WOMEN AS AN EDUCATOR
BY MATTIE E. DOVER.
IN the beauty, the fullness and inspiration of his soul
the poet Milton has said that woman is God's
latest and best gift to man. And if it is incumbent
upon the lesser gift to teach humanity, it must be a
two-fold duty of woman that splendid gift of divinity.
It is an acknowledged fact that a moral, intellectual
and a religious foundation is necessary for our success
in life. That is, truth should be the basis of human
action. It is said that the first impression the human
mind receives is the most lasting. Who teaches the
first principles? Who gives the mind the first turn, a
start and a thought? Woman. Education, means to lead
out, draw out, set forth, and in those countries where
woman's influence as an educator is recognized that you
find civilization most advanced, piety most sincere,
morality most progressive and knowledge most extensive.
England, for instance, one of the grandest,
noblest, and most influential nations on the globe, is
only great because she recognized the powerful influence
of the intellectual force of woman as an educator.
There, too, our own country keeps pace to the music of
mental improvement by conferring upon woman the rare
privilege of instructing the youth. Go to the public
schools - the celestial arch upon which our government
rests—who constitute the majority of our teachers?
Women, for the people know that woman by her neatness,
her accuracy, her patience, her faithfulness and her
zeal, can most deeply impress the aspiring student, than
man by his vigorous enforcements. Napoleon once
asked Madam DceStael what was the best
thing he could do to elevate France. She replied
"instruct the mothers." That very expression was the
essence of true greatness, the very archstone upon which
the greatest prosperity of the greatest nations rest.
[Page 317]
People have often
wondered why the Indian does not become civilized,
though the government does more for him than any other
nation does for its wards, and yet he still "sees God in
the wind" and seeks the happy hunting ground as his
final resting-place. I say that people still wonder;
the solution of that question is easy, because in the
dark ages and savage nations woman is not recognized as
a partner, as an equal, as a consoler, as an instructor,
but as a servant, as a slave. They haven't learned that
"where woman is most respected, man is most elevated,"
and it is a fact that no nation kindred or tongue, can
become powerful or great until their women are
instructed in the high principles of morality and
truth. For, when once her heart is lighted up with
those high principles it shines forth with the intensity
of a meridian billiancy. In no department in which
woman has been placed has she disgraced the position.
Which is forcibly illustrated by Miss Sweet, the
agent who handles millions of dollars of pension money
and is always found correct in her accounts. The
energetic Lockwood's pleas are commended by the
bar. Elizabeth Fry and Mrs. Vancolts
words sink as deep into the heart of the erring and
fallen as their stern brothers. Ellen Foster, Susan
B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth are as
eloquent on the platform as most of the bearded sex, and
I know that Frances Nightingale and Clara
Barton, those "angels of mercy" Whittier
calls them, have done as much to lessen the sorrow, to
cheer the faint and lift up the fallen, as their more
elevated brethren. Woman's influence as an educator may
be likened unto the rays of the sun, which come quietly,
silently upon the realms of nature. The clearer woman
is of her knowledge of her duty, of her relation, of her
responsibility so more powerful will her influence be an
educator and as an elevator of suffering humanity. Then
I would say that the "chiefest" duty of the age, of the
pulpit, of the school, of the statesman and of the press
is to bend all their energies in assisting woman as an
educator.
MISS LUCY E. MOTEN, of
Washington, D. C., is an able woman. She has a broad
knowledge of men of letters, she
[Page 319]
has traveled abroad and took in store the great and
wonderful experiences of a diplomat; she took the
classic or gentlemen's course in Oberlin college and
graduated with high honors.
At the annual session of the American Association
of Educators of Colored Youths, she elicited the
following comment:
"The program of the Association embraced many
valuable papers by the most experienced teachers of
colored youth. One of the most interesting occasions of
the entire session was when the beautiful and talented
Miss Lucy E. Moten, of Washington, D. C.,
delivered an address on the Theory and Practice of
Teaching. - Christian Recorder.
Miss Lucy E. Moten, principal of the
Minor normal school of the 7th and 8th divisions, is one
of the most popular and highly educated teachers in the
United States. She has recently been made one of the
vice-presidents of the educational conference which
meets in Chicago during the time of the World's Fair.
It is conceded by those best posted on educational
affairs that the explanation of the art of teaching by
Miss Moten is equal to any of either race in this
country. Her appointment is a tribute in her deserving
ability. - The Colored American.
Miss Moten occupies a very high place
among the great educators of the age. Her work in the
school room portrays the success to which our race has
attained, and marks the highest nitch in the art of
teaching. She is mentally the peer of her sex, and is
working for the race an enviable name by the side of the
leaders of her art.
MISSES RACHEL and
LOUISA ALEXANDER are worthy scholars and teachers of
renown.
MISS CHANIE PATTERSON,
of Washington, D. C., is a graduate from the classic
halls of Oberlin, and takes front rank among our leading
educators. Her experience as a teacher is long, varied
and full of rare experiences. As a cultivated woman her
usefulness has added much to the culture and refinement
of the race.
[Page 320]
MRS. MARY WITHERS,
also emerged from the classic halls of Oberlin, and
stands very high in the art of teaching.
MRS. DR. VANELLA,
of Topeka, Kansas, is one of the prominent female
educators of the West.
MRS. PROF. GARNETT,
Louisville, Ky
MRS. SADIE NEWTON, of St.
Louis, Mo., is another classic graduate from Oberlin,
who has done much in the educational cause for the race.
MISSES HURLBURTS,
teachers and elocutionists of Trenton, New Jersey, are
entitled to our notice because of their literary labors
and real worth in the cause of education.
[Page 321]
MISS MATTIE A. HENDERSON
graduate of Lemoyne Institute, more recently of
Cincinnati Business College, now editor of the Future
State of Kansas City, Mo., ranks very high as a
teacher having completed her course at Lemoyne Inst.
graduating at the head of her class, she was offered a
position in her alma mater which she accepted,
giving in every way entire satisfaction to all
concerned.
MISS RAMSEY, of
Philadelphia, ranks among the grand educators of the
race in the Quaker City.
MISS M. E. MATLOCK,
Mathematician.
First and foremost
among the leading scholars of the Negro race from the
South, stands Mrs. Mollie Church Terrell. She
entered Oberlin at quite an early age, and prosecuted
the studies in the gentlemen's course, graduated with
honors, and was tendered a position in the Oberlin
faculty. She has traveled abroad, studied the dead
languages in their native haunts, in fact became a
disciple under the instruction of the very best foreign
instructors. Her field for usefulness is very
extensive. To say the least Mrs. Terrell is a
very grand young woman, destined to do some mighty act,
that will place higher value upon the integrity and
character of the race, and cause a general change of
opinion concerning our fidelity, and loyalty. The
School Board of Washington, D. C., immediately after her
European travels tendered her a very high position in
the High School.
[Page 322]
MISS ADDIE JACKSON, of
Baltimore, claims space for her name wherever the
subject of Negro education i s given consideration.
THE MISSES WILSONS, teachers
of distinction of Indianapolis, Indiana, are
mentioned here because of their worthiness as educators.
THE MISSES HOWARDS, of
Philadelphia, are classed very high in literature and
the arts and sciences.
KATIE B. CHAPMAN
Yankion, S. D.
REV. KERSHAW of the A. M.
E. Church in a letter to the Christian Recorder
concerning Edward Waters College noted the
following:
At the class room
No. 1, we found Miss P. B. Weston controling and
leading on the primary division; in class room No. 2,
Miss M. E. Brown one of Edward Waters' first
graduates is teacher. The trustees made no mistake in
electing her to take charge of the intermediate
department. We found her
[Page 323]
drilling her class in that part of hygiene that relates
to strong drink. Masterly and convincing was her
instruction to her class "wine is a mocker, strong drink
is raging; whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
Miss L. M. Johnson presides over the musical
department, and there is where 'get along' is the order
of the day. After hearing her I said, "Lord it is good
to be here."
In room No. 3,
Miss E. N. Phelps is
holding the crayon in front of the Normal department, at
the time of our visit to a class in United States
History. The particular subject was the treason of
Arnold. Miss E. N. Phelps is surely mistress of
the position which she occupies.
MISS BEULA V. GARNER,
Winchester, Tenn.
DR. GEORGIA E. L. PATTON
bade farewell to her many friends, Saturday, Feb. 11th,
and started for New York, where she expects to meet
Miss E. Millard, who will assist her in making the
last arrangements for her long journey. The ship in
which she is to embark for Liberia, her future field of
labor
[Page 324]
quick and ready, and this trait she injects into her
pupils. She possesses more than usual power, and
propels her children seemingly along. Her fitness as an
instructor has also won for her the position of
assistant supervisor of the colored schools.
AMONG the noted
people of Kansas, Mrs. Prof. Wadkins of Topeka,
takes high rank as an educator, scholar and race
agitator.
DR. CARRIE V. STILL
ANDERSON, of Philadelphia, daughter of the great
Still, of underground railroad fame, is able as
a scholar, teacher, lecturer and champion race advocate.
DR. CARRIE V. STILL ANDERSON
Philadelphia, Pa.
MISS MATTIE E. ANDERSON,
principal female seminary, Frankfort, Ky., ranks very
high as a teacher and disciplinarian. Mrs. Sarah G.
