DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Duke University Libraries https://archive.org/details/selfeducatorforr01gayj r --•’jJS'* i % >■■>- I. K *■ 1/ I V r-» > .A J*. .v^ f>'.. ^^Ti'' < ■>>r'T.', ..-v- r- \ j»i;. •1 -.t' « / CONTAINING MANY ATTRACTIVE PICTURES SELF-EDUCATOR FOK A RISING RACE A Practical Manual of Self-Help for THE Future Development of Ambitious COLORED AMERICANS BEING A COLLECTION OF lUSPIRIUO ESSAYS ON THE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES OF A NOBLE PEOPLE LESSONS FRONI THE ANCIENT AND GLORIOUS HISTORY OF THE RACE AND THE WONDERFUL CIVILIZATION OF OUR ANCESTORS AS AN EXAMPLE TO FUTURE GENERATIONS . • . WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE WISEMAN’S PHILOSOPHY AS A GUIDE TO A HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL LIFE TO WHICH IS ADDED Life Lines of Knoavledge PRESENTING A SERIES OF VALUABLE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SELF- IMPROVEMENT OF THOSE WHO ARE AMBITIOUS TO KEEP STEP WITH THE PROGRESS OF THE RACE ILLUSTRATING THE PROSPERITY AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF COLORED AMERICANS AS TOLD BY THE CAMERA WKlTTEISr AND COMPILED BY JOSEPH R. GAY Assisted by Many Eminent Writers Copyright 1913 BY Joseph E. Gay We hate spent the greater part of the first fifty years of FREEDOM thinking of the past. Let us spend the next fifty years thinking of the future. G- " :'7 Publishers’ Preface UCCESS in life through self-help, should be the key-note of all human endeavor. What opportunities have we for success in life? What does the future hold in store for us? What can we do to better our present conditions? How can we help each other? These are the all important questions that concern and interest the ambitious, progressive Colored American, seeking intellectual, spiritual and material welfare. Volumes have been written about the past, but—except for the les¬ sons taught, the past is almost like a dream. Let us start the second half century of freedom by looking to the future; by casting about for present opportunities and making the most of them. Let us begin anew in the light of past experience and v^ith the advan¬ tage of progress already won. Let us forget our past troubles, both real and imaginary. Let us bury the failures, misfortunes and mistakes of the past half century and make a new, fresh start for greater success in life. Let us think, and take advantage of, the wonderful possibilities that are open to us now. Let us remember that knowledge brings efficiency, and efficiency brings power; that power commands and creates new opportunities for those who seek it along the LIFE LINES OF SUCCESS; and that God helps those who help themselves. We must realize that THOUGHT IS POWER, and teach the principles of right thinking. Thought is the force with which we build and shape the whole future of our lives, whether for good or ill. If you desire to develop your own greatest powers, if you have a son iii 340310 or daughter about to assume life’s more serious duties, if you have a friend who can be helped by wholesome advice, then this book has a message of inspiration for you and a note of encouragement for the friend who seeks to grasp LIFE LINES OF SUCCESS. The teachings of this work will help you understand THE VITAL LAWS OF TRUE LIFE, true greatness, power and happiness, but the striking feature of the book is—after all, the solid, sensible, healthy exposition of the one theme it is written to enforce and open up: “ Opportunity. ’ ’ There¬ fore it is “A PRACTICAL MANUAL OF SELF-HELP.” This volume is a real survey of the vital questions that affect us in everyday life. The department presenting a series of instructions under the title of ‘‘Life Lines of Knowledge” is interesting and stimulating, dealing with the INDIVIDUAL and his latent powers and of his practical relations with mankind. It offers many sane and practical suggestions, tending to a richer personal life. There are pages brimful of fragrant thoughts; beautiful ideals that cheer and inspire to nobler aspirations and loftier undertakings; practical suggestions that point the way to success; spiritual truths that intensify faith in yourself, in your fellow man and faith in all that is divine. Each subject is written in the simplest, clearest language, in a way that will prove helpful in developing the powers of the rising generation. The idea is to teach the creative power of thought. Full of good cheer and uplift, this book points the way to a nobler life and broadens human affection. It explains this mystical life of ours; teaches the practical things of life; tells what all the world is seeking to learn. It is a book for living men. It will carry you on to the winning of your highest ambitions, and above all—will keep you in touch with yourself and with the infinite God. THE PUBLISHERS PART L LIFE LINES OF SUCCESS Page The Coming Men of the Race. 17 The Turning Point. 29 Earning Respect for His Race. 31 Increase of Opportunities . 37 In the Employ of the U. S. Government. 44 The Colored American in the Service of God. 49 Leaders of America Whose Ears Are Close to the Ground. 53 The Colored American’s Nationality. 59 The Four Divisions of Mankind. 64 The World’s Congress of Races. 67 Progress of the Different Races of Mankind. 74 Ethiopia, the Great Black Empire. 83 The Genius of Colored Americans. 91 Development of the Race in the U. S. 98 The Overground Railroad.108 Physical Training .115 The Four “Learned Professions’’.123 The Road to Success.126 Optimism, Pessimism and Indifference. 129 Pleasures of the Flesh.132 The Survival of the Fittest.136 The Victory of the Man Who Dares.140 The Wise Man’s Philosophy.149 The Key to Success.152 Opportunity for Business Life.166 Superstition and Luck.180 34C310 PABT IL LIFE LINES OF KNOWLEDGE Page The Secrets of Human Life.214 A Successful Marriage..231 Cupid’s Conquest.243 The Honeymoon. 252 What Marriage Involves.258 Personal Purity .269 The Influence of the Planets on Human Life.276 The Science of Palmistry.294 How to Kead Character.302 Hypnotism, Fortune Telling, Etc.309 The Home is God’s Training School.317 Home the Heart of the Nation...324 The Child the Coming Man.329 The Training of Children. 335 Developing Boys and Girls.340 Developing Moral Character.344 Reverence and Respect.354 Duties of Children to Their Parents.359 The Future of the Child, the Future of the Race...364 The V/ay to Perfect Health.366 General Health Conditions .381 Common Sense in the Sick Room.396 Rules for Accidents and Emergencies.407 Social and Business Guide. 435 The Art of Receiving and Entertaining.460 How to Conduct Business.473 Every Man His Own Lawyer.486 The Art of Elocution and Oratory.493 Cotton Growers’ Information and Statistics. 511 viii I The Story of a Rising Race Told in Pictures PHOTOGRAPHED FROM LIFE s special Collection A INDUSTRY COMMERCE FINANCE INSURANCE CAPABLE OFFICE STAFF Bookkeeping Department, National Benefit Association, Washington, - 2 5-3 cr ^ V - s C/3 C/3 W 2 c/3 H) pq O z H-1 C/3 pq -d p 5 t- s bjO 4J I- ^ ai Oh C3^ O 'Z w rt b/3 w 3 H - - 2 « W “ S ry) O 7) V ^ c i; w (/) ’5 ^ u O X n MONOTYPE OPERATORS Modern typesetting machines. A. M. Sunday School Publishing Plouse, Nashville, Tenn. MEN OF FINANCE—BANKERS Alrmlx-rs of I'lic National I'aukcrs’ Associaliun. 'I'lic incn vvlio control trust funds and provide means for business and agricultural expansion. PRIVATE LIBRARY OF A PROSPEROUS HOME Refinement and culture is here shown in the home of Chas. Banks, Mound Bayou, Miss. Municipal Court in Washington, 1). STENOGRAPHY IN A WELL EQUIPPED OFFICE The type-written letter in business correspondence is almost a necessity, hence the great demand for intelligent and experienced stenographers. BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT I THE REWARD OF THRIFT AND ENERGY The palatial residence of J. F. Herndon, a prosperous Colored citizen of Atlanta, Ga. AN ELEGANT AND WELL-APPOINTED LIBRARY An interior view in tlie home of a noted physieian, Doctor (ieorge Cabaniss, Washington, N 2 ’S s 2^ ni Q - ^ S s > G ^ E^ ^a p O C X <^S P 43 P Ui V u C^ m X 3 (U AN UP-TO-DATE STORE An example of Mercantile Success, showing possibility and prosperity. Owned and operated Ijy A. H. Underdown, Washington, Id. C. COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY One of the largest Fish Markets in the South. Jacksonville, Fla. REPRESENTATIVES OF THE OVERGROUND RAILROAD ^ a" van nnn’/ ui -diiiwr m ^ay>Wv' ii ^ ' . ... ^}\jj\iii w VM cuo^ yu!^ui;i.s; ^ ■,..^ 4 /jc.--i.'■ ;';. -l; ^mui; u/ jwjj ■ iUWi'^.i^ iiU ,a**-:ua/ iV' :;a'_’s^ ^f_ THE COLORED MAN AS A PIONEER The first house in Chicago was erected by a Negro. UFE LINES OF SUCCESS PART L THE COMING MEN OF THE RACE Our Young Men Will Be Our Future Leaders Who are to be our leaders this coming generation! We have had brilliant and faithful leaders in the past, men who labored under adverse circumstances, but who succeeded in reducing opposition, and brought tlie race up to a higher standard. They were the pioneers in a great national movement. Their names are honored and will be honored as long as the race exists. Their preliminary great work done, they passed away leaving its continuation in the hands of other noble men and women, who are still among us. Remember, we are now in the second generation of uplift, and the mantle of the leaders of the first generation of freedom, passed to those of the second generation, has been spread over a vastly wider field, and shows room for still wider extension. The history of man shows that in all great human movements for betterment, there have been pioneers who commenced the work, and carried it to a higher point. Then came a succeeding line of leaders who took up the work and carried it higher still. Neither the pioneers of the Colored people of the United States, nor their successors, the present leaders, could do all or can do all that is to be done in the way of elevation or betterment, because it has grown to enormous proportions. For this reason we must look about us and see who are to be the future leaders of the Colored Americans. We now have able leaders, men of great character and ability, men whose loss would be keenly felt, but they know, and we know, that in the course of nature all must pass away, and we have it from their earnest utterances that their great hope is to have successors in the 2—E S 17 18 THE COMING MEN OF THE RACE leadership. Many of them are ready to train others to walk in their footsteps. There are thousands of men, children in our schools, youth beginning college life, and young men who have completed their course and are ready to take up a position as commanders in the battle of life. Here are a few of our present leaders, between whom no invidious comparisons can be made, and to whose number may be added a thou¬ sand or more working in more or less conspicuous positions to fit their people to become leaders. They are shining examples of success and merely mentioned to show your own opportunities. Look at and study this list earnestly, it concerns you: EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS Rev. S. G. Atkins, President of the State Normal and Industrial College of North Carolina. Dr. R. F. Boyd, physician and surgeon, Nashville, Tenn. Hon. H. P. Cheatham, Recorder of Deeds of the District of Colum¬ bia. Dr. D. W. Culp, A. M., M. D., author of “Twentieth Century Negro Literature. ’ ’ W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, editor “The Crisis, A Record of the Darker Races.” Bishop G. W. Clinton, A. M. E. Zion Church, Charlotte, N. C. Prof. J. M. Cox, President Philander Smith College, Little Rock. E. E. Cooper, Editor ‘ ‘ Colored American. ’ ’ Prof. A. U. Frierson, Professor of Greek, Biddle University. Prof. N. W. Harllee, Principal High School, Dallas, Texas. Dr. Lawrence Aldridge Lewis is a rising physician of Indiana, who made the highest record in a competitive examination for the city hos¬ pital of Indianapolis against 107 applicants. Prof. R. S. Lovinggood, President Samuel Houston College, Austin, Texas. Kelly Miller, Professor Mathematics Howard University. THE COMING MEN OF THE EACE 19 D. W. Onley, D. D., Dentist, Washington, D. C. I. L. Purcell, Attorney and Counselor at Law, Pensacola, Fla. G. T. Robinson, Attorney and Counselor at Law, Nashville, Tenn. Bishop H. M. Turner, D. D., LL. D., A. M. E. Church, Atlanta, Ga. Rev. 0. M. Waller, Rector Episcopal Church, Washington, D. C. Prof. H. L. Walker, Principal High School, Augusta, Ga. Prof. Booker T. Washington, President Tuskegee Institute. Prof. N. B. Young, President Florida State Normal and Industrial College. The foregoing are a few leaders in the professions. Theie are nu¬ merous others whose names and deeds have already made history and fame. The present field of leaders in the professions is large, but there are other fields of leadership in the business world. These men are suc¬ cessful and point the way to others to follow, and they must lay down their leadership with the others: Charles Banks, Cashier Bank of Mound Bayou, Mound Bayou, Miss. E. C. Berry, hotel man, Athens, Ohio. Said to keep one of the best hotels in the United States. Rev. R. H. Boyd, President National Doll Company; also of the National Baptist Publishing House, Nashville, Tenn. William Washington Brown, Founder of the “True Reformers’ Bank, Richmond, Va. Junius G. Groves, “The Potato King.” Edwardsville, Ky. Deal Jackson, Albany, Georgia, the great cotton king. John Merrick, founder of the North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association, the strongest Negro insurance company in the world; North Carolina. W. R. Pettiford, founder of the Alabama Penny Savings Bank, Birmingham, Alabama. The following condition of the Colored American opportunities will be of assistance in suggesting fields of leadership: 20 THE COIMTNG RIEN OF THE BACE Tlic number of colored men now engaged in business and profes¬ sions are as follows: Agricultural pursuits .2,143,176 Professional occuiJations . 47,324 Domestic and personal service.1,324,160 Trade and transportation. 209,154 Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. 275,149 This is close to 25 percent of the entire colored population of the United States. But this enormous field of opportunity, is not the limit. You have aspirations toward music and the fine arts—singers, painters, sculptors, actors and poets. Here are a few leaders to be followed by you or your children, relatives or friends; MUSIC COMPOSERS AND PIANISTS Harry T. Burleigh, New York, composer of ‘‘Jean,” “Perhaps.” Kobert Cole and J. Rosamond Johnson, New York, musical setting to Longfellow’s “HiaAvatha,” “Idyll for Orchestra,” “Dream Lovers,” (operetta). William H. Tyers, composer of ‘ ‘ Trocha, ’ ’ a Cuban dance and other noted compositions. Will Marion Cook, New York, “The Casino Girl,” “Bandana Land,” etc. De Koven Thompson, Chicago, composer of “Dear Lord, Remember Me,” “If I Forget,” etc. James Reese Europe, founder of the Clef Club Symphony Orchestra. Among pianists is Miss Hazel Harrison, of La Porte, Indiana, who is making her mark as a student of the piano under the celebrated greatest living pianist, Ferrueco Buconi, of Berlin. THE COMING MEN OF THE KACE 21 These and other leaders in their art succeeded many illustrious composers. And you are called upon to prepare to follow the present leaders. VOCAL ARTISTS AND PRIMA DONNAS Remember the Black Swan, that wonderful prima donna whose voice had a range of three octaves and was frequently compared with Jenny Lind at the height of her fame. Madam Marie Selika, of Chicago, achieved enormous success in Eu¬ rope, a marvelous singer whose voice “trilled like a feathered song¬ ster,” and whose “Echo Song” has not yet been surpassed. You have heard the “Black Patti” (Madame Sisseretta Jones) Avho was a success in Europe, and has her own company of which she is the head, “The Black Patti Troubadours.” There is Mrs. E. Azalia Hackley, of Detroit. This lady has been a prominent singer for years. She studied in Europe, and is the author of “Guide to Voice Culture.” PAINTERS William Edward Scott, of Chicago, should be noted for his extraor¬ dinary works in America and Europe. Born in Indianapolis in 1884, he graduated from the high school in 1903. From 1904, when he entered the Chicago Art Institute, until the present time, he has been prolific in paintings, three of which were accepted at the Salon des Beaux Arts at Toquet, and others elsewhere. His work may be seen in three mural paintings which decorate the Felsenthal School in Chi¬ cago. This field is rich in artists of the colored people: E. M. Bannister, the first Negro in America to achieve distinction as a painter. One of his pictures was awarded a medal at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 (Philadelphia). Henry 0. Tanner, the son of Benjamin T. Tanner, Bishop of the A. M. E. Church, is one of the most distinguished artists of the present day. He resides in Paris but is a native born American. During the 22 THE COMING MEN OF THE BACE past three years his paintings have been on exhibition in the leading art galleries of the United States. A rising young artist is to be found in Eichard Lonsdale Brown, a native of Indiana, but who spent many years of his life among the hills of West Virginia. Not yet twenty years of age, he is on the road to fame and has received the ecomiums of artists as a young artist of rare qualities with the precious gift of vision which indicates ar¬ tistic instinct. SCULPTORS The two great sculptors of the colored people are women: Edmonia Lewis, of New York, now a resident of Borne, where she turns out noted sculptures sought for in the great art galleries of the world. Meta Vaux Warrick (Mrs. Fuller, wife of Dr. Solomon C. Fuller of South Framingham, Mass.). She first attracted attention by her ex¬ quisite modeling in clay in the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art. Eodin, the great French sculptor, took her under his charge, and her work is the admiration of the art galleries of the world. Mrs. Mary Howard Jackson may also be mentioned as a rising sculptress. ACTORS AND POETS Ira Frederick Aldridge, of Baltimore, was a pupil of the great artist Edmund Kean. Aldridge appeared as Othello and other characters, and received a decoration from the Emperor of Bussia. Phyllis Wheatley, the first woman white or black to attain literary distinction in this country. While a child she began to write verses, and received the endorsement of the most distinguished men of her time, including General Washington. Paul Laurence Dunbar, a noted poet born in Dayton, Ohio. He showed poetic ability while at school, and soon became known as a writer of ability. All the foregoing actors and poets have passed away, but there THE COMING MEN OF THE RACE 23 are many treading and to tread in their footsteps. Success and fame must come to them by utilizing their gifts to the best advantage. We give you merely the edge of the field to be filled by you or some one you know and hope to see attain it. It is a thickly sown field, and if you cultivate it, you will be rewarded with an astonishing harvest. rNVENTORS The evidence is accumulating every day that the Colored citizen, under favorable environments, has performed his whole duty in the work of benefiting mankind, whether in arduous labor or advancing the world by his thought. The records of the United States Patent office show more than four hundred inventors and inventions among the Colored people. Many of these inventions are of the highest value and utility. These inventions are for devices of every conceivable use, from a rapid fire gun, invented by Eugene Burkins, a young colored man of Chicago, down to a pencil sharpener in common use today. In the line of humanity, life saving guards for locomotives and street cars have been invented. All of this goes to show the trend of the Colored man’s mind, and what he can do by thinking and the proper use of his brain. As an inventor Mr. James Marshall, of Macon, Georgia, has at¬ tracted national notice through his novel flying machine which he has had patented. Mr. Marshall has introduced what is called a “Circum- planoscope,” which renders the flying machine non-capsizable, and which will enable it to stand still in the air. R. W. Overton, a sixteen-year-old student of the Stnyvesant High School, within the past year won the long distance record for model aeroplanes against more than twenty competitors from all the high schools of Greater New York and vicinity. It was said that the pioneer leaders of our Colored Americans strug¬ gled up and carried their people up with them. The questions pre¬ sented them, the problems they were called upon to solve were new and the lights given them to solve them was somewhat dim. They worked 24 THE COMING MEN OF THE RACE for betterment by tins dim light, but the light grew stronger as they advanced, and when they came to lay down the lamp of leadership, it was taken np by their successors burning brightly, and with added wis¬ dom to carry on the great work. Who can tell then, the names of the leaders to succeed them 1 They were in process of training, however, just as there are other leaders be¬ ing trained or growing up to follow in the footsteps of the present lead¬ ers. They appeared and have expended and are expending .their labors in elevating their fellow citizens, but they will eventually be obliged to lay down their mantle of leadership for others to take up. This means that in the present Colored Americans there are those destined, or who will make themselves fit to become great leaders in every department of uplift. Conditions have improved during the past generation, and the new generation looks upon an enlarged field, with more varied prospects, greater development, and opportunities that did not exist before, and which have naturally sprung from the gradual progress of the race. GREAT DEMAND FOR WISE LEADERS There is a greater demand for a skilled and wise leader now than ever before, and in preparing for that leadership, let each man of the race look to himself as a possible aspirant and successor to the present leaders. The very thought of such a possibility, based upon the neces¬ sity for such leadership, is an inspiration, an incentive to action, and a motive to take advantage of the opportunities. The path has been cleared and you can not lose your course. Let us revert to the question: Who are the coming men?” Who will take the places of the men now leading the race, when they have done their work, fulfilled their mission loaded with honors and fame? They can not go on forever, for they are human and must yield to the inevitable. Perhaps you are one of the possible leaders to reach honor and fame. WTiy not? Many a man living in apparent obscurity has sud- THE COMING MEN OF THE FACE 25 denly come forth out of his retirement at the call of demand following opportunity. This is life and the natural progress of the world. You are living under auspicious circumstances, surrounded by events that must cause you to think, and know' just what is required to advance along the lines of human betterment. Every man thinks he knows just w^hat he w'ould do under certain circumstances if he had the opportunity, and that he has the pow'er to do it. Very well, here are the opportunities, and if you develop your natural ability and capacity and take hold with a finn hand, you will attain the power. It is characteristic among all men, an attribute of modern affairs, that to obtain anything an effort must be made to get it. Everybody knows this by experience. It has been the experience of all men, and of all nations. A man must reach out and take what is before him within his reach. A wise man never attempts to try to take what is beyond his reach. Children do that, but a modern man is no child. There is an old maxim Avhich says: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Wherefore, take the bird in hand and hold on to it, and you will get the two in the bush by and by. FUTURE LEADERS NOW UNKNOWN YOUTH Even now in some humble home, there is a youth, a mere child wuth possibilities unknown to him or to you, who may develop into a leader. Many great men have sprung from such sources, and made the world ring with their exploits. What has been done can be and will be done again. It is not fate, nor is it perhaps destiny as some may think, it is opportunity. Do you suppose that the poor child wdio looks on at the amazing things of life, the things going on around him, does not think about them and feel ambitious to be or do something that will make as good a showing? It may be that he plods back and forth after his morning chores, to some little elementary school with his few books under his arm, and which he has pored over the night before or in the early morning. He knows that he is learning, and his small ambition leads him to learn 26 THE COMING MEN OF THE EACE more. His interest is aroused and he represents the seed, the foundation of a leader or of some of our leaders who will make their mark, an ad¬ vanced man to take the place of some who will soon pass away. He may have left the plow and the little elementary school to go to college; there are opportunities for this, and when he gets to this col¬ lege, his mind expands, and he becomes fertile in resources to embrace opportunities before him. The more he learns, the more rapidly does his mind quicken, and the more his mind quickens the more he advances along the goal. PERHAPS YOUR BOY WILL LEAD THE RACE He is your boy, perhaps, your son for whom you have the highest ambitions, and your bosom swells with pride at the thought that he is your boy, and that you have opened the door to opportunity for him. Some young man just out of college, just out of the refining process, is on the high road to position and honor, and is already making a name for himself, may become the leader or some leader along the many fields open to him. Can you say that it will not be yourself 1 Who knows that it may not be you, your brother, nephew, cousin, or some valued friend ? Give yourself the benefit of the doubt if there be any doubt, and there need not be, and take hold of the intellectual plow, and till the field of op¬ portunity. It is waiting for you and for yours. Do not throw straws in your own and in the way of those you know and to whom you may be related by the ties of blood or friendship. Why not put them and yourself in the way of opportunities? Give yourself and them a chance to prepare for opportunity, every one pos¬ sesses the chance, and he must prepare for it, it is in the future, perhaps it is waiting now, are you ready for it ? Do you think you will be ready when it calls? If not get ready by keeping your ear close to the ground and watch for the signal. Keep in touch with the people, their needs, necessities and demands; observe the signs of the times and study the shaping of events. THE COMING MEN OF THE RACE 27 These are progressive times, and age of hustle, and the man who stands out in front will win the race, for he has the advantage of place and position, also readiness to start at the first sound of the signal. THE CHURCH OFFERS HIGH INDUCEMENTS The Church offers the highest inducements to a life of usefulness and honor. It is guided by men of distinguished ability and humanity. The Bishops and clergy of the various