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THE FEDERATION JOURNAL
Spring, 1962
THE FEDERATION JOURNAL
“Lifting As We Climb”
Issued by
The N. C. Federation of Negro
Woman’s Club
Editor: Mrs. Fannie T. Newsome,
Rich Square
Contributing Editors
Mrs. E. M. Spellman
Elizabeth City
Miss Ophelia Hargette. Williamston
Mrs. Beulah Perrin, Charlotte
Mrs. V. T. Bishop, Rich Square
Mrs. E. B. Stewart
Mrs. Ester Moore
Editorials
EASTER GREETINGS
EASTER GREETINGS — To
One and All — May the True Spirit
of the Resurrected Christ blossom
as never before in your hearts this
season.
What does the first chirp of the
Robin mean to us in the spring?
Do visions appear of a new hat,
new draperies or paint for the
house, or a spring festival for your
community?
“EASTER is a challenge to the
faith of us all. It should be a time
of renewal of this faith. Every
thing during this springtime is an
example of renewal. There is con
tinuity in nature. It should be at
tached to our faith as well.
EASTER flashes its light about
us and gives to us a New Vision
of Hope and Confidence.”
“A COMMUNITY THAT READS
—LEADS."
April 8-14 thousands of commu
nities throughout the United States
will be celebrating National Li
brary Week.
Your community and others in
N. C. will be pointing up the theme
above as they stress reading in
their lives and the importance of
libraries of all kinds . . . public,
school and university libraries as
well as individual libraries in our
homes.
We will be among the thousands
of citizens of all occupations, sens
ing the importance of reading to a
rich, vigorous, and free intellec
tual and cultural life in their own
communities for their children.
The objective, the sponsors of
this week hope for, is to, “remind
the American people that reading
can help them to explore and to
satisfy their need for a greater
sense of purpose and meaning in
their lives; to urge them to use
more fully the libraries of all
kinds in which the treasures of the
printed word await throughout the
land.”
Never before has reading been
so necessary and important. It is
th“ very basis of aU education.
Responsible citizenship is almost
demanded in this age. To exercise
Religious
Emphasis
By MRS. BEULAH PERRIN
Almost overnight we have been
ushered into a world of New Di
mensions. Man traveling at an un
precedented speed and altitude, he
had pierced the outer space, ex
plored the depth, split the atoms,
harnessed the lightening and made
it his servant. But he has failed to
subdue what the apostle Paul
called the evil propensities of
human nature; avarice — selfish
ness — jealousy — convetousness—
prejudice and hate.
Thus the challange comes to all
who claim allegiance with the
Prince of peace, to stand up and
be counted. If — “The knowledge
of the Lord is to cover the earth
as the waters cover the sea” —
Christians must awake from their
the citizenship necessary to even
survive in America re q u i r e s
watchful readiness. Only a wide
variety of reading can keep us
abreast of what has been, and what
is, and train the imagination to
forge ahead into what might be in
the future.
Personal reading habits are fixed
by the interplay of many forces in
the school, in the home, in the
community and in the general
atmosphere of our culture. This
should be the concern of every
adult. There are many ways we
can contribute; create new atti
tudes toward books, serve on
trustee boards or committees, ap
peals for appropriations increases,
secure gifts for library, more at
tractive libraries, better trained
librarians, is naming but a few.
Good readers are better listeners
as well as better leaders than are
non-readers. Reading is something
new and something old, for both
of these are blended in the culture
of our time. Without partaking of
each, no one can call himself a
complete person. Clifton Fadiman
once said; “Civilized man is a
reader.” Are we really as civilized
as we think?
A statement by Governor San
ford; “In recognition of the fact
that our freedom to read imposes
a responsibility on all of us to
make constant and beneficial use
of our library facilities, I am
glad to designate the week of April
8-14, 1962 as National Library
Week in North Carolina and urge
that all citizens unite in this effort
to achieve a better-read, better-
informed America, to stimulate in
terest in libraries of all kinds to
the end that we realize the full
potential of our National purpose.”