Jones of Cincinnati says of her: "Miss Anderson
has labored faithfully for years in Kentucky and has
assisted much in elevating the educational interests of
our people in the locality where she resides. Such
influence as she exerts cannot, however, be confined to
a narrow limit, but asserts itself positively in every
direction for good.
[Page 325]
OUR FEMALE TEACHERS
who have distinguished themselves are meny, almost
innumerable in fact, a tiresome count, but among them we
shall simply name a few.
MISS LUCY LANEY of Georgia,
stands pre-eminently ahead of those of our southern
ladies. The Christian Recorder, says of her:
One of the most
remarkable and successful women, is Miss Lucy Laney
principal of the Haynes Normal and Industrial School,
Augusta, Ga. This school is now under the auspices of
the Presbyterian church, but like most of their schools
in the South, is open to everyone who comes and complies
with the rules. Miss Laney manages thsi large
school which has an enrollment of 320 scholars with such
an ability and business tact as would do credit to any
institution in the land. She is a model for her
numerous pupils in everything that the word implies.
MISS LUCILLA WASHINGTON,
Memphis, Tenn.
MRS. MINNIE L. PHILLIPS
nee BRINKLEY, of Houston, Texas, ranks among the
greatest modern molders of clay, and teachers of the
paper folding art. She enjoys a lucrative salary in the
Austin public schools, and it's a very easy task to
single out the little fellows who are under her
immediate care. She is
[Page 326]
as medical missionary will sail about the 10th of
April. We ask for her a prosperous journey and that her
work may be a blessing to many.
MRS. LUCY THURMAN'S
work for the cause of Temperance among the race is so
very well known that we shall not necessarily emphasize
for her. The American people know her as Miss Lucy
Simpson. Mrs. Christine Shoecraft Smith says of
her, "She has lectured extensively in Illinois, Indiana,
Kentucky and Michigan as a woman of note, cause, she is
worthy a place in your book."
CARRIE L. GRIFFIN,
Dayton, Ohio
MRS. B. W. ARNET1,
MRS. SUSIE I. SHORTER2, MRS. TANNER,
MRS. BISHOP CAMPBELL3, MRS. BISHOP
HOOD and indeed a host of female giants are worthy
of extensive mention in this chapter, but let the above
serve as a hint to those so careless as to be doubtful.
Through these, God is working out the plan of redemption
for mankind. Others will catch a gleam of the bright
spark they hold aloft and succeed these womanly patriots
until wine is proven to be a mocker, and strong drink
forbidden in our christian land.
-------------------------
SHARON WICK'S NOTES:
1. See Page 38
2. See Page 143
3. See Page 149
[Page 327]
MISS ANNIE FAIRCHILD is
another primary teacher of note. She is worthy the mead
of praise when we consider that prompt attention is
given to her grades to the extent that column after
column ascends each year and in no instance has she let
her little lambs diverge from the path of duty, that of
learning or losing a grade.
MRS. LAURA ALLEN nee
WATSON of Nashville, Mrs. Bessie Carter
nee Gibson, Mrs. C. C. Goudy, Mrs. Bessie Brady
Ballad, and a host of Nashvillians rank very high as
teachers especially in the primary art of teaching.
Nashville, Tenn.,
being the Athens of the South the habit striving to
excel ahs grown in the teachers until now par excellence
is the rule.
A Georgia paper
says: Miss Selena M.
Sloan proprietress of Edward Waters Seminary, in
Tallahassee, Fla., is a living example of the excellence
of Georgia teachers. She is a charming young woman, and
is an inspiration to any girl with whom she comes in
contact. Georgia cherishes a remarkable pride in her,
and she deserves the esteem of everyone.
MISS IDA GIBBS is an able
teacher, a graduate from Oberlin College and a classic
student. She is principal of the Preparatory Department
of the University at Tallahassee, Florida.
MISS IDA BELLE EVANS a
graduate of the academic, scientific and colegiate
departments of the Central Tennessee College is a
teacher with an excellent record. She has taught three
years in the Prairie View State Normal institute of
Texas, having resigned she returned to Nashville, Tenn.,
and entered her Alma Mater, and resumed the position as
pupil and teacher in the college, taking in 1891 the
degree of A. B. from the classic department. Miss
Evans is destined to be heard from, not only as a
scholar but a singer, a poetess and a mathematician.
She has traveled through the North with the Tennessee
singers and has been richley endowed with press
comments.
MRS. AMANDA S. MULLEN,
nee PERRY, is among our talented teachers
of the South.+
[Page 328]
MISS VARA LEE MOORE is a
classic graduate of Central Tennessee College who has
taught unceasingly in Texas, Waco and Ft. Worth for six
years. Recently she has been appointed Lady Principal
of the Central Alabama Academy at Huntsville, Ala.,
under the auspices of the Freedman's Aid Society.
MISS HALLIE Q. BROWN
ranks among the leading teachers of the race, at present
acting as lady Principal of Tuskegee University. Her
sketch is given elsewhere.
MRS. FRANKIE E.
HARRIS WASSOM is making her name not only as an
instructor of the future man and woman, but that of a
poetess, she ranks high among the alumni of Oberlin.
MISS CLARISSA M.
THOMPSON is a disciplinarian whose sketch is given
in another part of our book.
MISS A. L. EVANS, we may
justly say is entitled to be styled a teacher. Having
for some years taught in the capital city of Texas, and
feeling her inability to give value for value, she went
to Oberlin College in 1888, remaining until 1890,
finishing in one of its departments.
MISS ELNORA BOWERS, a
classic graduate of Fisk University, located at
Galveston, Texas, is a very efficient scholar and able
teacher. All Texas is proud of her.
MRS. ELLA AYLER nee
JONES, of Macon, Ga. is a graduate of Fisk
University and is gifted for generosity and sincerity
among not only her pupils, but all others who come in
her way. She has for many years taught in the Lone Star
State; Dallas, Waco and Huntsville being the fortunate
cities that can boast of her sojourn as teacher.
MRS. MARY SINCLAR, nee
LE McLEMARE, is classed among the finest musicians
of Tennessee. Not only was she a most pleasing musical
performer, but a composer of songs and music. She is
the author of many notable pieces of music that have
found their way into the recognition of the great
writers. She is widely known as a musician of a very
high order, and many surprises has she given when
bringing into full view of her audience her dark skin.
[Page 329]
MRS. HAYDEE CAMPBELL,
nee BENCHLEY, is a native Texan. For some
years past she has resided in St. Louis, Mo. Three or
more years ago she distinguished herself by actually
going before the school board of St. Louis, as an
applicant for the position as principal or instructress
for the kindergarten department. Here she was
confronted with the task of making the highest average,
and leaping the obstacle of white applicants, who for so
many years have stood in the way. She, with
MRS. HAYDEE CAMPBELL
courage undaunted, went
into the examination and, to the surprise of the board
of examiners, the white applicants and the city of St.
Louis, she captured the department with the highest
average percentage ever made in St. Louis, for that
work. Mrs. Campbell is a tireless worker, and it
is never too cold, too wet, for her to do a charitable
act. The people of St. Louis love her. She is an
ex-student of Oberlin, a scholar but not a graduate.
[Page 330]
Among the host of
teachers in the public school service of Cleveland,
Ohio, we delight to mention several ladies of our
beloved race, who are making for themselves a
comfortable living, teaching not only colored children,
but white as well. Since this is a demonstrable fact,
we must lay down the excuse so often made, and say, the
way is open, enter while you may Merit before
examining boards is the watch-word.
Misses Sarah L. Mitchell, Rachel Walker, Hattie
Green, Ida Deaver, Cora Bean and
Mary Trappe,
have met boldly the requirements and pursue their
pleasing tasks to the satisfaction of all.
MRS. FLORENCE
A. T. FLEMMING, nee HAYES, is a
graduate from the normal department of Central Tennessee
College, who has achieved some distinction in the Quincy
(Ill.) public schools as a teacher and efficient
disciplinarian. Prior to her going North Dr. William
Wells Brown in his book "The Rising Sun," gave
almost a chapter to Mrs. Fleming, nee
Hayes, who was brutally beaten by a white coward,
who, if a man, was not manly. This was in the
seventies, when colored teachers were an experiment in
the South, and many there were who entered upon this
pioneer mission. Among these was the subject of this
short sketch.
MRS. I. GARLAND PENN
is a gifted teacher, whose sketch appears in another
part of this book.
MISS GRACE G. SAMPSON
is among the brainiest young woman of the race. As a
scholar she is without a peer. She is the first and nly
woman who has secured a first-grade certificate from the
Dallas City public school board. Having been reared in
Chicago she has enjoyed exceptional advantages for
education. After graduating from the high school of her
native city she came to Texas and accepted a position as
teacher in the Paul Quinn College. Thence she took the
first grade examination and got the highest average per
cent, ever made in Corsicana, Texas, where she taught
one eyar. Prof. Kealing now president of Paul
Quinn College, Waco, Texas, hearing of the rigidness of
the Dallas board of examiners,
[Page 331]
took the examination in 1888 and passed, it with a very
high mark, as the boast had been made by the whites that
"a nigger could not get sufficient average." Thus
Prof. Kealing exploded the doctrine of incapacity,
being the first Negro to pass the board. The remark was
made afterward that "no Negro woman could get a
first-grade certificate in Dallas." This remark was
grating on Miss Sampson's ear, hence in 1889 she
went to Dallas and applied for a first-grade
certificate, to the utter surprise of the board. She
was examined and awarded the coveted certificate, and
thus put an end to the doubts and dogmas of Negro
inferiority. She is at present teaching in the city
schools of the great and future metropolis, Chicago.
