Alfred H. Stone Collection
Volume: 27

22. M. E. Strieby, The Work of Half a Generation among the Freedmen in the United States, American Missionary Association, Pamphlet no. 5 (New York: American Missionary Association, 1878). (31 p.)

Reflections on the financial, educational, and spiritual progress made by African Americans during the fifteen years since emancipation. Despite substantial gains in all three areas, the author is concerned that some people believe that enough has been done to help black folks make the transition from slave to freedman. “I once asked a wealthy, benevolent and Christian man: ‘Mr. H., tell me frankly what you think is the duty we owe to these colored people?’ He replied: ‘I will tell you frankly. We must sustain our foreign missions and we must keep up our home missions in the West; but as for these Freedmen, we have set them free and sent them some ministers, teachers and Bibles, and now they ought to take care of themselves.’” A statistical summary of the Association’s mission work in the United States appears on the last page.