Part 2

This Association by its chartered rights is authorized to go anywhere that it finds people destitute of Gospel privileges. Limitation of means and coöperation with other societies may compel it to a narrower sphere than the demands call for; but this is the principle that underlies the Association's organization, and that has characterized all its historic development. The work is at present confined to this country. We have missions in sixteen States and three Territories. The combined population of these States and Territories is 17,459,610, and at least one-third of that number are the legitimate objects of this Association's care. By reason of the necessities of the people our work is both evangelistic and educational: the church and the school in their united aim securing the salvation of body, mind and soul; reaching home life, social life and business life; laying the only foundation on which can rest a progressive and enduring civilization. These mighty forces of Christianity--mother and daughter--in mutual helpfulness and in close proximity, are the agencies through which, with God's blessing, we hope to reach and save the people.

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CHURCH WORK SOUTH.

STATISTICS.

Churches 112 Missionaries, of which 89 are pastors 119 Members 6,881 Added during the year 1,127 Sunday School scholars 10,569

In this department of our work we are permitted to report very decided growth. Heretofore, the average number of churches organized each year has been six. This year the number runs up to seventeen. This increase comes from the maturing of enterprises that have been nursed for a longer or shorter time, and also the fruiting of our school process and the enlarging of our mountain work. These new churches are at Pleasant View and Rockhold, Ky.; at Cedar Cliff, Melville and Johnson's, N. C.; at Jellico, Pleasant Hill, Robbins, Jonesboro, Grand View and Helenwood, Tenn.; at Rutland, Ga.; Ironton, Ala.; Greenville, Miss.; Abbeville, La.; and at Dallas and Austin, Tex. They have all been supplied with the ministry of the word, though several have been yoked two and two under one pastor. Eight of them have houses of worship, the others use school-houses or chapels of school buildings.

Of the 89 pastors who have ministered to our 112 churches, 30 were from the North and 59 were raised up in our own institutions at the South. The average membership of these churches is 61. Total additions for the year, 1,127, of which, on confession of faith, 883. Raised for church purposes, $12,394.78; for benevolence, $1,625.86.

The evangelist, Rev. J. C. Fields, accompanied by his wife, who aids him by song, has continued his service through the year. He has labored at Louisville; in our three churches at Nashville; at Meridian, Jackson and Greenville, Miss.; and at Athens, Tecumseh, Montgomery, Marion, Selma, Talladega, Birmingham, Ironton and Shelby Iron Works, Ala. As a result, between seven and eight hundred souls were hopefully led to Christ, and about one half of them gathered into our churches; while other denominations shared in the precious harvest. At several of the places visited, the religious interest assumed marvelous power.

At Marion there were 55 who professed Christ, the work spreading from our church into the State Normal school located there. Two-thirds of the converts were young men, ranging from fifteen to twenty years of age, who gave themselves earnestly to prayer and labor for the conversion of their comrades. A little girl, eight years old, was the first of a family to accept Christ. Her mother followed. The father, a drunkard, through the persuasion of friends, visited the church for the first time. When opportunity was given those desiring salvation to express their desire, the little child crossed over to where her father was, and begged him to come. He did not that evening, but a few nights later he yielded and gave his heart to the Saviour. It is a custom among the colored people to give the hand of welcome to those who have made up their minds to become Christians; and we can well believe, as an eye-witness describes, "it was a beautiful as well as a touching scene when this little girl stepped forward to welcome father and mother on the Lord's side."

At Talladega College there were 116 conversions, including every inmate of the ladies' hall, and, with a single exception, every boy in the Stone Hall. The meetings, as distinctively revival, had to come to a close for lack of material upon which to work, and take the form of praise and thanksgiving unto God for the marvelous display of His grace. It was a literal fulfillment of the Divine promise to "pour out a blessing that there should not be room enough to receive it."

At Selma there were 300 who confessed their Saviour. Gray-haired men, grandmothers, men and women in the prime of life, youth and children, were among the converts. "The most glorious work of grace," writes Pastor Curtis, "it has ever been my privilege to see."

Revivals have also been enjoyed in the Central Church and Straight University, New Orleans; in the Tougaloo University, where nearly all the students were led to Christ; at New Iberia, La., where, under the labors of the pastor, fifty-nine were brought into church fellowship; in the First and University churches, Atlanta, and at several other places. It has been a year of marked religious interest and progress nearly all over the field.

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EDUCATIONAL WORK SOUTH.

STATISTICS.

