The Africo - American
Presbyterian
REV H. L. McCROREY, D.D., LL.D.,
W. E. HILL, Associate Editor
WILLIAM S. ANDERSON,
Business Manager
Devoted to the Educational, Mate
rial, Moral and Religious interests
of our people in the South, and pub
lished at Charlotte, N. C., every
Thursday.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
Single copy, one year ....... .$1.50
Six months .75
Three months ...50
Entered at the Post Office at Char
lotte, N. C., as second-class matter.
THURSDAY, DEC. 24, 1936
CHRISTMAS
(From Supreme Council, 33rd De
gree Bulletin.)
The earthly ministry of the
Man of Galilee was very brief,
but it is indeed doubtful if any
other individual in the history
of the world ever crowded into
the short span of three years
so much actual benefit to hu
manity as did Jesus the Christ.
The Nazarene was a mature
man ere he embarked upon his
great mission of preaching the
Gospel; healing and regenerat
ing those who were sorely in
need of his ministrations. It is
generally conceded that Jesus
was well prepared, through
years of consecrated study,
through a life that was free
from any taint, through a divine
understanding of man’s rela
tionship to the Heavenly Fath
er, to take up his divinely ap
pointed work at the age of
thirty—a work that was to
change radically the thoughts
and actions of men and nations.
No truer words were ever
spoken than those uttered by
Editor
the way-shower, iney nave
been regarded in all ages as
gems of thought. Their appli
cability to humanity of every
age cannot be questioned. They
are as potent &nd stirring to
day as when first uttered by one
whom the world acknowledges
to be the world’s greatest
Teacher. A man of peace, as
was foretold by Mary’s heaven
ly visitant, the Master admon
ished his followers to “love one
another.” “Put up thy sword,”
he commanded the impetuous
disciple. “Sin no more,” he
gently advised the repentant
woman. “Thy faith hath made
thee whole,” he told an erstwhile
sufferer. These brief expres
sions contain volumes of mean
ing.
He cast out the devils of fear,
disease, anger, dementia. He
strongly condemned Pharisaical
hypocrisy; he assailed greed
and avarice; he exposed the
false gods before whom many
bowed in complete subjection;
he unmasked the pride and ar
rogance of those in high office.
Indeed, the three years were
filled with astounding and mi
raculous acts on the part of this
humble, selfless man who ever
pointed the Way of Life to err
ing, suffering humanity.
And what was the reward
meted out to this Holy Man of
God? Ignominious execution. A
public spectacle of disgrace on
Calvary. Manifest hatred for
the Christ Truth he taught and
daily lived.
But his physical death on the
Cross did not put an end to his
mighty works, (as cunning en
emies had hoped it would) for
today, almost two thousand
years after that all too brief
ministry of Jesus, his name is
revered by millions of people in
every part of the globe. He is
variously regarded as the Mes
siah, the True Exemplar, the
Perfect Man, the Greatest
Teacher, the Divine Wayshow
er.
Thus on the eve of Decem
ber 25th, all Christendom will
unite to pay homage to the
memory of that tiny Babe, ly
ing in a rude manger in Bethle
hem—the Christ Child who was
destined to become the Prince
of Peace, the Counsellor upon
whose shoulder rests the gov
ernment.
The Wise Men of today will
bring gifts, like the Magi of
old, to honor that Babe—gifts
of good will to all men express
ed in many practical forms,
such as giving to the poor, aid
ing and comforting the widow,
remembering the orphan, bring
ing gladness to the sick and in
firm, cheering the aged, causing
the prisoner to forget momen
tarily the stone walls and steel
bars, spreading sunshine and
joy into darkened lives—per
forming all of these good deeds
in his name.—L. W.
TO OUR READERS
In keeping with a custom that
has obtained for more than half
a century, the office force of the
Africo-American Presbyterian
will be given next week off, and
the next issue of the paper will
bear date, Jan. 6, 1937.
As we come to the end of an
other year we would pause to
acknowledge the blessings and
mercies of a gracious Heavenly
Father, and to express our
gratitude to Him for the privi
lege of serving the Church and
humanity through the medium
of this newspaper. We are not
unmindful of its shortcomings,
and it shall be our earnest and
constant endeavor as the days
come and go to make it more
serviceable in the dissemination
of truth and more potent in its
influence for good.
We are grateful also to our
friends who have helped us in
the performance of our task by
words of appreciation and en
couragement, and by their con
tribution of church news and
other articles. We hope these
friends and all of our readers
will have the most joyous holi
day season they have ever ex
perienced, and that the new
year will be one of signal pros
perity and happiness for them.
