denny played together as children, and it became Robert Moten's privilege and pleasure to protect "Little George" as they went their rounds. Now one of these children is president of the largest institution for white youth in the state of Alabama and the other is the principal of the largest institution for colored youth in the State. Addresses were delivered by the presidents of several universities. Among these was President Harry Garfield of Williams College. Dr. Anson Phelps Stokes, canon of the Washington Cathedral, read a history of Tuskegee. There were stirring, inspiring talks throughout the celebration. A visitor does not remain in Tuskegee long before he realizes that all the activities in the community (for Tuskegee is a community as well as a school), are done by colored people themselves. Here the race has demonstrated its ability to carry on successfully by itself. In his history of Tuskegee, Dr. Stokes called attention to the fact that the first principal, Booker T. Washington, was a mulatto. After he passed away, he said, the trustees of the school decided to place it under the leadership of Dr. Robert Russa Moten, who is "a Negro of unmixed blood." The policies of Dr. Washington are being most acceptably carried out by his successor. Even though Tuskegee is operated entirely by the race for which it was established, the school and the community would not have been possible as they now stand if it had not been for the generosity of white friends who have aided it financially for many years. With their assistance there is every reason to believe that Tuskegee Institute will continue to grow in size and in influence and will increasingly be the power for good in the future that it has been in the past. CHEMISTRY HELD MEANS OF SOUTH'S SALVATION Star Oct 4, 1931 Scientist, Born in Slavery, Has Proved Unlimited Economic Value of Peanut, Weeds, and Clay. BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL. THIS is the story of a man who has been called the "Columbus of the Soil." It is a misnomer, it seems to me. He should be called the "Columbus of the Peanut." He found the lowly peanut a common plebeian and has made it a patrician. He has taken it from its age-old associations with circus tents, the monkeys and elephants thereunto pertaining, and from the venders on the street corners who sell the little goobers to the public and has lifted it into the inner circles of those gentlemen of high finance who always welcome with open arms any product capable of putting more money into their already well filled coffers. The name of the man who has done this is Dr. George W. Carver. For nearly 40 years he has been a teacher at Tuskegee Institute, which, as everybody knows, was founded by Booker T. Washington 50 years ago. In everything pertaining to plant life Dr. Carver is really "wondrous wise." Many years ago he jumped into the bramble bush of agricultural chemistry, so to speak, so as to open other people's eyes and not to scratch out his own, as the famous gentleman described in Mother Goose's Rhymes is reputed to have done. Story Filled With Interest. Hearing Dr. Carver tell about his experiences and his work on general principles is like listening to a fairy tale. There is no better proof of this than an experience he once had in the House of Representatives in Washington. When the House Committee on Ways and Means was discussing the advisability of imposing a tariff upon the peanut, Dr. Carver was invited to appear and throw some light on the subject. It was the consensus that he knew more about that little nut than any other human being in the United States - and, there, in the world. The scientist was told he would be allotted exactly 10 minutes by the clock to give the committee the information for which he had been asked. He stopped promptly at the expiration of that time. But the Representatives would not let Dr. Carver stop, and they kept crying for more until he had spoken for nearly two hours. It would be interesting to ascertain how many times in the history of this country a congressional committee has insisted upon having anybody speak that length of time. Prof. Carver has made almost everything from the peanut but dynamite. And those who have seen him at his work and know the wonders he has performed would not be surprised if he did that in a pinch. By the way, he helped to win the World War, not by manufacturing explosives to destroy the lives of human beings, but by converting sweet potatoes into flour when our 4,000,000 soldiers needed nearly all the wheat the United States could grow. 200 Products From Peanut. When Dr. Carver appeared before the Congressional Committee he told the members he had made 165 products from the peanut and that he expected to create more. He has faithfully kept his word. According to the latest reports available, he credits the modest little goober with enough native creative power to produce more than 200 articles which human beings need. In addition to the familiar peanut butter, under the magic of Dr. Carver's hands, there lie wrapped up in the rough and brittle shell of the peanut 10 varieties of milk, 5 kinds of breakfast food, 2 grades of flour, ice cream in all flavors, candy, salad oils, 5 different kinds of punches, bisque, "Worcestershire" sauce, chili sauce, oelo-margarine, cheese - all for human food - and 4 kinds of cattle food, according to a list made by the Popular Science Monthly. From peanuts he has also made a variety of useful commercial by-products, including 9 varieties of wood stains, 19 shades of leather dyes, metal polishes, axle grease, toilet and laundry soaps, ink, tannic acid, glycerin, not to mention several medicines. For instance he has made quinine from the red outside skins of the nut. And the end is not yet. If you go to his laboratory in Tuskegee Prof. Carver will show you how to take a cupful of shelled peanuts and make a pint of rich milk which is just as good as our bovine friends could offer. In describing this milk its maker says: "It is rich, creamy and palatable, and it contains 3 times as much carbohydrates, 3 times as much protein and 12 times as much fat as cow's milk and only one-tenth as much water. It is a distinct product in the dietary of the human family. For culinary purposes its possibilities are practically unlimited." The peanut milk may be used in cooking just like cow's milk, whether it is sweet or sour, and the curds may be made into cheese. But that is not all this milk can do. It is an excellent beverage - a purely vegetable drink which forms a body-building nourishment for invalids and children. A pound of peanuts, he says, contains a little more body-building nutriment than a pound of sirloin steak and nearly twice as much heat and energy. The sweet potato has also been metamorphosed into a multitude of things by the Tuskegee wizard. But the most striking thing about Dr. Carver's association with the sweet "tater" is that he says it isn't a potato at all! No sir, it is more ethereal than that. It is a morning glory, if you please. But never in the history of this world did it occur to any human being to classify the sweet potato as a morning glory till Dr. Carver communed with a bushel of them one eventful morning in his laboratory and discovered that the family had been improperly introduced to society all down the ages. But, before we consider the various metamorphoses through which that delicious vegetable has passed under the dusky scientist's hands, let us see who the man is, whence he came and how he got his start. It would be hard to find a man whose entrance into the world, whose boyhood and youth were more unpromising and discouraging than were George Washington Carver's. Was Born In Slavery. To begin with, he was born a slave in Missouri. As if that were not handicap enough, when he was scarcely more than a baby he and his mother were stolen from their master's farm by a band of raiders in the last year of the Civil War. Moses Carver, the master, dispatched men on horseback who were well supplied with cash to try to induce the kidnapers to return his slaves. A colored baby desperately ill with whooping cough possessed little value for men who had stolen Moses Carver's slaves, so when they were offered a fine race horse in exchange for the sick child they jumped at the chance to dispose of the little dark liability and gladly gave him up. But the sick child's mother was never seen or heard of again and nobody knows unto this day what was her fate. Not until George was 10 years old did he have a chance to go to school, such as it was, and that was 10 miles away from the place he called home. Up to that time his dearest possession had been an old blue-backed speller, over which he pored every chance he got, learning every word in it from cover to cover. In this little school the eager pupil remained until he felt he had extracted from the teacher all the knowledge he possessed and then the boy left. He decided to go to school in Kansas, and began to walk to his destination. After he had trudged along about a day a mule team overtook him and gave him a lift for Fort Scott, Kans. Here he began his education in earnest. He was alone in the world, and there was nobody to whom he could look for assistance of any kind. Every cent spent for food, lodging, clothes, books and tuition he was obliged to earn himself. For nine years he supported himself by engaging in domestic service and doing any kind of work he could get, no matter how menial and hard, saving only as much time for his studies as he could manage to find. Leaving Fort Scott he went to Minneapolis, Kans., and graduated from the high school there. Here his appetite for knowledge was whetted more than it had ever been before, and he decided definitely to go to college. Lived on 10 Cents a Week. That was much easier said than done. But he would not let a little thing like lack of funds swerve him from his course. After he had paid his tuition at Simpson College, Iowa, and bought his books, he had only 10 cents left. Half of this sum was invested in corn meal and half in suet, upon which he feasted for a whole week. The boys had a have clean clothes, and they soon discovered that the colored student could do them up perfectly, so they cheerfully turned their laundry work over to him. For George Carver the rest was easy. Having graduated from Simpson College he entered Iowa State University, where he received both his bachelor's and his master's degrees. To such an extent had his ability been recognized during his course at the university that, as soon as he graduated, he was placed in charge of a greenhouse of the bacteriological laboratory and of the department of systematic botany. Then Booker T. Washington appeared on the scene, discovered this genius and spirited him away to his own institution in Alabama, where Dr. Carver has remained ever since. Even when the great Thomas Edison offered the Tuskegee teacher the princely sum of $100,000 to work for five years in his laboratory at Orange, N. J., Dr. Carver declined this alluring invitation. This is the way Dr. Carver explains the reason he decided to reject Mr. Edison's offer: "You see, Mr. Washington put me here nearly 30 years ago and said 'Let down your bucket where you are.' I did as I was told and my bucket has always come up brimful and running over. Mr. Washington is not with us in person any more and I could not be faithless to his trust; now could I?" Makes Many Products. Reference has already been made to the flour which the Tuskegee wizard has manufactured from the sweet potato which is first cousin to the morning glory. But flour from the sweet potato is only a drop in the bucket, so to speak. One may smack his lips over a dish of delicious pudding made from the tapioca into which the sweet potato has been converted by this master chemist. The crystallized ginger and the breakfast food which come from the sweet potato are highly recommended by those who have sampled them. It does not require a great stretch of the imagination for those of us who like sweet potatoes to believe that things good to eat can be made out of them. But when Dr. Carver shows you a piece of rubber and tells you that it was produced from a delicious yam, it really strains your credulity and puts your faith in his veracity to an awful test. Up to date, 120 products have been created from the sweet potato and still there is more to follow. Then, too, there are wonderful dyes and paints which Prof. Carver has made out of common Alabama clay. The Egyptians must have used the dyes found in clay, he says, and those who know declare they are the same bright, soft colors found in King Tut's tomb. As you look at the blues, reds and yellows in Prof. Carver's laboratory, it is very easy to believe that he has rediscovered that art lost for so many years which produced colors that have remained beautiful and unfaded for 30 centuries. And right here attention must be called to the fact that Dr. Carver has done something which a noted German scientist who recently visited this country declared could not be done. As Dr. Carver was showing my daughter and myself through his laboratory a short while ago he pointed out a curious dark blue mass of something in a huge glass jar. With a stick he stirred it up and explained that the product which we saw was the result of what is called fractional oxidation. At present chemistry does not recognize such operations, he explained and he declared that the German professor had every reason to fell skeptical. After the foreigner had looked carefully at Dr. Carver's dark blue mass in the glass jar, he simply shook his head and said it was the strangest production he had ever seen. But there it is to speak for itself. Will Rogers Amazed. "So many new things are being discussed along all lines," said Dr. Carver, "it is not at all surprising that chemistry can furnish its quota." Being conducted through his laboratory by Dr. Carver himself is a red letter day in anybody's life. After such an experience Will Rogers exclaimed enthusiastically, "I wish it were possible for me to spend at least three weeks and sit at your feet as a pupil." From some ordinary weeds common in the State Prof. Carver has made paper of various grades. Experts declare that some of it which comes from cotton stalks and from the palmetto, which is ubiquitous in Florida, might well be used as cloth. The newspapers of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas and other Southern States have vied with each other in singing Prof. Carver's praises. The Atlanta Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy sent the Tuskeegee teacher a "written expression of their interest and appreciation of you in your efforts to exhibit the products and possible industries of our South, and the chapter wishes you godspeed in any endeavor looking to the development of any project in which we are mutually interested." A Mississippi paper enthusiastically declared that if his methods are fully carried out he will add $100,000,000 annually to the South. For instance, take the blue which is made from the red clay of Georgia by oxidizing it intermittently six times. (And this same blue when oxidized a few more times becomes royal purple.) It is described as being "seventy times bluer than the bluest blue." Nearly 15 years ago a church interior at Tuskegee was painted with this blue pigment made up into paint form, and in the passing years it has lost none of its sheen and gloss. No evidence of cracking and drying out appears. A great scientist has declared that Dr. Carver has found the secret of the Egyptians. Product Held Cheaper. If you ask the man who made these colors if they are really permanent, he will reply: "Why should they not be permanent? God made the clays in the hills. They have been there for countless centuries with colors unchanged. All I do is to compound what God has made for man's use and delight. It is the handiwork of God, not mine." Now this blue "which is seventy times richer than any other blue" can be made for considerably less than any on the market. There is plenty of red clay in Georgia. No fear need be entertained that it will give out very soon. All that is necessary to start a pigment plant is a steam shovel plus a 10-ton truck and a simple little factory. It has been demonstrated that paint made in such a factory could easily undersell any pigment on the market today. The Dunbar News VOL. III NEW YORK, DECEMBER 2, 1931 No. 16 Chemistry Held Means of South's Salvation Scientist, Born in Slavery, Has Proved Unlimited Economic Value of Peanut, Weeds and Clay By MARY CHURCH TERRELL I. This is the story of a man who has been called the Columbus of the Soil. It is a misnomer, it seems to me. He should be called the Columbus of the Peanut. He found the lowly peanut a common plebeian and has made it a patrician. He has taken it from its age-old associations with circus tents, the monkeys and elephants thereunto pertaining, and from the venders on the street corners who sell the little goobers to the public, and has lifted it into the inner circles of those gentlemen of high finance who always welcome with open arms any product capable of putting more money into their already well filled coffers. The name of the man who has done this is Dr. George W. Carver. For nearly 40 years he has been a teacher at Tuskegee Institute, which, as everybody knows, was founded by Booker T. Washington 50 years ago. In everything pertaining to plant life Dr. Carver is really wondrous wise. Many years ago he jumped into the bramble bush of agricultural chemistry, so to speak, so as to open other people's eyes and not to scratch out his own, as the famous gentleman described in Mother Goose's Rhymes is reputed to have done. Hearing Dr. Carver tell about his experiences and his work on general principles is like listening to a fairy tale. There is no better proof of this than an experience he once had in the House of Representatives in [photo; caption: George W. Carver] Washington. When the House Committee on Ways and Means was discussing the advisability of imposing a tariff upon the peanut, Dr. Carver was invited to appear and throw some light on the subject. It was the consensus of opinion that he knew more about that little nut than any other human being in the United States--and, therefore, in the world. The scientist was told he would be allotted exactly ten minutes by the clock to give the committee the information for which he had been asked. He stopped promptly at the expiration of that time. But the Representatives would not let Dr. Carver stop, and they kept crying for more until he had spoken for nearly two hours. It would be interesting to ascertain how many times in the history of this country a Congressional Committee has insisted upon having anybody speak that length of time. Professor Carver has made almost everything from the peanut but dynamite. And those who have seen him at his work and know the wonders he has performed would not be surprised if he did that in a pinch. By the way, he helped to win the World War, not by manufacturing explosives to destroy the lives of (Continued on Page 2, Column 2) Our New Y. M. C. A. Building From Architect's Drawing By RUDOLPH J. THOMAS With the breaking of ground for the $1,000,000 West 135th Street Y.M. C. A. recently, there was inaugurated a campaign to increase the membership. Looking forward to a great variety of activities in this new twelve-floor structure, many of those inspired by the addresses at the ground-breaking ceremonies participated in the effort to enlist 1,000 new members for the association. Fred R. Moore was the general chairman of the campaign. Judge James S. Watson, John E. Nail and Watt Terry were the associate chairmen. The campaign was organized in two divisions, Henry C. Parker being the head of Division A, with William H. Wortham as associate leader, and Laurence F. Hunt as aide. In Division B, Dr. Marshall E. Ross was the leader, Junius M. Green, associate leader, and Henry C. Parker, Jr., aide. Robert B. DeFrantz was the director, Rudolph J. Thomas, Membership Secretary, and Lemuel L. Foster chairman of the general arrangements committee. The Rev. Aa. Clayton Powell was chairman of the church co-operation committee, Lester A. Walton, chairman of the publicity committee, and Alan L. Dingle, chairman of the prospect list committee. Dr. P. F. Anderson is the chairman of the board of managers of the West 135th Street Y. M. C. A. Thomas E. Taylor is the executive secretary. In connection with the drive for one thousand new members by Dec. 1, residents of the Dunbar cooperative community were active and serviceable. Among these were Captain Rufus Allen Atkins, Walter W. Scott, James W. Gardner, captain of Team 9-B, and Roscoe C. Bruce. Mr. Gardner sent a circular letter throughout the Dunbar cooperative community urging that the male members of the various family groups become members of the Y. M. C. A., the response being gratifying. On November 23rd, Mr. Gardner's team was awarded a silver loving cup for having brought in the greatest number of members up to that time. Correspondence between Channing H. Tobias, senior secretary for Negro work of the National Council of the Y. M. C. A., and Walter T. Diack, general secretary of the New York City Y. M. C. A., has resulted in the announcement that the contract for the construction of the new Y. M.C. A. building provides that the contractor and the sub-contractors shall employ Negro labor wherever practicable. Edward Corning, the contractor, has promised to see that the plan is carried out, according to G. S. Bilheimer, who replied for Mr. Diack. The enlarged membership will make full use of the present branch building in this last year of its existence as a Y. M. C. A. It is expected that the transfer to the new quarters will be made in about a year. Sleep By Countee Cullen Nothing is lovelier than sleep, Nor kinder thing was ever made; Gently as though a cat should creep Upon a bird transfixed, way-laid, It sinks in us its velvet blade. Soft are those paws, if they are sheathed, The steel of troubling dreams withdrawn, And all in peace lapped round and wreathed The mind sinks down as on a lawn Laid out between the dusk and dawn. As though a mother's breast were bared To give her pulling infants food, The bosom of the night is shared By all her weary stricken brood. And though the suck be short, 'tis good. Speed then that longer, darker eve, Which heavy dream nor light shall break, Nor day's white sword pierce through and grieve, Where Death's full bosom bids us take, And every thirst we know to slake. --Contempo Brown America By Edwin R. Embree Reviewed by Walter White Mr. Embree has written an informative, needed book. Done with understanding and quiet humor, it does not neglect to tell them with a restraint that makes them all the more moving of lynchings, denial of opportunity in industry and education, injustice in the courts, peonage and contumely from which the Negro, the brown American, suffers in the United States. As an executive officer of the Rockefeller Foundation for many years and of late years president of the Julius Rosenwald Fund, Mr. Embree has had an unsurpassed opportunity to see at first hand the many complexities and facets of the race question. It is out of experiences with the problems of race which began with Mr. Embree's quixotic, courageous, delightfully human Abolitionist grandfather that he writes of the new race in America whose "skin is brown - not black." The blurb on the jacket of Brown America unfortunately contains a statement which is somewhat misleading as well as inaccurate. The blurb declares that no writer has seized the fact before Mr. Embree that out of the fusion of Negro, white and Indian blood a new brown race has come into being. In 1928 Dr. Melville J. Herskovits, professor of anthropology at Northwestern University, published his The American Negro - A Study of Racial Crossing in which he set forth the establishment of a definitely new physical type of Negro in the United States through breeding within the group and through following a pattern of marriage based on skin color values. Brown America is not another study in anthropology; instead it is the interesting and valuable story of the rise not only of a new racial type but of a social group against terrific proscription to a more secure economic, cultural and social plane. Mr. Embree traces the rise of this race from its African sources through the two and a half centuries of the slave trade and on through the (Continued on Page 5, Column 3) The Dunbar News Published every two weeks at 2594 Seventh Avenue New York Subscription Rate for One Year One dollar by mail (under Permit No. 2286, Sec. 435 1/2, P.L. &R). That Capital N: 1916-1931 In the Spring of 1916, Lester A. Walton, now a Tenant-Owner in the Dunbar cooperative community and then Managing Editor of the New York Age, submitted to the President of the Board of Education of New York City, the late William G. Willcox, who by the way was also a member of the governing board of Tuskegee Institute and a devoted friend of its two Principals, an elaborate, happily phrased, and carefully reasoned protest against the teaching of the word, Negro, in the local public schools as a common rather than a proper no6), noun or adjective and the proposal that this unwholesome practice be rectified forthwith so that teachers and pupils here would always write "Negro" instead of "negro." President Willcox's reply (June 17, 1916), in contrast to a recent communication to the editors of The Dunbar News from the professional head of the public schools of the City today, is in some sort a measure of the distance upward which public opinion has almost imperceptibly travelled in fifteen years. Wrote President Willcox: It would be an easy matter to go through the formality of submitting your statement of the case for capitalizing the "n" in "Negro", to the Board of Education, but I feel it would be an unwise move to force any discussion of the matter. I am certain that the time is not ripe for undertaking any campaign as wide as the one you suggest. Fifteen years later the editors of The Dunbar News took up this very matter with Superintendent William J. O'Shea, enclosing copies of the memorable New York Times editorial of March 7, 1930, "Negro With A Capital 'N'", and of our own editorial of March 26, 1930, "Typographical Emancipation." Doctor O'Shea's final answer under date of November 25, 1931 is decisive: I have given very careful consideration to your letter of October 19th, regarding the spelling of the word "Negro." Although dictionaries seem to justify both forms. I find that it is the practice of the leading newspapers and magazines to spell the word with a capital and we shall, therefore, have the word spelled in that way in our schools. I thank you for calling this matter to my attention. Nearly all educational publishers today prefer to have the word, Negro, printed in their books with a capital N, since this is now the accepted usage of the best writers and speakers. The laggards will quickly swing into line when they realize that our public schools, their largest and steadiest customers, actually demand the better usage. Experience shows, we thing, that the clearest and most effective presentation of the matter is the briefest: Lower Case for Things molasses corn mules hogs negroes Upper Case for Persons Caucasians Irish Jews Chinese Indians We heartily congratulate Superintendent O'Shea and his associates upon making a real and durable contribution to the promotion of more just and wholesome interracial relationships in our beloved America by granting twelve million Americans of African descent a belated typographical emancipation. Chemistry Held Means of South's Salvation (Continued from Page 1, Column 3) human beings, but by converting sweet potatoes into flour when our 4,000,000 soldiers needed nearly all the wheat the United States could grow. When Dr. Carver appeared before the Congressional Committee, he told the members he had made 165 products from the peanut and that he expected to create more. According to the latest reports available, he credits the modest little goober with enough native creative power to produce more than 200 articles which human beings need. In addition to the familiar peanut butter, under the magic of Dr. Carver's hands, there lie wrapped up in the rough and brittle shell of the peanut 10 varieties of milk, 5 kinds of breakfast food, 2 grades of flour, ice cream in all flavors, candy, salad oils, 5 different kinds of punches, bisque, Worcestershire sauce, chili sauce, oleomargerine, cheese -- all for human food -- and 4 kinds of cattle food, according to a list made by the Popular Science Monthly. From peanuts he has also made a variety of useful commercial by-products, including 9 varieties of wood stains, 19 shades of leather dyes, metal polishes, axle grease, toilet and laundry soaps, ink, tannic acid, glycerin, not to mention several medicines. For instance, he has made quinine from the red outside skins of the nut. And the end is not yet. If you go to his laboratory in Tuskegee, Professor Carver will show you how to take a cupful of shelled peanuts and make a pint of rich milk which is just as good as our bovine friend could offer. In describing this milk its maker says: "It is rich, creamy and palatable, and it contains 3 times as much carbohydrates, 3 times as much protein and 12 times as much fat as cow's milk and only one-tenth as much water. It is a distinct product in the dietary of the human family. for culinary purposes its possibilities are practically unlimited." This peanut milk may be used in cooking just like cow's milk, whether it is sweet or sour, and the curds may be made into cheese. But that is not all this milk can do. It is an excellent beverage -- a purely vegetable drink which forms a body-building nourishment for invalids and children. A pound of peanuts, he says, contains a little more body-building nutriment that a pound of sirloin steak and nearly twice as much heat and energy. The sweet potato has also been metamorphosed into a multitude of things by the Tuskegee wizard. But the most striking things about Dr. Carver's association with the sweet "tater" is that he says it isn't a potato at all! No sir, it is more ethereal that that. It is a morning glory, if you please. But never in the history of this world did it occur to any human being to classify the sweet potato as a morning glory till Dr. Carver communed with a bushel of them one eventful morning in his laboratory and discovered that the family had been improperly introduced to society all down the ages. But, before we consider the various metamorphoses through which that delicious vegetable has passed under the dusky scientist's hands, let us see who the man is, whence he came and how he got his start. It would be hard to find a man whose boyhood and youth were more unpromising and discouraging that were George Washington Carver's. To begin with, he was born a slave in Missouri. As if that were not handicap enough, when he was scarcely more than a baby he and his mother were stolen from their master's farm by a band of raiders in the last year of the Civil War. Moses Carver, the master, dispatched men on horseback who were well supplied with cash to try to induce the kidnapers to return his slaves. A colored baby desperately ill with whooping cough possessed little value for men who had stolen Moses Carver's slaves; so, when they were offered a fine race horse in exchange for the sick child, they jumped at the chance to dispose of the little dark liability and gladly gave him up. But, the sick child's mother was never seen or heard of again and nobody knows unto this day what was her fate. Not until George was ten year old did he have a chance to go to school, such as it was, and that was ten miles away from the place he called home. Up to that time his dearest possession had been an old blue-backed speller, over which he pored every chance he got, learning every word in it from cover to cover. In this little school the eager pupil remained until he felt he had extracted from the teacher all the knowledge he possessed; and, then, the boy left. He decided to go to school in Kansas, and began to walk to his destination. After he had trudged along about a day, a mule team overtook him and gave him a lift for Fort Scott, Kansas. Here he began his education in earnest. He was alone in the world, and there was nobody to whom he could look for assistance of any kind. Every cent spent for food, lodging, clothes, books and tuition he was obliged to earn himself. For nine years he supported himself by engaging in domestic service and doing any kind of work he could get, no matter how menial and hard, saving only as much time for his studies as he could manage to find Leaving Fort Scott he went to Minneapolis, Kansas, and graduated from the high school there. Here his appetite for knowledge was whetted more than it had ever been before, and he decided definitely to go to college. That was much easier said than done. But he would not let a little thing like lack of funds swerve him from his course. After he had paid his tuition at Simpson College, Iowa, and bought his books, he had only ten cents left. Half of this sum was invested in corn meal and half in suet, upon which he feasted for a whole week. The boys had to have clean clothes, and they soon discovered that the colored student could do them up perfectly; so, they cheerfully turned their laundry work over to him. For George Carver the rest was easy. Having graduated from Simpson College, he entered Iowa State University, where he received both his bachelor's and his master's degrees. To such an extent had his ability been recognized during his course at the university that, as soon as he graduated, he was placed in charge of a greenhouse of the bacteriological (Continued on Page 7, Column 2) Thirteen years have elapsed since the end of the war, and during that period of time the world has evolved and new conceptions have been taking shape in the public mind. Today we are bound to look forward and not backward, and if we want to build on a solid ground we must- as Mussolini said in a recent speech in Naples- dismiss the feelings of the past and let ourselves be guided only by the principle of justice and fairness toward all. -DINO GRANDI, Foreign Minister of Italy, in address before the Foreign Policy Ass'n. The Garden Vista Paul Laurence Dunbar Apts., N.Y.C Note:- See editorial, "Edison and the City of the Future," in the Dunbar News, of November 4, 1931. I venture to predict that in the not-distant future the distribution of the population over the face of the land will come to be regarded by social scientists as one of the major problems of the age. The horror, the strain, the inhumanness of living in modern large cities, where 75 to 90 per cent of the people have too little space in their homes and too little room about their homes for play and recreation, where they have the constant irritation of noise and dust and smoke; where going to and from work- instead of providing wholesome exercise and relaxation- is the most wearing part of the day's work; and where the commuter seeking space in which to live has almost not time to get acquainted with his own family, are becoming so clearly evident that we cannot much longer ignore their effects upon the quality of our civilization. The time has come when we must begin to ask ourselves whether we cannot organize our non-agricultural life so that people will not need to be crowded together, either at work or at home, as is now the case. Instead of judging a city by the number of its inhabitants, we will ask wha part of its people have a chance to develop real homes in which a wholesome family life is possible and in which they will be willing to breed at least enough to keep things going. For, of course, a city civilization in which the deaths exceed the births- a condition which has already come to pass in many quarters of our larger cities- cannot long endure and can only be regarded with abhorrence by those who look some distance into the future. A civilization whose most perfect fruit is the modern large city is certainly doomed to early decay. -WARREN S. THOMPSON: Population Problems EDITOR's NOTE In our issue of November 18 on page 1, column 1, under the caption, "Paying for Good Housing by Saving the Cost of Bad Housing," the printer's slug containing the credit line, "By Edith Elmer Wood", unfortunately dropped out without being noticed when the type was finally placed on the press. It is true that the footnote stated the source of the article, namely, "Mrs. Wood's book on Recent Trends in American Housing," but the author's full name did not there appear. We regret sincerely the omission of the credit line and offer earnest apologies both to Mrs. Wood and to her publishers, The Macmillan Company. However, the excerpts were taken not from the volume in question out from the American City in which they were given advance publication. Bad housing conditions among any group are a menace to the whole community- for disease germs, whether in the field of physical, moral or social health, know no racial barriers. -ANSON PHELPS STOKES and EMMETT J. SCOTT. DECEMBER 2, 1931 THE DUNBAR NEWS 7 "I WILL SHARE" - Every man and woman, young or old, who has a job should share with those who have not. Make checks or P. O. Money Orders payable to the Emergency Unemployment Relief Committee, sending them to Charles C. Huitt, Treasurer, at the Dunbar National Bank, Office of the President, 2824 Eighth Avenue, New York City. WHY NOT BUY YOUR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES from the DUNBAR FRUIT AND PRODUCE MARKET? Wholesale and Retail Pleasing You Means Success For Us 285 EIGHTH AVENUE bet. 150th & 151st Streets Telephone Orders Handled Promptly BRadhurst 2-8247 PRE-HOLIDAY RATES FOR ELECTRIC WIRING 5 OUTLETS $20.00 (base-bracket or switches) 4 OUTLETS 17.00 3 OUTLETS 13.50 2 OUTLETS 9.50 1 OUTLET 5.00 Why Not Wire Before the Holidays? TURNER ELECTRIC CO. 2192--7th AVE Univ. 4-1020 Authorized Agent for the General Electric Refrigerator Thrift begins at home... drink more milk Milk gives you more of balanced nourishment per penny than any other food. Thus, it is thrifty to plan meals with milk and they are bound to be healthful. Drink Sheffield Farms Grade-A, the real country milk. You'll like its sweet, fresh flavor, its smooth creaminess. Its extra richness will help to keep your family well and strong this winter. And remember this; Sheffield Farms Milk costs no more. Every drop is food, pure, wholesome, economical. Our service, too, is always courteous. Get in touch with us today. Pioneers in Pasteurization, in the development of Certified Milk, in the introduction of Graded Milk, and now in the Soft-Curd Vitamin-D Certified Milk Sheffield Farms Sealect Grade-A Milk 524 WEST 57th STREET, New York Telephone COlumbus 5-8400 A Division of National Diary [Dairy?] Phone: Whitehall 4-2596 W.B. VERNON Coal Wholesale--Retail 50 PEARL STREET Room 1101 New York To reach family groups selected on the basis of character and substance, advertise in THE DUNBAR NEWS. Chemistry Held Means of South's Salvation (Continued from Page 2, Column 3) laboratory and of the department of systematic botany. Then Booker T. Washington appeared on the scene, discovered this genius and spirited him away to his own institution in Alabama, where Dr. Carver has remained ever since. Even when the great Thomas Edison offered the Tuskegee teacher the princely sum of $100,000 to work for five years in his laboratory at Orange, New Jersey, Dr. Carver declined. this is the way Dr. Carver explains the reason he decided to reject Mr. Edison's offer: "you see, Mr. Washington put me here nearly 30 years ago and said, 'Let down your bucket where you are.' I did as I was told and my bucket has always come up brimful and running over. Mr. Washington is not with us in person any more and i could not be faithless to his trust; now could I?" (To be continued) The Abolition of Slums in the United States (Continued from Page 6, Column 4) adequately. The plan in essence is that the local authorities and private enterprise - the latter in the form of what is known in England as public utility societies - should go into partnership in the effort for slum clearance. After having secured a state act empowering the local authorities to proceed to clear slums as an exercise of the police power of the state and as something in the public interest, to couple with this power the right to sell to private individuals or corporations a potion of the land thus acquired and cleared, the portion sold to be used solely for the building of houses for rehousing the population under condition and restrictions to be laid down by the local authorities. The scheme contemplates that acting under such authority, the local authorities would clear the site (e. g., of a specific block in a slum district) acquiring the entire property either by expropriation proceedings, the methods of which are very strictly laid down under the Constitution and the laws, or at private sale, or by either or both of these methods. Having acquired the property, which can be done fairly quickly, all the existing buildings would be razed and the site completely cleared. Then the city would sell two outer strips along the length of the block; the strips would be about 32 feet deep, a sufficient depth on which to build model houses not exceeding two rooms in depth. As our ordinary city blocks are often 200 feet in depth and vary in length from 400 to 800 feet, this would mean that the site would then consist of two outer strips each 32 feet deep (which had been sold to a private corporation on which to build houses) and a space 136 feet wide by 400 to 800 feet long between them. This interior space would be reserved by the city and developed as a small park and playground, properly designed and planted with trees and shrubbery, with pleasant walks, in some cases with fountains and even in some cases with playground apparatus of a type suitable for the smaller children. A limited dividend corporation equivalent to the English public utility society, would then proceed to build model dwellings upon these two outer strips. They would be able to build on the entire land sold to them, as the land would be of no greater depth than would be just appropriate for the development of the right kind of houses, with half of the rooms fronting on the street and the other half of the rooms fronting on this delightful, interior small park that the city would develop. Such a scheme, we belive (sic), would entirely meet the constitutional and legal difficulties involved in the prohibition of taking private property for other than a public use. It would also meet the financial difficulty, for it would reduce the cost of slum clearance by a very considerable amount, as it would be possible to sell off these outer strips at a price that would recoup the local authorities for a third of the cost of the land. As they would not have to pay an excessive price for the sites acquired and would have nothing to pay for obsolete and antiquated buildings that had to be scrapped the limited-dividend corporation would find it feasible to build dwellings and rent them on an economic basis at rents that would not be beyond the purchasing power of the people whom it was desired to house. If this scheme that has been described as applying to a single block can be successfully developed, it would be possible ultimately to rebuild the greater part of our cities with attractive dwellings separated by charming and delightful vistas of gardens. While no local authority in America has yet carried out this method of slum clearance, there seems to be some likelihood of its soon being put to the test. Such a plan was suggested about a year ago by the writer for the city of Newark, New Jersey, a city of 442,337 inhabitants across the Hudson River from New York City. Two blocks in a slum district in that city have been acquired by a great insurance company, the Prudential Insurance Co., which is desirous of ridding the city of slums and to that end has embarked on several model housing schemes. The local authorities have joined with the Prudential Insurance Company in just such a partnership as we have described, and unless prevented by the courts it is proposed to carry out this plan in the near future. That the plan proposed is a practical one, and one by which slum clearance can be achieved we have no doubt. We are frank to admit that without some such plan we see no way by which slum clearance can be achieved in the United States. The End ___________________________ Brown America (Continued from Page 5, Column 3) ________ toward the Negro legislators as he would be after reading so biased a picture as, for example, Bowers's The Tragic Era. Naturally, considering his close association with the field of education, Mr. Embree dwells at length on that phase of the making of the new race. Perhaps the most charming story in the book is that of his grandfather, John G. Fee, the Abolitionist founder of Berea College. An implacable foe of slavery and liquor, he refused to budge one inch from his principles despite more than fifty mobbings, starvation and every manner of indignity. I cannot refrain from quoting a story of Fee which seems to be typical: A mob was carrying him and a companion to beat them and send them across the river (out of Kentucky into Ohio). In the midst of the journey a rainstorm came up and the whole party went into a house for shelter. Seeing a large Bible on the table, my grandfather said to the man of the house: "We cannot travel whilst the rain is falling so heavily and, if you are willing, we will read a portion of the Scripture and pray." This sort of thing had a deflating effect on mob spirit. In this case, the rain ceasing while he was still praying, most of the mob stole out and away. Nine persevered and escorted him to the edge of the country. Feeling that the letter of their purpose of removing him had been fulfilled, they bade him depart and courteously offered him a drink of whiskey. Whereupon he started a new sermon on the evils of drink, and the nine rode off at full speed. Brown America is a challenging book. Its gentleness and charm make it all the more one to cause sober thought and the re-vision of ideas of the Negro as a fixed part of our life and times. -N. Y. Herald Tribune BEST MEAT IN HARLEM William A. Syska 2530 SEVENTH AVENUE Between 146th and 147th Streets Audubon 3-2627 Edgecombe 4-3209 FRENCH BOUDOIR DOLLS DRESSED and UNDRESSED Colored & White Dolls - Ma Ma Dolls with real hair - In silk and organdie dresses $3.95 - $4.95 - $5.95 Beautiful Colored Boudoir Dolls with eyelashes, marcelled hair and curls. Dressed in exquisite gowns of gold and silver lace over brilliant colors Price range from $3.95 to $15.00. None Over - A small deposit will hold any doll until wanted Orders taken now for Christmas The A. & L. Doll & Novelty Co. 230 West 147th Street, Apt. 4J Agents Wanted Phone Edgecombe 4-1227 DUNBAR PHARMACY A. Frolich & A. Epstein REGISTERED PHARMACISTS Cor. 149th Street and 8th Ave. REMEMBER! ! Your prescriptions are prepared of purer and fresher drugs at the DUNBAR PHARMACY and by registered pharmacists who know how. You play safe when you fill your prescriptions at the DUNBAR PHARMACY Free Delivery Service Tel. AU dubon 3-5052--7925 Phone MO nument 2-4930 M. BERNSTEIN Artistic Picture Framing 2128 SEVENTH AVENUE Near 126th Street NEW YORK CITY French Doors in the Dunbar Apartments Are Furnished by THE DARROW LUMBER COMPANY, Inc. Dealers in Lumber and Mouldings Sash -:- Doors -:- Trim 666 LENOX AVENUE Between 143rd and 144th Streets Our Representative Will Gladly Call on You Tel. Edgecombe 4-6257-6880 The Very Newest in Men's Wear at Revised Prices TO MEET THE PRESENT ECONOMIC CONDITIONS HATS AND HABERDASHERY OF DISTINCTION LANE & NICHOLS 2211 Seventh Avenue near 131st Street Tel. Tillinghast 5-0834 8 THE DUNBAR NEWS DECEMBER 2, 1931 PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR APARTMENTS Inc. Spacious apartments as follows in the Dunbar cooperative community, all flooded with sunlight, are NOW AVAILABLE to Incoming Tenant-Owners:- NUMBER MONTHLY OF FLOORS PRICE RANGE ROOMS 4 1/2 and 1 Bath 6 $67.50 5 and 1 Bath 2, 4, 5, 6 $67.50 to $80.00 6 and 2 Baths 3, 4, 5, 6 $84.00 to $99.00 Thirty-six months in which to make the Down Payment Call at our 2594 Seventh Avenue Office any business day in the year from 9:00 A. M. to 9:00 P. M. or any Sunday from 11:00 A. M. to 4:00 P. M. and inspect the vacant apartments personally. 2594 Seventh Avenue ED gecombe 4-3181 NO LONG WAITS We inspect our coal deliveries very rigidly as it reaches us from the best mines in this country. 