Christmas Festivity Marks History
Christmas is a festive holiday
that commemorates the birth of
Christ. For as long as one can
remember Christmas has been
the most celebrated holiday of
the year in America. Yet, as
unusual as it sounds, many of
us celebrate Christmas without
really realizing its historical and
spiritual value. The Biblical ac
count of the birth of Christ is
found in the Gospel According
to St. Matthew, the first book
in the New Testament and in
St. Luke, chapter II.
The Christmas holiday had
its beginning in several places
and under several different
conditions. Christmas is de-
rived from the medieval
“Christes Masse”, the mass of
and Anna Karenina, gave a lec
ture December 17, in the audi
torium of the Education Build
ing at North Carolina College.
Countess Alexandria Tolstoy,
a citizen of the United States
since 1941, spoke under the
sponsorship of the college’s Cul
tural Reading Committee and
Student Union.
The speaker has written The
Tragedy of Tolstoy, I Worked
for the Soviet, and Tolstoy —
A Life of My Father.
She was secretary to her fath
er during his last years and
edited the posthumously pub
lished works of Tolstoy in 1911.
She purchased and distributed
hundreds of acres of land to the
landless in Russia after her
father’s death, served in World
War I as a nurse, and organized
schools, museums, and hospitals
in many parts of Russia before
coming to this country.
She has lectured at major col
leges and universities through
out America and is president of
the Tolstoy Foimdation. She also
operates a resettlement, center
for displaced persons and a
camp for children in New York
Christ. The celebration was
not observed in the first cen
turies of the Christian church,
since the Christian usage was
to celebrate the death of the
famous instead of their birth.
The death of the Marytr, Steph
en, and the massacre of the
innocent children at Bethlehem
had already long been celebra
ted when perhaps in opposition
to the doctrine of the Manich-
aeans in the fourth century a
feast was established in memory
of the birth of Christ. In
the fifth century the Western
church ordered the feast to be
celebrated on the day of the
Mithraic rites of the birth of
sun, and at the close of the
Saturalia, as no certain know-
State.
The daughter of Leo Tolstoy,
claimed by Russian Communists
as a father of their revolution,
said that the Communist regime
is worse than the czar’s regime
which her father opposed.
Alexandra Tolstoy said her
father was a religious man and
would have opposed the “god
less” Communist regime as
he did that of the czars.
Countess Tolstoy (although
she holds the Russian title, she
prefers, as an American citizen,
to be called Miss Tolstoy) said
she sometimes worries more
about America’s future than she
does about Russia’s.
She called for the students to
“straighten out the mess we old
folk made.”
Miss Tolstoy told the audience
that her father was a great man
and a great writer because he
was a humble and religious man.
She told of his illustration which
compares a man to a mathema
tical fraction.
“The numerator (the number
over the line) is a man’s quality.
The denominator (under the
line) is what he thinks of him
self, so the larger the denomin-
See Countess Tolstoy Page 4
By MARION SPAULDING
ledge of the day of Christ’s
birth existed among the German
and Celtic tribes. The winter
soltice was considered an impor
tant point of the year, and to
commemorate the return of the
sun they held their chief festi
val of yule, which like other
pagan celebrations, became a-
dopted as Christmas.
As you have just read, the
stories came from very lengthy
ranges. And the choice is yours
as to which custom you care to
adopt or whether you care to
adopt one at all. Before you de
cide, if you do, there is another
version of the Holy Day. This
is the birth of Christ based upon
St, Luke II, 1-16 and Matthew,
chapter 1-3:
Student Plans
Play Production
By PATRICIA TROXLER
North Carolina College’s own
Leslie Montgomery plans to pro
duce and direct the Thespians in
their presentation of Green Pas
tures on a date to be announced.
Leslie is a junior Drama major
and Music minor. He is from
Gastonia, North Carolina and he
graduated from Highland High
School. A very young, 20 years
of age, Les is known to chal
lenge the task of a huge cast. He
recently directed The Share
cropper by George Towns. His
reasons for wanting to produce
the play are twofold: one, to
extend his directing experience,
and two, hopefully to use the
financial gains from the produc
tion toward an educational tour
of Broadway-New York. Leslie
plans to do further study in
Drama at Michigan State or
New York University.
The cast will be composed of
59 characters; there are 18
scenes divided into two parts.
The Green Pastures is an at
tempt to present certain aspects
of a living religion in the terms
of its believers. The religion is
that of thousands of Negroes in
the Deep South. With terrific
spiritual hunger and the great
est humility, these vuitutored
black Christians - - many of
whom cannot even read the
book which is the treasure house
of their faith - - have adopted
the contents of the Bible to the
to the consistencies of their ev
eryday lives.
Unburdened by the differen
ces of more educated theolo
gians, they accept the Old Tes
tament as a chronicle of won
ders which happened to people
like themselves in vague but
actual places, and of rules of
conduct, true acceptance of
which will lead them to a tan
gible, three-dimensional H»av-
en. In this Heaven, if one has
been born in a district where
fish fries are popular, the angels
do have magnificent fish fries
through an eternity somewhat
resembling a series of earthly
holidays. The Lord Jehovah will
be the promised comforter, a
just but compassionate patri
arch, the summation of all the
See Student Plans, Page 3
“Mary, the chosen mother of
Jesus, was approached by an
angel, Gabriel, saying “Hail,
thou shalt conceive in thy
Lord is with thee: blessed art
thou among women, and behold,
thou shalt concieve in thy
womb, and bring forth a son,
and shalt call his name Jesus.”
