The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1916-10-12
TO THE VOCATIONAL GIRLS
By Raleigh v. Trosper

Nv ~ W Nit
the Opening Of Kentucky Hall.
! God in His infinite love is look
ing down upon us today. Search
ing the innermost depths of our
hearts, He reads therein our hopes.
our desires, our aspirations for flu
t'ire homes among the Southern
Highlands. As this vision of real
ity fills our beings with the essence
Of love for a home, our thoughts.
spontaneously, turn towards the
Vocational Girls of Berea College.
Girls of the Vocational Depart
mcnt. Kentucky Hall means much to
you. II represents the prayers and
sacrifices Of Christian men and wo-
men. Kentucky Hall is TO be your
home during the time that you are
here, learning how to apply the art
and science Of weaving, sewing, bust
ness and home management.
The time has come for the noun
tain girl TO throw off the yoke of
drudgery, break the shackles of ig-
norance. tradition and sentiment,
and take her rightful place in the
activities Of human progress.
The mountaiq girls have been
subjected TO the worst drudgery-
carrying water, hauling and cutting
wood, sewing and cooking under I'M
facorable conditions. whereby tons
OF energy were wasted-simply be-
cause the moss-covered methods
have never been changed.
II is in the Vocational Depart
ment of Berea College that the
mountain girls receive the very
best training possible along the
lines of Christianity and home-mak-
ing.
Vocational Girls. the destiny of
the Southern Highlands is in your
hands.
Will you go with me for just q
few minutes back into the hills to
the old home? In typical mountain
fashion it stands there, implanted
and weatherworn. The mother, in
faded calico dress, shoulders bent,
face scanned with lines OF care and
hands worn with the toll of drudg-
cry, is seated in her chair. sewing,
always at her work. Youth. at one
time sat lightly upon her brow and
she looked out upon the world with
many an aspiration. But she never
received a vocational training.
Too little attention has been given
to the training of the mountain
girl in home management. In the
past, her knowledge for preparing
meals and performing other house
hold duties has been limited TO that
which she obtained in the confines
OF the home. Her work became
burden through this neglect. Gen.
Grafton after generation saw no way
to make change. But across the
horizon Of her narrow world,
stretches the rays Of a new light.
The dawn of new day is at hand,
in which she shall learn new ideas
and break the cruel letters of bond
age. This new light is Berea Col
lege. II has penetrated the forest
clad hills Of the Carolinas, stretches
across the mountains Of Tennessee,
Alabama, and Georgia; Eliminates
the Blue Ridge Mountains OF the
Virginias and gives light among the
picturesque Cumberlands OF Ken
lucky.
A vocational training means far
more to the girl than anything else.
II opens new fields of thought. Per-
sonality is developed, and il is these
girls with their personality that are
to improve the social, economic,
educational and religious conditions
in their mountain communities.
Joan Of Ares personality defeated
the legions of Britain and waited
over the French empire the silken
folds OF the Lilies Of France!
Christ standing on the Mount, and
teaching the simple truths OF this
life and the life TO come, lifted the
world, by his personality, 10 the ut
most height Of civilization Pres
ident Frost, by his personality, has
done more towards solving the vo-
cational and Christian problems in
the Southern Highlands than any
other person in Americal
| have seen the cultured and re-
fined ladies of the East. have OBJ
served the fashionable ladies OF the
North; | have watched the Western
ladies ride their ponies across the
plains, and ] have seen the South
ern ladies in their Colonial man.
sions. but | challenge the Western
world 10 produce a class OF ladies
superior TO the Vocational Ladies OF