4458 4457 Harlem 4459 DOBBINS COAL CO., INC. 138th St. & Madison Av. NO SHORT WEIGHTS PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR APARTMENTS Inc. A select cooperative community of 2,000 consumers 2594 SEVENTH AVENUE Phone: EDgecombe 4 - 3181 FOR IMMEDIATE LEASE I. A well equipped bakery and store at 2806 Eighth Avenue. Note: Bake shop in rear with Peterson Oven of 300 bread-loaf capacity, this shop being 26'6" x 23'6". Ample space in basement with every facility. Store in front 17'5" x 16'9". II. A store space at 2812 Eighth Avenue admirably adapted to restaurant. Note: Dimensions--42'9" x 13'2". Storage space in basement. III. A store space at 2814 Eighth Avenue which would make an attractive shop for either men's wear or women's wear. Note: Dimensions 37'9" x 13'3". Storage space below. Surface cars pass these store spaces "L" Station one block away Tel. ED gecombe 4 - 1043 A. M. ARGRETT General Trucking ASHES & RUBBISH REMOVED DAY & NIGHT SERVICE 233 West 148th Street New York City For Home Cooking Eat at MASON'S LUNCH ROOM We make a specialty of southern dishes 2515 SEVENTH AVENUE New York City Tillinghast 5-6465 MARY LANE, Pres. ESTATE OF J. WESLEY LANE, Inc. Funeral Directors and Embalmers Prompt Service at Moderate Rates Funeral Parlor and Chapel Free 112 WEST 133rd ST. NEW YORK HOWARD D. McGILL. Manager JAMES BUTLER GROCERY CO. THE STAMP OF QUALITY ORANGES 16 for 25c SPAGHETTI 3 cans 20c WHEATIES 2 pkgs. 21c APPLE SAUCE 3 cans 25c P. & G. SOAP 8 cakes 25c JAMES BUTLER GROCERY CO. The Thomas Yorke Press, 219 East 149th Street, Bronx, N. Y. C. Sunday Star Jan. 24, 1932 COLORED SOLDIERS PROVED METTLE IN WAR OF 1776 Took Part in All Major Engagements. First "Boston Massacre" Victim Was Member of Race. BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL. HUNDREDS of colored soldiers fought in the Revolutionary War. For several reasons, however, comparatively little is known about the valuable service they rendered. As a general rule they fought side by side with white soldiers and not in separate companies. The credit for the deeds of valor they performed, therefore, has gone to the military units to which they belonged rather than to the race with which they were identified. On March 5, 1776, when George Washington repaired to the entrenchments, he thus appealed to the patriotism of his soldiers: "Remember, it is the 5th of March, and avenge the death of your brethren." If you had happened to be in Boston on March 5, 1770, walking down King street (now known as State street), you would have witnessed the incident to which George Washington referred. You would have seen a crowd of colonists who were excited and angry, led by one who was darker in complexion than the others. You would have heard these men challenge with great spirit some British soldiers standing on guard. You would have seen these soldiers fire into the menacing crowd and kill the ringleader. Then later on you would have seen three of his comrades fall. The first victim of this clash between the colonists and Great Britain was Crispus Attucks, a colored man. The tragedy created a great sensation in Boston. The bells of the town were rung, an impromptu town meeting was called, and an immense assembly was gathered. Three days afterward a public funeral of the men who were called martyrs took place. The shops in Boston were closed, and again all the bells of the place and the neighboring towns were rung. It was said that a greater number of persons assembled on this occasion than had ever gathered together on this continent for a similar purpose. Four Placed in One Grave. According to an account of the funeral given by a writer of that period, "the body of Crispus Attucks, the mulatto, had been placed in Fanueil Hall with that of Caldwell." The funerals of the other two who were killed were held elsewhere. "The four hearses formed a junction in King street," continues the chronicle, "and then the procession marched in columns six deep, with a long file of coaches belonging to the most distinguished citizens, to the Middle Burying Ground, where the four victims were deposited in one grave, over which a stone was placed with the inscription: "Long as freedom's cause the wise contend, Dear to your country shall your fame extend, While to the world the lettered stone Shall tell Where Caldwell, Attucks, Gray and Maverick fell." For a long time afterward the anniversary of what was called the "Boston Massacre" was publicly commemorated by an oration and other exercises every year until national independence was achieved, when the Fourth of July was substituted for the Fifth of March as the most fitting day for a general celebration. It was conceded by all that Crispus Attucks led the crowd who attacked the British soldiers. In his capacity as counsel for the soldiers, John Adams, second President of the United States, declared that Crispus Attucks appeared to have been the hero of the night and led the people. The colored man had formed the patriots in Dock Square, and from there they marched up King street, passing through the street up to the British soldiers, whose presence in Boston was so hotly resented by the people. Referring to the "Boston Massacre," Daniel Webster said in his Bunker Hill oration: "From that moment we may date the severance of the British empire." Thus did a runaway slave start the struggle for independence which George Washington brought to such a glorious end. Gave Good Account of Selves. Colored soldiers began to give a good account of themselves at the very beginning of the conflict - at the battle of Bunker Hill, the first engagement of real consequence in the struggle for independence. And one of them, Peter Salem, won eternal fame. Feeling sure that victory was in their grasp, one of the British officers, Maj. Pitcairn, mounted the redoubts and shouted to his soldiers, "The day is ours!" The words had hardly escaped from his lips when Peter Salem fired and killed him instantly, thus temporarily checking the British advance. In relating this story Swett in his "Sketches of Bunker Hill" declared that later on the army took up a contribution for the colored soldier and he was personally presented to Gen. Washington as having performed this feat. There is no doubt whatever that Peter Salem was one of the heroes of that memorable battle. Orator, poet, historian, all gave the colored patriot credit for having been instrumental in checking the British advance and saving the day. When the statue erected to Gen. Joseph Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, was unveiled Edward Everett, the orator of the occasion, referred to "Peter Salem, the colored man who shot the gallant Pitcairn as he mounted the parapet." This sable patriot served seven years in the Revolutionary War. He was at Concord, Bunker Hill and Saratoga. He, too, was a slave when he enlisted, but was afterward freed. Salem Poor was another colored man whose bravery at the battle of Bunker Hill attracted the attention of the officers and the soldiers, who bestowed upon him their warmest praise. Colored Troops Conspicuous. Col. Trumbull's historical picture of the battle of Bunker Hill was painted only a few years after it was fought, while the scene was still fresh in his mind. At the time of the battle the artist, who was then acting as adjutant, was stationed with his regiment at Roxbury, only a short distance away, and saw the action from this point. Even though comparatively few figures appear on this canvas, it is a significant, historical fact that more than one colored soldier can be distinctly seen. Maj. William Lawrence, who fought through the Revolutionary War, enjoyed relating an incident in his military experience in which he was saved from death by his colored soldiers. At one time he commanded a company whose rank and file were colored men. He got so far in advance of his company when he was out reconnoitering one day that he was surrounded by the enemy and was about to be taken prisoner. As soon as his men discovered his peril, however, they rushed to his defense and fought desperately until they rescued him. The courage, fidelity and military discipline of colored soldiers was, therefore, one of Maj. Lawrence's favorite themes. Colored soldiers fought in practically every battle of the Revolutionary War. During the first three years of the war they were represented in 10 of the 14 brigades in the main army under Gen. Washington. After the battle of Monmouth June 28, 1778 they were to be found in 18 brigades. One who was interested in the record of the colored soldiers during the Revolutionary War declared "I have gone over the muster rolls and the descriptive lists of the Continental Army and it is clearly established that nearly all the regiments from the Eastern Colonies contained colored soldiers. This was true also of many regiments from the Southern Colonies. They fought from Bunker Hill to Brandywine, from Valley Forge to Monmouth, from Saratoga to Yorktown. In the Battle of Rhode Island August 29, 1778, the colored soldiers of that State made a notable record for themselves as well as in all other engagements in which they took part. This regiment was composed entirely of Negroes - not a white man among them except the officers. In describing a battle in which they engaged a veteran of the Revolution declared: "Three times in succession they were attacked with most desperate valor and fury by well disciplined and veteran troups and three times did they successfully repel the assaults and thus preserve our army from capture. They fought through the war. They were brave, hardy troops. They helped to gain our liberty and independence. Had they been unfaithful, or given way before the enemy all would have been lost." The Black Regiment was one of three that prevented the enemy from turning the flank of the American Army. In referring to this regiment the Marquis de Chastellux described it in his book, "Travels," as follows: "The greatest part of them are Negroes and Mulattoes, but they are strong, robust men and they make a very good appearance." As late as 1783 this Black Regiment was still in service and George Washington ordered a detail from it to effect a forced march to surprise the enemy's post at Oswego. One of the most daring feats of the Revolution was performed by Lieut.-Col. Barton of the Rhode Island Militia and the success of this exploit was largely due to the assistance rendered by Prince, a colored soldier. Col. Barton wished to capture Maj. Gen. Prescott, the commanding officer of the royal army at New port, in order to effect the release of Gen. Lee whom the British had taken prisoner and who was of the same as Gen. Prescott. Mistaken for Sentinels. In the dead of night Col. Barton took 40 men with him in two boats. By muffling their oars they managed to pull safely by both the ships of war and the guard boats without being discovered. They were mistaken for sentinels, so that it was possible for them to reach Gen. Prescott's quarters without being challenged. The general was not alarmed until his captors were at the door of his room where he was peacefully sleeping. Then Prince, whom Col. Barton had brought along to assist him in his dangerous project, threw the weight of his powerful frame against the door, broke it open and with his strong, black hands seized the general while he was still in bed and bore him triumphantly off a prisoner. There was great joy and exaltation in the Continental Army as it brought to it a British officer of equal rank with Gen. Lee and made it possible to effect an exchange. At the siege of Savannah, which resulted so disastrously for the American Army, one of the bravest deeds accredited to foreign troops fighting in defense of the colonies was performed by the Black Legion. Count D'Estaing had been commissioned to recruit men from Saint Domingo. The question of color was not raised, so the French officer gathered together 800 young freedmen, blacks and mulattoes, who offered to come to America and fight for the independence of the colonies. It was known as the Fontages' Legion, and was commanded by Viscount de Fontages, who was noted for his courage. Count D'Estaing had come with the French fleet to help wrest Savannah from the British. The attacking column, under command of the American general, Lincoln, and Count D'Estaing, was met with such a severe and steady fire that the head of it was thrown into confusion, and after finding it impossible to carry any part of the works a general retreat was ordered. As soon as the American Army started to retreat the British Lieut. Col. Maitland, with the grenadiers and the marines incorporated with them, charged the retreating army and tried to annihilate it. Then it was that the Black Legion met the fierce charge of the British and saved the army at Savannah by bravely covering its retreat In an official record prepared in Paris the credit of having made this signal contribution to the cause of American independence is given the colored soldiers who came from Saint Domingo. One of the soldiers in the Black Legion was Henri Cristophe, the future King of Haiti. Helped Build Fortifications. The opinion concerning the advisability of arming colored men was by no means unanimous even in the North and East. In Massachusetts there was little, if any, opposition to allowing colored men to enlist. The only question which agitated the public mind there was whether colored men should be formed into separate organizations or be enlisted with white men. But Massachusetts decided overwhelmingly that in raising her army she would not discriminate between her citizens on account of color or race. So she literally mixed her children up. On the 4th and 5th of March, 1776, colored men helped Gen. Washington to build the fortification at Dorchester Heights in a single night, which greatly surprised the British and forced them to evacuate Boston. Reference has already been made to the role played by the colored men of Massachusetts at the battle of Bunker Hill. There were very few towns in the State that did not have at least one colored representative in the Continental Army. At the close of the war John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, presented a colored company, called the Bucks of America, with a banner bearing his initials as a tribute to their devotion and courage throughout the struggle. In front of the Hancock mansion in Beacon street Gov. Hancock and his son united in making the presentation a memorable one. It is interesting to note in passing that the Bucks were under the command of a colored man, Col. Middleton. 2. Sunday Star 1-24-32 Mettle Proved by Colored Soldiers In Colonies' War With England In Connecticut there was great difference of opinion concerning the wisdom of allowing colored men to enlist in the Army. The question was hotly debated in the Legislature several times. Those who advocated the measure were defeated when the bill was put to a vote. There came a time, however, when it was difficult to get recruits. Then it was that the Colony of Connecticut decided to form a corps of colored soldiers. A batalion was soon enlisted and a company was commanded by Col. David Humphrey, who had been commissioned lieutenant colonel by Congress and had been appointed aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington. But this company was not the only unit of colored soldiers from Connecticut who saw service in the Revolutionary War. In many of her white regiments both the bond and the free might have been found. Rhode Island Passes Act. In Rhode Island the sentiment favoring the enlistment of colored men was so strong that the General Assembly passed an act to enlist "every able-bodied Negro, mulatto or Indian man slave in the State." They were placed in either one of two battalions. Rhode Island, therefore, was the first of the Colonies which voted to send regiments composed entirely of Negroes into the field. In March, 1781, the Legislature of New York passed an act providing for the raising of two regiments of colored men. Since there was such a great difference of opinion concerning the question of allowing colored men to enlist, it was finally submitted to a Committee of Safety composed of such men as Dr. Franklin, Benjamin Harrison and Thomas Lynch, with the Deputy Governors of Connecticut and Rhode Island. (Continued on Fourth Page.) (Continued From Third Page.) It was the duty of this committee, which met at Cambridge, to consider the condition of the Army and to devise means of improving it. "Ought not Negroes to be excluded from the new enlistment, especially those such as are slaves?" was the question discussed seriously and long. Gen. Washington was present at this meeting and took part in the deliberations. It was agreed they should be rejected altogether. But so many Northern officers and soldiers who had fought with colored men and knew their worth protested against their exclusion, and the dissatisfaction among their white comrades was so great that Gen. Washington decided to take the matter into his own hands and wrote the following letter to the President of Congress in 1775: "It has been represented to me that free Negroes who have served in this army are very much dissatisfied at being discarded. As it is to be apprehended that they will be seek employment in the Ministerial army, I have presumed to depart from the resolution respecting them and have given license for their being enlisted." But the general promised, of course, "to put a stop to it" if his decision to allow colored men to enlist was disapproved by Congress. Congress Sustains Action. Gen. Washington's letter was submitted to Congress and his action was sustained by the passage of the following resolution: "That the free Negroes who served faithfully in the army at Cambridge might be enlisted therein, but no others." It would be difficult to cite a finer illustration of George Washington's high moral courage and his sense of justice than the decision to allow colored men to enlist in the army in spite of the fact that, acting upon the advice of the Committee of Safety, Congress had taken a stand against it, and despite the opposition to the measure which he knew existed in a large section of the country to which he himself belonged. However, there were many in the South as well as in the North who strongly believed Gen. Washington was right in accepting the colored man as a soldier. Especially did the number of those who took this view increase when conditions in the army enabled them to call the public's attention to the necessity of taking this step. Washington needed reinforcements. The army in camp at Valley Forge was in desperate straits. The encampment consisted of huts and there was danger of famine. The soldiers were nearly destitute of comfortable clothing. Many had no shoes and walked barefoot on the ground. Few, if any, had blankets. Great numbers became ill. Moreover, the British army was in Philadelphia, only 15 miles away. It was then that the advocates of enlisting colored men in the army again put forth strenuous efforts to carry out their plan. After the British transferred their military activities from the North to the South some of the ablest men in that section strongly advocated enlisting colored men. The necessity for recruiting the army became so great that Congress for the second time debated enrolling the colored man as a soldier. A series of resolutions were adopted recommending to Georgia and South Carolina that 3,000 able-bodied Negroes should be armed. Col. John Laurens, a distinguished South Carolinian, went to his native State to use his personal influence to induce the Legislature to authorize the enlistment of colored men. He had been commissioned lieutenant colonel by Congress, had acted as aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington and had seen service in Rhode Island and elsewhere. In a letter to Alexander Hamilton he wrote: "It appears to me that I should be inexcusable in the light of a citizen if I did not continue my utmost efforts for carrying out of the black levies into execution while there remains the smallest hope of success." Col. Laurens' Mission. Alexander Hamilton wrote a letter to John Jay concerning Col. Laurens' mission to South Carolina and strongly approved of it. He urged that the slaves be given their freedom with their muskets. He declared that "the dictates of humanity as well as true policy equally interest me in favor of this class of men." James Madison also favored the plan of arming the colored men. Gen. Lincoln, who commanded the American forces at Charleston, S. C., wrote to Gov. Rutledge of that State: "Give me leave to add once more that I think the measure of raising a black corps a necessary one; that I have reason to believe that if permission is given for it that many men would soon be obtained. I have repeatedly urged this matter, not only because Congress has recommended it, and it thereby becomes my duty to have it executed, but because my own mind suggests the utility and importance of the measure, as the safety of the town makes it necessary." But the advice of her own great military leaders was not heeded by the South; neither were the recommendations that Congress adopted. Nevertheless, the slaves of the South rendered invaluable service to the cause of independence by building breastworks, driving teams and piloting the Army through dense woods, swamps and across rivers. Some of them acted as spies and scouts. James Armistead was a spy for Gen. Lafayette during his campaign in Virginia, and on one occasion he informed the marquis that the British intended to surprise his forces. There is no doubt that this information enabled the French officer to prevent what would probably have been a rout of his army. After the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown Armistead was returned to his master. But the Legislature of Virginia passed a special act to free the slave in recognition of the great service he had rendered the American Army. Referring to Cornwallis, recalls to mind what a colored soldier is reported to have said to him after his surrender: "You used to be named 'Cornwallis,' " said the colored soldier to the British officer, "but it is 'Cornwallis no longer. It must now be 'Cobwallis,' for Gen. Washington has shelled off all the corn." Proves Himself a Prophet. When Gen. Washington wrote Congress, stating that he had "presumed to depart from the resolution" which had excluded colored men from the Army, he declared that it was "to be apprehended that they would seek employment in the ministerial army" if they were not allowed to fight with and for the colonies. The commander-in-chief proved himself a prophet when he made that prediction. As early as 1775 Lord Dunmore had issued a proclamation offering freedom to slaves who would join the British army. An English historian quotes Lord Dunmore as saying that "since the colonists were so anxious for more freedom themselves than was consistent with the free institutions of the mother country and the charter of the colony, that since they were so anxious to abolish a fanciful slavery in a dependence on Great Britain, he would try how they liked abolition of real slavery by setting free all their Negroes and indentured white servants, who were, in fact, little better than white slaves." A colored man who had been taken prisoner at Long Island escaped and reported that 800 of his race had been enlisted on Staten Island by the British to be formed into a regiment. Five months after he issued the proclamation Lord Dunmore wrote to the secretary of state: "Your lordship will observe that I have been endeavoring to raise two regiments here" (in Virginia," one of white people, the other black. The former goes on very slowly, but the latter very well, and would have been in great forwardness had not a fever crept in among them which carried off a great many fine fellows. Had it not been for that horrid disorder," he wrote later on, "I am satisfied I should have had no doubt of penetrating into the heart of this colony." There is no doubt whatever that many colored men fought under the British flag. Thomas Jefferson declared that under Lorn Cornwallis alone the State of Virginia probably lost 30,000 slaves, and that of this number 27,000 died of smallpox and camp fever. Of those remaining he declared that some were sent to the West Indies and exchanged for rum, sugar, coffee and fruit. Some were sent to New York and went to Nova Scotia or England after the peace, and some of them were sent to Africa. "History," declared Thomas Jefferson, "will never relate the horrors committed by the British army in the Southern States of America." Many Re-enslaved. But justice was not always meted out to the colored man who enlisted in the Continental Army by those for whom he fought. In practically every State from which they entered the Army freedom was promised to the slaves after they had served a certain length of time (usually three years) and had been honorably discharged. But in spite of these fair promises many Negroes who had battled hard for American independence were re-enslaved. Placing colored men who had fought in the war into bondage again after they had been honorably discharged was such a flagrant violation of the pledges that had been made them that in 1783 the Legislature of Virginia passed an act directing the emancipation of those "who had served as soldiers in this State and for the emancipation of the slave Aberdeen." "Aberdeen," said the Legislature, "hath labored a number of years in the public service in the lead mines, and for this meritorious service is entitled to freedom. Be it therefore enacted that the said slave, Aberdeen, shall be and is hereby emancipated and declared free in as full and ample a manhood as if he had been born free." Gen. Washington was greatly exercised when he heard that a many by the name of Hobby claimed as his property a colored man who was serving in a Massachusetts regiment. He wrote to Gen. Putnam and ordered that a court of inquiry, "consisting of five as respectable officers as can be found in your brigade," should "inquire into the validity of the claim and the manner in which the person in question came into service." After this information had been secured Gen. Washington ordered that the report should be sent to Gen. Putnam and then forwarded immediately to himself. In many instances the master placed his slave in the Army as a substitute for himself. In commenting upon this a Hessian officer wrote: "The Negro can take the field instead of his master, and no regiment can be seen in which there are no Negroes in abundance, and among them are able-bodied, strong fellows." Washington Democratic. Gen. Washington is usually pictured as an aristocrat of the first water, but his attitude toward his subordinates, and particularly toward colored men with whom he came into close, personal contact, was very democratic indeed. This side of his nature was very clearly shown once when he paid an officer a visit. Col. Pickering was one of Gen. Washington's best friends. There was no officer to whom he unbosomed himself more freely in discussing his plans and with whom he enjoyed taking counsel when they were stationed within a short distance of each other more than with Col. Pickering. Once when the Commander in Chief had visited his friend and remained until night came on, he told the colonel he would like to remain until morning, provided he had a spare blanket and straw. The colonel appealed to Primus Hall, his body servant who was a freeman. "Oh, yes," said Primus, "there is plenty of straw and blankets." Being thus reassured, Gen. Washington continued to confer with Col. Pickering until it was time to retire. "Two humble beds were spread side by side in the tent," said a well known minister of the period who related the incident in a magazine, "and the officers laid themselves down, while Primus seemed busy with duties which required his attention before he himself could lie down. He worked or appeared to work until the breathing of the prostrate gentlemen satisfied him they were sleeping. Then seating himself upon a box or a stool he leaned his head on his hands to obtain such repose as so inconvenient a position would allow. In the midst of the night Washington awoke. He looked about and descried the negro as he sat. He gazed at him a while and then spoke. " 'Primus!' said he calling: 'Primus.' "Primus started up and rubbed his eyes. 'What, General?' said he. Primus' Sacrifice. "Washington rose up in his bed. 'Prium' said he, 'what did you mean by saying that you had blankets and straw enough? Here you have given up your blanket and straw to me that I may sleep comfortably, while you are obliged to sit through the night.' " 'It's nothing, General,' said Primus. 'It's nothing. I'm well enough. Don't trouble yourself about me, General, but go to sleep again. No matter about me. I sleep very good.' " 'But it is matter - it is matter,' said Washington, earnestly. 'I cannot do it, Primus. If either is to sit up, I will. But I think there is no need of either sitting up. The blanket is wide enough for two. Come and lie down here with me.' 3. Sunday Star 1-24-32 "'Oh, no, General,' said Primus, starting and protesting against the proposition. 'No, let me sit here. I'll do very well on the stool.' "'I say, come and lie down here!' said Washington authoritatively. 'There is room for both and I insist upon it.' "He threw open the blanket, as he spoke, and moved to one side of the straw. Primus professes to have been exceedingly shocked to the idea of lying under the same covering with the Commander in Chief, but his tone was so resolute and determined that he could not hesitate. He prepared himself, therefore, and laid himself down by Washington, and on the same straw and under the same blanket the General and the Negro servant slept till morning." This same Primus Hall served throughout the Revolutionary War and was among those who in the War of 1812 went to Castle Island, in Boston Harbor, to assist in building fortifications. He was the son of Prince Hall, founder of the Masonic Lodge of that name in Boston. There is a well known engraving of Washington crossing the Delaware on the evening previous to the battle of Trenton, December 25, 1779. In this picture a colored soldier is seen on horseback near the Commander in Chief. It is the same figure that is seen pulling the oar in other sketches of that memorable crossing. Prince Whipple is the name of this colored soldier, body guard to Gen. Whipple of New Hampshire. He was born in Africa of wealthy parents and was sent to this country to be educated, as an elder brother had been. But the captain who brought the young African and his cousin over took them to Baltimore and sold them to Portsmouth men, one of whom was bought by Gen. Whipple. Scattered Throughout Army. When Maj. Montgomery was lifted upon the walls of Fort Griswold and called upon the Americans to surrender, it was John Freeman, a colored man, who pinned him to the earth with his pike. But, one bent upon ascertaining the colored man's contribution to the triumph of the Colonies over Great Britain has set himself a task which is herculean indeed. It is possible to wade through tome over tome of the histories of that time without finding the information which one seeks. Of course, there is a reason for the historian's failure to give the colored man the credit which he so richly deserves. In the majority of cases colored men did not fight in organizations exclusively their own, as has already been stated. They were scattered throughout the Army, two or three in a company composed of whites, a squad in a regiment, a few companies with an army, so that it was almost impossible to separate the record which they made as a racial group from that of their white comrades with whom they fought side by side. One must undertake the gruelling job of reading painstakingly the history of villages and towns. One must browse carefully among the archives of the States, must go over Army rolls patiently, name by name, in order to distinguish colored men from their white compatriots, so close was the comradeship which existed between them. It is possible only to give a bird's-eye view of the services rendered by colored men - citing a few of the battles in which they engaged - relating their deeds of prowess either as individuals or small groups. One of the finest tributes ever bestowed upon colored soldiers in the Revolutionary War was delivered in the House of Representatives in 1820 by Charles Pinckney of South Carolina. Among other things he declared that "Negroes were then as they still are as valuable a part of our population to the Union as any other equal number of inhabitants." "They were," he said, "in numerous instances the pioneers, and in all the laborers of your armies. To their hands were owing the erection of the greater part of the fortifications raised for the protection of our country, some of which, particularly Fort Moultrie, gave at the early period of the inexperience and untried valor of our citizens immortality to American arms; and in the Northern States numerous bodies of them were enrolled into, and fought side by side with the whites, the battles of the Revolution." In this day and generation practically everybody clothed in his right mind stands aghast at the very thought of war. Therefore it seems decidedly out of tune with the times to be sounding the praises of those who engaged in the wholesale slaughter of human beings, which for centuries has been sanctioned by civilized nations under the name of war. Nevertheless, in reviewing the valuable contributions made by colored soldiers in the struggle for independence many will agree with John Greenleaf Whittier, the Quaker poet, who was asked to give some facts relative to the military service of colored Americans in the Revolution of 1776 and the War of 1812. Being a member of the Society of Friends, Mr. Whittier disclaimed any desire to deliver a eulogy upon those who shed human blood. "But," he said, "when we see a whole nation doing honor to memories of one class of defenders to the total neglect of another class, who had the misfortune to be of darker complexion, we cannot forego the satisfaction of inviting notice to certain historical facts which for the last half century have been quietly elbowed aside." [*[1932]*] COLORED WOMEN AND WORLD PEACE MARY CHURCH TERRELL First and Honorary President of National Association of Colored Women [*PAX*] Colored Women and World Peace NO GROUP of citizens in the United States should desire peace more than colored people, and none should strive harder to put an end to war than they should. It does not require a college education, and one does not have to be "wondrous wise" to understand why they should entertain this opinion. Any group whose population and wealth are small and whose advantages are few, when compared with others, will suffer more from war than the more highly favored. No matter in what country people may live, the less fortunate always suffer more from war than do those in better circumstances. We were told that the World War was fought "to make the world safe for Democracy", and many of us believed that the conditions under which colored people live in the United States would be greatly improved if victory was won by the Allies. Feeling that they would like to have a bigger bite of Democracy than they had ever enjoyed, colored people worked hard t help the Allies win. But, were the conditions under which colored people live in the United States improved by the World War? If anybody believes they were, it would be interesting to know his reasons for making this claim. Thirteen years after the World War was supposed to have ended people everywhere are suffering from its disastrous effects. In nearly every civilized country in the world the times are hard; there is misery, there is hunger, and there is unemployment with its attendant evils. Those who are competent to judge declare that these terrible conditions are the direct outcome of that awful carnage in which 10,000,000 men were killed. And yet there was no war in history, perhaps, which gave greater promise of bringing blessings to those who fought it than did the World War. Three-fourths of the people in the civilized world really believed it would usher in a better and brighter day. But now those who fondly trusted that this horrible exhibition of brute force would make life happier, freer and easier for them see clearly that they pinned their faith to a forlorn hope. War is so brutal and bloody in itself, and it brings so much death and destruction in its wake, it seems a pity not to urge people to do everything in their power to banish it from the earth for this reason alone. One is almost ashamed to persuade people to oppose war on the ground that those who survive derive no benefit from it. And yet, because many claim it is instrumental of good, it it necessary to call attention to the fact that war tears down and destroys some of the most precious things which mankind possesses, instead of building up and saving them. It would be easy to prove that the so-called good things which war is said to have bestowed upon mankind might have been secured without the loss of life and without the unspeakable horrors which always follow in its wake. However, even if we granted for the sake of argument that war has sometimes seemed necessary and instrumental of good in the past, it does not follow that the same thing is true at the present time. The necessity for war no longer exists today, if it ever did in the past. It is possible for nations to settle their disputes and differences but humane and Christian methods today instead of resorting to the wholesale slaughter of human beings which has been sanctioned by civilized people for centuries under the name of War. Many despair of ever ridding the world of war, because they are told by "wise-acres" that the day will never dawn when men will cease to fight, if one nation believes it has been injured or insulted by another. But we were told by these same wise men that the day would never dawn when gentlemen would not settle their "affairs of honor" by duels which were quite the fashion some years ago. Yet nowadays duels are comparatively rare. Those who indulge in them are made the butt of ridicule. People poke fun at them and laugh at them all over the world. "Wise-acres" once declared also that the slaves of this country would never be freed, that women would never be enfranchised and enjoy their political rights. But both of these impossible things have happened, which proves conclusively that many who are addicted to the habit of predicting do not possess the gift of prophesy at all. Millions of men were killed, wounded and rendered helpless invalids for the rest of their lives by the World War. The hearts of millions of women and children were broken. There is untold destitution and suffering in the world today as the result of that awful carnage. Diabolical engines of destruction were used to poison, gas, bomb, and shoot to death, the sons of mothers, the husbands of wives, and fathers of girls and boys. But experts tell us today that the weapons used during the World War were nothing but toy pistols compared with the monstrous devices which have already been invented, so that they may be used if another war is declared. These experts tell us also that these awful engines of destruction will be able to wipe out whole cities and towns and snuff out the lives of countless men, women and children in the twinkling of an eye. Unless a human being has reached the conclusion that it is time to wipe out civilization from the face of the earth and to destroy every man, woman and child in the civilized world, it is hard to understand how he can still argue that nations should settle their disputes and differences by resorting to war. There is no doubt whatever that war can be outlawed immediately if the citizens of the leading nations agree to do so. Those who dictate the policy of governments would not dare to resort to brute force to settle international disputes if the citizens took a decided stand against it. It is the duty of each and every one of us, therefore, to throw his or her personal influence on the side of peace and to help any organization which is working toward this end. Colored Leaders and World Peace IT IS gratifying to know that some of the most distinguished men of our group have placed themselves unmistakably and strongly on the side of peace. Many years ago, before the subject of peace was generally discussed, Frederick Douglass expressed himself as follows: "Such is my regard for the principles of peace; such is my deep, firm conviction that nothing can be obtained for liberty universally by war, that were I to be asked the question whether I would have my emancipation by the shedding of one single drop of blood, my answer would be in the negative.: Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, who is editor of the Crisis, which is the official organ of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and who is one of the most scholarly men his group has produced, has declared: "There is only one way for the colored races to acquire their rights and opportunities in the world, and that is through disarmament and world peace. Any other program would mean a war of races, which would cost the conqueror, whatever color he be, just as much as it would cost the conquered, and it would bankrupt civilization." Honorable Oscar DePriest, Congressman from the First District, Chicago, Ill., who is the only colored man in the House of Representatives, and the first one to represent his race in the National Congress for nearly thirty years, has sent me that following expression on the subject of peace: "The time has come in the history of the world when intelligence and not brute force should control. It is a sad commentary on the inhabitants of the word when disputes have to be settled by force of arms. All wars should be condemned and forever barred; all civilized people believing in a Supreme Being, should settle their differences either through arbitration or at a round table conference. There is absolutely no occasion whereby lives should be sacrificed to settle disagreements, either between individuals or nations." WHAT YOU CAN DO IT IS the duty of colored people who want to smooth out some of the rough places over which they have to travel every day, and who wish to enjoy the privileges to which they are entitled as citizens, to support an organization like the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom which is trying both to establish peace throughout the world and to remove many evils which arise from race prejudice. In no way can the colored people of this country serve themselves in particular, and humanity on general principles, better than by allying themselves with an organization which is trying to end war and to remove friction between the races at one and the same time. I - Arrange meetings on international and interracial problems in your school, church, and club. II-Plan to make special occasions, such as the observance of holidays, international in character, with peace programs. III-Display posters on peace and disarmament in churches, schools, clubs and stores. IV-Teach children the good things in all races and nations. Arrange games and exercises for them that show the values in other people. Discourage playing "soldier," shooting off toy pistols, and imitating activities of war. Choose books that are truthful in depicting war and historical events. V-Develop your international and interracial mind by reading recommended books, magazines and newspapers. VI-Organize small study groups and clubs for an exchange of opinions and ideas. VII-Make yourselves well acquainted with the leaders in every land who are blazing new trails in international and interracial understanding. The Women's International League will be glad to give you more definite suggestions and information on any of these projects. ------------- APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP I wish to join this international movement for peace. Name..................................... (Please Print) Address..................................... International ($6 to $10).................$.................... State and National only ($1 to $5).................$.................... Subscription to "Pax" 50c.................