A Nickel and a Prayer

CHAPTER 12. Types of Girls Given a Chance

114 CHAPTER XII Types of Girls Given a Chance H ow many girls of good intentions, before the days of the Phillis Wheatley, had to give up the struggle to rise above the circumstances of their unhappy environment? What other organization , for instance, could have saved “Mamie,” whose ignorant stepmother and indifferent father withdrew her from school and turned her out on the streets to find work? “Mamie” wandered into the office of a Cleveland Editor who directed her to the Phillis Wheatley Home. This editor had once declared that our Association was a subservient force, encouraging segregation of the colored population for Cleveland. At last he had come to recognize that it was a real haven for the Negro girl. With some assistance from our Trustees, “Mamie” returned to school, was graduated from Central High1 and from the School of Education at Western Reserve University2 and taught in the Cleveland public schools. She married a splendid young man, has three children, and is now a successful homemaker. From the day our doors were opened, we knew that if we were to be an agency of service, we must offer more than a lodging place to the girls who came to us. In all of the activities our aim has been to offer to Negro women an opportunity to live happy and useful lives, thus unfolding the beauty within them to make the lives of others more beautiful. Mabel Parks, a pretty brown-skinned girl, joined our clubs while she  Types of Girls Given a Chance 115 was in elementary school. Her father being an invalid, the burden of support was thrown upon Mabel’s mother. Mabel herself was able to earn a little money by working after school, until she entered high school. Longer assignments and more difficult subjects of study made it practically impossible for her to continue to be a student and a wage earner. Impressed by her intelligence and earnestness, the Greater Cleveland Federation of Women3 contributed a sum that made it possible for Mabel to continue her education and be graduated. Mabel was ambitious to become a nurse; I encouraged her to apply for admission to Harlem Hospital.4 She was admitted, and in a few years finished the course at that institution. In competitive examination she won an appointment as a public health nurse in New York. Later, she was called back to Cleveland by the death of her mother, and it made me glad to observe the intelligence with which Mabel directed the affairs of her mother’s household. In New York, Mabel was making a contribution as a nurse to the health of her people; before returning to her work, she volunteered to send a girl each year to Camp Merriman,5 in memory of her mother. The Phillis Wheatley serves as a laboratory for the discovery of talent and ability in colored young women. One evening about four years ago, I noticed with unusual interest the careful and dignified manner with which one of the waitresses in the cafeteria arranged the silver and linen, and the courtesy with which she inquired what I wished for dinner. This girl’s duties in the cafeteria were a part of her practice work as a student in the training school. “Louise,” I asked her, “what are you doing out of school?” “I have finished,” she answered. “As most girls do—with just enough credits to graduate, I suppose?” “No,” she said, courteously, but with assurance, “I did very well.” “Then go to the dean and ask her to send me a transcript of your grades.” Louise appeared in my office the next morning bearing a letter from Miss Edna M. Studebaker,6 at that time Dean of Girls at Central High School. Louise had graduated with very high grades, said Miss Studebaker, and had qualities of mind and character that merited further academic training. 116 Chapter XII Aided by the Cleveland Foundation,7 our Board of Trustees, and a few personal friends, Louise entered the School of Education of Western Reserve University. In 1938, she received her diploma. The years she spent in college were a hard struggle, to be sure, against prejudice and poverty—her mother was widowed with four younger children. In the fall, Louise received her appointment as a teacher in the Cleveland schools. Now she is able to raise the standards of living in her home, and is...