----------------------------------------
---------  ,transcriber's note3         
,obvious typographic errors have been   
corrected4                              
----------------------------------------
---------          ,,brief ,,for ,,the  
,,higher ,,education ,,of ,,the ,,negro 
,,by    ,,prof4 ,,kelly ,,miller        
,,howard ,,university    ,illustration3 
,decoration    ,,washington1 ,d4 ,c4    
#aijc          ,the ,negro's            
,traditional ,place in ,society4        
,ridicule and contempt have             
characterized the habitual attitude of  
the ,american mind toward the ,negro's  
higher strivings4 ,the ,african  was    
brought to this country for the purpose 
of performing manual and  menial labor4 
,his bodily powers alone were required  
to accomplish  this industrial mission4 
,no more account was taken of his higher
  susceptibilities than of the mental   
and moral faculties of the lower        
animals4 ,as the late ,mr4 ,price used  
to say1 the white man saw in the        

,negro's mind only what was apparent in 
his face1 8darkness there1  and nothing 
more40 ,his usefulness in the world is  
still measured by  physical faculties   
rather than by qualities of mind and    
soul4 ,the  merciless proposition of    
,carlyle that1 the ,negro is useful to  
,god's  creation only as a servant1     
still finds wide acceptance4 ,it is so  
natural to base a theory upon a         
long-established practice that one  no  
longer wonders at the prevalence of this
 belief4 ,the ,negro has  sustained     
servile relation to the ,caucasian for  
so long a time that it  is easy as it is
 agreeable to ,aryan pride to conclude  
that servitude is  his ordained place in
 society4 ,when it was first proposed to
 furnish  means for the higher          
development of this race1 some1 who     
assumed the  wisdom of their day and    
generation1 entertained the proposition 
with a  sneer1 others1 with a smile4    
,,manifestations ,,of ,,higher          
,,qualities4    ,as the higher          

susceptibilities of the ,negro were not 
wanted1 their  existence was at one time
 denied4 ,the eternal inferiority of the
  race was assumed as a part of the     
cosmic order of things4 ,history1       
literature1 science1 speculative        
conjecture1 and even ,holy ,writ were   
ransacked for evidence and argument to  
support the ruling dogma4  ,while the   
slave holder had proved beyond all      
possibility of doubt the  incapacity of 
the ,negro for knowledge1 yet he1       
prudently enough1 passed  laws          
forbidding the attempt4 ,his guilty     
conscience caused him to make  assurance
 doubly sure by re-enacting the laws of 
the ,almighty4    ,for three hundred    
years the ,negro by his marvelous       
assimilative power  and by striking     
individual emanations has been          
constantly manifesting  the higher      
possibilities of his nature1 until now  
whoever assumes to  doubt his           
susceptibility for better things needs  
himself to be pitied  for his incapacity

 to grasp the truth4 ,the same ,carlyle 
who regards the  ,negro as an 8amiable  
blockhead10 and amenable only to the    
white man's  8beneficent whip10 also    
declares3 8,that one man should die     
ignorant who  had capacity for          
knowledge1 this ,i call a tragedy1 were 
it to happen  forty times in a minute40 
,when it is known that the ,negro has   
capacity  for knowledge and virtue there
 can be no further justification for    
shutting him out from the higher        
cravings of his nature4      ,,is ,,the 
,,higher ,,education ,,of ,,the ,,negro 
,,worth ,,while ,,as ,a ,,practical     
,,philanthropy8    ,the education of the
 ,negro is not of itself a thing apart1 
but is an  integral factor of the       
general pedagogic equation4 ,race       
psychology has  not yet been formulated4
 ,no reputable authority has pointed out
 just  wherein the two races differ in  
any evident mental feature4 ,the mind   
of the ,negro is of the same nature as  
that of the white man and needs  the    

same nurture4 ,the general poverty of   
the ,negro1 however1 and his  inability 
to formulate and direct his own scheme  
of culture1 render  the question not so 
much one of abstract pedagogics1 as of  
practical  philanthropy4 ,the           
philanthropist is supremely indifferent 
as to whether  an individual1 white or  
black1 should study ,kant or            
,quaternious1  except1 in so far as the 
resulting development reacts            
beneficially  upon the common welfare4  
,does the higher education of the few   
capable  ,negroes possess sufficient    
advantage to the race at large to       
justify  its continuance by a wise and  
discriminating philanthropy8 ,the great 
missionary societies1 representing the  
philanthropic arms of the               
,congregational1 ,presbyterian1         
,methodist and ,baptist denominations   
after  forty years of arduous1 earnest  
endeavor and the expenditure of many    
millions of dollars in this field1      
answer this question emphatically  in   

