Chapter X: Part II: Oak Hill Industrial Academy (4)

Started as a private enterprise its patronage soon over-taxed its equipment of buildings and attracted public aid from the legislature of Alabama, and later large gifts from many wealthy people in our larger northern cities, some of whom endeavor to visit it once a year to note its annual progress and needs.

The remarkable success of this industrial institution and the immeasurable amount of good it has already done, during the lifetime of its founder, in bettering the temporal welfare of thousands of colored people in the south, have tended to make it the most prominent illustration of practical and successful industrial education among the colored people of this or any other land.

SAM DALY

Sam Daly of Tuscaloosa, an illiterate janitor of the University of Alabama, previous to 1903, and died at Atlanta, while attending the Presbyterian General Assembly in May 1913, is a splendid illustration of what one may do for the good of his race.

At the time of his death he left to be cared for by others a 500 acre farm of his own, fourteen miles from town on which he was voluntarily caring for 270 convicted and vice steeped colored boys from the cities of that state.

He established an industrial school for boys on his own farm, to save convicted and bad boys from prison; received them from the police judges and conveyed them to the farm. They had become a nuisance and burden to the public, but he housed, fed and clothed this large family without receiving a dollar of public funds of Jefferson county; and from the church, only forty dollars, for a sleeping room for them and the salary of a teacher. The rest of their support was obtained from their daily toil on the farm.

At last the number of boys and the cost of keeping them became so great, he was compelled for their sakes to put a mortgage of eighteen hundred dollars on his farm. This impelled him to go to the Assembly (South) to make an appeal for funds. Unfortunately he suddenly became ill and died before he was able to make his appeal. His last words were: "Take care--take good care ob mah little niggahs!"

He had saved, by industrial occupation and farming, for good citizenship in Alabama, three hundred boys convicted of crimes and misdemeanors. It was a sad disappointment to him that he was unable to present to the Assembly an appeal on behalf of those still under his care.

Sam Daly was a good janitor, but when he began to make good men of useless and bad boys, his value to the state of Alabama was increased many fold. This brief record of his generous, energetic and heroic work is made that it may serve as an inspiration to devise other similar ways of being useful and helpful.

XXVI

PERMANENT IMPROVEMENTS.

PAINTING BOYS HALL.--SURFACE DRAINAGE.--ORCHARD IN 1906.--HOG HOUSES.--SHEDS FOR HAY AND THE STOCK HOGS.--OAK BRIDGES.--TEMPORARY BOYS HALL.--ADDITION TO THE ACADEMY.--GOOD FENCES AROUND THE CAMPUS.--GARDEN, STOCK YARD AND CULTIVATED FIELDS.--ELLIOTT HALL.--PULLING STUMPS.

"So built we the wall; for the people had a mind to
work."--Nehemiah.

The improvements undertaken and completed by means of the student help began with the removal of old rubbish, the accumulation of years, and the impenetrable briar thickets near the buildings.

During the latter part of the first spring term in 1905 the boys applied two good coats of lead and oil in cream and white to the Boys' Hall. The work was well done although it was the first work of the kind any of them had ever attempted. The appearance of the building was greatly improved, and every boy was delighted to find how quickly the painter's art could be learned.

The black picket and crooked worm fences around the buildings were then removed and replaced with good board and wire fences. The extent of good and substantial fences, erected during this period, aggregate about 100 rods of board and picket fences around the campus, garden and stock yards; 12 large farm gates, all hung between tall posts with overhead tie; and 780 rods of web and barb wire fence; all set with good Bodark or Locust posts, top down and reinforced with a strong oak stub in every panel, making a valuable permanent improvement.

In March 1906 a young orchard was planted consisting of 50 trees, that include a number of the best varieties of apples and peaches suited for that section. These were supplemented with a similar lot in 1913.

The purchase of lands, begun in 1908, as soon as the restrictions were removed, was continued until 1912 when the aggregate included fifteen different purchases, making 270 acres and costing $2050.00.

Twenty-five acres were cleared of previously ringed and dead trees and thirty more were enclosed and cleared of underbrush and useless trees.

The surface drainage work begun in 1905 and completed in 1912, included outlets to all the little ponds near the buildings, the deepening of the artificial pond north of the buildings, a deep drain with branches, through the meadow and another one through a large slough at the northwest corner of the farm.

BUILDINGS

The first building erected was a log house 24x32 feet with a good cistern in 1906, and for the number of its conveniences it is an excellent model. A cut and description of it will be found in the latter part of this volume.

A new shed was also built that year, on the east side of the commons, for the convenient, daily care of the growing herd in the pastures.

In 1907 a belfry and farm bell were put on the comb of the roof of the first girls' hall. An axle was obtained and a wooden wheel and frame were made for the large old bell, and it was then mounted in the tower of the chapel.

The new highway along the railroad to Valliant was cleared of trees and the materials converted into posts and fuel. Two substantial oak bridges, five and ten feet long respectively, were constructed over the streams on this road to make it passable for the loaded Oak Hill team during term time.

