Africo-American Presbyterian
“AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRU^TH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.”-John viii:82.
VOL. LIX.
CHARLOTTE, N. C., THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 15, 1938.
TKE LADDER BUILDERS
I>y The Kev. Samuel W. Purvis, D.I).
(A sermon reprinted from The Phil adelphia Evening Bulletin)
Text: Behold a ladder ^set up on
the earth, and the top of it reached
to heaven. Genesis 28:12.
Hereafter ye shall see heaven open,
and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son of
Man. John 1:51.
strange to say, some objects
familiar to us are not mention
ed in the Bible. For instance,
bridges are not mentioned at
all, and a ladder but once—and
that here. Yet a'bridge and a
ladder are not unlike in their
frequent needfulness, forming
as they do a means of commu
nication between two places
not otherwise connected. A
ladder, like a bridge, is a means
to an end. It helps us ascend
where we could not by our own
height or reach. It joins where
we are, with where we would
be.
The story connected with this
laddm- vision is, like all Bible
stories, full of intense human
interest. Jacob, the son of Isaac,
has robbed his brother Esau of
a spiritual heritage. Isaac said
to Esau, “Thy brother came
with subtlety and hath taken
thy blessing.’’ From that hour
Esau watches his chance for
revenge. Under the scourge
of fear Jacob flees. We read,
“And Jacob went out.” The
same words were written of
Cain, “And Cain went out from
the presence of the Lord.”
What a lash sin has! It drives
out! Judas “went out” and
hanged himself. Peter “went
out” into the darkness weeping
bitterly. So Jacob “went out”
from his home in Beersheba on
a perilous journey of 460 miles
toward Pandanaram. There
will be hard going, scanty fare,
bad weather, exposure to mur-
dero'ic! mpri ^wild ;
plenty enough to remind this
prodigal that there’s no place
like home. But there is a
worse thing than all these: A
secret whisper at each (step,
“It need not have been.”
The day is far spent. The
night’s coming on. Night’s the
time for heartache. There are
more tears shed at night than
in day.^ Jacob had traveled 48
miles since daybreak. Fast go
ing! Fear drives like Jehu.
The runaway boy has come to
his first night from home. The
darkness in his heart is deep
er than the shadows of night.
He lies down to rest. The sky
for a roof, sand for a mattress,
stones for a pillow. It is easy to
sill—it is not easy to lie on sin’s
pillow. “The way of the trans
gressor is hard.” Sin says,
“You made your bed—lie in it!”
There’s no softness in sand,
and rocky pillows are not feath
ery.
Jacob lies down to sleep.
Soon the hoot of an owl in a
tree, the cry of a jackal in the
desert, the howl of a lone wolf
on the moor, lull him to sleep.
In that cloudless Syrian sky
Heaven quickly lights her eve
ning lamps. Jacob’s spirit is
now in the hands of God. Man’s
helplessness is God’s opportu
nity. “And he dreamed.” The
barren mountain side becomes
jasper. Its rocky tiers become
gold. He’s at Heaven’s front
door. A ladder set on earth is
reaching to Heaven Angels are
descending and ascending. At
the top is God, “Tarn with thee
and will keep thee in all places
whither thou goest.” What!
God the God of Jacob, the sin
ner? True! God often speaks,
not to the man that is, but to
the man that is to be. We
sometimes think God is far oiT
when He is only a ladder length
away!
The Labor of Ladder-Climbing
Climbing ‘ is hard work, but
it is worth it—if you are going
up!
In these days of air-minded
ness we give much thought to
flying machines, and not much
to ladders. We talk in terms
of wings and motors when oft
en faithful climbing is far more
to the purpose. Autos and air
planes suggest speed—a lad
der slow, painful progress. You
do not fly up a ladder, but climb,
step by step—only that each
rung brings you one round
nearer the top. It is tiresome
work. Every muscle is called
into play. Hands must grasp
the side, feet must be - securely
planted, legs must bear the
weight of the body, the - head
must maintain its steadiness.
It is no place for pranks. Fool
ishness may cause a fall.
And there’s a tragedy! Once
you start to climb, one misstep,
one loose grasp, and you fall,
possibly not to rise again.
The higher one ascends the
more caution is necessary—and
that’s true to life! At first-
rungs a fall may not be serious
—a bump or bruise. But from
the heights falls are nearly al
ways fatal.
We must set the ladder of
our life plans on the earth, well
based on our work-a-day world.
Then uprising desires, like
shining angels, will climb the
mystic staircase. What is a
staircase but a covered ladder.
We do not begin our career as
radiant angels, but as fallen
mortals. We are all alike in
this: The holiest saints began
as sinners. To go up a ladder
one begins at the bottom. He
puts his foot on the lowest
round. And that must be the
beginning in earth’s tasks, too.
Whether with a music book or
a reading primer. I say books,
because books are ladders to
the heights of literature and
learning. We have to climb to
reach all earthly heights; do
we not speak of “the ladder of
fame” and “the ladder of suc
cess?” And what if we do not
reach those heights here? At
the grave of a mountain guide
Alp^^.a-iiuKihie --grave- ■
stone simply says, “He died
climbing.” Fine! And, at last,
is not death itself an ascent—
an achievement?
The Ladder Builders
I cannot help thinking of the
forces that lift men up—the
ways and means of our rising
in the world. The top limb of
a tree is highest, but it did not
lift itself up there!
Can we count the number of
forces or persons whose com
bined eiforts resulted in so
commonplace a thing as the
making and placing of a loaf of
bread on our breakfast table?
When you and I came upon the
scene of life the alphabet was
formed, figures fashioned, mul
tiplication table composed
When we came forests had
been leveled, rivers bridged,
mountains tunneled; not only
were these rocks and rills,
these woods and templed hills,
that we sing about, made ac
cessible by rail and road, but
their liberties and ■ laws were
secured at Valley Forge and
Gettysburg. The bottom of
these ladders are placed not
only at Arlington Heights, but
on many another known and
unknown patriot’s grave. Our
churches were built, our
hymns composed, our creeds
inscribed in the blood of mar
tyrs. Who were these ancient
ladder-builders for the race
which now is, was, and is to
come?
Many of us are ladder folks
—others are rising on our
shoulders. Humble parents
toil that their children may go
to school. As the life of the
window cleaner may depend on
the helper beneath holding
faithfully, so the future of
many a professional man has
been maintained by the faith
fulness of some humble one at
home.
Life’s Longest Ladder
“And he dreamed, and be
hold a ladder.” It couldn’t be
stated more truly or more
beautifully!
Every road in the Roman
Empire led to Rome. Any
Roman lad could step out his
door and strike the highway
with certainty of reaching the
palace of Caesar. Any sun
beam, followed to the end,
leads to its effulgent source.
The foot of the ladder on the
spot on which yoir’ stand can
lead straight to heaven and
God. You do not have to go
to Jerusalem, Rome or Mecca
to find the first round of it. Try
this just now. Close your eyes
to concentrate your thoughts.
Now lift that thought to God.
Straight as the sunbeam’s
tracks, swifter than its flight,
you are in the Divine presence.
God has a telephone receiver
and sender in the heart of ev
eryone. How like the angels
going back and forth are our
thoughts and His!
Jacob’s ladder represented
communication between earth
and heaven. The lalkier must,
of course, touch earth or no
mortal could rise to it; it must
touch heaven or no angel can
descend upon it. Ho'^ever high
heaven may be, the ladder of
prayer reaches it. It is not like
the Tower of Babel, a human
construction, and so failing of
heaven’s heights. God’s ladder
reaches! No matter the depth
of human guilt, it is not too low
for the Saviour’s reach. The
Carpenter of Nazareth con
structed a saving .a4der—that
ladder was a sacrificial Cross.
The crowning factor in the
vision of Jacob’s ladder is stat
ed in the words, “The Lord
stood above it.” God at the top.
