ANNIVERSARY WEEK AT AVERY INSTITUTE.
The closing exercises of the twentieth anniversary of Avery Normal Institute, Charleston, S. C., occupied four days of the last week of June.
The week opened on Sunday, June 21, with a sermon to the graduating class, by the Rev. E. T. Hooker, pastor of our A. M. A. church.
The morning hours of Wednesday and Thursday were devoted to oral examinations in all the departments. A fine display of maps, drawing books, object drawings and original designs found scores of admirers. The sewing done by the industrial classes made a creditable exhibit, and the garments found ready purchasers. The remainder of the school hours of each day were given to rhetorical exercises in the chapel of the institution.
On Wednesday, p. m., the sub-normal grades entertained their friends. Promptly at 12 m., they filed into the chapel to a march from the piano. Music, recitations, gesture and sewing songs pleasantly filled an hour and a half. A composition, "The New Colony," weaving in, in a humming fashion, the surnames of some of the teachers and pupils, was highly appreciated by the crowded house of parents and friends.
Thursday, p. m., the "Normals" held the Fort. The aim had not been to foster theatrical tastes, nor to produce startling dramatic effects, but to render in a natural and easy manner, historic, patriotic and practical selections, both of poetry and prose. Music, vocal and instrumental, lent its charm to the general enjoyment.
Friday was wholly devoted to those whom Avery each year "delighteth to honor." A galaxy of twenty-two formed the class of '85. Beginning promptly at 10 a. m., seventeen earnest, womanly young women and five faithful young men, expressed their opinions on their chosen subjects, in the form of essay or oration. From salutatory to valedictory, the quiet of the packed room attested the interest taken in the evolution of each theme. The colored people of Charleston are, intellectually, in advance of those of most other Southern cities. Before the "slight misunderstanding," their native city was called the "Athens of the South," and, breathing the same air as the more favored race, they naturally imbibed some of its cultured modes of thought. The presentation of diplomas by the Principal, Prof. Wm. M. Bristoll, the singing of the Class Song and the congratulations of friends closed the happy day.
Anna M. Nicholas.