UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 10001647808 This book Is due at the WALTER R. DAVIS LIBRARY on the last date stamped under "Date Due." If not on hold, it may be renewed by bringing it to the library. ^JJ| RETURNED °^J| RETURNED w Eh a Eh > i-i < Eh o E- tf O O s ^ ^ 3 CHAPTER II. BOYHOOD IN WEST VIRGINIA. We began life in West Virginia in a little shanty, and lived in it for several years. My step-father soon obtained work for my brother John and myself in the salt furnaces and coal mines, and we worked alternately in them unti' about the year 1871. Soon after we reached West Virginia a school teacher, Mr. William Davis, came into the community, and the col- ored people induced him to open a school. My step-father was not able to spare me from work, so that I could attend this school, when it was first opened, and this proved a sore disappoint- ment to me. I remember that soon after going to Maiden, West Virginia, I saw a young colored man among a large number of colored people, reading a newspaper, and this fired my ambition to learn to read as nothing had done before, I said to myself, if I could ever reach the point where I could read as this man was doing, the acme of my ambition would be reached. Although I could not attend the school, I remember that, in some way, my mother secured a book for me, and although she could not read herself, she tried in every way possible to help me to do so. Every barrel of salt that was packed in the 23 24 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, mines was marked, and by watching the letters that were put on the salt barrels I soon learned to read. As time went on, after considerable persuasion on my part, my step-father consented to permit me to attend the public school half of the day, provided I would get up very early in the morning and perform as much work as possi- ble before school time. This permission brought me great joy. By four o'clock in the morning I was up and at my work, which continued until nearly nine o'clock. The first day I entered school, it seems to me, was the happiest day that I have ever known. The first embarrassment I experienced at school was in the matter of find- ing a name for myself. I had always been called "Booker," and had not known that one had use for more than one name. Some of the slaves took the surnames of their owners, but after free- dom there was a prejudice against doing this, and a large part of the colored people gave themselves new names. When the teacher called the roll, I noticed that he called each pupil by two names, that is a given name and a surname. When he came to me he asked for my full name, and I told him to put me down as "Booker Washington," and that name I have borne ever since. It is not every school boy who has the privilege of choosing his own name. In intro- ducing me to an audience in Essex Hall, Lon- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 25 don, during my visit to Europe, in the summer of 1899, Honorable Joseph H. Choate, the Amer- ican Ambassador, said that I was one of the few Americans that had had the opportunity of choosing his own name, and in exercising the rare privilege I had very naturally chosen the best name there was in the list. My step-father seemed to be over careful that I should continue my work in the salt furnace until nine o'clock each day. This practice made me late at school, and often caused me to miss my lessons. To overcome this I resorted to a practice of which I am not now very proud, and it is one of the few things I did as a child of which I am now ashamed. There was a large clock in the salt furnace that kept the time for hundreds of workmen connected with the salt furnace and coal mine. But, as I found myself continually late at school, and after missing some of my les- sons, I yielded to the temptation to move forward the hands on the dial of the clock so as to give enough time to permit me to get to school in time. This went on for several days, until the manager found the time so unreliable that .the clock was locked up in a case. It was in Maiden that I first found out what a Sunday school meant. I remember that I was playing marbles one Sunday morning in the road with a number of other boys, and an old colored 26 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, man passed by on his way to Sunday school. He spoke a little harshly to us about playing marbles on Sunday, and asked why we did not go to Sunday school. He explained in a few broken though plain words what a Sunday school meant and what benefit we would get from it by going. His words impressed me so that I put away my marbles and followed him to Sunday school, and thereafter was in regular attendance. I remem- ber that, some years afterwards, I became one of the teachers in this Sunday school and finally be- came its superintendent. No matter how dark the days or how discourag- ing the circumstances, there was never a time in my youth when the firm resolution to secure an educa- tion, at any cost, did not constantly remain with me. Next came the unpleasant coal mine experience. My stepfather was not able, however, to per- mit me to continue in school long, even for a half day at the time. I was soon taken out of school and put to work in the coal mine. As a child I recall now the fright which, going a long distance under the mountain into a dark and damp coal mine, gave me. It seemed to me that the distance from the opening of the mine to the place where I had to work was at least a mile and a half. Although I had to leave school I did not give up my search for knowledge. I took my book into the coal mine, and during the spare minutes I BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 27 tried to read by the light of the little lamp which hung on my cap. Not long after I began to work in the mines my mother hired some one to teach me at night, but often, after walking a con- siderable distance for a night's lesson, I found that my teacher knew but little more than I did. This, however, was not the case with Mr. William Davis, my first teacher. After working in the coal mine for some time, my mother secured a position for me as house boy in the family of General Lewis Ruffner. I went to live with this family with a good many fears and doubts. General Ruffner's wife, Mrs. Viola Ruffner, had the reputation of being very strict and hard to please, and most of the boys who had been employed by her had remained only a short time with her. After remaining with Mrs. Ruffner a while, I grew weary of her exact manner of having things done, and, without giving her any notice, I ran away and hired my- self to a steamboat captain who was plying a boat between Maiden and Cincinnati. Mrs. Ruffner Was a New England woman, with all the New En- gland ideas about order, cleanliness and truth. The boat captain hired me as a waiter, but before the boat had proceeded many miles towards Cincin- nati he found that I knew too little about waiting on the table to be of any service, so he discharged me before I had been on his boat for many hours. 28 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, In some way, however, I persuaded him to take me to Cincinnati and return me to Maiden. As soon as I returned home, I returned to Mrs. RufFner, acknowledged my sins, and secured my old posi- tion again. After I had lived with Mrs. Ruffner for a while she permitted me to attend school for a few hours in the afternoons during three months, on the condition that I should work faith- fully during the forenoon. She paid me, or rather my step-father, six dollars per month and board for my work. When I could not get the opportunity to attend school in the afternoon I resorted to my old habit of having some one teach me at night, although I had to walk a good distance after my work was done in order to do this. While living with Mrs. Ruffner I got some very valuable experience in another direction, that of marketing and selling vegetables. Mrs. Ruff- ner was very fond of raising grapes and vege- tables, and, although I was quite a boy, she en- trusted me with the responsibility of selling a large portion of these products. I became very fond of this work. I remember that I used to go to the houses of the miners and prevail upon them to buy these things. I think at first Mrs. Ruff- ner doubted whether or not I would be honest in these transactions, but as time went on and she found the cash from these sales constantly in- BOOKER T.WASHINGTON. 29 creasing, her confidence grew in me, and before I left her service she willingly trusted me with any- thing in her possession. I always made it a special point to return to her at the end of each campaign as a salesman every cent that I had re- ceived and to let her see how many vegetables or how much fruit was brought back unsold. At one time I remember that, when I passed by an acquaintance of mine when I had a large basket of peaches for sale, he took the liberty of walking up to me and taking one of the ripest and most tempting peaches. Although he was a man and I was but a boy, I gave him to under- stand in the most forceful manner that I would not permit it. He seemed greatly surprised that I would not let him take one peach. He tried to explain to me that no one would miss it and that I would be none the worse off for his taking it. When he could not bring me to his way of think- ing he tried to frighten me by force into yielding, but I had my way, and I am sure that this man respected me all the more for being honest with other people's property. I told him that if the peaches were mine I would gladly let him have one; but under no circumstances could I consent to let him take without a protest that which was entrusted to me by others. It happened very often that as I would pass through the streets with a large basket of grapes or other fruit, 30 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, many of the larger boys tried by begging and then by force to dispossess me of a portion of what had been given me to sell, but I think there was no instance when I yielded. From my earliest childhood I have always had it im- planted in me that it never pays to be dishonest, and that reward, at some time, in some manner, for the performance of conscientious duty, will always come, and in this I have never been disap- pointed. I wish to add here that there are few instances of a member of my race betraying a specific trust. One of the best illustrations of this which I know of, is in the case of an ex-slave from Vir- ginia, whom I met not long ago in a little town in the state of Ohio. I found that this man had made a contract with his master, two or three years previous to the Emancipation Proclamation, to the effect that the slave was to buy himself, by paying so much per year for his body; and while he was paying for himself, he was to be permitted to labor where and for whom he pleased. Finding that he could secure better wages in Ohio, he went there. When freedom came, he was still in debt to his master some three hundred dollars. Notwithstanding that the Emancipation Proclamation freed him from any obligation to his master, this black man walked the greater portion of the distance back 'THIS FJRED MY AMBITION TO LEARN TO READ, AS NOTHING HAD DONE BEFORE." BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 31 to where his old master lived in Virginia, and placed the last dollar, with interest, in his hands. In talking to me about this, the man told me that he knew he did not have to pay the debt, but he had given his word to his master, and his word he had never broken. He felt that he could not enjoy his freedom till he had fulfilled his promise. In all, I must have spent about four years in the employ of Mrs. Ruffner; and I here repeat what I have said more than once, that aside from the training I got at the Hampton Institute under General Armstrong, Mrs. Ruffner gave me the most valuable part of my education. Her habit of requiring everything about her to be clean, neat and orderly, gave me an education in these respects that has been most valuable to me in the work that I have since tried to accomplish. At first I thought that her idea of strict honesty and punctu- ality in everything meant unkindness, but I soon learned to understand her and she to understand me, and she has from the first time that I knew her until this day proven one of the best friends I ever possessed. One day, while I was at work in the coal mine, I heard some men talking about a school in Vir- ginia, where they said that black boys and girls were permitted to enter, and where poor students were given an opportunity of working for their a 32 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, board, if they had not money with which to pay for it. As soon as I heard of this institution, I made up my mind to go there. After I had lived with Mrs. Ruffner about four years I decided to go to the Hampton Institute, in Virginia, the school of which I had heard. I had no definite idea about where the Hampton Institute was, or how long the journey was. Some time before starting for Hampton, I remember, I joined the little Baptist church, in Maiden, of which I am still a member. Of my ancestry I know almost nothing. While in slave quarters, and even later, I heard whis- pered conversations among the colored people of the tortures which the slaves, including, no doubt, my ancestors on my mother's side, suffered in the middle passage of the slave ship while being con- veyed from Africa to America. I have been unsuccessful in securing information that would throw any accurate light upon the history of my family beyond my mother. She, I remem- ber, had a half-brother and a half-sister. In the days of slavery, not very much attention was given to family history and family records — that is, black family records. My mother, I suppose, attracted the attention of a purchaser who was afterward my owner and hers. Her addition to the slave family attracted about as much atten- tion as the purchase of a new horse or cow. Of BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 33 my father I know even less than of my mother. I only know that he was a white man, but who- ever he was, I never heard of his taking the least interest in me, or providing in any way for my rearing. But I do not find especial fault with him. He was simply another unfortunate victim of the institution which the nation unhappily had en- grafted upon it at that time. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON REHEARSING HIS GRADUATING ORATION AT HAMPTON. HIS FIRST SPEECH. LITTLE BOOKER STARTING FOR HAMPTON INSTITUTE. CHAPTER III. LIFE AT HAMPTON INSTITUTE. After my mother and brother John had secured me a few extra garments, with what I could provide for myself, I started for Hampton, about the first of October, 1872. How long I was on this journey I have at this time no very definite idea. Part of the way I went by rail- road, part in a stage, and part on foot. I re- member that when I got as far as Richmond, Virginia, I was completely out of money, and knew not a single person in the city. Besides, I had never been in a city before. I think it was about nine o'clock at night that I reached Rich- mond. I was hungry, tired and dirty, and had no where to go. I wandered about the streets until about midnight, when I felt completely exhausted. By chance I came to a street that had a plank sidewalk, and I crept under this sidewalk and spent the night. The next morning I felt very much rested, but was still quite hungry, as it had been some time since I had a good meal. When I awoke, I noticed some ships not far from where I had spent the night. I went to one of these vessels and asked the captain to permit me to 35 36 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, work for him, so that I could earn some money to get some food. The captain very kindly gave me work, which was that of helping to unload pig iron from the vessel. In my rather weak and hungry condition I found this hard work, but I stuck to it, and was given enough money to buy a little food. My work seemed to have pleased the master of the vessel so much that he furnished me with work for several days, but I continued to sleep under the sidewalk each night, for I was anxious to save enough money to pay my passage to Hampton. After working on this vessel for some days, I started again for Hampton, and arrived there in a day or two, with a surplus of fifty cents in my pocket. I did not let any one know how forlorn my condition was. I feared that if I did, I would be rejected as one that was altogether too unpromising. The first person I saw after reaching the Hampton Institute was Miss Mary F. Mackie, the Lady Principal. After she had asked me many searching questions, with a good deal of doubt and hesitation in her man- ner, I was assigned to a room. She remarked at the same time that it would be decided later whether I could be admitted as a student. I shall not soon forget the impression that the sight of a good, clean, comfortable room and bed made upon me, for I had not slept in a bed since BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.' 37 I left my home in West Virginia. Within a few hours I presented myself again before Miss Mackie to hear my fate, but she still seemed to be undecided. Instead of telling me whether or not I could remain, I remember, she showed me a large recitation room and told me to sweep it. I felt at once that the sweeping of that room would decide my case. I knew I could sweep, for Mrs. Ruffner had taught me that art well. I think that I must have swept that room over as many as three times, and dusted it the same number of times. After awhile Miss Mackie came into the room and rubbed her handkerchief over the tables and benches to see if I had left any dust, but not a particle could she find. She remarked with a smile, "I guess we will try you as a student." At that moment I think I was the happiest individual that ever entered the Hampton Institute. After I had been at the Hampton Institute a day or two I saw General Armstrong, the Principal, and he made the impression upon me of being the most perfect specimen of man, physically, men- tally and spiritually, that I had ever seen; and I have never had occasion to change my first im- pression. In fact, as the years went by and as I came to know him better, the feeling grew. I have never seen a man in whom I had such con- fidence. It never occurred to me that it was pos- 38 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, sible for him to fail in anything that he undertook to accomplish. I have sometimes thought that the best part of my education at Hampton was obtained by being permitted to look upon General Armstrong day by day. He was a man who could not endure for a minute hypocrisy or want of truth in any one. This moral lesson he impressed upon every one who came in contact with him. After I had succeeded in passing my "sweeping examination," I was assigned by Miss Mackie to the position of assistant janitor. This position, with the exception of working on the farm for awhile, I held during the time I was a student at Hampton. I took care of four or five class rooms; that is, I swept and dusted them and built the fires when needed. A great portion of the time I had to rise at four o'clock in the morning in order to do my work and find time to prepare my lessons. Everything was very crude at Hampton when I first went there. There were about two hund- red students. There was but one substantial building, together with some old government bar- racks. There were no table cloths on the meal tables, and that which was called tea or coffee was served to us in yellow bowls. Corn bread was our chief food. Once a week we got a taste of white bread. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 39 While taking the regular literary and industrial courses at Hampton, next to my regular studies I was most fond of the debating societies, of which there were two or three. The first subject that I debated in public was whether or not the execution of Maj. Andre was justifiable. After I had been at Hampton a few months I helped to organize the "After Supper Club." I noticed that the students usually had about twenty minutes after tea when no special duty called them; so about twenty-five of us agreed to come together each evening and spend those twenty minutes in the discussion of some important sub- ject. These meetings were a constant source of delight, and were most valuable in preparing us for public speaking. While at Hampton my best friends did not know how badly off I was for clothing during a large part of the time, but I did not fret about that. I always had the feeling that if I could get knowledge in my head, the matter of clothing would take care of itself afterwards. At one time I was reduced to a single ragged pair of cheap socks. These socks I had to wash over night and put them on the next morning. After I had remained at Hampton for two years I went back to West Virginia to spend my four months of vacation. Soon after my return to Maiden my mother, who was never strong, 40 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, died. I do not remember how old I was at this time, but I do remember that it was during my vacation from Hampton. I had been without work for some time, and had been off several miles looking for work. On returning home at night I was very tired, and stopped in the boiler- room of one of the engines used to pump salt water into the salt furnace near my home. I was so tired that I soon fell asleep. About two or three o'clock in the morning some one, my brother John, I think, found me and told me that our mother was dead. It has always been a source of indescribable pain to me that I was not present when she passed away, but the lessons of truth, honor and thrift which she implanted in me while she lived have remained with me, and I consider them among my most precious possessions. She seemed never to tire of planning ways for me and the other children to get an education and to make true men and women of us, although she herself was without education. This was the severest trial I had ever experienced, because she always sympathized with me deeply in every effort that I made to get on in the world. My sister Amanda was too young to know how to take care of the house, and my step-father was too poor to hire anyone. Sometimes we had food cooked for our meals and sometimes we did not. During the whole of the summer, after the death BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 41 of my mother, I do not think there was a time when the whole family sat down to a meal to- gether. By working for Mrs. Ruffner and oth- ers, and by the aid of my brother John, I obtained money enough to return to Hampton in the fall, and graduated in the regular course in the summer of 1875. Aside from Gen. Armstrong, Gen. Marshall and Miss Mackie, the persons who made the deepest impression upon me at Hampton were Miss Nathalie Lord and Miss Elizabeth Brewer, two teachers from New England. I am espec- ially indebted to these two for being helped in my spiritual life and led to love and understand the Bible. Largely by reason of their teaching, I find that a day rarely, if ever, passes when I am at home, that I do not read the Bible. Miss Lord was the teacher of reading, and she kindly con- sented to give me many extra lessons in elocution. These lessons I have since found most valuable to me. Life at Hampton was a constant revelation to me; it was constantly taking me into a new world. The matter of having meals at regular hours, of eating on a tablecloth, using a napkin, the use of the bath-tub and of the tooth-brush, as well as the use of sheets upon the bed, were all new to me. I sometimes feel that the most valuable lesson 42 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, I learned at the Hampton . Institute was the use of the bath. I learned there for the first time some of its value, not only in keeping the body healthy, but in inspiring self-respect and promoting virtue. In all my travels in the South and elsewhere, since leaving Hampton, I have always in some way sought my daily bath. To get it sometimes when I have been the guest of my own people in a single-roomed cabin has not always been easy to do, except by slipping away to some stream in the woods. I have always tried to teach my people that some pro- vision for bathing should be a part of every house. After finishing the course at Hampton, I went to Saratoga Springs, in New York, and was a waiter during the summer at the United States Hotel, the same hotel at which I have several times since been a guest upon the invitation of friends. CHAPTER IV. HOW THE FIRST SIX YEARS AFTER GRADUATION FROM HAMPTON WERE SPENT. In the fall of 1875 I returned to Maiden and was elected as the teacher in the school at Maiden, the first school that I ever attended. I taught this school for three years. The thing that I recall most pleasantly in connection with my teaching was the fact that I induced several of my pupils to go to Hampton and that most of them have become strong and useful men. One of them, Dr. Samuel E. Courtney, is now a suc- cessful physician in Boston and has been a mem- ber of the Boston Board of Education. While teaching I insisted that each pupil should come to school clean, should have his or her hands and face washed and hair combed, and should keep the buttons on his or her clothing. I not only taught school in the day, but for a great portion of the time taught night school. In addition to this I had two Sunday schools, one at a place called Snow Hill, about two miles from Maiden, in the morning, and another in Maiden in the afternoon. The average attendance in my day school, was, I think, between eighty and 43 44 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, ninety. As I had no assistant teacher it was a very difficult task to keep all the pupils inter- ested and to see that they made progress in their studies. I had few unpleasant experiences, how- ever, in connection with my teaching. Most of the parents, notwithstanding the fact that they and many of the children knew me as a boy, seemed to have the greatest confidence in me and respect for me, and did everything in their power to make the work pleasant and agreeable. One thing that gave me a great deal of satis- faction and pleasure in teaching this school was the conducting of a debating society which met weekly and was largely attended both by the young and older people. It was in this debating society and the societies of a similar character at Hampton that I began to cultivate whatever tal- ent I may have for public speaking. While in Maiden, our debating society would very often arrange for debates with other similar organiza- tions in Charleston and elsewhere. Soon after I began teaching, I resolved to induce my brother John to attend the Hampton Institute. He had been good enough to work for the family while I was being educated, and besides had helped me in all the ways he could, by working in the coal mines while I had been away. Within a few months he started for Hamp- ton and by his own efforts and my aid he went BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 45 through the institution. After both of us had gotten through Hampton we sent our adopted brother James there, and had the satisfaction of having him educated under Gen. Armstrong. In 1878 I went to Wayland Seminary, in Washington, and spent a year in study there. Rev. G. M. P. King, D. D., was President of Wayland Seminary while I was a student there. Notwithstanding I was there but a short time, the high Christian character of Dr. King made a lasting impression upon me. The deep religious spirit which pervaded the atmosphere at Way- land made an impression upon me which I trust will always remain. Soon after my year at Wayland was completed, I was invited by a committee of gentlemen in Charleston, West Virginia, to stump the state of West Virginia in the interest of having the capital of the state moved from Wheeling, West Virginia, to Charleston. For some time there had been quite an agitation in the state on the question of the permanent location of the capital. A law was passed by the legislature providing that three cities might be voted for; these were, I think, Charleston, Parkersburg and Martinsburg. It was a three-cornered contest and great energy was shown by each city. After about three months of campaigning the voters declared in favor of Charleston as the permanent capital,by 46 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, a large majority. I went into a large number of the counties of West Virginia, and had the satis- faction of feeling that my efforts counted for something in winning success for Charleston, which is only five miles from my old home, Maiden. The speaking in connection with the removal of the capital rather fired the slumbering ambition which I had had for some time to become a lawyer, and after this campaign was over I began in earnest to study law, in fact read Blackstone and several elementary law books preparatory to the profession of the law. A good deal of my reading of the law was done under the kind direction of the Hon. Romes H. Freer, a white man who was then a prosperous lawyer in Char- leston and who has since become a member of Congress. But notwithstanding my ambition to become a lawyer, I always had an unexplainable feeling that I was to do something else, and that I never would have the opportunity to practice law. As I analyze at the present time the feel- ing that seemed to possess me then, I was im- pressed with the idea that to confine myself to the practice of law would be going contrary to my teaching at Hampton, and would limit me to a much smaller sphere of usefulness than was open to me if I followed the work of educating my people after the manner in which I had been Lewis Adat^s Jo ^H.W4s^ OTon Wakren Logan, Treasurer. TEACHERS AT TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE. Emmett J. Scott, Mr. Washington's Private Secretary. A BRILLIANT TRIO OP COLORED AMERICANS. ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORTERS OF MR. WASHINGTON. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 47 taught at Hampton. The course of events, how- ever, very soon placed me where I found an opportunity to begin my life's work. My work in connection with the removal of the capital had not been completed long when I re- ceived an invitation from Gen. Armstrong, much to my surprise, to return to Hampton and deliver the graduates' address at the next commence- ment. I chose as the subject of this address, "The Force that Wins." All who heard the address seemed pleased with what I said. After the address I was further surprised by being asked by Gen. Armstrong to return to the Hamp- ton Institute and take a position, partly as a teacher and partly as a post-graduate student. This I gladly consented to do. Gen. Armstrong had decided to start a night class at Hampton for students who wanted to work all day and study for two hours at night. He asked me to organize and teach this class. At first there were only about a half dozen students, but the number soon grew to about thirty. The night class at Hampton has since grown to the point where it now numbers six or seven hundred. It seems to me that the teaching of this class was almost the most satis- factory work I ever did. The students who com- posed the class worked during the day for ten hours in the saw mill, on the farm, or in the laundry. They were a most earnest set. I soon 48 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, gave them the name of the "Plucky Class." Several of the members of this "Plucky Class" now fill prominent and useful positions. While I was teaching I was given lessons in advanced subjects, among those who assisted me in that way being Dr. H. B. Frissell, who was then chap- lain, but who is now the honored and successful successor of Gen. Armstrong. About the time the night class was organized at Hampton, Indians for the first time were per- mitted to enter the institution. The second year that I worked at Hampton, in connection with other duties I was placed in charge of the Indian boys,, who at that time numbered about seventy- five, I think. I lived in their cottage with them and looked after all their wants. I grew to like the Indians very much, and placed great faith in them. My daily experience with them convinced me that the main thing that any oppressed people needed was a chance of the right kind, and they would cease to be savages. I have often wondered if there is a white insti- tution in this country whose students would have welcomed the incoming of more than a hundred companions of another race in the cordial way that the black students at Hampton welcomed the red ones. How often have I wanted to say to white students that they lift themselves up in proportion as they Jhelp to lift others, and that BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 49 the more unfortunate the race and the lower in the scale of civilization, the more does one raise one's self by giving the assistance. This reminds me of a conversation which I once had with the Hon. Frederick Douglass. At one time Mr. Douglass was traveling in the state of Pennsylvania, and was forced, on account of his color, to ride in the baggage-car, in spite of the fact that he had paid the same fare as the other passengers. When some of the white passengers went to the baggage- car to console Mr. Douglass, and one of them said to him, " I am sorry, Mr. Douglass, that you have been degraded in this manner," Mr. Douglass straightened himself up on the box upon which he was sitting, and replied: "They cannot degrade Frederick Douglass. The soul that is within me no man can degrade. I am not the one that is being degraded on account of this treatment, but those who are inflicting it upon me." My experience has been, that the time to test a true gentleman is to observe him when he is in contact with individuals of a race that is less for- tunate than his own. This is illustrated in no better way than by observing the conduct of the old-school type of Southern gentleman when he is in contact with his former slaves or their descend- ants. 50 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, An example of what I mean is shown in a story told of George Washington, who, meeting a col- ored man in the road once, who politely lifted his hat, lifted his own in return. Some of his white friends who saw the incident, criticised Washing- ton for his action. In reply to their criticism, George Washington said: "Do you suppose that I am going to permit a poor, ignorant colored man to be more polite than I am?" At the end of my second year at Hampton as a teacher, in 1881, there came a call from the little town of Tuskegee, Alabama, to Gen. Arm- strong for some one to organize and become the Principal of a Normal School, which the people wanted to start in that town. The letter to Gen. Armstrong was written on behalf of the colored people of the town of Tuskegee by Mr. Geo. W. Campbell, one of the foremost white citizens of Tuskegee. Mr. Campbell is still the president of the Board of Trustees of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, and has from the first been one of its warmest and most steadfast friends. When Mr. Campbell wrote to Gen. Armstrong he had in mind the securing of a white man to take the principalship of the school. Gen. Arm- strong replied that he knew of no suitable white man for the position, but that he could recom- mend a colored man. Mr. Campbell wrote in reply that a competent colored man would be J BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 51 acceptable. Gen. Armstrong asked me to give up my work at Hampton and go to Tuskegee in answer to this call. I decided to undertake the work, and after spending a few days at my old home in Maiden, West Virginia, I proceeded to the town of Tuskegee, Alabama. I wish to add here that, in later }?ears, I do not envy the white boy as I once did. I have learned that success is to be measured, not so much by the position that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed. Looked at from this standpoint, I almost reach the conclusion that often the Negro bo}''s birth and connection with an unpopular race are an advantage, so 'far as real life is concerned. With few exceptions, the Negro youth must work harder and perform his tasks even better than a white youth in order to secure recognition. But out of the hard and unusual struggle through which he is compelled to pass, he gets a strength, a confidence that one misses whose pathway is comparatively smooth by reason of birth and race. From any point of view, I had rather be what I am, a member of the Negro race, than to be able to claim membership with the most favored of any other race. I have always been made sad when I have heard members of my race claiming rights and privileges, or^certain badges of dis- 52 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, tinction, on the ground simply that they were members of this or that race, regardless of their own individual worth or attainments. CHAPTER V. THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK AT TUSKEGEE. Before starting for Tuskegee I found it almost impossible to find the town on any map, and had difficulty in learning its exact location. I reached Tuskegee about the middle of June. 1 88 1. I found it to be a town of some 2,000 inhabitants, about half of whom were Negroes, and located in what is commonly called the "Black Belt," that is, the section of the South where the Negro race largely outnumbers the white population. The county in which Tuske- gee is located is named Macon. Of Tuskegee and Macon County I prefer to quote the words of Maj. W. W. Screws, the editor of the "Mont- gomery (Alabama) Daily Advertiser," who vis- ited Tuskegee in 1898, seventeen years after the Tuskegee Institute was founded. Maj. Screws