ATLANTA The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed as a digital facsimile at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/ PUBLICATIONS, No. 2. SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL CONDITION OF NEGROES IN CITIES. REPORT OF AN INVESTIGATION UNDER THE DIRECTION OF ATLANTA UNIVERSITY: AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND CONFERENCE FOR THE STUDY OF PROBLEMS CONCERNING NEGRO CITY LIFE, HELD AT ATLANTA UNIVERSITY, MAY 25-26, 1897. ATLANTA, GA. ATLANTA UNIVERSITY PRESS. 1897. ATLANTA UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS. No. 2, SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL CONDITION OF NEGROES IN CITIES. REPORT OF AN INVESTIGATION UNDER THE DIRECTION OF ATLANTA UNIVERSITY: AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND CONFERENCE FOR THE STUDY OF PROBLEMS CONCERNING NEGRO CITY LIFE, HELD AT ATLANTA UNIVERSITY, MAY 25-26, 1897. ATLANTA. GA, ATLANTA UN1VHRR1TV PRESS. 1897, CONTENTS. PAHfi INTRODUCTION ;---------------- 3 I. RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION. GENERAL SUMMARY; ------ Butler R. Wilson. Esq. 5 SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL PROGRESS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE RE- PORTSOFTHE BOARDS OF HEALTH IN ATLANTA, BALTIMORE. CHARLESTON. MEMPHIS AND RICHMOND ; ------- Mr. L. M. Hershaw 10 THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE RACE: WHETHER DEPENDENT UPON SOCIAL CONDITIONS OR ENVIRONMENT; - - - - Prof. Eugene Harris 20 II. PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE. MINUTES; -------------------29 RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE CONFERENCE; -------- 32 III. ADDRESSES. PAPERS. AND LETTERS. ADDRESS ;--------- President Horace Bumsiead 35 PRENATAL AND HEREDITARY INFLUENCES; - Mrs. Adella Hunt Logan 37 CARE OF NEGLECTED CHILDREN; ----- Rev. J. E. Smith 41 THE NEED OF FRIENDLY VISITATION; - - -- - Rev. H. H. Proctor 44 CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION, AND PRACTICAL METHODS OF PREVENTING IT; ---------------- A. J. Love. M. D. 46 VENTILATION; ----------- H. R. Butler. M. D. 51 CARE OF THE TEETH IN ITS RELATION TO HEALTH: J. R. Porter, D.D.S. 53 ADDRESS BEFORE WOMEN'S MEETING; - - - Miss Lucy C. Laney 55 FRIENDLY VISITING; - ------ Mrs. Minnie Wright Price 58 MOTHERS' MEETINGS; ------- Mrs. Georgia Swift King 61 NEED OF DAY NURSERIES; - - - - - - Mrs. Selena Sloan Butler 63 NEED OF KINDERGARTENS; - - - - - Mrs. Rosa Morehead Bass 66 REPORTS FROM CITIES; ---------------69 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS; --------------7] IV. APPENDIX; SELECTED STATISTICS. ~"1 _ A. FROM HOUSE-TO-HOUSE INVESTIGATION; -------- (fj B. FROM ANALYSIS OF REPORTS OF BOARDS OF HEALTH; - - - - (II) INTRODU TION. The papers presented in this report were written exclusively by col ored men and women, and are based upon statistical investigations made by them under the direction of Atlanta University. The investigation was begun by an inquiry on the part of three grad uates of Atlanta University into the causes of the excessive mortality among Negroes. A conference was held on the subject at Atlanta Uni versity in May, 1896, and the facts brought out at that conference were so significant that the investigation was continued for another year along simihir lines, but on a more extensive scale, and a second conference was held in May, this year. The co-operation of gradu ates of other institutions was invited. The present investigation, therefore, is the result of the joint efforts of graduates of Atlanta Uni versity, Fisk, Berea, Lincoln, Spelman, Howard, Meliarry and other institutions for the higher education of the Negroes. The conclusions which these men and women have reached as a result of their investigations are, in some respects, most surprising; especially their conclusions as to the effect of environment and economic conditions upon the vital energies of the race. Their conclusions were, in sub stance, that the excessive mortality of their people cannot be attribu ted in any large degree to unfavorable conditions of environment, but must he chiefly attributed to the ignorance of the masses of the people and their disregard of the laws of health and morality. The significance of this conclusion is tersely expressed by one of the writers, who says: "This last fact, that the excessive death-rate of the colored people docs not arise from diseases due to environment, is of vast importance. If poor houses, unhealthy localities, bad sewerage, and defective plumbing were responsible for their high death-rate, there would he no hope of reducing the death-rate until either the colored people 4 STUDY OF NKGKO CITY LJFK. became wealthy, or philanthropic persons erected sanitary houses, or m u- nieipalities made appropriations to remove those conditions. But since the excessive death-rate is not due to these causes, there is reason for the belief that it may be reduced without regard to the present economic condition of the colored people." The attention of the members of the conference seemed to be mainly directed to a consideration of the social questions affecting the prog ress of the race. The sentiment of the conference was voiced by one writer in these words: "If we are to strike at the root of the matter, it will not be at sani tary regulation, but at social reconstruction and moral regeneration." The solution of the problem will be found in the wise direction of the numerous charitable, religious and educational organizations of colored people already established. As a means towards that end, the University will continue the City Problem Investigation along the linei- upon which it was begun, and will hold a third conference at Atlanta next May. The subject of the next conference cannot now be an nounced, but in accordance with the expressed wish of members of the last conference, it will be some .subject dealing with the social conditions of the people. The result of the present investigation has been, on the wliole, dis tinctly encouraging. In the opinion of the committee having the in vestigation in charge, the Negro lias nothing to fear from a most rigid and searching investigation into his physical and social condition, but such an investigation can be made most helpful and valuable. MORTALITY AMONU NKGKOKK IN riTIKS. RESISTS OF THE INVESTIGATION. [Note: The three following papers on the results of the investigation were written by the three members of the conference who individually collected the most data: Mr. Butler B. Wilson, a member of the committee who gathered data relating to one hundred families that had migrated from North Carolina to Cambridge, Mass.; Prof. Eugene Harris of Fisk University, who made an extensive investigation in Nashville; and Mr. L. M. Hershaw of Washington, D. C., who had in charge the very laborious work of analyzing tlie reports of the boards of health for the past fifteen years.-Ed.] GENERAL SUMMARY. BY MH. IH7TI.KK R. WIIJ3OX ('#!), BOSTON, MASS. In making this investigation of the habits, morals and environment of Negroes living in cities, three things have been kept constantly in view, viz.: First— To obtain accurate information without regard to cher ished theories or race pride; Second—To make the inquiry practical and helpful, and not merely for scientific results; and, Third- To induce the people to apply the remedies which they have in their own hands for the evils which are found to exist and which retard their progress. The results to be gained depended entirely upon the intelligence and fitness of the investigators, who were selected with great care from the ranks of well-knowu colored educators, ministers, physicians, lawyers and business men, living among the people covered by the investigation. All the data were gathered by this body of trained colored leaders, and they are believed to be, perhaps, more than usually accurate because of the investigators' knowledge of the character, habits and prejudices of the people, and because of the fact that they were not hindered by the suspicions which confront the white investigator, and which seriously affect the accuracy of the answers to his questions'. The work of the investigators was entirely voluntary and was done with a willingness and industry higbly gratifying. 6 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE. The cities embraced in the investigation, with a single exception, are located in regions of heaviest Negro population, and are fairly repre sentative of other cities containing large numbers of Negroes. The data obtained were published in the May Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Labor, and cover so wide a range of useful information, that only a few things can be pointed out here. Referriug to the tables of this Bulletin, we find one noticeable fact in table 3*, namely, that the size of colored families is much smaller than is commonly supposed, the average being 4.17 persons. Tables 5 and (i, giving household conditions by families,—the av erage persons per sleeping room, and the number of rooms per fam ily }—show that the general belief that the tenements and houses occu pied by colored people are greatly over—crowded is not founded on facts. These tables do not show that any great over—crowding exists, on the whole, although for certain individual families and groups the averages are somewhat larger. It also appears that the average num ber of living rooms is much larger than has been thought to be the case. An average of 2. 22 persons to a sleeping room in Atlanta, 2.44 persons in Nashville, and 1. 96 persons in Cambridge, and 2. 05 per son in all the other cities covered by the investigation, is an unex pected and important showing, and reverses the idea that the number of families having but one room each for all purposes was very large and was the rule instead of the exception. Out of a total of 1,137 families investigated, only 117, or 10. 29 per cent, had but one room each for their use for all purposes. Table 7, giving number of families and means of support, shows a large proportion of females who either support families unaided, or who contribute to the support of families. Of the male heads only 26.7 per cent were able to support their fam ilies without assistance from other members. Of the 1,137 families 650,or 57.17 percent, were supported wholly or in part by female heads. In comparison with white female heads of families and those con tributing to family supjmrt, there is quite a large excess on the part of colored women. "Table 3 in appendix A. The appendixes contain selected tablet) from the May Bulletin of the Department of Lsibor.-Kfl. MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 7 This table calls attention to the enforced absence of mothers from their homes, and the daily abandonment, by these mothers who are compelled to aid in earning the family support, of their young chil dren to the evil associations, the temptations, and vicious liberty of the alleys, courts and slums. To attempt to prove from the showing of this table that Negro men are unwilling to support their families, and that they are lazy and shiftless, would be unfair. Careful inquiry by a number of the investiga tors indicates very strongly that the comparatively small support given by these men to their families is not due to unwillingness, but to their inability to get work as readily and constantly as the women. At the South white men refuse to work at the bench, in the mill and at other employments with colored men, who, for this reason, are de nied work, and therefore unable to earn means with which to support their families. This faot was found to exist in the city of Cambridge, where a large per cent of the men in the hundred families investigated, in reply to an inquiry, said that they had been refused work because they were colored, and a number of them said that they were unable to follow their trades, but had to "job around" with unsteady employment for the same reason. The women in these families find steady employment as domestic servants and laundresses, and at the South find but little competition from white women. The investigation gives a great many data on this industrial side of the question, which want of space will not now allow us to consider. Tables 8 and 9, giving the number and per cent of persons sick during the year, and the number and per cent of deaths during the past five years by causes, show that the diseases most fatal to the col ored people are consumption and pneumonia. While the average length of time of sickness from it is short, malarial fever is shown to be one of the most prevalent diseases. iUieuniatisni is also shown to be quite prevalent. Both of these diseases, as well as typhoid fever and pneumonia, may, to a great extent, be kept in abeyance by the observance of hygienic rules and a proper care of the health. In the 100 Cambridge families it was found that many of the men Work in the water department, and after the day's work eat the 8 STUDY OF \EGRO CITY 1,IFK. evening nieal without changing their damp clothing, often goiug- to .sleep in their chairs tor an hour or more and then going to a lodge or "society meeting," remaining not infrequently until 11 and 12 o'clock. These tables also show that the difference between the death-rate of the white and colored people from diarrhoea, diptheria, scarlet fever, malarial fever and typhoid fever, all diseases chiefly affected by envi ronment, is very slight.* Table 10, giving sickness by sanitary condition of houses, shoXvs that while sanitary conditions have a very important bearing, they are not important enough to account for the difference of per cent in the death-rate between the white and colored people. Great caution must be observed in making deductions from this table. While it is intended to show the bearing of sanitary conditions on the health of the community, the results obtained are not conclu sive. It would be erroneous, for instance, to attribute to bad sanitary conditions the increased amount of sickness in families, and leave out of consideration such factors as irregular habits, indifference to healthy living quarters and the intimate relation between poverty and ill health. By reference to the table it will be seen that the number of persons sick in Atlanta was 163 out of a total of 577, or 28.25 per cent, where the light and air were good ; and that out of 367 persons liv ing where the light and air were bad, 120, or 32.70 per cent, were sick, a difference of only 15 per cent between houses with good and bad conditions as to light and air. One hundred and twenty-eight persons living in houses with good light and air lost 5,819 days by sickness, or an average of 45.46 days each; while 102, or 26 persons less, lost, under bad conditions of light and air, only 4,861 days, or an average of 4 .75 days each, a difference of 6 per cent, the average days of siekuess being more in houses with good light and air than in those where the light and air were bad. This table further shows that out of 537 persons living in Atlanta in houses with good ventilation, 153, or 28.49 per cent, were sick during the year, losing, for the 124 reporting, 5,927 days, or an aver age of 47.80 days each ; while out of 427 persons living in houses with *The tables )«>uriiig upon disea. Atlanta........ Baltimore..... (^harleston ... Memphis. ..... Richmond.... White. 18.22 22.60 25.40 26.08 22.12 ' Col- ore" 1. 37.96 36.15 H.08 Hi. 01 40.:i4 Per eimt excess ot colored. 108.4 5!).!) 73.5 64.9 7!).!) SECOND PERIOD. White. 19.25 10.46 22.30 21.49 21.:i7 Col ored. 33.41 30.52 46.74 29.35 38.83 Per cent excess of colored. 73.5 56.8 109.6 :i6.5 81.7 TiiiKii PERIOD. White. 18.03 20.01 21.88 14.17 18.42 Col ored. 32.76 31.47 41.43 21.11 34.91 Per cent excess ol colored. 81.6 57.2 89.3 48.9 89.5 Tliu tabular statement contains, in addition to the average annual death-rate, the percentage of the excess of the colored death-rate. Lest these percentages of exceea mislead somebody. It is necessary to explain that, in comparing the three periods, they merely show whether «>r not the colored death-rate has decreased as rapidly as the white death-rate, and not the actual increase or decrease of the colored death- rate. To illustrate: Comparing the second and third periods in Rich mond, it is to be ween that the percentage of excess for the second period is 81.7 per cent, and for the third period 89.5 per cent. With out looking at the matter carefully the conclusion is likely to be drawn that the colored death-rate is greater for the third period than tor the ."ccond, when, as a matter of fact, It is less, the rates being 38.83* for the second, and 34.91 for the third. An inspection of the above table shows that there has been a con stant decrease in the colored death-rate from period to period in At lanta, Memphis and Richmond. In Atlanta the colored death-rare for the first period is 37.9(5, tor the .-ec-ond 33.4j, and for the third 32.76; in Memphis, 43.01 for the first period, 29.35 for the second, and 21.11 for the third; and in Rich mond, 40.34 for the first period, 38.83 for the second, and 34.91 for the third. While Baltimore and Charleston do not show the constant decrease from period to period noted in the other cities, they do show a lower death-rate for the third period than for the first; the death-rates *\OTK.—Tin- death-rule is generally expressed in terms of one thousand. Tin: phrase "rate of 38.83" means that there were thirty-eight and eighty-three one- hiin- divdtlis deaths per thousand of population. For brevity, the words "per thousand" aiv omitted.- Ki>. MORTALITY A MONO NtttJItOKS IN <:lTIRs. I if in Baltimore being 36.15 for the first period, 30.52 for the second, and 31.47 for the third ; and those in Charleston, 44.08 for the first period, 46.74 for the second, and 41.43 for the third. Memphis .shows the greatest improvement, the average death-rate at the end of the third period being 50.9 per cent lower than at the end of the first, and Charleston shows the least improvement, 6 percent. In Atlanta the improvement Is 13.9 per cent, in Richmond, 13.4 per cent, and in Baltimore, 12.9 percent. Of the five cities with which this paper deals, but two have a regis tration of births—Baltimore and Charleston.* Richmond had such a registration, but it was discontinued some years ago. The registra tions of Baltimore and Charleston are admittedly incomplete. No view of the vital statistics of a community is complete without a knowledge of its birth-rate. The birth-rate is closely related to the death-rate. The natural iix-rea.se of population depends upon the ex cess of the birth-rate over the death-rate. It would be highly inter esting to know what the birth-rate of the colored population in tin five cities under consideration is. Is it as great as the death-rate ? Is it greater than the death-rate? These questions cannot be answered .satisfactorily because the health reports do not supply the information. The United States Census of 1890 gives the colored birth-rate of tin- United States as 29.07 per thousand, but owing to the incompleteness of the records of births by the municipal and state authorities, these figures are not reliable, and are probably much too small. Four Eu ropean countries have birth-rates which exceed the colored death-rate in the cities that we have under consideration. In view of the well- known fecundity of the Negro race, it is fair to infer that his birth rate is certainly as high as that of the Italian, the ticrman, the Aus trian, or the Hungarian. If this is so, then the death-rate in these cities has not reached the point where population begins to decrease, ft is well-nigh useless to pursue this branch of the subject further, because of the lack of data. Having established the fact that the average colored death-rate for the past fourteen or fifteen years iu the five cities is 73.8 per cent in excess of the white death-rate in the same cities for the same period, and having shown, by dividing these years into three equal periods and See for Baltimore table f, appendix B.—ED. 14 STUDY Of <:1TV J,tFK. Consumption and Pneumonia........... Typhoid, Malarial and Scarlet Pe-1 vers, Diarrhea and Diphtheria / ' .^i«-.. i~.c~~±- " • - 1'er cent excess of colored. Colored ....75.48............130.4 ....26.22............ 