Newspaper Page Text
VOL. I, NO. 2
SPELMAN COLLEGE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
December 19, 1959
Annual Christmas Carol Concert
A. M. S. Chorus under the direction of Dr. Willis James, Mrs. Joyce Finch Johnson accompanist.
The Freshman Class
Elects Officers
President Beverly Pratt
Vice President Marilyn Pryce
Secretary Nelda King
Asst. Secretary Sonya Mixon
Treasurer Hattie Mosley
Social Chairman Brenda Gibson
Representative to
The Student Council Phyllis Umstead
Publicity Chairman Marilyn Sweeting
Exchange Program
To Become
' Effective
The idea that Spelman Col
lege should send students to var
ious colleges on an exchange ba
sis began two years ago. Letters
were then written to various col
leges asking if they would accept
students and send students to us
for a feiw weeks, for a semester,
or for a year.
The Exchange Program wil be
gin during the Spring Semester
of the 1959-60 school year. The
colleges participating are North
Central College, Napierville, Illi
nois and Bethel College, Newton,
Kansas. The Spelman students
who will participate in the first
exchange program are unknown
at this time. Two students are be
ing considered for each of the
schools mentioned.
One student is applying for a
scholarship at Barnard College in
New York. Barnard College has
consented to give a scholarship
to a Spelman student for a year.
The students chosen to partici
pate in the exchange program are
selected on the basis of scholar
ship and interest. Preference is
given to students from the South
to enable them to gain experi
ences beyond the confines of the
South.
'Dr. Howard Zinn is chairman
of the exchange program and is
assisted by Mrs. Irene Asbury,
and Miss Carolyn Crawford.
NAACP
As we are planning to organize
an NAACP chapter on Spelman’s
campus soon, I think that some
information on the history and
functions of the NAACP might
result in a better understanding
of this organization and its ac
tivities.
The NAACP was begun in 1909
by a group of white and Negro
leaders in New York headed by
Mary White Ovington assisted by
Dr. W. E. B. DuBois. Its organi
zation was an immediate response
to the racial riots which had
erupted in Springfield, Illinois.
These riots were viewed as just
one manifestation of the general
degeneration of race relations
during this period. Its leaders felt
the vital need of the colored
peoples for add in combating the
unjust and discriminatory prac
tices they encountered. The NAA
CP sought to make the struggle
of these people its own.
It adopted as its goal “the estab
lishment of equal rights for citi
zens of all races and religions
with respect to security of pen
sion, housing, education, employ
ment, voting, and various public
accommodations. In working to
achieve Its goal, the NAACP
makes a threefold attack on ra
cial discrimination: legal, legis
lative and educational. Its plan
of anti-discrimination laws, and a
public information program.”
Since its organization, the
NAACP has done much to ame
liorate the position of minority
groups, particularly the Negro, in
the United States,but its struggle
is far from finished. It has done
much, but much remains to be
done toward securing equal rights
for all in the U.SA.
The NAACP has gained many
(Continued on Page 3)
Book Review
The Status Seekers, by Vance
Packard
On November 18 in Dean Sage
auditorium, Dr. Cothran, Chair
man of the Social Science Depart
ment at Atlanta University re
viewed the Status Seekers, by
Vance Packard. This review was
divided into two sections. The
first section dealt with the actual
review of the book, while the sec
ond section was concerned with
his criticisms of the book.
Dr. Cothran severely criticized
Mr. Packard’s book. He gave the
impression that he does not hold
the Status Seekers in high regard.
He stated that the book was of no
significance, from the sociologists’
point of view.
The review was very good. Dr.
Cothran is skillful in his use of
words and did an excellent job
of keeping his audience interested.
Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year
Garner At
The Keyboard
The tinkling of the keys, the
beat of the drums, and the bow
ing of the bass are all memories
of the fabulous Erroll Gamer
Concert. Erroll Gamer, “The Ge
nius of the Piano,” left everyone
spellbound after each number he
played.
His pattern of beginning each
number with his right hand as an
introduction kept you in rapt won
derment as to what he was going
to play next. The composite chords
filled you up with rhythm from
your' head to your toes. The au
dience was fascinated by his dra
ma and wit.
