Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / June 22, 1933, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
~¥0L. LIV. REVIEW OF THE COLORED WORK By Miss Marjorie E. W. Smith (Miss Smith is Assistant Secretary of the Unit of Colored Work of the Board of National Missions.) The map of the Colored Field which appears in Dr. S. J. Fish er’s book, “The American Ne gro,” shows one hundred twen ty-eight Presbyterian schools, thirty-seven of which were boarding schools. This map re presents the results of the building-up period of the Board of Missions for Freedmen. When the Church began its work for colored people in 1864, there were few schools for Negroes in existence. For many decades after the Civil War, the South did not feel a public responsibil ity for the education of its black citizens. The Board then estab lished many institutions which at that time were needed in prac tically every area. Within very recent years, portions of the South have begun to sense their obligations to those of darkey hue. Not only have city, county and State schools been estab lished, but high standards, standards equal to chose for white institutions, have been set up for the accred iting of Negro schools. The day of letting schools fqr Negroes just grow, like Topsy, is past. By the time the public awakened to the needs of the Negro, sev eral of our school buildings were old and our equipment out-mod ed. Nevertheless, many of our schools met the standards set by the States and were given the highest rating by them. Unfor tunately, finances have prohib ited the providing of up-to-date „ ^equipment for, -all o| pm; insti tutions. Furthermore, With the establishment of public schools and with the curtailment of church contributions there has been a gradual cutting off of our schools for colored boys and girls. Whereas Dr. Fisher’s map of 1923 represented one hundred twenty-eight schools, the pres ent day map shows but twenty zone, plus one Boarding Home v for students attending nearby public schools. But maps do not tell the whole story. There is much about which to be en couraged. Of course until the Board begins to feel the upward swing from the depression, it will be a matter of! holding their own for even the few schools! yet maintained. After that, with interest and funds concentrated on fewer schools, a richer and more effective program may be offered in each, than was* hith erto possible. Among the recent changes has been the merging of schools, thus, conserving the forces of each. An instance of this is seen at Margaret Barber Seminary, Anniston, Alabama, which opens its doors to the day pupils of South Highland School. Mr. Rice, the Principal and founder of South Highland, will be As sistant Principal at Margaret Barber Seminary and will have charge of the industrial work for boys. He will conduct these classes in the South Highland plant. Both South Highland and Margaret BaTber Seminalry were placed in the A class group by the State of Alabama a year ago. Margaret Barber Seminary was also so recognized by the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the South ern States. With the merging of the two schools Margaret Barber becomes co-educational, although only the girls will be housed in the dormitory. Selden Institute at Bruns wick, and the Nannie Gillespie Normal and Industrial Institute of Cordele, Ga., have been merged under the name of Nan nie J. Gillespie-Selden Institute. Mr. Mitchell, Principal of , Sel .len, goes to Cordele to assist in building up the plant there. Arkadelphia Presbyterian Academy at Arkadelphia, Ar kansas, is now merged with ■Cotton Plant, Arkansas. Mr. [Davis, who has been in charge of Arkadelplua will be the Prin cipal of the merged institution. Dr. Stinson, formerly in charge of Cotton Plant Academy, will I continue to serve the Presbyte rian church at that point. Harbison Agricultural and In dustrial Institute opens its doors to girls with the coming in of the Irmo church Graded School. For the time being, the two lower grades will still be con ducted in the building formerly occupied by the day school. The two faculties have been com bined. The alumni and friends of Haines Normal and Industrial institute have effectively dem onstrated their loyalty to the founder, Miss Lucy Laney, by assuming the responsibility of raising $6,700 for teachers’ sal aries, thus keeping the doors of their historic alma mater open. The Board will give $2,300 to ward the maintenance of the school. Miss Laney, who has reached the retirement age, be comes President Emeritus of the school she founded, while her niece, Miss Louise Laney, directs the school as acting President. Mary Allen Junior College, the sc hool which brought honor to the Board last year by being one of the ffrst three educational in stitutions for Negroes which was given Class A rating by the Association of Colleges and Sec ondary Schools of the Southern States, is venturing into a new field. Next year it becomes co educational. Thus the superior work offered at Mary Allen