Nashville Globe
1 Mar 1907

The installation of officers who will serve the Allen Christian Endeavor League, will take place at the Saint Paul A.M.E. Church on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 o’clock. This will come in conjunction with the regular business meeting which is usually held on the first Sunday in each month, while the others Sundays in the months ere only for special programs and devotional exercise. The following officers will be installed; Prof. J. B. Batte, President; Miss M.M. Wyms, Vice President; Miss Ella Dunlap, Secretary; Miss Willa Nichols; Assistant Treasurer; Mr. Burton Campbell, Chorister. The friends and visitors are expected in large numbers.

Nashville Globe
1 Mar 1907

Dr. C.V. Roman, the talented specialist, will address the Allen Christian Endeavor League at St. John A.M.E. Church Sunday evening at seven o’clock. Dr. Roman is one of the leading thinkers of the age. He has traveled and studied abroad, and is clean reasoner and a pleasant entertainer. It is always a rare treat to hear Dr. Roman and no one can listen to his words of instruction without being benefited. The endeavor league is making strenuous of the National Convention of Endeavors in July, and they feel highly complimented in having Dr. Roman to address the league on next Sunday evening at seven o’clock.

Nashville Globe
1 Mar 1907
pg. 2

Shelbyville Notes

• Mr. William Greer and wife are very ill.
• Mrs. Sarah Sutton who has been very sick, is much improved.
• Mr. Joe McChristian, of Louiseville, Ky., is visiting relatives in the city.
• E.J. Cannon, of Nashville, is here this week.
• Miss Mary Birkeen, of Nashville, is visiting relatives here.
• Mr. Pleasant McChristian, is indisposed.
• Mrs. Vicey Garrett, who had been very ill for five months, has recovered.
• Mrs. Mary Cannon, who has been in ill health for twelve months, has gained her health again.

Nashville Globe
1 Mar 1907
pg. 2

Packed houses greeted Prince Herman and Duke Berryman this week at Lea Avenue Christian Church, Patterson Chapel M.E. Church, Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, Abrahams Hall and St. Paul A.M.E. Church.

Next week they play at Zion Baptist Church on Brick Church Pike, Monday night, March 4.

Bethel A.M.E. Church, Tenth street between Division and Stephens, Tuesday night, March 5.

North Sixth Street Baptist Church, Wednesday night, March 6.

Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Thursday night, March 7, and on Friday night, March 8, they give their star performance at Meharry Auditorium.

Nashville Globe
1 Mar 1907

Mr. and Mrs. James Claiborne, of 1615 Patterson street, gave a birthday party last Monday in honor of their son James. A three-course menu was served the following guests: Misses Mabel Pashal, Sadie Wilson, Maggie D. Cheatham, Louise Richardson, Mollie Brown, Mary Holland, Jessie M. Randolph, Alberta Cole, Clara Watters, Beatrice Perry, Susie L. Weakly, Bessie Mays, Almor A. Schott, Anna Wilson, Masters Frank Luckett, Finly Gains, Charles Jones, James Gains, Thomas Brooke, John Barnes, John E. Richardson, Mr. & Mrs. Scott Clayborne, of Brentwood, Mrs. Lue Watters of Frankllin, Miss Mattie Pock, of New York; Messrs. William McNeily and William Farmer, of Chicago, and Mrs. Sallie Wison. Music was furnished by Mesrs. John Claiborne, Jake Nelson and James Claiborne, Sr.

In follow-up to the story from the Nashville Globe on the cast members of the Merchant of Venice, I took a look at the Fisk Catalog from 1912 to find out more on these students and where they ended up. Those from the cast listed in the catalog include these from the Class of 1908:

• Duke of Venice — Matthew Vergil Boutte, B.S., Ph. G., Pharmaceutical Department, University of Illinois, 1911.  Teacher of Chemistry, Meharry Medical College, 639 Wetmore St., Nashville.
• Bassanio — William Arthur MacIntyre, B.A., Student, Harvard Law School; 40 Holyoke Street, Cambridge, Mass.
• Salario - Holcombe Sinclair Croswait, B.A., Railroad Service, 402 Rondo Street, St. Paul, Minn.
• Salarino - Franklin Benjamin Murphy, B.S., Teacher Phillips University, Tyler Texas
• Gratiano - St. Elmo Brady, B.A., Teacher, Tuskegee Institute, Ala.
• Lorenzo - James Gillespie Brown, B.A., Student, University of Wisconsin, 821 Milton Street, Madison, Wis.
• Shylock - Charles Campbell, B.A., Student, Law Department, University of Michigan; 1017 E. Catherine St., C.C.,  Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Tubal - William Biddle Merrill, B.A., Railroad Services, 4510 Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, Ill.
• Balthazaar - William Sylvester White, B.A., Ph. G, Pharmaceutical Department, University of Illinois, 1911, Clerk, Post Office, 644 Vincennes Avenue, Chicago, Ill.
• Norissa - Lilian Emmette Cashin, B.A., 509 Madison St., Decatur, Ala.
• Jessica - Gertrude Sadie Glenn, B.A., Teacher, Howard Normal School (A.M.A.), Box 101, Cuthbert, Ga.