says : "Just at this time there is probably no place in the United States, of similar size, so well known to the people of the country, as this lovely little city. It has always possessed merits which brought it conspicuously before Alabamians, for in every locality in this and many Southern 53 34 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, States are noble men and women who received their educational training here. "Thomas S. Woodward was one of the earliest white settlers in Macon County, and was one of the commissioners appointed to lay off the site for the court house. He built the first house in the new town, which they called Tuskekee, a corruption of the old Indian name, Tuskigi, which is said by Dr, Gatschet to be a contrac- tion of Taskialgi (warriors). The old Indian town stood in the fork of the Coosa and was the home, part of the time, of the famous half- breed statesman, Alexander McGillivray. The name passed in its present form to the county seat of the new county. "Tuskegee was settled by men who were well to do in a material point of view. They owned rich lands on the creeks and streams and in the prairie section of the county. This point is on a high, dry ridge, and from time immemorial has been noted for its healthfulness. Here came those who wished to build homes for their fam- ilies, to have congenial company and to give their children educational advantages. They did not desire the projectors of the Montgomery and West Point Railroad to put the town on its route, because of the interruption it was feared would be occasioned to the schools. From the very beginning of its existence, education has BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 55 been the main feature of Tuskegee, and through its schools and colleges a population gathered here which has never been excelled in point of refinement, politeness and all the gentle ameni- ties which tend to make life comfortable. "The town of Tuskegee was first settled about 1830. James Dent built the first house. The town was first laid out in 1833. Mr. G. W. Campbell came to the county with his father from Montgomery in 1835, and at that time perhaps 150 people were in and about what now comprises Tuskegee's territorial limits. There was no court house building, and court sessions were held in a small log house with a dirt floor. When court was not in session the building was used as a school house. The Creek Indians were in great numbers in the neighborhood, but they were friendly and peaceful, and in 1836 commenced to move to their far Western home, going overland to Montgomery, where they took steamer for New Orleans. Tuskegee is one of the model towns in the way of good order. "Among the white settlers here are Dr. W. j. Gautier, and Messrs. G. W. Campbell, j. W. Bil- bro, J. O. A. Adams and W. H. Wright, They have a perfect wealth of interesting reminiscence connected with the early days of all East Ala- bama. Although they have passed the three score years, they are hale, healthy men, engaged in 56 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, business, and set a splendid example of energy and active life to the younger generation. The firm of Campbell & Wright has been in existence, pos- sibly, longer than any other in Alabama. " The Montgomery and West Point Railroad is about five miles distant from Tuskegee, the near- est station being Chehaw.' From there to Tuske- gee, until about twenty years ago, the usual mode of conveyance for passengers and baggage was stage coach and omnibus, while all goods were transported by wagon. It was a tiresome, troublesome and expensive method. This diffi- culty has been overcome through the Tuskegee Railroad v/hich now connects the two points. " The population of Macon County before i860, was largely heavy landed proprietors. They suf- fered immensely by the results of the war from disorganized labor, and reverses stripped them of much of their property. The county is almost exclusively agricultural, and the average yield year by year, of corn, cotton, peas, potatoes and other things grown on well regulated farms, is fairly good." When I reached Tuskegee, I found that Mr. Lewis Adams, a colored man of great intelligence and thrift, who was born a slave near Tuskegee, had first started the movement to have some kind of Normal School in Tuskegee for the education of colored youth. At the time he conceived this BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 57 idea Hon. W. F. Foster and Hon. A. L. Brooks, both white Democrats, were members of the Alabama Legislature, and Mr. Adams so inter- ested them in the movement that they prom- ised to use their influence in the Legislature to secure an annual appropriation of $2,000 toward the expenses of a Normal School, provided one could be properly organized and started. Mr. Foster and Mr. Brooks were successful in their efforts to secure the appropriation, which was limited in its use to helping to pay teachers. A Board of three Commissioners was appointed to control the expenditure of this $2,000. When the school was first started this board consisted of Mr. Geo. W. Campbell, Mr. M. B. Swanson and Mr. Lewis Adams. After the death of Mr. Swanson, Mr. C. W. Hare was elected in his stead. When I reached Tuskegee, the only thing that had been done toward the starting of a school was the securing of the $2,000.. There was no land, building, or apparatus. I opened the school, however, on the 4th of July, 1881, in an old church and a little shanty that was almost ready to fall down from decay. On the first day there was an attendance of thirty students, mainly those who had been engaged in teaching in the public schools of that vicinity. But these little buildings, inadequate as they were, were most 53 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, gladly furnished by the colored people, who from the first day that I went to Tuskegee to the present time have done everything within their power to further the interests of the school. One curious thing that happened in connection with the students was, as additional pupils began to come in, that some of them had been attending schools taught by some of those who came to the Tuskegee school, and, in several cases, it hap- pened that former pupils entered higher classes than their former teachers. CHAPTER VI. THE FIRST YEAR AT TUSKEGEE. After the school had been in session in the old church and little shanty for several months, I began to see the necessity of having a permanent location for the institution, where we could have the students not only in their class rooms, but get hold of them in their home life, and teach them how to take care of their bodies in the matter of bathing, care of the teeth, and in general cleanli- ness. We also felt that we must not only teach the students how to prepare their food, but how to serve and eat it properly. So long as we had the students only a few hours in the class room during the day, we could give attention to none of these important matters, which our students had not had an opportunity of learning before leaving their homes. Few of the students who came during the first year were able to remain during the nine months' session, for lack of money, so we felt the necessity of having industries where the students could pay a part of their board in cash. It was rather noticeable that, not- withstanding the poverty of most of the students who came to us in the earlier months of the in- ~9 60 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, stitution, most of them had the idea of getting an education in order that they might find some method of living without manual labor ; that is, they had the feeling that to work with the hands was not conducive to the development of the highest type of lady or gentleman. This feeling we wanted to change as fast as possible, by teach- ing students the dignity, beauty and civilizing power of intelligent labor. After a few months had passed, I wrote Gen. J. F. B. Marshall, at that time treasurer of the Hampton Institute, and put our condition before him, telling him that there was an abandoned farm about a mile from the town of Tuskegee in the market which I could secure at a very cheap price for our institution. As I had absolutely no money with which to make the first payment on the farm, I summoned the courage to ask Gen. Marshall to lend me $500 with which to make the first payment. To my surprise a letter came back in a few days enclosing a check for $500. A contract was made for the purchase of the farm, which at that time consisted of 100 acres. Subsequent purchases and gifts of adjacent lands have increased the number of acres at this place to 700, and this is the present site of the Tuskegee Institute. This has again been enlarged from time to time by purchases and gifts of land not adjacent until at present BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 61 the school owns farm lands to the number of about 2,500 acres. After the school had been in session three months, Miss Olivia A. Davidson, a graduate of the Hampton Institute and later a graduate of the Framingbam, Mass., Normal School, was employed as an assistant teacher. Miss Davidson was teaching among her people near Memphis, Tennessee, in i879,whenthe yellow fever drove her away. She went to Hampton, entered the senior class and graduated the follow- ing spring. She did not go to Hampton, how- ever, until her application to return to Memphis to help nurse the yellow fever patients had been refused by the authorities there. Through friends she was able to enter the Normal School at Fram- ingham, Massachusetts, and graduated in the summer of 1881; and, when an assistant at Tus- kegee was called for, she accepted the work. Her enthusiasm had won the admiration of her schoolmates, and from them she received much assistance for the school at Tuskegee in after years. The success of the school, especially during the first half dozen years of its existence, was due more to Miss Davidson than any one else. Dur- ing the organization of the school and in all mat- ters of discipline she was the one to bring order out of every difficulty. When the last effort had 62 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, apparently been exhausted and it seemed that things must stop, she was the one to find a way out. Not only was this true at the school, but when a campaign for money had ended unsuccessfully, she would start for the North, and money was sure to be found. Our hardest struggle began after we had made the first payment on the farm. We not only had to secure the money within a few months with which to repay Gen. Marshall's loan, but had to get the means with which to meet future pay- ments, and also to erect a building on the farm. Miss Davidson went among the white and col- ored families in Tuskegee and told them our plans and needs, and there were few of either race who did not contribute either something in cash or something that could be turned into cash at the many festivals and fairs which were held for the purpose of raising money to help the school. In many cases the white ladies in Tuskegee contrib- uted chickens or cakes that were sold for the benefit of our new enterprise. I do not believe there was a single Negro family or scarcely an individual in Tuskegee or its vicinity that did not contribute something in money or in kind to the school. These contributions were most gladly made, and often at a great sacrifice. Perhaps I might as well say right here that one of the principal things which made it easy to start A GROUP OP MR. WASHINGTON'S WARM FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS. f\ ""'W™. R.Harper DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS WHO HAVE INTRODUCED MR. WASHINGTON ON PUBLIC OCCASIONS. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 63 such a school as now exists near the town of Tus- kegee was the fact that Tuskegee is inhabited by some of the most cultured and liberal white peo- ple to be found in any portion of the South. I have been into a good many Southern towns, but I think I have never seen one where the general average of culture and intelligence is so high as that of the people of Tuskegee. We have in this town and the surrounding country a good exam- ple of the friendly relations that exist between the two races when both races are enlightened and educated. Not only are the white people above the average, but the same is true of the general in- telligence and acquirements of the colored people. The leading colored citizen in Tuskegee is Mr. Lewis Adams, to whom should largely be given the honor for securing the location of the Tuske- gee Normal and Industrial Institute in the town. Mr. Adams is not only an intelligent and success- ful business man, but is one who combines with his business enterprise rare common sense and discretion. In the most trying periods of the growth of the Tuskegee Institute I have always found Mr. Adams a man on whom I could rely for the wisest advice. He enjoys the highest respect and confidence of the citizens of both races, and it is largely through his power and influence that the two races live together in har- mony and peace in the town. 64 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, After we had raised all the money we could in Tuskegee for the purpose of paying for the farm and putting up the new building, Miss Davidson went to Boston, where she had many friends and acquaintances, and after some months of hard work she secured enough money to complete the payment on the farm and return Gen. Marshall's loan. In addition she secured means to complete the payment on our first building, Porter Hall. This building was named after Mr. H. A. Porter, of Brookl} T n, N. Y., who was instrumental in assisting us to secure the largest gifts for its erection. All the while the farm was being paid for we were holding school daily in the old church and shanty. The latter at least was well ventilated. There was one thickness of boards above and around us, and this was full of large cracks. Part of the windows had no sashes and were closed with rough wooden shutters that opened upward by leather hinges. Other windows had sashes, but with little glass in them. Through all these openings the hot sun or cold wind and rain came pouring in upon us. Many a time a storm would leave scarcely a dry spot in either of the two rooms into which the shanty was divided to make room for separate classes. These rooms were small, but into them large classes of thirty or forty had to be crowded for recitations. More BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 65 than once, I remember, when Miss Davidson and I were hearing recitations, and the rain would begin pouring down, one of the larger pupils would very kindly cease his lessons and come and hold an umbrella over us so that we could con- tinue our work. I also remember that at our boarding place, on several occasions when it rained while we were eating our meals, our good landlady would kindly get an umbrella and hold it over us while we were eating. During the summer of 1882, at the end of our first year's work, I was married to Miss Fannie N. Smith, of Maiden, West Virginia, and we be- gan housekeeping in Tuskegee early in the fall. This made a home for our teachers, who had now been increased to four in number. My wife was also a graduate of the Hampton Institute. After earnest and constant work in the interest of the school, together with her housekeeping duties, she passed away in May, 1884. One child, Por- tia M. Washington, was born during our mar- riage. From the first my wife most earnestly devoted her thought and time to the work of the school, and was completely one with me in every interest and ambition. She died, however, before she had an opportunity of seeing what the school was destined to be. The following account of her death is taken 66 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, from the Alumni Journal, published at the time at Hampton: "The numerous friends of Mr. B. T. Washing- ton will be pained to learn of the death of his beloved wife, Mrs. Fannie (Smith) Washington, class of '82, which occurred at Tuskegee, Ala- bama, Sunday, May 4th. " Her death is indeed a serious bereavement to Mr. Washington, whose acquaintance and regard for the deceased had begun in their childhood. Their happy union had done much to lighten the arduous duties devolving upon him in the man- agement of his school. To his friends he had several times expressed the great comfort his family life was to him. "We know that all our readers will join us in extending to him the warmest sympathy in this sad hour. "A bright little girl, not a year old, i-s left to sustain with her father a loss which she can never know." CHAPTER VII. THE STRUGGLES AND SUCCESS OF THE WORKERS AT TUSKEGEE FROM 1882 TO 1884. Soon after securing possession of the farm we set about putting it into a condition so that a crop of some kind might be secured from it during the next year. At the close of school hours each afternoon, I would call for volunteers to take their axes and go into the woods to assist in clearing up the grounds. The students were most anxious to give their service in this way, and very soon a large acreage was put into condition for cultivation. We had no horse or mule with which to begin the cultivation of the farm. Mr. George W. Campbell, however, the president of the Board of Trustees, very kindly gave us a horse. This was the first animal that the school ever possessed. On the farm there was an old building that had formerly been used as a stable, another that had been used as a chicken coop, and still a third that had been used as a kitchen during ante-bellum days. All of these three buildings or shanties were duly repaired and made to do service as class-rooms and dormitories. 67 68 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, We had our first services in Porter Hall on Thanksgiving Day, 1882. Rev. R. C. Bedford, who was then pastor of the Congregational Church in Montgomery, and who has since been one of our trustees and warmest friends, preached the Thanksgiving sermon. This was the first Thanksgiving service, I think, that was ever held in the town of Tuskegee, and a joyous one it was to the people. By the middle of the second year's work the existence of the school had begun to be adver- tised pretty thoroughly through the state of Alabama and even in some of the adjoining states. This brought to us an increasing num- ber of students, and the problem as to what to do with them was becoming a serious one. We put the girls who did not live in town on the third floor of Porter Hall to sleep. The boys we scattered around in whatever places we were able to secure. In order to provide a dining room, kitchen and laundry, to be used by the boarding department, our }^oung men volunteered to dig out the basement under Porter Hall, which was soon bricked up and made to answer its purpose very well. Old students, however, who to-day return to Tuskegee and see the large new dining room, kitchen, and laundry run by steam, are very mucli interested in noting the change and contrast. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. te Sometimes during the winter of the second year of the school, we were compelled to put large numbers of young men in shanties or huts to sleep, where there was almost no protection from rain and cold weather. Often during the very cold nights I have gone into the rooms of these students at midnight to see how they were getting along, and have found them sitting up by the fire, with blankets wrapped about them, as the only method of keeping warm. One morn- ing, when I asked at the opening exercises how many had been frost-bitten during the cold weather, not less than ten hands went up. The teachers were not surprised at this. Still, not- withstanding these inconveniences and hardships, I think I never heard a complaint from the lips of a single student. They always seemed filled with gratitude for the opportunity to go to school under any circumstances. Very early in the history of the school we made it a rule that no student, however well off he might be, was to be permitted to remain unless he did some work, in addition to taking studies in the academic department. At first quite a number of students and a large number of parents did not like this rule; in fact, during the first three or four years, a large proportion of the students brought either verbal or written mes- sages from their parents that they wanted their 70 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, children taught books, but did not want them taught work. Notwithstanding these protests, we still stuck to our rule. As the years went on and as the students and parents began to see and appreciate the value of our industrial teaching, these protests grew less frequent and less strong. It is a sufficient explanation to say in regard to this matter, that it has been ten years since a single objection has been raised by parents or students against anyone's taking part in our indus- trial work. In fact, there is a positive enthusiasm among parents and students over our industrial work, and we are compelled to refuse admission to hundreds every year who wish to prepare themselves to take up industrial pursuits. If we had the room and the means we could give indus- trial training to a much larger number of students than are now receiving it. The main burden of the letters which now come from parents is that each wants his daughter or son taught some in- dustry or trade in connection with the academic branches. I also remember, during the early history of this institution, that students coming here who had to pass through the larger cities, or pass in the vicinity of other institutions, had the ringer of scorn pointed at them because they were going to a school where it was understood that one had to labor. At the present time, how- ever, this feeling is so completely changed that BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 71 there is almost no portion of the South where there is any objection brought against industrial education of the Negro on the part of the colored people themselves. On the other hand, the feel- ing in favor of it is strong and most enthusiastic. Almost from the first I determined to have the students do practically all the work of putting up the buildings and carrying on the various de- partments of the institution. Many of our best friends, however, doubted the practicability of this, but I insisted that it could be done. I held that while the students at first might make very poor bricks and do poor brick-masonry, the lesson of self-help would be more valuable to them in the long run than if they were put into a build- ing which had been wholly the creation of the generosity of some one else. By the end of the third year the number of students had increased from 30, with which we began, to 169; most of them, however, coming from nearby counties and other sections of Alabama. In February, 1883, the State Legislature of Alabama increased the state appropriation for the school from two to three thousand dollars annually, on recommendation of the State Super- intendent of Public Instruction, Hon. H. Clay Armstrong. The Committee on Education re- ported the bill unanimously to the House, and the Governor recommended its passage. As some 12 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, of the members were not acquainted with the character of the school, they raised objection to this increase at a time when, hy defalcation of the state treasurer, reported only the day before, the state had lost a quarter of a million dollars. The Speaker of the House, Hon. W. F. Foster, a member from Tuskegee, and an ex-Confederate soldier, left the chair, and in an eloquent and effective speech in praise of the v/ork of the school at Tuskegee, urged the passage of the bill. On conclusion of Col. Foster's speech the bill passed by a large majority vote. Col. Foster not only interested himself in the passage of the first bill which gave support from the state to this institution, bat has been one of the warmest and most helpful friends from that time until the present. In reference to the passage of the bill for an increased appropriation for the school, Rev. R. C. Bedford, at that time residing in Montgomery as pastor of the Congregational Church, wrote to Gen. Armstrong as follows: "Gen. S. C. Armstrong, Dear Sir:— "A short time ago I made a trip to Tuskegee, Ala., for the pur-pose of visiting the State Nor- mal School for colored people located there, four of whose five teachers, together with the wife of the Principal, were once pupils of yours at Hampton Institute. I attended the session of the BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 73 school for two days and was exceedingly pleased with the enthusiastic spirit of both teachers and pupils. One of the encouraging features of the school is the warm interest it has inspired in many of the leading white citizens of Tuskegee. Mr. G. W. Campbell and Mr. Wm. B. Swanson are among the oldest and most respected citizens of Macon County. They with Mr. Lewis Adams, a prominent colored man, constitute the State Board of Commissioners for the school. Col. Bowen, Mr. Varner, and Col. W. F. Foster, speaker of the present Legislature, all citizens of Tuskegee and familiar with the school, are among its warmest friends. A short time ago, in con- versation with Hon. H. Clay Armstrong, our State Superintendent of Education, I learned that he was so much pleased with the work of Mr. Washington and his associates as to recommend to the Committee on Education to report a bill giving $1,000 per year additional to the school. I was present during the debate on the bill. So Interested was Col. Foster in its passage that he left the speaker's chair, and upon the floor of the House, in an. eloquent and effective speech, urged that it pass. He sat down, and by a vote of 59 to 18, the bill was passed; and it is now a law. "With this example before us, we need have no fear as to what the colored people can do if, 74 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, like Mr. Washington and his associates, they will take hold to win." In April, 1883, the school enjoyed a pleasant visit from Gen. J. F. B. Marshall, the treasurer of Hampton Institute, and the one who had been generous enough to lend us $500 with which to make the first payment on the farm. Gen. Mar- shall's visit gave us the greatest hope and encour- agement. He wrote, while at the school, to the Southern Workman, a paper published at Hamp- ton Institute, as follows, concerning his visit: " A few da} T s' rest from office duties being em joined upon me recently, I determined to pay a visit to the Tuskegee school, in which the facult}^ and teachers of Hampton Institute naturally feel a special interest. a The Tuskegee farm contains 140 acres and the boys are at work clearing a field for sugar cane, which grows well here. They also raise cotton, sweet potatoes, peaches, etc. To enable them to train the students properly they must have them board at the school. A building is very much needed for the accommodation of 100 3 T oung men. Mr. Washington says that it will cost $8,000, if student labor can be made avail- able in its construction. For this purpose he proposes to build of brick made on the farm, which has excellent clay. The young men are impatient to set to work on their building. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 15 "Tuskegee is one of the very old towns in the state, an attractive place of about 2500 inhabi- tants, having several colleges and academies of high repute for the white youth of both sexes. I was glad to find a very strong temperance senti- ment here. There were only two bars in town and they pay a license of about $900 a year each. No better location could have been chosen. "The leading white citizens of the place appre- ciate the importance of Mr. Washington's work, and speak of him in high terms. He has evident- ly won the esteem and confidence of all. Mr. Foster, the present speaker of the House, in the State Legislature, lives here, and rendered valu- able aid in getting the increased appropriation of the state for Mr. Washington, of whom he spoke to me in high praise. "I am reminded by everything I see here of our own beginning and methods at Hampton. I found on my arrival at the school, which is about a mile from the village center, a handsome frame building of two stories with a mansard roof. Though not yet finished it is occupied as a school building and is very conveniently planned for the purpose, reminding me of the Academic Hall at Hampton. The primary school on the Normal School grounds bears the same relation to it as a practice school that the Butler does to the Hamp- ton Institute. It has 250 on the roll. They are 76 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, stored away in what was the stable, close as crayons in a Waitham box. Let us hope they will all make their mark. "All six teachers of the Normal and Training Schools are colored; and to their race belongs all credit for the work accomplished here and of the judicious use of the funds which the friends of the school, through the efforts of Mr. Washington and Miss Davidson, have contributed. " The experiment, thus far so successful, is one of deep interest to all who have the welfare of the race at heart, and should not be suffered to fail for want of means for its completion. It is vital to the success of this school that the students should all be brought under the training and supervision of the teachers by being boarded and lodged on the premises. Our experience at Hampton has shown us the necessity of this. I know of no more worthy object, or one conducive to more important results, than this school enter- prise, and I trust the friends of Negro advance- ment and education will not suffer it to languish or be hampered for funds. They may rest assured that these may be wisely expended and most worthily bestowed. "My three days' visit to Tuskegee was emi- nently satisfactory and has inspired me with new hope for the future of the race." The next event in the history of the school was BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 77 the celebration of its second anniversary, com- bined with the dedication of Porter Hall, corner- stone of which had been laid the year before. The dedication address was delivered by Rev. Geo. L. Chaney, of Atlanta, now of Boston, one of the Trustees of the school; and eloquent speeches were also made by Rev. Morgan Callo- way, the associate in Emory College of its president, Dr. Atticus G. Haygood, author of "Our Brother in Black." Rev. Mr. Owens, of Mobile, also made an interesting address. During the following summer a small frame cottage with four rooms was put up to hold six- teen } T oung men, and three board shanties near the grounds were rented, affording accommoda- tions for about thirty^six additional students. In September a boarding department was opened for both sexes, and as many young men as could be provided for gladly availed themselves of the privilege of working out about half of their board at the school. In 1883 Mr. Warren Logan, a graduate of the Hampton Institute, who had received special training in book-keeping under Gen. Marshall at Hampton, came to Tuskegee as a teacher. He had not been here long, however, before it was clearly seen that he could serve the school effectively in another capacity, as well as a class room teacher, and he was soon given the position 78 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, of Treasurer and book-keeper, in addition to his duties as an instructor. Mr. Logan has now been connected with the school sixteen years, and has been its Treasurer during thirteen years of this time. In addition to the position of treas- urer, he fills the position of Acting Principal in the absence of the Principal. All of these various and delicate, as well as responsible, duties he has performed with great ability and satisfaction. Mr. J. Ii. Washington, my brother, came to the school from West Virginia in 1885 and took the position of Business Agent. He was after- wards made Superintendent of Industries and has held that position ever since. In the meantime the school has grown, and his duties as well as those of Mr. Logan, have broadened and increased in responsibility. Both he and Mr. Logan, dur- ing the absence of the Principal, are in a large measure the mainstay and dependence of the in- stitution for counsel and wise direction. These two men, Mr. Logan and my brother John, have been from the beginning very impor- tant forces in the school management. As Treasurer and Superintendent of Industries re- spectively their responsibilities are heavy, and how much credit they deserve will never be fully known till the necessity arises some day to fill their places. They, with James N. Calloway, a gradu- ate of Fisk University, who is the manager of BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 79 Marshall Farm, Mr. G. W. Carver, Director of the Agricultural Department, and Mr. M. T. Driver, Business Agent, constitute the Finance Committee of the Institute, a sort of cabinet for the Principal. In September, 1883, a very pleasant surprise came to the workers in the form of $1,100, se- cured through Rev. R. C. Bedford from the Trus- tees of the Slater Fund. I might add right here, that the interest of the Trustees of the Slater Fund, now under the control of Dr. J. L. M. Curry ? Special Agent, has continued from that time until this, so that the institution now receives $11,000 from the Slater Fund instead of $1,100 at the be- ginning. With this impetus, a carpenter shop was built and started, a windmill set up to pump water into the school building, a sewing machine bought for the girls' industrial room, mules and wagons for the farm, and the farm manager's salary was also paid for nine months. All during the summer, as was true of the previous one, Miss Davidson and myself had been earnestly presenting our cause at the North with so much encouragement that the work on the new building, called Alabama Hall, was vigorously pushed during the fall and winter. In February, 1884, about three years after the school was opened, $5,000 had been secured towards the 6' 80 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, erection of Alabama Hall, which eventually cost about $10,000. In March, 1884, Gen. Armstrong did one of those generous things which he was noted for all through his life. In fact, from the beginning of Tuskegee's life until Gen. Armstrong's death, he seemed to take as much interest in the work of Tuskegee as in the Hampton Institute, and I am glad to say the same generous spirit is con- stantly shown by the successor of Gen. Armstrong, Dr. Frissell. I received a letter from Gen. Arm- strong stating that he had decided to hold a num- ber of public meetings in such cities as Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, and wished me to accompany him and speak in the interest of Tuskegee. These meetings were advertised to be in the interest of Hampton and Tuskegee jointly, but in reality they turned out to be meet- ings in the interest of Tuskegee, so generous was Gen. Armstrong in his words and actions at these meetings. The special object aimed at in these meetings was to secure money with which to complete Alabama Hall. I quote from an address made at one of these meetings by myself: "Our young men have already made two kilns of bricks, and will make all required for the needed building, Alabama Hall. From the first we have carried out the plan at Tuskegee of asking help for nothing that we BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 81 could do for ourselves. Nothing has been bought that the students can produce. The boys have done the painting, made the bricks, the chairs, tables and desks, have built a stable, and are now moving the carpenter shop. The girls do the entire housekeeping, including the washing, iron- ing and mending of the boys' clothing. Besides, they make garments to sell, and give some atten- tion to flower gardening.'' In due time, however, by hard work, the re- mainder of the money, $10,000 in all, necessary to complete Alabama Hall, was secured, largely in the North, although not a little was gotten from friends in and about Tuskegee, especially through the holding of festivals and other entertainments. In April, i884, we received a visit from the Lady Principal of the Hampton Institute, Miss Mary F. Mackie, who was the first one to re- ceive me when I went to Hampton as a student. I will say here that, from the visit of Gen. Marshall up to the present time, we have received constant visits and encouragement from the officers and teachers of the Hampton Institute. Miss Mackie, writing to a friend at Hampton, said: "The wish constantly on my lips or in my heart, since I reached here last evening, is that you could see this school. I am sure you would feel, as I do, that the dial of time must have 82 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, turned back twelve years in its course. In many respects it is more like the Hampton I first knew than the one of today is ; I was particularly struck with the plantation melodies which Mr. Wash- ington called for at the close of the evening prayers; there is more of the real wail in their music than I ever heard elsewhere. The teachers here laugh over their exact imitation of the alma mater; even the night school feature has sprouted; to be sure it only numbers two students, but it is on the same plan as ours. Do you know that Mr. has lately given them 440 acres of land, making their farm now 580 acres?" The June number of the Southern Letter, a little paper published by the Institute, contained the following account of commencement, which took place May 29, 1884: "Many visitors were present, white and colored. The great interest was in the development of the department of in- dustrial training, which now includes the farm, the Slater carpenter shop and blacksmith shop, the printing office, the girls' industrial room, and the brick yard, where the students were making brick for Alabama Hall. The morning exercises, were, as usual, inspection, recitations and review of the current news. The speaker of the after- noon was Prof. R. T. Greener, of Washington, who delivered a very practical and eloquent ad- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 83 dress. Reporters were present from Montgomery and Tuskegee." In the spring of 1884 I was very pleasantly surprised to receive an invitation from the Presi- dent of the National Educational Association, Hon. Thos. W. Bicknall, of Boston, asking me to deliver an address before that body at its next meeting during the summer. The Association assembled at Madison, Wisconsin, and I think I am safe in saying that there were at least five thousand teachers present, representing every portion of the United States. This was the first opportunity I had had of presenting the work of the school to any large audience, especially of a national character. It was rather late in the evening before my time to speak came.