{"id":1141,"date":"2012-09-10T16:52:28","date_gmt":"2012-09-10T20:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2018-03-28T19:51:34","modified_gmt":"2018-03-28T23:51:34","slug":"the-charles-fred-white-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/the-charles-fred-white-story\/","title":{"rendered":"The Charles Fred. White Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"valine\"<\/a>Guest blogger Peter Valine has taught history and social science at Williston Northampton since 1998, and was appointed Dean of the Faculty in 2010.\u00a0 He presented the following at the opening-of-school faculty meeting on August 30, 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thinking about how to start the year, I wanted an opening that was inspirational\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 something to fuel and direct the positive energy of this moment.\u00a0 I wanted an opening that would engage us\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 and hold our interest.\u00a0 I wanted an opening with an underlying message<\/strong> — that gave context and meaning to our gathering together at the beginning of the year.\u00a0 In thinking about how to accomplish these aims (inspiration, engagement, and an underlying message), I came to the realization that I needed to tell a story.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Charles Fred. White in 1908 (Click all images to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ll be honest, I wanted to start the year with an Olympic story — a Williston Olympian who through purpose, passion, and integrity rose to the ranks of an Olympic medal winner — but my research revealed that the Olympic legacy of Williston athletes is actually quite modest.\u00a0 So I went to the Archives for inspiration, and was led to the life of Charles Fred. White, whose story serves my purposes perhaps even better than a Williston athlete who gained Olympic fame and glory.<\/p>\n

Charles White was a member of the Williston Seminary class of 1909.\u00a0 He was a patriot who loved his country but he<\/em> was not always loved by his fellow countrymen.\u00a0 He was an accomplished poet whose lyrics provide important insights into the nature of American society at the turn of the century.\u00a0 He was a veteran of the Spanish-American War who served with a combat regiment in Cuba.\u00a0 He was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, who enjoyed both financial and political success in the city of Philadelphia.\u00a0 He was a well-known radio concert singer, and at least according to one account I read he equaled the world record for the 50 yard dash at 5.2 seconds.\u00a0 Charles White was also an inventor who, according to an article in a Philadelphia newspaper, used an electric battery wired to an old hand stop watch to discover a more accurate method of timing track events.\u00a0 So this is a story about a War veteran, scholar, poet, singer, athlete, and inventor; Charles White was a true Renaissance Man and a man respected by contemporaries for his versatility and talent.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The title page of Plea of the Negro Soldier, published while White was a Williston student.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I will use some of the poetic words of Charles White to help narrate his story, and I hope that this story serves as an inspiration to us as we open this new school year.<\/p>\n

The story starts in Tennessee in the year 1876 with the birth of Charles Fred. White to parents who had been slaves.\u00a0 Charles would be the oldest of 10 children.\u00a0 When Charles was very young his family moved to Springfield, Illinois.\u00a0 Charles provides an autobiographical sketch of his earliest days in the poem \u201cA Tale of a Youth of Brown,\u201d that he wrote while at Williston.<\/p>\n

Out from the plains of Illinois,
\nOut from the town of Lincoln’s home,
\nWhere the emancipator’s tomb
\nAnswers the stare of State House dome,
\nCame forth a strippling of a boy.<\/p>\n

Brown as a chestnut was his face,
\nBrown as two beans his soulful eyes,
\nCurly his hair like waves and black.
\nBright was his face as summer skies:
\nHe was of Afric’s sunburnt race.<\/p>\n

(Charles Fred White, Plea of the Negro Soldier and a Hundred Other Poems.\u00a0 <\/em>Easthampton: Press of Enterprise Printing Company, 1908.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
White (l.) on the Adelphi Debating Team of 1907-08 (The Log, 1908)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the few sources that inform us about Charles White\u2019s adolescence a major theme from this period is an education denied.\u00a0<\/em> His father forced him to leave school at age 15 to get employment to support the family.\u00a0 As a result of this development — perhaps in an act of rebellion — he struck out on his own and struggled to support himself.\u00a0 We can see the passion for education and the burning desire to learn in subsequent stanzas of \u201cA Tale of a Youth of Brown.”<\/p>\n

He was denied his chief desire,
\nTaken from school, fore’er perhap,
\nBut he, undaunted by his fate,
\nRan away from his mother’s lap;
\nLeft to escape his father’s ire.<\/p>\n