A string of hay sheds, 64x16 feet, was constructed on the south side of the feed lot and two portable racks for feeding hay and fodder economically and conveniently from the sheds.

In 1908 the enrollment having reached 115, the seating capacity of the academy was increased by lifting all the seats and adding an additional row of thirteen double seats to their number. The academy was then painted two coats inside and outside and the woodwork of the old desks was brightened and tinted to correspond with the new ones. These improvements made it look more beautiful and attractive than ever before.

The porches on the south and west sides of the girls hall were repaired by the insertion of new joists where needed and the laying of new floors.

TEMPORARY BOYS' HALL

In 1909, the Boys' Hall having been lost a few days after the opening of the term, November 8, 1908, a temporary boys' hall 55x24 feet was hastily constructed, its dedication taking place Feb. 28, 1909, after an address by Rev. Wiley Homer of Grant. This meeting was held on a beautiful Sabbath afternoon and the speakers and singers occupied the wide platform on the west end of the building. This building was erected entirely by the student boys. The materials in it cost $410 and it had apartments for an office, one teacher and twenty-five boys.

It was intended as a place for the workmen while erecting a new hall for the boys, the material in it then to be used in lining the new building.

The blistered condition of the front of the girls' hall and academy from the intense heat of the fire were then relieved by a thorough scraping, sandpapering and repainting.

Owing to the limited accommodations for the boys in this building, and for the large number of pupils in the primary department in the academy, an extension of twelve feet, with an upper room for special students, was added that fall to the academy. While this improvement was under construction, other boys built a new wood shed, obtained in the timber and prepared the supplies of fuel, and built 170 rods of new fence. A considerable quantity of sand was also hauled for the foundation of the new hall for the boys.

ELLIOTT HALL

In 1910, the erection of Elliott Hall became a necessity after the disastrous fire which occurred on March 13th. This building is 80x32 feet, with an extension 6x32 feet, in front, and a two story addition 18x16 feet, for kitchen store and bath rooms, at the northwest corner over a large brick-walled cistern.

This building absorbed the attention of all for more than a year, although it was opened for occupancy on November 14th. It was a great undertaking with the few workmen obtainable. The clearing away of the rubbish, the excavation for the cellar 28x75 feet and the construction of the foundation wall, and the same for the large cistern took a good deal more time than was expected, and all of it was heavy and hard work for every one that participated in it. It was the 15th of June when the cement wall around the main part of the foundation was completed by the superintendent, who placed the rock, cement and reinforcing materials in the walls with his own hands as a precaution against defects.

The construction of the frame work was entrusted to Samuel A. Folsom, who, acting as foreman of the carpenters, succeeded in getting the building ready for occupancy at the end of five months, or November 14th. So great, however, was the amount of unfinished work in the halls and rooms upstairs and of cement lining needed for the excavation walls in the cellar that a considerable number of students were employed principally at this work during that and the following term.

Every part of the work on this building was very faithfully performed. It is a creditable monument to the memory of every one that wrought upon it. It is symmetrical and, though plain, is handsome in appearance and very convenient in its uses; as an administration building, girls dormitory and boarding house. The lumber was furnished and delivered by J. R. Bowles of Swink; David Folsom made the window and door frames; Solomon Buchanan served as foreman of the painters, and he and George Stewart built the walls of the cistern and the first story of the chimneys. Edward Hollingsworth, in addition to important work on other parts of the building, served as foreman of the construction of the stairways, belfry and porches. It represents an expenditure of $6,500 in cash and student labor. This does not include the services of the superintendent, who had previously prepared the plans for the building and personally superintended its construction.

LATER IMPROVEMENTS

During 1911 and 1912 while some were putting the finishing touches on Elliott Hall, the last being the insertion of the fixtures in the two bath rooms and the construction of a closed room in the cellar for canned fruit and vegetables, the other boys removed the old oak stumps from the north field, drained a slough covering four acres of land, cleaned twenty acres of land for cultivation and built 160 rods of good fence around it. They also built a pretty and very convenient semi-monitor hen house, with open front and two out-yards.

PULLING STUMPS

During the month of March, when the ground was moist and favorable, a squad of the larger boys would sometimes be equipped and employed in pulling stumps. This was a new employment for all of them, but they soon learned to make a cheering success of it.

The working outfit consisted of two levers, a very large and a smaller one, a log chain, sixty feet of inch rope, and for each of the workmen a shovel and an axe. The method of procedure was to assign them in teams of two each, to remove the earth from around a lot of stumps to the width and depth of about eighteen inches. The larger lever, having the middle fold of rope attached to its smaller end, was placed in a vertical position at the lower side of the stump and firmly fastened to its crown with a log chain, the latter passing over its top from the opposite side. The small lever was placed in position at the side opposite the larger one, for the use of the foreman. When all the boys, in two lines facing each other, had hold of the ends of the rope and the signal was given, "Ready for a pull," something was sure to happen; usually the uprooting of the stump, but sometimes the breaking of the log chain, which was sure to result in making a good natured pile of the boys. The team did the pulling the first half day, but the boys did it afterwards, because they were more available and enjoyed it.