30 .......14,87............39.43............ 165.1 .81.......... . 4.72............482.7 comparing the rates of previous with succeeding periods, that the colored death-rate shows an improvement over fifteen years ago, it re mains to set forth the causes of this excessive mortality. The principal causes of the excessive mortality of the colored peo ple are the same in all the cities ; therefore, it will serve our purpose to know the average death-rate of the three cities, Charleston, Mem phis and Richmond, combined, fora period of fifteen years, for certain classes of diseases, and to give in full the same facts concerning At lanta. The table which follows shows for Charleston, Memphis and Richmond, combined, the average death-rate per 10,000, by specified causes, for a period of fifteen years, from 1881 to 1895: White. .......32.76 .„.„, ^.umico, aim ±7ipnineria ) Cholera Infantum, Convul-1 sions arid Still-born J '" ••••••• Scrofula and Syphilis........ ............ ._.......-.....^.. It is to be seen from the table above that for all classes of diseases the colored death-rate exceeds the white. The greatest excess is found under scrofula and syphilis, where it is 482.7 per cent in excess of the white death-rate. The next greatest excess is due to infantile dis eases,—cholera infantum, convulsions and still-born,—the excess being 165.1 per cent. The third greatest excess is due to pulmonary dis eases, and is seen to be 130.4 per cent. We see also that the least disparity between the white and the colored death-rate is found under the group of diseases most affected by environment, including typhoid and malarial fevers and dipththeria, where the excess is only 30 per cent. As to syphilis and scrofula, it is to be observed that the num ber of deaths is small. The white death-rate during fifteen years in Charleston, Memphis and Richmond has been less than one per 10,000 of the population, while the colored was somewhat less than five. The per cent of the excess of the colored over the white is, however, startling, and furnishes much food for reflection as to the morals of the colored people. The two principal causes of the excessive mortality of the colored people are pulmonary diseases,—consumption and pneumonia,— and * These death-rate," for specified causes are per ten thousand.—En. MORTALITY AMONG NKGROKS IN CITIKS. Lft infant mortality. The excessive prevalence of consumption and pneu monia among colored people is brought out very plainly in the foregoing table, where the excess in these cities is shown to be 130.4 per cent. The following table containing the total average annual number of deaths, and the average annual number of deaths of children under five years of age, with distinction of race, will serve to show the ex tent of the infant mortality among colored people: Tula,! average annual number of deaths. ATLANTA, GA. Average annual number of deaths under 5 years of age. White. Colored. White. Colored. Per cem of 1'ercent of white. colored. 1882-85... ........470 ..... .. 751............ 172.........313............38.7 ...........41.6 1886-90............644 ........ 845........;....224.........348............34.7.........—41.1 1891-95—.........804 ........1086...... ......257 ........386....... —.31.9—.........35.5 CHARLESTON, S. C. 1885-89............525......... 1394............. 148......... 558............ 28.0............ 4U.O 1890-94............529.........1316.............141.........518............26.4—........39.3 MEMPHIS, TENN. 1886-90............678...........712.............180.........263...... 1891-95............619........ ..741........... .145.........232—-. ......265............35.4 ......23.4...... .....31.1 There is an enormous waste of child-life among both races, not only in the cities under consideration, but in all cities. But from the data at hand the conclusion is justified that the mortality among col ored children is not alarmingly in excess of the mortality among white children, unless it be for children under two years of age. The fig ures which we have presented on this subject show that the mortality among children of both races has decreased constantly since 1881 in Atlanta, Charleston and Memphis. Of the diseases which are excessively prevalent among colored peo ple, the most important, and the one which should be the occasion of the greatest alarm, is consumption. We have seen already that con sumption and pneumonia are among the causes of excessive mortality of the colored people, the excess per cent of Charleston, Memphis and Richmond being 130.4. The table following shows the rate, per 10,000 of deaths from con sumption in all the cities investigated : II' MORTALITY AMONG NKGROK8 IN CITIES. 17 U> 1882-85. 1886-90.. 1S91-95. STUDY OK NK«RO CITY UFK. 18,%..... 1887 .... 1891..... 1892 .... ATLANTA. GA. White. Colored. ..18.40............... . ...50.20....... ..18.83........ ............45.88...... ..16,82....... .............43.48....... BALTIMORE, MI). ..25.65..................... 38.65....... ..22.23.....................55.42 ...... ..20.00......... ...........46.32....... ..20.10 ....................49.41....... Per ct. ex of colored ...........172.83 ...........143.65 ...........158.50 ...........12K.B5 ...........149.30 ..........131.60 ...:.. —.145.82 JK8I-84 ....... I885-H9........ IK90-94. ....... .............27.52 ............ .20.05., ...... ...... 17.71 , CHARLESTON. S. C. ....................72.20............ .............. .....68.08............ ........ ............57.66........... .........162.35 .........239.55 ......... 22.r>.:>8 1886-90.. 1S91-9G.. 1881-85... 18 6-90 .. MEMPHIS, TKNN. ..34.25.....................65.35..................... 90.80 ..24.2!)...—...............50.30..................... 107 OS ..15.90.....................37.78. ....... ........... 137.61 RICHMOND, VA. ..25.57 .....................54.93................ ....114.82 .21.27.............. ..... 41.63..................... 95.72 ..18.54 ....... ............34.74..................... 87.38 It is to l>c seen that in all of the eities the death-rate for consump tion is high among the colored people, the lowest rate being- 34.74 per 10,000 in Richmond, and the highest, 72.20, in Charleston. The greatest disparity between the white and the colored death-rate for this cause is also in Charleston, where the exeess per cent of the col ored is as high as 239.5. The important fact must not he lost sight of that the death-rate from this cause has constantly decreased in all the eities except Charleston, and in Charleston the death-rate for the pe riod 1890-94 is lower than for the period 1881-84. There is reason, however, for great concern and anxiety as to the excessive prevalence of this disease among the colored people. Unless checked and re duced to a normal state, it may, in the course of years, be a deciding factor in the ultimate fate of the race. The prevalence of tubercular and scrofulous diseases, consumption, scrofula, syphilis and leprosy, has caused the weaker races of the earth to sncccumb before the rising tide of the Christian civilization. The Carib of the West Indies, the noble red man of these shores, the natives of the Sandwich Islands, and the aborigines of Australia and New Zealand have all disap|>eared or been greatly reduced in numbers as the result of the ravages of these diseases. It should be an object of first importance, then, to get control of these diseases before they reach the point where, control is impossible. It will be of interest to know somewhat in detail the physical con dition of the population in Atlanta for the fourteen years from 1882 to 1895, and the tables Avhich follow set forth quite fully this fact. DEATH-RATE PER 1,000, ATLANTA, GA. Period. White. Colored. Per ct. excess of itolored. 1882-85.......... -—..—-18.21.....................37.96............... .....108.4 1886-90 ....................19.25.....................33.41..................... 73.5 1891-95..........-.-......18.03....................32.76.—................ 81.6 It is seen that the death-rate of the colored population, though greatly in excess of that of the white, has constantly decreased, the average death-rate per 1,000 for the first period being 37.96, for the second 33.41, and for the third 32.76. Relatively, as compared with the whites, the death rate of the colored shows much improvement. Though the percentage of excess of colored for the third period is ••reater than that for the second, the percentage for both of these pe riods shows a marked decrease from that of the first period. The following tables show for three periods, 1882 to 1885, 1886 to 1890, and 1891 to 1-S95, the average animal death-rate per 10,000, At lanta, Ga., by specified causes. Period. 1882-85......... 1886-90....... 1891-95......... 1886-90...— — 1891-95......... TYPHOID, 1882-85......... 1886-90......... 1891-95 ........ 1882-85........... 1886-90......—. 1891-95.—...... CONSUMPTION AND PNKUMON1A. Colored. Per ct. excess of oolored. ...................76.89.—— ............180.3 ...................72.14—.................139.4 ...................75.75.....................165.9 CHOLERA INFANTUM AND STILL-BIRTHS. ............26,78——................56.09—. ..............109.4 ............24.99..—................53.86.....................115.5 8CARLKT AND MALARIAL KKVERS, AND DIPHTHERIA. ............11.58..—................19.31..................... 66.7 ............14.58———............. 17.17..................... 17.7 .........-10.72.....................12.48......... ........... 16.4 OTHER CAUSES. !43.15 .................a283.44.....................a98.0 121.05.................. 188.67..................... 55.8 U6.15.................. 185.50—................ 59.7 White. ............27.43. ............30.13. ............28.48. a Including deaths from cholera infantum and still-births. 18 STUDY OF NEGRO «'1TY IJFK. It is observed that in all these groups of causes the colored death- rate has decreased from period to period, except for consumption and pneumonia, where the death-rate for the period 1891—95 is greater than for the period 1886—90, though slightly less than for the period 1882-85. The statistics presented in the various tables which this paper con tains, viewed candidly and dispassionately, shows results favorable to the physical improvement of the colored race. If the mortality rate had remained stationary for a period of fifteen years, it would have been a lasting evidence of the physical strength and endurance of the race. But we have shown that the rate has decreased in that period, and that, too, as is well known, in the face of hard, exacting and op pressive social and economic conditions. When all of the facts in the colored man's case are taken into consideration, the wonder is, not that the death-rate is as high as it is, but that it is not even higher. The history of weak and inferior races shows that they begin to de crease in number after one generation's contact with Anglo-Saxon civilization. The native population of the Sandwich Islands a hun dred years ago was estimated to be 100,000. The latest census taken on the Islands shows the native population to be 35,000. We do not witness this decay and decrease in numbers in the colored race any where in the Western Hemisphere. In studying any phase of Negro life in the United States, the tact must be kept constantly in view that the Negro has been subjected to degrading and blasting slavery for more than two centuries. While slavery did its victims a great wrong in depriving them of the fruits of their toil, it did them a greater wrong in denying them opportuni ties for moral and mental improvement. Those who sit in judgment upon the Negro and study his frailties and shortcomings must not for get these previous conditions. To recapitulate, it has been shown: First—That the colored death-rate exceeds the white, the excess av eraging for five cities, during a period of fifteen years, 73.8 per cent. Second—That the death-rate of the colored population in five cities is lower for the period 1890-95 than for the period 1881-85. Third—That the principal causes of the excessive mortality among the colored people of five cities arc pulmonary diseases and infant mortality. MORTALITY AMONG NKGROEM IN OITIKS. 19 Fourth—That the least disparity between the white and colored death-rates is for those diseases due to unwholesome sanitary conditions; typhoid, malarial and scarlet fevers, diphtheria and diarrhea. This last fact, that the excessive death-rate of the colored people does not arise from diseases due to environment, is of vast importance. If poor houses, nnhealty localities, bad sewerage and defective plumbing were responsible for their high death-rate, there would be no hope of reducing the death-rate until either the colored people became wealthy, or philanthropic persons erected sanitary houses, or municipalities made appropriations to remove these conditions. But since the exces sive death-rate is not due to these causes, there is reason for the belief that it may be reduced without regard to the present economic condi tions of the colored people. NOTK.—For further data compiled by Mr. JHershaw. aee appendix B.—Kd. 20 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LJFK. THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE RACE; WHETHER DEPENDENT UPON SOCIAL CONDITIONS OR ENVIRONMENT. KY I'KOF. KUGENE HAKKIS, KlBK UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TKNN. The social conditions of the American Negro are two-fold; those which he makes for himself, and those which the white people make for him. The latter class cannot affect the physical status of the Negro except in a very indirect and unimportant way. Separate apartments in public conveniences, such as hotels, theatres, or railroad trains, social ostracism, exclusion from political preferment and the spoils of office, the suppression of his ballot, and the other discrimi nations which are made against the black man, have at least no imme diate bearing on his health, vitality, or longevity. The Negro may eat and wear what he pleases, as much as he pleases, and as often as he pleases. The provision shops and dry goods stores do not discrim inate against him in the matter of food and wearing apparel. After a hard day's work he may carouse at night just as late as he pleases. There; is not a black law upon our statute hooks regulating his private habits, or importing upon him unsanitary surroundings, or restricting him to deleterious occupations, or forcing him to immoderate indul gences. It is true that in public conveniences the Negro must take .separate apartments; but the air in them is just as invigorating, the water is just as healthful and pure, and the food is just as nourishing as in the apartments for the whites. Regular bathing will throw off dead mat ter through the skin, and control of the appetites will contribute largely to health in Negro quarters as well as anywhere else. The laws of health have no regard for artificial social harriers. They know no color line. Civilly, socially, and politically, the Negro of this coun try is under many cruel and unjust restrictions; hut he is at perfect liberty to be abstemious or intemperate, chaste or licentious, cleanly MORTALITY AMONG N KGKOKS IN CITIES. 21 or tilthy. In the struggle for recognition and preferment he is at a great disadvantage ; but in the struggle for life, apart from those im pediments for which he himself is responsible, he has almost, if not altogether, an equal chance with the whites. [t. is true that if the colored people in our larger towns are bent upon living near the center of the city, they cannot rent or buy prop erty, except in the less desirable or abandoned parts. But it is not necessity, it is only convenience that leads them to live over stables, in dark, damp cellars, and on back alleys, in the midst of stench and pu trefaction. They can, if they would, go to the suburbs, where they can get better accommodations for less money. I have been in fami lies in Nashville ranging from seven to ten, living on a back alley, with a rivulet of filth running before the door of the one room in which they bathed and ate and slept and died. Two miles further out all of these families might have secured for the same money shanties of two and three rooms, with purer air and water, and had a garden spot besides. Among the colored people, convenience to the heart of the. city often overrides considerations of health, and that the white people offer them hot-beds of disease for homes is no excuse for their taking them. It is better to live in the suburbs than to die in the city. The Negro is induced, but not forced, to accept the bad accommoda tions of down-town life. Apart from this apparent exception in the matter of rented houses, no race discrimination affects in the least the Negro's physical condition ; and it is for this very reason that 1 am hopeful of a change for the better in the vital statistics of our peoplt. If the large death-rate, the small birth-rate, the susceptibility to dis ease, and the low vitality of the race were due to causes outside of our control, I could see nothing before us but the "blackness of darkness forever." But because the colored people themselves are responsible for this sad state of affairs, it is to be expected that time and education will correct it. The conclusions which 1 shall draw in this paper are based largely upon my study of the problem in Nashville. 111 the first place, then, the, excess of colored deaths over white is due almost entirely to constitutional diseases and infant mortality. Accord ing to health statistics, the constitutional diseases which are mainly re sponsible for our large death-rate are pulmonary consumption, scrofula, •22 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFK. MORTAIJTY AMONO XEUKOKK ]> CITIKS. 23 and syphilis, all of which are alike iu being tuberculous. A large number of the colored convicts in our state's prison at Nashville are consumptives or syphilitics. Out of 92 deaths in a certain territory in Nashville, 19 deaths, or over 20 per cent, were due to consumption. The other 73 deaths were due to 35 different causes. In the recent Atlanta investigation, according to the mortality report of Cambridge, \Iass., consumption was the cause of 15 per cent of the deaths. DKATHS FROM CONSUMPTION IN NAHHVIIXK FOR THE PRKIOD 1893-95. I8!B 1MM IKStt White............ 124 ........... . 91......... ..... 82 A reduction of nearly 34 per cent. Colored..........177....... .......159...............218 An increase of over23 per cent. Alarming as are the facts set forth in the preceding table, they are not the whole truth. They would be occasion for serious concern if the races were numerically equal; but when we remember that the colored people of Nashville are only three-fifths as numerous as the whites, it is all the more startling. For the year 1 895, when 82 white deaths from consumption occurred in the city of Nashville, there ought to have been only -49 colored, whereas there really were 218, or nearly four and one-half times as many as there ought to have been. It is an occasion of serious alarm when 37 per cent of the whole people are responsible for 72 per cent of the deaths from consumption. Deaths among colored people from pulmonary diseases seem to be- on the increase throughout the South. During the period 1882-85, the excess of colored deaths from consumption for the city of Mem phis was 90.80 per cent. For the period 1891—95, the excess had arisen to over 137 per cent. For the period of 188(5—90, the excess of colored deaths from consumption and pneumonia for the city of At lanta was 139 per cent. For the period 1891-95, it had arisen to nearly 166 percent.* From these facts it would appear that pulmonary consumption is the "destroying angel" among us, and yet 1 am told that before the war this dread disease was virtually unknown among the slaves. For tunately Charleston, 8. C., kept even before the war the mortality sta tistics of the colored people, and, consequently, we are able to ascer tain with some accuracy how their death-rate from consumption before the war compares with their death-rate afterwards. What are the facts in the case? From 1822 to 1848, the colored death-rate from con sumption was a trifle less than the white. Wince 1865 it has been considerably greater, and is still increasing. According to F. L. Hoffman, the white mortality from that cause has decreased since the war 134 per hundred thousand. The colored mortality has increased over 234 per hundred thousand.