denominations have taken ad¬ vantage of the new lights of the twentieth century, and are striving to bring their fellow men of the same race, up to the highest standard of right living. The heights they have attained must be maintained like a protec¬ tive rampart in a great battle. Their successors are the ones to con¬ tinue the work of defence, and advance the lines still farther into the country of the enemy of humanity and morality. The army and navy have had their share of brave Colored men, and has opened its ranks to more of them who are distinguishing themselves and ennobling their race. In the school of army and navy discipline, the Colored man has proven himself to be a man in every sense of the word. Faithful and true to his duty, he honors and loves the country under whose flag he is ready to draw his sword, and lay down his life. YOUR CHILDREN MAY BECOME DISTINGUISHED You or your children may be the fortunate ones to be offered an op¬ portunity to become distinguished for bravery and generalship, for the way has been prepared and those now striving to uphold peace will have successors. Remember this point, that the longer the test and the greater the perseverance, the more and the higher facilities will be given you to reach the leadership. It must be plain from the mere birdseye view that has been given that many leaders will be needed in the near future. Indeed, some of 28 THE COMING MEN OF THE FACE our present leaders as they grow older will lay down their armor, and others must be ready to take it up and wear it. The filling of the ranks is almost imperceptible because it is so gradual, but it goes on continually, and the time to prepare for stepping into a vacancy is now. There is always a leader, and the coming men, it is plain, are those who make themselves ready, and prepare for im¬ mediate and future emergencies. Have no fear that there will be no place for the lowly boy in the humble home; the lad with his school books plodding his way to the elementary school; the youth at college, or the newly made graduate. The wheels of life are not going to stop, they are ever turning, and there is a vast upward tendency which comes with every succeeding genera¬ tion, the last an improvement upon its predecessor, and the next one a still greater improvement. So will go the world until the last whisper of time shall beat against the gates of eternity. THE TURNING POINT The Progress of the Colored American; His Chance in the Business World There are three points upon which every colored citizen may base his chances for success in the business world: First—From their inability to engage in any business whatever a generation and a half ago, the Colored race now numbers about five hundred thousand members engaged in trade, transporta¬ tion, manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. Second—The Colored race having increased from about four mil¬ lions of people a generation and a half ago, to nearly ten mil¬ lions of people in 1913, the commercial field has vastly widened for exploitation. Third—Under the now accepted doctrine announced by Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst of New York City, the field is still farther enlarged and bids fair to become unlimited. The exact bearing of this increase in the population upon business chances lies in the increased consumption, greater demand and ad¬ vanced civilization—that is a greater variety of objects are necessary to comfort or pleasure. This makes more customers, and all things being equal, perhaps they should be a trifle better, it is quite on the cards to believe that the Colored American will get his increased share of the trade of his fellow Colored Americans. If he does not, then he is probably in fault through inferior goods, poor service and lack of prompt delivery. The business is in his hands at any rate and the opportunity is at his call. The first proposition is to the effect that business chances are now at high tide, where a few years ago there were no chances of any sort. We are speaking of the subject of business chances exclusively, but may venture to add such employments as miners, masons, dress makers, 29 30 THE TUKNING POINT pavers, iron and steel workers, stationary engineers, engine stokers, etc. In these latter occupations there are more than one hundred thousand Colored Americans employed, a gain of over 85 per cent in ten years, or rather since 1890. The other trades have fallen off somewhat owing to the introduction of machinery. To limit this question to commercial pursuits, it may be well to state that economic progress has reached a high water mark among Colored Americans. There are one hundred twenty-five and more Colored business men’s local Leagues in about every State in the Union, with eleven State Colored men’s business leagues in the South¬ ern States. These leagues are composed of bankers, merchants, and dealers generally in goods, wares and merchandise—dry goods and groceries, hardware, etc., and are all at the top notch. THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES It is evident from the signs of the times, the business situation, our interstate commerce laws, and the domination of the trusts and combines by the Federal government, that there will soon come a great change in our business methods, and practices. We are expecting that competition will be restored to the place it occupied before men were forced out of business by overpowering in¬ terests and vast aggregations of capital. It will certainly happen in the near future that any man will be able to open a modest store, or engage in a quiet and reasonable business without being driven into bankruptcy and poverty. Our Colored Americans are not men of large capital, nor can they control large amounts of capital, consequently they have been unable to make any headway against great combinations, but here is an oppor¬ tunity and if you wish to grasp it make ready. Prepare for this turning point, for it will be the turning point in the fortunes of many of our people who never had such a chance before, and will not again if they permit others with more sand and hustle to jump in and take up every valuable claim and chance. THE PROGRESSIVE COLORED AMER¬ ICAN EARNS RESPECT FOR HIS RACE What Other Races are Doing to Rise—Persistence and Determination Will Win In a country like the United States where there are so many different peoples gathered together, it is difficult for all of them to live in perfect harmony. In view of what is said in other parts of this book, it must come that all men will be united as one nation, with one set of rules and laws applicable to all alike and without discrimination against any branch of the human family, and without regard to his color. There are not so many prejudices against races as was formerly the custom, or rather habit, and the signs of the times are that preju¬ dice and opposition are diminishing every day. Colored citizens have had to fight against all kinds of prejudice and even submit to humiliations that ought to rouse their manhood and compel them to inquire Avhen or whether it will ever end. Every Colored American who reads this book may feel assured that the end is in sight, and that his children will witness a great diminution in the slights put upon his race and color. It will be effected by per¬ sonal influence based upon education and high standards of living. Not so very long ago, the Jew was about as humiliated a race of men as exist in the world. Driven out of public places because they were Jews; unable to do business with others on account of their race, they were made a byword and a laughing stock in every occupation of life, and held up to the world on the theater stage as objects of de¬ rision and caricature. 31 32 EARNS RESPECT FOR HIS RACE The Jew was a “Slieeney,” a “Shylock,” au “OP do’ man,” a “Christ killer,” and given other choice epithets to bring him into disrespect and excite prejudice, even abhorrence. All these epithets and others equally as cruel and vulgar, were ap¬ plied to the whole race of Jews, and it did not make any ditference whether he was an honest Jew, or one of education, and of high repute, he was still a “sheeney.” But a change has taken place and the Jew is no longer a “Shee¬ ney,” unless he merits the epithet, but stands as a man among the other men and is entitled to and gains their respect. Jews, as a race, are no longer “Sheeneys,” or “Shyloeks,” only those individuals of the race that are in bad repute among their own people are such. Hence we perceive that prejudice against the Jew as a race is di¬ minishing. THE FLANNEL MOUTHED IRISHMAN Not very long ago, an Irishman was considered a “Paddy,” and to call a man “Irish” was to provoke a fight in which blood was spilled. To call an Irishman a “Flannel mouth” meant a broken head to the speaker. It was a term of reproach. The Irishman also was cari¬ catured on the theatrical stage and held up to derision. “0, he is only an Irishman,” was an explanation for every outburst of disorder. We find that these opprobrious epithets are now limited to certain Irishmen, and not to the entire nation or race of Irish. To call an Irishman a “Mick” does not hurt his feelings as it once did, because he knows it does not apply to him as a member of the Irish race. The Italian “Dago,” and the Chinese “Chink,” were epithets applied to the entire nation or race of Italians or Chinese. But a change has come over the situation. There are Italians who are not “Dagos,” Chinese who are not “Chinks.” Epithets cruel and vulgar have been and still are applied to Colored men, and we often hear our Colored Americans styled “Nig^ EARNS RESPECT FOR HIS RACE 38 gers.” Of course this is slang for Negro, and although the word “Negro,” means a high type of Ethiopian, nevertheless it hurts the Colored American. Why should it hurt his feelings? BECAUSE HE ALWAYS APPLIES THE VULGAR EPITHET TO HIS RACE That is what the Jew used to do when he was called a “Sheeney,” and it hurt the whole Irish race of people to call one of their number a “Flannel mouth.” The Italian did not like to be called a “Dago,” and he always felt for his dagger intending to kill for this insult to his whole people. So too, the Chinaman does not mind being called a “Chink,” because he now understands that the opprobrious word does not mean the whole race of Chinamen. When one white man calls another a “liar,” a “scoundrel,” a “thief,” a “briber,” or other vulgar epithet, the whole white race of Americans do not rush to arms to wipe out the insult to the nation, because such epithets have nothing but a personal application, and the white man, who is none of the things covered by the vulgar word, merely laughs. Let us extend the idea to religion: If a wayward boy or man casts a rock through a church window, he is charged with sacrilege and an enemy of religion. If a man even on provocation slaps the face of a clergyman, he is also a desecrator of religion, and an enemy of God. This is ridiculous, and we begin to see how ridiculous it is to attach to an entire system a mere petty detail of local or personal insult. Religion can not be harmed by breaking a church window, nor is the majesty of God insulted by an assault upon a clergjTuan. If that does happen, then it is mighty poor religion that can not stand so small a thing. Applying the idea to racial epithets: You do not offend a Jew now, bv speaking of “Sheenies,” because 3—L S 84 EARNS RESPECT FOR HIS RACE he knows that there are Jews who are Sheenies, that is, disreputable Jews, and he is as anxious to get rid of them as you are. When you mention “Dagoes” to an Italian, he shrugs his shoulders as much as to say: “0, yes, there are Dagoes just the same as there are grafting Yankees.” The Yankee to whom this is said does not get angry because he knows that the Italian does not mean the Yankee nation. It is the same with the Irishman and the Chinese. They laugh at the application of vulgar terms to members of their race that deserve the appellation—they do not take it to mean the whole race. There is a reason for this diminution of racial prejudice against the other races. That reason lies in the fact that education has put the races upon the same plane of intelligence and good citizenship. When it comes to caricaturing their race in order to create prejudice or excite animosities against the whole, they protest and their pro¬ tests are heard because they are founded upon reason and common sense, as well as business sagacity. The movement among the Jews and Irish to stop the caricaturing of their race upon the theatrical stage is bearing fruit and is doing much toward eliminating race prejudice. All the Jewish organizations have combined to prevent caricatures of the Jewish traits of character which are notoriously bad, in theaters of all grades and to punish their representation. It is a business propo¬ sition mainly, but it is effective. “You make fun of the bad traits of ray people,” intimates the Jew, “and I will not trade with you.” Likewise the Irish organizations are unanimous in their movement to prevent and punish caricatures of the bad traits of the Irish people. Says the Irishman, “You keep the Flannel mouth off the stage, or off goes your head at the next election.” This is the loss of political in¬ fluence mainly. So with the other nationalities: “You let us alone in your carica¬ tures, or we will not trade with you, work for you, or vote for you.” The consequence is, that high minded people, or those who have an eye to profits and success in their business ventures, find that there EARNS RESPECT FOR HIS RACE 85 is less to be gained from encouraging the immature, or half educated, the bigoted, and the ignorant whose race prejudices are based on mere personal dislike or neighborhood animosity, gossip, or lies repeated until they are regarded as gospel truth, than in the business of the educated and cultured classes, or those who believe in equality of op¬ portunity. The people who cater to the public are discovering that honey catches more flies than vinegar and gall. Comic and even sharply satiric portrayals of Jewish, Irish, or even Negro foibles are appreciated by these races themselves, just as Ameri¬ cans of other race strains are amused by caricatures of themselves. But there are limits beyond which race enmities and prejudices are fostered, and those limits are to be respected, and will be respected when the race affected establishes a high standard. This can only be done by education and self-respect. The body of men or the race that does not respect themselves, can not expect to command the respect of others. There are drones in every hive, and they live on the work of the busy members of the hive. If you know anything about bees, you must know that these drones are killed off and thrown out as useless members of the bee colony. Among men, if a man refuses to work when able, and nothing but laziness is his trouble, he is quickly thrown out and becomes a ‘ ‘ tramp, ’ ’ and when a man becomes a tramp, why then, an ignominious life and an ignominious death are his portions. The Colored Americans have it within their power to rise above any race prejudice just as the Jews and other races are doing. They made a bitter fight, and finding that the Constitution, while giving them political rights, could not give them the respect of other fellow citizens, they turned to education, business, employment and embraced every opportunity to get on top in progressive influences and they suc¬ ceeded. They made themselves kings of finance and are deeply con¬ cerned in scientific investigations, appropriating large sums of money to the cause of education. 36 EARNS RESPECT FOR HIS RACE The Irish stand in the front as builders and workers, and none can point his finger at any particular successful Irishman and call him a “Flannel mouth” in derision. “Paddy” can refuse to eat meat on Friday, or eat it as he wishes without calling forth any vulgar remarks —he is respected as a race worth respecting. So with the Italian, he is a worker and a fruit and produce caterer. He is no longer a mere member of the ‘ ‘ Dago ’ ’ race, he is a respectable member of the community. He does something. The once despised “Chink” has arisen out of ages of superstition into an enlightened member of a great republic. He is no longer a “washee-washee,” but a man. He has cut off his pigtail and put on civilized clothing. At a banquet or gathering, the chairman is proud to introduce to the audience “My friend Wun Lung, who started out as a laundryman in the Fifth Ward, and has risen up to the presidency of the great Ginseng Company.” The Chinese are doing things and none of them is sitting around waiting for something to turn up. They go after opportunities and seize the one nearest and hold on to it until another and better one comes along and then they grasp that. We are all living in the present laying up treasures or preparing for the future, and the Colored American stands in the same category as every other race. The petty details incident to human nature of every kind, go away with the present into the past. Every footstep made in the mud yesterday is sunk out of sight on the morrow. What you are called today, is nothing tomorrow, if you hold your position in the world’s respect. Keep on doing something, and if the epithets of the vulgar offer obstacles in the way of your progress, then give battle as have the Jews, the Irish, the Italians, and the Chinese. You belong to a race entitled to respect if you yourself respect it. INCREASE OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLORED AMERICANS Trades, Business Occupations, and Professions Opening Up in Every Part of the United States—Four Hundred Millions of Acres of Fertile Land Waiting for the Tiller—Agricultural and Mechanical Facilities Multiply—Honor and Profit Within the Grasp of Every Colored American Nearly every occupation known to the world of endeavor, that is to say: the trades; arts and sciences; commerce; business; manufac¬ tures; skilled labor, and others, are now filled by Colored Americans with success and profit. There are at least one hundred and fifty different occupations and professions utilized by Colored Americans, and not a single occupa¬ tion can be mentioned or thought of that is not open to them. One colored citizen in any business, occupation, or profession, means another one, and the field grows more extensive every year, with the advantages offered by institutions of learning, trade and mechanical schools and colleges, and every industry represented by an institution of learning. The Colored American is to be found in the Army and Navy of the country, and the walks of life which are not menial are so various that one is almost tempted to disbelieve the evidence of the record. There are 17 State Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges in the United States, and in all of them, the Colored American stands on a par with the other races, often at the head of his class. Distributed through the various States, are one hundred and eighty-four special Normal and Industrial schools of the highest class, specially maintained for the benefit of the Colored Americans. 37 38 INCEEASE OF OPPORTUNITIES To these add 14 schools of law, medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy, and it will be seen that the colored citizen has opportunities within easj'’ reach. If he does not want to fit himself for a high position, then the training in the public schools gives him an insight into business which makes him the equal of any other race in the struggle for existence. We must put the Colored American upon the same basis, or founda¬ tion, as the other races, and in doing so, and giving him the same ad¬ vantages, it is most astonishing to find that he is improving along the same line, and in the same ratio as the other races. That is, the Colored citizen is the intellectual equal of the other races, when given equal opportunities and advantages. It must be admitted, to be strictly just, that without advantages of education or uplifting environment, the races are also equal in ignorance and prejudice. A perusal of any of our great daily news¬ papers easily demonstrates this as a truth. TRAINING SCHOOLS FOR WOMEN There are 36 institutions for the education of Colored women, and in addition, there are 63 Training schools for nurses conducted by Col¬ ored Americans. It has been proved numberless times by actual experience, under the most trying circumstances, that our Colored women make the very tenderest of nurses. In these training schools, are to be found the most important factors in the improvement of the health of our Col¬ ored Americans. Indeed, their services are so valuable that they are not limited to their own race. At the close of the Civil war only five per cent of our Colored Americans could read and write. In the year 1900, the number had in¬ creased to 55.5 per cent, and in 1910, the number reached 69.5 per cent. This is an astonishing increase in education, and it proves the reason why our Colored Americans are forging to the front in the arts and INCREASE OF OPPORTUNITIES 39 sciences, trade, commerce, and the professions. It is stupendous prog¬ ress when we consider that scarcely two generations were required to bring about this uplift of an entire race. It takes the banner of racial improvement. It appears that the manufacturing and mechanical pursuits are very attractive to our Colored Americans, the increase during the last ten years being about 40 per cent. If we may make the comparison, it is on record that 62 and Ko per cent of all our Colored Americans are engaged in profitable occupations, whereas, there are forty-eight and six-tenths of the White Americans so engaged. TRADE AND MANUFACTURING PURSUITS The employment of Colored Americans in domestic and personal service is becoming less and less every year, under the influence of education, and is being changed into trade and transportation, me¬ chanical and manufacturing pursuits. This means as plainly as any¬ thing, that our Colored Americans have found opportunities, and that they are taking advantage of them. And where there have been oppor¬ tunities to permit such a transformation, there must be others equally as advantageous and numerous—that is a law of trade and of progress. One business or occupation successfully carried on always begets an¬ other. THE JEW, THE IRISHMAN AND THE ITALIAN In considering the various occupations, trades, etc., in which our Colored Americans are engaged, the locality must be taken into ac¬ count. The colored man, like the Jew, the Irishman, and the Italian, meets with more prejudice in one than in another locality, and he must govern his occupation in a great measure by that prejudice, until he is strong enough to overcome it, and intelligent enough to find a way to overcome it. There are many who hold that the Colored American in the South finds less opposition and prejudice against him in the trades and occu- 40 INCREASE OF OPPORTUNITIES pations than in the North. There is less also in the East than in the West, except that in the Middle West, or the northern portion of Mis¬ sissippi Valley, where there is less prejudice against the employment of Colored Americans outside the large cities where the trades unions prevail and control. Owing to this diminution of prejudice in the Mid¬ dle West, the number of Colored Americans in that part of the country is increasing, likewise improving. In the South, it is said, the differences between the two races is not so much prejudice against employment, as a political idea that the Colored Americans are on the way to obliterate the color line. Notwithstanding this opposition, the Colored American readily finds room for his labor where he would be impeded in the North and West from the opposition of the great labor unions, the great aim of which is material progress and not intellectual. It is for the Colored American, therefore, to govern his choice of a business, trade, or profession by the locality in which he lives or purposes remaining during his natural life. In that selection, he is afforded advantages to rise to any limit of perfection and thus obtain profit from his talents and capacity. THE SKILLED WORKMAN The man who limits himself to become a skilled workman, or a successful tradesman anywhere, must drop his personal grievances, and not attempt to father the evils and troubles of the race upon him¬ self. Who cares about the downtrodden condition of Ireland! The Irishman who is constantly calling attention to the heel of the oppressor upon his neck, makes a poor workman and remains stationary in the lower level. The Jew who talks about the sufferings of his race receives but little sympathy because he is referring to ancient history. So it is with the others and so it is with everybody who attempts to take upon his own shoulders the ills and burdens of the whole. In the first place, it is not his business, and in the second place, people around him are INCREASE OF OPPORTUNITIES 41 fighting their way up, while he is always looking down to see how far he must fall, and he gets dizzy and does fall. It is an old but true saying applicable to Colored Americans as it is applied to everybody else: “Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” There is one subject of the greatest importance to Colored Ameri¬ cans, because the opportunities are enormous, but they will be lost in the course of time, and can never be regained. That subject is the land question; the farm problem. It is almost like sounding a tocsin to repeat what everybody is saying, every economist urging, and every civic reformer giving as the remedy for overcrowded cities, and a cure for vice and crime: “Back to the farm.” In the “Wise man’s philosophy,” every Colored American is ad¬ vised to become a land owner. Get an acre, two acres, ten acres, twenty acres, forty acres, and so on. Why? There are two good reasons why: 1. Every man must have a home of some kind unless he prefers to be a tramp or a beggar with his hand held out for pennies. 