WALL OF ELLIOTT HALL

The concrete wall under Elliott Hall, built by the superintendent and student boys in the spring of 1910, was the first work of that kind in this section of the country. The sand was found and obtained without cost along a stream in the neighboring timber. The filler consisted of rock and broken brick from the chimneys of the three buildings that had been previously consumed by fire, and they were incorporated in the wall by hand. The iron used for reinforcing the concrete was all obtained from the scrap pile of the burned buildings. The processes, or methods of procedure, were new to all the workmen. As the work advanced it called forth expressions of distrust, rather than confidence and commendation. The mixing of materials had to be strictly forbidden save in the presence of the superintendent, whose hands afterwards placed them in position on the wall.

After the lapse of four years this wall is solid as a rock in every respect. It has now the reputation of being not only the first, but also to this date one of the most perfect and substantial concrete walls in that section.

WORKING ACCORDING TO RULE

An expert carpenter has observed, "It takes the average apprentice about one year to discover, that he does not know how to drive a nail with the skill of an expert;" one who drives it through hard woods without bending and brittle, without splitting. This skill is however always more quickly acquired, when a rule like the following is given the apprentice at the beginning of his training. "Gripping the hammer near the end of the handle and setting the nail slightly slanting from the edges toward the solid center, strike the top of it fairly with the center of the hammer, starting and finishing it with gentle taps."

Whenever a new tool or implement was put in the hand of a student, the rules governing its use were fully explained, and a constant effort was made to have the student do all work by rule; whether it was on the farm, in the kitchen, laundry or shop, as well as in the class room. The essential parts of the text books, that were reviewed most frequently, were the definitions and rules. A good position is the first essential in reading, writing, speaking, sawing, planing or plowing; and the second is to grasp and use aright the tool or implement, whether it be the pen, pencil, brush, axe, hammer or saw. The good effect of patiently taking the time to make every one familiar with the rules governing the tools and work, became noticeable very soon on the part of the older students, both in the better quality of the work and the larger amount of it performed. Progress in studies and success in the shop or field depends largely on the ability to follow the rule, and the decision never to violate it.

XXVII

ELLIOTT HALL

THE GIRLS HALL LOST AND REPLACED.--OLD LOG HOUSE--DAVID ELLIOTT.--ALICE LEE ELLIOTT.

"Be noble! and the nobleness that lies in other men, sleeping but
never dead, will rise in majesty to meet thine own."--Lowell.

LOSS OF THE GIRLS HALL

On Sabbath afternoon, March 13, 1910, as we left the chapel at the close of a very delightful and profitable Bible Memory service, a cloud of black smoke was seen moving rapidly around the buildings across the view before us and suggesting a fire in one of the buildings. It was a sad and sickening surprise. Quickly the word was passed, "The Girls' Hall is on fire." Rushing into this building to locate and if possible to suppress the conflagration, we found it had originated on the third floor, and that a tub of water had already been applied to it by attendants in the building, without any hope of checking it, as the flames were spreading rapidly over the dry roof, fanned by a strong breeze from the west. The roof was inaccessible both from the inside and the outside, and in a very few minutes both sides of it were covered with a fiery sheet of low, devouring flame similar to that occasionally seen, when fire sweeps rapidly over ground covered with dry underbrush.

In a very little while the entire building was consumed, and with it the laundry, smokehouse, old log house, new woodhouse, stock tank, ten rods of the campus fence, fifteen cords of wood, the food supplies on hand and nearly all the furniture and equipment of the Girls' Hall, the home of the institution.

A fair estimate of the loss sustained is as follows: Girls' Hall 36x56, $2550: contents, $1175; other buildings and contents, $250; total $3975.

The girls rooming on the second story, obedient to instruction, hastened to their rooms and secured all their effects, but six that were rooming on the third story lost their trunks and extra clothing.

It is impossible to describe how deeply was felt the loss of everything at this time, coming as it did so soon after the loss of the Boys' Hall in 1908. It had been the comfortable home of the Oak Hill family since 1889. To the superintendent it meant not merely the loss of the property, a kind of loss that is always more or less deeply felt, but a check of several years upon plans outlined for the permanent improvement of the work of the institution.

This loss was a staggering blow to the superintendent until he learned the next day that the matron, Miss Weimer, with the co-operation of Miss Hall, was willing to practice the self denial needed to make a heroic effort to recover from it. When this information was received, twenty of the larger girls were constrained to remain, while the rest were sent home. Some of these were provided for in the second story of an addition to the academy building, then nearly completed, and the school room under it served for a dining room and kitchen. The school work was resumed the next day, under Miss Hall with student assistants. The girls that remained proved helpful in executing the extra work then necessary, and the experience of self denial no doubt proved a profitable one to them.

