THE UPWARD PATH

A READER FOR COLORED
CHILDREN

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

ROBERT R. MOTON

PRINCIPAL OF TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE

COMPILED BY

MYRON T. PRITCHARD

PRINCIPAL, EVERETT SCHOOL, BOSTON

AND

MARY WHITE OVINGTON

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE

NEW YORK
HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE

COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE, INC.

[Pg v]

FOREWORD

To the present time, there has been no collection of stories and poemsby Negro writers, which colored children could read with interest andpleasure and in which they could find a mirror of the traditions andaspirations of their race. Realizing this lack, Myron T. Pritchard,Principal of the Everett School, Boston, and Mary White Ovington,Chairman of the Board of the National Association for the Advancement ofColored People, have brought together poems, stories, sketches andaddresses which bear eloquent testimony to the richness of the literaryproduct of our Negro writers. It is the hope that this little book willfind a large welcome in all sections of the country and will bring goodcheer and encouragement to the young readers who have so largely thefortunes of their race in their own hands.

The editors desire to express thanks to the authors who have generouslygranted the use of their work. Especial acknowledgement is due to Mrs.Booker T. Washington for the selection from Up from Slavery; to TheCrisis for "The Rondeau," by Jessie Fauset, "The Brave Son," by AlstonW. Burleigh, "The Black Fairy," by Fenton Johnson, "The Children atEaster,"[Pg vi] by C. Emily Frazier, "His Motto," by Lottie B. Dixon, "NegroSoldiers," by Roscoe C. Jamison, "A Legend of the Blue Jay," by RuthAnna Fisher; to the American Book Company for "The Dog and the CleverRabbit," from Animal Tales, by A. O. Stafford; to Frederick A. Stokesand Company for "A Negro Explorer at the North Pole," by Matthew A.Henson; to A. C. McClurg and Company for the selection from Souls ofBlack Folk, by W. E. B. DuBois; to Henry Holt and Company for theselection from The Negro, by W. E. B. DuBois; to the Cornhill Companyfor the selections from The Band of Gideon, by Joseph F. Cotter, Jr.,and The Menace of the South, by William J. Edwards; to Dodd, Mead andCompany for "Ere Sleep Comes Down" and the "Boy and the Bayonet"(copyright 1907), by Paul Laurence Dunbar.[Pg vii]

CONTENTS