$.................... (Published by the International Office, Geneva) Please send me literature: History and policies of the W.I.L.......... Disarmament......... Interracial Material......... Educational Material......... WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM NATIONAL OFFICE 1805 "H" Street, Washington, D. C. 1832 [*18*] ACTIVITIES OF THE W. I. L. THE Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is striving earnestly and successfully to create public sentiment in behalf of peace. It is also doing a great deal to bring about a better understanding between the races. In Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Newark, Washington, and New York there are active committees which carry on varied and interesting programs, sometimes serious study courses, sometimes musical or other entertainment which develop understanding and cooperation between groups. It is hoped that the list of cities in which this work is organized will increase year by year. A special representative of the colored women works among the colored groups in Philadelphia, arranging meetings, organizing groups, and bringing the message of the W.I.L. to various church, business, and social groups. In Philadelphia, am interracial group known as the Junior International league has been organized, with the aim of giving high school students of all races more opportunities for intellectual contacts. A few years ago the W.I.L. sent a commission to Haiti, to investigate conditions there. The report which they made and the suggestions which they recommended have in great measure influenced the policy of our State Department in a more just and liberal policy towards the Black Republic. The W.I.L. has protested conditions of slavery in Liberia, and it took effective steps in protesting against the reported use of slaves by an American firm in Abyssinia. In the conflict between China and Japan the League while working seriously to find measures which may help to end military aggression there, has also kept in touch throughout with its Japanese and Chinese members, encouraging and supporting them to hold fast to their principles of peaceful settlements. Believing that much of the prejudice and ill-will is caused by ignorance, the educational work of the W.I.L. stresses a recognition of the contributions of all races to the world civilization. Material for assembly programs, classroom projects, bibliography and reference material that emphasises the work of colored leaders in art, literature, music and science, is recommended to teachers throughout the country. This is done with a two-fold purpose, namely: to foster more appreciative attitudes on the part of the white race, and to inspire colored boys and girls with a pride in the achievements of their own people. [*Save - Page 3 - My article on Founding of College Alumnae Club-*] THE JOURNAL OF THE COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB OF WASHINGTON [*Pages 3 & 10*] Twenty - fifth Anniversary Number 1935 THE JOURNAL of The College Alumnae Club of Washington ----------- Contents The Executive Committee....................................................................................................2 Prologue to the Swelling Act: How and When the College Alumnae Club Was Founded...............................................................Mary Church Terrell.....3 The Day Before Yesterday..........................................................Sara W. Brown.....5 Presidents and Founders.............................................................................................10-17 The Story Is Told................................................................................Grace A. Brown.....18 Hostages to Fortune-Recipients of Scholarships......................................................23 Poetry Contest and Awards...............................................................................................31 From the Thirteenth Chair........................................................Esther Popel Shaw.....33 As Others See Us: Education in Action............................................................Dwight O. Holmes.....37 Editorial......................................................................................................................................41 Strange Interludes - Reflecting Some Special Interests: Challenge or Inquiry?....................................................Georgina R. Simpson.....42 The College Woman and Her Community.........................Lucy D. Sloane.....43 The Exploitation of Negro Musical Themes by White Composers....................................................................Eva B. Dykes.....46 Negro Women in Our History..................................................Sadie I. Daniel.....50 Armstrong High School and the Character Education Experiment...............................................Ora Weaver Spivey.....55 Triplets - A Developmental Study.......................................Ruth W. Howard.....59 Westward!..............................................................................Gertrude T. Dodson.....62 My Impression of Fascist Italy........................................................Lydia Brown.....66 Educational Guidance Needs of Junior High School Pupils................................................................Obzienne M. Walker.....69 In Memoriam Behind the Scenes Our Contributors..................................................................................72 What Books Shall I Read Naomi J. Rushing and Dorothy M. McAlister.................................................73 Program 1933-1934...................................................................................................................76 Program 1934-1935...................................................................................................................78 Committees 1933-1935............................................................................................................80 The Executive Committee 1933 - 1935 President MRS. ESTHER POPEL SHAW Vice-President MRS. ESTHER BUTLER KING, 1933-1934 MISS EDITH A. LYONS, 1934-1935 Treasurer MRS. ETHEL HARRIS GRUBBS Recording Secretary MRS. BERTHA MUNDY CLARK Corresponding Secretary MISS MARY T. SUMNER Publicity Secretary MISS GLADYS A. SCOTT Journalist MRS. MARY HUNDLEY SKINNER Historian MISS GRACE A. BROWN Elected Members MRS. LOUISE HOWARD PACK MISS SADIE I. DANIEL MISS EDITH A. LYONS, 1933-1934 Prologue To The Swelling Act How And When The College Alumnae Club Was Founded MARY CHURCH TERRELL THE conference which led to the founding of the College Alumnae Club was held in the drawing room of my residence at 326 T Street, N.W., in Washington, D. C. at eight o'clock on March 5, 1910. I had invited the Misses Sarah and Fairfax Brown, each of whom had graduated from Cornell University, and Miss Mary Cromwell, who had received her degree from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to come to my home to discuss the forming of a club for colored women who had graduated from college. Miss Sarah Brown and I had talked about the advisability of taking such a step several times before that conference was called. The reasons for and against forming such a club composed exclusively of colored women were carefully considered. There was an alumnae club for white women t which I belonged at the time. Several other women in our group were also members, for there was no rule against us admitting us then. But we knew that our women who received their degrees from colored colleges were not eligible for admission to this club. If there was no organization to which our women who graduated from colored colleges were admitted, we realized that it would be a deprivation which would be unfortunate and serious indeed. While some of us who are opposed to segregation on general principles regretted the necessity of establishing a separate club for colored college graduates, we decided that forming such an organization was the less of two evils. Having decided definitely that a college women's club for colored women seemed to be a necessity under the circumstances, the four women present at this first conference on the subject began to discuss the requirements and the standards which would make a college eligible for admission to the list of those whose graduates would be received into membership. Since it was impossible to settle such an important question at that first conference, we agreed to study the matter thoroughly, ascertain 4 THE JOURNAL OF THE the facts, and consult with others who would be invited to join the club. Before adjourning this first conference, each of the women present promised to talk with as many of our alumnae as possible who had received their degrees from colleges about whose standing there could be no doubt, and invite them to join the club which we had planned to form immediately. I secured permission from my pastor, the Reverend Sterling N. Brown, to hold the first meeting of our prospective club in the Sunday-school room of the Lincoln Temple Congregational Church, which has since been replaced by a new edifice. Between fifteen and twenty women were present. The club was duly organized and I was elected president. My diary for Saturday, April 9, 1910, reads as follows: "Attended the meeting of the Alumnae Association which we have just formed. The constitution was read and adopted. Arrangements were made to give the girls a reception in May." Plans for work which such an association could do were formed. One of the teachers organized a dramatic club, because she said she wanted to interest the pupils who went to a moving picture every night in something else. A Reading Club for high school pupils was formed by another member of the new organization. Another promised to ascertain what had become of the colored boys and girls who had graduated from the high schools of the city the previous year - that is, in 1909. One volunteered to gather certain statistics bearing upon matters pertaining to the race of which she felt our group was in great need. In order to let the high school girls know we were interested in them, another member appointed herself a Committee of One to take that information to them. My diary for May 21, 1910, reads as follows: "The College Alumnae Club, to which every colored woman in the District of Columbia graduated from an accredited college belongs, gave a reception to the girls o the graduating classes of the M Street High School, the Armstrong Manual Training School, and the Normal and College classes of Howard University in the Sunday-school room of the Lincoln Congregational Temple. Eleventh and R Street, N. W." This was the first time we presented ourselves to the community as a club of organized college women. When in 1910 I issued a cal to the colored people of the country for the appropriate celebration of the centenary of the birth of Harriet Beecher Stowe, June 14, 1911, the College Alumnae Club volunteered to assist me in making the Washington meeting a success. And nobly did they keep their word. My diary for May 10, 1911, reads: "The College Alumnae Club met at my house this evening. We discussed the Harriet Beecher Stowe Memorial Meeting. I told the members that I had invited Mrs. John Hay to be a patroness and she had accepted the invitation. Lyman Beecher COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 5 Stowe, Harriet Beecher Stowe's grandson, accepted my invitation to deliver the principal address." My diary for June 14, 1911, reads as follows: "Mr. Lyman Beecher Stowe phoned me about six o'clock this evening to notify me that he had arrived. I am very happy in having the grandson of Harriet Beecher Stowe deliver an address at the celebration of the centenary of his illustrious grandmother's birth. He made some interesting commends on "Uncle Tom's Cain." Before he left Washington, Mr. Stowe gave me a copy of this address and I have preserved it as a precious souvenir of that memorable occasion." My diary for June 15, 1911, reads: "Everybody is congratulating me upon the success of our meeting last night. I had a long talk with Mr. Stowe when I took hi to his hotel the Cosmos Club." The meeting was held in the Lincoln Memorial Congregational Church and there was not standing room. Some of the most distinguished women in the nation accepted the invitation to become patronesses of the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of Mrs. Stowe's birth. Among that number may be mentioned Mrs. Sherman, the wife of the Vice-President of the United States; Mrs. Murray Crane, the wife of the Senator from Massachusetts; and Mrs. Hay, the widow of John Hay, who studied law in the office of Abraham Lincoln, was his private secretary when Mr. Lincoln became President, and was Secretary of State when he died. The success of this meeting was largely due to the interest manifested in it by the College Alumnae Club and to the efforts the members exerted in its behalf. These activities in which the organization engaged during this first year of its existence make a record of which it has a right to be proud. The Day Before Yesterday SARA W. BROWN IT inevitably arrives to those who live long to become the teller of tales - the repository of tradition. Thus has the present always maintained its connection with the past to the everlasting benefit of the younger generations and to the garrulous joy of the older ones. If the College Alumnae Club had only enrolled a Pepys* or a Boswell, what an alluring story would now thrill its members! Alas, even worse, there was the tragedy of lost records - magnificently atoned for, we admit, by creative writings which brought fame to the loser and distinction to the 6 THE JOURNAL OF THE club many times commensurate with the tittle-tattle of the proceedings of meetings. To one unaccustomed to living in the past, thinking back twenty-five years means a grinding of gear in reverse. In the olden golden days, daily contact with the few women teachers in high school who possessed degrees from college inspired us not only with proud admiration for their achievement, but gave incentive toward a college degree for ourselves. Thus we came to realize that there was in that experience, a stimulating contagion for learning from the college-trained woman which "caught" the youthful mind. Since that was true, how much more influential and inspiring would be the deliberate, purposeful effort of a group of college alumnae united in dedication to the idea of stimulating and encouraging the worthwhile girls in high schools to go to college. Though this was the major motive in the plans for organizing what came to be called the College Alumnae Club, there were other excellent and well defined reasons. At this time there was a small number of college women here with bachelor degrees from representative colleges: Cornell had three alumnae in our circle of teachers, Fisk had one; Howard, three; the University of Kansas, one; Middlebury College, one; the University of Michigan, one; Ohio State University, one; Oberlin, four; Smith, four; Wellesley, one. With two exceptions, the entire available number joined the organization. Four of this number were already married and several were engaged to be married. (Some statistician in the club should make available the figures relative to the chances of matrimony for members.) When our organization was being considered, it is evident that the greater number was eligible for membership in the Association of Collegiate Alumnae. Some held membership in this association which limited its membership to certain recognized colleges. There was no color bar and members of our group enjoyed the friendly atmosphere which prevailed among the well-bred college graduates of those days. Others among us felt that we had special interests to conserve and develop, and recognized the fact that certain of our outstanding institutions would never be put on the approved list of the Association of College Alumnae because of racial considerations. Of course there was no formal relinquishing of the privilege of membership in the Association of Collegiate Alumnae. Perhaps the anti- segregationist of today can be imagined, for argument's sake, insisting that we should have faced the issue, have poured into the Association of Collegiate Alumnae and worked like fury, no matter how long the time, to bring our colleges up to the requirements. We simply did not discuss the question. Whether wise or foolish, even time can never prove. Our aim was to form a society which would admit progressive colleges, to work for COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 7 the growth of those colleges, and to bring together all women graduates of colleges with high standards. There was no diarist among us; neither was there a prophet, who could have foreseen the remarkable acceleration of official recognition of our colleges as Class A. Having disposed thus briefly of the high and lofty motives which conspired to bring our college women together, I must confess to one less altruistic but sound nevertheless. Personally, I was eager to have a closer and friendlier acquaintance withe fine personalities whom I met only in passing or in the press of the day's task. I craved to know about their college days, their interests, their aspirations - in other words, just to be friends. A college club would doubtless furnish opportunities for making friends. The double entendre of the word "social" was made to serve the purpose. My colleague, a sociologist, on the committee for the constitution, questioned me, "By 'social', you mean the newer significance in human relationships?" To this, I slyly answered, "Yes, everything." I rejoice to add that my wish was fulfilled. A precious scrap of yellowed paper providentially preserved, and almost miraculously discovered in the past week, bears mute testimony to the call for the first meeting. Typed, dateless as to year, and without signature, it read, "You are cordially invited to be present at 326 Tea Street, Saturday, March 12, at seven o'clock. P. M. to consider the organization of a College Women's Club." The note was addressed in my handwriting to Mrs. M. J. Syphax, 315 Tea Street. This meeting was at the home of Mrs. Mary Church Terrell - then a member of the Board of Education and the first president of the club. A graph extending from 1910 to 1935 would show a more or less uniformly rapid increase in membership. The curve as to activities would be probably much serrated, displaying many peaks and depressions. The considerable number would result mainly from the variations in interests due to larger membership, and also to the unbelievable transitions in habit, thought and attitude of the twenty-five years gone by - those first lean years - then the years of cataclysm, followed by the years of plenty and now the fearsome years of uncertainty. What a world of change! What a desperate need for adaptations! The superior methods and the larger success of the greater organization, which had its origin in that little right- minded band dedicated to growth and service - some day, I trust, the story of it all will be told by the capable historian who will preserve for posterity the facts which will be evidence of the loyalty of the club to the fine purposes of the founders. Through the haze of twenty-five years, some vivid recollections of the things we did or tried to do, come to memory. What joy it was to sit at the 8 THE JOURNAL OF THE pretty tea tables set with dainty china, in the comfortable chairs, which the Club provided for itself at the Phyllis Wheatley Young Women's Christian Association on Tea Street! How thrilling it would be to meet again the charming women in relaxed and friendly mood, and recall some of the joint ventures of the Club's baby days and early childhood. Among many tedious long stories of unselfish alliances and contributions to worthy causes, there would be the gorgeous purple day when our militants marched down the Avenue in parade with the National Women's Party demanding suffrage for women. In 1918 some if us, bent on alleviating the wounds of battle, with benign countenances and heads swathed in the long blue veils of Red Cross nurses in devoted sisterhood, trailed through the dusty streets, strong in the faith that we were doing our bit to aid the war to end war. Perhaps all of us bought Liberty Bonds to buy ammunition in sufficient quantity to insure cases for Red Cross relief, still vainly believing that we were sacrificing the present to end all wars. You could never guess that real heroism was demanded by a group of us who chose to wear bands of crepe on our arms to give expression to our horror and grief, because of the military execution of thirteen Negro soldiers tried by court-martial in Texas. The memory carried its depressing effects to this moment. And were we women terrorized? Charlotte Atwood and Georgina Simpson may answer. Oh, yes, it was Sue White, among several others, of the National Women's Party (Who remembers the names?) who had been put into the District jail for picketing the White House and burning President Wilson in effigy. Who remembers that they tried to get us to participate in the picketing? Discretion that time was the better part of valor. But didn't we relish their yarns? We wonder what has become of them. The early and long continued beneficial relations with the Phyllis Wheatley Young Women's Christian Association gives proof of the possibility, the advantage, the desirability of cooperation with other groups which is more necessary today than ever. It was in the old Lincoln Temple Church and in the old Tea Street Young Women's Christian Association and garden that our early annual receptions to the graduating girls of high school and college were held. Curiously the most gratifying emotion compounded with sweet and poignant memories of springtime in Washington, and springtime in the lives of those young women - gay, serious, eager - so beautiful and attractive in their youth, mingling with the gracious, charming alumnae bent on the pleasant task of making the occasion a happy one, is blended with the recollection of these receptions. there was no propaganda - just making friends. In the whole of a long life I find nothing more pleasant than the memory of, the anticipation, preparation for and the participation in the day of the year when the girl graduates came to COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 9 meet the College Alumnae Club. The girls liked it also. One of them, now sleeping the churchyard sleep, after her brilliant college course and successful teaching career, told me it was on the afternoon with the College Club in her senior year at high school, that she resolved to become a member of the club. Do you ask, "What of them today, these pioneers?" Not one has marked time. All continued to grow and become leaders among women. 1. Our proudest boasts are those how have college son and daughter graduates. Let them stand and "take the big hand." 2. Most have taken advanced degrees and have broadened their knowledge and culture by extensive travel abroad. 3. One was a member of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia at the time of the founding of the club. 4. Another is at this moment a member of the Board of Trustees for Howard University and remained there for nine years. 6. One has been for years an able member of staff of the Russell Sage Foundation in New York City. 7. One is a distinguished member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and was a delegate from that organization on a mission to Haiti. 8. One is a distinguished journalist and novelist. 9. One is married and has lived in far-off Africa and in France, the wife of a United States diplomatic official. 10. Two conducted the first groups of Colored War Mothers in 1930 on a pilgrimage to the graves of their sons on the battlefields of France. 11. One served several months in France as a war worker in the camps with the soldiers after the signing of the Armistice. All, this side of Jordan, are faithful, efficient and distinguished toilers for human betterment. Three are in the skies. Let us stand and bow in silent reverence as we call them back - our Mrs. Arthur U. Craig, University of Kansas; Mrs. Annette Anderson Smith, Middlebury College, and Jane Eleanor Datcher, Cornell. To the newer members of the College Alumnae Club, we say in parting, "Keep A'Going." God bless you! 10 THE JOURNAL OF THE Presidents and Founders Mary Church Terrell, A.B., A.M., Oberlin Universtity, student and traveler in European countries, writer and lecturer, served as teacher in the Washington high schools and in Wilberforce University. She was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Public Schools and of the Board of Education of Washington. As a delegate to various important conferences here and abroad, she has been outstanding. Mrs. Terrell was one of the founders of the club and its first president. MARY CHURCH TERRELL, 1910-1911 Charlotte Atwood, A.B., Wellesley College, is a teacher of English, Dunbar High School, Washington, D. C. Miss Atwood was one of the founders of the club and its second president. CHARLOTTE ATWOOD, 1911-1913 COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 11 Georgiana R. Simpson, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., University of Chicago, third president of the College Alumnae Club, has taught in the public schools of Washington, and is at present associate professor of German at Howard University. She has travelled extensively in European countries and devoted considerable time to the study of German and French among the natives. GEORGIANA R. SIMPSON, 1913-1915 ROSA B. LANE, 1915-1917 Rosa Belle Lane, specialized in music at Oberlin University and received the Master's degree from Columbia University. She has taught in the public schools of Washington, D. C., and is at present teaching in New York City. She was the fourth president of the College Alumnae Club. Dr. Sara W. Brown, teacher and physician, earned her degrees at Howard University and at Cornell University. She was a pioneer in health education for women and girls; was a member of the "flying squadron" of fifty women physicians appointed by the Women's War Work Council; was appointed by American Red Cross to do relief work in flooded area of Mississippi and Louisiana in 1927. Dr. Brown has been elected four times alumni trustee of Howard University. She was one of the medical officers appointed to accompany the Gold Star War Mothers to France in 1930. Dr. Brown was one of the founders of the club and its fifth president. SARA BROWN, 1917-1919 12 THE JOURNAL OF THE Lucy Diggs Slowe, A.B., Howard University; A.M., Columbia University, was a charter member and first president of the A. K. A. Sorority. She has taught in the public schools of Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D. C., and is at present dean of women and professor of English, Howard University. She was the club's sixth president. LUCY D. SLOWE, 1919-1921 Lucy Messer Holmes was graduated from Oberlin University. She was formerly a teacher in the public schools of Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D. C. Now she is engaged as a case worker with the Board of Public Welfare, Washington, D. C. It was during Mrs. Holmes' presidency, the seventh, of the College Alumnae Club that the national association was organized. LUCY MESSER HOLMES, 1921-1923 COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 13 Bertha McNeill, A.B., Howard University; graduate student at Columbia University and the University of Chicago, is a charter member of the College Alumnae Club and has served as secretary and president. She is now co-editor of the Journal of the National Association of College Women. Miss McNeill was one of the founders of the club and its eighth president. BERTHA C. McNEILL, 1923-1925 Juanita P. Howard, A.B., Howard University; A.M., Columbia University, is teacher of English in Dunbar High School, Washington, D. C. Miss Howard is an active club woman and was ninth president of the College Alumnae Club. JUANITA P. HOWARD, 1925-1927 14 THE JOURNAL OF THE Thomasine Corrothers, A.B., Howard University; A.M., Columbia University, is an instructor in Education, Miner Teachers College. Miss Corrothers is very active in the community life of Washington, working with the Y. W. C. A., and in educational clubs and associations. She was the tenth president of the College Alumnae Club. THOMASINE CORROTHERS, 1927-1929 Eliza Pearl Shippen, A.B., Howard University; A.M., Columbia University, has taught in the public schools of Washington, D.C., and is now instructor in English, Miner Teachers College, Washington, D. C. She was the eleventh president of the College Alumnae Club. ELIZA P. SHIPPEN, 1929-1931 COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 15 Louise Howard Pack, Music B., Howard University, is a teacher of Music, Shaw Junior High School, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Pack is active in civic and religious affairs of Washington. She served as the club's twelfth president. LOUISE HOWARD PACK, 1931-1933 Esther Popel Shaw, A.B., Dickinson College; graduate study, Columbia University; teacher of French, Francis Junior High School, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Shaw, not only is influential as a clubwoman, but much of her poetry has been accepted by magazines. She is the present president of the College Alumnae Club, the thirteenth. ESTHER POPEL SHAW, 1933-1935 16 THE JOURNAL OF THE Dr. Nancy Fairfax Brown, A.B., Phar.D., A.M., received her college training at Howard University, and her professional training both at Howard and at Columbia. For many years Dr. Brown has been teacher of English in the high schools of Washington, D. C. In 1919 the government sent her to France as a Y. M. C. A. secretary, and in 1930 she accompanied the Gold Star Mothers to France as hostess. Harriet B. Allen, A.B., Howard University; graduate student, Columbia University, is a teacher of English in the Armstrong High School, Washington, D. C. It was in her home that a small group of the members of the College Alumnae Club, with herself as head and Grace Coleman as a most ardent supporter, suggested to the other members of the club the giving of a scholarship toward which each member could make a personal contribution of five dollars. From this idea of a scholarship, the present more elaborate and democratic plan of a scholarship fund has evolved. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 17 Julia Brooks, A.B. - Howard University, A.M. - Columbia University, has been assistant principal and dean of girls, Dunbar High School, Washington, D. C., since 1922. Ida Gibbs Hunt, graduate of Oberlin College has taught in the South and in the public schools of Washington, D. C. Following her marriage in 1904, she travelled extensively with her husband, who was in the diplomatic service. Mrs. Hunt has always been an active club woman and worked zealously for the advancement of her race. Harriet Shadd Butcher, A.B., Smith College; student at New York University, Howard University, Columbia University, was at one time teacher of history and business organization in the public schools of Washington, D. C. In recent years she has had much business experience in Washington and in New York. Since 1925, she has been superintendent of the Russell Sage Foundation Buildings, New York City. Alice Wheeler McNeill was graduated from Smith College. She is at present a member of the Board of Education, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Adelaide A. Brown is a graduate of Fisk University. For a short time she taught in a rural community in East Tennessee. After her marriage to the Reverend Sterling N. Brown, her life became the full, busy life of a minister's wife. Jesse Redmon Fauset Harris, A.B., Cornell University; student at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Sorbonne, Paris, was formerly a teacher in the public schools of Washington, D. C., but is now teaching in New York City. She is a writer of note, some of her outstanding novels being, There is Confusion, Chinaberry Tree, Plum Bun, and Comedy, American Style. Ethel Highwarden Just, A. B. of Ohio State University, was formerly a teacher at Howard University and in the public schools of Washington, D. C. NOTE: Other founders include Miss Mary Cromwell, Mrs. Jennie Scott Conner, Miss Jane Datcher, Mrs. A. U. Craig, and Miss Clara Shippen. 18 THE JOURNAL OF THE The Story Is Told Grace A. Brown TWENTY-FIVE years ago, on March 11, 1910, a group of college women assembled at the home of Mrs. Mary Church Terrell and organized the College Alumnae Club. The purpose of the club was threefold: to promote a closer union among our women graduates, to give incentive and opportunity for individual activity and development, intellectually and socially; to enhance our influence and usefulness in the various movements for the civic good. The membership of the club was to consist of any woman having a bachelor's degree in Arts, Science, Philosophy, Literature or Music, from any college or university recognized by the club. Among those who started the movement were Dr. Sara W. Brown, Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, Dr. N. Fairfax Brown, Mrs. Harriet Brooks Allen, Miss Charlotte Atwood, Miss Julia Brooks, Mrs. Adelaide A. Brown, Mrs. Harriet Shadd Butcher, Miss Mary E. Cromwell, Mrs. Ethel Highwarden Just, Mrs. Alice Wheeler McNeill, Mrs. Ida Gibbs Hunt, Miss Bertha McNeill, Miss Clara Shippen, Miss Jane Datcher, Mrs. A. U. Craig, and Mrs. Jennie Scott Conner. The first president of the club was Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, and during her administration, 1910-1911, the efforts of the club were significant. Reading clubs for children were organized. Follow-up work was done with the high school graduates and receptions were tendered graduates of the high schools, the normal school, and Howard University. On June 11, 1911, the club interested itself actively in the observance of the centenary of Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose grandson, Lyman Beecher Stowe, gave the principal address on this occasion. Miss Charlotte Atwood was the second president of the College Alumnae Club, from October 1911 to June 1913. Definite projects were sponsored at this time. Clubs of girls were formed, and efforts were made to secure medical aid for the high schools. Members of the club attempted to establish stamp centers. The club also furnished a room at the Young Women's Christian Association, on T Street, N.W. From October, 1913 to June, 1915 the club was under the leadership of Miss Georgiana Simpson. At this time the club took a stand for woman suffrage. Efforts were made to organize parent-teacher associations in the high schools. Two investigations were conducted, one in regard to the establishing of a home for the colored feeble-minded children in the District of Columbia, and the other in regard to domestic help. Problems vital to girls were made the subject of round-table discussion by mothers. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 19 Miss Rosa B. Lane, the fourth president of the club, acted from October, 1915 through June, 1917. The club was divided into three groups based on three major interests to be emphasized during the year. These were Music and Art, led by Miss Euphemia Lofton; Literature and Drama led by Mrs. A. J. Cooper; and Civis, led by Mrs. Sterling N. Brown. Financial aid was given the Social Settlement, and members furnished entertainment to the people of the Settlement. Interesting addresses were given by Dr. Otelia Cromwell, on "A High School For Girls", and by Miss Falk on "The Minimum Wage." An open letter was sent to President Wilson asking clemency for the soldiers who took part in the Houston Riot. From October, 1917 through June, 1919, Dr. Sara W. Brown guided the club. War work was actively engaged in by the members, who served as friendly visitors to the Home Relief Corps. "Present-Day Problems" was the subject for discussion, and many authoritative speakers delivered addresses. Among them were the Misses Condon and Lincoln of the National Woman's Party, and Miss Caroline Hunt, of the Department of Labor. A study of the Negro was begun and a clipping bureau, under the supervision of Mrs. H. B. Allen, was inaugurated to preserve interesting data on the subject. The College Alumnae Club affiliated with the Baltimore college women, while Miss Lucy D. Slowe was president, October, 1919 through June 21, 1920. In 1919 the scholarship fund was established for girls of the high schools. Interesting speeches were made by Miss Slowe on "The Junior High School Movement"; by Professor R. W. Tibbs on "The Appreciation of Music"; by Miss Sara Simons on "Present-Day Changing Drama"; and by Mrs. May H. Jackson, on "Personal Experiences as a Sculptor". The guest speakers in 1920 included Miss Mabel Boardman, Commissioner of the District of Columbia, and the Honorable Katherine Sellers, Judge of the Juvenile Court of the District of Columbia. During the time that Mrs. Lucy M. Holms was president, October, 1921 - June, 1923, an important step in the life of the club took place, for there was organized the National Association of College Women, on April 7, 1923. It was quite a pleasure to the club to tender to Dr. Eva B. Dykes and Dr. Georgianna R. Simpson a tea in recognition of their having been awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It was in 1922 that the first scholarship of $50 was awarded to high school graduates. The first recipients were Miss Elizabeth Simmon of Dunbar High School and Miss Margaret Wood of Armstrong High School. The following year, Miss Violet Harris of Dunbar and Miss Bernice Robinson of Armstrong received the scholarships. An Institute luncheon, a music sale, the African exhibit, and 20 THE JOURNAL OF THE the Tolstoi lecture were projects sponsored for the benefit of the scholarship fund. Miss Bertha C. McNeill served as president of the Club from October, 1923, through June, 1925. As during the preceding administrations the club program was well worth while. Among the speakers who addressed the club were Dr. E. E. Junst, Miss Jessie LaSalle, Dr. J. N. Pierce and Mr. L. M. Hansberry. At this time, 1924, the first scholarship of $100.00 to be awarded through competitive examination was received by Miss Janet Avery, who attended Syracuse University. A letter of protest was sent to Miss Marian Coates, President of Bradford Academy, in regard to the policy of the school in having refused to admit Helen Jones, a Dunbar High School graduate. An artist recital, in which Miss Nellie Mundy and Miss Minnie Brown of New York City were presented, was given for the scholarship fund. The social program for the year included a reception in honor of the delegates to the International Council of Women, at which time fifty-eight foreign delegates representing ten European countries attended. Dr. Anna J. Cooper was the recipient of congratulations on having received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the Sorbonne. The program fro 1924-1925, still under Miss Bertha McNeill, included a study and discussion of the activities of people of the darker race. The people of India were treated from the political, economic, and social points of view. Discussion included also the literature and current events. Japan followed, and the ideals of Japan in education, the literature and the art of yesterday and today, were themes of discussion. To make the program more interesting, the club secured from the New National Museum the loan of an exclusive exhibit including costumes, rare prints, and water-color painting. An innovation was the club's presentation of two one-act plays, "Twelve Pound Look", by Barrie, and "The Maker of Dreams", by Oliphant Downs. Miss Dorothy Pelham, Miss Leanna Johnson, Miss Thomasine Corrothers, and Mrs. Florence Toms took part in the first play, and the Misses Muriel Milton, Helen Jones and Marguerite Thomas in "The Maker of Dreams". Miss Dorothy Davis received the 1925 scholarship of $100. The following year, 1925-1926, saw Miss Juanita P. Howard the president of the club. Miss Marion Anderson, the contralto soloist, was presented by the club in a recital for the benefit of the scholarship fund. Miss Dorothy Davis received the scholarship award, and entered Howard University. In March 1926, "Lady Windermere's Fan" was presented by the club and proved a success. In June 1926, Miss Elise Woods won the scholarship. Mrs. Antoinette Garnes of Chicago was presented as artist in a recital for the scholarship fund. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 21 Miss Thomasine Carrothers led the college club during 1927-1929. The universities of foreign countries were studied. Dr. Spratlin discussed the University of Spain. Miss Helen Wheatland spoke on Paris as the city of opportunities for students, and Mr. Mercer Cook, on the Sorbonne. Germany, the University of Marburg, was discussed by Mr. William Stuart Nelson; Oxford, by Miss Pearl Adams, and The School of International Relations at Geneva by Dr. A. L. Locke. Miss Grace Ridgeley of Dunbar received the 1927 scholarship and entered Smith College. Two special projects were given this year: a recital presenting Mrs. Florence Cole Talbert, and an Art Exhibit of the paintings of Mrs. Laura Wheeler Waring. The 1928 scholarship of $200 was awarded to Miss Mary Edna Burke. It was during the term of Miss Corrothers that the club raised the scholarship from $100 to $200, and at this time Miss Marie Moss won the award, in 1929, and entered Howard. The club studied this year women in foreign countries: China, India, Turkey, and England. Miss Eliza P. Shippen served the club during the years 1929-1931. A reception in honor of visiting delegates to the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History was given. Judge O'Toole gave an address on "Juvenile Delinquency". Mr. Sterling A. Brown spoke on "Modern Literature by and Pertaining to Negroes." The special project was a play, "Green Stocking," a comedy by A. E. W. Mason. The scholarship award this year was won by Miss Elizabeth Neill, who went to Wellesley, 1930. In 1930-1931 the Reverend Washington gave to the club a review of the Passion Play of Oberammergau. Especially interesting was the lecture by Miss Muriel Lester, of Kingsley Hall, on her experiences in social work. Mrs. Florence Stewart, secretary of the Council of Social Agencies, spoke on the "Alley Housing Problems in Washington." Mr. Emmett Dorsey of Howard University spoke on Communism. The project for the year was a costume recital, "Dramatic Interludes", by V. L. Granville, a distinguished English actor. In 1931 the scholarship was received by Miss Jennie Thompson of Dunbar. From 1931-1933, Mrs. Louise Pack, as president, led the club in an activities program. Study groups were formed for the purpose of doing definite research and investigation. Studies were made on opportunities for social service courses offered in Negro institutions, on social conditions and remedial measures among Negro Youth in Washington, and on business opportunities for Negroes. In 1932 Mr. Sterling Brown read poems from his "Southern Road". Miss Mary Anderson spoke on the "Labor Conditions Throughout the Country," and Mr. G. C. Wilkinson, on "Existing Trends in Adult Education." The project this year was the presentation of Mme. Ratan Devi in a costume recital, February 18, 1932. Miss Laura Lee 22 THE JOURNAL OF THE was the successful candidate in 1932 for the scholarship of $200, and entered Mount Holyoke. Sarah Clark received the award in 1933 and entered Howard University. In the following year "The Whiteheaded Boy," an Irish drama by Lennox Robinson, was given by the club for it scholarship fund. Mrs. Esther Popel Shaw was elected president of the College Alumnae Club in 1933. The club's program consisted of international subjects. Miss Mabel Byrd spoke on "Women in the Present Economic Order." Miss Ruth Sarles on "International Aspects of the Present Economic Order"; Rabbi Edward L. Israel on "Hitlerism"; Dr. S. I. Brown on "The Fascist Movement"; and Mr. John P. Davis on "Communism versus Socialism." The club was pleased to sponsor a testimonial banquet in honor of Congressman and Mrs. Oscar DePriest. Mary Susan Reid received the scholarship in 1934 and entered Howard University. In the present year, 1934-1935, the club has had as its guests: Miss Bertie Backus, Miss Frances Grant, Miss Maude Aiton, and Miss Anna L. Goodwin. A reception was held, too, in honor of Dr. Ruth Winifred Howard, who received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Minnesota. A special project was given this year when the interpretative dancer, Edouard DuBuron, assisted by William Richardson, was presented. The club has also initiated a literary contest for students in the Miner Teachers College and Howard University, to encourage creative work in writing poetry, short stories, and dramas. Throughout the years, the club has had its members give travelogues of their various trips taken in this country and abroad during the course of summer vacations. Every year there has been given a social to the graduating class of Howard University. The College Alumnae Club passes its twenty-fifth milestone happy. Its effort has been to keep faith with its founders, and it has succeeded. Its social gatherings have aimed at uniting in bands of friendship the college women of our city. It has instigated a larger union through a national association of college women. It has endeavored to touch the lives of young people through various means: talks at their schools, the scholarship contest, student receptions, the contest of creative ability, and through its many special projects. It has brought to the public the best there is in art, literature, music and dancing through its offerings. Financially it has given to the community projects and has helped fifteen girls to enter college since 1922. It has brought to its own members educational policies to study, world problems to become interested in, civic problems to help solve, social problems to work out, and cultural studies to enjoy. Its task still is to continue to keep faith with its founders. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 23 Hostages To Fortune Editor's Note: During the twenty-five years of the club's existence, fifteen scholarship awards have been made. Twelve of the recipients have a word to say in this edition of the Journal. FIVE months in college hardly makes one an authority on the advantages and disadvantages of a college education or life on a college campus. but it does give one time to have a few experiences and to form opinions about them. Entering college is in itself a great occasion. The hurry and bustle of being registered for the first time gave me a sensation which has not yet entirely disappeared. The crowd of strangers, the worry of making my first program, and the great rush to finish early still linger in my memory to form one picture, registration. Next to the memory of actually enrolling in college is the recollection of my first class. I remember distinctly walking into class, not recognizing a single person, listening dubiously to the instruction's outline of the course, and wishing myself anywhere but in that room. I was sure that if this class were a fair sample, I wasn't going to enjoy college. After a few hours in the class, however, I changed my opinion. I discovered that the other students were human, in spite of their having committed the great breach of not previously making my acquaintance. The instructor's talks became more intelligible and less like gibberish. Before the end of the semester I was actually beginning to like that class. Final examinations were the next bugbear. From the day I entered Howard, I heard of those dreaded "finals." During the week before the examinations were given, I was almost frantic. I didn't see how I was going to review everything, and I just knew that the questions would cover the very things about which I remembered least. Have you ever braced yourself for a hard blow and received only a light tap? Then you know how I felt when I read those examination questions. They made the end of my first semester very happy instead of tragic. I began the second semester with a freer spirit and greater confidence than I could have, had my first four months been less successful. MARY SUSAN REID. My career in college has covered just about half the full college course, but even in that time there has been room for achievement. A little over a year and a half ago, when I entered Howard University, as inexperienced and as blind as the typical college freshman, I viewed college with awe and 24 THE JOURNAL OF THE fear-as a mountain over which the smallest ant must climb. I had small hope of ever making my presence felt in so vast an institution. But through the many receptions and discussions, and the help of my Senior Mentor, a splendid young woman engaged in campus affairs, I became adjusted to the college atmosphere. I have met people with whom the exchange of ideas has been greatly benefiting; I have sat in discussions that have changed my outlook on life; I have attended concerts where the atmosphere abounded in spiritual loftiness. In fact, my life in college has been influenced by factors outside, as well as inside, the classroom. At the end of my freshman year at Howard I was awarded a University Scholarship of $150. This has supplied my tuition throughout my sophomore year. On Wednesday, January 9, 1935, Honors' Day was celebrated at the University. I was recognized as a University Honor Student and presented with the Kappa Cup, annually awarded by the Scroll Club to the freshman maintaining the highest scholastic average for the year. These are the honors I have received during my incomplete career at Howard University. I hope they will not be all, but whatever I do, I aim towards bringing honor and credit to the College Alumnae Club. SARAH P. CLARK . . My almost three years at Mount Holyoke College have meant a great deal to me. They have been a period of adjustment, of "finding myself", as it were, of constantly learning and discovering new ideas, new interests, new standards and values. Among other things to be attributed to this period is my becoming race-conscious, conscious in the sense that I want to do active work with race problems. Naturally this interest in social problems would lead me to major in economics and sociology. The extra-curricular activities in which I have taken part include the College Y.W.C.A., in which organization I served as a member of the Cabinet during my sophomore year; the Social Problems Club in which I am one of the executive board; and the International Relations Club. Last year I attended, as an unofficial delegate, the Model League Assembly sponsored annually by Eastern colleges, which met at Harvard and Radcliffe. This year Model League meets at Mount Holyoke, and I have advanced to an official delegate. These are, then, my main interests and activities. At the present, I am unable to pick out the high points of my college career, since I am still in the midst of the career and these cannot be truly determined until one is able to look back in retrospect. LAURA LEE. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 25 The past three years I have spent as an undergraduate student at the University of California-one of the three largest educational institutions in the country-located in a small California city with California hills as a background and a tall, stately Campanile as a marker of the passage of time. My first year back on the Pacific Coast found me in the position of too many of our students-working half-heartedly towards an almost non-existent goal in college because it was the thing to do. During my junior year I transferred to the Department of Household Science. In a certain respect, I was practically a pioneer as there had never been a colored girl before at the University as a major in this particular field. Dr. A. Fay Mogan, Department Head, was frank enough to state that my particular accomplishments in the department would be the main criterion by which any other Negro students would be accepted as majors in this field. So far my general average has been slightly above 85 per cent. A schedule of three of four laboratory courses a semester tends to be very confining, but if one is working towards a tangible goal and has the needed interest in one's work, the hours spent in the laboratory tend to pass very quickly. My most interesting course this semester is an advanced undergraduate research course in which my problem is the determination of the presence of certain vitamins in a certain species of acorns which formed the greater portion of the basal dish of the early California Indians and which have subsequently been found to be also an important item in the dish of the peasants living on a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. In comparison to the many outstanding scientific contributions, my little report will be but a small bit, of interest perhaps to just a few people, but to me it will be quite important as something definite that I can say that I have accomplished. May and graduation are but a few months off, and after that what- research student, student dietician, or teacher? That time alone will reveal. JENNIE E. THOMPSON. . . Seniors, just before graduation, and newly-admitted members to alumnae organizations are given t philosophizing about the value of college life-serious business for the "philosophers", but perhaps amusing to more mature graduates. A group of us seniors, who throughout the year had argued violently about religion, social problems, literature, music, love, and clothes-amidst an accumulated litter of the New York Times-concluded our very informal discussion series with an evaluation of our life at Wellesly. It was just after we had passed "the general exam" when we were at last assured of graduating and were faced with the prospect of leaving an environment, for four years most congenial, and when we were feeling 26 THE JOURNAL OF THE especially sentimental about the whole Wellesley atmosphere-places, people, and memories. We finally decided that while liberal arts training may not provide immediately for earning a living, it does provide a broad background of culture which cannot fail to enhance one's value as a member of a community and as an individual; that to be spiritually united to successive generations of fine women by common loyalties and common ideals is stimulating; and finally, that four years of hard work and less praiseworthy results than an equal amount of work elsewhere might produce does foster a becoming intellectual humility rather than intellectual snobbishness. And then laying aside all attempts at justification by unbiased logic-although we had been taught properly-we admitted that our feelings toward Wellesley were conditioned by the points of our individual careers which to us were most thrilling. For example, I remember the time when I found out that my ambition to dance was not so ungrounded as I had hitherto considered it and took part in the important spring festival-Tree Day- and the time when, being admitted, by some strange chance, to the Wellesley Choir, I first took part in Christmas vespers and carol singing in the village afterwards; and the Greek play given in Greek, the chorus of which I had trained, in a Fourth-Century-B. C. fashion as I could, and The Friday the Thirteenth, when we were notified of election to Phi Beta Kappa. And along with memories of similar special occasions, all of us remembered pleasant social activities, congenial associations with faculty and schoolmates, somewhat utopian freedom from worldly cares. Five months of after-college life serve both to affirm the commonplace so often quoted by one's elders: "College days are the best days"-and to prove that life after college holds tremendous possibilities for fullest self-development. My experience in International House in Chicago and in the University of Chicago (where I hope to achieve an M.A. in Latin) have contributed invaluably to developing a sense of self-reliance and of personal responsibility, a capacity for solving problems and fighting battles myself, a technique of satisfactory social adjustment. Reviewing my formal education since high school and the informal education which necessarily accompanied it, I feel gratified in having chosen a New England woman's college and a mid-western co-educational university because they offer such complementary experiences, and so valuable an opportunity for achieving a complete and well-rounded personality and for performing more or less adequately any future function in society. ELIZABETH K. NEILL. . . The College Alumnae Scholarship, which I was fortunate enough to win, brought to me the realization of one of the dearest dreams in my life, one which I would never have been able to attain without it-that of COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 27 going to college. Of course, the mere distinction of winning the scholarship was enough in itself to make me feel very happy and proud, but since then it has come to mean infinitely more to me. I consider it the first step in the achievement of my goal since it was the means of entrance into college, where I was fortunate enough to obtain other scholarships which enabled me to complete what I had begun, even through the attainment of a master's degree. Perhaps more valuable even, in my estimation were the wonderful contacts I formed, which I feel will stand me in good stead throughout the rest of my life. Add to this the social activities which go hand in hand with any college life, and you have an experience in which any young person is extremely fortunate to participate. College opened up an entirely new world to me, but it did not find me totally unprepared for what I wished to do even in times of seeming impossibility. All through my high school career I had been intensely interested in mathematics, probably because of the aptitude which I had for this subject. On this account I chose mathematics as my major upon entering Howard University, the college at which I decided to matriculate. I suppose my first impressions of college were those of the average person, heightened of course by the sense of elation that always comes with the pleasantly unexpected. As I look back upon college from the distance of one brief year, I can see that for me, college was divided into three distinct phases, each of which had its own particular charms and enjoyable incidents. The first phase is almost purely academic, including my induction into Beta Kappa Chi, a science honorary society connected with the University and my election to membership in Kappa Mu, the general honorary society of Howard University. The second division is composed of the contacts that I made while in college. Chief among these has been my affiliation with Delta Sigma Sorority. The third and last phase is concerned with strictly social activities-clubs, proms, football and basketball games, the support and cooperation of the entire student body manifested in the concerted cheers and singing of the Alma Mater. When one stops to consider the supreme advantages that accrue to the college student during his life at the university, and afterwards as a graduate in a competitive world, it is not hard to understand why I feel so profoundly grateful to the members of the College Alumnae Club who made a college career possible for me. MARIE L. MOSS . . Mary Edna Burke, who was awarded the College Alumnae Club scholarship in 1928, is at present an instructor of French in the Tulsa Freshman College, an extension of the Langston Colored Agricultural and Normal 28 THE JOURNAL OF THE Institute, Langston, Oklahoma. Before accepting this position in September 1934, Miss Burke was a teacher of foreign languages in the Booker Washington High School, Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is affiliated with Omicron Sigma Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and is very active in community work. As an undergraduate student of Howard University, Miss Burke maintained the highest scholastic average in class throughout her entire residence of three and one-quarter years, during which time she was awarded two scholarship cups, a key, a cash prize donated by the Business Men's Club of Washington, D. C., and a four-year Elk oratorical scholarship. She was president of Kappa Mu, Honorary Scholastic Society; vice-president of the freshman class, social committee member for three years, member of committee on university assemblies for two years, intercollegiate debater with Mu Lambda Lambda, associate editor of The Bison, editor-elect of The Bison, Hilltop editor of women's activities, member of the Stylus Honorary Literary Society, and the University women's tennis champion 1930-31. In December 1931 she was graduated from Howard University, summa cum laude, A.B. in Education. She also received a graduate scholarship and in June 1932 the M.A. in French, from the same institution, the title of her thesis being Honore de Balzac's Conception of the Negro. . . A certain quality of distinction characterizes the four years I spent at Smith College and sets them apart from the rest of my life as a delightful interlude made up of mental stimulations, cultural opportunities, physical activities, new acquaintances and friends, and dozens of other elements previously outside my experience. Upon entering college I felt almost overwhelmed, certainly extremely proud to know that I was just as much a part of this institution as any of the other two thousand girls who strolled about the campus. It was a totally new experience for me, living away from home, in another world whose population consisted almost entirely of girls of my own age or older-rather like learning to play a new game and thoroughly enjoying it. The exclusive society of young people is at the same time narrow-because of a general similarity of interests and ideas-and stimulating -because of the vitality and wide range of personality and background to be found in such a group. It is the contact with this alert society that makes college life. Association with the students leads to a more fascinating life, and attendance at classes brings the student face to face with a picked group of highly intelligent, keen-minded, and thoughtful professors who contribute to a cultural set-up, unequalled in the other walks of life. College life has an atmosphere of purposefulness, of zeal in the quest of knowledge combined with an eager desire on the part of the students to reach for the best life COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 29 has to offer and to enjoy it with the gay, carefree attitude peculiar to young people of their age. Life in this college surrounding was consequently never dull and led me, like all of the rest, I suppose, to think about the future and wonder what it held in store for me. For a while after graduation I studied Family Case Work at Western Reserve University and practiced the work with the Associated Charities in Cleveland, but my efforts in that field were short-lived. At present I am engaged in the business of making a home and rearing a family-an occupation which should make the remainder of my life as full and as satisfactory as the early part has been. As the years go by, I shall not infrequently recall incidents of my college days, and the thought of them will always bring a sense of warmth and satisfaction. GRACE RIDGELY. . . First among my cherished memories of college days is the thrill of that JUNE DAY of my high school graduation when my name was read as winner of the College Alumnae Scholarship. This thrill carried over to October, when I enrolled in a local college and embarked upon my college career with bright anticipation. My actual orientation came when the trials of the first month were over. I began to breathe more freely in this new medium. I realized that I had emerged from the chrysalis of my high school life into the maturity of a new and full existence. I was intrigued by it all, the freedom of class room discussion and the contact with an assortment of minds and personalities. As a result of the stimulation of these new contacts, I reacted to the personalities of my associates with new emotions. I could pity Miss T. who coveted membership in a certain sorority and spent a tidy sum treating her would-be sorors to shows, dinners and holidays at her home without gaining her desired end. She left college before graduation, embittered by her failure to reach the goal she had set. I conceded a grudging admiration for Ed M. whose pleasing personality and an ability to bluff, coupled with a way with a football that rebounded to the University's credit, smoothed his path through to graduation. His uncanny luck followed him after graduation for he is now an instructor in a junior high school in his home town. Another personality looms up in my mind. Sacred to me is the veneration I have for a man who, in a key position at the University, was subjected to most severe criticisms and foul charges regarding his honesty and integrity. He held steadfastly to his charted course and weathered the storm without having compromised once with his accusers. 30 THE JOURNAL OF THE No compromise! That was the gist of his remarks to us on the day of fulfillment - graduation. Speaker after speaker warned us that we would go forth into a world two years in the worst depression it had ever know, but our own expansive dreams refused to be shattered. When I found myself as a teacher that fall in a small North Carolina town and met such conditions of poverty and immorality among sharecroppers as I had never dreamed of, I knew that this world was a far cry from my beloved campus but I could use the inspiration of that counsel, "No COMPROMISE." ELISE O. WOODS. * * I am very glad of the opportunity to day to the members of the College Alumnae Club what receiving the scholarship award in 1924 meant to me. The financial assistance was greatly appreciated but greater still was the challenge during the succeeding years to achieve those things for which the College Alumnae group stands, and to merit the confidence expressed by this award. I matriculated at Syracuse University and was graduated from that institution in 1928. This period is especially significant because of the stimulus resulting from contact with men and women of high ideals for educational achievement. My initiation into the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is also an experience to be remembered. During my senior year, I was privileged to serve as secretary of the Women's Cosmopolitan Club, which is an influential inter-racial group on the campus. For the past three years, I have been engaged in social work on Chicago, Illinois. During this period I have been enrolled in the Graduate School of Social Service at the University of Chicago. I am now employed as a Probation Officer for the Juvenile Court of Cook County. This work is especially stimulating as this is the pioneer juvenile court. May I again thank the College Alumnae Club for its assistance and confidence, and express a sincere hope for the continuation of the scholarship project which has been a great inspiration to many students. JANET AVERY GOFF. * * I, the recipient of the College Alumnae Club scholarship for 1923, am glad of this opportunity to greet the members of this organization, I often have hoped for a chance to thank them for starting me off financially on my college work. I consider it a singular honor to be a member of this same group now. Dr. Anna J. Cooper is due my most sincere expression of gratitude for bringing my name to the club. The award was made after a committee had interviewed several other students and myself, all of whom had creditable COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 31 scholastic records; my plans for future education must have met with the approval of this group, and I was given the scholarship award of fifty dollars. I mention that in detail because recently several members have expressed surprise that it was ever on a non-competitive basis. In college, my work was not the "honor society" mark. Instead, as in high school, it showed high peaks in some places and average levels in others. Music was and is my chief interest, but I attended forums, dramas, lectures, language circles, as well as some sports events. My attendance in the University choir was 100 per cent the first year. At the beginning of my junior year, I played for the University Orchestra. English, my major in Liberal Arts from which I graduated in 1931, has almost as great an appeal to me as has music. I am particularly interested in formal grammar and public speaking. I have no hope of being an orator, but I do wish and hope to study more about these branches of English so that I may speak in a creditable manner, no matter how brief the statement may be. Having attended Negro schools through the grades, at Lucretia Mott, and high school at Dunbar, I decided to take a joint study and vacation period at Hampton Institute because I had been told that the very cultural atmosphere of the place was conducive to conscientious work and that superior instructors of both races from many sections of the country made up the faculty. I enjoyed every moment of both the sessions which I spent there. Again I am a member of the Howard University Choir. My rank is a sophomore in the School of Music, and I am a member of Beta Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. As in 1923, my ambition is to teach music and my motto is "Fiat justitia; ruat caelum!" ("Let justice be done though the heavens fall!"). VIOLET M. HARRIS. * * I only spent about one year and a half in college and therefore decided that you wouldn't be interested in hearing about that. However, I now regret very much that I did not finish. I later went to Miner Normal and am now teaching in Maryland. MARGARET WOOD. Poetry Contest And Awards THE College Alumnae Club has for the first twenty-five years of its activity devoted its efforts to providing educational opportunity on college level to superior girls among high school graduates. To mark its silver anniversary, the club, at the proposal of the President, Mrs. Shaw, announced to local college women an Annual Prize Contest in Creative 32 THE JOURNAL OF THE Literature, open exclusively to women of Miner Teachers College and Howard University. The contest this year is in poetry; in other years it may be in poetry, short stories, or one-act plays. The award for 1935 are as follows: first prize, ten dollar; second prize, five dollars; third place, honorable mention. The winners of 1935 with the prize poems follow: THOMASINE CORROTHERS. QUERY Lad, would you come, If I had come Over wet sands at morning To a clear green sea? Would you watch the white waves curling in Breaking in crystals o'er the small sea folk - Would you wait for me for the horizon's gray To flush into life with the coming day? Would you dig small pools if I said dig? And watch the sea seep in? Would you build sand castles With moats and towers And dream with me Through the wind-fleet hours? You say you would come, nor tarry at all - But, lad, can't you see that I never could call? -Rapunzel, First Prize, $10 MABEL AMELIA MADDEN Howard University (Graduate Student, Department of English). ON THE DEATH OF AN INFANT Woman weep! Unlock thy misery in dewy balm, Diffuse thy harsher pangs in heaven's sweet rain, These drops flow not in vain - they end in calm, Wild winds must blow, clouds must move low. They take away the sunshine - yet it's there. Death hues, like the mists before the sun Throw their shade on the vale and the hill. The sun shines still - bursts through the clime, Asserts his ponderous will. The soul obscured, incorporeal, Still shines and lights your path and mine. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 33 This cloud, impenetrable now, and low, Will burst its thickness at thy will, Thine infant immortality Comes back ethereal -Janet Gibson, Second Prize, $5 DOROTHY FAY WILLISTON Howard University, Senior Class. THE STORM (A Poem for Children.) I see the sky is weeping, Her tears stream down my pane, Each rivulet a symbol of Some soft, sweet, sad refrain. The trees are bending down their heads, The leaves are whispering low, They seem to be upset because The sky is weeping so. Each lightning flash seems like a threat, Each thunder bolt, a plea Each drop of rain, a dart of pain Too infinite to see. But with the dawn the sun will come And dry each tear away, And chase the worries of the sky Beyond the break of day. -Gertrude Battle, Honorable Mention GERTRUDE INEZ WILLISTON Miner Teachers College. From The Thirteenth Chair ESTHER POPEL SHAW THE late, great, former U. S. Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, on the occasion of his ninety-first birthday, was feted by the American Bar Association in tribute to his greatness as a man, and his long and splendid career of service to his country as a jurist. In the realization that he had come almost to the end of his days, Mr. Holmes responded 34 THE JOURNAL OF THE briefly, but with a fine simplicity and boldness of spirit, to the plaudits of his friends and fellow-citizens. Among the things he said in that response, there are one or two statements which, it seems to me, should be of deepest significance to us, as we of the College Alumnae Club celebrate an anniversary. His words were these: " . . . the work is never done while the power to work remains; for to live is to function. That is all there is in living!" "To live is to function - that is all there is in living! The work is never done while the power to work remains!" What a text those words would make, were this to be a sermon rather than a greeting! And what a challenge they offer, whether or not a text is now in order! The fact that the College Alumnae Club has lived and grown and functioned during the twenty-five years of its existence is gratifying. It has become an active force for service in a community which has needed it. It has justified the faith of its founders and has proved to them that the vision was more than a pleasant dream. An examination of its records will reveal a list of achievements of which all its members may be truly proud. A re-reading of the first Journal published by the Club (the 15th Anniversary issue) in May, 1925, will prove to be an experience which all past and present members will find highly stimulating as well as informative. We may well cherish the glowing pages of our past history. We are making advances which we hope will make our future record appear equally glowing. But we must face seriously, and without too much of the dreamer's attitude, the facts of the present with their challenge. We have had reiterated the purposes of the club as expressed by its founders: "to promote a closer social union among our women graduates; to give incentive and opportunity for individual activity and development, intellectually and socially; to enhance our influence and usefulness in the various movements for the civic good!" A brief resume of our programs for the past two years will reveal to what extent we have succeeded in holding to the purposes outlined by our founders. With an active membership ranging from 125 to 135 persons during these years, it would be impossible to expect a "close social union" among our members, or to allow for "individual activity and development, intellectually and socially" unless some provision were made for the members to select the particular activities which to them proved to be most interesting. For that reason the Executive Committee deemed it advisable, in planning the policies of the club, to let committee assignments be a matter of individual choice rather than of arbitrary appointment. This has given each member her opportunity to engage in the type of activity which most appealed to her. Consequently, the Program Committees, under the able leadership first of Mrs. Glady T. Peterson and then of Miss Hope Lyons, have COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 35 given us programs of wide scope and interesting variation. More than a score of new members have come into the club, as a result of the tireless efforts of the Membership Committees led by Mrs. Esther B. Sutton in 1933-34, and by Miss Edith A. Lyons in 1934-35. One of the features of the Membership Committee's program this year has been the drive to recover for the club former members who had become inactive. To date this "recovery program" has resulted in five reinstatements since October. The Finance Committee, under the leadership of Miss Helen Sparks, has had opportunities to plan new ways and means of augmenting the funds of the club, while those who have been interested in the matter of scholarship awards to high school girls have worked with Miss Juanita P. Howard in setting up and maintaining the standards of the Scholarship Committee and handling the details of the awards. The formulation of policies and expressions of opinions on local and national affairs where racial issues are involved has been the function of the Interracial Committee, with Miss R. Arliner Young serving as its Chairman. The current 25th Anniversary edition of the Journal is evidence of the type of activity that has engaged the interest of the Publications Committee with Mrs. Mary H. Skinner, Journalist, filling the dual role of editor-in-chief and chairman of that very able group. Miss Effie P. Simmons continues to serve as the enthusiastic chairman of the Future Home Committee whose members are doing all in their power to make come true at an early date our dream of a permanent club home. The testimonial dinner honoring former Congressman Oscar DePriest will not soon be forgotten by club members or the community at large, thanks to the Herculean efforts of Miss Muriel Milton and the members of the Special Project Committee. With the same type of enthusiasm, it is at work (as the Journal goes to press) trying to make of the du Buron Dance Recital (the project for 1935) a success equally as outstanding as the DePriest dinner. The Educational Policies Committee, directed by Miss Sadie I. Daniel, in 1933-34, formulated plans last year to cooperate with the National Educational Policies Committee of the N. A. C. W in its program for the consideration of local and national policies and problems in education as they affected Negro youth. The local committee this year is continuing the plans outlined for it last year and in addition thereto has launched, under the chairmanship of Miss Thomasine Corrothers, the Club's newest project, a contest in creative writing among the women students of Howard University and Miner Teachers College, with the hope that latent literary talent may be discovered and encouraged to grow. This committee, in conjunction with the Program Committee, has as its further responsibility this year, the planning of the 25th Anniversary Dinner Meeting of the club. Another committee, under the leadership of Miss Edith Lyons, is sponsoring, 36 THE JOURNAL OF THE in April, an "Institute on Mental Hygiene and Child Welfare," while the group interested in "Business Opportunities among Negroes", with Miss Beatrice Catlett as its guiding spirit, has cooperated with the New Negro Alliance in its program to improve our economic status in the community. Finally, in order that the personal touch may be in evidence, there was formed last year a new standing committee which, as its name indicates, has as its purpose the maintenance of "Friendly Relations" between the individual club members and the larger group. The friendly contacts made by this committee, with Mrs. Bertha H. Collins as its chairman, do much to keep alive the feeling that one is not "lost in the crowd" as an individual even though the membership continues to grow. For the major activity of the current club year a "Convention Planning Committee" of which Mrs. Louise H. Pack is acting as chairman, has been named to plan for the 12th Annual Convention of the National Association of College Women which olds its sessions in Washington at Easter time. These committee offerings are unquestionably varied. Each is a significant and valuable part of the machinery which is the club itself - a vital, living machine whose purpose is to function; a powerful machine with unlimited possibilities for continued service! With our formal program for 1933-34 focusing attention upon world problems - problems which show the relationship of women to the present economic order at home and abroad, and the influences of the various "isms" (Communism, Hitlerism, Fascism, and Socialism) on those problems - and the newer movements in Modern Education - Character Education, Adult Education, and Education for the Wise Use of Leisure - receiving our consideration in 1934-35, we have revealed to us by scholars and leaders in the fields of activity indicated by these programs the many and varied opportunities for service in a changing world. Contacts with such personalities as Miss Mabel Byrd of the Department of Research and Planning, N. R. A.; Miss Ruth Sarles of the Women's International League; Mrs. Vivian J. Cook, President, National Association of College Women; Rabbi Edward L. Israel, Chairman of Social Justice Commission, Central Conference of American Rabbis; Dr. Thomas I. Brown, Miner Teachers College; Mr. John P. Davis, Executive Secretary, Joint Committee, National Recovery; Miss Bertie Backus, Assistant Superintendent in Charge of Character Education, Washington, D. C., Public Schools; Miss Frances O. Grant, Sectional Director of the East, N. A. C. W.; Dr. Ruth W. Howard, whom we honored with a public reception for her scholastic attainments; Miss Maude Aiton, Director of the Americanization School in Washington, D. C.; Miss Anna L. Goodwin, Assistant Director Community Center Department, COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 37 Washington, D. C., Public Schools; Miss Jessie Fauset, poet, novelist, scholar - have enriched our lives and revealed to us the fact that our horizons are constantly widening. New social, civic, economic, political, and educational problems and responsibilities demand our attention. It is safe to make the rather sweeping assertion that at no time in the history of the College Alumnae Club have its members been face to face with so many challenges. And these questions arise: How shall we meet them? To what extent are we willing to continue to make our influence felt "in the various movements for the civic good?" In spite of all its problems and uncertainties, we are fortunate to be alive in such an era. Well-trained, splendidly equipped for service, we must master the art of living and give our services as leaders in these days of great opportunity. To us as a club as well as individuals, the power to work remains. Wherefore - let us live - and living, let us function. As I clasp your hands in friendly greeting at this 25th milestone in our club history, let me combine with the pleasure of greeting - the challenge to accomplish bigger and better things in the years that lie ahead. And let us remember - together, and always - that "The work is never done while the power to work remains; for to live is to function - that is all there is in living!" As Others See Us EDUCATION IN ACTION DWIGHT O. HOLMES EDUCATIONAL administrators and teachers are frequently embarrassed when asked to state, in exact terms, just what they are trying to produce. This is particularly true in the United States, the land dedicated to the principle of equality of opportunity. In Western Europe where, in the past, higher education and lower education have been quite distinct, the definition of aims has not been so difficult. Schools for the lower classes were frankly organized to equip the masses with such tools as were considered necessary to produce efficient followers. The higher education, on the other hand, was looked upon as aristocratic, organized and carried forward for the express purpose of producing scholars and hence leaders in the social, industrial, scientific and political life of the nation. America has set the pace in opening all the schools to all the people. But, since all the people cannot be leaders, another objective than leadership was obviously required, whose precise definition has eluded the ingenuity 38 THE JOURNAL OF THE of the most astute educational leaders. At the present time, as one of the results of the machine age, American economists are facing very frankly the necessary postponement of the employment of youth as wage earners until the age of twenty-one or later. Technological processes are so rapidly taking over the burden of labor and thus freeing man from industrial slavery, that the postponement of the admission of people to productive life until the age of maturity seems imminent. After the social adjustments now in process shall have been completed, it is not at all unlikely, therefore, that we shall find that the normal education period of the masses will continue through what are now considered the years of college life. Should this come to pass, we surely cannot use the vague term "leadership", as descriptive of our educational objective. Under such conditions we shall probably be forced to adopt Mickeljohn's definition of the objective of college education as being "the process of learning how to live." This designation of aim, however, is even more vague than "leadership" when one attempts to find its exact significance. But this should not disturb us because some of the rarest values cannot be defined but must be exemplified in order to be understood. Any description of a dynamic person, for example, always leaves something to be desired. To see such a person in action, however, is quite satisfying and informative. Personality, bravery, honor and industry, are examples of terms that, to be best understood, must be experienced. If this brief analysis is valid, a college can best describe what it is trying to do by choosing from among its graduates who are actively engaged in doing the work of the world, those who exemplify in their lives the ideals which it has set up. Indeed the success or failure of higher education must be determined, in the long run, by this procedure. Do college-bred men and women live better, act differently, do more, affect the group more favorably, than do those who have not had the opportunities implied by a college degree? It is because educators have begun to realize the futility of objective standards in determining the quality of an educational institution that the standardizing movement among colleges has, within the last two years, begun to undergo an important modification. The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, one of the most active of the educational bodies during the past three decades in the establishment and application of objective measurements for the accreditation of institutions of higher learning, has definitely scrapped these standards as having outlived their usefulness. Instead, it plans to evaluate colleges on the basis of their ability to meet stated objectives as determined largely be an examination of their product. Thus, such requirements as the value of the plant, the size of the endowment, the teaching load, the preparation of the faculty, the number of students and the like, are no longer looked upon by this COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 39 body as infallible indices of the quality of a college. According to their new plan, it first inquires of each college just what it is trying to do and then judges its quality in accordance with its success or failure in realizing its aim. If, on this basis, one is asked to determine the value of college education to Negro women, he has but to turn his attention to the College Alumnae Club of Washington, D. C., to find the the answer. This group of women, on the occasion of its twenty-fifth anniversary, answers in no uncertain terms the question proposed. The several colleges whose degrees are held by these women need only point to them and say, "Here is what we have been trying to produce in supplying higher education to Negro women." For the organization has done much in the very complex social community composing the nation's capital, to raise the tone of the cultural life and in so doing has exemplified, in the best manner possible, the transformation in quality and character that college education should make in human beings. Let us, for a moment, apply the criteria proposed above in evaluating the work of this organization. We just asked the question, "Do college-bred men and women live better, act differently, do more, affect the group more favorably than do others who have not had the opportunities implied by a college degree?" To each of these questions the reply is decidedly positive. That the members of this body live better can easily be inferred from an examination of the roster of membership with the positions held and a study of the social activities engaged in, both individually and collectively, by its members. They act differently from persons not so trained because of the added cultural outlook and the added feeling of responsibility which has come to them through their intellectual and spiritual experiences. They do more, not only because they see more to be done, but because they have the training to do things and the desire and willingness to cooperate with each other which makes their efforts more effective than they could possibly be if carried on individually. They affect the group more favorably because they have undertaken projects, educational, social and artistic, which have very definitely influenced, in a positive way, the life of the city of Washington and of other communities as well. It is not the purpose of this brief statement to specify in detail what this organization has done during the quarter-century of its existence, for this is done elsewhere in this volume. By way of illustration, however, it seems fitting to call attention to the general quality of the activities in which it has been engaged by specific examples. After several years of existence, the club realized that the thing which it was doing in Washington could be far more extensive in its influence if given wider scope. On April 6 and 7, 1923, therefore, in pursuance of this idea, it issued a call to Negro college women in all parts of the country to a convention out of which developed 40 THE JOURNAL OF THE developed the National Association of College Women. Another need that challenged its interest was that of increasing the educational opportunities for worthy young women who wished to carry their education beyond the high school. In May 1922, therefore, the club instructed its scholarship committee to award two scholarships of fifty dollars each to graduates of the local high schools to encourage them to go to college. It was deemed wiser, in subsequent awards, first, to combine the two into one with a stipend of one hundred dollars, and finally in 1928, to increase this to two hundred dollars. As a result of this project, one girl each year has been encouraged to begin her college course. Among the colleges attended by those receiving these scholarship awards are Howard University, Wellesley, Smith, Syracuse, Mount Holyoke and the University of California. As part of the effort to arouse interest in going to college, the members if the club have been actively interested in presenting to the students in the local high schools, from the freshman year on, the advantages of a college education and have supplied them with information relative to the entrance requirements of the various colleges, the procedures for gaining admission and other details which they should know. Since many members of the club are engaged as teachers in the local high schools, it has been convenient for them to thus act as big sisters and advisers to the high school girls who give promise of successful college careers. A fourth activity of the club, developed originally for the purpose of securing funds for the scholarship mentioned above, is the presentation of professional artists to the local community and the production of plays and other forms of cultural entertainment by the members of the club itself. These activities have not only given the local community an opportunity of hearing and seeing great artists, but have afforded the club members a vehicle for cultural expression. In this connection it should be noted that the monthly meetings of the organization have always maintained a high cultural and intellectual tone, this affording its members spiritual stimulation as well as recreation. Members returning from travel abroad are frequently given an opportunity of relating their experiences. Book reviews on subjects of particular interest to the group, are presented by members of literary inclination. Scholars from the outside, both men and women, frequently address these gatherings on various subjects. Art and music are discussed by members particularly interested in these fields. Visiting women of distinction are entertained and heard. Future projects for the club are discussed and whipped into shape. These activities tend to keep alive the intellectual, spiritual and social life of the members of the College Alumnae Club and thus raise the entire level of the life of the community of which it is an integral part. College education has taught these women how to live and by living justify the investment which has been made in them. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 41 THE JOURNAL OF THE COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB OF WASHINGTON EDITORIAL BOARD MARY HANDLEY SKINNER, Editor ROSA L. CLIFFORD BERTHA H. COLLINS NAOMI J. RUSHING DOROTHY M. MCALLISTER EDNA FORREST BROWN College Alumnae, What Now? Those who read history with their eyes and not with their prejudices will feel that the quarter century which, at present, measures the life span of the College Alumnae Club, has not been lived in vain. For every page in its glowing chronology scintillates a vitality which, it is hoped, will not lessen with the growing years. The College Alumnae Club of today has undoubtedly justified the faith of its founders, those brilliant women with active souls, who first conceived the idea of organization, brooded thereon, gave it the arrangement of their own minds, and uttered it again. Now that the past has been proved, one reflects that the life behind is but the quarry from which tiles and cope-stones for the masonry of today may be secured. The College Alumnae will face the future, then, in complete accord with "the last leaf" of times somewhat remote - that the great thing in the life of groups, as well as of individuals, is not so much where they stand as in what direction they are moving. To reach the portals of true eminence, they must sail - sometimes with the wind, sometimes against it. But they must sail! They cannot drift! They cannot lie at anchor! 42 THE JOURNAL OF THE Strange Interludes Reflecting Some Special Interests CHALLENGE OR INQUIRY? GEORGIANA R. SIMPSON LAST Eastertide, while I was attending the annual meeting of the National Association of College Women at Atlanta, it was my privilege, along with others, to visit some of the far-famed institutions of learning in the deep South and to study some of their problems and the methods of solving them. We found practices still in vogue which many of us disdainfully call mid-Victorian. We heard students inveigh against being chaperoned. They wanted "absolute freedom." Girls should not be held within bounds that kept them from easy access to the boys' dorms after dark, some of our group thought. In general, most of the objections were directed toward those regulations which are aimed at protecting youth against transgressions of certain conventionalities - conventionalities which in themselves concede that civilization has been unable to control imperative impulses set forth in youth at the age of puberty. When I returned home, memory set up for me a series of pictures and musings: Some thirty-five years ago in an old German city, I attended classes in a school for girls and young women. I lived in the pensionnat with a group of the young women ranging in age from perhaps 14 to 18. It goes without saying, that such a thing as easy contact with one another between girls and boys of this age was entirely unheard of, unthought of; for no respectable unmarried German girl of that day could ever be alone with a man. But a thing most astonishing was that, as Christmas approached, arrangements were made for closing our school two days earlier than the Gymnasium for boys would close. The reason given for this was that the boys and girls who lived out of town must not be allowed to travel home on the same train. The girls must be at home before the boys started. According to some of our present-day doctrines, girls thus shielded and protected would have no opportunity to develop self-reliance or womanly traits in general. They would be perverts, knowing nothing of the important demands of a woman's life; they would be supine, silly, and without character. In 1931 and 1932, a whole generation and more after their school days, I renewed acquaintances with some of these products of the Fem.-Sem. cloistered life. Some of them are staid old-maid school teachers, enjoying the theatre and opera in winter, striding through the Thuringian COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 43 forests and climbing the Alps in summer. Others are mothers of families, keeping their eyes on their sons and daughters at every turn. A set of older, more mature German girls now goes to the universities, sits beside the young men, talks with them between class periods. Even though Germany, like the other civilized nations, is living in a post-war period that has let down certain barriers, no mother seems to regret that she was guarded and guided through the days of her life when she knew not the pitfalls before her nor had the strength to wrestle successfully with the world, the flesh and the devil. These very mothers want their daughters to be modest, chaste, refined. It is a changed world, they say, but we still have some German people who have a sense of that which is befitting a German woman of good breeding. Speaking of "absolute freedom" for students in co-educational institutions reminds me of this: When the World War broke out, I was living in a girls' boarding school in Tours, France. The teachers were nearly all women who "lived in". One day, in a class of young women, I noticed that while the instruction was being given by a man, who was a regular teacher in the institution, one of the women teachers was seated in the rear of the room. "Why does she sit in the room while he teaches?" I asked. "Why, to chaperon the girls," was the reply. "We never allow a man to teach the girls without having a woman teacher present. Do they in your country?" If we object to strict regimen in our schools for young men and women who have come in from the fields and rural districts, it is because we know we are not of the common clay of which French and German youth is made? Shall we not consider simple pragmatic tests when we believe we ought to turn our youth loose to disregard and ignore all the ladders by which we have climbed? THE COLLEGE WOMAN AND HER COMMUNITY Speech delivered before the Columbia, South Carolina Branch of the National Association of College Women, April 7, 1935.) LUCY D. SLOWE Twenty-five years ago attending college was a privilege enjoyed by a comparative few Negro women; today it is the exceptional high school graduate who does not look forward to rounding out her education with a college degree. In every community there are a number of college trained women following careers of many different kinds, influencing the thought and life of the people and justifying in a greater or less degree the four years spent in pursuing what is popularly termed higher education. In spite of the large numbers of college women who are living in our various towns and cities, the question arises again and again, are they justifying the enormous sums of money spent on their education? Is the life of 44 THE JOURNAL OF THE the several communities enriched by their presence? Is the culture of the community broadened and deepened by their contribution? Are their communities governed better? Are the lives of children safe-guarded better? Do they work for those less fortunate than themselves? Are the literary, musical, artistic activities of the communities available to more people because college women are present? Are human relations, national and international, better because of the numbers of college women who have profited by what is termed a liberal education? These are some of the questions that college women in any community, but what they contribute to the quality of the life of the place where they live is the primary consideration. In such a period as we are now passing through, every individual must appraise his life in terms of social usefulness. This is especially true of those who have been exposed to the culture, the intellectual and spiritual heritage of the world. The college woman, having studied the history, literature, art, and science accumulated and transmitted to us by the scholars of the past, should be prepared in our troubled times to diagnose and prescribe with some degree of wisdom a remedy for some of the ills that so beset the modern world. Since Negro college women can no more escape this duty and responsibility than any other college women, they should be alert to see their task and eager to address themselves to it. I wish to call attention to only three areas in which it seems to me Negro college women should concern themselves especially. In a democracy such as we live in, the citizen is the source of power. He expresses his desires, his will, his hopes through the power of his vote at the polls. Unfortunately, Negro citizens in many sections of our country are denied the opportunity of so expressing their desires; but, fortunately, in several sections of our country we hold the balance of power and through this power we can control those influences and policies that mean life or death for us. Have our college women studied carefully the conditions in these areas and used their knowledge and skills in educating the masses to use their latent power through the wise exercise of the franchise? Never in the history of the United States was an educated and organized citizenry needed more than it is today? Government is reaching down into every activity of our lives, but do Negro college women apply their knowledge of political science, their knowledge of history to influence government to the advantage of humble citizens? Do we look with disdain and indifference upon what we so often term "dirty politics?" Leadership in the field of government should come from those who understand the meaning of this word; from those who have had the opportunity through their college courses to know that a democracy cannot serve its citizens except through the wisdom of those COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 45 citizens. Plato's admonition that only philosophers should rule the state should be pondered deeply y college women to the end that they and those who look to them for guidance shall be able to live in the state in security and happiness. What, in the past twenty-five years, have Negro college women done in this field? It seems to me that the first duty of college women is to inform themselves thoroughly on economic and political problems confronting our citizens and to furnish the masses of our people with guidance in a democratic state. Closely related to our national problems is our international relations. For the past twenty-five years, Negro college women have had almost nothing to say on international matters probably because they seem so remote from them. However, when we consider that in the interests of Negro Americans as well as the interests of other Americans are involved every international problem facing out country today, those of us who hold college degrees should be deeply concerned with this phase of American life. Probably the gravest problem before the world is that of war. For the past ten years, eleven of the largest and most influential women's organizations in America have met in Washington annually to consider the "Cause and Cure of War." These women realize that the education of public opinion on this subject is the first step in the direction of getting a solution for the problem. Year after year they have presented facts on the enormous cost of war in human life and goods - facts which should appeal to and appall every intelligent man and women in America. What are college women of our race doing to to acquaint our people with the fact that war is the most wasteful, futile and inhuman method of settling international disputes that man has ever tried? What are we doing to connect ourselves with these general movements and organizations that have for their purpose the turning of the waste of war into the constructive uses of mankind? Ample money could be saved, if war were abolished, to endow enough institutions of learning to meet the needs of every child in the United States. Are we as college women acquainted with the Women's International League for Peace; the National Council for the Prevention of War; the International Federation of University Women and similar organizations? Should we not work actively in these organizations as hundreds of college women are doing? As informed citizens we cannot shirk our responsibility in this field. In looking forward to our future, we must be conscious of the stress and strain which the intricacies of modern life have put upon us. We must also recognize that the intelligently trained person must provide for himself a refuge from the perplexities of the present, and resources for hours of recreation. It appears, then, that regardless of the major interests of college women, they must give the arts a place in their program of spiritual and 46 THE JOURNAL OF THE intellectual development to a greater degree than ever before. Not only will the ministry of beauty as represented in music, drama, literature, painting and sculpture furnish spiritual and intellectual refreshment in these strenuous days, but our support of artistic enterprises will enrich the life of every community and make it more wholesome for all the people. It seems to me that college women should be concerned with the recreational activities of their communities as these relate themselves to the life of the young especially. We should consider seriously the fact that low types of entertainment and inadequate recreation have a direct bearing on juvenile crime and delinquency. It is not without meaning that the highest rate of juvenile crime is found in those places where least provision is made for the wholesome spending of leisure time. Our influence should be placed solidly behind any community efforts to provide our people with opportunities for their own cultural development and for their seeing and hearing the highest forms of art as produced by those gifted with artistic talent. It is my opinion that college women have not done enough systematic work in seeing to it that art in its highest forms is an integral part of the education of the young and a vital part in the life of their communities. The returns on any investment in beauty as a part of our education cannot be estimated for they show themselves in fine ideals applied to all of life's activities. As we look backward over the last quarter of the century and forward to the next, may we not pledge ourselves to work for communities where good government is the passion of all its citizens, where the rule of force in national and international affairs gives way to the rule of reason, and where the healing and inspiring ministry of beauty has opportunity to influence and dignify our common, every-day lives. THE EXPLOITATION OF NEGRO MUSICAL THEMES BY WHITE COMPOSERS EVA B. DYKES No longer can it be said of the Negro that he is a mere imitator in the cultural and artistic fields of human knowledge, or that he is inferior to other races because he has shown no signs of creative ability. The recent interest in the Negro world, an interest not only on the part of the Negroes themselves but on the part of the white race as well, has been aptly termed the Negro Renaissance. A characteristic feature of this revival has been the poignant realization in the mind of the Negro that within the realm of his own world exists a most productive and fertile field for conscious, artistic activity. For the past few years, therefore, the aspirations of the Negro, his COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 47 habits, his attempts to adjust himself to baffling and complicated situations, his victories and his defeats have been portrayed in poetry, prose, and music. To such an extent is this fact true that a German critic recently wrote that the Negro makes himself heard around the world. In no respect has this fact been truer than in the field of music. The soul of the Negro is a poetic soul and a musical soul despite the opinion of Thomas Jefferson to the contrary. In Query Number 14 of "Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781," he writes, "Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry." The misery which Jefferson beheld among the slaves caused them to pour forth in "sorrow songs" their very soul. Little did the Negro toiler realize that these songs with which he would lift himself from the nadir of depression to the crest of a triumphant joy would form the basis of an art hitherto unknown in America and precipitate discussion after discussion by musical critics, some regarding them as the apotheosis of beauty and art, and others considering them crude outbursts of an untutored mind, untouched by beauty or poetry. The testimony of many eminent critics, however, lends credence to the former opinion. Because of the beauty of these songs, black and white composers have utilized their motifs and rhythms and have thus contributed a distinctly new type of music to art. Lafcadio Hearn voiced his desire to write a book on Negro music in which he would speak of the great influence of "Negro and African music in the Maghreb country, in Constantinople, Stamoul, Persia, the Antilles, and the two Americas where its strangest black flowers are gathered by alchemists of musical science and the perfume thereof extracted by magicians like Gottschalk." Truly the exploitation of Negro themes may be likened to the gathering of strange black flowers by the alchemists of musical science and to the extracting of perfumes by a magician. Albert Friedenthal in "Musik, Tanz, and Dichtung beiden Kreolen Americas" says, "But there is another race which has left its traces wherever it has gone - the African Negroes." He speaks of their influence in places where they have been and even in places where they have never been, this influence being especially discernible in the dance Habanera and songs with the Habanera rhythm. Paul Landormy in his "History of Music" testifies that in "Haiti the meringue, equivalent of the Cuban danzon, has been exploited in songs." He also says that "of the two types of native American music - Indian and Negro - the Negro music has done more to mold the creative mind than Indian music." We may also call your attention to the illuminative article in Volume Four of Music in America (editor-in-chief, D. G. Mason) where we read that the Negro element began at an early epoch to bear an influence on our expressions and that "his songs entered largely into the fibre of our own expression." 