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“THE GREAT DEBATERS”
293
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(EDUCATION.) LINCOLN UNIVERSITY.
Lincoln University Opdyke
Prize Debate. Philosophian Literary Society. June 5, 1915. Harrison H. Cain,
Norman Holmes, Alfred F.White.
Silver plate prize cup, 13 inches high, x 8-1/4 at the
widest point; dark natural tarnish patina; engraving on both sides of the cup. [Made by Poole
Silver Co.,Taunton, Massachusetts.]
Westchester, Pennsylvania, 1915
[1,500/2,500]
ALL BLACK UNIVERSITY
’
S DEBATING SOCIETY PRIZE
.
On Saturday evening, June 3, 1915,
following a commencement address by the Consul General of Liberia to the United States; two
teams of debaters argued the pros and cons of increasing the United States military. Three
student debaters from the all-black University’s Philosophian Society took the defensive
position on the question “The best interests of the United States demand a prompt and
substantial increase in our army and navy.”The negative argument fell to three debaters from
the Garnett Literary Association.The defenders, Harrison H. Cain, Norman A. Holmes and
Alfred F.White, won the debate.The names of both winning and losing debaters appear on
the cup.. It is worth noting that, given the date, it must have been abundantly clear that the
United States might very well have to enter theWar in Europe that had started nearly a year
before. In the end, nearly 350,000 African-American troops would take part inWWI.The
film, “The Great Debaters” was based on the all-blackWiley College debating society taking
on their white counterparts from Harvard, in 1930.
LOCKE ON BLACK STUDIES AT HOWARD
294
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(EDUCATION.) LOCKE,ALAIN LE ROY.
To the President and Board of
Trustees. . . It is respectfully suggested . . .
Proposal for a Black Studies Department
at Howard University. A total of 16 pages, 4to, typed ribbon copies,
SIGNED FOUR TIMES
BY LOCKE
.
SHOULD BE SEEN
.
Washington, D.C. 1913-15
[3,000/5,000]
Alain Le Roy Locke,” (1885-1954), first African descended Rhodes scholar, educator, author
and editor was the guiding light for the establishment of what is todayThe Moorland-Spingarn
Library at Howard University. Locke was the author-editor of “The New Negro,” (1925) and
is generally regarded as the “godfather” of the Harlem Renaissance.These five documents follow
the establishment and progress of the Founders Library at Howard University.The first part is
a letter, addressed to the Board ofTrustees, dated February 3, 1913, outlining in five points how
and why a “Negro-Americana” Library and studies department should be set up at the school:
“It is respectfully suggested and recommended that in view of the recent acquisition of the
Moorland Collection, and the general interest the University should take in this special field
of Negro Americana, that 1.A Curatorship of Negro-Americana be established, the Curator
to take charge of the installation and maintenance of the special collections of Race Literature
in the library, his duty being to superintend, also the further collection of such items of Negro-
Americana by donation, purchase and exchange, with a view to making the collections as
complete as possible.”The second item, dated May 20, 1915 is a very detailed letter addressed
to Doctor Jesse Moorland, enclosing a “prospectus” put together by Locke and Kelly Miller
announcing and outlining the plans for the research library and clarifying several points in the
earlier presentation.The third part, (undated but probably circa 1915) is a discussion of the
nomenclature regarding the Negro Americana collections: how the different categories were to
be referred to etc. Finally, a fourth section (six pages, undated) explains how the Library might
be supported (salaries etc) and where the Library might acquire material, both permanently and
on loan. A substantial part of this section includes quotes and “reviews” from numerous
scholars with their very positive reaction to the proposal.The very last page of this section has
a sample “donors form.”Tremendously important history of the establishment of probably the
most important repository of African Americana in the country.