- Several speakers had preceded me, and one especially had proven himself to be rather tedious and tiresome by his long and rather unprepared address, but this did not discourage me. I determined to make the best address that I possibly could, although I was beset by fear and trembling. The many kind words, however, which I received after my address, assured me that in some measure my effort had not been a failure. Among other things I said: "I repeat that any work looking toward the permanent improvement of the Negro in the South must have for one of its aims the fitting of 84 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, him to live friendly and peaceably with his white neighbors, both socially and politically. In spite of all talk of exodus, the Negro's home is per- manently in the South, for, coming to the bread and meat side of the question, the white man needs the Negro and the Negro needs the white man. Kis home being permanently in the South, it is our duty to help him prepare himself to live there, an independent, educated citizen. In order that there may be the broadest development of the colored man, and that he may have an un- bounded field in which to labor, the two races South must be brought to have faith in each other. The teachings of the Negro, in various ways, for the last twenty years, have tended too much to array him against his white brother,rather than to put the races in co-operation with each other. Thus, Massachussetts, supports the Re- publican party because the Republican party sup- ports Massachusetts with a protective tariff; but the Negro supports the Republican party simply because Massachusetts does. When the colored man is educated up to the point of seeing that Alabama and Massachusetts are a long way apart, that the conditions of life in them are very differ- ent, and that if free trade enables my white brother across the street to buy his plows at a cheaper rate it will enable me to do the same, he will act in a different way. More than once I BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 86 have noticed that when the whites were in favor of prohibition, the blacks, led even by sober, up- right ministers, voted against prohibition, simply because the whites were in favor of it, and for this reason the blacks said that they knew it was a 'democratic trick.' If the whites vote to lay a tax to build a school house, it is a signal for the blacks to oppose the measure, simply because the whites favor it. I venture the assertion that the sooner the colored man, South, learns that one political party is not composed altogether of angels and the other altogether of devils, and that all his enemies do not live in his own town or neighborhood and all his friends in some other distant section of the country, the sooner will his educational advantages be enhanced many fold. But matters are gradually changing in this re- spect. The black man is beginning to find out that there are those even among the Southern whites who desire his elevation. The Negro's new faith in the white man is being reciprocated in proportion as the Negro is rightly educated. The white brother is beginning to learn by de- grees that all Negroes are not liars and chicken thieves. "Now in regard to what I have said about the relations of the two races, there should be no un- manly cowering or stooping to satisfy unreason- able whims of Southern white men; but it is 86 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, charity and wisdom to keep in mind the two hundred years of schooling in prejudice against the Negro which the ex-slaveholders are called on to conquer. A certain class of whites object to the general education of the colored man on the around that when he is educated he ceased to do manual labor, and there is no avoiding the fact that much aid is withheld from Negro education in the South by the states on these grounds. Just here the great mission of industrial educa- tion, coupled with mental, comes in. It kills two birds with one stone, viz., it secures the co- operation of the whites and does the best possible thing for the black man. " Unknown to me, there were a large number o people present from Alabama, and some from my own home, Tuskegee. These white people frankly told me afterward that they went to the meeting expecting to hear the South roundly abused, but were pleasantly surprised to find that there was no word of adverse criticism in my address. On the other hand, the South was given due credit for all the good things they had done towards aiding the Negro. A white lady, who was a teacher in a college in Tuskegee, wrote back to the local paper that she was pleased, as well as surprised, to note the credit which I gave the white people of Tuskegee for their aid in getting the school started. This BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 87 address at Madison, Wisconsin, was the first that I had delivered, that, in any large measure, dealt with the general problem of the races. Those who heard the address seemed to be pleased with what I said, and with the position I took. After this address I began receiving invitations from a good many portions of the country to de- liver addresses on the subject of educating the Negro. At the present time these applications have increased to such an extent, and they come in such large numbers, that if I were to try to answer even one-third of the calls that come to me from ail parts of the United States, as well as other countries, to speak, I would scarcely spend a single day at Tuskegee. CHAPTER VIII. THE HISTORY OF TUSKEGEE FROM 1884 TO 1894. From 1884 to 1894 comparatively little was heard of the school in the public press, yet that was a period of constant and solid growth. In 1884 the enrollment was 169. In 1894 the enrollment had increased to 712, and 54 officers and teachers were employed. Besides the growth in the number of students and instruct- ors, there had also been quite an increase in the number of buildings, and in every way the students were made more comfortable in their surroundings. By 1893 we had upon the school grounds thirty buildings of various kinds and sizes, practically all built by the labor of the students. Between 1884 and 1894, I think, the hardest work was done in securing money. Regularly, during this period, we were compelled, on account of lack of accommodations, to refuse many students, but very often they would come to us under such circumstances that, though lacking in accommodations, we could not have the heart to turn them away, especially after they had traveled long distances, as was true in many cases. Students seemed willing to put up BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 89 with almost any kind of accommodations if they were given a chance to secure an education. During this period either Miss Davidson or myself, or sometimes both of us, spent a great deal of time in the North getting funds with which to meet our ever increasing demands. This, of course, was the hardest and most trying part of the work. Beginning early in the morn- ing, the day was spent in seeing individuals at their homes or in their offices; and in the even- ing, and sometimes during the day, too, addresses were delivered before churches, Sunday Schools, or other organizations. On many occasions I have spoken as many as five times at different churches on the same Sabbath. The large increase in the number of students tempted us often to put up buildings for which we had no money. In the early days of the institution by far the larger proportion of the buildings were begun on faith. I remember at one time we began a building which cost in the end about $8,000, and we had only $200 in cash with which to pay for it; nevertheless the build- ing was completed after a hard struggle and is now in constant use. I remember at one time we were verv J much in need of money with which to meet pressing obligations. I borrowed $400 from a friend, with the understanding that the money 90 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, must be returned within thirty days. On the morning of the day that the thirty days expired we were without the $400 with which to repay the loan,and were, of course, very much depressed in consequence, The mail, however, came in at about eleven o'clock, and brought a check from a friend for exactly $400. I could give a number of other such instances illustrating how we were relieved from embarrassing circumstances in ways that have always seemed to me to have been providential. Although the institution has had occasion many times to give promissory notes in order to meet its obligations, there has never been a single instance when any of its notes have gone to protest, and its credit and general financial standing have always been good with the commer- cial world. I have felt deeply obligated to the white and colored citizens of Tuskegee for their kindness in helping the school financially when it did not have money to meet its obligations. We have never applied to an individual or to either of the banks in Tuskegee for aid that we did not get it when the banks or individuals were able to aid us. The banks have been more than kind, often seemingty inconveniencing themselves in order to be of service to our institution. In the earlier days of the institution, when we had little in the way of income, on several occasions I have started to the depot, when I had to make a jour- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 91 ney away from Tuskegee, with no money in my pocket, but felt perfectly sure of meeting a friend in the town of Tuskegee from whom I could get money, and I have never been disappointed in this respect. In 1883 we received our first donation of $500 from the Peabody Fund, through Dr. J. L. M. Curry, the General Agent. At that time Dr. Curry formed his first acquaintance with Tuske- gee; and, as I have stated elsewhere, from then until now he has been one of our warmest and most helpful friends. The amount received from the Peabody Fund has since been increased until it now amounts to twelve or fifteen hundred dollars each year. In connection with this appropriation from the Peabody Fund it may be interesting to relate a conversation which took place between Dr. Curry and one of the State officers at Montgomery, Al- abama. The State officer in question was telling Dr. Curry that there were several other schools in the state that needed help more than Tuske- gee did; and that, because Tuskegee, through the efforts of its teachers, was receiving money from the North and ■ elsewhere which other schools were not getting, he thought we were not entitled to help from the Peabody Fund. Dr. Curry promptly replied that because we were making an extra effort to get funds which other 92 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, schools were not getting was the strongest reason why we should be helped; in other words, he told the officer plainly that we were trying to help ourselves, and for that reason he wanted us helped from the Peabody Fund. Through the constant efforts of Miss Davidson and myself in the North and South, the financial report for the first two years of the school showed receipts amounting to $11,679.69. The rapid increase in the growth of the school and in the confidence with the people may be shown by the fact that, during the third year of the existence of the school, the receipts nearly doubled them- selves as compared with the second year; we received the third year the sum of $10,482.78, which was nearly as much as we received during the two previous years. By far the larger pro- portion of this amount came in small sums; very often amounts came from individuals that were as small as fifty cents. One of the things that constantly touched and encouraged us during the early years of the school was the deep interest manifested in its success by the old and ignorant colored people in and near the town of Tuskegee. They never seemed to tire in their interest and efforts. They were constantly trying to do some- thing to help forward the institution. Whenever they had a few chickens or eggs, for example, to BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 93 spare, they would bring them in and make a pres- ent of them to the school. The income of the institution for the fifth year amounted to $20,162.13; for the ninth year, $30,326; for the eleventh year, $61,023.28; for the fourteenth year, $79,836.50. At the end of the third year we were able to report that the school owned property unencum- bered by debt that was valued at $30,000. Dur- ing the third year Alabama Hall, to which I have already referred, was completed at a cost of $10,000. The report of the school's history for the fourth year shows that we received from ail sources $11,146.07. During that year we got into a very tight place financially, and hardly knew which way to turn for relief. In the midst of our per- plexity I went to Gen. Armstrong, and he very kindly loaned the school money to help it out of its embarrassment, although I afterwards learned that it was nearly all of the money that he pos- sessed in cash. In my fourth annual report to the Trustees I used the following words : " Greater attention has been given to the industrial department this year than ever before. Three things are accomplished by the industrial system : ( 1 ) The student is enabled to pay a part of his expenses of board, books, etc., in labor; (2) He learns how to work; 94 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, (3) He is taught the dignity of labor. In all the industrial branches the students do the actual work, under the direction of competent instruc- tors." I have not had occasion to change in any- great degree the foregoing sentences as represent- ing the purpose for which Tuskegee stands. During the fifth year of our work we were able also to add a saw mill, through the generosity of Gen. J. F. B. Marshall, to whom I have already referred. The addition of this saw mill enabled us to saw a large part of the lumber used by the institution. In order to give many worthy students an op- portunity to secure an education by working at some trade or industry during the day and study- ing at night, we opened in the fall of 1883 our our first night school. The night school was opened with one teacher and one student. From this small beginning the night school has increased, until at this writing there are four hun- dred and fifty students. By working in the day and going to school at night, the night students earn money with which to pay their expenses the next year in day school, and if they bring a good supply of clothing they can earn enough, together with what they earn during vacation, to keep them in school two or three years after they en- ter day school. I cannot better indicate the constant growth BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 95 of the school than by giving a description of our seventh anniversary, which took place May 31, 1888. There were more than 2,000 people pres- ent, in spite of rain that came in showers. Dur- ing the morning, from 9:30 to 12, the regular work of the entire school was carried on in the various departments, which were open for inspec- tion. In addition to the regular work, products of the shops and farm were exhibited. The course of study then extended over four years, with tv/o preparatory classes. It included the English branches for the literary part, with in- struction in one or more of the following indus- tries throughout : Blacksmithing, carpentry, brick- masonry, brick making, plastering, farming, stock, poultry and bee-raising, saw-milling, wheelwright- ing, printing, mattress and cabinet making, sewing, cutting and fitting, washing and ironing, cooking, and general housekeeping. From these various departments the following articles were exhibited : At the blacksmith and wheelwright shop were seen tv/o one-horse wagons, plow stock, small tools, express wagon body, wheelbarrow, spring wagon seat and various other articles. In the carpenter shop there were wardrobes, a center and a leaf table, wash stands, book cases, bedsteads, wash boards, picture frames, chairs, paneling, moulding, laths, etc. In the printing office there was an exhibit of the general work of the office, — such 96 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, as blanks, checks, catalogues, promissory notes, diploma blanks, minutes of associations and con- ventions, annual reports, bill and letter heads, en- velopes, circulars, handbills, invitations, business cards, certificates, etc., with samples of the two monthly papers which were then printed at the institution, the " Southern Letter " and "The Gleaner." From the farm and poultry yard, there were vegetables, hogs, cattle, chickens, turke}< T s, guineas, geese, a peacock, eggs, bees and honey. Mattress and chair making were features that had been added to the industries that year, and were especially satisfactory. The mattresses exhibited compared favorably with those made anywhere. In the laundry there was a tastefully arranged exhibit of laundried bedding, dresses, collars and cuffs, shirts, ladies' and gen- tlemen's underwear, table linen and towels. The sewing room showed samples of all kinds of ladies', gentlemen's and children's clothing, with laces, mats, tidies, etc. At the brickyard there was a kiln of 1 20,000 bricks ready for burning. About the saw mill there were stacks of its products. The cooking class had a tempting display of its work in cakes, jellies, bread, yeast, meats and a roast pig. Among the first things seen by a visitor com- ing to the school from any direction was a large new brick building — Olivia Davidson Hall. This BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 97 building was almost entirely the product of stu- dent labor, under the supervision of Mr. Brown, instructor in carpentry at that time, who also planned the building. The school then had three large and comfortable buildings. Porter Hall contained recitation rooms, offices, library and reading room, chapel and dormitories for boys, with the school laundry in the basement. Ala- bama Hall, with a large frame annex built that year, was used for girls' dormitories, and con- tained, in addition, teachers 1 and students' parlors and dining rooms and kitchen. Armstrong Hall contained young men's dormitories, reading and sitting rooms, bath room, printing office and two recitation rooms. In addition there were several cottages on the grounds, while a new one and a large barn, the latter to cost perhaps $2,000, were in process of erection. In the early years of the school, the anniver- sary exercises were held in the school chapel, which was the small chapel in Porter Hall, but from year to year the influx of patrons and friends from far and near had so increased that the chapel would no longer hold a fifth of them. That year the audience of 2,000, including the 400 students, was assembled in a rude pavil- ion built of rough timber and partly covered by the wide spreading branches of some mulberry trees. Here, after partaking of a substantial din- 98 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, ner furnished by the school and friends, students and visitors assembled. A long procession was formed of students, teachers and graduates, which marched from Alabama Hall to the pavilion to music furnished by the school band, and there the exercises of the seventh anniversary were held. There were ten members of the graduating class of that year, as follows: Andrew J. Wil- born, Valedictorian, Tuskegee, Ala.; Letitia B. Adams, Tuskegee, Ala.; Caroline Smith, Tuske- gee, Ala. ; Shadrach R. Marshall, Talbotton, Ga. ; Philip P. Wright, LaFayette, Ala.; William H. Clark, Brunswick, Ga.; Eugenia Lyman, Opelika, Ala.; Sarah L. Hunt, Salutatorian, Sparta, Ga.; George W. Lovejoy, Olustee Creek, Ala. ; Nich- olas E. Abercrombie, Montgomery, Ala. The total enrollment for the year was 400. The school farm then contained 540 acres of farm and timber land. The saw mill had furnished most of the lumber for the buildings and other carpen- ter work done that year, and for that purpose saw logs had been cut from the school land. The school property was then worth about $80,000. The income for the year had been $26,7^5.73. This amount about covered the expenses. Includ- ing the ten mentioned above, the school then had forty-two graduates. During the year previous all the graduates had been engaged in teaching for some part of the year. All the members of BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 99 that year's class were Christians. They went out as teachers of various kinds in the state of Alabama. The young women had a knowledge of washing, ironing, cooking, sewing and gen- eral housekeeping, in addition to their intellectual attainments. One of the six young men was a shoemaker, one a carpenter, one had considerable knowledge of the printer's trade and one was an excellent plasterer. The annual address at that commencement was delivered by Hon. John R. Lynch, of Mississippi, and for eloquence, prac- tical thought and helpful information could hardly have been surpassed. There were a number of Tuskegee's best white citizens present, while the colored citizens came out en masse to witness the exercises that launched into life three youths from their own town. Montgomery was represented by one of her military companies, the "Capital City Guards/ 1 and 124 of her best citizens, for whose accommodation special trains were sent out. In order to emphasize the fact that people at Tuskegee during its early history were not idle, I give the daily program which was in effect in Jamjar}', 1886: 5 a. m., rising bell; 5:50 a.m., warning breakfast bell; 6 a. m., breakfast bell; 6:20 a. m., breakfast over; 6:20 to 6:50 a. m., rooms are cleaned; 6:50, work bell; 7:30, morn- ing study hour; 8:20, morning school bell; 8:25, 100 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, inspection of young men's toilet in ranks; 8:40, devotional exercises in chapel; 8:55, "5 minutes" with the daily news: 9 . a. m., class work be- gins; 12, class work closes; 12:15 P- m --> din- ner; 1 p. m., work bell; 1:30 p. m., class work begins; 3:30 p. m., class work ends; 5:30 p. m., bell to "knock off" work; 6 p. m., supper; 7:10 p. m., evening prayers; 7:30 p. m., evening study hours; 8:45 p. m., evening study hour closes; 9:20 p. m., warning retiring bell; 9:30 p. m., retir- ing bell. Although the period of the school's history about which I have written in this chapter was one of constant and substantial growth, it never- theless was during this period that the school sus- tained a great loss, as well as I a great personal bereavement, in the death of m}' beloved and faithful wife, Olivia Davidson Washington. In May, 1889, after four years of married life, she succumbed to the overtaxing duties of mother and assistant principal of the school and passed away. Her remains were laid to rest amid the tears of teachers and students. "Her words of caution, advice, sympathy and encouragement were given with a judgment that rarely made an error. Her life was so full of deeds, lessons and suggestions that she will live on to bless and help the institution which she helped found as long as it is a seat of learning:." BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 101 Two wide-awake boys, Baker Taliaferro and Ernest Davidson, were born to us, who were then too young to know their loss. They are now twelve and ten years of age respectively; and they, with my daughter Portia, are a source of much comfort and joy to me. Miss Davidson came to the school almost from the very beginning, she being the next person to come after myself. I have spoken in other places of the great assistance she was in helping to build up the school in its early days. As an estimate of her worth and character, I beg to quote the words of the Rev. R. C. Bedford, a friend who knew her worth and her great help to me and to Tuskegee. Commenting upon her death Mr. Bedford said: "Olivia Davidson was born in Virginia, June ii, 1854. When only a little child she went with her parents to Ohio, where she grew up and received the education afforded by the common schools of that state. At an early age she went to Mississippi and there spent five years as a teacher on the large plantations. In 1878 she came north to her native state, and, that she might more thoroughly fit herself for the work of a teacher, she entered the Hampton Institute, from which, in one year, she graduated with great honor. Her friend, Mrs. Henienway, of Boston, greatly desiring that she should prose- 102 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, cute her studies still further, at her request, she entered the Framingham, (Mass.) Normal School, from which she graduated in two years. In August following her graduation she came to Tuskegee, Ala., to act as assistant to Prof. Washington, in the State Normal School of which he had been made principal in the July previous. From the very first it became evident that she had found her field of labor for life. Everything tended to inspire her to this end. The people were poor; they were numerous; they were anxious, and aside from an act of the Legislature establishing a school, it had, literally, to be created. The story of her success has often been told, and in this brief tribute cannot be repeated. "August ii, 1885, Miss Davidson was married to Prof. B. T. Washington, and although she at once took upon herself the cares of a very busy home life, she still retained a most important relation to the school, which no amount of warn- ing from her friends could persuade her to drop. Her marriage with Mr. Washington proved a most happy one, and rarely has it been the lot of two individuals to be so thoroughly united in their life work. The coming of little Baker into the home was an occasion of great rejoicing, and the birth of another son just a few months before his mother's death only served to double the joy. "It was my privilege to meet Mrs. Washing- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 103 ton at Tuskegee when the school had been in operation but little more than a year and, as one of the trustees of the school, I have had an inti- mate knowledge of her work ever since. It would require more than human pen to tell how deep was her love for the school and how thoroughly her life was consecrated to it. Every grain of sand on all those beautiful grounds and every beam and brick in the walls must have felt the inspiration of her love. No more touching story could be told than that of her earnest efforts to raise money from the people about Tuskegee and of her toilsome walks in Boston, as from house to house, and with an eloquence that was rarely re- fused, she sought funds to provide shelter for the hundreds of students that v/ere flocking to the school. Her character made her especially adapted to all parts of the work in which she was engaged, and the stamp of her influence on the higher life of the school no time can ever efface. Among a people who make much show of relig- ion, but often with too little of its spirit, hers was religion indeed, but with so little of show as sometimes to make her life a mystery to those who did not really know her. The blind and the poor, and above all the aged, can tell of her relig- ion as they recall the happy Thanksgiving and Christmas times when they have sat at her table and her own hands have ministered to their 104 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, wants, and when in sickness she has visited them and relieved their sufferings. No woman ever had a truer husband or more devoted friends; and the memory of their kindness will rest, as a precious legacy, upon the school and upon all who loved her as long as time shall last.''' While speaking of the financial growth of the school, I must not neglect to indicate its growth at the same time in students. As I have stated, the school opened with one teacher and 30 students. By the end of the first year we had three teachers, including Miss Davidson, Mr. John Caldwell and myself. For the third session there were 169 students and 10 teachers. For the fifth year there were 279 students and 18 teachers. For the eighth year there were 399 students and 25 teachers. For the tenth year there were 730 students and 30 teachers. For the fourteenth year, ending in June, 1895, there were 1,013 students and 63 teachers. In the spring of 1892, at our annual commence- ment, we had the pleasure and the honor of a visit from Hon. Frederick Douglass, who deliv- ered the annual address to the graduating class of that year. This was Mr. Douglass' first visit to the far South, and there was a large crowd of people from far and near to listen to the words of that grand old man. The speech was fully up to the high standard of excellence, eloquence and BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 105 wisdom for which that venerable gentleman was noted. Mr. Douglass had the same idea concerning the importance and value of industrial education that I have tried to emphasize. He also held the same views as I do in regard to the emigration of the Negro to Africa, and was opposed to the scheme of diffusion and dissemination of the Negro throughout the North and Northwest, believing, as I do, that the Southern section of the country where the Negro now resides is the best place for him. In fact, the more I have studied the life of Mr. Douglass , the more I have been sur- prised to find his far-reaching and generous grasp of the whole condition and needs of the Negro race. Years before Hampton or Tuskegee under* took industrial education, in reply to a request for advice by Mrs. Harriet Eeecher Stowe as to how she could best use a certain sum of money which had been or was about to be placed in her hands, Mr. Douglass wrote her in part as follows : Rochester, March 8, 1853. My Dear Mrs. Stowe: You kindly informed me when at your house a fortnight ago, that you designed to do some- thing which should permanently contribute to the improvement and elevation of the free colored people in the United States. You especially ex- pressed an interest in such of this class as had become free by their own exertions, and desired 106 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, most of all to be of service to them. In what manner and by what means you can assist this class most successful!}', is the subject upon which you have done me the honor to ask my opinion. . . . I assert, then, that "poverty, ignorance, and degradation are the combined evils: or in other words, these constitute the social disease of the free colored people in the United States. To deliver them from this triple malady is to improve and elevate them, by which I mean sim- ply to put them on an equal footing with their white fellow-countrymen in the sacred right to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness." I am for no fancied or artificial elevation, but only ask fair play. How shall this be obtained? I answer, first, not by establishing for our use high schools and colleges. Such institutions are, in my judgment, beyond our immediate occasions and are not adapted to our present most press- ing wants. High schools and colleges are ex- cellent institutions, and will in due season be greatly subservient to our progress; but they are the result, as well as they are the demand, of a point of progress which we as a people have not yet attained. Accustomed as we have been to the rougher and harder modes of living, and of gaining a livelihood, we cannot and we ought not to hope that in a single leap from our low condi- tion we can reach that of Ministers, Lawyers, Doctors, Editors, Merchants, etc. These will doubtless be attained by us; but this will only be when we have patiently and laboriously, and I may add, successfully, mastered and passed through the intermediate gradations of agriculture and BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 107 the mechanic arts. Besides, there are (and per- haps there is a better reason for my views of the case) numerous institutions of learning in this country, already thrown open to colored youth. To my thinking, there are quite as many facili- ties now afforded to the colored people as they can spare the time, from the sterner duties of life, to judiciously appropriate. In their present con- dition of poverty they cannot spare their sons and daughters two or three years at boarding- schools or colleges, to say nothing of finding the means to sustain them while at such institutions. I take it, therefore, that we are well provided for in this respect; and that it may be fairly inferred from the fact, that the facilities for our education, so far as schools and colleges in the Free States are concerned, will increase quite in proportion with our future wants. Colleges have been opened to colored youth in this country during the last dozen years. Yet few, comparatively, have acquired a classical education; and even this few have found themselves educated far above a living condition, there being no methods by which they could turn their learning to ac- count. Several of this latter class have entered the ministry; but you need not be told that an educated people is needed to sustain an educated ministry. There must be a certain amount of cultivation among the people, to sustain such a ministry. At present we have not that cultiva- tion amongst us; and, therefore, we value in the preacher strong lungs rather than high learning. I do not say that educated ministers are not needed amongst us ? far from it* I wish there 108 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, were more of them; but to increase their number is not the largest benefit you can bestow upon us. We have two or three colored lawyers in this country; and I rejoice in the fact; for it affords very gratifying evidence of our progress. Yet it must be confessed that, in point of success, our lawyers are as great failures as our ministers. White people will not employ them to the obvious embarrassment of their causes ; the blacks, taking their cue from the whites, have not sufficient confidence in their abilities to employ them. Hence educated colored men, among the colored people, are at a very great discount. It would seem that education and emigration go together with us, for as soon as a man rises amongst us, capable, by his genius and learning, to do us great service, just so soon he finds that he can serve himself better by going elsewhere. In proof of this, I might instance the Russwurms, the Garnets, the Wards, the Crummells, and others, all men of superior ability and attainments, and capable of removing mountains of prejudice against their race, by their simple presence in the country; but these gentlemen, finding themselves embarrassed here by the peculiar disadvantages to which I have referred, disadvantages in part growing out of their education, being repelled by ignorance on one hand, and prejudice on the other, and having no taste to continue a contest against such odds, have sought more congenial climes, where they can live more peaceable and quiet lives. I regret their election, but I cannot blame them; for with an equal amount of educa- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 109 tion and the hard lot which was theirs, I might follow their example. There is little reason to hope that any consider- able number of the free colored people will ever be induced to leave this country, even if such a thing- were desirable. The black man (unlike the In- dian) loves civilization. He does not make very great progress in civilization himself, but he likes to be in the midst of it, and prefers to share its most galling evils, to encountering barbarism. Then the love of country, the dread of isolation, the lack of adventurous spirit, and the thought of seeming to desert their "brethren in bonds," are a powerful check upon all schemes of colonization, which look to the removal of the colored people, without the slaves. The truth is, dear madam, we are here, and here we are likely to remain. Individ- uals emigrate — nations never. We have grown up with this republic, and see nothing in her charac- ter, or even in the character of the American people, as yet, which compels the belief that we must leave the United States. If, then, we are to remain here, the question for the wise and good is precisely that which you have submitted to me — namely: What can be done to improve the condition of the free people of color in the United States? The plan which I humbly sub- mit in answer to this inquiry (and the hope that it may find favor with you, and with the many friends of humanity who honor, love and co-operate with }'ou) is the establishment in Rochester, N. Y., or in some other part of the United States