runs to seed, and so much intelligence goes to waste, as among the Negro element in our large cities.'" 11

Before the Civil War Northern Negroes rarely found admittance to any college except those founded especially for them. Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, founded in 1854, and Wilberforce College in Ohio, founded in 1856, were the only Negro colleges north of the Mason and Dixon Line. At this time, in the Western states, there was considerable opposition to Negro colleges, not because the white people objected to Negro education, but because Negro immigration was not desired, and any kind of school for Negroes was thought to be a drawing card for Negro immigrants. Wilberforce College was objected to for this reason, and in 1865 a mob gathered and burnt it to the ground. Oberlin College in Ohio took the lead among the Northern white colleges in opening its doors to Negro students. In 1865 about one-third of its students were of the Negro race, and it still has a larger number of Negro students than any other Northern college. As a considerable number of Negroes began to pass through the high schools, it became very evident that unless they were generally admitted to the state universities and endowed colleges, they would be denied. the privilege of higher education. One by one other colleges opened their doors to Negro men and women, and now there is no Northern or Western institution of higher learning which openly debars them.

Some Negroes are found in nearly every university in the North or West. They come up in numbers from the South where Negro colleges are numerous but of low standards. Generally students from Atlanta University, Georgia, go to Harvard, those from the Atlanta Baptist College go to Chicago, and those from Talladega, to Yale. The number of Negro students in Northern and Western universities is about 500. The total number of Negro graduates in the United States is about 6,000.

One almost never hears of trouble growing out of the intermingling of the races in the higher institutions of learning. On account of the very large student body in these institutions, no single student, outside of the classroom, can come into contact with more than a small number of his fellow students, and he is free to select his own circle. The Negroes and whites sit together, and if necessary work together in classrooms and laboratories, but in all social relationships they follow their natural bent in joining opposite circles. I have sat beside "Through Afro-America, p. 128.

Negroes in the University of Chicago, and have had them as my pupils in the University of Colorado, and in both instances my feeling towards them has been one of sympathy and admiration.

The color question sometimes arises over the admission of Negroes in universities which have dormitories. For instance, several years ago a Negress from Texas engaged a room in Chapin Hall at Northwestern University, and upon her arrival a storm of protests arose from the girl students, and from the Women's Educational Association, which has supervision of the several halls in which the girls live. The outcome was a decision by the authorities not to admit Negro women to any of the dormitories of the institution.

In January, 1923, the color question came up in a similar way in connection with the application of Professor R. C. Bruce, a Negro, for accommodation for his son in the freshmen dormitories at Harvard University. In reply to the application, President Lowell wrote as follows:

"I am sorry that you do not feel the reasonableness of our position about the freshmen dormitories. It is not a departure from the past to refuse to compel white and colored men to room in the same building. We owe to the colored man the same opportunities for education that we do to the white man, but we do not owe to him to force him and the white into social relations that are not or may not be mutually congenial.

"We would give him freely opportunities for room and board wherever it is voluntary; but it seems to me that for the colored man to claim that he is entitled to have the white man compelled to live with him is a very unfortunate innovation, which, far from doing him good, would increase a prejudice that, as you and I will thoroughly agree, is most unfortunate and probably growing.

"On the other hand, to maintain that compulsory residence in the freshmen dormitories-which has proved a great benefit in breaking up the social cliques that did such injury to the college-should not be established for 99% per cent of the students because the remaining one-half of one per cent could not properly be included seems to me an untenable position."

The stand taken by President Lowell was severely criticized by the Negro press; also by a section of the white press, and by some of the Harvard alumni. The governing board then took up the matter, and, after deliberation, decided that, since Harvard up to this time had recognized no racial distinctions, it should abide by its traditional pol

icy. President Lowell acquiesced. The announcement was made that the dormitories would be open to all freshmen alike.

