William Vaux Jr. and Henry Comfort, Friends' Freedmen'sAssociation board members, visit CII, 5 April 1900.

4th Mo., 10th, 1900.
To the Executive Board,
Friends' Freedmen's Association:

In order to bring before the Board a view of our visit to the Christiansburg Industrial Institute the past week it has seemed best that a short written report should be presented.

We reached Christiansburg on the morning of Fourth Month 5th, Henry W. Comfort remaining till the night train of the same day, and William S. Vaux, Jr. till the night train of Fourth Month 6th.

Industrial day (Fourth Mo. 5th) was mostly taken up in attending meetings and inspecting the farm. The gathering in the morning in the school building on the hill was composed mostly of the pupils with a few grown people, while in the afternoon the room was packed to the doors with 250 persons, probable 75 of whom were white. The exercises consisted of singing speeches and discussions on topics of interest to farmers as outlined in a recent number of the "Helper", the audience being interested and attentive at all times. The exhibit of the industrial departments occupied one side of the room, and in the afternoon the judges awarded the prizes which were presented to the winners by Henry W. Comfort. The pupils and teachers of one of the white schools of Christiansburg attended the afternoon session in a body, while a number of the more prominent merchants were present. The evening session, devoted almost entirely to literary features was called for 7:30 P.M. but did not begin till 9:15, which necessitated dropping a large part of the program laid out. This lack of punctualness is a fault apparent in the farm as well as the school work. The principal paper of the evening was by a teacher connected with the public schools of Roanoke, and the meeting was attended by several others who came down especially to attend the commencement.

We were impressed by the earnest, quiet demeanor of the people when gathered, and with their neat and tidy appearance, also with the evident respect in which they are held by the white people of the town.

The first impression of the farm is not the best, but after going over it Henry W. Comfort expressed himself as satisfied that with careful attention it could be made very productive. As compared with similar tracts in the neighborhood the fences and buildings are in good condition, but will require a considerable outlay in the near future to bring them to a high standard. After making allowance for the lack of Yankee thrift the care of machinery, tools and fences was good. It must be remembered that the farm has not been under cultivation for many years, and it will take time and care to bring it to a high state of cultivation. Field No. 5 sowed in timothy and clover has not taken well, and Henry W. Comfort made several recommendations as to sowing additional seed by which he hopes still to obtain a good crop.

The pipe leading water from the large spring to the dwelling has been laid and is in use, but the spring is uncovered and is somewhat soiled by leaves falling from a great white oak tree, which shades it. A small springhouse at this point would protect the water and at the same time furnish an excellent place to keep milk, butter, etc.

The boarding quarters fitted up in the old slave houses to the rear are now occupied by about fifteen boys, two of whom give their entire attention to the farm in daytime, and receive instruction at night, and the others devote part of their time to regular class work on the hill.

. . .

Finally we were both impressed with the earnestness of all the teachers, but particularly of Marshall, Long and Goldwire, and with the esteem in which they were held by the citizens [both] white and black, by the neat and clean appearance of the [] and the evident interest they had in the school. We [find that] work worthy of the Society of Friends is being carried [and that] while far from being ideal and subject to many criticisms [it is] still capable of doing an immense amount of good in [helping the] Negro to help himself.

Source: FFA Minutes, 10 April 1900; William S.Vaux Jr., typescript report of the visit he and Henry W. Comfort madeto CII, 5 April 1900, Friends Historical Library, SwarthmoreCollege.

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