are doing as pastors, professors, principals, physicians, editors, teachers, Sunday school superintendents, home builders, and leaders of their people? If half of them had failed to fill the place for which their education ought to have prepared them, even then their teachers and friends would not have been disheartened. But almost none have failed to meet reasonable expectations. This record of the college graduates is full of encouragement and inspiration."

THE WORK OF TEACHERS.

A glance at the work done by negro college graduates in different fields can be but casual, and yet of some value. The teachers we asked to estimate roughly the pupils they had taught. Some answered frankly that they could not, while others made a statement, which they said was simply a careful guess. From these estimates, we find that 550 teachers reporting think they have taught about 300,000 children in primary grades and 200.000 in secondary grades. From this we get some faint idea of the enormous influence of these 700 teachers and the many other college men who have taught for longer or shorter periods.

OTHER PROFESSIONS.

Outside the work of teachers, the chief professions followed are the ministry, law, and medicine. In most cases a regular professional course is pursued after the college course is finished, in order to prepare for the profession. The chief theological schools are Biddle, at Charlotte, N. C.; Howard, at Washington, D. C.; Gammon, at Atlanta, Ga.; Straight, at New Orleans, La.; Payne, at Wilberforce, Ohio; Lincoln, in Pennsylvania, and Union, at Richmond, Va. These institutions and others have turned out large numbers of ministers, until the supply to-day is rather more than the demand, and the number of the students is falling off. The work of replacing the ordinary negro preachers by college-bred men will go on slowly, but it will require many years and much advance in other lines before this work is finished. Some colored men have gone to Northern theological schools, usually to the Hartford Theological School, Newton Seminary, and Yale University. The leading negro ministers to-day are not usually college-bred men; still a large number of the rising ministers are such, and the influence of the younger set is widespread.

There are comparatively few negro law schools, those at Shaw University and Howard being practically the only ones. There has been a good deal of contempt thrown on the negro lawyer, and he has been regarded as superfluous. Without doubt to-day lawyers are not demanded as much as merchants and artisans, and they have often degenerated into ward politicians of the most annoying type. At the same time there has been a demand for negro lawyers of the better type. The negroes are ignorant of the forms of law, careless of little matters of procedure, and have lost thousands of dollars of hard-earned property by not consulting lawyers. In criminal cases in the South, where public opinion would support and protect in many cases the innocent but unfortunate white, it would allow the negro to go to the corrupting influence of the chain gang. Such practice a white lawyer would not care to follow, because of the prejudice of his clients. Where public opinion sets strongly against a negro suspect, it is very difficult to get a white lawyer to make more than a perfunctory defense, even if convinced of the man's innocence. His standing in the community would be seriously jeopardized if he showed too much zeal. There is, therefore, a distinct place for the black lawyer, but one hard to fill, with small and uncertain income in most cases. Here and there are exceptions, especially in the North. In Boston, for instance, there are four or five colored lawyers who make fair incomes, largely from white practice-foreigners, Jews. Italians, and some few Americans. In Chicago there are two or three colored lawyers with large incomes, and a host who make a living. Some of the reports from lawyers are of interest:

A Memphis lawyer who has practiced for twenty-five years says: "I can not complain of the treatment I have received at the hands of both bench and bar.” A lawyer of Vicksburg, Miss., says: "There are two colored lawyers here in bar of about fifty. I do not enjoy any considerable white practice, but get my share from my race."

A Kentucky lawyer writes: "In my profession I am succeeding fairly well. My experience with the whites in all sections is that the white man looks upon himself as white and you as black."

A South Carolina man says: "As a rule white lawyers appear friendly; some will associate in cases with colored lawyers. The country white, however, who

EDUCATION REPORT, 1901-1902.

sits on the jury is usually ignorant and prejudiced. When the jury is intelligent the chances are better. I am doing fairly well.'

A very successful Tennessee lawyer reports his collections in 1899 as amounting to over $4,000.

A Nashville lawyer writes: "I know of no special success attending my practice. I am making a living out of it."