The old log farm house 46x16 feet, was the last of the four Oak Hill buildings to yield to the flames. It was built by the Choctaw Indians about the year 1840, soon after they were transferred from Mississippi. It was very substantially constructed and by skilled workmen, who no doubt came from Fort Towson. The Girls' Hall stood between it and the well, indicated by the aeromotor east of it.

This building was the pioneer home of the academy. The stages of progress in its use were as follows. The native school was transferred to it in 1884. Eliza Hartford began to occupy it in 1886, first as a day school, and three months later as her home with a boarding school. In the fall of 1887, a kitchen was added to the west end of it, and it was then used as a home for the teachers and girls, and the school was transferred to the new school building. Two years later it became a dormitory for the boys. After 1895 it was used for storage, a smith and carpenter shop. The picture showing it on fire is from a photograph taken by Miss Weimer, after the roof had fallen and the Girls' Hall was entirely consumed.

DAVID ELLIOTT

The erection of the fine building known as Elliott Hall, was made possible by the receipt of a gift of $5,000 from Mr. David Elliott, of LaFayette, Indiana, who expressed the desire that a school might be established among the Freedmen that would be a memorial of Alice Lee Elliott, deceased, his previously devoted wife. It was dedicated to her memory on June 13, 1912.

Elliott Hall is now the commodious and comfortable home of the Oak Hill family. It provides a convenient office for the superintendent, library and reception room, places for the boarding and laundry departments, rooms and bath rooms for the girls. It occupies a beautiful and commanding position on the gentle elevation known as Oak Hill. It stands on the very site previously occupied by the old log house, but parallel with the survey lines. It forms a center around which all other needed buildings can be conveniently and permanently located.

Elliott Hall is the largest and finest of the buildings hitherto erected at the academy, and the first of the larger ones to be built by the local Freedmen. This noteworthy achievement, occurring so soon after the reopening in 1905, and the introduction of industrial training in the shop as well as on the farm, is suggestive of the real and substantial progress made by the young men.

It is also an encouragement to every patron of this institution, for it practically illustrates the progress that may be made by every thoughtful and industrious youth. In view of the fact that there are few or no opportunities for the young Freedmen to learn carpentry and painting elsewhere in its vicinity, this achievement becomes one in which every Freedman may justly manifest a laudable pride and express devout thanksgiving.

The memorial offering of Mr. Elliott, that made it possible, is the largest individual donation yet made to this institution. It came at a time of our saddest and greatest need. It is a gift to be very greatly appreciated. Every Freedman in the region of country benefited and blessed by this institution, may well be profoundly thankful for this manifestation of personal interest in your intellectual and material welfare.

ALICE LEE ELLIOTT

Mrs. Alice Lee Elliott, in memory of whom Elliott Hall and the Oak Hill Industrial Academy were named in 1910, was the faithful and devoted wife of David Elliott, an elder of the Spring Grove Presbyterian church near LaFayette, Indiana. She was the daughter of John and Maria Ritchey, who left Ohio soon after their marriage to found a new home of their own on the frontier in Indiana. She was born, January 7, 1846, and was called to her rest in her sixty-first year, June 27, 1906.

She received a good education in her youth and her marriage occurred March 2, 1875. Three years later she became a member of the Dayton Presbyterian church, of which her husband was already a member, and at once became an earnest and zealous christian worker.

When in later years Mr. and Mrs. Elliott transferred their membership to Spring Grove Presbyterian church, because their services were more greatly needed there, she became a very successful teacher in the Sabbath school and an enthusiastic leader in their missionary work.

She was amiable and winsome. Although she lived amid the surroundings of wealth, she was the constant friend and helper of all classes. Her home was always a delightful retreat for the ministers of the gospel and those who represented worthy causes of benevolence and charity. The Bible, the favorite family church paper and the missionary magazine were always on the center table and read regularly.

She was animated with the noble desire to be eminently useful and took advantage of every opportunity to benefit and bless others. Others were captivated and enthused by her happy, hopeful spirit, and have accorded to her this beautiful tribute, "Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."

When her voice became silent and her eyelids closed in death it seemed to her surviving husband that she was worthy and the world would be made better by the erection of a living or useful, as well as granite memorial. Accordingly when her last earthly resting place was duly marked with an appropriate granite memorial, he made a donation of $5000 to the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen, for the establishment of an educational institution for the benefit of the colored people of this land, that should bear her name.

After the loss by fire of two of the main buildings at Oak Hill Industrial Academy in 1908 and 1910, this fund was used for the erection of a main building--Elliott Hall--and the school has since been called the Alice Lee Elliott Memorial.

The Bible and shorter catechism are to be regularly and faithfully taught to all pupils, as fundamental in the development of a good moral character. The hope is indulged that the beautiful story of her unselfish and eminently useful life will prove an incentive to constant, noble endeavor on the part of every one that enjoys the privileges of the institution that now bears her honored name.