Man at the bottom!
“In the gusty hall of life.
Doors slamming, windows rat
tling,
I stand in the dark on the low
est stair
Looking up, and affirming God;
He is surely there.”
Angels “ascending and de
scending.” Isn’t .the order
somehow reversed? Shouldn’t
they have descended before
they could ascend? Who and
what are these angels, anyhow?
I wonder if thfey might not be
the angels of our better na
tures,. our higher as^rafions—
repentance, hiamfl!l‘^”‘fait1lr
prayer—all starting at the
foot of the ladder and going
upward ? ^ And the gifts of par
don, healing, assurance, grace,
comfort, strength—be angels
coming down the ladder from
heaven? The angels of Jacob’s
prayer were rising, and the
answers were returning —“I
am with thee, and will keep
thee in all the places thou
goest.”
Make sure your life’s ladder
reaches! Remember the old-
time illustration ?— Said a
younger man to his college pro
fessor, “When I finish school I
have brilliant prospects before
me: I ought to become rich
and famous.” “And then?” “I
shall marry and travel much.”
“And then?” “I shall settle
down and enjoy life.” “And
then?” “I shall grow old and
take things easy.” “And then?”
“Oh, I suppose like other peo
ple, I must die.” “And then?”
He stopped before that last
“and then.” His ladder did not
reach to heaven.
In every place where there is
a lonely life there is a ladder,
especially for the sin-weary
and the prodigal who is an ex
ile from his Father’s house.
Prayer is life’s longest ladder.
Have one end on earth—the
other in heaven. When both
ends are on earth, it is only a
step-ladder, you have to come
down without reaching heav
en’s heights. If the earth’s
end rests on prayer it doesn’t
matter where it is placed. It
may be in the field where Isaac
went to meditate at even-tide,
or in the lion’s den where Dan
iel was thrown, or by the Brook
Jabbock where Jacob wrestled,
or in the prison where Joseph
served, or in the jail where
Paul and Silas prayed at mid
night. Some, like the early
martyrs, make ladders out of
their crosses.
Jesus, the Son of God, is the
staircase by which we bridge
the distance between earth and
heaven. He said: “Hereafter
ye shall see heaven open, and
angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Son of
Man.” Christ is the ladder of
our salvation. The foot of the
ladder is at the foot of the
Cross—its summit is at the
throne of God.
THESE COLLEGE GRADUATES OF OURS
By DR. KELLY MILLER
The August number of the
Crisis is its annual educational
issue which is devoted to the
American Negroes in College
1937-38, and 3,079 graduates
with collegiate and professional
degrees are listed. This im
posing list of graduates fairly
suggests interesting indications
and gives rise to serious re
flections.
I. The Rapid Rise in the Num
ber of Negro College
Graduates
The rapid rise in the number
of Negroes with Academic De
grees is noticeable and highly
significant during the past few
decades. To an observer like
me who has witnessed the curve
of Negro college graduates rise
almost from the zero point to
its present high registry and
which is still on its sharp up
ward trend, these figures are
peculiarly significant. Does this
intellectual enrichment of the
race connote corresponding in
crease in power and social effi
ciency of an educated leader
ship? This query must be
pondered seriously.
II. Co-eds
The increase in the female
contingent is the most surpris
ing. While the Crisis does not
furnish exact statistics of the
proportion of the sexes, yet we
know from collateral informa
tion that the co-eds constitute
a large majority of the 24,000
Negro college students and of
the 3,000 graduates. Fifty
years ago a colored woman col
lege graduate was regarded
like “The Female Novelist” of
Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado,
as a “peculiar anomaly.” The
first colored woman to gradu
ate from the college of How
ard University was my class-
^^TTSf^Josepfilrre T. Washr
ma
ington, who is now retired as
Dean of Women of Wilberforce
University. For a number of
years thereafter such gradu
ates were like angels’ visits,
few and far between, but to
day the womeh constitute 1,-
121 against 1,119 men in How
ard’s total enrollment. If we
subtract the students prepar
ing for such masculine profes
sions as physicians, dentists,
druggists, pi'eachers, lawyers,
engineers and architects, the
female preponderance would be
still more glaring.
