IN INTERRACIAL
Wyncote, Pa., May 16.—The
white and colored church worn-,
en of Philadelphia and neigh
boring cities have just closed
an interracial conference at the
Woolman School here which
many of those present said gave
them a new vision of goodwill
and peaceful adjustment be
tween the two races. There
were thirty delegates in attena
ance—seventeen white and thir
teen colored-—representing the
Y. W. C. A. and women's soci
eties in ten denominations in the
Philadelphia area; also a repre
sentative from the State De
partment of Public Welfare and
one from the Philadelphia De
partment of Public Welfare.
The delegates came from
Philadelphia, Germantown, Me
dia, Torresdale, Wyncote, Ches
ter, Harrisburg, Pa.; Camden,
Englewood, Palmyra, Plainfield
and Pitman, N. J.
The topics discussed included
the questions of “My Church
and Race Relations,” “Condi
tions of White and Negro Wom
en in Employment,” “Housing*”
“Health” “Education,” and
“Hie Educated Negro in Amer
ican Life Today.” The discus
sions were conducted in open
forum with competent leaders
on each of the topics named. Mr.
Forrester B. Washington, Secre
tary of the Armstrong Associa
tion of Philadelphia, who has
just accepted a position as Di
rector of the Atlanta School of
Social Work, led the discussion
on Employment. Mrs. Lena
Trent (Jordon, of Philadelphia
Department of Puhlic Welfare,
led the discussion on Housing,
ofFhiladelphiat led the discus
sion on Education.
In discussing the question of
Women in Industry, Mr. Wash
ington pointed out the signifi
cant fact that in the country as
a whole the number of colored
women employed in agriculture
from 1910 to 1920 had decreased
only 42 per cent and in domestic
service only 26 per cent; while
in the following occupations
they had increased as follows:
'manufacturing, 54 per cent;
transportation, 174 per cent;
trade, 58 p. c.; public service, 176
p. c., professional service, 31 per
cent; clerical occupations, 165
per cent. He further stressed
the fact that vocational guid
ance of colored girls and women
can take into view a larger
choice of fields of employment
as colored women in smaller or
larger numberfe have entered in
to many of the industrial occu
pations and in a large number
of the professional pursuits. He
called attention to the cordial
attitude developed recently on
the part of white workers in
the garment trades of Philadel
phia because of the attitude of
colored workers in those trades
toward organized labor.
In its findings'the Conference
urged that the attention of va
rious religious groups be called
“to the need for a changed atti
tude on the part of white em
ployees toward colored labor,”
and that “an effort should be
made to bring about better at
titudes on the part of white
workers toward colored fellow
workers in the same industry.”
In the matter of Housing,
Mrs. Gordon reported a most in
teresting experience now being
developed in Philadelphia with
the cooperation of the Depart
ment of Public Welfare in the
training of volunteer workers
from the several Negro church
es through an extension course
in social service to help them in
connection with their local
churches to improve the neigh
borhood and housing conditions
in their local neighborhoods. In
its findings the Conference re
commends that “an effort should
be made to encourage the invest
ment of money in homes that
pie be encouraged to join relia
ble building and loan associa
tions and thus be able to buy
homes in that way.”
On the matter of the local
church and race relations the
Conference recommended that
“there be frequent exchanges of
visits, interracially, between
white and colored groups such
as schools, Sunday schools,
young people’s societies, and
church and allied organizations
both within • the denomination
and interdenominationally.”
Mrs. Dickerson, in speaking
on the educated Negro in Amer
ican life pointed out that the
work of the mission schools of
the churches had so developed
an educated group of Negroes
which today was seeking the ad
vantages of American life that
it was now the responsibility
of the churches to see that they
had a full chance;
Following tms discussion tne
conference resolved that “in
view of the frequent insults and
embarrassments met by the ed
ucated Negro in the ordinary
walks of daily life it would seem
to be the part of white church
women to do everything in their
power to change the situation/’
It was urged that Special at
tention of church groups be giv
en to the effort to provide hos
pital and clinical opportunities
for Negro doctors as one of the
best measures for the promotion
of public health and the protec
tion of the community against
the spread of communicable dis
eases.
The conference closed with a
religious service at which Miss
dance of life in which she
brought out the point that
Jesus’ meaning of the abundant
life was an experience in the
way He showed and that it was
not a goal which one individual
or one race may achieve and be
stow upon another.
The Woolman School where
the conference was held, an in
stitution carried on by the
Quakers, is situated about elev
en miles from Philadelphia, and
is housed in an old stone man
sion with beautiful, well kept
grove and lawn about it. The
school is a unique experiment in
adult education, for there meet
here for periods of several
weeks interracial groups for the
study of the teachings of Chris
tianity and other subjects relat
ing to the problems of modern
life from the Christian point of
view.
