Various

“ I have been made to believe that morality is the only standard for ideal Christianity.
A few words of what I am doing and shall do. I shall soon be teaching my motto, "A high moral standard," pure and upright, to benefit the largest possible number in shortest possible time. I shall endeavor by God's assistance to instill in my pupils these true principles of right doing and the possibilities brought through education. And as I have been influenced by Emerson Institute and its teachers, I shall try and do likewise to those whom I shall assume authority over. ”

“ Thus slavery became a foe to true Christian manliness, self-respect, and faith in one's self and others. It took 200 years to force these traits into the Negro's being. It was destructive of all that is uplifting to his soul. There is now a reaction going on. Unless the forces of the Christian schools and churches are applied with energy, the work of construction will not soon overcome that of 200 years of destruction.
Foremost in the education of the Negro along the line of self-support is the American Missionary Association. ”

“ The work of this Association may well be the glory of the churches. God has done His part. He has opened the fields, He has richly blessed every effort toward enlightenment and Christian civilization. The missionaries have done their part in prayer, in labor, in gifts, in voicing the earnest appeal of these poor, whose greatest need is Christian education and a pure gospel.
Now, the Association has come to its fiftieth year, the fiftieth chapter in its serial history. Standing always for emancipation, it is itself enthralled in the toils of a terrible debt. It trusted the churches ”

“ If it is not the highest conception, it is not the lowest, and should not be despised in the education of a race just emerging from ignorance. One has only to see the Negro in the plantations of the South, and observe his methods of work, to be convinced of the necessity of industrial training as a means toward self-help. Look throughout these farming districts and you will see houses fit for pigs to dwell in rather than men; you will eat food the mode of preparation of which is unworthy of a human being; you will see women in laundry work who have never seen a washing-machine all their life ”

“ Immediately the Association, now encouraged and supported by all the churches, moved in the wake of the Union army, beginning in 1861 to work for the contrabands at Fortress Monroe, where 1,800 colored people had sought the protection of the American flag. All its varieties of experience and resources were called into action. It became a philanthropic society to feed and clothe the suffering, a Bible society to distribute the word of God. It became an industrial society to help people to homes and teach practical farming, trades, and housewifery. ”

“ After another all too swiftly fleeting school year, the commencement season is ushered in by the very able baccalaureate sermon delivered to a large and appreciative audience by the Rev. J. J. Durham, one of the colored pastors of Savannah.
On Tuesday there are oral examinations in the classrooms. On Wednesday, palms, magnolias, cape jasmine, and wild bamboo-vine have lent their charm to render the chapel a fragrant abode of beauty. "Old Glory" hangs here and there upon its walls. ”

“ There are others who are equally anxious to obtain an education. Many will walk distances ranging from three to seven miles to school every morning. The interest in the school increases yearly to such an extent that the building, which at first was thought to be large enough to accommodate all who would come, is now entirely too small to accommodate the pupils that we have. It will be almost impossible to get along next year without more room. We are greatly in need of a chapel where we can hold our devotions and have our public exercises. Without more room the work will be greatly hampered. ”

“ We have a small but neat building, seating 150, in which services are held every Sunday morning and evening. A Christian Endeavor Society embraces a large number of the young people for whom we labor.
This church is in connection with a large and flourishing school. The students come to us from three States, and thus the influence of the American Missionary Association is scattered far and wide. We are the center of a large but poor class of people who have no means to help themselves. If they are ever to help themselves, they must receive a start from outside. ”

“ It established social settlements, with groups of missionary teachers living in one household among the degraded and despised people, to whom they ministered; an educational society with its system of schools; a church society, seeking always the salvation of souls and gathering of converts into churches.
Now it was that the wisdom, the heroism, the unfaltering faith of this Association, strengthened by fifteen years of valorous adherence [Pg 296] to the gospel principles of emancipation, prepared it to launch out upon its great mission. ”

“ The Negro's masters did not believe in self-support during slavery; they were supported. Now that his freedom is secured, the Negro also would like to have and hold as the masters did.
The result of this forced selfish labor may be briefly summed up thus. The Negro by training and example became prejudiced against severe [Pg 277] struggle and toil, physical or intellectual. He is now distrustful of attempts made to induce him to labor. He is willing to let somebody else do the work while he reaps the benefit, just as his masters did during slavery. ”

“ When it is known that the larger portion of the colored race in the South is still living on the plantations, practically untouched by the Christian influences of this century, living without God and not touched by our mission work, it accentuates the imperative duty of the churches and pastors of churches to hasten the work of self-support. ”

“ Several lawyers, former students, are now practicing at the bar in Tennessee and other States. To our honor one of our graduates is a missionary in China; many have gone forth to usefulness. Many, if not all, of these would have been unable to do anything for themselves but for the benevolence of the churches and the planting of the school and church in this place. The ideas with which the Association set out to work are no longer theories, but established facts. ”

“ In reviewing the history of Chandler Normal School for the past year, we find more reasons than usual for courage and gratitude. In all departments of our work we see evidences of the mental and moral advancement of our pupils. The year has been one of progress and prosperity. Nothing has occurred to hinder the work. The conscientious performance of duty has been the rule of the school, and the students who entered with any other purpose in view soon discovered their mistake and saw that they did not have the approval of their companions. ”

“ One means toward the solution of this problem of self-help is the industrial solution. Many overlook it because they think the Negro has already had much of it in his past history. But the Negro has never had the best of it. His industrial training before the war was immoral as well as unscientific. The industrial education of the Negro then was carried on without mental and moral culture; now the head, the hands, and the heart are the triplets which must control his development. ”

