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Excellent Showing Made by Colored People—Exer cises Largely Attended. What may be rightly called the first negro fair in Mobile county was for mally opened Friday night in the pub lic hall at Plateau, five miles north of Mobile on the Southern Railway and electric line and at the time the doors were opened the exhibits in position were most creditable to the exhibitors comprising the women and children of the community together with several creditable ones from Mobile and from Paldwin and Escambia counties.. The fair is solely a negro institution and every exhibit entered is the handiwork of negroes and the stock exhibits the property of the same class of people of the Plateau neighborhood and Mobile and other sections. Credit for originating the fair is given to Professor Sasaih Whitley, principal of Plateau Institute, J. W. Glover and N. S. Adams, secretary treasurer and chairman of the fair committee respectively. Others who assisted in bringing about the ex hibition are also entitled to credit for the work and interest given the move ment. Plateau was visited March 25 last, it will be recalled, by a fire which swept through the community destroy ing many homes, the property of the negroes, also the institute building to gether with a large amount of the ap paratus and paraphernalia of the school. A visit to the place by an Item representative Friday disclosed the fact that the community was not de terred even by fire as many of the vacant places had again been occupied by cozy homes which would do credit to any community. Faculty’s Good Work. The faculty of the Plateau Institute had a large share in making the fair a success and it is but just to say something of this institution which is fostered by the public school system of Mobile county and which is also to share in portions of the endowments devoted to negro education In the South. The institute now occupies the hall wherein the exposition is being held, together with three small cot tages some distance away, the property of a Mobilian, and which is rented for a small sum monthly. The teaching force is composed of the following: Isaiah J. Whitley, principal; W. E. Knight, sixth and seventh grade grammar and supervisor of industrial work; Maggie L. Carrington, fourth and fifth grades and domestic science; Vivian I. Holman, second and third grades and musical director; Beatrice Hinson, primmer and first grade and teacher of sewing and basketry; Bessie Fonville, school extension work, can ning and domestic science. The latter is provided by the Slater fund and is therefore no expense to the county school board. The endowment com mittee is composed of Dr. C. First Johnson, J. W. Glover, Dr. H. Roger Williams. The School Improvement Associations in the hands of J. F. Keeley, chairman; S. lL. Bradley, sec retary; N. L. Adams treasurer. Increased Enrollment. Last year the total enrollment of the institute was 249, while the first en rollment of the present session was 175. As compared with 132 the same time last year. As noted the institute lost its home and paraphernalia in March, but the negroes of the community put their shoulders to the wheel and gave every assistance to Isaiah Whitley and his faculty and with this help and the efficient aid of the board of school commissioners the school was kept in tact and will, as soon as possible, oc cupy its own home on the three-acre lot ordered purchased at the last ses sion of the school board and on which the Plateau negroes paid $150. While the community fair may be called the work of all the negroes of Plateau it should be said to their credit that the faculty, officers and pupils of the institute had the bulk of the work in making it creditable to the extent that they feel the white friends of the institution may visit it and see suffi cient of the progress of the negro women and children to warrant the faith they have manifested in the progress of that race upward. The Golden Rod, which is the national flow er, was displayed abundantly in the decorations. Old Glory waves at the door of the fair building as a welcome to all. The officers were early on hand and with the women had everything in shipshape for the first exercises at 7:20 last night. Opening Exercises. “America,” the national anthem, was rendered by the pupils, the entire body standing. Following a prayer, N. L. Adams, chairman, spoke briefly of the fair and its purposes. He thanked all who assisted in making it creditable and assured them that it would be re sultful to them and the community in days to come. He was followed by J. W. Glover, a resident merchant but a native of British Honduras, who told old and young the need to be patriotic. He insisted that they should always salute the nation’s flag and never,to remain seated when the national anthem is being sung. The negro owes it to America, he said, to be patriotic, and he also said they should be loyal to their friends, the white people of the South. Praise For The Item. Professor I. J. Whitley mentioned the fact that The Item had manifested such interest in the community as to send one of its editors there to see what the community had to offer in the way of exhibits of their skill and thrift. He stated that The Item had always held out the helping hand to the negro in every section of the county when he was deserving and he mentioned the ef forts of the paper to secure aid for the institute following the fire. He then introduced Philip Cosminsky, whon spoke about twenty minutes, touching upon the past and present of the negro, his advancement industrially and morally and complimented the people on what they had offered the public in the way of an exhibition, the first of its kind by negroes in the county. Dr. E. T. Belsaw of Mobile, orator of the occasion, made a creditable ad dress which was neither too long nor too short but was of a nature to im press upon his people the need to take advantage of every opportunity to bet ter themselves and their offsprings. He said that Plateau had much to be proud of and he knew that their white friends appreciated what they were doing. He paid particular attention to the children and the work they had on exhibition. Following his remarks the children rendered several songs. The program for today was sports of all kinds and an address by Rev. G. W. Lewis, pastor of Warren street church, Mobile. Announcement was made that the fair exhibit would be open to every body and without charge, during Sun day, and at 3 p. m. President Jerome Sheip of the Sheip, Lumber Company, would address the negroes in the ex hibition hall.
Newspaper Details
The Mobile Item
Mobile, Alabama, US
Sat, Oct 16, 1915
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Erica P.
USA 14 Jun 2026
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