The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-12
SNOW HILL SCHOOL.
Professor Edwards's institutten's Commencement Day,

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 Snow Hili. May 1o.-(special) )--The eighth annual commencement of the Snow Hill Normal and Industrial In- stitute began last Sunday with a ser mon by the Rev. R. c. Bedford of Be- lott. Wis. The most prominent white people of the town were present and listened with marked interest to the instruction given by MT. Bedford. He spoke from the tenth chapter of Pro- verbs and fifteenth verse: "The wealth of the rich man Is his strong city. the destruction of the poor is their pover- ty." He showed by argument. deduc- tion. comparison that the race to whom he was speaking must acquire wealth,
 at least in the limited sense. if 1t would be respected, protected and granted those rights which can come only through such channels. ,,, :. The school was established eight years ago by William J. Edwards. who is the principal. Edwards began this work in the summer of 1893 immedi-
 ately after he graduated at the Tuske- gee Institute. What this man has suf-
 fered in the effort to establish here this
 now prosperous institution cannot be
 described. From one teacher and three pupils the school has grown to where 1t now has IS teachers, 40e students,
 owns 70 acres of land and has 8 build ings, operates 13 industries, consisting of carpentry. blacksmithing, wheel
 writing. printing, sewing. laundering, cooking. poultry raising. brick nak- Ing. etc. The property is valued at $30, 900. This is a remarkable record,
 when one takes, into consideration that
 1t is only eight years since the insti- tuition started with only 50 cents as its capital, ard with an ignorant, hostile community of blacks and with the whites not too "avorably impressed with negro education. But through all | of this 1t has safely come, and now bids
 fair to become one of the leading me- gro institutions of the South. The principals report including thu | report of the assistant treasurer, which was read before the Board of Trustees, | showed that the cost to operate the school this year had been a little more 1 than Sl1.000. Of this amount about 8. 900 has been given by friends in the North and in the South, and 8 few in the far West. About 1.500 has been paid by students in cash, produce and
 labor. The State of Alabama gives ss7
 to $40 annually. The remainder of the SIG, coo is collected through the sale of articles produced in the various indus trial departments. At Wednesday morning was the occa-
 sion of Q prize oratorical contest. A contest is to be held annually and the prize is S16 In gold to be given to the student in either of the three higher classes who will produce the best orig inal oration on certain subjects selected by Dr. E., Winchester Donald of Trim ify Church. Boston, the founder of the prise. It is safe to say that had the Doctor been present himself he might have been at loss to know to whom to award the prize, so excellent were all the speeches. The judges, consist ing of three--two white men and one
 colored man--saw fit after three quar- ters of an hours deliberaticn to award the prize to Arsula Palmer. The audi
 ence felt that the decision was just
 and right.
 The Primary Department, under Che
 direction of M. Etta Thomas, gave an excellent concert Tuesday evening.
 The evening classes which represent
 large and growing part of the insti-
 tution's work. gave an excellent exhi-
 bition of their years labors Monday
 evening. These classes are composed
 of young people who are unable to en-
 ter the day school, and consequently
 must work during the day and attend
 school in the evening.
 Yesterday was commencement day
 proper. Long before the sun rose the
 fattle of vehicles and the praying of
 mules were heard on the campus. By 8 o'clock there was line of negroes
 about four deep extending from the in-
 stitution to the town of Snow Hill. g
 distance of about two miles, A short
 time after there were acres of mules
 and miles of negroes" .... f4s.s
 It was the one day of the year when
 all the farmers lay aside their work
 and attend school.
 The large auditorium was crowded
 almost to suffocation and people got so
 warm that one old woman pulled of
 her shoes and declared it was too hot
 in there for her feet. Another farmer
 who came in late and failed to get
 a seat complained afterwards at the
 office, saying that the white folks were
 against him at home and the negroes
 against him here. When questioned
 about his white landlord being against
 him, he replied that white men didn't
 like him because he was old. and de- clared that white folks had no use for old negroes and old mules.
 Those who graduated were as .fol-
 lows: CorIie Johnston yaledictorv.