SOME EXAMPLES IN
SELF-HELP AND SUCCESS
AMONG COLORED PEOPLE
and of
CO-OPERATION AND
CORDIAL RELATIONS
BETWEEN THE RACES IN AMERICA
Committee of Twelve
for the advancement of the negro race
Cheyney, Pa.
SOME EXAMPLES IN
SELF-HELP AND SUCCESS
AMONG COLORED PEOPLE
and of
CO-OPERATION AND
CORDIAL RELATIONS
BETWEEN THE RACES IN AMERICA
Committee of Twelve
for the advancement of the negro race
Cheyney, Pa.
Some Examples in Self-Help and Success
AMONG COLORED PEOPLE
AND OF
CO-OPERATION AND CORDIAL RELATIONS
BETWEEN THE RACES IN AMERICA
It is the old story of Hercules and the wagoner. The best
help is self-help. For it is ever the one that is nearest at hand.
The race that is learning the lesson of self-help is a race that
is learning the secret of success and of progress.
The following paragraphs show that the Negro does not rely
wholly upon help outside of himself, but that he is bracing his
sturdy shoulders against the wheels of his wagon of progress,
that he is helping himself to advance on the rough road of life in
the care of his sick, in home-getting, in making a place for him¬
self in the business world and in winning the respect, sympathy
and co-operation of many of the best white people. Dr. George
C. Hall, of Chicago, in the following paragraphs relates the story
of self-help in Negro hospitals:
NEGRO HOSPITALS
Negro hospitals in the north were established principally for
the purpose of opening a new field of usefulness to young colored
women in which they could learn the art of scientific nursing.
Provident Hospital in Chicago, the first of its kind, was
founded in 1891, following the refusal of the Nurse Training
Schools then existing in the city to admit a Negro. Since then
its training school has graduated over ninety nurses trained in
the art of scientific nursing. These nurses come from nearly
every State in the Union and Canada. The graduates of this
institution are in charge of other training schools for nurses and
kindred institutions among colored people throughout the country.
All applicants must have a high school diploma or its equivalent.
One of the most important duties of a nurse is selecting, prepar¬
ing, and serving food; also a thorough knowledge of food values.
Great stress is, therefore, laid upon this subject and, besides hav¬
ing a theoretical knowledge of dietetics and cookery, each nurse
is required to demonstrate her ability to prepare food for the sick
in an intelligent and acceptable manner. The highest salaries
always go to those who are most proficient in these accomplish¬
ments, and they are seldom out of employment.
Provident Hospital is located in the heart of the most thickly
populated centre of Negroes in Chicago. From here nurses go
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daily, ministering to the sick and poor of both races. They give
practical instruction in the care of the sick, in house ventilation,
in the preparation of food, and in cleanliness of home and body,
all in a gentle and effective manner. Over 1500 families have
been visited and over 6000 visits made. One of the graduates
is regularly employed by the Visiting Nurses Association of
Chicago, and each senior nurse receives two months' training
in district work under the supervision of the Visiting Nurses
Association. The hospital building and equipment, costing about
$100,000, is entirely free from debt and has a capacity of seventy-
five patients; the yearly operating expenses are about $25,000;
and the annual deficit about $3500, which is raised by voluntary
subscriptions. There is no aid received from the city or State.
It has an endowment fund of about $55,000—$50,000 of which
was given by a Negro physician. A very large proportion of the
patients cared for in the hospital are treated without charge or a
nominal fee. The dispensary of the hospital has been in opera¬
tion since 1896, and has treated over 75,000 patients since its
founding.
Since the founding of Provident Hospital a number of
hospitals have been founded and operated by colored people in
various northern cities—Philadelphia, 2; Pittsburg, 1; Boston, 1;
Baltimore, 1; St. Louis, 1; Kansas City, Mo., 1; Kansas City,
Kan., 1.
In Philadelphia there are two hospitals owned and conducted
by Negroes—the Mercy Hospital and the Frederick Douglass
Memorial Hospital. The Mercy Hospital is valued at $10,500.
