The Portable Nineteenth-Century African American Women Writers

by Various

  The only foundation for all Christian graces is humility. Practice, as far as possible, Christ’s meekness, his benevolence, his forgiveness of injuries, and his zeal for doing good. Woman is the hope of the Church, the hope of the world. God is slowly but surely working out the great problem of woman’s place and position in life. Virtue will never reign supreme, and vice will never be wiped from the land, until woman’s work of head, heart, and hand is recognized and accepted. No great institution has flourished without her support, neither has man succeeded without her, but the two must be unified. The work is not confined within the narrow limits of the church walls, not to the prayers sent forth or the songs sung. It extends far beyond this. Her work is in every cause, place, and institution where Christianity is required. The platform is broad, and upon it she must stand. Although the responsibilities to be met are great, the position is to be maintained. China, with her degraded million, India, with her ignorance and idolatry, dark and benighted Africa, yea, the world, with its sin and wickedness, all have just and imperative claims on woman, such as she can and must meet.

  Dear women, the cry comes to us from afar to bring the light of love, and to lead into the paths of peace and righteousness. From your ranks, as mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, little as you have hitherto thought of it, are to come the women of all professions, from the humble Christian to the expounder of His word; from the obedient citizen to the ruler of the land. This may be objectionable to many, but no profession should be recognized that fails to recognize Christ, and all the Christians have a legal right where He is, for “with Him there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” There is no necessity for a woman to step over the bounds of propriety, or to lay aside modesty, to further the work, and she will not, if God be her guide. If, indeed, the King of all the Universe chooses a woman to kill a man who had opposed Israel for twenty years, it is all right, and who dare question God’s right, if he raise up a woman who shall become a judge, and a leader of his people? God, at one time, used a dumb brute to do His service, and that alone is sufficient to convince any one that He can use whom He will, and glorify himself by whatever means he pleases to employ. Should woman be silent in this busy, restless world of missions and vast church enterprises? No! A long, loud No! Give place for her, brethren. Be ready to accept her praying heart, her nimble fingers, her willing hands, her swift feet, her quick eye, her charming voice, the superintendent’s chair, the Sunday School teacher’s place, the Bible student, the prayer circle, the sick bed, the house of mourning, the foreign mission field, all these are her place.

  Dear brethren, point them out, direct my sisters, and help them to work for Christ. My dear sisters, wherever you are, and wherever this paper may be mentioned, remember that there is no department of your life that you can not bend your influence to the benefit of our blessed denomination. Let us take sharpness out of our tongues and put in our pens; take the beauty from our face and put it into our lives; let us love ourselves less and God more; work less for self-aggrandizement, and more for the Church of Christ.

  “Do not then stand idly waiting,

  For some greater work to do,

  Fortune is a lazy goddess—

  She will never come to you.

  “Go, and toil in any vineyard,

  Do not fear to do and dare;

  If you want a field of labor,

  You can find it anywhere.”

  EDUCATION AND SOCIAL REFORM

  44

  JULIA CALDWELL-FRAZIER

  (1863–1929)

  The name of Julia Caldwell-Frazier is well known to the campus of Howard University—Frazier Hall, the first residence hall for women at Howard, was named for her, one of the first women to receive an AB in literature from Howard, in 1887. Julia Caldwell was born in Alabama, raised in Columbus, Georgia, and taught for a brief period before enrolling at Howard. After graduation, she taught at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia. She moved to Dallas, Texas, in 1892 and founded the Ladies Reading Circle. In 1908, she married fellow schoolteacher W. W. Frazier. Throughout her life, she continued her education, earning certificates in English, Latin, and German, as well as in pedagogy and psychology.

  In the following piece, “The Decisions of Time,” published in the A.M.E. Church Review (April 1889), Frazier argues that social progress, particularly for women and American blacks, is inevitable given the relationship between time and human achievement. She situates the struggle amidst the contentious moments along the way toward enlightenment and Christianity, encompassing human history since Ancient Greece, to argue that American society will, with time, become more inclusive and just. The scale and intellectual strength of this grand scheme is remarkable.

  “The Decisions of Time” (1889)

  SOURCE: Julia L. Cadd Caldwell, “The Decisions of Time,” A.M.E. Church Review (April 1889).

  THERE is an old adage which says: “Time cures all ills.” This means that truth always triumphs ultimately over error; that

  “Truth is mighty, truth is sure,

  Truth is strong and must endure,”

  and that at last it vindicates and establishes character.

  The history of the world is the record of alternate triumphs and depressions. Greece and Rome furnish examples of such vicissitudes. Men make use of the Past’s decisions as preventives of evil in approaching times. We know too well what was the condition of affairs in Rome and Greece when, by the priesthood, black and dreary despotism covered the land; when the rulers in religion and politics grew more corrupt and dark-eyed. Oppression preyed on every subject. Notwithstanding all the conservative power of the past, the progressive force of on-coming time has prevailed, and the papal throne is now tottering in its decrepitude. It may be asked, what are the general agencies preventing at once the establishment of truth and right? We answer, Ignorance, Prejudice, Despotism, Priestcraft and Socialism involving caste. In the course of time, ignorance will be blotted out; the black garb of prejudice, despotism and socialism will be laid aside, and Benevolence, looking upon every man as one of a vast brotherhood, shall open wide the doors of her spacious halls and invite all to freedom’s feast.

  We notice first the decisions of time politically. We remember that the first form of government was the patriarchal, of which so beautiful a picture is given in the Holy Scriptures; we find it developed as the tribe, but as time went on this evolved into the clan, a larger body. Feudalism came a step higher; this in turn, developed into the monarchy; and, lastly, we have the republic—the form of government upon which time has set its approving seal. During these different changes and stages many good and illustrious men suffered.

  Greece had her Pericles, and during his age she acknowledged no rival and feared none. Regardless of the motives of honor and fame, the remembrance of the great actions of their ancestors, the grateful titles of the sovereigns of Greece—which motives Pericles employed to animate the Athenians, and by which they had always been successful—they had such inimical feelings toward him, that his mere sight and presence became insupportable to them. They deprived him of his high office and sentenced him to pay a heavy fine. However, this public disgrace of Pericles was not to be lasting. The anger of the people was appeased by this first effort, and had spent itself in this injurious treatment of him, as the bee leaves its sting in the wound; and we see his death-bed surrounded by his friends and admirers, who recited the many illustrious exploits of his glorious life. Pericles has passed away, and Greece has been sitting in sackcloth for ages, gazing at the scattered fragments of her former glory.

  However, with these several changes of government, knowledge increased, men took different views of matters and profited by past experiences.

  What have been the decisions of time intellectually? Literature, the arts and sciences were, of necessity, crude and imperfect in their in
fancy. Time molded and refined them. But the pathway of their perfection was not smooth and pleasant. There was a period when philosophy was ignored; when the temple of Nature was denounced as no less Godless than the shrines of Greece; and to look from Nature up to Nature’s God was regarded as impious idolatry. The greatest scientific reformers the world ever produced were, in their day, stigmatized as “idle dreamers,” “seditious persons,” and many suffered death for promulgating their new ideas.

  Socrates, the wisest of mankind, the first to conceive the thought of bringing down philosophy from heaven, was accused by the Athenians of holding bad opinions concerning the gods, and of corrupting their youth, because he endeavored to unmask the vices and discredit the false eloquence of the sophists. He experienced the most malignant envy, the most envenomed hatred, and was condemned to drink the fatal hemlock. The people of Athens did not see their mistake until after his death. Time having given them opportunity for reflection, the injustice of the notorious sentence appeared in all its horrors. Then they punished his accusers, and erected a brazen statue to him.

  Aristotle, the prince of philosophy, was accused and ostracized by the Athenians, and yet no philosopher has exerted so large an influence through so many centuries and on the ideas of so many nations as this illustrious Stagyrite.

  What disgraceful treatment the venerable philosopher Galileo received for teaching a new and sublime theory of nature and astronomy, a theory that finally proved true.

  What obstacles and failures Prof. Morse encountered when he completed his rough model of the recording electro-magnetic telegraph; but see of what inestimable value his invention has been to mankind! Was not public opinion opposed to the telephone?—styled it “a useless thing.” But within a decade the telephone has become the most patronized means of urban intercommunication. Through all the innumerable obstacles and oppositions, we see, by the decisions of time, science tracing the wild comet in its vast eccentric course through the heavens; we see science bringing down the very lightning from the clouds, making it a remedial agent and a messenger, quick as light, to carry our thoughts. What denunciations have been made against the principles of evolution—not as yet fully established—still science is more and more tending that way, and Darwin’s views have been adopted by some of the most scientific men, such as Huxley, Spencer and Gray.

  Milton’s works were not well received at first, while some other authors were welcomed with world-wide applause. The latter have sunk into oblivion, and Milton’s writings have become an indestructible monument of his fame—a sublime structure well proportioned in all its parts.

  Society has been greatly changed by the decisions of time. There was a period when the ideas of superiority and aristocracy prevailed, and the chosen few monopolized all the advantages of life. During that age darkness grew more dense, the star of science had set, and the night was waxing blacker and blacker. But the star of Reformation arose, and light began to spread. Science and Freedom awoke from their sleep of ages, and, like twin sisters, unitedly advanced, dispelling the gloom and bringing “peace out of confusion.” Turn to hoary and imbecile India and view its iron-walled castes, offering liberty to one class and slavery to the rest. Once we could discern nothing of that brotherhood of man, but gradually the walls are being battered down. In France and England, the broad lines of demarkation, which anciently separated one class of men and one profession from another, have been erased or filled up by an increasing refinement and extension of personal liberty.

  America, the so-called “land of the free and home of the brave,” has had its share of caste and race prejudice; but the ethnic principle is being overcome, and as time moves on there will be no distinction either in regard “to race, color or previous condition of servitude,” but there will be a grand intermingling and absorption of races as in the case of the Normans and Saxons.

