Sarah Dudley Pettey on the Responsibilities of Educated African American Women - 1902
Essay by Sarah Dudley Pettey 1902
This essay is reprinted from Twentieth Century Negro Literature, edited by D. W. Culp (Dr. Daniel Wallace Culp), published 1902. The biographical sketch of Sarah Dudley Pettey is presumably written by Culp. Related articles on this site include:
- More African American Women's Essays from Twentieth Century Negro Literature
- African American Women's History
- African American Women: Biographies
What Role Is the Educated Negro Woman to Play in the Uplifting of Her Race?
BY Mrs. C. C. Pettey [Sarah Dudley Pettey].
Mrs. Sarah Dudley Pettey, the brilliant and
accomplished wife of the late Bishop Charles Calvin Pettey, A. M., D. D.,
was born in the historic city of New Berne, North Carolina.
She is the daughter of Hon. E. R. and Caroline E. Dudley. Her father is a
gentleman of great prominence. He was a member of the General Assembly of
North Carolina during the reconstruction period, and has held important
local, state and national positions, and his services are now in great
demand as a political orator and editor. Her mother, the lamented Mrs.
Caroline E. Dudley, was a lady of refinement and of natural gifts.
From environments, contact and association at home, Mrs. Bishop Pettey
always had the instruction and advice of intelligent parents. At the age of
six she could read and write. She entered the graded school of her native
city, and after finishing her course she entered the State Normal School and
remained three years; then she entered the famous Scotia Seminary at
Concord, N. C., from which institution she graduated with distinction June,
1883.
In addition to her inherited gifts, Mrs. Pettey is a woman of great acquired
ability. She reads the classics well, has a taste for the higher
mathematics. She is a student of current events and a close observer of
human nature. Upon graduating at Scotia Seminary she was, in October of the
same year, tendered the position as second assistant in the New Berne graded
school. Next year she was promoted to vice-principal, which position she
held with credit and honor until she was married. For two successive summers
she taught in the Craven County Teachers' Institute.
As a teacher, she was able, brilliant and magnetic. Popular with her
associates, she was loved and honored by her pupils. She ruled with kindness
and love, and punished with a flash of her eye. Well versed in the theory
and practice of teaching, she soon won the sobriquet "Model Teacher."
She is a gifted musician; and for several years was the organist for one of
the most prominent churches in her native city. On the morning of September
19, 1889, she was married to Bishop Charles Calvin Pettey, A. M., D. D.
Immediately after her marriage she became the private secretary of her
husband; and with him traveled extensively in the United States, Canada,
Mexico, Great Britain and Continental Europe. She is an able writer and
eloquent speaker.
For several years she has been General Secretary of the Woman's Home and
Foreign Missionary Society of the A. M. E. Zion Church. As wife, mother and
Christian worker, Sarah Dudley Pettey is a model woman, endeavoring to lead
men and women upward and Heaven-ward.
Woman's part in the consummation of any project which
has to do with the elevation of mankind is of paramount importance. With her
influence eliminated or her work minimized failure is inevitable. This is true
regardless of race or nationality. In the civilization and enlightenment of the
Negro race its educated women must be the potent factors. The
difficulties that the Negro must labor under, in his effort to rise, are
manifold and peculiar. The critics of the Negro have assaulted him at the most
vital point, viz., character. In their onslaught they have assailed the morals
of the entire race. To meet this criticism the Negro must establish a character
of high morals, which will stand out so conspicuously that even his bitterest
foe will acknowledge its reality. In establishing this our women must lead. It
must be understood that their virtue is as sacred and as inviolate as the laws
of the eternal verities. They must not compromise even with an apparent virtuous
sentiment; it must be real. Nothing great is accomplished without the shedding
of blood. To convince the world of the virtue of the Negro race, Negro blood
must be shed freely. Our young women must be taught that gorgeous dress and fine
paraphernalia don't make a woman. They should dress modestly, becomingly and
economically.
She is a true woman whose honor must not be insulted; who, though poorly paid,
pursues her honest labor for bread and would scorn the obtaining of a livelihood
any other way, regardless of the magnitude of the inducement. The foundation for
this high sentiment finds its initiative in the home. Home life is the citadel
and bulwark of every race's moral life. The ruler of home is mother. A faithful,
virtuous and intelligent motherhood will elevate any people. The impress of
mother follows her children to the grave; when her form is changed and her
physical existence extinct the footprints of her noble and pious life live long
after her. Womanhood and manhood begin in the cradle and around the fireside;
mother's knee is truly the family altar. True patriotism, obedience and respect
for law, both divine and civil, the love and yearning for the pure, the sublime
and the good, all emanate from mother's personality. If mother be good all the
vices and shortcomings of father will fail to lead the children astray; but if
mother is not what she should be all of the holy influences of angels cannot
save the children. I would urge then, as the first prerequisite for our work, a
pure, pious and devoted motherhood.
