Afri^-American Presbyterian
AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.-John viii:32.
VOL. LVI.
CHARLOTTE, N. C, THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1935.
NO. 22.
STORY OF KNALS, WITH
PERTINENT COMMENTS
By Prof. R. L. Douglass
With the graduating exercis-^
es at 10 o’clock, Wednesday,!
June 5th, Johnson C. Smith
University completed its sixty-;
seventh year of academic exist-1
once. President H. L. McCrorey j
gave diplomas to fifty-five sen
iors finishing from the vari
ous departments, thirteen of
whom were women students.
Many of these graduates upon
reaching home will enter upon
the practical work of life, while
others will go to graduate
schools to continue their liter
ary training or to gain a pro
fession. Of those completing
their courses of . study, thirty
received the degree of Bach
elor of Arts, twenty-two
the degree of Bachelor of Sci
ence, and three the Bachelor of
Divinity degree. The Reverend
Henry William McNair, Presi
dent of Ingleside-Fee Academy,
Burkeville, Va., was given the
degree of Doctor of Divinity,
and t.he degree of Doctor of
Pedagogy was conferred upon
Prof. James Ward Seabrook,
President of the State Nor
mal School, Fayetteville, N. C.
Both of these gentlemen were
members of the class of 1909.
me annual address was deliv
ered by bi\ vv. la. B. Dubois,
nead o± trie department of soci
ology in Atlanta university, it
was a masterful discourse and
in Keeping with what might be
expected irom so eminent a
scnolar and educator, ine ad
dress was considered under
lour separate heads: War, Prop
erty, Democracy and Liberty,
each being discussed from a
modern point of view. In this
brief space comment wouid be
quite inadequate. A veiled cen
sure of the race for not being
interested in these world prob
lems was made when the speak
er stated that in a certain Ne
gro university the students were
much louder in their protest
against ihe sort' of food they
were served than they were in
their protest against the threat
ening aspects of war. However,
we failed to note any intemper
ate of rash remark and it, was
with some difficulty that we
were enabled to identify the pi
ous pedagogue of today with the
militant editor of a few decades
back.
The following is a list of the
graduates:
College of Liberal Arts
Bachelor of Arts, Cum Lau
de: Adell Mae Beattie, Lumber
ton ; Thomas Henry Bullock, Ox
ford ; Thomas Elliott Humphrey,
Charlotte; Otto Leroy Martin
Pharr, Gastonia; Wilma Estelle
Powell, Charlotte.
Bachelor of Arts: Ellen Eliz
abeth Adams, Charlotte; Rich
ard Walter Anderson, Live Oak,
Fla.; Booker Taliaferro Bennett,
Faison; Harold Richard Boul
ware, Irmo, S. C.; Lenora Er
nestine Byers, Charlotte; Thel
ma Beatrice Christmas, Hot
Springs, Ark.; Clementine Hill
Dawson, Charlotte; Ruth Eliza
beth Ellis, Augusta, Ga.; Rob
ert Campbell Johnson, Colum
bia, S. C.; Ulysses Eugene Ken
nedy, Columbia, S. C.; Alexander
Leonard Lewis, Lumberton; T.
Gladstone Long, Franklinton;
Warren Julius Nelson, Jr.,
Mayesville, S. C.; Robert. Elliott
O’Daniel, Greensboro; Fannie
Harris Fartee, Charlotte; The
odore Montroville Pass, Shelby;
Hattie Thanet Russell, Char
lotte; Frances Howell Sampson,
Charlotte; John Ardria Sandi
fer, Greensboro; John Henry
Smith, Winston-Salem; Russell
L. Smith, Oxford; Mamie Lee
Taylor, Cordele, Ga.; Charles
Henry Turner, Charlotte; Laza
rus Barnwell Washington,
Charleston, S. C.; John Robert
Wilson, Jr., Atlanta, Ga.
Bachelor of Science, Cum
Laude: Israel Everette Glover,
Oxford; Barnette John Wesley
Grier, Charlotte; Herbert Lee
COMMENCEMENT AT JOHNSON C, SMITH UNIVERSITY
1935 GRADUATES, COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
Top Group — Honor Graduates.—Front row, reading left to right: Herbert Lee Moseley, Baltimore, Md.; Thel
ma Beatrice Christmas, Hot Springs, Ark.; Hattie Thanet Russell, Charlotte, N. C.; Otto Leroy Martin Pharr,
Gastonia, N. C.; Wilma Estelle Powell, Charlotte, N. C.; Thom as Henry Bullock, Oxford, N. C. Back Row:, read
ing left to right: Barnett John Wesley Grier, Charlotte, N. C.; Israel Everette Glover, Oxford, N. C.; Morris Satter
terfield Young, Greensboro, N. C.; Thomas Elliott Humphrey, Charlotte; Addell Mae Beattie, Lumberton, N. C.