* The question arises, How do we account for this change? Is it be cause the Negro is inherently more susceptible to pulmonary diseases, or is it because of his changed environment,—his different social con ditions? [f his tendency to consumption is due to his inherent sus ceptibility, what was it that held it in check until after the war? It seems that this fact alone is sufficient to fix the responsibility upon the conditions which have arisen since emancipation. Mr. F. L. Hoffman claims that the Negro's lungs weigh four ounces less than a white man's, and that though his normal chest measure is greater, his lung capacity is less; and that here we have a cause for the Negro's ten dency to consumption which no environment, however favorable, can affect. Even if this be a fact, it is hard to see how it began to operate as a cause of consumption only since the war. Let us turn for the present to another cause of the excessive mor tality among us; namely, the increased prevalence of scrofula and venereal diseases. For the period 1882—85, the colored death-rate in Memphis from scrofula and syphilis was 205.8 per cent in excess of that among the whites ; but from 1891 down to the present time, the excess has been 298 per cent. For the period 1893—95, there were in the city of Nashville 8 white deaths from scrofula and syphilis, and 35 colored. In proportion to the population, there ought to have been only 5. Of course allowance must be made for the fact that, on ac count of the scandal and disgrace, white physicians are reluctant to report white deaths from these causes; whereas such motives rarely, if ever, influence them in reporting colored deaths. According to the May Bulletin of the Department, of Labor, out of 1,090 colored people canvassed this year in the city of Nashville, IF Rjwe Traits and Tendencies of tlif American Negro." v>.\ F. \.. HntVinaii. See table d, appendix B.—Kd. 24 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY I.IFK. were suffering from scrofula and syphilis.* One whose attention has not been called to the matter has no conception of the prevalence of these diseases among the Negroes of Nashville. I have looked for it in both races as I have walked the streets of my city, and to come across the loathsome disease in the colored passers-by is not an uncom mon occurrence. This state of affairs can be accounted for when I tell you that there is probably no city in this country where prostitu tion among colored people is more rampant and brazen, and where abandoned colored women are more numerous or more public in their shameful traffic. In the families canvassed by me this year, among 50 sufferers from rheumatism, 8 were so badly crippled as to be bed-ridden invalids. When we consider the fact that some forms of rheumatism are syphi litic- in their origin, and that in these same families there were 18 suffering from scrofula and syphilis, it would appear that venereal poisoning was responsible for a considerable share of the rheumatism. There is one obstacle to the race's reproducing itself that has some connection with venereal diseases, and hence 1 speak of it now. 1 refer to the enormous amount of still births and infant mortality, prev alent everywhere among colored people. For the period of 1893—95, the still and the premature births in (lie city of Nashville were 272 for the white, and 385 for the colored; or, in proportion to the popu lation, 2^ times as many as there ought to have been. This relative state of affairs obtains in Memphis and Atlanta, and in all the largo cities of the South. From the health reports of all our large Southern cities we learn that a considerable amount of our infant mortality is due, to inanition, infantile debility, and infantile marasmus. Now what is the case in regard to these diseases? The fact is that they are not diseases at all, but merely the names of symptoms diu- t<> enfeebled constitutions and congenital diseases, inherited from parents suffering from the effects of sexual immorality and debauchery. Translated into common speech, they are nothing more than infant starvation, infant weakness, and infant wasting away, the cause of which is that the infants' parents before them have not given them a fighting chance for life. According to Hoffman, over 50 per cent of l,he Negro nhil- * See table 8, appendix A • -Ki>. MORTALITY AMONG NEGHOES IN CtTIKS. "Aft dren bom in Richmond, Va., die before they are one year old. The number of still and premature births among us is a matter ot great alarm, not only because it seriously interferes with the numerical increase of the race, but because it involves the fecundity, the health, and even the moral character of large numbers of our women. The support of the family often falls very heavily upon our poor washer women ; and since they find it hard to get the husks to feed and the rags to clothe their already large number of little folks, living in one room like, stock, rather than to add to their burden, they resort to crime. An official on the Nashville Board of Health, who is also proprietor of a drug store, tells me that he is astonished at the number of colored women who apply at his store for drugs with a criminal purpose in view. The 16 Atlanta groups in the recent investigation showed that the female heads of families are, considerably in excess of the male, and out of 324 families 31 wore wholly supported by the mother, and 205 were supported by the mother altogether or in part.* In such social con ditions as these, where the burden of bread-winning is borne largely, and often altogether, by the mother of the household, it is not surpris ing that poor, laboring women who arc ignorant of its ruinous effects upon botli health and character, should resort to prenatal infanticide. The average family for the eighteen cities covered by our recent in vestigation numbers only 4.1, which means that in these eighteen cities the race is doing hardy more than reproducing itself-t The large colored families of a few decades ago arc becoming more and more scarce. I know a grandmother who was the proud mother of over a dozen children ; the daughter could boast of nine ; and not one of sev eral granddaughters, though married for a number of years, is the mother of more than one. child. This family is but an illustration of many others just like it. Such facts go to show that the Negro is no longer the " prolific animal" that be once was termed. The race, like the women of whom Paul once wrote to Timothy, must be " saved through child-bearing." I take it that the excess of infant mortality from cholera infantum and convulsions means nothing more than that the Negro mothers do Sec table 7, appendix A.—Ed. t See table 3, appendix A.—Ed. 26 STUDY OP NEGRO CITY LIFK. .MORTALITY AMONG NEGBOES IN CITIES. 27 not know so well how to feed and care for their offspring. They need instruction in infant dietetics and baby culture. I have now covered the ground to which our excessive death rate is mainly due : namely, pulmonary diseases, especially consumption and pneumonia, scrofula, venereal diseases, and infant mortality. If we eliminate these diseases, our excessive death rate will be a thing of the past. Let us now inquire, What is there in the Negro's social condition that is responsible for the prevalence of these diseases, and the conse quent mortality? In the first place then, be it known by all men that we to-day in this conference assembled are not the enemies of our people because we tell them tlie truth. We shall know the truth, and the truth shall make us free not only from the bondage of sin, but from vicious social conditions and consequent physical death. Sanitary regulations and the social reconstruction of Israel formed a large part of Moses' religious duty, and why may it not of ours? While I do not depreciate sanitary regulations, and a knowledge of hygienic laws, I am convinced that the sine qua non of a change for the better in the Negro's physical condition is a higher social morality. I do not believe that his poverty or his relation to the white people pre sents any real impediment to his health and physical development. Without going into the reasons for it, it is well known that the poor laboring classes oftenr enjoy better health, are freer from disease, have larger families-, and live longer lives than the rich. I am convinced that for the causes of the black man'slow vitality, his susceptibility to disease, and his enormous death-rate we must look to those social conditions which he creates for himself. What are they ? I have already referred to the social causes of our excessive infant mortality, namely, the frequency "with which the partial or the entire maintenance of the household devolves upon the mother; and especially the impaired chance for life which a debauched and immoral parent age bequeaths to childhood. The infants in their graves will rise up in judgment against this evil and adulterous generation and condemn it. The constitutional diseases which are responsible for our unusual mortality are often traceable to enfeebled constitutions broken down by sexual immoralities. This is frequently the source of even pulmo nary consumption, which disease is to-day the black man's scourge. According to Hoffman, over 25 per cent of the Negro children born in Washington City are admittedly illegitimate. According to a writer quoted in " Black America," " In one county of Mississippi there were during 12 months 300 marriage licenses taken out in the county clerk's office for white people. According to the proportion of popu lation there should have been in the same time 1,200 or more for Negroes. There were actually taken out by colored people just three." James Anthony Froude asserts that 70 per cent of the Negroes in the West Indies are born in illegitimacy. Mr. Smeeton claims that " in spite of the increase of education, there has been no decrease of this social cancer." My attention has been called to a resort in Nashville within less than two blocks of the public square where a large number of abandoned women and profligate men often congregate in the un derground basement, which is lighted and ventilated only through the pavement grating; and there in debauchery and carousal they make the night hideous until almost morning. What are they sowing but disease, and what can they reap but death ? It is true that much of the moral laxity which exists among us to day arose out of slavery. It is due to a system which whipped women, which dispensed with the institution of marriage, which separated wives from their husbands and assigned them to other men, which ruthlessly destroyed female virtue, and which made helpless women the abject tools of their masters. This is the correct explanation of our social status to-day, but to explain it is not to excuse it. It is no longer our misfortune as it was before the war: it is our sin, the wages of which is our excessive number of deaths. Always and everywhere, moral leprosy means physical death. Wherever the colored people are guilty of the immoralities of which James Anthony Froude and W. L. Clowes of the London Times accuse them, if they continue in them they will be destroyed by them root and branch. Home was destroyed because the empire had no mothers, and Babylon was blotted out because she was the " mother of harlots." A few years ago I said in a sermon atFisk University that wherever the Anglo-Saxon comes into contact with an inferior race, the inferior race invariably goes to the wall. I called attention to the fact that in spite of humanitarian and philanthropic efforts, the printing press, the 28 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY steam engine and the electric motor in the hands of the Anglo-Saxon were exterminating the inferior races more rapidly and more surely than shot, and shell, and bayonet. T mentioned a number of races that have perished not because of destructive wars and pestilence, but because they were unable to live in the environment of a nineteenth century civilization; races whose destruction was not due to a perse cution that came to them from without, but to a lack of moral stamina within; races that perished in spite of the humanitarian and philan thropic efforts that were put forth to save them. To that utterance let me now add this thought: that where shot, and shell, and bayonet, and the printing press and the steam engine, and the electric motor have slain their thousands ; licentious men, unchaste women, and impure homes have slain their tens of thousands: and I speak the words of soberness and truth when T say that If the charges of sexual immoralities brought against us arc true, unless there be wrought a social revolution among us, the handwriting of our destruc tion even now may be seen o» the wall. The history of nations teaches us that neither war, nor famine, nor pestilence exterminates them so completely and rapidly as do sexual vices. If the cause of our excessive death-rate be, in its ultimate analysis, moral rather than sanitary, then this fact ought to appear not only in our vital, but In our criminal statistics as well. t*rof. Starr, of Chicago University, claims that in the State of Pennsylvania, where there is little opportunity to assert that the courts arc prejudiced against col ored criminals, though the Negroes form only 2 per cent of the popu lation, yet they furnish 1G per cent of the male prisoners, and 34 per cent of the female. The nice has snch great privileges in Chicago and it is dealt with so fairl and justly that the colored people themselves have denominated it the "Negroes'Heaven;" and yet, according to Prof. Starr, while the Negroes form only 1^ per cent of the population of Chicago, they furnish 10 percent of the arrests. 1 am convinced that the immorality which accounts for these criminal conditions is also re sponsible for the race's physical status; and if svc are to strike at the root of the mattci, it will not be at sanitary regulations, but at social reconstruction and moral regeneration. Note: We regret being unable to print the, whole of Prof. Harris' valuable puper.-Ed. SECOND ANNUAI, CONFERENCE. PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE. 29 MINUTES. The second Atlanta University Conference on Problems of Negro City Life con vened iu the Ware Memorial Chapel on Tuesday, May 25, 1897. at 8 P.M. President Horace llnnistcnd, of Atlanta University, opened the conference as presiding pfliccr; after which it wna voted that George A. Towns ('91) and George F. Smith ('ST) be made recording secretaries. A letter was then read from His Excellency Gov. W. Y. Atkinson of Georgia, iu which he expressed regret for hip inability to deliver the address of welcome. Presi dent Humstead then delivered the opening address. The general purpose of the meeting Tuesday night was to Bet forth clearly the facts as to the physical and sanitary condition of Negroes iu cities, as brought out by the investigation. In accordance with this purpose three carefully prepared papers were presented: the first a '' General Summary," by Rutlcr R. Wilson, Esq., of Boston, Mass.; the second entitled " Social and Physical Progress : a Comparative Analysis of the Reports of the Boards of Health of Atlanta, Daltimore, Charleston, Mempliia, and Richmond," by Mr. L. M. Hurshaw of Washington, D. C.; the third entitled "The Physical Condition of the Race, whether Dependent upon Social Conditions or Environment," by Prof. Eugene Harris of Fisk T^mversity. Bishop It H. Holgoy, D.D., who was on the program and present, did not speak because of the lateness of the hour and bin physical indisposition. Dutler R. Wilson, Ksq., then introduced certain resolutions, which were referred to a committee on resolutions, consisting of Butler It. Wilson, Kwq., of Boston, Mans.; Prof. Eugene Hnrris of Nashville, Tenn.; Rev. l)r. W. G. Alexander of Atlanta; ]lev. J. E. Smith of Chattanooga, Tcnn.; and Miss Lucy C. Laney of Augusta. The meeting was then adjourned. On Wednesday afternoon at 3 o'clock there were two simultaneous meetings of the conference. That for men was held in the Prayer Meeting Itoom, and had as its general subject: "Consumption; ib Causes, and Cleans to Prevent it." The presiding ofRccr was Prol. Wm. H. Crogman ("?()), of Clark University, who made suitable introductory remarks. Papers were then read as follows : " Ventila tion, Exercise and Physicol Development," by If. II. llutlcr, M.D., of Atlanta; "Care of the Teeth in its Relation to Health," by J. 1!. Porter, D.D.S., of Atlanta; "Causes ofConsumptiou, andPiuutical Methods of Preventingit," by A. J. Love, M.D., of Chattanooga, Tunu.; "A Social Study of 1,000 Atlanta Homes," by Prof. F. A. Updyke of the Atlanta Baptist College, read iu his ubsence by Pres. George Sale of that institution. A paper was also read by Dr. A. M. Drown of IHrmiugbam, Ala., in place of the one that should have been read by Dr. R. F. Boyd ot Nashville, Tenn., who telegraphed regret at bin inability to utk-nd on account of sickness. oU STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE. This was followed by an animated general discussion, participated in by Butler K. Wilson, Esq., Rev. J. E. Smith, Mr. L. M. Hershaw, Rev. II. H. Proctor of Atlanta, Dr. 11. R. Butler, Rev, Dr. W. G. Alexander, Prof. W. B. Matthews of Atlanta, Rev. Dr. W. J. White of Augusta, Prof. Eugene Harris, Rev. William Plagg of Atlanta, and Prof. W. II. Crogman. A committee, of which Prof. W. H. Crogman was chairman, was chosen to preparp resolutions to be offered at the evening meeting. The meeting was then adjourned. The meeting for women, held sit the same hour, in Ware Memorial Chapel, had as its general subject : " Infant Mortality; ils Causes, and Means to Check it." After a preliminary explanation by Butler K. Wilson, Ksq., a suitable intro ductory address was delivered by Miss Lucy C. Laney, of Augusta, who presided Over the meeting. Papers were then read as follows : "Friendly Visiting," by Mrs. Minnie Wright Price of South Atlanta; "Parents' Associations," by Mrs. Dinah Watts Pace of Covington; "Mothers' Meetings," by Mrs, Georgia Swift King of Atlanta; "Need of Day Nurseries,1' by Mrs. Selena Sloan Butler of Atlanta; "Need of Kindergartens," by Mrs. Uosa Morehcad Bass of Atlanta. The reading of those papers was followed by an animated discussion, participated in by MJss Lucy C. Laney, Mrs. Adella Hunt Logan, Mrs. Georgia Swift King, Mrs David T. Howard of Atlanta, Mrs. Thos. N. Chsise of Atlanta, Mrs. Dr, Murray of Gammon Theological Seminary, and others. A committee, of which Mrs. Dinah Watts Pace was chairman, was appointed to draft suitable resolutions for presentation at the evening meeting ; after whieh the mooting adjourned. The meeting Wednesday night convened in Ware Memorial Chapel at 8 o'clock and was presided over by President Burnstead. Prayer was offered by Rev. Calvin Lane <>l Marietta. A paper w:is then read by Mrs. Adella Hunt Logau of Tuskcgee, Ala., on " Prenatal and Hereditary Influences." Rev. Joseph K. Smith followed with a paper on the " Care of Neglected Children." The resolutions prepared by the committee appointed at the men's section meeting were then presented by Prof. Wm. H. Crogman and adopted by the conference. Rev. H. H. Proctor th«n spoke upon tin; " Need of Friendly Visiting," and Miss Lucy C. Laney upon the "Care of Children and Methods of Preventing Infant Mor tality." The resolutions prepared by the committee appointed at the women's section meeting were then presented by Mrs. Dinah Watts Puce, and adopted by the con ference.* At this point Rev. J. E. Smith spoke concerning the nursery movement in Chatta nooga, Tenn. Prof. Wm. K. Holmes, of the Atlanta Baptist College, spoke of the work of the Sociological Club of Atlanta. Mr. L. M. Hershaw reported concerning the Graduate Club in Washington. D. C, * For these resolution* see page 32. SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 31 Butler R. Wilson, Esq., then read the following letter from Mr. George G. Bradford, of Boston, to President Bumstead : " It is with great regret that I hereby tender my resignation as corresponding sec retary of the conference. 