upon any issue that failed to meet the hearty
endorsement of the race and which was not accepted as the
expression of the best thought and principle of our people.
In argument his style is logical and conservative. As a
spicy paragrapher, originator of attractive news features,
and as a keen observer of popular tastes, he has few equals
and no superiors in the army of Afro-American journalists.
He has done special work for prominent papers of both races,
and furnished much "copy" for private individuals, always
giving complete satisfaction.

Mr. Thompson has been fortunate in the matter of official
recognition. At the age of fifteen he served as page in the
Indiana Legislature, being the first colored boy so
appointed. After attaining his majority he became a clerk in
the Marion County Auditor's office, and in 1888 he led a
class of seventy-five in a civil service examination,
earning an appointment as letter carrier. He came to
Washington in 1894 and was appointed clerk in the counting
division of the Government Printing Office, enjoying the
distinction of being the first colored man to be assigned to
a clerical position in that department. Mr. Thompson is now
connected with the United States Census Bureau and is
regarded as a faithful and efficient assistant.

Busy as Mr. Thompson must necessarily be, he has time to aid
in promoting race movements and organizations, being an
active spirit in the National Afro-American Council, the Pen
and Pencil Club, and St. Luke's P. E. Church. He is now
serving his third term as President of the Second Baptist
Lyceum, a cosmopolitan debating forum that has won a
national reputation.

The question is both pertinent and timely. In the past two decades the
necessity for the preacher, the teacher, the lawyer, and the doctor
has not been open to dispute. Every father and mother, no matter what
their social standing or their worldly means, have striven honestly,
faithfully and persistently to enroll their favorite boy in the ranks
of one or the other of these callings, as if they were the only open
highways toward distinction, or the goal denominated "success."

In contemplating the professions which make for racial grandeur,
racial opportunities, and protection from assault, many of us forget
the importance of the Negro _press_ as a fact