TOPICS FOR THE WEEK OF
PRAYER, Jan. 4-10, 1937
(Copied from the Bulletin of the
Federal Council of Churches of
Christ in America)
General Subject, “The Gos
pel of God.”
Monday, January 4th. “The
Reality of God.”
Tuesday, January 5th. “The
Wisdom of God.”
Wednesday, January 6th.
“The Love of God.”
Thursday, January 7th. “The
Sufficiency of God.”
Friday, January 8th. “The
Saviourhood of God.”
Saturday, January 9th. “The
Comradeship of God.”
Sunday, January 10th. “The
Kingdom of God.”
CENTENNIAL SERMON
CONTEST
(From Monday Morning)
To secure additional material
for the use of pastors in preach
ing Centennial sermons in Oc
tober, 1937, the Board of
Foreign Missions announces to
the pastors the following: Fori
the best sermon on Foreign Mis
sions submitted by a minister
of our Church, an honorarium
of $150; for the next best ser-j
mon, $75; for the third sermon,
$25; for the fourth sermon, $10;
for the succeeding six sermons,
a copy of “One Hundred Years,”
by Dr. Arthur J. Brown.
The conditions on which the
sermons may be submitted are
as follows: (1) The sermon
must be on the subject of
Foreign Missions. (2) The ser
mon must have been preached
to an actual congregation. (3)
It should be typed, preferably,
although handwritten messages
will be welcomed, but, typed
or written, the subject matter
must be on one side of the pa
per. (4) It should be sent to
the Centennial Council, Room
913, 156 Fifth Ave., New York,
N. Y. (5) The name and ad
dress of the writer should be
clipped to the sermon on a sep
arate slip or sheet of paper. This
should bear the theme and text
of the sermon, for identifica
tion. (6) All sermons must be in
the hands of the Centennial
Council by April 1, 1937. (7)
Sermons awarded recognition
will be retained for publication
in a booklet to be available on
and after the 1937 General As
sembly.
A special committee consist
ing of a pastor, an elder, and a
woman member of the Board
will select the sermbns. An
nouncements of awards will be
made May 1, 1937.
GIDEON CO-FOUNDER DIES
(From The Supreme Council, 33rd
Degree Bulletin.)
Mr. Samuel E. Hill, age six
ty-eight, one of the two travel
ing salesmen who was a co
founder of the Gideons—the In
ternational Christian Commer
cial Men’s Association—passed
away at Beloit, Wis., November
11, 1936.
The other co-foun<Jer, Mr.
John H. Nicholson, is still liv
ing. Hill and Nicholson,^ respect
ively, were termed by the In
ternational Chaplain, Samuel
A. Fulton of Milwaukee, Wis.,
as “Gideon No. 1” arid “Gideon
No. 2.” .
The two men met late one
night in the Central House,
Boscobel, Wis. Hill had regis
tered and had retired to his
room. Later Nicholson applied
for a room, but was told all
rooms had been taken. The clerk
suggested to Nicholson that
Hill might share his room with
him; it was agreed. Before re
tiring, Nicholson took from his
grip a Bible, with the statement
to Hill that it was his custom
to read from it each night. Hill
responded: “I, too, am a Chris
tian. Let’s have our devotions
together.” They read the 15th
Chapter of the Gospel of St.
John and knelt in prayer.
Breakfasting together, they
discussed the value of prayer
and Bible-reading, and deplored
the absence of the Sacred Book
in guests’ rooms of hotels.
Some months later, upon the in
vitation of Hill and Nicholson,
several traveling men met, and
the details of an organization
resulted.
Over 1,330,000 Gideon Bibles
have been placed in guests’
rooms of many hotels and in
penal institutions and hospitals
of the world.
THE FACULTY FORtFM OF
JOHNSON C. SMITH
UNIVERSITY
By Prof. W. G. Morgan
The first meeting for the
school session 1936-37 of the
Faculty Forum occurred on Fri
day evening, December 18th, in
the parlors of Carter Hall. An
interesting program was pre
sented and an appetizing menu
was served at the conclusion.
The speakers for the evening
were President H. L. McCrorey,
Acting Dean M. E. Thomasson,
and Professor R. L. Douglass.
President McCrorey outlined
for the group the program and
discussions of the meeting held
on December 9th and 10th at
Duke University and at the Uni
versity of North Carolina on
graduate, professional, and vo
cational study provisions for
Negroes in North Carolina. Dr.
