The bulletin of Atlanta University, 1905 no. 158

              NUMBER  158                                     ATLANTA, GEORGIA                             NOVEMBER,   1905 For statement of the work of Atlanta University see last page. The attendance has continued to grow, and has reached a figure beyond all expectation, about 340. There are two places where we are hard pressed because of the unexpected number: one the study room in Stone Hall, which at certain periods cannot possibly seat all who belong there; and the other the girls' dormitory, which is overcrowded and in which various make-shifts have had to be made. The dining room has also reached its utmost limit in the number of tables, which is now  fifteen. Mrs. Charles Russell   Lowell In the death of Mrs. Charles Russell Lowell in New York City last month, Atlanta University has lost a true friend. Mrs. Lowell was not in any peculiar sense interested in the development of the Negro race, but her life-long devotion to the cause of humanity made her responsive to the appeal of any people who were struggling for larger opportunities and a more abundant life. She read with great interest Dr. Du-Bois's book, "The Souls of Black Folk." And it happened that shortly afterwards, at a time when her interest in the black man's cause had been aroused and her sympathy quickened by this book, a special need of Atlanta University was placed before her. The General Education Board had offered five thousand dollars toward building and equipping the Oglethorpe Practice School upon condition that the sum of ten thousand dollars be secured from other friends of our work. In May, 1903, the matter was placed before Mrs. Lowell and she at once subscribed the amount then needed to complete the fund. In the Civil war which brought liberty to the Negroes, Mrs. Lowell lost her husband and her brother. Her husband was killed in the battle of Cedar Creek only about a year after their marriage, and her brother was Colonel Robert Gould Shaw of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, who was killed and thrown into the trench with his Negro soldiers at the storming of Fort Wagner. We consider Mrs. Lowell's gift to Atlanta of more  worth  than the  money she gave or the urgent need it met. Her gift is a memorial of one who took increased interest in a cause for which her loved ones paid the last full measure of devotion. Her field of labor for forty years of devoted service was New York City. From the time of her husband's death she devoted herself to philanthropic work of the most effective sort. The New York Herald says of her: 'Among other things Mrs. Lowell established the first children's playgrounds in New York, founded a school for tramps and was at the head of every important movement in behalf of the inhabitants of the crowded east side. She was leading spirit in the Woman's Municipal League and was the first woman to speak before the Chamber of Commerce, when she solicited co-opera-ation and aid for her humantarian enterprises. She was also a warm advocate of civil service reform, and as earnest an enemy to political corruption, upon which she often spoke in public." It should be added that for thirteen years she held the position of commissioner on the New York State Board of Charities, and that twenty-three years ago she founded the New York Charity Organization Society. She was also actively interested in prison reform. In its issue of October 15, Charities says of Mrs. Lowell: "She has championed unpopular causes when she believed they were right. She has known nothing of mere expediency, but she worked nevertheless with rare wisdom and with remarkable success. ... A certain wholesome uneasiness was never absent from her fellow workers lest Mrs. Lowell should put her finger upon some indefensible method, some failure to remain steadfastly true to the nobler ends which more complaisant comrades would be inclined to overlook as necessary evils or incidental lapses. ..." The death of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw in a noble struggle to bring liberty to their people has always been a source of inspiration to the Negroes. Should not the life of his sister, Mrs. Lowell, with its forty years of unremitting devotion to the cause of humanity, be an equal inspiration to the Negroes, as to all men?    The worth of our work is best realized when we consider it not as a separate problem, but as one with the problem of developing humanity ; as the worth of a man is best judged by his manhood and not by his color or race. And so we claim Mrs. Lowell as a fellow worker and lament her loss as the loss of a friend, not only because of the direct help she gave us, but also because of her life-long battle against ignorance and degradation and sin that the world might be a better place for the development of true man-hood and womanhood. Colonel Shaw died that those who were enslaved might be free, and for the same noble cause his sister lived. Edward T. Ware. Floyd's Flowers Rev. Silas X. Floyd, D. D., ('91) has already done considerable literary work, contributing both prose and poetry to magazines and papers of the highest rank. He is also the author of two books already noticed by us, The Gospel of Service (a volume of sermons), and Life of Rev. Chas. T. Walker. During the summer a third book from his pen has appeared, Floyd's Flowers; or, Duty and Beauty for Colored Children. It is made up of one hundred short stories, intended to teach moral, business and educational lessons to young colored children. This purpose is furthered by about eighty original illustrations by John Henry Adams, a young colored artist of growing repute. The book is gotten up in attractive shape by the publishers, Hertel, Jenkins & Co., of Atlanta, the publishers of the Voice of the Negro. Its lessons are wholesome, and it cannot fail to be a helpful influence. The first number of the Scroll has appeared, and is a promising beginning for the new year. Contributed articles, editorials, and news items are in good proportion, and indicate that the periodical will be worthy of hearty support during the year. Representatives of this institution in the University of Chicago during the summer vacation were Miss Mary C. Jackson ('85), Miss Carrie E. Brydie ('99) and Miss Ada Hawes ('01).