Seminary will be participated in by young men as well as young women. Three schools in North Caro lina have become one at Oxford, forming the Mary Potter-Red gtone-Albion Academy. There are two significant phases of this affiliation. The one, that in the school as in the church, a princi ple similar to the larger parish plan is here put into effect. The other, that the State is contri buting to the educational pro gram initiated by the Church. Part of the work formerly done at Albion and Redstone will con tinue to be done at these two affiliated day schools. The Rev. H. S. Davis, of Fayetteville, N C., is to be the new executive in charge of the Mary Potter-Red stone-Albion combination. Dr* Hayswood will serve Redstone as Dean, and Mr. Mangum will serve Albion Academy as Prin cipal. Mr. Mangum and the fac ulty at Albion are to be employed by the State. Only day pupils will be enrolled since there will be no boarding department. Albion, which has for years been in need of a good chapel building, will be enabled to con cert the dining hall into an ideal assembly room. Food raised on the Albion farm will be sent regularly by trucks to the board ing department at Oxford. All supplies, gifts and boxes intend ed for the day schools operated at Franklinton and Lumberton should be so labeled and sent di rect to the Principal at Mary Potter-jRedstone-Albion Acad^ my at Oxford, North Carolina. They will then be sent by the school trucks to those outlying points. The State and County educational Boards are co-oper ating extensively with the Church Board. The Board of Na tional Missions is paying the »alary of the Dean at Redstone, while the State is assuming the other financial responsibilities. The State also pays the saiary of several teachers located at Oxford. Bowling Green Academy has closed its class room doors but keeps open as a Home for stu dents who come to Bowling oreen to attend the public schools. Other recent changes have been the affiliating of Barber oeotia College at Concord, North Carolina, with Johnson CL Smith University at Charlotte and the introducing of a colored faculty at that historic institution. Bar* ber-Scotia is now emphasizing Junior College and High School work for girls. The four day schools which the Board still maintains are lo cated in sorely needed districts, namey; the James Island School on James Island; Larimer School cn Edisto Island, Lincoln High School at Due West, South Carolina, and McClelland Acad emy at Newnan, Ga. Community work is being done in Chattanooga at the Newton Community Center by those who were formerly in charge of the school. Community workers are also maintained in connection with the churches at Birming ham, Alabama, and Decatur, Georgia. We cannot survey the South ern held and ignore the church es. As with the schools, so with the churches, definite standards have been recently set up. There are two main classes for the churches: Class A and Class B. Plans are also now well un derlay to build up stronger may radiate, in all directions, lesser mission churches. These smaller institutions being inte gral parts of a central plant, through whole-hearted, intensive co-operation, are thus able to put over a more practicable and stimulating program in bringing men to Christ. Under the guid ance of Rev. L. B. West, D. D., these new groupings are now taking definite ishape through out the field. While the depression has hit the colored field hard, the out standing thing about it all is that we have received fewer pleas for personal help. In some way our Negro leaders have been able not only to help themselves but to help others not connected with their own churches and schools. With few exceptions, those in connection with our schools have aided the public at large through contributions of service to the Red Cross. Fur thermore, they have known no color line and have helped poor white families as well as colored. Dr. J. M. Gaston, Secretary of the Unit of Work for Colored People, now has an office at 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City, as well as at the Bessemer Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. PANTOMIME IMPORTANT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELIGIOUS DRAMA Gertrude Parthenia McBrown (For the Associated Negro Press) Aside from the entertaining, educational and religious values of the pantomime, there are also many by-products which are of special benefit to the actor. Action is the clearest and most impressive form of expres sion. Pantomime, the language of action, is universal; and one of the oldest arts 'of the theatre. Pantomime, or silent drama, so far as speech is concerned, has been defined as “Theatrical per formances played in the lan guage of action.” In the panto mime one registers with facial ind bodily expressions all the - — --— visible movements by which hu man emojtions and thoughts are revealed! In thewpoken drama we have, not only all facial expressions and bodily action, but also all vocal utterances. Since acting proper includes speech