48 THE JOURNAL OF THE One of the most famous composers to utilize Negro musical idioms was Dvorak who on his visit to America evinced a deep interest in Negro music. It was his firm conviction that the "inspiration for truly national music might be derived from Negro melodies or Indian chants." The "unusual and subtle harmonies" of the slave songs appealed to him. No doubt he was attracted by certain characteristics of Negro music, such as the peutatonic scale, the flattened seventh in the major scale, the raised sixth in the minor scale, and the use of syncopation. Dvorak utilized "Swing Low" in the second theme of Allegro of the "New World Symphony" and another spiritual "Old Man Moses, He Sells Roses" in the Scherzo of the "Quintet", Opus 97. His "Quartet", Opus 96, is also based on Negro themes. Another well-known composer, Henry F. Gilbert of Somerville, Massachusetts, was a pioneer in utilizing Negro themes. On the flyleaf of the Negro Rhapsody, an orchestral composition, he writes that this work was suggested to him by the description of a "shout" in the Preface of W. F. Allen's "Slave Songs of the United States". The shout which forms the motif of the first section of the Rhapsody is a spiritual which begins "Where do you think I found my soul? Listen to the angel's shouting. I found my soul at hell's dark door, Listen to the angel's shouting." The theme of the second section is the pathetic "You May Bury Me in de Eas." Gilbert's "Comedy Overture on Negro Themes" is based, he says, on motifs from traditional Negro songs and dances just as the Uncle Remus stories are based on Negro folklore. Among the spirituals used are "I'se Gwine to Alabamy, Oh" and "Old Ship of Zion". Another composition, "The Dance in Place Congo, a Symphonic Poem after George W. Cable", describes in music the revels of the slaves in New Orleans on Sunday afternoons as they would congregate at the "Place Congo", an open space at the end of a street in New Orleans. A Creole song, "Oh pou' la belle Layotte", much in use once among the Negroes of Louisiana, and the wild "Bamboula" of African origin are utilized in this composition. Interesting is the comment of Olin Downes in the New York Times of May 27, 1928, when he says that "European composers now from Stravinsky and Ravel downward are busying themselves with one of the American musical idioms which Gilbert was among the first to point out and the very first to give artistic significance to, and they are praising this idiom and proving their admiration of it by the flattery of imitation which is palpably false and impotent, and in which they cannot hope to succeed." COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 49 There are many other composers who have utilized Negro and Creole elements, especially the music of the "black creoles". In Martinique, original Creole themes were used in the piano compositions of Marie de Virel. Gottschalk's interest in Creole music is discernible in many of his piano compositions, including "Bananier" and "Bamboula". The following enumeration of names is justified only by the fact that it shows the popularity of Negro music with white composers, and this list is by no means, all inclusive. We mention Henry Schoenfeld's overture "In the Sunny South"; Lucius Hosmer's "Southern Rhapsody"; N. Clifford Page's choral cycle, "Old Plantation Days", utilizing "Go Down Moses", "Mary and Martha's Jus' Gone Long", and a work song, "Down de Levee, Roll Dem Bales"; Mortimer Wilson's "Swanee Sketches" for violin and "In Georgia" for piano; Sousa's "In Darkest Africa"; E. R. Kroeger's "Ten American Sketches", portraying Negro, Indian, and prairie life; Maurice Arnold's "Sonata in B Minor" and "Plantation Dances"; W. H. Humiston's "Southern Fantasy", which is based on three themes of Negro character; George W. Chadwick's "Symphony"; F. Delius' "Appalacbia", a set of variations on a slave tune; MacDowell's "From Uncle Remus"; John Powell's "Sonata Virginesque", "In the South", "Negro Elegy", and "Rhapsodie Negre" for piano and orchestra; Rubin Goldmark's "Negro Rhapsody"; F. Poulenc's "Rhapdsodie Negre" with a characteristic African chant "Honoloulou" 'Honoloulou potalama, Kata mako mosi boloa' - Otto Cesara's "Negro Heaven"; David Guion's "Negro Lament"; Paul Fauchey's "Le Negre"; V. Pelissier's "Negro Dance"; N. Hoffman's "El Negro Alegra" and many others. The names of Arthur Farwell, Cecil Burleigh, and Wm. Ames Fisher are well known as arrangers of spirituals for songs. Among the colored composers we may mention W. G. Still's "From the Black Belt"; Clarence White's "Bandanna Sketches"; Harry Burleigh's piano suite, "In the Southland" and his well-known arrangements of spirituals and Coleridge Taylor's transcriptions of Negro melodies. The work of Will Cook and Nathaniel Dett and the recently composed "Negro Folk Symphony" of William L. Dawson are internationally known. An interesting feature of this entire subject is the utilization of the blues with their "blue" note and jazz effects as they are revealed in the compositions of the "Father of the Blues", W. C. Handy. Witness David Guion's "Jazz Scherzo"; George Anthiel's "Jazz Sonata"; John Carpenter's "Krazy Kat"; Ernest Krenek's "An American in Paris"; George Gershwin's opera of Harlem Negro Life entitled "135th Street", and "Rhapsody in Blue". Albert Chiaffarelli's "Jazz Symphony" is based on 50 THE JOURNAL OF THE the "Beale Street Blues" and the "St. Louis Blues". Abbe Niles in the Introduction to "Blues An Anthology" edited by W. C. Handy, says that various elements of the St. Louis Blues may be traced back to the vigorous exhortation of one presiding elder of the Florence District in Northern Alabama. As he would urge his congregation to come up front to the collection plate, he would sing: "Come along, come along, come along," etc., in a manner strikingly similar to the opening of the St. Louis Blues. From the foregoing, we see that the Negro has played an important part in the world of music. That his "sorrow songs" especially have been praised by scholars and utilized in works ranging from vocal and piano solos to orchestral compositions is, in my opinion, one of the most significant facts in the history of the Negro since the Civil War. NEGRO WOMEN IN OUR HISTORY SADIE I. DANIEL Occupying a prominent place in the exhibit of the National Council of Women in the Hall of Social Science at A Century of Progress in Chicago, were portraits of twelve women recently chosen by the women of America in a nation-wide poll as the great women leaders of the past century. Naturally, we, as Negro women, in looking upon the faces of these heroines of service, will attempt immediately to produce a similar roster of Negro women. The question then arises as to how these twelve women were chosen? The following three questions were offered as criteria to be applied in measuring great leaderships: 1. Has she intellectual, moral or spiritual qualities which raise her above her fellow? 2. Has she to her credit an achievement so outstanding as to entitle her to individual recognition? 3. Is that achievement so important as to have affected definitely her times? In the light of these questions the following women were selected: Mary Baker Eddy, Christian Science Church, 102,762; Jane Addams, Hull House, 99,147; Clara Barton, Red Cross, 96,139; Frances E. Willard, W. C. T. U., 90,303; Susan B. Anthony, Woman Suffrage, 84,321; Helen Keller, Deaf and Blind Lecturer, 84,239; Harriet B. Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, 73,999; Julia Ward Howe, Battle Hymn of the Republic, 72,276; Carrie Chapman Catt, Woman Suffrage, 70,489; Amelia Earhart Putnam, Flier, 43,399; Mary Lyon, Mr. Holyoke College, 40,831; and Dr. Mary E. Woolley, President, Mr. Holyoke College, 36,855. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 51 The unselfish devotion of these women to humanity is well known. The question arises: Should a similar list be made of Negro women, who would be included? With this idea in mind six qualities may be enumerated as the criteria by which we choose leaders, viz., courage, love and understanding of humanity, self-sacrifice, sincerity and tenacity of purpose, personality and vision. With consideration of these traits, I shall group women in six groups. It is only natural that the pioneer Negro women workers should concern themselves with the freedom of their people. Significant in their group are Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. Their achievements are well known to all present. However, should I be called upon to make a choice here, I think I would vote for Harriet Tubman, as the results of her activity can be more definitely measured. The handsome monument erected to her memory at Auburn, New York, by the Harriet Tubman Club of New York City, together with the whole Empire State Federation of Negro Women's Clubs, in in the form of a shaft. One of the principal designs on this shaft consists of three oak logs out of which flowers are growing. In accepting this tablet, the mayor of the city said, "In recognition of Harriet Tubman's unselfish devotion to the cause of humanity, the city of Auburn accepts this tablet dedicated to her memory." It was placed in the country courthouse with the folowing inscription: "In Memory of Harriet Tubman Born a slave in Maryland about 1821 Died in Auburn, New York, March 10, 1913. Called the 'Moses' of her people during the Civil War. With rare courage, she led our three hundred Negroes up from slavery to freedom, and rendered invaluable service as nurse and spy. With implicit trust in God, she braved every danger and overcame every obstacle, withal she possessed extraordinary foresight and judgment, so that she truthfully said, 'On my underground railroad I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger!' " Following the emancipation, Negro women concerned themselves with educational activities. In this group may be mentioned Fannie Jackson Coppin, Martha Bailey Briggs and Lucy Craft Laney. As Lucy Laney confined her work to the far South, where obstacles were Herculean, I have decided to elaborate upon her efforts for character building in Augusta, Georgia. One can begin to realize the magnitude of the service that Haines Normal and Industrial Institute, founded by Laney, has rendered when he considers the immense Negro population of Georgia. The state has more than 1,000,000 Negroes with 36.5 per cent of illiteracy, as compared with 7.8 per cent of illiteracy among the white, although the Negro group 52 THE JOURNAL OF THE comprises 45.1 per cent of the total population. Few of the Georgia cities have provided adequately for Negro education, and rural school facilities for Negroes are still meager. A report of the Julius Rosenwald fund shows that Georgia ranks tenth in the number of rural school buildings aided by that foundation between 1913 and 1928. The state ranks forty-eighth in provision for public education and forty-seventh in public health work. Of the children who start to school in Georgia, fifty per cent never complete the fourth grade. Thus, Haines Institute, an oasis of knowledge in a desert of ignorance, has provided for the thirsty for nearly half a century. It has seemed increasingly difficult for the Negro to be successful in business enterprises. One may safely say that the hairdressing business has been the most lucrative for Negro women. Those who have achieved signal success in this field are Madam C. J. Walker, Mrs. Annie E. Malone and Miss Sara Washington of Atlantic City. Madam Walker is of Indianapolis, and Mrs. Annie E. Malone is of Chicago. Nevertheless, one woman carved a business career in an untried field - finance - in that she was the first woman in the United States, regardless of color, to establish a banking institution. The St. Luke Penny Savings Bank founded in 1903 by Maggie L. Walker, later the St. Luke Bank and Trust Company, and today the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company, is the oldest Negro bank functioning. It has paid its stockholders a five per cent dividend steadily, regardless of panics and business debacle. Once when the city of Richmond was unable to pay its teachers, the St. Luke Bank came to the rescue. It has been a bulwark for those desiring to purchase homes. It lends money for homebuilding at six per cent. Six hundred forty-five (645) homes have been entirely paid for through the assistance of this bank. Although housing conditions for Negroes are still most unsatisfactory in Richmond, Virginia, the Negroes, according to the Knight survey, own thirty-nine per cent of the residences which they occupy - a considerable proportion, compared with that of the country at large, which reports 750,000 Negro owners of homes. During her lifetime, Mrs. Walker was appreciated highly in the city of her birth. Said Governor Trinkle in 1924, "If the State of Virginia had done no more in fifty years with its funds spent on the education of the Negroes than educate Mrs. Walker, the state would have been amply repaid for its outlay and efforts." A field that is more recent in development but unusually broad in scope is that of social service. Negro women's clubs have rendered invaluable service in this respect. The only woman who has received the Spingarn medal - Mary B. Talbert - was so honored for the activity of the Federation of Colored Women's Clubs in the restoration of the Douglass home. There are multifarious types of social service - the work of the COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 53 Y. W. C. A. certainly forms an integral part of this type of service. However, I wish to call to your attention a type that contrasts with the service of the Y. W. C. A. - each having its place in our complex civilization. When I was a Girl Reserve worker in Atlanta, Georgia, I understood that it was the aim of the "Y" to keep the good girl good - a most commendable objective, for it looks forward to the day when that aim will embrace all girls. In this generation, however, this aim cannot be all inclusive; hence, there is the need for institutions to help girls who have failed to measure up to the demands of our social organization to get back on the right track. Of the various institutions of this type, the Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls at Peaks Turnout, Virginia, superintended by Mrs. Janie Porter Barrett, is outstanding. Although this institution is now twenty years of age, the official stamp of efficiency was placed upon it before the tenth year of its existence, when experts sent out from the Child Welfare Department of the Russell Sage Foundation to examine and classify all such institutions declared this school to be one of the best and placed it on the list of the Five Grade A institutions of this type in the United States. Dr. Hastings Hart is quoted as saying, "In spirit it has the highest rating of them all." A similar tribute came in another way. Before the North Carolina School for Girls was opened in the fall of 1925, its superintendent spent two months at Peaks in order to see how Mrs. Barrett and her staff did things. An interesting by-product of the Industrial Girls' Home lies in the fact that it is affording opportunities for study by various groups, such as the School of Social Work and Public Health of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. In national recognition of the part that Mrs. Barrett has played in this work for social betterment, she was the recipient of a Harmon award in 1929. The creative genius of the Negro woman was recognized in the eighteenth century in the poetry of Phillis Wheatley, whose memory has been perpetuated by the Y. W. C. A. The Negro woman's creative ability has found expression in literature, art and music. It is most difficult for a layman to evaluate the services rendered by artists to mankind. Hence I shall not attempt to single out a writer, a painter, a sculptor, nor a pianist from a group of women artists. I shall, however, emphasize a vocalist who appeared to be a nineteenth century marvel - namely, Mrs. Sissieretta Jones, often called "The Black Patti." The voluminous press clippings of the early nineties reveal her power as an artist. In 1888 she commenced her professional career at Wallach's Theatre. It was here that Mr. William Riesen, a famous musical director in New York, hearing of her wonderful voice, called to hear her sing; after doing so, he telegraphed to Mr. Henry Abbey, of the firm of Abbey and Schoeffel Grau, managers to Adelina Patti, Henry 54 THE JOURNAL OF THE Irving, Ellen Terry, and all the greatest notables, when on American tours, telling that he had found a "phenomenal singer", and instantly Abbey sent an agent to secure her for a West Indian tour. Before proceeding on her mission, she sang in New York before all the newspaper critics. The Sun said that she was a great singer, who in a few years would surpass some of the world's most eminent singers; the Herald predicted a bright future for her; the New York Clipper gave a glowing account of her and was the first paper that described her as the "Black Patti." The tour lasted eight months. An Australian manager made her a good offer to go to Australia, but she declined. The following excerpt from the Chicago Tribune of Sunday, January 8, 1893, is indicative of the nature of her work work. It reads. "The tones in the lower and middle registers are of surpassing beauty, and those of the upper are remarkable for their clear, bell-like quality. Another striking element of the voice is its plaintiveness. In every not Mrs. Jones sang in her concerts here, that one quality was unfailingly present. In the arias, in ballads, comic or sentimental, it was noticeable, and it soon became evident that it was the most individualizing element in the voice. It is the heritage the singer has received from her race, and it alone tells not only of the sorrows of a single life, but the cruelly sad story of a whole people. It lends to her singing of ballads an irresistible charm, making her work in this kind of music as artistically satisfactory as it is enjoyable." I have dwelt at length upon the creative genius of Negro women because I feel that through this medium we shall make our contribution to American life. The eminent divine, John Haynes Holmes, has beautifully shown how only two races have successfully survived slavery - the Jew and the Negro. The Jew has come into his own through business. Shall not the Negro come into his own through his artistic creations? In the sixth category are hundreds and thousands of women, unheralded and unsung, whose individual achievements, right in their own homes; deserve recognition and praise. The Negro woman is confronted with a tremendous task that requires tact, courage and initiative. On her rely her family, the important unit of our civilization. On her individual leadership depends the making or breaking of her family. Her home must be kept in order in every respect, and though she is cook, housemaid, nurse and chauffeur, she must still take time to be well-groomed and outwardly calm. She has no time to be ill and little money for new clothes. She keeps her children looking fresh and neat and wears her old clothes with nonchalance. Her neighbors respect and admire her. She is a gallant soldier in the battle of life, concealing her wounds and fighting to the finish. And though her candle sheds only a little light, there have been and still are thousands of Negro women like her to illuminate the dark place in our hearts today. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 55 I shall name her the Unknown Woman - an uncrowned queen - the leader of families and friends. Author's Note: In order that the youth may appreciate what the women have done, I propose a contest similar to the one conducted by the Ladies' Home Journal in 1932 in which twelve outstanding women were chosen. Fellow-laborers, it is up to us to keep before our girls the achievements of our women in various lines of endeavor in order that we may see to it that we are making this world less tough for us women. ARMSTRONG HIGH SCHOOL AND THE CHARACTER EDUCATION EXPERIMENT ORRA WEAVER SPIVEY The purpose of this article is to outline briefly the history of the Character Education Experiment in the District of Columbia schools and to show how it is being developed by discussing some phases of the program of the Armstrong High School. The Honorable Royal S. Copeland, Chairman of the United States Senate Sub-Committee on Crime was so appalled at the findings of his crime investigations that he felt something should be done about the increase in crime. He said, "The primary lesson gained from our senatorial investigations is that anti-social conduct looms as a greater national menace than ever before in our history. In consequence, we must develop a quality of character higher than that required by any previous social order." He turned to the schools for help and asked what they could do to correct this condition and to train for better citizenship. Dr. Frank W. Ballou, Superintendent of Schools, welcomed the opportunity to improve the schools of Washington by undertaking the experiment in Character Education proposed by Senator Copeland, who was responsible for securing an appropriation by Congress in June, 1934, for the purpose of studying methods of improving the character education of the public schools of the District of Columbia. Superintendent Ballou decided on the spearhead organization by selecting ten typical schools representing the whole system, two elementary, vocational, junior high, senior high day and senior high night schools in which to inaugurate the experiment, with the intention of extending it to include the whole school system as rapidly as schools qualify and money is made available for its extension. It is my good fortune to be connected with this experiment in the official capacity of Assistant Principal and Dean of Girls of the Armstrong High School, which is one of the two senior high schools included in this three-year Character Education Experiment. Armstrong has had a definite and effective character program conducted by an efficient Character Committee of teachers and students ever since 1927. This gave us a 56 THE JOURNAL OF THE good start in setting up the program for 1934-1935 with the added facilities made available through the Character Education Experiment appropriation. Two Counselors, one for the boys and one for the girls, and a clerk for the Character Education office were appointed. Besides this office, each Counselor has an office for private conferences and interviews. In organizing the school for the opening in September, 1934, Principal G. David Houston sought to carry out the principles and philosophy worked out in the Character Institute which had begun June 25, 1934, and continued for three weeks, and accordingly, very definite outcomes and areas of experience were listed. Since this experiment requires a shifting of emphasis from subject matter to the child, or individualized education, the schedule was organized with smaller classes for 10A students, so that teachers would be able to give more attention to individual children. On the second day of school, the principal met the new students in assembly. After welcoming them, he told them what would be expected of them as desirable citizens of Armstrong. They were made to feel that they were a part of the institution and that whatever they did would affect it for good or bad. From the first day, the counselors began to establish friendly and helpful relations with the boys and girls. Many who need assistance are sent by the home-room teachers to the counselors. In interviews, the counselors try to find out all they can about each pupil, and to adjust programs so that the student can be successful in his work which is satisfying to him. Besides regularly scheduled conferences, the counselors assist in initiating and carrying out the character program of the school with special regard to home room activities, vocational and educational guidance, assemblies, club activities, the testing program, problem and delinquent children, gifted children, and records of all kinds. Homerooms are organized by sex and semesters, from one to eight. Besides the regular home-room officers, each room also elects a cabinet representative, an athletic representative, a character representative, a Junior Red Cross representative, a Torch reporter and a Torch salesman. There are also Athletic, Attendance, Cabinet, Conduct, Devotional, Housekeeping, Sick, Social Service, Scholarship and Special Committees appointed in homerooms. The home-room period is from 9 to 9:35 every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Definite homeroom programs are outlined by the counselors. Every Tuesday morning there is a case conference on some topic, such as Conduct on the Street Cars, Conduct at Dances, Attendance, How I Can Improve My Ability to Get Along With People, and Damage to Public and Private Property. These topics are discussed by the students with some guidance from the home-room teacher. The Vocational Guidance periods on Friday mornings take up similar discussions on vocational subjects. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 57 Topics are selected according to their suitability to girls or boys. A text-book on careers is used and there are sometimes speakers on vocations in assemblies. Special attention has been given to Automobile Traffic Regulations from which an Automobile Club has developed. Several students passed the Traffic Regulations test and have received certificates which exempt them from an oral examination when applying for a driver's permit. The first home-room periods were used to formulate character goals or personality traits for the semester. A representative from each girls' section gave a talk on her goals at the first two girls' assemblies of the year. The Assistant Superintendent in charge of Character Education attended one of these assemblies in charge of the Girls' Advisory Board. Nearly all assembly programs are conducted and participated in by students, who are trained by the teacher in charge of assemblies or the sponsor of the organization conducting the assembly. Every effort is made to give as many students as possible an opportunity to participate in the affairs of the school. To this end, students are employed as cashiers in the cafeteria, ticket sellers, ticket takers, monitors, and in many other positions of responsibility. Every Monday there is a music assembly, every first Wednesday, a girls' assembly, and every third Wednesday, a boys' assembly. The second and fourth Wednesdays are used for special assembly programs by clubs or invited speakers, all of whom make some valuable contribution to Character Education. Thursday morning is set aside for clubs, which are organized with definite character education objectives. The subject matter of courses is being studied with the view of adapting it to the needs of the students and of selecting the material that will be within the grasp of the student. The courses are also being enriched for those gifted children who would be held back and perhaps lose interest in school without this adjustment. Courses of study for children with special talents are also arranged. Groups of teachers of each subject have met to study the unit method, and to work out their courses in relation to character outcomes and the ten areas of experience: health, intellectual, economic, vocational, political, recreational, sex, social, aesthetic, and religious activities. The success of the character education program depends largely on the willingness and ability of the classroom and home-room teachers to participate and cooperate in developing the desired character traits through pupil activities as well as through the mastery of subject matter. This we have, almost without exception. Teaching must tend more and more toward individualization of instruction and will improve in proportion to the teachers' increased knowledge of individual children, their needs and abilities. In-service training for teachers this year has taken the form of 58 THE JOURNAL OF THE faculty meetings conducted by the principal, advisers, counselors and the teachers themselves. Studies are being made of the series of tests given by the Department of Research for the purpose of comparing and evaluating results. During the first semester, more than one hundred students were enrolled in twelve Remedial Reading Classes. Children who cannot read well cannot succeed in their school work, and they learn to dislike subjects in which they cannot succeed; so this was an effort to reduce failures. All available outside agencies are being reaching to get complete information on students and to render aid to those who need it. Efforts have been made to acquaint the community with the program in several ways. The counselors talked on Character Education at the first meeting of the Parent-Teachers Association. At a meeting of ministers and social workers, the Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Garnet C. Wilkinson, spoke on the subject. This was followed by lively discussion. Speeches have been made at churches by the principal and counselors, while the assistant principal has led a discussion of the subject at a college alumnae meeting. In addition to this publicity, school news is published every week, and Mother-Daughter bulletins are sent monthly to mothers and guardians of Armstrong girls. All discipline problems are still handled by the offices of the Principal and the Assistant Principal, and every effort is made to adjust all such cases in the light of the aims of the Character Education Program. Counselors are never called in as disciplinarians but may be consulted for the purpose of learning more about the student and assisting in making a happier adjustment for the student. An entirely new feature of the program has been the complete physical examination given to all 10A girls and boys during the first semester by the volunteer services of physicians, dentists, and nurses. Four women physicians examined all girls. Many defects, discovered at this time, are being treated, and many have been corrected. Another new feature is the Clinic on problem, delinquent, and gifted children, where information from all sources is pooled and an attempt is made to formulate some method of treatment which will rescue the problem or delinquent child from a condition which might develop into the criminal and which will give the gifted child a chance to develop his powers to the fullest extent. Upon the suggestion of students and through the voluntary services of the teachers, the library is being kept open from three to four o'clock every day for the use of students who wish to study and use the reference books. Home conditions prevent proper study of some students, others COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 59 find it inconvenient to go to the Public Library and others wish to study before going to work. A different teacher has charge each day so that there is no hardship upon anyone. This innovation was put into effect on the first of March. Thus our Character Education program is an attempt to see the child as a whole by the use of continuous behavior records and by every other scientific means available. We try to know each child and to focus attention on each child so that none will be neglected. Every thing in the program tends to develop the child as a social being, to help him to be successful in whatever is assigned to him, to see that he is interested in what he is doing, that he is satisfied in doing it, and that he has been exposed to the choice of at least seven behavior patterns: intelligence, honesty, friendliness, efficiency, cooperativeness, forcefulness, and good taste based on real situations. The personal aim of character education then is to develop in each child the desire and power to make the right choice in any conduct situation and to carry this desire and power with him into life after leaving the Armstrong High School - in short, to take his place in the world and to make it a better world than we have today. TRIPLETS: A DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY RUTH W. HOWARD The publicity given to the birth and survival of the Dionne quintuplets (born in Ontario, Canada, on May 28, 1934) has aroused widespread interest in multiple births. It has elicited inquiries concerning the incidence of the various forms of multiple births and the physical and mental development of the multiple-born in comparison with the single-born. Federal statistics show that in the United States about one birth out of every hundred is a twin birth; triplet births occur about once in every seven or eight thousand births; quadruplet births occur about once in seven hundred thousand births; quintuplet births, about once in sixty million births. The largest form of multiple births reported for humans is septuplets. Information about the birth and development of the multiple-born may be found in the literature of most countries. Some ancient peoples felt that multiple births were the result of an evil influence from one of the parents, and sometimes killed the mother and one or more of the babies. Literature on multiple births may be divided into medico-biological and psychological. Because twins are the most frequent and the simplest form of multiple births, most of the literature concerns them, although data are recorded on the other types of multiple births. The medico-biological literature includes discussions on the fetal development, reports on the health, growth and longevity of the multiple-born, data on intra-set similarity and methods for determining whether members of a set are identical or non-identical. The 60 THE JOURNAL OF THE psychological literature is concerned with criteria for differentiating identical and non-identical types, as well as compiling data on the mental, social and emotional development of the multiple-born; and comparing intra-set resemblance in various traits with resemblance found between single-born siblings. Students in the biological and psychological sciences have conducted a number of investigations concerning nature-nurture and individual differences with the multiple-born as subjects, because they furnish Nature's best matched pairs of individuals. If an investigation is planned for ascertaining the degree of resemblance in a certain trait between individuals matched for similarity in hereditary and environmental factors, identical twins reared together should furnish better matched pairs than single-born persons very much alike in intelligence and environmental background. If an investigation is planned for estimating the influence of environment on certain traits believed to be influenced also by heredity, non-identical twins reared together or identical twins reared apart will furnish well-matched pairs. Since researches on twins have proved fruitful in the attack on some biological-psychological problems, studies of groups of triplets gave promise of data which might be used toward the solution of the same problems. Triplets offer a unique opportunity for studying the influence of heredity and environment because they may have their origin in one, two or more egg cells with varied possibilities of genetic relationships. In view of these facts, the author secured data on 229 sets of triplets.* Questionnaire data were collected on 81 sets and physical and mental measurements were made on 29 sets. The sex distribution of the present triplet group agreed with the observations of statisticians of population problems in that there were more female than male triplets and more sets of the same sex than of unlike sex. A large enough percentage of triplets over five years and again over fifty years of age was found to indicate that triplets who survive the period from birth to five years, in which the death rate is highest for all children, have a fair expectancy for an average life span. The present triplet population is descended chiefly from those racial and national groups reporting the largest percentage of triplet births, namely the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Poland and the British Isles. The triplet group born in the United States tends to be born in families of larger than average size, nearer the end than the beginning of the family. The average age of parents of triplets is older than the average age of parents of single-born children. Thirty-six percent of the triplet sets were reported as being born from four to eight weeks prematurely. * "Development Study of Triplets" - Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, 1934. University of Minnesota Library COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 61 In age of showing developmental traits as sitting alone, walking and talking, triplets were slower than the average single-born child. The birth weight of the triplets was from two to three pounds below that of single children. Retardation of the triplets in developmental traits is related to their prematurity and immaturity at birth. Comparison of the data on triplets and on twins indicates that the birth weights of these two groups of multiple-born is about the same, but that triplets are slower than twins in such developmental traits as walking, erupting the first tooth and age of acquiring adult form of speech. In this group, left-handedness was more prevalent than among single children. The average intelligence quotient (I. Q.) for triplets of all age groups was inferior to that of the average single-born child.* This was true of verbal as well as non-verbal tests. Because the triplets were slow in language development and they made low scores on language tests, they were given several non-verbal tests in order to reduce a language handicap. Since the performance on these tests was not appreciably superior to those tests including verbal items, the conclusion seemed justified that triplets as a group are of mediocre mental ability. This is not universally true of all triplets, however, as some in the present group earned I. Q.'s comparable with the average single-born child and other triplets whose I. Q.'s were not obtained are known to occupy positions which can be held only by persons of high intelligence. In social and emotional development, triplets seem to be as mature and adjusted as single persons of the same age, sex and social status. Some triplets are sensitive because they are pointed out as being different from other people, but most are proud that they are triplets. The members of a set usually are fond of each other, but have other friends as frequently as do single-born siblings. In ten anthropometric measurements, including standing height and weight the triplet group was below the norms given for single children. Roentgen-ray films show that the skeletal development of the present triplet group is comparable with single-born children of the same age and sex. Analysis of the development of triplets in physical and mental traits as well as the comparison of the development of triplets and singletons at various age periods shows that in a number of traits, triplets approach the average of singletons more at the older age than the younger age levels. This suggests a developmental lag for triplets which may be due partly to their prematurity and immaturity at birth. *The mean I. Q. for 18 pre-school triplets on the Minnesota Pre-school test was 87.8 with a standard deviation of 16.2; 51 school-age triplets had a mean I. Q. on the Kuhlman-Binet test of 92.85 with a standard deviation of 12.2. 