equally favorable to such an enterprise, of an INDUS- TRIAL COLLEGE in which shall be taught •110' THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, several important branches of the mechanic arts. This college shall be open to colored youth. I shall pass over the details of such an institution as I propose. . . . Never having had a day's schooling in my life, I may not be expected to map out the details of a plan so comprehensive as that involved in the idea of a college. I repeat, then, that I leave the organization and adminis- tration of the institution to the superior wisdom of yourself and the friends who second your noble efforts. The argument in favor of an Industrial College (a college to be conducted by the best men, and the best workmen which the mechanic arts can afford; a college where colored youth can be instructed to use their hands, as well as their heads; where they can be put in possession of the means of getting a living wherever their lot in after life may be cast among civilized or uncivilized men; whether they choose to stay here, or prefer to return to the land of their fathers) is briefly this: Prejudice against the free colored people in the United States has shown itself nowhere so invincible as among mechanics. The farmer and the professional man cherish no feeling so bitter as that cherished by these. The latter would starve us out of the country entirely. At this moment I can more easily get my son into a lawyer's office to study law than I can in a blacksmith's shop to blow the bellows and to wield the sledge-hammer. Denied the means of learning useful trades, we are pressed into the narrowest limits to obtain a livelihood. In times past we have been the hewers of wood and draw- ers of water for American society, and we once BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. Ill enjoyed a monopoly in menial employments, but this is so no longer. Even these employments are rapidly passing away out of out hands. The fact is, (every day begins with the lesson, and ends with the lesson) that colored men must learn trades; must find new employments; new modes of usefulness to society, or that they must decay under the pressing wants to which their condition is rapidly bringing them. V/e must become mechanics; we must build as well as live in houses; we must make as well as use furniture; we must construct bridges as well as pass over them; before we can properly live or be respected by our fellow-men. We need mechanics as well as ministers. We need work- ers in iron, clay, and leather. We have orators, authors, and other professional men, but these reach only a certain class, and get respect for our race in certain select circles. To live here as we ought we must fasten ourselves to our country- men through their every- day, cardinal wants. We must not only be able to black boots, but to make them. At present we are in the Northern states, unknown as mechanics. We give no proof of genius or skill at the county, state or national fairs. We are unknown at any of the great exhibitions of the industry of our fellow citizens, and being unknown, we are unconsidered. Wishing you, dear madam, renewed health, a pleasant passage and safe return to your native land, I am, most truly, your gratified friend, Frederick Douglass. In October, 1893, I was married to Miss Mar- s 112 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, garet James Murray, a graduate of Fisk Uni- versity, who came to Tuskegee in 1889 as a teacher. She has been in every way as much interested in the advancement of Tuskegee as myself, and fully bears her share of the responsi- bilities and labor, giving especial attention to the development of the girls and to work among the women through her mothers' meetings in various parts of Alabama and elsewhere. CHAPTER IX, INVITED TO DELIVER A LECTURE AT FISK UNIVERSITY. In the spring of 1895 I was pleasantly sur- prised to receive an invitation from the Fisk Uni- versity Lecture Bureau, in Nashville, Tennessee, to deliver a lecture before that organization. Mr. Edgar Webber was the president, and presided at the meeting when I spoke. This was among the first addresses which I had delivered in the South that was fully reported by the Southern press. A full description of the meeting was given by the Nashville Daily American and the Nashville Ban- ner, and papers throughout many portions of the South contained editorials based upon this address. It was also my first opportunity to speak before any large number of educated and representative colored people, and I accepted the invitation very reluctantly and went to Nashville with a good deal of fear and trembling, but my effort seemed to meet with the hearty approval of the greater portion of the audience. As the address delivered at Fisk University on this occasion constitutes in a large measure the basis for many of my other addresses and much 113 114 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, of the work I have tried to do, I give in full what the Nashville American said: "An intelligent and appreciative audience composed of prominent colored citizens, students and quite a large number of white people, crowded the beautiful and commodious Fisk memorial chapel last night to hear Prof. Booker T. Wash- ington lecture on 'Industrial Education.' The lecture was the first given under the auspices of the Student's Lecture Bureau of Fisk University, and was in every way a complete success. Mr. Washington is a powerful and convincing speaker. His simplicity and utter unselfishness, both in speech and action, are impressive. He speaks to the point. He does not waste words in painting beautiful pictures, but deals mostly with plain facts. Nevertheless, he is witty and caused his audience last night to laugh and applaud repeated- ly the jokes and striking points of his address. "Booker T. Washington is doing a great work for his race and the South. He has the right views. "Prof. Washington was introduced by Edgar Webber, President of the Lecture Bureau, and among other things he said: 'I am exceedingly anxious that every young man and woman should keep a hopeful and cheer- full spirit as to the future. Despite all of our dis- advantages and hardships, ever since our fore- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 115 fathers set foot upon the American soil as slaves, our pathway has been marked by progress. Think of it: We went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens. We went into slavery without a language; we came out speaking the proud Anglo-Saxon tongue. We went into slavery with slave chains clanking about our wrists; we came out with the American ballot in our hands. "'I believe that we are to reach our highest development largely along the lines of scientific and industrial education. For the last fifty years education has tended in one direction, the cement- ing of mind to matter.' "The speaker then said most people had the idea that industrial education was opposed to lit- erary training, opposed to the highest develop- ment. He wanted to correct this error. He would choose the college graduate as the subject to receive industrial education. The more mind the subject had, the more satisfactory would be the results in industrial education. It requires as strong a mind to build a Corliss engine as it does to write a Greek grammar. Without indus- trial education, the speaker feared they would be in danger of getting too many 'smart men' scat- tered through the South. A young colored man in a certain town had been pointed out to him as 116 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, being exceedingly smart, and he had heard of him as being very accomplished. Upon inquiry, however, he learned the young man applied his knowledge and training to no earthly good. 'He was just a smart man, that was all.' "Continuing, the speaker said: 'As a race there are two things we must learn to do — one is to put brains into the common occupations of life, and the other is to dignify common labor. If we do not, we cannot hold our own as a race. Ninety per cent, of any race on the globe earns its living at the common occupations of life, and the Negro can be no exception to this rule.' "Prof. Washington then illustrated the import- ance of this by citing the fact that while twenty years ago every large and paying barber shop over the country was in the hands of black men, today in all the large cities you cannot find a single large or first class barber shop operated by colored men. The black men had had a monopoly of that industry, but had gone on from day to day in the same old monotonous way, without improving anything about the industry. As a result the white man has taken it up, put brains into it, watched all the fine points, improved and progressed until his shop today was not known as a barber shop, but as a tonsorial parlor, and he was no longer called a barber, but a tonsorial artist. Jus^ so Lhe old Negro man with his bucket BOOKER T, WASHINGTON. 117 of whitewash and his long pole and brush had given way to the white man who had applied his knowledge of chemistry to mixing materials, his knowledge of physics to the blending of colors, and his knowledge of geometry to figuring and decorating the ceiling. But the white man was not called a white washer; he was called a house decorater. He had put brains into his work, had given dignity to it, and the old colored man with the long pole and bucket was a thing of the past. The old Negro woman and her wash tub were fast being supplanted by the white man with his steam laundry, washing over a hundred shirts an hour. The many colored men who had formerly earned a living by cutting the grass in the front yards and keeping the flower beds in trim were no competitors for the white man, who, bringing his knowledge of surveying and terracing and plotting land, and his knowledge of botany and blending colors into active play, had dignified and promoted the work. He was not called a grass cutter or a yard cleaner, but a florist or a land- scape gardener. The old black 'mammy' could never again enter the sick-room, where she was once known as a peerless nurse. She had given place to the tidy little white woman, with her neat white cap and apron, her knowledge of physiology, bandaging, principles of diseases and the administration of medicine, who had 118 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, dignified, beautified and glorified the art of nursing and had turned it into a profession. Just so, too, the black cook was going out of date under the influence of the superior knowledge and art of cookery possessed by white 'chefs,' who were educated men and commanded large salaries. " 'Now,' said the speaker, 'what are we going to do? Are we going to put brains into these common occupations? Are we going to apply the knowledge we gain at school? Are we go- ing to keep up with the world, or are we going to let these occupations, which mean our very life blood, slip from us? Education in itself is worthless; it is only as it is used that it is of value. A man might as well fill his head with so much cheap soup as with learning, unless he is going to use his knowledge.' "Prof. Washington said that he had been told that the young colored man is cramped, and that after he gets his education there were few chances to use it. He had little patience with such argument. The idea had been too prevalent that the educated colored man must either teach, preach, be a clerk or follow some profession. The educated colored men must, more and more, go to the farms, into the trades, start brickyards, saw-mills, factories, open coal mines; in short, BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 119 apply their education to conquering the forces of nature. "One trouble with the average Negro, said the speaker, was that he was alwa}^ hungry, and it was impossible to make progress along educa- tional, moral or religious lines while in that con- dition. It was a hard matter to make a Christian out of a hungry man. It had often been con- tended that the Negro needed no industrial education, because he already knew too well how to work. There never was a greater mistake, and the speaker compared, as an illustration, the white man with his up-to-date cultivator to the 'one gallused' Negro with his old plow, patched harness and stiff -jointed mule. "The speaker was inclined to fear that the Negro race laid too much stress on their griev- ances and not enough on their opportunities. While many wrongs had been perpetrated on them in the South, still it was recognized by all intelligent colored people that the black man has far better opportunity to rise in his business in the South than in the North. While he might not be permitted to ride in the first-class car in the South, he was not allowed to help build that first- class car in the North. He could sooner conquer Southern prejudice than Northern competition. The speaker found that when it came to business, pure and simple, the black man in the South was 120 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, put on the same footing with the white man, and here, said he, was the Negro's great opportunity. The black man could always find a purchaser for his wares among the whites. "Prof. Washington concluded with an appeal to his race to use the opportunities that are right about them, and thus grow independent. "He has made a lasting impression on the minds of all who heard him. If he continues his wonder- ful career he will be classed with Douglass as a benefactor to the Negro race." The Memphis Commercial- Appeal a few days after this address was delivered contained an edi- torial concerning it. I quote that in full because it is among the first editorials from a Southern newspaper concerning my addresses and the work at Tuskegee, and also because it shows that the ef» forts put forth at Tuskegee in behalf of industrial education for the Negro have had the effect of awakening not only the Negroes, but even the Southern whites, to the necessity of more educa- tion of this kind. The editorial is as follows: "Prof. Booker T. Washington, a short time since, delivered an address before the students of Fisk University, in which he advocated industrial education for the Negro race. The address has received considerable attention and evoked many favorable comments, and the theme is one worthy of far more consideration than it has ever received BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 121 in the South. Our interest in the matter, however, does not particularly concern its application to the Negro. We are chiefly interested for the Southern whites and the South itself. The South is just about to enter an era of industrial de- velopment that will be almost without parallel. Its progress will be all the more rapid because of the long delay that has allowed other fields to be exhausted before the vast wealth of our natural resources began to be developed. The one great drawback to the development of the south has been the lack of skilled and educated labor, and in the great industrial awakening that is upon us, the skill to manage and operate our mills and factories and convert our abundant crude material into finished products must come from the North, unless something is done to educate our own people in the industrial arts. The opening of the eyes of the world to the vast natural wealth of the South will then simply mean that strangers will come in and dispossess our own people of their vintage and turn to their own account the opportunities we have never learned to employ. We must awake to the fact that we are face to face with a new civilization. The old order changeth, giving place to the new. We must adjust ourselves to the changed conditions, or be left behind in the march of progress. We must catch the spirit of modern progress and achieve- 122 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, ment,or be rooted out by those that have. The great men of this generation are not statesmen, lawyers, orators or poets. The richest rewards of intellectual effort go to those who know how to bring the forces of nature to aid the processes of production; in the natural era that is now upon us this will be especially true of the South. The men who have the capacity for taking active and effective part in the development of our resources, for the management of mills and factories, for contributing skilled labor to the fashioning of crude material into finished product, these are the men who will reap the mighty harvest and the men who will possess and rule our country. The same is true of the farm as well as the fac- tory. The crude and unskilled methods of Southern agriculture must give way to more scientific tillage. If our own farmers cannot learn the lesson they must be displaced by those that know it. "All the Southern States are doing much in the way of educating the people; but without disparaging the value of the learning obtained in our schools, how much of it goes to prepare the young for grappling with the conditions that sur- round them or will help to make them masters or successful workers in the great field of modern progress? Look at the vast wealth of unde- veloped resources that encompasses almost every BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 123 Southern community. Look at the fertile fields or the worn lands still in bondage to ignorant labor and an ante-bellum agricultural system. Will a knowledge of grammar or of Greek convert our coal, our iron and our timber into wealth, or make our fields bountiful with the harvest ? The plain truth is that much of the learning obtained in our schools is wasted erudition. The young are not only not educated with reference to the con- ditions of the age, but their minds are carefully and systematically trained in other directions. They see no triumphs of intellect except in politics or the 'learned professions.' Their imaginations are inflamed by stories of how men from humble beginnings became great statesmen, great orators and great lawyers. The result is that thousands miserably fail because their little book learn- ing has diverted them from occupations in which they might have achieved honorable success and even distinction. These men who might have become machinists become pettifogging lawyers, quack doctors or small-bore politicians. Indus- trial education is the great need of the South, because industrial skill and educated labor are to be the factors of its future progress, and these are to reap the richest rewards it will have to bestow. If our own children cannot be prepared to take their part in the great work, strangers will reap and enjoy the harvest," CHAPTER X. THE SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF THE COTTON STATES' EXPOSITION, AND INCIDENTS CONNECTED THEREWITH. So much has been said and written concerning the address which I delivered at the opening of the Atlanta Exposition in September, 1895, that it may not be out of place for me to explain in some detail how and why I received the invitation to deliver this address. In the spring of 1895 I received a telegram at Tuskegee from prominent citizens in Atlanta, ask- ing me to accompany a committee composed of Atlanta people, — all white, I think, except Bishop Gaines and Bishop Grant, — to Washington to ap- pear before the Committee on Appropriations for the purpose of inducing Congress to make an ap- propriation to help forward the Exposition which the citizens of Atlanta were at that time planning to hold. I accepted this invitation and went to Washington with the committee. A number of the white people in the delegation spoke, among them the Mayor and other officials of Atlanta, and then Bishop Gaines and Bishop Grant were called upon. My name was last, I think, on the list of speakers. I had never before appeared 125 126 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, before such a committee, or made any address In the capitol of the Nation, and I had many misgiv- ings as to what I should say and the impression I would make. While I cannot recall my speech, I remember that I tried to impress upon the Com- mittee with all the earnestness and plainness of language that I could. that if Congress wanted to help the South do something that would rid it of the race problem and make friends between the two races it should in every way encourage the material and intellectual growth of both races, and that the Atlanta Exposition would present an op- portunity for both races to show what they had done in the way of development since freedom, and would at the same time prove a great encour- agement to both races to make still greater prog- ress. £l tried to emphasize the fact that political agitation alone would not save the Negro, that back of politics he must have industry, thrift, in- telligence and property; that no race without these elements of strength could permanently succeed and gain the respect of its fellow citizens, and that the time had now come when Congress had an opportunity to do something for the Negro and the South that would prove of real and lasting benefit, and that I should be greatly disappointed if it did not take advantage of the opportunity. I spoke for fifteen or twenty minutes and was very much surprised at the close of my address o o «! O ad o s O " fc2 O ei m B 2* BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 127 to receive the hearty congratulations and thanks of all the members of the Atlanta delegation, as well as the members of the Committee on Appro- priations, I will not prolong the story, except to add that the Committee did pass the resolution unanimously, agreeing to report a bill to Con- gress in the interest of the Atlanta Exposition. Our work, however, did not end with making these addresses, before the Committee. We remained in Washington several days. The Atlanta committee had meetings every day and the colored members were invited to these, and were given a free opportunity to express their views. Certain members of Congress were par- celed out to each member of the Atlanta com- mittee to see, and we spent some time in convinc- ing as many individual members of Congress as possible of the justness of Atlanta's claim. We called in a body upon Speaker Thomas B. Reed. This was the first time I had ever had the pleasure of shaking hands with this great Amer- ican; since then I have come to know him well and am greatly indebted to him for many kind- nesses. After we had spent some time in Wash- ington in hard effort in the interest of the bill, it was called up in Congress and was passed with very little opposition. From the moment that the bill passed Congress the success of the Atlanta Exposition was assured. 128 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, Soon after we made this trip to Washington, the directors of the Atlanta Exposition decided that it was the proper thing to give the colored people of the country every op'portunity possible to show, by a separate exhibit, to what progress they had attained since their freedom. To this end the directors decided to erect a large and commodious building to be known as the Negro Building. This building in size, architectural beauty and general finish was fully equal to the other buildings on the grounds. It was entirely constructed by colored labor and was filled with the products of Negro skill, brains, and handicraft. After it was decided to have a separate Negro exhibit it became quite a question as to the best manner of securing a representative and large exhibit from the race. I, in connection with prominent colored citizens of Georgia, was con- sulted on a good many occasions by the directors of the exposition. It was finally decided to appoint a Negro commissioner to represent each Southern State, who should have charge of col- lecting and installing the exhibit from his state. After these state commissioners were appointed, a meeting of them was called in Atlanta for the purpose of organization and forming plans to further the Negro exhibit. At the joint meeting of these State Commissioners, it was decided that a Chief Commissioner to have the general super- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 129 vision of all the exhibits should be selected. A good many people insisted that I should accept the position of Chief Commissioner. I declined to permit my name to be used for this purpose, because my duties at Tuskegee would not permit me to give the time and thought to it that the position demanded. I did, however, accept the position of Commissioner for the State of Ala- bama. After a good deal of discussion, Mr. I. Garland Penn, of Lynchburg, Virginia, was select- ed by the Commissioners, and this choice was made unanimous. The success of the Negro ex- hibit was in a very large measure clue to the en- ergy and fidelity of Mr. Penn. No one who voted for him, I think, ever had reason to regret doing so. Most of the states, especially the Southern States, including the District of Columbia, had very creditable exhibits — exhibits that in many cases surprised not only the Negro race but the white people as well. I think the class of people who were most surprised when they went into the Negro Building were some of the Southern white people who, while they had known the Negro as a field hand and as a servant, and had seen him on the streets, had not been in any large degree into his homes and school-houses. At this Expo- sition, they had, I believe, the first general oppor- tunity to see for themselves the real progress that the Negro was making in the most vital things 130 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, of life, and it was very interesting as well as sat- isfactory to hear their constant exclamations of surprise and gratification as they walked through the Negro Building. The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute made a special effort to prepare a large and cred- itable exhibit, and in this the institution was most successful. The Tuskegee exhibit consisted of all forms of agricultural products, various articles made in the shops, such as two-horse wagons, one-horse wagons, single and double carriages, harness, shoes, tinware, products from the sewing rooms, laundry, printing office, and academic work, in fact all of the twenty-six industries in operation at Tuskegee were well and creditably represented. With the exception of the exhibit from the Hampton Institute, Hampton, Va., Tuskegee had the largest exhibit in the Negro Building. As the day for the opening of the Exposition began to draw near, the Board of Directors began to prepare their programme for the opening day. A great many suggestions were made as to the kind of exercises that should be held on that day and as to the names of the speakers to take part. As the discussion went on from day to day, Mr. I. Garland Penn was bold enough to suggest to the Commissioners that, as the Negroes were taking such a prominent part in trying to make the Ex- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 131 position a success, it was due them that they should have some representation on the pro- gramme on the opening day. This suggestion by Mr. Penn was discussed for several days by the Board of Directors, none, however, seeming to have any great objection to it,— -the only objec- tion being that they feared it might bring upon the Exposition hurtful criticism. The Board, however, finally voted to ask some Negro to de- liver an address at the opening of the Exposition. Several names were suggested, but in some man- ner, largely I think due to Mr. Penn, my name was selected by the Board, and in due time I received an official communication from the Pres- ident of the Exposition inviting me to deliver this address. It was the middle of August when I received this invitation. The Exposition was to open on the 18th of September. The papers throughout the country began at once discussing the action of the Board of Directors in inviting a Negro to speak, most of the newspaper com- ments, however, being favorable. The delicacy and responsibility of my position in this matter can be appreciated when it is known that this was the first time in the history of the South that a Negro had been invited to take part on a programme with white Southern peo- ple on any important and national occasion. Our race should not neglect to give due credit to the 132 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, courage that these Atlanta men displayed in ex- tending this invitation; but the directors had told the Negroes from the beginning that they would give them fullest and freest opportunity to repre- sent themselves in a creditable manner at every stage of the progress of the Exposition, and from the first day to the last this promise was kept. The invitation to deliver this address came at a time when I am very busy every year prepar- ing for the opening of the new school year at Tuskegee, and this made it quite difficult for me to find time in which to concentrate my thoughts upon the proper preparation of an im- portant address, but the great reponsibility which had been entrusted to me weighed very heavily on me from day to day. \ I knew that what I said would be listened to by Southern white peo- ple, by people of my own race and by Northern white people. I was determined from the first not to say anything that would give undue offense to the South and thus prevent it from thus honoring another Negro in the future. And at the same time I was equally determined to be true to the North and to the interests of my own race._. As the 18th of September drew nearer, the heavier my heart became and the more I felt that my address would prove a disappointment and a failure. I prepared myself, however, as best I could. After preparing the address I went BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 133 through it carefully, as I usually do with import- ant utterances, with Mrs. Washington, and she approved of what I intended to say. On the 16th of September, the day before I started for Atlan- ta, as several of the teachers had expressed a desire to hear my address, I consented to read it to them in a body. When I had done so and heard their criticisms I felt more encouraged, as most of them seemed to be very much pleased with it. On the morning of September 17, 1895, to- gether with Mrs. Washington, Portia, Baker and Davidson, my children, I started for Atlanta. On the way to the depot from the school, in pass- ing through Tuskegee, I happened to meet a white farmer who lived some distance in the country, and he in a rather joking manner said to me, "Washington, you have spoken with success before Northern white audiences, and before Ne- groes in the South, but in Atlanta you will have to speak before Northern white people, Southern white people and Negroes altogether. I fear they have got you into a pretty tight place.'" This farmer diagnosed the situation most accur- ately, but his words did not add to my comfort at that time. On the way to Atlanta I was con- stantly surprised by having both colored and white people come to the cars, stare at me and point me out, and discuss in my hearing what 134 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, was to take place the next day. In Atlanta we were met by a committee of colored citizens. The first thing I heard when I stepped from the cars in Atlanta was this remark by an old colored man near by: "That's the man that's gwine to make that big speech out at the Exposition to- morrow." We were taken to our boarding place by the committee and remained there until the next morning. Atlanta was literally packed at that time with people from all parts of the coun- try, including many military and other organiza- tions. The afternoon papers contained in large head lines a forecast of the next day's proceed- ings. All of this tended to add to the burden that was pressing heavily upon me. On the morning of the day that the Exposi- tion opened, a committee of colored citizens called at my boarding place to escort me to the point where I was to take my place in the proces- sion which was to march to the Exposition grounds. In this same procession was Bishop W. J. Gaines, Rev. H. H. Proctor and other prominent colored citizens of Atlanta. What also added to the interest of this procession was the appearance of several colored military organiza- tions which marched in the same procession with the white organizations. It was very noticeable that in the arrangement of the line of march the white officers who had control of the procession BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 135 seemed to go out of their way to see that all of the colored people in the procession were prop- erly placed and properly treated. The march through the streets out to the Exposition grounds occupied two or three hours, and, as the sun was shining disagreeably hot, when I got to the Ex- position I felt rather fagged out, and very much feared that my address was going to prove a com- plete failure. As I now recall, the only colored persons who had seats on the platform were Mr. I. Garland Penn, the Negro Commissioner, and myself, though of course there were hundreds of colored people in the audience. When I took my place on the platform the colored portion of the audi- ence cheered vigorously, and there were faint cheers from some of the white people. Ex-Gov- ernor Bullock, of Atlanta, presided at the opening exercises. The audience room, which was very large and well suited for public speaking, was packed with humanity from bottom to top, and thousands were on the outside who could not get in. A white gentleman who resides in the North and is one of my best friends, happened to be in Atlanta on the day that the Exposition opened. He was so nervous about the kind of reception I would receive at the hands of the audience and the effect my speech would produce that he could 136 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, not bear to go into the building, but walked around the building on the outside until the exer- cises were over. Gilmore's famous band played several stirring and patriotic airs, after which Gov. Bullock arose and delivered a short opening address ?nd then the speaking occurred in the following order: Opening address, Hon. Chas. A. Collier, Pres- ident International Cotton States Exposition Company; address on behalf of the Woman's Department, Mrs. Joseph Thompson, President; address tendering Negro exhibit, Booker T. Washington; address on behalf of the State, His Excellency, Governor Atkinson; address on be- half of the city, Hon. Porter King; oration of the day, Judge Emory Speer. After his introduction, when I arose to speak, there was considerable cheering in the audience, especially from the section of the room occupied by my own people. The sun was shining brightly in my face and I had to move about a good deal on the platform so as to reach a position that would enable me to escape the rays of the sun. I think the thing at the present time that I am most conscious of is that I saw thousands of eyes looking intently into my face. From the moment I was introduced until the end of my address I seemed to have entirely forgotten myself. The following is the address which I delivered: BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 137 "Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Directors and Citizens: " One third of the population of the South is of the Negro race. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or moral welfare of this section can disregard this element of our population and reach the highest success. I but convey to you, Mr. President and Directors, the sentiment of the masses of my race when I say that in no way have the value and manhood of the Ameri- can Negro been more fittingly and generously recognized than by the managers of this magnifi- cent Exposition at every stage of its progress. It is a recognition that will do more to cement the friendship of the two races than any occur- rence since the dawn of our freedom. " Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will awaken among us a new era of industrial progress. Ignorant and inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom; that a seat in Congress or the State Legislature was more sought tharureal estate or industrial skill; that the political convention or stump speaking had more attractions than start* ing a dairy farm or truck garden. " A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the 138 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, unfortunate vessel was seen a signal: 'Water, water; we die of thirst!' The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back: ' Cast down your bucket where you are.' A second time the signal, ' Water, water; send us water!' ran up from the distressed vessel, and was answered: ' Cast down your bucket where you are.' And a third and fourth signal for water was answered : 1 Cast down your bucket where you are.' The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land, or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next door neighbor, I would say: 'Cast down your bucket where you are' — cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. " Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the pro- fessions. And in this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called to bear, when it comes to busi- ness, pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is given a man's chance in the commer- cial world, and in nothing is this Exposition BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 130 more eloquent than in emphasizing this chance. Our greatest danger is, that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the pro- ductions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labor, and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities. " To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted,! would repeat what I say to my own race, * Cast down your bucket where you are.' Cast it down among the 8,000,- 000 Negroes whose, habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your firesides. Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labor wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, 140 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth, and helped make possible this magnificent representa- tion of the progress of the South. Casting clown 3'our bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and, with education of head, hand and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unre- sentful people that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching b}^ the sick bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with }'ours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the ringers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress. " There is no defense or security for any of us BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 141 except in the highest intelligence and develop- ment of all. If anywhere there are efforts tend- ing to curtail the fullest growth of the Negro, let these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging, and making him the most useful and intelligent citizen. Effort or means so invested will pay a thousand per cent interest. These efforts will be twice blessed — 'blessing hirn that gives and him that takes.' " There is no escape through law of man or God from the inevitable: ' The laws of changeless justice bind Oppressor with oppressed ; And close as sin and suffering joined We march to fate abreast.' " Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load upwards, or they will pull against you the load downwards. We shall con- stitute one-third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one-third its intelligence and progress; we shall contribute one-third to the business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a veritable body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body politic. " Gentlemen of the Exposition, as we present to you our humble effort at an exhibition of our progress, you must not expect overmuch. Start- 142 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, ing thirty years ago with ownership here and there in a few quilts and pumpkins and chickens (gathered from miscellaneous sources), remem- ber the path that has led from these to the inven- tion and production of agricultural implements, buggies, steam engines, newspapers, books, stat- uary, carving, paintings, the management of drug stores and banks, has not been trodden without contact with thorns and thistles. While we take pride in what we exhibit as a result of our inde- pendent efforts, we do not for a moment forget that our part in this exhibition would fall far short of your expectations but for the constant help that has come to our educational life, not only from the Southern States, but especially from Northern philanthropists, who have made their gifts a constant stream of blessing and encouragement. " The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoy- ment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized. It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 143 exercise of those privileges. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house. " In conclusion, may I repeat that nothing in thirty years has given us more hope and encour- agement, and drawn us so near to you of the white race, as this opportunity offered by the Exposition; and here bending, as it were, over the altar that represents the results of the strug- gles of your race and mine, both starting prac- tically empty-handed three decades ago, I pledge that, in } r our effort to work out the great and intricate problem which God has laid at the doors of the South, you shall have at all times the patient, sympathetic help of my race; only let this be constantly in mind that, while from representations in these buildings of the product of field, of forest, of mine, of factory, letters, and art, much good will come, yet far above and beyond material benefits will be that higher good, that let us pray God will come, in a blotting out of sectional differences and racial animosities and suspicions, in a determination to administer absolute justice, in a willing obedi- ence among all classes to the mandates of law. This, coupled with our material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new earth." 10 144 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, Some days after my speech in Atlanta at the opening of the Exposition I received the follow- ing letter from Dr. Gilman, President of Johns Hopkins University, who was chairman of the committee of jurors in connection with the Ex- position : "Johns Hopkins University, "Baltimore, Sept. 30, 1895. ""President's Office. "Dear Mr. Washington: — "Would it be agreeable to you to be one of the Judges of Award in the Department of Education at Atlanta? If so, I shall be glad to place your name upon the list. Yours very truly, D. C. Gilman. "A line by telegraph will be welcomed." I was more surprised to receive this invitation to act on the board of jurors than to receive the in- vitation to speak at the opening of the Exposition, for it became a part of my duty as one of the jurors not only to pass on the exhibits from Negro schools but those from the white schools as wehSthrough- out the country. I accepted this position and spent a month in Atlanta in connection with my duties as one of the jurors. The board was a large one, consisting in all of sixty members, including such well known persons as Dr. D. C. Gilman, of Johns Hopkins University; BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 145 Dr. I. S. Hopkins, secretary of the jury and president of the Georgia School of Tech- nology ; General Henry Abbott, United States engineer ; President C. K. Adams, president of the University of Wisconsin; President Charles W. Dabney, of the Uni- versity of Tennessee ; Miss Grace Dodge, of New York; Dr. Charles Mohr, an expert in forestry ; Mr. Gofford Pinchot, Biltmore, N. C ; Professor Ira Remsen, editor of the American Journal of Chemistry; Professor Eugene A. Smith, state geologist of Ala- bama ; Professor C. P. Vanderford, of the University of Tennessee, and others equally prominent. When the section of jurors on education met for organization, Mr. Thomas Nelson Page, the Southern author, who was a member of the board, made a motion that I be made secretary of the section on education. This motion was carried without a dissenting vote. Nearly half of the board of jurors were Southern men. We were quite intimately associated together for a month, and during this time our association was most pleasant and cordial in every respect. In performing my duty in connection with the inspection of the exhibits from the various white institutions, in each instance I was treated with the greatest respect. At the close of our labors 146 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, a large photograph of the group of jurors was taken. We parted from each other with the greatest regret. In making up their awards the board of jurors awarded but three gold medals to institutions of learning. The Tuskegee school received one of the three. As I was a member of the board I insisted that Tuskegee should not be permitted to compete for a medal, but I was overruled in this, and the medal given, regardless of my pro- tests. The exhibit which the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute made, except that from the Hampton Institute, was the largest and most comprehensive in the Negro Building. I will let the newspaper war correspondent who was at that time in Atlanta as a representa- tive of the New York World relate the im- pression my speech seemed to make. He wrote the following for the World: " Mrs. Thompson, head of the Women's De- partment, had scarcely taken her seat, when all eyes were turned on a tall, tawny Negro sitting in the front row on the platform. It was Prof. Booker T. Washington, president of the Tuskegee (Ala.) Normal and Industrial Institute, who must rank from this time forth as the foremost man of his race in America. Gilmore's band played the 'Star Spangled Banner,' and the audience cheered. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 147 The tune was changed to 'Dixie,' and the audi- ence roared with shrill ki-yi's. Again the music changed to 'Yankee Doodle, 1 and the clamor lessened. " All this time the eyes of thousands looked straight at the Negro orator. A strange thing was to happen. A black man was to speak for his people with none to interrupt him. As Prof. Washington strode toward the edge of the stage, the low, descending sun shot fiery rays through the window into his face. A great shout greeted him. He turned his head to avoid the blinding light, and moved about the platform for relief. Then he turned his powerful countenance to the sun, without a blink of the eyelids, and began to talk. " There was a remarkable figure, tall, bony, straight as a Sioux chief, high forehead, straight nose, heavy jaws, and strong, determined mouth, with big white teeth, piercing eyes, and a deter- mined manner. The sinews stood out on his bronzed neck, and his muscular right arm swung high in the air, with a lead pencil grasped in the clenched brown fist. His big feet were planted squarely, with the heels together and the toes turned out. His voice rang out clear and true, and he paused impressively as he made each point. Within ten minutes the multitude was in an uproar of enthusiasm, handkerchiefs waved, 148 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, canes flourished, hats tossed in the air. The fair- est women in Georgia stood up and cheered. It was as if the orator had bewitched them. "And when he held his dusky hand high above his head, with his fingers stretched wide apart, and said to the white people of the South on be- half of his race, ' In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the lingers; yet one as the hand in all things essential to social progress,' the great wave of sound dashed itself against the walls, and the whole audience was on its feet in a delirium of applause, and I thought at that moment of the night when Henry Grady stood among the curling wreaths of tobacco smoke in Delmonico's banquet hall and said, 'I am a Cavalier among Roundheads.' " I have heard the great orators of many coun- tries, but not even Gladstone himself could have pleaded a cause with more consummate power than this angular Negro standing in a nimbus of sun- shine, surrounded by the men who once fought to keep his race in bondage. The roar might swell ever so high, but the expression of his face never changed. U A ragged, ebony giant, squatted on the floor in one of the aisles, watched the orator with burning eyes and tremulous face until the supreme outburst of applause came, then the tears ran down his face. Most of the Negroes in the audi- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 149 ence were crying, perhaps without knowing just why. "At the close of the speech Gov. Bullock rushed across the platform and seized the orator's hand. Another shout greeted this demonstration, and for a few moments the two men stood facing- each other, hand in hand." The papers all over the United States the next day after I spoke, and for months afterwards, were filled with the most complimentary accounts of and comments upon this speech. I quote a letter written by the Hon. Clark Howell to the New York World, and an editorial from the Boston Transcript, also two articles from colored papers, as fair samples of the expressions that were made throughout the country. The letter of Mr. Howell was as follows : Atlanta, Ga., September 19. "' To the Editor of the World: "I do not exaggerate when I say that Prof. Booker T. Washington's address yesterday was one of the most notable speeches, both as to char- acter and the warmth of its reception, ever deliv- ered to a Southern audience. It was an epoch- making talk, and marks distinctly a turning point in the progress of the Negro race. Its effect in bringing about a perfect understanding between whites and blacks of the South will be im- 150 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, mediate. The address was a revelation. It was the first time that a Negro orator had appeared on a similar occasion before a Southern audience. " The propriety of inviting a representative of the Negro race to participate in the opening ex- ercises was fully discussed a month ago, when the opening program was being arranged. Some opposition was manifested on account of the fear that public sentiment was not prepared for such an advanced step. The invitation, however, was extended by a vote of the Board of Directors, and the cordial greeting which the audience gave Washington's address shows that the board made no mistake. There was not a line in the address which would have been changed by the most sensitive of those who thought the invitation to be imprudent. The whole speech is a platform on which the whites and the blacks can stand with full justice to each race. "The speech is a full vindication from the mouth of a representative Negro of the doctrine so eloquently advanced by Grady and those who have agreed with him that it is to the South that the Negro must turn for his best friend, and that his welfare is so closely identified with the prog- ress of the white people of the South that each race is mutually dependent upon the other, and that the so-called 'race problem' must be solved in the development of the natural relations grow- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 151 ing out of the association between the whites and blacks of the South. "The question of social equality is eliminated as a factor in the development of the problem, and the situation is aptly expressed by Washing- ton in the statement that ' in all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress/ "The speech will do good, and the unanimous approval with which it has been received demon- strates the fact that it has already done good. Clark Howell, Editor of the 'Constitution.' " The Boston Transcript's editorial was as fol- lows: "The speech of Mr. Washington at the Atlanta Exposition this week seems to have dwarfed all the other proceedings and the exhibition itself. The crowd that listened to it was carried away T with enthusiasm, and the sensation it has caused in the press has rarely been equaled. The Southern papers themselves pronounce it epoch- making, and call it the beginning of the end of the war between the races. All this is no great surprise to those who have kept themselves in- formed upon the development of industrial and other education for Negroes in the Negro-popu- 152 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, lated districts of the country. Intelligent and sympathetic observers have long been aware that it was through the silent and serious and steady work of the school for the Negroes that the solu- tion of the race problem was coming, and not through the passions of politics, stirred and kept hot by tricky professional party managers for use in presidential elections. Mr. Washington is no different from what he has been: he is saying no more than he and his backers have been saying for years. But he is a great revelation to those who have hitherto regarded the Negro question as one simply calling for slang-whanging partisan and sectional abuse instead of philosophy, patience and study." The editor of the Texas Freeman wrote as follows: "The address made by Booker T. Washington, Principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, at the formal opening of the Cotton States and International Exposition, stamps him as a most worthy representative of a large part of the country's citizenship. Without resort to hyperbolic exaggeration, it is but simple justice to call the address great. It was great. Great, in that it exhibited the speaker's qualities of head and heart; great, that he could and did discrimi- natingly recognize conditions as they affected his people, and greater still in the absolute modesty, BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 153 self-respect and dignity with which he presented a platform upon which Clark Howell, of the Atlanta Constitution, says, 'both races, blacks and whites, can stand with full justice to each.' No better selection, among the whole number of the race's most prominent men, could have been made than Prof. Washington." The Richmond Planet said: "The speech of Prof. Booker T. Washington at the opening of the Atlanta Exposition was a magnificent effort and places him in the forefront of the representatives of our race in this country. Calm, dispassionate, logical, winning, it captivated the vast assemblage who heard it and caused a re-echoing sound of approval on the part of those who caught the rounded sentences and rhetorical periods as they were flashed over the wires. "Reserved in his manner, earnest in the delivery, realizing fully the heavy responsibility resting upon him, he performed that duty with an ease that was magnetic and grace that was divine." As soon as I had finished my address, the first thing that I remember is that Gov. Bullock rushed across the stage and took me by the hand. Others sitting on the platform did the same thing. Following my address came a brilliant and eloquent speech from Judge Emory Speer. At 154 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, the close of his address the President of the United States, Hon. Grover Cleveland, touched a button in Washington which started the machinery, and the Exposition was declared open. By the time the exercises in the Auditorium were finished it Was quite late in the afternoon and, in fact, dark. A large number of people, both Northern and Southern, together with numbers of colored people, congratulated me most heartily on my address; in fact, I found it quite difficult to get out of the building or away from the Exposition grounds. As soon as possible I left the Exposition and went to my boarding place. After the opening exercises a reception was tendered me by some of the colored citizens of Atlanta. I did not in any large measure appre- ciate the excitement and deep impression that my address seemed to create until the next morning about ten o'clock, when I went to the city on some errand. As soon as I entered the business por- tion of Atlanta I was surprised to find myself pointed out, and I was very soon surrounded by a crowd of people who were bent on shaking my hand and congratulating me; in fact, this was kept up on every street where I went, until I found it impossible to move with any degree of comfort about the streets, and so I returned to my boarding place. In a few hours I began receiving BOOKER T, WASHINGTON. 155 telegrams and letters from all parts of the country. One thing I always thought was rather strange in connection with this address, and that is that no officer connected with the Exposition ever asked me what ground I was going to cover in my speech, or ever suggested that I should be careful not to say anything which would harm the relations between the races, and thus cripple the success of the Exposition. It would, of course ; have been very easy for me to have uttered a single sentence which would have thrown a wet blanket over the prospects of the Exposition, and especially the harmonious relations of the races. The next morning I took the train for Tuske- gee. At the depot in Atlanta and at ever}' station between Atlanta and Tuskegee I found a crowd of people anxious to shake hands with me, and who were pointed out to me as making remarks about my address. Some da}'s after I returned to Tuskegee, I sent the President of the United States, Hon. Grover Cleveland, a copy of the address I delivered at Atlanta, and was very much surprised as well as gratified to receive from him a letter which I here insert : 156 the story of my life and work, Gray Gables, Buzzard's Bay, Mass., Oct. 6, 1895. Booker T. Washington, Esq. My Dear Sir: — I thank you for sending me a copy of your address delivered at the Atlanta Exposition. I thank you with much enthusiasm for making the address. I have read it with intense interest, and I think the Exposition would be fully justified if it did not do more than furnish the opportunity for its delivery. Your words cannot fail to de- light and encourage all who wish well for } 7 our race; and if our colored fellow citizens do not from your utterances gather new hope and- form new determinations to gain every valuable advan- tage offered them by their citizenship, it will be strange indeed. Yours very truly, Grover Cleveland. All of it was written with his own hand. From that time until the present, Mr. Cleveland has taken the deepest interest in Tuskegee and has been among my warmest and most helpful friends. After I returned to Tuskegee I continued to be deluged with letters of congratulation and en- dorsement of my position. I received all kinds of propositions from lecture bureaus, editors of mag- azines and papers to take the lecture platform and write articles. One lecture bureau went as far BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 157 as to offer me $50,000, or $200 a night, if I would place my services at its disposition for a given period of time. To all these communications I replied that my life work was at Tuskegee, and that wherever I should speak it must be in the interest of my race and the institution at Tus- kegee, and that I could not accept any engage- ments that would seem to place a mere com- mercial value on my addresses. From that time until the present I have continued to receive liberal offers from lecture bureaus for my serv- ices. Only a few weeks ago the following letter came to me, but I have continued to refuse, as I expect to do in the future, to become a profes- sional lecturer at any price: Central Lyceum Bureau, Chicago, 111., November 29, 1897. Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee, Ala. My Dear Sir: — "If you will give us exclusive control of your lecture business for next summer and winter, season of 1898-99, I am confident I can make you more money than you have made this season on the platform. Would you consider an offer of say ten thousand dollars and all expenses for one hundred nights. Please let me hear from you and oblige, Yours very truly, Fred Pelham." Soon after receiving the letter quoted above, I J58 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, received a proposition from a lecture bureau in Boston offering me at the rate of $200 per night for my lectures for as long a time as I would give them my services at this rate, but I declined. Although I refused to become a professional lec- turer for personal gain, I did not keep silent, but continued to work and speak in behalf of Tuskegee. In the fall of 1895 I continued addressing large audiences in the states of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and in the Western states. During my trip to the West I addressed the Hamilton Club and was its guest while in the city of Chicago. The Hamilton Club is one of the largest and most influential political organiza- tions of Republican faith in the West. While in Chicago for the purpose of addressing this club, I was invited by Dr. Harper, the president of the University of Chicago, to deliver an address before the students of the University, which I did, and was treated with great consideration and kindness by all of the officers of the Uni- versity. CHAPTER XL AN APPEAL FOR JUSTICE. While the Atlanta Exposition was in progress, the State Constitutional Convention of South Carolina was in session, having been convened for the specific purpose of passing a law that would result in disfranchising the greater pro- portion of the Negro voters. While this Con- vention was in session, I addressed an open letter to Senator Benj. Tillman of South Carolina, which read as follows: "I am no politician. I never made a political speech, and do not know as I ever shall make one, so it is not on a political subject that I address you. I was born a slave; you a free man. I am but an humble member of an unfortunate race; vou are a member of the greatest legislative body on earth, and of the great intelligent Caucasian race. The differ- ence between us is great, yet I do not believe you will scorn the appeal I make to you in behalf of the 650,000 of my race in your State, who are to-day suppliants at your feet, and whose destiny and progress for the next century you hold largely in your hands. I have been told that you are brave and generous, and one U . 1$ 160 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, too great to harm the weak and dependent; that you represent the chivalry of the South, which has claimed no higher praise than that of being the protectors of the defenseless. I address you because I believe that you and those associated with you in convention, have been misunderstood in the following dispatch to a number of papers: " * An appalling fact that may not be obvious at a first glance, is that the course proposed means the end of Negro education and Negro progress in South Carolina. This is openly admitted by Senator Tillman and his friends.' " It has been said that the truest test of the civilization of a race is the desire of the race to assist the unfortunate. Judged by this stand- ard, the Southern States as a whole have reason to feel proud of what they have done in helping in the education of the Negro. " I cannot believe that on the eve of the twen- tieth century, when there is more enlightenment, more generosity, more progress, more self- sacrifice, more love for humanity than ever existed in any other stage of the world's history, when our memories are pregnant with the scenes that took place at Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge but a few days ago, where brave men who wore the blue and gray clasped forgiving hands and pledged that henceforth the interests BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 161 of one should be the interests of all — while the hearts of the whole South are centered upon the great city of Atlanta, where Southern people are demonstrating to the world in a practical way that it is the policy of the South to help and not to hinder the Negro — in the midst of all these evidences of good feeling among all races and all sections of the country, I cannot believe that you and your fellow members are engaged in con- structing laws that will keep 650,000 of my weak, dependent and unfortunate race in ignorance, poverty and crime. " You, honored Senator, are a student of his- tory. Has there ever been a race that was helped by ignorance? Has there ever been a race that was harmed by Christian intelligence? It is agreed by some that the Negro schools should be practically closed because he cannot bear his pro- portion of this burden of taxation. Can an ignorant man produce taxable property faster than an intelligent man? Will capital and immi- gration be attracted to a State where three out of four are ignorant and where property and crime abound ? "Within a dozen years, the white people of South Carolina have helped in the education of hundreds of colored boys and girls at Clafflin University and smaller schools. Have these educated men and women hindered the State or 182 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, hurt its reputation? It warms my heart as I read the messages of the Governors of Alabama, Georgia and other Southern States, and note their broad and statesman-like appeals for the educa- tion of all the people, none being so black or miserable as not to be reached by the beneficent hand of the State. "Honored Sir, do not misunderstand me; I am not so selfish as to make this appeal to you in the interest of my race alone, for, thank God, a white man is as near to my heart as a black man; but I appeal to you in the interest of humanity. ' What- soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' It is my belief that were it the purpose of your con- vention, as reported, to practically close Negro school-houses by limiting the support of these schools to the paltry tax that the Negro is able to pay out Of his ignorance and poverty after but thirty years of freedom, his school-houses would not close. Let the world know it, and there would be such an inflowing of money from the pockets of the charitable from all sections of our country and other countries, as would keep the light of the school-houses burning on every hill and in every valley in South Carolina. I believe, Senator Tillman, that you are too great and magnanimous to permit this. I believe the peo- ple of South Carolina prefer to have a large part in the education of their own citizens; prefer to BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 163. have them educated to feel grateful to South Carolina for the larger part of their education rather than to outside parties wholly. This ques- tion I leave with you. The black yeomanry of your State will be educated. Shall South Carolina do it, or shall it be left to others ? Here in my humble home, in the heart of the South, I beg to say that I know something of the great burden the Southern people are carrying,and sympathize with them; and I feel that I know the Southern people, and am convinced that the best white people in South Carolina and the South are deter- mined to help lift up the Negro. "In addressing yon this simple message, I am actuated by no motive save a desire that your State, in attempting to escape a burden, shall not add one that will be ten fold more grievous, and that we all shall so act in the spirit of Him who when on earth went about doing good, that we shall have in every part of our beloved South, a contented, intelligent and prosperous people." Soon after the Exposition, in reply to a request from the editor, I addressed the following letter to the Atlanta Journal on the benefits of the Exposition: "Without doubt the Atlanta Exposition has helped the cause of the Negro. Before the event there was much honest difference of opinion among members of the race as to the advisability 164 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, of our taking any part whatever. Many of the objectors earnestly advocated by word of mouth and through the press the policy of 'hands off;' others as much opposed participation, yet kept silent, and, so far as public expression was con- cerned, maintained a neutral position. From the one class no help Was received by those trying to collect an exhibit; from the other, direct opposi- tion was encountered. By reason of these dis- advantages, the Negro exhibit, while highly creditable under the circumstances, was not by any means what it would have been had there been unanimity of purpose and concentrated action. There is, however, little diffei-ence of opinion, either within the race or outside of it, as to the good resulting from the Negro's part in the Exposition. Many, who for various reasons did not sanction a Negro exhibit, are inclined now to favor our embracing, as they are offered, these opportunities for showing of what we are capable along the various lines of activity. Others, still holding to what they consider the logic of their position, yet concede and rejoice in the good accomplished. " In the first instance, this Exposition has given the colored people an insight into their ability to accomplish something by united effort. There are two points to consider in this statement; that the colored people have been helped to a fuller BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 165 knowledge of their capabilities, and that they have been taught a practical lesson in the value of co-operation. Neither of these points can be too much emphasized. Without self-confidence, self-respect, a certain amount of self-assurance of the proper kind, nothing can be achieved, either by an individual or by a race. We must believe in ourselves, if we would have people believe in us. If we wonder, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ?' what must we expect of others ? "Of but little less importance is the expressive example afforded of the power of co-operation. Mutual distrust, disinclination to unite forces, and inability to carry on concentrated action, belong to the dark days and are the badges of inferiority. We shall rise largely in proportion as we learn to join hands and to further mutual interests by joint action. The very effort to do something, to make something, in connection with the Exposi- tion, regardless of intrinsic value of the thing produced or achieved, has been helpful and de- veloping in its tendencies. We learn by doing and 'rise on stepping stones of our dead selves to higher things.' "The Exposition has also given thousands of white people, North and South, opportunities to see some of the best results of the Negro's ad- vancement. It is a fact that always has been recognized and deplored by the better element of 166 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, the colored people, that most white people see and know only the worse phase of Negro character. They live side by side with the brother in black and yet have no acquaintance with him beyond the slight knowledge gained of those serving them in menial capacities. So, perhaps, the entire race is judged by a few individuals who have had little or no opportunities for advancement along any of the lines that make for a higher civilization. The homes of culture, the work of the school, the progress in the industries, in the arts, in all things that tend to prove the Negro a man among men, have been as a sealed book to the vast majority of the white people in all sections of our country, and the adverse judgments that have been formed as to the Negro's worth and ability may be at- tributed more to an unfortunate ignorance and blindness on the subject than to any intention or desire to be unjust. Of no class of people, prob- ably, is this truer than of the class commonly known as the 'poor whites' of the South. It was both interesting and amusing to view their sur- prise as they entered the Negro building at At- lanta, and to listen to the exclamations of astonishment which escaped them as they walked around and observed the exhibits. 'What, this the work of niggers!' Race prejudice received a heavy blow at Atlanta. The white man left with increased respect for the Negro, and he will show BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 167 it in his future dealings with the members of the race. The Negro in turn, appreciative of the recognition accorded him, will entertain more cordial feelings toward those showing him such consideration. The Exposition brought the Ne- gro prominently before the country. The atten- tion of the press was drawn to him. Leading scientists and educators sat in judgment on the products of his brain and skill, ranged side by side with those of his white competitors for hon- ors. His position as a part of the body politic was emphasized as never before. The impression his exhibit made was not such as to render him, in the eyes of the country, less desirable as a citizen than he had seemed before. On the contrary, his capabilities in various directions have been strik- ingly exemplified, and it has been demonstrated that he can measure up to the full stature of a man. "As might have been anticipated, the showing made by the school was most creditable. The friends and advancers of Negro education must have felt that their bounty has not been misplaced. Especially must the great heart of the generous North have glowed with gratification. It is an interesting fact that out of the four highest awards, that of the gold medal made to educa- tional institutions, two went to colored schools — Hampton and Tuskegee. 168 THE STORY OF M¥ LIFE AND WORK. "In speaking of the helpful prominence which the Exposition gave to the Negro's cause, we must not omit the influence of the Negro con- gresses. The very presence in Atlanta of so many well-dressed, well-behaved, intelligent men and women of African descent, speaks loudly in our behalf. Besides, many wise words were uttered in the several addresses delivered and in the discussions which followed, and in all modesty, we think that we may claim that these black men and women made less perplexing some of the per- plexing questions which confront us as a nation. "Not less important among the happy results of the exposition is that the Southern white people and the Negro have learned that they can unite successfully in business enterprises. They have been shown that because men differ on some points and are not as one in all the affairs of life, they need not stand entirely aloof from one an- other. They may meet upon the level ground of a common interest and work together towards the accomplishment of a mutual aim without loss of dignity or self-respect to either. "The exposition has encouraged the Negroes to become, more than ever before, producers. They have been helped to realize, as they may not have realized before, that no kind of toil is to be de- spised, that in every branch of industry the highest degree of proficiency should be sought. