Work upon the farm was begun in September. In October one hundred and sixty acres were bought, in addition to the thirty acres already owned by the college. The citizens of the place, both white and colored, have become deeply interested in the success of the enterprise. Gifts of all kinds, from a little girl’s pet chicken, to a fine eighteen dollar plow from a merchant of the town, and from an old auntie’s half-peck of potatoes to a fine cow and calf from one of the deacons of the college church, and varying in amounts from five cents to fifty dollars, have been given. Our most intelligent citizens say that no other enterprise for the benefit of the colored people has ever aroused so much interest among them as the Agricultural Department.
In the Girls’ Industrial School, sixteen young women are earning, wholly or in part, their board and tuition; while, at the same time, learning ways and methods which will make hundreds of homes brighter and happier.
In mechanical work, five hundred dollars’ worth of building and repairing has been done, under the direction of an excellent carpenter.
In these different departments of labor, the students have already received about fifteen hundred dollars as wages, in board and tuition.
Theological Department.
If the colored people are to be elevated, in no class is education more necessary than in the ministry. One of the leading Baptist ministers in the State, being asked how many of the young ministers educated in their schools were now in the ministry in this State, replied “One, and we expect soon another.” Yet this church includes by far the largest number of the colored people. To meet this great want, a Theological Department was organized in connection with the college in 1872. Four young men constituted the first class, three of whom are now in the ministry. The number of pupils last year was twenty-seven; at present it is nineteen. The decrease is owing to the requirement of a higher standard in literary training. The colored people are naturally theologians and Bible students. Three distinct lines of study are pursued, all of which have special reference to practical, Christian work. (1) To make the pupils familiar with the facts of the Bible. (2) To establish them in a system of Christian theology. (3) To acquaint them with the best methods of Christian work. Twenty-five Sabbath-schools are carried on by the students. Six of these have grown into churches, the young men acting as their pastors. Sabbath-school Conventions, and various other kinds of Christian work, are conducted by the students, often assisted by teachers from the college. This department has a library of over eight hundred volumes.
Church Work.
We doubt if anywhere else in the South the Church and School are both so strong and so closely united as here. The Congregational Church of Talladega was organized in 1868. There are at present one hundred and forty-nine members, with a Sabbath-school of three hundred. Of course the larger part are students, but a goodly number are citizens, heads of families, having good homes, and being comparatively prosperous. Not only the members of this church, but of the other churches in the village, are thoroughly interested in whatever affects the college. In all the church services citizens and students mingle, with always a sprinkling of members from other churches. In the social gatherings of the students, the members of the church are always welcomed, and enter heartily into their pleasures. Thus the college is anchored by means of the church in the hearts of the people themselves. Many colleges are held in their present location by the force of gravity, or by the adhesive force of brick and mortar alone; but Talladega College, were her buildings burned to the ground, or blown aloft into the air, would remain firmly fixed in the hearts and affections of the people.