the affirmative4 ,an ounce of opinion   
from such sources should be  worth a ton
 of speculation from those who reach    
their conclusions by a  process of 8pure
 reasoning40      ,,the ,,function ,,of 
,,education ,,to ,a ,,backward ,,race4  
,the ,african was snatched from the     
wilds of savagery and thrust into the   
midst of a mighty civilization4 ,he thus
 escaped the gradual progress  of       
evolution4 ,education must accomplish   
more for a backward race than  for a    
people who are in the fore-front of     
progress4 ,it must not only  lead to the
 unfoldment of faculties but must equip 
for a life from  which the recipient is 
separated by many centuries of          
development4  ,the ,african chieftain   
who would make a pilgrimage from the    
jungle to  ,boston might accomplish the 
first part of his journey by the        
original  modes of transportation--in   
the primitive dugout or on the backs of 
his  slaves2 but he would complete it   
upon the steamship1 the railway1 the    

electric car and the automobile4 ,how   
swift the transformation and yet  how   
suggestive of centuries of toil1        
struggle and mental endeavor4 ,it       
required the human race thousands of    
years to bridge the chasm between       
savagery and civilization1 which must   
now be crossed by a school  curriculum  
of a few years' duration4 ,in a settled 
state of society1  the chief function of
 education is to enable the individual  
to live  the life already attained by   
his race1 but the educated ,negro must  
be  a pioneer1 a progressive force in   
the uplifting of his race1 and that1    
too1 notwithstanding the fact that he   
belongs to a backward breed that  has   
never taken the initiative in the       
progressive movements of the  world4    
,,the ,,higher ,,training ,,of ,,choice 
,,youth4    ,the first great need of the
 ,negro is that the choice youth of the 
race should assimilate the principles of
 culture and hand them down  to the     
masses below4 ,this is the only gate-way

 through which a new  people may enter  
into modern civilization4 ,herein lies  
the history of  culture4 ,the select    
minds of the backward race or nation    
must receive  the new cult and adapt it 
to the peculiar needs of their own      
people4  ,japan looms up as the most    
progressive of the non-,aryan races4    
,the  wonderful progress of these       
,oriental ,yankees is due in a large    
measure  to their wise plan of          
procedure4 ,they send their picked youth
 to the  great centers of western       
knowledge2 but before this culture is   
applied  to their own needs it must     
first be sifted through the sieve of    
their  native comprehension4 ,the       
graduates of the schools and colleges   
for the  ,negro race are forming centers
 of civilizing influence in all parts of
  the land1 and we confidently1 believe 
that these grains of leaven will        
ultimately leaven the whole lump4       
,,self-,,reliant ,,manhood4    ,another 
great need of the race1 which the       

schools must in a large  measure supply1
 is self-reliant manhood4 ,slavery made 
the ,negro as  dependent upon the       
intelligence and foresight of his master
 as a  soldier upon the will of his     
commander4 ,he had no need to take      
thought  as to what he should eat or    
drink or wherewithal he should be       
clothed4    ,knowledge necessarily      
awakens self-consciousness of power4    
,when a child learns the multiplication 
table he gets a clear notion  of        
intellectual dignity4 ,here he gains an 
acquisition which is his  permanent1    
personal possession1 and which can never
 be taken from  him4 ,it does not depend
 upon external authority2 he could      
reproduce  it if all the visible forms  
of the universe were effaced4 ,it is    
said  that the possession of personal   
property is the greatest stimulus to    
self-respect4 ,when one can read his    
title clear to earthly possessions1  it 
awakens a consciousness of the dignity  
of his own manhood4 ,and so  when one   

