Sumner High School - Maroon and White Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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DHI BEIA SIGMA Xl SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT In a day of inter-racial bitterness and hatred, accentuated by a troubled world of war and depression, the Negro, in the field of scholastic achievement and research has, at last, made a prominent niche. Some outstanding Negro scholars of na- tional repute are, most notably, Paul Robeson, world-famous baritone, who was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa Key from Rutgers University for excellence in scholarship. He was the third Negro to graduate from this college, and while there, was placed on the All- American Football Team. At his commence- ment, he participated as a speaker and was elected to the Cap and Skull , a fraternal circle of great honor, made up of four men from the senior class, who are considered the best in scholarship, athletics, and personality. Upon his return from Europe, he became a figure of national repute, and his Alma Mater conferred a degree upon him and acclaimed him one of its greatest alumni, Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, former editor of the nationally known Crisis, and Doctor of Philosophy from Har- vard University, is another widely known scholar. He was a recipient of the Springarn Achievement Award, on June 8, 1920, for the founding and calling together of the Pan- African Congress, Dr. Carter Goodwin Wood- son, Doctor of Philosophy from Harvard Uni- versity, was awarded the Springarn medal for ten years of devoted service in collecting and publishing records of the Negro in America, MAROON AND WHITE Dr. Ernest E. Just, Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Chicago, who is now head of the Howard University Medical School. He is also a recipient of the Springarn Award, for distinguished achievement in research in biology. He received a special Rosenwald Fellowship for study in the Marine's Zoologi- cal Laboratory in Naples, Italy. Among the many Honorary Scholastic Fra- ternities, the Honorary Fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa ranks high, perhaps the first, in the school of Liberal Arts. This fraternity has a very prominent Negro membership. One hundred sixteen Negroes have had this honor conferred upon them from 1874 to 1930, and in our own city we have at least seven or eight citizens who are members. Another honorary fraternity is the Order of the Corps, a fraternity that corresponds in law to Phi Beta Kappa in Liberal Arts. The most prom- inent scientific fraternity is Sigma Xi, an honorary society, which limits its membership to the best scholars in science and in scientific research. Among many others, there is Phi Kappa Epsilon, international honorary fra- ternity, Sigma Sigma, honorary medical fra- ternity, and Sigma Tau Delta, National Pro- fessional English fraternity. All of these fraternities have representative Negro mem- berships. The highest academic degree possible to ob- tain is the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and it is interesting to note that from 1876 to 1930, lifty-three members of our race have held this degree. Many awards are given, or donated, to Negroes for excellence in scholarship, among the most prominent being the Rockefeller Scholarships and Fellowships, The Springarn Achievement Awards, the Rosenwald Scholar- ship, and Y. M. C. A. Fund, and the Juliett Dericotte Scholarship. The last is of great interest to us, because of the fact that it was awarded to a local girl recently. While the above mentioned scholarships are, primarily, for scholastic achievement, other require- ments, such as good character, citizenship, and activity are stressed. There are also many Greek letter sororities and fraternities that sponsor scholarships for worthy, needy pupils. Of interest, also, is the fact that of the hundreds of State universities and colleges in the nation, Harvard Universitv, the Univer- sity of Chicago, and Columbia University con- tribute more than fifty per cent of the gradu- ate degrees awarded in this country to Negro scholars. Margaret E. Bowles. Page Forty-nine

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The Educational Progress of the Negro One of the outstanding characteristics of the Negro is the desire to learn. Many efforts have been made on his part to secure an edu- cation. During the Civil War, hundreds of schools sprang up all over the South. These schools were devoted to the training of the Negro population. Coming from the north, their white teachers had truly altruistic motives and the progress was remarkable. Soon afterwards, normal schools and acad- emies for higher education came into exist- ence. Atlanta, Fisk, Howard, and Straight Universities, and Hampton Institute, are among the nationally known institutions which had their beginnings through these first eiorts. From the beginning, the expenditure of time and money on Negro schools has been hopelessly inadequate when compared with the white schools, but this circumstance is becoming less and less noticeable. Thirty-nine per cent of the entire Negro population was illiterate, according to the fig- ures of 1890. This rate dropped to thirty per cent in 1900, and according to the latest governmental figures, the illiterates now num- ber only eighteen per cent. At least thirty-six Negro students have been honored with mem- bership in the Phi Beta Kappa, in competition with white students in our higher educational institutions. The total number of Negro college gradu- ates in 1929 was over 7,000. The public schools for Negroes in the south, especially in the countries where the Negroes outnumber the white people, are not doing efficient work because of the small salaries paid to teachers, short terms, and poor school buildings. The state teachers' Associations have worked and are working to raise the standard of the teaching profession. Jewel Busch. Page Fifty Negro Teachers The development of Negro teaching in America was natural and inevitable. As early as the seventeenth century we find slaves teaching their masters' children, however in- conceivable it seems. An accurate proof can be shown before the end of the eighteenth century when we find John Chavis teaching White and colored people of North Carolina. Miss Virginia E. Randolph started the Jeanes Teachers' Association, and Charlotte Hawkins Brown founded the Palmer Memorial Institute. In recent years the following men have perhaps, more than others, had touch with Negro education: Robert Russa Moton, who was elected to succeed Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee Instituteg John Hope, who will be remembered for his support of Southern insti- tutions which were founded but which could not be supported, and Mordeceai A. Johnson, who had great ability as an educational orator and served as president of the National Asso- ciation Teachers, and who is now president of Howard University. Honorable mention should be given Mary McLeod Bethune, who built a co-educational institution for Negroes. As guardian angel of the Negroes, it is with much worthiness that the tribute is paid to her of being the successor to Booker T. Washington. Gladys Hulbert. MAROON AND WHITE

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A452325 660189 LU .Carver