New-York tribune., 1901-08-23
4 COLORED EVANGELIST.
THE REV. MARY +. TAYLOR'S WORK FOR
THE UPLIFTING OF HER PEOPLE

THE UPLIFTING OF HER PEOPLE
ooon-io- rendered by the stewardesses to the Rev.
Mary 7 Taylor at the First African Methodist
Zion Church Hudson-ave. and Fleet-st-, Brooklyn.
res, evening The Rev. DR.. Jacobs. pastor Of the
s,-.b has gone as delegate 70 the EcUrenical
Council in London. and Miss Taylor VIII occupy
t,s nuIrit until his return. in October. She wore
b~r clerical black gown with severe white collar
end woke and during the evening. by request. re-
cited the dialect poem, The Party, by PAU Lau-
,ance Dunbar. The festivities included a pro-
r-amne Of recitations and music and refreshments,
and as is usual on occasions Of this kind. the
guest Of honor was the recipient OF donations Of
more or less substantial character.
Miss Taylor began her work in Brooklyn last
Sunday, preaching morning and evening ana on
o,sting at sacramental service in the afternoon.
The church was filed 10 tho doors every time, and
r.any white persons were seen in the audiences.
Although only twenty-eight years old. Miss Tay-
,or hegan her evangeist!c work fourteen years
seo having been ordained as local preacher In
Knoxville. Tenn. before she was fifteen. She IS
full blooded African tall and large unassuning in
manner and enthusiastic regarding ell efforts for
the bettermenJ Of her race.
We in the South have not yet reached the place
where we can demand respect for our women. and
no race can rise higher in morality and intelligence
than its mothers" she said to Tribune reporter
YESTERDAY There are lot Of things 20 keep our
women down. one is the natural indolence OF the
coored men Of the South and their Willingness TO
LEI their wives and mothers work their knuckles TO
the bone 10 support them and the children An
other is their wretched poverty and poor housing,
and the consequent herdng together Of entire fami-
lies in one or small rooms Then, TOO. there is
the fact that while negro families are, as rule.
large the colored man receives smaller pay for mis-
work than the white man
Miss Taylors father and mother were slaves.
owned by Grinsfeld Taylor (whose name they bear,
Of East Tennessee. When they were emancipated
Mr. Taylor gave TO her mother and two other
house servants fifty Of land. and her father.
who had been sold. reunited to the family
AT his death. twelve years later, Mary, then four
years old, was taken by a kind hearted woman,
who, with precept and discipline, inculcated
into her youthful mind good old Puritanic prin-
cipes Upon the death Of her benefactor. eight
years later. the girl, eager for education.
10 her brother. in Knoxville. where. out of school
hours. she earned her board by carrying 20 and
fro the clothes that her sister-in-law washed by
assisting with the dish washing in a big boarding
house and doing odd jobs generally OF clothes
for herself there very few. and frosted feet
as result OF lack Of shoes and stockings in win
try weather among the memories Of those
days Even then, however, her desire 10 help
others was great. and odd minutes spent in
carrying TO the prison papers and books gathered
One Of her patrons, who Interested in mis-
sion home. seeing the spirit OF the little girl grad
uaLy lAlilateQ her in;o the work Of that institu-
ton, paying her 81 week for doing small things
about the place and running errands Her last
SENIOR Gays Were passed al Haston College, a
Quaker school in Marysville where she paid her
expenses exp by splitting kindling wood carrying
s4G 1q. TeIceFlng other similar services
Nlthln the last six years she has bought and
furnished home in Nashville. Tenn where she
ipo!ts HeI dged Inother ana two girls for whose
eoneauon she has made herself responsible In
adoluon 70 these cares. she is contributing TO the
SuPport OF a boy at Tuskegee Institute OF her
nome, me fTuit OF her energy and good man
the properly in 1 # Included on1S n Sse ena GGGght td
room house She paid 800 down and the remain
oLher e story has been added and wing annexed
win with veranda across both it and the upright.
,her account Of the change in the neiglborhood
since ne Improvement Of her property is interest
sng. sh - oud never know II for the same street"
house everybody seemed contented. but no sooner
could hear peoBe @ tnan ne hey Yoke up
ration- - One morning I overheard curtain iect-
ure' in yard the street back Of ours We'll!
now nov just look a-yonderr said the irate wife.
Other folks can 1--we decent. and here I've worked
aha earned all my life and got nCthn'. I'm goin to
GUT II You've got to fix this house The result
ton that his wife meant what She said the hitherto
,nooient n1 man got himself a job. and that house
- You lic. see lot of our people get money enough
sley s eat II up in peanuts neighbor at one
oe s OF US who had never thought OF carpeting her
syw sgw OF papering her walls until she saw mine.
oa both in an incredibly short time and has had
q peasant, habitable house ever since, while her
uttered wood yard, that had been an eyesore to us
tms,ttoasiy. ~ mas also been transformed opposite
- mere was an old house with no paint and the
ursris 4sLo oLI anu 10 suS5S9bo,I u
walk In front. The necessary repairs have all
osen made, and the house is one Of the best kept
on the
Not only my improved manner OF living but my
ssork have evoked emulation. Just before ! left
nome the last time. neighbor. thrifty coiored
INN fsg,nsn without children said to me: You can can
zee u can't raise a model girl too. "
ny hn Is Miss Taylor's aim 20 build an industrial
Eome for failen colored girls. Her time is spent
N n. travelling through the South on evangelistfc
n,, rs Wherever the bishop may direct or opportu-
lily call her. After leaving here she has an en-
ssgement in Key West, Fla. and later in Mobile.
40, She may accept an invitation 10 the Island