Secondly, a firm stand for right and truth in all things. Woman's power is her
love. This pure flame lights up all around her. Her wishes and desires men love
to satisfy. There are many things in society, politics and religion that
ambitious men would seek to obtain by all hazards, but when woman takes her
stand against these things she invariably wins. Our first stand must be for
intelligence. No woman of to-day, who is thirty years of age, has the
right to be queen of a home, unless she is intelligent. In this advanced day, to
rear up a family by an illiterate woman might well be considered a crime. As a
race, if we would possess the intelligence desired, our children must be kept in
school, and not allowed to roam idly through the streets when the schoolhouse is
open. Since, in most of the Southern states, countless numbers of our people
have been disfranchised, our educated women should institute a movement which
will bring about compulsory education and a general reform in the educational
system of the South. We need better schools and a higher standard of education
for the masses. In our homes wholesome literature, periodicals, papers and books
must be had. Mother must be acquainted with these herself. She introduces the
little ones to them by the story form. This catchy method soon engrosses their
attention, and they become wrapped up in them. Great care must be exercised in
the selection of reading matter for our girls. Nothing is more hurtful than
obscene literature.
When our homes become intelligent, we shall have intelligent statesmen,
ministers and doctors; in fact, the whole regime that leads will be intelligent.
In public affairs woman has her share. She must speak through husband, son,
father, brother and lover. Men go from home into the world to execute what woman
has decreed. An educated wife formulates the political opinion of husband and
son and though she may remain at home on election day, her views and opinions
will find expression in the ballots of the male members of her household. The
same thing is true in the church. I shall not dictate what woman should do here
or limit her sphere of activity, but this I know she can with propriety—in her
auxiliary work to the church she can become a mighty power. Woman's Missionary
Societies, Christian Endeavor Societies, Sabbath School work, etc., afford a
broad field of labor for our educated women. Her activity in all things
pertaining to racial advancement will be the motive power in establishing firmly
and intelligently an enlightened racial existence. Thirdly: The educated Negro
woman must take her stand among the best and most enlightened women of all
races; and in so doing she must seek to be herself. Imitate no one when the
imitation destroys the personal identity. Not only in dress are we imitative to
the extreme, but in manners and customs. When our boys and girls become redeemed
from these evils a great deal will have been accomplished in the elevation of
our race.
There are some noble women among other races whom we may imitate in virtue,
morality and deportment. Those women come not from the giddy and gay streets of
London, Paris or New York; but such women as Queen Victoria, Helen Gould,
Frances Willard and others. These women have elevated society, given tone and
character to governments and other institutions. They ornamented the church and
blessed humanity. I can say with pride just here that we have many noble women
in our own race whose lives and labors are worthy of emulation. Among them we
find Frances Watkins Harper, Sojourner Truth, Phillis Wheatley, Ida Wells
Barnett and others. Our educated women should organize councils, federations,
literary organizations, societies of social purity and the like. These would
serve as great mediums in reaching the masses.
I cannot refrain from mentioning public or street decorum here. Woman, as she
glides through the busy and crowded thoroughfares of our great cities is eyed
and watched by everyone. It is here that she impresses the world of her real
worth. She can by her own acts surround herself with a wall of protection that
the most vicious character would not dare attempt to scale or she can make it
appear otherwise.
Beware then, mothers; accompany your daughters as often as possible in public.
In this advanced age, if the Negro would scale the delectable heights already
attained by more highly favored races, our women must unite in their endeavors
to uplift the masses. With concentration of thought and unity of action, all
things are possible; these can effect victories when formidable armies and
navies fail. The role that the educated Negro woman must play in the elevation
of her race is of vital importance. There is no sphere into which your
activities do not go. Gather, then, your forces; elevate yourself to some lofty
height where you can behold the needs of your race; adorn yourself with the
habiliments of a successful warrior; raise your voice for God and justice; leave
no stone unturned in your endeavor to route the forces of all opposition. There
is no height so elevated but what your influence can climb, no depth so low but
what your virtuous touch can purify. However dark and foreboding the cloud may
be, the effulgent rays from your faithful and consecrated personality will
dispel; and ere long Ethiopia's sons and daughters, led by pious, educated
women, will be elevated among the enlightened races of the world.
This essay is reprinted from Twentieth Century Negro Literature, edited by D. W. Culp (Dr. Daniel Wallace Culp), published 1902. The biographical sketch of Sarah Dudley Pettey is presumably written by Culp. Related articles on this site include:
