The Dayton forum. [volume] (Dayton, Ohio) 1913-1949, 1937-05-28
BY FLOYD j. CALVIN
/ Special Feature Writer) J

II
NEW YORK While the white
press Of the nation was hailing the
appointment Of Dir. John II. Finley
as the new editor Of the New York
Times, succeeding the late Rollo Og-
den. it was revealed that DR.. Finley,
who is now in charge of s@he most
potent editorial pages in the world X
is long standing friend of the Ne
gro.
DR.. Finley is considered a builder
and molder of public opinion Of the
better sort, and it is felt to be d
fortunate situation for the colored
American that one Of his views and
tolerance is in such position of
power over Americas thinking.
From data furnished by Tuskcgcc
Institute, where DR.. Finley was Ioun-
der's day speaker on April 27, 1929,
something of DR.. Finley's philosophy
on the Negro's position in American
life and in the world, may be gseanl-
ed. Speaking on the subject, Book
er T. Washington, the Negroes Josh
ua.' DR.. Finley said in part:
THE dawn Of the earth and OF
man is long, long way back, SO long
that We have memory Of it only in
the rocks and fossils. The earth, it
IS stated authoritatively BY scientists,
has been whirling in space for at least
billion years Two or three weeks
ago foremost English scientist said
it was not more than 100000, GOO
years old. And man in much his
present physical state saw his first
dawn nearly million years ago
at least 100000. So long time has
he been coming out of his captivity,
Those who tried to find their way
forward In Africa, lost their way I'M
the darkness. Isaiah refers iii his
prophecy to the rustling Of wings in
the land beyond the rivers Of Ethi-
opia.' What he meant, do not
clearly know, but the 'rustling wings
suggest a mysterious moving in the
continent out of which came the Eth
iopian whom Philip encountered,
making his way back from Jerusalem
In his chariot (for this Ethiopian was
a man Of great authority under the
black Queen Candace, and he had
charge Of all her treasure). He was
reading the Book Of Isaiah, and hear
ing this for the first time of Christ
was baptized Of Philip, the only Ne
gro convert mentioned in the Bible
unless Simon of Libya who bore the
eros of Christ be one.
Wondered About Ethiopian
s'I have wondered what ever came
Of this Ethiopian who carried his
Bible back into his own land and who
was q Jewish convert and the frs
Negro Christian. But the recent dis
coveries of the psychologists have
disclosed the remnants of an African
culture hitherto almost completely
unknown and it may be that sons
day we shall find some trace Of the
Ethiopian, who drove off beyond
GAIA, his clothes still wet from the
baptism. Here is a paragraph from
an article to be published this montf
la an interesting Negro Symposium
appearing in Current History, which
by the courtesy OF the editor | an
permitted to quote,
nsAll through West Africa tn
Negroes had established many cen
ters of learning. In their school
and universities courses were givel
in rhetoric, logic, eloquence, diction
the principles Of arithmetic, hygiene
medicine. prosody, philosophy, eth
nology, music and astronomy. Tn
q Negro scholars in many instance
@murpassed the Arabian. In Ethiopia
ts ssseir contributions to culture stream
far beyond the borders Of thei