A North Carolina practitioner says: "I handle real estate for both white and colored. I have a paying practice in all State courts. My clients are all colored." From the North the character of the replies differs somewhat. "My practice is largely amongst the whites," says a Minnesota lawyer. From Chicago come several reports: "As a lawyer of six years' practice here, I have no reason to complain. My clients are about evenly divided between the two races. a lawyer for the past seven years I have done general law practice. Nine-tenths "In my practice as of my patronage from point of emolument has been and is from white clientage. I do considerable business for Irish people, a few Germans, many Poles and Bohemians, and many of English descent." When people here want a lawyer, they want a man that can do their work, and My clients are nearly all white. they don't consider the color of his skin."

From Buffalo, N. Y., a lawyer writes: "My practice has not yet assumed proportions sufficiently extensive or varied to warrant me in making deductions upon present success. I can see no reason, however, why a colored man of high character and the requisite qualifications should not succeed in the practice of law. Of the white man's skeptical attitude toward the professional negro's ability and training one has frequent experiences at once amusing and disgusting.' Another writes:

in my intercourse with the lawyers, almost exclusively white, I have had no cause My experience as a lawyer in Buffalo has been pleasant, and for complaint, being apparently respected by bench and bar. I have been successful in winning cases, but have had less success in collecting fees.” A Minnesota lawyer, graduated in law in 1894: inal court, and resigned December 21, 1898, to serve as a member of the Minnesota "Was appointed clerk of crimhouse of representatives. Am still a member, and have been practicing law. The district I represent-the Forty-second-is an entirely white district. I led the Republican ticket by 690 votes.

A Cleveland, Ohio, lawyer says:
An Omaha, Nebr., lawyer says:

of cases and classes of people."

66

My practice is increasing."

My practice has been mixed both as to kind

A Boston lawyer, who is common councilman of Cambridge from a white ward, reports fair success.

ני

Another Boston lawyer has been alderman of Cambridge for several years. A Philadelphia lawyer says: better class of negroes is not so likely to patronize me as the whites are." My practice is largely confined to Jews. The The chief negro medical schools are Meharry, at Nashville, Tenn.; Leonard, at Raleigh, N. C.; Howard, at Washington, D. C.; Knoxville, at Knoxville, Tenn., and New Orleans, at New Orleans, La. These institutions have done remarkable work in sending out colored physicians. Their standard is lower than the great Northern schools, but in most cases the work seems honestly done and the graduates successful. Negroes have also graduated at the Harvard Medical School, the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania, and other Northern institutions. The rise of the negro physician has been sudden and significant. Ten years ago few negro families thought of employing a negro as a physician. To-day few employ any other kind. By pluck and desert black men have cleared here a large field of usefulness. Moreover, in this profession far more than in the ministry and in the law the professional standard has been kept high. The college-bred physician has had quacks and root doctors to contend with, but to no such extent did they hold and dominate the field as was the case in the churches and criminal courts. The result is to-day that there is scarcely a sizable city in the United States where it is not possible to secure the services of a well-trained negro physician of skill and experience. The Freedmen's Hospital, of Washington, has made an extremely good record in the difficult operations performed, general efficiency, and training of nurses. Hospitals have grown up in various cities under colored medical men, notably in Chicago, Charleston, and Philadelphia. There are State medical associations in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and several other States.

The testimony of physicians themselves is usually hopeful. From the North a report from Newark, N. J., says: "I am and have been medical representative on our grand jury. Two-thirds of my practice is among whites. I run a drug store in connection with my practice."

From New York City: "At first I found the whites very backward in dealing with me, but success in several emergency cases gave me some reputation. Now my practice is about equally divided among black and white.”

Another from New York City says his practice amounts to about $10,000 a year, and he actually collects about half of that. About a third of his patients are white.

From Philadelphia one reports a large practice, chiefly among blacks and in the colored hospital. One colored physician is connected with a large white hospital. A lady physician from the same city reports "marked courtesy and respect on the part of all."

From the West a Chicago physician says: "I have been quite successful in the short time I have been practicing. About one-half of my patients are white." Another Chicago physician represented the State of Illinois at the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States.

From Minnesota one writes: "I am succeeding in the practice of medicine in a city whose negro population is very small."

From Denver it is reported that a negro was the first chief medical inspector of the Denver health office, and he was also State sanitary officer. He has a large practice.