To the great city came this lad,
\nAs yet unskilled in worldly lore,
\nSought out employment for himself.
\nDuring his leisure he would pore
\nOver some book, some song he had.<\/p>\n

In his early 20\u2019s, struggling to provide for himself, Charles White enlisted in the Eighth Illinois, an all-Black regiment that served in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.\u00a0 During the war he served as a sergeant major, a chaplain\u2019s assistant, and a regimental clerk.\u00a0 His poetry written during the war clearly showed that he was ready to fight and die for the cause of freedom for the Cuban people.\u00a0 He wrote, for example, that “if I died upon the battleground, with unfurled glory all around, then I am fully content to die, and be upraised to him on high.”<\/em>\u00a0 His unit saw combat in Cuba and he wrote about the burial of 20 members of his unit who died from combat or disease.<\/p>\n

After returning from the war in 1899, he became very disillusioned with his experiences back in the U.S.\u00a0 He was angry about the hypocrisy of fighting for freedom abroad and returning home to a land in which he was not free.\u00a0 In his poem \u201cThe Negro Volunteer,\u201d he writes:<\/p>\n

He volunteered his life and health
\nTo go to cruel war\u2014
\nIncreasing thus his country’s wealth
\nIn soldier boys afar\u2014
\nTo fight the battles of a land
\nwhich does not him protect.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Charles White (2nd row, 3rd from r.) on the 1908 Williston Track Team (The Log, 1908)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He experienced refusals to serve him meals in Denver restaurants, he suffered Jim Crow discrimination in Little Rock, Arkansas, he was threatened with lynching in Missouri and, as he writes, was \u201cproscribed, ostracized, and mistreated\u201d at many places in the North.\u00a0 However, he still had a burning desire to learn, and in 1903, finally caught a break.<\/p>\n

Finally heard he of a school
\nWhere he might work and in return
\nReceive the knowledge which he wished.<\/p>\n

Famed was this school throughout the land
\nEven from o’er the seas there came
\nYouth to be educated, trained,
\nNot only in the paths of fame.
\nBut in base hatred, man for man.<\/p>\n

The famed school was Exeter.\u00a0 Charles White went there for a time, but was ultimately expelled due to southern whites at the school who objected to his presence on the campus.\u00a0 He went briefly to Boston Latin.\u00a0 Then Joseph Sawyer, Headmaster of Williston Seminary, invited him to join this community, where he enrolled in 1906 as a 30-year-old African-American combat veteran in a mostly white sophomore class.<\/p>\n

Sad, but resolved, he left its walls,
\nWent to a more congenial one
\nWhere he might have a right to live;
\nHe found this right at Williston;
\nFound justice, freedom in her halls.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
White with the Williston Musical Association (The Log, 1908)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his days at Williston, Charles White maintained high grades, excelled in track and on the Adelphi Society’s Debating Team, sang and played his guitar in musical ensembles.\u00a0 He continued to write poetry — many of his poems were published in The Willistonian<\/em> — and to work at Enterprise Printing in the town in Easthampton.\u00a0 Enterprise published White’s Plea of the Negro Soldier <\/em>in 1908; White probably set the type himself. \u00a0There is a spirited poem he wrote entitled \u201cWilliston Battle Song\u201d that describes a football game between Williston and Worcester, in which he wrote that “after the battle was o\u2019er, Worcester went home worn and sore; Williston cheered for the Blue and Gold, While the chapel bell tolled.”<\/p>\n

The closing stanza of “The Tale of a Youth of Brown” states,<\/p>\n

Found friendly spirit in her town;
\nFound helping hands and willing hearts
\nBrightened, his soul poured forth its strains,
\nPleasing the townsfolk with his arts
\nUntil they loved this youth of brown.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The angry Charles White. Many of his poems address racial inequity and oppression.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I wanted to share Charles White\u2019s story with you this morning, in part because I find it so uplifting. The obstacles that Charles White faced in his life, whether they were poverty, injustice, war in a foreign land, or racism at home, could not contain him.\u00a0 It is a story about perseverance, determination, and in the end it is a story of success.<\/p>\n