Chartered Institutions 6 Normal and Graded Schools 14 Common Schools 36 Instructors 250 Pupils 8,823

Classifying the students, we have: Theological, 96; Law, 67; College, 52; College Preparatory, 113; Normal, 814; Grammar, Intermediate and Primary, 7,681.

The resignation during the year of Professor Salisbury, Superintendent of our school work, and the transfer to Chicago of Dr. Roy, Superintendent of our church work at the South, raised the question whether, in view of the system to which these brethren had reduced the work of their respective fields, the two departments might not be consolidated and their care assigned to one man. With much hesitation it was decided to try the experiment. Rev. C. J. Ryder, of Medina, O., has been selected to take the new position, and has entered upon its duties. His headquarters will be at Cincinnati, from which point, by reason of its central location and excellent railroad facilities, the whole field will be easily accessible. We regretfully part with Professor Salisbury. The three years of his service have been very valuable to our work, and it is largely because of this service we are permitted to report that our schools were never before so well organized nor so efficient as now.

The exhibit of our schools in the World's Exposition at New Orleans attracted much attention from visitors. The New Orleans papers spoke of it in very complimentary terms. Descriptions of it were written and widely published in the newspapers all over the country. President Hitchcock, of Straight University, Rev. S. E. Lathrop and several of our colored students, took charge successively of the exhibit, and were on hand to answer questions regarding the American Missionary Association, its schools and its work. A large number of pamphlets and tracts were distributed. Representatives from every State in the Union, and from nearly every nation on the face of the earth, dropped in to learn the object-lesson the exhibit taught of what Christian education had done for the Indian and the Negro.

At Midway, Ga., an additional building has been erected for the Dorchester Academy. The Storrs School, Atlanta, by the sale of bullets dug from the battlefields around the city, realized enough to secure a much-needed kindergarten building. Mrs. F. L. Allen, of Waterbury, Conn., has donated us a property in Quitman, Ga., containing three acres of land, on which stands a hotel building, nearly new and thoroughly furnished, to be used as a school for girls. The ladies of the First and Second Congregational churches of Waterbury promptly seconded Mrs. Allen's gift by raising $1,000 to make the necessary alterations to put the building in order for the school, and the ladies of the Congregational churches of the State have so far responded to an appeal for them to assume the support of the school, that it starts out with an assurance of success from the beginning. Rev. J. H. Parr, formerly of the Tillotson Institute, is to have the school in charge.

We have not been able to spend much money this year in brick and mortar. We have been obliged to put our funds almost exclusively into the more practical work of mind and character building.

Fisk University celebrated its twentieth anniversary this year by graduating from its college course fifteen, two of the number being young ladies. This makes 52 who have been graduated from Fisk. The Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Tennessee, several State officials, many Senators and Representatives attended the Commencement exercises and alumni dinner. A series of speeches in commendation of the good work done at the institution were made by these gentlemen, who bore testimony to the high standing of the Fisk students as teachers and citizens throughout the State. Of the 37 graduates previous to the class of this year, the record shows that 24 of them are principals and teachers in different schools; 5 are pastors of churches; 1 is a missionary in Africa under the American Board; 2 are practicing lawyers; 2 are studying for the professions--1 in a theological, the other in a medical school; 1 is a member of the Tennessee Legislature; and 2, who were teachers, have died. Its roll numbers 427, including representatives of 21 States and 1 Territory.

Talladega College has had 365 students. This was more than it could comfortably care for. The girls' hall was crowded. Some applicants had to be refused for lack of room. The new Cassidy School building, having been used by over 200 pupils, continues to justify its right to be. Prosperity has marked the life of this college in all its departments.

Atlanta University maintains its well-earned reputation for school work of the highest order; 297 students have shared its privileges. Colonel L. W. Avery, Chairman of the State Board of Visitors, in his report last year, was so emphatic and strong in his praise of what he had seen and heard at the University, that the other members of the Board would not believe him, and he was compelled to modify his praises before they would accept his report. This year the whole Board was present at the examinations, and the result is that they have every one been converted, and are now ready to go even farther than the Colonel in testifying that "the proficiency attained in the scholastic results has been simply astonishing." The University continues to receive the annual appropriation of $8,000 from the State--a fact that is all significant respecting the undeniable worth of the school.