1 need not assure you that only urgent necessity compels me to give up a work in which I have taken so deep an interest." The following resolution was unanimously adopted, upon the receipt of this letter : " Whereas, Mr. George G. Bradford, of Boston, a trustee of the Atlanta University, has been untiring in his efforts to make permanent the movement to obtain exact information concerning the social, physical and moral condition of the colored peo ple living in cities ; " Ttesoloed: That this conference hereby tender him the thanks of the colored peo ple for his splendid work and instruct the secretaries of the conference to send him a copy of these resolutions." It was then voted that an executive committee of five be appointed at some future time to make plans for a subsequent investigation, to decide the subjects to be inves tigated, to appoint a recorder, and to name a corresponding secretary. Butler R. Wilson, Esq., then read the resolutions presented by the committee on Tuesday night. There was considerable discussion as to the phraseology of the first resolution, participated in by Butler R. Wilson, Esq., Rev. J. K. Smith, Prof. Eugene Harris, Dr. A. J. Love, Rev. Dr. W. J. White, Mr. L. M. Hershaw, and Prof. T. N. Chase. The resolutions as a whole were unanimously adopted. After remarks by Mrs. Georgia Swift King concerning a partially successful at tempt by the W. C. T. U. to establish a day nursery in Atlanta, and further remarks by Mrs. Dinah Watts Pace, the conference adjourned. GEORGE A. TOWNS, \ Recording GEORGE P. SMITH, /Secretaries. > For these resolutions see page 33. SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 33 32 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED EY THE CONFERENCE. METHODS OF PREVENTING CONSUMPTION. REPORTED FROM THE MEN'S SECTION MEETING. kere.as, the chief modes of infection are: First—By inhaling dry and pulverized expectoration; Second—By using spoons, cups, and other articles which have not been properly cleaned after u.sing by tuberculous patients; Third—By kissing; Fourth—From intermarriage of tuberculous individuals. Therefore, Resolved: First—That sputum must be destroyed and must not be allowed to become dry, and that handkerchiefs used by tuberculous persons must be destroyed; Second—That the floors and walls of rooms occupied by tubercu lous persons must be thoroughly disinfected before being used by other persons; Third—That carpets, curtains and bcddingmnst be exposed to su perheated steam under high pressure; Fourth—That all living rooms must be thoroughly aired daily, kept thoroughly clean, and ventilated night and day. MOTHERS' MEETINGS, DAY NURSERIES, FAMILY SUPPORT AND KINDERGARTENS. REPORTED FROM THE WOMEN'S SECTION MEETING. tercets, a race cannot rise higher than its women, and the home is the great school for the molding of character, and mothers are the most important factors in these schools ; Therefore, Resolved: That anew impetus be given to the establish ing and holding of mothers' meetings whenever and wherever prac ticable, for the instruction, development and uplifting of the mother hood of our race along practical, moral and spiritual lines. Whereas, a very large percentage of our women, being thrown upon their own resources for a livelihood for themselves and families, are compelled daily to leave, uncared for, their little ones; Therefore, Resolved: That individuals and organizations interest themselves in the immediate establishment, on a small scale at first, of day nurseries for the care and culture of these dear little ones. Whereas, investigation shows that a very large majority of our men are supported by their wives, and since such a condition of affairs must of necessity hinder wives and mothers from performing their higher duties, such as the careful training of families along moral and spiritual lines, and since man in failing to care for his family proves himself to be unfit to be called husband or father; Therefore, Resolved: That in order to arouse and educate such men to a full appreciation of their duties men's meetings be held whenever and wherever practicable, and that our ministers of the Gospel preach special sermons along all practical lines ; that by these two agencies the men of to-day mav be aroused to a keener sense of their responsi bility in this matter of family support. evens, the need of kindergarten work is clearly seen for the starting of the little ones into proper chaunels of training, and since work in this department has been of the greatest help to teachers who lead the young minds from this into higher branches, and since the child-life in the school-room should be of vital interest to parents; Therefore, Resolved: That efforts be put forth for the establishment and maintenance of such departments of educational work. GENERAL RESOLUTIONS. Resolved, That it appears from the result of the investigation :— First—That the excessive mortality among Negroes is not due mainly to environment; Second—That the excessive mortality among Negroes is largely due either to their ignorance or to their disregard of the laws of health and morality; Third—That the excessive mortality and the apparent increase of 34 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY IJFE. immorality among the Negroes is chiefly due to neglect of home and family life, the chief cause of which is the extent to which the mothers are obliged to go out to work; Fourth—That the failure of the men to entirely support their fami lies with their earnings has a most serious effect upon the social, phys ical and economic progress of the race; Fifth—That finally, it appears that the Negro must reform himself, and that he is not dependent upon charity or municipal regulations, but has the means in his own hands. Resolved, That the following recommendations are made:_ First—That the attention of members of the conference during the coming year he concentrated 'on reforms in the family life of the Negro; Second—That greater care and attention should be given to the home training of children, and also of young men and young women, and that parents' associations and mothers' meetings should be formed for that purpose; Third—That day nurseries should be provided for the care of infants and young children in the enforced absence of the. parents; Fourth—That friendly visiting among the poor should be more gen eral and more systematic, and that friendly visitors should hold weekly or monthly conferences under the direction of those who are making a special study of social problems. SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE. ADDRESSES, PAPERS, AND LETTERS. ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT KUMSTEAD. It has been our hope, and for a time our expectation, that the ad dress of welcome would be given to-night by His Excellency, Gov ernor Atkinson, but circumstances have prevented his attendance, and we must content, ourselves with the expression of his interest and good wishes which he has so kindly conveyed in his letter of regret. It seems, therefore, to fall to me to speak the word of welcome, and I do it with great heartiness. I welcome you to the interesting dis cussions which this conference has in store for us. I congratulate you, too, on the painstaking and highly successful work which yon have carried on since our meeting a year ago, and which will form the basis of discussion at the present meeting. The results of your inves tigations conducted last fall and winter, as embodied in the statistical tables of the May Bulletin of the Department of Labor at Washington, have impressed me deeply. I am impressed with the enormous amount of careful, patient, discriminating, and conscientious labor which those tables represent, and I am impressed anew with the significance and importance of statistical science. What is the significance of the statistical work in which this con ference is now engaged? You and 1 have sometimes seen a man who attracted our attention because of his striking physical health. His figure was erect and finely proportioned, his muscles well developed, his step elastic, his eye clear, his complexion of the kind that reveals healthy blood coursing through every artery and vein. This man, however, may once have heen a weak and sickly student in college. How did this transformation take place? It was the work of the director of physical culture in that college. He took the student in hand, made careful measurements of the different parts of his body, tested the action of his muscles and of his lungs and heart and other vital organs, found out where the weak points in his body were, and noted accurately the degree of weakness or of insufficient development. Then he presented certain exercises for the student to practice to se cure a more vigorous or a more symmetrical development, a certain diet to follow, possibly certain medicines or tonics to take. The 36 STUDY OP .S1K<;RO CITY LIFE. transformation followed, and its success all depended on the accuracy with which the real condition of that young student's physical organ- ism was ascertained by the director of physical culture. We are dealing with a much larger and vastly more important organism than that of any individual—the great social organism of which we all form a part, an organism of wonderful complexity, with a life peculiar to itself, and just as much subject to the laws of health and disease as the body of any individual can possibly be. It is the prime object of all sociological investigation to find out the weak spots in the social organism and to seek to remedy them. This is the work in which we are engaged, in common with all other students of social science. We are not, indeed, undertaking to do the whole of it, but only a part. We have wisely chosen for the present to confine our selves to that constituent part of the social organism which is made up of a single race or class of people, and to those nerve-centers of modern life which are found in the cities and larger towns. But it is none the less for the benefit of the larger whole that we carry on this more limited work. And for the furtherance of the great end before us all—the perfect health of the social organism, or the body politic, as it is sometimes called, I am confident that your investigations of the past winter will prove a substantial contribution. Before we pass to the discussion of the statistics to which I have referred, it is perhaps important that I should remind yon of the two things which constitute the chief value of all statistics. One is the accuracy with which they are gathered, and the other is the honest}' with which they are interpreted. The gathering of statistics is not the easy task which many people suppose, or which, possibly, you sup posed before yon tried it. It requires intelligence, discrimination, tact, courtesy, patience and fidelity in no small degree, and your work shows the possession of these qualities to a very gratifying extent, as it seems to me. But the correct reading and interpretation of statistics is oftentimes an almost equally delicate and difficult task. The temp tation is frequently strong to close our eyes to unpleasant conclusions or to attempt to explain them away. Candor and courage are needed here in the proper interpretation of our statistical work as intelligence and accuracy were needed in their collection. Let the proceedings of this conference demonstrate that we are possessed of all these qualities. SKCON1> ANNUAL CONFERENCE. PRENATAL AND HEREDITARY INFLUENCES. BY MRS. ADKL.LA HUNT LOGAN ('81), TUSKEGEE, ALA. 37 The boy takes his large nose from his grandmother, the small mouth from his father, and a quick temper from his mother. This is natural, for children always inherit the characteristics of their ancestors. But where does lie get red hair? No one in the family has hair of that color. And how is it that the young man seems prone to the social sin? His father has always seemed upright, and his mother is re garded as a model of purity. To be sure, the grandfather sowed wild oats, and it is charged that a great—great—grandmother was born out of wedlock, but that was generations ago and this young man has never heard those family scandals of a hundred vears past. It is well, if his ears have never listened to such unhappy stories. His parents were wise in withholding them from his knowledge. Alas ! while they could easily keep the family skeleton in the closet and spare their son the humiliation of such ugly tales they could not so easily purify and change the blood that coursed in their veins; hence we see the son, in spite of fine precept and example, ou the downward grade in his social tendencies. Again, they say this young man is not very strong. His mother tears he is going into consumption. The father says: "Have no fears along that line, my dear, for there is no consumption in my family nor in yours. No danger of that, although somehow our son is rather frail!" That red hair is hard to account for, but, no doubt, this head is an ex- uct reproduction of one in the same family generations ago. It may be wo far back, indeed, that no living person remembers having heard of the peculiarity. In the same silent way influences which affect the morals and the health of the boy have been handed down. How rarely in the every day ordering of our lives do we give any attention to that silent, but powerful, thing known as heredity! Although its power cannot be confined in time to the earthly life of man, nor in social contact to any one race, as long as we are not re minded in some very forcible or unpleasant way of its effects, we 38 (STUDY OF XEGKO CITY LIFK. scarcely think of its operations. At any rate, the thought expended upon it rarely ripens into such action as will regulate its influence. In respect to time the force of heredity cannot be checked by a generation. We are to-day reaping what was sown, not by our fathers alone, but by their fathers and grandfathers. " Unto the third and fourth generation of them " was the decree thundered from Mt. Sinai by the voice of Almighty God. There can be no suspending of the influences of hereditv until the human soul has had sufficient development to appreciate responsibili ties ; until it wills to be shaped by this or by that influence. No, there is no choice! Before the body is ready to begin life as a .separate being, as a new personality, it is molded and cast by the combined traits of the father and the mother from whom this new creature must draw its individual existence. And the intellectual and ethical cast will follow as closely the law, " Like begets like," as will the physical. We do not expect to find the children of white parentage having black faces or kinky hair, nor the children of black ancestry having fair brows, blue eyes, and flaxen locks. It would be just as unreasonable to expect the intellectual and the ethical characteristics of children to be radically unlike those of their ancestors as it would be to expect their physical features to be radically different. 'T is true that the progeny of some very good parents are very bad specimens of humanity, but such' cases must be like our boy's red hair which fell to him despite the fact that no other such head had ever been seen in that family. In both cases the results came through blood. Both the red hair and the weak or vicious character were transmitted. Probably through a long stream of blood, but we must know that neither came as a matter of chance. The one was just as much a leg acy as the other. Placing an inheritance is often difficult for the reason that it mav be the result of complex causes and combined forces. Possibly no one in the preceding generations had red hair, but there must have been sufficient in the aggregate of that kind of pigment to produce one such head in the family. This same principle of trans mission applies to the health, the brain and the morals of the descend ants. The exact ailment of body or malady of mind may not be traceable to any one source, but it has been handed down. * SECOND ANNUAL t'ONFKEKNCE. 3y Legacies of money seem to fall in most cases to those who are already fortunate. This may be on the theory that " To him that hath shall be given." Not so with the more enduring legacies of body and soul. Whether we will or no they come, and, like the dreaded bacteria, fix themselves in the most fertile soil. Where there is one weakness of body or mind another is the more apt to locate ; hence, instead of having a general distribution of evil, it falls much more heavily in some places than in others. To no one source more than the conditions attendant upon pregnant women can the cause of physical or moral evil be traced. The unborn child draws its physical and in large measure its intellectual and ethical make-up from its father and its mother. Not from the mother alone, as many suppose, but from both. Both parents contribute to the possibilities for health, good or bad, and furnish the germs for character creation and development just as certainly as they together originate the physical life. These are solemn truths! Yet how few people understand or re gard them ! The awful sacredness of procreation has never yet dawned upon any considerable proportion of mankind. Sadly enough, the gratification of passion is too often the only thought, while the result is given little or no consideration. Too many children come into life as mere accidents. The father is irri tated at the thought of an additional one to work for. He feels his present family to be quite as much as he can decently support. His moroseness is communicated to the already regretful mother, who rea sons that she is not strong enough, that children worry her so she can not do justice to those she already has, that her time and strength are too much divided, as she in many cases is also a bread-winner. Sad plight, we see, for there is reason in the objections offered. But pru dential considerations come too late to be availing. Just think how the innocent offspring must reap the evil effects of these unholy feel ings and expressions, and all the sympathy that you might have felt for the parents turns into disgust, and you exclaim: "In Heaven's name, call your will to the rescue and say, 'God helping me, I will not thus prejudice the cause of my own child !' " Few women seem to appreciate the fact that the sensitive embryo receives the impressions made upon the mind of the mother. Very strange thoughtlessness, as the most ignorant believe in birthmarks 40 STUDY OF XEOTJO CITY LIFE. SECOND ANNUAI, CONFEKKNCTC. 41 and everything that affects the body. How is it that they do not realize that a mind also is being created ? All parents love their children and most love them to the very best of their understanding. Because of this love, which we believe to be the strongest known to the human breast, most parents arc willing to be taught what is best for their offspring. In making effort to give uplift to the vitality of the Negro race the best work needs to be put into the enlightenment of present and pro spective parenthood. Not necessarily into general and extended learning,—that is more or less impracticable,—but the claims of prenatal and hereditary influences need to be brought to the direct and intelli gent consideration of all classes. In the women's meetings and in the men's meetings equally there should be set forth in a plain way the important teachings of science on this important subject. This instruction may be set forth in such language as the occasion demands and the instructor chooses to employ, but, above all, let it be distinctly understood that the development of germ life depends upon the original germ and equally upon the cul ture and treatment of that germ:—in short, teach that the prenatal de velopment of a child depends largely upon whenever affects the mother. If the pregnant woman is constantly wishing that her unborn child were dead or that the man who has given her this burden,—as she has learned in her chagrin to regard the child,—were dead; who can won der that out of such murderous thought there should come in very truth a murderer! Should the material wants of the mother be denied her to such an extent that she feels the necessity and yields to the temptation of sup plying them by theft, or by prostitution who shall think it strange that her child should be a thief or prostitute ? If the father is a drunkard the son is apt to be a drunkard. Criminals are often made years and years before they are sentenced to prison. Alas! too often made criminal before they arc born. The body may cotne into life as sorely doomed as the mind, unable to resist the ordinary diseases incident to childlife, because of the many neglects and abuses of the bodies of parents. This is very wrong: very unfair to the child and in many ways very hard on parents- The creation of a strong public sentiment on these subjects seems to be an imperative necessity. THK CAKE OF NEGLECTED CHILUUKN. HY REV. JOSEPH E. SMITH ('76), CHATTANOOGA, TENN. [NoTK : [''or confirmation of the facts stated by Mr. Smith, see table 7 of appen dix A. showing the proportion of families partially or wholly supported by women. The enforced absence oi' the mothers from their homes will remain a vital factor in the problem for many years to come, being due to industrial conditions which will change slowly. Mr. Smith's recommendations are therefore timely.