62 THE JOURNAL OF THE Different statistical techniques were employed for calculating the degree of similarity between members of a triplet set in the traits studied. Wherever the data permitted, the similarity was expressed by the sigma score difference, which scores the rating obtained by the triplet for the measured trait in terms of the average rating for a single children of the same age and sex. The triplet set is divided into three pairs and each member is compared with every other member. Triplet pairs of like sex showed a smaller sigma score difference than pairs of unlike sex. Criteria used for differentiating identical and non-identical pairs of triplets were anthropometric measurements, palm patterns, x-rays of skeletal development, blood grouping and physical appearance. When information on birth membranes was available, it was used as the chief criterion. The battery of criteria used together is considered the most reliable, but physical appearance alone is more reliable than any other single measurement. Although the method used for differentiating identical and non-identical pairs of triplets is not satisfactory, it is considered fairly reliable. The data indicate that the majority of the sets are composed of a pair of identical twins and a non-identical third person. Triplet pairs showing the greatest similarity in physical traits, on the whole, showed the greatest similarity in psychological traits, although there were many exceptions. A very striking finding was the variability of intra-set similarity both within the physical and psychological groupings and between the two groupings. For example, if John and James were much alike in anthropometric measurements, they may be little alike in dental development or similarity between Jean and Josephine in developmental traits may not be accompanied by similarity in intelligence test scores. This investigation shows that the study of triplets is a good medium for the study of individual differences and nature-nurture problems. It is an example of the cooperation needed between the biological and psychological sciences, as intra-set similarity in psychological traits must be considered in light of similarity in physical traits. Further, it shows the need for the compiling of data on various traits of so-called normal children, because traits of special groups whether multiple-born, gifted children or delinquents are significant only as they may be compared with the traits of the average or normal individual. WESTWARD! GERTRUDE T. DODSON In times like these when high-powered cars are making a speed of eighty miles an hour, when electric trains are averaging 110 miles and airplanes can take one from New York to Frisco in less than eleven hours, certainly there's nothing unusual in going to California. When two COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 53 women, however, unaccompanied, drive across the continent even in fifteen days, it is a bit daring and seems unusual enough to tell you about it. The first day's drive to Pittsburgh only assured us that our venture would be successful. Our plan of driving was to alternate every fifty miles. The time allotted for the trip was nine weeks and it was not our intention to set new speed records. Having had a good night's rest in Pittsburgh, we were in the mood to drive to Springfield, Ohio, and the following day found us doing one of our longest stretches, a little more than 400 miles, into St. Louis, Missouri. Approaching St. Louis, we encountered our first storm. The lightning was very vivid. The rain poured in torrents. Telegraph poles were leaning almost horizontally across the roadway. We were filled with fear of impending danger. How relieved we felt to see a rainbow as we drove into East St. Louis! On reaching St. Louis, Missouri, we were quite weary and the sweltering weather added to our discomfort; nevertheless we remained sufficiently long to get two nights of rest. While sightseeing in St. Louis with some friends, we had an opportunity to get first-hand information about the desert of which we had heard so much. It was while on a visit to the Municipal Theater, said to be the largest municipally owned theater in the world, that we were informed that the intense heat which we were then experiencing was mild compared with that of the desert. How we would be able to endure it was certainly a perplexing problem. A very early morning's start brought us into Kansas City, Kansas, much earlier than we anticipated, too early to stop for the day. Then, too, the mercury was hovering around 116 degrees and it occurred to us that we might find cooler quarters for the night. At six o'clock we were approaching Topeka. The sky indicated that a cyclone, to say the least, must be brewing. The wind began to whirl the dust. The heavens became darker and darker. As we drove up a steep hill, we could see only the horizon. Two cars ahead of us had stopped. Something terrible must be awaiting us, we thought! "Shall we turn back?" The cars ahead moved on. We followed and found, to our delight, beyond the crest of the hill, level land once more, from over which the dark clouds seemed to be passing. When we reached Topeka, we learned that the weather had been unusually hot and that the storm was expected to break any moment. Already the lightning flashed in sheets. The wind blew with great force but there was very little rain. We retired, anticipating a very pleasant stay at Fort Riley, Kansas, for we had been told that one would always find the weather cool at a fort. Our stay at Fort Riley was very pleasant, but even there it was necessary to use electric fans to assure any degree of comfort. And as if it were 64 THE JOURNAL OF THE not hot enough, we were aroused to witness a disastrous fire which completely destroyed the home of one of the officers. En route to Sharon Springs, Kansas, we came to our first real detour. The condition of the road was appalling. Driving over the ruts and through the loose, red soil stirred up so much dust that one could not see more than two feet ahead. Only once did we see another car, the only sign of life for hours. Looking across the prairies, we could see not indication of a village. At last we reached a camp on the outskirts of the village and rejoiced that we might stop there for the night. Tired and thirsty for a drink of cold water, we made inquiries as to where we might get some ice. The ice house, we learned, was only a mile away and certainly a cool drink would have repaid us for the drive if only we had not picked up a nail at the ice house which resulted in giving us our first flat tire. Fortunately, help was right at hand. Our next stop was at Colorado Springs, where we remained two nights. The first evening we drove through the Garden of the Gods and were amazed to see numerous rocks so fashioned as to resemble people or animals. We also visited the Cave of the Winds. A climb up Pike's Peak by way of the Cog Railway took up the greater part of the next morning. This climb, fourteen thousand one hundred nine feet into the air, above the clouds, was truly a continuous panorama of wonders. One of the most picturesque stretches of our drive was from Trinidad, Colorado, by way of the Raton Pass, an elevation of some eight thousand eight hundred feet, into Santa Fe and on to Albuquerque. Mexicans along the roadway offering their pottery, rugs, or blankets for sale added much color to the natural beauty of the countryside. As we approached Gallup, the mountains appeared to be made of layers of clay in shades of brown and tan, dotted with green shrubbery and shadows. At times when the mountains nearly surrounded us, it appeared as if we were in a colossal amphitheater with a clear blue sky for the ceiling. As we left Albuquerque, little did we dream that we were to experience the most exciting day of our trip. We were lost from the highway. How it happened, we do not know. We crossed farm yards and followed what we believed to be an old trail. After driving several hours, we came to a cow fence and found it necessary to untie the gate before we could go on. As we continued our journey over ditches and ruts, we discovered that our gas was very low. Excitement was high as we drove on and saw no sign of life. Having crossed another farm yard, we saw a gas station and how relieved we felt! The only answer to the blowing of the horn was the barking of a dog. Finally a Mexican woman came from the hut who couldn't understand us any better than we could understand her. We understood, however, that she didn't keep gas any more but by her show of eight fingers and COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 65 a pointing to the right, we concluded we would soon find some gas. We soon came to another gate which we untied but which in spite of all our efforts we could not properly arrange again. On we went, and just across a railroad track we saw another gas station which was on the highway. I can't tell you how grateful we were to be back on the highway and when we learned that the people were just moving in and the gas had not been delivered at this station, it didn't dawn upon us for the moment that we might not have enough gas to get to the next station eighteen miles away. The day had more excitement in store for us. That evening as we drove along the highway, a tire flattened. The nearest help was a quarter-mile up a hill and to add to our distress it began to rain. Too disturbed to think about an umbrella, I walked and ran breathlessly up the hill where I found an old man who condescended to help change the tire if I would wait until the rain stopped. Even though the country was sadly in need of rain, I was glad when after a wait of fifteen minutes the old man in his wreck of a car drove me down the road and changed the tire. On arriving at Winslow, Arizona, we were ready for a good night's rest. The next morning we made an early start for the Grand Canyon of Arizona, which for me was the high point of the trip. As I approached Observation Point and looked into the depths below, I was inspired with a feeling of wondering reverence. How could Nature with such simple tools carve into the earth a gorge so grand, so splendid, with its variegated colored pyramids and minarets! The giant Colorado appeared as a tiny silver thread as one gazed thousands of feet into this canyon. Well could I understand how the place with its blues, grays, mauves, and reds, changing all the time could be called the "Giant Paint Pot." It was with a very reluctant feeling that we left the Canyon and drove that same evening to Williams, Arizona. Going around the mountains by way of the Oatman Pass, we drove into Needles, Arizona, said to be the hottest point on the desert. How surprised we were to find the place overhung with clouds heavy with rain. We were warned that the sky then had a similar appearance to the sky a few years ago when such a down-pour of rain had come that several washouts had occurred. A question of preferences suggested itself. Which would be better, such a rain as the one described, or the intensely hot weather which the rain would help to temper? With such thoughts we retired very early, for the plan was to start across the desert about four o'clock in the morning. At dawn there was such a down-pour of rain that we dared not venture forth. About five o'clock, in spite of the rain, we started. When we failed to see other travelers, of course, we had disturbing thoughts, but as we looked ahead and saw the clouds lifting from the mountains and the sun's rays breaking through the clouds, we were reassured of reaching our journey's end. 66 THE JOURNAL OF THE The desert we found to be cooler than Los Angeles. The road was ideal. Along the way we found many gas stations and lunch rooms. We stopped for hot coffee. Our light jackets were comfortable until we reached San Bernadino. We had been traveling two weeks and were now approaching California. Would that I could describe the grandeur of the mountains! As we drove into Los Angeles, we felt that the scenery was all that one might expect-a wide avenue lined with stands piled high with oranges or lemons, stands with red or purple wines, and shops with all sorts of fruit juices. The bungalows painted in shades of green, yellow or in white with beds of brilliantly colored flowers glistened in the bright sunshine and added life and splendor to this strikingly effective picture. There is much that I should like to tell you about our enjoyable stay in Los Angeles, our visit to Catalina Island, or to the Metro-Mayer Goldwyn Studios in Culver City, but my space is limited. Our return trip was filled with new experiences, more gorgeous scenery, and added thrills. The drive through Yosemite National Park, to Berkeley, to San Francisco, to Salt Lake City with its famous Mormon Temple, and to Yellowstone Park, another very high point of the trip, contributed much to our enjoyment. During the eight weeks of travel, we drove 8,403 miles, visited three national parks, passed through or touched upon eighteen states, and entered one foreign country, Mexico. It was a wonderful experience! It is an experience I would certainly recommend for those who are interested in seeing the natural beauties of our country. MY IMPRESSION OF FASCIST ITALY LYDIA BROWN It is certain that the renaissance of modern Italy proves once again that ideas are by themselves forces; and that, fundamentally, all is thought and will acting on matter in order to define, stimulate, and animate that matter. The Fascist experience is above all a creative evolution. It plunges the individual into action and forces him to like the struggle, to disdain easy living, and, thereby, to become a better worker in collectivism. Those who visited Italy before the creation of the Fascist State and who have traveled through the country from time to time during the last twelve years will have noted how Fascism-the natural and logical outgrowth of Italian thought and tradition-affects every phase of life-economic, spiritual, educational and political, producing as it does, general social altruism, where the individual is submerged entirely in the life and interests of the State for the greater social good of the country. It seeks to promote a realization of spiritual and cultural values by creating in the COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 67 people a consciousness of their illustrious past and inspiring within them an ideal of what they hope to become in keeping with their country's traditions. Within the decade of the Fascist regime, great changes have taken place in beautifying the Italian cities. This transformation is particularly noticeable in Rome where formerly so many of the historic buildings were surrounded by a mob of old houses with hardly a breathing space between so that their beauty and sublimity were lost to the casual observer. Following the destruction of many old houses, new excavations have come to light. These probably signify that many other remains of ancient Rome are still to be unearthed. Progress is also evident, particularly in cities, in the ever-increasing freedom from beggary and dirt. Modern Rome, which is relatively very smart, presents a business-like appearance. Its beautiful residential section shows the tendencies found in other cities like Milan and Genoa toward cooperative city planning on a large scale. When completed, the University City of Rome will undoubtedly present one of the most beautiful college campuses in Europe. Of particular significance is the Foro Mussolini which, as the national center for athletic activities, is being erected for the promotion of interest in sports and in the development of competitive games. This forum includes and Academy for teacher-training in physical education-a two-year course for graduates of secondary schools and a two-year course for graduates in medicine, leading to a doctor's degree in that field. Two beautiful stadia-one entirely of marble and surrounded by eighty-eight heroic sized marble figures presented by the provinces and cities of Italy-have been completed. Although in the process of construction, this forum has been used for the activities of the Balilla-an organization not unlike our Boy Scouts but built on more military lines and leading directly to military training. This national institution, which since 1929 has been placed within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Education for the promotion and development of physical, moral, and cultural activities, consists of young Fascists from eight to fourteen years of age. From fourteen to eighteen years these young boys are members of the Avanguardia Fascista and at eighteen they enter the voluntary militia. Corresponding to these two organizations for boys are associations called Piccole Italiane and Govani Italiane for girls. Groups of these young people-the boys dressed in olive green uniforms with the black shirts of the Fascist party, blue scarf and natty-looking cap decorated with a feather and the girls in their simple but attractive uniforms of white blouses with black skirts-are seen all over the country- camping and hiking; in school and at play; in the mountains, and on the beaches. They are receiving their first lessons in "progressive patriotism." They represent the spirit of Italy and the longing of Italy to attain new heights and thus to promote the welfare of their country. 68 THE JOURNAL OF THE Industrial centers like Genoa and Milan have an air of distinction and prosperity which is also indicative of the change that has taken place in the country during the last few years. This point may be illustrated by the different kinds of manufacturing plants that are devoted to the production of naval machinery, electro-mechanical devices, rubber articles, woolen goods, and chemical products. In certain cases, these works, with their subsidiary companies, are representative of the largest organizations of their type in the world. They are noted not only for the amount and perfection of their products, but also for their allied social and benevolent institutions, including recreational and betterment activities. These provisions lead, of course, to the continued improvement of the whole organization and are conducive to greater output, and, therefore, higher wages for the personnel. Venice, glamorous and charming, and still resplendent in the glory of her past magnificence - the pomp and splendor of the palmy days of the Republic - is nevertheless quite as modern as she is old and quite as progressive as she is conservative. One important phase of her life lies in the development of her commercial enterprises. Besides the famous glass factories of Murano and the lace factories of Burano, the inauguration of new and enlarged steel industries of Port Marghera show how intensely Italy is striving to resist the present international crisis. As the Venetians of the Mediaeval Ages transformed the swamps of Venice into a beautiful city, so modern Venetians have succeeded in constructed Port Marghera and have changed the zone that thirteen years ago was but an unhealthy lagoon. The very geographic structure of Italy implies the development of her maritime activities. In fact, three-quarters of her trade is on the sea. Consequently, her maritime industries are highly developed. Remarkable advancement has been made in the building of her great ocean liners, one of which has set the speed record between Italy and America. Of the largest and fastest ships of the world, Italy claims second place to Great Britain only. Another phase of Fascist achievement lies in the realm of transportation. The victory won by Italy through the transatlantic air flight of General Balbo and his squadron, guided by the spirit of Il Duce, in bringing through the skies the greetings of Italy to the American people, is indicative again of the progress of the country along economic lines. During the past ten years the Government has spent more than six billion lire in improving and expanding transportation facilities - railroad, highway and electric railway systems. Illustrative of the contribution of Fascism to the development of agriculture are the vast reclamation projects to be found in the districts of Maccarese and Fregne wit their vineyards and olive groves. it is felt that this policy of constructing public works has met the needs of the working COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 69 class, reduced unemployment, and strengthened the economic and civic structures of the country. Most important has been the legislation enacted in the field of social assistance that has resulted in setting up the National Organization for the Protection of Maternity and Infancy. This society stresses the importance of the provisions concerning vocational diseases. The social legislation, which has been enacted successively for the past nine years, constitutes a series of measures which aims to protect the individual from infancy through old age - at school, at home, and at work - and assists him in times of crises and sickness. The Fascist conception of social welfare has been created for the benefit of the people who are considered as one great national family. The value of Fascism over previous systems is illustrated in the campaign against tuberculosis. Progress in this work, as evidenced by statistical data, has been due to its thoroughness which strikes at the roots of the evil and which consists of distributing the population in the cities, of redeeming land, and of improving living conditions. Since the number of those who have been aided approaches four millions, the health and morality of future generations will of necessity be greatly improved. Thus Fascism is essentially national. The State represents a social, economic, political, and judicial organization. In substance and development such organization is a manifestation of all values which inspire, animate, and interpret the whole life of the people. It can be readily seen why Fascist Italy changes in aspect from year to year. Her political ideas, especially, evolve in proportion as those who question them rally in unity to the same impulse. Fascism is quite definitely a system of class collaboration. For every occupation there is a syndicate composed of workers with a small percentage of employers; for every branch of economic activity there is a state controlled association or corporation consisting of employers with a small percentage of workers. A confederation represents the joint interests of either employers or workers. By striving for the general good through a study of their conflicts of interests, production, expansion, development, both employers and employees secure a coordination of interests through the functioning of the corporative system. Industry has already derived incalculable benefit through the adoption of this Fascist policy by its regulation of the relations between labor and capital, by the institution and development of the work of the National Council of Research, and by the promotion of services in community work. Throughout the country it is felt that unemployment today is not due to the mechanization of industry. On the contrary, the introduction of machines into commerce and industry allows greater employment of workers 70 THE JOURNAL OF THE with a shorter working day, obviates the necessity of providing "dole", and avoids the creation of a class of persons permanently unemployed. Thus through the ideals and philosophies of Fascist principles, the people of Italy in the many phases of their industrial, commercial, agricultural, and social life are seeking with the creative spirit which animated their forefathers to conciliate the aspirations of all groups of people in the interest of the nation as a whole for the attainment of the objective of Fascism - the increase in the wealth of the country, and, consequently, the improvement of the well-being of all classes. (Excerpts from article entitled, "The Fifteenth Economics Course of the International Society of Commercial Education" in The Journal of Commercial Education. Vol IX, 1934. THE EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE NEEDS OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS OBZIENNE M. WALKER The study of the guidance needs of junior high school pupils offers an important and practically unexplored field for educational research. Although guidance courses for junior high schools have been evolved and various types of administrative machinery for guidance have been set up, little has been done to find out what the educational guidance needs of junior high pupils. The courses of study and administration machinery have justified their placement in the American educational scheme on the debatable assumptions that the junior high school knows the guidance needs of its students and that these needs are not essentially different from those of students in general. A survey of related studies in the field of guidance has revealed the fact that there is no comprehensive investigation which adequately answers the question, "What are the educational guidance needs of junior high school pupils?" Because scientific data on which to base the answer to this question are not available and because all effective guidance should be in terms of specific needs, a study of educational guidance needs of junior high school pupils perhaps may have three distinct values. First, the study may aid administrators and teachers in planning guidance programs based upon specific guidance needs; second, it may call attention to practices in guidance activities to the end that deficiencies be corrected; and third, it may suggest a program of guidance based upon derived needs. These values are practical and necessary to both administrators and teachers in order that educational guidance may be planned scientifically and administered effectively. The attempt to answer this question objectively necessitated the study of a specific group of junior high school pupils representing a cross-section COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 71 of the total school population of one of Washington's junior high schools. The method employed involved the use of a modified job-analysis procedure requiring a questionnaire and interview study of the pupils, parents, and teachers concerned and an examination of school records. Analysis of the responses to the questionnaires and facts derived from the school records and interviews disclosed the following data relative to the educational guidance needs of the specific junior high school pupils studied. These needs are in terms of major categories and their respective elements explained below. Attendance Interests - The pupils of the school studied need guidance in attending school despite the fact that they seem to have the motive which should insure their regular attendance, their parents wish them to attend school and the teachers seem to offer some guidance in attendance habits. The pupils do not attend school regularly, the school ranking fourth of five junior high schools in its group with a large number of problem cases. Guidance in attendance is expected to aid in correcting this deficiency. Continuance in school constitutes an educational guidance need for there is much mortality at age 16 and few pupils in proportion to the number who graduate are found in higher schools of the city. Study Habits - Understanding assignments is included here because for a part of the student this item is a deficiency, the parents and teachers agree that it is a need and the parents leave the administering to this need almost entirely to the school. The close relationship of this need to instruction would tend to cause it to increase or decrease with the efficiency of instruction. Choosing effective study methods and self-motivation in being promoted are given emphasis by parents and teachers, and the present deficiencies of the pupils indicate the wisdom of including these items as needs, as well as the reasons for both failures and successes. Social Adjustments - Cooperation in school activities is one of the items which comprise social adjustments as needs. It was found that pupils cooperate in school work but prefer to work alone. The school as a socializing agency must accept the responsibility for guidance to develop an attitude of preference for cooperation rather than mere imposition of social situations. Pupils and parents recognize this conclusion and give emphasis to this need. Self-motivation in work as a felt need is considered of little importance by pupils and parents but of great importance by teachers. The motive to work from a felt need represents work on a higher plane than is common to most school tasks. Since this type of work is the ultimate goal of instruction rather than artificial means of encouraging effort, since parents give little help and since pupils are unaware of the need, it follows that the school must include this need in its guidance plans. Activities involving leading and following others as a social need was recognized by pupils in 72 THE JOURNAL OF THE that more pupils wished to be leaders than followers. In life the leaders are few and followers many and both groups need to be trained. The pupils wish guidance in these activities, the parents and teachers consider the items as needs and the school has opportunity during adolescence to offer the guidance necessary to administer to these needs; therefore, the duty of the school is making provision to this end. Educational Choices-These items have to do with the pupil adjustments that pertain to choice of courses and schools and must be based to an extent on self-analysis. The facts that the majority of the pupils of this school without help choose their own courses and adolescents are not capable of making such choices without help, that parents only to a very limited extend accept the responsibility for this guidance and teachers affirm that the need for help in this item is present, demand that the school supply this deficiency. Choosing the school is also given emphasis by pupils and parents in their requests for guidance. Pupils, parents and teachers agree too that self-analysis in order to plan the next steps toward careers, and to ascertain abilities should be given attention as an educational guidance need. Ascertaining the needs of the pupils involved in this study and knowing conditions under present practices would suggest certain modifications in the present program for experimental effort to find out the most effective way of meeting educational guidance needs. (Abstract: Unpublished Master's Thesis, Howard University, 1933.) Behind The Scenes -- Our Contributors Dwight O. Holmes, Ph.D. Columbia University, 1934, is professor of Education and Dean of the Graduate School, Howard University. He is also author of The Evolution of the Negro College. Eva Beatrice Dykes, A.B. Howard University; A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Radcliffe College, is co-editor of Readings from Negro Authors for Schools and Colleges, and associate professor of English, Howard University. Sadie I. Daniels, A.B. Fisk University; A.M. Columbia University, is an instructor, Miner Teachers College. She is author of Women Builders. Orra Weaves Spivey, A.B. New York State Teachers College; A.M. Columbia University, was formerly teacher of English in the Baltimore High Schools and in Armstrong High School of Washington, D. C. She is now assistant principal and dean of girls, Armstrong High School. Ruth W. Howard, studied at Howard University, Simmons College, New York School of Social Work, Teachers College, Columbia University and received the Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. She is now engaged in research work and is cooperating with her husband, Dr. Albert S. COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 73 Beckham, Chicago, in the practice of Clinical Psychology. Gertrude T. Dodson, A.B. Howard University; A.M. Columbia University, is teacher of social studies in public schools of District of Columbia. Lydia Brown, extensive traveller and speaker in the interest of education, is a member of Societe Internationale pour L'Enseignement Commercial; permanent chairman, Committee on Vocational and Educational Guidance, World Federation of Education Association; was a speaker at the Biennial Congresses of World Federation of Education Association, Geneva, 1929; Denver, 1931; Honolulu, 1932 and Dublin, 1933. She teaches at Cardoza High School. Grace A. Brown, A.B. Howard University, is teacher of English and mathematics, Randall Junior High School. Naomi J. Rushing, B.S. Teachers College, Columbia University; B.S. in Library Science, Columbia University, is assistant librarian, Howard University. Dorothy M. McAllister, B.S. University of Southern California, B.S. in Library Science, Columbia University, is assistant librarian, Howard University. Obziene M. Walker is research assistant and counselor, Divisions 10-13, under the Character Education experiment now being conducted in the public school system of Washington, D. C. She has studied at Oswego State Normal School, University of California at Berkeley, and Howard University. She presents in this Journal the findings of a study of educational guidance needs of junior high school students and concludes that experimental effort should be made to find out the most effective way of meeting educational needs. What Books Shall I Read? WHAT BOOKS SHALL I READ? By Francis K. Drury. Houghton-Miffiin, 1933. In these days of book clubs of varying degrees of commercial and literary standards, of rental collections in every department store, of book review columns in the newspapers and magazines, the selection of one's reading matter becomes increasingly more difficult. What Books Shall I Read? will serve as an excellent guide for those interested in the building up of a private collection, and in the appreciation of books of permanent worth rather than the latest book from the press. What Books Shall I Read? is comprehensive in subject matter, written in essay form, giving a descriptive note of the best books in all fields, e.g. history, biography, fine arts, religion and philosophy, ancient classics, essays, 74 THE JOURNAL OF THE fiction and children's books. There is also a classified list of periodicals, which the author calls "Balanced Rations for the Periodical Table," arranged in the form of a menu under such headings as, Grace Before Meat: Religious magazines; Hors d'Oeuvre: Spicy magazines; Soup: Pitcure magazines; Fish: Story magazines; Roast: Quality magazines. What Books Shall I Read? will answer many questions not found in any other single volume of 327 pages...NAOMI J. RUSHING. YOU MUST RELAX. By Edmund Jacobson. N. Y. McGraw-Hill, 1924. $1.50 The strains of modern-day living are making themselves felt in many physical disorders, and as a result many physicians are prescribing rest and relaxation. How few individuals know how to rest and relax! You Must Relax incorporates the principles with practical applications for the laymen of an earlier scientific study of rest, by the same author, found so useful by physicians specializing in nerve tension diseases. In this volume Dr. Jacobson describes how the individual can cultivate the habit of relaxing while at work or resting, by starting with one small definite portion of the body, then other portions gradually until the whole body is in a relaxed state. Once the skill is acquired, one can relax while at work all the muscle group except those needed for the immediate work at hand. The illustrations of exercises and posture should prove helpful for those desiring to cultivate the technique of relaxing. NAOMI J. RUSHING. UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL. By T. S. Stribling. Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1934. $2.50 The Unfinished Cathedral concludes Mr. Stribling's trilogy of the South. The Forge (1931), the first novel of the trilogy concerns itself with the middle-class Vaiden family of Florence, Alabama, prior to and through the Civil War. The Store, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1932, continues the lives of the same characters during Cleveland's administration, and the Unfinished Cathedral carries them through the boom days following the Great War. With the publication of the Unfinished Cathedral we are able to examine Mr. Stribling's trilogy as a finished work. Mr. Stribling endeavors to make Florence, Alabama, a microcosm of the South with its social and economic problems of black and white constantly changing, but never solved. The drama is not personal, but social. In The Forge begins miscegenation of the black and the white. We find these two lines tragically crossing again and again in The Store and the Unfinished Cathedral. Throughout, Mr. Stribling's portrayal of the treatment of the Negro in the South is vivid and caustic. Evidence of the author's power as a satirist is unlimited. The most COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 75 prominent citizen and the promoter of the building of the cathedral is Colonel Milt Vaiden, former plantation overseer, who gained his positon by theft. A group of business men tries to have six Negro boys lynched by law instead of by violence, because the latter would harm a real-estate boom. All the hypocrisy and sordidness of a small Southern town are depicted in they lynchings, Rotary Club meetings, and Ku Klux Klan gatherings-for all of which the building of the great cathedral, which is never completed, is the background. With the death of Colonel Milt Vaiden, the old order vanishes, no new order takes its place, and the trilogy ends with a prospect of unrelieved chaos for the South. Though the trilogy has readibility and story content, it impresses one as less of a story than a study. Mr. Stribling's characters are types invented for his purpose, caught in the midst of events that are filled with drama and significance. These novels show evidence of Mr. Stribling's preparation for his task, of his intimate knowledge of the people concerned as well as the events and issues involved, but they also reveal lack of motivation and his lack of style. One reviewer has said Mr. Stribling "approaches a theme of magnificent proportions and potentialities with a technique which is unequal to their realization." DOROTHY M. McALLISTER. I WENT TO PIT COLLEGE. By Harriet W. Gilfillan (Lauren Glifillan, pseud.) Viking Press, 1934. $2.50 Teachers, ministers, or club leaders who are interested in securing fresh material on the effect of the present economic debacle on the lives of workers will find I Went to Pit College an excellent source of information. Miss Gilfillan, graduating from Smith College in 1931, went to New York in search of work. A publisher dared her to go to the coal fields and to set down what she saw. Because Miss Gilfillan accepted the dare, we have I Went to Pit College. In the small mining town of Avelonia not far from Pittsburgh she began the life of a miner. She ate hunks of bread and drank coffee at the Communist relief kitchen, slept with the filthy, scrawny miners' children, went on a begging expedition, picketed with the striking miners, and even wen down into the mines. Through Miss Gilfillan's eyes we see how the Communist Party works during a strike, we see the "justice" of the courts to the underprivileged, and the lure of the occupation of mining to the miner. Though Miss Gilfillan's book reads like a novel, she gives an honest unbiased picture of life at the subsistence level. She presents the conditions as she sees them or as they are told to her, impartially and objectively. There is no attempt on her part to interpret these miners or suggest remedies for their improvement. Though Miss Gilfillan writes with sympathy and humor, the reader cannot miss the stark reality of her account. DOROTHY M. McALLISTER. 76 THE JOURNAL OF THE Program 1933 - 1934 - Note: The program for 1933-34 adopted by the College Alumnae Club is an internationally-minded one. With the great world changes taking place, and with world history being made before our very eyes, the Program Committee plans to focus attention upon these movements, and to bring to the college women a broader vision and a wider sympathy toward mankind everywhere. OCTOBER 28, 1933 Travel Talks: "The Chicago Fair," Mrs. Obzienne Mitchell Walker. "Across the Continent to California," Mrs. Bertha Howard Collins. "A Mediterranean Cruise," Miss Isadore Williams. Hostesses: Mrs. Elsie B. Smith, Miss Effie Simmons, Miss Hope Lyons. NOVEMBER 18, 1933 Annual Reception to New Members: "Program by Membership Committee," Mrs. Esther Butler King, Chairman. Hostesses: Mrs. Jennie B. Shief, Dean Lucy D. Slowe, Mrs. Jennie T. Wilder, Mrs. Obzienne M. Walker. DECEMBER 16, 1933 Women in the Present Economic Order: Miss Mabel Byrd, Dept. of Research and Planning, N. R. A. International Aspects of the Present Economic Order: Miss Ruth Sarles, Women's International League. Music: Nurses' Glee Club of Freedmen's Hospital-Mr. Levington Smith, Director. Discussion Leader: Miss Bertha C. McNeill. Hostesses: Mrs. Margaret Bow, Miss Della Bundy, Mrs. Lydia M. Hillman, Miss Bertha C. McNeill. JANUARY 13, 1934 NATIONAL DAY Some Opportunities for Service in a Changing Age: Mrs. Vivian J. Cook, President, N. A. C. W. Discussion Leaders: Mrs. Anna J. Thompson, Miss Elaine Tancil. Music from Howard University Conservatory: Miss Evelyn Harley, Miss Doloris Williams, Mrs. Evelyn Russ. Hostesses: Miss Helen Sparks, Miss Arliner Young, Mrs. Estelle Jackson, Mrs. Mary H. Skinner COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 77 JANUARY 27, 1934 Hitlerism: Rabbi Edward L. Israel, Chairman of Social Justice Commission, Central Conference of American Rabbis. Discussion Leaders: Miss Sadie Daniel, Mrs. Mary H. Skinner. Music: Miss Camille Nickerson. Hostesses: Miss Portia Bullock, Miss Grace Collins, Mrs. Ethel Grubbs, Mrs. Florence L. Toms. FEBRUARY 24, 1934 The Fascist Movement: Dr. Thomas I. Brown, Head of the Department of Social Sciences, Miner Teachers College. Discussion Leaders: Mrs. Obzienne Walker, Miss Grace Collins. Music: Miss Camille Nickerson. Hostesses: Miss Helen Jones, Miss Edna Holmes, Mrs. Ethel Larry, Mrs. Mattie C. Lee. MARCH 24, 1934 Communism vs. Socialism Mr. John P. Davis, Executive Secretary, Joint Committee on National Recovery. Discussion Leaders: Miss Clotill Houston, Miss Charlotte Corbin. Music: The Synthic Male Chorus-Mr. Levington Smith, Director. Hostesses: Mrs. Ruth C. Armstead, Miss Julia H. Smith, Miss Susie Quander, Miss Muriel A. Milton. APRIL 28, 1934 ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING Hostesses: Mrs. Fannie R. Dorsey, Miss Mary T. Sumner, Mrs. Ethel Martin, Mrs. Louise Wesley. Special Project: Howard University Faculty, School of Music. MAY 26, 1934 Annual Reception to the Senior Women of Howard University: Program in Charge of Hostesses. Hostesses: Miss Alice Woodson, Miss Mary L. Strong, Mrs. Rose Clifford, Mrs. Justine T. Maloney, Mrs. Gladys T. Peterson, Miss Nellie Quander. 78 THE JOURNAL OF THE PROGRAM 1934-1935 The program for 1934-1935 adopted by the College Alumnae Club has a two-fold purpose. First, attention is to be centered upon the newer trends in education; second, observance is to be made of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the club. OCTOBER 27, 1934 Presiding Officer......................Mrs. Esther Poppel Shaw Thirteenth President-1933-1935 Travel Talk: "By Motor to the Pacific Coast," Miss Gertrude Dodson. Music: Vocal Selection-Mrs. Evelyn Carter Russ. Hostesses: Mrs. B. P. Mitchell, Chairman, Mrs. M. M. Brown, Miss G. T. Dodson, Mrs. N. F. Gillen. NOVEMBER 11, 1934 Reception to Dr. Ruth Winifred Howard, Doctor of Philosophy Degree recently Conferred from University of Minnesota. NOVEMBER 24, 1934 Annual Reception to New Members: Program in charge of Membership Committee-Miss Edith A. Lyons, Chairman. Hostesses: Mrs. E. R. Saunders, Chairman, Miss Dorothy Douglass, Mrs. H. G. HInes, Mrs. A. R. Pettross. MODERN TRENDS IN EDUCATION DECEMBRE 15, 1934 Presiding Officer.....................................Dean Lucy D. Slowe Sixth President 1919-1921 "THE COPELAND EXPERIMENT IN CHARACTER EDUCATION" Speaker...............................................Miss Bertie Backus Superintendent in Charge of Character Education District of Columbia Public Schools Discussion Leaders: Mrs. Caroline Bond Day, Mrs. Ora W. Spivey Music: Vocal Selection-Mr. Levington Smith. Piano Selection-Miss Sylvia Olden. Hostesses: Miss Helen Moore, Chairman, Miss Grace Brown, Miss Leonora Randolph. JANUARY 12, 1935 NATIONAL DAY Presiding Officer..................................................Miss Bertha McNeill Eighth President-1923-1925 "THE CHALLENGE OF THE NEW DEAL" Speaker...................................................Miss Frances Grant Sectional Director of the Eastern Area of National Association of College Women General Discussion Music: Vocal Selection-Mrs. Elizabeth Dickerson; COLLEGE ALUMNAE CLUB 79 Instrumental Selections-Mrs. Oliver Simms, Miss Helen Vanderhoof. Hostesses: Mrs. Louise H. Pack, Chairman, Miss Sadie I. Daniel, Miss Jaunita P. Howard, Dr. Alethea H. Washington. JANUARY 26, 1935 Presiding Officer.............................................Miss Thomasine Corrothers Tenth President 1927-1929 "THE ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM IN THE AMERICANIZATION SCHOOL" Speaker...............................................Miss Maude Aiton Director of Adult Education, Americanization School, Washington, D.C. Discussion Leaders: Mrs. M. M. Jones, Mrs. G. L. Wilkins. Music: Vocal Selection-Miss Evelyn Harley Hostesses: Mrs. Florence Toms, Chairman, Mrs. Portia F. Lewis, Mrs. Myrtle Phillips. FEBRUARY 23, 1935 Presiding Officer ....................................Dr. G. R. Simpson Third President 1913-1915 RECREATION "A MODERN CONCEPTION OF RECREATION" Speaker.................................................Miss Anna L. Goodwin General Secretary, Community Center Department, Division 10-13, Washington, D.C. Discussion Leaders: Miss Charlotte Corbin, Miss Julia Davis. Music: Vocal Selection-Mr. Obie Holmes, Instrumental Selection-Mrs. Genevieve Smith. Hostesses: Mrs. L. M. Gresham, Chairman, Mrs. M. C. Brent, Mrs. Madeline Kirkland. Music: Dance Concert-March 15, 1935 - Armstrong High School Auditorium - (Benefit Scholarship Fund) Special Project ...............................................Eduoard du Buron MARCH 23, 1935 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY DINNER MEETING Award of Prizes to Contestants in Creative Writing. (Poetry) Presiding Officer ............................................................Mrs. Mary Church Terrel First President 1910-1911 Guest Speaker: Mrs. Jessie Fauset Harris. APRIL, 1935 (Dates to be announced) Institute--Mental Hygiene and Child Welfare Sponsored by College Alumnae Club, Miss E. A. Lyons, Chairman 80 THE JOURNAL OF THE ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING Presiding Officer .................................................Mrs. Esther Popel Shaw Thirteenth President 1933-1935 Hostesses: Miss E. C. Peyton, Chairman, Mrs. E. G. Brown, Miss Louise Denny, Mrs. E. B. Lisemby. MAY 24, 1935 Annual Reception to Senior Women of Howard University. Presiding Officer ......................................................Miss Juanita P. Howard Ninth President 1925-1927 Program in Charge of Hostesses Music: Vocal Selection—Miss Carolyn Grant. Instrumental Selection—Mr. Julius Carroll, Dr. Eva B. Dykes. Hostesses: Mrs. C. C. Peters, Chairman, Mrs. M. E. Bianchi, Miss Leanna Johnson, Mrs. A. P. Moore, Mrs. Mary R. Reid, Miss Gladys Scott. COMMITTEES 1933-1935 PROGRAM Miss Hope Lyons, Chairman 1934-1935 Mrs. Gladys Tignor Peterson, Chairman 1933-1934 MEMBERSHIP Miss Edith A. Lyons, Chairman 1934-1935 Mrs. Esther Butler King, Chairman 1933-1934 FINANCE Miss Helen L. Sparks, Chairman SCHOLARSHIPS Miss Juanita P. Howard, Chairman INTER-RACIAL RELATIONS Miss R. Arliner Young, Chairman PUBLICATIONS Mrs. Mary Hundley Skinner, Chairman FUTURE HOME Miss Effie P. Simmons, Chairman SPECIAL PROJECT Miss Muriel A. Milton, Chairman EDUCATIONAL POLICIES Miss Thomasine Corrothers, Chairman, 1934-35 Miss Sadie I. Daniel, Chairman, 1933-1934 FRIENDLY RELATIONS Mrs. Bertha Howard Collins, Chairman — To the Memory of Those Who Have Left This Scene for Happier Isles- "Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, Nor ever wind blows loudly, but it lies Deep-meadowed, happy, fair with orchard lawns And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea." -From Tennyson's Morte D'Arthur. MIRACLES AMONG NEEDY WORKED BY ROSENWALD Sunday Star - March 17-1935 Thousands of Colored Children Obtain Education in South Through Fund. Principal Shrinks to $5,000,000. - BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL. IF YOU should happen to be motoring in any one of 15 Southern States you might pass a school in a rural section and see colored children either reciting their lessons or playing in the yard at recess. If this school were particularly well built and especially attractive the chances are that it might be one of nearly 6,000 which have been constructed either in the country or in towns in more than 800 counties by the Julius Rosenwald Fund. the more one learns what this fund has been and still is accomplishing for an underprivileged group in this country the more the wonder grows that so much good could spring from a single, solitary source. What that one man did to promote the educational welfare of thousands of colored children in a section where this help was most greatly needed, and especially what is being done now during the depression, when schools all over the country are suffering reads like a fairy tale. When Julius Rosenwals established this fund one cannot help wondering whether her himself was so far-sighted that he could visualize and realize the miracle it would work in the advancement of the group for which it was created. In the first place, when Mr. Rosenwald decided to donate money to promote the cause in which he was so much interested, he did a very wise thing, as might have been expected. A board of experts was appointed, whose duty it was to find the best way in which his money could be spent. Having done this, he displayed his wisdom by following the plans which the board advised. As a consequence the work is going on in the same methodical, effective way today, three years after his death, as it did when he was actively engaged in carrying it on himself. Not So Much to Spend Now. To be sure, there is not so much to send today as there was a few years ago. Like other endowments, the Rosenwald Fund has felt the depression keenly. Five years ago the principal of this fund was considerably more than $30,000,000. It has shrunk to $5,000,000. But this decrease has not been entirely due to the fact that securities have collapsed. To a certain extent it is because the board has followed Mr. Rosenwald's instructions to spend the principal as well as the income if in their judgment the need was great enough to justify such a course. For several years, even when there was no income at all nearly one million dollars a year was spent mainly on schools for colored youth and for promoting the welfare of the race in various ways. Recently not much has been appearing in the newspapers about the activities in which the fund was engaged, because the policy of its managers has been to give credit to the schools and to the people who have actually done the work which was planned rather than to the foundation which furnished the means to do it. If you talk with Mr. Edwin Embree, president of the Rosenward Fund, he will tell you that the board deliberately minimizes its part, so that the individuals who succeed in doing a piece of work may have full credit and assume full responsibility for it. He is especially gratified at the changed attitude of Southern States toward colored schools and wishes to increase their interest and activities in raising them to a higher standard. It is well known that during the depression in every section of this land thousands of children, both white and black, have been deprived of the educational facilities to which they have been accustomed. There has been no money with which to pay the teachers and to defray the expense of running the schools. But, even during these very lean years, the Rosenwald Fund has been functioning most generously. In addition to putting $800,000 into schools and colleges for colored youth it has spent $450,000 to improve the health of the race and to minister to its other needs. In 15 Southern States, therefore, there are thousands of colored children going to school today who would have been deprived of any educational facilities whatsoever, if it had not been for the money which Mr. Rosenwald left for this purpose. Wanted to Better Schools. But he wanted to do more than build schools, however. He wished very much to improve the methods used in the schools for both colored and white children, especially those in the rural sections For that reason 14 young people of both races are working this year in the rural communities of Georgia, Arkansas and Louisiana to ascertain what can be done to raise the work to a higher plane. Some of the most distinguished educators and publicists in the country are directing these activities. they do not expect to revolutionize the methods which have been used or the conditions under which the work has been conducted in a couple of months. They intend to make an intensive study of both, formulate plans and then try them out, confidently expecting that some will prove worthy of acceptance and some will not. When a decision has been finally reached there will be a complete reorganization of schools for the children of both races in some of the country districts where the conditions have been thoroughly studied and plans for improving them have been made. One of the activities which the fund has promoted has literally filled a long-felt want. In 11 Southern counties it has provided library facilities for colored people where none existed before. It was necessary to do this piece of work, because, as a general rule, colored people are not allowed to use the libraries in the South. Sometimes there were improvised libraries consisting of trucks filled with books and magazines which were easily available to the people for whom they were provided. Then certain parts of schools, or churches or even private homes were converted into libraries. And wherever these arrangements have been made books and magazines are as free and as easy to get as water and air. In addition to providing libraries especially designed for children, the fund has been used to enlarge the libraries of 30 of the best known colleges for colored youth. During the last three years at least $300,000 has been spent in this way. Fellowships Established. Another important benefaction which the endowment has made possible has been the establishment of fellowships for young men and women who want to do post-graduate work so as to fit themselves to become teachers or for - (Continued on Tenth Page.) (Continued From Third Page.) - careers in music, the fine arts, business and the professions. At least 365 of the most promising representatives of colored youth have availed themselves of the opportunities for advanced study which this fund has afforded. About 273 have studies at 68 of the leading universities, hospitals and special institutions in the North and 38 have taken courses in 5 of the leading colleges for colored youth in the South. Nineteen have studies abroad in England, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy and France. Among the outstanding representatives of the young women and men a large number owe the success they have achieved to the opportunities which the Rosenwald Fund has enabled them to enjoy at home and abroad. In spite of the pressing demands upon it for other purposes, and although the available funds had greatly decreased, the board spent $168,000 for fellowships for colored students during the last three years. The officers of the fund have manifested their interest in the health of the race by spending nearly $1,000,000 for hospitals in various parts of the country. These hospitals not only cared for colored patients, but they served as training schools for nurses and young physicians before they began to practice. Among the outstanding hospitals which have been assisted by this fund may be mentioned the Provident Hospital, affiliated with the University of Chicago; Meharry Medical