A similar conference of white
and colored women under the
auspices of the Race Relations
Commission of the Chicago
Church Federation will be held
in Chicago on May 25.
UNVEIL MONUMENT TO DR.
WASHINGTON.
Atlanta, Ga., May 20th. Be
fore an audience of 10,000 peo
ple, in which both races were re
presented, Atlanta today hon
ored both itself and Dr. Booker
T. Washington by the unveiling
of a heroic bronze monument to
the great educator on the
grounds of the Booker T. Wash
ington High School. High tri
bute was paid Dr. Washington
by both white and colored speak
ers, Dr. Plato Durham, of Em
ory University, and Dr. J. W. E.
Bowen, of Gammon Theological
Seminary, delivering the princi
pal addresses.
In presenting the monument
to the city, Prof. Charles L.
Harper, Principal of Washing
ton High School, spoke of the
monument from the standpoint
of art, as a project in interracial
co-operation, as a tribute to the
life and principles of Booker T.
Washington, and as an inspira
tion to the boys and girls of to
day, The memorial was accept
ed on behalf of the city by Dr.
(Continued on page 4)
BT IDE WAY
Thunder will not keep, but its
effects will keep.
In his effort to “turn out” or
“suspend” all watch-care mem
bers of the Presbyterian
Church, Brother Hector, our ac
tive minister at Richmond, Va.,
has requested Uncle Billie to
“save his thunder” until he
(Brother Hector) returns from
the General Assembly to be held
jn San Francisco, California.
Everybody knows that Uncle
Billie foregoes often times his
privilege to grant a -request of
a brother or even of an alien to
the Commonwealth of Israel;
but since thunder is the result
of a natural cause—and nature
does not do things by halves
—Uncle Billie shall not make
the sorry effort to keep it for
Brother Hector’s return; for
the result of thunder will keep
You, no doubt, have seen many
thunder-stricken objects years
after the thunder had died be
yond the clouds.
A third of a century ago a
classmate of mine read this pas
sage of Greek from the Gospel
of John 3:8, and rendered the
following translation: “auto es
tin pas ’o gegennamenos-ek tou
pneumatos.” In his translation
he read: “Thus is every one that
is bom of the wind” (pneuma
tos.) The professor asked, Why
translate pneumatos “wind?”
Why not “thus is every one that
is bom of the Spirit?” My class
mate said, “I am trying to keep
away from King James.” No
doubt, he felt that it exhibited
research and more of real schol
arship to steer Clear of King
James’ translation even if he
had to use a word that did not
express the idea. Brother Hec
tor seems to hug
very fond affection that it is
the essence of “law and order”
of the Presbyterian Church to
steer clear of anything that has
Baptist or Methodist written on
it, perhaps even to kneel in
prayer. Why should an ortho
dox Presbyterian feel that law
and order in his Church have
gone to the dogs because some
one sings a Psalm, the 23rd
Psalm, for instance, in Wednes
day evening prayer meeting? Is
it a bad step to sing a Psalm
because the United Presbyteri
ans—or the Associate Reformed
—commonly called in the South
—sing Psalms?
Brother Hector thinks that
“if watch-care members are giv
en particular watchful care, it
will be wholly advisable that the
entire membership of all of our
churches be watch-care mem
bers.” I feel that Brother Hec
tor omitted to use his own “salt”
which he recommends to us in
his effort. To advise that all be
come watch-care members be
cause they receive special at
tention with the hope of bring
ing them into the church, or to
strengthen some who happen to
be among us for a season, is
equal to advising all to become
objects of the county alms
house because those inmates re
ceive special attention from the
State and county; or that we re
main in sin, undecided, “almost
persuaded” in order to receive
watchful care. Poor logic and
bad philosophy.
“And the Lord added unto the
church daily such as should be
saved.” The apostles did not
seem to be deeply concerned—
in fact their exclusioin is implied
—about those who had found
the Messiah and were, following
Him, but “such as should be
saved.” It is pursuing the path
of the Master to give the unde
cided watchful care and excep
tional attention be they watch
care members being trained and
encouraged and strengthened to
make a decision for Christ some
day, or members of a Presbyte
rian church out of their conven
ient reach. And if such do not
get special attention from the
church people and sessions, our
Church has missed its mission
in the earth.