Tougaloo University, located on the Illinois Central R. R., about eight miles north of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, receives State aid to the amount of $3,000 annually. Two hundred and sixteen students last year have taxed its utmost capacity for accommodation. Governor Lowry and the State Board of Visitors attended the commencement exercises, and were surprised at the evidence of the Negro's capacity for education. Four students took degrees in the elementary Normal course that requires ten years to complete it, and one took the degree from the higher Normal course, to complete which requires twelve years.

Straight University, New Orleans, notwithstanding the devastation of floods and the failure of cotton crops that last year so severely affected the very limited finances of the colored people of Louisiana, was filled with students at the beginning of the school year, and continued not only crowded, but _over_crowded to the end; 584 scholars were enrolled, including representatives from Cuba, Honduras, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Illinois, and even Old England.

Tillotson Institute, Texas, has also had a very crowded and successful year. This is the youngest of our chartered schools. It has the modesty that in every way is becoming the youngest member of the family, but in all that is excellent in work it stands not a whit behind the oldest and the best. It has already outgrown the comfortable limits of its habitation. The crowding process has struck it, and its cry for relief is growing sharper and sharper. We shall have to heed its cry one of these days. The great and rapidly-growing State of Texas challenges our forethought and our care. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Hon. B. M. Baker, was present at the commencement exercises, and after commending the teachers for their faithful work and testifying that the best teachers of the colored schools in Texas were graduates of the Tillotson Institute, he publicly thanked the people of the North for the establishment and maintenance of the school. Judge Fullmore, a county school superintendent, who was also present, not only indorsed all that Mr. Baker had said, but added that in his appointments of teachers he always gave Tillotson graduates the preference, and that a certificate of graduation from Tillotson in the hands of an applicant was all the evidence of character and ability he needed.

Were we to continue sketching the salient points in the work of our other schools scattered all over the South, it would be simply to give fresh illustrations of the five facts already made prominent--crowded schools, growing necessities, faithful work, good results and outside commendation.

As compared with last year, the statistics in our school work show a falling off of two chartered institutions and seven common schools. On its face, this looks like loss; in reality, it is gain. The two chartered institutions dropped out of our statistics are Berea and Hampton, that, as a matter of fact, have been for several years self-sustaining and independent, and which, as formerly fostered by us, we have hitherto reported; they are still in the field, doing a greater work than ever, while the seven common schools, dropped because they ceased to be needed where they were located, are more than represented in the better work of the other schools, to strengthen which the money thus set free has been transferred.

We are steadily but slowly coming to the realization of the idea that was the inspiration of the American Missionary Association's school system--Christian colleges and Normal schools for the training of leaders, and Christian preparatory schools to furnish them with the right kind of material. The South is year by year, as its financial ability increases and its public sentiment improves, doing more for the rudimental instruction of its children. It is the duty of the State to provide elementary education for every child within its borders, and to that point the Southern States must one day come; but just in proportion as they come to that point, the necessities for our work increase. The demand for Christian teachers and preachers and professional men in all ranks at the South will grow as facilities for the elementary education of the children multiply. Our aim is not only to save the land from ignorance, but to save it from godless intelligence. Infidelity is as much the enemy of free institutions as ignorance; and when the children are intelligent, an ignorant leadership is almost as effective as an infidel leadership to raise up an infidel people; so that, as intelligence spreads among the youth of the South, we are placed under accumulating obligations, by virtue of our loyalty to the kingdom of our Lord, and by virtue of our interest in the perpetuity of republican institutions, to strengthen, enlarge and multiply this work. Of course, just now, and for a great many years to come, by far the greater part of our school work must be in the lower grades of instruction. So long as it can be said, that in the Southern States eighty per cent. of the colored and thirty per cent. of the white population are illiterate; that there are not educational facilities enough to furnish fifty per cent. of the children with even a chance to learn their letters; that there are whole communities and sections in which there are no schools whatever; that there are thousands and tens of thousands of children and youth who would be glad to go to school did they have opportunity; so long we must continue to furnish elementary instruction in all our schools, and as far as possible to open such small schools as may meet the present but transient exigency, to be dropped, as we have the seven common schools above referred to, when, from whatever cause, the necessity for them has passed away. The Executive Committee desires to emphasize and to have the constituents of the American Missionary Association keep it constantly before them, that as the cause and means of popular education extend in the South, the necessity for the work of the Association becomes stronger and stronger.

As seen from this stand-point, the desirability of bringing our larger institutions as speedily as possible, where they shall be able to take care of themselves, becomes clear and urgent. They should be at once so far endowed that the question of their permanence as conservators of the supremacy of Christian leadership in the thought, character and life of the people should be settled beyond peradventure for all time.

