The bulletin of Atlanta University, 1907 no. 169

              Number 169                                      Atlanta, Georgia                                    January, 1907 The Atlanta=Calhoun Concert An event of unusual interest was the concert given in Boston, December twelfth, by Mr. S. Coleridge-Taylor, the eminent musical composer and director, of London, for the benefit of Atlanta University and the Calhoun Colored School. The program was wholly made up of Mr. Coleridge-Taylor's own compositions and was an interesting revelation of his marked ability as a composer. He himself presided at the piano and was assisted by Mr. Henry T. Burleigh of New York with his remarkably sympathetic and appealing baritone voice, and also by the Boston Symphony Quintet under the direction of Mr. Willy Hess who gave admirable rendering to some of Mr. Coleridge-Taylor's finest compositions. The audience was large, nearly filling Jordan Hall to its full capacity, and was made up mostly of the friends of Atlanta and Calhoun, to whom the tickets had been privately sold. A substantial sum was realized for each of the institutions represented, as was the case with the concert given for them two years ago. By no means the least pleasant feature of these concerts has been the friendly alliance of Atlanta University and the Calhoun Colored School, involved in them, and the incidental opportunity afforded to the friends of each institution to become better acquainted with the work of the other. Mr. Coleridge-Taylor and Mr. Burleigh (the latter for the second time) have put us under great obligations for the services which they have so freely given for the cause so dear to us all. The vacancy in the Housekeeping Cottage, caused by the illness of Miss M. Pauline Smith and her giving up the work for the remainder of the year, has been filled by the selection of Miss Julia E. Walker. Miss Walker is from Marlboro, Mass., a graduate of the Framingham State Normal School, and with some experience in institution work. She took charge Jan. 2, and we hope for her the. best of success. Miss M. Pauline Smith has continued to gain rapidly, and will probably start for Boston before the end of January. The Kindergarten Fair The Gate City Free Kindergarten Association gave a fair early in December to raise money for the support of their schools for colored children. These now number four, a new one having been opened in the fall. The work has also been extended in all of these to help some of the older children who can not find accommodation in the public schools. An hour and a half is given to this extension work every afternoon. The fair was held at the Colored Young Men's Christian Association, and was well attended for the three nights that it lasted. Many friends sent things to be sold, and the working circles into which the association is organized vied with each other to make it a success. About ninety dollars was raised. This association, as we have before explained, is an organization which enlists the cooperation of nearly all schools and churches of the Negroes, in the common work of helping some of the least fortunate of the little colored children in the city. The work was undertaken two years ago and has been kept up with admirable enthusiasm. Some generous help has been received from without, but it is primarily a a work of the Negroes of Atlanta, prompted by the same humanitarian and Christian motives that prompt similar work among other people. Prize Speaking The alumni prizes for excellence in declamation have attracted much interest upon our campus. They were voted by the graduates at the annual meeting last May, being three prizes of $15, $10, and $5 respectively, and being open to all students. So large a number entered the competition that a preliminary trial was held Dee. 8, reducing the contestants from over 30 to 12. The final trial was held Dec. 14, the judges being W. B. Matthews ('90), P. A. Allen, Esq., of the city bar, and Miss Ruth M. Harris ('96). The exercises were highly creditable. The prizes were awarded to Caroline S. Bond (S. P.), Levi P. M. White ('10), and Nathan L. Thomas (S. P.). Our New Northern Secretary Mrs. Estelle M. H. Merrill of Cambridge, Mass., who has for many years been well acquainted with the work of Atlanta University and has rendered it many a labor of love in enlisting the interest and aid of northern friends for its needs, has recently accepted an offer to become Northern Secretary of the Institution, giving her whole time to this work. For this she has unusual qualifications in her gifts as a public speaker and as a writer (over the name of Jean Kincaid), as well as in her long experience as a member and officer of various organizations of women, and her warm sympathy with the special forms of educational work for the Negro which Atlanta University is carrying on. We earnestly bespeak for Mrs. Merrill the kindly cooperation of our northern friends in the work she has undertaken. She is prepared to address churches, Sunday-schools, women's clubs, and other gatherings, giving her latest impressions of our work as based on a recent visit to Atlanta, and may be addressed for that purpose at her residence, 45 Bellevue Ave., Cambridge, Mass. President Ware's Grandson On Sunday, January 7th, Alexander Holdship Ware was christened in Ware Memorial Chapel. President Bumstead officiated. The ceremony just preceded the communion service, and, with the association of the time and place, was very impressive. Above the pulpit platform hangs the portrait of the first president, Edmund Asa Ware, on the right and on the left are the simple but beautiful stained glass windows placed there by the graduates of Atlanta University in memory of President and Mrs. Ware who had for their sakes paid "the last full measure of devotion." In this room, in the presence of teachers and pupils, the grandson of President Ware was, by his successor, President Bumstead, consecrated to the service of God, in a simple and beautiful service arranged for the occasion. Prof. Towns went to Griffin, to be the Emancipation Day orator in that place.