Some years before this incident, President Eliot of Harvard indicated his sympathy with the general policy of separate education in the South by remarking that if Negro students were in the majority at Harvard, or formed a large proportion of the total number, some separation of the races might follow.12

Whatever one may think of the advisability of admitting Negroes to the dormitories of Northern universities, every white citizen of the North should feel a pride in the fact that the door of opportunity is open to the Negro in all of the higher institutions of learning. There will never be a large enough proportion of Negroes at Harvard or any other Northern university to constitute a serious color problem.

"Quoted by Baker, op. cit., p. 123.

CHAPTER 10

RELIGIOUS ASPECTS OF NORTHERN NEGROES

The Northern Negro Preacher in Politics-Negro Churches and Negro Membership in White Churches-Tribulations of the Negro Pastor-Character of Negro Preachers-Example of a Heroic Ministry

NE of the most notable trends in the religious life of the Negroes following the Civil War was the entrance of the Negro preachers into politics. The enfranchisement of the Negroes in the North and West, as also in the South, made it necessary that the newly enfranchised people have leaders who could organize and direct their political activities. The Negro preachers, being the only learned class and the natural leaders of their race, were irresistibly drawn into the political arena. In all sections of the country they began to act as campaign managers, to make political speeches, to attend party conventions, and to hold public offices, both elective and appointive.

Many Negro preachers from the North were tempted to migrate to the South in order to share in the opportunity for political leadership which was offered by the great mass of untutored and recently emancipated colored people.

Among those who took advantage of this opportunity may be mentioned, first, Dr. J. T. White, a Baptist minister from Indiana. In 1865 he came to Arkansas, took charge of a Baptist church at Helena, and became a prominent political leader. He was a member of the Reconstitution convention of 1868, and afterward was twice elected a member of the lower house of the legislature and once a member of the senate. He stumped the state in the interest of the Radical party, and was rewarded by appointment to several public offices.1 Another preacher, Jesse F. Boulder, left his Baptist charge in Brooklyn, Illinois, in 1864, and, following the wake of the Union army, settled in Natchez, Mississippi, and plunged into the political caldron. He campaigned over the state, attended conventions, and was elected a member of the lower house

1

1 Woodson, The History of the Negro Church, p. 225.

of the legislature. He was very influential in the election to the United States Senate of two Negroes, Hiram Revells and B. K. Bruce.2

Richard H. Cain, a minister of the African Methodist Church, came from New York to South Carolina, and, during the Reconstruction era in the latter state, edited a Radical paper, was a member of the constitutional convention, and later was a member of the state senate. After the Reconstruction period, he was twice elected to the United States Congress, first in 1879, and again in 1881.3

Bishop James W. Hood, of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, hailing from Connecticut, came to North Carolina as a missionary during the Civil War, and, during the Reconstruction period, was the most aggressive and prominent leader of the Negro citizens. He was a member of the convention of 1867, and later was appointed justice of the peace, deputy collector of internal revenue, and assistant superintendent of public instruction. He served also in various capacities under the Freedmen's Bureau. As bureau agent he rendered valuable service in the establishment of Negro schools. He believed in social as well as civil equality, and opposed separate schools for his race.

Bishop B. W. Arnett, of the African Methodist Church in Ohio, was active in the politics of his state, and in 1885 was elected to the Ohio legislature, in which he played a part in the repeal of the odious "Black Laws." 4

In Northern cities, wherever there is a large Negro population, the Negroes by preference have their own churches. In towns where there are no Negro churches, the colored people are admitted to membership in the white churches. Even in the cities well supplied with Negro churches, there are some Negro members of white churches. A few Negro members are found in the Catholic churches, and more in the Episcopal. In the latter denomination there are seldom enough Negro adherents to justify a separate church, but sometimes the number is large enough to be a source of embarrassment to the whites. A prominent leader in an Episcopal church in Boston is quoted as saying:

"What shall we do with these Negroes! I for one would like to have them stay. I believe it is in accordance with the doctrine of Christ, but the proportion is growing so large that white people are drifting away from us. Strangers avoid us. Strangers avoid us. Our organization is ex

'Woodson, op. cit., p. 228.

'Ibid., p. 234.

Ibid., p. 236.