If the Methodist and Baptist
aggNburches that “fool” the peo
pl| into the church through the
ngEihod of watch-care members
thaw should feel justly proud of
tlfe fact that they are in line
wim the means of the first great
re#ral, when the preachers
spAe with cloven tongues.
me late Colonel William Jen
niiilp Bryan was called the
Grgat Commoner; and, as a
atMtiman and a man among the
r^Moners, his friends who were
closest to him said one of his
miMces was, “he stepped over
fa<»;” Often in many of his
oraprical flights, Mr. Bryan
stewed clear of facts that
tnaJked him unsafe for this
country’s chief magistrate.
mother Hector is stepping
ovey facts that make his efforts
looil sorry. Does not Brother
Hegbor know that the first Mod
era®* and founder of the oldest
Negro Presbytery in the world,
Catawba, had watch-care mem
ber# in his church in Virginia
angpiii North Carolina sixty
year® ago? And, by the way,
so^ppne has lust informed me
thM Demerara, British Guiana,
tawpa Presbytery preached to
slayw in Virginia, in Iredell
as my great fortune to
in possession of this
nan’s records among the
for the trash heap thirty
trs ago, and I find much
wk among the' Negroes
runs parallel with
in Freedom church in
county, N. C. He had
members^ at betfc
places; and he was a Scotchnyn
of the highest type, Sidney k
Murkland. I call him by name
lest Brother* Hector make the
mistake he made some years ago
and call such “ignorant men,”
as he called the founders of the
Southern work, who were gradu
ates of some of the best colleges
and theological seminaries of
this country and Scotland.
Now, Brother Hector, I ex
pect to see you later, for you
seem to think it weakness to let
the other fellow have the last
word; but you should be the
last brother to plead ignorant of
watch-care members when it
was practiced so long in your
home; in fact, before we as a
colored wing of the Church
knew anything about it in this
country.
Then, too, Brother nector, i
admire your zeal to keep Pres
byterian “Law and Order” pure
and safe from infractions, but
do not forget that in the ab
sence of law there is nothing to
abrogate one’s liberty; especi
ally when that liberty has mor
al backing and Scriptural prac
tice. Then it would be a fine
idea to inform yourself relative
to watch-care members in Dem
erara, British Guiana, from 1831
to 1846, under Rev. Sidney S.
Murkland as missionary among
Negroes of that country. Then,
too, Brother Hector, to steer
clear of a good thing, a thing
that is productive of growth in
the right direction, because
somebody else does that thing
savors of a selfishness that
points to extinction. Imitation,
reflecting one’s inherent digni
ty and cooperation are the first
steps to progress. Step over
this and we revert to type, back
to the cave to eat roots and
chase wild boars. If the Meth
odist and Baptist Churches are
imitating the Presbyterian
Church by educating their min
isters “like the Presbyterians”
and thereby ameliorating condi
tions, why not lay aside your
dry-as-dust, matter of fact form
and take on a little Methodist
fire and let the people know
that there is a Presbyterian
church in town. It is not harm
ful to preach with a little vol
ume if you have something to
o- ---—
say. This wffl get you some
watch-care members along with
your other members. Let us
not be too straight like the In
dian. He is so straight in phy
sical posture that he is crooked,
gone the other way. Of course
this is not the point, but it il
lustrates the point of seeing
yourself as others see you and
profiting thereby.
“But they measuring them
selves by themselves, and com
paring themselves among them
selves, are not wise.”
. UNCLE BILLIE.
EcBsto Island, S. C.
. . . --
YADKIN PRESBYtTERIAL
MEETING.
By Mrs. J. H. dement
On Wednesday, April 13th,
the Yadkin Presbytery met with
Fradd Street church, States
ville, of which Rev, J. L. Hollo
well, D. D., is the pastor. A
crowded house listened to a
wonderful sermon by the retir
ing Moderator, Rev. Z. A. Dock
ery, D. D. His theme was: ‘"The
Open Door.” The local society
had secured the Odd Felh^’s
Bali for the ladies to hold tliv t
meeting in. We found the text
Df the Moderator very fitting
tor the occasion.
The homes and hearts of eve
ry Christian family that had
been asked were thrown open to
the very large delegation of
women and men.
Thursday morning, April 14,
the ladies assemblied in their
place of meeting. Every one
seemed to have the meeting at
heart. At 9:30 the devotions;
were led by Mesdames Cox and
Washington, theme, "Hie Open
Door.” The verse was: “Behold,
l have set before thee an open
doer/VRev. 3: 8.Each member
member present took an active
oart in the meeting. The splen
, ^remarks brought life into the
fhoeting. After spending twen
ty or more minutes in the meet
ing the hour arrived for the bus
iness part. Mrs. E. B. Meares,
our beloved President, arose
and uttered a word of prayer
thanking God for having spared
us to meet again. After greeting
us the real business began and
was transacted in a business
like way. We are glad to say
our meeting was largely attend
ed/ There were 56 delegates
some of whom had never attend
ed a Presbyterial meeting be
fore.
