enslaved, was a human being. We find such men as Robert Purvis,
William Still and Stephen Smith.

In Western Pennsylvania and New York were John Peck, John B. Vashon
and Peyton Harris and all through the North, each state held colored
men who were anxious to do what they could to elevate the race, and it
seems as if God gave each one a special duty to perform, which
combined, made one mighty stimulus to the young colored youth to do
what he could to build up the Negro race.

Do you ask if the Negro has advanced intellectually, I need only to
refer you to the showing made by the men and women of our race to-day.
The works of Frederick Douglass, John M. Langston, Blanche K. Bruce,
J. C. Price, are living testimonials of what the Negro accomplished a
generation ago.

When we consider the fact that the Negro was of such import that laws
were made making it a misdemeanor to educate the Negro, both before
and after the Civil War; when we consider the Greek text books of
Professor Scarborough of Wilberforce used by one of the oldest
Colleges in America; when we consider the Presidents and Principals of
various Negro schools in our country, such as Livingston, N. C.;
Spellman Seminary, Atlanta, Ga.; Wilberforce, Ohio; Virginia Normal
and Collegiate; Shaw University; when we consider the place that our
honored clergy occupy among the intellectual men of the world; when we
consider the work of Booker T. Washington, we must admit that the love
of knowledge seems to be intuitive. No people ever learned more in so
short a time.

Every year since the Civil War the American Negro has been taking on