  What have been the decisions of time for Christianity? The patriarchal, the Jewish and the Christian dispensations have been but the unfolding of one general plan. In the first we see the folded bud, in the second the expanded leaf, and in the third the blossom and the fruit. But Christianity has not always been without opposition; the religious elements have been perverted and abused. The Crusades and the Inquisition are historical monuments of the infatuation of the human heart, operated upon by ignorance and false zeal for the service and glory of God. Christianity slowly made its way among the lowly and the unpretending; soon the number of followers increased and extended from the lower to the higher walks in life. Then heathenism took alarm, and the priests feared for their livelihood. Bitter hatred arose, and biting persecutions visited those Christians who could not and would not renounce their glorious faith. The secular arm was outstretched, not to save, but to strike, and numerous, worthy and devoted, were its victims. Everywhere combined powers of Church and State resisted a pure Christianity.

  Persecution kindled its fires, brought forth its wild beasts. Blood flowed like water; and the blood of such martyrs as Polycarp, Justin, Latimer and Ridley became the seed of the Church. Notwithstanding all its oppositions, Christianity has banished idolatry and ended the bloody gladiatorial contests; has crushed that infamous institution, slavery; raised the general standard of morality, and introduced the great principle of benevolence.

  What have been the decisions of time for woman? Anciently, she was looked upon as an inferior being, as either man’s slave or plaything. She had little part in the world’s history. But since the memorable age of chivalry and spread of Christianity her position has been defined, and she has been raised to her true level. We see women graduating from many of our colleges; they are in all the professions, are journalists, authors in poetry, romance, philosophy and general literature. They as reformers are at the head of great moral movements.

  What is the prevailing sentiment concerning the Women’s Congress which convened in Washington last spring? Did they not show that they were keeping pace with the times?

  If women have made such progress in the last fifty years, what will be the decisions of time for the next half century? If such decisions have been made for particular classes, what may we expect for the entire human race? What may we not expect for that race which, in this land, has been so long held down by ignorance, prejudice and the iron heel of caste? From its late history the Negro race has made most rapid progress in education, wealth and culture; it has done much to elevate itself, and, considering the short period of its enfranchisement, it has made more marked progress than any other race on the globe. Since wealth and knowledge have done so much for other races, who can tell but that if wealth and intelligence shall prevail with this race, the Negro will be the equal of any, socially and politically, and sovereigns with them all. It is a conceded fact that race prejudice is bound to give way before the potent influences of character, education and wealth; and these are the necessary conditions for the growth of a people. Without wealth there can be no leisure; without leisure there can be no thought; and without thought there can be no progress.

  According to the “survival of the fittest,” the Negro can look cheerfully and hopefully to the future. Is he not endowed with those salient qualities of manhood that must insure success in the end? The physical, mental, moral and esthetic faculties of the race have been “weighed in the balance and not found wanting.” We are rising upon the inflooding wave which has been steadily advancing, and we know that as “there is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune,” so there is in the affairs of races and nations.

  Shall the Negro race be content with its present attainments? Shall it only gaze with complacency upon the silver dawn of its success? Nay, rather let it be the rising sun, and with undaunted courage and happy hope await the glorious coming of the golden noon. When we take a retrospective view of the decisions of time—when we see the papal power tottering in its decrepitude; see the floods of despotism abating; see the mob of ignorance and superstit
ion quelled; see the progress of government; see the sun of literature and science moving from east to west around the globe; see the hydra-headed monsters, caste and race prejudice, cut down and Christianity reigning supremely, we can only echo Priestley’s words: “What has been achieved tells us that the greater lies before us.” According to the signs of the times, the day is not far distant when the men of all races will be educated where they will be mutually engaged in the search of truth, and will avail themselves of every means of advancement. Together will they follow the intricacies of science and explore its arcana and philosophy. They will roam through the elysian fields of literature, search out its richest treasures, pluck its fairest flowers, gather its brightest gems, and in the realms of classic art they will fill the mind with images of beauty and the soul with lofty conceptions. There will be no antagonisms of views—all shall see eye to eye. There will be no distinction of wealth and none of station. True manhood will be recognized and respected, whether it be presented by a Negro or an Anglo-Saxon; and the idea of Burns will prevail, that “rank is but the guinea’s stamp,” and that “a man is a man for a’ that and a’ that.”

  Then, and not until then, will the universal brotherhood of men be fully realized.

  45

  FANNIE M. JACKSON COPPIN

  (1837–1913)

  The heroic educator for whom Coppin State University in Baltimore is named was born a slave in Washington, D.C., and orphaned at a young age. Fannie M. Jackson’s freedom was purchased by an aunt who ensured young Fannie would be well educated. Coppin attended Oberlin College, where she excelled in the men’s course of study and established a night school to teach freed slaves. Coppin subsequently taught at the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, where she became principal and the first African American woman to rise to the position. Of commanding stature and dignified bearing, Coppin founded homes for impoverished women, wrote columns in Philadelphia newspapers promoting education and equal rights, and became an active missionary. In 1881, she married Levi Jackson Coppin, a Reverend in the A.M.E. Church. After her death in 1913, Fanny Jackson Coppin Normal School (Now Coppin State University) was built in her honor.