2. There is no possible uplift without being a producer of some¬ thing, and land offers the easiest solution of the production problem. FORTUNES TO BE MADE The enormous markets of the country in our great cities, make such a heavy demand upon production, that the commonest vegetables and fruit are brought from great distances at a high cost of transporta¬ tion. Within reach of every populous center, there is to be found va¬ cant land that could be made productive with very little labor, and the result would be profitable, for the supply must keep up with the de¬ mand. But out in the vast territories of the Mississippi Valley, there are fortunes to be made in producing cereals, cotton, tobacco, live stock, butter, poultry, and fruit. There is an unlimited field, and every one who has ventured into it finds a large reward in a good bank account. A man cannot begin and then, when he gets tired, lie down in the fur- 42 INCEEASE OF OPPORTUNITIES row and expect nature to pull him out. It never has and it never will as many know to their cost. It is estimated, that in the Mississippi Valley and its adjoining ter¬ ritory, outside of mountain tops and rivers and lakes, there are in the markets, four hundred million acres of land as fertile as the valley of the river Nile. It is beyond the reach of present railroad transporta¬ tion and therefore it has been left untilled. It matters little whether this enormous quantity of land exists or whether it is exaggerated by one-half, it is a fact that millions upon millions of acres of land are left untilled and can be had for small sums of money. There are lands in Texas as an illustration, which can be purchased for from one to four dollars an acre, with forty years to pay for it in. This is not only the case in Texas, but cheap land can be had even in the State of Illinois, or New York. In the great corn belt, the farmers raise corn only, and even buy and bring their butter, eggs and fresh vegetables from Chicago or St. Louis. Whoever heard of such a thriftless condition! It is true, corn pays, but there is such a thing as getting too much of one thing and not enough of another. Investigation and inquiry shows that if a man should start a small vegetable garden anywhere, on rented land, and supply the corn barons with vegetables, eggs and butter, he would make a good profit and get a large trade. The idea sought to be conveyed is, that by taking advantage of a demand where there is no supply, there is an opportunity to be seized without arguing about it. It is there. The advent of the motor truck, which runs into localities fifty or a hundred miles distant, carrying from five to ten tons of a load, and trailing as much more, offers an opportunity for several workers to club together and carry their products to market at small expense. Our agricultural and mechanical colleges are turning their attention in that direction, and preparing to fill the field. But it is a large field and can not be fully occupied in a hundred years to come. It is worth thinking about when a Colored American is in doubt what opportunity to seize. INCREASE OF OPPORTUNITIES 43 The main object in every man’s life, if he has any manhood and intelligence, is to produce something. He may use his hands or he may use his brain, but the result is that something is produced, and what¬ ever is produced possesses some value. THE FIELD OF OPPORTUNITY Ten per cent of our population is made up of Colored Americans. This number creates a demand that it would be profitable to supply, but when it is considered that the other ninety per cent, or ninety mil¬ lions of people are constantly demanding something, and take every¬ thing that comes along, there is an everlasting field of opportunity into which every Colored American can fit in some capacity if he makes the slightest effort. THE COLORED AMERICAN IN THE EMPLOY OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT The Army, Navy, Government Services, and Legislatures —Opportunities to Colored Americans to Distinguish Themselves—Heroes and Patriots Furnished by the Race—The Advantage of Discipline in the Forma¬ tion of Character—Avenues to Honor and Renown. The Federal government is a large and generous employer of men of every nationality where brains and capacity are shown to exist. In fact, there is no country in the world where so many opportunities are offered to its people of every class. Not only subordinate positions may be sought with perfect con¬ fidence of a raise in rank or grade, but the very highest positions are within reach. This pertains to our Colored Americans without dis¬ tinction. IN THE ARMY AND NAVY In the Army and Navy, beginning with the revolutionary war, Col¬ ored Americans have taken an active part side by side with their other fellow citizens in removing the foreign shackles from the limbs of the nation. The War of 1812 also brought out Colored Americans to drive the foreigner from our shores, and in both great wars the fighting ability and courage of Colored Americans have been amply tested, weighed in the balance, so to speak, and not found wanting. IN THE EMPLOY OF THE GOVERNMENT 45 The heroism displayed by thousands of Colored Americans in the great Civil War, not only convinced the world of the sincerity and patriotism of Colored Americans, but impressed the nation as well. The result of this devotion to country and its interests, opened the eyes of the government to an element of strength which it had recognized but had not fostered to any great extent. It is different now, for the government takes from the ranks of Col¬ ored Americans its best and ablest men, satisfied from experience that whatever duties are imposed upon them will be ably and intelligently performed. FORCE OF CHARACTER Along this line, the struggle of Colored Americans to acquire by force of character and education, a high station and to fit themselves for any position of honor in the government, has met with success. Not only in the army and navy, but in the halls of Congress, the Colored American has demonstrated his wisdom, sagacity, and states¬ manship. It is historical that the first martyr in the Boston massacre, a re¬ sistance to British tyranny, was the Negro, Crispus Attacks. In the War of Independence so many of the Colored Americans made them¬ selves conspicuous in their fight for national independence, that they were recognized by Congress and the States as national defenders. At the siege of Savannah, October 9, 1779, it was the Black Legion under Count D’Estaing that covered the retreat and repulsed the charge of the British, saving from annihilation the defeated American and French army. In the War of 1812, the Colored American was conspicuous for his bravery. One-tenth of the crews of the fighting ships on the Great Lakes were Colored Americans. In the great picture of Perry’s victory on Lake Erie, may be seen a Colored American sailor. Two battalions of five hundred Colored Americans distinguished 46 IN THE EMPLOY OP THE GOVERNMENT themselves under General Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. In 1814, 2,000 Colored Americans enlisted for the war and were sent to the army at Sackett’s Harbor, where they performed deeds of valor. RECORDS OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT During the great Civil War, 178,975 Colored Americans took up arms and fought side by side with the men of the North to maintain the nation. The records of the War Department at Washington show that the Negro troops were engaged in many of the bloodiest battles of the war, distinguished themselves more especially at Port Hudson, Fort Wagner, Milligan’s Bend, and Petersburg. In the late war with Spain, in 1898, Colored American soldiers took a more conspicuous part than in any other war waged by the United States. In the famous battle of San Juan Hill, the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and Twenty-fourth Infantry rendered heroic service. Col. Roosevelt delights to tell of the part the Colored Americans took with his Rough Riders. It is even said, that without the aid of the Colored troops, the gallant Colonel would not have gone up the hill. All this is evidence of physical prowess, patriotism and courage. History has been made, and now the country is ready for the results of a glorious history and as honorable a record as that exhibited by any race on earth. Out of it has come a regular demand of the government to make Colored Americans a part and parcel of its army and navy, and the ranks of many regiments of infantry, cavalry, and artillery are filled with heroes who have won their baptism of fire in the Philippines, and others who are ready and fired with zeal to earn their spurs in some well contested field of battle. They have but to ask, to be re¬ ceived. Out of this also, has grown a confidence that has made the Col¬ ored American a man of energy, fired him with an interest in improve¬ ment, and a seeker after education. Out of his noble history has grown a spirit of emulation, that impels him to aspire to high position not only as deserved but because he is fitted to fill it. IN THE EMPLOY OF THE GOVERNMENT 47 With the twenty-five United States Senators and Congressmen who have done good service for the nation at large, and have been faithful to the traditions of their race, the record is augmented. In the executive branch of the government, Colored Americans are conspicuous for their ability in highly responsible positions. IN THE GOVERNMENT SERVICE In the Treasury Department, the Attorney General’s Department, the Auditor of the Navy, Customs Department, Internal Revenue, Land Office, and others, there is no dearth of efficient Colored Americans per¬ forming onerous duties and engaged in unraveling intricate govern¬ mental details with as much ease and intelligence as if to the manner born. In the diplomatic and consular service, the Colored American is fast making his way upward, many important posts being now filled by them with honor to the country, and dignity to their positions. With all these advantages in the way of opportunities, it can not be said that Colored Americans are being crowded to the wall. Where prejudice does hold him back, it is in small localities where there is prejudice against everything, not the making of the prejudiced people themselves. There is a prejudice against the Creator Himself, and to expect all persons to drop prejudice is to expect more than the Al¬ mighty can cure. It is a fact that a blind man must be able to perceive, that the bitter prejudice is becoming less aggravating. The rough edges of personal opposition are being worn down smooth, and in the course of less than another generation, the prejudices against Colored Americans will be almost a horrid dream of the past. THE DIGNITY OF THE RACE It is for the Colored American to help smother the remaining shad¬ ows of former prejudices by maintaining the dignity of his race, and by education, fitting himself to stand beside any race on the earth. He 48 IN THE EMPLOY OF THE GOVERNMENT has done it, is doing it, and the incentives are offered for still doing it. Remember what Colored Americans are doing; the positions they are filling by their education and energy; none of them are asleep in the furrow hut are busy harvesting—doing something. If they do nothing else, they are demonstrating that Colored Americans can do the same things, fill the same positions as the other races, and that they possess an equally balanced intelligence, and have the same brain power as others. They never spend their time quarreling with fate, but overcome fate, and manufacture opportunity and ride upon destiny as upon a fiery steed, curbing it with the whip and the lash of education and intelligence, mingled with energy and persistent determination. These are the reasons why the Colored American must win if he tries. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuujiliiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuuiiiiuuiuiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii The Story of a Rising Race Told in Pictures PHOTOGRAPHED FROM LIFE Special Collection RELIGIOUS PHILANTHROPIC EDUCATIONAL FRATERNAL TllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllinilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMlllllllilllllltllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllr UlllllllllltllSIflliniMlllllllllllllllllllllJUIlllllIlUlllllllIlllllllUllUlllllllllliUllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllillllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllJIllllllllliUlllllMllllllllllllllIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllll IN THE SERVICE OF GOD A meeting of the officers of the various churches of all denominations. UNITY IN RELIGION ^::i I SEEKERS AFTER TRUTH Graduating Class of the Bible Training School, Theological Department, Tuskegee Institute. CHRISTIAN UNITY, FELLOWSHIP AND EDUCATION Inter-Scholastic Young- Men’s Christian'Association Meeting, held at King's Mountain, N. C., May, 1913. *-'k SONGS OF PRAISE Vested Choir attending devotional services. Howard University, Washington, REFINING AND CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE The Reading- Ronm in the Y. M. C. A., Y'ashington, D. C. 1'lie yonng men are studious and deeply interested in tlieir educational and Christian work. COLORED SISTERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY The Holy Family Convent at New Orleans has eight Catholic Schools in Louisiana and two in Texas. The students are taught Industrial Art, Embroidery, Music, etc., and become very efficient. BRINGING THE BOYS TOGETHER FOR SELF-IMPROVEMENT Social Settlement Workers teaching boys innocent games and interesting them in developing their characters in order to make them useful citizens. The Fourth Annual Conference of The National Association for the advancement of Colored People, at Chicago. In the group are, Jane Addams, Dr. DuBois, Bishop Lee, Dr. C. E. Bent]e3^ and many other well known men and women. _ WORLD WIDE EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENT International Conference on better education held at Tuskegee July, 1912. M. E. Sunday School Publishing House, Nashville, Tennessee. An association which spreads “Christian Teaching” broadcast and opens an avenue for the employment of intelligent men and women of the race. MYSTIC SHRINERS I- o dj tn ’X3 ^ C < cS m < CIh o ^ U Dh t>fl ^o CO a> (U cj -n n a> ODD FELLOWS ANNUAL BANQUET ■ndance arc such national characters as Booker T. AVashington. Ex-Register J. C. Napier, Former Register J. D. Lyons, Ex-Recorder of Deeds Lincoln Johnson, the Local Grand Master, and others equally well known. 2 ^ o u THE COLORED AMERICAN IN THE SERVICE OF GOD The Church as a Career for Colored Americans—Influence of Religion a Powerful Incentive to Success—Opportunities to Follow an Honorable Vocation—High Religious Aspira¬ tions an Inborn Sentiment of the Race—Men Who Have Been Pioneers in the Field. The church offers an opportunity to embrace a high and honorable calling, a career that is the noblest in the world. The spirit of religion is an instinct of the race, and the past decade or two has demonstrated that the spirit has quickened into a most beneficial activity, and is exerting an infiuence for good that has made itself felt. Before the race lifted itself up on the wings of freedom, there was good soil to cultivate, and many apostles and evangelists of the Christ prepared the way for the present splendid hierarchy. The latter are preparing the way for their successors in the same manner as their predecessors, but the field is enlarged to enormous dimensions. The laborers in the vineyard are becoming too few to gather the harvest, so it is necessary to prepare leaders of advanced thought to keep pace with the work, and to increase it. The Colored Americans are the fruitful vineyard, that is constantly increasing and there must be more laborers. The foundation is laid, the way is open, and the young Colored American with a vocation has not far to seek to find an open door. There is loving memory for Rev. Lemuel Haynes, the revolutionary soldier, who drew the sword for his country and never laid it down until the last foreign enemy had left the country. Then, he turned his 4—L S 49 50 COLORED AMERICAN IN THE SERVICE OF GOD SAVord into the Word of God, and fought the powers of evil as the first Congregational minister in the United States. In loAung memory is held Bishop Daniel A. Payne, the most re¬ markable preacher among his race that has ever been produced. He was responsible more than anyone else for the Wilberforce Community and University. For sixty years the celebrated John Jasper, a preacher of highest virtue, piety and sincerity, labored to bring souls to God, becoming a national character. There were Alexander Crummell, the eminent Colored Episcopal minister and author; Henry Highland Garnett, missionary, army chap¬ lain, and diplomat; Joseph S. Attwell, missionary and rector, till his death, of St. Philip’s church. New York City. THE FORCE FOR GOOD All these and many more have gone before and left their influence as a continuing operative force for good. Let us mention one Colored American woman who is still among us, Amanda Smith, distinguished as an evangelist of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This eminent lady taught herself to read and write by cutting out large letters from newspapers, laying them on the win¬ dow sill and getting her mother to make them into words. Her evangelical labors extended to Africa, India, England and Scotland. The remainder of her useful days she is spending in charge of the Amanda Smith Orphans’ Home for Colored children, at Harvey, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Through the influence of the Christian labors of the past and gone apostles, and the apostleship of their enlightened and pious followers and successors, religion has developed amazingly among our Colored Americans. Of Colored American members of white denominational churches, numbering 5,377, there are 477,792 communicants. Of Colored American members of Independent Negro denomina¬ tions numbering 31,393 churches, there are 3,207,305 communicants. COLORED AMERICAN IN THE SERVICE OF GOD 51 THE CAUSE OF RELIGION As showing their faith demonstrated by good works, the Colored Americans are supporting 34,689 schools, and contributing 1,750,000 children to the cause of religion and education. They have donated in money more than sixty million dollars to church property. The shepherds guiding this enormous flock, consist of Bishops of the highest attainments as scholars, teachers, and pious divines. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church has seven Bishops with an able executive corps of ten members. The African Methodist Episcopal Church is under the guidance of fourteen wise shepherd Bishops, with an executive staff of eleven emi¬ nently qualified divines. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, has nine Bishops, devoted men all of them, aided by a staff of workers numbering six¬ teen divines, lawyers, editors, missionaries and financiers. The Afro-American Presbyterian council consists of three presi¬ dents and a secretary. The National Baptist Convention is guided by Rev. E. C. Morris, D. D., President, of Helena, Ark., aided by Rev. W. G. Parks, Vice-President at Large, of Philadelphia, Pa., and eleven sec¬ retaries. The Methodist Episcopal Church has one Colored Bishop, Isaiah B. Scott, D. D., LL.D., Missionary Bishop to Liberia and West Africa, Monrovia, Liberia. The general offices and officers, however, are in the United States, and consist of eleven clergymen and other distinguished men who at¬ tend to missionary work and executive duties generally. There are numerous Roman Catholic priests among our Colored Americans, some of whom occupy high positions as educators. Rev. Charles Randolph Uncles is a professor in the Epiphany Apostolic Col¬ lege, Walbrook, Baltimore, Maryland. Rev. John H. Dorsey is a teach¬ er and Assistant Principal in the St. Joseph College for Negro Cate¬ chists, Montgomery, Alabama. Rev. Joseph Burgess is a professor in the Apostolic College, at Cornwells, Pennsylvania. 52 GOLOBED AMEEICAN IN THE SERVICE OF GOD YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION The Young Men’s Christian Association among Colored Americans presents an illustration of the growth of the religious spirit in addition to that exhibited by the churches, but of course, affiliated with them to a greater or less degree. From the first student association at the How¬ ard University, organized in 1869, there are now six International Sec¬ retaries, 96 associations organized in Colored American educational in¬ stitutions, with an enrollment of 15,000 male students, and forty-five city associations scattered over 23 States. The Colored women of the United States began organizing Y. W. C. A. work in 1896, and there are now 37 associations affiliated with the national organization, with 12 city associations for Colored women. In connection with church or religious matters, the work of the Colored Women’s Christian Temperance Union should not be forgot¬ ten. This great national association makes for morals, sobriety, good citizenship and education. With all these remarkably large and numerous opportunities, the young Colored American should be able to find an opening for his de¬ sired ambition to be an apostle among his fellow men. The spirit is working and inspires the race with noble ambitions, and all the human virtues possible to inculcate in this world. It may be said, in passing, that to lead the souls of men to eternal bliss in the world beyond is the noblest and highest attainable profes- lion or calling. In preparing men for a future home beyond the skies, he is converted into an advanced man of morals and good qualities on this earth to fit him for the next world. Men and nations have sometimes forgotten God, but their end has always been untimely. LEADERS OF AMERICA WHOSE EARS ARE CLOSE TO THE GROUND Americans, Regardless of Color, Who are Lead¬ ing the People out of the Wilderness and Teaching the Brotherhood of Man. We have at the present time in the United States certain persons regarded as eminent in progress and advanced thought, who must be reckoned with when it comes to human improvement, and the removal of obstacles to man’s intellectual life and physical welfare. There have been numberless proofs in the years gone by, in fact, we, have only to survey the pages of all history, to learn that it is a law of human nature, that there is no distinction between color and race, and that brains, intellect, soul, are and always will be the test, the criterion, the standard of human excellence. To review the past would be to open the door to endless pages of history, and require pages of illustrious names that have shone like stars in the human firmament. Those who are engaged in the development of the human family, and apparently unconsciously working out the designs of God in their persistent advocacy of human betterment, the destruction of inefficient environments, and the promotion of peace and good will, as well as the preservation of health, are numerous. Strikingly prominent are many of our Americans who seem to be blessed with an almost prophetic in¬ sight, and the ability to bring about changes in unpleasant conditions. 63 54 LEADERS’ EARS ARE CLOSE TO THE GROUND THEODORE ROOSEVELT We have in Theodore Roosevelt, a man of many parts, none of which is unimportant but all of them vital. When he speaks upon any subject he not only speaks with determination but with an absolute knowledge of the subjects he treats. ‘ ‘ Col. ’ ’ Roosevelt, as he delights to be called, began in the New York legislature, then became President of the New York City Police Com¬ mission, where he did some powerful work in suppressing vice and the saloon evil. Becoming too powerful a factor in American affairs after his brilliant career as Governor of New York, he was nominated as Vice-President of the United States, the politicians thinking thus to close his career. But he became President of the United States, succeeding to that high office through the deplorable assassination of President McKinley, and received the suffrages of the people for a second term because of his energetic Americanism, and as an exponent of ‘ ‘ Fair Play. ’ ’ He is now a private citizen, but as distinguished and as influential as if he were filling the Presidential office. He is all energy, persistence and force of character. He will fight, talk, or argue his points, as long as he can stand on his feet, and then he will write them to the world. No such man ever before lived in the United States. On the other hand, among our Colored Americans, there stand at the top two great leaders, Dr. Washington and Prof. DuBois. Both of these men represent different schools of thought and each of them has an equally large following. This is encouraging, because working along different lines, as is the case with diverse national parties, one serves as a check upon the other, and without going to extremes they may follow a happy medium. PROF. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON Professor Booker T. Washington, whose aims, exertions and suc¬ cess tends to advance his race along the same lines as other races, is meeting with tremendous results, bringing about a more decided re¬ spect for the intelligence of Colored Americans. LEADERS’ EARS ARE CLOSE TO THE GROUND 55 Mr. Washington, born in 1857, has, by grit and determination, reached the leadership of his race, and become one of the great men of the nation. After a life spent in struggles to acquire an education, he was rec¬ ognized as a great teacher, and called upon to take charge of a normal school at Tuskegee, Alabama, established by the legislature. He or¬ ganized the school on July 4th, the anniversary of American Independ¬ ence, an idea that denotes the character of the man. Since that period, the widely known Tuskegee Institute has made such progress that, today, the site of the institution is a city of itself. Mr. Washington worked his way to pay for his education at the Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia. What he did and how he did it is best described by himself in giving his experiences at Hampton: SELF HELP FOR YOUTH “While at Hampton I resolved, if God permitted me to finish the course of study, I would enter the far South, the black belt of the Gulf States, and give my life in providing as best I could the same kind of chance or self-help for the youth of my race that I found ready for me when I went to Hampton, and, so, in 1881, I left Hampton and went to Tuskegee and started the Normal and Industrial Institute.” Mr. Washington literally worked his way through college. He helped unload a vessel to get money to reach Hampton, and while there did odd jobs of manual work, and acted as janitor. Referring to another American of another race. President Wood- row Wilson stands first, in reality he is the first gentleman in the land. PRESIDENT WILSON President Wilson is an uplifter rather than a reformer. When he sees things to be done to better the people, or to better anybody, for that matter, he does them and lets the reform take care of itself. He has always been a student, and a worker at fashioning brains 56 LEADEES’ EAES AEE CLOSE TO THE GEOUND as a teacher, professor, college president and at the head of a great uni¬ versity—Princeton, New Jersey. Having a trained, enlightened mind, and not buried beneath books, he expressed his views about public matters and public men who did not perform their duty to the people, so vigorously and so truthfully, that he was believed, and the people made him governor of New Jersey. In this office he did so much in altering distasteful political condi¬ tions, that he was considered a proper candidate for the presidency of the United States where the same untoward conditions existed as in' New Jersey. He was elected, and is doing things all the time to better conditions, and although he has many enemies who fancy only a settled condition of things where they will not be disturbed in the manage¬ ment of them, the President is driving them to cover and will undoubt¬ edly be successful in his endeavors. Woodrow Wilson is a man of action and has a large background of learning to fortify himself. Fortified in every direction and from every point of attack, he is not an easy man to tackle or to find fault with. The opposition to him was that he was a university man, and therefore he did not know enough about politics to carry the country safely through a four years’ term. But the people are finding out that it does not require as much politics to run the country as it does educa¬ tion and intelligence combined with energy and persistence. He is beating down petty statesmanship and establishing the government along the lines of benefit to the people. He may be considered as an in¬ strument in the improvement of a nation, and as giving it a long start back to first principles which mean progress. DR. W. E. BURGHARDT DUBOIS A noted man who is doing a great work along the line of better¬ ment of the Colored Americans and directing their thoughts into high altitudes, is W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, known as the editor of “The Crisis,’’ A Eecord of the Darker Races. LEADERS’ EARS ARE CLOSE TO THE GROUND 57 Dr. Dll Bois stands on the principle that intellectual emancipation should proceed hand in hand with economic independence, and he is making himself felt by the earnest advocacy of a truth that must im¬ press the people for whose interests he is laboring. It may not be known to everybody that Dr. Du Bois is one of the Directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The movement of nations toward the accomplishment of the de¬ signs of the Almighty to make all nations one, and in the supremacy of the intellectual over physical force, is well understood by Dr. Du Bois, and he is working along that line with other ardent humanitarians. He aims to accomplish a world peace and a realization of human broth¬ erhood. To turn our attention to another race, William Jennings Bryan looms up conspicuously with the others in his struggle to bridge tlie chasm of prejudice and place all men upon the road toward human bet¬ terment and universal peace. WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN For nearly twenty years William Jennings Bryan has fought the battle of human rights, and his name has become a household word in many ways. His versatility has no limit, and to say that he is an ex¬ traordinary man and friend of the human race, is saying one-half the truth. Rising from the humble position of an attorney in Lincoln, Ne¬ braska, Mr. Bryan in an hour became the leader of the great masses of the American people, and he has held his ground ever since. He had aspirations and ambitions, but they were denied him through adverse circumstances, but he never wavered in his love for the people and his desire to benefit them in their onward movement toward betterment. As Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President Wilson, he stands for 58 LEADERS’ EARS ARE CLOSE TO THE GROUND everything that is admirable in a man of honor, virtue and probity, and is in line with the great movement toward universal peace. Miss Jane Addams is a lady that causes one to believe in the human race along humanitarian lines. Miss Addams in her settlement work at the celebrated “Hull House” on Halsted Street, has incited others to copy and others have taken up the great work of bringing the homeless workers into social contact for mutual benefit. The lady is not only a worker among the people, but an author and a lecturer, whose example may be followed to advantage. THE COLORED AMERICANS’ NATIONALITY The Colored Americans’ field is the entire United States. They are an integral part of the nation the same as other citizens, and their rapid progress entitles them to an occupation of that field on a par with all others. We are fast getting rid of the vulgar epithets heaped upon citizens of the United States who are Jews, Germans, Irish, etc., and the vulgar epithets hurled at Colored citizens of the United States on account of their color. The time is soon coming, therefore, to ask: Why should we say, “Colored Americans?” Let us advance to the next Government census and forestall an episode to see how it would work: The scene is supposed to be in the year 1920 and represents the United States census taker of that period going his rounds and making inquiries. He calls upon a well known Jewish citizen, and the following conversation takes place: ‘ ‘ Mr. Solomon Isaacs, what is your nationality ? ’ ’ Mr. Isaacs replies: “I am an American citizen, I was born in Chicago in the 19th Ward.” The examining man asks: “Are you not a Jew?” Mr. Isaacs replies: “No, sir, I am an American.” “But your nose,—” “My nose has noth¬ ing to do with my nationality.” This being true, the Jew is allowed to go. Calling next upon Mr. Patrick McGillicuddy, he opens his hook: “Patrick McGillicuddy, what is your nationality?” Mr. McGilli¬ cuddy makes the same answers as the Jew. “But,” says the examiner, “Your long square chin and protruding lower jaw proclaim you an—” “My chin, sir, has nothing to do with my nationality.” So the Irishman is passed. 69 60 THE COLORED AMERICANS’ NATIONALITY Next in succession come visits to the Italian, the Spaniard, the Japanese, the Chinese, the Russian, the Hindoo, and so on. All these men deny that they are anything hut Americans. The examiner points out their nationality in their features, but is told that features, face, complexion, noses, chins, or hair, have nothing to do with nationality. They were all born in this country and there is nothing more to be said. "I AM AN AMERICAN, SIR” Finally, the examiner brightens up. He has found something that can not be disputed. He calls upon George Washington Adams. “Ahem, Mr. Adams, what is your nationality?” Mr. Adams responds: “I am an American, sir.” The examiner is puzzled, but revives. “Are you not a Negro?” Mr. Adams, having learned something from the Jew, the Irishman and the others, replies: “No, sir, I am not a Negro, I am an American born in the United States.” “But, your color indicates that you are a Neg—.” “My color, sir, has nothing whatever to do with my nationality, no more, in fact, than the Jew’s nose, the Irishman’s jaw, or the Spaniard’s olive face, the Russian’s matted hair, the Swede’s blonde whiskers, the Chinaman’s pigtail, the Italian’s earrings, or the Indian’s scalplock. According to the United States Constitution and all the laws thereunder, my color has been erased and I am an American to all intents and purposes, the same as you.” After recovering from his swoon, the census taker goes out to the nearest saloon, takes some refreshments and begins a movement to have the legislature enact a law, prohibiting Colored Americans from breathing the same atmosphere as other Americans. But the scheme fails because when it comes to the question of color, the Jews, Span¬ iards, Italians, Frenchmen, Mexicans, and so on, would be affected. Of course this appears ridiculous. It is not intended to be ridicu¬ lous, however, but suggested in sober earnest. It is what has been go¬ ing on in this country for several decades, and it is time to stop such folly. THE COLORED AMERICANS’ NATIONALITY 61 The main point is, that the whole of the United States is the fair field for the exploitation by Colored Americans. And there will not be the slightest obstacle in the way of such exploitation, if Colored Ameri¬ cans drop the past and look to the future. It is not supposable that ten millions of people, who, in another generation will number twenty mil¬ lions, can be extirpated or crowded out of the enjoyment of human rights because of the prejudices of a few persons who judg^ from their own standpoint. To show how fast this field is being exploited by Colored Americans would require a large volume of statistics, but the essentials may be given so that it may be inferred that the field is in a fair way of being occupied. Our most valuable account, strangely enough, comes from an Eng¬ lish source: In 1911 a commission was sent by the English Board of Trade to the United States to investigate the cost of living in American towns, but the report included important information concerning the occupa¬ tions of Colored Americans in cities of the United States. It appears from the report that the Colored Americans in New York City, in spite of the industrial barriers that exist there, contain within themselves most of the elements, professional, trading, and in¬ dustrial, that go to make up the life of other and more normally situ¬ ated communities. BRICKLAYERS AND CARPENTERS In Atlanta, Georgia, about three-fourths of the bricklayers are Col¬ ored Americans, but the majority of the carpenters are white. Nom¬ inally, the rate of wages is the same for both races. One large em¬ ployer held, that Colored Americans as bricklayers had a value ex¬ ceeded by no one, and that in his own case the highest paid workmen were Colored Americans. In Baltimore, it was found that Colored Americans occupy a very important position in the working class element of the population. An overwhelming majority in the building trades are Colored Americans. 62 THE COLORED AMERICANS’ NATIONALITY In Birmingham, Alabama, there is a larger number of Colored American workmen than in any other district in the United States. The building and mining industries are the two in which the two races come into the most direct competition with one another, yet in neither of these industries does a situation exist which occasions any serious fric¬ tion. In Cleveland, Colored Americans were found in the steel and wire works, as plasterers, hod carriers, teamsters and janitors. In Memphis, in the transport trades and also in certain industries, such as the making of bricks and cottonseed oil, the labor is almost entirely Colored American. They are making their way into the skilled trades, and in some wood working establishments both whites and blacks work side by side at skilled occupations. In New Orleans, the industries are of a kind which employ mainly unskilled or semi-skilled labor, with the result that white men and Col¬ ored Americans are found doing the same kind of work and earning the same rate of wages. In the Pittsburg district, more than a hundred Colored Americans are employed in business as printers, grocers, hairdressers, keepers of restaurants, caterers, etc. Many are employed by the municipality as policemen, firemen, messengers, postmen, and clerks. A large number of work people in the building and iron and steel trades are Colored Americans, some being in highly skilled occupations. Here is the truth from a foreign source that must be considered fair and unprejudiced. But the home records show a more diversified dis¬ tribution maintaining a proportionate employment everywhere. There does not appear anywhere to be a fear that the labor of Col¬ ored Americans will crowd out the white labor, but there is a lingering suspicion that it may do so, although practically it does not. In consequence of this timidity, what are known as “segregation” laws and ordinances have been passed in various places, Baltimore hav¬ ing made the most extensive effort to keep the laborers of the two races apart. THE COLORED AMERICANS’ NATIONALITY 68 In other cities, as Atlanta, Kansas City, Norfolk, Richmond, and St. Louis, efforts were made to effect legal segregation. The result of all these attempts to keep the Colored Americans out of their legitimate field of competition with other Americans, failed utterly, or caused such great financial losses to White Americans with¬ out affecting Colored Americans in any way, or stopping their accumu¬ lations of property, that segregation may be considered a dead issue. In Spokane, Washington, it has been decided judicially, that Col¬ ored Americans can not be excluded from buying property in any par¬ ticular place in the State. The same is the judicial sentiment in New York and elsewhere. j THE FIELD OF ORGANIZED LABOR In the field of organized labor. Colored Americans are also making great strides, the prejudice heretofore existing having almost disap¬ peared. At New Orleans, Mr. T. V. O’Connor, President of the Inter¬ national Longshoremen’s Union, sounded the keynote when he declared, upon the admission of Colored Longshoremen to the Union: “We are going to bring about industrial equality. If Colored Americans stand ready to assist themselves, they will get the same wages and working conditions that the white man enjoys.” THE FOUR DIVISIONS of MANKIND The African One of the Purest Types Of the four great primary divisions of the human race, the Aryan, Mongolian, Semitic, and Hamitic, there are three that preserve their racial type and have been little changed by inter-mixtures. These are the Semitic, or Jews; the Hamitic, or Africans, and the Mongolians, or Chinese. The Aryan division spreading out from the Caucasus Mountains by way of India, and thence westward, became split up into a hundred different races, with varying peculiarities and racial differences, be¬ coming as they are today English, German, French, Irish, Scotch, Swedes, Finns, Russians, Hindus, and a hundred other varying races that have intermingled until the Aryan designation as a division of the human race is entirely lost. All these split Aryan races have become centralized in the United States, where they are continuing their intermingling, and getting farther away from the Aryan type. On the contrary, the three other divisions, the Jews, the Africans, and the Chinese, have maintained during all the ages since their crea¬ tion, their original characteristics, with only slight intermixtures, so slight, indeed, that they are barely noticeable. Historically, the races that make up the Aryan splits, are a mere breath on the surface of the ages of time, when compared with the other three divisions of the human race. Long before the ancestors of many of them composed the barbarian hordes that thundered at the gates of the Roman capital, and finally effaced it from the face of the 64 THE FOUR DIVISIONS OF MANKIND 65 earth, the Jew, the African, and the Chinaman, were in possession of the evidences of high civilization, wise government, and splendid mon¬ uments, and cultivated the arts of peace. The Aryan posterity, on the other hand, were warlike, and became conquerors of the others, appro¬ priating their arts, and are still digging among the ancient ruins of splendid empires, wondering what manner of people could have per¬ fected such noble works. All the races had many forward and backward movements, with the dominance always with the warlike Aryan blood. But today, in the United States, the Hamitic, the African, if you please, has found and utilized the civilizing arts of the Aryan, and is moving upward toward the pinnacle of the same civilization which is essentially modern and original, and which retains the ancient civiliza¬ tion of the other three great divisions of the human family, in its mu¬ seums as objects of curiosity and admiration. At the same time he is maintaining his racial unity. MAKING THE BURDEN OF LIFE MORE ENJOYABLE There is no going back, now, there can be nothing but advance to¬ ward progress and higher civilization, that is, in the more adequate and efficient means of making the burden of life more enjoyable and easier. In one thing only is there doubt as to our progress, and that is in human development, and racial perfection. The scientists and thinkers of the age are impressed with the fact that there is degeneracy, or at least, “recession,” as it is termed, which means a going back to some unknown evil type that will operate disastrously upon civilization, morals, and general well-being of individuals. By a remarkable unanimity of opinion, these marks of recession and degeneracy, sometimes called “delinquency,” are limited to the posterity of the Aryan type. Superhuman efforts are making to avert catastrophe by what is known as “selection,” that is, by limiting inter¬ marriages to those who shall have been declared physically and men- 5—1. S 66 THE FOUR DIVISIONS OF MANKIND tally capable of assuming the marriage state. But in the opinion of many, this will still he a further remove from the pure Aryan type, and thus be always descending the human scale. At any rate, there can be no reversion to an ancestral type, because the ancestor himself is mixed, and there is no pure strain to culture up to. But with the JeAvs and Africans, there is no such question, because the type remains as it was in the beginning, and it is very easy to make a selection. THE JEWS HAVE AGES OF LEARNING The Jews understand this matter and they maintain their own racial standards which are of the highest and best. Now, it is up to the African, the ten millions of them in the United States, to adopt the standards of excellence proper to their dignity, and to their purity as one of the original or primary divisions of mankind. The Jews have ages of learning and wisdom to fall back upon, and the African, although interrupted in his advance, by ages of repression, nevertheless has the ages of high civilization, the reigns of the Queens Candace, the learning of the Egyptians from Ethiopian magi, and the startling wonders and marvels of buried cities and high culture re¬ cently unearthed in Africa as a foundation. These ought to be an in¬ centive to him to regain the lost prestige. He has the opportunity now, and there is no one to" stay his march upward, on the contrary, there are helping hands everywhere, and incentives such as no other race in the world ever had or will ever have. He may look back to his ancestral days with as much pride as any other race, and he may point to the magnificent ruins of the departed glories of his race to prove that his origin is to be found in as high a type of civilization as any other race. THE WORLD'S CONGRESS of RACES Great Importance of Colored Race in the Tremendous World Upward l^ovement One Thousand Delegates from Fifty Different Races Proclaim Uplift of People In considering the opportunities offered the Colored people of the United States, two things must be constantly borne in mind: 1. That the advance of the world and of the nations toward har¬ monious action and unity of motives, is purely of the mind and soul and not of the material things of life. 2. As to the world’s progress the Colored Americans of the United States occupy a prominent position in the vanguard with the other di¬ visions of the human race, all of whom are moving in the same direction toward carrying out the Divine plan of bringing all nations into one fold. On July 26, 1912, there opened in the City of London, England, a great congress of the races of the world including all the dark races or their representatives. In fact, fifty different races were represented by their leading men, consisting of over thirty presidents of parlia¬ ments, the members of the permanent court of arbitration and of the delegates to the Second Hague Conference, twelve British governors and eight British premiers, over forty colonial Bishops, a hundred and thirty professors of international law, the leading students of mankind, and other scientific men of the world. When Lord Weardale, at the head of the World’s Peace movement, opened the first session of this congress, he looked into the faces of a thousand people representing fifty different races of men. 67 68 THE WOELD’S CONGRESS OF RACES Lord Weardale said among other things: “To those who regard the furtherance of international good will and peace as the highest of all human interests, this First Universal Races Congress opens a vista of almost boundless promise. “Nearer and nearer we see approaching the day when the caste population of the East will assert their claim to meet on terms of equal¬ ity the nations of the West; when the free institutions and the organ¬ ized forces of the one hemisphere will have their counterbalance in the other; when their mental outlook and their social aims will be in prin¬ ciple identical; when in short the color prejudice will have vanished and the so-called “white races” and the so-called “colored races” shall no longer meet in missionary exposition, but, in very fact, regard one another as in truth men and brothers.” Dr. Felix von Luschan, of Germany, declared, ‘ ‘ There is an increas¬ ing mutual sympathy between the races as they come to know each other.” Mr. Gustave Spiller, the organizer of the congress, said: “The common standard provided by university diplomas shows almost all races, even the majority of those which are regarded as in¬ ferior, represented successfully in the universities of Europe and Amer¬ ica, and that they are equal in intellectual capacity with the others. Hence the ditference between them are mere physical characteristics.” Professor Robertson, of England, among other things established this comforting assurance: “It is only after a long and painful apprenticeship that European nations have attained autonomy. Why not admit that it may be the same with the so-called backward peoples'?” THE POSSIBILITY OF PROGRESS The possibility of progress with regard to the Colored Americans is emphasized by Professor Charles S. Myers of England, who gives the results of his personal observations in other nations. THE WORLD’S CONGRESS OF RACES 69 Even viewing our Colored Americans as a primitive people with only two generations of removals from the primitive state, Professor Myers says: “The possibility of the progressive development of all primitive peoples must be conceded, if only the environment can be appropriately changed. ’ ’ It is in evidence every day, that the “changed environments” of the Colored race in the United States, has forwarded their progressive development to an enormous degree. BLACK MEN ORIGINATE EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION In line with the opinion of Herodotus and the German ethnologists, that the Black Men of Africa were the first race, and the originators of the Egyptian and Cretan civilization. Professor Lionel W. Lyde, of England, announces: “We are in a position to say that primitive man was dark skinned, and that he, as he made his way northward, began to bleach, thus cre¬ ating a semi-primitive yellow type. This yellow man exposed to condi¬ tions of cold and moisture, might become entirely white. The human skin develops pigments to protect itself against a strong sun, and the quantity of pigment in the skin varies with the intensity of the sun. “It is therefore the men who live in the hottest and least shaded parts of the world—that is to say, in the African, that we find the black¬ est skin. The white peoples, on the contrary, are confined to a region where the humidity of the atmosphere forms a screen against the rays of the sun. Finally, between the Negro and the White, is the Yellow man, who is a product of dessicating grasslands with seasonal extremes of temperature.” PIGMENT OF COLOR TO GUARD THE SKIN The racial color, it will be understood, is merely a matter of skin coloring. Nature provides pigments of color to guard the skin against the inclemencies of sun and weather. Every modern man knows and 70 THE WORLD’S CONGRESS OF RACES has experienced the result of strong sun and wind in his own skin. “Tan” it is called, and sometimes, within a few weeks the color of a white man’s skin is transformed into a yellow or a dark brown. If the exposure continues, the color remains. In the opinion of noted scientists, it is certain that the difference between the races as to color is merely skin deep. Their psychological conditions are equal, as we shall see when we reach that point. Professor Felix Adler, the eminent scientist, speaking with author¬ ity, upholds the idea that the relations between the races can be only psychological and not physical. He said at the great Congress of Races: “It is urgently necessary for ns to have a clearer conception of the ideal to be realized in international relations. What principle shall we put in the place of war, brute force, etc? “The appeal to sentiment and the progress of democracy, are not in themselves a safeguard against war. It is not peace itself that we must keep in view, but the object to be secured by peace. The ideal principle of international relations consists in the progressive organiza¬ tion of these relations between peoples and races. This organiza¬ tion involves two postulates: “First. To attain the most extreme differentiation of types of cul¬ ture, the maximum of variety and richness in the expression of human faculties. The peace and progress of the world will depend on the for¬ mation of a cultivated class of all civilized peoples. “Second. This exchange between different types of culture will serve to bring to light the weak points in each, and lead to their im¬ provement and healing.” Sir Charles Bruce, the noted administrator of government attempts, in various localities where the different races confront one another, to give as his deliberate opinion, based upon experience and close study, this succinct truism: “The blacks have long been the instruments of the cupidity, cru¬ elty and luxury of the whites; but their intelligence, deliberately neg¬ lected for ages, needs only to be awakened. ’ ’ THE WORLD’S CONGRESS OF RACES 71 Sir Harry Johnston, of England, said: The Negro race has produced men of great ability in all depart¬ ments.” Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, learned editor of the Crisis, appeared before the Congress as a Colored American scientist, versed in ethnology, and the needs and qualifications of the Colored race. After giving the num¬ ber of Colored Americans as about ten millions, and mentioning the fact that “They live at the present time under a system of theoretical liberty, which is restricted in practice by certain legal dispositions, and by custom,” he adds: “Intellectual emancipation should proceed hand in hand with economic independence.” ALL NATIONS AND TRIBES ONE GREAT FAMILY This is indeed the keynote to the elevation of the Colored Ameri¬ cans to the high plane sought to be reached by all the nations of the earth, and toward which they are surely drifting, in an unconscious ful¬ fillment of the designs of God to gather all nations and tribes together into one great family. Professor N. R. d’Alfonso, of Italy, laid before the Congress the most profound thought that forms the basis of all progress and gives the key to beneficial government: “Speculative psychology teaches that the man, to whatever race he may belong, has always the same psychological possibilities. Subject from childhood to certain conditions of climate, environ¬ ment and education, he can reach the highest and most complex grades of civilization. “It is the action and reaction of the external world on the internal world of the mind that issues in the creation of man. “If there are psychological differences between races they are the outcome of the particular history of various peoples—a history that has entailed a different education. 72 THE WOBLD’S CONGBESS OF BACES “The psychological basis is the same in all men from whatever part of the world they may come, and they may evolve in the same way and attain the same psychic results. “In the same way racial hostilities and prejudices are not due to organic heredity, but to tradition and education.” So far as science has gone, it must be apparent that the learned men of the age have returned to the Biblical account: Genesis, 1:26. “26. And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our like¬ ness: and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’ ‘ ‘ 27. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” Again in Genesis 2:7, it is said: “7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; And man became a living soul.” Everywhere in Holy Writ, human beings are always referred to as “Man” whenever he is considered as a being vested with a soul, a par¬ ticular psychological condition that makes him different from all other creations. In every movement toward human betterment, education, civiliza¬ tion, development, and especially in the onward movement toward uni¬ fication, the human species is referred to as “Man” without any racial distinctions whatever. WARS BETWEEN JEWS AND ETHIOPIANS It is only when men are opposed to one another; when they depart from the Divine intention to unify all men, that man is designated ac¬ cording to his racial or national designation. For instance: The wars between the Jews and the Ethiopians three thousand years before Christ; the wars of the Bomans, Persians, Assyrians, English, French, and all other divergent upheavals which depart from the Divine De- THE WORLD’S CONGRESS OF RACES 73 sign. In such cases the psychological man, the man with a soul, the man into whom God breathed the breath of life, is considered a differ¬ ent being and he is unified as “Man.” Not only is this distinctive unity of soul, of mind, of intelligence, the predominating feature of the creation, known as “man,” but his physical characteristics outside the mere skin deep differences, are ex¬ actly the same. Modern scientists, known as “biologists,” that is, men who inves¬ tigate the origin of physical life in men, have advanced so far that they know and can easily demonstrate that there are no physical differences. The infinitely small cells called “protoplasms,” which make up the tissues of the human body, and which are present everywhere, plainly visible to the eye under a microscope, are exactly the same in every hu¬ man being whatever his race or color, condition, education, environ¬ ment, etc. All the machinery upon which these small cells of life operate and give action, energy, and duration—the heart, the nerves, the blood, and all the organs essential or co-operative, are identically the same. Men have tried to find a difference in the physical make-up of the various races but they have signally failed. They have even endeav¬ ored to compare the blood and cells of inferior animals such as apes, going so low as the common monkey, to show that some of the races originated in what is known as the “Anthropoid Ape,” so as to bolster up the doctrine of evolution and maintain the existence of an exclu¬ sively, special God created race of men, of which they are the sole and exclusive exponents, but they, also, have signally failed, and all men today, proven by science demonstrating the truths of Holy Writ, stand upon the same psychological, or soul plane, whether his skin be black, yellow, brown, red, white or any other color or shade of color. They are all part and parcel of the Divine movement which is impelling man toward a nniversal psychological unity. Any man or nation that at¬ tempts to bar the way, is submerged or cast aside like a straw before an avalanche. This is written upon the pages of history so clearly, that it is beyond controversy. PROGRESS OF THE DIFFERENT RACES OF MANKIND Marvelous Rise of the Japanese from Barbarism in Five Decades—The Jews without a National Government Rule the Finances and Commerce of the World— China in Contact with Civilization Has Created a Great Republic—The American Indian Raised From Savagery to Peaceful, Profitable Pursuits — The Colored American’s Part and Opportunities in the Great Onward Movement A reader of history who does not go deeper than the mere words in books, sees nothing but confusion in the steady, onward march of all mankind from the dawn of creation to the present time. We hope to bring something easily understood out of this chaos, that will be of benefit to the Colored Americans, and put them in line with the great movement of the human family toward universal peace and prosperity. We expect to show that he is an essential factor in the human race, and that he has performed his part when his ancestors, the powerful kings of Ethiopia, brought civilization and the art of working metals into Egypt, as far as Asia, and into Europe. The most learned ethnologists hold that there was a time in the history of the human race when all mankind were unified, and that through different causes operating upon passion for power, religious ditferences and climatic necessities, they became separated and split into divisions each of which claimed supremacy, and made war upon the others who denied it. Wherever we begin the national history of any nation or tribe, we 74 PROGRESS OF THE DIFFERENT RACES 75 find them separate from every other nation and tribe, individual en¬ tities with their own laws and government. If we take any fanciful theory of the creation of man, or accept the biblical account of the Dispersion at the plain of Sliinar, at the build¬ ing of the Tower of Babel, 2218 years before Christ, we find them scat¬ tered over the face of the earth, whereas before that Dispersion “The whole earth was one language and of one speech.” (Genesis 2:1). After that event “The Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” The races of mankind began in unity, but separated and scattered becoming a multitude of nations with different languages and religions. But, at the same time, visible as a fine thread through the movements of mankind, was a trend toward another unification. THE RISE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE Nations rose and fell, leaving the earth to a few powerful ones who attacked one another until, finally, the vast and powerful Roman Em¬ pire rose upon the ruins of the others. The central point of unification was nearer, and it appeared when Christ was born, the Saviour of all the world. From that time began a movement toward another unification, but not a national movement, a human movement, an uplift into higher aims and more complete brotherhood. The conquest of Rome by barbarians did not stay this movement, because the barbarians fell in with it and moved along with it. Every great act on the chessboard of nations, whether war, or the present peace movement toward universal peace, demonstrates that the pur¬ pose of the entire human family, as a unit, will be fulfilled sometime. It is rapidly reaching that point. The great nations that stood in the way of this onward movement toward unification, have been abolished politically, but not individu¬ ally, the individuals becoming merged, unified into the great moving mass, and progressing onward with it to the end in view. 76 PEOGRESS OF THE DIFFERENT RACES Of these unified nations or rather peoples of nations who have no more political power or significance, we find the following: The Jews, the Semitic division of the human race. The Colored Men, the Hamitic division of the human family. The American Indians, Aborigines with tribal government. We shall add to these, by way of illustration to demonstrate the power of civilization, the following; The Japanese, an offshoot of the Turanian. The Chinese, pure Turanian. The two latter races are foreign to our unification in the United States, many of their people, however, have inserted the thin edge of a wedge into our civilization and time alone will tell what the upshot will be. We have in the United States a most remarkable unification, or merger into one political status, of the descendants of three great divi¬ sions of the Human Family, who are living together substantially in peace and amity. Whatever differences and difficulties arise are purely personal. Of the Colored Americans in the United States, this book refers almost exclusively; in fact, it is dedicated to them and their interests, and intended for their benefit. Hence, we may omit them in this chap¬ ter, there being a full account of them elsewhere. A short sketch of the Jews may be considered as pertinent to the subject and as having a bearing upon the status of the Colored men. THE JEWS The Jews considered from the biblical accounts exclusively, are the descendants and representatives of the oldest branch of the human family, but they existed as a nation contemporaneously with the Ethi¬ opians, in whose descendants we find the Colored men of the United States. It may be said that the unification of the Semitic or Jewish race began with Moses, although Noah was in fact the father of the race. PROGRESS OF THE DIFFERENT RACES 77 Their history is one of the wildest, most varied and romantic of that of any other race or nation. After centuries of miserable bondage under the Babylonian kings, and in Egypt, they emerged under the leadership of Moses who married an Ethiopian, and began anew the struggle for national autonomy. Prior to Moses the government was essentially patriarchal, but after Moses and in the course of time it became monarchical, with various petty kings and offshoots, always quarreling with one another, and meeting with defeats and slavery from other nations, until the Romans had acquired power to conquer the world, and included in their conquered territory the various sovereignties established by the Jews. Although the political power was taken from them, the Jews were allowed to retain their religious authority, but in process of time, and at the coming of Christ, their chief priests and spiritual rulers gener¬ ally, were sunk in corruption. In the 70th year of the Christian era, Jerusalem and the great temple of Solomon were utterly destroyed, and from that time until quite recent times, the Jews have been wanderers, obtaining a foothold here and there against fearful opposition and amazing suffering. ADVANCEMENT OF THE JEWS Bereft of political power and national autonomy, the Jews ad¬ vanced along the line of racial unification, and became leaders in the arts and sciences, and have made themselves the financial and commer¬ cial masters of the world. A power they never could have reached had they maintained their national distinction under a monarchy or other form of government. Their position in the United States is exactly that of the Colored Americans. They have all the political rights of freemen, and can rise to positions of high trust and honor. Like their Colored brothers, they are not a race within a race. 78 PKOGRESS OF THE DIFFERENT RACES THE JEWS THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE They are all intensely interested in education, and their children possess an insatiable thirst for knowledge. As a consequence they are always ready to seize upon opportunity when it comes their way, and they always profit by experience, and gather information from every source. Many of the most distinguished scientists and statesmen in the world have been Jews, and although able to dictate financially to gov¬ ernments, and possessing political power, they have never yet at¬ tempted to seize upon the reins of any government, or take it out of the hands of those selected to govern. If a Jew were to become President of the United States, and all the offices filled by Jews, the government would run along the lines upon which it was formed, without a change or jar, and at the expira¬ tion of their term of office, or a change in political power, they would lay down their trust and return to their individual avocations without a single regret. This is a unification such as the world has never before dreamed of. And it is the same unification with regard to the Colored Ameri¬ cans. The situation is the same, the conditions identical with the single exception that the Jews are farther advanced than the Colored man, his experience extending over a larger period of time, but the Colored men are improving and soon they should be where the same sort of unification can be said of them. THE AMERICAN INDIAN The American Indian has no ancestry of civilization to look back to. His forebears so far as is known to history were savages, and the Indians found in America by the first white settlers were also savages. Their origin as a race is shrouded in obscurity, some asserting that they are descendants of the Semitic race of Asia, others that they are Turanian and Malaysian mixed. It is -certain, how;ever, that nothing PROGRESS OF THE DIFFERENT RACES 79 remains of any very ancient civilization, what does exist consists of “mounds” containing crude articles of pottery, flint arrows, etc., and in the case of the descendants of the cliff dwellers in New Mexico and Arizona, their habitations remain, showing that their surroundings were crude and their civilization at a low ebb. The descendants of the Aztecs, Toltecs and other tribes whose an¬ cestors were ruthlessly slaughtered by Cortez and his Spanish soldiers, and oppressed by his successors, had small title to what is known as civilization. Of these little can be said except that the present descend¬ ants present the vestiges of degeneracy, and have no marks of being a pure race of any sort. They are just the same as they were when first discovered, barring vices which they have acquired from the civilized races without receiving any benefit from their virtues. These people present no example worth being followed, but as to the descendants of the real savage American Indian, the Sioux, Algon- quins, and other large and savage warrior tribes encountered by the American pioneer and frontiersmen, they show the power of civilization and their adaptability to changed environment. Among them were many noble men, men of high aspirations and aims, who as soon as they understood civilization, broke away from the trammels of savagery and became civilized. That is, they adopted the manners and customs of the civilized races, and became unified with them. RESULTS OF EDUCATION Among them, education has produced a large number of men of high grade, and influence. Most of them have turned to agriculture, but being a race that is still in embryo, so to speak, that is one of the present era, the time has not yet arrived when it can be predicted of them that they are equal to coming up to the highest rank in civilized life. They are an open, living illustration of the power of education and modern civilization. The lesson to be learned from them is, that what a race so sunk in savagery and barbarism can do, is much more within 80 PROGRESS OF THE DIFFERENT RACES the reach of the Colored Americans who have a great and noble ances¬ try hack to which they may look with admiration and feel an incentive to continue to advance—it is in them. THE JAPANESE AS AN ILLUSTRATION We come to the Japanese as an illustration of unification of the races, because they have put themselves before the world as entitled to consideration as much as any other race. Inasmuch as they are rapidly becoming’ a world power, and have the warships and guns to back up their pretensions, the nations of the earth feel justified in considering their claims. Whence they come nobody knows, not even their own learned men. They originated somewhere in the past, but not ancient past, or they would have been heard of, but may be a cross among the Turanian tribes. They are small men and dark, which lends truth to this theory. With their origin we have nothing to do, because their rise and progress is something men now living have witnessed and stand amazed at its suddenness and at the height to which these small men have attained. They are a brilliant example of what education and civilization backed by intense persistence and energy will accomplish in taking advantage of opportunity. They were given an opportunity to enter the ranks of civilization, but they refused the offer. Then, trade and commerce urged and then forced it upon them, and seeing that they had to progress, they took hold of opportunities, and now, never let the smallest opportunity pass by them. When an opportunity does not present itself they go to meet it or make one to suit themselves. They are giving the world a bad scare by their persistence and clamors for equality with every other nation and peoples, due, perhaps, to their newness as a nation and the probability that they may relapse into barbarism should they get the upperhand with restraint removed. Every man who has not had a very good or saintly past, is re- ■fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiriiiiniunniiiuiriiiiiiiiimifiinfuuiuiuifiiiiiiiiiiirumiiuiiiimimmuiiiifuiiuiiifiuiuuianuiaiiiiufuiiiiuiiiiiiiijiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii The Story of a Rising Race Told in Pictures PHOTOGRAPHED FROM LIFE Special Collection MANUAL TRAINING HOME SCIENCE HOSPITAL PRACTICE DENTAL SURGERY LiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimfiiiiiiiniiiniinjuiiifiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiJiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiti i PROFESSION OF DENTAL SURGERY Students practicing in the Dental Infirmary, prior to taking their degree. Howard University, Washington, D. C, ^ - 4 -* H £ u:: c a o ^ 4 -» CT ^ B •H ^ Q ^ ^ ^ *0 ^ o < « O O < b£-S c .— u K' 03 '5 £ OJ i*-, bx) Ch O .- rt £3 G:l tjC S C G INDUSTRIAL TRAINING FOR WOMEN Developing talent and taste in the art of millinery, an industry for women. A class at Spellmans Seminary, Atlanta, Ga. UNIVERSITY GIRLS pq ■ O H O —I -a c S 2 a, AN ARTISTIC AND USEFUL VOCATION Dressmaking in the Spellman Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia. The young women are fast becoming experts in their work. FUTURE HOME MAKERS A MODERN SANITARY DAIRY MODERN SURGERY Warfield, Negro surgeon, operating. Freedmen’s Hospital, Washington, OPERATING ROOM—LATEST EQUIPMENT Douglass Hospital Philadelphia, Pa. NURSING THE LITTLE ONES BACK TO HEALTH Children’s Ward L., Frederick Doug^lass IMemorial Hospital and Training School, Philadelphia. “Suffer Little Children to Come Unto i\Ie, for Such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” MINISTERING TO THE SICK Private ward with trained nurse in attendance. Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School, Philadelphia, Pa, STUDENTS IN THE ART OF HEALING A class of trained nurses preparing for tlieir life’s work. Tuskegee Institute, ►-1 .ti O o. O o K ffi O C/) CT3 O ’g: 2; o 5^ 1—I < .y « ^ pH 13 OJ H m P-t m P 5 a ^ PEOGRESS OF THE DIFFERENT RACES 81 garded with suspicion when he joins the ranks of the good and pious. It is not credited that such a man can become good all at once, and the belief spreads that his reform is a mere makeshift, a delusion, and an opportunity for gain. The Japanese have not been tested by any of the conditions that have made the civilized races what they are as to reliability after centuries of experience, and the only thing to be observed is, that they were found first as a barbaric tribe, or semibarbaric, with the most hideous manners and customs, and a religion that was mere idol wor¬ ship. If the first American admiral who forced western civilization upon them through trade and commerce could see them now at the bargain counter of opportunities, he would be amazed. Their arts and sciences are marvels of beauty; their home life when they are not fighting is amid a bower of roses, and they can imitate anything as to mechanical workmanship from a toy dog to a compli¬ cated man-of-war. They make everything the civilized men make, and sell them for a pittance. They know what they want and they get it or declare war. Never did such a race of men exist since history began, and it has sprung up into prominence within about half a century, without be¬ ing deep or profound, and having a character that is so dubious that one never knows whether he is your friend or enemy. While studying this race of small men, one is almost tempted to urge every man behind in this world’s favors, to do as the Japanese. It is indeed an incentive to wake up and go ahead. THE CHINESE The Chinese are as near the pure Turanian stock as it is possible for a race with their environments to be. The samples that come to the United States for employment are coolies, mongrels of the race, just as we have natural born mongrels from intermixtures with degeneracy. But the real Chinaman, the Manchurian, and his similars among the 6—1, S 82 PEOGEESS OF THE DIFFEEENT EACES pure Turanian strain, are magnificent men physically, without the slant eye, and highly educated in the Chinese fashion. Like the other grand divisions of the human race, they lived along for ages in peace and comfort, until the outside barbarian in the form of the little Japanese came along and shattered his dreams of content. As Alaric and his Huns battered down the gates of Eome; as the Eo- mans put an end to the Jewish nation; as the combined attacks of the gold hungered kings of Europe and Asia subdued and obliterated the vast Ethiopian empire, so little Japan routed the big Chinese empire. But this accomplished something that emphasizes the idea of a uni¬ versal unification of the nations of the world. Japan forced open China and its people saw the opportunity, and took it. After studying the methods of civilization, particularly those in vogue in this great repub¬ lic, its students returned to their native land, and aroused the half a billion people from the slumbers and behold! A vast republic. The Chinese are in line with modern education, with the arts of civilization. Like the Japanese, they have begun to wear American clothing. With¬ al, they have abandoned their old pagan practices, killed their dragon, and are rapidly coming in under the remorseless movement toward the unification of the world. ETHIOPIA, THE GREAT BLACK EMPIRE THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE AND ALSO RECENT DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA PROVE THE ANCIENT AND POWERFUL CIVILIZATION OF THE COLORED RACE 3,000 YEARS B. C—THE STORY OF CANDACE, THE BEAUTIFUL BLACK QUEEN OF ETHIOPIA, AND THE MAR¬ RIAGE OF MOSES TO AN ETHIOPIAN WOMAN 1490 B. C. —HOW PIANKHI, THE BLACK KING, CONQUERED EGYPT 750 B. C., AND HOW EGYPT TOOK HER CIVILIZATION FROM ETHIOPIA. We read about Napoleon, Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine of Russia, Marie Antoinette of France, and other kings and queens, many of whom led mysteriously cloudy lives and came to a bad end¬ ing, but few have ever heard of Queen Candace, Queen of Ethiopia. You are referred to the Bible (Acts 8:27) as a beginning of the in¬ formation to follow. Few among the learned in this present age, and less of the un¬ learned, know anything about the origin of the colored race in the United States. They are completely in the dark as to their ancestry, as a powerful and highly civilized race of people. The fact is, that while the Anglo-Saxons, Celts, Scandinavians, Ger¬ mans, and so on, wore skin coats, devoured their food raw, lived in caverns, and were busily engaged in cutting one another’s throats over dry bones, the ancestors of our Colored people in these United States were enjoying the highest arts of civilization, lived in palaces, and erected magnificent specimens of the most wonderful architecture in the world, and behaved generally like civilized people. Recent and authentic discoveries in Africa have brought to light, through monuments and other evidences, that the Hamitic race played a very important part in the first stages of the world’s history. There are modern records, which, together with the great number of monu- 83 84 ETHIOPIA, THE GREAT BLACK EMPIRE ments of great antiquity, demonstrate without the shadow of a doubt that the African civilization of the Hamitic race, was older than the most ancient history recorded of the Egyptians, going back centuries before the birth of Moses. THE BLACK NATIONS A POWERFUL CIVILIZATION It appears now that Egypt took its civilization from Ethiopia, the black empire south of it. The old theories have been smashed into atoms, and it now appears that the black nations of certain regions of the continent of Africa were not races in their infancy, but the descendants of a powerful civilization gradually broken by misfortunes and disastrous wars against it. The Egyptians have always contended that their forefathers learned their arts and largely received their laws from the black em¬ pire farther south. Throughout the pages of Homer, the Ethiopians are spoken of with great respect, as the friends of the gods, the “blameless Ethiopians” being a common phrase. The great Greek historian, Herodotus, who has been charged with drawing upon his imagination in his accounts of Africa, is now demon¬ strated to have been truthful. Plis extraordinary stories about the an¬ cient empire of Ethiopians, south of Egypt, are being verified from the recently unearthed monuments, as having been erected by the very peo¬ ple of whom the historian wrote, to celebrate their victories and honor their gods. Although the most ancient inscriptions on the monuments along the upper Nile have not yet been deciphered, the story of the Land of the Blacks is well known as far back as eight hundred years before Christ. THE BLACK KINGS As showing a common civilization, in fact, perhaps a common ori¬ gin, the doings of the Black Kings were chronicled after the same fash¬ ion as those of the Egyptian kings. ETHIOPIA, THE GREAT BLACK EMPIRE 85 The writing of the people of the Great Black Empire, is like that of the Egyptians, and the gods they worshiped were closely related to the gods of Egypt. Inscriptions on these monuments that have been deciphered, tell us that Piankhi, the black king, conquered Egypt 750 B. C., and that he worshiped without question in Egyptian temples, and the carvings in the excavated ruins, which show men and women unmistakably Negro, give evidence of the similarity of religion. We have always supposed, as told by the scientists, that civilization went up the Nile, whereas, it is now proven that it came down the Nile, that is, from Ethiopia to Egypt, instead of the other way. When Cambyses, king of Persia, conquered Egypt six hundred years before the Christian era, he ventured to arrange an expedition against the black empire to the south, stories of the greatness of which he had been told. He sent to the Black King gifts of gold, palm wine and incense, and'asked to be informed whether or not it was true that on a certain spot called the “Table of the Sun,” the magistrates, every night, put provisions of cooked meats so that every one who was hungry might come in the morning and help himself. The history proceeds to tell us, that the black king, Nastasenen, received the envoys of Cambyses peacefully but without enthusiasm. He showed them the “Table of the Sun” mentioned by Cambyses, and took them to the prisons where the prisoners wore fetters of gold, so that the Persians might be properly impressed. Cambyses was very much impressed by the fact that gold was so common that it was used in making the shackles of prisoners, and he made war upon the black empire to get that gold, but miserably failed. THE BEAUTIFUL BLACK QUEEN We now come to the Queen Candace mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. The account there given is as follows (Chapter 8): “26th verse. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, arise and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jeru¬ salem unto Gaza, which is desert. 