Page:The Afro-American Press.djvu/406

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398
THE AFRO-AMERICAN PRESS.

father, and her fame is extending all over the land. She is widely known by her having appeared before several national bodies to read some of her productions. She read a paper before the last National Press Convention, at Washington, D. C, upon "Women in Journalism;" also a paper before the Women's Baptist State Convention, at Greenville, Ala., the same year. The paper before the Press Convention was afterward published in The Leader. It is indeed a fine presentation of the subject, showing thought and careful preparation. She opens with a statement of the success which has attended the efforts of our women; then, in speaking of the field which this work offers to women, she says: " There is no work which women can engage in that its influence will be brought to bear upon the public more than this. It is here that their utterances will commend themselves to the mind of the young. America has furnished her share of noble women in this work, and they have done much in molding the national life. Their words found, and are still finding, an echo in the life of the nation. They were thrilled with the forces and vitality of their age, and by their noble words helped to mold the destinies of coming generations." She then discusses at length the women whose work has been glorious, and closes with an eager appeal to our women to engage in this work, as the following lines will show: "While we appreciate the work that has been done by these women, yet we must not think the work completed, This century opened with as broad a field as did the other."

"Let us not merely speak of the praise due, but show our heartiest thanks by taking up the work where they left it and carrying it forward, even to a higher standpoint. If we will nourish the seed sown by them, I believe we, in the near future, shall garner a glorious harvest, while women advance to high moral and intellectual development. Let