“ Many mothers work at the washtub from Monday morning till Saturday night, and do all kinds of manual labor, to obtain the money with which to keep their children in school. Some of our neediest pupils prove to be the best in their classes. One boy, whose widowed mother is unable to keep him in school, may be seen every day before and after school going in search of odd jobs to obtain money with which to pay his tuition. ”

“ The education which the coming twentieth century requires of the Negro through industry will be imperfect unless it shall be permeated with the best and purest of ideals. It is also a recognition of the fact that man is more than a physical creature; he is a combination of the physical and the spiritual. It must be two natures working in harmony with each other's development. ”

“ The success of the Association, I believe, lies, next to God's blessing, in the fact that they realized that not only the school is needed to make better men and women, but also the church to fit these men and women for the struggles of life. ”

“ Such a work should give hope and courage to every friend of this Association, and I believe that in the last day it will be a great surprise to many to know how many homes they have helped to brighten, and how many lives they have helped to bless, and how many souls they have helped to save. ”

“ I asked the white gentlemen present if they thought they could stand the sentiment that would doubtless be brought to bear upon them. They said, "While we anticipate opposition, we are sure we can withstand all assaults." ”

“ That while recognizing the difficulties in the way of self-help and self-support, many, if not all, can be removed if all the churches put their shoulders to the wheel, and both teach and practice this, and do all they can for their own support, rather than seek to have everything done for them. ”

“ And when I reached Oroville this time I was made sad at hearing that he was still a gambler, though still a pupil in the school. He came to the Mission house that evening at about 10 o'clock, and, after hand-shaking, sat down in a corner of the room. Seeing in this a fine opportunity, I said to the brethren present, "Let us gather about Jee Loy and win him to Christ to-night." There were six of us, myself included. We asked him what objection he had to becoming a Christian. ”

“ After the class song is sung, diplomas bestowed, the in-coming senior class welcomed, and the announcement made as to the one whose rank in her studies entitles her to a free scholarship for the ensuing year, a brief but most excellent address is given by a young colored physician of Savannah, whose ability, culture, high moral worth, and nobly unselfish ambitions fit him to stand as a model to our students. The newly made alumni meet teachers and friends in the Teachers' Home for refreshments and a good, happy time generally ”

“ The missions visited were those at Marysville, Oroville, and Watsonville. At each place an anniversary was held, at which Dr. Pond wished me to make an address. But I felt that I had other duties to do besides this:
1. To see that those brethren who had not been baptized should come to baptism.
2. To urge those scholars who ought to join the Congregational Association of Christian Chinese to do so at once.
3. To strengthen and stimulate the brethren, not only to stand firm in their faith, but to press forward to save men through Christ.
4. To urge them to give generously to our work. ”

“ We are about 800 feet above the sea-level, giving a most delightful and salubrious atmosphere. The moral atmosphere is equally good. The nearest place for liquors and their accompanying vices is in the valley beneath. ”

“ In this place, where "the work which this society is doing touches every fiber of our national life," that which produced the sterling manhood of New England in the past days, and made our national life a possibility and then a fact, can, in a like manner in the future, produce such men and women on the mountains and in the valleys of the South. ”

“ Infatuated with the prospects of ultimate success, and having, it seems providentially, come upon a man who was a printer and owned an outfit, they talked with him, and he, needing work, was evidently smitten with the idea. ”

“ At the close of the contest a very interesting and eloquent address on the subject of temperance was given by Rev. J. S. Jackson, pastor of the Congregational Church in Lexington. The thoughts presented were full of inspiration for all who heard them.
On Wednesday morning an intelligent and appreciative audience assembled in the chapel to listen to the commencement exercises. Three young men presented orations, and three young women essays, on this occasion. There was but one graduate from the higher normal course. ”

“ This latter feature will commend itself to many homes where the custom of "making over" old clothes is one of the necessities. Girls taught in the sewing-room are able to make a livelihood by taking orders for work in this line. There is also a nurse-training department which is not only patronized by pupils in the required course, but volunteer classes have been formed consisting of the older male students and of mothers living near the college. ”

“ Thursday, Commencement Day, dawned gloriously, and long before the time for the exercises to begin, people were wending their way toward the building in order to obtain a comfortable seat. There were three graduates, all girls, and they made a pretty sight as they marched slowly up the aisle and took their places upon the platform.
The Annual Address was delivered by Rev. S. A. Peeler, of the M. E. Church. He did not go back thirty years and tell the condition of the Negro at that time, and extol him for the rapid stride he has made, etc. ”

“ They have passed regularly up the grades and are happy in the progress they are making. During the long summer vacation they find employment, and are on hand promptly at the fall opening of the school. They are both active church members, and the man expects to study for the ministry after sufficient preparatory training. ”

“ In the midst of the woods, during the summer, it is a "discovery" to find the log house, the home of the mountaineer. The occupation of all is farming. There is no other means for a livelihood.
Many of the church members own their own homes ”

“ Its first industrial school was founded at Talladega, Ala., in 1867, where it now works about 300 acres of land. Modern farming in its most important branches is taught here. In connection with the school are popular lectures, which are listened to, and scattered by the students throughout the country. White and black farmers are being improved by them. The instructor in farming, a graduate of the Amherst Agricultural College, is both scientific and practical. In the same school, at Talladega, young men and women are taught various other branches of industry. ”