Gammon Theological Seminary, at Atlanta, Georgia, is the largest theological school for the exclusive education of colored men in the United States. It stands to-day a monument to the philanthropy of Elijah H. Gammon, of Maine, a noble gentleman, who endowed the school with nearly half a million dollars. Dr. Gammon was certainly a philanthropist. This fact is plainly indicated by his splendid beneficence.
He did not wait till in sight of the grave and then cast off his wealth as a possession he could no longer use; but _living_, he poured out his treasures; yea, more, he gave the ripe thought of his last years--planned and wrought for the equipment of this Seminary. The measure of his philanthropy is not in that he gave $10,000 to Garrett, $5,000 to the Maine Wesleyan, thousands to churches and aid to many struggling students. The mere catalogue of benefactions is no measure of the real philanthropist. The _man himself_, his motive, his purpose, his sacrifice, his unselfish enthusiasm, his giving of thought and time and heart for humanity--these are the tests of genuine philanthropy.
He did not endow this school merely for the sake of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He wanted to help all his fellow-men through all the churches. It was entrusted to the care and direction of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as best adapted through its spirit, organization and government in the South, to carry out his plans.
His benefactions took the form of a theological school because he believed that the ministers held the centre of power, and were to be the leaders of their race for years to come.
He established an institution opened especially for the Negro race, not because they were black, but because they were the most needy of all men. He simply gave practical expression to his faith in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. He was no sentimentalist as regards the Negro. He simply had a heart as broad as humanity--a great heart backed by _conscience_--and without prejudice, it went out to this race as a part of God's family, needing the touch of Christ's hand, through him.
Rev. Wilbur P. Thirkield, D. D., President of Gammon Theological Seminary, is laboring hard and earnestly to make the institution all that Dr. Gammon, its founder, had aimed to have it; and the class of young men who are receiving their training for the ministry in this school is certainly a compliment to the endeavors of its president.