On my visit to Fisk recently, I learned about St. Elmo Brady - one of the buildings on campus is co-named after him. He was the first African-American to earn a PhD in chemistry.   Then, from my previous work on James C. Napier’s tree, I’d already learned about Lillian Cashin, she was a sister of the wife of JC’s nephew.

At the end of June/beginning of July, I was on vacation and my family and I did various things around Nashville - one of those items being a trip to Fisk University.  My husband wanted the kids to see the HBCU campus and we talked throughout the day about the importance of education.  I found the trip very rewarding, for it has helped solidify my interest in blacks in Nashville and helped me further appreciate the rich history here in town.  I blogged about our trip on my main blog.

It was neat to walk the campus and hear the history, and hear many names that I’ve learned of through my activity on this blog.  For example,  now that I’ve seen and been inside the Fisk Memorial Chapel and learned of it’s history, it makes it easier to place stories like the report on the Merchant of Venice production in a more real setting.

I hope to continue to learn even more as I continue this project.

As published in the Nashville Globe
1 Mar 1907

The Merchant of Venice was presented at Fisk Memorial Chapel, by the Junior College Class last Friday, February 22.

The cast was as follows:
The Duke of Venice — M.V. Boutte
Antonio — James A. Myers
Bassanio — William A. Macintyre
Salario — Halcombe S. Crosthwait
Salarino — Benjamin F. Murphy
Gratiano — St. Elmo Brady
Lorenzo — James G. Browne
Shylock — Charles Campbell
Tubal — William B. Merrill
Lancelot Gobbo — Alfred G. King
Gobbo - Jack S. Binboy
Leonardo — Howard W. Warner
Balthazar — W. Sylvester White
Portia — Beatrice S. Flanders
Norissa — Lillian E. Cashin
Jessica — Gertrude L. Glenn

The chapel was filled with an attentive and appreciative audience. From the beginning to the end of the play the characters were stimulated by the attitude of their hearers. the personnel of the class, and the training given by Miss Green; the teacher of elocution, made anything but success impossible. Although some of the characters had few words to say, they were well said.

As friends to Antonio and Bassanio, Bardy as Gratiano, Murphy as Salarino, and Crosthwait as Solanio, sustained their characters well.

Boutte, as the Duke of Venice, was the impersonation of courtly grace. Brown, as Lorenzo, played the part of the successful lover admirably. As old Gobbio, Brayboy could scarely [sic] be surpassed.

While Miss Cashin, as Nerissa, charmed the audience with her dainty coyness. She showed herself a strategist of no mean degree. Miss Glenn, in the role of Jessica commanded the sympathy of all as she described her position in Shylock’s family, and their admiration for the way in which she got out of it.

The faithful Hebrew friend was well represented by Merrill, while White as Balthazar and Warner as Leonardo, were trustworthy helpers of Portin and Bassanio.

The character of Shylock is one that is usually held up as a model of avarice and cruelty, yet as one listened to Campbell’s outburst of pent up feeling in his first talk with Antonio and in his subsequent talk with Salanio and Salarino, he was compelled to see as the Jew saw, and feel as the Jew felt. The audience showed its appreciation of his efforts in the stillness which pervaded the house during his speeches, and the hearty applause which followed them.

Miss Flanders, as Portia, the lover of Poria, the judge, was thoroughly enjoyable. In the court scene, and where Bassanio made his choice of the caskets, her rendition of the two parts showed her fine interpretation of the different characters.

As the devoted friend or lover, McIntyre as Bassanio posed equally as well. Possessed of a deep, rich voice, knowing well how to use it, he was intently followed in his love passages and in his words of cheer and comfort to his friend Antonio.

The experience of Antonio with the Jew was well set forth by Myers. As the generous friend, the pleading debtor, or the unfortunate one resigned to his fate, he was able to represent each character in his own inimitable way.

The members of the class have worked long and faithfully, and success crowned their efforts. The proceeds of the entertainment will go to the library which Fisk hopes to have in the near future.

{related post — see what happened to the cast members]

Yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday post contained a picture of Prof. F.G. Smith - a former principle of Pearl High School.   The picture was taken from the August 23, 1903 issue of the Colored American, a black newspaper out of Washington D.C.  Prof. Smith was from Selma, Alabama and attended Fisk University graduating in the class of 1877.  At the time of this article, he had been principle at Pearl High School for 8 years.

This article mentions several accomplished businessmen of Nashville, one of which I have blogged about before.   The accomplishments of Prof. F.G. Smith are many; some taken from the article include:

• through the combined efforts of his and the teachers the school was ranked as one of the first high schools in the south for the exclusive education of blacks
• Prof. Smith liked continuing education - took a course at Meharry in Medicine & Pharmacy, as well as a course in Shorthand & Typewriting from Fall’s Business College
• was the first man in the state of TN to pass the State Board of Pharmacy held at Vanderbilt University
• held three degrees but was humble, never attaching degrees to his name
• was an accomplished orator

In looking through posts I’ve made so far, I found one mention of Prof. F.G. Smith from notes of Pearl High in February 1907 noting that he’d named the high school’s valedictorian and salutatorian.