We were indeed glad to have
them. We feel that our local so
cieties will be able to do more
and better work as their repre
sentatives all seemed interested
and took notes of everything in
order to carry the correct state
ments to the societies. We were
sorry that the Synodical Presi
dent, Mrs. H. L. McCrorey,
could not be present with us as
we had hoped. Still she had us
at heart and sent a letter of re
gret. Our local societies are do
ing nicely and hoping to do bet
ter another year.
We are glad to say our quota
was raised. Our President, Mrs.
E. B. Meares, seems to have the
work at heart. She is anxious
to see it go forward and does
more than her part to reach the
goal. We are indeed proud of her.
Mrs. W. J. Rankin, our form
er President, was with us this
year. We were glad to welcome
her in our midst. On Thursday
morning at the hour of 11 we
had what is known as a Ques
tion Box which answered, What
is your society's problem? Each
delegate wrote a question and
it was passed in and read by
Mrs. Dixon, of Lexington.
This feature was very inter
esting and many good thoughts
were taken from one another.
Thursday P. M. the devotions
were led by Mrs. P. A. White,
of Cleveland, and Mrs. Wood, of
Statesville. The topic was:
“SOTvice and Worship,” John 10:
9. This was a glorious meeting,
The Scripture lesson that had
been selected by the President
was what we needed to stud;
more. We are praying that oui
church and
stay * pleasant one. We will
keep in memory the reception
given us by the Woman's Mis
sionary Society at the Masonic
Hall; also the;dinners given by
Mt Vernon church, ofwhich
Rev. L. M. Onque is pastor, and
the Mt. Tabor church. There
may be others that bamnot
wmlring mention of because I do
not know the names.
Our popular meetings are-get
ting better each year. There
was a splendid program at this
meeting. The collectioB was
$60.50.
The following officers were
elected for the year:
President, Mrs. E. B. Mearea.
301 Beech Street, Greensboro.
1st Vice-President, Mrs. J. A.
Bonner, 1621 E. 14th Street,
Winston-Salem.
2nd Vice-President, Mrs. L.
H. Lord, Box 355, StatesviUe.
3rd Vice-President, Mrs. B.
F. Murray, Cleveland.
4th Viee-Ptesident, Mini. J.
W. Ritchie, Salisbury.
5th Vice-President, Mrs. W.
J. Rankin, Aberdeen.
Secretary of Young Peopled
Work, Mrs. G. A. Bridges, 960
McGee Street, Greensboro.
Secretary of Ctyldren's Work,
Mrs. E. H. Liston, Teachers’
College, Winston-Salem.
Secretary of Literature, Mrs.
J. L. HoUowell, Box 25, States
yifle. ;
Secretary of Home Sewing*
Mrs. Efteetra Cox, Sanford.
Secretary of Stewardship and
f* ■ ' r.i .■
Corresponding Secretary, Mrs.
J. V. Bitting, 119 Third Street,
Lexington.
Treasurer, Mrs. W. P. Donnell,
Box 327, Mebane.
Mrs. J. L. HoUowell was elect
ed delegate to the Synodical
which will convene at Oxford
next FaU.
Our President, Mrs. Meares,
will attend the General Assem
bly which will convene in San
Francisco, California, May 24.
We feel sure she will bring us
the real news of the work being
done in our Church.
Having enjoyed a good meet
ing we adjourned to meet at
Pine St. Presbyterian church,
Durham, April, 1928.
MRS. E. B. MEARES, President.
MRS. J. H. CLEMENT, Rec. Sec.
NEW HAMPTON CHURCH
AND COMMUNITY NOTES
By Miss Alberta O. McClelland
On last Sunday morning our
beloved pastor, Dr. F. T. Logan,
preached a very interesting
sermon from the 40th chapter
of Isaiah and 31st verse: “But
they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings
as eagles ; they shall run and
not be weary ; they shall walk
and not faint.”
The collection was taken by
Deacon J. D. Davis which
amounted to the heat sum of
$6.26.
In the afternoon we had our
Sabbath school which is always
interesting. We were glad to
have our pastor take a part.
His. many friends will regret
to know that Mr. Elijah Grang
er is very ilL We hope for hipi
an early recovery.
Mrs. Adelaide Mason who has
been spending a while in Salis
bury visiting relatives and
friends, hgs returned home.
Mrs. £jgla Alexander and
children, Iffu) have been visiting
in the home of her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. S. M. McClelland, left
recently for her home in Ten
nessee. • •'*
The Lord’s Supper' will be
celebrated at New Hampton
fourth Sunday in May. We; In
vite otur friends to-attend. >
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