The cost of running the Hospital last year was $13,806.46. Of
this amount $8,606.46 was given by Negroes. The State gives
the Hospital $5000 per year. The number of patients cared for
last year was 1081, besides 933 charity patients. The average
amount paid by each patient is a little over $2.00. There are 23
doctors on the staff. The number of major operations last year
was 47—4 of these being performed by white physicians and 43
by colored. There are five white physicians doing work in this
institution. The attitude of the colored people toward the
Hospital is appreciative. There are nine student nurses, who
spend two years in training. They receive $3.00 per month for
the first year and $5.00 per month the second year. There are
seven graduate nurses who are now in private practice. Oppor¬
tunity is afforded colored physicians in this hospital to study and
practice along special lines.
The plant of the Frederick Douglass Hospital of Philadel¬
phia, cost about $100,000. The State gives them $20,000 a year
for the maintenance of the hospital and gave $5000 for building
last year. Negroes have given to this hospital during the past
two years about $30,000. The number of patients, both in and
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out, that are cared for during a year is about 5000. There
are 31 doctors, none of whom receive any pay. The number of
major operations during the year runs from 90 to 100. There
are six white attending physicians and seven white consulting
physicians. There are 12 student nurses, none of whom receive
any pay. Their length of service is two years. Thirty-five
nurses have been graduated.
Besides offering young educated colored women greater
inducements to study and more opportunities for work, these
hospitals afford the Negro physician of the North a place where
they have the privilege of taking care of their own cases. They
also afford the young Negro physician positions as internes, the
value of which cannot be computed. They furnish appliances
and laboratory facilities, the lack of which will make it impos¬
sible for the Negro in general practice to do good work. They
also emphasize the importance and value of original investigation
and encourage the same, acting as medical extension courses to
individual physicians in the cities where they are located and
offering friendly aid and assistance to all who recognize the
advantage of advanced work in medical science.
While the Negro students are admitted to the medical schools
in Northern cities, I think, with the exception of one school
in Boston, that in not one of these schools are they allowed to
study practical obstetrics in the hospitals connected with these
schools, with the result that many Negro students are compelled
to acquire this part of their training outside of their schools, and
are dependent upon the generosity of physicians in their respec¬
tive cities before being allowed to graduate. Within the last five
years a station of the Chicago Lying-in Hospital has been estab¬
lished at Provident Hospital. The nurses care for about thirty
cases a year. This offers an excellent opportunity for our young
men who need such training.
A Milk Laboratory has also been installed through which
scientifically modified milk, prepared by the nurses, is furnished
to the sick babies in the vicinity, which will be a large factor in
helping the fight against the large infant mortality among the
Negroes.
Five years ago I made my first trip South, attending a meet¬
ing of the National Medical Association in Lexington, Ky. When
the time came to hold my surgical clinic, I was conducted to the
St. Joseph's Hospital (white), a large institution with a wing
attached to it, designed and arranged for the care and treatment
of Negro patients. Any Negro physician is welcome to place
his patients in this well-equipped hospital, complete in all its
appointments, and to operate upon or treat them himself. I
learned that the other hospitals offered similar facilities, and that
Negroes were doing splendid work in helping these institutions.
4
In Durham, N. C., there is one Negro hospital, "The Lin¬
coln." Twenty-eight major operations have been performed by
Negro physicians and twelve by white. The white physicians
patronize the hospital, sometimes contribute money to its support,
and generally speak well of it.
Decatur, Alabama, has a private infirmary, "Cottage Home"
founded by a Negro, Dr. W. E. Stems. It has the distinction
of being the first infirmary in the State run by a Negro where
all the work was done by the physician who founded it or by some
other Negro in whose ability he had confidence. There have
been 20 major operations, all by colored physicians. The attitude
of the white physicians is friendly.
Winston-Salem, N. C., contains one hospital owned by
Negroes. Its value is $3000. It received $300 aid from the city.
There were 45 patients cared for in 1908, 19 of them being
charity patients. There are four doctors without salary. Three
major operations have been performed by white physicians and
one by colored. There are ten white physicians doing work in
the hospital. Their attitude is good. The colored people are
loyal. When the colored physicians are prepared they may per¬
form operations for themselves in this hospital.
In Birmingham, Alabama, there is one hospital organized
by the Negro physicians of that city, aided and assisted by Dr.
Pettiford, president of the Negro Penny Savings Bank. "The
Home" is perhaps the best in the South. This institution and a
Woman's Board are doing a great work just now in leading the
Anti-Tuberculosis Crusade among the Negroes of Birmingham.
Birmingham has one Negro Visiting Nurse employed regularly
by the Civic Organizations of that city. She was trained in the
Cottage Home Infirmary at Decatur, Ala., and Normal, Ala.,
Training School for Nurses.
There are two hospitals owned by Negroes in Nashville,
Tenn. The Mercy Hospital, whose value is $15,000, is one of
them. It cost $3000 a year to run this hospital, all of which is
given by Negroes. The number of patients cared for was 300,
charity patients, 211. There were 165 major operations, 158
by colored physicians, and 7 by white. There are five white
physicians who work in the hospital. Their attitude is friendly.
Dr. R. F. Boyd owns this institution, and it is used by Meharry
Medical School for its students to learn Practical Surgery and
bedside medical treatment. Another very creditable institution
is owned by Dr. J. T. Wilson, and is used for clinical purposes
for students of Meharry Medical School and also for a post¬
graduate medical course, the only one of its kind in the South.
In Montgomery, Ala., there is one infirmary owned and
given by a Negro after whom it is named, The Hale Infirmary.
5
It is valued at $10,000. The county last year gave $300 and
the Negroes $1936.00. This hospital last year cared for 212
patients, 62 charity. The number of major operations was 72—
34 by white and 38 by colored. There are 14 white physicians
working in this infirmary. Their attitude is very friendly and
sympathetic. The attitude of the colored people is gratefully
appreciative and growing. There are unlimited opportunities for
young colored physicians.
In Greenville, Miss., there is a hospital operated by the white
physicians for colored patients. The Negroes of that section are
united in their friendship toward the private infirmaries operated
by the Negroes. They are contributing very liberally toward the
erection of a proposed charity hospital, which is to cost from
$15,000 to $20,000.
At Hinton, West Virginia, there is one colored hospital,
Rolley Sanitarium, which is private. There are eight beds, four
in each ward. They average there about one major operation
a month, with a large number of minor operations. There is one
trained nurse, a graduate of Freedmen's Hospital. There is one
young woman in training. The white doctors gladly help in
emergencies.
At Clarksville, Tenn., the only infirmary in 60 miles of the
surrounding country, is owned and operated by Dr. Robert Burt,
a progressive young Negro.
I could name many other excellent institutions scattered
throughout the Southland—as nearly every large city has one or
more—and, besides, all the large educational institutions have a
well-equipped hospital and nurse training school, Tuskegee and
Spelman heading the list in efficiency and equipment.
HOME-GETTING AT BESSEMER, ALABAMA
The Bessemer Coal, Iron and Land Company, of Alabama,
asked 538 Negro miners in their employ if they were interested
in better homes and better school facilities.
In five and one-half years, 404 of these Negro miners have
shown their interest thus:
98 have homes paid for and hold deeds for same... $53,665.89
306 have paid in on contracts 62,805.40
Total $116,471.29
A church and a schoolhouse have also been built and paid
for.
Mr. H. L. Badham, president of the Company, who was led
into this venture by his success in building up the town of Rose-
dale, near Birmingham, Ala., tells the story in his own words as
follows:
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"In April, 1903, we called in for consultation five or six of
the most influential colored miners employed at the Sloss and
Tennessee Companies' ore mines, situated on the outskirts of
Bessemer, and asked if they would be interested in having better
homes and better school facilities, and, would they influence their
fellow-workmen in carrying out the plans of the Company, if
found by them to be reasonable and the Company responsible.
After thoroughly explaining to them what we proposed to do,
they gave their hearty support (without which I doubt if we
could have accomplished so much). We set aside a hundred
acres and called it "East Bessemer." No lots were to be sola
to white people in this territory. The price of the lots were
from $200 to $400, with a payment of $3.00 per month on the
lot. Building material was furnished to any lot-holder equal to
the amount of purchase price, providing the party could show
his ability to erect the same, and after the completion of the
house, payments were to be at the rate of $6.00 per month—this
being the prevailing rent charged miners in this district. In
many instances three or four would club together and agree to
help "A" build his home, doing work on the house after work
hours at the mines or on Saturdays, and then they would build
for "B," etc. Others would save $75 or $100 and let the con¬
tract for the building, we allowing them the privilege of building
any style or price house they could afford without placing a
mortgage on the same. In many instances where we could
furnish as much as $250 or $300 worth of the material, they,
would add $75 or $100 to this amount. I mention this, because
the amount they have paid me does not by any means cover the
value of the properties they now own. We issue a pass-book to
each lot-holder. It is gotten up like a bank deposit book, states
the number of the lot, block, and the amount of the original
contract. The party brings in this little book each month and
has credit placed in his book, and in this way we can keep con¬
stantly before them what they owe. No deed is given until the
final payment. If they quit paying the amount is taken by us
as rent. We have canceled only two house contracts, and in
each instance the parties left the State, and the amount paid by
them was not more than house rent would have cost had they
continued in a rented house. The total number of lots sold on
the lease plan was 538; of this number 134 failed to keep up
payments and were dropped from the roll, but of this number
only two had built homes. Ninety-eight have finished paying
for their homes and have received deeds from us at a net cost to
purchasers of $53,665.89. Three hundred and six are still pay¬
ing and are in good standing. We built a church and a school-
house. All payments have been made and deeds given for the
same. The Beulah Baptist Church has been built on the same
7
plan, and they are now paying for it at the rate of $28 per month.
And, remember, these people carried on this work at the same
time they were paying for their own homes. You will also please
bear in mind that the $116,471.29 does not represent all that these
people have saved. The labor necessary to erect these homes
should be considered an asset, and, besides, in many instances,
they built better homes; put in more money than we furnished.
I say this because I want you to give them full credit for what
they have done.
The labor conditions of Bessemer are far ahead of any dis¬
trict in the State. To illustrate: The superintendent of the
United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Company said to me
the other day: "I can go to any of our plants in this State and
take from them all the labor I want, but I honestly don't think
they could come here and take a man from you. We hope to
make other companies realize the value of this work."
CO-OPERATION BETWEEN THE RACES
Dr. E. C. Morris gives the following interesting account of
the co-operation of whites and blacks in Helena, Ark.:
The city of Helena, Arkansas, a city of 10,000 inhabitants,
about 6000 of whom are colored, is one of the best cities in the
entire South as to the relation between the two races.
From 1868 to 1878, the county in which Helena is situated
was governed almost entirely by Negroes. Since that time the
government has been altogether in the hands of the whites. One
would imagine that so radical a change would have so upset the
plans and purposes of the Negro people as to cause a wholesale
emigration, but, while it has been about thirty years since the
change came about, instead of a decrease of population there has
been a steady increase, and this is due in a large measure to the
very friendly relation between the leaders of the two races. Law
and order is the one paramount issue with the leaders of both
races, hence there has been no race war or mob violence reported.
As an evidence of the good feeling that prevails here, we
give one instance in the midst of many. About three years ago
the Business Men's League, composed entirely of white men,
effected a reorganization of the League, and placed at the head
of the organization some of the leading young white business
men of the city, and these progressive young men at once set to
work to build up the city by getting more and better railroad
facilities, more factories, more good homes, better tenant houses.
The new organization, which succeeded from the very be¬
ginning, had gone on but a short while before five of the
leading colored men of the city were invited to meet with the
League for consultation. These men were cordially received
and their advice and aid sought in building up the city. It was
8
recognized that these men represented what constituted the
laboring class of people, therefore their argument that the Negro
would prove to be the most reliable and profitable labor, and their
proposition looking to the absolute exclusion of convict labor, was
received with hearty acquiescence.
As evidence of the good faith of the white people, up to this
time the score or more of factories here are almost exclusively
operated by Negro labor. One large factory owner said to me
that if he could get capable Negroes to work in his factory he
would prefer them to the Greeks, Italians or any other foreigners.
The material progress of the Negro in Helena is gradual, but
permanent, by reason of the fact that they are encouraged in the
matter of home getting and in business enterprises by the white
people, as well as by their own leaders.
SELF-HELP AND CO-OPERATION IN BUSINESS
Mr. H. T. Kealing furnishes the following instance.
A young Negro in Waco, Texas, of ordinary English educa¬
tion, but with a keen business mind, spent his Saturdays and
afternoons, when out of the schoolroom (he was a public school
teacher) in trading and lending small sums of money on short
time. His manipulations were so shrewd and his judgment so
unerring that he attracted the attention of the president of the
leading bank in the city, who first gave him some small com¬
missions to execute and then, thoroughly satisfied, began to lend
him money on his one-name note. Each note was promptly met.
Now this Negro draws his check on the bank without regard to
funds on deposit, and if it is an over-draft, executes his note for
the deficit afterwards. His operations now amount to many
hundreds of dollars loaned out on short time. His monthly
interest intake is $84, and he is forced to contemplate giving up
teaching to attend to his own loan business.
The particular point to observe is the confidence this Southern
bank president reposes in the native, though untrained, ability
of this Negro, and the banker's good will in backing his judg¬
ment without other than character security.
Mr. Archibald H. Grimke, of Boston, gives the following
examples of success on the part of five colored men in Massa¬
chusetts :
I know of at least four instances in Boston where colored
men have been signally successful in business, and in each
instance success was altogether impossible without the co¬
operation and patronage of the whites. These instances are
those of a merchant tailor, a wig maker, a dentist, and a hotel
proprietor.
The merchant tailor, Mr. John H. Lewis, now retired, began
at the bottom of the trade in Boston and worked up to the top.
About twenty years ago he did the largest merchant tailoring
9
business in New England. His patrons were almost wholly
white.
The wig maker, Mr. Gilbert Harris, does the largest business
in his line in Boston, and 99 per cent, of this business is done
with white people.
The dentist, Dr. George F. Grant, began on the lowest rung
of the ladder and has climbed to the top of his profession. For
a number of years he was a demonstrator of mechanical dentistry
in the Harvard Dental College, and afterward became a lecturer
in the same school. His large and lucrative practice for about
thirty-five years has been among the best white people of Boston
and vicinity.
The hotel proprietor, Mr. Joseph Lee, was once one of the
best known in New England, and his hotel at Auburndale, Mass.,
was one of the most select and fashionable. When he died last
June his Inn at Squantum was perhaps the most popular seaside
eating house in the vicinity of Boston. His patrons were almost
wholly white.
In addition to these four cases of business success of colored
men, I will add a fifth where success depended almost entirely
on the patronage and co-operation of the whites. This fifth case
is that of a colored physician of this city, Dr. T. W. Patrick, who
several years ago established a school of pharmacy. His methods
are original, and his instruction thorough. The men who hold
the diploma of this school pass without difficulty the examina¬
tions of the State Board and are admitted to practice in Massa¬
chusetts. The school became popular and white men came to it
from all over New England. Again this enterprise would have
failed without the co-operation and patronage of the whites.
Walter P. Hall, of Philadelphia, is a good example of the
self-made man. He was born of poor but free parents. His
father died when he was eight years old. At his death the boy
was put to work to help his mother to support a family of six
children. He worked first for $1.50 a week. At the age of
twelve he got a job in a brickyard at wages ranging from $5.00
to $7.00 a week. He received very little schooling during this
period, about four months annually, until 1864, when he enlisted
in the 124th United States Colored Regiment.
But the youth was getting out of the university of experience
and adversity what he could not have obtained so well out of
books and schools, namely, a knack for hard work, for getting
along, for making money. He was the while never idle. At
the close of the War he went promptly to work for a game and
poultry dealer in the old Fifth Street Market, of Philadelphia,
at a salary of $10.00 a week.
He remained in this place fourteen years, and left it at the
end of that time because his employers wished to reduce his pay
10
from $10.00 to $8.00 a week. He had just married and had
spent all of his savings except $33.00 in fitting up his home. He
had tried working for others, he now determined to work for him¬
self, to go into business on his own account in the game and
poultry line. Five days after he had left his old place he rented
a stall in the Fifth Street Market and began doing business with
his small capital of $33.00.
It is surprising how much he was able to do with this slender
sum. It began presently to multiply under his hands. For he
knew how to buy and to sell and to hustle for a living.
He began almost at once to hold his own, to overcome the
hostility of his white competitors, to win a steadily increasing
number of white customers. At the end of two years of hard
work and struggle he gained for himself a solid place as a dealer
of game and poultry in the old Fifth Street Market. He is
to-day one of the largest and most prosperous dealers in game
and poultry, eggs and butter in the Terminal Market, of Phila¬
delphia. He occupies at an annual rental of $1286.00 ten stalls
in that market and the volume of his trade runs from $80,000
to $90,000 a year.
Mr. Hall believes that his color has not operated against him
in business. He ascribes his success to his honesty and fairness
as a business man. His patrons are among the wealthiest people
of both races. He stands exactly, he declares, in the business
world of Philadelphia as any other business man. His banking
business is solicited by the strongest banks and his relations with
those from whom he buys and with those to whom he sells do
not seem to him to be in any way affected by his race and color.
Mr. Hall has had offers from many white men to enter into
partnership with him. He is a decided business success, and
white men grow strangely indifferent to color when a colored
man has something in a business way which they want. Mr. Hall
employs all colored help. White men have asked for employ¬
ment under him, but, believing that his race needed the openings
which his business offers, he has confined himself to the employ¬
ment of colored clerks and salesmen, although they come to him
too often illy prepared to do his work efficiently.
LAST TRIBUTE TO JOHN B. TAYLOR, ATHLETE
The demonstration of respect and grief on the part of many
white men at the funeral of John B. Taylor, the athlete, illus¬
trates in a remarkable manner the fact that individual merit
tends to wipe out even in America the color line, and to break
down to some extent barriers of race. The following report of
the funeral of Dr. Taylor, taken from the Evening Bulletin, of
Philadelphia, of December 5, 1908, speaks eloquently for itself:
"With tear-dimmed eyes the mightiest track and field ath¬
letes of America stood beside the funeral bier of John Baxter
11
Taylor, the late University of Pennsylvania champion runner, at
his father's residence, 3223 Woodland avenue, at noon to-day,
while the room in which his remains rested was a mass of floral
remembrances from his friends and the athletic clubs of the
East and particularly the University of Pennsylvania.
"Fifty carriages followed the body to the grave, and several
thousand persons paid their last respects by visiting the room in
which he was laid out.
"Never has a colored athlete, and seldom has any athlete,
been honored as was Dr. John B. Taylor, and it was a grand
tribute to the life he led and the sincerity of the friendships made
during his college career.
"Among those who visited the house prior to the funeral
were: Mike Murphy, the Pennsylvania track coach; Johnny
Hayes, the Olympic Marathon winner; Melvin Sheppard, the
noted amateur Olympic double title holder; Harry Hillman, of
the N. Y. A. C.; B. J. Wefers, of the N. Y. A. C., former world's
champion sprinter; Ernie Hertjberg, coach of track team of the
Irish-Americans; Dr. J. K. Shell, who discovered the wonderful
ability of Taylor; Martin Sheridan, the champion weight tosser;
Flanagan, the old champion of the weights; Captain Hartranft,
of the Penn track team; J. V. Mulligan, the former Georgetown
runner; Joe McGuckin, who was a member of the Brown team
with Taylor; Allen Kerr; Tom Longboat, the Indian runner
from Canada; Howard Smith, a former member of the Penn
track team; George W. Orton; W. Fred Ford; W. J. Tewksbury;
W. Marshall, the former captain of the Harvard baseball team,
and hundreds of other athletes and friends of the departed
athlete.
"Floral pieces were sent to the house in such numbers that
they blocked the hallways and filled every room, and many had
to be left at the houses of friends in the neighborhood to permit
room for the crowds, which kept a constant stream surging around
his coffin."
COLORED SOLDIER
This sentence, taken from the annual report of Col. H. L.
Scott, Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, at
West Point, adds additional proof that merit tells, regardless of
race and color:
"The cavalry detachment (colored) has continued its excel¬
lent showing and has demonstrated still further the advantages
of colored over white men for this duty."
CORDIAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE RACES
The speech of Judge Bond, of Tennessee, as reproduced in
the following letter in the Boston Transcript, from the pen of
Mr. Robert E. Park, is well worth-perusing and preserving as
12
evidence of the cordial relations which exist between some
Southern white people and the Negro:
To the Editor of the Transcript:
One of the most interesting incidents of Booker T. Wash¬
ington's recent educational campaign through the State of Ten¬
nessee, to which reference was made in the Transcript a few
days ago, was the hearty response it called forth from the white
people. In many of the cities which the party visited, the num¬
ber of white people who turned out to the meetings was frequently
quite as large as the number of colored people. The addresses
of welcome made by prominent white men at different cities not
only showed sincere interest in the success of the enterprise Mr.
Washington had undertaken, but several of them were in other
respects unusual.
The most impressive speech by a white man during the eight
days that Mr. Washington and party were on the road was made,
however, by John R. Bond, Judge of the Circuit Court, of
Brownsville, Tenn. This speech, which was taken practically in
full by one of the members of the party, was in some respects
remarkable. It is especially interesting just now, in view of the
subject of Mr. Washington's address at the New Old South
Church next Sunday, as showing the disposition of many of the
better Southern white people toward the Negro. Judge Bond
said:
"I was born and reared here in the South and have been
associated all my life with Negroes. I feel that as a Southern
white man I owe a debt to the Negro that I can never pay, that
no Southern white man can ever pay. During the war, the
Southern white man left his home, his wife and his children to
be taken care of by the Negroes, and I have yet to hear of a
single instance where that trust was betrayed or where they
proved unfaithful, and ever since that time I have sworn by the
Most Divine that I shall ever be grateful to the colored people
as long as I shall live, and that I shall never be unfair to that race.
