Evidences of Progress Among Colored People

by G. F. Richings

CHAPTER X.

PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOLS MANAGED BY COLORED PEOPLE.

It will be noticed that quite a number of the Presbyterian Schools are under the management of colored people. These schools are very well managed and reflect great credit on the ability of colored men.

SWIFT MEMORIAL INSTITUTE.

Swift Memorial Institute is located at Rogersville, Tenn. It was begun by Rev. W. H. Franklin in 1883, under the most unfavorable circumstances. He began at the very bottom and had no other capital save intellectual ability, school-training, strong purpose, perseverance, and unswerving faith in God and the righteousness of his cause. It is true that he had the hearty endorsement and co-operation of the Presbytery of Holsten, the Synod of Tennessee, and the Freedmen's Board, but they were not in a condition to render him the assistance required and the conduct of the whole work, for a number of years rested upon his shoulders. In the face of opposition, discouragement and prejudice of every kind, the work had a gradual and solid growth. Each year found the school advancing and intrenching itself in the confidence of the people at home and abroad. Mr. Franklin did not lose any opportunity to earnestly present the necessity and the claims of the school in Tennessee, in Ohio and in Michigan. In 1887, when the founder had raised a subscription of $500, the Freedmen's Board appropriated $1000 to purchase a desirable site which had been selected. The school soon outgrew its new accommodations. In 1890, the school had prospered to such an extent, and had so favorably commended itself to the Board that it pledged $5,000 for a suitable building provided that the friends of Rev. E. E. Swift, D. D., of Allegheny, for whom the school was named, would raise $5,000 additional. After two years of soliciting, pleading, praying and hoping, the Board and the Ladies of the Church in Pennsylvania, Illinois and elsewhere took hold of the matter in real earnest and soon the building was erected. The site was enlarged and made more desirable by an additional purchase. May, 1893, found the school in an elegant and substantial brick building, 116 × 42, and three stories high, erected at a cost of $15,000. The building has all the modern improvements and is much admired by all visitors for its simplicity, its neatness and its conveniences. It has many visitors. The whole plant, site, building and furniture, cost about $25,000. These funds have been supplied by the Freedmen's Board, Women's Societies and benevolent individuals, besides many gifts annually for current expenses and scholarships.

The literary work will compare most favorably with that done in other like institutions of the best grades. The students have taught in this State and in other States and are much in demand. It is a Christian centre and is giving a thorough Christian training to all of its students. Its industrial and domestic departments are giving such training as will revolutionize the home life, give intelligent direction to the applied hand, and give business-like system to all the activities. The present year marks the most interesting and prosperous one in its history. All the rooms in the girls' dormitory are occupied, and no place can be found for the boys. The great, pressing and immediate want of the institution, is a dormitory for the boys. With this want supplied, the ability of the school to do a much-needed and urgent work for Christ and humanity will be increased many fold. Few schools under the auspices of the Freedmen's Board have a better field and a better opportunity to do a great, useful and permanent work for a needy, meritorious, and appreciative people. With timely and sufficient aid, few schools have a brighter, more fruitful, or a more glorious future. The faculty of the school is as follows:

Rev. W. H. Franklin, A. M., Mr. J. J. Johnson, A. B., Miss Ada G. Battle, N. S., Mrs. Flora E. Elms, N., Mrs. Ida V. Penland Love, N., and Mrs. Laura C. Franklin, Matron.

REV. W. H. FRANKLIN.

Rev. W. H. Franklin, A. M., was born at Knoxville, Tenn., April 14, 1852. His parents were free and enjoyed the respect and confidence of all who knew them. His father was a competent brick mason and was much in demand in his trade. His mother is a modest and sensible woman. The ancestors of both parents were influential. His grandmother, with several members of her family, went to Liberia in 1850. Mr. Franklin had the opportunity of attending school one month, just as the Rebellion began. He learned to read and to write his name in that month. When Burnside came to Knoxville in 1865, he entered school again. He was generally acknowledged not only the head of his class, but also the head of the school he attended. He attended the schools of Knoxville until 1870. He then taught school at Hudsonville, Marshall Co., Miss., for two terms and saved sufficient money to help build a better house for his mother and to enter Maryville College, Maryville, Tenn. In that institution he took high rank in his class, and in the college. His talents received immediate recognition. The first year he appeared as Vice-President of the Athenian Society and a participant in its annual exercises, delivering a recitation and the diplomas to the graduates of the society. From that time his recognition and place was secured until his graduation in 1880 from the classical course. His graduating oration was said to be the best on the occasion. He entered Lane Theological Seminary in Sept., 1880, and graduated from it in 1883, in a class known for its high ability. The Commercial Gazette awarded him the highest medal of praise. From Lane he came in June of the same year to Rogersville, Tenn., which was to be his future field of labor. He was ordained minister by Union Presbytery, Synod of Tennessee, in 1883. In June he took charge of his work at Rogersville. He began the work of making a real church and of founding a school for the higher education of colored youth. The task was to make brick without straw and in the face of persistent, opposition and prejudice. He disregarded both. The result is that he has succeeded in building up a strong church work and a splendid school. He has a plant estimated to be worth $25,000 and a full school of students representing four different States.