We have thus sketched a few of the great, grand and
good teachers of the race. This subject could be
carried to infinity, as they are legion. The work is
telling on the present generation, and who can doubt the
harvest, if they reap as they have sown?
Among the musicians of the race we mention MRS.
E. C. NESBIT , nee Clark, as peerless, while
MISS GIBBS, of conservatory fame, now at the head
of the first and only Afro-American Conservatory of
Music in the United States, founded by the late and
lamented Dr. William J. Simmons, at Cane Springs,
Ky., is an accomplished musician, mistress of both key
and stringed instruments, and none her equal. She is
the daughter of Judge Gibbs, of Little
Rock.
MISS MYRTLE HART is among
the noted female musicians of the race, and the pride
and boast of Indianapolis, Ind.
MRS. CORA L. BURGEN,
nee MOORE, of Detroit, Mich., now of Oakland,
Cal., sister to Prof. A. J. Moore, like him is a
pianist, a graduate in the musical art and a most
pleasing performer, an ex-musical teacher in the Texas
Blind, deaf and Dumb Asylum.
MISS ANNA AUGUSTA RIDLEY
is a musician, and at present is teacher of music in the
Tennessee State Deaf, Dumb and Blind Asylum. Miss
Ridley is yet quite young. She is destined to
became excellent in the pianoforte art.
[Page 332]
MISS WILLY BENCHLEY, of
Oberlin, is one of the best known organists perhaps in
the world. For many years she has played for the
original Fisk Jubilee Singers, who have sung themselves
into the hearts of many nations and traveled around the
world. She has played before the crowned heads of the
Eastern world, besides delighted the audiences of their
many
MISS WILLY BENCHLEY
thousands of concerts in
the United States by her harmony and cadence. She being
a good organist is, almost of necessity, a pianist; yes,
a pianist most difficult to surpass, not to be
criticised, never to be frowned upon. Miss Benchley,
now residing in St. Louis, a cousin to Mrs. Haydee
Campbell of kindergarten fame, is a Texan lady, and
has for years been proving that locality is nothing when
the mind is made up and the opportunities are not
wanting.
[Page 333]
MRS. J. E. EDWARDS, of
Washington, D. C., now of Galveston, has enjoyed
superior advantages for learning music, being the
adopted daughter of Right Rev. Richard Cain, D.
D., whose heart and mind were fixed on the bringing out
of the talents of the Negro. She is a scholar in piano
music, both a composer and a pleasing performer.
Of the many great literary women of the race
Mrs. Harper being the oldest, ripe with theory,
practice and experience shines alone. Mrs. Coppin,
with her rich opportunities for showing her stored-up
knowledge, most especially in the field of pedagogy,
takes rank by the side of the former; while Mrs. J.
Silone Yates, being the youngest of the three, in
her special field of science, takes the front rank and
seems to distance all of her sex, when age is
considered. Where then shall we place Mrs. Anna J.
Cooper? For readiness of speech, for disciplinarian
qualities, for her analytical foundation upon which her
principles of instruction are built, forces us to say
that she is equal to all. For depth and solidity,
firmness and conservativism, Mrs. Zelia R. Page
takes her place among the galaxy of bright intellectual
stars; so also does Mrs. Blanch V. H. Brooks.
While Mrs. Mollie Church Terrill, being the
youngest of all, stands in no indifferent relation to
the eldest.
As martyrs for the cause of education, the untimely
death of Mrs. Olivia Davidson Washington, Miss
Arimenta Martin, Mrs. Octavia V. R. Alberts, Miss Louise
Mortie and Miss Julia Hayden all thrill our
minds with sorrow and regret. As Mr. Lincolnl
beautifully said of his comrades who had fallen on the
battle field, so may we say:
|
"Their swords are
rust,
Their bodies dust,
Their souls are with the saints
I trust." |
How young, yet how
noble in heart and mind, with purpose fixed and bent
upon doing what others had done for them; but sometimes
we overshoot the mark and bring unwelcome grief and
sorrow upon ourselves. They, in the morning of their
lives,
[Page 334]
had just begun the earthly, heavenly, task, and scarcely
had they learned their duty well ere the summons came to
pay the debt which all must pay.
We have this comfort, that their deeds still live
The asylums founded, orphans homes builded, the
enlargement of our universities, are works of their
hands and hearts.
Our Temperance Union women are many; and, indeed,
that subject alone would fill a volume doubly the size
of our book, hence we restrict ourselves to the mention
of a few who rank with any and all in every land of
civilization.
Mrs. Abbie Wright Lyon is not only a singer
but a Christian temperance woman. Mrs. Naomi
Anderson is among the noted females who took the
lecture platform in the palmy days when Mrs. Mary A.
Livermore and Sojourner Truth stood, in their
gigantic independence, battling for woman's rights. In
1869 she spoke from the platform in Chicago with the
leader of the movement, Mrs. Livermore, and
traveled through the States of Illinois, Indiana and
Ohio advocating that cause; but in recent years Mrs.
Anderson has become famous as a temperance advocate,
and is also engaged in the founding of orphan homes for
the poor of the race. We may justly style Mrs. L. A.
Westbrooks a tireless, energetic advocate fo teh
temperance cause. Many years of her life have been
spent in organizing temperance bands among the race in
the Southern States. Perhaps no lady is more widely
known for work in this cause, most especially in Texas,
than Mrs. L. A. Westbrooks, A.M. She is
president of the Woman's Home Mission work for the M. E.
Church in Texas. While the Caucassian race is proud of
Miss Frances E. Willard, who is in every
way a pure genuine type of tireless Christian devotion,
we, seemingly the unfortunates of earth delight to honor
the name of Mrs. S. J. W Early, the peer of any
human advocate for the Christian temperance cause.
While Mrs. Early has not met with the
encouragement that Miss Willard has, yet,
with no meager idea of Christian temperance devotion
characterizing the race with which she is identified—she
labors among the illiterate—has accomplished a twofold
result—that of educating and christianizing. She
[Page 335]
has been in the lecture field for more than two decades,
we believe, and in the educational work more than forty
years. Her opportunities for education have been the
best. After receiving the honors from the classic halls
of Oberlin, she became the first colored teacher in
Wilberforce University. Here she sowed the seeds of the
temperance cause, which have brought forth fruit a
hundred fold. She is beloved by many thousands of her
race. The presidents of Fisk University Central
Tennessee College, and Roger Williams University delight
to be honored by a yearly visit of this talented female
lecturer. As an intellectual woman, Mrs. Early
ranks fairly with our very best educators; but being
more than an educator we place her in her respective
two-fold sphere. Living up to her teaching, she has all
her life enjoyed the very best of health. We remember
when a school boy, at Central Tennessee College, hearing
her say that she had not suffered an unwell day in all
her active life.
MRS. M. E. LAMBERT, of
Detroit, Michigan, is one of the leading spirits of her
city in all the higher social and intellectual
activities among the race. She was born in Toronto,
Canada, where she enjoyed the very best educational
facilities, preparatory to the place she occupies among
the grand people of our time. She is a poetess, as well
as a contributor to the leading magazines. For a number
of years she has been a special correspondent to the
Minitor, Plaindealer, and takes a leading part in
all the life and prosperity of St. Matthew's Episcopal
church. Her poems teem with that beauty, reinforced by
her high rhetorical faculties, convincing by her logic,
and betraying very deep imaginative powers.
MRS. FRANKIE BUCKNER,
an accomplished organist and pianist, received her
training at Detroit. She has been praised by the papers
of Madison, wis.; was at one time pianist to a large
singing society; and is a contralto vocalist.
MISS IDA PLATT ranks among
the finest female pianists of the Negro race. In fact,
to say that she is brilliant in performing is putting it
mildly.
[Page 336]
MISS MAY WITHERS, emerged
from the classic halls of Oberlin, and stands very high
in the art of pedagogy.
MRS. DR. VANELLA,
of Topeka, Kansas, is one of our prominent female
educators.
MISS
EVA LEWIS, of 19 Grant street, Cambridge, is
employed by the Mass. Inland Fish Commission under the
Civil Service.
Chicago has an
Afro-American woman physician,
Mrs. Dr. Carrie Golden.
MRS. ADDISON FOSTER, of
Philadelphia, Pa., will manage by undertaking business,
formerly owned and managed by her husband, recently
deceased.
MRS. DOVE of Keokuk, Iowa,
wife of Rev. Dove is a lecturer, author, and
tireless agitator. She has compiled her deceased
husband's sermons into book form, and is now traveling
through the South lecturing and selling the work of her
hands. This is indeed noble, a splendid lesson full
with rare instruction to our girls.
MRS. GEORGIA GREEN
MAJORS has done something in the educational cause
for her race. Having attended Oberlin College and Fisk
University, thereby preparing herself for life's duties,
she returned to Texas and for seven years has labored
earnestly in her public schools. She has been favorably
endorsed by such educational men as State Supt.
Carlisle, Professors Hand,
Gambrell, George Hunter Smith,
Esq., and Hon. George Clark. She ranks
with the best primary teachers of the State in which she
lives.