I have always since thought that a white man is not a man who
does not admit that he owes a duty in the sight of God to the
colored people of this country; he is not a man if he is not willing
at all times and under all circumstances to do all he can to acquit
himself of that duty. If there was ever a people in this country
who owed a debt to any people, it is the Southern white man to
the Southern colored man. The white man who lives on the
other side of the Ohio River owes him a debt, too, but by my
honest conviction in the sight of God his obligation is nothing
compared to that of the Southern white man to the colored
people, and I have often wondered what will be the judgment of
the Southern white man and his children and his grandchildren
in failing to discharge his duty toward the old Negro, his children
13
and his grandchildren for their many years' faithful and true
service.
"My mother died at my birth. Now I am growing old. An
old black mammy, who, thank God, is living to-day, took me in
her arms and nursed me and cared for me and loved me until I
grew strong and to manhood, and there has never been a day
since that she has not been willing to do the same for my wife,
and my children, even in spite of her years.
"I remember some time ago very well, when I was sitting
in a darkened room nursing my youngest child, who was confined
with the dreaded disease, smallpox. My wife in a most distress¬
ing manner appeared at the head of the stairs (we had been
separated because of our little girl's condition, and we were kept
from the rest of the family upstairs). My wife called down to
me and informed me that she feared that another of our children
had fallen victim to the smallpox. We were in a predicament,
you may easily see. It was necessary to at once remove the child
from the rest, but there still remained a doubt as to her being
a victim, so we could not bring her into the room in which we
were, and it was also necessary that it be taken out of the room
in which it was. It must be kept in a separate room, and neither
was it safe for her mother or myself to be in the room in which
she would be taken. She must remain in this room all night
without care and attention from either, but just about that time
the old black mammy, this same black mammy who nursed and
cared for me, appeared. Black mammy was heard from. Small¬
pox or no smallpox, that child cannot stay in that room by her¬
self to-night or no other night, even if she takes the smallpox
and dies to-morrow; and she did go into that room, and stayed in
that room until morning, and was willing to stay there as long
as it was necessary. God bless her old soul!
"I am glad to see Mr. Washington here and to have him
speak to us. He is a credit to his race, and would be a credit to
any race. I wish we had many more men like him all over this
country.
"Mr. Washington, I pray to God that the Spirit may ever
guide you in your purpose to lift up your people and that you may
inspire all Southern white men, as well as Southern colored men
to lift up and elevate your race.
"The paradox of Southern life, from the point of view of
a Northerner, who does not understand the local conditions, is
that white Southern people frequently seem opposed to Negroes
in the mass, the personal relations between the races are, on the
whole, kindly. These friendly personal relations between indi¬
vidual colored men and individual white, Mr. Washington insists,
must be made the basis for the final reconstruction of the South¬
ern States." ROBERT E. PARK.
Boston, December 9, 1909.
The following newspaper report of the funeral of a former
slave in Augusta, Ga., shows that there are some white people in
the South who do not breathe out denunciation and hate toward
the Negro like Tillman and Vardaman, but sympathy and appre¬
ciation of them instead, like Judge Bond and Edgar Gardner
Murphy:
"Augusta, Ga., November 16.—The circumstances attending
the death and funeral services of George Washington Walton, a
Negro, in this city, last week, show that there is another side to
the race question in the South than that which is conveyed to the
minds of the people of other sections by the accounts of lynch-
ings, which unfortunately occur sometimes.
George Washington Walton was a slave of George Walton,
one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and, as
he put it, was one of the few remaining members of that historic
family.
He was born and reared in Augusta, and when old enough
took up the barber trade, which he followed his entire life, having
enjoyed the distinction of shaving one man for fifty-three con¬
secutive years. His upright character won him the appreciation
and esteem of his own race, as well as the white people. He was
attentive to his business, content to live a useful life, and better
his own condition by meriting it. In his younger days he became
a member of the First Presbyterian Church, white, one of the
oldest, largest and most fashionable churches of the city, at which
he attended services regularly and was respected by the congre¬
gation. It was from this church that the funeral took place, and
it was attended by many of the most prominent white men of the
city.
