THE FREEDMEN.
REV. JOSEPH E. ROY, D.D., Field Superintendent, Atlanta, Ga.
ANNIVERSARY REPORTS.
HAMPTON INSTITUTE.
BY REV. H. B. FRISSELL.
Anniversary day at Hampton was cool and comfortable. The steamers from New York and Boston for several days previous had been bringing the friends of the institution from the North, and the morning of Thursday, May 25, found a good number assembled to witness the anniversary exercises.
At 8.30 A.M. the battalion was drawn up in front of Academic Hall and the regular morning inspection was held by the U.S.A. officer who has charge of the military drill of the school.
The students and visitors then passed to the large assembly room of the New Academic, where morning prayers were held and the news of the day was read. The rest of the morning was spent in visiting the classes and looking at the various industries. The Indian classes claimed their full share of attention, and showed an improvement in the advancement and general character of the pupils over last year. The kitchen garden, the cooking class for girls and the class in the new “tonic sol fa” system were filled with visitors. The training class, where the seniors had a chance to show their skill in teaching a row of ten urchins brought up from the primary school, was one of the features of the day.
The new stone building erected for the industries of the school with the money given by Mrs. Stone showed this department to the best advantage. The shoe shops, the printing establishment, the tailoring and knitting department have gained a new impulse, now that they have gotten into their large new rooms. The saw mill, the harness-making shop, the tin, carpenter and wheelwright shops were all in full blast.
After a pleasant lunch in the “Stone building,” the procession, headed by the trustees and re-inforced by a large party from Norfolk, made its way toward Virginia Hall, where the graduating exercises were to be held. In a few moments the large hall was crowded. A few words from Gen. Armstrong explained the change in the graduating exercises inaugurated the previous year, by which the speakers of the day were for the most part members of classes that had graduated in previous years, and had come back to tell of work done and experience gained. Only two speakers, the valedictorian and salutatorian, were from the class of ’82. This change of plan has been found to work well, and has made the exercises of the last two years especially interesting.
The speeches of the afternoon were, for the most part, full of practical common sense, plain, straightforward accounts of work done and the difficulties and discouragements met and overcome. The salutatory, delivered by one of the girls of the graduating class, told of the missionary work which the students had done among the poor people of Hampton, of the Bible reading in the miserable cabins, and the help which they had been able to bring to those in distress.
“My Home” was the title of a very interesting piece by one of the girls, in which she described the condition of affairs among the colored people in one of the western towns of Virginia. “To the Girls” gave the graduating class and the audience the wisdom which had come from a year’s experience in the world. Thos. Wildcatt Alford, a young Indian chief, made a strong plea for the education of his people. He said that one educated Indian could do more for the benefit of his people in one year than a regiment of soldiers in ten years. He spoke hopefully and bravely of the future of his race, and of what he meant to do for it. He is one of the three Indians who graduated with the present class, the first who have finished the regular English course of the school.
“Our Race,” by one of the early graduates of the school, told of the discouraged feeling which he had when he arrived at Hampton and found that most of the students had to work hard with their hands every day. He showed of what advantage that same training had been to him, of how he had been able to build his own school-house. He spoke of lack of industry as being one great obstacle in the way of the success of the colored people.
Between the speeches, the great chorus, massed in the front part of the hall, swelled out in the national hymns of the different countries and the pathetic slave songs so full of power and feeling. After the valedictory, Rev. Dr. Strieby, the President of the Board of Trustees, presented the diplomas to the graduating class with appropriate remarks. Sixty students came forward to receive their diplomas. The present class is much the largest that has gone forth from the institution.
After the parting hymn had been sung by the class, Rev. Dr. Bartend paid a glowing tribute to the school and to Gen. Armstrong’s work. He said: “For many years after the beginning of this institution, we were accustomed in this part of the country to speak of the Hampton school as an experiment; to-day, by the help of Almighty God, we can say that Hampton school is a magnificent success.” He spoke of the work that was being done for the colored race, of the manly characters that were being developed by the school training. He referred to the Indians, and especially to the speech which one of them had made. He spoke of the intention of the early settlers of the country in regard to them. “Two hundred and fifty years ago there came floating into this beautiful harbor vessels from the old country. What was their object? What was their hope? The prayer that arose from their decks was this: God give us strength that we may educate and Christianize the Indian. William and Mary College, now almost ready to perish, is the monument of their endeavor. They did not see the answer to their prayer. God works in His own way, in His own time, with His own men. Could they see what we to-day behold, they would say as do we, speed on! God speed this glorious school. God bless its patrons that we may raise up good citizens here and glorify God forever and forever.”
The closing remarks were made by Rev. Dr. Burrows, of Norfolk, in the course of which he said that he had often heard of the institution, but the half had never been told him. When the crowd poured forth from the hall, the sun was far down in the west and the steamer was waiting to take away some that had brought much of brightness and cheer to our anniversary day.