From the border States a Tennessee doctor reports: 'I have succeeded in building up a good practice here among my own people. No missionary ever had a better field for useful labor."

A man who ranked his class at the Harvard Medical School reports a practice between $3,000 and $4,000 a year. "I am fully successful as a practitioner and surgeon, and I believe I enjoy the confidence of a large number of people."

From Missouri a report says: "I meet with most of the best white physicians. in consultation, and they treat me with courtesy.

As

From Kentucky a young physician reports: "I am located in a town of 12,000inhabitants, one-third of whom are colored, and am thoroughly convinced that there is a great field here in the South for the educated young colored man. a physician I am well received by my white professional brother. We ride in the same buggy, consult together, and read each other's books. I have a few whitepatients, but most of them are colored. I have purchased property on one of our best residence streets, and also a business house on the main street of our town." A report from Baltimore, Md., reads: "As a physician I find my practice a paying one."

From the heart of the South come many interesting reports. A North Carolina. man says: “I have a fair practice for the length of time I have been at work. My intercourse with the white members of my profession is cordial along professional lines. I seek no others."

Another North Carolina physician "has treated more than 40,000 patients with reasonable success. He is now conducting a sanitarium for consumptives. A colored man of Savannah, Ga., has been one of the city physicians for more than five years. I have treated no less than 25,000 patients, including several

hundred whites."

66

A Columbia, S. C., practitioner is often called upon by white physicians to consult with them in medical cases and assist in surgical cases in their practice. I have an extensive and paying practice among my own people and a considerable practice among the poorer classes of the white people.

Another North Carolina physician has been usually invited to attend the white State medical society meetings.

On the other hand an Arkansas doctor says: "I have experienced some prejudice among my white friends. We do not have much to do with each other as physicians."

Still another Arkansas man reports that he "has had a half interest in some of the real major surgical operations done in this city. I have a large field and am often called to see patients at a distance of 20 and 30 miles."

In Macon, Miss., an unusually successful doctor says: "My practice here is very large and among both colored and white. Before I settled here no one had heard of a colored doctor.' The history of my parents, who had always lived here, helped to establish me. I have had white people come here from a distance and board here to get my treatment."

negro.

No thoughtful man can deny that the work of negro professional men as thus indicated has been, and still is, of immense advantage in the social uplift of the There have of course been numerous failures, and there has been a tendency to oversupply the demand for ministers and lawyers. This is natural and is. ED 1902-14

not a racial peculiarity, nor indeed is it chargeable to the higher education of the negro. It was the natural and inevitable rebound of a race of menials granted now for the first time some freedom of economie choice. In the ministry this natural attraction was made doubly strong by the social prominence of the negro church, and by the undue ease with which theological students can get their training all over the land. Nevertheless, granting all the evils arising from some overcrowding of the professions. the good accomplished by well-trained ministers, business-like lawyers, and skilled physicians, has far outbalanced it.

OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY.

It is very difficult to collect reliable statistics of property which are not based on actual records. It was not advisable, therefore, to ask those to whom reports were sent the amount of property they were worth, for with the best of motives on the part of those answering the resulting figures would be largely estimates and personal opinion. One kind of property, however, is least of all liable to be unknown to persons or to be exaggerated in honest reports, and that is real estate. Each college-bred negro was asked, therefore, to state the assessed value of the real estate owned by him. The following table was the result of 557 answers:

With regard to the 85 who are tabulated as owning no real estate, it is not certain that in all cases this is a fact, or that some of them may not have had property which they did not wish to report. There is no way of knowing, of course, how far these 557 persons are representative of the 2,331 negro graduates. All things considered, however, this is probably an understatement of the property held; for while many of those not reporting held no property, yet most of those who did report represent the more recent graduates, who have just begun to accumulate, while numbers of the other graduates with considerable property could not be reached. Some who are known to own property did not report it. It is therefore a conservative statement to say that college-bred negroes in the United States own on an average $2,400 worth of real estate, assessed value. If the assessed value is two-thirds of the real value in most cases, this represents $3,600 worth of property, market value. To this must be added the worth of all personal property, so that the average accumulations of this class may average $5,000 each, or $10,000,000 for the group. Such figures are, of course, mere estimates, but in the light of the testimony they are plausible.