McCrorey presented the pur
poses of the meeting and gave
some of the highlights of the
discussions. He reported that
a commission has been appoint
ed to draw up a plan for provid
ing graduate, professional, and
vocational instruction for Ne
groes in North Carolina to be
presented to the North Carolina
Assembly when it convenes. The
meeting was held under fhe
auspices of the Division of Co
operation in Education and Race
Relations of which the State
Department of Public Instruc
tion, the University of North
Carolina, and Duke University
are the cooperating organiza
tions.
Dr. Thomasson gave a brief
summary of the highlights of
the meeting of the Association
of Colleges and Secondary
Schools for Negroes held at
Virginia State College, Novem
ber 12th and 13th.
Dr. Douglass outlined as
briefly as possible some of the
main features of the Social Se
curity Act. Dr. Douglass pre
sented the outline in his usual
clear-cut, practical way, mak
ing his discussion both interest
ing and enlightening to his
listeners.
The talks by all three of the
speakers evoked discussion, but
the discussion of the Social Se
curity Act developed the most
heated and enlightening rebut
tals.
After the discussions the
forty persons present gathered
around tables in groups of four
to partake of the delicious re
past of chicken salad, tomato
aspic, potato chips, buttered
rolls, and hot cocoa. The pleas
antries and joviality that be
gan at the tables were conclud
ed around the punch bowl.
The Faculty Forum was or
ganized some years ago and is
composed of the members of the
University staff and their wives.
Its purpose is to provide a means
of getting together at frequent
intervals in a sociable way to
discuss educational and general
topics.
DR. WEST TO PREACH AT
SMITH UNIVERSITY
CHURCH
Other school activities have
been suspended until Jan. 4th,
but the Sunday morning service
at Smith University church will
be held during the holiday sea
son as at other times. Next Sun
day, Dec. 27, Dr. L. B. West,
Field Representative of the
Board of National Missions, will
be the preacher. The public is
cordially invited to attend the
service and hear him.
THE THEME SONG OF UFE
By E. FRENCH TYSON, M. D.
(An address delivered at the 1936 Foot-ball Banquet at Johnson C.
Smith University on the evening of December 14.)
Mr. loastmaster, Members of
the Faculty, Ladies, Visiting
Friends and Fellows:
If I were a king to-night and
had to choose between Love and
Empire, loving as I do to hold
up my hands in abject horror
at any thought of making a
public speech, I, too, would ab
dicate on the side of Love, but
not in a “Fury.” I would select
the classic, “A Horse! A Horse!
My Kingdom for a Horse!” Then
I would .forthwith get into high
gear, and, asking Divine guid
ance, would seek the habila
ments of an Elijah of old, raise
my wings and leave this earth
in sustained flight, lest, per
chance, the red herring of pub
lic speech be dragged once more
across my pathway. Yet, on
this particular occasion, I am
not come with bated breath and
whispering humbleness and
fear and trembling, but I am
come courageously with a mes
sage to foot-ball men. To see
foot-ball men—He-Men, two
fisted, courageous, with intesti
nal fortitude, with honor, in
tegrity, high character, clean
hearts, minds and lives, know
ing what it means by esprit-de
corps, the sportsmanlike give
and take of hard but clean play,
and, if you please, reverence
for deserving seniority any
where they see it, it does me
proud to be able to come before
you tonight and give you the
encouragement and inspiration
I got a quarter of a century
ago when I took off my togs,
hung up my tack and began this
terrible business of making good
in life.
With Tennysonian persuasion
I am looking back a quarter of
a century upon the lines:
“Tears, idle tears; I know not
what they mean! Tears from
the depth of some Divine Des
pair gather to the eye in look
ing o’er the happy autumn
fields and thinking of the days
that are no more.”
Twenty-five years ago, using
your college campus vernacular
now, during the “pig-meat”
plasticity of my youth, it was
my privilege to enjoy the el
bow-touch of a great and glo
rious galaxy of good men—men
who were destined to show me
The Light—the straight gate,
if you please, of entry into this
business called The Making of a
Profitable Life. A quarter of a
century ago, I say, these were
they who showed me by their
sterling character, their clean
living, their religious devotion
to hard work, their honesty and
steadfastness of purpose that
there is such a thing in life as
the length’ning shadow of a
personality that does project it
self into the hearts and lives of
men. Listen to this great gal
axy of good men whose elbow
touch I enjoyed a quarter of a
century ago: Dr. McCrorey, Dr.
