CHAPTERS V. AND VI.
METHODIST SCHOOLS.
The Methodist Church has been very active in its educational work at the South, and its schools rank among the very best. It is noticeable that this church has paid special attention to industrial education among the colored people. I have visited some of these schools and I was pleased to see how highly the young men and young women appreciate the opportunities afforded them to learn trades and professions.
WALDEN UNIVERSITY.
At the close of the Rebellion in 1865, the condition of the emancipated slaves attracted the attention of patriots, philanthropists, and Christians North and South. There were millions of them ignorant of books and of their duty as freedmen. They were poor, having only the clothes they wore, or if they had other property, it could usually be carried in a bundle in the hand or on the head. All the leading religious denominations of the North entered this field of missionary work—the Methodist Episcopal Church among the first. In 1865 the missionary society of this church appropriated $10,000 to establish a school for the freedmen in the South. This sum was placed under the direction of Rev. Bishop D. W. Clark, D. D., who, having visited Nashville, authorized Rev. John Seys and Rev. O. O. Knight to open a school in Clark Chapel, a church building purchased from the M. E. Church, South, and then known as Andrew Chapel. Rev. O. O. Knight was principal, assisted by Mrs. Julia North, Mrs. Mary Murphy, and Miss O. D. Barber. All of the assistants were colored. The school was composed of scholars of all ages and sizes—grandparents and grandchildren, parents and children, were in the same classes. They were poorly clad, and mostly homeless wanderers from the plantations. They found shelter in the army barracks, in abandoned houses, in cellars or garrets, stables, or other out-houses—whatever would afford them a present shelter. Yet in the midst of this destitution they were hungry for education. Never did teachers have more earnest pupils. The crowded condition of the church soon led the teachers to seek for better accommodations, and the next year the school was moved into the building known as the Gun Factory.
WALDEN UNIVERSITY.
Dr. J. Benson Hamilton, President.
(inset) Meharry Medical Department.
The school was chartered in 1866 by the Legislature of Tennessee. A large portion of the students have been teachers, and are at school preparing for more advanced work.
Since this school has had its charter, we know of none where a greater amount of good has been accomplished. The graduates from there are found in all parts of the country engaged in all useful walks of life. There is a theological training given to young men wishing to enter the ministry. Also a splendid law department where young men are prepared to plead in the highest courts of the land. Dr. J. Braden, D. D., who has for years stood at the head of this Institution as its president, is one man among a million, for when he went to Nashville, it was worth more than mere talk for a white man to declare himself a friend to negro education. He grew old in the work, and was much beloved by all who knew him. At his death he was succeeded as president by Dr. J. Benson Hamilton, a man who is known as a strong leader, and doubtless one who will take up the work Dr. Braden had for years carried on with such marked success, and continue to make Walden University one of the best known schools. It was for years known as Central Tennessee College.
MEHARRY MEDICAL, DENTAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL
DEPARTMENTS OF WALDEN UNIVERSITY.
G. W. HUBBARD, M. D., DEAN.
The Meharry Medical Department was organized in October, 1876, and was the first school opened in the Southern States for the education of Colored Physicians. Since that date, 482 students have been enrolled, 263 of whom have received the degree of M. D., and most of whom are now engaged in the practice of their profession in the Southern States, and have been cordially received by the White Physicians; they consult with them in serious cases and assist in difficult surgical operations.
The success which has attended the professional work of their alumni has been very encouraging, and the professional reputation they have acquired is such as any college might well be proud of.
Ever since the organization of Meharry Medical College, the want of means has been greatly felt. Every year, many students have been unable to attend on account of the lack of sufficient means. With few exceptions, they are entirely dependent on their own labor to meet their college expenses, and many have younger brothers or sisters to assist or families of their own to support. During the session of 1894-95, one of their students sacrificed his life in his efforts to supply the needs of his family and carry on his medical studies. The applications are frequent asking for a little aid, or for an opportunity to work to help pay their college expenses.
The Dental and Pharmaceutical Hall contains a clinical amphitheatre capable of seating two hundred students, a Dental Infirmary, Dental Laboratory, two rooms for pharmaceutical work, a laboratory for analytical chemistry and a museum.
The twenty-first annual session of the college opened September 14, 1896.
The Meharry Dental Department was opened in 1885, and since that time twenty-two have completed a course in dentistry and received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery.