86 ETHIOPIA, THE GREAT BLACK EMPIRE “27tli verse. And he arose and went: and behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship.” This is all that relates to Queen Candace, but it transpires from subsequent verses of the same chapter, that the treasurer of Queen Candace was baptized and Avent on his way rejoicing. One queen Candace of Ethiopia, was a famous black queen, tales of whose prowess spread as far as Greece. It appears from the monu¬ ments, that the kingdom was ruled by successive queens each bearing the name of Candace, which may account for the different descriptions of her, some showing her as very beautiful, and some allowing her but one eye with the disposition of a termagant. These kings and queens, whose records have been deciphered, are of comparatively recent years—not more than 2,500 or 3,000 years old. It is expected that the results of the excavations of the older ruins will be more interesting. ETHIOPIANS FIRST LIVING MEN To revert to Herodotus. This ancient historian was a great trav¬ eler, the first, perhaps, to visit the region of the blacks and their empire. He says, somewhere in his history: “The Ethiopians were the first men who ever lived.” There is more astounding evidence of the civilization of the black men to be found in recent excavations. Lying north of Egypt and a little southeast of Greece, in the Med¬ iterranean Sea, is the famous Island of Crete, or Candia, embracing 3,326 square miles, and at the present time it has a population of about 300,000 people all told. This island was anciently regarded as the spot where Jove himself was cradled, and it became the center or reservoir of the highest forms of ancient civilization. All the ancient Greek and Roman gods had their origin or birthplace on this island, and under the famed King Minos, ETHIOPIA, THE GREAT BLACK EMPIRE 87 nothing disgraceful or monstrous was permitted to find a resting place. It has always been a mysteriously unknown island, and the great aim of delvers into antiquities. Within the last ten years, there has been dug out in this island of Crete, the remains of a civilization two thousand years more ancient than any hitherto known in Europe. THEATRES, PALACES AND TEMPLES There are actual buildings, theatres, palaces, and temples that ex¬ isted in 3,000 B. C., and were mere guess work in Homer’s time. What has been unearthed shows that there was communication between Crete and Egypt 2,000 years before Christ. One of the frescoes found shows some religious ceremonial in the Egyptian style. Some of the priest¬ esses are black, others white, and the connection between African and Cretan civilization as to dates will soon be settled. Enough appears to show that there were two great civilizations at a very early time, that in the Nile country begun and maintained by black men, and the other in Crete. The Cretans seem to have been a dark race, rather small, with regular, almost Greek profiles and full lips. Nothing has been found in this newly discovered cradle of the hu¬ man race to indicate that civilization came to them or to Africa from Asia, whence it has always been thought all knowledge originated. Everything so far unearthed in Crete and in the Soudan, favors the theory that all around the Mediterranean there arose in the stone age a common race of men, who in the course of centuries developed differ¬ ing physical characteristics, and they peopled Europe and Africa where the first civilizations arose in Crete and the Soudan. There is tremendous food for thought in these discoveries. It may transpire after all is discovered the Colored American descended from the African, the Hamitic, or the Negro—call him anything, it will not harm his ancestry—is in fact descended from a superior race of people. 88 ETHIOPIA, THE GEEAT BLACK EMPIRE While the colored race do not care for any admixture of their blood with the Aryan, the latter need have no fear that it will ever be forced upon him. MOSES MARRIED A COLORED WOMAN What would Moses, the great lawgiver, say to you? Listen to the good book in Numbers 12:1. “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman he had married: for he had mar¬ ried an Ethiopian woman.” For this reviling, the Lord made Miriam leprous, and punished her, and Aaron acknowledged that he had sinned. While on this subject, it may be interesting to specify some of the doings of the Ethiopians in ancient history. First, Moses married an Ethiopian woman in B. C. 1490, quite a number of years before any leg¬ islature had an opportunity to prevent it. The Ethiopians must have flourished after the last mentioned date, because we read in II Kings 9, That Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, had come out to fight the Assyrians—quite a distance from Ethiopia—and the frightened Assyrian king besought the aid of Hezekiah, king of Judah. This happened in B. C. 710. Again, in B. C. 957, we learn from 11 Chronicles 14: 9, that Zerah, the Ethiopian, came out against Asa, king of Judah, with a million men and three hundred chariots. The scripture reads, “an host of a thou¬ sand thousand.” GREAT ANCESTRY OF COLORED RACE Let the Colored American live up to the records of the past history of his race and prove himself worthy of his great ancestry. It was said in another place in this article that there appear to have been two great civilizations at a very early period of time. One flourished in the Nile country, maintained by black men, and the other in Crete, ETHIOPIA, THE GREAT BLACK EMPIRE 89 It is an astonishing fact, for it is fast developing into a historical fact, that a common race of men arose, and that, in the course of cen¬ turies, they developed differing physical characteristics, due to climatic necessities, either black, brown or swarthy, and that they peopled Eu¬ rope and Africa, the first civilizations arising in Crete and the Soudan, which is the very heart of the continent of Africa, extending from the Equator to 25 degrees north latitude, and from 20 degrees west longi¬ tude to 50 degrees east longitude. A territory comprising 1,650 by 4,650 miles extent, and including the “Phut” territory, it is nearly as large again. All this vast territory constituted the Empire of Ethiopia. An em¬ pire that was able more than 600 years before the Christian era to send a million of fully equipped soldiers against a Jewish king. A very slight circumstance has been the beginning of explorations that will undoubtedly alter all of our text-books upon the subject of the origin of the human race. A German explorer recently unearthed, in a remote region in the Soudan, a bronze head of fine and exquisite workmanship. This has been taken as another evidence of an ancient African civilization—in¬ deed, a black men’s civilization, and has operated as an incentive for other explorations. THE BIBLE AS A PROOF We read in the Bible (I Kings 10), a whole chapter concerning the visit of the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon, coming to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold and precious stones. And that when she departed she presented Solomon with a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones. “There came no more such abund¬ ance. ’ ’ The same account of this great queen is given in 2nd Chronicles, and in Matthew 12:42 she is styled “The Queen of the South.” A quefen from the South who could present Solomon with about a 90 ETHIOPIA, THE GREAT BLACK EMPIRE million dollars of our money in gold and precious stones, was certainly a rich and powerful queen. The Queen of Sheba had many successors, however, and they were all warlike, leading their armies either to victory or successfully de¬ fending the Ethiopian empire against attack. Ahasuerus, the most powerful Persian monarch, who ruled over 146 provinces, attempted to extend his dominion over into Ethiopia but could not succeed. Some years ago, ruins of ancient dwellings were discovered in Up¬ per Rhodesia, which were declared by Dr. Maciver of Oxford to be those of an ancient African civilization. BLACK MEN DISCOVER ART OF WORKING METALS Within the past ten years, excavations in the Upper Soudan, verify the claim that the black man was the first to discover the art of work¬ ing metals, and that they gave this knowledge to Europe and Asia. Dr. Schweinfurth, the famous German ethnologist, and the University of Berlin, have adopted this theory. Lady Lugard, the authoress, gathered from old Arab books, many details of this high civilization among the black men of the Upper Nile, their customs and government until quite recent times. We know as a historical fact, that the Nubians conquered Egypt, and set the pace for a good government among the Egyptians, sup¬ pressing many of their cruel practices. The end of these discoveries is far from having been reached. In¬ deed, they are just beginning to attract attention. Enough has been unearthed, however, to establish the ancestry of the Colored race of America, greater and higher than that of any of the mixed races. The Genius of Colored Americans in Liter¬ ature; The Arts and Sciences Inherited From the Ancient Ethiopians Read, Study, and Educate up to Opportunities—A High Racial Type Appears in Modern Times—A Cause for Pride and an Incentive to Action, Energy and Efficiency. Men of learning, wisdom, and honest, without prejudice, take the standard of a race of men from his primitive type. That type is sought for in the most excellent productions of the race, their achievements and their position among civilized nations that were the founders of our present civilization. He who grovels in the worst human elements of any race, knows nothing about that race, and opens the door to the degeneracy of all the nations and races on earth, by advocating them as the evidences of degeneracy. Since the world began there have been good and bad elements among the peoples that inhabited it, but the good elements alone have survived, the bad or the evil has gone down into ruin. Nations that sought to waylay and throttle progress for their own selfish ends, and immoral purposes have been forced out into the world’s Gehenna, and in the garbage heap there are still rummaging many of the split races of the earth, and many individuals bury themselves in its reek refusing to emerge into the clear sunlight. It is, as it always has been, the great, the high hope and aim of men of intellect, and higher aspirations than the luxuries of life which kill the soul, to lift the evil in mankind out of the category of civilization, 91 92 COLORED AMERICANS IN LITERATURE and develop mind and intellect as the only adjunct toward universal unity and peace. To cure all the evil which afflict men of every race and people, is an impossibility so long as the earth exists for the use and benefit of mankind. Force has been tried, but even the death penalty does not stay crime and disorder. The Crucified One gave up his life and took upon himself all the sins of men, and pointed out the way for them to follow if they would be saved. But even this Majestic, this Divine Sac¬ rifice has not stayed the evils afflicting man when left to his own de¬ vices, to his own ill-regulated freedom. We know the way, indeed, and whoso refuses to follow it, must be classed with the evils we suffer. Every man must lift himself out of the slough. There is food for thought in the past, which hinges much upon the present and the future, and if it is taken in the proper spirit, it can not fail to develop the mind, the soul, and put men on the high road toward the accomplishment of the designs of God. THE QUEEN OF SHEBA AND SOLOMON It was related in another article, that the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, but we shall give a further account of this great queen be¬ cause it will lead to the reason why Ethiopia reached a high state of development. Open the Bible at 1st Kings, 10, verses 6 to 10 and read: ‘ ‘ 6. And she said to the king, it was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and thy wisdom. ‘ ‘ 7. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half has not been told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. “8. Happy are the men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. ‘ ‘ 9. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made he the king, to do judgment and justice.” COLORED AMERICANS IN LITERATURE 93 Here was an Ethiopian Queen who was clearly desirous of benefit¬ ing her great empire and uplifting her people, traveling in pursuit of the best way to do it, just as our modern men are now doing. This, it should be remembered, occurred more than a thousand years before the birth of Christ, or to bring the years down to dp,te, it was two thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight years ago—nearly thirty centuries. THE ETHIOPIANS CONQUERED EGYPT To diverge a few lines: Napoleon Bonaparte was a deep student, and when attempting the conquest of Egypt, he pointed his soldiers to the great Pyramids saying: “Soldiers of France, forty centuries are looking down upon you,’’ he uttered a truth of history, and established an Ethiopian empire a thousand years before Solomon. The reason is this: The Ethiopians conquered Egypt, or erected it into a province, and built the great Pyramids that still exist. But to return to the Queen of Sheba. She found a knowledge of God in her visit and carried it back to her people, because we find His worship beginning to make its appear¬ ance upon the monuments and inscriptions. Now a singular circumstance is presented by the claim of Ethiopian kings and princes after the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. It was claimed by the princes of Axoum, in Ethiopia, which was evangelized by the Empress Helena, consort of the Roman Emperor Constantine, in the year 324 of the Christian era, that the Queen of Sheba bore a son to King Solomon, and that he was the founder of a dynasty, the annals of the kingdom giving a long list of the kings de¬ scended from him, and relating that they governed for centuries with¬ out interruption. Pieces of their money still in existence and the in¬ scriptions on recently unearthed monuments furnishing evidence of this fact. In a history of Alexander the Great, translated from the Ethiopian, it is related of another Queen of Sheba, who, in the year 332 before the 94 COLORED AMERICANS IN LITERATURE Christian era, resisted that mighty conqueror with so much vigor, that he capitulated to her charms, as she was a most beautiful woman, and left her kingdom in peace. She laughingly reproached him for his weakness, so the story goes: “You, the mighty conqueror who have never been defeated by man, have been captured and defeated by a woman. ’ ’ BLACK QUEENS WHEN CHRIST WAS BORN The reign of the Sheban dynasty was followed by that of the queens of Candace, who were ruling Ethiopia at the date of the birth of Christ, indeed, one of them is mentioned in the New Testament, Matthew 12:42, and her story is related in another chapter of this book. Among the many evidences of high civilization in Ethiopia, are its literary productions. There are several hundred books in the various public libraries of Europe which show a remarkable condition of devel¬ opment. In the way of history, there are the annals of ancient chronology by Georges Ibn-al Amid, which follows the geneaology of David from Adam, and a list of the kings of Israel and Judea, together with the principal events of their reigns. To this is added a chronology of the reigns of the Roman Emperors, and the Consuls. In the chronological book, there is an entire chapter giving the his¬ tory of the kings of Ethiopia, from Ibn-al Hakim, son of Solomon by the Queen of Sheba, down to recent times. There are also volumes of poems of great beauty and perfect meter, stories of wars, genealogical lists, biographies, commentaries, moral maxims, philosophy, anecdotes, astrologies, homilies, hymns, etc. All of these are contemporaneous. In proof of this remarkable condition, reference is made to the “Catalogue des manuscripts Ethiopiens (Gheez et Amharique) de la Bibliotheque nationale de Prance, a Paris,” a copy of which may be found in any of our great public libraries. COLORED AMERICANS IN LITERATURE 95 ETHIOPIAN WOMEN HELD IN HIGH ESTEEM In refinement, the Ethiopians held women in a superior position in the social scale, which says Dr. Reich, the historian, ‘ ‘ Shows a higher point of delicacy and refinement than either their Eastern or Western successors. Colossal in art, profound in philosophy and religion, and in possession of the knowledge of the arts and sciences, the Ethiopian race exhibits the astounding phenomenon of an elevated civilization at a period when the other nations of the world were almost unknown.” Referring to this question of psychology in civilization exhibited by the Ethiopians, the same Dr. Reich, in his “History of Civilization,” says: “People, as a rule cherish the idea that nations are like individuals, and that accordingly nations have their childhood, their youth, and their old age, and their death just as we are used to see in individuals. This entire idea is utterly false. There is no such parallel development. A nation is a mental thing only.” Dr. Scholes, in his “Glimpses of the Ages,” citing Heeren’s “Man¬ ual of Ancient History,” relative to the Ethiopians, says: “It may be gathered from the monuments and records that Upper Egypt (Ethiopia) was the first seat of civilization, which originating in the South, spread by the settlement of colonies toward the North (Egypt). ‘ ‘ These migrations are proved by the representations, both in sculp¬ ture and painting found in the yet remaining monuments throughout Egypt.” “Glimpses of Ages,” p. 191. Heeren, p. 57. There were tribes among the Ethiopians which were of a low grade of civilization, just as in the most civilized countries of the present times, there are peoples of a very low grade, not only in civilization but in intelligence. But, there existed a highly cultured and civilized Ethi¬ opian people, who dwelt in cities, erected temples and other edifices, and who had good government and humane laws. Moreover, their fame and progress in knowledge and their social arts spread in the earliest ages over a considerable part of the earth. 96 COLOEED AMERICANS IN LITERATURE Upon the authority of Heeren, already referred to, and upon their own investigations, Dr. Glidden and Dr. Morton, who are quoted in Scholes’ “Glimpses of the Ages,” made an examination of the Egyptian skulls, and gave it as their opinion that the Egyptians and the Ethi¬ opians never came from Asia, but were indigenous or aboriginal inhab¬ itants of the African Nile country, and were all of the “Negroid type.” ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WERE NEGROES Peatherstone in his “Social History of the Races of Mankind,” goes still further, and confidently asserts that the ancient Egyptians were of the Negro race. “This,” he adds, substantially, “is borne out on all the Egyptian paintings, sculptures, and mummies; the hair found, as well as that pos¬ sessed by their descendants, the Copts, is the curly, or woolly variety, and the lips and nose the same. “The fact that the ancient Egyptians were Negroes three thousand six hundred years before the Christian era is substantiated, and that their population in Egypt at that period amounted to seven millions. ’ ’ Admitting all these things to be true, it may be asked: “Well, what of it? What good will that do the Colored Americans?” It has to do with Colored Americans as much as an ancient highly civilized ancestry has to do with the modern Jews. They know that their race is not extinct; that they are an integral part of the great movement of all mankind toward a unification of mind and intelligence. This fact burned into their minds must operate as an incentive of the greatest propelling force to urge them onward toward the high destiny that awaits all mankind. That they are working out the plans of the Almighty by so doing, puts them in the vanguard of civilization, with opportunities at hand to avail themselves of all the advantages attached to such a high pur¬ pose. There is something to work for—something worth working for, and when the Colored American takes this high view of his destiny, it will be too small a thing to notice, even should he be denied the privi¬ lege of sitting beside a white man. COLORED AMERICANS IN LITERATURE 97 THE JEW AND THE COLORED MAN A curious racial transformation is going on in the United States outside the two divisions of man, the Jew and the Colored man, which means much more to the ethnologist and lover of mankind than is ap¬ parent on the surface. The various nations, such as the English, French, German, Irish, Scotch, Spaniard, etc., are rapidly losing their identity of race or descent, and becoming American with new facial traits, as well as mental attributes. All these nations or tribes, will lose their identity and be merged into another and dilferent stock distinctly American, perhaps revert to the parent Aryan stock. Thus we shall witness, the four primitive divisions of mankind, the Aryan, rehabili¬ tated; the Jew or Semitic, with renewed wisdom; the Ethiopian, or Hamitic, still a distinct race, and the Turanian, or Chinese, working together to accomplish a unity of nations, one in thought and high pur¬ pose. Everything is apparently working in that direction, and there is no single nation, or union of nations of diverse civilization that will be able to stay the movement. 7—D S DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE IN THE UNITED STATES The Result of a Great Civilized Ancestry—Some of our Colored Americans, Their Doings and Their Personality The Colored Americans, as one of the great divisions of the human family, with as proud an ancestry and as high a civilization as the Jews, and co-eval with them in the point of cultured antiquity, are proving themselves as progressive and, with the additions of modern culture, civilization and progress, are building their race up to a high point of excellence. They have bridged the ages, so to speak, and are showing them¬ selves penetrated with the spirit of a civilizing evangelization, which began in the Far East, nearly four thousand years ago. They are carrying down to date, without losing by an intermission, the great aims and purposes of the Ethiopian Candace and Sheba dy¬ nasties, under which were introduced the arts and sciences, sculpture and painting into Egypt and Europe, refinement, literature, and wise government. They are demonstrating every day, that they are moving with the great divisions of the human race, toward that high goal of unity that is the evident purpose of God in creating man. Under an enlightened political system, the few aggravations in the local laws of which will soon disappear beneath the mighty onward tread of the peoples of the earth, our Colored Americans are beginning to realize their destiny, and are seizing the opportunities that present themselves for their benefit, as for the benefit of a common destiny of all men. They are beginning to understand, and they are acting upon the 98 DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE 99 understanding that education is the chief factor in the solution and proper attainment of their destiny. This “education” has always been the essential element in the rise and progress of every nation on the earth, the educated have forced their way upward toward the light, and become factors in the world’s progress toward enlightenment. Those who have ignored education have fallen and lie buried beneath the sands of the deserts of Europe and Asia, without descendants or successors, and known only to the ex¬ cavator of ruins. Their very races have disappeared without a trace. THE CASE OF THE JAPANESE The marvelous rise of the Japanese is due to the seizure of the op¬ portunity of education, and appropriating every detail that goes to make power and physical influence. Not much more than three generations ago, the Japanese empire was a mere name, an isolated country of semi-barbarians, a mere tribe without power, influence or standing as a national unit. It is now clam¬ oring at the door of every civilized nation for recognition as a world power, and threatens to enforce its demands with an army and navy that is too formidable to be ignored or slighted. It has reached the acme of the physical and lays claim to that alone as its right to recognition. It has not yet learned that in the great movement of the peoples of the earth toward uniflcation, the physical must go down before the psychological, and therefore, if the Japanese persist in their physical prowess, they will disappear as have other greater nations claiming the same force as the summit of earthly influ¬ ence. They are mere fragments of a tribe detached from the Turanian division of the human family. History repeats itself always in the cases of the great divisions of the human family, where some branch attempted to usurp the power, functions and authority of the whole. The Assyrians, the Persians, the mighty mistress of the world, the 100 DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE Roman Empire, vanished like a breath when they presumed to stand in the way of the designs of the Almighty. All were pawns upon the chess-board of time, so to speak, the very foundation of which is soul, that attempted to wrest the fiat from its meaning by the adoption of brute or national force. They served the purpose of carrying man toward a certain goal on the way to his final pinnacle, then claimed the results of the uplift, and went down through vanity and presumption. Japan with its physical impress persisted in, will go down like the rest. It must go down because it does not represent any factor in the Divine designs. But it is an illustration of what education will accom¬ plish, and its fate will illustrate what human nature, obsessed by its own reliance upon force, will reach in the end. Our Colored Americans have no such incentive as force or physical designs. The conquerors of the earth were compelled to yield to the educational programme to uplift the soul of man, not his material pros¬ pects, except so far as they advanced the psychological, and they may be said to be now in that psychological phase of the movement of the nations of the earth, which leads to the highest point of intensive civili¬ zation, A GREAT DIVISION OF THE HUMAN FAMILY It should be constantly borne in mind, that the Ethiopians and their descendants, the Colored Americans in the United States, represent a great division of the human family, which, with the others, are alone to be considered in the great design of unification. The Roman Empire represented no such portion of the human fam¬ ily. Assyria, Persia, Egypt, and the dominating historical peoples were all mixed, and when their uses had culminated, that is, when there was no more use for them, or when they ventured to assume superiority over the rest of the earth, they were submerged. Of the mighty races that constituted the primitive divisions of man, there are now remaining, with each bearing a sharp line of distinction DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE 101 between them, the Aryan, Semitic, Turanian, and Ethiopian. Into these four divisions all the nations and peoples of the earth may be resolved. It may be said that the Aryan consists of the white race; the Ethi¬ opian, or Hamitic of the dark race; the Semitic, the Jews, and the Turanian, the yellow race, of which the Japanese are a mere branch of a subdivision. Each of these great divisions of the human family has its own part to play in the great drama of the world’s progress, and the elimination of brute force or the physical as a negative element in