I It is also noticeable in
Howard University, that the
female students usually carry
away the scholarship honors.
The Crisis carries the photo
graphs of twenty-one female
and nine male graduates. It is
presumed that the editor of the
Crisis selected the list with ref
erence to scholarship standing
and was not influenced by pul
chritude. The higher educa
tion of the Negro has already
become feminized.
III. Negroes in Northern
Colleges
The number of graduates
from white colleges cannot fail
to excite attention, in which
there were 2,625 students and
192 graduates. New York Uni
versity had 494 students, Ohio
State 451, Wayne 431, Univer
sity of Kansas 192, University
of Indiana 168, Hunter College
150, University of Illinois 112.
Negroes in Northern colleges
are more numerous than our
entire collegiate enrollment two
decades ago. Negro students
are admitted practically to ev
ery college and university in
the United States outside of
the proscriptive region of the
Master of Science. No Negro
university is yet equipped to
confer creditably the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy. There
were nine Negro graduates
with the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy, all of which were
conferred by Northern Univer
sities. There were 211 Masters
of Arts and Science degrees of
which 98 were conferred by
white institutions, 45, by How
ard, 42 by Atlanta, 18* by Fisk,
4 by Hampton, 4 by Virginia
State.
Neither Howard nor Atlanta
has a complete graduate setup
but limit their curricula to the
Master of Arts and Master of
Science, the first graduate de
gree, which contemplates one
year of advanced study beyond
the Baccalaureate. This grad
uate work is designed primari
ly to give the student addition
al insight and grasp upon his
college courses so that he may
more effectively teach in sec
ondary schools. It will be some
years, perhaps fully a genera
tion, before they can acquire
the requisite, equipment, staff,
and student body to justify the
higher graduate degree.
I find that these reflections
on our college graduates ■nr^e so
engaging that I shall have to
continue them in my next re
lease.
ECHOES FROM THE AT
LANTIC SYNODICAL SUM
MER CONFERENCE
By Rev. H. M. Scott
South. This increase of Negro tinned for the
“The song is ended, but the
music lingers on.” To all those
who attended the Atlantic Syn
odical Summer Conference at
Irmo, S. C., Aug. 6-12, 1938,
■fhbfee "'Wards ■rrtightM)^®‘fey^ ap
plied. It was really a great
Conference.
It was with great interest
that we noted car after car
drive on the beautiful, rolling
campus of Harbison Institute,
Aug. 6, loaded with happy del
egates, coming to attend the
Conference. Dr. and Mrs.
Porter were, with their co
workers, all ready to receive
the delegation. Rooms were
waiting for the delegates to oc
cupy them; the pantry was
stocked with supplies for the
appetite, and class rooms and
chapel arranged for the smooth
running of the daily program.
The stage is now set, and the
curtains rise!
Now, who was there? You
ought to have been there and
“seed fur yu’ sef.” They came
from parts of North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia, and
Florida. There was a delega
tion of five all the way from
Key West, Fla.—over 900 miles.
Some one said that it was quite
a contrast to the number who
came from a distance of 25
miles. Again, some one said
that it was a surprise that
more within a radius of 26
miles did not attend. Nuf said.
It might be of interest to note
that Knox Presbytery had 23
delegates registered at the Con
ference. Now did some say that
Fairfield and McClelland had
less than 23 combined? NO.
We are mentioning only a
few of the activities at the Con
ference. We wish to congrat
ulate the Student Council for
the very fine way in which the
daily activities in the dining
room were handled. The Chair
man of the Council will be con-
NO. 37.
The leaders who had charge
of the evening programs
brought to the Conference mes
sages long to be remembered.
At the close ^of the day, in the
glow of the ’evening sunset, it
was Dr. Cotton, of Henderson,
N. C., who held the Conference
spellbound with his inspiring
messages at Vesper hour. Oth
ers who gave the Conference
messages fraught with power,
inspiration, and information,
were Rev. F. Gregg, Chairman
of the Board of Directors; Rev.