A most promising and useful field is now open in this profession, as there is a large and increasing demand for dental work, and good and competent Dentists will find plenty of work and fair remuneration.
This school is a member of the "American Association of Dental Faculties," and diplomas from this college receive due recognition wherever they are presented.
The Pharmaceutical Department has been in successful operation for five years, during which time thirty-one students have finished the course and have been fitted for the responsible position of practical druggists. With scarcely an exception the graduates in pharmacy have made good records before the different State Boards of Pharmacy, and most of them are either owners or managers of drug stores in different parts of the South.
The question is often asked, "What are the young men of the colored race doing after they have obtained a college or professional education?"
The following table will show what the graduates of Meharry are doing: Teaching, 9; Preaching, 4; Employees of U. S. Government, 3; Editor, 1; Sunday School Agent, 1; Occupation unknown, 6; Practising medicine, 218. Total number living, 242.
CLARK UNIVERSITY.
Clark University is a Christian school, founded in the year 1870 by the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is open to students of all classes regardless of sex or color, the sole conditions of admission being a desire to learn, good moral character, and obedience to lawfully constituted authority.
The buildings and grounds are located just south of the corporation line of the city of Atlanta, Ga. The campus is sufficiently elevated to overlook the city, and has perfect natural drainage on all sides. It is beautifully shaded with oak and pine, which with its great elevation—1,200 feet above sea level—makes it a delightful retreat in midsummer. It would be difficult to find a more healthful location in the United States—an assertion proven by the fact that, among the thousands who have been in attendance, but one has died on the grounds during eight years of operation.
Rev. Charles Manly Melden, Ph D., is at this time president of Clark University. I am told that he has taken hold of the work with that sort of energy and earnestness which always brings success. He has around him a very able body of teachers, among them Prof. Wm. Henry Crogman, A. M., as teacher of Latin and Greek languages and literature. Prof. Crogman is the author of a very useful and well-written book on the subject of race progress, entitled "The Remarkable Advancement of the Negro Race." His book is full of very instructive and interesting matter, giving a great many valuable facts touching upon the history and progress of the race in this country, in such a way that no family can well afford to be without a copy.
Too much cannot be said in favor of books written by colored authors upon the subject of race progress. While the race is making such marked and rapid progress, a new book could appear each year full of useful information.
The industrial features of Clark University are interesting in the extreme. I found well equipped shops where wagons and carriages are made by students, also a splendid harness shop, where several young men have been taught the trade and have since started harness shops of their own. Large express and ice wagons, now in use in Atlanta, were made at Clark University entirely by student labor. Every young man above the age of sixteen and below the college classes is required to devote two hours per day to manual training, consisting both of theoretical and practical work. Pupils are required not only to construct miniature models, but products for the market as well, and thus are prepared for the struggle of life, should no professional position open to them. Not all students can fill professions. Skilled bread-winners are second only to skilled soul-winners. The great need of the South and especially of the Colored people, is skilled workmen who can wield a deft hand and teach others to do the same—men who can earn $2.50 per day while others are earning 75 cents.
Clark University is endeavoring to supply this want through her Industrial Department. It teaches Carpentry, Wagon-making, Carriage-trimming, Harness-making, Painting and Printing.
THAYER HOME.
This home, as its name indicates, is modeled after a real home, and is furnished with all modern improvements. It can accommodate about twenty young ladies, who are taught to cook, keep house and do other things practised in a well ordered home.
Miss Flora Mitchell, who superintends this home, is in my opinion, one of the finest specimen of noble womanhood I have ever met.
The work of the home is done by the occupants alternately, so as to give all a practical knowledge of model housekeeping. Lectures are given on domestic science, food, dress, physical culture and social ethics. In short, the aim of the Home is to fit young ladies to conduct and adorn a model Christian home.
Too much cannot be said in praise of the excellent work done at Thayer Home, and especially when we take into consideration the very crude homes that many of the girls come from who are students there. I had the pleasure of eating a meal at the Home on one occasion and I was very much impressed with the extreme neatness of the place. Miss Mitchell told me many interesting things about the Home and its work, also showed me quite a lot of needlework done by the girls. She said, "I have visited several homes of students from here who have married, and it was such a pleasure to see our girls located in neat, clean homes of their own when both husband and wife were happy, and it was positive proof to me that our labor had brought forth good results." I met in Philadelphia Mrs. Rev. P. O'Connell who was at one time a student under Miss Mitchell, and she is very enthusiastic over the good work done at "Thayer Home" for Colored girls. I will say in conclusion that if Mrs. O'Connell's home is a specimen of other homes kept by students from there, then "Thayer Home" is indeed a blessing.
CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY.
The existence of Claflin University is due largely to the generosity of the Hon. Lee Claflin and family, of Boston, Mass.
In 1869 this property was purchased and set apart to its present purpose and is now one of the most interesting schools in existence for the education of the Colored youth; located at Orangeburg, S. C., where the Colored Methodists are strong in number. Rev. L. M. Dunton, A. M., D. D., president of Claflin, went South as a preacher in the early days of freedom and has remained ever since. Claflin University has now one hundred acres of ground that are worked by students. The school has been assisted by the Peabody and John F. Slater funds at different times. It is the only Methodist school in the State under the auspices of the M. E. Church or its aid and educational society. There have been enrolled since 1869, when the school was founded, about 8,000 different students. It is estimated that one thousand Christian teachers, besides many ministers, mechanics, and intelligent laborers, have been educated there. It is impossible to make an estimate as to the great good that has been done by preparing Christian young men and women to be laborers among their own race. The number of teachers required to man the school is about nineteen and the property is estimated at one hundred thousand dollars in value, and has some twenty buildings connected with the institution. Besides the Collegiate, College Preparatory, Normal and English courses, twenty distinct industries are taught.
NEW ORLEANS UNIVERSITY.
The University is situated at 1428 St. Charles avenue, in one of the most beautiful and healthful sections of the city of New Orleans, La. The ground includes nearly two squares.
The main building is of brick, five stories high, furnished with the best of furniture.
Besides large parlors and society rooms, there are rooms for 150 students in the building.
The heating is by steam and every precaution has been taken for comfort and for safety.
A frame building is used exclusively for recitation rooms. It will accommodate 350 students, so that ample provision has been made for all who can attend.
The value of the entire property is $100,000.
It has an industrial school in connection, in the way of carpenter-shop, printing office, tin-shop, and surgery school.
In about 1889 there was a Medical School established at New Orleans University, and up to 1892 the first class graduated. The charter of the institution admits students of this school to practise in its wards; also admits them to practise in the State of Louisiana.
Rev. L. G. Adkinson, A. M., D. D., the president, is a man of great ability and has accomplished great good during his professorship.
COOKMAN INSTITUTE.
Cookman Institute is located at Jacksonville, Fla. The beginning of this Institute was very unpretentious. It was started in 1872, simply to do good among the colored people in the immediate locality. Prof. H. R. Bankerd is president.
In an old church, then in an unfinished building, and finally in a small, two-story wooden building, Cookman Institute took on its more permanent growth.
Property adjoining the Methodist Episcopal Church was purchased by the Freedmen's Aid Society, and upon it began the long and laborious task of erecting buildings suitable for the work, and also the greater difficulty of raising the money to pay for them. The institution has buildings worth $25,000, accommodating one hundred boarders and 400 day pupils. These serve for the present size of the school. They are constructed of brick, and convey the idea of strength and durability.
Of far greater value than building has been the desire to see the intellectual work carried forward. This has been no easy task. To organize the various departments, get the classes well defined and students brought on to fill the several stations in the progress of the work, has taken years of patient toil and the expenditure of much money.
Those who have been with the school have won for themselves many golden opinions. The graduates honor themselves in their success in life, and show what education will do for the people when extended courses of study are pursued.
LAGRANGE ACADEMY.
This school is located at LaGrange, Ga. The faculty consists of Miss Carrie King, Principal; Carrie E. Campbell and Julia Gilmore, Tutors.
This school was organized in 1876, and is now under the auspices of the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education Society. Its design is to meet the great demand for a thorough and systematic course through the English, Normal and Academic studies. The Academy is an auxiliary to Clark University, and the text-books used are the same as at the University. The building is situated in the northwestern part of the town, three-fourths of a mile from the station.
RUST UNIVERSITY.
