Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1914-02-14
~ m.
FATHER KELLER
Makes Appeal For Holy Rosary
Industrial School For
Negroes.
Work Which Deserves Support
Of the Catholics I'm Every
Section.
Children OF Colored People Are
Instructed and Properly
Trained.
NECESsITYfOR THE INSTITUTION

ltwenty-four years pastor of the Holy
Rosary church at Galveston, but now
engaged in the crowning work of his
life, the erection of the Holy Rosary
Industrial School for colored people
at Lafayette La, pleads for space
for the following:
Dear Reader: While you are en-
joying the blessings of true religion,
there are in your neighborhood, that
is in the South of this progressive
country, which boasts of every pos
sible invention and an Incompatible
wealth. nearly 100000 of people
of African descent, whose fore
fathers we're brought to this prom
ised land a hundred and two hun
dred years ago. About half of these
millions belong to the various sects,
while over 100000 have never
been baptized, and less than a quar-
ter of million are members of the
Catholic church. We have therefore,
from a missionary standpoint, a
field of the same Importance as
Africa, and which offers the same
opportunities for activity and which
deserves the same support, espe.
cially of our Catholics here, as the
dark continent or any other mission
ary country. In years past, how
ever, this field did not receive the
attention which other countries re-
ceived, because many people, not
only in the South but also in the
North, gave little or nothing toward
these missions. in consequence of
their prejudice or a certain amount
would sooner give toward mission
airy enterprises in distant lands than
for the conversion of the colored
man at our own door But the inn
portance of missionary activity
among the negroes In the United
States has been held out to our
Catholics so frequently that most of
them are fully acquainted with it,,
and 1t is gratifying to see them take
more interest in latter years than
any time before.
The kind of work required in our
colored missions is pretty well the
same as in Africa and in other mis-
sionary fields. There every effort is
made to gain the youth, without of
course neglecting the conversion of
adults. He who gains the youth lays
a solid foundation for the future.
The work therefore is to have
schools. homes for poor children, in
dustrial schools, ETC., in which the
children of these poor people are in
structed and properly raised. Such
IL 70 fafu
more necessary among these people
than among civilized nations. These
latter have received schooling and
catechetical instruction and they are
able to teach their children many
things and show them the proper ex-
ample, while the former have had
no training or instruction and can
therefore not, give their children
what they themselves do not possess.
III therefore great stress Is laid on
schools and instruction. it is all the
more important in a work like our
colored missions. And the instruc-
tion in these schools and institutions
must extend beyond reading, writ
ing, etc., and catechism: children
must be taught regular habits and
such work that will enable them in
later years to earn their living In
an honest and honorable way.
With this object in view we opened
an Industrial school for colored chill
dren some time ago at Lafayette,
La. The aim of the institution is to
instruct children in their religion
and teach them the proper manner
of performing their religious duties,
and give them at least the most nee
essary schooling, and furthermore
teach them all useful and necessary
work for their home and its sur
roundlngs. We started a building
some months ago, which will accom-
modate over a hundred pupils. The
necessity OF such an institution is
seen from the fact that negroes in
this neighborhood could not walt
with the application for admission
of children until the new building
is finished. We have already sixteen
pupils whom we could not refuse ad-
mission. They are housed In a
building which served formerly as
a corncrib. II the building could
accommodate more We would have a
larger number even now.
There Is one particular point
which deserves special mention in
connection with our work, and II Is
this: In a section of the country
like this. where so many negroes are
Catholics. an institution like ours is
of the greatest importance for the
preservation of faith among these
people. There are In this section,
especially I'm the rural districts,
thousands OF negroes who have been
Catholics ever since the emancipa-
tion. but many of them know moth
ing about their religion, except that
they have been baptized and per-
haps made their first communion.
They have no schools where they
could be instructed. and An some
churches even they are not welcome,