—El>.] " beestthou not what they do in the cities . . .and in the streets? " I desire to call attention to some of the daily scenes in our streets and the lessons which they teach. The streets of a city are the exhibition halls of its citizens. Walking through these public halls all phases and con ditions of life may be seen, and the character and civilization of its peo ple judged. Most pleasing and inspiring evidences of well ordered and happy home life appear on the one hand; while on the other hand many and sad are the evidences of no order, no home life and no hap piness for a large number of people. [t is of this imperative need,—orderly home life and training,—as evidenced by street and prison scenes, that 1 shall now more particu larly speak. One of the first scenes in our streets between the hours of five and six o'clock in the morning is, large numbers of women railing to their places of work for the day. About eight o'clock at night they return to their homes. Many of these women are mothers with from one to eight and often more children. Unwillingly these, mothers leave their children all day and part of the night in the place they call home, all alone to care for themselves. If they are awake, just before the mother leaves, as is usually the case, she gives them hastily what she may hap pen to have for their breakfast, sometimes apiece of bread, sometimes it is a little molasses in a tin plate or old bucket top, around which the little ones all gather and each in his turn dips in his fingers and licks them off1 until all the molasses is gone. To this sweetness the mother ' adds many sweet promises of great things for them if they will be good and stay at home until mama com<\s back at night. Then with great 42 OK NKGKO CITY LJFK. anxiety and confusion she tears herself awav from them and hasten.' to her work while they «ry for her to come back, and often they arc quarreling and fighting among themselves before she is out of sight. No one but a mother knows how painful it is to leave her children all (done under these unfortunate circumstances, but there is nothing else for her to do but to go, and go she does with an aching heart. It is not long after the mother is gone before the children, being left to themselves, leave the house, go into the streets, wander about at will from place to place, get into mischief and commit sin, often taking little tilings from people's houses without realizing that they have done wrong. They ramble about until tired, fall down at almost any place, go to sleep, and wake up again only to continue the ramble/ .sometimes until late in the night. The anxious mother comes home at night to find that her chil dren are not there. She does not know where they are and starts out in the dark to look for them in the streets. Often she finds them in the city jail or station house, having been arrested by some officer during the day or early night for committing some little crime. Chief Hill of the police force of Chattanooga says: "They are brought in the patrol wagon to the station house by the dozen at the time. Ask them where their parents are and they will sav, 'Dead, or at work, or away from home somewhere.' " Such is a faint representation of a part of that which is going on in our streets every day, and we need only to multiply the days and we have the awfid record of years. Growing up in the midst of such daily surroundings and influences is it to be wondered at that large numbers of our young people find their way to the chain-gang and work house'! There arc hundreds and thousands of our children at this veryhoni who are roaming about at large in the streets of our cities because thej have had no orderly home life or training; growing up in the streets their idea of living is such as they get from the worse side of street life, and the inevitable result must be crime, prison and the gallows And the saddest thing about all of this is, that unless underthe providence of God a preventive is found, this most appalling state of society must continue growing worse each day to the end of time. Is it possible to so reenforce the home as to save society and the SRCoNU A.NNtiAI. state this awful menace? I believe it is possible and practicable. The " Day Nursery " and education as reeuforcements to the home furnish the preventive. The greatest need of Negro children is the right kind of home life and training. It is a most encouraging truth that many of our people have ueat, modest, virtuous homes, and their children, being reared under intelligent and safe motherly influences, are growing up virtuous and modest, trustworthy and useful. These children are not candi dates for crime, disease and prison, but for a worthv and useful citizen ship. While this number is small when compared to the masses, yet it is large enough to show what can be done by that all-important agency, the home. The day nursery, as a supplement to the home, is the most urgent need of the great masses of Negro children. Says Mrs. Dodge in the Outlook: "If the child is father to the man, then the influences which surround him during childhood have the greatest effect upon his after-life, and the day nursery is, therefore, the foundation upon which to build the structure of character; for, taking the child in his earliest years, often indeed in earliest infancy, nursery training is the first in the chain of educational influences which aid the state iu making the useful citizen, this influence holding sway over his mind arid heart on through the kindergarten period, through the public school, and over the threshold into the whirl of life's ex acting activities." If day nurseries can be established iu the cities and the little ones gathered from the streets into them; soap and fresh water, comb and brush freely and effectually used; a clean little garment furnished for a clean little body, and some wholesome food for a hungry little stomach; clean thoughts put into the little mind and heart; lessons of sympathy, kindness, honesty, industry, hope and self-respect taught; —if these things can be done for all Negro children deprived of home training a long and very effectual step will be taken toward reducing crime, disease and premature death. 44 HT17DY OF NEXJKu CITY LIFE. THE NEED OF FRIENDLY VISITATION. HV RHV. II. H. PROCTOR, ATLANTA, GA. An undertaker who within the last ten years has buried many of the ten thousand of our people who sleep in Southview cemetery recently made a remark to me that set me to thinking. I give it to you to night with the hope that it may have the same effect upon you. "You have no idea," he said, " how many people are dying from the lack of sympathy." This is expert testimony, and vve cannot reject it. I suspect, however, that the idea he had in mind is capable of a more; precise expression. There is a wealth of sympathy in this world. It is the exceptional heart that contains no well-spring of S37mpatliy. The difficulty is not as to the possession of sympathy; it is as to its expre ion. Many people are dying because no one expresses any sympathy for them. Sympathy is like the coupon on the railway ticket,—not good if detached ! Prayer may be effective, though un expressed ; but not so with sympathy. There are runny ways of expressing this sympathy so as to make it effective in elevating the home life of the poor. One way is by giving good advice in an assembly like this. Another is by contributing money to be used in judicious ways. Both of these are .needed, but I am thinking of another way, wliieh, while not necessarily independent of these, is, 1 think, more important than either. I refer to friendly per sonal visitation. Advice is cheap. We may cast a coin at a beggar to quiet a disturbing conscience. But to give ourselves,—that is the gift that costs. Togo into the homes of the people and, as did Philip with the eunuch, to sit with them, costs more than to make an address or contribute a quarter. And yet that is to my mind the only solu tion of this great sociological problem. We must come into personal touch with the masses. To this some will put in objections. Will not these people presume upon our social reserve ? Will not the upper class be dragged down by contact with the lower? These questions are not unnatural. They demand a reasonable answer. To the first objection I would say that KECOM> ANNi'Ai CONFERENCE. 40 there is not the least danger of the plainest people mistaking our kindly interest for an invitation to onr private social functions. The plain people have wonderfully keen instincts. To the other I would sav that it is not contact with the lower element that injures the higher; it is the kind of contact. The distinction is vital. " He is armed without who is innocent within." Virtue is its possessor's shield. The immaculate swan comes unspotted from the vilest sewer. If you would elevate a building you would not apply pulleys at the top. You would put jaekscrews under the mudsills. You cannot elevate society by lifting from the top; you must put the jaekscrews under the mudsills of society. Put the unfailing dynamics of friendly visitation under the homes of the poor and the whole people will rise a living, an exalted temple before God. STUDY Of NUOKO CITY SECOND ANNUAL JSTD AJSNUAL UONFKKENCJK. 51 VENTILATION. BY H. K. BUTIjER, A.M., M.D., ATLANTA, GA. [NOTE: Dr. Butler's paper included also tlie subjects of Exercise and Physical De velopment. But in this case, as also in others.we have felt obliged to abbreviate.—En.] Iii the homes of the most ignorant of our people, and some of the intelligent for that matter, ventilation is an unknown quantity. The in mates are opposed to having air enter the house when all are well, and if any of the family are sick it is believed that it means death to the patient should air, and in some cases light, enter the sick chamber. I will not enter into a description of the various methods of venti lation; we have not the time for such here. I will simply give you a few of the many cases that have come under my observation in which ventilation was much needed. Case 1.—-This first case to which I wish to call your attention was in a one-room house; room 14x14; inmates, four. It was a case of confinement. The room was as dark and the air as foul at twelve o'clock in the day as it was at twelve at night. 1 had to use a small tin lamp at either hour in order to see how to care for my patient. Case 2.—It was in a small basement room where a mother and two small children lay sick, nigh unto death. The door and window had been closed for weeks. The air was foul, damp and heavy. There they were with no friends, no water, no food, and no pure air. There they lay until found by some good women who sent the mother to the poor-house, one child to the hospital where it died, and the other to the Carrie Steele Orphans' Home, where it is recovering slowly. The mother is well and has returned to the city and is at work. Both mother and child, however, show signs of tuberculosis, which are no doubt the result of inhaling the foul air of that basement room. Case 3.—I manage to visit the public schools of the city at least once a year. I visited one of these schools this year in which every thing else was taught and practiced but ventilation. The air in some of the rooms of that building was not at all conducive to good health. f'.lll II 52 KTUDY OF NJ-XiRO CITY 1,1 FE. SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 53' Case 4.—Jt was a two-room house; inmates, two,—a mau and his wife. The husband lay dying with consumption and would, in his delirium, spit any and every where. The wife, who was a kind and tidy woman, did all in her power, under the circumstances, to keep her little home clean. To do this she was continually sweeping, in which process she kept bacilli on the move, endangering not only her health but rny health and the health of all her friends who might call. Being a woman of some intelligence a brief explanation that she must keep the air of the room fresh and free from dust was all that was necessary to have her see the danger. I then began to care for my patient hygienically andantiscptically. Thus J could go on and multiply case after ease to show the great necessity of a better understanding among our people concerning ven tilation ; but it is riot necessary. We all are satisfied that much im provement is needed in our homes along those lines arid that is why we are here. Preaching the laws of health and hygiene in this age has about the same effect that preaching the gospel has. They hear willingly, but heed slowly. Many hear, but only a few will believe ; a few will be saved and many will be lost. In conclusion, I would ask that this organization petition Congress to make an appropriation to help push forward this well-begun work. With that aid we would be able to place one or two physicians in every large city, at least, whose duty it would be to push these inves tigations, and as they would go from home to home they could in struct the people as to ventilation and in the laws of health and hy giene. This is, indeed, necessary if we wish to have the masses in structed in those things that are indispensable in order to have strong and healthy bodies as well as strong and vigorous rninds. THE CARE OF THE TEETH IN ITS RELATION TO HEALTH. BY J. R, POUTER ('86), D.D.S., ATLANTA, GA. In working out our health problems we often fail to recognize urrtain factors which are highly important. We hardly ever fig ure on the effect of diseased teeth on the general health, and their permanent handicap on our energies. Many a trouble that has been assigned to some remote cause, and that has called forth learned dis quisitions, should have been placed at the door of some abscessed tooth of long standing, and the diagnosis punctuated with the forceps. Many a case of iaeial neuralgia is the progeny of uncared-for teeth. Many an injured eye owes all its troubles to the root of some offending tooth that reaches the floor of its orbit by using the Antrum of Hymore as a go-between ; while fever, hysteria, muscular neuralgia and apparent heart trouble, that are plainly due to these unclean members, are not infrequently met with. There are two classes of evils that may arise as a result of diseased tooth tissue: those that conic from actual contact with the poisonous matter generated in the affected member, and those that result from the constant irritation of the nerve tissues. Each one of these may be serious in its consequences, and may force upon us evils that will run their allotted third and fourth gen eration, or may leave permanent marks on our physical appearance and health. Lessons should be taught in the schools on the care of the teeth, as well as of other portions of the body. People do not neglect treat ing a fever, removing a splinter or caring for a sprain, and yet they pass unnoticed these long-suffering members, until one of them, after- long endurance, suddenly wakes them to a sense of their duty. There is a truth that rings through the pages of the Bible, in" so many forms and varieties that it has become impressive. " Cleanli ness is next to (Jodliness," is that truth. In it we have our first 64 SttlDi' Of &EGKO AXNUAI. CONFERENCK. 57 so than the girls—but certainly not less.- Shall the boys be left to the tender training of the saloons and the fascinations of women degraded by sin ? God forbid it! Women of to-day, awake to your responsibilities and privileges. The Mothers' Congress recently held at Washington was not only a most unique gathering, but as the years roll on and men and women study more carefully that most, important of all questions,—the chil dren of the nation,—it will be found to be the working out of the noblest ideas of the noblest minds and most loving hearts of the age. That vast assemblage of men and women discussing questions most vital to the welfare of their children shows how great is the lamenta tion in Rama, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be com forted because they are not. Shall we not catch inspiration from that Congress and in our literary societies, ladies' clubs, and even in our churches study our children by the search-light of the new psychology and with the spirit of the true and loving mother? 58 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LJFK. FRIENDLY VISITING. BY MRS. MfNNIK WRIGHT PRICE ('88), SOUTH ATLANTA, GA, Life would not be worth living did we not have friends to rejoict with us when we are glad, and to weep with us when we mourn. As the babe looks to his mother to laugh when something has par ticularly pleased him and expects that same mother to kiss away his tears when trouble has befallen him, so we, who are grown to woman hood, like to feel that we have earthly friends to sympathize with us in jov or grief. But what> do we think of a near friend who never visits us? All of us have our friends, especially while we live in the place of our birth ; for there are men and women there who knew us when w< were babies, who are our friends for our mother's or father's sake, if not for our own. There are boys and girls who grew up with us on the play-ground and in the school-room, who, in remembrance of the associations of our youth, will always be our friends. But not all spend their lives on their native heath, some are continually moving, they spend a few months here and then, when they have just begun to make friends, move 011 to another place. They are often strangers in a strange land and then it is that they feel the loneliness and emptiness of life with out friends. Our neighborhoods are filled with families which need the sympa thy and cheer that a friendly visit from you would give, but you withhold yourself because they are a little lower in the social seal* than vou are, or if they are higher, you fear that they will think you an seeking their recognition. How much better off we would be if we would cease to draw these lines of caste and each of us as we climb the ladder reach down and assist a struggling sister! What a spiritual help we would be to each other, if we would make more friendly visits ! Just a word of cheer and hope to the low-spir ited, a word of sympathy to the sick, would show forth the Holy SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 59 Spirit who dwells in all Christian hearts. Women are naturally kind and friendly. About woman has ever clustered the affection, the romance and even the comfort of human existence. Wherever women are found there is almost always cheer fulness and kindness; they are generally obliging, and even among savage tribes they are uot as distant and suspicious as men. How ever poor their hospitality may be, they can safely be relied upon by the stranger. Mungo Park in the midst of Africa, when robbed of his baggage and suffering from fever, was sheltered by a Negro woman, who watched and cared for him with a mother's tenderness. If cold, wet, hungry or sick, woman never stops to consider aught but the stranger's needs and will sacrifice her last stick or crumb to relieve him. tt was a poor widow who fed Elijah in the time of famine. It was the kindness of woman that led her to commiserate the suf ferings of the numerous criminals, herded in the dark, unwholsome cells of the English prisons, and the work of Elizabeth Frye among the vile in Newgate will he remembered with reverence while the world lasts. Not many of us are permitted to feed an Elijah, but how many are daily letting the opportunity slip by when we might visit some of our poor neighbors, carrying a bit of the family breakfast or dinner, and while the food satisfies their hunger, our chceriug words will give them hope, courage and strength to toil on. Very few of us are called to bring about great reforms, but each and all of us by making friendly visits among our neighbors, can teach them the lessons of purity, cleanliness, and economy in their persons and in their homes. We can also carry to them the message of Christ, while we will get in return some very valuable lesson. In visiting those of our own station in life we gain by the exchange of ideas and our children and homes profit thereby; while friendly visits with those better situated than we will inspire us to climb higher. We need to cultivate a habit of making friendly visits because of the help, the cheer, the inspiration we may give to others, and because of the help we may be to ourselves, for in this way we may learn to be content when comparing our lot with that of the more unfortunate; STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE. or if discontented, it will be, not to grumble or complain of Provi dence, but to put forth efforts to better our condition, and also be cause of the help we may be to the Church and to civilization. When we visit our neighbors, giving them spiritual cheer or phys ical assistance, we are teaching the lesson of Christianity by example, we are walking in the footsteps of our Master and building up His Church on earth. And as we inspire others to make home pure, com fortable and happy, we are making the men and women of the future, who will lead honest, industrious Christian lives. Thus we will rid the country of its chain gangs and prison houses, and build up a civili zation such as the world has never yet seen. SEtXXND ANNUAL, CONFERENCE. 