Part 1 (1/2)
The Upward Path.
by Various.
FOREWORD
To the present time, there has been no collection of stories and poems by Negro writers, which colored children could read with interest and pleasure and in which they could find a mirror of the traditions and aspirations of their race. Realizing this lack, Myron T. Pritchard, Princ.i.p.al of the Everett School, Boston, and Mary White Ovington, Chairman of the Board of the National a.s.sociation for the Advancement of Colored People, have brought together poems, stories, sketches and addresses which bear eloquent testimony to the richness of the literary product of our Negro writers. It is the hope that this little book will find a large welcome in all sections of the country and will bring good cheer and encouragement to the young readers who have so largely the fortunes of their race in their own hands.
The editors desire to express thanks to the authors who have generously granted the use of their work. Especial acknowledgement is due to Mrs.
Booker T. Was.h.i.+ngton for the selection from _Up from Slavery_; to _The Crisis_ for ”The Rondeau,” by Jessie Fauset, ”The Brave Son,” by Alston W. Burleigh, ”The Black Fairy,” by Fenton Johnson, ”The Children at Easter,” by C. Emily Frazier, ”His Motto,” by Lottie B. Dixon, ”Negro Soldiers,” by Roscoe C. Jamison, ”A Legend of the Blue Jay,” by Ruth Anna Fisher; to the American Book Company for ”The Dog and the Clever Rabbit,” from _Animal Tales_, by A. O. Stafford; to Frederick A. Stokes and Company for ”A Negro Explorer at the North Pole,” by Matthew A.
Henson; to A. C. McClurg and Company for the selection from _Souls of Black Folk_, by W. E. B. DuBois; to Henry Holt and Company for the selection from _The Negro_, by W. E. B. DuBois; to the Cornhill Company for the selections from The _Band of Gideon_, by Joseph F. Cotter, Jr., and _The Menace of the South_, by William J. Edwards; to Dodd, Mead and Company for ”Ere Sleep Comes Down” and the ”Boy and the Bayonet”
(copyright 1907), by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
INTRODUCTION
The Negro has been in America just about three hundred years and in that time he has become intertwined in all the history of the nation. He has fought in her wars; he has endured hards.h.i.+ps with her pioneers; he has toiled in her fields and factories; and the record of some of the nation's greatest heroes is in large part the story of their service and sacrifice for this people.
The Negro arrived in America as a slave in 1619, just one year before the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth in search of freedom. Since then their lot has not always been a happy one, but nevertheless, in spite of difficulties and hards.h.i.+ps, the race has learned many valuable lessons in its conflict with the American civilization. As a slave the lessons of labor, of constructive endeavor, of home-life and religion were learned, even if the opportunity was not always present to use these lessons to good advantage.
After slavery other lessons were learned in their order. Devoted self-sacrificing souls--soldiers of human brotherhood--took up the task in the schoolroom which their brothers began on the battlefield. Here it was that the Negro learned the history of America, of the deeds of her great men, the stirring events which marked her development, the ideals that made America great. And so well have they been learned, that to-day there are no more loyal Americans than the twelve million Negroes that make up so large a part of the nation.
But the race has other things yet to learn: The education of any race is incomplete unless the members of that race know the history and character of its own people as well as those of other peoples. The Negro has yet to learn of the part which his own race has played in making America great; has yet to learn of the n.o.ble and heroic souls among his own people, whose achievements are praiseworthy among any people. A number of books--poetry, history and fiction--have been written by Negro authors in which the life of their own people has been faithfully and attractively set forth; but until recently no effort has been made on a large scale to see that Negro boys and girls became acquainted with these books and the facts they contained concerning their people.
In this volume the publishers have brought together a number of selections from the best literary works of Negro authors, through which these young people may learn more of the character and accomplishments of the worthy members of their race. Such matter is both informing and inspiring, and no Negro boy or girl can read it without feeling a deeper pride in his own race. The selections are each calculated to teach a valuable lesson, and all make a direct appeal to the best impulses of the human heart.
For a number of years several educational inst.i.tutions for Negro youths have conducted cla.s.ses in Negro history with a similar object in view.
The results of these cla.s.ses have been most gratifying and the present volume is a commendable contribution to the literature of such a course.
ROBERT R. MOTON
TUSKEGEE INSt.i.tUTE, ALA., June 30, 1920
To the man in the tower the world below him is likely to look very small. Men look like ants and all the bustle and stir of their hurrying lives seems pitifully confused and aimless. But the man in the street who is looking and striving upward is in a different situation. However poor his present plight, the thing he aims at and is striving toward stands out clear and distinct above him, inspiring him with hope and ambition in his struggle upward. For the man who is down there is always something to hope for, always something to be gained. The man who is down, looking up, may catch a glimpse now and then of heaven, but the man who is so situated that he can only look down is pretty likely to see another and quite different place.
BOOKER T. WAs.h.i.+NGTON
THE UPWARD PATH
THE BOY AND THE BAYONET
PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR
It was June, and nearing the closing time of school. The air was full of the sound of bustle and preparation for the final exercises, field day, and drills. Drills especially, for nothing so gladdens the heart of the Was.h.i.+ngton mother, be she black or white, as seeing her boy in the blue cadet's uniform, marching proudly to the huzzas of an admiring crowd.
Then she forgets the many nights when he has come in tired out and dusty from his practice drill, and feels only the pride and elation of the result.