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THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NEW YORK By JOHN PURROY MITCHEL, Mayor of New York City No. 89, HARLEM; MOST OF THE PUPILS ARE COLORED. I am very glad to respond to your request for a statement for THE CRISIS on the general subject of the education of the Negroes in New York City. The latest available figures indicate that there are more than 110,000 Negroes living in the City of New York, and that of this number 21,000 are children of school age, attending the public schools of the city. It seemed to me that so large a proportion of the population of the city should not be without direct representation on the Board of Education. The educational problem of a section like that of Harlem, for example, where so many of our colored citizens live, can best be understood and met by the sympathetic consideration and devotion of a man of the colored race. Although there are many prominent Negroes in the city, any one of whom would have honorably represented these people, I feel that in obtaining for the city the services of Dr. E. P. Roberts I was most fortunate. He is a quiet and forceful citizen, and is known and respected by all classes of the community. His professional training makes him valuable for school health work, and his deep interest in the social problems of the city makes his advice on matters pertaining to the Negro population specially desirable. Dr. Roberts is not the first representative of his race to take active part in the educational work of our city. In 1882 Mayor Low appointed a colored man, Philip A. White, to serve on the Board of Education of the old City of Brooklyn. In 1891 he was succeeded by T. McCants Stewart, who, in 1894, was succeeded by Samuel R. Scottron. Mr. Scottron continued as a memeber of the Brooklyn Board of Education until 1898, as a member of the Brooklyn School Board until 1902. Thus, for twenty years, the colored people of Brooklyn had a representative in school matters. I am glad that it has been my privilege to recognize the needs of the race by again giving them an official voice in educational matters. No. 79, EAST SIDE; THE PRINCIPAL IS COLORED, TEACHERS AND PUPILS ARE WHITE. 132 The Looking Glass LITERATURE. From Ralph Waldo Emerson: The spiritual stars rise nightly, shedding down A private beam into each several heart. Suns haste to set, that so remoter lights Beckon the wanderer to his vaster home. We have received the following pamphlets: "Christianity and Culture Versus the Negro," by Charles Randall Graggs; "Reaching to Heaven," by W. L. Edwards; "Our Peculiar Work," by S. E. Shepard; "Sermons and Melodies," by H. H. Proctor; and "Songs and Sermons," by C. A. Whitfield. The following books have been received: "From Super-man to Man," a novel by J. A. Rogers, published in Chicago, and "The Colored Girl Beautiful," by Mrs. E. A. Hackley, published in Kansas City, Mo. The death of Joseph Benson Foraker, late Senator from Ohio, not only reminds the Negro race of his great service but calls attention to his autobiography, "Notes of a Busy Life," in two large volumes. There is much to interest colored readers in these volumes--Mr. Foraker's service in the war, his political career, but particularly the two chapters devoted to the "Brownsville Affray." This record is Mr. Foraker's finest monument. The African World of London, England, has a special article on "Is the Negro Coming?" by Hilda M. Ridley. She says among other things: To the south of the states lie the great twenty republics with which America is now so anxious to enter into closer relationship. "Pan-Americanism" is the slogan of capitalists who look eagerly towards this vast country of such immense commercial possibilities. "We would be friends with you," say they--and all unwittingly they scarce acquired even the elements of what would constitute such a friendship. Great difficulties stand in the way of the much-to-be-desired acquaintance. On the economic ones I will not dwell. Scarcely less important are the social ones. Differences of religion, race and language intervene; and perhaps the most insuperable of all is race. South Americans are usually "half-breeds." Few of them are of pure Spanish descent. Negro and Indian strains predominate. The treatment by the United States of the "half-breed" is therefore, watched by them with peculiar interest. They do not discover in it any justification for faith in the assurance of Americans that they are conscious of no sense of superiority to themselves. They see that even a tincture of Negro blood is sufficient to ostracize a man or woman socially and that he or she is placed on a plane with the Negro who is lynched, segregated, and disfranchised. "If I went into one of those restaurants along Broadway," asked the son of a Portuguese from the Azores, who held the position of trust and responsibility as an officer in the navy of his colored mother's country, "would they serve me as they would in Paris, or Newcastle-on-Tyne, or Rio de Janeiro?" His question could be answered in part by relating the treatment accorded the officers of the Brazilian dreadnought which visited America a short time ago. The waiters in the hotels where these men were being entertained refused to serve some of those who were black. Cultured Latin-Americans visiting parts of the states have been separated from their white companions on the street cars on account of color. The South American is proud of his race. Often highly cultivated, and turning to France, Germany, and England for his standards rather then to the states, he refuses to admit that American civilization is superior to his own. In literary, artistic, and musical appreciation he lays claim to points of superiority; indeed, he denies that America has any literature or art worthy of the name. In spite of internal difficulties-- difficulties which, it is to be feared, have been stimulated by the greed of American and European investors--he resents any imputation that his government is inferior to that of the United States. "The burning of Negroes, the lynchings of thieves, the work of vigilance committees in the Far West," says the American writer, Roland Usher, "the failure to apprehend and punish murderers--all these the South Americans evidence as a lack of civilization in the United States quite as serious as their own particular difficulties." MEMPHIS. D. F. Peters in the Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 10, on the city of Memphis The city is well laid out and well-built. The wide, well-shaded and well-paved streets, the fine public and private buildings, the parks with numerous large trees, all] make the city most attractive. The combined park area is about 1,000 acres, besides two fine race tracks. The streets are paved with asphalt, vitrified brick, macadam, and gravel. About 250 miles of turnpike radiate from Memphis. . . . Among the prominent buildings are 123 churches, 65 schools and colleges, three public libraries, three first-class theatres, the customhouse, cotton exchange, Odd Fellows, building, Porter, Scimitar, and Equitable buildings, Masonic Temple, Gayoso Hotel, Women's building, Randolph building, Goodwyn Institute, Memphis Trust building, 133