61 MOTHERS' MEETINGS. BY MRS. GEORGIA SWIFT KING ('74), ATLANTA, GA. If it is true, that of the three main factors in the make-up of the individual,—the home, the school and the church,—the greatest is the home, and since it is true that the home is what the parents make it, the mother by nature having the larger share in the making, then it follows that the destiny of the Negro race is largely in the hands of its mothers. Statistics resulting from recent investigations indicate with respect to the Negro population of the United States; first, a general decrease in the birth-rate; second, an alarmingly excessive infant death-rate; third, because of inherited tendencies and defective education,—phys ical, intellectual and moral,—a greatly excessive death-rate among adults; fourth, that so little does the birth-rate exceed the death-rate that the race is doing little more than reproducing itself. These in dications furnish food for thought, and reason for investigation and action. The alarming increase of infanticide (without reference to the im moral, brutal class) seems to result from the overworked, discouraged, desperate state of many laboring mothers, upon whom the burden of family support so largely rests. The large death-rate of both infants and adults, I believe, may be traced to poverty and ignorance of the laws of health; an ignorance not confined to the illiterate, for how many highly intelligent people there are who have almost no knowledge of the symptoms of ordinary diseases ; who do not know when to send for the doctor, nor how to care for the sick. I recall several instances during the present year where promising lives in intelligent homes have been sacrificed on the altar of ignorance and the most extravagant economy; what wonder that the illiterate and poor die in so great numbers! Does this excessive death-rate indicate a corresponding mental and moral decay ? What is the remedy for such conditions ? The blood of the fallen is required at the hands of the intelligent b'A STUDY OF NKtfRO CITY LIFE. class. The demand is apparent for preachers who study the signs of the times and deal practically with the needs of the hour; for teachers, capable, conscientious, consecrated; for physicians, skilled, honorable, philanthropic. But these agencies alone can not meet the demands and should be supplemented by other methods. Observation and experience lead me to conclude that a most excel lent medium for effectual instruction of the masses, is "Mother's Meetings," where all questions of human interest are pertinent and may be freely discussed ; where all classes of women may become bet ter informed; where even the illiterate, by regular attendance, may gain much essential knowledge of such vital subjects as: The laws of sani tation ; Selection of foods; Economic cooking; Proper and wholesome dress; Care of infants: Needs (physical, mental and moral) of child hood; Care of boys and girls through the critical period between childhood and maturity; How to fortify young.men against the follies of immorality and young women against the dangers of imprudence. The science of health and heredity and prenatal influences, and all that pertains to household morality and economy, may be handled with such simplicity in these meetings, that not only the mothers but the whole people may receive real benefit. When difficulty is experienced in getting the mothers to these meetings I have met with some success by taking the meetings to the mothers, that is, to their immediate neighborhood. SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE. (S3 NEED OF DAY NURSERIES. BY MRS. SELENA SLOAN BUTLER, ATLANTA, GA. Among the important questions of to-day is the nted of day nurser ies in cities and towns where children of parents who, by force of circumstances, are obliged to earn a living by working in service, may receive good and wholesome influences during that period of life when impressions are easily made and character readily molded, either for good or bad. Many parents in cities must do work which calls them away from home, and often they toil from early dawn till a late hour to keep the wolf from the door, and, because of their small wages, their children often are forced to do work too hard for them that their meager earn ings may add to the support of the still smaller children left at home during the day without the care of a poor but loving mother; left alone during that most important period of their lives when good or evil principles will, by cultivation, become the ruling passion through life; left alone to grow up amid a multitude of unfavorable surround ings. With these existing circumstances, it does not need a prophet to tell what the result will be. It is a daily experience to find a child of tender years left to tend the baby with but a scant meal of meat and bread, while the widowed mother is out at work. At a late hour the mother returns, tired and almost exhausted ; she proceeds at once to satisfy the hunger of her unfortunate children, and then, in her humble way, as best she can, with their bowed heads at her side she teaches them to lisp the " Lord's Prayer," then all are lost in sleep. The majority of the children who would be glad to find protection in a day nursery are not blessed with even this limited knowledge of a good moral training. Such circumstances are not only unfavorable to the physical condi tion of the children, but detrimental to the parent, because such a state of constant activity and anxiety exhausts the vital force. Do you ask the result ? by, the mother dies at an early age, leaving little children in the hands of chance, to be brought up, quite likely. 64 STUDY OK NEGRO CITY MFK. among the weeds of vice and sin, going from bad to worse, until they become a menace to society. If there had been a day nursery with good conscientious persons at its. head, in which these children could have had their physical, mental and moral natures properly cared for at a small cost to the mother, they would have developed into charac ters with sufficient magnitude to lift humanity to a higher plane, in stead of degrading it; and the mother would have no doubt lived out her three score years and ten. If you will examine the records of the mortality of the Negroes of this city, you will find that about one-third of the deaths occurred among the children, and a closer investigation will disclose the fact that the majority of these deaths occurred in families where parents were obliged to work out and therefore could not detect disease in their little ones until too late to be relieved by medical aid. I will relate only two of the many cases coming underlay observation which make a strong appeal for the establishment of day nurseries. A widowed mother, who worked for a family in this city, had a boy about six years of age. This mother left her little boy alone, asking each morning the family in the adjoining room to have an oversight over him during the day. For several nights when the mother re turned from her work between the hours of eight and nine, she found her boy with flushed cheeks, sleeping restlessly. Being tired she did not investigate the cause of this abnormal condition, but attributed it to exhaustion from play. Finally the child's condition became alarm ing, and one night about nine o'clock the mother took it to the office of a physician. After a careful examination, the mother was told that her child was in the third stage of typhoid fever, and recovery de pended upon immediate attention and good nursing. Then the mother, with tears in her eyes, related her sad story. The other case is that of a boy who went into a physician's office crying, and with his clothes covered with blood. What was the mat ter? Why, the same old story. The boy had had an artery cut with a stone that was thrown by another boy whose mother was obliged to work away from home, that she might be able to pay her house rent and feed and clothe her children: and but for the interest the physician took in the case, there might have been a dead boy, a lawsuit, and a juvenile criminal; all because of the need of day nurseries. SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 65 Another evidence of the need of day nurseries is the large number of boys, almost babies you might say, to be found not only loitering and making mischief in the alleys, but even in the chain-gangs. Many are there because in early childhood they had no one at home to hold them in check, and, yielding to the influences about them, their minds became steeped in sin and vice ; and they grew wise only in the knowl edge of petty crimes. If the absence of day nurseries affected the physical nature only it might not be so alarming, but seeing the effect daily upon the mental and moral natures, and not knowing to what extent these natures may be transmitted to coming generations, we ought to see plainly the necessity of administering the ounce of prevention by establishing day nurseries. We need an institution where mothers who are obliged to be away from home in order that they may earn an honest living may leave their children and have the satisfaction of knowing that their little minds are lifted above the miry slough and prepared to shun the pit falls that have been the destruction of many a young life born to be useful. 66 STUDY OF MEGTIO CITY L.IFE. NEED OF KINDERGARTENS. BY M10S. KlWA MOREHBAD BASS ('80), ATLANTA, GA. [NOTE: A movement has already been started among the influential colored peo ple of Atlanta to establish a kindergarten. The plan of the conference bas been to discuss only such reforms as were immediately practical and would be dependent only on local co-operation and support.—Eu,] I could perform no pleasanter duty than to plead for kindergarten schools for the Negro children. Some twelve years ago we had in Atlanta a model Jones kindergar ten, under the care of the A. M. A., so it will not be an experiment with us. Unfortunately it had to be discontinued for want of means. It would have been self-supporting by this time, and would have ac complished untold good. What a blessing a kindergarten would be to the tired mother who could feel that her little darling was safely housed from harm while she performs her daily duties! For the poor woman who is busy the entire week washing and ironing, it is an impossibility to care properly for her children. A kindergarten would be a rock of refuge to her; and to that mother who goes from home early in the morning and does not return till dark, for her children such a school would be a castle of escape. I wish to give the " testimony " of three mothers, who are graduates of Atlanta University, and whose husbands are prominent in educa tional work. These have representative homes—homes of intelligence. Mrs. Win. E. Holmes, whose husband is a professor in the Atlanta Baptist College, says : " As I see it, we need kindergarten schools: " First—Because, as a race, we are incompetent to give our children the training such schools furnish; "Second—Because such tuition gives the teacher a foundation on which to build. We speak much concerning our progress and it must he admitted that it is great, but if we had had at the beginning of our SECOND ANNUAI, CONKEIiENCK. 67 career such preliminary education we should be considerably in advance of our present condition; " Third—Because the impressionable years of early childhood should be turned to matters of importance and permanent value. This is a training which if neglected then can never be supplied. And if we are ever to be an educated race that training we must have, for educa tion is our Greatest need." Mrs. Crogman, the wife of Prof. Crogman of Clark University, and the mother of eight children, says: " In my opinion one of the greatest needs of our people is the estab lishment of kindergarten schools for the training of our young. In them they can be trained younger than in the primary schools ; and in them they arc prepared to take hold better of the primary work." Mrs. Edgar .1. Penney, whose husband is pastor at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, says : "I sun a kindergarten enthusiast, because I believe it is the mother's greatest help. It opens its doors at the very time when children are most restless and active, and turns that activity, which is miscalled mischief at home, into innocent and pleasant instruction, and thus the process of development of the mind and physical nature begins early. The State *s generous, I /enow, in educating tlie ynung, but s/ifi makes tlie mistake Hint many parents make, in letting the child become bad and then trying to r form it. The natural order ought to be for the youth to graduate from the kindergarten, then from the primary schools, and so on until the college is reached. "What a God-send would these children-gardens be to the poor who have little or no time to give to the training of their little ones! I am praying and longing to see the day when free kindergartens will be on the corner of every alley. What a strange idea to wait until a child is six or seven to begin its education, which means hooks as so many think! "There are hundreds of things and ideas that a child gets in a kin dergarten which arc really the beginning of its education, and yet it does not know the book language. It gets acquainted with nature. 1 cannot tell you how it rejoices me that this most important subject is to be discussed. I wish I could arouse every mother and teacher in this Southland to see the need of saving our children before they 68 STUDY OP NE«KO CITY LIFE. become steeped and dyed in vice, and then attempt to reform them." The Catholics ask but the first seven years of a child, the formative period, asserting that ideas inculcated during that season cannot be supplanted. Let us apply the wisdom of their experience to our case. The years that need most careful instruction are those entrusted to the tender mercies of the rabble. Innocent eyes read and observe the animate illustrations of vice, innocent ears listen to the rendition of collections of depravity. With these lessons learned the school teacher has to begin to uneducate, but trace what she may upon the palimpsest the first record remains uneffaced. The Atlanta Journal recently said: " This work seems to be the sweetest, the best, the most far-reaching good work that we can do for humanity. Teach a little child goodness and truth, useful facts and bright bits of knowledge, and the father and mother in the lowly homes will soon learn the same lessons from the baby lips." With all the ardor of an anxious mother I repeat that day homes or kindergartens are a glaring need, an absolute necessity if the masses are to be raised. Friends, I plead most earnestly for such a school at once, there are so many little children ready and eager to go to the school. Who, oh, who is ready and willing to help us to administer to their wants? SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 69 REPORTS FROM CITIES. [NoTE: Ft is hoped to make the reports from cities one of the main features of the next conference. A movement has already begun in several cities to form local organizations to make investigations and work along lines suggested by the Atlanta conference. Another year one of the section meetings could be profitably devoted to reports and discussions by the delegates from such organizations. This year we print brief reports from three of these organizations located respectively in Atlanta, New Orleans and Washington.—Er>.] ATLANTA. This report was presented to tVie conference by Prof. Win. E. Holmes, of the At. lauta Baptist College. Deeply concerned about the condition of the poor people in Atlanta, for some time Mrs. Georgia Swift King, in a quiet way, had been labor ing to better it. Into homes neglected by the fortunate few she had again and again made her way to help the needy. Finding the work growing in dimensions, it occurred to her to enlist the sympathy and assistance of others. Accordingly, early in the spring, at her suggestion a meeting was called at the residence of Rev. Dr. W. G. Alexander. A number re sponded, the object of the meeting was stated, discussion was engaged in and an organization was effected, of which Prof. William B. Matthews is the president. Like similar societies, the object is to study the condition of the lowly and in all possible ways to improve it. The society intends to awaken interest in good reading, to look after female criminals, to seek to raise the standard of home life, and thus tone up the morals and decrease the mortality of the race. Already mothers' meetings have been held, children have been looked after, and helpful suggestions have been made to the people. NEW ORLEANS. Reported by letter by Rev. George W. Henderson to the corresponding secretary of the conference, Mr. George G. Bradford. I sent you newspaper clippings containing reports of our first two meetings. The third was equally successful. We were fortunate iu securing the co-operation and assistance of the mayor of the city and 70 STUDY OF NEORO CITY I..IFK. other equally distinguished citizens of the white raw. These meetings were somewhat exj>crimcntal. Their success was such as to encourage the continuance of the movement. A committee O was appointed to form a permanent organization for the continued in vestigation and discussion of the various questions concerning our moral and material progress. The central principle of the undertak ing differs somewhat from the Atlanta enterprise. With us the fundamental thing is education. The causes and reme dies of mortality are a part of this larger subject. In our city we have little doubt but that the bad sanitary condition of those sections where onr people live has much to do with the high death-rate. For this the city is largely responsible. So far as the people them selves are responsible, it is due to poverty and ignorance. Hence our object is to impart knowledge and create the desire for improvement and arouse the spirit of self-help, and our method is to hold popular meetings from time to time in different parts of the city on the one hand, and also affect public sentiment on the other through the press and by committees who shall represent us before the Board of Education, the City Council and the Legislature, and ultimately we hope to extend the movement to all parts of the state. As to the question of mortality, I hope something may be done along the lines pursued in Atlanta and other cities. My first aim has been to create an interest. I think now I see the way clear to do this particular kind of investigation, and I hope some report may be sent to your third conference next year. WASHINGTON This report was presented to the conference by Mr. L. M. Hersliaw. The Graduate Club of Washington, D. C., is an organization com posed of colored graduates of several Northern and Southern colleges. The object of the club is to stimulate study and research among its members. The work outlined so far lies within the province of soci ology. During the year just closed the club has been stud iug the works of Giddings and Fairbanks on sociology. The program for next year contains studies on various phases of the Negro problem, and also several topics of a broadly sociological interest. Prof. Kelly Miller, professor of mathematics in Howard University, is president of the club, which has a membership at present of thirty-three. SKCOND ANNUAL. CONFKRENCE. 