Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1921-09-19
HARDING ADDS MS
PRAISE TO BEREl
Three Presidents Have Now
Complimented Work This
Great School Is Doing

tunity OF higher education to On'
of the finest stocks of origina
Americans that are to be found il
this country" President Harding
writes, in commencing the unique
work the institution is doing il
placing education within reach o
the 100000 pioneer Americans
shut away in the great Appalach-
ian Highlands.
1t has been their misfortune.
the President continues, ito live
away from the great highroads OF
American migration and develop
ment, and therefore TO have been
somewhat passed by i'll the marcl
of cultural development of recent
decades. We all know that they
are of the finest and most patriot
ic clements of the Nation, and the
splendid work that Bcrca College
is doing among them is thorough
ly deserving OF all appreciation.
Berea Collc,c established in the
Cumberland foothills of kcntuc-
Ky, at the gateway of the great
Appalachian area, is elementary
school, high school, college ,vo-
cational school, all i'll one. This
unusual division Of activities has
grown up to meet the peculiar
needs of the mountainecrs in the
eight Southern states from which
uJost of Berea's students come.
Cut off from the outer world
and from each other by the mar
row gOrges and mountain barri
ers of the Cumberland and Ap-
palachian mountains, these people
of purest American stock have
lived since Revolutionary times
an independent life, little intlu-
enced by the development of the
-est of the country. Many Gus
toms of an earlier generation
have thus been preserved intact.
such as use Of the ancient hand
loom, the making and singing OF
ballads, III some cases the idiom
of Chauccr and Shakespeare. But
the advancement of the mining
companies into this region Of
great mineral wealth is introduc-
ing modern conditions, and tho
,nountainecr needs education to
cope successfully with them.
Berca, with more than half a
century of growth behind it, is
devoting every effort to supply
this education. No one is too
poor or too old to be welcome at
Berca, provided he or she has :,
will to work and a longing to
learn. The Foundation School
gives primary training to those
who had no opportunity for even
the simplest education until the
were over fifteen. White haired
men and women are found in the
classes, learning to read and
write.
The student at Bcrca pays only
for keep and books, and in many
instances works out" even this
charge. Every student must work
at least two hours day TO meet
the charges OF his or her educa-
tion and many work their way
thru entirely. The College is also
sending extension workers, trav-
cling libraries, and its book wag-
on tar back into the Mills to aid
those who cannot otherwise be
reached.
Berea is caring for over $500
students each year. Dormitorics
are crowded, makesllift housing
and class-rooins have to be resort
ed to, and the faculty is working
overtime and at the minimum Of
compensation. Yet hundreds are
turned away because Bcrea can
not provide for them.
Possessing no adequate endow-
ment, Berea must rely On individ-
ual donations. 1t is making its
appeal for $l.OOO,OOO to the entire
country because the obligation to
place the means Of education with
III the reach of these pioneer
Americans is a national one,-
their due by every right of blood,
Inheritance, and patriotic service.
President Hardings coinmenda-
ton is note of trilogy of presi-
dental praise of this unique insti-
tuition, for Theodore Roosevelt
once wrote: Il do not know an
institution doing a more neces-
sary work." and former Presi-
dent Wilson paid this tribute
There is no single place where
aid can do SO much and SO evi-
dent good"