Mary Church Terrell: An Original Oberlin Activist

Commencement

Thanks to the Commencement Annual (June 26, 1884), we have an excerpt of the talk Terrell gave at the graduation ceremony, held in First Church on June 25, 1884:  "The Mission of Tyranny."  Given what we know about her oratory skills, it must have been a stirring speech, meant to inspire her fellow graduates to take the values of Oberlin out into the world. 

From evil can come good, as from the darkness of night the light of the sun. And so tyranny, though it has crushed many a heart,  blighted many a life, has a mission well defined, and has played no insignificant part in the progress of  nations.  Tyranny has revealed the nature of the human heart.  It has shown man as a fiend, and pictured him with an inspiration almost divine.  Tyranny has another work which has wrought well for the world.  Look back over the history of the ages, and whence has come the inspiration of those who have lifted themselves from the level of the brute to the dignity of manhood?  Has it not come from the oppressor’s chains. Tyranny’s mission is to teach.  It has Proclaimed in clarion tones, which have echoed and re-echoed through all the battles, “Man must be free.”


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