Shute, Dr. A. A. Wyche, Mr.
Thad Tate, Dr. Tommy Long,
Dr. J. Ward Seabrook, Dr. R. L.
Douglas, Dr. Partee, Dr. P. W.
Russell, Dr. Yorke Jones, Dr.
G. E. Davis. Some of them the
boys called ‘Hystami;” some
others they called “Flink,” but
they all were Sweet Papas to
me. There were others, of
course, but these are they whose
elbow touch I enjoyed most fre
quently. Then it was that I
first saw The Light.
At that same time it was my
privilege to have hegemony, su
pervision and leadership, if you
please, of successive groups of
young athletes, then students of
this University. I saw it my
duty to become analyst or in
terpreter of the psychology, the
trends, the influences, the tra
ditions, the motif and potential
ities of campus life as it affect
ed both faculty and students. I
say, I saw The Light and I took
that light, held it aloft, and,
while absorbing, assimilating
and appropriating the plans and
purposes entertained by a sin
cere and solicitous faculty
group, striving with the winter
of discontent of an unsophisti
cated, plastic, ambitious, loyal
and enthusiastic group of stu
dents, I tried my utmost in my
humble way to pass that torch
along to successive groups of
students making it the more re
splendency to burn for having
been rekindled, at each passing,
by the lengthened shadow of
personality.
In short, I tried to teach my
students what it was all about
—this new business (it was new
at that time) of dovetailing the
clean and enduring potentiali
ties of an athletic dispensation
into a scholastic idea. Please
indulge me a moment as I pass
in review for you my parade of
another galaxy of good men
who have enjoyed the elbow
touch of their president, their
faculty, their coach, their fel
lows and Life, and yea, verily,
I am almost tempted to say
that even Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one
of these. There, dignified and
stepping majestically with ben
efit of clergy, marches Robeson;
then, on his way to his reward,
goes Darden: then step out
Mayberry, Wood, Worth Will
iams, Roy Johnson, the Blue
boys, Len Harris, Sumter
Davis, the Hilton boys, the
Downings, the Martins, “Tuf
Mut” Williams, Blackwood,
Fleming, Liggon, Perk Will
iams, Sullivan and C. W. Fran
cis. They all have made good
in life.
Now let’s turn around and
think back. Look at C. W.
Francis, emerging from a mud
dy, rain-soaked football field,
ragged, dirty, reeking in per
spiration, without benefit of
clergy or deodorant, actually
crying like a new-born baby be
cause, with his game already
won, he had made only three
touchdowns instead of six. Dar
den was but a boy, who, though
dressed from neck to toe-nail in
a brand-new uniform, would lit
erally run himself ragged in his
insatiable desire to bring home
the bacon. Every time I think
of Robeson, Lewis Downing,
Sullivan, Mayberry, Francis,
Perk Williams and “Crip” Hil
ton I think of the strong sChd
impressive language of Senti
mental Santayana in “The Last
Puritan” when he says, “They
stood out from the crowd like
a popinjay among a million
crows.” Mayberry reminds me
now of the choice word and the
measured phrase in the exqui
site language of Bliss Perry,
erstwhile editor of the Atlantic
Monthly, Professor of Compar
ative Literature in three cele
brated New England Colleges
and author of “And Gladly
Teach,” when he says that So
and So “had all the Christian
virtues except resignation.”
Mayberry never quit. His is
the most outstanding example
of intestinal fortitude in the an
nals of Smith University ath
letics. He won a tight game for
us one day by reason of having
remained in the game a full
fifteen minutes before he would
tell anybody he had sustained a
broken collar-bone.
And now for my Theme Song
of Life. If Professor Long will
indulge me in a little pleasantry,
I shall tell you that this song
doesn’t have many staccato
notes, but few adagio move
ments and some courageous
forte, but it does have in lavish
profusion much of his celebrat
ed and subdued Pianissimo—
Please pardon my Southern ac
cent.
My song has but four stanzas, j
The first stanza begins and ends |
with these words: Gratitude is
the fairest flower that sheds
its perfume in the human
heart; it is a story about a Per
sian Philosopher. The second
stanza is a story about a Moth
er’s Love; the third stanza be
gins: My Latest Acquisition;
the fourth stanza is Morituri
Salutamus.
As a Persian philosopher was
walking about his estate one
day, he reached down and pick
ed up a handful of dirt, smelled
it and found that it was sweet.
