ST. AUGUSTINE’S RECORD
THE SEVENTY-FIRST COMMENCEMENT
Sixty-sevwi Rriiduiitfs lieard the biu-t-alaiireiite iiddress
of Dr. (’Imrlos H. Wesley, (lean of the frra(hiate schcHtl of
Howard University, and noted edneator, historiaii and
oi-iitor, at the seventy-tir.st annual connnencenient exercises
of St. Augustine’s College, May 2;>. Slieaking on tlie topii.
“Modern Crusaders,” Dr. Wesley issued a eliallenw in
whieh he said that the pattern of the niythical crusading
of King Arthur’.s knights, and the medieval crusades of the
eleventh century need repo'tition today, hut for nioie 1'*^'
■ tlcal ()b,jectives.' “Not a crusade of the ('ross against the
('re.scent, hut a modern crusade ugainst the three g'l'eat
evils of the modern world; war, machine profits which
ignore human values, and racial and religious intoleiance.
The light against these calls for the selfsame qualities
whicli liavo nlwJiys (‘liarjicterizod crusadtM's aiid pioiieois
the ahilitv to think and plan, the willingness to face real
iH'ohlems realisticall.v. and the desire to he emancipated from
old ideas and ways of thinking and doing. atten
tion to the fact that there were nearly half a million tree
Negroes before 1S(;5, and tlnit free Negroes helped the
^puiiiards to oxi)lor(* and settle this country before the
slaves wore landed in Virjiinia, he exhorted the graduates
not to think of themselves only as descendants of
They should think of thein.selves as Americans, sai(l l>r.
Wesley, because tlie ancestry of the vast in!ijoiit.\ ot le
Negroes in this country can l)e said to be Aim'rican, as con
trasted with the white jiopulation, which has beeii fed con-
staiitlv and to a gresit extent by immigration. Since the
t'iirly part ot the nineteenth century the new Negro blood
infused into this ccnintry lias been all but negligible, he
Oointed out.
The sixty-sev(>n graduates included thirty-sewn from the
‘0lleKe of arts and sciences, four from the ISishoi) luttle
School for religims and social work training, ten ^om
St. Agnes Hospital’s training school for nur.ses, and
from the two-.vear college preparatory division.
graduates of the IM.shop Tuttle School received the diploma
Krauted on the c(mipletion of a year of successful ^\orK
in their profession: Mrs. Klla Tilden, Mrs. Louise Des^ er-
ney Crawford, and Miss Charlotte ('allawa.\.
1‘resident Edgar II. (ioold presented to the
liev. .1. 15. Mancebo. of Santiago, Cuba, visiting St Augus
tine’s for the first time since his graduation nearly sixtj
■Vwirs ago, and the Kev. Cyril K. Bentley, associate directo
ot the American Church Institute for Negroes, the n»t ''n. 1
*iKency (>f the Episcoiitil (’hureh for fosterinj; >ej:io e
in the South.
Openinjj pravers were said by the Kev. St. Julian . .
Sinipkins, ’11, of I'ineville. S. C., father ot the presidtnt
Of jjfrjiduatinj; class, and the benediction *
I he Kt. Kev. Kdwin A. Tenick, D.D.. president of
J*oard of Trustees.
CONFERENCE GREAT SUCCESS
The St. Augustine’.s College Conference for Church Work
ers brought to a close its 29th annual session of one week
with noonda.v services in the chapel, .Iiine U. This confer
ence, which includes a young people’s livision. is made
possible by St. Augustine’s College and the American ('hurch
Institute for Negroes, and was attended tlii.s year by more
than a hundred clergymen and lay delegates frcmi nearly
every part of the South, frmi the District of Columbia to
Tallahassee. Florida, and New (Orleans. A distinguished
faculty conducted courses in religion and church problems,
and several special lectures and other features were added
to the regular classes. Among the teachers were;
Kev. I). A. McOregor, Ph.D., executive secretary, the
National Department of Keligious Education, New York
City: Veil. liravid W. Harris, archdeacon for colored work
of the diocese of Southern Virginia: Kev. Edgar C. Young.
Th.D.. vicar of I’hillips lirooks Memorial (’haiH'l, I’hila-
deli>liia; Miss Esther V. Krown, lield secretary of the
National Woman’s Auxiliary; Kev. Alfred S. Lawrence,
rector of the Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, N. C.; K. E.
Houston, director of music, St. Augustine’s: Miss Maude
Cutler, specialist in religi(ms education for the di(K’ese of
North Carolina; Kolandus H. (’ooper. Washington, I). ('.;
Jlrs. Nellie I’. Kussell, St. Paul School, Lawrenceville, Va..
and Jlrs. Roberta Lassittn- Brown, of Fort Valley School,
Fort Valle.v. Cie(U'gia. Si'rvices were conducted hy Hishoji
Edwin A. Penick of the diocese of North (,'arolina, and
Bishop Kobert E. (irihbin, of the dioce.se of Western North
Carolina. The Kev. Carl Herman Voss, pastor of the
United Church of Kaleigh, and Lt. I,awrence A. Oxley, of
the IT. S. Emi)loyment Service, gave special evening lec
tures. Mr. Kemp I). Battle of the Diocesan Finance Com
mittee was presented in a special discussion. "The Parish
Budget—the Mainspring.”
The Kev. K. I. .(ohnscm, of New P.ern. N. C„ was elected
chaplain, and the Kev. .loliii W. Herritage, D.D., of Char
lotte, N. ('., was chosen chairman of the steering com
mittee. The Kev. (’. H. Dukes, of Hampton, Va., was
elected to the steering committee. Other oflicers of the con
ference are: Bishop Penick, honorary chairman: Kev. I-:dgar
II. G(K)1(1, president of St. Augustine’s College, chairman;
Miss Bertha Kichards, deau of the Bishop Tuttle School,
treasurer, and Prof. Arthur P. Chippey, of St. Augustine’s^
executive secretary.
The alms tiiken at the daily Communion Service were
divided :iinong the Association for the Study of Negro Life
and History, the (Jood Shepherd Hospital, New Bern, N. C.,
and St. Elizabeth’s Parish House, La Orange, (!a.
The final .service, held at noon, was a memorial to the
late Veil. E. I.. Baskervill, D.D., for many years chaplain
of the Conference: Rev. Lorenzo A. King, late of Wash
ington, D. C„ and the Rev. Henry S. MeDuft'ey, late of
Philadelphia, Pa. Prayers were offered tor the Rev. (iar-
diner I.. Tucker, D.D.. and Ven. .lolin B. Elliott. D.D., who
were ill at the time ot the Conference.
ST. AUGUSTINE’S CONFERENCE, 1938