has digested and assimilated the        
principles of knowledge he  can file his
 declaration of intellectual            
independence4 ,he can adopt the         
language of ,montaigne 8,truth and      
reason are common to everyone1 and are  
no more his who spake them first than   
his who speaks them after2 'tis  no more
 according to ,plato than according to  
me1 since he and ,i equally  see and    
understand them40    ,primary principles
 have no ethnic quality4 ,we hear much  
in this day and  time of the white man's
 civilization4 ,we had just as well     
speak of the  white man's multiplication
 table4 ,civilization is the common     
possession  of all who assimilate and   
apply its principles4 ,england can      
utilize  no secret art or invention that
 is not equally available to ,japan4 ,we
  reward ingenuity with a patent right  
for a period of years upon the  process 
that has been invented2 but when an idea
 has been published to  the world it is 
no more the exclusive property of the   

author than gold1  after it has been put
 in circulation1 can be claimed by the  
miner who  first dug it from its hiding 
place in the earth4 ,no race or nation  
can  preempt civilization any more than 
they can monopolize the atmosphere      
which surrounds the earth1 or the waters
 which hold it in their liquid  embrace4
    ,i have often noticed a young man   
accommodate his companion with a  light 
from his cigar4 ,after the spark has    
once been communicated1 the  beneficiary
 stands upon an equal footing with the  
benefactor4 ,in both  cases the fire    
must be continued by drawing fresh      
supplies of oxygen  from the atmosphere4
 ,from whatever source a nation may     
derive the  light of civilization1 it   
must be perpetuated by the exercise of  
their  own faculties4 ,self-reliant     
manhood is the ultimate basis of        
,american  citizenship4      ,,training 
,,for ,,leadership4    ,the work of the 
educated colored man is largely that of 
leadership4  ,he requires1 therefore1   

all the discipline1 judgment and mental 
equipment that long preparation can     
afford4 ,the more ignorant and  backward
 the masses the more skilled and        
sagacious should the leaders  be4 ,if a 
beneficial and kindly contact between   
the races is denied  on the lower plane 
of flesh and blood1 it must be sought in
 the  upper region of mental and moral  
kinship4 ,knowledge and virtue know  no 
ethnic exclusiveness4 ,if indeed races  
are irreconcilable1 their  best         
individual exponents are not4 ,all      
dignified negotiation must be  conducted
 on the high plane of individual        
equality4           8,for east is east1 
and west is west1 and never the twain   
shall         meet1       ',till earth  
and sky stand presently at ,god's great 
judgment seat2       ,but there is      
neither east nor west1 border nor breed 
nor birth1       ,when two strong men   
stand face to face1 though they come    
from the         ends of the earth0     
,the irreconcilable become reconciled   

only after each has manifested  the best
 possibilities of a common nature4 ,the 
higher education tends  to develop      
superior individuals who may be expected
 to exercise  controlling influence over
 the multitude4 ,the individual is the  
proof1  the promise and the salvation of
 the race4 ,the undeveloped races       
which1 in modern times1 have faded      
before the breath of civilization  have 
probably perished because of their      
failure to produce commanding  leaders  
to guide them wisely under the stress   
and strain which an  encroaching        
civilization imposed4 ,a single red     
,indian with the capacity  and spirit of
 ,booker ,t4 ,washington might have     
solved the red man's  problems and      
averted his pending doom4      ,,the    
,,moral ,,impotency ,,of ,,elementary   
,,and ,,mechanical ,,knowledge4         
,again1 the higher education should be  
encouraged because of the moral         
impotency of all the modes of education 
which do not touch and stir  the human  

spirit4 ,it is folly to suppose that the
 moral nature of the  child is improved 
because it has been taught to read and  
write and cast  up accounts1 or to      
practice a handicraft4 ,tracing the     
letters of the  alphabet with a pen has 
no bearing on the ,golden ,rule4 ,the   
spelling of  words by sounds and        
syllables does not lead to the          
observance of the  ,ten ,commandments4  
,drill in the multiplication table does 
not fascinate  the learner with the     
sermon on the mount4 ,rules in grammar1 
dates in  history1 sums in arithmetic1  
and points in geography do not          
strengthen  the grasp on moral truth4   
,the ability to saw to a line or hit a  
nail  aplomb with a hammer does not     
create a zeal for righteousness and     
truth4 ,it is only when the pupil comes 
to feel the vitalizing power of         
knowledge that it begins to re-act upon 
the life and to fructify in  character4 
,this is especially true of a backward  
race whose acquisitive  power outruns   

