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Title
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EWP 1 Brown (2)
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EWP Brown (2)
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Tag
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African American, women, men, teaching, social graces, post-slavery era, educator, advocate, manners, self-respect, behavior
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Place
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Virginia
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Identifier
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1000758
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Is Version Of
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1000758_EWP_Brown_(2).JPG
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1000758_EWP_Brown_(2).pdf
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Is Part Of
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Uncategorized
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Date Created
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2024-01-07
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2024-07-22 19:27:05 +0000
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Format
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Jpeg Image
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Number
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29d58e442fdd73ca13ceff2e999fbf6c10b16b19c9bcfe4d971cfd34592b93c8
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3de65ef0fdde7c3b1c4d26c7df0721f7ff1a6c61a8a98a7bd32c308c4b6854e3
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5dd3e0f5e7afe2e0cdb56968cd0255ebe6a9bbe4ac1b7d7d87e921fe07b34cff
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Source
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/Volumes/T7 Shield/EWP/Elements/EWP_Files/Access Files/Upload temp/1000758_EWP_Brown_(2).JPG
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/Volumes/T7 Shield/EWP/Elements/EWP_Files/Access Files/jpg to pdf/need to upload or replc files to omeka/1000758_EWP_Brown_(2).pdf
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Publisher
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Digitized by Edwin Washington Project
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Rights
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Loudoun County Public Schools
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Language
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English
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Replaces
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/Volumes/T7 Shield/EWP/Elements/EWP_Files/source/Ingest One/1 Civil Rights/LCPS_African_Educ_Folder/EWP_Brown_(2).JPG
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extracted text
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The negw and The gocial C}’zaces
I have chosen to speak to you this morning on a
subject which is very near to my soul, “The Negro
and the Social Graces.” By social graces I do not
mean an attitude of cheap servility, assumed for the
purpose of currying favor. I mean simply doing the
courteous thing and making a pleasing appearance —
the practice of everyday good manners so generally
lacking nowadays in the
conduct of the average
young person, regardless
intellectual, moral and social behavior. They taught
our mothers and grandmothers the dignity of self-rev-
erence and self-restraint. They taught our fathers—
through example and precept—the proper attitude
toward their women and what was expected of them
in the new freedom which was theirs. These cultured
Christian men and women gave to the students of that
day “Open Sesame” to
the best culture that the
world knew.
of race.
My message for the
most part is to that group
of young Negroes from
high schools and col-
leges whose education is
above the average; for
unfortunately many of
these are inclined to as-
The quthor of this address was born in North Carolina, but
early moved with her parents to Cambridge, Massachusetis.
While a schoolgirl there, she won the friendship of Mrs.
Alice Freeman Palmer, former President of Wellesley College,
through whom she was privileged to know the Eliots, Cabots,
Lowells, and other distinguished people. Educated for the
teaching profession, she returned to North Carolina in 1901
and, without funds, started a private school which, in honor
of her friend, she named Palmer Memorial Institute. With the
help of friends North and South, this has grown into a well-
It is perfectly natural
that we want to forget
much that was associated
with slavery and its af-
termath; at the same
time it is very necessary
that we pay attention
to some of the things
gained by our forepar-
sociate all forms of po-
liteness, fine manners,
and social graces with
the slavery time per-
formances of the maid
and the butler, and to
discard anything which
they feel might have
come out of those days
in which their ancestors were slaves. They forget that
even in those days many Negroes were schooled in
the “correct thing,” and that “what they were not
taught they caught,” in the way of social demeanor.
One needs only to read any book, fiction or fact,
associated with the life of Negroes in the households
previous to 1865 to see that it was the Negro butler
and maid who actually taught the social graces to the
children of the aristocracy of the Southern white
group; everything from learning how to curtsy to the
art of walking with charm and grace across the ball-
room floor. The canons of the social graces were
learned by those slaves or servants as religiously as
their masters learned the catechism.
Fortunate also are those whose parents, immediately
after the Civil War, came under the wise and gentle
tutelage of the flower of the white race that came
from the North and Middle West, built private schools,
became their instructors, and were their patterns for
year's leave of absence
of both sections.—Editor.
appointed and important junior college.
Riter twenty-five years of teaching, Mrs. Brown took a
and-wen—the—bachelor’s—degree
Wellesley. She has also received two honorary degrees.
She feels that it has been a peculiar privilege to live both
North and South and to win friends among the choice spirits
ents through intimate as-
sociation with an aris-
tocracy schooled in the
finer things of life. Well
may we add to our mod-
ern culture and educa-
tional efficiency some of
the fine manners of those
bygone days.
After all, the success of the American Negro de-
pends upon his contacts with other races who, through
the years, have had greater advantages of learning the
proper approach to life and its problems. The little
courtesies, the gentle voice, correct grooming; a knowl-
edge of when to sit, when to stand; how to open and
close a door; the correct attitude toward persons in
authority; good manners in public places, such as rail-
road stations, moving picture houses, and other places
where we are constantly under observation—the acqui-
sition of these graces will go a long way in securing
that recognition of ability needed to cope with human
society, and will remove some of the commonest ob-
jections to our presence in large numbers.
Alas, in our day good manners for both races are
almost outmoded. In many instances we have lost
the art of fine living. The Negro, with all his handi-
caps, has now the opportunity of his life to develop
anew the art of fine manners as one of the means by
at