We commend these schools to the special regard of those who are looking about to invest money where, in the name of the Lord, it will yield rich and enduring returns.

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INDUSTRIAL TRAINING.

Schools in which industries are taught 16 Special industrial teachers 10 Teachers combining industrial with other work 21

Industrial teaching is made prominent at Santee, Oahe, at all of our chartered institutions, at Le Moyne Institute, Memphis, Tenn., Lewis High School, Macon, Ga., and incidentally at six other schools. Aid has been received from the Slater Fund for this work at Macon, Atlanta, Nashville, Tougaloo, Talladega, Memphis and Austin. Nearly all the scholars in attendance pursue some of the branches of industry taught. Housekeeping, cooking, dress-making, care of the sick, agriculture, blacksmithing, harness-making, type-setting and printing are made prominent, according to the conveniences at hand. Atlanta, Talladega and Tougaloo have farms which are worked by the students under the instruction of practical farmers. At several other points farming could be successfully taught if only we had the farms, and we could have the farms if only we had the money.

For the teaching of the trades we need special buildings. Progress has been made in this direction. Atlanta University has erected "The Knowles Industrial Building," a memorial of the late Mr. L. J. Knowles, of Worcester, Mass., whose widow not long before her death appropriated $6,000 for this object. It is a brick building 100 by 44 feet, with two stories and a basement, and, for its use, is one of the finest in the South. At Macon, a two-story building has been constructed--the upper story for the Lewis Library and the lower for a carpenter shop. At Talladega has been also built a two-story structure, the upper story to be used for carpentry and the lower for blacksmithing. The citizens of Memphis two years ago gave Professor Steele $1,000 to put a girl's industrial department into the Le Moyne school, and now they have pledged him $600 more to secure a workshop for the boys. Fort Berthold in Dakota and Fisk and Straight Universities at the South greatly need industrial buildings, and there are other schools of which the same might be said with equal emphasis.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of industrial training. Latest in development in connection with our schools, it may yet prove first in value. Labor is heaven-ordained. It is the chief instrumentality through which a people are elevated. Grace saves the soul and transforms character instantly. It makes the savage and sinner kind and good instantly; but it will not instantly make him a good farmer, a skilled mechanic, a trained scholar. Up from the lowest to the highest, man must toil patiently and laboriously. Nature will tolerate neither jumps nor deceptions. It is no kindness to put a man where he is out of place, and still less is it a kindness to make him believe that he has a right to be there. He who climbs up into position or who is foisted into it by any other instrumentality than by the toil necessary to fit him for the position, the same is a thief and a robber. The police forces of Nature will speedily put him under arrest. The judicial forces of Nature will soon cast him into a prison, out of which he shall not come until beginning at the bottom, by diligent labor, he is willing to pay the last farthing at every step in the process of his advancement. The implements and the products of industry are the gauges of civilization. Between the roughly-hewn stone hatchet and the finely-polished steel axe lies all the history of the world's progress. The college, the library, the fine residence and the factory of modern civilization are at one end of the line, the other end of which starts from the dug-out and the hut. Man, in the highest estate, forget or ignore it as he may, has that in him which connects him with the lowest, and labor, the hard labor of his ancestors, extending through the ages as well as his own, has been the means of bringing him where he is. If the Indian and the negro are to be elevated, they must rise by the same steps as have others. They must _work_ their way up. But they who are above them, remembering the pit out of which they themselves have been dug, must give them a chance to rise, and help them as they try to rise. That they have the capacity for elevation along every line of human development has been abundantly proved over and over again. The industrial exhibit of the colored people at the recent Centennial Exposition in New Orleans, was in every way gratifying to their friends. Though these people are only 20 years out of the house of their 250 years' bondage, antedated by millenniums of barbarism, they sent articles showing their progress in the industries that more than filled the entire gallery assigned them in one end of the immense Government building.

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MOUNTAIN WORK.

This work has gone forward the past year with marked success. In Kentucky, Rev. J. T. Ford, having taken the pastoral charge of the church at Williamsburg, Rev. A. A. Myers was at liberty to give himself to more extended missionary work; and, as might be expected, he has gone into it with a will. He has organized three new churches; one at Jellico, with 11 members; one at Pleasant View, with 13 members, and one at Rockhold, with 15 members. Under his superintendency the Jellico church has erected a good, commodious house, but it needs a bell. The congregations number from 250 to 300, and the pastor, Rev. E. W. Bullock, reports the interest as increasing.