The bulletin of Atlanta University, 1906 no. 161

              For statement of the work of Atlanta University see last page. The Day of Prayer As is our custom, the afternoon of the last Thursday in January was given over to special religious services. The union praise service, the separate class prayer meetings, the address by Rev. E. P. Johnson ('79) at the general service, the after-meeting in the prayer meeting room, and the prayer meeting at night, were all of deep interest, and helpful in our religious life. Quite a number took a stand for Christ for the first time. The Death of President Adkinson A noble man and successful educator has been taken away from his earthly work. In the death of Dr. Adkinson Gammon Theological Seminary has met with a great loss. Although he had been at the head of that institution for less than five years, he had shown great wisdom in his work, and left it in the most prosperous condition in its history. The same thing was true of his work just preceding that, the presidency of New Orleans University for fourteen years. Until within a few days of his death, which took place Jan. 19, he had continued in his work, even when it was necessary for him to be carried to his classes and to the chapel sevice. The funeral was on Sunday, Jan. 21. Our faculty was represented by Professors Adams and Webster. Our sincere sympathy goes with the bereaved family, and with the institution which has been deprived of its conscientious and able leader. By the death of Chancellor Walter B. Hill of the University of Georgia, the Southern states lose one of their ablest educational leaders. Called to the headship of that university from an active and successful legal practice in Macon, he at once became a marked man in educational work. He was a firm believer in universal education, and a noble Christian gentleman. His sympathies included all classes and conditions of men. "The only thing which the South cannot afford," he once said in a public   address,    "in its   relation   to   the Negro race is injustice." Colored and white citizens alike grieve in the loss which his death brings to the cause of education. Our Library The recent opening of our new library building, erected through the munificent gift of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, leads us to give a sketch of the history of the Atlanta University library. The successive locations have been: first a small room in South Hall, 11x15 ft., the one now used as a reception room for visitors; then an overflow into the adjoining room, 15x23 ft., with which it was connected by folding doors; then a removal to Stone Hall in 1883, to a room 24x45 ft.; and now the new Carnegie Library building, into which books began to be moved Jan. 17, 1906, and which was opened for regular use Jan. 29. The first large gift seems to have been a donation of 300 volumes, in the school year 1870-71, by Rev. Giles Pease, Boston, Mass. The catalogue of 1872-73 is the first to make definite mention of a library, speaking of it as already having over 1,000 volumes. In 1873 Mr. R. R. Graves of Morrisania, N. J., gave $5,000 as a permanent library endowment fund, and $1,000 for immediate use. The catalogue of 1873-74 said that the library contained between two and three thousand volumes, and termed it "Graves Library." Enough of the income from the $5,000 has been saved to increase the principal of the fund to $6,000. Representative figures showing the number of volumes in our library are: in 1877, 4,000; in 1883, 6,000; in 1893, 8,000; in 1899, 10,500; in 1905,12,000. The largest single addition at any one time was in 1883, through the purchase at auction sale of the library of Prof. F. H. Bradley of Knoxville, Tenn., a library of 1,100 volumes. From time to time various friends have given us books, and the income from the Graves fund has been used each year to enlarge our collection. The names of some of these donors are given in the Bulletin for April, 1899. A few weeks ago a generous gift of books was received from the estate of Rev. Lewis Grout of Brattleboro, Vt. Prior to 1876 Rev. Wm. M. Bristoll, professor of Latin, rendered valuable assistance in the purchase and arrangement of books. The librarians since that date have, been Rev. C. W. Francis, Mrs. Jane T. Ware, Miss Mary A. Richardson (who carefully classified the library according to the decimal system), Miss Emily J. Stenabaugh, and, since 1903, Miss Mary E. Lane. Mr. Carnegie's gift of $25,000, for erecting and furnishing a new building, came at a most opportune time. We had outgrown our former quarters, it being impossible to keep all of the books within the limits of the library proper. And we needed the whole of Stone Hall for other school purposes, as the large attendance this year is emphasizing. To Mr. Graves and Mr. Carnegie, and in a measure to other friends also, we acknowledge our permanent indebtedness for the excellent library advantages of this institution. "King Leopold's Soliloquy" This Congo parable, by Mark Twain, is a severe arraignment of Belgian misrule in the Congo Free State. It certainly indicates a life on the part of the natives of that country very remote from a condition that can be properly called "free." We wish all success to the Congo Reform Association, whose headquarters are at Tremont Temple, Boston, in its efforts to bring an end to the shameful abuses that have been heaped upon the inhabitants of that part of Africa by so-called "Christian" European civilization. The president of the association is Pres. G. Stanley Hall of Clark University, Worcester, Mass.; and we notice among the eleven vice-presidents not only Mr. Clemens ("Mark Twain"), but also ex-Governor Northen of Georgia and Mr. Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute. '91—Rev. Silas X. Floyd, in addition to his work as principal of a public school in Augusta, has been pastor of a Baptist church in that city for nearly three years. During that time the church debt of nearly $3,000 has been cancelled. We congratulate church and pastor for the privilege of beginning the new year entirely free from their former financial burden. NUMBER  161                                     ATLANTA, GEORGIA                               FEBRUARY, 1906