The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1912-05-16
Carnegie Heroes .
and the Race Problem
"A "'"fHht H. WASHINGTON PRINCIPAL OF THE
NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL INSTITOTE

CAe or the most interesting little
BOOKS which have read I'm recent
years is the report Of the Carnegie
hero Fund. think it will do any
one good to read records printed IN
ms BOOK of the 5S3 persons who have
oeen sought out and given RECOGNITION
since the commission was founded. be-
cause they risked their lives IN the
trort TO save others from injury and
death. Most Of these heroes, rs an
pears from the report, are men and
women from the humber walks of
lie. They were sailors, miners. rail-
waymen. and often common laborers
men, for the most part, EMPLOYED in
the dangerous trades, who in their
work come daily in contact with UNI
usual perils.
observed, however, among this
list Of heroes an assistant secretary
or the New York Stock Exchange, a
school superintendent in Kansas, an
insurance agent and a bank clerk. A
considerable number OF heroes whose
ueedS nave gained the recognition of
me commission, are boys and girls:
several of them are put down merely
rs students. But among others | no.
iced the name of a woman. an author
and an educator, who is 20 years of
age. LIT is evident. therefore. that
heroism. physical heroism Of the kind
10 which Mr.. Carnegie has tried to give
recognition. is not confined 10 any
particular age or class. 1t would,
perhaps, be nearer the truth to saw
that there is 4 certain amount of
heroism in every man and woman
which simply needs an opportunitv
and an occasion to transmit itself into
action.
Fhe last report of the Hero Fund
Commission was made in January
i'lz, ana there are, as | have said
oS3 deeds of heroism recognized and
recorded out Of G,667 cases examined
and passed on by the Commission since
the fund was established in 1904. In
each case in addition to the name of
the person who performed the heroic
deed, brief has been kept of the par
tlcular act Of heroism rewarded and
the circumstances under which it was
performed
There are, however, in this new
Book of Heroes, which Mr.. Carnegie
h ,t,,tr
llshed, is gradually bringing together.
two classes of incidents which are par
tlcularly interesting to me. They are
cases, the first in which a black man
or woman has risked his or her life to
save white man Or woman; second,
IN which a white man or woman has
performed a similar act for the sake
OF a black man or a black woman
There are nine cases of heroism
credited to Negroes in the report is
sued a year ago, and since that time
| have learned by inquiry, three other
cases of heroism by Negroes have been
investigated by the Commission. Fol
lowing is the account of these partic-
ular instances of Negro heroism as
recorded in the report of the Hero
Fund Commission:
john b. Hill, colored aged So,
coachman, rescued Thomas S. Prescott,
aged 6, and Florence Williams, COL
ored, aged 81, from a runaway, At
lanta, Georgia, December l. 1905. By
grabbing the bride Of q runaway team
hitched to a landau containing the
child and maid, Hill, alter being drag
ged some distance, threw the horse.
1t fell upon him, breaking the stitch
es in wound due to a recent opera
ticI Bronze medal and $500 to reim-
burse him for pecuniary loss sustained
on account Of injuries. ... .---....
George Grant, colored, aged SO,
teamster, sustained fatal injuries res
cuing Charles G.. Campbell, aged 46,
president American Printing and Dec
Grating Co., and Charles A. Whipple,
aged 48, superintendent Of building
construction, from runaway, Groton,
Connecticut June 90, 1906. Grant
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