MISS IDA R. GRIFFIN,
Mabel Moffard, Birdie Williams, Adel and Alice Baines
and S. A. Owens are energetic teachers, adn are
doing much in the cause of Negro education in the South.
MRS. SMOTHERS is one very
good and noble woman who for many years has taught
school and lectured throughout Texas and other Southern
States. She is a W. C. T. U. woman, and one of the
brightest stars in the Bapitst cause.
[Page 337]
GIRLHOOD AND
ITS OPPORTUNITIES.
BY KATIE D. TILMAN.
"The hours are flying.
Each one some treasure takes,
Each one some blossom breaks
And leaves it dying." |
IT is the May-time
of the whole world, dear girls, and it is also the
May-time of your lives.
Do you realize as you go carelessly on through life
that yo are now at the most critical period of your
lives?"
It is, alas, too true. You who have been watched
and guarded from harm from babyhood will now be brought
into contact with vice, sailing under the garb of
virtue; sin robed in the most alluring forms; passion
under the guise of love. All of these influences will
be brought to bear upon your impassionable natures, and
unless you are on your guard you will not cross the
boundary line and gain the crown of bright womanhood
without having stained your dainty robes.
While there are hundreds of girls belonging to the
Afro-American race who are models of virtue, industry
and intelligence, there are thousands who are living
aimless, unhappy lives, never heeding the truth of the
following sentiments:
"Life is a leaf of paper
white,
Whereon each one of us may write,
And then comes night." |
Among the evils that
tend to destroy your lives are novel reading, bad
associates and love of finery.
I maintain that the reading of an impure book is
more injurious to one's moral health than an hour's
conversation upon an immoral subject, for in such a
book, as nowhere else, you will find wrong painted so as
to resemble right. I do not condemn the reading of a
good story, farm from it; indeed, much good hath often
been wrought by the pen of the novelist. A book written
in vindication of truth, such as "Uncle Tom's Cabin,"
"Bricks Without Straw" and "Ben Hur," or to inculcate a
good moral, as "A golden Gossip," "The
[Page 338]
Home at Greylock," together with the bright, helpful
stories found in such magazines as the century,
Scribner, Ladies' Home Journal, and the A. M. E.
Review, furnish reading of the best sort and contain
nothing hurtful, but too much cannot be said against
promiscuous novel reading.
The mind that revels constantly in the pages of
Bertha Clay and Laura Jean Libby's
sensational romances will, in time, become a weak,
flabby affair unfitted to contend with the stern
realities of life.
Some one has said, "A man is no better than his
thoughts;" so, dear girls, you must be careful of your
reading, for low reading will surely introduce low
thoughts into your minds, and low thoughts will lead to
deeds of a similar nature.
You have the opportunity of storing your mind with
the best literature of the age. Books at American
prices are in the reach of all.
Dickens pleading in his inimitable style for
the poor of England; Reade, on his tour through the
British prisons; Goldsmith, Byron, Lowell, all look down
at you from their lonely shelves and sigh as you hasten
past them to procure the latest edition of the New
York Weekly or the Saturday Night.
If you had only yourselves to consider,—but think
of it, if God spares your lives, in a few years the
majority of you will become mothers, and upon you rest
the destiny of your children.
Is there a single line in all the trashy novels
that you have read that will help you to train a soul
for all eternity?
But some of you say, you do not make a practice of
reading novels, you only read occasionally, and that is
all right you think. Well, it would be if all were like
you, but remember that there are many girls around you,
who, like the drunkard, are always crying for more, and
I would cite you to that passage of the Bible which
reads, "If meat maketh my brother to offend," etc. If
you are strong enough to take only an occasional
draught, then you are strong enough to give it up
altogether for the sake of those around you. Here is an
opportunity to influence say a dozen girls to renounce
the
[Page 339]
reading of impure books. "Will you do it ? You can if
you will.
I myself owe much to the influence of other girls
in the halcyon days of girlhood. You cannot begin too
soon to muster your forces and find out how many
advocates you have for pure, healthy literature.
"Let us, then, be up and doing."
We have all heard
the old adages, "Evil communications corrupt good
manners," and "Tell me the company you keep and I will
tell you what you are."
Evil associates will bring you nothing but
heartaches and woe.
Now by evil associates, I am not speaking
especially of those who are outcasts of society, pariahs
who have chosen to live in sin. I take it for granted
that none of you have such girls for your associates.
But of all those with whom you are broughtnn contact at
home, school, church or anywhere, whom you know in your
soul are not suitable persons for you to be with, let
not lively conversation, wealthy appearance, beauty or
any other attraction cause you to make intimate of
unworthy persons. There is a pretty safe test of such
persons; feeling their own inferiority, they will
invariably flatter you. Beware! Many an innocent
girlhood has been blighted by flattery.
As one has said, "If we watch our friends our
enemies will have no power to harm us."
Another person to avoid is the person who tries to
create strife between you and your best earthly friend,
your mother. Out of all the women in the world God in
His infinite wisdom has chosen your mother as the
guardian of your young life. Be sure that you give her
all the love and respect that are due her.
It seems to me that the saddest sight in the world
is the estrangement of mother and daughter. Remember
that in the majority of cases it is the daughter's place
to submit, not the mother's.
To you who have associates who are not what they
profess to be comes the opportunity to do them good, by
refusing to
[Page 340]
associate with them any longer unless they act as they
should. Convert them if possible to your own plan of
thought and then enlist their friendship and services in
behalf of others.
Let this thought inspire you. If the majority of
our girls are pure, earnest-hearted women, what a grand
race we shall become! Our children shall sing our
praises to their little ones.
You have also the opportunity of helping the young
men to lead noble lives. You stand in your dainty fresh
girlhood before their eyes, and your smile is more
potent with them than all the counsel of their fathers.
In your slim brown hand lies "the balance of power."
How will you use it? If you will refuse to associate
with all young men of immoral character, there would be
a decided reformation among them and you will infinitely
better your own future happiness.
There are girls who do not read anything, and who
do not associate with evil companions, but are almost
insane on the subject of dress. Dear girls, the sooner
you give up the unequal struggle in the race for dress
and display supremacy, the happier you will be.
It is said "that the love of money is the root of
all evil," but with many girls it is the love of dress.
Not to be desired in the height of fashion is the
greatest curse in their category.
Poverty is no disgrace, if you are not able to
afford a dress for Easter, for every new picnic or
excursion, don't try to do it any way. Be sensible,
girls, dress according to your means and you will win
more real friends than by any other means.
---------------
MRS. LIZZIE YOUNG, a
colored woman of Jacksonville, Fla., has established
quite a draying business in that city. She owns three
drays, and employs from twenty to thirty more when
occasion requires. She pays each drayman $1.50 a day,
calling fourteen loads a day's work. At present she is
employed in hauling away the sand from the excavation on
the government lot, and so far has sold every particle
of the sand dug out. Mrs.
[Page 341]
Young knows by face and name every drayman in her
employ. But draying is not her only business. For six
months every year this enterprising young woman runs an
extensive wood yard at North Springfield, and four or
five teams are kept busy delivering wood. She sells,
besides, many hundreds of dollars worth of pork every
year, and does a good trade in poultry and eggs.—Tonguelet.
The first ballot
ever cast by a woman in the State of Mississippi was
that of MRS. LUCY TAPLEY,
a colored woman.
The silk quilt
presented to Queen Victoria by
MRS. RICKS, of
Liberia, will be exhibited at the "World's Fair.
Miss CARRIE L. DICKERSON,
of San Francisco, has been appointed to a Federal
position after a rigid examination.
Mrs. D. A. EVANS, of Columbus,
Ohio, is an exceptional lady, exceptional in her
ambition and in the successful prosecution of a
profitable business. She is a successful builder and
fire insurance agent. Her success offers encouragement
to other Afro-American ladies to enter other useful
employments besides those of the home and school-room.
Society and the apparent fixtures of position have made
them the only places suitable for the employment of
ladies. But in this aggressive age of competition the
environment disqualifies a large number of women for
domestic and educational service. Yet they are
dependent upon themselves for a livelihood and have to
bestir themselves in acquiring a living. We who are
mothers should try to direct the attention of our
daughters to the avenues in which an honorable
livelihood may be gained. As the scope of their
knowledge of the industrial world is enlarged they are
made more self-reliant and capable of caring for
themselves and assuming the responsibilities of matured
years. The success of this Afro-American woman suggests
that others may be successful in similar pursuits. —
Mrs. Julia Ringwood Coston.
NANCY GARRISON,
an Afro-American living at Holly Springs, Miss., has the
longest hair, probably, of any woman in the world. She
is about sixty years old. Her hair she wears in
[Page 342]
three plaits. The side plaits just touch the floor,
while the third plait drags two feet nine inches on the
floor and measures eight feet in length. It is a silver
sable in color, and she wears it coiled up on her head.
MISS E. O. MILES, who
sailed to Europe lately, writes that she has the
pleasure of ranking in the best London society, where no
American caste and prejudice dare to exist. She has
been invited to the best public places, most popular
churches, sang in a hall, was a guest and ate at the
tables with members of the royal family, and there was
no hint of discrimination. She adds, that on a visit
with a company of Grecian and London ladies to the
"Women's Christian Association she was escorted to one
of the large branch associations on Regent street, one
of the most popular thoroughfares. There, to her
surprise, she was introduced to one of the principal
secretaries of the department, a Miss Gardner,
who is an educated African young lady, doing business
with much grace and aptitude, speaking the English and
many other languages with great fluency and ease.