ENDOWMENT

Other friends who have it in mind to leave a legacy to this greatly needed institution, will do well to consider the propriety, if possible, of sending the funds to the Freedmen's Board while living, as Mr. Elliott did, and receive from the Board, if desired, an endowment bond bearing interest payable annually to the donor, during the continuance of the donor's life. By this arrangement the gift becomes a profitable source of annual support to the donor, and an immediate benefit to the institution, without costs and discounts.

XXVIII

UNFAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES

LOSS OF HELPERS AND BUILDINGS.--BOLL WEEVIL.--STATEHOOD CHANGES.--EFFICIENT SERVICE REQUIRED.--INFERENCES.--BURDENS AND FRIENDS.

"All these things are against me."--Jacob.

The new era, that had been so auspiciously continued for three years, and gave promise of rapid and substantial material development, was destined soon to be interrupted by the experience of three dark days that occurred, one soon after the other.

On June 5, 1908, one week after the end of the term and after three and one half years of faithful and efficient service as a matron, the death of Miss Adelia M. Eaton occurred at the institution.

On the 7th of November following the Boys' Hall, and most of its contents were consumed by fire.

In the spring of 1909 Mrs. Flickinger experienced a serious injury by falling from the open conveyance while on the way to Valliant, and, going home for treatment during the summer was unable to return in the fall and resume her former duties.

On March 13, 1910, the Girls' Hall, laundry, smokehouse, wood house and Old Log House, together with most of their contents, suddenly disappeared in smoke.

Nothing was then left of this cherished and promising institution, except the chapel, temporary hall for the boys, built the previous year, and a lot of ashes and burned rubbish, the sight of which suggested the loss of comforts and working outfit; hopes and plans indefinitely deferred if not completely blasted, and the expenditure of a vast amount of labor and time to replace and refurnish the buildings destroyed; and the utter impossibility of any immediate recovery from the oft-repeated and fatal checks imposed on the enrollment, ever since the loss of the Boys' Hall in 1908.

Two rays of light relieved the darkness of the gloom that followed the experience of these staggering losses.

(1). All of the lady helpers manifested the real spirit of missionary heroes. Presuming they were greatly needed during the period of reconstruction, instead of running away when there seemed to be no suitable place for them, they discovered a readiness to suggest possible and acceptable arrangements for their comfort. (2) There was also available for assistance, a clever squad of intelligent and trained student boys, one of whom, having served for a term as an assistant teacher, was believed to be capable of serving as a foreman of the carpenters; thus making it possible to erect buildings entirely by the aid of colored workmen and principally by student labor.

THE BOLL WEEVIL

In 1903 the Mexican boll weevil in its northward migration from Brownsville, Texas, crossed Red river and, during the next seven years, continued to deprive the farmers in the country north of that river of all profit on the cotton, their principal money crop; and greatly to injure the corn, their food crop. These long repeated ravages of the weevil came at a time when the colored people were by no means prepared to meet them.

In 1904 and 1905 they had been allotted 40 acres of unimproved timber lands appraised at $3.23 an acre, or $130. The allotment was the occasion of many changes in their location. They were really pioneer settlers, in their own native country and without funds to make needed improvements. They were happy in the possession of a home they could call their own, and entertained great hopes for the future. But this new and destructive pest, year after year for seven years, completely checked the prosperity they had so hopefully anticipated. The years came and went and they had nothing to sell worthy of mention to bring them money.

In April 1905, at the first meeting of the Presbytery after the reopening, many of the colored people voluntarily and enthusiastically united in making pledges for the purchase of the land needed for the buildings and farm at Oak Hill. But of the many generous hearted friends, who united in pledging about $300.00 at this time, only ministers and teachers receiving aid from the board, and a couple of others ever became able to pay these pledges.

Parents bringing their children to school, with only a few or no dollars in hand, would make pledges of payment during the term. The amount proposed was $25.00 for boarding a pupil seven months, about one half the real cost. When they became convinced they had no money to send, some would send for their children during the term, while others would leave them at the end of the term without notice, and even make it necessary for the superintendent to pay their way home.

These disappointing experiences had a two-fold effect on the school. They meant the loss, not merely of some expected income, but almost invariably of the pupil and patron, and the constant change of the student body prevents the development of the higher grades which must be reached by the students, if the school is to accomplish its mission, namely the training and development of christian teachers.

The term reports of the last eight years will show that all the full term students that continued long enough to reach the higher grades, 7th and 8th, were self supporting ones, who were either sent to remain at the academy during the vacation periods until they completed their course, or were accorded the opportunity to work out a part of their expenses at the academy. The full term students whose boarding was entirely paid by their parents did not average a half dozen a term.

Inability to provide for their board, meant the loss of the brightest and most promising pupils of the earlier years, about the time they reached the fifth grade. But a good boarding school can be developed only where the conditions are favorable for the continuance of the pupils from year to year, until they reach the higher grades. The fact that the 7th and 8th grades were reached only during the last two years and then only by the self-supporting young people is quite suggestive, not merely of a past embarrassment, but of that which should be an important feature in the future management of the institution, namely, a constant endeavor to increase the opportunities for young people to support themselves by the employment furnished at the institution.

STATEHOOD CHANGES

Another embarrassment was experienced as a result of the changes incident to the establishment of statehood.

The constitutional convention that met at Guthrie, the old capital, Jan. 1, 1907, changed the map of Indian Territory. From the time the Indians were located in it until that date the civil divisions consisted of the general allotments to the different tribes or nations and Oak Hill was near the center of the southern part of the Choctaw nation. In 1907 when the boundaries of the counties were established Oak Hill was near the west line of McCurtain county. The first election of county officers occurred that fall and they entered upon their duties on Jan. 1, 1908. It was made the duty of the county superintendent to divide the county into school districts so as to meet the needs of the colored people as well as the whites and Indians.

On Sabbath, Jan. 20, 1908, the first superintendent of McCurtain county called at the academy and left the papers showing the establishment of Oak Hill district No. 73, for the colored people of that neighborhood. The district included the northeast quarter of section 29, on which the academy is located and the southeast quarter of the section adjoining it on the north. The board of education for this Oak Hill district was organized on February 20th following, by the election of Henry Prince, chairman, Rev. R. E. Flickinger, Secretary; and Malinda A. Hall, treasurer. All this was done at a time, when the county superintendent could not think otherwise, than that the teachers and work at the academy were in some way under his jurisdiction. A little later the Oak Hill district was quietly quashed and its honorable board of education went into "innocuous desuetude."

This incident is narrated because it illustrates what was then taking place all over McCurtain county, and all the other counties of the new state. The law provided that a district and a school might be established wherever there were six pupils to attend the school and the people furnished a building for it. In a short time three schools for the colored people were established in the vicinity of the academy, and parents were made to believe that they must send their children to these schools or penalties would be imposed on them. A host of colored teachers from Texas and other localities were attracted to the new state to meet the needs of the public schools, now for the first time established in the rural districts.

The mission schools previously established for many years in the chapels of the churches of the Presbytery of Kiamichi became public schools and the pastors that continued to teach became public school teachers. Parents were also for the first time in their lives, taxed for the support of their local school. Will they be able and willing to pay their annual taxes and additional tuition or board at Oak Hill for the education of their children.

These important changes, occurring both in the immediate neighborhood and also in distant ones that furnished the supply of students for Oak Hill, were destined to exert considerable influence on the work of that institution. What the effect of that influence would be, was a matter of great anxiety and constant watchfulness on the part of the superintendent. The previous missions of our Freedmen's Board at Muskogee, Atoka and Caddo were abandoned as unnecessary as soon as the increasing population of those towns made adequate provision for the public education of their colored children. Shall this be the outcome of the work at Oak Hill, now that the rural districts are supplied with public schools and teachers?

EFFICIENT SERVICE REQUIRED

That these changes would temporarily affect the enrollment of Oak Hill, even under the most favorable circumstances was believed to be inevitable. This problem was all the more difficult to meet, while undergoing the experience of repeated checks, that made it necessary to send pupils home during term time on three different occasions and twice to check their incoming on account of "no room."

The most efficient and faithful service possible, on the part of the superintendent and teachers, was believed to be the best means of meeting this crisis. Parents and young people must also have a little time for observation, that they might see and be convinced of the greater value of the work at the academy.

To visitors at the academy the difference was very quickly perceived. These were some of the things that attracted their special and favorable attention.

The Bible was in the hand of every pupil, and even the youngest were familiar with many of its most beautiful and instructive passages.

Every pupil had all the text books he needed from the day he entered the school.

All that were old enough were required to spend an hour each evening, in quiet study under the helpful and encouraging eye of the principal, in addition to the forenoon and afternoon hours.

All were forming the habit of using their spare moments to advantage, by reading some good books from the library, a church paper, or practicing on some useful musical instrument.

Their voices were being correctly and rapidly developed for intelligent use in song and public address.

In the visible results of their work they witnessed their skill in the necessary arts of life, such as farming, stock raising, carpentry, painting, masonry, cooking, baking and sewing.

And then it was very unusual for any pupil to return home at the end of the term, without having voluntarily become an active christian worker in the endeavor meeting and Sunday school.

During the spring term in 1905 only 34 pupils were enrolled. During the next three years the increase was very encouraging, the enrollment reaching the full capacity of the buildings at 115, May 31, 1908.

The loss of buildings that began with the opening of the next term compelled a reduction in the enrollment. For 1909 and the subsequent years it was 84, 108, 90 and in 1912, 95.

