She is a graduate of Oberlin College, Ohio, and was at one time a teacher at Wilberforce University, Ohio, where she was much loved.
CHAPTER XV.
NASHVILLE, TENN.
Under this heading I shall call attention to the advance made by the colored people of this great city. Nashville certainly has all the essentials of a great city; it has a rich tributary country, a healthful climate, river and rail transportation, proximity of abundant raw material, and a sturdy, healthy industrious population.
Having all of these then, Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, situated in the centre of a realm unequalled in variety and amount of production on the American continent, with 100,000 people largely native to the soil through long generations, is assuredly a great city.
It has been just thirty-one years since the war closed. Nashville then contained a scant 25,000 people. Ten years later her population was 40,000. In 1885 it was 60,000, and to-day within her borders there are more than 100,000 souls. No better evidence of the advance and the prosperity of the city than that could be given.
And through this entire history, the colored people have figured conspicuously during every step of her progress.
During the many years I have spent in the South among the colored people, I have made a special study of the development of many of the towns and cities. I have done this to ascertain what part the colored man is playing in this development. In view of the fact that Nashville has three large colleges for advanced studies and a number of well-equipped day-schools, I devoted special attention to this city.