THE FUTURE OF THE NEGRO,

Among the most interesting of the answers received were those given to the questions: "Are you hopeful for the future of the negro in this country?" "Have you any suggestions? Of 733 answers received, 641 were hopeful, 40 were doubtful, and 52 were not hopeful. Two hundred and seventy-six persons simply answered "Hopeful."

Others who were hopeful made the following suggestions as to the best methods and ways of advance: One hundred and twenty-five. " College and industrial training;" 49, "Accumulate land and wealth;" 47, "Better trained leaders;" 34, More unity among ourselves;" 28. The way seems dark;" 17, "A more friendly feeling between the races;" 11. Parents and women hold the keys to success;' 10, "America is our home: stay here and work out the problem;" 8. "Better sexual morals; 8, "Keep out of politics;" 7, "Eventually some must emigrate;" 6,

"Learn economy;" 4. "The negro will never rule, but will gradually gain his rights;" 1, "Emigration talk should be stopped.'

Of persons who said simply "Not hopeful" there were 49. Others who were not hopeful or doubtful said: Nine, "They must migrate;" 6, "Fight for morals, industry, and higher education;" 5, "Little chance for the masses; Certain individuals will survive;" 4, "Do not accumulate means;" 3, "The industrial craze must be stopped;" 2, "Prejudice has gone to the North;" 2, He must enter the commercial world;" 1, "Tendencies of the youth to crime."

The different points of view can best be appreciated by reading the following extracts:

"I am hopeful of the negro. The changes in a rapidly developing country like ours will afford many opportunities for the advancement of the negro; let him acquire the keenness of vision to see them and have the good sense to embrace them; let him seize every opportunity to put any community or the country at large under obligations to him for some manly service, regardless of how he is treated now. These obligations will be paid, if not in this, in the next generation. Problems will do good. Every theory presented by his opponents can be shattered by facts, facts, facts. There is no way in the world to deprive him long of a vote. It is very dark for him now. I think ignorance is making it harder for him than it would otherwise be. Not simply a want of knowledge of letters, but a general deficiency in everything necessary for well-being.”

"Yes, but it is only in proportion as the negro is socially, commercially, and politically oppressed by the white people. In other words, under existing circumstances, I count oppression a blessing."

"Sometimes I am hopeful, sometimes I am not. In this part of the country negroes do not seem to embrace opportunities. Too much talent is wasted in politics and in office holding."

"I have always heretofore lived North and have not known the real condition of my people South. While I think I may say I am hopeful, yet as I see the conditions here I sometimes think that it is the progress rather than our lack of progress that is causing the continued friction between the races."

"While I am hopeful of the future of the negro in this country, I realize that he is now passing through the most crucial period of his existence here, if we except his condition in slavery. The sympathy of the North is being largely withdrawn from him and the South I believe to be growing more antagonistic to his progress and self-respect as a citizen. I would suggest a college education for the few exceptionally bright and industrial training for the majority of the negro youths.

"His future depends upon his own self-respect and thrift."

“Despite hindrances, too many opportunities are opened and opening for us for it to be possible to despair. The work of schoolhouses and churches, of such organizations as you represent, means a brighter day. The greatest need of our people, as I can see it, is parents. We need, need sadly, fathers and mothers who realize the full importance of the training of the children sent to them. Every home that has a cultivated, womanly mother and a manly, intelligent father is a source of strength and power. God grant that such homes may increase."

"This country offers the negro the brightest future of any in the world. He will and must succeed."

"Present oppression, suppression, and misrepresentation must give place to a sentiment of fairness and fair play. We must expedite its coming by developing a ministry that will study and comprehend the moral needs of the race and teach accordingly. Parents must be awakened to a sense of their duty as parents-the trend of the youth toward the vices must be checked. I am not in sympathy with those who say that the negro should eschew politics to the extent of neglecting to exercise his franchise."

"The negro must know that he must rid himself of obnoxious characteristics, save money, acquire property, learn trades, and become moral. The leading men among us must have sense enough to denounce the rapist as well as the lynchers." "Guard well the sanctity of the home. Make a home, beautify it, make it pure, protect it, defend it, die by it. If the youths of our race were sent out from pure, happy, well-regulated homes, half the battle would be fought to begin with."