The Washington bee., 1898-01-29
THE CONGRESSIONAL LYcEUM.
rpusrEE RICHARDSON ON INDUSTRIAL
EDUCATION.

The executive committee, through
Sc chairman. E. V. Davis, esq.,, pre-
sented a very interesting programme
.t the Congressional Lyceum at Odd
EeIIows' Hall, 1906 M street n. W., Sun
dav afternoon last. DIR. George II.
Richardson, one of the trustees OF the
nublic schools, read well written
and thoughtful paper entitled. "lndus-
trial Education. Among other Things
DIR. Richardson said:
The discovery, development and
adoption of policy which will bring
ms in closer and better relation to our
surroundings and fully abreast OF the
times depends upon our appreciation
of its importance as well as upon the
variety of its phases. The time has
come when the intelligent world ex-
meets and demands thai the Negro
Shall advance upon all those lines
which are calculated to develop man
and render him an important, useful
and indispensable factor In the body
poIl,Ic. i hese conditions can be met
by our own efforts, aided by proper
system of public Instruction, In which
great attention is paid to industrial
and manual as well as classical edu-
cation. We cannot attain to the posi-
ton of entire accepIability to the DOM
inent classes by developing peculiar
fitness for any one business or profeS-
sion, but we must produce men and
women by the thousands whose skill,
industry and ingenuity will elaborate,
work into new forms and put to new
uses the inventions of genius and the
IS Mammal and indus
trial schools become necessary because
they tend toward the NATURALIZATION
OF instruction-toWard the precise
needs of the individual pupils. Man
ual and industrial training develops
the power of observing through the
senses, inspires a respect tor rough
honest toll, a love of order, cleanliness,
of economy and of the beautiful, while
1t develops concentration OF attention,
the power of combination, an appre-
citation of accuracy and the inventive
faculties and cultivates discriminating
observation and correct perception
In This age man is emphatlcally tool
Cising animal and to train up our boys
and girls simply in knowledge OF
Greek roots, ologies and fine poetry
would be very much like Uncle Sis
notion Of putting a fifty-dollar saddle
on a twenty-dollar horse-making
very beautiful but neverlesS a practi-
caIly useless animal"
Weatheriy's ." The Holy City," a
solo, by Miss Georgia Smith, was beau
tifully rendered, alter which the dis
cusSion of the paper was opened by
MIR. Williams whose remarks were
more vigorous than clear and the au-
dience appeared trifle puzzled as to
whether he favored or opposed indus
trial education along the lines marked
out by the eSSayist VT. Williams was
followed by the editor of the BEE, W..
Calvin Chase, who spoke forClbly and
clear, and while he agreed in the main
with the essayist, he observed that the
paper did not suggest a remedy. MIR.
Chase was being loudly applauded
when the presidents gavel announced
that his FIVE minutes had expired, but
| before he could resume his seat Mr..
Tyson rose and asked unanimous con-
sent that Mr. Chase be allowed to con-
tlnue his speech for five minutes.
| There being no objection Mr., Chase
proceeded with his remarks He stated
In conclusion that as DIR. Richardson
| was mGmDGI Ot tliC DOdl VI vi SIHOOi
trustees, he was in a position to do
something to materially improve the
present condit on of the industrial
schools along the lines suggested in
the paper, and that although there
were four colored members of the
board, they had not, up to the present
time, taken any steps in this matter.
Mr.. Houston stated that the paper
fully covered his idea of the great neen
of industrial training among the mass d
Of the race Mr.. Lucius II. Petersos
disagreed with the essayist in the main
and said that there was no more rea-
son why the colored people should be
a race of a5orers than any other race.
DIR. Richardson replied briefly to
some of the structures upon his paper
and the discussion closed.
Next Sunday the ''Dayis District suf-
frage resolutions" will be up for fur
ther discussion. Other interesting fea-
lures of the exercises will be recita-
ton by Miss Henrietta Vinton Davis,
the we'll known II tIagedienne, solo by
Prof. James 7. Walker, and an instru.
mental duet by the Misses Harvey.