The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-05-31
PROFESSOR GREGoRY,s CASE.
Ooiored Citizens Are Divided as to the
Charges Against Him.

OhdTReb against ftt1ms
The charges against Professor John f. Greg
ory, the colored school trustee which the
Commissioners have been investigating for
some days, are exciting much discussion
among coored citizens. Professor Gregory
has long been regarded as one of the leading
men of his race in the District, and his alleged
misconduct has shocked many people. AS is
well known, there are several factions among
the colored residents of Washington and senti-
ment is therefore divided on the Gregory case.
Dr. G. NJ. Purvis surgeon in charge of the
Frecdmen's Hospital is an old friend of the
accused professor. He said yesterday: "I have
krown Professor Gregory for twenty years and
know him to be man OF ability aud fitness
for the place he occupies. think his fitness
has been recognized by the general board of
school trustees. Thisis the first time that any
charges have been brought against him in any
official capacity and he has occupied positions
Of trust, You know as well as / do that the
ex-trustees of the colored schools are always
fighting the ins, in order to get back presume,
or else from pure cussedness. II seems to me
that they are at the bottom of it all. This
matter has been brewing for long time"
"Why, then, was 1t that Professor Gregory
did not take the bull by the horns and force
his opponents to show their hands? 1t is
stated by one of them that he insisted upon
secrecy and that he would quietly resign in
order not to create scandal, which would
operate to the detrlment of the schools? ?'
81 don't believe he ever insisted upon Sc
crecy. He denies all the charges, and 1t is my
belief that he will, at the proper time, make
satisfactory explanation. The matter is now
before the District Commissioners, and 1t Is
only the right thing for him to do to renal in
silent until he is officially called upon to
make answer. | have had charges piled up
against myself in my official capacity, and
while there was great deal of smoke 1t all
blew away without revealing any evidences OF
fire. You may say this" concluded the Doc
tor emphatically, 81 shall stand by Professor
Gregory until the end.'
The SUNDAY HERALD reporter also inter-
viewed Thornton Davis, an intelligent and
prominent colored citizen, as to the charges.
Said he: professor Gregory belongs to the
kid-glove colored class, and make no such
pretension. / say that the colored people
generally never trusted him. For example,
recolect that when his name was brought
up in the Fifteenth Legislative District Con-
vention against Andrew Gleason as candi-
date for the Chicago Presidential Convention
years ago, we downed him to man, for we
felt we could not trust him, although we would
have preferred to have had one of our own
race to represent us. No, will not state
the grounds of our distrust, because / could
not prove them. Let it suffice to say we be-
lieved that he didn't care picayune for his
race. He was a Gregory man every time, and
we thought he would sell us out
if he had an opportunity But there
is another thing. Some time ago
there wers weekly lectures established for the
benefit of the young people of the colored
race in the Metropolitan Church on street.
Professor Gregory was expected to show an
active interestin so laudable an enterprise, as
he was cclored school trustee / am credi-
bly, Informed that he never put in an appear
ance at any of the lectures and that he paid
no attention whatever to the invitation ex-
tended him. Now I've heard about these
derelictions imputed to him some time before
the charges were made and on general princi-
pies l believe every word of them. However,
suppose the Commissioners will get down
to the truth of the matter. They will have no
lack of evidence"