COLORED WOMAN'S
NOBLE WORK.
The most notable
colored woman in Georgia to-day is Miss Carrie
Steele. She is now about fifty years of age, and is
a bright mulatto. For many years she was stewardess of
the Central Railroad at Macon and later held the same
position in Atlanta, receiving therefor $100 a month.
It was while there that she became impressed with the
necessity of doing something to take care of colored
orphans. She daily saw them rushed off to the
penitentiary for trivial offenses. She took several
orphans under the shelter of her house, and from this
developed the idea of having an orphan asylum entirely
for colored children. She undertook the collection of
funds herself, and was so successful that the whites
insisted that she should finish up the work, and thus
have the entire credit of the undertaking. The result
is a building worth §20,000 on a site worth $10,000, all
paid for and under Negro management. She has, in the
prosecution of this work, had to address the City
Council,
[Page 343]
to juggle with legislative committees and to appear
before large white congregations, calling for aid.
Every request she made was favorably answered, and she
was freely trusted in the handling of the money and
completion of the work.—Chicago Inter Ocean.
Mrs. Amanda
Merchant, the amiable wife of Rev. E. W. Merchant,
of Lawrence, one of the gifted daughters of Missouri, is
president of the Woman's Baptist Home and Foreign
Mission
Convention of Kansas. She is a lady of excellent
qualities and high aspirations. In the district
convention Mrs. R. M. Goins,
of Fort Scott, Kansas, presides over a grand,
intelligent body of ladies, second to none in the West.
Her able, dignified, impartial
caste is unimpeachable and without a peer in the
category of feminine parliamentarians. She is president
of the Woman's Home and Foreign Mission Convention under
Central Baptist Association. Mrs. M. C., the
president of the Woman's Home and Foreign Mission
Convention, an auxiliary to the North western Baptist
Association, is a woman of broad ideas, intensely
Christian in motive, full of zeal and oratorical
ability. She is the Queen Esther of her
tribe, and is doing great service as organizer. Mrs.
M. E. Merchant is noted for her eloquence and push,
and is said to be the Laura M. Sohnson of Kansas
in the mission field. Miss
Ophelia Moran, of Frankfort, heads the list as an
elocutionist. During the past two years the women of
Kansas have raised more than $1,300 for mission work.
---------------
INDEPENDENT AFRO-AMERICANS.
In New
Richmond, Ohio, a town about twenty miles above
Cincinnati, there was, a few years ago, much opposition
shown by the whites to the mixing of the schools.
Finally a settlement was made in court in favor of mixed
schools. Since that time a number of young
Afro-Americans have attended the high school, but for
some reason none have ever graduated. Now, however, a
young lady, Miss Alice
Paxton, has shown a determination to do so that must
indeed be trying to the
[Page 344]
patience of the school management. For some time she
had been put off with promises, although having passed
her examinations. At the end of this school year
Miss Paxton would be put off no longer. So
the school decided to have no commencement exercises
this year. Miss Paxton was given her
diploma and the other members decided to take another
year in school and come out when there would be no
"nigger " graduates.
The Afro-American citizens, not to be outdone,
secured the largest hall in the town, sent to Cincinnati
and secured one of Cincinnati's best vocal quartettes,
and on Friday evening, April 22d, Miss Paxton
read her graduating essay before one of the largest
mixed audiences ever assembled in New Richmond. She
received an ovation, and was the recipient of many
beautiful flowers. The musical programme, which was
well rendered, met with hearty applause. Many white
citizens, who have outgrown the prejudice that still
clings to their more ignorant townsmen, helped to meet
the expenses of the affair and attended the exercises
with their families.
By the way, Miss Paxton is not only a
very bright young lady intellectually, and quite a
musician, but is not afraid to use her hands. I have
among my souvenirs a horseshoe made by the young lady.
Her father is a blacksmith, and she likes to spend an
occasional hour or two in the shop with him.—A. E. W. in
Ringwood's Journal.
MISS FANNIE HICKS,
artist and teacher of drawing in the University, at
Louisville, has applied for space at the World's Fair,
in which to exhibit work of the pupils of the
University.
IOLA LEROY, OR SHADOWS
UPLIFTED. - By Frances E. W. Harper
(Philadelphia: Garrigus Bros., No. 608
Arch street). Perhaps no woman, white or colored, has
during the last decade labored more earnestly and
effectively for the upbuilding of the colored race than
Mrs. Harper. She has written half a dozen
volumes, either one of which would be creditable if it
had emanated from the brain of the most cultured white
woman. But her books do not measure her influence for
good.
[Page 345]
Since the close of
the war she has been a constant laborer among the
colored people of the South. Her favored work has been
among the colored women of the South, discussing
temperance, education, home purity, industry, morality;
and helping them to break away from the thoughts and
customs and methods instilled into them during the ages
of slavery. No field has a riper harvest of good to be
gathered than in the upbuilding of the colored man's
home in the South. She knows every intricacy of the
condition of the race freed from bondage. The volume
before us, "Iola Leroy," as effectually
discusses caste prejudices on account of color as "Uncle
Tom's Cabin" portrayed the iniquities of the
inhuman institution. The plot, though simple, is clear,
clean, and delightfully interwoven with facts and
incidents of the war of thrilling interest. The story
is beautiful in its symmetry, its pictures and
characters never overdrawn, and its lessons so pathetic
and impressive as to move the coldest reader into
sympathy. "So story of the war is more profoundly
interesting as a story, and certainly no writing will be
more likely to exert a helpful influence in cultivating
public opinion to a more humane and Christian standard.
The black race has its faults, and a multitude of them
grow directly out of its training during all the
generations of the past. But it is well to stop and
remember that as a race the black man now has a score of
merit. Had he been white, Indian or Asiatic when his
case was pending in the South, thousands of homes and
villages of the South would have been the scene of
bloodshed and crime. He knew the situation, and yet the
wives and daughters of his enslavers were safe under his
protection. It is a wonder that Negro chivalry, as
displayed during that period, has not oftener been
acknowledged by the people of the South. But read "Iola
Leroy" It is a remarkable book. — Chicago Inter
Ocean.
Mme. Flora Batson has
taken permanent residence in Chicago.
Mme. Lizzie Pugh Dugan
scored a success in Cincinnati, as she does everywhere.
— Indiana-polls Freeman.
[Page 346]
A number of ladies
of the two Kansas cities met last week at the Lincoln
High School, Kansas City, Mo., and formed an auxiliary
league, which has for its object the bettering of the
condition of young women. — Freeman.
Miss Rachel L. Walker,
of Cleveland, appeared with great success at the
Indianapolis Musical Festival. — Indianapolis
Freeman.
Lulu Vere Childers,
who is studying in the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, is
considered its best contralto. Indianapolis
Freeman.
THE KING'S DAUGHTERS.
The King's Daughters gave a
delightful entertainment at Grace Presbyterian Church
Wednesday night. The program, which was varied and
interesting, was enjoyed by a large audience.
The "Workers for the King" was organized in 1871 by
Mesdames John Johns, J. Bryant, Jessie Young, C. E.
Jones. There are not fifty members. The officers
are as follows:
Mrs. Sarah Curd,
president
Mrs. Robert
Young, vice-president.
Miss C. E. Jones,
second vice-president.
Miss Theodora
Lee, secretary
Miss Eliza
Johnson, treasurer.
The object of the organization is to do
good, and many are the wants of the poor and needy which
have ben relieved during the past year. -
Chicago
Appeal.
Miss Minnie Watson, a
lady of Louisville, Ky., is a graduate of the Clark
school for embalming. She is the youngest female
graduate in the world. She graduated in February, '92,
in a class of forty-five, three colored and forty-two
male students. Mrs. Watson took the first
honor. She is a great assistance to her husband, Wm.
Watson, who is running an undertaking establishment
at 312 Ninth street. This little lady made her husband,
who is a graduate himself, open his eyes with amazement
when she embalmed a man who died with the dropsy, a case
that all undertakers dread to handle. -
Freeman
[Page 347]
SARAH J. EARLEY, of
Tennessee, addressed the congress on the organized
efforts of Afro-American women in the South to improve
their conditions. She could not present all of her
ideas on account of the lateness of the hour. Briefly,
she said:
"In this age of development and advancement, of
multiplied methods and opportunities, all the forces
which have been accumulating for centuries past seem to
be centered into one grand effort to raise mankind to
that degree of intellectual and moral excellence which a
wise and beneficent Creator designed that we should
enjoy. No class of persons are exampt from this great
impulse. The most remote as well as the most obscure,
the most refined as well as the most unlettered, seem to
have felt the touch of an unseen power which caused them
to arouse, and to have heard a mysterious voice calling
them to ascend higher in the scale of being and bask in
the light of the eternal. It is not a strange
coincidence, then, that in this period of restlessness
and activity the women of all lands should
simultaneously and at once see the necessity of taking a
more exalted position and seeking a more effective way
of ascending to the same plane and of assuming the more
responsible duties of life with that of her favored
brother.
Step by step, as the dark cloud of ignorance and
superstition is dispelled by the penetrating light of
eternal truth, men begin to think, and thought brings
resolution, and resolution changes the condition of men
and leads them into a happier and brighter existence, so
have the great revolutions of the age affected the
condition of the Afro-Americans of the State and brought
them into a more prominent and more hopeful relation to
the world. Afro-American hearts are inspired with all
the ambitions which swell the breast, and have pushed
forward in the line of progress their equal advantages;
they will take an equally prominent part in every
movement which has for its purpose the advancement of a
higher and better civilization.
Mrs. Earley was followed by
Hallie Q. Brown, who
entertained the audience with Afro-American dialect
songs and
[Page 348]
an interesting discussion of the position of the
Afro-American in modern civilization.
Mrs. Coppin
was called upon for some remarks, but she declined on
account of the lateness of the hour, except that she
regretted the fact that more attention had not been
given to the papers upon the kindergartens. Then she
requested the privilege of introducing her friend.
Mrs.
Ellen Watkins Harper, as it would be
the only opportunity of securing her attention. Mrs.
Harper entertained her admirers in a few
well-selected words on the way the Afro-American girl
has improved her opportunities of education, and how she
devoted herself to the spreading of God's word.
The Washington Pilot
is an able exponent of the progress of the colored race,
and includes in its sheets many items indicative of the
aspirations and achievements of its women. This
representative of the woman's side of life is perhaps
due to the fact that the editor is
Mrs. R. Douglass
Sprague, a daugter of the Hon.
Frederick Douglass. In the last issue are these
items of interest:
Mohango
Corpassa, the African girl who has been one of the
students at the Howard Asylum, Brooklyn, N. Y., has been
sent to Northfield Seminary to prepare for missionary
work in Africa.
Miss Estella I.
Sprague, grand-daughter of the Hon.
Frederick Douglass, has volunteered her
services gratis for one year to the Agricultural and
Industrial High School at Gloucester, Ala. She is a
graduate of one of the best cooking schools in
Washington.
Miss Emma Reynolds,
sister of the Rev. G. Reynolds, formerly of
Chicago, graduated from the Provident Hospital as a
trained nurse, and will enter the medical college of the
Northwestern University in Detroit. She is the first
colored that has entered the institution.
[Page 349]
MISS CELESTINE O. BROWNE,
of Jamestown, New York possesses fine ability as a
pianist. She is thus mentioned by the Folio, of Boston,
in the number for December, 1876:
She is a fine pianist, very brilliant and
showy as soloist and accompanist.
Again, the same journal in the number for February, 1877
said of Miss Browne:
A pianist of great merit. Her natural
abilities have been well trained. She has a clear
touch, and plays with a great deal of expression.
For more than two seasons she was an honored member
of the Hyers Sisters Concert Troupe.
In his able contribution to the Negro literature of
this 19th century, Mr. J. M. Trotter pays some
very high compliments to our race in music, some of
which I take the liberty of appending. He says:
Madame Browne was long regarded as
the finest vocalist of her race in this country, while
only a few of the other race could equal her. Although
now no longer young, she still sings artistically and
beautifully. Her repertoire comprises the gems of the
standard operas; and these she has sung and does now
sing, in a style that would reflect honor on those far
more pretentious than herself.
Out of compliment to
her singing, Miss Sarrah Sedgwick
Bowers, "The Colored Nightingale," is rather
conservative as well as natural.
The Daily Pennsylvanian, in speaking of her
vocal triumphs of May 3, 1856, says:
We have never been called upon to record a
more brilliant and instantaneous success than has thus
far attended this talented young aspirant to musical
honors. From obscurity she has risen to popularity.
She has not been through the regular routine of
advancement, but, as it were, in a moment, endowed by
nature with the wonderful power of song, she delighted
the circle in which she moved, and is now enchanting the
public. Last evening the hall was thronged at an early
hour. In every song she was unanimously encored.
"Miss Bowers now lives quietly at her home
in Philadelphia," writes Mr. Trotter, "singing in
public only on special occasions."
MISS MARY F. MORRIS
performs upon the piano-forte with fine skill and taste,
and is a vocalist of excellent powers. She has pursued
her musical studies in the Cleveland Convent, the
[Page 350]
teachers of which enjoy a high reputation; and also
under Professor Alfred Arthur, one of the finest
instructors of Cleveland; and under these very auspices,
opportunities and musical advantages we also add the
name of Miss Annie Henderson, who
is a very pleasing vocalist.
MISS CLARA
MONTIETH HOLLAND, the daughter of the celebrated
guitar virtuoso, Justin Holland, gives evidence
of a fulfilled prophecy by Mr. Trotter of her
musical powers, and especially on the piano-forte.
MRS. ANN S. BALTIMORE
is an accomplished pianist, and possesses, besides a
melodious voice. She has been favorably noted by the
press, and enjoys the happy faculty of pleasing all who
her her. Her life before the public is long and
varied. She stands along with the great women of this
age.
MISS MARY AND FANNIE
COLE, member of the Mozart Circle, are distinguished
for the beauty of their voices.
MISS SARAH WERLES has
a voice which is much appreciated, and under her fingers
the cabinet organ itself seems to sing.
For public musical
occasions we shall not fail to mention
Miss Ella Smith and
Ella Buckner, who have
delighted thousands of Cincinnati's music-loving
citizens at various times.
In this connection
and under the head of music, we call your attention to
the fact that, owing to the World's Fair being held at
Chicago, many of our leading and in fact most celebrated
singers are taking up a permanent residence there;
hence, to give a long list of Chicago's musical talent,
I trust will not be expected here - as elsewhere in this
book is a sketch of Mrs. Flora Botson Bergen, the
Hyer Sisters, et al.
MISS BESSIE WARWICK,
soprano and brilliant pianist, was formerly a pupil of
Prof. Baumback of Chicago.
MRS. HETTIE REED
possesses a contralto voice of remarkable beauty, purity
and sweetness. She was one of the principal singers of
the Chicago Colored Musical Society, and has been highly
complimented by the critics of Illinois and Wisconsin.
[Page 351]
MISS ELIZA J. COWAN,
educated in Chicago, a member of the Olivet Church
choir, is a very sweet singer.
MISS FLORA COOPER has
a voice of such great depth that it really may be styled
baritone. She was educated in Chicago, and is a teacher
in one of the public schools of that city.
MRS. ESTHER
WASHINGTON (nee MISS E. FRY) is a
finished performer on the organ and piano-forte. She is
a graduate in thorough-bass and harmony form Warren's
Conservatory of Chicago.
MRS. FRANCES A. POWELL
is the leading soprano of the Olivet Baptist Church
choir. She was educated at Buffalo, New York, and her
superior powers as a vocalist have been made the
occasion of very flattering testimonials by the press of
Chicago, and of the States of Illinois and Wisconsin.
MRS. HARRIET E.
FREEMAN, an excellent mezzo-soprano, leading the
singing of Quinn Chapel choir, has been showered with
press notes and compliments. She was educated at New
Bedford, Mass.
MRS. P. A. GLOVER (nee
WHITEHOUSE) and Mrs. HESTER
JEFFREYS (nee WHITEHOUSE) inherited
their rich vocal talent from their mother, who in her
earliest youth and evne to middle life delighted and
pleased with music and song hr host of friends and
admirers. The daughters are not at all lacking in this
sublime feature. When and wherever they have appeared
before the public they are received and applauded after
the fashion of all great singers. Mr. Trotter
says of them: "They possess voices of rare natural
beauty, considerably cultivated. These sisters, had
they so chosen, could have long since become public
singers of much prominence; since their rich vocal gifts
are supplemented by a fine knowledge of music, to which
are added, also, very graceful, winning manners."
MISS FANNIE A.
WASHINGTON has for some time afforded much pleasure
to public audiences as a contralto singer.
MRS. ELLEN SAWYER
sings soprano most beautifully. Her voice, says a noted
author, "is quite elastic, of great range,
[Page 352]
and strong and clear in the upper register." She has
become a favorite of music lovers, and encore after
encore is the rule on occasions that bring her before
the public.
MISS RACHEL THOMPSON
is an erudite scholar in music and sings soprano wiht
the clearness of the nightingale.
MRS. PHEBE REDDICK
possesses a ringing soprano voice and has done much
toward choir-directing and soul stirring with her vocal
accomplishments.
---------------
THE NEGRO'S TRIUMPH
Over Obstacles Under which Nations go Down -
Unequal in the Start, He
Outdistances Other Enslaved Nations. - His Chart for
Guidance.
GOD hath made
of one blood all nations of men, and the human family
finds a common origin in the one man, the original
creation of Almight God, but the flight of centuries has
so diversified the original man that there stands to-day
five distinct and separate races, peculiar in color,
different in physical feathers, to represent the one
creation. One phase this great family, dark in
complexion, unsymmetrical in form, made so by manner of
life and climatic influence, is called the Negro.
This race for centuries slumbered in ignorance and
superstition
amid the burning sands and tangled wilds of their
African home, until designing men led many captive from
their sunny clime and doomed them to a life of hopeless
servitude.
In the so-called "land of the free and home of the
brave" for more than two centuries they toiled without
the
hope of recompense, until the just wrath of an angry God
is
kindled against their masters, and amid the fatricidal
strife
that deluged this country with blood, the voice of God
speaks
through the sainted Lincoln and four million bondsmen
are
freed from the withering curse of slavery.