its apperceptive faculty4      ,,the    
,,social ,,separation ,,of ,,the        
,,races4    ,the ,negro has now reached 
a critical stage in his career4 ,the    
point  of attachment between the races  
which slavery made possible has been    
destroyed4 ,the relation is daily       
becoming less intimate and friendly1    
and more business-like and formal4 ,it  
thus becomes all the more  imperative   
that the race should gain for itself the
 primary principles  of knowledge and   
culture4    ,the social separation of   
the races in ,america renders it        
imperative  that the professional       
classes among the ,negroes should be    
recruited  from their own ranks4 ,under 
ordinary circumstances1 professional    
places are filled by the most favored   
class in the community4 ,in a  ,latin or
 ,catholic country1 where the fiction of
 8social equality0  does not exist1     
there is felt no necessity for ,negro   
priest1 teacher1  or physician to       
administer to his own race4 ,but in     

,america this is  conceded to be a      
social necessity4 ,such being the case1 
the ,negro  leader1 to use a familiar   
term1 requires all the professional     
equipment of his white confrere1 and    
special knowledge of the needs  and     
circumstances of his race in addition4  
,the teacher of the ,negro  child1 the  
preacher of a ,negro congregation1 or   
the physician to ,negro  patients1      
certainly requires as much professional 
skill as those who  administer to the   
corresponding needs of the white race4  
,nor are  the requirements of the       
situation one whit diminished because   
the  bestower is of the same race as the
 recipient4 ,the ,negro has the same    
professional needs as his white confrere
 and can be qualified for his  function 
only by courses of training of like     
extent and thoroughness4  ,by no other  
means can he be qualified to enlighten  
the ignorant1  restrain the vicious1    
care for the sick and afflicted1 or     
administer  solace to weary souls1 plead

 in litigation the cause of the injured4
      ,,the ,,professional ,,needs ,,of 
,,the ,,city ,,negro4    ,according to  
the census of #aijj1 there were #gb     
cities in the ,united  ,states with a   
population of more than #e1jjj persons  
of color1 averaging  #ae1jjj each1 and  
aggregating #a1jjj1jjj in all4 ,the     
professional  needs of this urban       
population for teachers1 preachers1     
lawyers and  physicians call for #e1jjj 
well-equipped men and women1 not one of 
whom  would be qualified for his        
function by the three ,r's or a         
handicraft4      ,,the ,,effect ,,of    
,,higher ,,education ,,upon ,,the       
,,rural ,,masses4    ,the supreme       
concern of philanthropy is the welfare  
of the unawakened  rural masses4 ,to    
this end there is need of a goodly      
sprinkling of well  educated men and    
women to give wise guidance1 direction  
and control4  ,let no one deceive       
himself that the country ,negro can be  
uplifted  except through the influence  

of higher contact4 ,it is impossible to 
inaugurate and conduct a manual training
 or industrial school without  men of   
sound academic as well as technical     
knowledge4 ,the torch which  is to      
lighten the darksome places of the      
,south must be kindled at the  centers  
of light4      ,,the ,,importance ,,of  
,,cultivated ,,taste4    ,rational      
enjoyment1 through moderation1 is       
perhaps as good a  definition as can be 
given of culture4 ,the reaction of      
culture on  conduct is a well known     
principle of practical ethics4 ,the     
,negro race  is characterized by        
boisterousness of manner and extravagant
 forms  of taste4 ,as if to correct such
 deficiencies1 his higher education1    
hitherto1 has largely been concerned    
with ,greek and ,latin literature1  the 
norms of modern culture4 ,it is just    
here that our educational  critics are  
liable to become excited4 ,the spectacle
 of a ,negro wearing  eye-glasses and   
declaiming in classic phrases about the 

8lofty walls of  ,rome10 and the 8wrath 
of ,achilles0 upsets their critical     
calmness and  composure4 ,we have so    
often listened to the grotesque         
incongruity of a  ,greek chorus and a   
greasy cabin and the relative value of a
 rosewood  piano and a patch of early   
rose potatoes that if we did not join in
 the  smile in order to encourage the   
humor1 we should do so out of sheer     
weariness4 ,and yet we cannot escape the
 conviction that one of the  ,negro's   
chief needs is a higher form of         
intellectual and esthetic taste4        
,,the ,,relative ,,claims ,,of          
,,industrial ,,and ,,higher ,,education4
    ,whenever the higher education of   
the ,negro is broached1 industrial      
training is always suggested as a       
counter irritant4 ,partisans of  rival  
claims align themselves in hostile array
 and will not so much  as respect a flag
 of truce4 ,these one-eyed enthusiasts  
lack binocular  vision4 ,the futile     
discussion as to whether industrial or  