Bottom Group—The 1935 Graduating Class, College of Liberal Arts.
Moseley, Jr., Baltimore; Morris
Satterfield Young, Greensboro.
Bachelor of Science: Charles
Wesley Balknight, Jr., Concord;
Gertrude McWilliams Black
man, Charlotte; Ralph Harbison
Boulware, Irmo, S. C.; Benjamin
Thomas Bullock, Raleigh; Shir
ley Robert' CoCkrum, Knoxville,
Tenn., Hubert Henry Creft, Jr.,
Monroe; Earl Meares Dudley,
New Bern; Isaac Torrence
Graham, Charlotte; Thomas
Harrison Hooper, Jr., Winston
Salem; Elgy Sibley Johnson,
Jacksonville, Fla.; Andrew
James Mack, Raleigh; Mary
Catherine Pharr, Charlotte;
Frederick Ingram Quick, San
ford; Paul Nichols Robinson,
Buffalo, N. Y.; Jacob Ayers Till
man, Mooresville; Ramon El
wood Tyson, Candor; Samuel
Wall Whittington, Goldsboro;
George Henry Young, Wake
Forest.
School of Theology
Bachelor of Divinity: Howard
Washington Givens, A. B.,
Keysville, Ga.; Joseph James
Jordan, A. B., Rock Hill, S. C.;
Joseph David Taylor, B. S., Da
rien, Ga.
Each member of the class
was given a copy of the book,
“The Duke Endowment, Estab
lished by James B. Duke,” and
also a Bible each from a fund
set aside for that specific pur
pose by Mrs. Johnson C. Smith,
the institution’s benefactress.
The Old Testament History
prize, offered by Dr. S. A.
Downer, was awarded to David
S. Pogue; the Hebrew prize,
given by Dr. P. W. Russell, was
presented to William T. Nelson.
The Science prize in the College
of Liberal Arts, given by Dr.
B. R. Smith, was awarded to
I. E. Glover, and the oratorical
contest for the medal offered by
the Alumni was won by Miss
Ollie Johnson, the first woman
student to receive that honor.
Copies of the Book of Com
mon Worship, the Manual of
Presbyterian Law, and the New
Hymnal were presented to each
member of the Theological grad
ating class by the Board of
Christian Education.
President McCrorey announced
that a new dormitory for the
women students of the univer
sity was being planned fpr
the campus and said that he
hoped it would be completed by
the fall of 1936 in readiness for
occupancy by the co-eds of the
institution.
The weather was ideal and
the largest number ever known
to attend a commencement was
present. The seating capacity
ot the University cnureh was
wholly inadequate to accommo
date the visitors. Perhaps in the
future we may be compelled to
hold the exercises out of doors
where more comfortable seating
arrangements will he possihle.
The Board of Trustees held
their annual meeting at 10
o’clock Monday. In addition to
the usual routine of business a
successor to the late Dr. George
S. Leeper was elected—Mr. Wil
liam M. Aldridge, of Pittsburgh,
Fa. We noted the presence of
Dr. R. P. Wyche, Captain John
Edgar Smith, Col. L. P. Berry,
Professors J. Ward Seabrook
and C. A. Johnson, all of whom
are members of the Board and
graduates of the institution.
COMMENCEMENT COM
MENT
The baccalaureate services
were held in the University
church. The sermon was
preached by the Rev. Louis S.
Evans, D. D., pastor of the Third
Presbyterian church of Pitts
burgh. The fact that he is pas
tor of the church of which
Mrs. Johnson C. Smith was a
member lent an additional in
terest to his presence. He gave
the graduates some wholesome
advice such as will be helpful
as they go through life. He
told them that notwithstand
ing all their knowledge, be it
great or small, whether on land
or sea the enlightened con
science points to God as truly
as the magnetic needle points
to the pole.