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, 16$ that every product of labor is valuable in propor- tion as it approaches the perfect ideal which should animate the mind of every worker. Agri- culture, the trades, education, the arts, have all received an impetus which will be seen in the more rapid advancement of the future, Above all, we are encouraged now by the certainty that recognition will come as it deserved. It is not too much to say that the recognition which the Negro received at Atlanta was the natural result of the development he has made during these thirty years of effort. Further opportunities will present themselves. Already other expositions are projected whose plans include a prominent part to be taken by the Negro. " 'All things come to him who waits,' but the Negro must understand that he must work and wait; not idly rest upon his oars. We must not only be prepared to make a good showing when the opportunity comes for us to let the world see what in us lies, bu; - each opportunity must find us better prepared. With the New South the New Negro must arise and modestly, manfully, cour- ageously, take his place in the march of progress. The old order of things has truly passed away, and side by side, white men and black men must determine to work out their destiny to a success- ful issue." During the Fall and Winter of 1895-96 I ad- 170 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, dressed several audiences in various parts of the country, notably New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. At the meeting in New York, which was held in Broadway Tabernacle, Hon. Joseph H. Choate presided. I also addressed during the Winter of 1896 the Hamilton Club of Brooklyn, New York. The most important meeting which I attended, however, after the Atlanta Exposition, was a large meeting held in Carnegie Hall, New York, in the interest of the Presbyterian Mission. This meeting was held under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church. The meeting was of national importance in its character, and the entire Presbyterian Church throughout the country was interested in it. The President of the United States, Hon. Grover Cleveland, was the presiding officer. The speak- ers included, besides the President, Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D. ; Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., and myself. The hall was packed from bottom to top with the best and most influential people in New York and vicinit} 7 , and much good seems to have resulted from the meeting. The following are some of the extracts from my speech delivered on that occasion: "My word to you to-night will be based upon an humble effort during the last fourteen years to better the condition of my people in the 'black belt ' of the South. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. Ill " What are some of the conditions in the South that need your urgent help and attention?" Eighty-five per cent, of my people in the Gulf States are on the plantations in the country dis- tricts, where a large majority are still in ignorance, without habits of thrift and economy ; are in debt, mortgaging their crops to secure food; paying, or attempting to pay, a rate of interest that ranges between twenty and forty per cent.; living in one-room cabins on rented land, where schools are in session in these country districts from three to four months in the year, taught in places, as a rule, that have little re- semblance to school houses. " Each colored child in these States has spent on him this year, for education, about 70 cents, while each child in Massachusetts has spent on him this year, for education, between $18 and $20. " What state of morality or practical Christian- ity you may expect when as many as six, eight, and even ten, cook, eat and sleep, get sick and die in one room, I need not explain. But what is the remedy for this condition ? It is not practical nor desirable that the North attempt to educate, directly, all the colored people in the South, but the North can and should help the South educate strong Christian leaders who will go among our people and show them how to lift themselves 172 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, up. That is the great problem before us. Can this be done? If in the providence of God the Negro got any good out of slavery, he got the habit of work. Whether the call for labor comes from the cotton fields of Mississippi, the rice swamps of the Carolinas, or the sugar bottoms of Louisiana, the Negro answers the call. Yes, toil is the badge of all his tribe, but the trouble centers here: By reason of his ignorance and want of training he does not know how to utilize the re- sults of his labor. My people do not need charity, neither do they ask that charity be scattered among them. Very seldom in any part of this country do you see a black hand reached out for charity; but they do ask that through Lincoln and Biddle and Scotia and Hampton and Tuske- gee, you send them leaders to guide and stimulate them till they are able to walk." I also gave it as nry opinion that the American Church has never yet comprehended its duty to the millions of poor whites in the South. I said : "When you help the poor whites, you help the Negro. So long as the poor whites are ignorant, so long there will be crime against the Negro and civilization." During the same year I delivered addresses in several Western cities, including Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Milwaukee. Immediately after ray address in Carnegie BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 178 Hall, on the evening of March 3, I took the train in order to be present at the meeting of the Negro Conference which occurred on March 5, and arrived in Tuskegee just in time to take part in the discussion of this meeting. Soon after my address at the opening of the Atlanta Exposition there began to appear adverse criticisms in some of the colored papers regarding the position I had taken in my address. Some of these colored papers felt that I had been entirely too liberal towards the South. I gave no special attention to these criticisms, but in March, 1896, I accepted an invitation to speak before the Bethel Literary Association in Washington. This, I think, is by far the most cultured literary organ- ization in existence among our people, and Washington city had been the center of a good part of the criticisms on my Atlanta speech, so I felt that that city would be a good place in which to make my position more clearly understood and to emphasize my views. On the evening that I spoke in Washington, the meeting was held in the Auditorium of the Metropolitan Church, and I hardly need say that the building was full to such an extent that many were unable to find seats. In my address before the Literary Association I took very much the same position I had taken in my address at Atlanta, but of course went more into 174 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, detail. After my speech, those who heard me seemed to be entirely satisfied with my position, and the newspapers which had been criticising me, in a large measure, ceased to do so. Id u Dl c-i a < a U a — < o 1 M u I. Id ^ ID it u Id (X 72 PRESIDENT ELIOT CONFERRING HONORARY DEGREE UPON MR. WASHINGTON, AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY, JUNE 24. 189G. CHAPTER XII. HONORED BY HARVARD UNIVERSITY. One of the most helpful things accomplished during the year 1896 was an exhibit of the industrial products of the Tuskegee Institute made in New York City, Boston and Philadelphia, in connection with a similar exhibit from the Hampton Institute. The Armstrong Associa- tion in New York City was instrumental in bringing about this exhibit. A large number of people who had no idea of the extent of our industrial work had an opportunity at these exhibits to see for themselves just what was being done by Hampton and Tuskegee. Our industrial exhibit included wagons, carriages and wearing apparel of all kinds, manufactured by the students. The exhibit, however, was not confined to industrial products; a thorough ex- hibit of academic work was also made. Some people have an idea that because indus- trial education is emphasized at Tuskegee and Hampton, very little attention is given to academic training. This is an error. A close examination will prove that both at Hampton and Tuskegee the academic training is very thorough and far-reaching; in fact, if we had only called u 175 176 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, this institution "University" or "College" and had given the same course of training that we now give, we would have met with no criticism on account of not giving more academic training. We are thoroughly imbued with the idea that a little training thoroughly given goes farther than to attempt to cover a great deal of ground poorly. Education after all is only valuable in giving mental grasp and culture. Six months before he died, and nearly a year after he had been stricken with paralysis, General Armstrong visited Tuskegee. On his arrival, which was about nine o'clock in the evening, he was given a unique reception by the students. According to a pre-arranged plan, the moment that his carriage entered the school grounds, he began passing between two lines of lighted and waving "fat pine" wood knots held by over a thousand students and teachers. The General was com- pletely overcome with happiness. Fie remained a guest in my home for nearly two months, and, although almost wholly without the use of voice or limb, he spent nearly every hour in devising ways to help the South. Time and time again he said to me, during this visit, that it was not only the duty of the country to assist in elevating the Negro of the South, but the poor white man as well. I resolved anew to devote myself more earnestly to the cause which was so dear to him. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 177 Several times I have been asked what was the most surprising incident in my life. I have no hesitation in saying that it was the following let- ter from Harvard University, asking me to be present at the commencement at Harvard in June, 1896, for the purpose of having an honorary degree conferred upon me. "Harvard University. " Cambridge, May 28. 1896. "My Dear Sir: Harvard University desires to confer on you at the approaching come en cement an honorary degree; but it is our custom to confer d^giees only on gentlemen who are present. Our commencement occurs this year on June 24th, and your presence would be desirable from about noon till about five o'clock in the afternoon. Would it be possible for you to be in Cambridge on that day? "Believe me, -with great regard, "Very truly yours, "Charles W. Eliot. "President Booker T. Washington.'.' Up to the time of receiving *this letter 1 had not the faintest idea that any college, much less the oldest and highest educational institution in the country, was about to or would ever confer upon me any honorary degree. It took me, of course, greatly by surprise. Commencement day at Harvard, June 24, 1896, was a memorable one, certainly one that I shall never forget. At the appointed hour I met President Eliot and the overseers of the College at the designated place on the grounds, for the 178 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, purpose of being escorted in company with others to Sanders Theatre, where the commencement exercises were to take place and the degrees to be conferred. In addition to the degree to be conferred on me, among others Major-Gen. Nel- son A. Miles, the Commander of the United States Arm)', Dr. Bell, the inventor of the Bell telephone S3 r stem, Dr. M. J. Savage of Boston, and others, were invited to be present at com- mencement for the purpose of receiving degrees. We were assigned places in the line of march immediately behind the President and Overseers. As soon as we were placed in the line, the Gover- nor of Massachusetts, escorted by the Lancers, arrived, and was assigned to the head of the line of march by the side of President Eliot. In this order, accompanied by the various officers clad in caps and gowns, we marched to Sanders Theatre. After the usual commencement exer- cises, the time for the conferring of honorary de- grees came. This at Harvard is always the most interesting and exciting feature of commencement, owing largely to the fact that no one knows until commencement day on whom honorary degrees are to be conferred, and as each name is called for an honorary degree, the expectation rises to the highest pitch, and the individuals receive cheers and applause in proportion as they are popular at the college. When it came my turn I arose, and BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 179 President Eliot conferred upon me the degree of Master of Arts, in appropriate language. The whole ceremony for the first time at Harvard was performed in English. At the close of the commencement exercises I was invited with Gen. Miles and others receiving honorary degrees to lunch with President Eliot. After the lunch at the residence o£ the President we were formed into line again and were escorted under the guidance of the Marshal of the Day, who in this case happened to be Bishop Lawrence of Massachusetts, through the grounds, in which at different points we were met and cheered by the students, each individual who had received an honorary degree receiving the Harvard yell. The most interesting feature of that day was the Alumni Dinner, which occurred at the close of our march through the grounds. This dinner was served in Memorial Hail, and, I think, was attended by at least a thousand graduates of Harvard from all sections of the country, many of them eminent in affairs of state, religion and the field of letters. Among the speakers at the Alumni Dinner were Governor Roger A. Wol- cott, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Gen. Nelson A. Miles, Dr. Savage and others. When I was called upon to speak at the Alumni Dinner I delivered the following address: 180 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, u Mr. President and Gentlemen : — " It would in some measure relieve my embar- rassment if I could, even in a slight degree, feel myself worthy of the great honor which you do me to-day. Why you have called me from the Black Belt of the South, from among my humble people, to share in the honors of this occasion, is not for me to explain; and yet it may not be inappropriate for me to suggest that it seems to me that one of the most vital questions that touch our American life, is how to bring the strong, wealthy and learned into helpful touch with the poorest, most ignorant and humblest, and at the same time make the one appreciate the vitalizing, strengthening influence of the other. How shall we make the mansions on yon Beacon street feel and see the need of the spirits in the lowliest cabin in Alabama cotton fields or Louisiana sugar bot- toms? This problem Harvard University is solving, not by bringing itself down, but by bringing the masses up. "If through me, an humble representative, seven millions of my people in the South might be permitted to send a message to Harvard — Harvard that offered up on death's altar young Shaw, and Russell, and Lowell, and scores of others, that we might have a free and united country — that message would be, 'Tell them that the sacrifice was not in vain. Tell them that by BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 181 habits of thrift and economy, by way of the indus- trial school and college, we are coming. We are crawling up, working up, yea, bursting up. Often through oppression, unjust discrimination and prejudice, but through them all we are coming up, and with proper habits, intelligence and property, there is no power on earth that can permanently stay our progress.' "If my life in the past has meant anything in the lifting up of my people and the bringing about of better relations between your race and mine, I assure you from this day it will mean doubly more. In the economy of God there is but one standard by which an individual can succeed- there is but one for a race. This country de- mands that every race shall measure itself by the American standard. By it a race must rise or fall, succeed or fail, and in the last analysis mere sentiment counts for little. During the next half century and more, my race must continue passing through the severe American crucible. We are to be tested in our patience, our forbearance, our perseverence, our power to endure wrong, to withstand temptations, to economize, to acquire and use skill; in our ability to compete, to succeed in commerce, to disregard the superficial for the real, the appearance for the substance, to be great and yet small, learned and yet simple, high and yet the servant of all. This, this is the passport 182 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, to all that is best in the life of our republic, and the Negro must possess it, or be debarred. ''While we are thus being tested, I beg of you to remember that wherever our life touches yours, we help or hinder. Wherever your life touches ours, you make us stronger or weaker. No member of your race in any part of our country can harm the meanest member of mine without the proudest and bluest blood in Massa- chusetts being degraded. When Mississippi commits crime, New England commits crime, and in so much, lowers the standard of your civil- ization. There is no escape- — man drags man down, or man lifts man up. "In working out our destiny, while the main burden and center of activity must be with us, we shall need, in a large measure in the years that are to come as we have in the past, the help, the encouragement, the guidance that the strong can give the weak. Thus helped, we of both races in the South, soon shall throw off the shackles of racial and sectional prejudice and rise, as Harvard University has risen and as we all should rise, above the clouds of ignorance, narrowness and selfishness, into that atmosphere, that pure sunshine, where it will be our highest ambition to serve man, our brother, regardless of race or previous condition." As this was the first time that an honorary BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 183 degree had ever been conferred upon a Negro by any university in New England, of course it occa- sioned a great deal of newspaper comment throughout the country. I think I shall not speak further of the occurrence, but will insert a few newspaper clippings that will tell the story per. haps better than I feel like doing it. Mr. Thos. J. Calloway, who was present on this occasion, wrote as follows to the Colored American: "First in the history of America, a leading American university confers an honorary degree upon a colored man. Harvard has been always to the front in ideas of liberty, freedom and equality. When other colleges of the North are accepting the Negro as a tolerance, Harvard has been awarding him honors, as in the case of Clement G. Morgan, of recent date. Her present action, therefore, in placing an honorary crown upon the worthy head of Mr. "Washington is but a step further in her magnanimity in recog- nizing merit under whatever color of skin. "The mere announcement of this event is a great testimony to the standing of Mr. Washing- ton, but to any black person who, as I did, saw and heard the enthusiasm and applause with which the audience cheered the announcement by President Eliot, the degree itself was insignificant. The Boston Lancers had conducted Gov. Wol- 184 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, cott to Cambridge, and five hundred Harvard graduates had double filed the march to Sanders Theatre. It was a great day. Latin orations, disquisitions, dissertations and essays in English were delivered by selected graduates, clad in state- ly and classic cap and gown. Bishops, generals, commodores, statesmen, authors, poets, explorers, millionaires and noted men of every calling, sat as earnest listeners. President Eliot had issued five hundred diplomas by handing them to representa- tives of the graduates in bundles of twenty to twenty-five. Then came the awarding of honor- ary degrees. Thirteen were issued, Bishop Vin- cent and General Nelson A. Miles, commander of the United States Army, being among the recip- ients. When the name of Booker T. Washington was called, and he arose to acknowledge and accept, there was such an outburst of applause as greeted no other name except that of the popular soldier patriot, General Miles. The applause was not studied and stiff, sympathetic and condoling; it was enthusiasm and admiration. Every part of the audience from pit to gallery joined in, and a glow covered the cheeks of those around me, proving their sincere appreciation of the rising struggle of an ex-slave and the work he has accom- plished for his race. "But the event of the day was the Alumni Din- ner, when speeches formed the most enjoyable BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 185 bill of fare. Two hundred Harvard alumni and their invited guests partook of this annual dinner. Four or five speeches were made, among them one from Mr. Washington. "At the close of the speaking, notwithstanding the fact that Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Dr. Minot J. Savage and others had spoken, President Eliot warmly grasped Mr. Washington by the hand and told him that his was the best speech of the day." Speaking of the conferring of the degree and the toast, the papers were unusual in favorable comment. Says the Boston Post: "In conferring the honorary degree of Master of Arts upon the principal of Tuskegee Institute, Harvard University has honored itself as well as the object of this distinction. The work which Prof. Booker T. Washington has accomplished for education, good citizenship and popular en- lightenment in his chosen field of labor in the South, entitles him to rank with our national bene- factors. The university which can claim him on its list of sons, whether in regular course or hon- oris causa, may be proud. "It has been mentioned that Mr. Washington is the first of his race to receive an honorary degree from a New England University. This, in itself, is a distinction. But the degree was not conferred because Mr. Washington is a colored man, or be- 1S8 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, cause he was born in slavery, but because he has shown, by his work for the elevation of the people of the Black Belt of the South, a genius and a broad humanity which count for greatness in any man, whether his skin be white or black." The Boston Globe said: "It is Harvard which, first among New England colleges, con- fers an honorary degree upon a black man. No one who has followed the history of Tuskegee and its work, can fail to admire the courage, per- sistence and splendid common sense of Booker T. Washington. Well may Harvard honor the ex- slave, the value of whose services, alike to his race and country, only the future can estimate." The correspondent of the New York Times wrote: "All the speeches were enthusiastically received, but the colored man carried off the oratorical honors, and the applause which broke out when he had finished, was vociferous and long continued." In July of the same year I delivered one of the addresses before the National Christian Endeavor Convention which met in Washington. This meeting of the Christian Endeavor Society was attended by thousands of people from all sections of the country and some from foreign countries. I remember that in order to be present in time to speak at this meeting, I had to make a long and tiresome trip from Spirit Lake, Iowa, to Wash- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 187 ington, and reached Washington rather late in the evening. In fact, when I got to the church where I was to speak, I found President F. E. Clark and the audience rather nervous about my appearance. I found it a difficult matter to get into the room, owing to the fact that every seat was taken, the aisles full and people on the outside of the church clamoring for en- trance. My address was finished about 10 o'clock that evening. At n o'clock I took a train for Buffalo, New York, where I was to speak the next night before the National Educa- tional Association, where 20,000 teachers were present. As I now recall the incident, I think these two meetings caused me perhaps as great mental strain and anxiety as I have ever ex- perienced. I had to prepare special and set ad- dresses for each meeting, and coming, as they did, so near together, any one who has had ex- perience in public speaking can easily imagine the difficulty with which I had to contend. I will give one or two short newspaper extracts that may convey an idea of the effect of these two addresses. The Buffalo Express gave expression in part as follows : " It was a great close. It began with music and it ended with music. Not a false note was struck. Every tone rang true, and when the 188 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, gavel rose for the final fall, the audience rose with it, and with one mighty voice sang 'America.' All credit is due to Booker T. Washington for the keying up of the spirit that dominated the vast audience. His address was magnificent. There was nothing of speculation, nothing of theory, nothing of supposition in his speech. It was a truthful, convincing statement of the con- dition of the Negro and the remedy for his wrongs. It teemed with humor and was arrayed in a splendid cloak of eloquence. The audience was larger than at any of the other sessions. An overflow meeting was held in Concert Hall, at which the addresses of the closing session were re- peated. The overflow meeting overflowed, and over 2,000 people were turned away. A thousand lingered outside until the convention ended." On July 12th the Buffalo Courier contained the following: " Booker T. Washington, the foremost educa- tor among the colored people of the world, was a very busy man from the time he arrived in the city the other night from the West, and registered at the Iroquois. He had hardly removed the stains of travel when it was time to partake of supper. Then he held a public levee in the parlors of the Iroquois until eight o'clock. During that time he was greeted by over two hundred emi- nent teachers and educators from all parts of the BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 189 United States. Shortly after 8 o'clock, he was driven in a carriage to Music Hall, and in one hour and a half he made two ringing addresses, to as many as 5,000 people, on Negro education. Then Mr. Washington was taken in charge by a delegation of colored citizens, headed by the Rev. Mr. Watkins, and hustled off to a small, informal reception, arranged in honor of the visitor, by the people of his race." Both in Washington at the Christian Endeavor meeting and in Buffalo at the National Educa- tional Association meeting I was surprised as well as gratified at the large number of Southern gentlemen and ladies belonging to the white race who pressed forward to shake my hand at the close of these addresses. I have rarely spoken anywhere in the North that a number of Southern white people did not come forward and most earnestly thank me for my position and words. A Southern man writing to the Charleston News and Courier concerning my address at Buffalo expressed himself as follows : " Notwithstanding the fact that the gentlemen speaking were of great ability, the audience showed signs of impatience; they wanted Mr. Washington, and no one else would do. At last he came. He is quiet looking, a little nervous, but determined. His face indicates that he has 190 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, above all qualities, patience and self-control. His address to the second audience was very much the same as that delivered before the first. He was a little freer; told several amusing stories, and from the start carried the crowd as no one else has done during this meeting." It has been my privilege to be invited to address the national gathering of both the Chris- tian Endeavor Society and the National Educa- tional Association at almost every session that these organizations have held, and I have been very glad to accept the invitation as often as I could find time to do so. The following September I delivered the open- ing address before the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, in Brooklyn, N. Y., and in October of the same year while in Durham, N. C, for the purpose of speaking at the Agricultural and Mechanical Fair held at that place by the colored people, I was invited by the President of Trinity College, located in Durham, to deliver an address before the students of that college. This was the first time that I had ever received an invitation to address a white college in the South. I accepted the invitation and was treated with every possible courtesy both by the officers and students of the college. After my address, as I was preparing to leave the grounds in company with a number BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 191 of colored friends who had been kind enough to call with me, the students assembled in the front yard and gave me their usual college yell in a hearty manner. 18 CHAPTER XIII. URGED FOR A CABINET POSITION. Soon after the election of Major McKinley to the office of President in 1 896, the Washington Post, to the surprise of nearly everybody, came out with a strong editorial urging the President - Elect to give me a place in his cabinet. The name of the late Hon. B. K. Bruce was also sug- gested in the same connection. This editorial created quite a journalistic discussion which ex- tended to all parts of the country. I give a few extracts from newspapers that may indicate the character of this discussion. The Washington Post, which, I think, was the first paper to discuss the propriety of my selection as a cabinet officer, opened the discussion with the following article:' " There is one problem which Mr. McKinley, if he be a just and grateful man — as we think he is — will have to consider, and consider very seri- ously. We have in mind the problem of what the Republican party proposes to do by way of rec- ognizing its obligations to the colored voter. That party has owed much to the loyal and un- selfish devotion of the race in times gone by, but 193 194 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, never so much as in the campaign which it has conducted to a triumphant conclusion. What, now, will Mr. McKinley do to testify his grati- tude? "At every stage of his personal fight Mr. Mc- Kinley has been indebted to the Negro. It was the Negro contingent at St. Louis that made his nomination certain. It was the Negro's firm stand for gold that forced the sound money issue upon the convention. It was the Negro's vote in such States as Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Delaware and Indiana that made his victory possible. We all know now that McKinley would have had next to no chance at all had not the St. Louis convention declared emphatically and un- equivocally for the gold standard,, As between a simple declaration for tariff revision on the one hand and for free silver coinage without tariff dis- turbances on the other, the great Eastern and Middle States would have had but a languid choice. It was the solid sound money front pre- sented by the colored delegates that compelled the adoption of the gold clause in the platform, and furnished Mr. McKinley with the issue upon which he rallied to his banner the merchants, the manu- facturers, and the moneyed corporations through- out the land. Mr. McKinley could not have been elected but by the course pursued by the Negroes before, during, and after the assembling of the St BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 195 Louis convention. Now, in what fashion does he intend to recognize and reward their service? "It seems to us that at least one cabinet posi- tion should be given to the race. Let us say the portfolio of Agriculture, for example. There are many colored men of notable attainments, of large experience in public life, and of the highest per- sonal character, eminently qualified to discharge the duties of this office with credit to the admin- istration and honor to themselves. We might name such men as Hon. B. K. Bruce and Prof. Booker T. Washington. Mr. Bruce has been a Senator of the United States, and it may be truly said of him that in that capacity he won the re- spect and esteem of all his colleagues and served his country with distinction. He also served a term as Register of the Treasury and another as Recorder of Deeds under the District government, always with notable ability. Prof. Washington is universally recognized as one of the foremost educators in the country. The institute over which he presides, at Tuskegee, Ala., has become conspicuous under his management, and is to-day ranked with the most useful and admirable of our seats of learning. The appointment of either of these gentlemen to the control of one of the executive departments would be a graceful acknowledgment of the obligations which the Republican party has incurred, and which we 196 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, should think it would be anxious to discharge. We do not limit Mr. McKinley to these two. There are many other colored men abundantly fitted for a Cabinet position. It happens simply that ex-Senator Bruce and Prof. Washington occurred to us first in running over the list of eligibles. "Returning to the abstract proposition, how- ever, it is clear to us that Mr. McKinley owes his election, first to the fidelity and wise foresight of the colored delegates at St. Louis, and secondly to the loyal support of the colored voters in half a dozen states necessary to his election, which could not possibly have been carried for him with- out their aid. He is under obligations, which, as a man of feeling, he cannot well ignore and which he could most felicitously acknowledge by ask- ing some truly representative Negro to enter his official family." The Canton (Ohio) Repository, after discuss- ing in a long article a number of men, white and black, suitable for cabinet material, concluded as follows : " Another able man is Prof. Booker T. Wash- ington, the head of the Tuskegee Normal School, of Alabama. Mr. Washington has been spoken of for Secretary of Agriculture under the new administration, and is one of the foremost leaders of the colored race in this country and a pioneer BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 197 in the industrial and educational development of his people. He is one of the younger leaders of the colored people and fully understands their needs and hopes. His address at the opening of the Atlanta Exposition has been favorably com- mented upon by all classes of people. He is the originator of the Normal college and is doing a great work in the South." There were other articles of similar character in other papers at the time, and still others of course that opposed vigorously the idea of placing a Negro in the Cabinet of the President of the United States. In a speech delivered to the colored citizens of Boston, Mass., soon after this discussion began, I openly declared that under no circumstances would I accept a political appointment that would result in my turning aside from the work which I had begun at Tuskegee. In the spring of 1897 I was invited by Dr. Francis J. Grimke, pastor of the 15th St. Presby- terian Church, Washington, D. C, to deliver an address in his church. My subject on this oc- casion was " The Things in Hand." It was just after President McKinley had been inaugurated as President. Washington was full of people from all over the country, and among them not a few colored people seeking office. At this meet- ing I urged as strongly as I could that the colored 198 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, people should cease depending so much on office, and give more attention to industrial or business enterprises. This created a wide discussion among the colored people, especially among those who were in Washington seeking office. I have always held that the Negro has the same right to aspire to political or appointive offices as the white man has, but in our present condition we will be more sure of laving a foundation that will result in permanent political recognition in the future by giving attention at the present time in a very large measure to education, business and industry, than merely by seeking political office. I would have the Negro give up no right guaranteed to him by the Constitution of the United States, but I am also convinced that the way for him to secure the opportunity to exercise his rights guaranteed to him by the Constitution is to make himself the most useful and inde- pendent citizen in his community. In certain quarters, for a number of years, a certain element of our people have opposed my plan for the elevation of the Negroes, on the ground that they have felt that I was not in favor of the Negro receiving a college education. This is an error. I do not oppose college education for our people, but I do urge that a larger per- centage of our young men and women, whether educated in college or not, give the strength of BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 199 their education in the direction of commercial or industrial development, just the same as the white man does. I have tried to show my approval of college education by giving as many college men as possible employment, and have on our pay roll at Tuskegee, constantly, from fifteen to twenty men and women who have been educated at the leading colleges throughout the county. The best way to approve of college education is to give those educated at college something to do. The great need for the next fifty or one hundred years among our people will be the sending out among them of men and women thoroughly equipped with academic and religious training, together with industrial or hand training, so that they can lead the masses to a betterment of their present industrial and material condition. The young white man who graduates at college, in nine cases out of ten, finds a business v/aiting for him that he can enter into as soon as he gets his college diploma. This business has been created by his father, grandfather or great-grandfather years before, but the black boy graduating from college finds no business waiting for him; he must start a business for himself; therefore, it is im- portant, in our present condition, that the Negro be so educated along technical and industrial lines that he can found a business for himself. In the matter of technical or industrial education the 200 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, blacks are not keeping up with the whites. Every state has technical schools for white boys and girls, and we can not expect to retain our hold on the industries of the South, unless we give special attention to preparing ourselves for doing the best work. In too many cases the Negro carpenter, the Negro blacksmith, the Negro contractor, and laundry woman are being replaced by white people who have come into the South from the North. We can only retain our hold upon the industries of the South by putting into the field men and women of the highest intelligence and skill. We must learn to do the tasks about our door in a thorough manner; to do a common thing in an uncommon manner; to be sure that nobody else can improve on our work. CHAPTER XIV. THE SHAW MONUMENT SPEECH, THE VISIT OF SECRETARY JAMES WILSON, AND THE LETTER TO THE LOUISIANA CONVENTION. In the spring of 1897 I received a letter from Hon. Edward Atkinson, of Boston, inviting me to deliver an address at the dedication of the Robert Gould Shaw monument in Boston. I take it for granted that my readers already know all about the history and achievements of Robert Gould Shaw. The monument dedicated to his memory stands on the historic Boston Common, facing Beacon Street, and is said to be the most perfect piece of art of the kind in this country. The meeting in connection with the dedicatory exercises was held in Music Hall, Boston, which was packed from bottom to top with perhaps one of the most distinguished audiences that has ever assembled in Boston. In fact, there was a larger number of the old anti-slavery element present than will perhaps ever assemble again in this country. Hon. Roger Wolcott, Governor of Massachusetts, was the presiding officer. On the platform were the Mayor of Boston, the Lieutenant Governor, members of the Governor's 201 202 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, Council and of the city government of Boston, besides hundreds of other distinguished persons. As to the impression made by this address 1 shall let an editorial which appeared in the Bos- ton Transcript the next day, together with a few other newspaper accounts, tell the story. I spoke as follows : — ■ "Mr. Chairman and fellow citizens: — * "In this presence, and on this sacred and memorable day, in the deeds and death of our hero, we recall the old, old story, ever old, yet ever new, that when it was the will of the Father to lift humanity out of wretchedness and bondage, the precious task was delegated to him who among ten thousand was altogether lovely, and was willing to make himself of no reputation that he might save and lift up others. " If that heart could throb and those lips could speak, what would be the sentiment and words that Robert Gould Shaw would have us feel and speak at this hour ? He would not have us to dwell long on the mistakes, the injustice, the criticisms of the days — 'Of storm and cloud, of doubt and fears, Across the eternal sky must lower; Before the glorious noon appears. ' "He would have us bind up with his own undying fame and memory and retain by the side of his monument, the name of John A. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 203 Andrew, who, with prophetic vision and strong arm, helped to make the existence of^ the 54th regiment possible; and that of George L. Stearns, who, with hidden generosity and a great, sweet heart, helped to turn the darkest hour into day, and in doing so freely gave serv- ice, fortune and life itself to the cause which this day commemorates. Nor would he have us for- get those brother officers, living and dead, who, by their baptism in blood and fire, in defense of Union and freedom, gave us an example of the highest and purest patriotism. "To you who fought so valiantly in the ranks, the scarred and scattered remnant of the 54th regiment, who with empty sleeve and wanting leg, have honored this occasion with your pres- ence, to you your commander is not dead. Though Boston erected no monument, and history recorded no story, in you and the loyal race you represent, Robert Gould Shaw would have a monument which time could not wear away. "But an occasion like this is too great, too sacred, for mere individual eulogy. The individual is the instrument, national virtue the end. That which was three hundred 3'ears being woven into the warp and woof of our democratic institutions could not be effaced by a single battle, as mag- nificent as was that battle; that which for three centuries had bound master and slave, yea, North 204 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, and South, to a body of death, could not be blot- ted out by four years of war, could not be atoned for by shot and sword, nor by blood and tears. "Not many days ago, in the heart of the South, in a large gathering of the people of my race, there were heard from many lips praises and thanksgiving to God for his goodness in setting them free from physical slavery. In the midst of that assembly a Southern white man arose^ with gray hair and trembling hands, the former owner of man}' slaves, and from his quivering lips there came the words: "My friends, you forget in your rejoicing that in setting you free, God was also good to me and nry race in setting us free.'' But there is a higher and deeper sense in which both races must be free than that repre- sented by the bill of sale. The black man who cannot let love and sympathy go out to the white man is but half free. The white man who would close the shop or factory against a black man seeking an opportunity to earn an honest living is but half free. The white man who retards his own development by opposing a black man is but half free. The full measure of the fruit of Fort Wagner and all that this monument stands for will not be realized until every man covered with a black skin shall by patient and natural effort, grow to that height in industry, property, intelligence and moral responsibility, where no BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 205 man in all our land will be tempted to degrade himself by withholding from his black brother any opportunity which he himself would possess. "Until that time comes this monument will stand for effort, not victory complete. What these heroic souls of the 54th regiment began we must complete. It must be completed not in mal- ice, nor in narrowness; not in artificial progress, nor in efforts at mere temporary political gain, nor in abuse of another section or race. Standing as I do to-day in the home of Garrison and Phillips and Sumner, my heart goes out to those who wore the gray as well as to those clothed in the blue; to those who returned defeated, to destitute homes, to face blasted hopes and a shattered political and industrial system. To them there can be no prouder reward for defeat than by a supreme effort to place the Negro on that footing where he will add material, intellectual and civil strength to every department of the State. " This work must be completed in the public school, industrial school and college. The most of it must be completed in the effort of the Negro himself, in his effort to withstand temptation, to economize, to exercise thrift, to disregard the superficial for the real, the shadow for the sub- stance, to be great and yet small, in his effort to be patient in the laying of a firm foundation, to grow so strong in skill and knowledge that he 206 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, shall place his service in demand by reason of his intrinsic and superior worth. All this makes the key that unlocks every door of opportunity, and all others fail. In this battle of peace the rich and poor, the black and white may have a part. "What lessons has this occasion for the future? What of hope, what of encouragement, what of caution? 'Watchman, tell us of the night; what the signs of promise are.' If through me, an humble representative, nearly ten millions of my people mignt be permitted to send a message to Massachusetts, to the survivors of the 54th regi- ment, to the committee whose untiring energy has made this memorial possible, to the family who gave their only boy that we might have life more abundantly, that message would be, 'Tell them that the sacrifice was not in vain, that up from the depth of ignorance and poverty we are coming, and if we come through oppression out of the struggle, we are gaining strength. By the way of the school, the well cultivated field, the skilled hand, the Christian home, we are coming up; that we propose to invite all who will to step up and occupy this position with us. Tell them that we are learning that standing ground for a race, as for an individual, must be laid in intelli- gence, industry, thrift and property, not as an end, but as a means to the highest privileges 5 that we are learning that neither the conqueror's bullet BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 207 nor the fiat of law could make an ignorant voter an intelligent voter, could make a dependent man an independent man, could give one citizen re- spect for another, a bank account, nor a foot of land, nor an enlightened fireside. Tell them that as grateful as we are to artist and patriotism for placing the figures of Shaw and his comrades in physical form of beauty and magnificence, that after all, the real monument, the greater monu- ment, is being slowly but safely builded among the lowly in the South, in the struggles and sacri- fices of a race to justify all that has been done and suffered for it.' " One of the wishes that lay nearest Colonel Shaw's heart was that his black troops might be permitted to fight by the side of the white soldiers. Have we not lived to see that wish realized, and will it not be more so in the future? Not at Wagner, not with rifle and bayonet, but on the field of peace, in the battle of industry, in the struggle for good government, in the lifting up of the lowest to the fullest opportunities. In this we shall fight by the side of the white man, North and South. And if this be true, as under God's guidance it will, that old flag, that emblem of progress and security, which brave Sergeant Car- ney never permitted to fall upon the ground, will still be borne aloft by Southern soldier and North- 14 208 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, ern soldier, and, in a more potent and higher sense, we shall all realize that — 'The slave's chain and the master's alike broken; The one curse of the race held both in tether ; They are rising, all are rising — The black and the white together.' " From the Boston Evening Transcript of June ist, the following is taken: "The core and kernel of yesterday's great noon meeting in honor of the Brotherhood of Man in Music Hall, was the superb address of the Negro President of Tuskegee. Booker T. Wash- ington received his Harvard A. M. last June, the first of his race, said Governor Wolcott, to receive an honorary degree from the oldest university in this country, and this for the wise leadership of his people. And when Mr. Washington rose up in the flag-tilled, enthusiasm-warmed, patriotic and glowing atmosphere of Music Hall, people felt keenly that here was the civic justification of the old abolition spirit of Massachusetts, in his person the proof of her ancient and indomitable faith; in his strong thought and rich oratory, the crown and glory of the old war days of suffering and strife. The scene was full of historic beauty and a deep significance. 'Cold' Boston was alive with the fire that is always hot in her heart for righteousness and truth. Rows and rows of people who are seldom seen at any public func* BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 209 tion, whole families of those who are certain to be out of town on a holiday, crowded the place to overflowing. The city was at her birthright fete in the persons of hundreds of her best citi- zens, men and women whose lives and names stand for the virtues that make for honorable civic pride. "Battle music had filled the air. Ovation after ovation, applause warm and prolonged had greet- ed the officers and friends of Colonel Shaw, the sculptor, St. Gaudens, the memorial committee, the Governor and his staff, and the Negro soldiers of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts as they came upon the platform or entered the hall. Chief Marshal Appleton and Mr. Chaplain Hall had performed their duties. Colonel Henry Lee, of Governor Andrew's old staff, had made the noble, simple presentation speech for the committee, paying tribute to the chairman, Mr. John M. Forbes, in whose stead he served. Governor Wolcott had made his short memorable speech, saying, 'Fort Wagner marked an epoch in the his- tory of a race and called it into manhood.' Mayor Quincy had received the monument for the city of Boston in eloquent words. Professor James, brother of Adjutant James, who fell at Fort Wagner, wounded but not killed, had told the story of Colonel Shaw and his black regiment in gallant words. He got at the soul of the day's 210 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, meaning when he said that the battle-instinct is strong enough in the race, bred in our bone and blood, but what is needed is 'that lonely kind of valor, civic courage we call it in time of peace;' which blesses a nation with a continued saying, and whose 'inner mystery' the precious virtue of civil genius is preserved in perfect good tem- per and in power of righteous wrath. And then after the singing of 'Mine eyes have seen the glory, Of the coming of the Lord,' Booker Washington arose. It was, of course, just the moment for him. The multitude, shaken out of its usual Symphony concert calm, quivered with an excitement that was not suppressed. A dozen times it had sprung to its feet to cheer and wave and hurrah, as one person. When this man of culture and voice and power, as well as dark skin, began with the bibical poetic touch in his first words, and quickly uttered the names of Andrew and of Stearns, feeling began to mount. You could see tears glisten in the eyes of the soldiers and civilians on the platform. When the orator turned to the colored soldiers on the plat- form, to the color bearer of Fort Wagner, who smiling bore still the flag he never lowered, even when wounded, and said: 'To you, to the scarred and scattered remnants of the Fifty-fourth, who BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 211 with empty sleeve and wanting leg, have honored this occasion with your presence, to you, your commander is not dead. Though Boston erected no monument, and history recorded no story, in you and the loyal race you represent, Robert Gould Shaw would have a monument which time could not wear away,' then came the climax of the emotion of the day and the hour. It was Roger Wolcott as well as the Governor of Mas- sachusetts, the individual representative of the people's sympathy, as well as the chief magistrate^ who had sprung first to his feet and cried, 'Three cheers to Booker T. Washington. 1 " One incident, however, I note that the news- papers do not describe fully. Most of my readers will perhaps know that Sergeant .William H. Carney, of New Bedford, Mass., was the brave colored officer who at the battle of Fort Wagner, was the color bearer and held on to the American flag. Notwithstanding the fact that a large pro- portion of his regiment was slain, he escaped in some miraculous manner and exclaimed, after the battle was over, u The old flag never touched the ground." Before I made this address I had never met Sergeant Carney. Sergeant Carney, however, together with a remnant of the Fifty-fourth Mas- sachusetts Regiment, was present on a front seat, and he held in his hand the same flag which he 212 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, had held on to safely during the battle of Fort Wagner. When I turned to address the colored regiment and referred to Sergeant Carney, he rose as if by instinct with the flag in his hands. It has been rny privilege to witness a good many satis- factory and rather sensational demonstrations in connection with several of my public addresses, but in dramatic effect I have never seen nor ex- perienced anything that equaled the impression made on the audience when Sergeant Carney arose. For a good many minutes the audience seemed to entirely lose control of itself, and patriotic feeling was at a high pitch. In November, 1897, the Tuskegee Institute received its first recognition from a member of the President's cabinet, in the way of a visit from Hon. James A. Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture. A year previous to the visit of Secretary Wilson, I began making efforts, in connection with friends of the institution, to raise money enough to erect a building to be devoted wholly to the teaching of agriculture, horticulture, dairying, fruit-gar- dening, market gardening, etc. About $10,000 was secured for the erection of this building. Secretary Wilson, whom I had met in the West some months before, promised me that he would try to be present at the formal opening of this building, and he kept his promise. Secretary Wilson was accompanied from Washington by BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, 213 Dr. J. L. M. Curry, the agent of the John F. Slater Fund, and was met at Tuskegee by Gov. Joseph F. Johnston and a large crowd of colored and white citizens. In addition to the persons named there were present, Ex-Gov. Northern, of Georgia, and the State Superintendent of Educa- tion of Georgia, Major Glenn. The occasion was widely published throughout the country and did much to place the work of the school prominently before the people. The opening of this building marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the Tuskegee Institute, as since that time we have emphasized the teaching of agriculture to our students. During the earlier years of the school we found it difficult to get students to take much interest in our farm work. They wanted to go into the mechanical trades instead. After the opening of this agricultural building and the securing of Mr. Geo. W. Carver, a thoroughly educated man in all matters pertain- ing to agriculture, the Agricultural Department has been put upon such a high plane that the students no longer look upon agriculture as a drudgery, and many of our best students are anxious to enter the Agricultural Department. We have demands from all parts of the South for men who have finished our courses in agri- culture, dairying, etc., in fact, the demands are far greater than we can supply. I often wonder why 2U THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, it is, there being such excellent openings in these directions, that so few of our young men are will- ing to prepare themselves for these valuable and responsible positions. I shall not occupy much more of the reader's time in detailing accounts of my various speech- making tours; were I to do so, a good part of this volume would be occupied in a description of them. Nearly one-half of my time is spent away from Tuskegee addressing audiences of various kinds in different parts of the country; sometimes in the South, at other times in the Middle or East- ern States, and going as far West in many cases as Denver and Omaha. There is never a day that I do not receive a number of invitations urg- ing me to go to some section of the country to make an address. When I am away from Tuske- gee the portion of the time that is not spent in making addresses in behalf of Tuskegee is spent in seeing individuals. The latter work I consider very important and far-reaching. During the winter of 1898 a State Constitu- tional Convention assembled in New Orleans, La., for the purpose of passing a law which would re- sult in disfranchising a large proportion of the Negro voters. Some of the members of the Con- vention were very anxious to pass a law that would result in the disfranchising of the Negro voters without disfranchising any portion of the white BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 216 voters. The passing of any such law seemed to me so manifestly unjust that I addressed an open letter to the Convention, which read as follows: " To the Louisiana State Constitutional Conven- tion : "In addressing you this letter I know that I am running the risk of appearing to meddle with something that does not concern me. But since I know that nothing but love for our beautiful southland, which I hold as near my heart as any of you can, and a sincere love for every black man and white man within her borders, is the only thing actuating me to write, I am willing to be misjudged, if need be, if I can accomplish a little good. " But I do not believe that you, gentlemen of the Convention, will misinterpret my motives. What I say will, I believe, be considered in the same earnest spirit in which I write. "I am no politician; on the other hand, I have always . advised my race to give attention to acquiring property, intelligence and character, as the necessary bases of good citizenship, rather than to mere political agitation. But the ques- tion upon which I write is out of the region of ordinary politics; it affects the civilization of two races, not for to-day alone, but for a very long time to come; it is up in the region of duty of man to man, of Christian to Christian. 216 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, " Since the war, no State has had such an op- portunity to settle for all time the race question, so far as it concerns politics, as is now given in Louisiana. Will your Convention set an example to the world in this respect? Will Louisiana take such high and just ground in respect to the Negro that no one can doubt that the South is as good a friend to the Negro as he possesses else- where? In all this, gentlemen of the Convention, I am not pleading for the Negro alone, but for the morals, the higher life of the white man as well. For the more I study this question, the more I am convinced that it is not so much a question as to what the white man will do with the Negro, as to what the Negro will do with the white man's civilization. " The Negro agrees with you that it is neces- sary to the salvation of the South that restriction be put upon the ballot. I know that you have two serious problems before you; ignorant and cor- rupt government on the one hand, and on the other a way to restrict the ballot so that control will be in the hands of the intelligent, without re- gard to race. With the sincerest sympathy with you in your efforts to find a way out of the diffi- culty, I want to suggest that no State in the South can make a law that will provide an oppor- tunity .or temptation for an ignorant white man to vote, and withhold the same opportunity from BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 217 an ignorant colored man, without injuring both men. No State can make a law that can thus be executed, without dwarfing for all time the morals of the white man in the South. Any law controlling the ballot, that is not absolutely just and fair to both races, will work more permanent injury to the whites than to the blacks. u The Negro does not object to an education or property test, but let the lav/ be so clear that no one clothed with State authority will be tempted to perjure and degrade himself, by putting one interpretation upon it for the white man and another for the black man. Study the history of the South, and you will find that where there has been the most dishonesty in the matter of voting, there you will find to-day the lowest moral condi- tion of both races. First, there was the tempta- tion to act wrongly with the Negro's ballot. From this it was an easy step to dishonesty with the white man's ballot, to the carrying of con- cealed weapons, to the murder of a Negro, and then to the murder of a white man and then to lynching. I entreat you not to pass such a law as will prove an eternal millstone about the neck of } r our children. "No man can have respect for government and officers of the law when he knows, deep down in his heart, that the exercise of the franchise is tainted with fraud. 218 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, " The road that the South has been compelled to travel during the last thirty years has been strewn with thorns and thistles. It has been as one groping through the long darkness into the light. The time is not very far distant when the world will begin to appreciate the real character of the burden that was imposed upon the South when 4,500,000 ex-slaves, ignorant and improverished, were given the franchise. No people had before been given such a problem to solve. History had blazed no path through the wilderness that could be followed. For thirty- years we have wandered in the wilderness. We are beginning to get out. But there is but one road out, and all makeshifts, expedients, 'profit and loss calculations, 1 but lead into the swamps, quicksands, quagmires and jungles. There is a highway that will lead both races out into the pure, beautiful sunshine, where there will be nothing to hide and nothing to explain, where both races can grow strong and true and useful in every fibre of their being. I believe that your convention will find this highway; that it will enact a fundamental law which will be absolutely just and fair to white and black alike. "I beg of you, further, that in the degree that you close the ballot box against the ignorant, 3'ou open the school house. More than one- half of the people of your State are Negroes. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 219 No State can long prosper when a large percent* age of its citizenship is in ignorance and poverty, and has no interest in government. I beg of you that you do not treat us as an alien people. We are not aliens. You know us; you know that we have cleared your forests, tilled your fields, nursed your children and protected your families. There is an attachment between us that few understand. While I do not presume to advise you, yet it is in my heart to say that if your convention would do something that would prevent, for all time, strained relations between the two races, and would permanently settle the matter of political relations in one State in the South, at least, let the very best educational opportunities be pro- vided for both races; and add to this the enact- ment of an election law that shall be incapable of unjust discrimination, at the same time providing that in proportion as the ignorant secure educa- tion, property and character, they will be given the right of citizenship. Any other course will take from one-half of your citizens interest in the State, and hope and ambition to become intel- ligent producers and tax-payers— -to become use- ful and virtuous citizens. Any other course will tie the white citizens of Louisiana to a body cf death. "The Negroes are not unmindful of the fact that the white people of your State pay the 220 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, greater portion of the school taxes, and that the poverty of the State prevents it from doing all that it desires for public education; yet, I be- lieve you will agree with me, that ignorance is more costly to the State than education; that it will cost Louisiana more not to educate the Negroes than it will to educate them. In con- nection with a generous provision for public schools, I believe that nothing will so help my own people in your State as provision at some in- stitution for the highest academic and normal train- ing in connection with thorough training in agricul- ture, mechanics and domestic economy* The fact is, that 90 per cent, of our people depend upon the common occupations for their living, and out- side of the cities, 85 per cent, depend upon agri- culture for support. Notwithstanding this, our people have been educated since the war in every- thing else but the very things that most of them live by. First-class training in agriculture, horti- culture, dairying, stock raising, the mechanical arts and domestic economy, will make us intelli- gent producers, and not only help us to contribute our proportion as taxpayers, but will result in retaining much money in the State that now goes out for that which can be produced in the State. An institution that will give this training of the hand, along with the highest mental culture, will soon convince our people that their salvation is in BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 221 the ownership of property, industrial and business development, rather than mere political agitation. " The highest test of civilization of any race is in its willingness to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. A race, like an individual, lifts itself up by lifting others up. Surely no people ever had a greater chance to exhibit the highest Christian fortitude and magnanimity than is now- presented to the people of Louisiana. It requires little wisdom or statesmanship to repress, to crush out, to retard the hopes and aspirations of a people, but the highest and most profound statesmanship is shown in guiding and stimulating a people so that every fibre in the body, mind and soul shall be made to contribute in the high- est degree to the usefulness and nobility of the State. It is along this line that I pray God the thoughts and activities of your Convention be guided," This letter was sent out through the Associated Press widely through the country. The leading papers of New Orleans as well as those in many other parts of the South indorsed my position editorially. The law that was finally passed by the Convention, while not as bad as when first pre- sented, was not by any means the law that should have been enacted. In June of the same year I delivered the annual address before the Regents of the University of New York, at Albany. CHAPTER XV. CUBAN EDUCATION AND THE CHICAGO PEACE JUB- ILEE ADDRESS. Immediately after the close of the Spanish- American war the Tuskegee Institute started a movement to bring a number of Cuban and Porto Rican students to Tuskegee, for the purpose of receiving training. The idea was pretty generally endorsed, and within a reasonably short time enough funds were donated by individuals throughout the country to provide for the educa- tion of ten students from Cuba and Porto Rico. These students are now at Tuskegee taking the regular courses of training and are making a creditable record. It is the plan to have them return to their island homes and give their people the benefit of their education. Perhaps no single agency has been more potent during the last ten years in assisting the Negro to better his condition than the John F. Slater Fund, to which I have already referred. The trustees of this fund are among the most successful and generous business men in the country, and they are using the fund very largely as a means of pointing the proper direction of the education of 222 a** 1M ■ -i W/Ef ■ .^H ^W! * MRS. OLIVIA DAVIDSON WASHINGTON. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 223 the Negro. During 1898 the Slater Fund trustees made an appropriation which was to be used in enabling Mrs. Washington and myself to go into all of the Southern cities and deliver lectures to our people, especially in the large cities, speaking to them plainly about their present material, fi- nancial, physical, educational and moral needs, and trying to point out a way by which they could improve. We spent a portion of the sum- mer of 1898 in going into cities in North and South Carolina. Meetings were held in Greens- boro, Wilmington, Columbia and Charleston, and everywhere we spoke the houses were packed full. We spoke four or rive times in Charleston, and the audience rooms were crowded at every meeting with representatives of both races. We have the satisfaction of feeling that these meetings accomplished a great deal of good, and every- where we were overwhelmed with thanks from the people for our words. The newspapers gave us all the space we desired and not only helped through their news columns, but were generous in their editorial mention. When the Spanish-American war closed there was great rejoicing throughout the country, and many cities vied with each other in their effort to celebrate the return of peace on a scale that v/ould command the attention of the whole coun- try. The city of Chicago, however, seemed to 224 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, have been the most successful in these celebra- tions. Chicago was fortunate in securing the President of the United States, together with nearly all the members of his cabinet, and various foreign ministers and other important officials. This gave the celebration in Chicago a national importance such as attached to the celebration held by no other city. I was asked by President William R. Harper, of the University of Chicago, chairman of the committee on invitations, to deliver one of the addresses in Chicago. I accepted the invitation and delivered, in fact, two addresses, during the Jubilee week in Chicago. The principal address which I delivered on this occasion was on Sunday evening, October 16. The meeting was held in the Chicago Auditorium, and was the largest audience that I have ever spoken to in any part of the country. Besides speaking in the main audi- torium, I addressed, on the same evening, two overflow audiences held in different portions of the city. It is said there were 16,000 people in the Auditorium, and it seems to me there were at least 16,000 on the outside trying to get into the building. In fact, without the aid of a policeman, it was impossible for any one to get anywhere near the entrance. The meeting was attended by President William McKinley, the members of his cabinet, foreign ministers and a large number BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 225 ft of army and navy officers, many of whom had distinguished themselves during the Spanish- American war. The speakers, besides myself, on Sunday evening, were Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch, Father Thomas P. Hodnett and Dr. John H. Barrows. The speech which I delivered on Sunday even- ing was as follows : 11 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: "On an important occasion in the life of the Master, when it fell to Him to pronounce judg- ment on two courses of action, these memorable words fell from his lips: 'And Mary hath chosen the better part.' This was the supreme test in the case of an individual. It is the highest test in the case of a race or nation. Let us apply the test to the American Negro. "In the life of our Republic, when he has had the opportunity to choose, has it been the better or worse part? When in the childhood of this nation the Negro was asked to submit to slavery or choose death and extinction, as did the abo- rigines, he chose the better part, that which per- petuated the race. "When in 1776 the Negro was asked to decide between British oppression and American inde- pendence, we find him choosing the better part, and Crispus Attucks, a Negro, was the first to 226 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, « shed his blood on State street, Boston, that the white American might enjoy liberty forever, though his race remained in slavery. "When in 1814, at New Orleans, the test of patriotism came again, we find the Negro choos- ing the better part, and Gen. Andrew Jackson himself testifying that no heart was more loyal and no arm more strong and useful in defense of righteousness. "When the long and memorable struggle came between union and separation, when we knew that victory on one hand meant freedom, and defeat on the other his continued enslavement, with a full knowledge of the portentous meaning of it all, when the suggestion and temptation came to burn the home and massacre wife and children during the absence of the master in battle, and thus insure his liberty, we find him choosing the better part, and for four long years protecting and supporting the helpless, defenseless ones en- trusted to his care. "When in 1863 the cause* of the union seemed to quiver in the balance, and there were doubt and distrust, the Negro was asked to come to the rescue in arms, and the valor displayed at Fort Wagner and Port Hudson and Fort Pillow tes- tifies most eloquently again that the Negro chose the better part. "When a few months ago the safety and honor BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, 227 of the republic were threatened by a foreign foe, when the wail and anguish of the oppressed from a distant isle reached his ears, we find the Negro forgetting his own wrongs, forgetting the laws and customs that discriminated against him in his own country, again choosing the better part — the part of honor and humanity. And if you would know how ' he deported himself in the field at Santiago, apply for an answer to Shafter and Roosevelt and Wheeler. Let them tell how the Negro faced death and laid down his life in de- fense of honor and humanity, and when you have gotten the full story of the heroic conduct of the Negro in the Spanish- American war — heard it from the lips of Northern soldiers, and Southern soldiers, from ex-abolitionists and ex-masters — then decide within yourselves whether a race that is thus willing to die for its country should not be given the highest opportunity to live for its country. " In the midst of all the complaints of suffering in the camp and field, suffering from fever and hunger, where is the official or citizen that has heard a word of complaint from the lips of a black soldier? The only request that has come from the Negro soldier has been that he might be permitted to replace the white soldier when heat and malaria began to decimate the ranks of 228 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, the white regiment, and to occupy at the same time the post of greatest danger. "This country has been most fortunate in her victories. She has twice measured arms with England and has won. She has met the spirit