en, as its scope is far-reaching, being composed of
organizations from every part of the country.

There is no woman, certainly no woman in the United States, who has
more reason to desire and more need to aspire for better opportunities
for her brothers and herself than the Negro woman in general and the
educated Negro woman in particular.

Avarice and egotism have done and is doing its work in retarding, but
not entirely subjugating, the advances that a respectable number of
the race are making.

The task that confronts the thoughtful woman as she surveys the field
in which she must labor is not a reassuring one. It will be through a
slow process that any good will be accomplished.

Much patient and earnest endeavor on the part of our women--a strong
missionary spirit needs to be exhibited before any appreciable results
may be reached. It will require the life work for many years to rescue
even a fractional part from the condition of to-day. Not only has the
Negro race to be uplifted but the white race need to stand on a
stronger platform than that of egotistical display of virtues which
are not wholly theirs.

As long as they deny to the Negro the fact of his brotherhood and his
consequent rights as a man, they are false to their God, and to the
nation. Happily for us there have been a considerable number of the
white race who are mindful of what is due to those of a race whose
tendencies are upward and onward.

It is with feelings of deep gratitude, love and respect when we
reflect upon the great work that was accomplished in the nineteenth
century for the Negro by the truly great and good men and women of the
white race. Now the twentieth century is confronted with the fact that
there is more work yet to do, and the Negro has his part to bear in
it. The progress of the race means much to the Negro woman, and as she
goes forth adding her best energies to the uplifting of her people the
work in itself will react upon her, and from a passive individual she
will be a more alert and useful factor in the regeneration of her race
and to the social system at large.

How to begin the work in a systematic manner for the further
advancement of a people struggling amidst so much that is
discouraging is puzzling to the would-be reformers within our own
ranks. We would have the Negro, now that the mantle of freedom is
thrown over him, and also as an acknowledged citizen, to fully
understand and appreciate the fact that