Page 167 - Swann Galleries - Printed & Manuscript African Americana- Sale 2308 - March 21, 2013

EDUCATION
LOTS 303-316
303 ● (EDUCATION—APPRENTICESHIP.) Home For Destitute Colored
Children Indenture for William Henry Green. Partially printed long folio sheet,
accomplished by hand; long manuscript note at bottom, signed Edward Stapler, Justice and
by Green with an “X.” Maylandville, Philadelphia, 1868 [800/1,200]
A very elaborate indenture for a young black man, his age not given but probably about 13 or
14 years of age as was common. William Henry Green was to work for Mr. Edward Stapler,
and learn the “Art, and Mystery of Farming.” The indenture was to last for 12 years for which
Mr. Stapler paid seventy–five dollars, with a promise to feed and clothe young William Henry.
The reverse docketing of this elaborate contract shows that the young Mr. Green apparently did
not take kindly to the “Art and Mystery” of farming but instead “Absconded” in 1874.
304 ● (EDUCATION.) BETHUNE, MARY MCLEOD. I leave you love, I leave
you hope, I leave you the challenge of developing one another . . . Plaster cast
plaque, 131⁄2 inches square, covered with gilt paint, with a one inch wide “frame” of plaster
as part of the piece; a few chips to the back, not affecting the image of Ms. Bethune, hold-
ing the hands of two young children. Unsigned, but dated 1955. Np, 1955 [600/800]
A lovely piece of folk art celebrating the life of this great educator and civil rights advocate.
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) was an American educator and civil rights leader best
known for starting a school for African-American students in Daytona Beach, Florida, that
eventually became Bethune-Cookman University. She was also an advisor to President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Born to ex-slaves in South Carolina, Bethune was forced to work in
the cotton fields at age five. At about the same age, she took an early interest in her own educa-
tion. With the help of benefactors, Bethune attended college hoping to become a missionary in
Africa. When that did not materialize, she started a school for African-American girls in
Daytona Beach. From six students it grew and merged with an institute for African-American
boys, eventually became the Bethune-Cookman School.
305
HIS FIRST BOOK
305 ● (EDUCATION.) CARVER,
G[EORGE] W[ASHINGTON.]
Progressive Nature Studies. 12 pages.
12mo, original printed pale green wrap-
pers, stapled. AN EXCEPTIONAL COPY.
Tuskegee, Alabama: Tuskegee Institute
Print, 1897 [2,500/3,500]
FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHOR/EDUCATOR’S
FIRST TUSKEGEE PUBLICATION CONSTI-
TUTING HIS FIRST SEPARATE PUBLICATION,
This was preceded only by contributions to the
general studies conducted at the Iowa
Experimental Station while at Iowa State
College. Exceedingly scarce, only two copies are
located by OCLC.