71 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. [The following are extracts from a few of the many encouraging letters received from those who sympathize deeply with the purpose of the conference.—ED.] From His Excellency. W. Y. ATK1NSON, Governor of the State of Georgia : I have delayed replying to your kind invitation to be with you, hoping that I would be able to comply with your request, but I regret to say that I am now forced to write you that it will be impossible for me to accept. I sincerely trust that the "Conference on City Problems" will be both profitable and enjoyable. From MELVILLE W. FULLER, Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court: I sincerely regret that 1 find it impossible to attend the conference with reference to the condition of the colored population in our cities, to be held Mav 25th and 26th. From FREDERICK HOWARD WINES, LL.D., Editor of the Charities Review: 1 am very much obliged for your invitation to attend the second conference with reference to the condition of the colored population in the cities of the United States. I regret that my official duties will not permit my absence from home at the date of this meeting. My word to the conference is simply this: that if the Negro race is ever to be elevated in the social scale, as I believe that it will be, it can only be by self-culture and self-control. Help from the outside will go but a little way. The Negro must realize his manhood and his responsibilities as a man and citizen, and meet them, if he wishes to survive in the struggle for existence. It is absolutely essential that he should receive not only a literary education, but manual training; and that he should cultivate in himself the virtues of industry, thrift, chastity, honesty and temperance. When he learns to respect himself, 72 STUDY OF KEGKO CITY 1,1 FE. his women, the rights of others, and especially the rights of property; to meet the reasonable expectations of his employers, and to fulfill hid contracts both in letter and in spirit, he will command the respect of the world, and his advancement will be both sure and rapid. If race prejudice on the part of the white people towards the colored is to be deplored, so also is race prejudice on the part of the colored people towards the white. The two races must li%-e in peace and harmony, or the weaker race will inevitably go to the wall/ From Hon. C. A. COLLIER, Mayor of the City of Atlanta: I shall be gone until June 1st, or about that time; consequently I shall be compelled to forego the pleasure of making theaddress which you desire at your conference on the 25th and 26th of May. CoUe™ J°HN F' CKOWELL' Professor of Economics and Sociology in Smith I am very deeply interested in the conference proposed to consider the condition of the colored population in our cities, at Atlanta, May 25 and 26. It is a step in the right direction—a step looking toward the selection of the socially safe and the scientifically sound meaos by which the colored people may avoid the dangers and yet secure the benefits of what is an essentially sympathetic civilization. Though my duties here will prevent my being present I hope that its proceedings" will be given widest publicity. I hope that those who meet to discuss these problems may, if deemed advisable, provide for permanent organization of this movement, so that from year to year the methods and results may be considered in conference. If so, please enroll my name among its members. M. FjINDSAY, Professor of Finance and Economy, University o I am very glad to know of your Conference on City Problems. The results of your investigation as published in the Bulletin of the De partment of Laborare extremely interesting and this conference should be very helpful. I would like to be present, but. my duties here ~t the close of the term are such that I cannot get away now. Appendix:—A. The rtata from which the following tables were compiled were gathered exclusively by rep resentative colored men and women under the direction of Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga At the suggestion of Col. Carroll D. Wrignt, Commissioner of the U. S. Department of Labor, the data gathered were turned over to the Department of Labor for tabulation and at his request the university permitted the tables to be published in full in the May Bulletin of the Depart ment of Labor. We reprint here summaries and extracts from these tables. There were invited to take part in the Investigation about 50 graduates of Atlanta Univer sity, 30 of Fisk University, and 15 of the colored graduates of Berea, besides the prominent colored doctors, ministers, lawyers, and teachers of "the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Ala bama and Tennessee, including representatives from all the more prominent institutions for the higher education of the Negro. In all, something over 300 were invited, of whom about 100 volunteered, and of the latter 60 were able to complete their part of the investigation within the time allowed them, which, unfortunately, was very short. Great credit is due to the Investigators for their work in the investigation, for through them its success has been possible. As previously stated, they are all representative colored persons. The following statement shows in detail the name of each person engaged in the work of securing the data, the number of groups investigated by each, and the total number of groups, families and individuals canvassed. Investigators. Athens, Ga. Dr. C. S. Hayues.......... ....... Atlanta, Ga. SelenaS. Butler........ .-.. Emma L. Holmes................. Laura C. Davis................... Lilla E. Badger and Mary E. Brittaiu.. Mary F. Pulflu.................... Prof. William B. Matthews...... Dr.H.E. Butler.................. George A. Towns and Adrieune E Hern don........................ Julia M. Brown...... ............ Mattie A. Ford,.,,,........,...... Alice D. Carey ................ Georgia S. King..... ............ Eev. Henry H. Proctor .......... Nellie E. Crawford................ Mary E. Keller.................... Birmingham, Ala. Dr. A. M. Brown.................. Cambridge, Mass. Butler R. Wilson.............. .. Cartersville, Ga. Albert B. Cooper.... ............ Chattanooga, Tcnn. Rev. Joseph E. Smith............ Columbia, S. C. Dr. C. C. Johnson.......... .. .. Jackson, Turin. Prof. A. K. Merry... ........... Group No. 15 1 2 3 4 5 6,7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 16 1,16 1 2 17 18,19,20 3 Investigators. Jacksonville, Fla. Dr. W. C. Smalls ................... Eev. W. E. Partee audL. B. Robinson Prof. William F. Jackson............. Louisville, Ky. Prof.Frank L. Williams.............. Macon, Gu~ Dr. C. McCarthy.'................ .... I aeon, Mtss. Dr. Daniel W. Sherrod................ Nashville, Tenn. Prof. Engene Harris ............... Hon.J. C. Napier.................. Ortmgeburfr, ;S'. C. N. J. Frederick and Chas. H. Johnson Frank B. Johnson..................... Sanford, Fla. William C. McLester ............. Savanna//., Ga. Dr. C. McKane.....................'.... Sarah J. Butler........................ Eev. R. R. Downs..................... Tuxkegee, A la. Eev. E. J, Penney... .................. Washington, D. C. Dr. Furmau J. Shadd..... ............. Maggie R. Koweu.......... ............ Dr. W. Brnce Evans.............. C. L. Franklin......................... Group No. 4 5 24 7, 30, 31,32 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 6, 7,8,9 10 9 10 11 12 21 25,26,27 13,28 14 22 23 29 NUMBER OF GEOUPS, FAMILIES, AND INDIVIDUALS CANVASSED. City. Jacksonville, Fla. ...... Gro'ps. . 10 1 5 4 3 3 2 Fami lies. 324 246 98 66 30 77 16 17 21 Indi- vidu'ls. 1,292 1,090 380 293 90 327 81 119 City. Chattanooga, Teuu. .... Gro'iis. 2 1 1 1 1 1 59 Fami lies. 24 10 17 21 22 1,137 Indi- vidu'ls. 109 116 73 70 64 89 67 4,742 The investigation was carried to completion in 18 cities, all except one of which are located in the Southern States. The effort to secure schedules for several groups of colored people in each of the smaller cities and for a larger number of groups in cities of greater size and importance was quite success ful, as the preceding statement shows. Great care was taken in the selec tion of groups and in securing data in Atlanta, Ga., Nashville, Tenn., and •Cambridge, Mass., and it is to the tabulation for these cities that we must look for the most representative and accurate showing of the condition of the Negro so far as this investigation is concerned. The tabulation of the data tor 32 groups in the other cities canvassed is presented mainly for the value It may have in corroborating the facts presented for the 16 groups in Atlanta, the 10 groups in Nashville, and the single group in Cambridge. The data for the 32 groups in other cities have doubtless been gathered with quite as much care in most cases, but the same care could not be exercised in the selection of the 32 groups to be investigated as in the cities for which a separate state ment is made. Allusion has been made to "groups" in some of the previous statements, and an explanation is probably necessary in order that the reader may have an accurate knowledge of just what is meant by the term in this connection. It was not possible to secure data from any large portion of the population or for any large section of the cities involved in the investigation, owing to the fact that in no instance was there any remuneration given to investiga tors for the work performed, it being purely voluntary and usually performed by persons with so many other interests that but a part of their time could be devoted to this work. For this reason it was decided to select one or more groups of from 10 to 20 houses standing together in the portions of the city which were thought to be representative of the various conditions of the Negro in that locality. Each of these collections of houses has been termed a group. In the tabular presentations which follow, the cities embraced in the investigation have been arranged in four divisions in each summary table, and the same order is followed in the tables which give more detailed infor mation, as follows: Sixteen groups in Atlanta, Ga.; 10 groups in Nashville, Tenn.; 1 group in Cambridge, Mass.; and 32 groups in other cities. Under each of these divisions the groups have been arranged according to their con dition and the character of their surroundings, whether good, fair, or bad. In the first division, comprising the 16 groups for Atlanta, Ga., groups 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 may be classed as good; groups 6, 7, 8,9,10, and 11 as fair; and groups 12,13, 14, 16, and 16 as bad. In the second division, comprising 10 groups in Nashville, Tenn., group 1 may be classed as good; groups 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 as fair; and group 10 as bad. In the third division, the single group in Cambridge, Mass., may be classed as fair. In the fourth division, groups 1 to 14 are classed as good; groups 15 to 23 as fair; and groups 24 to 29 as bad; the condition of groups 30, 31, and 32 not being reported. The groups in this fourth division are located as follows: Group 1 in Birmingham, Ala.; group 2 in Cartersville, Ga.; group 3 in Jackson, Tenn.; groups 4 and 6 in Jackson ville Fla.; group 6 in Ijouisville, Ky.; group 7 in Macon, Ga.; group 8 in Macon, Miss.; groups 9 and 10 in Orangeburg, S. C.; group 11 in Sanford, Fla.; group 12 in Savannah, Ga.; group 13 in Tuskegee, Ala.; group 14 in Washing ton, D. C.; group 15 in Athens, Ga.; group 16 in Birmingham, Ala.; group 17 in Chattanooga, Tenn.; groups 18,19, and 20 in Columbia, S. C.; group 21 in Savannah, Ga.; groups 22 and 23 in Washington, D. C.; group 24 in Jackson ville, Fla.; groups 25, 26, and 27 in Savannah, Ga.; group 28 in Tuskegee, Ala.- group 29 in Washington, D. C.; and groups 30, 31, and 32 in Macon, Ga. TAKUE 1.—NUMBER AND PER CENT OF PERSONS OF EACH RELATIONSHIP. Relationship to bead of family. Other relationships.. . Atlanta, Ga., 16 groups. Num ber. 537 609 22 33 33 13 26 12 7 1,292 Per cent. 41.57 47.14 1.70 2.55 2.55 1.01 2.01 .93 .54 100.00 Nashville, Tenn., 10 groups. Num ber. 442 486 30 46 25 20 9 24 8 ____ 1,090 Per cent. 40.55 44.59 2.75 4.22 2.29 1 84 .83 2 20 .73 100.00 Cambridge, Mass., 1 group. Num ber. 178 152 4 17 1 '""l 11 2 366 Per cent. 48 63 41.53 1.09 4.65 .27 .2?' 3.01 .55 100.00 Other cities, 32 groups. Num ber. 817 920 44 42 54 37 ie 44 20 1,994 Per cent. 40.97 46.14 2.21 2.11 2.71 1.85 .80 2.21 1.00 100.00 All groups. Num ber. 1,974 2,167 100 138 113 70 52 91 37 4,742 Per cent. 41.63 45.70 2.11 2.91 2.38 1.47 1.10 1.92 .78 100.00 TABLE 2.—NUMBER AND PER CENT OF FAMILIES OF EACH SPECIFIED SIZE. Size of families. Atlanta, Ga., 16 groups. Num ber. 22 65 76 48 42 27 22 9 8 5 324 Per cent. 6 79 20.06 23.46 14.82 12.96 8.38 0.79 2.78 2.47 1.54 100.00 Nashville, Tenn., 10 groups. Nnm- ber. 5 44 38 46 53 2L 18 12 5 3 1 246 Per cent. 2.04 17.89 15.45 18 67 21.55 4!88 2.03 1.22 .41 100.00 Cambridge, Mass., 1 group. Num ber. 5 25 23 18 14 2 4 5 2 98 Per cent. 5.10 25.51 23 47 18.37 14.29 2.04 4.08 5.10 2.04 Other cities, 32 groups. Num ber. 22 84 103 86 57 36 38 17 13 12 1 100.00 1 469 Per cent. 4.69 17.91 21.96 18.34 12.15 7.68 8.10 3.63 2.77 2.56 .21 100.00 All groups. Num ber. 54 218 240 198 166 86 82 43 26 22 2 1,137 Per cent. 4.75 19 17 21.11 17.41 14.60 7.56 7.21 3.78 2.29 1 94 .18 100.00 TABLE 3.—AVERAGE SIZE OF FAMILY, BY CITIES. Cities. I Total Total [Average families, persons, size of family. Atlanta, Ga ....... Nashville, Tenn . Carabrid f Mass. Other ci s....... Total. 824 246 1,137 1,292 1,090 366 1,994 4,742 3.99 4.43 3 73 4.25 4.17 It will be seen from the above table that for all the families investigated the average number of persons per family in Atlanta, Ga., was found to be 3.99; in Nashville, Tenn., 4.43; in Cambridge, Mass., 3.73; in the other cities, 4.25; and in all the cities covered by the investigation, 4.17. Comparison with the returns of the census of 1890 in the cases of the first three cities, returns for all the others not being given, shows that for the entire popula tion of these cities, including both white and colored, the average size of family was considerably larger, viz., for Atlanta 4.91, Nashville 4.92,and Cam bridge 4.95. TABLE 4.—NCMBER AND PEE CE\T OF PERSONS UNDER EACH AGE PERIOD. Age periods. 40 to 49 years............... 60 to 59 years ... ...... ... Atlanta, Ga., 16 groups. Num ber. 290 315 235 209 112 70 56 5 1,292 Per cent. 22.44 24 38 18.19 16.18 8.67 5.42 4 33 39 100.00 Nashville, Tenn., 10 groups. Num ber. 212 274 190 141 115 91 66 1 1,090 Per cent. 19.45 25.14 17.43 12.94 10.55 8.35 6.05 .09 100.00 Cambridge, Mass., 1 group. Num ber. 90 67 91 64 32 18 3 1 366 Per cent. 24.59 18.31 24.86 17.49 8.74 4.92 .82 .27 100.00 Other cities, 32 groups. Num ber. 419 452 404 280 222 119 72 26 1,994 Per cent. 21.01 22.67 20.26 14.04 11.13 5.97 3.61 1 31 100 00 All groups. Num ber. 1,011 1,108 920 694 481 298 197 33 4,742 Per cent. 21.32 23.37 19.40 14.64 10.14 6 28 4.15 .70 100.00 TABLE 5.—AVERAGE PERSONS PER SLEEPING ROOM. Cities. Families having to each sleeping room an average of— Under 1 per son. 6 1 14 21 lor under 2 per sons. u4 54 34 . 147 329 2 or under 3 per sons. Ill) 114 49 177 459 3 or under 4 per sons. 65 35 11 81 192 , \ 4 9r 5 per- under |song or 6 per- over. sons. 26 14 21 21 1 1 31 17 79 63 Total fami lies. 324 246 96 467 1,138 Aver age pers'ns to a sleep ing- room. 2.22 2.44 1.96 2.05 2.17 a Not including 2 families not reporting sleeping-rooms. 6 Not Including 4 families not reporting sleeping-rooms. TABLE 6.—ROOMS PER FAMILY. Families living in— Cities. Atlanta, Ga. Nashville, Tenn. Cambridge, M's. Other cities..... 1 ro'm. a58 9 5 45 117 2 ro'ms. a!16 55 7 98 3 ro'ms. 81 124 28 72 308 4 ro'ms. 25 34 21 117 197 5 ro'ms. 17 14 18 63 112 6 ro'ms. 16 5 7 33 61 7 ro'ms . 4 1 6 18 29 8 ro'ms 2 2 4 9 1.7 9 ro'ms . 1 1 5 10 ro'ms or over. 1 1 6 Not re port ed. 2 3 5 Total fami lies. 324 246 98 469 1 1 V7 a Including one family having an additional half-room. The following extract is from Table IV of the May Bulletin of the U. S. Department of Labor, showing method of compilation of data on household conditions of Negroes: giving the con dition of each family in detail. The complete table includes 1,137 families. EXTRACT FROM TABLE IV.—HOUSEHOLD CONDITIONS, BY FAMILIES. ATLANTA, GA.—16 GROUPS. GROUP 1. [O. H. indicates that the family own the house in which they live.] Family No. 1........ 2.... S. ....... 4. ....... 7........ 8........ 10....... Persons. MMe. Female. 2 3 1 1 2 1 1 2 5 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 2 1 E 1 Rooms. Sleep ing. 2 1 1 1 4 2 2 4 4 2 Other 'l 1 1 2 2 2 5 3 3 Monthly rent. S3 00 3.00 4.00 4.00 10.00 8.30 O. H. O. H. O H. O. II. Family No. 12........ 13........ 14........ 15........ 17........ 18....... 19 Persons. Male. 4 1 1 2 1 3 2 3 2 Female. 1 2 3 3 1 2 2 4 5 Rooms. Sleep ing. 3 3 2 2 1 3 2 3 3 Other. 3 3 2 1 3 3 1 2 3 Monthly rent. $13.50 13.80 6.40 6.40 O. H. O. H. 10.00 O. H. O. H. The following extract is from Table V of same report showing same data by groups, complete tables see above-mentioned report. EXTRACT FROM TABLE V.—HOUSEHOLD CONDITIONS, BY GROUPS. ATLANTA, GA.—16 GROUPS. Group num ber. 1.. . 2.. . 3.. . 4.. . 5.. . 6.. 7.. . 8.. . 9.. . 10.. . 11. . 12.. . 13.. . 14.. . 15.. . 16 . Total. Fami lies. 19 27 19 15 25 17 18 24 26 21 21 24 20 16 16 16 324 Persons. Male. 38 52 31 25 37 36 36 35 50 44 48 39 42 14 32 25 584 Fe male. 42 58 43 35 49 39 36 58 54 44 51 50 41 35 35 38 708 Rooms. Sleeping. Num ber. 45 49 30 23 46 35 40 41 69 38 42 30 37 19 25 22 581 Average persons to each. 1.78 2.24 2.47 2.61 1 87 2.14 1.80 2.27 1.76 2.32 2.36 2.97 2.24 2.58 2.68 2.86 2.22 Other. Num ber. 41 41 21 4 38 9 25 18 42 10 23 3 10 2 13 6 306 Average persons to each. 1.85 2.07 2.57 3.25 1.89 3 67 2.40 3.50 2.21 3.20 3.65 3.00 3.30 2.00 3.62 3.33 2.54 Families. Own ing house. 8 16 4 10 ""'ii' 9 6 7 1 i 73 Paying rent. 11 10 15 15 15 17 7 24 16 15 14 24 19 16 16 15 249 Not re porting as to rent. 1 """o'i" 62 Average monthly rent per family. $7.49 5.10 4.60 3.27 4.50 8.29 5.04 5.83 5.85 4.00 3.32 2.59 4.79 2.55 3.63 3.70 $4.25 a Rent free. b Including one family living rent free. I The following extract is from Table VI of same report showing in detail occupation and earnings by families for the 1,137 families covered by the investigation. EXTRACT FROM TABLE VI.—OCCUPATIONS AND EARNINGS, BY FAMILIES. ATLANTA, GA.—16 GROUPS. GRODP 1. Fam ily No. 1..., 2 ... 3... 4 ... 5.... 6.-.. 7 ... 8.... 9.... 10.... 11.... 12.... 13 ... 14.... 15.... 16.... 17.... 18.... 19.... Head of family. Occupation. Employee, printing office. Merchant, wood (b) . . Teacher, private sch'l Physician ............ Dentist ............... Waiter.... ........... Wheelwright ........ Hack owner and cap italist. Bishop A. M. E. Ch.. Proprietor, restau rant (7i). Weeks em- pl'yed. c!6 50 26 50 £24 d44 52 52 52 52 62 62 52 62 62 52 49 /212 Aver age weekly earn ings. a #4.00 12.00 6.00 5.00 b 1 00 d 3.50 5.00 10.00 10.00 25.00 12.50 20.00 6 00 6.00 11.00 300.00 8.00 h 17.00 How sub sisted when unem ployed. Savings. . . Savings. . . Savings... Savings... House wife. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Children. At work. 1 c\ 1 f2 0 1 c 1 ••1 . t 1 At work and at school. 2 1 1 Earn ings for the year. $268 (0 f694 . 16 4/132 elSO 261 C364 At sch'ol. 1 6 3 2 1 3 2 At h'me. 2 2 1 el 2 3 1 |2 a Alsoemployed36weeksassicknurse,nopay. e Not reported. b Also employed 28 weeks as waiter at $10 per / Wife and child, week. g Wife. c Mother. h Also employed 40 weeks as hank porter at d Also employed 8 weeks as hotel waiter at $10 per week. $3.50 per week. » Child and mother. The following is a valuable summary as showing the industrial position of women. TABLE 7.—NUMBER OF FAMILIES AND MEANS OF SUPPORT. By whom supported. Head, male, and male and female children ...... Head, female, and male and female children.. . . . Heads, male and female, and male children.. .... Heads, male and female, and female children. . . . Heads, male and female, and male and female Total........................................ Atlanta, Ga., 16 groups. 73 10 4 7 31 11 10 12 84 12 B 4 18 22 14 1 6 324 Nash ville, Tenn., 10 groups 60 14 4 13 7 4 6 61 19 7 21 IB 7 Cam bridge, Mass., 1 group. 40 4 1 4 1 1 22 1 9 8 1 98 Other cities, 32 groups. 131 15 8 8 41 11 16 6 98 19 19 18 24 23 21 8 469 Total families. 304 43 16 19 89 31 23 255 51 31 25 72 55 68 13 20 1,137 TABLE8.—NUMBER AND PERCENT OF PERSONS SICK DURING THE YEAR. Name of ailment. Total................. Total....... ......... Total.. .............. Syphilis..... .......... ... Total................. Atlanta, Ga., 16 groups. Num- Per ber. cent. 2 0.45 20 4.63 22 4.98 2 .45 2 .45 10 2.27 2 .45 50 11.31 62 14 03 3 .68 3 .68 353 79 86 442 100.00 Nashville, Tenn., 10 groups. Num- Per ber. cent. 6 1.07 14 2.99 19 4.06 5 1.07 1 .21 43 9.19 6 1.28 6 1.07 60 12.82 2 .43 16 3.42 18 3.86 371 79.27 468 100.00 Cambridge, Mass., 1 group. Num ber. 4 4 1 1 5 1 •3 1 10 92 107 Per cent. 3.74 3.74 Other cities, 32 groups. Num ber. 7 10 17 Per cent. 1.08 1.64 2.62 .93 .93 4.68 93 2.81 .93 9.35 85.98 100 00 3 3 2 195 2 199 2 2 427 648 .46 .46 .31 30.09 .31 30 71 .31 .31 65.90 100.00 Total. Num ber. 14 48 62 6 6 22 3 289 11 6 331 2 21 23 1,243 1,665 Per cent. 0.84 2.88 3.72 .36 .36 1.32 .18 17.36 .66 .36 19.88 .12 1 26 1.38 74.68 100.00 TABLE 9.—NUMBER AND I'ER CENT OF DEATHS DURING PAST FIVE YEARS, BY CAUSES. Causes. Total.. ................ Total ............. .... Total.............. ... Total ............ ..... Other causes........ ...... Atlanta, Ga., 16 groups. Num ber. 17 23 40 7 3 4 14 5 3 2 4 r 14 3 3 111 182 Fer cent. 9.34 12.64 21.98 3.84 1.65 2.20 7.69 2.74 16B 1.10 2.20 7.69 1.65 1.66 60.99 100.00 Nashville, Tenn., 10 groups. Num- Der. 32 7 39 4 2 5 11 3 7 10 2 2 71 133 Per cent. 24.06 B.26 29.32 3.01 1.50 3.76 8.27 2.26 6.26 7.52 1.51 1.51 63.38 100.00 Cambridge, Mass., 1 group. Num-l Fer ber. cent. 8 1 16.38 8 16.38 16 30.76 1 3 10 14 2 2 2 2 18 52 1.92 5.77 19.23 Other cities, 32 groups. Num- Fer ber. cent. 85 12.77 19 6.94 54 19.71 10 3.66 9 3.28 10 3.65 26.92 29 10.68 3.85 3.85 3.85 3.85 34.62 100.00 4 2 15 21 1 1 169 274 1.46 .73 6.47 7.66 .37 .37 til .68 10000 Total deaths. Num ber. 92 57 149 22 17 29 68 14 2 25 2 4 47 8 . 8 369 Per cent. 14.35 8.89 23.24 3.43 2.65 4.53 10.61 2.19 .31 3.90 .31 .62 7.33 1.25 1.25 67.57 641 1 100.00 • NOTE :—The following table Is very Instructive, but deductions from It should be made with great care. It is intended to show the effects of sanitary conditions npon the health of the com munity, but the results obtained are not conclusive, for the increased amount of sickness in families living under unfavorable sanitary conditions can not be attributed entirely to such con ditions, as a certain proportion of it must be attributed to the more Irregular habits of life of those families which are content to live under such unfavorable conditions. The same incom- petency which prevents a family from making material progress and securing for itself good accommodations also prevents its resisting disease. We generally find ill health and poverty together, one the cause of the otber, but quite as often both the result of a common cause, such as Intemperance, Immorality, Ignorance, or some moral or Intellectual weakness. TABLE 10.—SICKNESS, BY SANITARY CONDITION OF HOUSES. ATLANTA, GA.—16 GROUPS. Sanitary condition of houses. Light and air : Good............................... Fair....................... . ...... Bad. ...................... Ventilation : Bad.................................. Cleanliness : Bad .............................. Outside sanitary condition : Bad . ..... .. ...................... Numbei of persons. 577 348 367 537 328 427 426 527 339 439 264 589 Persons siok dur ing year. Number. 163 126 120 153 102 154 122 177 110 122 80 207 Per cent 28 25 36.21 32.70 28.49 31.10 36.07 28.64 33.59 32.45 27.79 30.30 35.14 Days of sickness. Persons report ing. 128 104 102 124 77 133 97 141 96 103 61 170 Total. 5,819 6,268 4,361 5.927 4,471 6,050 5,259 5,538 5,601 4,941 2,676 8,381 Average. 45.46 60.27 42.75 47.80 58.06 45.49 54.22 39.63 58.34 47.97 43.87 51.95 NASHVILLE. TENN.—10 GROUPS. Light ana air : Good.......... ..................... Bad.......... .. .......... . ...... Ventilation : Fair................................. Bad... .... . ...................... Cleanliness : Fair...................... ... .. ... Bad....... ................ ......... Outside sanitary condition : Good................................ Fair.... ............................. Bad.................................. 489 197 471 329 381 345 364 413 452 225 194 172 76 106 155 144 131 167 168 191 93 39.67 42.57 38 58 36.55 47.11 37.80 45.38 42.26 41.33 99 114 AC 92 61 106 79 107 116 57 3,284 1,414 0 OJ.fi 2,983 t) fyjo 3,328 2,879 3,929 1,624 33.17 30.74 oe 07 28.14 9R d7 31.10 33 48 33.87 28.49 CAMBRIDGE, MASS.-l GROUP. Light and air : Good.... .. ...................... Fair........ ......................... Bad................................. Ventilation : Fair............ . ...... Bad ........... . .................... Cleanliness : Fair.................................. Bad..... ......................... .. Outside sanitary condition : Bad.................................. 159 173 133 102 131 80 225 61 116 78 29 47 28 35 14 57 11 29 11 42 18.24 27.17 18.63 oc 70 17 f^ft 25 33 18 03 25.00 14.10 24.42 25 39 6 26 28 12 10 97 11 09 1,214 1,623 1,162 1 094 697 n -1OQ Kfiq QQQ 819 1,622 48.56 41.62 72.63 39.07 44 35 50.30 36.59 74 45 47.56 OTHER CITIES—29 GROUPS. [Three groups and three families are not included, as sanitary condition of houses was not reported.] Sanitary condition of houses. Light and air: Bad.................................. Ventilation : Fair ..................... ....... Bad............................... .. Cleanliness : Fair................ ................ Outside sanitary condition : Fair................................. Bad.................................. Number of persons. 1,081 547 308 1,087 536 313 1,127 483 326 919 689 328 Persons sick dur ing year. Number. 246 211 114 271 180 120 257 192 122 230 215 126 Per cent. 22.76 38.57 37.01 24.93 33.58 38.34 22.80 39.75 37.42 25.08 31.20 38.41 Days of sickness. Persons report ing. 173 143 86 194 116 92 171 132 99 165 147 90 Total. 7,861 4,506 4,460 8,849 3,577 4,451 6,458 5,000 5,419 5,638 7,141 4,098 Average. 45.44 31.93 51.74 45.61 30.84 48.38 3777 3738 54.74 34.17 48.58 45.53 TABLE 11.—SANITARY CONDITION OF HOUSES. ATLANTA, GA.—16 GROUPS. Group number. 2................ . ........ 3. ............ ..... 4.. ........................ 5........................... 7. ....... ................. 11.......................... 12 ................ ........ 13.... .................. .... 14......................... 15...- ...................... Number of houses having — Light and air. Good. 14 20 9 5 15 1 22 4 18 6 8 1 Q Fair. 1 5 15 12 9 5 3 8 15 120 80 Bad. 1 1 1 ' 7' 17 "5" 9 'li" 7 "is' 5 Ventilation. Good. 14 17 9 '5' 15 1 21 1 17 5 4 S Fair. 1 4 5 15 12 10 1 5 1 4 7 ft Bad. "l" 1 ••y 17 4 '12' "is' 18 5 15 4 82 112 7J 97 Cleanliness. Good 14 16 9 6 9 1 18 5 11 6 3 1 Fair. 1 6 2 4 12 15 10 2 10 7 4 6 4 IB fl Bad. '"i" 4 5 3 17 4 2 3 '12" 9 12 2 6 Outside sanitary condition. Good.Fair. 14 18 9 16 1 18 8 11 1 98 105 79 96 1 4 3 6 15 3 3 1 7 6 3 4 Bad. ""3 15 2 17 11 1 9 is 15 12 15 15 56 130 NASHVILLE, TENN.—10 GROUPS. 1.... ...................... 2.......................... 4 ............... .......... 6.. ........... •-••.....••••• 6..... ...... ............... g W.. ....................... Total.. ........-.-•• 14 13 13 10 14 8 1K 11 9 110 4 5 9 11 10 11 3 11 U 18 93 5 7 3 4 1 2 3 2 5 7 39 17 12 11 11 15 9 16 11 5 10T 3 6 12 10 8 9 1 8 9 66 3 7 2 4 2 S 8 12 12 16 69 8 11 11 9 12 7 16 11 5 90 7 7 11 7 10 8 1 2 10 11 74 8 7 3 9 3 6 1 11 10 14 78 11 10 11 10 13 16 12 6 98 9 13 10 5 8 11 14 99 3 5 1 2 '"i" 5 12 45 CAMBRIDGE, MASS.—1 GROUP. Group number. 1. .......................... Number of houses having — Light and air. Go'd. 43 Fair. 46 Bad. 8 Ventilation. Go'd. 37 Fair. 29 Bad 31 Cleanliness. Go'd. 25 Fair. 56 Bad. 16 Outside sanitary condition. Go'd. SO Fair. 21 Bad. 46 Appendix:—B. OTHER CITIES—32 GROUPS. 1. . . ..... 3 ............. ......... 4..................... .. 5........................ 7..... ............... 8. .............. ........ 10............... ... ..... 11.......... ............. 12........ ............. . 13......................... 14......................... 15......................... 16.............. ....... .. 17............. ........... 18......................... 19 ........................ 20.. . ................... 21......................... 23 ... .................... 25......................... 26 ........................ 27......... ............... 28 .................. 29......................... 30......................... 31......................... 32 ............. . .... .. Total.... .... ..... 8 5 7 18 26 10 1 6 11 4 14 4 15 8 2 8 4 1 •f o 9 11 a2 (a) 10 8 1 (ft) 1 6) 1 (ft) C214 . 4 8 '"i 2 9 5 6 15 4 6 5 '"3 13 2 4 1Q 4 «2 a4 1 (?> (&> (ft) C116 '"2 1 6 1 5 1 2 2 2 3 1 5 2 1 a4 a 17 1 (ft) (&) (&) C59 8 6 6 18 27 8 8 6 i 4 15 10 2 10 3 4 4 9 112 10 al 11 (6) C220 3 8 4 9 3 12 16 4 4 1 ' ' 'is 2 3 5 al aS (6) (6) (6) clOS 3 1 1 6 1 5 2" 2 2 2 1 5 ....„ 1 at a 17 2 2 (&) (fo) (&) C61 7 4 9 17 27 11 8 10 1 13 14 4 15 9 2 5 1 4 12 14 12 a4 a4 12 3 (ft) (&) (&) c235 1 4 7 1 1 9 7 4 4 6 B 4 8 3 2 8 2 2 4 U £l aS ...„. (6) (ft) (6) ClOl 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 5 ...„. 3 2 3 1 1 2 6 ""i" 6 "a2 1 1 W (t» (b) c 53 4 4 8 17 27 11 3 11 4 13 13 4 7 5 2 2 3 13 10 3 al (a) 12 (ft) (6) (ft) 0183 4 4 9 1 1 5 10 6 6 " " "is 8 4 1 2 1 13 2 3 19 13 a7 (a) 5 (ft) (ft) (ft) (•145 ...... 1 6 1 2 5 ....„ 1 1 7 1 """i 5 " " "2 («) a 21 1 2 (") (6) (6) C61 a Not including one house, not reported. 6 Not reported. c See preceding notes. A compilation of data from the health reports of various cities, made by Mr. L. M. Her- shaw, of Washington, D. C., an alumnus of Atlanta University, follows, and it is believed that they afflord very accurate information concerning the deaths, etc., in the cities for which the necessary official reports were available. Mr. Hershaw's work included the cities of Atlanta, Baltimore, Charleston, Memphis and Richmond. AVe print in full the tables for Atlanta, one table for Charleston and one for Balti more: for lack of space we omit other tables. For explanation of these tables see paper by Mr. Hersnaw, page 10. This work is to be continued by Mr. Hershaw during the coming year. TABLE a.—AVERAGE ANNUAL DEATH RATE FEU 1,000 AND EXCESS AND PER CENT OF EXCESS OF COLORED FOR THREE PERIODS OF YE4RS, BY CITIES. City. Atlanta. ..... Baltimore. .. Charleston . . Memphis ... Richmond.... First period. Wite. IS 22 22.60 25.40 26.08 22.42 Col ored. 37.96 38.15 44.08 43.01 40.34 Excess of colored. No. 19.74 13.55 18. (!8 16.93 17.92 Per cent. 108 41 59.92 73.52 64.95 79.98 Second period. Wite. 19.25 19.46 22.30 21.49 21.37 Col ored. 33.41 30.52 46.74 29.36 38.83 Excess of colored. No. 14.16 11.06 24.44 7.86 17.46 Per cent. 73.61 56.87 109.63 86.59 81.74 Third period. W ite. 18.03 20 01 21.88 14 17 18.42 Col ored. 32.76 31.47 41.43 21.11 34.91 Excess of colored. No. 14.73 11.46 19.55 6.94 16.49 Per cent. 81.65 57.24 89.39 48 95 89.54 TABLE b.—POPULATION, DEATHS, AND DEATH RATE PER 1,000, ATLANTA, GA., 1882 TO 1805. Year. 1RR9 IftRQ 1884 ............... 1885................ Average. .... 1886................ 1887................ 1BCQ 1889 . .. ... 1890................ Average. .... IftQl 1892............ ... 1894....... ........ 1895 .... ......... Average ..... Population. White. 23,639 25,034 26,511 28,075 25,815 29,732 31,486 33,344 35,311 37,416 33,458 39,623 41,961 44,437 47,058 49,835 44,588 Colored. 18,202 19,217 20,289 21,4110 19,782 22,615 28,876 25,207 26,613 28,098 25,282 29,665 31.319 33,066 34,910 86,857 33,163 Total deaths. •White. 392 500 487 492 470 446 680 646 653 793 644 827 805 813 691 884 804 Colored. 630 735 785 854 751 541 815 886 949 1,032 845 1,167 1,085 1,107 947 1,126 1,086 Deaths per 1,000. •White. 16.58 19.97 18.75 17.52 18 22 15 10 21.60 19.37 18.49 21 19 19. 25 20.87 19.18 18.30 14.68 17.74 18.03 34.61 38.25 38.69 39.87 37.96 28.92 34.13 35.15 35.66 36.73 33.41 39.34 34 64 33.48 27.13 30.55 32.76 Excess of colored. No. 18.03 18.28 19.94 22.35 19.74 8.82 12.53 15 78 17.17 15.64 14 16 18.47 15.46 15.18 12.45 12.81 14.73 Per cent. 108.75 91.54 106.36 127.57 108.41 58.41 58.01 81.47 92.86 73.34 73.51 88.50 80 60 82.95 84.81 72.21 81.65 10 1] TABLE C.--DEATHS AND DEATH RATE PER 1,000 OF TOTAL POPULATION OF CHIL DREN UNDER 5 YEARS OF AGE, ATLANTA, GA., 1882 TO 1895. Year. 1882............................... ...... 1883...................................... 1884 ................ ........ . .... 1885................... ........ 1886........ .. .. ......... 1887.............................. .. .... 1888.............. ..... . .... 1889.................................. 1890................... . .... 1892.......... ................... 1893...... ....... ...... . 1894.................. ...... . .... 1895................... .................. Total deaths. White. 163 19-1 163 167 172 160 264 206 205 287 224 264 276 251 218 276 257 i Colored. 264 339 819 329 313 257 332 337 364 451 348 403 403 421 303 401 386 Deaths per 1,000. White. 6.90 7.75 6.16 5.95 6.65 5.38 8.38 6.18 5.81 7.67 6.71 6.66 6.58 5.65 4.63 5.54 5.76 Colored. 14.50 17.64 16.72 15.36 15.81 11.36 13 91 13.37 13.68 16.05 13.77 13.69 12.87 12.73 8.68 10.38 11.65 Excess of colored. Number 7.60 9.89 9 57 9.41 9.16 6.98 5.53 7.19 7.87 8.38 7.06 6.93 6.29 7.08 4.05 6.84 5.89 Per cent. 110.15 127.61 155.61 158.15 137.74 111.14 (65.99 116.34 135.46 109.26 105.22 104.05 95.59 125.31 87 47 96 39 102.26 TABLE d.—AVERAGE ANNUAL DEATH RATE PER 10,000, ATLANTA, GA., FOR THE PERIODS 1882 TO 1885, 1886 TO 1890, 1891 TO 1895, BY CAUSES. Causes. Consumption... Pneumonia ..... Total..... . Cholera infan tum ... . . . Still-births...... Typhoid fever.. Scarlet fever... Malarial fever.. Diphtheria...... Total. ...... Other causes. . . < Grand total 1882 to 1885. Wite. 18.40 9.03 27. («) (") (a) 86 .31 .97 1.66 Col ored. 50.20 26.69 76.89 («) (a) (a) 17.09 .15 1.92 .15 11.5 19.31 Excess of colored. Num ber. 31. J7.66 49.46 («) («) (a) Per cent. 172.83 195.57 180.81 (a) (a) (a) 8.45 97.30 6 .1 6106.67 .95 97.94 61 6161,006.67 7.73 •143.15 C283.44C140. 132.16 379.64 197. 66.76 C98.00 108.41 1386 to 1890. Wte. 18. 11 30 30.13 12.43 14.85 26.78 10.70 1.25 1.61 1.02 14. Col ored 45.88 26.26 72.14 23.10 32.99 56.09 11.07 .32 5.46 32 17.17 121. 188.67 182. 334.07 Excess of colored. Num ber. 27.05 14.96 1 Per cent. 143. [ 132. 42.0l| 139.43 1891 to 1895. Wte. S. 16. 43.43 11.66 32.27 284 10 67 85. 7. 18.64 129.90 17 29.81 .37 6 .93 3.85 6 .70 2.59 67.62 141.53 109. | 24. 3.46 6290.63 239.13 6218.75 17.76 55.86 73.61 7.3 1.61 .45 1.35 10.72 116.16 180.34 75.75 15.26 38.60 Excess of colored. Num ber. Per cent. 26. 158.50 20.61 176.76 47.27 165 93 7.63 100.00 21 122.35 53. 28.87 115.63 9. 2.5 .1 61.49 2.17 1. . t> .99 12. 1.76 185. 69.35 327. 147.26 34 47 fcl.241.67 382.22 b 275.00 16.42 59.71 81.65 a Included in "Other causes." C Excess of white. c Including deaths from cholera infantum and still-births. TABLE e.— AVERAGE ANNUAL DEATH RATE PER 10,000, CHARLESTON, S. C., FOR THE PERIODS 1881 TO 1884,1885 TO 1889, AND 1890 TO 1894, BY CAUSES. Causes. Consumption-. Pneumonia . . . Total.... . Cholera infan Convulsions. . . Total ...... Typhoid fever Malarial feve Diphtheria .. . Total ...... 1881 to 1884. Wite. 27.62 8.18 35.70 («> (a) (a) 8.83 6.22 6 4.78 6.96 d26.79 Scrofula.... . 6 .30 Syphilis... .... .44 Total.. .... Other causes.. Grand total c.74 /190.81 254.04 Col ored. 72.20 19.00 91.20 («) (a) Excess of colored. Num ber. 44.68 10.82 55.50 (a) (a) (a) (") 11.36 6.50 611.72 2.59 d32.17 62.95 2.13 c 6.08 /312.36 440.81 2.63 .28 6 6.94 c 4.87 d6.33 6 2 65 1.69 c 4.34 121.55 186.77 Per cent. 162.35 132.27 165.46 (a) (a) (a) 28.66 4.50 6145.19 C168.73 fJ20.08 6883.38 384.09 C686.49 /6S.70 73.62 1885 to 1889 . 1890 to 1894. Wite. 20.05 8 32 28.37 7.90 3.48 11.38 4.93 2.55 B.43 4.25 17.16 .43 .59 1.02 Col ored. 68.08 18.61 86.5 Excess of colored. Wite Num ber. 48.03 10.1 58.2 15. 7.63 13.01 9. 28. 8.38 6.04 11.60 1.21 27.28 6.98 6.10 13.08 165.03|312.0 222.96 17. Per cent. 239. 17.71 122.48 6.78 205.22 24.49 95. 7.20 273.85 4.30 149.91 11.60 3.45 69.98 4.38 3.49 136. 3.06 6.17 113. 3.56 c3.04c 251. .83 10.07 58. 11.83 6.55 1,523.26 .16 5.61 933.90 -83 12.06 147.02 467.39244.43 1182.36 .99 89.09 169.96 109 63 218.77 Col ored. 67.66 17.06 74.72 9.63 13.60 23.23 6.68 6.28 9.38 .25 22. 2.1 8.16 Excess of colored. Num ber..' 39.95 10.28 50.23 2.43 9.30 11.73 2.30 3.17 5.82 c .58 10.71 1.98 2.32 5.29 4.30 288.55 118.69 414.38. 195.66 Per cent. 22f>.58 151.62 205.10 38.75 216.28 102.00 52.51 103.59 163.48 c 282.00 90.63 1 237.50 279.62 434.34 69.78 89.39 a Included in "Other causes." 6 Not including deaths in 1884. c Excess of white. tl Not including deaths from diarrhea in 1884. e Not including deaths from scrofula in 1884. f Including deaths from cholera infautum and convulsions,and from diarrhoea and scrofula in 1884. 13 The table following shows for each of the ten years from 1884 to 1893 the total and the illegiti - mate births and the birth race per 1,000 of total population of both white and colored; also the average births and birth rates per 1,000 for the two flve-year periods 1884 to 1888 and 1889 to 1893: TABLE f.—TOTAL AND ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS AND BIRTH KATE PER 1,000 OF TOTAL POPULATION, BALTIMORE, MD., 1884 TO 1893. Year. 1884...... ... 1885.......... 1886...... . 1887.. ....... 1888.......... Average 1889.......... 1890.......... 1891 ......... 1892.......... 1893 . . . Average Total births. W'ite. 6,899 6,63i 6,481 7,765 7,600 7,065 8,102 8,226 8,238 8087 7,914 8,113 Col ored. 1,136 1,108 1,213 1,262 1,225 Births per 1,000. W'ite. 22.18 20.74 19.72 22.98 21.59 1,189 | 21.45 1,263 1,172 1,101 1,347 1,221 1,221 22.69 22.41 21.83 20.84 19.84 21.48 Col ored. 19.31 18.41 19.70 20.04 19.04 19.31 19.19 17.47 16.04 19.18 17.00 17.76 Excess of white. Num ber 2 87 2 33 .02 2.94 2.56 2.14 3.60 4.94 6.79 1.66 2.84 3.72 Per cent. 14.36 12.66 .10 14 67 13.39 11.09 18.24 28.28 36.10 8.65 16.71 20.93 Illegitimate births. W'ite. 124 112 103 146 134 124 J66 180 224 261 224 209 Col ored. 173 171 155 224 220 189 206 229 246 359 387 285 Illegitimate births per 1000. W'ite. 0.40 .35 .31 .43 .89 .38 .44 .49 .69 .67 .66 .66 Col ored. 2.94 2.84 2 62 3.66 3.42 3.06 3.12 3.41 3.58 5.11 5.39 4.15 Excess of colored. Num ber. 2 64 2.49 2.21 3.13 3.03 2.68 2.68 2.92 2.99 4.44 4.83 3.60 Per cent. 635.0 711.4 712 9 727.9 776.9 714.6 609.1 595.9 606.8 662.7 862.6 650.4 Of total births, the excess of births per 1,000 of population is seen to be in favor of the whites. For the first five-year period this excess is 2.14, the percentage of excess being 11.09; for the second flve-year period the excess is 3.72, the percentage of excess being 20.93. The illegitimate births for the colored population show a very Jarge excess over the illegiti mate births for the "white. While there is an increase in the excess of colored birth rate from 2.68 in the first flve-year period to 3.60 in the second, the per cent of excess shows a decrease from 714.6 in the first period to 650.4 in the second. 14