Birmingham age-herald., 1895-06-06
ALABAMA.
NORMAL.
Twentieth Commencement Exercises of the
 Normal and Industrial school.

l twentieth commencement.
 1 The exercises began Sunday morning. May 26. at 9 o'clock with the anniVer- l sary of the Young Mems Christian asso- l citation. This association was addressed by Prof. Henry Hopkins of Sheffield,
 Ala. The address was forcible and elo- quent. -,,
 of Washington, D. C.. delivered the an nual sermon. Dr. Crummell is grad uate of Oxford, England, and has been in the Protestant Episcopal ministry TOT fifty years He is one of the ripest schoi-
 ars, as well as one of the most cultured
 men, among the negroes Of America. Having spent twenty years on the coast of Africa and having given the negro question his life time study, there IS no
 man better fitted to give an opinion as to the best course for the negro To puf- sue than Dr. Crummell. His sermon
 was profound in thought, logical in reasoning, eloquent and beautiful Tn
 diction, elevating in sentiment and
 sublime in spirituality.
 The music was especially fine, and al- though the rain came down in torrents the large chapel could not seat the many visitors who came eager to hear the dis tinguished divine
 The Sunday school held it's anniVer- sary at D. m. The address was deltY- cred by Rev J. F. Humphrey of Hunts vile, Ala. An interesting feature of this meeting was the reports of the students who have been doing Sunday school work in the community. These young men have organized Sunday schools, built school houses, held temperance meeting, and have done much to ele- vate the people in this community. At 7;30 the reunion of the religious societies was held. The societies were fortunate in securing Dr. c. s. Smith, | secretary of the African Methodist Epis- eopal Connectional union, Nashville, Tenn, to address them Dr. Smith made an able address, made doubly in- teresting by the recital of experiences and incidents from life in Africa, from which continent the doctor has but re- gently returned.
 The senior class-day exercises took place Monday morning at o'clock. They were elevating and high class through out Much credit was reflected upon the class by their dignified demeanor and the character of their exercises.
 At the close of the preparatory de- pertinent exercises, which occurred at 3:30 in the afternoon, MT. Wells of Huntsville made a fine speech, full of sound advice. MT. Wells is one of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of Huntsville.
 The literary societies held their anni- yersary at 7;3O in the evening. After the welcome address, reports and mis- cellaneous business, Drs. Crummell and Smith made some interesting remarks. Tuesday was full of interest the entire day. The first exercise of the day was the graduation from the industrial de- partments. There were in all thirty three graduateS-tWo from the carpentry department, one from the blacksmith de- partment, six from the nurse training department seven from the cooking de-
 partment, one from the broom making department, two from the sewing de- partment, nine from the laundrying de- partment, four from the stenography | typewriting and telegraphy department l and one from the agricultural depart | ment. These were among the most inter- esting exercises of the whole commence ment. The essays were excellent and their delivery all that could be desired Addresses were delivered to the grad uates by Hon. Ben r. Hunt of Huntsville
 and by MT. C. P. Lane, editor of the Evening Tribune. The speeches. were
 practical and full of good advice. All
 were delighted with the progress of Nor nal.
 Normal gives great prominence to in dustrial education. feeling that every thing that can be done should be done
 to dgnify labor and to give it due inn portance. Normal is one of the first schools. if not the first, to issue regular diplomas to industrial graduates. This is the third year that industrial gradu- ates have received diplomas.
 The crowning event of the week was the address delivered by Gov. William | V. OdleS dI D. III. tuesday. Ine ScnOOl was drawn up in open order to receive l the governor. The brass band greeted | the beautiful equippage drawn by four | plumed horses, in which were seated the governor, Dr. J. H. Bryson, Dr. Sealy | and Hon. S. J. Mayhew, trustee of the school, at the entrance, and discoursing | sweet music preceded the carriage l through the long lines to the end. where | stood the president and the faucuty | waiting to receive his excellency. The | governor immediately passed through | all the different departments of the | school. He expessed himself as per | fectly delighted with what he saw | He then repaired to the chapel in Pal mer hall, which was already filled to it's l utmost capacity, and yet the crowd had | just begun to arrive. Standing room | could not be had. The steps, windows | and every entrance were crowded with | eager visitors; but not half the crowd | succeeded in hearing the speech | President COuncill made few remarks I and then called upon Dr. Bryson to in | troduce the governor. Dr. Bryson is a | most cultured gentleman and a master | of the English language. He introduced | the governor in most appropriate man. | her.
 | The governors speech was practical and forcible from beginning to end He | first gave a brief history of negro slavery, showing how it had been ben | efcial to the negro by bringing civiliza- | ton to him. and that as soon as the ne- | gro had received all the civilization he | could get in a state of bondage, God. In | his infinite wisdom struck the shaclSles | from his feet. He spoke at some length | on the reconstruction period, giving much instructive information. He said | the south wanted the negro to remain | here, for there was no other class of | people whom they would willingly see | take the place of the negro. He encour- aged the negro to educate himself and prove worthy of trust and as fast as