Chapter I: 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, Principal of the Everett School, Boston, and Mary White Ovington, Chairman of the Board of the National Association 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. Washington 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.

CONTENTS

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THE BOY AND THE BAYONET _Paul Laurence Dunbar_ 1
BEGINNINGS OF A MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL _William H. Holtzclaw_ 13
UP FROM SLAVERY _Booker T. Washington_ 15
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON _William H. Holtzclaw_ 20
ANNA-MARGARET _Augusta Bird_ 22
CHARITY _H. Cordelia Ray_ 28
MY FIRST SCHOOL _W. E. B. DuBois_ 29
ERE SLEEP COMES DOWN _Paul Laurence Dunbar_ 38
THE LAND OF LAUGHTER _Angelina W. Grimke_ 40
THE WEB OF CIRCUMSTANCE _Charles W. Chesnutt_ 47
IS THE GAME WORTH THE CANDLE? _James E. Shepard_ 48
O BLACK AND UNKNOWN BARDS _James Weldon Johnson_ 54
THE GREATEST MENACE OF THE SOUTH _William J. Edwards_ 56
THE ENCHANTED SHELL _H. Cordelia Ray_ 63
BEHIND A GEORGIA MULE _James Weldon Johnson_ 66
HAYTI AND TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE _W. E. B. DuBois_ 72
HIS MOTTO _Lottie Burrell Dixon_ 77
THE MONTHS _H. Cordelia Ray_ 86
THE COLORED CADET AT WEST POINT _Lieut. Henry Ossian
Flipper, U.S.A._ 90
AN HYMN TO THE EVENING _Phyllis Wheatley_ 95
GOING TO SCHOOL UNDER DIFFICULTIES _William H. Holtzclaw_ 96
THE BRAVE SON _Alston W. Burleigh_ 101
VICTORY _Walter F. White_ 102
THE DOG AND THE CLEVER RABBIT _A. O. Stafford_ 109
THE BOY AND THE IDEAL _Joseph S. Cotter_ 112
CHILDREN AT EASTER _C. Emily Frazier_ 114
ABRAHAM LINCOLN _William Pickens_ 117
RONDEAU _Jessie Fauset_ 120
HOW I ESCAPED _Frederick Douglass_ 121
FREDERICK DOUGLASS _W. H. Crogman_ 128
INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS 134
ANIMAL LIFE IN THE CONGO _William Henry Sheppard_ 135
COOPERATION AND THE LATIN CLASS _Lillian B. Witten_ 143
THE BAND OF GIDEON _Joseph F. Cotter, Jr._ 148
THE HOME OF THE COLORED GIRL BEAUTIFUL _Azalia Hackley_ 150
THE KNIGHTING OF DONALD _Lillian B. Witten_ 153
A NEGRO EXPLORER AT THE NORTH POLE _Matthew A. Henson_ 159
BENJAMIN BANNEKER _William Wells Brown_ 166
THE NEGRO RACE _Charles W. Anderson_ 168
PAUL CUFFE _John W. Cromwell_ 169
THE BLACK FAIRY _Fenton Johnson_ 175
IT'S A LONG WAY _William Stanley
Braithwaite_ 181
NEGRO MUSIC THAT STIRRED FRANCE _Emmett J. Scott_ 182
NOVEMBER 11, 1918 187
SEA LYRIC _William Stanley
Braithwaite_ 189
A NEGRO WOMAN'S HOSPITALITY _Leila A. Pendleton_ 190
RECORD OF "THE OLD FIFTEENTH" IN FRANCE _Emmett J. Scott_ 192
NEGRO SOLDIERS _Roscoe C. Jamison_ 194
THE "DEVIL BUSH" AND THE "GREEGREE BUSH" _George W. Ellis_ 195
EVENING PRAYER _H. Cordelia Ray_ 199
THE STRENUOUS LIFE _Silas X. Floyd_ 200
O LITTLE DAVID, PLAY ON YOUR HARP _Joseph F. Cotter, Jr._ 202
A DAY AT KALK BAY, SOUTH AFRICA _L. J. Coppin_ 203
BISHOP ATTICUS G. HAYGOOD _W. H. Crogman_ 205
HOW TWO COLORED CAPTAINS FELL _Ralph W. Tyler_ 207
THE YOUNG WARRIOR _James Weldon Johnson_ 208
WHOLE REGIMENTS DECORATED _Emmett J. Scott_ 209
ON PLANTING ARTICHOKES _Daniel A. Rudd and
Theodore Bond_ 210
A SONG OF THANKS _Edward Smyth Jones_ 214
OUR DUMB ANIMALS _Silas X. Floyd_ 216
A LEGEND OF THE BLUE JAY _Ruth Anna Fisher_ 218
DAVID LIVINGSTONE _Benjamin Brawley_ 220
IRA ALDRIDGE _William J. Simmons_ 224
FIFTY YEARS _James Weldon Johnson_ 228
A GREAT KINGDOM IN THE CONGO _William Henry Sheppard_ 233
PILLARS OF THE STATE _William C. Jason_ 249
OATH OF AFRO-AMERICAN YOUTH _Kelly Miller_ 250
NOTES 251