The Twin City star. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1910-19??, 1915-01-09
OKLAHOMA PAYS
HIGH TRIBUTE
Citizens Of OkmuIgae Praise
Thrift Of rO-AmorlCanS.

DR.. LAMBERT CHIEF SPEAKER
In Optimistic Address Well Known
White Man Says Race ooeupis,
Unique Place In country's History
breaches Doctrine of Character n
True Measure Of Manhood.
BY WILLIAM II. DAVIS.
Okmulgee, Okla.-The high esteem In
which DR.. Booker T. Washington Ia
held by the people Of both races in
Okmulgee and vicinity was never more
generously shown than it was on bis
recent visit to this town. At the meet.
ing held on this occasion DR.. Washing.
ton was made welcome In a most time
ly address delivered by DR.. o. A Lam.
BERT who in part said: -.
1 come today as representative Of the
Anglo-Saxon race to bid your people q
godspeed In every undertaking that will
lift them to q better. q higher, q nobler.
condition Of life. Whether we win 1t or not
you are q part Of our national existence.
and In the years gone by the hand Of fate
has linked your destiny with ours. and
future years can only reveal its fullest
meaning. As q people your place In his
tory Ii unique Torn from q dark CONT
nent Of ignorance and superstition by the
| ruthless hand OF greed, enslaved for 400
years by q superior race, redeemed from
that bondage by treasures Of money and
| sacrifice Of the best blood Of q nation and
suddenly given all the rights and priv
ileges Of citizenship Of that nation, you
hold place In history unparalleled and
az q race stand alone
! Believing In the doctrine that charac-
| ter Ia the true measure Of q man, that
merit 10 the determining factor in the
scale Of life and that true worth may be
found under q black skin as well al the
white. that no race Of people has a mo-
nopoly on all the good or all the bad, but
that the virtues and the vices flourish
alike In all the races under the same con-
ditions Of life and environment-with these
truths uppermost In our hearts today we
can speak the message Of cheer and hope
to the Afro-American race. Fifty years
ago 100000 Of your people were wearing
the calling chains Of slavery, without
property.
But today you present yourselves with
more than 100000 Of people. paying taxes
on $700000,000 worth Of property, sus-
tanning more than sixty Afro-American
banks, having your own schools, churches
and colleges, with representatives Of your
race permeating all branches of indus
trial, commercial and intellectual life and
activity Of the nation. In the south
alone there are over $4,000 Afro-American
schoolteachers, where half a century ago
Il was crime to teach q Negro to read
and write. There are today more than
LOO instructors In 100 academies, schools
and colleges who are graduates Of col
leges: more than 10000 Sunday school
teachers, 5000 men in the ministry, who
are graduates from theological schools.
There are ZOO lawyers, 1,800 doctors and
scores Of editors Of magazines and news
papers who are engaged In lifting the
once benighted and superstitious mind Of
the race into the sunlight Of knowledge
and truth.
To the question us the Negro capable of
intellectual attainment" you have given
the affirmative by such Afro-American
colleges as Wilberforce Allen, Livingston
and Tuskegee. schools with such intel
lectual minds as Bishop Payne, Mitchell,
Price and Booker T. Washington.
To those who think that the Negro lacks
enterprise and business accumen you can
point with pride to j. H. Lewis, the Sec
ond largest merchant tailor in the state
Of Massachusetts, and fourth In the Unit
ed States. or to M o. Atwood Of East
Sycamore. Mich. one Of the largest lum-
Der dealers Of the northwest. born an AL
ALBANIA slave, or to Walter p. Hall. the
largest wholesale produce merchant on
Market street, Philadelphia But why take
time to specify by namef For they are
legion who have entered the industrial
and commercial field and have shown
great ability and thrift in the manage
ment Of business enterprise.
To those who thought the Negro lack
ing In ingenuity and mechanical skill you
can tell, then, Of Mccoy. who invented
the lubricator now In use on nearly all
railroad engines. or Lewis H. Latimer,
the expert electrician Of the New York
Electric Light company. who personally
superintended the installation Of light
plants In the great cities Of England, or
w. A. Heel, the noted designer and dec
orator. Some Of the finest art glass in
our churches today are his designs. To
those who think you are devoid Of culture
and love Of the esthetic, point them to W.
q. Bannister, whose painting Under the
Oaks won the medal at the Philadelphia
exposition In 1876. or Professor Henry o.
Tanner who recently sold to the Luxem
burg gallery his famous painting the
Raising Of Lazarus" the second Amer.
lean artist to sell his work to that insti-
tuition.
To those who charge that the Negro
lacks physical courage and fortitude let
the annals Of history answer how at Fort
Pillow and Cold Harbor In the war to
save the Union the black troops stood the
merciless fire Of the enemy In such q
manner as to call forth the admiration Of
the whole country, or, In the Spanish
American war, with the well disciplined
and fortified Spanish troops pouring q
deadly fire from the hill into the faces of
the black troops, with q song on their
lips, my Country. It's Of Thee, Sweet
Land Of Liberty" went charging up the
hill and saved to the rough riders the VIC
tory Of San Juan Hill.
world that you have the essential eIe-
ments. though crude some may be, to be-
come q self supporting. self governing
race Of people. Give you 400 years Of
American freedom. American opportunity
and possibility and such win be your
achievement that II Il were possible for
Lincoln, your great deliverer to look
down from the portals Of heaven he would
little suspect you were the descendants
from those from whose limbs he unioosed
the shackles. Napoleon once said, II and |
time can accomplish all things" This |
was not true. but we have the faith that |
with patience and sober Judgment In Gods |
own good time the race problem viii be |
satisfa ctorily settled. not by violence not |