Context: Mrs. White writes to her overworked son. In this letter she gives counsel as to how men in responsibility at Oakwood should conduct themselves. A duplicate copy of this letter was also sent to G.I. Butler, then Southern Union president.

My dear son Edson,

I have written you some things sorrowfully. I dare not confide these things to you alone, but have sent them to Elder Haskell to be read to you. There are many who suppose that I sustain you in things that are not right. It would be doing an injustice to them and to you for me to keep back the warnings that I have received for you; therefore, though I feel more sad at heart than I can tell you, I dare not withhold these things from you.PCO 107.5

You have proposed that a Colored training school be started on your property at North Nashville and that Elder Rogers be placed in charge of it. I beseech you not to enter into any more plans that require means. I beg of you to stop where you are before another dollar is invested.PCO 107.6

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”PCO 108.1

I am constantly holding up the necessity of every man doing his best as a Christian, training himself to realize the growth, the expansion, the nobility of character which it is possible for us to have.PCO 108.2

Men are to be laborers together with Christ, but unless they strive most earnestly, unless they constantly behold Christ, they are in danger of not holding the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end. You have a work to do, but if you continue to load yourself down with perplexities, you will become unable to give the trumpet a certain sound. The Lord is looking upon us to see what we have made of ourselves, to see whether He can enrich us with His grace.PCO 108.3

In all that we do, we are to sustain a Christlike relation to one another. We are to blend together, using every spiritual force for the carrying out of wise plans in earnest action. The gifts of God are to be used for the saving of souls. Our relations to one another are not to be governed by human standards, but by divine love, the love expressed in the gift of God to our world.PCO 108.4

My son, I desire you to show your appreciation of the truth that is to be proclaimed at this time. But when you load yourself down with responsibilities that overtax your brain, you are using up vital force without adding anything to the advancement of the cause of God.PCO 108.5

In regard to Brother Rogers, he has made mistakes. He has been accused of that of which he is not guilty; but at the same time, he has shown too much commonness in his association with the girl students at the Huntsville School. A man in the position that Brother Rogers occupied cannot be too careful of his words and acts. He should not allow the least familiarity to be seen in his relations to the students, such as placing his hand on the arm or shoulder of a girl student. He should not allow the least approach to familiarity in the school or out of the school, or in association with white students or colored students.PCO 108.6

In the past not all of our teachers have been clear and true and firm in this respect. They have not stood in a proper position. They need to see things in an altogether different light regarding the relations of teachers and students.PCO 108.7

The one standing at the head of a school should in no case give the impression that commonness and familiarity are allowable. His lips and his hands are to express nothing that anyone can take advantage of. Let men keep their place, and let the girl students, be they black or white, keep their place. Never should any liberties in word or act be taken by a teacher.PCO 108.8

Abridged

15—The Right Thing Is Being Done

17—A Deep Interest in the Huntsville School