This Institution is located at Holly Springs, Miss., and was started in the early days of freedom by the Freedmen's Aid Society and represents one of the best schools in the South for the education of the colored youth. Being a Methodist School, it has a large number of families to draw its scholars from, for Mississippi is largely made up of Methodists and Baptists. I found a much better state of affairs in Mississippi from an educational standpoint among the colored Methodists than I expected, and I am sure the credit is largely due to the very excellent work done at Rust University. I found that, in addition to the Academic, Normal and Collegiate courses taught there, they give industrial training in printing, sewing, plumbing, rustic work, and domestic industry. They also have a splendid model home for girls. The president, William W. Foster, Jr., D. D., is a most excellent man. He comes to this institution from the East, where he has served some of the leading M. E. Churches as pastor. He is a graduate of Boston University, and comes well fitted to take charge of such a school as Rust. Mrs. Foster, who is as well known in the church as her husband, will be of great help and inspiration to him in this new field.
PRINCESS ANNE ACADEMY.
This school is located at Princess Anne, Md. Princess Anne Academy was founded as a branch of Morgan College, Baltimore, Md., in September, 1886, and in 1891 was also made the Eastern Branch of the Maryland Agricultural College.
A good farm containing 121 acres, together with barns, stock, farming implements, &c., have been added for practical instruction in Farming and Gardening; also shops, tools and materials for teaching Carpentry, Blacksmithing, Shoemaking, Tailoring, Masonry, &c., have been provided for the boys; and facilities for teaching the girls Cooking, Laundering, Sewing, and the general proprieties of housekeeping, have been added, and very gratifying results have followed.
Students are allowed to select their own trades, at which they are required to work one hour daily except on Saturday, when they devote five hours. They rise at 5.45 A. M., and retire at 9.45 P. M., thus devoting at least eight hours to rest and sleep; of the remaining time about ten hours are spent in Literary Work and Manual Training. The course of study is broad, thorough, and perfectly in keeping with the spirit and needs of the times. Nearly one thousand persons have received more or less training since the organization of the Academy, and few have any difficulty in securing profitable employment as soon as they leave school.
Since the death of Prof. B. O. Bird, the founder of Princess Anne Academy, Rev. P. O'Connell, a most excellent man, has been selected as principal.
WILEY UNIVERSITY.
Wiley University is located at Marshall, Texas, a quiet city of ten thousand inhabitants. It is now enjoying a period of unparalleled prosperity along all lines. For the years 1897-98, the enrollment reached 352. These pupils come from Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, and represent some of the best homes in this section.
REV. M. W. DOGAN, A. M.
It is the aim of the management to keep the courses of study fully abreast of the best in the South. To this end the departments are being constantly strengthened. In addition to a well-equipped college department, the following departments are successfully operated: preparatory, normal, English, musical, and industrial.
Wiley University is distinctively a Christian institution and no apology is made for insisting on Christian instruction. The pupils are taught that the most enduring education has Christianity for its basis.
The faculty of Wiley is composed of 15 professors and instructors, all colored but two. Rev. M. W. Dogan, A. M., is a young man of most excellent educational qualifications for the place he holds as president of Wiley University. He has taught at some of the best schools in the South.
MORGAN COLLEGE.
Morgan College is located in Baltimore, Md., Rev. F. J. Wagner, A. M., D. D., president, and for years has played an important part in the education of the race. It has its representatives as graduates all over the State of Maryland. The higher grades are taught there, and the teachers employed are the best. In addition to its regular work it has two branches, in the way of the Lynchburg, Va., Annex and Princess Anne Academy, located at Princess Anna, Md., which is mentioned in another write-up. Mr. Wagner is very much thought of by colored people, and he has shown himself an untiring worker for the elevation of the race.
BENNETT COLLEGE.
Located at Greensboro', N. C., in a part of the State where the colored population is very large. This school when first opened had a white president in the person of Rev. E. O. Thayer, but of recent years the board has had colored teachers in charge. Rev. C. N. Grandison at one time was president. At this time Prof. J. D. Chavis, A. M., B. D., is president with a good corps of colored teachers under him. I regret that I am unable to present his picture, for I am of the opinion that he is a most worthy young man.
BROWNING HOME.
