The Annual Report of the A. M. A. contains the Constitution of the Association and the By-Laws of the Executive Committee. A copy will be sent free on application.
Our readers will find in this number of the MISSIONARY reports of the anniversaries of seven of our institutions. Other reports will appear in our next issue.
It will be seen that the number of pupils in the higher grades of study has been unusually large and that the boarding departments have been crowded as never before.
We opened during the year new dormitory buildings at New Orleans, Tougaloo and Talladega. These have given much needed accommodations. By autumn, Livingstone Missionary Hall at Nashville will be ready for occupancy, affording rooms for 140 boarders besides chapel, library and recitation rooms. Stone Hall at Atlanta will also be completed, which, though not a dormitory building, will nevertheless relieve the other buildings so that greater accommodations for students can be secured; but still the pressing need at Atlanta will be more room for the girls’ department.
The growth of interest among the colored people in our schools is outstripping the growth of conveniences for them, and new dormitory buildings at several points are becoming an imperative necessity. There are many reasons for this condition of affairs. One is the righteous purpose exhibited in the work of the A. M. A. South. Both whites and blacks realize that our institutions are based upon the great fundamental principles of the Gospel. They witness the self-sacrifice of the teachers, their prayerful devotion to the welfare of their pupils, the frequent revivals resulting from their efforts, the large number of students sent forth to teach, and the churches planted and supplied with a responsible and educated ministry. The work done inspires confidence.
Some time since, the principal of a colored institution received an honorary degree from a Southern college, whose trustees had observed his work for a series of years. When conferring the degree, they said: “We recognize your fidelity to the principles of those who sent you forth.” It is fidelity to the principles that have actuated the A. M. A. for nearly forty years that is winning the hearts of the people, and every year confirms the conviction that we have only to press forward with renewed energy and perseverance in order to achieve the best results for the whole southern portion of our country.