higher  education is of greater         
importance to the ,negro is suggestive  
of a  subject of great renown in rural  
debating societies3 which is of  greater
 importance to man1 air or water4 ,we   
had as well attempt to  decide whether  
the base or altitude is the more        
important element of a  triangle4 ,the  
two forms of training should be         
considered on the basis  of their       
relative1 not rival1 claims4      ,,the 
,,higher ,,education ,,stimulates       
,,industrial ,,activity4    ,indeed1 one
 of the strongest claims for the higher 
education of the  ,negro is that it will
 stimulate the dormant industrial       
activities of  the race4 ,the surest way
 to incite a people to meet the material
  demands of life is to teach them that 
life is more than meat4 ,the            
unimaginative laborer pursues the       
routine rounds of his task1 spurred  on1
 only by the immediate necessities of   
life and the taskmaster's  stern        
command4 ,to him1 it is only time and   

the hour that run through  the whole    
day4 ,the ,negro lacks enlightened      
imagination4 ,he needs  prospect and    
vista4 ,he does not make provision      
because he lacks  prevision4 ,under     
slavery he toiled as the ass1 dependent 
upon the daily  allowance from his      
master's crib4 ,to him the prayer1 ,give
 us this day  our daily bread1 has a    
material rather than a spiritual        
meaning4 ,if you  would perpetuate the  
industrial incapacity of the ,negro1    
then confine  him to the low grounds of 
drudgery and toil and prevent him from  
casting his eyes unto the hills whence  
come inspiration and promise4  ,the man 
with the hoe is of all men most         
miserable unless1 forsooth1  he has a   
hope4 ,but if imbued with hope and      
sustained by an ideal1 he  can          
consecrate the hoe as well as any other 
instrument of service1 as  a means of   
fulfilling the promise within him4 ,when
 a seed is sown in  the ground it first 
sends its roots into the soil before the

 blades  can rise out of it4 ,but is it 
not actuated by the plant consciousness 
to seek the light of heaven8 ,for what  
is the purpose of sending its  roots    
below1 if it be not in order to bear    
fruit above8 ,the pilgrim  fathers in   
following the inspiration of a lofty    
ideal developed the  resources of a     
continent4 ,any people who attempt to   
reach the sky on a  pedestal of bricks  
and mortar will end in confusion and    
bewilderment as  did the builders of the
 ,tower of ,babel on the plains of      
,shinar in the  days of ,eld4 ,it       
requires range of vision to stimulate   
the industrial  activities of the       
people4 ,the most effective prayer that 
can be uttered  for the ,negro is       
8,lord1 open thou his eyes40 ,he can not
 see beyond  the momentary gratification
 of appetite and passion4 ,he does not  
look  before and after4 ,such           
stimulating influence can be brought to 
bear  upon the race only through the    
inspiration of the higher culture4      

,,men ,,of ,,higher ,,training ,,the    
,,leaders ,,of ,,industrial ,,education4
    ,it requires men of sound knowledge 
to conceive and execute plans  for the  
industrial education of the masses4 ,the
 great apostles of  industrial education
 for the ,negro have been of academic   
training1 or  of its cultural           
equivalent4 ,the work of ,hampton and   
,tuskegee is carried  on by men and     
women of a high degree of mental        
cultivation4      ,,dr4 ,,booker ,t4    
,,washington ,,an ,,example ,,of        
,,higher ,,culture4    ,doctor ,booker  
,t4 ,washington1 note the title1 is the 
most influential  ,negro that the race  
under freedom has produced4 ,he is the  
great apostle  of industrial training4  
,his great success is but the legitimate
 outcome  of his earnestness and        
enthusiasm4 ,and yet there is no more   
striking  illustration of the necessity 
of wise1 judicious and cultivated       
leadership as a means of stimulating the
 dormant activity of the  masses than he