and song, and pantomime does not, one might “Why have panto mimes, why have silent drama by thosnwho can speak? Is n^b speech Spore effective than dumb shows/' ihis is, perhaps, a just criticism when we take into con sideration the many mediocre sketchel acted by those who know |£|tle or nothing of the fundamentals of the pantomime. The perfect pantomime, how ever, ia§£omplete; it is effective in thatj|t is vital and sufficient withinjpelf; it needs no words to tell to story. While it is true that inihe pantomime we do not sense the literary beauty of the play arid the charm of the hu man voice in speech and song, we have music, dancing, light ing and all of the other theatric al assess of the spoken drama. The pantomime may justly be termedfa living picture, a vision undisturbed by speech. Charles Aubert! believes that “The prin cipal motive for producing a pantomime is that its rapid and noiseleg action causes a very different emotion than the dra ma does, a mysterious emotion akin to that experienced in dreamsi.” “A painting,” he says, “does.not speak; statues are si lent; yet no one denies the in tense charm which pictures and sculpture exert. Therefore, pan-. *,omime should be animated. pic tures, our characters, living statufes., Since the success of the panto-! largely on clarity TY thought and accuracy of ac tion, the mimes’ gestures must toe a sincere response to mental activities. This is why the study cf pantomime is of particular value in perfecting the spoken drama. The religious drama calls for Fuch depth of feeling and sin cerity of emotion; that ofttimes the actor is better able to in terpret the spiritual mood with action than with words. “The spectator who sees a more or less intense emotion por trayed by acting, finds himself drawn by the power of the qual ity of imitation to share and feel himself the emotion of which all signs are shown to him.” It is with this thought in mind that The Dramatic Club of As bury church, Washington, D. C., is turning its attention to the study of pantomime. Walter Ba ker’s “Bible Pantomimes,” “The Talents,” “Jacob and His Broth ers,” ‘At the Beautiful Gate” and many others are proving in teresting. Members of the class are adapting stories and writing pantomimes for outdoor produc tion during the summer months. In selecting pantomimes we must guard against plays in which situations and ideas do not lend to the pantomime. Just here, I must say that we must not confuse the various pantomimic forms with the true pantomime. In many of the pan tomimic forms we have a read er interpreting the actions of the mimes. The true pantomime does not need tms. it not only conveys its own message as a distinct part of the spoken dra ma, but it also enables the ac tor to make the best use of the various members of the body to express mental activities and at the same time develops expres sive speech. In short, the panto mime develops poise and free dom in expression. In the words of Aubert “The pantomime not only offers ex cellent entertainment, but also aids in perfecting dramatic art through the development of a greater ability to appreciate the necessity of understanding and expressing the thoughts which words convey.” THE NEGRO FARMER IN THE ONHEIH STATES r |, _ By Dr. Kelly Miller The Census Office lias just is sued a bulletin under the above caption, based on the fifteenih Census. Mr. Charles E. Hall, the well known Negro statisti cian, who for years has been connected with the Census Of fice is author of this interesting bulletin. Mr. Hall has done! a very interesting and valuable piece of work. He is undoubted ly our best authority on Negro statistics, especially as related to the Negro farmer; This bulletin is valuable in that it brings together the last Cen sus data on this much discussed subject and puts them in easily usable form. It is interesting to note that the Negro farm popu lation declined by 445,346, or by five per cent during the past de cade. In the meantime the total population increased by 1,423, 000. The overwhelming city rush is indicated by these figures It is of startling significance that the Negro farm owners underwent so striking a decline. The race lost in farm ownership 4,296 square miles, forming an area twice as large as the State of Delaware. Of course the acre age lost to the Negro reverts to the white race. Such startling figures as these are calculated to fill the thought ful student with serious, if not somber, reflections. What the country has lost the city has gained, but alas, it is a gain in numbers only, but not in physi cal and thoral stamina, ** -add hardly in economic status, if we view the situation comprehen sively. We are apt to be misled by the superficial showing of things. The city Negro, it seems, is better housed, fed and clothed, has better educational advantages, and maintains finer modes of social life. When we speak of the progress of the race, and recount our wonderful advance in schools and churches, doctors, lawyers, editors' and leaders along all lines, our thoughts