School of Nashville, Tenn., and Flint-Goodridge Hospital of Dillard University in New Orleans. Special Clinics Established. Due to the efforts mad by the directors of the fund, in the counties of 11 Southern States there are 50 colored nurses who are rated as regular county officers. In addition to this there are special clinics which teach how to care for cases of tuberculosis and venereal diseases. Owing to the influence exerted by the members of the board, the Public Health Service has for some years directed one of the senior officers to use the facilities afforded by the Government to curb disease and improve the health of colored people in that section of the South in which this work is being done. Those who are managing the fund have done what they could to secure for colored people a just share of the relief which the Government is offering those who need help. At a conference called in Washington in the Spring of 1933 the economic status of colored people was thoroughly discussed by Government officials, economists and business men of both races. Plans were made to make it possible for colored people to receive the same consideration as was shown other racial groups. One of its own officers was lent by the board to serve as special adviser to Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes. He was commissioned to keep the welfare of colored people before the attention of the heads of all Government departments. $50,000 Set Aside. The board set aside $50,000 this year to meet the emergency brought on by the economic status of colored people. According to a report recently issued this fund is being used for three purposes. "First, to keep all the Federal departments acquainted with exactly what is happening to colored people in the application of the various recovery and relief measures throughout the country. Second, to make an effort to take advantage of the reorganization of industry and labor to help the race get a better status in organized labor. Third, to make a study of the changing position of colored people in agriculture with a view to finding ways by which those who are being thrown out of employment by the sweeping reorganization in farming, may find a new place in rural economy." For the past two years the fund has been making a careful study of race relations all over the world, because it believes that the attitudes manifested by these races toward each other in distant lands have a direct bearing on the race problem in the United States. The activities which have been mentioned by no means comprise all in which the Rosenwald Fund has engaged to promote the welfare of the colored people of this country. Without its beneficent ministrations thousands who are now acquiring an education would have remained in ignorance. Thousands who are enjoying good health would have probably been rendered miserable and unfit by disease. For thousands of intelligent, honest, upstanding citizens in a section where opportunities are limited this country is indebted to the Rosenwald Fund. 56 ASBURY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH - FROM OUR LEADING CITIZENS DR. EMMETT J. SCOTT Secretary, Howard University TRIBUTE TO ASBURY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 1711 S Street, N.W. Washington, D. C. REV. ROBERT M. WILLIAMS, D. D., Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D. C. Dear Doctor Williams: Over a period now of nearly one hundred years Asbury M. E. Church has been a place where its membership has assembled, and where they have gained new strength to withstand the trials and difficulties of life. It is there that its members have found the true meaning of the Biblical injunction that in serving the Lord we must not become weary, because the Master's rewards are for those who faint not. Faith, Hope and Charity have been outstanding attributes of this great Church congregation. It has been more than a Church organization; it has been a Christian home where those in need of religious refreshment could drink at the Fountain of Life. Spiritual aid and refreshment have been freely given to those who came in the name of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. EMMETT SCOTT - IMPROVED BENEVOLENT AND PROTECTIVE ORDER OF ELKS OF THE WORLD 1813 Vernon Street, N.W. Washington, D. C. REV. ROBERT M. WILLIAMS, D.D., Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church. Washington, D. C. Dear Doctor Williams: Your very good letter received and I thank you. I am very happy to help you in this great celebration, a hundred years of achievement in Methodism and displaying the fine work which has been done by the old Mother Church, which to my mind has been the real trail blazer since the days of John and Charles Wesley down to the present time and we cannot forget the great work accomplished by such great men as Asbury, Braden, and the great Bishops who with big christian hearts helped us to carry on before the two Princes of the church, the Rite Revs. R. E. Jones and Matthew W. Clair. The great work done in the educational field by Morgan College, Bennett College, Old Central Tenn., College, at Nashville, Wiley University, Claflin Meharry and New Orleans, will live in the hearts of men and be an inspiration for unborn generations. Again thanking you for your invitation and promising you full cooperation from any and all departments of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World. I remain Yours for God and the Church. J. FINLEY WILSON, Grand Exalted Ruler. MRS. MARY CHURCH TERRELL 1615 S. Street, N.W. Washington, D. C. October 28, 1935. REV. ROBERT M. WILLIAMS, D.D., Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church. Washington, D. C. Dear Doctor Williams: Permit me to extend my heartiest congratulations to you as you begin the year's celebration of the Centennial of the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church. It has had a wonderful history, and has made a remarkable record in this city where it has ministered to the needs of our group for one hundred years. There are not many Churches which now occupy the site on which they were founded one hundred years ago. That fact alone proves how deeply rooted in the hearts of the people Asbury has been. Human beings do not cling loyally to a Church for a century unless it has served, enlightened and uplifted them to a remarkable degree. Thank you for inviting me to participate in the celebration which will begin January 1, 1936. I shall be glad to accept it, I assure you. Hoping that the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church will continue to bless the people of this City for another century. I am sincerely yours, MARY CHURCH TERRELL - HAMILTON PRINTING COMPANY 1353 You Street, N.W. Washington, D. C October 21, 1935. REV. ROBERT M. WILLIAMS, D.D., Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D. C. Dear Doctor Williams: Asbury Church during my day and generation has always stood for all that is best in the Church; it has set a splendid example to all denominations by its splendid militantly active program. We all rejoice that "Old Asbury" is to cross the century mark in 1936. With every good wish, I am, Sincerely yours, WEST A. HAMILTON - Office of RECORDER OF DEEDS, D. C. Century Building, 412 Fifth Street Washington, D. C. WM. J. THOMPKINS, Recorder October 18, 1835. REV. ROBERT M. WILLIAMS, D.D., Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church Washington, D. C. Dear Doctor Williams: I hasten to submit my impression, and to congratulate you and your great institution upon the celebration of its Hundredth Anniversary. In a turbulent world Asbury stands as a faithful centurion, symbolic of the Christian Religion, permeating the Community with Good Will and Peace. May its good work redound to the perpetuation of Christ's Kingdom on Earth. With consideration of my great esteem and respect, believe me, Sincerely, WM. J. THOMPKINS. Recorder of Deeds, D. C. CENTENNIAL SOUVENIR AND PROGRAM-1836-1936 55 - NEW YORK AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Washington, D. C. Ministers October 24, 1935. REV. ROBERT M. WILLIAMS, D.D., Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church Washington, D. C. Dear Doctor Williams: It is a very great pleasure to extend the most cordial greetings of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church to the fellowship of the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church upon this happy occasion of its Centennial Anniversary. You have every reason to be proud of that distinguished ministry which your Church has given to this city and the Christian faith May God richly bless you in all the ceremonies connected with this historic occasion. May I also add a genuine word of appreciation to the leadership of your ministry in the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church. What you have done for your parish should bring you great joy and satisfaction. With every good wish, believe me, Very sincerely yours, JOSEPH R. SIZOO. - REV. ROBERT M. WILLIAMS, D.D., Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church Washington, D. C. Dear Doctor Williams: The long and successful history and tradition of Asbury Church attest the permanency and stability of the institution and the sterling character of its leadership and constituency. Yours very sincerely, J. F. WHITFIELD. - THE WASHINGTON FEDERATION OF CHURCHES 503 McLachlen Building Washington, D. C. October 22, 1935. REV. ROBERT M. WILLIAMS, D.D., Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church Washington, D. C. Dear Doctor Williams: In behalf of the Washington Federation of Churches and for myself personally let me assure you of my hearty congratulations upon the approaching Centennial of Asbury Methodist Church. You have a long record of faithful and efficient service in behalf of Negro Methodism in the Nation's Capital and, indeed, throughout the entire country. Your Church has naturally been a center for visitors through these years as well as a center of fruitful activity in the religious life of our city. Please accept our fraternal greetings and most sincere good wishes upon the completion of a century of Christian service. May God grant to Asbury Church many more years of continuing and increasing usefulness. Fraternally yours, W. L. DARBY. Executive Secretary. Editorial Offices of THE NATIONAL METHODIST PRESS 708 National Press Building Washington, D. C. October 21, 1935. REV. ROBERT M. WILLIAMS, D.D., Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church Washington, D. C. Dear Doctor Williams: I have your cordial letter of October 15 and in response I am glad to join with others in sending a word of greeting for the Souvenir Booklet. I am in very close touch with Negro Methodism and esteem it most highly in the negotiations for Methodist union. I am coming in intimate touch with some of your most able and brotherly leaders. Wishing you every success in your important work, I am, Fraternally yours, HARRY EARL WOOLEVER. - HAGERSTOWN, MD. REV. ROBERT M. WILLIAMS, D.D., Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church Washington, D. C. Dear Doctor Williams: One hundred years ago a rich religious legacy was bequeathed and handed over by the Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church of this City to a loyal, faithful, deserving and a religious group of Methodists, a Church building dedicated to God and Humanity's uplift. The success and development and great achievements through the years down to the present culminating in the substantial beauty of architecture of this present building, and the continued unbroken line of untiring faithful workers, officials and members, having wisdom, vision and strong faith in God, the same have made this One Hundredth Anniversary possible and highly commendable by men and better still approved of God. I was highly favored to be present at the ground breaking of this present edifice a day long to be remembered because of the presence of the Divine Spirit that seem to hover the scene, and I was the Pastor of the now Simpson Memorial Methodist Church, this city, with was formerly Asbury Mission of this the mother Church and was co-temporary Pastor with the Pastor-Builder Rev. Dr. M. W. Clair, since and now Bishop M. W. Clair of great distinction and high honor, whose wisdom, curage and great faith in his officials, members and in God saw his visions and dreams realized this palace, this Church is a monument, indeed to God and Humanity. The real test of his leadership and the faith and loyalty of the members were proven when they worshiped regularly in the "O" Street, N.W. Armory during the erection of this building. The able efficient Pastors who succeeded Dr. M. W. Clair, Drs. J. S. Carroll, J. U. King, J. H. Jenkins, it is the present Pastor to fill the place of a Joshua to lead these people onward and upward, his being duly and truly prepared, physically, mentally and spiritually in the person of Rev. Dr. Robert M. Williams and his good wife Mrs. Williams. "Now unto God our Father be glory forever, REV. W. S. JACKSON. Star May 3, 1936. Powerful A.M.E. Church Proud Of 120-Year Record of Growth - More Than $10,000,000 Contributed in 24 Years for Maintenance of National and World Work. BY Mary CHURCH TERRELL. "Did he say ten million dollars or ten thousand?" I whispered to my friend who sat beside me. We were attending a meeting of the Baltimore Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which was held recently in the Metropolitan Church, M street between Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets northwest. We were listening to a report made by Dr. John R. Hawkins, who has been the financial secretary for 24 years and has an office on the corner of Fourteenth and Q streets northwest. My friend nodded and wrote in big, black letters: "He said ten million dollars, of course." She was a member of the church and was proud of its record. The $10,560,710.57 which have passed through Dr. Hawkins' hands in 24 years were raised by what is called "dollar money." The pastors are asked to collect $1 from each member of their congregations every year and this is sent to Dr. Hawkins' Washington office. No Local Funds Included. This sum does not include money raised in the churches for local purposes or payment of salaries of presiding elders and pastors. Nor does it include any of the thousands of dollars raised on "general days" for mission work and church extension and "educational day," in September, for schools and colleges, plus the thousands of dollars raised in special rallies. It it were possible to state how many millions of dollars have been given for all the activities sponsored by the church, many doubting Thomases would shake their heads. Eleven years after the Declaration of Independence had been signed, in Philadelphia, Richard Allen and others in that city began to insist that the colored Methodists organize a society separate from the white Methodists. This agitation continued for nearly 30 years. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was finally organized in 1816, with Richard Allen as its first bishop. Washington became a part of the Baltimore Annual Conference six years after the church was organized. For first one reason and then another the effort to establish churches of this denomination in some sections failed. For instance, three years after an uprising of slaves in Charleston, S. C., the city ad State officials refused to allow either free colored people or slaves to assemble for any purpose. African Methodism in that State, therefore, was stifled. Suppressed in Other Sections. Again, since the African Methodist Episcopal Church was an independent, ecclesiastical organization, it was opposed by some, because they believed it would inspire slaves with a desire for freedom. In certain sections, therefore, warfare against it was waged, until it was practically suppressed. But in spite of obstacles the church increased in influence and power until it has reached its present mammoth proportions. During the Civil War both the clergy and the laity rendered valuable service. Two years after the slaves were freed, one of the clergymen, Rev. Highland H. Garnet, who represented this country as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Liberia, preached in the United States Senate Chamber. It is significant that the first thing the A. M. E. Church did after it was founded was to establish a book concern on Pine street in Philadelphia. Under the auspices of this book concern, whose name has been changed to the Publication Department, three weekly papers are now issued: The Christian Recorder, published at Philadelphia; the Southern Christian Recorder, published at Nashville, Tenn., and the Western Christian Recorder, published at Kansas City, Kan. The A. M. E. Church Review is a quarterly which contains articles that appeal to the taste of the intellectual members of the denomination, both the clergy and the laity. Has Many Missionaries. The Foreign Missionary Department of the church covers an extensive field. Its missionaries are found in West Africa, South Africa, South America, the Islands of the Sea, West Indies, Virgin Islands, Nova Scotia and the Dominion of Canada. Much of the work is being done by the natives of the country in which they live. Some of them have been trained in the educational institutions of the United States at the expense of the church. According to the latest report, 12 young men and women are being educated in this country for service in the foreign field. The church has established schools at Georgetown, British Guiana; Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana; Port of Spain, Trinidad; Port au Prince, Haiti, and in the Barbadoes and Santo Domingo. The members of the A. M. E. Church in this foreign field are practically penniless and the small amount they are able to contribute does not begin to defray the expenses. The Girls' Industrial and Literary School in Freetown Sierra Leone, fairly well equipped, offers to its pupils four years of industrial work and six standard classes for literary work. the Woman's Parent Mite Missionary Society of the A. M. E. Church is 62 years old and has more than 14,000 members. During the quadrennium ending in 1932 almost $108,000 was raised to carry on the work at home and abroad. The young people's department of this society has a membership of about 8,000 and collected more than $10,000 in four years. It is educating two young women-one from Georgetown, British Guiana, and the other from West Africa. 19,000 in Missionary Society. The Woman's Home and Missionary Society has a membership of approximately 19,000 and has raised nearly $58,000 for its own purposes and to carry on work in foreign fields. The young people's department of this society has contributed more than $1,000 to the support of students from South Africa who are in the schools of this country, preparing to serve when they return home. The number of colleges and schools founded and supported either wholly or in part by the A. M. E. Church is unbelievably large. Credit is generally given to Bishop Daniel Payne for establishing Wilberforce University in the village of Wilberforce, about 75 miles north of Cincinnati, Ohio. Wilberforce University is the oldest school owned and controlled by colored people anywhere in the world. Bishop Payne was scholarly, cultured and literary at a time when he was in a class almost by himself. He taught school in South Carolina until the General Assembly forced him to close it. Having decided to establish a school for the education of colored youth, he went to England to solicit funds. When John Bright was asked to contribute he told Bishop Payne that England had already sent millions of dollars to aid the freedmen and America had immense resources within herself to supply the wants of her people. The Bishop of Oxford, Lord Wilberforce, son of the great philanthropist, told Bishop Payne that the American bishops attending the Pan-American Congress at that time had assured him that it was unnecessary for him to help, as they had enough money in the United States to attend to the freedmen's wants. Lord Wilberforce also stated he did not want to contribute money to Wilberforce University because it was a race school and he was opposed to any such exclusive schools. Finally, after earnest efforts had been made to raise funds for "the establishment of a literary institution of a high order for the education of colored people generally," Tawawa Springs, a beautiful Summer resort in Green County, Ohio, was purchase and Wilberforce was founded in May, 1856. 725 Students at University. According to the latest report, 725 students were enrolled. If the Summer school students, the special students and the extension students are included, the total will reach between 1,500 and 1,800. Wilberforce University was the first colored school to have a United States Military Department. It was established by President Grover Cleveland on January 9, 1894. Lieut. John Alexander, a graduate of West Point, was detailed to organize and teach in the department. Among the efforts to educate the race the Bethel Literary and Historical Society, which meets weekly in the Metropolitan Church, should be mentioned. It was organized by Bishop Payne 55 years ago and was Star 5-3-36 2d sheet. probably the race's first open forum in which addresses were delivered or papers read and questions discussed from the floor by members. In addition to the A. M. E. Church there are five separate Methodist communions among the colored people of this country. They are the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the African Union Methodist Protestant Church, the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, Colored Methodist Protestant Church and the Independent African Methodist Episcopal Church. There is also a large number of colored people who belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, white, although they worship in their own churches. Church Merge Often Discussed. On at least five different occasions the union of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church has been seriously discussed, but has not yet been effected. The membership of the A. M. E. Church is almost equal to that of all the others put together. When it was organized 120 years ago the A. M. E. Church had only 1,000 members but today its membership has increased to 785,358 and there are 7,335 pastors. For the first time in 50 years the general conference will meet in Rockland Palace, 155th street and Eighth avenue, New York, this week, in May, and will last three weeks. There will be 945 delegates. Bishops and general officers, the largest delegated body of colored people in the world. Two of the bishops have died since the last general conference, so that now there are 13. One of the major questions to be discussed is whether it is necessary to elect two bishops to fill the vacancies. Arrangements have been made to care for 10,000 members and visitors at the general conference. The traveling expenses of all the delegates will be paid, including those who come from Africa and the Islands of the Sea. Star Ap 5, 1936 Asbury M. E. Church Holds 100th Anniversary Celebration - President Felicitates Offshoot of Foundry M. E., Started With Frame Building on Farm. BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL It would be hard to find a church in the National Capital whose historical background is more interesting than that of the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, which has been celebrating and will continue to observe its one hundredth anniversary throughout the entire year. If you had been passing by that beautiful church on the corner of Eleventh and K streets a few Sundays ago and had entered too late for the opening exercises of the service you would have seen Representative Carolin O'Day in the pulpit addressing a very large congregation. The Program Committee for Woman's day, which was being observed, had selected two speakers, one for the morning service and another for the evening, and Representative O'Day had accepted the invitation to talk in the morning. President Roosevelt has extended his hearty felicitations to the pastor, Rev. Robert Moten Williams, and to the congregation in the following letter: "The hundred years that have passed since the founding of your church have been marked by outstanding progress in the history of the Negro race. All this your church has witnessed and, of much of it, has been a part. My earnest hope is, that as a result of this centennial there will be a renewal of the spiritual life of your people under your devoted leadership." No matter how favorable the circumstances may be in which a church or any other organization is launched, the span of 100 years is a long time for it to survive and flourish. This is particularly true if the founders are handicapped by conditions and circumstances over which they have no control. There can be no question that this was the case with the founders of Asbury, for some of them were still held in slavery and those who were free in name were confronted with difficulties which would naturally face men and women belonging to a race held in bondage. Perhaps the most interesting fact about Asbury is that it is the daughter of the Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church, which is located at Sixteenth and Church streets. This church received its name because of a vow made by Henry Foxhall, who like many others of his day dreaded the damage British troops would do when they entered Washington Wednesday evening, August 24, 1814. If the British troops did not destroy his foundry, he said, he would make an offering to the Lord. The British troops did not destroy his foundry and he fulfilled his promise to the Lord by donating the land on which the church was built at the corner of Fourteenth and G streets, and names Foundry Station. When Foundry was established in 1814 there were 18 colored members and 20 white. Thirteen years later the number of colored members had increased to 176. For 22 years-from 1814 to 1836-colored people retained their membership in Foundry Church. There is no doubt whatever that the benefits accruing to them, both from a spiritual and an educational standpoint, were many and large. Then, for what seemed to them good and sufficient reasons, the colored members of Foundry decided it would be better for them and everybody concerned if they withdrew and founded a church of their own. It often has happened that a group of people have withdrawn from one church to establish another. But, under the circumstances, it was a most courageous, not to say daring, thing for the colored members of Foundry to leave it to found a church of their own nearly 30 years before the emancipation proclamation was signed, while some of the members were themselves still held as slaves. In looking over the old records one occasionally sees a name which has been dropped from the membership role. Sometimes there is a notation which explains that the man or woman has been sold and taken out of the city. Sought Cheaper Land. The 75 men and women who founded Asbury decided to locate their church in the suburbs where land was cheap. For that reason they selected a field which was a part of a farm at which is now the corner of Eleventh and K streets. On this field a little frame building was erected in 1836. It was decided to name the church "Asbury," in honor of Bishop Francis Asbury, and Englishman, who sent missionaries to Georgetown when it was only 21 years old and was still in Frederick County, Md., to explain the doctrine of Methodism and to make converts four years before the Declaration of Independence was signed. A Sunday school was soon established by Rev. John F. Cook, a colored man, who was the founder of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church now located at Fifteenth and R streets. The superintendent of this Sunday school was an educator of some renown for that time and was the principal of a pay school for colored children for a long time. The membership of Asbury, which rapidly increased, worshiped in the little frame building for nine years and then in 1845 a brick church costing $15,000 was built. The reputation of Asbury's choir soon spread far and wide. After the Civil War visitors to the Capital who had heard of its fine singing used to flock to the church in crowds Sunday evening,and it was no uncommon thing for them to request the choir to repeat some number which they had especially enjoyed. New Structure Built. For 70 years the brick church housed the activities of Asbury. Then on September 15, 1915, the corner stone was laid for the imposing Gothic structure in which its members now worship. In outward appearance the daughter resembles its spiritual mother very much. Both churches are built of Port Deposit granite, which is dark gray. And the stone used to construct both Foundry and Asbury came from the same quarry. The main auditorium has a seating capacity of 1,800. On the lower floor are the lecture room, church school room, pastor's study, secretary's office, board room, kitchen, dining room and ladies' choir room. The parsonage is located at 1914 Eleventh street. The value of the church and the parsonage is estimated to be $150,000. A small debt was incurred a few years ago when the church was remodeled. It is rapidly being paid off. It is generally conceded the major portion of the credit for planning and building Asbury belongs to Rev. Matthew W. Clair, who was its pastor for 17 years and has since been elevated to the bishopric. He was impressed with the necessity of building a church large enough to accommodate its rapidly increasing membership and the visitors who came in large numbers. Moreover, he decided definitely to make Asbury the "national church of Negro Methodism." His beautiful dream finally came true because he worked with tireless energy and unflagging zeal. The women of Asbury have been exceedingly active in all kinds of good work. The old and young members who were in need have been fed and clothed. A soup kitchen was established in two alleys when a blizzard raged there some years ago. Money has been raised for a variety of objects to benefit the church. Considering that the majority of the members of the average colored church are none too well supplied with this world's goods the amount of money contributed to it is unbelievably large. A drinking fountain costing $225 was bought by one woman's club. A gas range costing $195 was donated by another. The members of the church are deeply interested in their department of music, Connection Still Exists. There still is living a definite, vital connection between Foundry Church and the colored people once enrolled as members in the person of the sexton, Levi Collins, now rounding out his thirty-third year. His father served the church in the same capacity, and his grandfather was an elder. When Rev. Frederick Harris Brown, pastor of Foundry Church, congratulated Asbury on its centennial he referred to this fact as follows: "In the group which laid the foundation of the present great Asbury Church was a local elder of old Foundry Church, who was the grandfather of our own honored sexton, Levi Collins." This elder was one of the first colored men ordained to preach. He was born free, because his master emancipated his father when he died. But the elder's wife and two children were slaves. Being free he was able to earn money enough to emancipate them. Through their pastor, the members of Foundry Church have expressed themselves as being deeply interested in Asbury's celebration of its centennial. "Your mother church," wrote Dr. Harris, "thinks of you with pride and sends her blessing. Our members will look forward to sharing with your some of the rich things you have provided on this anniversary table." Bishop Edwin Holt Hughes, D. D., L. L. D., Asbury's resident bishop, has written that he is more than happy to greet the pastor and people as they celebrate the centennial of their life. Asbury's pastor, Rev. Williams, is now serving his fifth year. There are now more than 2,000 members of Asbury Church. Writes Negro Symphony - BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL. It has been a long time since any one has created such a sensation in musical circles as has William Levi Dawson, who has written the first Negro folk symphony ever composed. Not long ago it was played in the Philadelphia Academy of Music by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the leadership of Stokowski. At the close of the first and second movements the audience shattered a rarely broken precedent by bursting into enthusiastic applause instead of waiting until the end of the performance. The composer of this symphony, which aroused such favorable comment when it was produced in Philadelphia, New York and very recently in Birmingham, Ala., is a colored man 35 years old. He was born in Anniston, Ala., but he ran away from home when he was 13 years old, because he wanted to study at the Tuskegee Institute and that was the only way this desire could be gratified. When he reached Tuskegee, however, he did not have money enough to pay his entrance fee. But he so impressed the officials of the school with his earnestness and his determination to acquire an education that Booker T. Washington himself, the founder and principal of the school, assigned him to work on the farm, so that he might remain and study. For seven years there was no kind of work which could be done on a farm that Dawson, as a barefoot lad, did not do. Then he asked to be allowed to become a member of the Institute Band and learned to play most of the instruments both in the band and in the orchestra. He studied piano and harmony. Joining the Tuskegee Choir, he traveled extensively with the singers. When he graduated in 1921 he went to Washington College in Topeka, Kans., to take a course in composition and orchestration. While there he was director of music at the Kansas Vocational College. Studying theory and counterpoint at the Horner Institute of Fine Arts in Kansas City, he received the degree of bachelor of music in 1925. During that period he was director of music at the Lincoln High School and supervisor of music in the Kansas City colored schools. The master's degree in composition was conferred upon him by the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago in 1927. He was the first colored man to become first trombonist in the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and he won the position by competitive examination. In the Fall of 1930 Dawson was invited to return to his alma mater to organize and conduct its school of music, but especially to prepare the Institute Choir for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the school. When the Tuskegee Choir of 100 voices sang at the opening of the International Music Hall of Radio City in New York. Dawson directed it. While there the manuscript of his symphony was given by a friend to Dr. Leopold Stokowski, who immediately recognized its merit but advised that it be made short enough to be suitable for public performance. For a long time Dawson had cherished the idea of writing a symphony based on themes derived strictly from Negro folk music, although he had often been told that music of African origin could never be developed through the medium of the symphony. He determined to prove that it could be done, and he did it. The themes in the symphony are taken from the "spirituals" and have been developed with discretion and masterful skill. Dawson has used three melodies which his mother sang and over which he has been brooding since he was a child. The "Bond of Africa" is the first movement and symbolizes the link uniting Africa and her rich heritage with her descendants in America. The second movement, "Hope in the Night," opens with three strokes of the gong, which is intended to suggest the Trinity who forever guides the destiny of men. The third movement is based on two melodies, "O, lem-me shine; O, lem-me shine: O, lem-me shine, shine lik' a mornin' star," and "Hallelujah, Lord, I been down into the sea." Dawson says his work "is not religious, but classical in the modern idiom. A central theme runs throughout the symphony. It is melancholy, a sort of wail, a type of hymn related to jazz in its rhythm. It is an attempt to develop Negro music, something which they said again and again could not be developed. I made up my mind four years ago to stop talking myself and let others do the talking. Ever since then I have been writing the music, for I feel that buried in the South is a music that somebody will discover some day. They will make another great world music out of the folk songs of the South. I feel from the bottom of my soul that it will rank one day with the music of Brahms and the Russian composers." This Negro folk symphony is a work of rare beauty, with rich and interesting orchestrations. It has dramatic feeling, a racial sensuousness and directness of melodic speech coupled with a sort of barbaric tumult. There are certain passages which have a sweep and an intensity that cannot be forgotten. The music is full of life, humor, feeling and force. One critic declared, "It is a kind of composition that must be a joy to the players, an inspiration for a conductor, and it certainly is the kind of music you want to hear again immediately." In a public statement commenting upon the symphony, Dr. Stokowski declared: "I am happy to introduce this composition to an American audience, because I believe it to represent a distinct achievement of American music. It is a work of national importance. It is not only musically impressive in itself, but primarily because of its distinctively American character. Dawson has succeeded in eloquently portraying that aspect of American life which he has seen and lived and felt most profoundly. It is a work which is vital and personal. "Dawson, a young Alabaman, has voiced the spirit of his people struggling in a new land, the ancient voice of Africa transferred to America, and her expressed through the medium of the white man's most highly developed instrument-the symphony orchestra." - Birth Control Bill Indorsed. ROGERS, Ark., May 3 (AP)-Indorsement of a bill pending in Congress to make legal the dissemination of birth-control information through "the proper medical authorities" was voted by the Arkansas State Federation of Women's Clubs yesterday at the group's annual session. ducting with the streamliners, of which it is the pioneer. New trucks have been perfected by Union Pacific engineers which eliminate vibration and sway, even at extremely high speeds. The power plant, originally a 900-horsepower, 12-cylinder Diesel engine, has been enlarged to a 1,200-horsepower 16-cylinder Diesel engine. This engine is the largest single unit plant of the kind in the world ever to have been applied to railroad passenger service. A dining-lounge car, incorporating many innovations, both in decoration and equipment, has been added also. An all-wave radio set will provide entertainment and news features for passengers on the dash across the continent. The equipment of the train includes seven cars. These are the power car, a mail-baggage-express car, the dining-lounge car, three Pullman sleeping cars and a coach-buffet car. THE train will make six round trips per month between Chicago and Portland, departures being each five days from the two terminals. The first trip will be eastbound from Portland, departing from the coast city in the late afternoon and arriving in Chicago early on the second morning and in ample time for all Eastern connections. Union Pacific and Chicago & North Western officers are making elaborate preparations for the inauguration of the new service in which prominent civic and business leaders of the two cities will participate. - Who Are You? - The Romance of Your Name. BY RUBY HASKINS ELLIS. Dana THIS surname is derived from the Celtic word "dana," meaning bold, daring. The word "dana" in French signified a poet. The Dana family in America is of French extraction, being represented by Richard Danaa, who was born in France in 1612, went to England and from there emigrated to America. He arrived in the New England Colony in 1640 and established his home in Cambridge, Mass. His wife was Anne Bullard. Descendants of this family are now found in many sections of New England, New York and Pennsylvania and some have scattered into the Western States. The coat of arms here displayed was borne by Richard, the founder, and is emblazoned as follows: "Sable, on a bend argent, three chevrons vert. Crest-A bull's head affrontee." (Copyright, 1935.) cago from the East, although the Midwest metropolis is the starting point of the tours. Round trip tickets for the Western jaunt may be purchased at any station, however. THE lower-price bracket includes three types of excursion-intermediate, tourist and coach. Air-conditioned cars are available under each of these services. Western lines have eliminated the surcharge on sleeping cars. In some cases side trips to national parks and other interesting places have been thrown in free, or a substantial reduction in price made. Included are the Fort Peck Dam in Eastern Montana, the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington, Bonneville Dam, Oregon, and Boulder Dam. Western trains, which have for years boasted of excellent dining cars services and cuisine, have raised the standard while revising the prices downward, it is reported. Three full meals-breakfast, luncheon and dinner -are now offered each day for less than the price of the lowest pari-mutuel ticket at Pimlico. Red tape has been cut, also. Unlimited stop-overs, within the November 30 deadline, can be obtained by simply notifying the conductor as one nears a city. Arrangements with the Eastern carriers permit baggage to be checked through over any of the Western roads. SCORES of itineraries are offered at the Western bargain counter. Here is one: From Chicago, northwest ot the tip of the United States at Bellingham, Wash; south to Los Angeles, eastward to New Orleans via El Paso, Tex., and then north to Chicago. Coach class travel over this route is the thriftiest, and is $28.65 less than when one makes the tour with all the first-class luxuries. Intermediate-tourist class is $11.45 more than coach class for the trip, and includes air-conditioned sleeper service. THE greatest intra-American travel in years is forecast by the American Express Co. in its recent survey of travel tendencies. On the Pacific Coast inquiries, reservations and deposits on tours indicate the Great Lakes, Eastern cities and New England will be the objectives of rec- - STEAMSHIPS. - 39% LESS OCEAN to Europe Sail two wonderful days on the sheltered St. Lawrence Seaway on your way to Europe. Won't that add to your comfort and fun? Get maps and rates from your own agent or Canadian Pacific 14th and New York Ave. N. W. Washington, D. C. 8Friday May 10, 1935 - The Washington Post - Eugene Meyer, Publisher. Eugene MacLean, Floyd R. Harrison, General Manager. Comptroller. - Southern Women's Voices. To the Editor of The Post-Sir: I sympathize deeply with the thousands of law-abiding, broad-minded white women of the South, because their representatives in the Senate are claiming that lynching is a necessary evil to protect their virtue and their homes. These women are supporting the Costigan - Wagner antilynching bill because they know that the majority of colored men who have been lynched in the South have been victims of mob violence, not because they have assaulted white women, but because they have been accused of other offenses, many of them trivial and impossible to prove in court. These women know, and their representatives also know that out of every 100 colored men who have been lynched, from 75 to 85 have not even been accused by the South of what is so falsely called "the usual crime." The so-called "usual crime," therefore is proved by statistics to be the most unusual of all the crimes for which colored men have been lynched. Two hundred and fifty thousand women of the Methodist Episcopal Church South indorsed the Costigan-Wagner antilynching bill last year. And just the other day the necessity of passing this bill was strongly emphasized by the Tennessee Women's Conference which met in Nashville. These and thousands of other white women deeply resent being held up as the cause for the necessity of continuing the crime of lynching. MARY CHURCH TERRELL. Washington, May 1. - A-2 ** = TAFT BEFRIENDED March 10, 1930 DISGRACED TROOPS Evening Star, D.C Washington Woman Recalls Suspension of Roosevelt Order Pending Probe. - At a colored woman's request, William Howard Taft, when Secretary of War, suspended President Roosevelt's order to dismiss without honor three companies of Negro soldiers who were accused of a part in the famous Brownville, Tex., riots. The woman, Mary Church Terrell, is a resident of Washington. She tells the story of the interview below. - BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL. The passing of ex-President Taft recalls vividly to my mind a service he rendered me in particular and the colored people of the United States in general when he was Secretary of War. For me it was a very thrilling experience, indeed. I had waited all day to see him. About 10 o'clock on a certain Saturday morning I reached the State, War and Navy Department and went straight to Mr. Taft's office. I told his secretary, Mr. Carpenter, that I wanted very much to see the Secretary of War. But Mr. Carpenter told me it was utterly impossible to arrange for me to do so. Important Caller Turned Away. Mr. Taft, he explained, had just returned from an inspection of the Army posts in the West, and would leave the next day for the East. In spite of this discouraging information, I remained in the office. At intervals of about an hour I would go to Mr. Carpenter and urge him to allow me to say a few words to Mr. Taft, but each time Mr. Carpenter assured me very politely, but firmly that he could not do it. When I went to him about 2 o'clock to renew this request, Mr. Carpenter said, "You see that man going out of the door? Well, he is leaving Washington for New York right away to take a steamer for Spain tonight. He wanted very much to see the Secretary of War, but Mr. Taft is too busy to see him." About 3 o'clock I went to Mr. Carpenter again and asked to be allowed to see Mr. Taft. Naturally by that time Mr. Carpenter had grown a bit impatient. "What do you want to see Mr. Taft about?" he said. He had asked me the same question several times before, but I had not explained my mission because I felt my chances of seeing the Secretary of War would be much slimmer than they were if I did. Finally I realized how hopeless my case was if I continued to withhold the reason why I wished to see Mr. Taft. Explained Mission. "I want to say a few words to him about the colored soldiers who have just been dismissed without honor because they were accused of shooting up Brownsville, Tex.," I finally mustered up sufficient courage to say. A look which plainly showed how he felt spread over Mr. Carpenter's face. Nevertheless, he went into the Secretary of War's private office and remained closeted with him quite awhile. He them returned to the room without giving me any encouragement at all. Finally, about a quarter of four, Mr. Carpenter told me that Mr. Taft would see me just a few minutes. "What do you want to say to me," inquired Mr. Taft, as soon as I entered his office. "I have come to see you about the colored soldiers who have been dismissed without honor at Brownsville, Tex.," I said. "What do you want me to do about it?" he asked. "President Roosevelt has already dismissed them and he has gone to Panama. There is nothing I can do about it." "All I want you to do, Mr. Secretary," I said, "is to suspend the order dismissing the soldiers without honor until an investigation can be made." Good-Natured Sarcasm. "Is that all you want me to do," inquired Mr. Taft with good-natured sarcasm, as he emphasized the word all, and then smiled as he always did. "All you want me to do," he continued, laughing, "is to suspend and order issued by the President of the United States during his absence from the country." "But Mr. Secretary," I pleaded, "as colored people we take great pride in our soldiers. They have always had an unblemished record and they have fought bravely in every war which this country has waged. It seems more than we can bear to have three companies of our soldiers summarily dismissed without honor, at least until a thorough investigation has been made." The smile left Mr. Taft's face. He became serious and remained silent for several seconds. Then he said with an intensity and sympathy I can never forget: "I do not wonder that you are proud of the record of your soldiers. They have served their country well." Without telling me exactly what steps he would take, Secretary Taft encouraged me to believe that he was going to do something in the colored soldiers' behalf. In less than half an hour after I had left his office he had cabled President Roosevelt, who was on his way to Panama, that he would withhold the execution of the order to dismiss without honor the three companies of the 25th Infantry until he heard from him-or words to that effect. Only Case on Record. In spite of my keen disappointment that the order to discharge the colored soldiers dishonorably was not rescinded, I was very grateful to Mr. Taft for the effort he made in their behalf. When he withheld the execution of the President's order 36 hours in response to a colored woman's plea for the discharged soldiers, he did what no other cabinet officer has ever done since the Declaration of Independence was signed. So far as I have been able to ascertain, no other cabinet officer has withheld the execution of a presidential order 36 seconds. The suspension of that order for only a few days enabled Gilchrist Stewart of New York to go to Brownsville, Tex., before the soldiers had disbanded. Therefore, they could tell their story of the affair in their own words. If all of them had been scattered before they had a chance to relate the events which preceded and