The funeral services were a most remarkable tribute to a
man of his race. The music was sung by the regular choir of
the church and the services were in every particular as those over
the remains of departed white members.
Dr. J. T. Plunket, the pastor of the church, conducted the
funeral services, and the relationship between white pastor and
white members of this aristocratic church and the Negro to whom
they were paying their last tribute of respect, may be understood
from the preacher's words:
"It is not my practice to preach a funeral sermon, and I shall
not depart from my custom to deliver a funeral oration over the
sleeping dust of our beloved brother and our friend. What
could I add by word of life to the honor of his long, modest,
humble, Christian life as he lived it throughout all his years in
this city? That which I might say could not add to it^and God
forbid that I should take from it a single degree.
15
"The older generations of citizens knew the man. Through
all the trying years of the war and since his life has been as an
open book, seen and read by all. And it was full of instructions
for the young, for it was not in him, nor of him, to put a pre¬
mium upon idleness in any class of any race.
"In early life he began his labor, and though God blessed
and gave to him a competence, he never ceased his work until
the setting sun of his life and the shadow of death cut short his
faithful laboring. He walked among us, modest, humble, unob¬
trusive, arrogating to himself no place, no power, no influence
that was not rightfully his; that of a man who respects himself
and others.
"Through all his intercourse with those of his own color
and with those of the white race he bore himself without abuse,
and was worthy of the grand old name of gentleman. He was
a true citizen, and bore responsibility intelligently and faithfully.
In every relation of life, as brother, husband, father and citizen,
in spirit and in letter, he endeavored to be true and faithful.
"Out of the fullness of the pastor's heart I speak. For years
he identified himself with this church, even before I came to it
as pastor, and since his public profession of faith he gave the
adversary no opportunity to challenge his adherence to his faith.
"He walked in this world of shadow and sin, and as a light
his life shown, his trust and belief in God and influence that may
not be gainsaid.
"And so it is meet that white and black should gather in the
house of God, before whom there is no distinction, to pay tribute
to the devoted father, the humble, true citizen, the faithful child
of God. I lay mv personal tribute on his dust. He never failed
to express his love to me, and he knew that I loved him, and I
will say that George Walton was worthy of the love of any man."
press of
E. A. WRIGHT BANK NOTE CO
1108 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia. Pa.
Utet of Publication# of tfje Committee of {Etoetoe
Anyone may obtain copies of these publications now in print by
writing to the Secretary of the Committee of Twelve, Hugh M. Browne,
Cheyney, Pa., and enclosing for each publication desired a two-cent
paper wrapper, addressed to himself:
♦To the Colored Men of Voting Age in Alabama.
Can the South Solve the Negro Problem? Carl Schurz
Why Disfranchisement is Bad Archibald H. Grimke
♦Voting Instructions to Maryland Voters.
♦What A Colored Man Should Do To Vote.
♦Garrison Centenary Leaflet.
Slavery and the Race Problem in the South. .Hon. Wm. H. Fleming
The Atlanta Riot Ray Stannard Baker
The Negro in America Andrew Carnegie
Address Before the North Carolina Society in New York,
William H. Taft
♦Work of the Colored Law and Order League of Baltimore, Md.,
James H. N. Waring
♦Study of the Negro's Progress in Jackson, Miss. . .D. W. Woodard
♦Negro Self-Help in Education R. R. Wright, Jr.
Negro Self-Help in Home Getting Kelly Miller
Negro Self-Help in Hospital Work George C. Hall, M. D.
Public Taxation and Negro Schools Charles L. Coon
The Negro and the "Solid South" Booker T. Washington
Some Examples in Self-Help and Success Among Colored People
and of Co-operation and Cordial Relations Between the
Races in America.
Paragraph
Some Successful Negro Business Men.
Business Co-operation Between White and Negro Men in Helena,
Ark.
East Bessemer, Ala.
Negro Banks in Mississippi.
Over 200,000 of the above articles have been circulated.
♦Out of Print.
"We hear much of the unsatisfactory relations be¬
tween the two races in the South, but we may safely
conclude that the peaceful settlement of thousands of
Negro landlords would have been impossible and on the
part of the Negroes undesired had there not been peace
and good will between them and their white neighbors."
ANDREW CARNEGIE
/