The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-04-21
Mrs. Helen Baker, Friends Service
Committee Speaks Charlottesville

AIIIiOSI COtIlRlClcIy UcSCl tCQ ny
the great mass Of Negroes in the
county. speaking to a mere hand
flI Of people at his church
On Sundays in contrast 10 the
throngs that attended before this
| pitiful situation arose. continues
to carry on coMageously. She de-
nounced what she called the Ne
gro'S lack of interest in his own
welfare: his unWillingness to
lend. unstintingly. his support in
a cause he processes to be fight
| ing for. She also blasted what
she termed the races practice of
setting up barriers. segree ating
| themselves from one another.
This is SO foolish she commended,
declaring. IF you are Negro,
your social standing won't ex-
empt you when racial strife oc-
| ours"
For Total Education.
Representation
1T is foolish to say my child
is on par with the children of
such and such a school if that
school is a Negro school," the CO.
ordinator said. Just as long as
there are separate schools there
is no such thing as their being
equal" she continued. Il demand
total integratiOn or Negro repre-
sentation on every school board,
she told her listeners. Nor
should we be talking about our
children being on par with those
of such and such a school. Let's
/ strive to get them on par with
the children of the best schools
in the nation; yes, the world, be-
cause, today. the World is just
ONE big community
Must Not Hate
Concluding her stirring adj
dress, Mrs. Baker adlnonished
the group that regardless of the
acts of those who seek to deprive
Negroes of their God given
rights, I'VE must not permit our
selves to hate our fellowmen. In
stead, we must return love for
hate. Too. we must have faith in
ourselves and must work unceas-
ingly, with hope, because our
cause is just. Always remember
this: Some of those people who
seek to deprive us Of our rights
are just as firm in their belief
that they are doing the right
thing as we are in ours that they
are wrong. But. we must love
and forgive them: not hate them.
1t isn't the Christian thing to do
she concluded.
A Veteran Educator
Mrs. Baker is the wife of Dr..
Percy Baker of Morgan State
College, Baltimore, Md. They
have two sons. one attending
Morgan and the other working
for the U. S. State Department
in Africa. She is a graduate of
Virginia State College, the Rhode
Island College of Education, and
the University of Michigan.
The speaker began her teach
ing career in the public schools
Of Suffolk, Va. Later she taught
at Virginia State College for sew
eral years. Since then Mrs.
Baker has served as director Of
Neighborhood House. Richmond.
California: Co-Director of Com
munity Service Project. Chicago,
H.; Co-Director of Work Camps
in the United States; Hostess at
International Students Ho u e.
Washington. D. c.. and co-direc-
tor. International Students Prof.
ect, Berlin, Germany.
At present. the veteran educa-
tor is Director of Workers Edu-
cation for the Southern School for
Workers with the A m r c n
Friends Service Committee. Her
office is located at Farmville,
Virginia. 1t is from there that she
co-ordinates the Prince Edward
County's work of the Negro stu
dents who have not been able to
go out of the county to attend
school since schools were closed
in the county two years ago.
Among the organizations Of
which Mrs. Baker is affiliated
are the Friends Meeting, Balti-
more: Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom;
Friends world Committee on
Race Relations, the NAACP, and
the YWCA.