Jackson advocate., 1963-05-25

Piney Woods, Miss, May 20
-Piney Woods school recently
dedicated Sadie B. Caldwell Hall,
new $50O,OOO structure made
possible by the legacy of a
Georgia white woman.
Mr.. Brown was introduced by
DR.. Laurence c. Jones, President
of Piney Woods, and used
Sound No Trumpets" as the
title Of his address.
The full text of the address
follows:
Throughout the centuries,
scholars have pointed to the Ser
mon on the Mount as the great
est single religious message ev-
er spoken. To christians it con-
tains the guideposts for living
and to men and women ev-
erywhere even the nom
Christian these words of
Jesus Christ contain undeniable
truths.
''In recording this sermon, St.
Matthew included these words:
Beware of practicing your
piety before men in order to be
seen by them; for then you will
have no reward from your faith
er who is in heaven. Thus,
when you give aims, sound no
trumpets before You, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets, that they may
be praised by men. Truly l say
unto you they have their re-
ward. But when you give aims,
do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing,
so that your aims may be seen
in secret; and your Father, who
sees in secret, will reward YOU"
These familiar words describe
the act of the gracious lady we
honor today. A lady who was
careful to "sound no trumpets"
a lady who left her earth
ly treasures to aid others less
fortunate, yet did so in such a
modest, selfless fashion that
during her lifetime only her at
torneys were aware of her gift.
"But let me regress so that /
may explain more fully. Some
two years ago, DIR. Laurence
Jones was notified by the law
firm of Pratt, Moore, Bortz and
Vitousek in Hawaii, that they
represented the estate of Mrs.
Sadie B. Caldwell and that the
Piney Woods Country Life
School was the beneficiary of
her estate. The proceeds from
this bequest amounted to nearly
one-half million dollars.
Until he received this noti-
fication, DIR. Jones had never
heard of Mrs. Caldwell. And,
later, when the bequest was re-
ported at meeting of the Board
of Trustees, everyone was at a
loss as to who Mrs. Caldwell
was, and how she had become
interested in the welfare of Pin.
ey Woods School.
"In fact, it took careful re-
search for us to unravel this
mystery and even today we
know very little about this gen.
erous benefactress.
MRS. Caldwell was born Sa-
die Estelle Waldron on Novem-
her 10, 1884 in Waycross, Geor-
gia. Her father died when she
was an infant, and when her
mother remarked, she was
given her stepfather's name
Byrd. She was reared in Sa-
vannah, Georgia; educated in Sa-
vannah Public Schools and Miss
Stuart's School for Girls, Wash
ington, D. C.
'In 1907, at Goldsboro, North
Carolina, she was married to
John Ward Caldwell of Tampa,
Florida. Mr.. and Mrs. Caldwell
went that same year to Hawaii,
where Mr.. Caldwell was employ
ed by the U. S. Engineering De-
partment, and Honolulu was
their home thereafter.
"Tn December, 1854, Mrs.
Caldwell sat at her home in
Honolulu and joined thousands
Of other Americans in viewing
television program, "This is
Your Life She heard the genial
master of ceremonies, Ralph Ed
wards, introduce the featured
guest Of the evening
The Little Professor of Piney
Woods" :. and as the program
progressed she learned Of the
dedicated work of DR.. Laurence
C. Jones and the result Of his la
Dor ). Piney Woods Country
C.Lz11