The Washington bee., 1911-06-24
Scholarship Honors.

crime Lee, Elsie Ray Newman.
Hon. Z. L. Taylor, of Ohio, when
he was introduced, received the great
est ovation that has ever been given
a human being. Mr.. Taylor is re-
sponsible for the large appropriations
given for the colOred schools in this
city, and no man Is more loved, hon
ored and respected by every cOlOred|
| American than Mr.. Taylor. He said
in part:
| consider it a distinguished honor
to have been invited here today by
the officers of this school, 10 meet
with and address for a few short min
utes, the graduating class and sol
many of the representative colored
citizens of the District of Columbia.
An audience like this is an inspiration
to any one and particularly one who
unlike myself, may be inclined to be-
pessimistic as to the progress and
| future of the American citizen of
! Negro persuasion | am further hon
ored by being permitted to speak tOI
ia class graduating as it does today,
from the oldest high school in the
/ city of Washington The NJ Street
| High School has compelled my in
| terest from the time | took up my du-|
| ties as a Congressman, representing
las | do district in which large and
Intelligent Negro population reside.
was gratified to learn that there areI
InOW more than 5000 young COlOredl
Ipeople enrolled into the various grade'
schools of the District of Columbia,
and more than 1000 enrolled into the
! high and normal schools. The growth
Il. 2 ha
/ development of the race Starting as
| it did with but one teacher and forty
! five pupils, today it Is represented by
| thirty-hve teachers and an enrolment
| of seven hundred and forty young
American citizens, determined to pre-
pare themselves properly TO take up
! life's duties according to the bent OF
! their individual ambitions, and this
not including that splendid institution,
the Armstrong Manual framing
! School, the outgrowth of the old
| business course of the NJ Street High
School The effects of a high school
! education upon your pupils seem to
/ have been to inCulCate courage, am
bition and a desire to rise as edu
Gators, ministers, business men, law
yers. and every other aVOCatOn to
which you are each individually suit
ed For | find that out of the class
IOf 1910, at which time eighty young
linen and women graduated, IS per
cent are now pursuing a higher edu-
cation in colleges or professional
schools, and about 55 per cent are
lurthering their usefulness by a
IcouTse in the normal school. This to-
ltal of SO per cent who, not content
with the education resulting from a
course in the high schools, propose
to still further fit themselves for
useful lives in an effort, not only to
ward self perfection, but a more
laudable desire TO help better the
conditions Of others who will follow
them. 1t has been my good fortune
to have kept in close touch with the
Negro citizenship of my native State
in particular, and having from boy
hood known many OF the race, both
lin school and in business. | have been
at all times, even when others, both
COlOred and white, were discouraged
and inclined to pessimism, ardently
Optimistic as to the future of that
lDortiOn of our citizenship, whose an
ICestOrs came to this country under
1.-THE unfortunate circumstances of ser
vitude. One has but to look back
a very short cycle of time, less than
half a century, to see that the Negro
has accepted his duties of citizenship
in good faith, with true courage, and
rising above more obstacles than any
other nationality, has cheerfully and
patiently progressed in education,
business and Othe honorable pursuits
as rapidly as any other race was ever
! known to do When we consider the
evolution of the Negro from bonds
man TO a citizen, we have chapter
lin history which should stand as
beacon of encouragement to every
lone of us. When Abraham Lincoln
declared the Negroes free, it could
be well said that they were practi-
cally totally illiterate. A very few
who had been freed or educated by
their masters, could read and write,
but the great body of the race, men
and women, lived the lives of bond
men, patiently labOring for their mas
ters with no other ambition than to
do the task assigned to each under
the direction and control of the su-
lperior mind. With one stroke of the
pen, this dependent race were de
Clared free and in a very short time
thereafter, given the full privileges
of citizenship. With centuries of ser
vitude and degradation behind them.
how hopeless it must have seemed to
ever accomplish or catch up IN edu-
cation or occupation, with the other
races The utter poverty and ignor-
= ance which envelOped the colored
race. at the time of the reconstruc-
ton. is almost beyond comprehension
They had no money They had
= never earned a wage They had learn
ed to depend for food and susie
, nance upon their owner. They had
no clothing or shelter, and most of
them were without the slightest con-
ception of the school and the home as
we know them. At the very begin
ming, they had no time for education
, The serious struggle TO sustain life.
, to obtain food, clothing and shelter
of necessity retarded their efforts and
desire for book knowledge. They
had no knowledge of their legal
rights, of contracts or agreements
for wages. They did not know what