INFERENCES

It would seem from the foregoing facts, that, whatever demand there was for the Oak Hill Mission as a school for local elementary instruction in the earlier years of its history, the conditions of the country, to which its work must now be adjusted, have experienced a very great change. So long as there are families living in sparsely settled districts, that are not provided with ample school privileges; or the interest of parents in the welfare of their children leads them to prefer the select boarding school, under well-known christian influences, to the rural school; elementary instruction will be needed at Oak Hill. But the greater need now is for the higher christian education that will best fit the young people to become intelligent and successful teachers, and for the industrial training that will fit them for the performance of the necessary duties of life.

A comfortable home on a well-tilled farm, that is every year increasing in value, is the ideal and happiest place for ambitions young people. Such a home affords healthful employment, the greatest freedom and is usually a very profitable investment.

The young farmer needs not only a knowledge of soils, their drainage and how to use them to best advantage, but also a practical knowledge of carpentry and painting, to enable him to erect good buildings economically and to take proper care of them afterwards.

The teacher needs this knowledge and training, that he may create a constant demand for his services during the long summer days when he is not teaching.

The young minister needs this knowledge more than many others, and a great deal more than is generally appreciated, to enable him to give intelligent counsel to his people, when they have need to make repairs or build new churches and parsonages.

As these higher and special lines of industrial instruction are perfected and emphasized, and the facilities for self-help both during term time and vacation are gradually increased, the efficiency and patronage of the academy will continue to increase with the progress of the years.

BURDENS AND FRIENDS

The deficit in the running expenses on June 30, 1911, the last day included in the annual report of that year was $1,693.95. This was the largest deficit at the end of any previous month, and was a big one with which to commence the improvement work of our last year. It was due to the fact that the completion of Elliott Hall with good materials and workmanship, including furniture, cost nearly $1,500 more than was expected, and the appropriation made for it.

We were called upon to experience some serious losses and bear, for considerable periods of time unusually great and heavy burdens. The burden twice became so great, indeed, as to awaken the fear that another straw would break the camel's back. Happily the needed relief came in time to avert that unhappy experience, or check the aggressive onward progress of the improvement work.

When the burden became large and a matter of personal anxiety, it also became the measure of the valuable and loyal co-operation of the new friends who came to our assistance, in addition to our Board of Missions for Freedmen; which is the first and final resort for the resources that are necessary to successfully administer, and gradually develop the work of this institution.

We deem it appropriate to gratefully record the names of those who have most signally aided us in the management of the finances, so as to keep them locally on a cash basis, namely, the Security State bank of Rockwell City, Ia.; 1st National bank of Valliant; and in succession the following dealers in Valliant: O'Bannon & Son; A. J. Whitfield and Planters Trading Co.

Hon. T. P. Gore, United States Senator from Oklahoma, (blind), has favored this institution by sending for its library more than a dozen valuable volumes, among which are 2 Year Books of the Department of Agriculture; 2 Handbooks,--I & II,--of the American Indians; Report of the Commissioner on Education for 1911, in two volumes; Report on Industrial Education; Manual of the United States Senate; Directory of Congress, and several other smaller volumes.

SPECIAL ADDRESSES

During our last term the institution was favored with encouraging and instructive addresses from the following distinguished visitors: Rev. Duncan McRuer of Pauls Valley, Moderator of the Synod of Oklahoma; Rev. E. B. Teis of Anadarko, Pastoral Evangelist for the Presbytery of El Reno; Rev. Phil C. Baird D. D., Pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Oklahoma City; and by Rev. Wiley Homer, Rev. William Butler, Rev. W. J. Starks and Rev. T. K. Bridges, pastors of local churches, and Rev. M. L. Bethel, Oklahoma City.

XXIX

BUILDING THE TEMPLE

AN EXERCISE FOR CHILDREN'S DAY, ILLUSTRATED BY A TEMPLE AND AN ARCH.

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the
truth."--John

"Giving all diligence add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue,
knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance,
patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. He that lacketh these
things is blind."--Peter.

It was the good fortune of the author to be called to serve as chorister and superintendent of rural Sunday schools, and leader of the choir of the church, in his early youth. At the beginning of his ministry, he discovered the relative importance of this work among the young, by reading the observation of the sainted Samuel Miller to the effect; if he could repeat the period of his ministry, he would give ten times more time and attention to the work among the children. This importance was very acceptably emphasized during the eighties, by the enthusiasm of Rev. James A. Wooden, D. D., of our Sunday school Board, and the appointment of a Sabbath in June, to be annually observed as Children's Day.