Being a virgin, Mary questioned
Gabriel, saying “How shall this
be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and
said unto her. The Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Highest shall over
shadow thee: therefore also that
holy thing which shall be called
the Son of God.
“And it came to pass in those
days, that there went out a
decree from Caesar Augustus,
that all the world should be
taxed. And this taxing was first
made when Cyrenius was gover
nor of Syria. And all went to
be taxed, everyone into his own
city.
“And Joseph also went up
from Gaililee, out of the city of
Nazareth, into the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem, be
cause he was of the house and
lineage of David.
“To be taxed with Mary his
espoused wife, being great with
child. And so it was, that, while
they were there, the days were
accomplished that she should be
delivered. And she brought
forth her first born son, and
Job opportunities in Europe
this summer . . . Work this sum
mer in the forests of Germany,
on construction in Austria, on
farms in Germany, Sweden and
Denmark, on road construction
in Norway , in industries in
France and Germany.
Well, there are these jobs
available as well as jobs in Ire
land, Switzerland, England,
France, Italy, and Holland. They
are open by the consent of the
governments of these countries to
American university students
coming to Europe the next sum
mer.
For some years students made
their way across the Atlantic to
take part in the actual life of
these countries. The success of
this project has caused a great
deal of enthusiastic interest
and support both in America
and Europe.
Every year, the program has
been expanded to include many
more students and jobs. Al
ready, many students have made
applications for next summer
jobs. American-European Stu
dent Service (on a non-profit-
able basis) is offering these jobs
to student for Germany, Scandi
navia, England, Austria, Swit
zerland, France, Italy, and
Spain. The jobs consist of fores
try work, child care work (fe
males only), farm work, hotel
work (limited number avail
able), contruction work, and
some other more qualified jobs
requiring more specialized
training.
The purpose of this program
is to afford the student an op
portunity to get into real living
contact vdth the people and cus
toms of Europe. In this way, a
concrete effort can be made to
learn something of the culture
of Europe. In return for his or
her work, the student will re
ceive his or her room and board,
plus a wage. Students, should
keep in mind, however, that
they wiU be working on the
European economy and wages
will naturally be scaled accord
ingly. The working conditions
and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes, and laid him in a man
ger; because there was no room
for them in the inn. And there
were in the same country shep-
ards abiding in the field, keep
ing watch over their flock by
night. And, lo, the angel of the
Lord came upon them, and the
glory of the Lord shone around
them and they were so afraid.
“And the angel said imto
them. Fear not: for, behold, I
bring you good tidings of great
joy, which shall be to all peo
ple.
“For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior,
which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you;
Ye shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger.
“And suddenly there was with
the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host praising God, and
saying. Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace,
good will toward men. And it
came to pass, as the angels were
gone away from them into heav
en, the shepherds said. one to
another. Let us now go even
unto Bethlehem, and see this
thing which is come to pass,
which the Lord hath made
known unto us.
“And they came with haste,
and found Mary and Joseph, and
the babe lying in a manger.
(hours, safety, regulations, legal
protection, work permits) will
be strictly controlled by the
ministries of the countries li\%
volved.
In most cases, the employers
have requeued especially for
American students. Hence, they
are particularly interested in
the student and want to make
the work as interesting as pos
sible.
They are all informed of the
intent of the program, and will
help the student all they can
in deriving the most from his
trip to Europe.
Please write for further infor
mation and application forms to:
American-European Student-
Service, Box 34733, FL 9490
Vaduz, Liechtenstein (Europe).
Band Invited
To Mardi Gras
The North Carolina College
Marching Band has received an
invitation to participate in the
Mardi CSras Festival in New Or
leans, Louisiana February 24
and 25, 1968, according to Jo
seph T. Mitchell, director ol
bands at North Carolina College.
The band, in order to raise
money for the trip, has spon
sored several activities.
The 85-member organization
is presently engaged in food
sales and each band member has
paid $25.00 to aid in the venture.
The Mardi Gras Festival has
become an important annual
event not only in New Orleans
but also in Baton Rouge, Flori
da, and Alabama. Originally, the
celebration arose from the last
day of feasting and carnival
preceding the 40 penitential
days of Lent in the CThristian
calendar.
Next year’s festival will mark
the first time that the North
Carolina CoUege Band has at
tended the Mardi Gras although
the band has performed in New
York and Washington, D. C. for
See Band Invited Page 4
Campus® Echo
Durham, North Carolina, Saturday, December 30, 1967
RUSSIAN CONVERSATION—Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, daugh
ter of Russia’s great novelist Leo Tolstoy, chatted after a lecture at
NCC with Mrs. Christina Groenberg, a German instructor at the
college, in Russian. Countess Tolstoy is at left. Waiting to meet
the countess is William Crumpton, an NCC political science student.
— (NCC Photo).
Countess Tolstoy Discusses Father
The daughter of Leo Tolstoy,
the author of War and Peace
SUMMER JOBS OPEN IN EUROPE