 who hails from ,tuskegee4 ,his success 
is due wholly to  his intellectual and  
moral faculties4 ,his personal          
opportunities of  association and       
contact have been equivalent to a       
liberal education4  ,two of ,america's  
greatest institutions of learning have  
fittingly  recognized his moral and     
intellectual worth by decorating him    
with  their highest literary honors4    
,mr4 ,washington possesses an           
enlightened  mind to discover the needs 
of the masses1 executive tact to put his
  plans in effective operation1 and     
persuasive ability to convince  others  
as to the expediency of his policies4   
,he possesses no trade  or handicraft1  
if so he has never let the ,american    
people into the  secret4 ,nor can it be 
easily seen what possible benefit such  
trade or  handicraft would be to him in 
the work which has fallen to his lot4   
,tuskegee has been built on intellect   
and oratory4 ,if ,mr4 ,washington had   
been born with palsied hands1 but       

endowed with the same intellectual      
gifts and powers of persuasive speech1  
,tuskegee would not have suffered  one  
iota by reason of his manual affliction4
 ,but1 on the other hand1  had he come  
into the world with a sluggish brain and
 a heavy tongue1  whatever cunning and  
skill his hands might have acquired1 he 
never  could have developed the         
institution which has made him justly   
famous  throughout the civilized world4 
,,the ,,deficiency ,,of ,,the ,,slave   
,,mechanic4    ,slavery taught the      
,negro1 to work but at the same time to 
despise those  who worked4 ,to them all 
show of respectability was attached to  
those  whom circumstances placed above  
the necessity of toil4 ,it requires     
intellectual conception of the object   
and the end of labor to overcome  this  
mischievous notion4 ,the ,negro         
mechanics produced under the old  slave 
regime are rapidly passing away because 
they did not possess  the power of      
self-perpetuation4 ,they were not rooted

 and grounded in  rational principles of
 the mechanical arts4 ,the hand could   
not transmit  its cunning because the   
mind was not trained4 ,they were given  
the ,knack  without the knowledge4      
,,money ,,spent ,,for ,,the ,,higher    
,,education ,,of ,,the ,,negro ,,not    
,,wasted4    ,the charge has recently   
been made that money spent on the higher
  education of the ,negro has been      
wasted4 ,does this charge come from  the
 ,south8 ,when we consider that it was  
through ,northern philanthropy  that a  
third of its population received their  
first impulse toward  better things2    
that these higher institutions prepared 
the #cj1jjj ,negro  teachers whose      
services are utilized in the public     
schools2 that the  men and women who    
were the beneficiaries of this          
philanthropy are doing  all in their    
power to control1 guide and restrain the
 ,south's ignorant  and vicious masses1 
thus lightening the public burden and   
lifting the  general life to a higher   

level3 that these persons are almost    
without  exception earnest advocates of 
peace1 harmony and good-will between    
the races2 to say nothing of the fact   
that these vast philanthropic           
contributions have passed through the   
trade channels of ,southern  merchants1 
it would seem that the charge is        
strangely incompatible  with that       
high-minded disposition and chivalrous  
spirit which the  ,south is so zealous  
to maintain4 ,does this charge come from
 the ,north8  ,it might not be          
impertinent to propound a few           
propositions for their  consideration4  
,is it possible to specify a like sum of
 money spent upon  any other backward   
race that has produced greater results  
than the  amount spent upon the         
,southern ,negro8 ,is it the ,american  
,indian1 upon  whom four centuries of   
missionary effort has produced no more  
progress  than is made by a painted ship
 on a painted sea8 ,is it the ,hawaiian1
  who will soon be civilized off the    

face of the earth8 ,is it the ,chinese  
upon whom the chief effect of ,christian
 philanthropy is to incite them  to     
breathe out slaughter against the       
stranger within their gates8 ,it is     
incumbent upon him who claims that this 
money has been wasted to point  out     
where1 in all the range of benevolent   
activity the contributions of           
philanthropy have been more profitably  
spent4    ,it is true that forty or     
fifty millions of dollars have been thus
  spent1 but when we consider the       
magnitude of the task to which it was   
applied1 we find that it would not      
average one dollar a year for each      
,negro child to be educated4 ,why should
 we marvel1 then1 that the entire  mass 
of ignorance and corruption has not put 
on enlightenment and  purity8      ,,not
 ,,mere ,,theorizers4    ,we often hear 
that the advocates of higher education  
are mere theorists  without definite1   
tangible plans and propositions4 ,there 
has recently  sprung into prominence a  