progress, has brought these grand divisions face to face with the problem of psychol¬ ogy, mind or soul. It is immaterial what it is called, it cannot be dis¬ regarded. The conditions or environments that have hedged in these great divisions have appeared to be similar in the world’s histoiy. The Jews had their mighty empire. The Aryan developed into enormous power, but broke into fragments. The Ethiopian possessed the initial civiliza¬ tion of the world, and the Turanian, evidenced by the Chinese, have still a high position in the world. Let us give a few details and then proceed to the progress of our Colored Americans toward the fulfillment of the great design: The Jews lost their physical empire to become a psychological force. The Aryan became split into numerous branches which are now existing and moving steadily forward toward the psychological. The Turanians that controlled the Orient for ages by their physical prowess, have become a great republic based upon the power of mind. The great Ethiopian empire after leaving its impress upon the civilization of the world, was transformed into the psychological progress of the other members of the human family. It will be perceived that all of them are drifting toward the same point, and that each of them is employing all the advantages and de¬ vices of modern life to continue on the march toward that point, at which all men shall be of one mind, one soul. 102 DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE OPPORTUNITY AND ADVANTAGES OF COLORED AMERICANS The Colored Americans in the United States, with their advantages are accepting the inevitable in the form of opportunities presented them, and are as irresistibly impelled toward the ultimate goal of uni¬ fied mankind as the others. Let us consider our Colored Americans at close range and see what they are doing in the way of seizing opportunities, and building them¬ selves up to the accepted modern standards. ECONOMIC PROGRESS The one essential of modern life which the Colored American has not attained to perfection, is the proposition of economy. Not saving, but business qualifications. But he is an apt pupil and is rapidly ac¬ quiring experience. The reports of 1912 give the value of property owned by the Col¬ ored people in the United States as six hundred millions of dollars. An ri upon this they pay taxes. A year ago. The National Negro Business League held its eleventh annual session at Little Rock, Arkansas, with every State represented by delegates. The wide range of Negro business activities discussed at that an¬ nual meeting, shows a vast stride toward improved commercial condi¬ tions, and an adaptability to the opportunities presented. Some of these activities were: Raising and shipping fruits and poultry; pickles and preserve manufactories; horticulture: grain, hay, and fuel; cotton raising; dealers in fresh and salt fish; farming and stock raising; town building; real estate; railroad building; coal and iron business; general and special merchandising; banking, and a multitude of other busi¬ nesses. Sixty-two banks are operated by Colored Americans, and there is a National Negro Bankers’ Association, with W. R. Pettiford its President, the latter gentleman being President of the Alabama Penny Savings Bank, the second oldest Negro bank in the country. The Bank- DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE 108 ers’ Association has in process of formation, a large central Negro bank to act for Negro banks in the same capacity as the great banks of the East act as clearing houses for the other banks of the country. It transpired in this connection, that the various Negro secret so¬ cieties had on hand a large amount of money for the purposes of mem¬ bers ’ funds and for widows. The Knights of Pythias alone, holding in all, cash and property $1,500,000. INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS When it comes to mental success and adaptability, the advance of Colored Americans is phenomenal, and shows as high an order of intel¬ ligence as any nationality in the world. Remember they are just re¬ gaining a lost heritage of renown. The schools, colleges and universities number among their brightest and most brilliant pupils numerous Colored American youths, who are an honor to the cause of education and to their race. They have won scholarship prizes at Cornell University, at Amherst College, Simmons College, Columbia University, Wellesley College, RadclifPe College, Howard University, and in numerous public schools prizes have been awarded them against numbers of competitors. Our Colored Americans are taking hold of the educational problem with a vim and courage, and they are succeeding along every depart¬ ment of study. As an illustration of the thirst for knowledge, the case of Mrs. Martha Harmon, of New York, will be agreeable: This lady is seventy years of age, and attended night school for four years, taking an ele¬ mentary course. She never missed an evening and was late only once. The New York Board of Education presented her with two gold medals, one for attendance, and the other for proficiency in her studies. The intellectual progress of the Colored Americans may be empha¬ sized by reference to that highly modem and civilized agent of educa¬ tion known as “The Press.” 104 DEVELOPMENT OF THE PACE There are now more than one hundred and fifty-three organs of the Colored Americans, edited and managed exclusively by them, and de¬ voted to their interests as well as to the cause of general intelligence, improvement and higher education. These organs of the “Press” are classified into: magazines, 3; daily papers, 3; school papers, 11; weekly papers, 136. Ten of these newspapers own the buildings they occupy, and fifty- four own their own printing plants. There is a large field here for exploitation and splendid opportuni¬ ties for the development of a high order of intellect. Only one of these newspapers was established before the Civil War, the Christian Ee- corder, of Philadelphia, which began in 1839. All the others were es¬ tablished after the Civil War, one in 1865, the others after 1870—a fact which demonstrates the ability of Colored Americans to advance in in¬ tellectual ability when the opportunities are presented for its free ex¬ ercise. The sphere of influence of the newspapers can not be disputed, we know how it is regarded and the enormous deference paid to that influ¬ ence among the White Americans, and the same results must obtain among the Colored Americans. There is room in this department of intellectual development, for many strong and vigorous writers, who will be able to crystallize the energies of the Colored Americans into a determined effort to maintain their position in the onward movement of the human race toward uni¬ fication. AUTHORS, WRITERS, POETS AND THE FINE ARTS An investment in brains has always been regarded as the most pro¬ ductive in profitable returns. It is becoming the fixed opinion, based upon ages of experience, that the uplift of the world, the advancement of people and their progress can be accomplished by brains only. War and its desolations, its ravages, rapine, and cruelties, have for a time swayed and dominated various parts of the earth, but, it must be DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE 105 considered that violence is the mere handmaid to an uplift by intel¬ lectual effort. War prepares the way for intellect and secures it an op¬ portunity to be made manifest without molestation. If we refer to the ‘ ‘ Catalogue des manuscripts Ethiopiens, ’ ’ already mentioned, we shall find a most amazing condition of intellectual devel¬ opment among the ancient Ethiopians. It was this intellectual condi¬ tion that made its impress upon Egypt, and the other nations of Europe and Asia, because the Ethiopians were not a conquering race by force of arms, except so far as it was necessary to protect themselves against attack. If we turn to their descendants—our Colored Americans—we find the same intellectual efforts resumed and progress going on in a marked degree under favorable circumstances and highly civilized and free conditions and environments. The same talent and genius that sculp¬ tured the exquisite Ethiopian bronze statuary recently discovered in The Soudan, carved the beautiful designs on Egyptian monuments, traced the architecture of noble palaces and immortal buildings, still traceable in ruins more than three thousand years old, and other evi¬ dences of art, is manifesting itself at the present day among our Colored Americans and other descendants in foreign countries. Consider Lethierre, once president of the School of Pine Arts at Rome, within our present generation, and view his paintings that now adorn the walls of the Louvre in Paris. We should not omit Edminia Lewis, the sculptress, whose admir¬ able works required a residence in Rome, nor Henry Owassa Tanner, the eminent artist, whose gems of art are represented in the fine art museums of the world. There are numerous others but these are given to emphasize the point of present Ethiopian intellectual ability. Among writers were Alexander Poushkin, the celebrated Russian poet. He was a Negro with curly hair and a black complexion, but a man of extraordinary talent and versatility, in prose fiction, and history as well as poetry. Jose Maria Heredia, the greatest of Spanish-American poets, was a Colored man, likewise the poet Placidio. 106 DEVELOPMENT OF THE RACE We can not forget Paul de Cassagnac, of France, editor, author and poet, who was also a Colored man. Dumas, the noted dramatic author and novelist, was a colored man, and a most prolific popular author, poet, dramatist, novelist and essay¬ ist. That great production ‘ ‘ Camille ’ ’ is familiar to all theater-goers in the world, and when a man rises and says: “The world is mine,” he uses the language of Dumas’ Monte Christo, a world-wide novel that has been translated in all languages and performed on every stage. We might go on for pages and refer to the Ethiopian intellect as something almost dominant in the world of letters in foreign countries, but must refer to our own Colored Americans as this work concerns them particularly. We can claim as our own Williams, the historian, the first Colored American ever elected to the Ohio legislature, and at one time judge advocate of the G. A. E. of Ohio. Phillis Wlieatley, the girl who translated the Latin “Metamor¬ phoses of Ovid” in Boston, which were republished in England as standard. Under the most distressing and adverse circumstances Phil¬ lis Wheatley became a scholar and a poetess of distinction and the asso¬ ciate of culture and refinement in Boston. Paul Laurence Dunbar may be held up to all as an example worth following as a man, a poet, a novelist, and a journalist. At the age of twenty-one years he published his first book, ‘ ‘ Oak and Ivy, ’ ’ and fol¬ lowed it with others that commanded the attention and received the encomiums of the literary world in the United States. His poetry ap¬ peals to the heart and the hearth, and the intensity of thought displayed in his numerous writings is relieved by humor and quaint philosophy. Dunbar is a triumphant and unerring demonstration of Ethiopian in¬ tellect. James B. Corrothers, the poet and prose writer, is another illustra¬ tion of the power of applied intellect. Corrothers will be always known for the high order as well as humor of his writings, in the United States and in England where his “Jim Crow” idea of Negro fun is still supreme. Of his “The Black Cat Club,” a prominent literary and DEVELOPMENT OF THE PACE 107 critical magazine, says: ‘‘The Black Cat Club should be commemorated by cultivated people of color as a second Emancipation Day.” Charles W. Cbesnutt, lawyer, writer, editor, historian and novelist, easily stands as a standard to be looked up to by the members of his race. Miss Inez C. Parker, whose flights of fancy evolved from the higher realms of thought, betray the poetic gift of her race to a singular de¬ gree of beauty. As a poetess and writer, her destiny in aiding the up¬ lift of humanity and helping it toward the universal goal, is manifest in every outpouring of her genius. These are only a few of many, the most prominent now before the world. There are many others coming on and they will soon appear to the astonished eyes and ears of the people who have no thought of the great future and destiny of the Colored Americans. THE OVERGROUND RAILROAD A Mighty Way to Progrcss^The Underground Railroad a Thing of the Past The old folks revel in stories about the “Underground Eailroad.” They traveled over it, and we may admit that it took them to liberty. We may even go farther than that, and say that it lifted from the shoul¬ ders of a great race, a weight that was crushing them down, and brought them into the land of ‘ ‘ Opportunity. ’ ’ But all that is ancient history. What happened even yesterday is old, and we are too busy today working to take advantage of the things offered us today, and that will happen tomorrow, to dream about the past. We are all working to make things turn out to our advantage, and the less we dwell about the past the closer we get to the golden fruit. We are living in a practical age, and the man who does things prospers, while the dreamer starves or gropes about at the bottom of the ladder. All men need things; want something done for them. It is good business policy to supply the wants and to do the things everybody wants done. We mentioned the “Underground Railroad” as something that benefited the race; but we have its successor in the way of transporta¬ tion that is reaping profit from that benefit. That successor is the “Overground Railroad.” It is a system of transportation such as the world has never seen or used. You ask: “What is an ‘Overground Railroad?’” Everybody can answer, or thinks he can, so he says: “Why, it is a railroad that runs over the land and transports passengers and freight. ’ ’ But the answer 108 THE OVERGROUND RAILROAD 109 does not hit the mark, for this particular Overground exercises a mightier power; possesses a wider influence than the mere haulage of passengers and freight. It carries opportunity, activity, benefit, incentive, intelligence, knowledge, and progress to every corner of this great land and into every town, village, city, hamlet, even the cross-roads are reached. It reaches every one of ten'millions of a great race that less than two decades ago were forbidden opportunity, and compelled to travel over the “Underground Railroad.” Now, everything belonging to the great mass of mankind, or to which they are entitled or may aspire, is parceled out with lavish hand to all w'ho wish to take. The effort is yours, the prize awarded you. In round numbers there are about two hundred thousand miles of railroads in the United States, spreading out in every direction from ocean to ocean, and from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. Many of them reach over into Mexico and Canada. On the trains operated by these railroads, there are thousands of Pullman cars, drawing-room and chair-cars. All of these cars are in the charge of Colored Americans, the sum total of their number run¬ ning up into tens of thousands. These men are the posterity, the de¬ scendants of the passengers of the old “Underground Railroad.” It is true philosophy that makes for education and wisdom, gives polish, affords incentives to ambition and a leaning toward high ideals, as well as offering opportunities—always bear in mind “Opportunity” for that is what counts. Now imagine the bright men and women that travel on these two hundred thousand miles of railroad. Imagine also, our ten thousand men circulating among them; mixing with them; in daily and hourly contact with them! Something must come of this association, and something does come, which something is of incalcula¬ ble benefit. The passengers on the Overground Railroad are men and women from every part of the world. They are the successful people; the ex¬ perienced people, and the leaders of thought. They have taken oppor¬ tunity by the forelock and ridden it to the finish. Otherwise they would not he able to travel. 110 THE OVERGROUND RAILROAD Tliej’’ are soldiers, statesmen, politicians, lawyers, clergymen, phy¬ sicians, scientists, and everything that is the highest and noblest in the world. Their number according to statistics, runs up into the hundreds of millions of passengers annually. Our ten thousand in the performance of their duties, listen to their interchange of opinions; note everything that is worth knowing; glean opportunities, and absorb information and wisdom. If you have noticed any of these ten thousand off duty and on his way home, you can not have failed to see gentlemen. These men are really the operators of our ‘ ‘ Overground Railroad ’ ’ in the highest sense of management. They are not mechanical, they are observing and possess the power of mental acquisitiveness, due to their surroundings and their contact with the passengers. They are the op¬ posites of the patrons and passengers, and managers of the old “Under¬ ground Railroad,” which is switched off into the sidetrack of forgetful¬ ness. The Pullman man from New York City meets his brother Pullman employee from San Francisco, let us say, at St. Louis. Their regular stunt is about two thousand miles each, with the care of numbers of the passengers coming from tens of thousands of miles apart, from all over the globe, in fact. What is the result of this meeting? To an outsider it is something like this: “How are you, Sam?” “How are you. Bill?” “Have a New York stogie.” ‘ ‘ Have a San Francisco cheroot. ’ ’ That is all the outsider sees or learns. But when these men get away and apart, they exchange notes of everything that they have learned on the trip or has transpired on their routes. They are mes¬ sage bearers of everything they have learned new from their passen¬ gers. Multiply this one instance with thousands of similar instances. THE OVERGROUND RAILROAD 111 We have every city in the world linked with every other city; every nationality brought in contact with every other nationality; every class and character of individual tied up with every other class of individu¬ als, and these men are the great deposit reservoirs of everything. They become laden with unlimited cosmopolitan and universal knowledge and information, charged with it as a bee is charged with honey in its flights from bush to bush and from flower to flower. This is not an exaggeration, on the contrary, it is of such common knowledge that we think nothing about it. It is every-day fact that any one can see for himself by going to any railroad depot in the coun¬ try. We said these men are the great deposit reservoirs of everything, but unlike the most of our deposit reservoirs, they are also the sources of distribution through innumerable channels. Their business is like the training at a State Normal School with actual experience added in unlimited quantities. They go out from these training schools, or rath¬ er from this educational system belonging to every Overground Rail¬ road and scatter knowledge, information, and opportunity. A word, even a hint, of what “a man told me on the run from New Orleans to Chicago,” and one or perhaps many, find themselves boosted into op¬ portunities they never would have found without the operators on the Overground Railroad. These Pullman employees are evangelists, news gatherers, and ex¬ perienced men acquainted with the ways and doings of the world. They have homes, abiding places, wives, sweethearts, brothers, sisters, friends. They have their clubs and meeting places, and they unload their information and knowledge, mixed with opportunity, to ears greedy for advancement, and opportunities for betterment. They scatter broadcast high aspirations and incentives to progress among the ten millions of the posterity of the patrons of the old Under¬ ground Railroad. Through this means the most astounding results have been accom¬ plished—results that have never happened any other race since the world began. 112 THE OVEEGEOUND RAILROAD The Israelites dwelt in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years, and waited for a Moses to come and lead them out of their unpleasant environments. There were about six hundred thousand of them, and most of their posterity are still dreaming of the past. The four millions that started the Underground Railroad, have in¬ creased to ten millions in a generation and a half, and they led them¬ selves out to the promised land. Imagine ten millions of any other race in the United States with perfect freedom of action! We might well shudder at what would hap¬ pen us—happen the countr3^ We do not feel that way about the pos¬ terity of the operators and passengers of the old Underground Rail¬ road. They are peaceable, earnest students of the ways of civilization, and they are working upward—they are ambitious to learn and con¬ stantly devise methods of improving their condition in the same way all true American citizens are following. They have their homes, their children, and their attachments in our midst, in fact, they belong to our soil, and have no desire to depart elsewhere to spend their money. They are always ready to shed their blood for the Stars and Stripes, and are always willing to leap to the nation’s rescue, or to aid in pro¬ moting its welfare. Where does the Colored race learn all these things? Not in the schools for they are limited, and live too much in the musty past, but the cap-sheaf of the education of the race, its maintenance as a factor in the civilization of the earth, is in their contact with the world, their absorption of the wisdom and experience of the world’s people, due in a great measure to the operators of the Overground Railroad. Through this source the great race is learning that there is no voca¬ tion to which it may not aspire in time to come and the opportunities for intellectual development and its benefits are multiplying rapidly. Already there is a great sprinkling of dark skins in every avenue of life, commerce, trade, science, and in everything that the white skin aspires to. Look down for a moment, and compare your state with that of the scavenger, the sewer digger, the section hand, and the grades of labor so attractive to foreign elements that come here to scrape up THE OVERGEOUND RAILROAD 118 enough to return to their wallow in their various native lands. You are far above these and you belong here and you are rising with the best. You are put upon the initiative, and find out new ways of doing old things which is what makes civilization progress, and you have the door of opportunity invitingly open to you always. You have only to open your eyes to see opportunity within your grasp. You are associated with the management of the Overground Railroad. SUCCESS THROUGH SELF HELP The opportunities afforded by the Overground Railroad, in the way of obtaining information, can not be overestimated. It is, practi¬ cally, a school of instruction that may be attended by any one, and who may follow the bent of his desires afterward. There are two classes of people who may avail themselves of the educational process undertaken by the dissemination of information through the medium of the Overground Railroad: The man who is aided in his life work, and the man who must help himself. It is of the man who must help himself, of the “self-help” man, that there is more to be said of than the other. He represents the bone, sinew and brains of the nation. When a man or woman succeeds in reaching a high position through his or her own efforts, or in attaining a point from which the work of a lifetime begins, and in the direction of success, the pride of attainment is justifiable. There are many who have the strength of purpose and the will power to utilize the forces of mind and body within them, and develop themselves with the aid of that power. Their examples are an illustration of a higher education that really educates. The man or woman who sits with folded hands waiting for someone to help him, or for something to turn up or come his way, so that he can seize upon it without trouble or labor, is too far gone in uselessness in the present age to be worth trying to lift up. 8—L S 114 THE OVERGEOUND RAILROAD We are all interdependent in this world of business, but must not imagine that because we must live with and do business with others, that we can depend solely upon those others. Every man must stand upon his own ability and exertions. The men who do this succeed through self-help, self-reliance, self- knowledge, and self-sufficiency. The greatest men in history are those who worked themselves up from humble surroundings and against tre¬ mendous odds. It is always the brain that conceives the thought, and the strong arm that executes the mandates of the thought. Where the physical arm is not strong enough, the brain quickly conceives a method of supplying the difficulty. It was the boast of the philosopher Archimedes that he could move the world if he could find a fulcrum for his lever. The modem man is so far advanced that he finds a fulcmm for his lever, and if he does not move the earth, he moves a large part of it. If we take the pains to look about us, we shall find every avenue of human endeavor occupied by self-made men. These men originated in the most humble surroundings, but lifted themselves up through the sheer force of their own energy of character and vital force backed by persistence. The history of the world has pages about the men who sprang up from humble sources and amid the greatest difficulties. They overcame them somehow, some say by the aid of Providence, but we know thJit it was through innate courage, brains, energy and persistence. Every man may raise himself up by his own efforts, indeed, the man who uses another as his ladder will soon find himself leaning on a broken reed, and amount to very little in this world of struggle and competition. AVho knows better what a man can do than the man himself? There are always hidden sources of strength in every man, and he alone is able to bring them into use. Remember one point in this age of competition: Learn how to do things, and then set about doing them of your own accord. The man who waits to be pushed ahead sel¬ dom finds any pushers. This is the wisdom of experience, and will not bear argument, so true it is. TRAIN YOURSELF FOR YOUR LIFE’S WORK Physical Development—Exercise for Pleasure and Profit— Uniformity in the Use of the Muscles—General and Special Muscle Training—Systematic Hardening of the Body —Various Kinds of Exercises—Key to Good Health and Mental Activity A Strong Healthy Man Is Always Selected for the Best Positions In all ages of the world physical development has been regarded as a preparation for health and the successful beginning of a life work. The ancients had a maxim to the effect that there should be a healthy mind in a healthy body, and that there could not be a healthy mind in an unhealthy body. In these days when good health and a companion physical develop¬ ment are so much in demand, you must train yourself for your life work in such a way as to merit a selection for the best positions. Here is the reason why a man is often turned aside from a position where he might be mentally qualified. One look at him explains the reason for his