The finals were) brflliajntly
begun with a presentation) of
Shakespeare's immortal drama,
“Othello.” The scenery and cos
tumes were costly and beautiful
and the acting superb. The sue
cess of the play must be attri
buted to the patient endeavors
of the director, Prof. F. W.
1935 GRADUATES, SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
Bachelors of Divinity, reading left to right: Howard Washing
ton Givens, A. B., Keyesville, Ga.; and Joseph James Jordan,
A. B., Rock Hill, S. C.
Bond, assisted by Mrs. H. L.
McCrorey, dramatic adviser.
Rev. B. C. Robeson, class of
1911, of Paterson, N. J., was
the guest speaker at the Presi
dent’s reception to graduates
and Alumni. Somewhat out of
the usual order he took a text
and said he would preach a ser
mon, and while he did not say
very much about the Lord in
this sermon, he did make a
mighty fine talk which was im
mensely enjoyed by all present.
| The Rev. Mr. Robeson talked
I 'about dreams and dreamers and
i took occasion to pay a beautiful
I tribute to President McCrorey
I for his magnificent achieve
ments during his administra
tion.
Those who had the direct
charge of arranging the Alum
ni Re-union have every reason
to feel highly gratified at the
success attained, for the Alum
ni came irom all sections, rep
resenting all periods. There
,were but few classes that had
no member present. Beginning
with Wyche, Rattley and Berry
of the seventies on down to the
present time, graduates were
here.
The Junior Prize Contest in
which six members of the Jun
ior class competed for a gold
medal offered by the Alumni,
maintained the lead in popular
interest and enthusiasm. This
year there were five young men
and one young woman student
in the contest. The speeches
were well prepared and above
th average in delivery. Miss Ol
lie Johnson, in the estimation
of the judges, walked off with
the prize and when their decis
ion was announced it was round
ly applauded, showing that the
award met with popular lavor.
Miss Johnson came to us from
Big Stone Gap, Va., by way of
one of our affiliated schools.
As we sat and listened to
Mr. Robeson’s address we could
not help Out think of the Dig
debt of gratitude other religious
denominations owe to Smith for
the large number of well pre
pared men this school has giv
en them, such as Petty and
Robeson of the Methodists; Tal
ley and Allen of the Baptists;
Logan, Perry and Avery of the
Episcopalians, and others too
numerous to name.
The business sessions of the
Alumni Association had an un
usually large attendance. This
lis exceedingly gratifying, since
it indicates a growing interest
in the progress and welfare of
the institution. Their proceed
ings were of a constructive na
ture. They voted t.o cooperate
with the administration in the
drive for funds to build a Girls’
Dormitory. The South Carolina
group pledged Jf>bUU, ana otner
State groups will, no doubt,
make like pledges. At the Pres
ident’s reception the Charlotte
Chapter presented Dr. McCro
rey with a check for $247 to be
applied to the building fund.
We were favored with the
presence of two distinguished
visitors on the campus Sunday,
who were accorded a place
in the line of march to the bac
calaureate services: Dr._
Roman, of Montreal, Canada,
and the Rev. Dr. Wm. Lloyd
Imes, of New York City. These
gentlemen were enroute to At
lanta University where Dr.
imes was scheduled to deliver
the commencement address;
trom thence they were to pro
ceed to Nashville where Dr. Ro
man was to perform a like ser
vice for Fisk. Both are Alumni
of the latter institution.
Graduates returning att.er
long intervals become intensely/
reminiscent and make compari
son between conditions now and
as they were in their day and
generation. Thus it was with
Dr. J. E. Kattley, of Washing
ton, when called upon for a brief
talk at the President’s recep
tion. He has the happy faculty
of saying a lot in a very inter
esting manner, interspersing
his remarks with wit and hu
mor that keep his audience in a
jolly good mood, and wno are
sorry when he sits down. Dr.
Rattley is of the class of ’77,
and says he is 81 years old
though he does not look it. By
being careful about his diet he
expects to live to be an old man
some day.
The music is always a pleas
ing feature of the commence
ment exercises and this year’s
renditions were no exception.
The department deserves credit
for its excellency.
NEW TYPE OF TRAINING
FOR THEOLOIGAL STU
DENTS
In order to provide students
tor the ministry with opportu
nities to obtain first hand expe
dience in dealing with the infir
mities of mankind, the Council
for the Clinical Training of The
ological Students, whose board
of governors is made up of phy
sicians, psychiatrists and cler
gymen, is supervising the clin
ical training of theological stu
dents in twelve centers.