It’s interesting that after leaving Williston there is not much record of Charles White writing more poetry. Perhaps he is like many writers and artists whose most creative periods were periods of angst.\u00a0 Once he had achieved success his need to write and his creativity declined.\u00a0 Or perhaps, as one researcher wrote, his later work is still waiting to be discovered in an attic somewhere in Philadelphia.\u00a0 (Roger J. Bresnahan, “Charles Fred White: a Forgotten Black Poet.”\u00a0 Negro History Bulletin<\/em> 40 (1977), p. 661.)<\/p>\n

Another reason I wanted to share Charles White\u2019s story is just to put in a plug for storytelling as a vehicle for learning.\u00a0 Stories often provide the structure through which we learn and remember.\u00a0 Many of us, for example, have effectively learned cultural and \"\"<\/a>religious values through reading and listening to stories.\u00a0 Daniel Pink, in his book A Whole New Mind,<\/em> notes that \u201cStories provide us the ability to place facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact.\u201d\u00a0 (New York: Riverhead, 2005; p. 103)\u00a0 Pink uses a quote from cognitive scientist Roger Schank, that \u201cHumans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.\u201d\u00a0 (Pink, p. 102)\u00a0 If we can wrap some of the facts, theories, or concepts into context through an engaging story, then I think this information will resonate and have more staying power.\u00a0 I think many of us have seen the powerful informational and emotional punch that stories can deliver when members of our community have shared their personal histories.<\/p>\n

Finally, I wanted to start with this story because I believe it illuminates and reminds us of the core values of our community and our institutional goals.<\/p>\n

Charles White\u2019s life story models a passion<\/strong> for learning and quest for academic excellence<\/strong> that lies at the heart of our community\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think it is surprising to many of us that Williston proved to be \u201cthe more congenial place\u201d where Charles White “found helping hands and willing hearts.”\u00a0 I remember back when we were doing our mission statement, brainstorming almost exactly a century after Charles White, and we perceived that one of our community strengths was that we continue to be an unpretentious and welcoming community of adults and students.\u00a0 It is not surprising that it was here that the people “came to love that youth of brown.”<\/p>\n

Charles White\u2019s story is a tribute to the integrity<\/strong> of Joseph Sawyer and certainly is an early example of a community commitment to diversity<\/strong> in an era where this commitment was not the norm.\u00a0 Charles White dedicated a poem to Joseph Sawyer entitled \u201cTo Williston at Parting\u201d where he thanked Williston for the \u201ccountless debt I owe\u201d to Headmaster Sawyer and the school who spoke words of cheer and encouragement to him.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As we start the year, I am confident that we will all do our best to provide an environment like the one here in the early 1900\u2019s that brightened Charles White and allowed his soul to pour forth its strains.<\/p>\n

I hope that over the course of the year we can spend some time identifying and telling school stories like the story of Charles White; stories past and present that illuminate who we are, how we fit in, and why that matters.\u00a0 Stories to tell ourselves, to guide and inspire us, and stories to tell those outside our community that will distinguish us.<\/p>\n

I would like to close with two short pieces. First, the last poem in Charles White\u2019s book is called \u201cOur Aim in Life\u201d.<\/p>\n

We should all endeavor to make others happy,
\nFor life of itself enough sorrow will give:
\nOur sympathy, happiness, love, all have value\u2014
\nThe world should be better because we have lived.<\/p>\n

It is a poem that he wrote while a student at Williston.<\/p>\n

Finally, a Native American proverb:<\/p>\n

Tell me a fact and I will learn; tell me the truth and I will believe; but tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.<\/p>\n

Your comments and questions are encouraged!\u00a0 Please use the space below.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest blogger Peter Valine has taught history and social science at Williston Northampton since 1998, and was appointed Dean of the Faculty in 2010.\u00a0 He presented the following at the opening-of-school faculty meeting on August 30, 2012. Thinking about how to start the year, I wanted an opening that was inspirational\u00a0\u2014 something to fuel and … Continue reading The Charles Fred. White Story<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[140,91,125,336,476,25],"tags":[143,145,74,142,144,146],"class_list":["post-1141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni-alumnae","category-archivists-bookshelf","category-easthampton-history-2","category-guest-bloggers","category-publications","category-williston-seminary","tag-african-american-students","tag-charles-fred-white","tag-joseph-sawyer","tag-peter-valine","tag-poetry","tag-storytelling"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1141"}],"version-history":[{"count":88,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2804,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions\/2804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}