Her father, having no settled place of abode, moved from one mining district to another for six years. During this time this little girl learned all that she could from contact with the teachers wherever she went, and became so cautious that at four years of age she was often sent alone with a pocket-book two miles to purchase necessaries at store. In 1878 her parents moved to Louisville, Ky. Here this child entered the public schools, where she remained three years. In September, 1881, she became a Christian, and entered the State University, then known as the Normal and Theological Institute, under the presidency of Rev. William J. Simmons, D. D. After spending four years in the normal department she graduated May 13, 1885.
During this time she worked in and out of school, at odd times, wherever she could get work, to earn something to help her mother pay school bills. In the meantime she had united with the Green Street Baptist Church, of Louisville, Ky. Artishia has always been faithful to the Sunday-school, to which she owes much of her spiritual strength. She taught a class when so small she had to stand upon the benches to see all of her class.
The temptations to lucrative positions kept her from entering the college department for awhile, but finally she decided and did so. In 1889 she graduated as valedictorian from the University proper, with the degree of A. B. She then became editor of a magazine, Women and Children, which position she gave up to take a chair as teacher in State University, her Alma Mater, as
