Sunday Chicago bee. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1925-19??, 1940-09-01


was well described in this poem
by the late Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
"Out Of the darkness, out Of the
night
Has the Negro crawled to the dawn
Of light.
He has come through the valley
Of deep despair,
He has borne what no white man
ever can bear;
He has come through sorrow,
through want, through woe,
And the cry of his heart is to
know, to know
Woman has, throughout time,
instinctively and self-appointedly,
watched from near and far the
Fpulsings Of the spirit, the changes
Of society's heartbeats, reflected
the opinion of the street and i'm
perceptibly crystallized the ideals
of family and community. She
has been the barometer for last
ing social values, the handmaiden
of Peace by the oft turbulent
stream of that which we call Life.
She has worked, loved, suffered
and in many instances, died all
too soon because of her willing
ness to bear more than her share
! Of human responsibility.
The above is none the less true
Of the Negro woman who in an
almost uncanny way envisioned
a brighter future for her people
than she enjoyed seventy-five
years ago, and had the courage
to help make that vision a real
ity. Her ideals were born Of
suffering but she held to them
with dark memory and bright
hope. She believed that God
family, education, industry ano
character were fundamental te
advancement, and used them al
so effectively that she has beer
an inspiration to noble living anc
amazing achievement. She has
ever been the indispensable part
ner of good and the implacabIe
foe of wrong. She has been ar
asset to the American way of life
its benefactor and not its burden
Following the Civil War, the
Negro woman felt the dulling
handicap of ignorance, sensed its
dangers and made untold sacri-
fees in order that her children
might, through learning, be better
prepared for living and for life
than had been her lot.
In those early years the aver
age family library consisted OF
Webster's Blue Back Spelling
Book, possibly a discarded Reader
and Bible. With this meager
equipment, she made a brave start
Her zeal and diligence have
brought her to the seventy fifth
mile post in her progress. Her
efforts were not in vain. Thou
sands Of educated men and wo-
men, encompassing the principal
fields of knowledge, attest the
value of her experiment.
The Negro woman learned to
walk with God and used the pow
er: of prayer. She reared hel
children in the fear and admoni-
ton of the. Lord. She encourag-
ed, them by such texts as "Seek
and We shall, find, knock and il
shall be opened unto you," anc
according as they studied, worked
and believed, they prospered. The
| heritage Of bondage cast only
shadows across the way she sought
and it. was. dark, for the tender
feet of her. children, but she held
the torch Of Hope high to pro-
tect them from. stumbling. She
made frequent use. of the Bible as
a, reference book and admonished
them to ."get wisdom, but with all
thy, getting, get understanding"
II: When one reads the Negro Yeal
Book, published by Mr.. Work
at Tuskegee, it seems inconceiy-
able, with all the astounding odds
against the children Of the Ameri-
can Negro woman, that they could
have wrought SO well! 1t is, how
ever, to. her undying credit that
she took what she had and used
it. glooriously.
| We proudly mention those wo-
men who have made places for
themselves as physicians, lawyers,
dentists, pharmacists, teachers,
ministers, nurses, social workers,
missionaries, musicians, artists,
scientists, public officials, or just
workers, because each overcame
great obstacles before she arrived.
Nor are we unmindful of the gains
of those who had the initiative to
chart course through the field