failure to he given the opportunity. He is not physically developed. The times and the business undertaken by every man is strenuous. He must be prepared for hardships, and will never attain any good po¬ sition if he carries that in his body or face which indicates inability to stand the strain or liability to succumb under it. Nobody wants a man who will work along for a shorter or longer 115 116 TBAIN YOURSELF FOR YOUR LIFE’S WORK time and then break down and be obliged to quit altogether or for time enough to recuperate. This physical training is now called “Athletics,” and it must be practiced advisedly and not at random. It is for the promotion of health and manly vigor, just as much as bathing is for the promotion of cleanliness and health. ETHIOPIANS NEARLY PERFECT Among the Colored race, there are many splendid types of athletes. In the old days, the Ethiopian was considered a masterpiece of physical architecture. He entered any list where muscular power was to be exhibited and carried off the victory. In great trials of strength and wrestling he had no superior. As the Ethiopian was in the past, his descendants in our Colored Americans are today. In football, baseball, rowing and in wrestling, the Colored American has no superior in skill or prowess. Particularly is this the case in the college-trained athlete. His prowess has brought him fame, his skill and courage have gained for him the respect and admiration of thousands. Not only that, but it is easily established from ocular evidence that nearly every college ath¬ lete of prominence has worn his honors with modesty. There is a native muscular development in the Colored American of healthy and good habits, which, if directed in the right channels of athletic activities would lower many a record. Physical training including athletics is becoming a well outlined course in every school for colored youth. When in the hands of experi¬ enced teachers, and developed under the direction of a department of physical education, it will lift our Colored Americans up a few notches higher in the scale of manhood. There can be no question about its value as a developer of man¬ hood and a health producer. But never as a prize-fighting school. This of itself is debasing in the extreme. We are growing away from the mercenary brutality of former years, and all classes are vying with one another to engage in a contest of development that will make for man¬ hood. TKAIN YOURSELF FOR YOUR LIFE’S WORK 117 Our schools and colleges are aware of the difference between ath¬ letics for health and manhood and the debasing school of the prize¬ fighter. They are introducing it in many instances, and the course offers an opportunity not to be ignored or lost. Young man, your physi¬ cal nature is part and parcel of your intellectual condition. Physical exercise is as essential to the growth of the human body as drink and food is for nourishment. The human body is developed by muscular exertion, and its good health and perfect growth depend upon the regular practice of some form of motion that will bring into use all the various parts of the system. When we say “regular practice” we mean that if it is desired to maintain the body in a good condition for the uses and occupations of life, exercises must be practiced every day—not once in a while, or at random. The man or woman whose muscles are trained in line with the occu¬ pation pursued for a livelihood, is better fitted to become perfect in that occupation than one who does not take exercise, or not enough to keep his usable muscles well trained. Nobody can play the piano perfectly unless the muscles of the fingers, hand, and wrist have un¬ dergone a severe training. It is the same with driving a nail, digging a garden, singing a song, or anything requiring muscular exertion, the muscles put into use must be trained, or there is no perfection in the work. The first and most important muscle training, in fact the very essence of physical development, is in breathing. The lungs must have oxygen to supply the blood, and the oxygen being in the air we breathe, the more we can put into the lungs, the better for develop¬ ment. In breathing, the muscles of the chest are expanded in proportion to the length of the breath taken. The lungs should be filled to their full capacity, and this can only be done by taking long, deep breaths, slowly and evenly, swelling out the chest to its widest extent. The inspiration of the breath should be commenced slowly and 118 TRAIN YOURSELF FOR YOUR LIFE’S WORK continued evenly until no more air can be inhaled. Then the respira¬ tion, or breathing out should be slow and continuous until you feel the necessity of taking another breath. To breathe properly, there must not be anything to restrict the swelling of the muscles of the chest. Any posture that will give these muscles free action is proper. Standing, lying, arms extended, held over the head, head thrown back or forward, are all suitable positions for deep breathing. One point to be always borne in mind, is to breathe deep and full whatever work you are engaged in. In running, the breath is apt to come in short, snappy volumes, or panting. In hard muscular work with the arms it is customary to measure the breaths by the exertion employed in the work. All this is not conducive to deep breathing, and it may be overcome by a little practice. Try running and at the same time breathe slowly and deeply and you will run faster and tire OTjt less quickly. Always breathe through the nostrils and never through the mouth. If you have to open your mouth to breathe, it is either habit or because the nostrils are clogged. In the latter case they should be cleared out to permit drawing in a deep inhalation of air through the channel nature intended. The exercises for breathing should be preliminary to any other exercise of the muscles. The reason for this: Every exercise or movement of the body either when at work or at play, consumes or burns up a certain amount of the tissues of the body and these used up tissues must be replaced, or nature will very soon call a halt and refuse to permit you to do any work or play—the body becomes used up. The waste of the body is replaced by the oxygen taken into the lungs through breathing, and a person may eat all sorts of nour¬ ishing foods, and take all kinds of remedies to restore his weariness and bring him up to his work, but none of them will be of any avail without the air drawn into the lungs by the breath. There is where the stomach, the blood, the liver, the heart, etc., obtain the essential element of oxygen to stimulate them into activity. TRAIN YOURSELF FOR YOUR LIFE’S WORK 119 With our breathing regulated, the next step is to begin develop¬ ing the other muscles of the body. There is at this point a good rule to follow which is: Train every muscle of the body uniformly to acquire a general development along every organ and muscle. This general muscular training should be begun with the child at an early age, and be conditioned upon his strength for their quantity of exer¬ cise. So a weak person can not stand as much or as strong exercise as a stronger person. Every one must he his own judge in this matter. Many noted men have brought on a fatal illness from over exertion or over exercise at a late age wh'en their system was not prepared to withstand violent methods. It is said that James Gr. Blaine began a course of gymnastic exercises in the belief that he would gain strength, but it killed him. The younger a beginning is made at gymnastics, the better it will be in after life. One point to he remembered is: Never overstrain or attempt to harden the body. Every shock is dangerous, and the delicate mech¬ anism of the human body must he handled gently until it can bear greater strains. To plunge into violent exercises without previous training is as had as using a delicate and costly watch as a base ball and expect it to keep good time. To train all the muscles of the body uniformly as a beginning of muscular or physical development, prepares a foundation for any special muscle training that may be desired, and guarantees success where failure would most undoubtedly result from the special train¬ ing first. All the muscles of the body are interdependent. One of them cannot be trained alone without affecting another one, or draw¬ ing upon it for material to supply the waste already spoken of. But when all are trained, then it is easy to pass to the training of any special muscle. To begin a general training or muscular development of the body, it should be borne in mind that it is the muscles that hold the body up and not the bones. Both are essential to the human construction, but the muscles play a more important part in the bodily movements than the bones. Few people consider that to stand or sit properly 120 TRAIN YOURSELF FOR YOUR LIFE’S WORK tLe muscles of the body must be trained. The poise of the head, the erect position of the shoulders, the proper holding of the arms and hands, depend ujjon the training and development of the arms and shoulders. Most persons are negligent in this respect and allow the upper part of their bodies to hang by their bones. This is noticeable in those who are “stoop shouldered,” a habit which becomes fixed. The first thing a soldier is trained to do is to stand erect and hold himself up by his muscles. No person who can not control his upper muscles will acquire any grace or beauty of movement. The use of Indian clubs, even an ordinary chair, would be something to grasp and swing about to train the upper muscles, all the time breathing slowly and as deep as possible. Grasp something tight with the hands and swing it about the head or up in the air, or round and round and keep it up a certain length of time every day. Throwing a ball is good for the muscles of the arm, shoulders and back partic¬ ularly. Let the muscles have free play is the rule to follow in every variety of exercise. The muscles of the lower limbs come next in the order of develop¬ ment systematically, although they should be exercised at the same time as the muscles of the upper portion of the body. The object of this is to prevent over-development of any series of muscles by train¬ ing all simultaneously. The muscles of the lower limbs include those of the hips down to the extremity of the toes. Persons in sedentary occupations MUST exercise these muscles under penalty of having them become feeble, flabby and unreliable. With such persons, as age creeps on, the steps become uncertain and “wobbly,” presenting the appearance of extreme age even before middle age has been reached. Those who walk much should take systematic exercise for the benefit of the lower muscles, because the occupation requiring the use of the lower muscles fixes them in a groove or habit not conduc¬ ive to control. That is, the muscles become set in a certain direction, whereas, it is essential to enable them to move freely and easily in any direction, TRAIN YOURSELF FOR YOUR LIFE’S WORK 121 The best exercises for standing, sitting, and walking are those directed by the will power or energy acting directly upon all the muscles and maintaining an equilibrium so that gradual development of the entire body will be reached. This is accomplished by what is known as “flexible action,” in the lines of changing curves which distinguishes the beauty and grace of motion from mere strength. There are three phases in this natural development: Angular, circular and spiral. The human form poised squarely on both feet is the spiral, the head a convexed curve, the body a concave curve, and the legs a convexed curve, like a wave line. To preserve this spiral line of changing curves, the weight is always thrown against the strong side so as to develop the weak side and maintain an equi¬ librium. Standing should be principally upon the balls of the feet, and the exercise should be to incline the body to and from the oppo¬ site curves. There should be no slouching at the hips. In walking, stand erect, feet together, abdomen in, chest up, and shoulders firm. Then advance the thigh and let the leg hang free from the knee down. Straighten the leg and plant the ball of the foot in advance with the toes straight in front, and so on alternately with each foot, carrying the head erect with the chin drawn well in. To sit down let the muscles come into play and not the bones, as it is through the muscles only that gracefulness can be acquired. To rise from a sitting to a standing position, all the muscles should work in unison and the body arise at once to a standing position. To kneel the same play of the general muscles should be applied. A cow or a camel is not very graceful when performing the act of kneel¬ ing preparatory to lying down, but that is because they are animals and not human. The mere act of touching the hat in salutation is graceful or awkward as the muscles are trained. A graceful sweep¬ ing curve of the arm, a gentle bend of the muscles of the neck, inclin¬ ing to a curved bow, and the salutation is graceful. Otherwise the motion is raw and provocative of an idea of ill breeding. 122 TRAIN YOURSELF FOR YOUR LIFE’S WORK While exercising the muscles of the body simultaneously, we are not only acquiring grace and suppleness, but we are strengthening the various muscles and enabling them to develop along the lines of their natural curves. By a sytematic training, the surface of the body becomes filled or rounded out, all angularity disappears, and the various muscles work or slide smoothly over one another and each one fits into the proper place without a jar or wrinkle. Even the face may be trained to the avoidance of wrinkles and seams by a trifle of exercise applied to the muscles. The main point being to prevent any muscular habit which means a wrinkle or a seam. Mas¬ sage alone may do some good in this respect, but the muscles of the face should be worked through the will power. In line with exterior physical development, the interior muscles should not be forgotten. The proper play of the interior muscles, those belonging to the heart, the lungs, the intestines, stomach, etc., are all more or less affected by exterior exercises tending toward phys¬ ical development. Flabbiness of exterior begets flabbiness of the in¬ terior muscles, and this means an imperfect action which ends in in¬ ability to resist disease, or the encroachments of age and hardening of the walls of the arteries. Movement is the law of nature and whatever does not or can not; move is considered dead to the scientists, or on the way to death. Every atom of the human body is in motion toward the maintenance of life in the muscles of every kind. The blood circulates rapidly, so rapidly that any perfumed substance injected into the blood at a finger point, is immediately tasted by the mouth. So with the lymph channels which convey nourishment to the blood for distribution to all the muscles to keep them up to their work. The billions of atoms that constitute the flesh of the muscles and of the nerves, are in con¬ stant motion, without which, the body would lose all energy and be¬ come inert. By exercising the muscles constantly and uniformly, we are giving the atoms of the human system free and full play, and enabling them to perform their functions. We may indeed say, that exercise and physical development mean LIFE. THE TEACHER, DOCTOR, LAWYER, CLERGYMAN—WHICH ARE YOU FITTED FOR? There are four professions, callings or vocations, which are justly styled “learned professions,” because they carry with them the highest degree of intelligence, tact, and wisdom. They are so common, however, in these modern times, that many of their followers do not command the respect to which their calling is en¬ titled, and hence, the professions themselves have greatly fallen into disrepute; particularly so when it comes to select one of them for a life work. Viewing the teacher, the doctor, the lawyer, and the clergyman from the common standpoint, there is no money in the professions. Here is where the trouble lies. To be a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, or a clergyman for the sake of what can be made out of either, is to in¬ sult the noblest professions in the world. They are what have kept the world together since the beginning, and we should take our hats off to them out of respect. The lawyer’s duty is to protect his client’s civil rights and keep society within the law. The doctor preserves the health of his patients while they are about their business, and the clergyman points out the way to a hereafter that may mean our eternal weal or woe. In the chapter on “Opportunities,” we show that these professions are within the reach of any one who possesses an aptitude and has the brains to acquire proficiency. As to brains, let it be understood that everybody possesses sufficient brains for any avocation in life, but they must be properly fed or 123 124 WHICH PEOFESSION AEE YOU FITTED FOE? trained to be of use. Most men’s brains are of the same weight and measurement. But some very learned men have possessed very small brains, while men of the most magnificent proportions, but as ignorant as men can be and feed themselves, have been known to possess brains of double the weight of the learned. .We give the manner of training brain in another place, but assume here that the young man who desires to enter either one of the three professions w^e are treating of, must have the aptitude and the brains. The same general remarks may be applied to the lawyer and the clergyman. The aptitude is the trend of the mind in the direction of the profes¬ sion chosen. It must be a “first and only love,” so to speak, for the brain is an exacting master or mistress and easily changes if not cud¬ dled and humored. Back of and aiding aptitude, is the humanity demanded of every man of either of these professions. When life hangs in the balance the doctor is called upon to display the tenderest humanity. If a man is to be sent to poverty through loss of his liberty or property the lawyer must exhibit all the refinements of skill and humanity without regard to his fees. The human soul striving to reach the eternal goal of rest, peace, and happiness, appeals to the highest heart throbs of the clergy¬ man. If you can not enter into this spirit, then do not choose either of these learned professions for you will prove a failure. The learning required to master either of these professions can be acquired only after the most painstaking and arduous study. To learn the essence of things, the meaning of life and death, the movements that produce life and death, and the symptoms that proclaim disease, come within the purview of the doctor. How can he tell what will be the effect of his medicine unless he knows what the disease is and what effect upon the human body will be his medicines? He must know inti¬ mately the thousand and one essential parts of the human body, how they operate and their effects. If in aiming at one part he affect an¬ other, death may ensue. Have you a steady hand, controllable nerves, and a cool brain? WHICH PROFESSION ARE YOU FITTED FORI 125 You need them all to perfection to be a surgeon and apply the knife in order to cure suffering humanity. The surgeon must stand in the pres¬ ence of a mortal enemy with his finger pressed to the trigger of his weapon and watch for the exact instant when he shall press it to save life. The lawyer must possess not only an intimate acquaintance with the laws of the land, but must have delved deep into the underlying principles that form the foundation of all law and government. Logic, tact, patience, and verbal skill with ready wit on all occasions, are to him what the electric spark is to a motor. It was said by a learned judge that many cases were lost where justice should have prevailed to win, because of a failure to properly present the matter to the court. It is not a loud voice, a browbeating disposition, or a pompous bear¬ ing that bring success, it is the careful close reasoner, the quiet mole that undermines the solid earth foundation of his opponent, and topples it down. The clergyman is a man of sacrifices. His own opinions go for naught because he is not the maker of justice and right, but their ex¬ ponent. He sees beyond the faint traces of what we humans call “love,” a powerful love that rules the world—the love of God—and he puts the two together so that the lesser will be absorbed in the greater. The great trouble may seem to be the variety of different sects and the difficulty to select the right one. Man, they are all aiming in the right direction. They point toward the sky, and bring a man’s man¬ hood in line with the soul, his spiritual part, and the imperishable part. There is no room for bigotry, no room for anything but charity, and loving kindness. THE ROAD TO SUCCESS OR EASY LESSONS FOR EVERY DAY LIFE The way to success in anything is always an upward climb, the down grade is always a flat failure. In considering this matter, it will be well to remember and bear constantly in mind, that it is easier to ^lide down hill than it is to climb up. We may say, therefore, that success is purely a question of exertion. The road to and up the slope of the hill of life is roomy enough and to spare for everybody, and there need not be any crowding. But the way is strewn with wrecks, many submerged before beginning their journey, others lodged in some cranny half way up, and others start up so bravely and so rashly that they can not stop at the summit where the prize is situated, but their momentum carries them over and down to the bottom on the other side. The steady, earnest worker plods along, sees that his footing is firmly fixed before he takes a next step. He grabs at some retaining point and never lets go of it until he has hold of another support. When he reaches the top, he can stop and breathe, likewise flatter himself that he has succeeded by hard work and steady perseverance. The fact is, that unless a man is bom with a silver spoon in his mouth, that is, well provided by his ancestors with a goodly supply of this world’s goods, there is no royal road to anything. No man can roll about like a smooth pebble and hope to land into a mossy hollow. When a man starts off on a voyage he generally has some definite destination in view, some object to be attained when he reaches it. No¬ body can spend his life traveling about for the mere purpose of keeping 126 THE EOAD TO SUCCESS 127 in motion. There is no advantage in this except to the transportation companies. Here is the keynote to success—character. We do not know what character is, we know only that it accomplishes results. Why do some men succeed and others fail, assuming that they all start out on the same plane equally well equipped? The reason why ' can not be told, it lies in the man himself, it is his character. We are living in an age when new things are utilized; new ways of doing business are demanded. We run to specialties more than we did in the past. Even ten years make a difference in business methods. If you have aspirations, are they up to the times? Not so very long ago, one man made everything about a machine. If he had a watch to make, he made the case, the wheels, the springs and all the parts, and also put them together into a perfect instrument. Now, a dozen or more men make, not the watch, but each of the several parts. The cases are machine made by one man; another rolls the springs, another turns the screws, another the wheels, and so on. Every thing is done piecemeal, so to speak, and none of the workers is able to make a perfect watch. So it is with clothing, with furniture, tin and iron ware. The doctor is a specialist. Something ails your eyes—you must go to an eye specialist, the throat specialist knows nothing about the eyes. Have you a fever? You go to a bacteriologist to find out what germ is infecting you. Formerly you took a dose of salts and senna, or other nauseating drug. You have a case of collection, but your regular lawyer makes a specialty of criminal cases and can not help you. Perhaps you have been injured in an automobile accident and want damages from the owner, but your regular lawyer does not know anything about damage cases, he is a corporation lawyer, or a divorce lawyer, or a patent at¬ torney, or takes admiralty cases only. A bookkeeper applies for employment. Do you know anything about cards? This is the question. You know about playing cards, but the employer keeps his accounts on loose cards, not in heavy books. 128 THE ROAD TO SUCCESS There is division of labor in every pursuit, and no man can become learned in all of one thing. He may acquire a smattering, but there are no more universal geniuses, the world of industry has become compli¬ cated, unlimited, and special. We see then, the futility of trying all of one thing or aspiring to reach all of one thing. You can not succeed because you have a mere smattering of many details, and not a perfect knowledge of any single detail. This however, makes the road to success much easier than in the old days. You can become perfect in some one thing, and life is not too short to learn it; it can be mastered. It goes without saying, that in our intercourse with men we must put them on an equality with us and place ourselves on an equality with them. Are you an inferior man ? Then go elsewhere for employment. “I want skilled workmen,” says the employer. “I want a physician that will cure me, not one to experiment upon me,” says the sick man. It is always man to man now-a-days. No cringing, remember, and on the other hand, no bluffing. I The Story of a Rising | Race Told in I Pictures 3 3 I s s 3 B 3 a 3 3 I 3 3 3 I a 3 a 3 3 PHOTOGRAPHED FROM LIFE Special Collection MUSIC THE DRAMA SOCIAL LIFE PHYSICAL CULTURE 3 3 3 a 3 a 3 aillllilllllllllBIUlllllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllHlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllk^ BELLES OF THE BALL Basket Ball Team, Normal School, No. 2, Washington, D. C. FINE SPECIMENS—PFIYSICAL DEVELOPMENT Hampton Institute Champions of 1912, showing a strong team of the Colored boys and their Indian fellow students. TRAINED ATHLETES Tuskeg-ee Base Ball Team skilled in the art of the great national game. RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND PHYSICAL CULTURE An evidence of the remarkable advancement of meml)ers of the Young Men’s Christian Association in the de\ elo])ment of mind and body. THE “HOWARD THEATRE,” WASHINGTON, D. C. This magnificent theatre is OAvned and operated by Colored citizens. The beantifnl and artistic effect of the interior is an inspiration. TALENTED DRAMATIC PERFORMERS The performance of the noted Shakespearian comedy “'A Midsummer Night s Dream. Evidence ofthe dramatic art now being developed by the best talent of the race. THE SOCIAL SIDE OF LIFE The Baltimore Assembly, a social slathering of distinguished Colored citizens. MASTERS OF MELODY CO-EDUCATIONAL DRILL The :\Iarch to Dinner on Anniversary Day of students at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural institute. The boys are lined up and the girls march throught between the ranks. EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS m MUSIC HATH CHARMS Glee Club and Orchestra, Tuskegee Institute. training received at Tuskegee Institute. bjo •n! (U rt C ^ 'o < H K < H O c/2 H \D CO f4 V- qj O ct §- c^ E fcuo