Southern Workman, Volume X, No. 10, October 1881

Item Details

Hampton, Virginia, 1881

First Edition, Good

Single early issue of this monthly periodical "devoted to the interests of Negro and Indian civilization...edited and managed by the officers of the Hampton Institute, and printed on the School Press by colored youth trained in the office" (masthead).  17" x 12", 8 pp (7 pages of text, 1 page of ads). Paper is brittle, and there are chips and tears at the edges and splits at  folds, but the issue is complete and clean. 

Southern Workman was published from 1872 to 1939 at the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), a school established for freed people in 1868. According to a Library of Virginia blog post, "the Southern Workman’s early content typically included agricultural news, news about local public schools and church happenings, and household advice and poetry, while also providing 'a forum for the discussion of race problems.' By its later years, the Workman had evolved into an academic journal with lectures, articles, book reviews, and in-depth essays on African American and American Indian history, culture, and education." This issue includes a Letter to the Editor from Booker T. Washington; a column on "Incidents of Indian Life at Hampton," and an article on "The Rising Generation of Colored Boys About Towns," among other things.  Issues from this time period are quite scarce in the marketplace.