One of the most prominent features of our ministry has been, a persistently active participation in the work among the children and young people. Other engagements have not been permitted to interfere with attendance at Sunday school and Endeavor meetings, or an appointment to meet the children at any of the regular times of rehearsal of songs and exercises for Easter, Christmas, Children's Day and other anniversaries. All the young people were encouraged to participate in the effort to make these rallying days, occasions of special instruction and delight. A number of pretty, and sometimes elaborate, designs were devised to add their illuminating effect to the exercises. Two of these designs, a temple and an arch, both having for their object, a visible representation of the divinely appointed elements of a good character, according to the apostle Peter, and animating power of the indwelling spirit, manifested by a conscientious observance of the command to remember the Sabbath, have been deemed worthy of an illustration in this volume, that those who participated in them, and others, may be able to reproduce them for the instruction and delight of others.

Exercises, that consist of passages from the Scriptures, are more valuable than others to the children, when committed to memory, and they learn them very readily, when an immediate use is to be made of them at a public service. The passages suggested for use in these exercises include many of the most important ones in the Bible, and as they practice, in the presence of each other, all become more or less familiar with every one of them. The superintendent or leader is expected to arrange the length and number of the exercises, to suit the number and ages of those available to participate in them. A single verse may be best for the child: but a glance over the additional passages may be very helpful to the pastor or other person, delivering a short address at the close of the children's exercises.

A very pleasing feature of these designs is the fact, they are constructed by the children as one after the other, or two together, carry their part to the platform and render their exercise. One or two are appointed to serve as Master-builders to receive the stones or tablets, when delivered, and place them in their proper position.

A good character is an enduring monument. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.

WALKING IN THE TRUTH

AN ENDURING TEMPLE.--A temple for time and eternity, showing the divinely appointed elements of a good character (2 Peter 1:5-8), their sure foundations; the person and work of our Lord Jesus and the inspired Word of God; and their crowning bond, the Sabbath.

AN EXERCISE FOR CHILDREN'S DAY

(The two master builders standing together)

Master Builder. Dear friends: The Bible tells us that all are builders. That some are wise and others are foolish. That some are building on the sand, without any protection against the storms and floods, that will surely cause their fall. That some are building with wood, hay or stubble; or with gold, silver and precious stones, without any protection against the day, when the fire will consume these perishable materials. That others, however are building safely and securely, with divinely appointed materials, on the Rock of Ages and the unchanging, impregnable Word of God. That the indwelling Spirit, commonly called the Comforter, is the occupant, strength and life of their temple; and their conscientious observance of the Sabbath, is to them the pledge of Divine favor and the visible sign of their sure protection.

Assistant Builder. All of you no doubt are familiar with the words of the poet, Longfellow:

"All are architects of fate
Building on the walls of time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Others with the ornaments of rhyme.
For the structures that we raise
God's Word is with materials filled;
And our todays and yesterdays
Reveal the materials with which we build."

"We have planned today to build
A temple--on earth, a heaven;
A temple on rocks so solid,
And with materials divinely given,
That all who hear the Master's call
To service and an endless life,
May of this be sure, whatever befall
They have builded for time aright."

Life is what we make it out of what God puts within our reach, and every act is a foundation stone for the next one. Walking in the truth, adding to our faith and building a temple all mean advancing one step or stone at a time.

Master Builder. The white stone referred to in Revelation was an emblem of pardon and a badge of friendship.

The stone ordinarily is an emblem of solidity and enduring strength. In this sense it is an emblem of an eternal truth, or principle. When Peter confessed, "Thou art the Christ," Jesus said in regard to his confession, "Thou art Peter, and on this rock" or fundamental truth, "I am Christ," "I will build my church; and the gates of hell (hades) shall not prevail against it."

David tells us "The Lord set his feet upon a rock." He calls the Lord a rock, a fortress and a high tower; and entreats the Lord to "lead him to the rock that is higher than I." Peter speaks of Jesus as a living stone, and of believers as lively stones that form a spiritual house, an holy priesthood.

We are now ready for the foundation.

"And as we build, let each one pray,
That we may build aright;
That all we do on earth may be
Well pleasing in God's sight."

Chorus. "We're building up the temple,
Building up the temple
Building up the temple of the Lord."

Bearer: We bring the corner stone on which our temple rests.

Master Builder: This stone represents our Lord Jesus, the sure foundation. Let us hear of this stone, the Rock of Ages, what the Bible may tell.

Bearer: "Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious; but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

He said of himself, I am the light of the world. I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Without me ye can do nothing. My grace is sufficient for thee.

Paul said of him, "We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."

Asst. Bearer: Peter said: "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought by you builders--the Jews--which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved."

Bearer: "We bring another stone for the foundation."

M. B. "This stone represents the Word of God that endureth forever. Let us hear of this stone what the Bible may tell."

Bearer: "Thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect; thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

"The law of the Lord is perfect; converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

Asst. Bearer. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."

"Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory, and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."

"Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, for a habitation of God through the Spirit." See John 1. 4,14.

M. B. The two fold foundation of our glorious temple has now been laid. It consists of the Rock of Ages and the Word of God that endureth forever. We are now ready for those good materials for the walls of the temple that are better than wood, hay or stubble, gold, silver or precious stones.

FAITH. Bearer: We bring the stone that represents Faith.