[African Americana]: [Jenkins Bryant, Sylvia Cecil]:

[Program for the Funeral Services of Sylvia Cecil Jenkins Bryant, Founder of the Bryant Preparatory Institute, a Renowned School for African Americans in Early-20th-Century Atlanta].

Atlanta: 1920. [4]pp., on a single folded sheet. Accompanied by a condolence card. Both housed in original transmittal envelope addressed to Rev. A.T. Stewart of Tyler, Texas. Original mailing folds to program. Minor wear and light toning overall. Very good. Item #5517

The rare program for the funeral of a distinguished African-American educator in Atlanta, Sylvia Cecil Jenkins Bryant (1874-1920), the founder and proprietor of the Bryant Preparatory Institute, a vital school for the Black community in Atlanta in the early decades of the 20th century. Bryant Preparatory offered courses in reading, writing, arithmetic, dressmaking, printing, and other trades, largely at night to those who sought improvement in their careers. The school was located at 533 Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, and is now part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site.

The inscription on the historical marker for Bryant's school placed at its original site reads: "After working all day, blacks crowded into five rooms over a grocery store here to take courses at Sylvia Bryant's adult night school. Bryant Preparatory Institute had four teachers and a full enrollment of 175 students when it opened in 1910. Public schools at that time were segregated and extended only to the eighth grade for blacks. Mrs. Bryant's school and other private academies provided blacks, such as Martin Luther King, Sr., with opportunities for higher education." A quote from Martin Luther King, Sr. also appears on the historical marker: "I just dug into the work, over and over, working all the time, carrying my books with me wherever I went, reading, going over the lessons until they were ready to pop out of my ears.... -- Martin Luther King, Sr., who, as a truck driver, started at Bryant at age 20 in the fifth grade and went on to college."

Bryant's funeral program is packed with piano performances, hymns, songs, readings of her obituary, scripture, telegrams and letters of condolence, and more, as well as numerous testimonials, a eulogy by Rev. M.W. Reddick, and additional eulogies by a host of presenters on Bryant's worth as a teacher, "Community asset," "Community Welfare worker," "National B.Y.P.U. worker," as president of the Woman's Convention of Georgia, as a student, and so forth. The latter portion of the program included "Five Minute Eulogies" by the likes of Bishop J.S. Flipper of the A.M.E. Churches of Georgia, Dr. A.D. Williams of the Atlanta Baptist Association, and Dr. R.H. Singleton of the NAACP, among others. The last page states that Bryant's "monument is Atlanta Baptist Prepatory Institute. Let us perpetuate her memory by giving it substantial support." The program is accompanied by a small printed card from Bryant's family, dated about three weeks after her death, and reading in most part: "Rev. P. James Bryant, the family, and Wheat St. Baptist Church wish to thank you for the substantial sympathy shown and sincere condolence expressed during the sickness and death of our beloved." The program and condolence card were sent to Rev. A.T. Stewart, a prominent minister in Tyler, Texas.

A rare and highly-ephemeral pair of items documenting the funeral services for a legendary Atlanta educator whose influence included the famous King Family.

Price: $450