Every number that he played
was a favorite of someone’s. How
ever I think we would all agree
that songs like “Misty”, “The
Nearness of You”, “Tenderly”, and
“My Funny Valentine”, made ev
eryone’s heart skip a beat. His
medley of songs from George and
Ira Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess”,
and “Showboat”, were played in
a superb manner. To mention a
few of them; “I Love You Porgy”,
“Bess, You is My Woman Now”,
“Summertime”, “The Man I
Love”, One cannot overlook the
men, Edward Calhoun and Kelly
Martin, who superbly played the
bass and drum. They added color
and wit to the entire concert.
The concert ended with Mr.
Garner’s original song, “Erroll’s
Theme”. However, fans applaud
ed, shouted, and waited for his
re-appearance. The concert was
officially ended after two encores.
Fans went their Way repeating
to themselves “Mr. Gamer, you
really are a genius.”
Mary J. Crew
Students To Study
Abroad
The Spelman Family looks for
ward to the annual chapel address
by President Manley in which he
announces the year’s recipients
of the Merrill Fellowship Award
—the highest honor obtainable by
a Spelman woman. On Monday,
December 1, 1959 Dr. Manley an
nounced that this year’s students
were Misses Patricia Myrl White
and Mary Frances Watts.
Patricia is a member erf the
Junior Class from Beaumont,
Texas, and leads the class aca
demically. At present, she is pres
ident of the Biology Club and an
active member of the Spelman
Glee Club. “Pat” is majoring in
biology and minoring in chemis
try.
Mary Frances is a native of At
lanta, Georgia and a member of
the Sophomore Class. She has
been on the honor roll each se
mester since entering Spelman.
Mary has a major in English and
a minor in French, and is quite
active in the English and French
clubs. She is also a member of the
Spotlight staff.
We, of the Spelman Family, are
very proud of these two outstand
ing young women.
The Atlanta-Morehouse-Spel-
man Chorus presented its annual
Christmas Carol Concert, on De
cember 11, 12, 13. Following
through with the practiced cus
tom, the program was composed
of carols from many different
countries as well as from our
own. Along with the ones that
have become traditional, several
new selections were performed,
among which were “Gloria in Ex-
celsis,” a rare old English carol;
“Holy Holy Carol” a Cornish
carol; “Christ of the Snow,” a
Hungarian carol; “Two Kings,” by
Clokey; “O Tannenbaum,” a Ger
man carol; “Mary’s Lullaby,” by
Natle; “The World’s Good Mor
row,” an English carol; “Psallite
Unigerito,” a German carol; and
“New Born,” a Negro spiritual
by John Work.
The Chorus this year consists
of 95 students from Atlanta Uni
versity, Morehouse and Spelman.
The program was under the di
rection of Dr. Willis L. James. Mr.
Wendell Whalum conducted ; the
Morehouse College Glee Club and
Mrs. Joyce Finch Johnson and Dr.
Grace Boggs are the accompan
ists. The Spelman Glee Club also
participated.
With so many new and talented
members and such an excellent
program, this year’s concert was
as good, if not better than pre
vious ones!
Congratulations, Dr. James and
the A.M.S. Chorus.
To The City
Students
When the city students were
interviewed, it was discovered
that they were confronted with
many problems that should be
solved in order to make our col
lege days more successful.
Transportation seemed to be the
major problem. Because of the
poor city transportation system,
the city students have found it
difficult to return to the campus
for evening activities. The poor
participation of the city Students
has presented a problem to the
school also.
The responsibilities to the home
and community have been found
to conflict with school activities.
The wise utilization of time has
created easier study habits. The
interruption of study at home,
such as telephone, television, and
Visitors has only created another
problem for the city student.
The most important problem
discussed by both the city and
campus students was the difficulty
of destroying intangible boundar
ies that separate the city students
from the campus students. Both
groups would like to establish a
closer relationship.
This article has been written
to assure the city students that we
have realized their difficulties as
well as our own shortcomings.
We would like you to know that
we will do our best to make
things more comfortable and to
ease these difficulties as much as
possible.
Patricia Smith