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CAMPUS MIRROR
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Christian Marriage and the
Home
Isolyn Comer. ’41
This seminar conducted by Mrs. Grace
Sloan Overton, a member of the Univer
sity Christian Mission team on our cam
pus recently, did not boast of a large at
tendance on February 6, nor were many
questions asked, or many suggestions
made, but with each day the attendance,
questions, and suggestions increased.
Mrs. Overton gave as the three funda
mental facts in the development of an in
dividual: birth, quality of environment,
and type of environment. From these
fundamentals her talk radiated out and
included as much in the discussions as
time would permit. Here is a brief
resume of these discussions. The races
long ago became sensitive to the problems
of mating and the problems of bringing
up children; so we have a double stand
ard of morality: one for women, and an
other for men. Illegitimate children lead
to a decline of morality. The basic pat
terns for marriage are: (1) Patriarchal
(plural wives)—the woman is said to con
tribute nothing to the heredity of her chil
dren; (2) Conventional—this emerged in
medieval times and is often the motif of
the old ballad stories in which a member
of the aristocracy fell in love with and
married a member of the lower class;
(3) Romantic—this pattern traditionally
exists in democracies. Two people marry
because they love each other. Integrity
must be present, and the question now is
whether two human beings can each keep
that integrity; and, (4) Totalitarian—
this pattern, existing in Russia and Ger
many today, can never dignify marriage
because it is merely a problem of child
bearing. Children are particularly impor
tant in these nations because each time a
child is born, there is a new citizen that
knows nothing of the old regime, and he
will be denied knowledge of his natural
inheritance in its culture.
Premarital relationships are always a
liability and never an asset to any one
concerned. Science has disturbed our
whole moral conception of the marriage
relation. The Greeks had a conception of
the body never excelled since their time,
but the Romans vulgarized that concept,
making everything about the body, espe
cially of a woman, vile and unclean. Sci
ence brought proof of the fact that the
body is the progenitor of the generations
and destroyed the Roman belief. Our new
morality is now making the body expres
sive of the whole personality—a moral
heritage handed on.
Marriage should be both emotionally
and economically secure. Can human
beings keep the integrity of romantic
marriage by successive generations with
out economic security? There were in the
United States in one year 200.000 di
vorces, and statistics show that the num
ber of divorces among Negroes is increas
ing. Mrs. Overton gave as the causes of
divorce: In-laws, husband and wife ma
turing as differing personalities, idea
tional conflicts, money, and sex. As a
psychological explanation of trouble be
tween in-laws, she stated that one’s par
ents have always had a primary relation
ship with one, but from the time of mar
riage, that relationship becomes second
ary to the new relation. In-laws object on
three levels: compensation level—life is
cheating them; exaggerated ego—nothing
is good enough for the child; fear for the
child, desire to keep the child infantile.
The general idea is that if sex is adjusted,
the other four will automatically be ad
justed; but psychologists say that if the
other four are adjusted, sex will adjust
itself. Many marriages have been broken
up by the violation of sex unity.
Emotional security depends on emo
tional maturity, ability to stand up under
a crisis and render wise judgment for
both.
In a federal survey it was found that
the necessary income for subsistence for
a man and his wife is $900. and for the
first child $300 should be added, decreas
ing the amount proportionately with each
child thereafter. For recreation, doctor
and dentist bills, etc., $1,200, and home
buying, insurance, etc., $1,800. The aver
age income per year is $450. To take care
of the deficiency the students suggested:
both man and woman work, family limi
tation. get married with a reserve, delayed
marriages, live with in-laws, live below
income, cooperative buying, and Mrs.
Overton added that parents subsidize the
marriage.
The students expressed their opinions
quite undauntedly concerning both man
and woman working, but time or space
would not permit discussing these in this
article. However, everyone gained some
very helpful ideas, and the discussions go
frankly on.
Key to Personalities
1. Mrs. Overton, who conducted a sem
inar on “Christian Marriage and the
Home.”
2. Dr. Moreland, authority on interna
tional problems.
3. Dr. Masih of India.
4. Dr. Bollinger.
5. Dr. Bader, whose convocation speech
included the story of a man who, upon
being complimented for the work he and
God had done on his garden, replied,
“Yes, but you should have seen it when
God had it by Himself.”
6. Dr. Nelson, president of Dillard Uni
versity, whose talk “In Defense of Fools”
will be long remembered.
7. Mrs. Milner, instructor in psychol
ogy at Guilford University.
8. Dr. Fetter, who delivered a convoca
tion speech on the direction and place
ment of power.
9. Dr. Tippy.
10. Dr. Boddy.
The Taming of the Shrew
Anne Thomas, ’39
I his Shakespearean comedy was pre
sented on Spelman campus under the
direction of Joseph Selman. by the Avon
Players, January 31. at 2:00 P.M.. in
Howe Theatre. Ordinarily at that hour
of the day nothing has appeal to the aver
age Spelman student; nothing seems en
ticing; everyone wants to go home—but
not only were Spelman students at the
performance in large numbers, but so
were Morehouse men, Atlanta University
students, Oglethorpe children. It had an
appeal for all age levels.
This presentation of The Turning of the
Shrew was an abridged one, but its brev
ity did not detract from its appeal. Also
we know that this group of actors gave a
modern version, thus making it more en
joyable, understandable, more applicable
to the life of our times. Of course, Shakes
peare can not be ruined or spoiled for us,
but some interpretations of his art are so
grotesquely misrepresented that momen
tarily we fail to appreciate his worth. This
was not the case in this presentation of
The Taming of the Shrew. The Avon
Players gave a well-produced, colorful,
dramatic, spontaneous, well-acted repro
duction and a modern interpretation of
Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.
If you missed seeing this play, you
really missed something. It had zest! It
had a unity of production, a simplicity of
development, a well-balanced cast, effec
tive lighting, gracious actors, with a glam
orous background. As you see, it had a
marvelous composition and universal per
ception. In fact, there is no one state
ment one could create that could make you
realize the exceptionally good dramatic
presentation, the powers of artistry re
vealed, or the roaring admiration of the
crowd—except that trite old expression—
“It was a howling success!”
New Instructor in European
History at Atlanta University
Dr. Rushton Coulborn, a native of Eng
land, and formerly an assistant in history
at University College in London, has be
come a member of the history faculty of
Atlanta University.
Dr. Coulborn received his B.A. degree
at McGill University in Montreal, Can
ada, and in 1931 his Pli.D. degree from
London University. From 1929-1933 he
was chief lecturer in history at Davies’
in London and later joint principal of
that school.
Dr. Coulborn is the author of numerous
publications and book reviews. In 1934
he was elected a member of the Royal In
stitute of International Affairs and two
years later he became a fellow of the
Royal Society of Arts, in London.