The morning times., 1896-06-13
SOUTR'S PLACE in HISTORY
Association Organized to Perpetuate
1t Holds Its First Meeting.
Instructive and Interesting Papers
Read by Well-Known Writer'S
ON Appropriate Thenes.

The first annual meeting OF the Southern
| History Association, an organization that,
| though less than two months old, claims
| membership OF nearly 200 welrknown
| people, was held last evening in the mann
lecture room of the Columbian University.
| Postmaster General william L. T&.sOn pre-
| sided and delivered the opening address. Mr
| Colyer Meriwether acted as secretary.
| With these Two on tine PLATFORM sat
| Stephen Is. Weeks, OF The Bureau OF Educa-
ton; Col. Richard n. Johnston, of Bal:t
more; Edward Ingie, OF Baltimore, ahd
| Gen. Marcus j. Wright, for the War De
/ partment, all OF whom presented interesting
| papers.
MIR. Wilson opened the exercises with
| neat speecn, in whlcn he called attention TO
the necessity OF preserving the valuable
! historical records OF the South and sand
that was the purpose OF the formation OF
| the society. Every State to produce great
| men must honor It's heroes, he said, and
called attention to the manner i'll which
| England did homa ge to her iilustrious dead.
| His remarks, like those of the succeeding
speakers, were greeted with warm ap-
! plause.
| the Promotion Of Historical Studies in
the South,'' was the subject OF Mr.. Weeks
interesting paper. Col. johnson read
paper on The Planter OF tine South and
|
"David Crockett"
The title of Mr.. Ingie's. entertaining and
instructive paper was: Two Southern
MagaZines.''
NO period of American history said
| Mr.. Ingie, .'sbould possess greater fascina-
ton for the student than that extending
from the administration of jackson TO the
opening of the tragedy OF the civil war.
No feature of that history has been more
neglected heretofore than the part played
by the South i'll the social literary and
economic life Of the United States.
within recent years, however, has come
a great awakening. Almost simultaneous
ly with the birth OF the conviction that
history is something more than past pol
itcs, candid and broadminded writer's have
realized that the story of our country has
been told with misleading effect because
of a failure to emphasize tine South's share
in the making of it.
"It may be said. without invdious in
tent. that there has been too great
preponderance OF Southern bis,o'y from
what may be termed the New England
sta ndpoint. The real historian Of the
United States. get to be born, Will take
the position of an American citizen. know
ing no section, but carefully weighing all
facts relating to the North, South and
West before embodying his conclus. oas in
scientific philosophy"
More material for Southern history is
abundant, said Mr. Ingle, than one might
imagine with the desolation of four years
still fresh in the mind. The study of two
magazines will derive much of interest
to the Soutbs career. One is DeBows
Commercial Review of the South and
West" The other is the Southern Lit
erary Messenger of Richmond. These were
contemporaries for sixteen years. They
represented in a sense Virginia conserva-
tism and North Carolina individualism.
The founder Of the Messenger was
Thomas W. White, printer by trade.
The first issue appeared in 1884. No
pretensoDs were made by him to literature
as profession.
One of his first acquisitions was the poet
Edgar Allen Poe. His remarkable work
brought il quickly To the front and it
maintained for thirty years the high stand
ing acquired.
Like Mnite, James d. B. DeBow was
not born to affluence, But he craved
ambition. He began in mercantile life
and later gave himself a years prepara-
tion for the bar. He soon turned his
attention to literary work, wherein his
stronghold lay The Reviews cradle was
In small, bare room over a bookstore
in New Orleans. He and friend divided
20 cents day for food.