O. M. McAdams, of St. Peters
burg, Fla.; Dr. De Barritt, of
Key West, Fla.; Dr. A. C.
Griggs, of Augusta, Ga., and
Rev. J. H. Toatley, of Chester
field, S. C., who gave us the
fine sermon at the Sunday
morning worship hour.
In the midst of all the joy
and happiness at the Confer
ence, there were some very
solemn moments. The Dean re
grets that he will not have the
opportunity to “introduce” or
“present” a certain outstanding
person as “Director” at the
next Conference. The Confer
ence will not soon forget the
touching moments when, out
of its appreciation and grati
tude for services rendered by
its former Director, Dr. A. B.
McCoy, it presented to him a
token of appreciation. We
wish to thank Mrs. C. McC.
Jamison, the daughter of the
former Director, who so grace
fully accepted the token on be
half of him. “The song is end
ed, but the music lingers on.”
The Conference goes forward
with its new Director, Rev.
A. H. Prince, of Charlotte, N.C.,
and the Associate Director,
Rev. C. H. Richmond, of Sa
vannah, Ga. The curtains have
fallen to rise again in Key West,
Fla., August, 1939. All aboard
for Key West, 200 strong!
Box 24, Ocala, Fla.
WORLD
COUNCIL
FAVOR
WINS
-ih-
Twelve Communions in the '
United States have already
formally approved, at least in
principle, the constitution of
the proposed World Council of
Churches^ drafted at Utrecht,
Holland, in May. They are the
following: Presbyterian Church
in the United States of Ameri
ca, Presbyterian Church in the
United States, Congregational-
Christian, Northern Baptist,
United Lutheran, Evangelical
Lutheran Augustana Synod,
Evangelical and Reformed, Re
formed Church in America,
United Presbyterian, Protestant
Episcopal, Disciples of Christ
and Methodist Episcopal.
The next meetings of the
American Sections of the Faith
and Order and the Life and
Work Movements, which are
the basic bodies caring for
plans for the World Councff,
are to be held in New York
City September 28.
FOR FULL-GROWN
CHURCHES
next Conference,
with her associates, we hope.
The Blues and Reds waged a
bitter battle, with the Blues
coming out victorious in a close
ly fought contest. To the re
gret of the Reds, Miss James,
i of Camden, suffered bodily in-
How Churches can be devel
oped on the foreign field which
will be truly independent of the
home Church and self-support
ing is one of the chief prob
lems to be faced by the World
Conference at Madras, India, in
December. At least half of
the 450 delegates will repre
sent the new Churches which
foreign missions have develop
ed during the past century. At
the last previous world mission
ary conference, held in Jerusa
lem in 1928, less than a fourth
of the delegates were from the
Churches on the foreign field.
FAMED S. C. LAWYER DIES
students in Northern colleges
and universities carries its own
suggestion and significance.
The Crisis does not list any
professional degrees granted by
Northern Universities. This
seems to be an oversight and
somewhat vitiates the ap-, • , , ... • , .
praisement of the effectiveness her spirit remained in
of Negro and Northern Colleges.
IV. Graduate Courses
Howard, Fisk and Atlanta op
erate graduate schools leading
only to the first graduate de
gree of Master of Arts and
the game. My co-worker and
Dean of the Catawba Summer
Conference, Rev. R. L. Jeans,
injected a real spirit into the
veins of the Reds. Shall we
forget the parson’s sermon in
the dining room?
Columbia, S. C.—Sept. 9—
Funeral services for N. J. Fred
erick, a director of the Nation
al Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People, and a
well-known lawyer, were held
here today at 4 P. M. in the
Wesley M. E. church.
Mr. Frederick was 61. His
most famous case involved his
defense of the Loman family,
whose horrible lynching at Aik
en, S. C., by a white mob
aroused the entire nation in
October, 1926.