“READ—AND WATCH YOUR
WORLD GROW” — National
theme.
sleep of complacency, lethargy and
unconcern and hear the words of
the Saviour, “as my Father
sent me, even so send I you”.
Whether our contribution is great
or small, we can in the spirit of
Peter and John render “such as I
have in the name of Jesus.”
We have reached an hour in the
history of civilization which I be
lieve is the most crucial mankind
has ever known. We are living in
an age in which we see the ac
cumulating consequences of the
defect inherent in human nature
coming to a climax. Today when
you talk to those of the business
world; the scientific world; the
field of economics; political or
whatever line of endeavor, you will
find that the thinking, serious
minded people agree that the pres
ent circumstances are such they
cannot continue very much longer
without precipitating a crisis on
the greatest scale humanity has
ever known.
I am convinced that the only
solution is to be found in the ap
plication of true Christianity in the
lives of individuals and nations.
The world today is divided into
two great opposing camps. In one
are individuals and nations whose
philosophy of life is wholly mate
rialistic, who not only reject spirit
ual and moral values, but who
have become openly aggressive in
the repudiation of all things that
in any way recognizes the sover
eignty of God, the diety of Jesus
Christ and the true Christian way
of life.
In the other camp are those who
still retain normal recognition of
spiritual and moral values. These
are the remaining individuals and
nations that compose our so-caUed
Christian civilization and say so-
called purposely for one of the
greatest tragedies of this genera
tion is the fact that much of our
Christian civilization is entirely
undeserving of the name.
What can we do about it? In
dividual effort may seem feeble or
futile, but like a mother who had
exhausted all efforts to save her
son from the conflict of war, she
put on a clean apron, got her
broom and reported to the army
headquarters, when ridiculed and
asked what she thought she could
do. Her answer, “I can let the
world know which side I am on.”
That is what each Christian can do
and should do.
It is clear that the only solution
lies in the return to the place
where we make our professed
Christianity real. In the first place
take it out of the abstract realm
of ideologies and bring it down to
a heart realtionship with Jesus
Christ as a real living Saviour and
Divine Lord.
In a meeting I heard a young
woman from Africa make a
serious indictment and challenge
to the Christians of America. She
Scrap Books And
Art Exhibits
Time is short and fleeting, for
our Annual Convention will soon
be at hand.
What of our Artistic and Cul
tural adventures since we were
in Shelby?
The beautiful ribbon awards to
the four top club Scrap Books were
very attractive last year. Please
see that they are returned to Dur
ham. We do hope you wiU be able
to take them back for another
twelve months, but we are sure
other clubs wiU be anxious to re
lieve your club of that beautiful
rosette ribbon award.
Seven very fine books were dis
played last year for our second
year of this activity. We reaUy ex
pect to at least double the num
ber this year.
It was pointed out in the last
Executive Board meeting that a
permanent State Chairman for the
Art Committee has not been se
cured as yet, but that is cer
tainly no excuse for our exhibit
being omitted or its being a
small one. The host is arranging
space for the displays and we only
need to canvass our club women
for their masterpieces, then send
them on by your club delegate to
Durham.
Then we hope our very best work
can go on to Washington, D. C.
where it will join that of other
states connected with the National
Association.
said Africa doesn’t need the kind
of Christianity that is most prev
alent in America. She said mis
sionaries go to Africa and teach
them that the Commandments say
honor thy father and mother . . .
obey them for this is well pleasing
to the Lord. Then when they come
to America they find just the re
verse, parents are taking orders
from the children.
They teach them that God
requires them to keep the Sabbath
Holy, and the way it is kept in
America you can’t tell one day
from another.
They teach that the body is the
temple of God, and when you enter
many of the houses in America you
can hardly get your wraps off be
fore they ask, will you have a
drink or a smoke. She wanted to
know what kind of a temple we
thought a Holy God dwelt in.
To me our chief need is to get
our Bible down from the shelf or
table, dust it off and give council
of God its rightful place in our
lives.