BY MRS. A.B. SHATTUCK.
Two Congregational pilgrims found themselves on the first day of March in New Orleans, prepared to do all the sight-seeing which the daylight of forty-eight consecutive hours permitted.
On our way in the horse-cars to one of the beautiful cemeteries, we approached a group of large buildings on the left, and some one said, "That is the university of the colored people," and then we saw "Straight University" in bold letters upon the front of the central building. Now "Straight" was down upon our list of "points," but we had not looked up its location and supposed it farther from the center, so we were glad to stop on our return and save an extra trip. Three plain substantial structures occupy a handsome corner lot, leaving space for the additions already so much needed. The location is very fine, so near the heart of the city, upon that broad, beautiful avenue, whose name is suggestive of anything but breadth and beauty to New York or Chicago people—Canal street. Windows and doors were open, and, seeking entrance at the nearest, we found ourselves in the dining-hall, and were ushered across the yard to the central building and up a flight of stairs, at the head of which, in a small, crowded office, was President Hitchcock.
The sight of a tourist at that season, when the city is overrun with them, could hardly have been more welcome than a book agent to that busy man, but there was not a trace of annoyance in his greeting. He sent away his companions and devoted himself to the duties of a cicerone as cheerfully as though that were the chief end of the president of a university. We went the rounds of class-rooms, halls and dormitories, our interest and our leader's enthusiasm continually increasing.
The primaries are in two long, narrow rooms, lighted only on one side and not nearly large enough. But how the little throats did roll out the music and what time they kept, when called upon for a song! Another treat was a song from a young lady who was practicing in the music room. The modest grace with which she complied when asked to sing for us, is almost as pleasant a memory as her beautiful voice.
Up close to the roof, in a low attic, we found the industrial departments, a printing press and a cabinet shop. Creditable work of both kinds was shown. A paper is edited and printed by the students, and the housekeeper of the party shut her eyes and said the tenth commandment over a certain little table in one corner. Industrial training is not a specialty at Straight. What is done in that line is more a recreation than a branch of study. We were told, with evident pride in the fact, that all the outfit we saw was purchased by the students themselves. Not a dollar of the funds of the Association had gone toward it. Every class-room seemed crowded. The statement that applicants had to be turned away every week needed no confirmation.
Coming so recently from Tougaloo it was interesting to note the difference between the two institutions. A comparison cannot be invidious, because they belong to different states in every sense of the word. Since the aim of the American Missionary Association is the elevation of the colored people, there is room for a diversity of institutions and methods. Tougaloo is admirably situated for industrial departments. Straight has neither room nor time for them, but meets the demand for a higher grade of scholarship, and draws its students from a wider range and from a class who have more home training, more money, and, therefore, more leisure for a full course of study. They come from the whole circumference of the Gulf, from Cuba and from Central America. Many more could be drawn from abroad if there were room to receive them. The most inveterate hatred of puns can hardly keep one from spelling Straight without the gh. Many of the students are largely of Creole blood and have the traits of Gallic ancestry well defined.
"In two respects," said our host, "I have been greatly disappointed. I was told before I came here that I would have trouble in teaching the pupils habits of neatness, and that they were naturally lazy. I find them just the opposite. They are exceptionally neat and tidy about their persons and their rooms. As for being lazy, we could not ask for more diligent students as a rule, and they are up in the morning earlier than we want them to be."
No notes were taken of the many interesting statements made, for there was no thought of this article then. But the recollection of the talk as we passed through rooms and halls toward our exit, always brings regret that the audience had not been two thousand Congregationalists instead of the two who went their way with a firm conviction that Straight University is a place where the investment of a few thousand dollars of the Lord's money would bring speedy and large returns. It is fortunate that in this case, as in the famous one of the deacon's wife, all have not the same taste and judgment. The advocates of industrial training need not hoard their money because Straight has so little manual labor. Tougaloo will gladly and wisely use all they have to give. And those who hold that the moral and intellectual training of teachers and pastors is the only proper work of such schools, need not look askant at the workshops of Tougaloo, lest some of their benefactions should be spent for saws or anvils or solder, while Straight is crying out for room to hold those who want exactly that kind of training.
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