Notable Personages

The Rev. C. E. Fry, of Dundee, N. Y., who gave the class address of 1908 at Wiley, chose for his subject the above significant phrase. He likened the influences of a Christian institution to some mighty Niagara, whose immeasurable power transmitted into electrical energy turns the wheels of commerce in distant cities. "In this way," said the speaker. "the graduates of this institution become a positive, aggressive force for the uplift of the masses and the improvement of social, economic conditions wherever they go."

This Wiley graduates have done to a remarkable degree. The largest number of graduates have, in the very nature of the case, become teachers, some are principals of public schools, builders of denominational institutions, heads of college departments, and many are at work in some far-away town and country districts, scarcely known, but nevertheless laying permanent foundations for the betterment of their people.

Looking back over the thirty-seven years of the work of this institution, the young men and young women, both graduates and under-graduates, who have gone out with her benediction, have in most instances served their communities well. Some have done exceptionally well, and a few extraordinarily so. Mr. Emmett J. Scott, the talented secretary of Dr. Booker T. Washington, is one of the most prominent graduates of Wiley. He has won distinction as a level headed, tactful secretary in his important position, and was recently appointed by President Taft a member of the commission to visit Liberia and report on the conditions there. In this capacity Mr. Scott rendered invaluable service.

Graduates from the electrical department have not only installed and put into operation the electric light system which lights the Wiley campus, but installed the plant at Gilbert Academy, Baldwin, La., and for the City Council of Boley, Okla.

The question of what becomes of the graduates of an institution is always an important one. In view of the doubts and misgivings still entertained by some regarding educational work among the colored people, the question is of greater importance still. A careful study of the list of graduates from the very beginning reveals the fact that for the most part they are the picked men and women of their communities, and are working unselfishly for the public good. We give herewith the names of some of the most successful graduates, and the work in which they are engaged.

H. B. Pemberton, A. B., Ph. B., Marshall, Texas.
T. J. Douglas, A. B., Hubbard City, Tex.
T. B. Mitchell, A. B., Kendleton, Tex.
Wm. Daniels, B. S., Longview, Tex.
A. M. Salone, A. M., Stamps, Ark.
T. C. Compton, A. B., Junction City, Ark.
J. H. Roberts, A. B., Mansfield, La.
J. B. Fox, A. B., Fort Jessup, La.

S. S. Reid, A. M., History, Wiley Univ.
R. E. Brown, A. M., Science, Wiley Univ.
A. M. D. Langrum, A. B., Mathematics, Phillips University.
J. W. Frazier, A. B., Mathematics, Sam Huston College.

J. O. Williams, A. B., Dist. Supt., Marshall, Tex.
E. W. Hayes, A. B., Orange, Tex.
K. W. McMillan, A. B., Houston, Tex.
J. C. Eusan, A. B., Giddings, Tex.
W. M. Wesley, A. B.
W. J. King, A. B., Boston, Mass.
J. A. Bryant, A. B., Marshall, Tex.
M. Q. A. Fuller, Marshall, Tex.

J. H. Stephen, Austin, Tex.
Wm. M. Drake, San Antonio, Tex.
G. A. Grimes, Bastrop, Tex.
J. D. Dixon, Hempstead, Tex.
J. W. Fridia, Waco, Tex.
M. P. Penn, Dallas, Tex.
J. S. Reid, Bryan, Tex.
C. B. Johnson, Marshall, Tex.
L. C. Moore, Hubbard City, Tex.

Emmett J. Scott, A. M., secretary, Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala.
E. A. Chester, A. B., cashier, Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala.
G. A. Windsor, A. B., business, Guthrie, Okla.
J. W. Warren, A. B., business, Los Angeles, Cal.
O. M. Randolph, A. B., editor, Washington, D. C.
H. J. Mason, A. B., stenographer, Prairie View.
G. A. Palmer, B. S., supt. electric system, Boley, Okla.

There are scores and hundreds of others, graduates and under-graduates, who are an honor to the institution and the work of the Freedmen's Aid Society. Many of them are teachers and industrial workers in the small towns and country districts of Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, but in this way they touch the very heart of the problem, and consequently are giving most effective service in the uplift of the race.