The newly enfranchised African, grateful for the tardy
justice clone him, amid the smoke of battle and rattle
of musketry
fought so valiently for the flag that had wronged him
[Page 353]
that the song of the poet and the page of the historian
eloquently
proclaim his deeds of heroism. During all the subsequent
years of freedom no other race since the beginning of
time has had so much to overcome as the Negro. He
measures
arms with a race having centuries of civilization behind
it
while he has centuries of barbarism.
He starts this unequal contest without learning,
without
money; he encounters the formidable opposition of deeply
routed prejudice; every avenue of advancement is closed
against him; the gates leading to every lucrative
employment
are shut, and against the merciless oppression of an
inimical
South no law protects him. Against these weighty
impediments
and formidable barriers, what race could move onward?
What race could exhibit such patient endurance amid
persecution
and wrong except that race, that prophetic race, of
which
it is promised in the Book of Truth that she shall
stretch forth
her black hand unto God.
In order to fulfill the glowing words of this prophecy,
the
Negro must be possessed of two essential elements of
success,
namely: Belief in God and confidence in himself. That
race
that trusts in the Almighty will be exhalted, for though
he
must overturn the foundation of every government, God
will
make his own to triumph.
"And this sin-cursed guilty Union
Shall be shaken to its base,
Till it learns that simple justice
Is the right of any race."
To succeed, the Negro must believe in his own
possibilities
and take pride in his own capabilities. He who believes
he
cannot do will not do. The Negro has not yet done much
to
make him renowned in the world's history, but his
capabilities
of greatness, which the near future must develop, will
cause
his name to be written in the unperishable records of
time.
Every nation must love its own. How the Irish look with
pleasure to that Emerald Isle, lying like an oasis upon
the
trackless deep; how the Italian strikes his harp and
sings of
his historic land, the home of art and song; how the
English
[Page 354]
man points with pride to the long line of illustrious
ancestors
that have graced his country's history in peace and war. The
Negro has no such history, but let him believe in and
boast
of a future, bright with promise. Oh Ethiopia! may thy
future be bright and hopeful, as thy past has been dark
and
hopeless, for already we see coming up from the schools
and
colleges of the land the young of this race girding on
their
armor and preparing for the conflict with odds and
opposition,
and we believe that they shall succeed in planting the
banner
of Ethiopia on the dizzy heights of distinction.
The future African shall fit himself to move with this
progressive
age; he shall chisel from the rugged stone the angelic
forms of beauty; he shall charm the listening world
with the
fervor of his song and the eloquence of his speech; he
shall
man the ships of commerce and bring them back laden with
the wares of many climes, and in the fields of
literature he
shall move on to take his place among the foremost of
the
world. Should he fail in this, he shall disappoint our
fondest
expectations, and varying the speech of the eloquent
Lyman Beecher, ''May God hide from me the day when the failure
of my people shall begin." Oh, thou beloved race, bound
together by the ties of common interests and
brotherhood, live
forever, one and undivided!'
Stella Hawkins.
Cincinnati, Ohio,
---------------
RETROSPECTION.
BY DR. H. T. DILLON
THE word
"socialism" was coined in England in 1835, and the
definition of this often misunderstood word, as given by
all of its sturdy defenders, tends the recognition on
the part of the strong the rights of the weak.
Glancing along the pages of history, the world has ever
been slow to realize that the weak had any rights which
demanded recognition on their part.
In the early forms of government slavery, according to
the views of Dunoyer, flourished as the
industrial and agricultural
[Page 355]
interests of a nation increased. While their
services were considered indispensable to the commercial
wealth of the country, the influence of slavery was, and
always will be, degrading and demoralizing in its
effects upon master and slave alike. Hume
very justly observes "that the severe, I may say
barbarous, manners of the ancients were due in large
degree to the practice of domestic slavery, by which
every man of rank was rendered a petty tyrant, and
educated amidst the flattery, submission and low
debasement of his slaves."
As Christianity advanced, civilization took higher
forms and society became organized, we find serfdom
taking the place of slavery.
The datum of the transition from the position of a serf
to a free individual, with all the rights of
citizenship, is one of the obscure points of modern
history.
The change was evidently gradual and due, according to
Adam Smith, to political and economic
reasons. As serfdom became more and more an
institution of the past among advanced countries we find
history repeating itself in the slave trade of the
colonies, and with less just cause than in the slavery
of the middle ages. But the same baneful influence
of this pernicious system is exercised and the same
triumph of right is felt and seen.
To Denmark belongs the honor of being the first
European nation to abolish slavery; next England, and
gradually the other European powers followed suit.
In reading the history of these nations we find that as
freedom from the bonds of slavery and serfdom, freedom
of religious thought and individual liberty was allowed
and encouraged in the same proportion did that nation
flourish and prosper. The old tower of public
good, upon the walls of which were engraved the laws of
subordination to the society in which one lived and one
common property, began to totter and fall. The
family became to be recognized as the social unit upon
which the safety of the government rested . Private
property with private enjoyment was the last of those
three periods which marked the ownership of lands and
found expression in the
[Page 356]
eighteenth century. The end of the eighteenth
century marked also an important epoch in the history of
England as regards the share which the poor working
classes had in the industrial era which had just begun
to dawn. At that time the English worker
"had no fixed interest in the soil; he had no voice in
either local or national government. The right
even of combination was denied him till 1824." It
was at this period, under the influence of Robert
Owen, that the term "socialism," which has since
been so misinterpreted and abused, originated.
The philanthropy of this man cannot but be appreciated
by those who have read of the sufferings of the lower
classes in that country, and while his doctrine flamed
and lighted the dark places of misery and degradation
and then suddenly seemed to go out, good, which was
lasting in its effects, was the result of his efforts,
in spite of them having been regarded by some as
Quixotic. The truths which he attempted to unfold
to the world are just and true — recognition on the part
of the strong the rights of the weak.
But what does all this hasty review of the past signify
to us as a people? Much. "We have been in
slavery as were some of the nations mentioned; and in
some sections of this fair land of America, the historic
home of the brave, the land of the free, are in a
condition which, in its tyranny and misery, resembles
the serfdom of the middle ages.
Again, our present condition resembles the condition of
the working classes of Great Britain before that wave of
socialism passed over her. True, we are not
exactly denied voice in "local or national government,"
but our voice is often silent because of the fraud and
chicanery of a supposed superior race. But all
these things should not discourage us. If, after
centuries of civilization, a nation like the English
could so trample upon the rights of her own flesh and
blood as late as 1824, what may we not hope for the
Afro-American? Let us not grieve too much over our
present trials, but look back and see what other races
have come through, work steadily onward, living in
bright anticipation of a glorious future, which, if we
do not live to realize, our children may.
[Page 357]
Weak and poor races
of other ages have pleaded for recognition on the part
of stronger ones, for individual liberty, for rights
withheld; and to-day the same cry is heard from the
Negro.
Not as a black man or woman do we plead that our
rights shall be recognized, but as man to man, woman to
woman, irrespective of color or previous condition. We
do not clamor for any special privileges because of our
color, but simply for those which are given to those of
fairer skin. Treat us as citizens, with all the rights
and privileges embodied in this word, and let us work
out our own destiny. That the rights which are now
denied will eventually be ours, because they are right,
cannot be doubted.
It matters not how firmly evil may be intrenched
behind the massive walls of wealth and prejudice, the
great sea of right and time will surely sap the
foundation and conquer in the end.
The truth is, many of our white enemies and friends
do not realize what we are doing, mentally, physically
and morally as a race. And while we have much to do in
the future, we can congratulate ourselves upon the
past. The mixed schools in the North are doing much
toward opening the eyes of our white friends as to the
Negro's intellectual capacity, while the opposition in
the South is teaching him how to depend upon himself.
If one will but refer to past history, there is no
need for discouragement about the Negro's future.
The weaker races of every age have had to suffer
indignities at the hands of the stronger; but
eventually, through industry and perseverance, they rose
above the obstacles and conquered; and we will do
likewise.
We shall not, however, do as the Nihilist in
Russia, or the Irish in Ireland; rather let our pens be
our swords, our brains our dynamite, and with firm
confidence in the Hand which guides the affairs of
nations abide our time. — Christian Recorder, June
30, 1892.
[Page 358]
THE VOODOO PROPHECY
is undoubtedly the product of a fertile brain, yet
Mr. Maurice Thompson poetically speaking, puts the
wrong lens to his telescope and sees the scattered
effusions of his own gifted soul, and as many random
thoughts, the delusion of an alarmist. His poem for
vindictiveness and promised retribution may be ever so
fitting, yet for boldness and uncouth coloring the Negro
is not so much of a strike-back, get-even-with-you race,
as he pictures him to be. In fact, it is out of tune
and makes a terrible discord in our harmonious
feeling, so much so that we have placed ourselves under
the burden of such a responsibility as to procure from
the pen of one of our most talented verse writers an
answer; in the accomplishment of which we place the race
in their proper modes and tenses. "The Voodoo Prophecy"
will have been very badly used up when two such women as
Mrs. A. J. Cooper
and Mrs. Frances E. W Harper have pounced upon it
with their peerless pens. The former in her
philosophical prose; the latter in her rhythmical
poetry. It is an oft' asserted remark that "God holds
the destinies of nations in his hands," and it is not
always the uppermost thought in the Negro's mind to do
some "awful thing." He does not think that way. He
neither prays for " God to speed the day of retribution
on." He means to "tote fair" with the world.