An industrial and high-grade school for girls, is located in the historic town of Camden, S. C., within the bounds of the district. The work done there and the discipline are so thorough that it deserves more than mere mention. The Home was built in 1887 by the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the M. E. Church, to educate girls and young women along the line of practical housekeeping. Since the opening of the school, about one hundred and twenty-five have received training. Connected with the Home is a day-school of high grade, having a regular course of study, from which three classes have graduated. The school this year is well attended, having an enrollment of over two hundred; and thirty-seven girl boarders in the Home.
The Home will be enlarged so as to accommodate all who may come. Total expenses for board and tuition, five dollars per month.
Mrs. Gordon, the superintendent, and her corps of teachers, are a noble band of self-sacrificing women, who came from the North. They have been the subjects of opposition, and abuse, and ostracism, in their efforts to elevate a downtrodden people, and they deserve, and ought to have, the patronage, sympathy, and good-will of all.
GAMMON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
Gammon Theological Seminary, at Atlanta, Georgia, is the largest theological school for the exclusive education of colored men in the United States. It stands to-day a monument to the philanthropy of Elijah H. Gammon, of Maine, a noble gentleman, who endowed the school with nearly half a million dollars. Dr. Gammon was certainly a philanthropist. This fact is plainly indicated by his splendid beneficence.
He did not wait till in sight of the grave and then cast off his wealth as a possession he could no longer use; but living, he poured out his treasures; yea, more, he gave the ripe thought of his last years—planned and wrought for the equipment of this Seminary. The measure of his philanthropy is not in that he gave $10,000 to Garrett, $5,000 to the Maine Wesleyan, thousands to churches and aid to many struggling students. The mere catalogue of benefactions is no measure of the real philanthropist. The man himself, his motive, his purpose, his sacrifice, his unselfish enthusiasm, his giving of thought and time and heart for humanity—these are the tests of genuine philanthropy.
He did not endow this school merely for the sake of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He wanted to help all his fellow-men through all the churches. It was entrusted to the care and direction of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as best adapted through its spirit, organization and government in the South, to carry out his plans.
His benefactions took the form of a theological school because he believed that the ministers held the centre of power, and were to be the leaders of their race for years to come.
He established an institution opened especially for the Negro race, not because they were black, but because they were the most needy of all men. He simply gave practical expression to his faith in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. He was no sentimentalist as regards the Negro. He simply had a heart as broad as humanity—a great heart backed by conscience—and without prejudice, it went out to this race as a part of God's family, needing the touch of Christ's hand, through him.
Rev. Wilbur P. Thirkield, D. D., President of Gammon Theological Seminary, is laboring hard and earnestly to make the institution all that Dr. Gammon, its founder, had aimed to have it; and the class of young men who are receiving their training for the ministry in this school is certainly a compliment to the endeavors of its president.
There has been something over one hundred young ministers who have graduated from Gammon Theological Seminary.
Dr. J. W. E. Bowen, one of the best educated colored men in this country, is one of the instructors in this institution; and his work is regarded as being very fruitful and effectual.
The position Dr. Bowen holds at Gammon Theological Seminary is one that could only be filled by a man of a splendid education. He is Professor of Church History.
Dr. Bowen was a representative to the last General Conference of the M. E. Church, which met in Cleveland, Ohio, in May, 1896. He secured a large vote for the Bishopric, but I am sorry indeed to say was not elected. I was in hopes that the M. E. Church had grown magnanimous enough to at least elect such a worthy colored man to preside over the thousands of colored members they have, if no others.
In addition to the schools already mentioned in the M. E. work, I wish to mention Philander Smith College at Little Rock, Ark., Rev. J. M. Cox, D. D., president; George R. Smith College, Sedalia, Mo., E. A. Robertson, principal; Central Alabama Academy, Huntsville, Ala., A. W. McKinney, principal; Gilbert College, Baldwin, La., A. E. P. Albert, principal; Meridian Academy, Meridian, Miss., J. L. Wilson, principal; Morristown Academy, Morristown, Tenn., J. L. Hill, principal. I regret that want of space will not admit of special mention of all the above schools, for I can assure my readers that they are all worthy institutions that are playing a great part in the education of the race.
Rev. M. C. B. Mason, D. D., was elected as a general corresponding secretary of the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Educational Society. Mr. Mason is a graduate of New Orleans University, also of Gammon Theological Seminary. He is the first colored man to hold this position in the history of the Society. The Methodist Church will doubtless find places for a larger number of the educated colored students from her schools to labor in the different departments of the church than have been employed in the past.