Page:Women of distinction.djvu/454

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WOMEN OF DISTINCTION.

Would you have her his companion in intellectual and spiritual life? Would you have her train her children aright and be a fountain of knowledge to her family? Then give her a higher education.

Mrs. Josephine Turpin Washington.

CHAPTER XCIX.

INFLUENCE OF NEGRO WOMEN IN THE HOME.[1]

That a large part of the great negro population in America is yet in a condition of ignorance, superstition and poverty is evident, and that this present condition is a natural sequence of a former and more wretched condition, no one who is well acquainted with the real circumstances can truthfully deny; and that another large part of the race has made unparalleled advancement far in excess of what was naturally expected at the close of the late war, and that as an American citizen the negro has already been a success in every avenue and avocation in which he has been permitted to freely operate and compete, cannot be truthfully denied.

Now let us for a moment assume that he is ignorant

  1. In the preparation of this book it has occurred to the author that some space should be devoted to the consideration of our women in a general work and especially as to their efforts in building up our race enterprises and their special work in the home.