We take special pleasure in the placing of the
Voodoo Prophecy on our pages that it may meet its fate
in Mrs. Harper's answer. The prophecy the
emanation from the encephalon of an alarmist, the answer
simply a mild vindication of a quiet, peaceable people
of humble habitation.
---------------
THE VOODOO PROPHECY.
I am the prophet of the dusky race,
The poet of wild Africa. Behold
the midnight vision brooding in my face!
Come near me,
Come hear me,
While from my lips the words of Fate are
told. |
[Page 359]
A black and terrible memory
masters me;
The shadow and the substance of deep wrong.
You know the past, here now what is to be
From the midnight land,
Over sea and sand,
From the green jungle hear my Voodoo song:
A tropic heat is in my bubbling
veins,
Quintessence of all savagery is mine,
The lust of ages ripens my veins
And burns
And years
Like venom-sap within a noxious vine.
Was I a heathen? Ay, I
was - am still
A fetich worshipper; but I was free
To loiter or to wander at my will;
To leap and dance
To hurl my lance,
And breathe the air of savage liberty.
You drew me to a higher life,
you say;
Ah, drove me with the lash of slavery!
And I unmindful? Every cursed day
Of pain
And chain
Roars like a torrent in my memory.
You make my manhood whole with
equal rights?
Poor, empty words! Dream you I honor them
-
I who have stood of Freedom's wildest heights?
My Africa
I see the day
When none dare touch thy garment's lowest hem.
You cannot make me love you
with your whine
Of fine repentance. Veil your pallid face
In presence of the shame that mantles mine.
Stand
At command
Of the black prophet of the Negro race!
I hate you, and I live to
nurse my hate,
Remembering when you plied the slaver's trade
In y dear land.
How patiently I wait
The day,
Not far away,
When all your pride shall shrivel up and fade. |
[Page 360] - OTHER
EXEMPLARS.
Yea, all your whiteness
darkens under me!
Darkened and bejaundiced, and your blood
Take in dread humors from my savagery,
Until
You will
Lapse into mine and seal my masterhood.
Your seed of Abel, proud of your
descent,
And arrogant, because your cheeks are fair,
Within my loins an inky curse is pent,
To flood
Your blood,
And stain your skin and crisp your golden hair. |
[Page 361]
My serpent fetich lolls its
withered lip,
And bears its shining fangs at thought of this;
I scarce can hold the monster in my grip,
So strong is he,
So eagerly
He leaps to meet my precious prophecies.
Hark for the coming of my countless host;
Watch for my banner over land and sea ;
The ancient power of vengeance is not lost!
Lo, on the sky
Lo, The fire clouds fly,
And strangely moans the windy, weltering sea. |
__________
A FAIRER HOPE, A BRIGHTER MORN
By Mrs. Frances E. W. Harper
From the peaceful heights of a higher life
I heard your maddening cry of strife;
It quivered with anguish, wrath and pain,
Like a demon struggling with his chain.A
chain of evil heavy and strong,
Rusted with ages of fearful wrong,
Encrusted with blood and burning tears,
The chain I had worn and dragged for years.
It clasped my limbs, but it bound your heart,
And formed of your life a fearful part;
You sowed the wind, but could not control
The tempest wild of a guilty soul.
You saw me stand with my broken chain
Forged in the furnace of fiery pain.
You saw my children around me stand
Lovingly clasping my unbound hand.
But you remembered my blood and tears
'Mid the weary wasting flight of years.
You thought of the rice swamps, lone and dank,
When my heart in hopless anguish sank.
You thought of your fields with harvest white,
Where I toiled in pain from morn till night;
You thought of the days you bought and sold
The children I loved, for paltry gold. |
[Page 362]
You thought of our shrieks that rent the
air—
Our moans of anguish and deep despair;
With chattering teeth and paling face,
You thought of your nation's deep disgrace,
You wove from your fears a fearful fate
To spring from your seeds of scorn and hate
You imagined the saddest, wildest thing,
That time, with revenges fierce, could bring
The cry you thought from a Voodoo breast
Was the echo of your soul's unrest;
When thoughts too sad for fruitless tears
Loomed like the ghosts of avenging years.
Oh, prophet of evil, could not your voice
In our new hopes and freedom rejoice?
'Mid the light which streams around our way
Was there naught to see but an evil day?
Nothing but vengeance, wrath and hate,
And the serpent coils of an evil fate—
A fate that shall crush and drag you down;
A doom that shall press like an iron crown?
A fate that shall crisp and curl your hair
And darken your faces now so fair,
And send through your veins like a poisoned
flood
The hated stream of the Negro's blood?
A fate to madden the heart and brain
You ve peopled with phantoms of dread and pain,
And fancies wild of your daughter's shriek
With Congo kisses upon her cheek?
Beyond the mist of your gloomy fears,
I see the promise of brighter years.
Through the dark I see their golden hem
And my heart gives out its glad amen.
The banner of Christ was your sacred trust,
But you trailed that banner in the dust,
And mockingly told us amid our pain
The hand of your God had forged our chain.
We stumbled and groped through the dreary night
Till our fingers touched God's robe of light;
And we knew He heard, from his lofty throne,
Our saddest cries and faintest moan. |
[Page 363]
The cross you have covered with sin and
shame.
We'll bear aloft in Christ's holy name.
Oh, never again may its folds be furled
While sorrow and sin enshroud our world!God,
to who3e fingers thrills each heart beat,
Has not sent us to walk with aimless feet,
To cower and crouch, with bated breath
From margins of life to shores of death.
Higher and better than hate for hate,
Like the scorpion fangs that desolate,
Is the hope of a brighter, fairer morn
And a peace and a love that shall yet be born;
When the Negro shall hold an honored place,
The friend and helper of every race;
His mission to build and not destroy.
And gladden the world with love and joy. |
__________
IN FLORIDA
In Florida, to-day, the roses blow,
And breath of orange blossoms fills the air
In blooming thickets, by a brook I know,
The mocking-bird is pouring forth his rare
Rich song, thrilling the charmed listener's
heart.
In deeper woods the fair, pink lily grows ;
Pale as the wind-flower she droops apart,
Or, glowing with the blushes of the rose,
From the dark pool she lifts her lovely head,
A radiant presence 'mid the woodland gloom,
While, smiling on her from their mossy bed,
Sweet purple violets in beauty bloom.
'Mid their dark, shining leaves magnolias gleam,
White as the snows that o'er our fields extend,
And oleander trees above a stream,
O'erladen with their rosy blossoms bend.
O'er hedge, and bank, and bush, the jasmine
flings
Its graceful, golden leaves, with lavish hand
To boughs of ancient oaks the gray moss clings,
Its long, weird tresses by the soft breeze fanned.
* *
* *
* *
* *
* * |
[Page 364]
How sweet to linger in the shaded bowers!
How sweet to catch gleams of the blue blue, sky!
To dream away the softly-gliding hours,
As on the fragrant, flower-sown earth we lie !
Alas, it may not be ! Our lot is cast
In bleaker climes. 'Neath sadder skies we stray-
Still haunted by bright visions of the Past.
Sweet, sweet to be in Florida to-day ! |
__________
On the death of Rev. Geo.
Whitfield, Phillis Wheatley wrote:
Thou, moon hast seen and all the stars of
light,
How he hast wrestled with his God by night.
He prayed that grace in every heart might dwell;
He longed to see America excel;
He charged its youth that every grace divine
Should with full lustre in their conduct shine.
That Savior which his soul at first receive
The greatest gift that even a God can give
He freely offered to the numerous throng
That on his lips with listening pleasure hung.
'' Take him, ye wretched, for your only good,
Take him, ye starving sinners, for your food;
Ye thirsty come to this life-giving stream.
Ye preachers take him for your joyful theme;
Take him, my dear Americans," he said;
"Be your complaints on his kind bosom laid;
Take him, ye Africans, he longs for you;
Impartial Savior is this title due;
Washed in the fountains of redeeming blood,
You shall be sons and priests to God."
But though, arrested by the hand of death,
"Whitfield no more exerts his laboring breath,
Yet let us view him in the eternal skies,
Let every heart to his bright vision rise;
While the tomb safe retains its sacred trust.
Till life divine reanimates his dust. - |
[Page 365]
TIME'S PAGES.
The fast-flying years are as leaves of a
book,
On which all mankind is permitted to look;
Some pages are written with judicious care,
While others are blotted that but here and there
Can we discern words; other pages are blank,
Left so by those men whose superior rank
Could boast of no deeds done to benefit men,
And surely no record had they to leave, then!
Some leaves have been torn from this ponderous
book,
By persons ashamed for their brethren to look
On records of lives that were useless to earth,
And only to sorrow and trouble gave birth.
But how are our pages? Well-written and clean?
Or so filled with blots scarce a word can be
seen?
Have we left blank pages, and are all our deeds?
Unworthy the sight of creation who reads?
Do traces of pages completely torn out
Betray lives enveloped in shame and in doubt?
If such be our records, make haste to amend,
Lest we to Plutonian darkness descend;
But rather let all of our pages be clean,
And worthy by G6"d and mankind to be seen.
Mamie E. Fox.
Chillicothe, O., Jan. 5, 1892.
|
THE END
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