immediately followed the violent outbreak, many facts very favorable, which greatly helped their case, would in all probability never have been brought to light. President Roosevelt made the whole-sale discharge of three companies of colored men, privates and non-commissioned officers, some of whom had served the United States for more than a quarter of a century and were nearly eligible for retirement, absolutely without consulting Mr. Taft, then Secretary of War, who was charged with personal supervision of the Army. The order was issued during Mr. Taft's absence in the West without waiting for his return, although the soldiers had been removed to Fort Reno, and there was plenty of time for further investigation into their conduct. Expression of Generosity. The interest he manifested in the colored soldiers and the tribute he paid them were not in the flowery words of a politician uttered to serve personal ends, but they were the genuine expressions of a generous hearted man who meant what he said and who intended to do what he could in their behalf. The effort he made was commendable and it required great courage, too. I shall never cease to thank him for trying to save those three companies of colored soldiers from dishonor and disgrace. [1936] THE SCOTTSBORO CASE by Mary Church Terrell Five years ago nine colored boys between the ages of thirteen and twenty were riding on a freight train from Chattanooge, Tennessee. On the same train, but in another car, were two white women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, wearing overalls, and two white men, one of whom, Lester Carter, had just finished serving a chain-gang sentence for vagrancy in Huntsville, Alabama, where Victoria Price had been arrested for immoral conduct. The white men began to amuse themselves by throwing pebbles at the colored boys and stepping on their fingers. In the fight which followed the colored boys won and the white men jumped off the train. They walked to Stevenson, Alabama, the nearest town, and, fearing they would be arrested for vagrancy, told a wild tale of "niggers" brandishing pistols and knives and pushing them off the train. The police wired to stop the train and arrest the colored youths. When Paint Rock, Alabama was reached, practically the whole town was at the station armed with broom sticks, rifles and shot guns to seize the black "desperadoes." The nine badly-frightened colored boys were dragged from the train. As it pulled out, somebody shouted "Here are two white women. Have those black brutes harmed you?" Victoria Price, fearing that she would be arrested for vagrancy or something worse, perhaps, escaped this charge by accusing the boys of rape. Ruby Bates was led to make a similar charge. The rumor spread like wildfire. The boys were put in jail in Scottsboro, Alabama, and were indicted for this supposed crime. At the trial the jury found them guilty and eight of the boys were condemned to death. Roy Wright, who was thirteen and did not look ten years old, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Each of the boys protested his innocence. Dr. Bridges, who examined the women, was not allowed to testify. Not one of the men who jumped off the train was called to testify. One man appointed by the court to defend the boys was too drunk to follow the case carefully. The case was appealed and at the second trial Ruby Bates denied her testimony given at the first trial by saying repeatedly "These boys never touched me." Victoria Price's story at the second trial differed materially from the testimony she gave at first. After the third trial the United States Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision that the death sentence imposed upon Haywood Patterson, three times and upon Clarence Norris twice must be set aside and new trials ordered. The three trials were declared illegal because colored men had been excluded from the juries. The fourth trial which opened January 20, 1936 was little better than the previous trials and was characterized by strong feeling and prejudice. Now another trial, with a change of venue, will be held soon. Today these nine boys, grown to manhood, are in cells accused of a crime which it would have been practically impossible for them to commit. There is no evidence whatever that they were bad boys. They were simply riding in a freight train trying to escape from the wretched conditions in which they were forced to live. It is difficult to see how anybody can believe the boys are guilty after reading the statement in their behalf made by Judge Horton when he set aside his own sentence of death for Haywood Patterson, ordered a new trial and declared "The testimony of the prosecutrix in this is not only uncorroborated, but it also bears on its face indications of improbability and is contradicted by other evidence, and in addition thereto the evidence greatly preponderated in favor of the defendant." Judge Horton also stated that "the medical evidence given by Dr. Bridges for the State preponderates greatly in favor of the defendants." From these facts it seems clear that these nine Scottsboro boys are victims of grave injustice. Evening Star, November 6, 1936 HOWARD U. BLDG. MARKS PROGRESS - Dedication Is Latest Milestone in Steady Advance Made Since 1866. BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL. Dedication of the new chemistry building at Howard University last week marks a new step in that famous institution, name for Gen. Oliver Otis Howard, who commanded one of William Tecumseh Sherman's columns in his march to the sea. Abraham Lincoln wished to appoin Gen. Howard commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, but he did not want to detail him from the Army until the Civil War ended. It had become increasingly apparent that the Federal Government should make some provision for the large number of slaves who followed the Union Army as it marched through the South, or who fled to the camps for protection. The Freedmen's Bureau had been formed to solve this problem. After the war ended Secretary of War Stanton carried out the wish of the dead President by making Gen. Howard commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau. In commenting upon this appointment Gen. Sherman wrote Gen. Howard: "I cannot imagine that matters involving the future of 4,000,000 souls could be put in more charitable hands." The invaluable services of various kinds rendered by Gen. Howard to the newly emanicpated slaves proved conclusively that Gen. Sherman's estimate of him was correct. Howard University literally had a good beginning, for the plans to establish it originated in a prayer meeting which was held in the First Congregational Church of this city, November 19, 1866. In May of the following year the normal and preparatory departments opened with five students who were children of the trustees. But at the close of the first term the number had increased to 94. Some 2,000 students were enrolled in Howard University last year and 245 were graduated at the commencement in June. Many Courses Available. The university offers courses in the liberal arts, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law, engineering, architecture and music and a graduate school has recently been added to this list. The school of religion is not supported by the Federal Government. Howard is the largest university for colored students in the country, and, to quote President Roosevelt, "It has become a real center of Negro culture in America. Its schools of law and medicine are rated among the class A schools in the Nation." There are nearly 10,000 graduates of Howard University and the majority of them are carrying on efficiently not only in the United States, but in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and the West Indies. So many of the alumni and alumnae of this institution have achieved distinction in the various professions and vocations it would be impossible to call them by name in a short article. Generally speaking, in the legal profession, there are distinguished lawyers and a man who has been judge of the Municipal Court in the National Capital. Some of the most famous physicians and surgeons of whom the race boasts have received their training in the School of Medicine of Howard University. The surgeon in chief of Freedman's Hospital is one of the alumni. In education there are principals of schools, deans of colleges, both among the women and the men, professors, superintendents, and the registrar of Howard University is an alumnus of the institution. James C. Napier was once register of the United States Treasury, appointed by President Taft. Rev. Boynton First President. Rev. Charles B. Boynton was the first president and not Gen. Howard, as is generally supposed. Gen. Howard was elected president the second year and served about five years. President Mordecai Johnson, the incumbent, is the eleventh president, has served 10 years and is the first colored man to be elected president of the institution. He is, however, not the first colored man to serve in that capacity. John M. Langston, an Oberlin graduate, the first dean of the Law School and a Representative sent to the House from Virginia, was the first colored man to enjoy that distinction. When Gen. Howard resigned the presidency of the institution and returned to military duty the trustees refused to elect anybody to succeed him and gave him an indefinite leave of absence. At the same time they created the office of vice president and elected John M. Langston to fill it. And so he served as acting president of the institution from 1873 to 1875. It is interesting to note in passing that Langston Terrace, the P.W.A. housing project for colored people, at Twenty-first street and Benning road northeast, is named for John M. Langston. Congress began to contribute to the support of Howard University in 1879 by appropriating $10,000. The institution had suffered so severely from the panic of 1873 that the military, commercial, industrial and music departments had to be temporarily closed. But the school paid its debts in a few years and was able to resume its regular work. Several years ago Congress agreed that automatically an appropriation should be made to Howard University every year. Johnson Able Administrator. The growth and development which the university has made under President Johnson's administration, both from a scholastic and a material point of view, reads almost like a fairy tale. In the first place the amount of money annually appropriated by Congress has steadily increased year by year. For instance, the first year of his administration Congress appropriated $218,000. But four years afterward Congress contributed eight times that much and appropriated $1,760,000. In addition to that amount over $2,000,000 was given by people who were interested in the fine work the institution was doing for an underprivileged group. A building for the College of Medicine was constructed which, together with the equipment, cost $500,000. Howard had already benefited and will continue to benefit from the 20-year plan adopted by representatives from Congress, the Interior Department and the Rosenwald Fund. This plan is designed to develop the university along both educational and physical lines. When the new chemistry building was dedicated Secretary Ickes stated he believes that speeding up the 20-year plan is a splendid way to use the funds designed by the Federal Government for public works and that he had made allocations for the university shortly after P. W. A. began to function. "Already," he said, "a class room building, a power plant and this chemistry building have been completed. And plans are being made to build a new men's dormitory and a library. These buildings which the P. W. A. is financing, will cost, when finished, $3,000,000." Five years ago the first unit of the 20-year plan, which included three dormitories for women, was completed and occupied. Forecast of Development. The first catalog issued by Howard University, in 1867, stated: "Upon the crowning summit of the heights overlooking the city and the surrounding country, in plain view of the Washington public buildings, the university buildings are being erected, which, when finished, will be an ornament to the Capital." One has only to look at the campus of this institution, located on Sixth street northwest, bordered by the reservoir lake not far from the grounds of the National Soldiers' Home, and near the Freedmen's Hospital buildings, to realize that this promise made 69 years ago has literally been fulfilled. Howard University is proud of the record it made during the World War, and especially of the part it played in developing leaders for the colored troops. It was largely due to a campaign started by its alumni and students that an officers' training camp was established in Des Moines, Iowa. Ninety-five of the men commissioned at the camp were Howard alumni. Some 320 military instructors who were to take charge of the Student Army Training Corps in colored institutions were trained in an instruction camp on the Howard University campus and were graduated from it in September, 1918. From its teachers, alumni, students and ex-students, Howard University gave the National Army more than 200 officers. The new chemistry building possessed special interest to the audience assisting at its dedication, because it was educationally planned, as President Johnson stated, by a young colored man who was formerly head of the department of chemistry in the institution. When President Johnson told the audience, "the architectural work on the building was done by a young black man, Mr. Albert I. Cassell, who is present with us today" (and Mr. Cassell arose), he was enthusiastically cheered. "In size," President Johnson declared, "the new chemistry building is not excelled in the field of American education," and when he said that "any university in the world would be glad to get it," everybody looking at it knew he was stating an indisputable fact. Although Howard University was originally established to meet only the needs of a local situation, it has continuously been growing into national and international importance, until today its fame extends to the farthermost corners of the earth. And one can not help hoping that in some way the good people who decided unanimously in a prayer meeting in the First Congregational Church 69 years ago, to establish and educational institution, "in view of the pressing demands Of the Southern field," can see the glorious, beautiful fruition of their beneficent plans. - Chicago Defender, Sept. 17, 1938 Noted Race Advocate Gives Interesting Reminiscences Chi Defender 9-17-38 - BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 16- When the Countess of Warwick passed away recently on her estate at Easton Lodge, Dunmow Essex, not many miles from London, England, lost one of her most interesting, forceful and original personalities she has ever known. She was courageous to the nth degree. She used her brain, thought for herself and dared to do what she considered worthwhile and right. King Edward's Friend It is a great temptation to start right off talking rapturously about her beauty. For she was noted as a beauty for many years. And any one who writes about the Countess of Warwick would naturally be expected to refer to the fact that she was one of King Edward's closest friends. For a long time the social functions at which Edward the Seventh appeared were sure to be graced by the lovely Countess. But many who knew that she was a reigning queen in England's highest social circles do not know that she used much of her time and strength and social prestige for the betterment of the conditions of those less fortunately situated than herself. It is because she did this that it was my good fortune to meet her and retain her friendship till she passed away. Met 34 Years Ago The Countess and I were invited to address the International Congress of Women in Berlin, Germany, thirty-four years ago. The Countess was invited to talk about the English women who earn their living at farming and I was asked to deliver two addresses the same day. In the morning I was to describe the conditions under which colored domestics in the United States work when the Countess spoke and in the evening at the meeting in the Philharmonie I was to talk about the "Progress and Problems of Colored Women." But the Countess was too ill to come. She had a baby just three months old. From the program the Countess learned that I was to talk the morning on which she was to speak and she heard that I would be in London before returning home and she cordially invited me to come to see her. Founded a College Naturally, I was glad to make the acquaintance of this far-famed English beauty, the active, generous philanthropist and the acknowledged society-queen all in one. She had done many things which appealed strongly to me. For instance, she had established an agricultural college for women, because at that time no provision had been made in England whereby gentle women who were in reduced circumstances or those who were obliged to support themselves were taught to earn a living. The Countess thought it would be a step in the right direction to teach them to farm on scientific principles. I felt that such a women was worth going miles to see. Mrs. Terrell Visits Countess The Countess' London residence was in St. James Square just a minute's walk from Buckingham Palace, where the King and Queen of England reside. When I reached the house the door was opened by a tall, well-proportioned man. He went ahead and asked me to ascend a broad stairway which was carpeted in something that looked like red velvet. When the top of the stairway was reached, I was ushered into what must have been Lady Warwick's private library. Here and there books were lying around as though they had just slipped from the hands of their fair mistress. When I looked at the pretty little desk there was something about it which impressed me with the fact that it was often used. My Lady's Chamber The room was a veritable bower of flowers. It looked like a bit of fairyland let down into a dwelling of mortals. There must have been at least ten vases filled with the choicest and most beautiful flowers imaginable. And they peeped at one from corners and angles where the effect was most artistic. I had just time to look around at the dainty French furniture, when the soft rustling of garments announced the approach of the lady I had come to see. I will not say that she was as beautiful as a picture, or that she appeared like a vision, although it is a great temptation to do so. As the Countess of Warwick advanced toward me, she extended her hand and gave me a most cordial welcome. "How kind and good you are to come to see me," she said. "I was greatly disappointed in not being able to keep my first engagement with you, but I was suddenly called away and I was obliged to go." The Countess had sent me a telegram stating that she could not see me the day on which she first invited me to call. Excessive Kindness Disconcerts Before I reached the Countess' residence I had prepared a few remarks which might do to start the conversation with the distinguished lady. I knew it was proper to address her as "your Ladyship," and I had promised myself solemnly to do so. I had drilled myself thoroughly in this respect. But I was so overcome by the Countess' assertion that I had displayed an excess of kindness and goodness in calling on her that I forgot completely the neat, little speech I had so carefully planned to make. In my confusion I fear that instead of addressing the Countess as "Your Ladyship," I used the good, old United States informal "you." But after the first embarrassment passed I succeeded in displaying my knowledge of the proper English form. Lover of Animals The Countess had no sooner seated herself upon a white satin lounge which here and there had a touch of pink, than she arose and walked toward the door, explaining as she did so, that she had left her little dog outside. Being so fond of animals myself my admiration for the beautiful woman immediately went up a great many degrees. When the door opened in ran the smallest canine I have ever seen. As soon as Countess seated herself on the divan again, Tiddledy Winks (for that was his dogship's MRS. MARY CHURCH-TERRELL name) curled himself up snugly in a small, round ball, laid himself upon the train of his mistress' elegant robe, and then went fast asleep. At that time the Countess was as willowy as a girl sixteen as fair as a lily and as graceful as a swan. She was the mother of four children-a son, who was n war correspondent in the Russian army; a daughter who had married Lord Hemsly, a small son six years old and a baby girl. She showed me the photos of each of the children excepting the baby girl and each of them had inherited comeliness from their beautiful and charming mother. The Countess was clad in some filmy material, the yoke and sleeves of which were real lace and she wore a large picture hat with a delicate pink rose in front, around which a very pale, blue filmy veil was drawn and tied in a loop on her bosom. The Countess assured me that she was deeply interested in the work I was trying to do for the women of my race ans asked questions concerning it. She confessed that she was unable to grasp many phases of the race problem in the United States. She could not understand the prejudice against well-educated, cultivated men and women of color; the more the Countess discussed this aspect of the problem the more evident it became that she was hopelessly groping in the dark. In trying to get light on the Theodore Roosevelt-Booker T. Washington luncheon which had just created a big sensation in the United States, she said she had conversed with some Americans in the hope of discovering the reason for the criticism, abuse and censure with which the President of the United States had been flooded on this account. "But," she said, and she paused a moment as though the mystery in which the subject was shrouded had deprived her of the power of speech, "I have never been able to comprehend it all." (Continued Next Week) Washington Star July 31, 1938 RECALLS COURAGE OF LATE COUNTESS Mary Terrell Found Wife of Warwick Interested in Negro Problem. By MARY CHURCH TERRELL. When the Countess of Warwick passed away last Tuesday on her estate at Easton Lodge, Dunmow Essex, not many miles from London, England lost an interesting, forceful and original personality. She was courageous, she used her brain, thought for herself and dared to do what she considered worth while and right. It is a great temptation to start right off talking rapturously about her beauty. Four She was noted as a beauty for many years. And any one who writes about the Countess of Warwick would naturally be expected to refer to the fact that she was one of Edward VII's closest friends. But many who know that she was a reigning queen in England's highest social circles do not you know that she used much of her time and strength and social prestige for the betterment of the conditions of those less fortunately situated than herself. It is because she did this but it was my good fortune to meet her and retain her friendship. The countess and I were invited to address the International Congress of Women in Berlin, Germany, 34 years ago. The countess was invited to talk about the English women who earn their living at farming and I was asked to deliver two addresses the same day. In the morning when the countess was to speak, I was to describe the conditions under which colored domestics in the United States work, and in the evening, at the meeting in the Philharmonie, I was to talk about the progress and problems of colored women. But the countess was too ill to come. Sends Invitation. From the program she learned that I was to talk the morning on which she was to speak, and hearing that I would be in London before returning home, she cordially invited me to come to see her. Naturally, I was glad to make the acquaintance of this far-famed English beauty, the active, generous philanthropist and the acknowledged society queen all in one. The countess' London residence was in St. James' Square, just a minute's walk from Buckingham Palace. When I reached the house I was ushered into what must have been Lady Warwick's private library. The room was a veritable bower of flowers. I had just time to look around at the dainty French furniture when the soft rustling of garments announced the approach of the lady I had come to see. I will not say that she was a beautiful as a picture or that she appeared like a vision, although it is a great temptation to do so. Her Welcome Cordial. As the Countess of Warwick advanced toward me, she extended her hand and gave me a most cordial welcome. "How kind and good you are to come to see me," she said. "I was greatly disappointed in not being able to keep my first engagement with you, but I was suddenly called away and I was obliged to go." The Countess had sent me a telegram stating that she could not see me the day on which she first invited me to call. At that time the Countess was as willowy as a girl 16. She was the mother of four children - a son who was a war correspondent in the Russian Army, a daughter who had married Lord Helmsly, a small son 6 years old and a baby girl. She showed me the photos of each of the children excepting the baby girl and each of them had inherited comeliness from their beautiful and charming mother. The Countess assured me that she was deeply interested in the work I was trying to do for the women of my race and asked questions concerning it. She confessed that she was unable to grasp many phases of the race problem in the United States. She could not understand the prejudice against well-educated, cultivated men and women of color. The more the Countess discussed this aspect of the problem, the more evident it became that she was hopelessly groping in the dark. In trying to get light on the Theodore Roosevelt-Booker T. Washington luncheon, which had just created a big sensation in the United States, she said she had conversed with some Americans in the hope of discovering the reason for the criticism, abuse and censure with which the President of the United States had been flooded on this account. "But I have never been able to comprehend it all," she confessed. Lynching Difficult Point. The Countess said she had heard Englishman discussing my article on "Lynching From A Negro's Point of View," which had appeared in the June number of the 1904 North American Review. It was difficult to converse on this subject with the Countess, for she could hardly believe that colored men, women and even children were still being hanged, burned and shot to death in a country so highly civilized as the United States. I felt it my duty, therefore, to tell her Ladyship the truth-that out of every 100 colored men who have been lynched in the United States, statistics compiled by those who would not falsify in favor of the race show that from 75 to 85 have not even been accused of what is so falsely and maliciously called "the usual crime." I found it very unpleasant to describe the contract labor system and the convict lease system and attempting to explain how such cruelty and oppression happen to be tolerated without stronger and more vigorous protests than they received. I felt so depressed and discouraged I turned the conversation into more agreeable channels, so that the pleasure of my visit should not be destroyed. I took special pains to emphasize the loyalty of the colored people to the country in which they and their parents were born, and this seemed to please her ladyship very much. Tell of Socialism Conversion. But I was eager to have the countess tell me about her work, and she graciously complied with my request. "You know I am a Socialist," she began. That was precisely what I did not know. "I'm a Socialist," continued the countess, "because, after a long and careful study of the conditions in England, I am convinced that socialism is the only thing which can help poor people here to help themselves. I did not reach this conclusion hastily, and, now that I am fully persuaded, it would be difficult for me to change my mind." "Is the Earl of Warwick a Socialist?" I ventured to ask. "No; he is not. I am the only one in my family who believes in socialism," she frankly replied. "But I am trying to convert my sister, the Duchess of Sutherland, and I should not be surprised if I succeed." "What do your ladyship's family and friends think of your socialism?" I asked. The countess laughed as heartily and as genuinely as a schoolgirl. "Many of them think I am going straight to the bad," she replied. "I dare say there are many good people who do not approve of it at all." The countess face was wreathed in smiles as she talked about the disapprobation of those who disagreed with her on socialism. I felt certain she did not lie awake nights worrying about it. As I was sailing within a few days for home, I could not accept the countess' invitation to the closing exercises of the agricultural college, of which she was a patroness, or her other invitations. Meet Again. Fifteen years afterward, however, I meet the Countess of Warwick the second time. After the World War I went abroad as a delegate to the International League for Peace and Freedom Conference with Miss Jane Addams, the president; Miss Jeanette Rankin, the first Congresswoman, and others. The meeting was held in Zurich, Switzerland, and after it adjourned I went to London. While I was there Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Wells invited Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lamont, St. John Irvine, the playwright and Mrs. Irvine and me to be their weekend guests. Mr. and Mrs. Wells were then living on a magnificent estate which they had leased from the Countess of Warwick. The estate on which her Ladyship lived was quite near. So one afternoon she invited Mr. and Mrs. Wells, Mr. and Mrs. Lamont, Mr. and Mrs. St. John Irvine and me to meet a group of her friends at tea. Her ladyship invited me to sit beside her at the big, round table while the refreshments were being served. And she showed by her comments that she was genuinely interested in my work. I saw the countess for the last time a few years ago when my daughter and I went abroad. She was as entertaining, and as progressive as ever. She invited my daughter and me to spend the afternoon with her. She was very gracious to my daughter and had an attendant show her the most interesting things on the estate, while her ladyship and I tried to solve some of the vexatious problems confronting the world. Countess Visited United States. The countess once came to the United States to deliver a series of lectures and invited me to come to see her at the hotel while she was filling her engagement here. The lectures did not meet with the success which was anticipated, however, and she soon returned to England. There will be many points of view, perhaps, and various estimates of the Countess of Warwick. But everybody who knows what she has done and who has any regard for the truth must admit that she set a fine example in the earnest efforts she made to help those less fortunate than herself. And she also displayed remarkable courage in joining with those who occupied a place in the social scale much lower than her own and who advocated measures to help the poor which were abhorrent to most of her family and her friends. Star, Nov. 8, 1938 Convent for Colored Owes Being to French Uprising Many Hardships Overcome Since Founding 110 Years Ago By MARY CHURCH TERRELL. "Do you know who the nuns are that live in that convent?" a friend asked me one day as we passed a building on Fifteenth street near S street N.W. "They are colored," she continued., "and there are so few colored nuns anywhere. I wonder what they do." I resolve to be able to answer those questions satisfactorily very soon. And there was revealed to me an interesting bit of history relating to a group of people comprising practically one-third of the population of the National Capital. The Oblate Sisters or Providence live in that building on Fifteenth street near S. There are three convents of that order in the city and connected with each of them is a school that is taught by nuns. One of them is St. Augustine's on Fifteenth street in which there are 11 nuns who teach 330 boys and girls. Another is St. Ann's convent at 310 Eighth street S.E. in which there are 11 nuns who teach about 324 pupils at St. Cyprian's school at the same address. St. Ann's convent is named for Miss Ann Atkins, who gave the ground on which it was founded in 1892. The third is St. Vincent de Paul's at 233 I street S.W. in which there are three nuns who teach about 32 children in the first and second grades. It is the smallest and was closed for five years on account of lack of funds. St. Augustine's school takes the children through the ninth grade and St. Cyprian's takes them through the 10th grade with the help of two nuns from Alexandria. Both of these schools prepare the pupils for the senior high schools, the Dunbar, the Armstrong or the Cardozo. Followed French Revolution. It would be hard to find an institution either in a church or out of it whose beginning borders more on the unreal and improbable than does that of the Oblate Sisters of Providence. They owe the founding of their institution to the French Revolution. It would seem a far cry indeed from the violence and bloodshed of that awful upheaval to the calm and beneficence of a community of colored nuns in the United States, but the union between these extremes is very easily shown. As a result of the French Revolution there were rebellions and riots in Santo Domingo and other islands at the close of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. Thousands of refugees, most of whom were French and nearly all of whom were Catholics, flocked to Baltimore and many among them were colored. Some of these colored refugees were well educated and well to do. The spiritual welfare of the colored San Dominican Catholics was cared for by an order of the church which had fled from France to Baltimore to open St. Mary’s Seminary for the education of priest. The colored Catholics worshiped in the basement of the chapel, which is still standing. And the church which was organized in 1796 in the basement of the chapel, which is the oldest Catholic building in Baltimore, was the first colored Catholic congregation in the United States. About 30 years later Father Joubert, a Frenchman, who was a Dominican exile, took charge of the colored children of the congregation and was greatly pained to find them too illiterate to study the simplest prayers. There were no public schools for colored children in Baltimore until after the Civil War. Father Joubert decided to open a school for colored children. His superiors thought it would be an excellent thing to do, but lack of funds would make such a thing impossible, they said. But the French priest went to Archbishop Whitfield, an Englishman, who heartily approved of his plan and gave him permission to begin his work as soon as he could. Gave Up Free School Then Father Joubert thought of two colored women, Elizabeth Lange and Marie Magdalene Belas, both French, who were well educated and who, on account of lack of funds, had been obliged to give up a free school they had been teaching in their home for a long time. They confessed to him that for more than 10 years they had wished to consecrate themselves to God and had been waiting and hoping that He would show them a way of giving themselves to Him. Greatly encouraged by this enthusiastic response to his plan, Father Joubert decided not to confine the carrying out of his cherished project to these two women. He decided to form a religious society of colored women, and the founding of the Oblate Sisters of Providence was well on its way. Two of the four women who were its first members were French in language with the customs and the culture of the French. A third was from Santiago de Cuba. The fourth, although born in Baltimore, was the daughter of French parents. A house was rented and the young women began their novitiate in June, 1828. But a great many difficulties had to be overcome. The women had to leave the house in which they had first moved. It was hard to find another and there was little money to be had. Finally a house at 110 George street was rented in which were taken the first vows ever made by colored women in the United States. There were many rules laid down for these women who had decided to become nuns. But the first rule was the most important of all. “The Oblate Sisters of Providence,” read this rule dated June 5, 1829, “are a religious society of virgins of color. Their end is to consecrate themselves to God in a special manner, not only to sanctify themselves and thereby secure the glory of God, but also to work for the Christian education of colored children.” Approved by Archbishop Then the archbishop put his seal of approval on the new community as follows: “ Having read the foregoing rules formed for the Oblate Sisters of Providence,” said he, “I give my entire approbation as to their being adopted by that religious society and at the same time highly approve of so useful an institution which promises to be very beneficial to religion and to the community at large. Baltimore, June 5th, 1829. James, Archbishop of Baltimore.” But in spite of Archbishop Whitfield’s unqualified approval, the women who had made their vows were often uneasy and discouraged. They knew that many who had been willing to allow them to teach school strongly objected to having them form a religious society, because they could not bear the idea of colored women forming a religious community and wearing the habit of a nun. When Father Joubert mentioned this to archbishop he discovered that his superior knew more about these objections and criticisms than he himself knew. But none of these things moved Archbishop Whitfield. He stood firm. He declared that he had a right to establish any religious order in his diocese that he chose. He promised to protect the new community and commanded the good priest to continue his work. For eight years the habit of the Oblate Sisters consisted of a black dress and a black bonnet for the street, while in the house they wore a white cap banded with black ribbon. About 30 years ago, however, they voted to change their habit to a black veil and a white guimpe. The sides of the bonnet prevented a nun from seeing what was happening on either side as she walked. And, although the veil is said to be not so picturesque as the bonnet the nun wearing it does not take so many risks as she mingles in the traffic on the street. Aided Orphan Children. In addition to teaching the children of their group, for years the Oblate Sisters fed, clothed and educated orphan children whom they called "the children of the house." But the Archbishop of Baltimore finally transferred these children to the Franciscan Sisters (white) so that the Oblates might devote themselves exclusively to teaching. Many of the first colored teachers in the District of Columbia were trained by the Oblate Sisters. For many years the St. Frances School in Baltimore was the only one in reach of the colored people of the District. But there came a time when it looked as if the convent would have to be closed. There were very few pupils in the school. They were $700 in debt. They had no money and no prospect of getting any. The sisters were often cold and hungry in the winter. Some of them who had been well to do, but had given everything they possessed to the convent when they made their vows, had to take in washing and ironing and sewing and mending and do any kind of work they could get. They even began to fear they would not be allowed to stay in the convent, since the archbishop had decided their work as at an end, had about decided to disband the sisters and suggest that they return to the world which some of them had renounced many years before. Seeing their pitiable plight, a young Bavarian priest was moved to come to their aid. "What's the use of trying to do anything?" asked Archbishop Eccleston. And when he seemed on the verge of denying his request the priest begged so earnestly that he be allowed to save the order that the archbishop gave his consent. Father Anwander's zeal and energy and plans worked like magic. They gave the community a new lease on life. Money began to pour in. The number of pupils was increased from 10 to 300. He enlarged the chapel and the convent, built a boys' school and a hall in which meetings of various kinds might be held, formed the Holy Family Society at St. Frances among both men and women and spent altogether $10,000, every cent of which was paid through his efforts. Branches of Order Opened. When it was decided that the Oblate Sisters of Providence should devote themselves exclusively to teaching, the problem of where and how to educate them so that they could teach an accredited high school was very hard to solve, since the institutions in their immediate vicinity excluded them on account of their race. But sometime ago a summer school for the sisters was organized in Baltimore by a professor who taught at Mount St. Joseph's College there, then the summer school of Villanova, Pennsylvanis and St. Louis University were opened to them and there is a normal summer school at their mother house in Baltimore. The mother sisterhoods of the church have scholarships subscribed and paid for by the International Federation of Catholic Alumnae, but the Oblate Sisters of Providence have no organizations rendering a similar service for them. Branches of the order were opened at Philadelphia, New Orleans and at Fells Point, but after functioning for a while they were closed for lack of funds. At present there are two houses of the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Leavenworth, Kans., one in St. Louis, one in Normandy, Mo., one in Alexandria, Va., one in Charleston, S. C., one in Havana, one in Cardenas and one in Camaguey, Cuba. 2. Star. Nov. 8, 1938 The 101st anniversary of the Oblate Sisters of Providence was celebrated in November, 1929, instead of July 2, the day on which Father Joubert received the vows of the four postulants in the presence of a few friends and placed on them the habit which made them pioneers of the first religious community of colored women of the Catholic Church. The Sunda celebration began a n by Archibishop Curley Cathedral Cro The huge cathedral i was crowded to the doors nd every available space of standing room was taken. In the middle aisle were seated the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament of the Immaculate Heart of Notre Dame, the Servants of the Most Pure Heart, Little Sisters of the Poor and other communities. Ladies of the Knights of St. John as well as the men wore uniforms. Music was rendered by St. Augustine's choir of the city, one of the finest male choirs in the United States. There was a procession of the clergy. In the sanctuary was the Consul General of Cuba, who was a striking figure in his uniform. There were representatives of the Jesuits, the Sulpicians, the secular priests, the Christian Brothers, the Xaverian Brothers and the Brothers of Mary. Nothing that could be done to make the celebration of the anniversary impressive and beautiful was omitted. And now that the community is 110 years old the record of the Oblate Sisters of Providence shows their complete consecration to their work, their indomitable courage in the face of heart-breaking trials and, with God's help, their determination to carry on for the good of their racial group as long as it is humanly possible to do so. Star Mar 21, 1939 District Schools for Colored Preceded Emancipation Act of Congress for Educational System Provided Tax, but No Buildings BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL. If you were taking an examination and were asked whether slaves in the District of Columbia were emancipated before the first school for them was established or whether the first school for slaves was established before they were emancipated, your answer to that question would probably be marked zero. Establishing a school even for a few enslaved people before emancipating them seems like a case of putting the cart before the horse. And yet that is precisely what happened here if the first annual report of Mr. A. E. Newton, a white man, who was the superintendent of colored schools for Washington and Georgetown, is authentic. In this report for the year ending June 30, 1868, Mr. Newton says: "The first free school for colored persons after the commencement of the war of which I find any record was opened March 16, 1862, one month before the passage of the act abolishing slavery in the District. This school was held in 'Duff Green's Row,' near the Capitol, and was intended for the benefit of a large number of contrabands collected by the Government and held as captured material of war." Act Passed May 21, 1862. Slaves in the District of Columbia had been emancipated 35 days before Congress passed an act on May 21, 1862, providing that "10 per centum f taxes collected from persons of color in Washington and Georgetown 'should' be set apart for the purpose of initiating a system of primary schools for the education of colored children" residing in these cities. This act provided that the Board of Trustees of Public Schools in the two cities should have control of the fund arising from the tax, as well as from any contribution which might be made. It was definitely stated that these moneys should be kept distinct from the general school fund. But Congress changed this plan shortly after it was made. According the the first semi-annual report of volunteer teachers, which was prepared by Supt. Newton and published in November, 18164, "the public school trustees declined to have anything to do with so distasteful a matter as the establishing of colored schools." This was denied. But even if the report was not true, Congress showed plainly that it felt the trustees did not intend to carry out its wishes. Within 50 days it transferred the duty of establishing colored schools from them to a special board called the Board of Trustees of Colored Schools for Washington and Georgetown. It consisted of three men who were to hold office for the respective terms of one, two and three years, and their successors were to be appointed annually. Daniel Breed, Zenas Robbin and Sayles J. Bowen were appointed on this first board. Money Comes in Slowly. But colored children had to wait two years before there was enough money to open a school for them. The provision setting apart 10 per centum was totally inadequate. Congress passed several acts in an effort to secure sufficient funds for the colored schools. One required the cities of Washington and Georgetown to pay over to the trustees of colored schools such a proportionate part of all moneys received or expended for school or educational purposes as the colored children between the ages of 6 and 17 years in the respective cities bear to the whole number of children white and colored, between the same ages. It was distinctly provided that "the money shall be considered due and payable to said trustees the 1st day of October of each year, and if not then paid over to them, interest at the rate of 10 per centum per annum on the amount unpaid may be demanded and collected." Nothing could prove more clearly and more forcibly how genuinely and intensely interested Congress was in providing adequate educational facilities for colored children than the acts passed for that purpose. Finally on March 1, 1864, the first free school for colored children was opened on the corner of Fourth and D streets S.E. And a teacher was employed at a salary of $400. There were 40 pupils in this first free school that first day it opened, but before the week ended the number had been increased to more than 100. Children clamored to be admitted, but there was no more room. There had been a sudden increase of colored people in Washington and none of them had taxable property. The need of schools, therefore, was greater than ever with no money to support them. Colored people and their friends begged the National Government to aid them. General Appeal Sent Out. Then an appeal dated April 14, 1864, which had been prepared by Supt. Newton, was sent throughout the North. It begged for books, charts, slates and money to carry out night schools. This appeal stated that in Washington and Georgetown there were "from 10,000 to 12,000 children of African descent under 15 years of age unprovided with school instruction, and but a small part of them with school advantages of any kind," while there was not a single schoolhouse worthy of the name. Although Congress had made a commendable effort to secure sufficient funds to support the colored schools, it made no appropriation for building schoolhouses until 1867, five years after the act to establish them had passed. The first schools were held in churches, sometimes in the auditorium, but usually in the basement which generally rented for $10 or $15 per month. These basements were uncomfortable, not suited for school purposed, were dark, damp and unhealthful. The appeal bore abundant fruit. Financial aid was soon received from the Freedmen's Relief Association of New York, the Freedmen's Aid Society of Boston and other similar organizations. Including books and clothing, not less than $150,000 were donated by the North. August 1, 1871, George F. T. Cook, a colored man, succeeded A. E. Newton as superintendent of colored schools, and served 29 years. And now as the 75th anniversary of the public schools for colored youth is celebrated there is evidence to show that the majority of its beneficiaries have been useful citizens; some have made enviable records for themselves and a few have reached the heights. Through the instrumentality of the public schools there is reason to hope that the progress of the race will be greater during the next 75 years than it has been in the past. Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.