He said to the dirt: “Oh bit of
dirt! It is so unusual to find a
mere bit of earth smelling so
sweet. Where did you get your
sweetness?” The dirt respond
ed: “Sir, I was once in a bar
ren field; plucked out of that
field, I was transplanted here,
beside the purest and most un
sullied rose-bush that ever grew
and I imbibed my sweetness
from this rose.” I say that in
the plasticity of my youth I was
plucked out of a barren field of
scholastic endeavor and trans
planted here beside the rose
bush of the personalities of Dr.
McCrorey, Dr. Shute, Dr. Long,
Dr. Douglass and the rest whose
names I have already called, and
I, too, imbibed some sweetness
from the contact. My theme
song to-night is dedicated to
them, for “They Made Me What
I Am To-day And I Hope They
Are Satisfied.”
My second stanza: A Mother’s
Love. The Great Master one
day raised a window whence
droppeth the gentle rain from
Heaven upon the place beneath.
He called to his side an angel
and said to the angel: “I want
you to go down yonder to Moth
er Earth, spend ten hundred
years, search diligently and
bring back to the Glory Seat
seven of the most precious
things you can find.” The an
gel departed. After he had
seen ten hundred Novembers
blanket the hillsides with snow;
after he had seen ten hundred
Junes carpet the meadows and
farm lands with a verdant
green; after having seen grapes
grow purple under the amorous
kisses of ten hundred Septem
ber suns, the angel started back
to the Glory Seat, with seven
of the most precious things he
had found on Earth. Here’s
what he had found: a beautiful
flower, a rain-drop, a bar of
bright gold, a marble statue of
an Athenian boy, a pomegran
ate, a piece of purple cloth and
a Mother’s Love. On his jour
ney to the Glory Seat he rode
in a chariot that was more
beautiful than pearl and swift
er than the flaming, scintillat
ing tresses of a comet. Arriv
ing at the Glory Seat amid the
trumpetings of seven archan
gels, he reached down with what
my pronunciation francais says
—Legerdemain—I mean celes
tial prestidigitation, for the
seven most precious things.
But alas! as John Keats would
say: that “thing of beauty and
joy forever,” the wondrous
flower, had withered and
died; the rain drop had
evaporated; the bar of bright
gold had crumbled to dust; the
marble statue of the Greek boy
was shattered; the pomegran
ate had dried up; the purple
cloth was faded and torn; and
it was only a Mother’s Love
that had withstood the buffet
ings of the journey and had en
dured throughout all the ages.
A Mother’s Love, at home or
abroad—the love of an Alma
Mater for its get, will “Make
you fellows what you should be
some day, then she will be sat
isfied.”
Third stanza: My Latest Ac
quisition.
Fellows: your latest acquisi
tion tonight is a Letter In Foot
ball—an honor bestowed upon
you by your Alma Mater as an
incentive to cleaner sportsman
ship and cleaner living. As
Polonius is now telling it to
Laertes I’m telling it to you—
“grapple it to your bosoms with
hoops of steel” for, “If will
make you what you ought to be
some day; then we will be sat
isfied.”
My last stanza is Morituri
Salutamps. This is a story
about Henry Wadsworth Long
fellow. As an octogenarian, in
his gray years, at a time in his
life when Father Time was
ploughing cruel furrows across
his brow; at a time when his
step was being robbed of its
elasticity, and the buoyancy
was being taken out of his life,
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
went back to Bowdoin, his
Alma Mater, and delivered the
Commencement address—Mori
turi Salutamus—“We being
| about to die salute you.”
It is classic language; it is
the hand of Esau but the voice
of Jacob, for it is none other to
us to-night than “You made me
what I am to-day and I hope
you’re satisfied.” But Longfel
low did use some language
which Shakespeare would have
called language “of great pith
and moment, when he said:
“Let him not boast who puts
his armor on as he who takes
it off—the battle won.”
My song, fellows, is ended. I
hope it has melody that will
linger on. I have told you that
gratitude is the fairest flower
that sheds its perfume in the
human heart. If you would
succeed in life use gratitude. I
have told you that therd is such
a thing in life as the length
’ning shadow of a personality
that can project itself into men’s
lives for good. I have told you
that a mother’s love, whether
at the fireside or an institution,
is the most potent, dynamic and
enduring influence in the busi
ness of making a profitable life.
I have told you that the honors
accruing to you as you pass
through life should be regarded
as “brand new” and should be
protected at any cost. And I
have told you that it is not time
to boast until you have received
that final honor which is but the
realization that the very best
(Continued on Page 3)