class of educational philosophers who   
deny  the value of stored up knowledge4 
,we are informed that only such         
information as will be honored at the   
corner grocery or is convertible  on    
demand into cash equivalent is of       
practical value1 while all else is  an  
educational delusion and a snare4 ,the  
truth is1 that all knowledge  which     
clarifies the vision1 refines the       
feelings1 broadens the  conception of   
truth and duty and ennobles the manhood 
is of the highest  and most valuable    
form of practicability4 ,an institution 
which sends  into the world a physician 
to heal the sick1 a lawyer to plead the 
cause of the injured1 a teacher to      
enlighten the minds of the ignorant1  or
 a preacher to break the bread of life  
to hungry souls is rendering  just as   
practical a service to the race as those
 schools which prepare  men to build    
houses and plant potatoes4      ,,need  
,,for ,,the ,,negro ,,college4    ,it is
 sometimes claimed that the few capable 

,negroes can find  opportunity for      
higher training in the institutions of  
the ,north4 ,it  is by no means certain 
to what extent these institutions would 
admit  colored students4 ,the ,northern 
,college is not apt to inspire the      
colored pupil with the enthusiasm and   
fixed purpose for the work which        
,providence has assigned him4 ,it is the
 spirit1 not the letter that  maketh    
alive4 ,the white ,college does not     
contemplate the special needs  of the   
,negro race4 ,american ideals could not 
be fostered in the white  youth of our  
land by sending them to ,oxford or      
,berlin for tuition4 ,no  more can the  
,negro gain racial inspiration from     
,harvard or ,yale4 ,and  yet they need  
the benefit of contact and comparison1  
and the zeal for  knowledge and truth   
which these great institutions impart4  
,the ,negro  ,college and the ,northern 
institutions will serve to preserve a   
balance  between undue elation for want 
of sober comparison1 and barren culture1

  for lack of inspirational contact with
 the masses4      ,,does ,,the ,,higher 
,,education ,,lead ,,away ,,from ,,the  
,,race8    ,it is often charged that the
 higher education lifts the ,negro above
  the needs of his race4 ,the thousands 
of graduates of ,negro ,schools and     
,colleges all over the land are a living
 refutation of this charge4  ,after the 
mind has been stored with knowledge it  
is transmitted to  the place where the  
need is greatest and the call is        
loudest1 and  transmuted into whatever  
mode of energy may be necessary to      
accomplish  the imposed task4    ,the   
issues involved in the race question are
 as intricate in their  relations and   
far reaching in their consequences as   
any that have  ever taxed human wisdom  
for solution4 ,no one can be too learned
 or  too profound in whose hands are    
entrusted the temporal and eternal      
destiny of a human soul4 ,even if the   
educated ,negro desired to flee  from   
his race1 he soon learns by bitter      

experience that he will be  thrown back 
upon himself by the expulsive power of  
prejudice4 ,he soon  learns that the    
,newtonian formula has a social         
application3 8,the force  of attraction 
varies directly as the mass40      ,a   
,,concrete ,,illustration4    ,but      
,wisdom is justified of her children4   
,as an illustration of the  value of the
 higher education of the ,negro race1 ,i
 point to ,howard  ,university1 which is
 the largest and best equipped          
institution of its  class4 ,the         
establishment and maintenance of this   
institution during the  past #ce years  
has cost between two and three millions 
of dollars4 ,as  returns on this        
investment it has sent into the world   
#bjj ministers of  the ,gospel1 #gjj    
physicians1 pharmacists and dentists1   
#cjj lawyers1 and  #fjj persons with a  
general academic and collegiate         
training1 together  with thousands of   
some time pupils who have shared the    
partial benefits  of its courses4 ,these

 graduates and some time pupils are to  
be found  in every country and district 
where the ,negro population resides and 
are filling places of usefulness1 honor 
and distinction1 as well as  performing 
works of mercy and sacrificial service4 
,they serve as  inspiration and         
stimulus1 quickening the dormant        
energies of the people  and urging them 
to loftier ideals and nobler modes of   
life4 ,it devolves  upon the complainant
 to present some plan by which a like   
sum of money1  in a like space of time1 
can be spent upon an institution of     
whatever  designation so as to produce a
 more wholesome and more wide-spread    
effect upon the general social uplift4