are confined essential ly to the urban contingent. The city does, indeed, enable the more • fortunate few to rise to eminence on the dead necessities of the . supporting masses. I fear that our editors and publicists too often limit their, observation and reflections to the few fortu nate Negro leaders when they glorify the city at the expense of the country. The assembled masses of the city are more eas ily exploited and form a ready made pedestal for the ambitious foremen to stand on. But when we stop to consider the moral and physical stamina of the masses and their economic out look, we find our ardor and en thusiasm for the city Negro greatly abates. The urban Negro is wholly unable to help himself and cannot maintain himself in times of stress and strain. Note how the Negro doctors, lawyers and preachers become utterly helpless in the midst of the present depression. But it will be immediately rejoined, “Does | not the country Negro become equally pitiable and helpless V* This must be conceded, but the lamentable plight of the rural Negro is due largely to the fact that during the last two or three decades he has been casting his longing eyes to the city as.his place of refuge and Salvation. He failed to take Booker Wash ington’s advice, to “let down your bucket where you are.” I have said somewhere that the country Negro is embalmed, as it were, in 4 state of nature, and may wait in his crude, un developed state until his chance 'comes. Oh the other hand, the .city is a savor of life unto life and death unto death. The masses can not endure undefiled crowded in the alleys and tene ment houses of our great cities. This means physical and moral decay of the many, while the fortunate few may live in ele gance and ease. It is not necessary^to urge the Negro to return to the farm. This would be useless and ridic ulous advice. Six million, six hundred nineity-seven thousand Negroes are still in the country. The peak of the city movement was reached in 1930. Hencefor ward, unless I be greatly mistak en in judgment, cityward migra tion will slacken almost to .the point of cessation. The inexora ble economic law determines the movement of population. The cities are already overfull of black and white alike. When ra cial competition for work and bread becomes fierce and brutal, the stronger whites will more and more restrict the weaker blacks and force them away from the feeding trough back to the country from which they came. The city will then lose its allure ments. The rural Negro under wise guidance and direction will learn the wisdom df ‘f digging in.” The five million Negroes now in the cities will scarcely he able to maintain themselves loitering around the outer edge of industry on such left over jobs as the whites do not choose to accept. The six million Ne groes in the country and the five million in the cities face a future which is sad enough to contem plate without precipitating fric tion or animosity between these partners in distress. But in the long view, the well being of the race rests rather with the rural 1han with the urban contingent. If the country Negto had added four thousand square miles dur ing the last decade instead of losing that much territory, the case for the race would seem; much more promising. ALUMNAE RE UNION AT INGLESIDE On June 6th, after pleasantly conversing, we repaired to luncheon, the which for the sake of economy and to meet the purses, varied from the usual order, fifty cents a plate, but wag a real pleasant and enjoya ble social. Mrs. Alter’s brief and cheer ful welcome greetings were re sponded to by Mr. Charles Mil ler. Then followed the business meeting. First a hymn; then Scripture, Psalm 100 in concert led by our efficient Secretary, Mrs Annette Ferguson, after which was a chain of prayers, legun by Mr. Andrew Wingo, and closed by Mr. Chas. Miller, followed by the hymn, “He Leadeth Me.” Next the minutes of the last meeting, then reports from the Treasurer and chapters. Some of the chapters did not report. Therefore our goal was not rounded up. The Secretary was authorized to write to the chap ters. The report of our Deputy, Mrs. E. B. Wingo, concerning the Junior College, was very en couraging. Dr. Alter’s timely re marks were much enjoyed. The occasion was graced by the presence of both Dr, and Mrs. Alter, who took part in the dis cussion of ways and means for the furtherance of the cause which our hearts hold dear. Not withstanding we did not take in as much money as heretofore, Dr. Alter pronounced this Sev enth Annual Re-Union to be the best meeting that we have had —it was really history-making. The meeting was marked by a spirit of love, loyalty and co-op eration for the further advance ment of our beloved alma mater. The President welcomed the graduating class as follows: “Class of 1933, we, the Alum nae Association of Ingleside j Seminary, Burkeville, Va., thrice (Continued on page 4)
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 22, 1933, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75