of rebellion within her borders and was victorious. She has met the proud Spaniard, and he lays prostrate at her feet. All this is well, it is mag- nificent. But there remains one other victory for Americans to win — a victory as far-reaching and important as any that has occupied our army and navy. We have succeeded in every conflict, ex- cept the effort to conquer ourselves in the blotting out of racial prejudices. We can celebrate the era of peace in no more effectual way than by a firm resolve on the part of Northern men and Southern men, black men and white men, that the trenches that we together dug around Santi- ago shall be the eternal burial place of all that which separates us in our business and civil rela- tions. Let us be as generous in peace as we have been brave in battle. Until we thus conquer our- selves, I make no empty statement when I say that we shall have a cancer gnawing at the heart of the republic that shall one day prove as dan- gerous as an attack from an army without or within. "In this presence and on this auspicious occa- sion, I want to present the deep gratitude of BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 229 nearly ten millions of my people to our wise, patient and brave Chief Executive for the gener- ous manner in which my race has been recognized during this conflict — a recognition that has done more to blot out sectional and racial lines than any event since the dawn of our freedom. "I know how vain and impotent is all abstract talk on this subject. In your efforts to 'rise on stepping stones of your dead selves,' we of the black race shall not leave you unaided. We shall make the task easier for you by acquiring prop- erty, habits of thrift, economy, intelligence and character, by each making himself of individual worth in his own community. We shall aid you in this as we did a few days ago at El Caney and Santiago, when we helped you to hasten the peace we here celebrate. You know us; you are not afraid of us. When the crucial test comes, you are not ashamed of us. We have never betrayed or deceived you. You know that as it has been, so it will be. Whether in war or in peace, whether in slavery or in freedom, we have alwa} r s been loyal to the Stars and Stripes." I shall not attempt to burden the reader with newspaper comments on this address, but shall content myself with giving a description that ap- peared at the time in the Chicago Times - Herald. "Booker T. Washington's address at the 230 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, Jubilee Thanksgiving services at the Auditorium contained one of the most eloquent tributes ever paid to the loyalty and valor of the colored race, and at the same time, was one of the most power- ful appeals for justice to a race which has always chosen the better part., " The speaker, who is the recognized leader of the colored race, reviewed the history of his people from the childhood of the nation to the present day. He pictured the Negro choosing slavery rather than extinction; recalled Crispus Attucks, shedding his blood at the beginning of the American revolution that white Americans might be free, while black Americans remained in slavery; rehearsed the conduct of the Negroes with Jackson at New Orleans; drew a vivid and pathetic picture of the Southern slaves protecting and supporting the families of their masters while the latter were fighting to perpetuate black slavery; recounted the bravery of colored troops at Port Hudson and Forts Wagner and Pillow, and praised the heroism of the black regiments that stormed El Caney and Santiago to give free- dom to the enslaved people of Cuba, forgetting for the time being the unjust discrimination that law and custom make against them in their own country. " In all of these things the speaker declared that his race had chosen the better part. And then BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, 231 he made his eloquent appeal to the consciences of white Americans: 'When you have gotten the full story of the heroic conduct of the Negro in the Spanish- American war, heard it from the lips of Northern soldier and Southern soldier, from ex-abolitionists and ex-masters, then decide within yourselves whether a race that is thus willing to die for its country, should not be given the highest opportunity to live for its country.' " When Americans conquer race prejudice, the speaker declared, they will have won a victory greater than can be obtained through the achieve- ments of arms. He likened the effect of race discrimination, especially in the Southern States, to a cancer gnawing at the heart of the republic, 'as dangerous as an attack from an army within or without.' " This is not a threat, but a warning, and one to which the white race should give heed. The only solution of the l Negro problem ' which will remove all menace to the tranquillity and interest of the country, is a universal recognition of the Negro's civil rights. When law and custom cease to degrade him and place obstacles in the way of his advancement; when we cease by unjust discrimination to fill his heart with despair and hatred, but instead, give him hope and aid in his efforts to fully emancipate himself, he will solve 232 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, the problem now fraught with vexation and danger. " The race is fortunate in having a Booker T. Washington and other comparatively great men as living evidence of what education and the de- velopment of natural faculties have accomplished for the colored man, as well as what can be accomplished in the future. "Only through the defeat of race prejudice can the colored man hope to acquire his full propor- tions as a citizen. And in conquering race prej- udice, the white race will achieve a greater victory than both races won in the late war. They will be choosing the better part." The portion of the speech which seemed to raise the wildest and most sensational enthusiasm was the part where I thanked the President for his recognition of the Negro in his appointments during the Spanish- American war. The Presi- dent occupied a seat in a box to the right of the platform. When I addressed the President I turned toward him, and as I closed the sentence thanking him for his generosity , the whole audi- ence arose and cheered for some time. The cheering continued with waving of hats, hand- kerchieves and canes until the President himself arose in his box and bowed to me two or three times. This kindled anew the enthusiasm and the demonstration was almost beyond description BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 233 I shall not go into all the details relating to the attention which was shown me during this three days' visit to Chicago. I would say that from the Mayor of the city down, every official con- nected with the Peace Jubilee seemed to give me the greatest attention, and completely put me at my ease on every occasion. I was given a posi- tion on the President's stand during the review of the parade, and dined twice with the President's party. My address was reported in all portions of the country through the associated press dispatches. One portion of it seemed to have been misunder- stood, however, by the Southern press, and some of the Southern newspapers took exception to some things that I said and criticised me rather strongly for what seemed to them a reflection upon the South. These criticisms continued for several weeks, when I received a letter from the editor of the Age-Herald, published in Birming- ham, Alabama, asking me if I would say just what I meant to say in my address. I replied in the following letter, which seemed to put an end to all criticism on the part of the Southern press, and to satisfy the South: "7b the Editor of the "Age-Herald? " Replying to your communication of recent date regarding my Chicago speech, I would say 234 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, that I have made no change whatever in my atti- tude towards the South or in my idea of the eleva- tion of the colored man. I have always made it a rule to say nothing before a Northern audience that I would not say before a Southern audience. I do not think it necessary to go into any ex- tended explanation of what my position is, for if my seventeen years of work here in the heart of the South is not a sufficient explanation, I do not see how mere words can explain. Each year more and more confirms me in the wisdom of what I have advocated and tried to do. "In Chicago, at the Peace Jubilee, in discussing the relations of the races, I made practically the same plea that I did in Nashville this summer at the Young People's Society of Christian En- deavor, where I spoke almost wholly to a South- ern white audience. In Chicago I made the same plea that I did in a portion of my address at the opening of the Atlanta Exposition, for the blotting out of race prejudice in 'commercial and civil relations.' What is termed social recognition is a question I never discuss. As I said in my Atlanta address, 'The wisest among my race un- derstand that the agitations of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and con- stant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. 1 BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 235 God knows that both — we, of the black race and the white race — have enough problems pressing upon us for solution without obtruding a social question, out of which nothing but harm would come. " In my addresses I very seldom refer to the question of prejudice, because I realize that it is something to be lived down, not talked down, but at that great meeting which marked, in a large measure, the end of all sectional feeling, I thought it an opportune time to ask for the blotting out of racial prejudice as far as possible in 'business and civil relations.' "In a portion of my address which was not sent out by the Associated Press, I made the re- quest that the Negro be given every opportunity in proportion as he makes himself worthy. -At Chicago I did not refer wholly to the South or to the Southern while people. All who are ac quaintedwith the subject will agree that prejudice exists in the North as well as in the South. I naturally laid emphasis upon the South, because, as we all know, owing to the large proportion of blacks to whites in the South, it is in the South mainly that the problem is to be worked out. Whenever I discuss the question of race prejudice I never do so solely in the interest of the Negro; I always take higher ground. If a black man hates a white man, it narrows and 236 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, degrades his soul. If a white man hates a black man it narrows and degrades his soul. " Both races will grow stronger in morals, and prosper in business, just in proportion as in every manly way they cultivate the confidence and friendship of each other. Outbreaks of race feel- ings and strained relations not only injure business, but retard the moral and religious growth of both races; and it is the duty among the intelligent of both races to cultivate patience and moderation. "Each day convinces me that the salvation of the Negro in this country will be in his cultiva- tion of habits of thrift, economy, honesty, the acquiring of education, Christian character, prop- erty and industrial skill." I have always made it a rule never to say any- thing in an address in the North that I would not say in the South. I have no sympathy with any policy which would leave one to suppose that he can help matters in the South by merely abusing the Southern white man. What the South wants is help and not abuse. Of course, when individ- uals, communities or states in the South do a wrong thing, they should be criticised, but it should be done in a dignified, generous manner. Mere abuse of a man because he is white or be- cause he is black amounts to nothing and ends in harm. I have said more than once, and I here repeat, that I can sympathize as much with a BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 237 white man as with a black man; I can sympathize as much with a Southern white man as with a Northern white man. I do not propose that my nature shall be lowered by my yielding to the temptation to hate a man because he is white or because he happens to live in the South. The Negro who hates a white man is usually little and narrow. The white man who hates a Negro is usually little and narrow. Both races will grow strong, useful and generous in proportion as they learn to love each other instead of hating each other. The Negro race, of all races in the world, should be the last to cultivate the habit of hating an individual on account of his race. He will gain more by being generous than by being nar- row. If I can do anything to assist a member of the white race I feel just as happy as if I had done something to assist a member of the Negro race. I think I have learned that the best way to lift one's self up is to help some one else. While writing upon this subject, it is a pleasure for me to add that in all my contact with the white people of the South, I have never received a single personal insult. The white people in and near Tuskegee, to an especial degree, seem to count it a privilege to show me all the respect within their power, and often go out of their way to do this. Not very long ago, I was making a journey 23S THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, between Dallas, Texas, and Houston. In some way it became known in advance that I was on the train. At nearly every station at which the train stopped, numbers of white people, including in most cases the officials of the town, came aboard and introduced themselves and thanked me heartily for the work that I was trying to do for the South. On another occasion, in Georgia, I found in a Pullman car two ladies from Boston whom I knew well. These ladies, being ignorant of the customs of the South, insisted that I take a seat with them in their section. After some hesitation I consented. One of them, without my knowledge, ordered supper to be served to the three of us. When I found that supper had been ordered, I tried to excuse myself, but the ladies insisted that I must eat with them. I finally settled back in my seat with a sigh, and said to myself: "I am in for it now, sure." At last the meal being over, I went into the smoking-room, where most of the men by that time were. In the meantime, however, it had become known in some way throughout the car who I was. When I went into the smoking-room nearly every man came up and introduced him- self to me and thanked me earnestly for the work that I was trying to do for the whole South. <£ W a w o W . Q (a H p H H C £4 g* I S 2 I £ w I 13 5 H < Oh ^ .5 D ^ <~\ u c/; (a a P 2 < g* £ 2 I o £ 61 1 O PL, 3 £ 2 M CHAPTER XVI. THE VISIT OP PRESIDENT WM. McKINLEY TO TUS- KEGEE. Soon after starting the Tuskegee Institute I earnestly desired to have the President of the United States visit it. The chance of securing such a visit seemed to be so unattainable that I dared not mention it to my nearest friend; still, I resolved that such a visit should be made. The more I thought of it, the more I became con* vinced that there was but one wa3 T to secure the attention and the interest of the President of the United States, and that was by making the institution so useful to the country that the atten- tion of the President would necessarily be attracted to it. From the first day that the school was opened, I tried to impress upon teach- ers and students the fact that by reason of our former condition of servitude, and prejudice against our color, we must try to perform every duty entrusted to us, not only as well, but better than any one else, so as to receive proper con- sideration. To-day this is the spirit which per- vades the entire school. We strive to have our students understand that no possible prejudice can explain away the influence of a Negro living 239 16 -— 240 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, in a nicely painted house, with well-kept flower yards, gardens, farm, poultry and live stock and who is at the same time a large tax-payer in his county. After nearly eighteen years of work and struggle, I was more than ever determined to secure a visit from the highest official of my country, not only that he and the members of his cabinet might see what ex-slaves had accom- plished in the way of building an institution of learning, but also for the sake of the encourage- ment that such a recognition from the Nation's Chief Executive would give the whole Negro race in America, In October, 1898, I saw it mentioned in several newspapers that President McKinley was likely to visit the Atlanta Peace Jubilee, in December. I went at once to Washington, and was not there a great while before I found my way to the White House. There was quite a crowd of peo- ple in the various reception rooms, many of whom had been waiting some time for an audience with the President. The size of the crowd somewhat discouraged me, and I concluded that my chances of seeing the President were very slim. I at once sought the Secretary to the President, Mr. J. Addison Porter, and very frankly told him my errand. Mr. Porter kindly sent my card in to the President, and in a few minutes Mr. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 241 McKinley permitted me to see him. After a most interesting conversation regarding the con- dition of the colored people in the South, in which he manifested his interest in their develop- ment, the President told me that, in case he saw his way clear to go to Altanta, in December, he would try hard to go to Tuskegee, which is a hundred and forty miles beyond Atlanta. At that time he did not make his promise final, but asked me to see him later. By the middle of the following month, the President had definitely promised to attend the Peace Jubilee at Atlanta, Ga., December 14 and 15. I went again to see the President. This time Mr. Charles W. Hare, a white citizen of Tuskegee, accompanied me, and assisted in show- ing the President the importance of making such a visit. While the question was being discussed with cabinet officers, one of the oldest and most influential white citizens of Atlanta, one who had been a large slave-holder and who is now an active Democrat, stepped into the room. The President asked this gentleman's opinion of the wisdom of his making this visit, and as to his going one hundred and forty miles out of the way to visit such an institution. This Atlanta citizen replied that it was the thing to do. The reply was made without hesitation. Between my two visits, that active and most constant friend of the Negro 242 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, race, Dr. J. L. M. Curry, agent of the Peabody and Slater Funds, hearing ot my desire to have a visit from the President, made a personal call upon Mr. McKinley without my knowledge, and urged him to make the visit. I will not prolong the story, except to add that before the day of my last visit was over, the President definitely decided to spend the greater part of the day of December 16 in visiting the Tuskegee Institute. In connection with this visit I had to call upon the President three or four times at the White House, and at all times I found him kind, patient and most cordial, apparently forgetful of the differ- ences in our history. The time of my last visit was but a few days after the election riots of that- year in North and South Carolina, when the colored people throughout the country were feel- ing gloomy and discouraged. I observed by the tenor of the President's remarks that he felt keenly and seriously for the race. Notwithstand- ing a large number of people were waiting to see him, he detained me some twenty minutes, dis- cussing the condition and needs of my race in the South. When I told him that I thought a visit from the President of the United States at that time to a Negro institution would do more than almost anything else to encourage the race and show to the world in what esteem he held the racej he replied that he was determined to show BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 243 his interest in us by acts rather than by mere words, and that if I thought his visit to Tuskegee would permanently help the race and the institu- tion he would most gladly give up one day of his administration to visit Tuskegee. The morning of December 16 came, and at eight o'clock the President, Mrs. McKinley, with members of his cabinet, their families, besides several distinguished generals, including General Shafter, General Joseph Wheeler, General Law- ton and others, arrived on special trains from Atlanta. Invitations had been extended to Gov. Joseph F.Johnston, of Alabama, and his staff, and they were present. The Alabama Legislature also was invited, and it adjourned and came to Tuskegee in a body. In all, more than six thou- sand visitors came. The morning was spent in an inspection of the grounds and in witnessing a parade of all the work of the school, religious, academic and industrial, represented on floats. This over, we went to the large chapel, where the President, members of his cabinet, the Gov- ernor, and others spoke. A few extracts from the addresses of the President, Secretary of the Navy Long, and Postmaster General Smith, in commendation of Tuskegee's work, may be of interest. The President said: "Teachers and Pupils of Tuskegee: To meet you under such pleasant auspices and to have the 244 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, opportunity of a personal observation of your work is indeed most gratifying. The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute is ideal in its con- ception, and has already a large and growing reputation in the country and is not unknown abroad. I congratulate all who are associated in this undertaking for the good work which it is doing in the education of its students to lead lives of honor and usefulness, thus exalting the race for which it was established. "Nowhere, I think, could a more delightful location have been chosen for this unique educa- tional experiment, which has attracted the atten- tion and won the support even of conservative philanthropists in all sections of the country, " To speak of Tuskegee without paving special tribute to Booker T. Washington's genius and perseverance would be impossible. The incep- tion of this noble enterprise was his, and he deserves high credit for it. His was the enthu- siasm and enterprise which made its steady prog- ress possible and established in the institution its present high standard of accomplishment. He has won a worthy reputation as one of the great leaders of his race, widely known and much respected at home and abroad as an accomplished educator, a great orator and a true philanthropist, "What steady and gratifying advances have been made here during the past fifteen years a BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, 245 personal inspection of the material equipment strikingly proves. The fundamental plan of the original undertaking has been steadily followed; but new features have been added; gaps in the course of instruction have been filled in; the patronage and resources have been largely in- creased until even the legislative department of the State of Alabama recognized the worth of the work and of the great opportunities here afforded. From one small frame nouse the insti- tution has grown until it includes the fine group of dormitories, recitation rooms, lecture halls and work shops which have so surprised and delighted us to-day. A thousand students, I am told, are here cared for by nearly a hundred teachers, altogether forming with the preparatory depart- ment a symmetrical scholastic community which has been well called a model for the industrial colored schools of the South, Certain it is that a pupil bent on fitting himself or herself for mechanical work can have the widest choice of useful and domestic occupations. "One thing I like about this institution is that its policy has been generous and progressive; it has not been so self-centered or interested in its own pursuits and ambitions as to ignore what is going on in the rest of the country or make it difficult for outsiders to share the local advan- tages. I allude especially to the spirit in which 246 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, the annual conferences have been held by leading colored citizens and educators, with the intention of improving the condition of their less fortunate brothers and sisters. Here, we can see, is an im- mense field and one which cannot too soon or too carefully be utilized. The conferences have grown in popularity, and are well calculated not only to encourage colored men and colored women in their individual efforts, but to cultivate and promote an amicable relationship between the two races — a problem whose solution was never more needed than at the present time. Patience, moderation, self-control, knowledge, character, will surely win you victories and realize the best aspirations of your people. An evidence of the soundness of the purpose of this institution is that those in charge of its management evidently do not believe in attempting the unat- tainable, and their instruction in self-reliance and practical industry is most valuable. "In the day and night schools many branches can be taught at a small expense, which will give the men and the women who have mastered them immediate employment and secure their success afterwards, provided they abide by the principles of industry, morality and religion here inculcated. In common with the Hampton Institute, in Vir- ginia, the Tuskegee Institute has been and is to-day of inestimable value in sowing the seeds of BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 247 good citizenship. Institutions of their standing and worthy patronage form a steadier and more powerful agency for the good of all concerned than any yet proposed or suggested. The prac- tical is here associated with the academic, which encourages both learning and industry. Here you learn to master yourselves, find the best adaptation of your faculties, with advantages for advanced learning to meet the high duties of life. No country, epoch or race has a monopoly upon knowledge. Some have easier but not necessarily better opportunities for self-development. What a few can obtain free most have to pay for, pen haps by hard physical labor, mental struggle and self-denial. But in this great country all can have the opportunity for bettering themselves, provided they exercise intelligence and perseverance, and their motives and conduct are worthy. Nowhere are such facilities for universal education found as in the United States. They are accessible to every boy and girl, white and black. 44 Integrity and industry are the best possessions which any man can have, and every man can have them. Nobody can give them to him or take them from him. He cannot acquire them by in- heritance; he cannot buy them or beg them or borrow them. They belong to the individual and are his unquestioned property. He alone -can part with them. They are a good thing to have 248 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND VvOKK, and keep. They make happy homes ; they achieve success in every walk of life; they have won the greatest triumphs for mankind. No man who has them ever gets into the police court or before the grand jury or in the workhouse or the chain gang. They give one moral and material power. They will bring you a comfortable living, make you respect yourself and command the respect of your fellows. They are indispensable to success. They are invincible. The merchant requires the clerk whom he employs to have them. The railroad corporation inquires whether the man seeking employment possesses them. Every avenue of human endeavor welcomes them. They are the only keys to open with certainty the door of op- portunity to struggling manhood. Employment waits on them; capital requires them. Citizen- ship is not good without them. If you do not already have them, get them. " To the pupils here assembled I extend my especial congratulations that the facilities for ad- vancing afforded to them are so numerous and so inviting. Those who are here for the time being have the reputation of the institution in charge and should, therefore, be all the more careful to guard it worthily. Others who have gone before you have made great sacrifices to reach the pres- ent results. What you do will affect not only those who come after you here, but many men BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. »49 and women whom you may never meet. The results of your training and work here will event- ually be felt, either directly or indirectly, in nearly every part of the country. "Most of you are young, and youth is the time best fitted for development both of the body and mind. Whatever you do, do with all your might, with will and purpose, not of the selfish kind, but looking to benefit your race and your country. In comparing the past with the present you should be especially grateful that it has been your good fortune to come within the influences of such an institution as that of Tuskegee and that you are under the guidance of such a strong leader. I thank him most cordially for the pleasure of visit- ing this institution, and I bring to all here asso- ciated my good will and the best wishes of your countrymen, wishing you the realization of suc- cess in whatever undertakings that may hereafter engage 3 r ou." Secretary Long said: "Mr. President and Students: "I cannot make a speech to you to-day. My heart is too full, full of hope, admiration and pride for my countrymen of both sections and both colors. I am filled with gratitude and admiration for your work, and from this time forward, I shall have absolute confidence in your progress 250 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, and in the solution of the problem in which you are engaged. "The problem, I say, has been solved. A picture has been presented to-day which should be put upon canvas with the pictures of Wash- ington and Lincoln, and transmitted to future time and generations; a picture which the press of the country should spread broadcast over the land, a most dramatic picture, and that picture is this: The President of the United States standing on this platform ; on one side, the Gov- ernor of Alabama, on the other, completing the trinity, a representative of a race only a few years ago in bondage, the colored president of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. "God bless the President under whose majesty such a scene as that is presented to the American people. God bless the State of Alabama which is showing that it can deal with this problem for itself. God bless the orator, philanthropist and disciple of the Great Master, — who if he were on earth would be doing the same work,— -Booker T. Washington." Postmaster General Smith closed as follows: "We have witnessed many spectacles within the last few days. We have seen the magnificent grandeur and the magnificent achievements of one of the great metropolitan cities of the South. We have seen heroes of the war pass by in procession. ■J < 5 H CO Q < 3 o H W O w M ca D H ft! H W H CO t> ^£ Q M > w H 53 W Q s w a Hi H Philadelphia, Pa. Report of Officers. Report of Committee, (a) Resolutions. (b) Organization. Evening Session, 8 P. JV1; The Negro as a Manufacturer and Jobber, Anthony Overton, Kansas City, Kan. The Logic of Business Development, T. Thomas Fortune, New York, N. Y. ( S. L. Davis, Hobson City, Ala. The Founding of a Negro City, < Isaiah T. Montgomery, Mound ( Bayou, Miss. The reception tendered the members of the League by the citizens of Chicago at Armory 334 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, Hall brought 2,500 of the most intelligent and cultured colored people that it has ever been my privilege to meet in any part of the country. I am sure that no one could have come in contact with those attending the reception and have sat for three days' session of the League without being convinced that the race has made tremen- dous progress since the days of slavery. The present officers of the National Negro Business League elected at Chicago, August 23d, are as follows : President — Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee, Alabama; First Vice-President — Giles B.Jack- son, Richmond, Virginia; Second Vice-President — Mrs. D. R. Robinson, St. Louis, Missouri; Third Vice-President — Charles Banks, Clarks- dale, Mississippi; Recording Secretary — Edward E. Cooper; Corresponding Secretary — Emmett J. Scott, Tuskegee, Alabama; Treasurer — Gilbert C. Harris, Boston, Massachusetts; Compiler — S. Laing Williams, Chicago, Illinois; Registrar — P. J. Smith, Jr., Boston, Massachusetts; Execu- tive Committee — T. Thomas Fortune, Chairman, New York; Dr. S. B. Courtney, Boston, Mass.; T. W.Jones, Chicago; George E. Jones, Little Rock, Ark.; N. T. Veler, Brinton, Pa.; W. L. Taylor, Richmond, Va.; T. A. Brown, San Fran- cisco, Cal.; J. C. Napier, Nashville, Tenn.; M. M. Lewey, Pensacola, Fla. CHAPTER XXL THE MOVEMENT FOR A PERMANENT ENDOWMENT Having, through nearly twenty years of inces- sant toil, succeeded in securing for Tuskegee the annual expenses for running the school and the money with which to purchase its present plant and equipment, valued at about $300,000, it has been for several years clearly seen by the trustees and myself that the thing needed to secure Tuskegee in the future was a permanent endowment fund. Not only is an endowment fund necessary as an assurance that the work of Tuskegee shall go on in the future, but it is nec- essary in order to relieve the Principal of the hard work of remaining in the North the greater por- tion of his time begging and speaking in order to raise the amount annually necessary to carry on the work. An endowment fund, the interest from which would be sufficient to meet, partially, the current expenses of the institution, would enable the Principal * o devote his time to the executive work of the school, and this would obviously lead to greater perfection in the work there, both in the academic and industrial branches. Improved methods and facilities would redound to the ben- 335 22 336 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, efit of each person educated at the institution. Various appeals, for the last year or two, have been made to the friends of Tuskegee for an en- dowment fund, and within the past year we have received by gifts and bequests $38,848.93 for this purpose. The United States Congress, in the winter of 1899, donated to Tuskegee 25,000 acres of land out of the public domain of Alabama, the proceeds of this grant to be added to the endow- ment fund. No organized effort, however, was made to in- terest the friends of Tuskegee in the matter of raising a permanent endowment until the fail of 1899. It was then thought by the trustees and myself that the time was ripe for putting forth specific effort in this direction. Accordingly, it was decided to hold a public meeting in Decern* ber, 1899, in the city of New York, at which the work of Tuskegee might be set forth by capable speakers, and the good the school was accom- plishing, not only among the Negroes of the "black belt 11 but for the whole country, might be brought forcibly to the ears of the public. This meeting was held in the concert hall of Madison Square Garden, in the City of New York, on the evening of December 4, 1899. I take pleasure in giving a description of this meeting and in men- tioning some of its immediate results, because it BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 337 proved to be a magnificent tribute to the cause for which Tuskegee stands. Ex-President Grover Cleveland had very kindly consented to be present and to preside at this meeting. The beautiful concert hall, which holds about 2,000 people, was packed that night so that it was difficult to procure even standing room. Many prominent people occupied seats upon the platform and in the boxes, Among the former I might mention Mr. Morris K. Jesup ? Mr. Wm. E. Dodge, Mr. Alexander Orr, Mr. Robert C. Ogden, Mr. George Foster Peabody, Rev. Dr. C. H. Parkhurst, Rev. Dr. D. H. Greer, Mr. Charles E. Bigelqw, Mr. Arthur Curtiss James, Mr. John A. Stewart, Mr. A. S. Frissell, Mr. George McAneny, Mr. Horace White, Hon. John M. Barrett, Mr. Waiter H. Page, Hon. Seth Low, Hon. E. M. Shepard, Hon. Levi P. Morton, Dr. N. M. Butler, Mr. J. G. Phelps Stokes, Mr. John E. Parsons, Hon. Carl Schurz, Rev. P. B. Tompkins, Mr Samuel P. Avery, Mr. R. F. Cutting, Mr. J. S Kennedy, Mr. C. P. Huntington, Mr. C. S Smith, Mr. R. W. Gilder, Chancellor H. K McCracken, Mr. . William G. Low, Mr. W. P Ware, Prof. Chas. Sprague Smith, Mr. Wrn. Jay Schieffelin, Mr. Charles Lanier, Mr. J. Hampden Robb, Mr. Dorman B. Eaton, Mr. Horace E. Deming, Mr. Joseph Lorocque, Mr. J. Kennedy Todd, Mr. LeGrand B. Cannon, Mr. Charles S. 338 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, Fairchild, Mr. August Belmont, Mr. Jacob H. Schiff, Mr. Gustav Schwab, Mr. James C. Carter, Mr. John L. Cadwallader, Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge, Rev. Dr. H. Heber Newton, Mr. Edward Hewitt, Dr. Hamilton W. Mabie, Mr. Wheeler H. Peckham, Mr. Everett P. Wheeler, Mr. I. Fredk. Kernochan, Col. Wm. Jay, Mr. Chas. C. Beaman, Rev. Dr. Wm. R. Huntington, Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix, Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott, Mr. William Dean Howells, Gen. Wager Swayne, Hon. W. L. Strong, Mr. Charles H. Marshall, Mr. Henry Holt, Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan. Among those who occupied boxes were Mr. Robert C. Ogden, Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Dodge, Mrs. C. R. Lowell, Mr. Henry Villard, Mr. C. D. Smith, Miss Putnam, Mr. George Foster Peabody, Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Mrs. Fredk. Bill- ings, Miss Olivia Stokes, Mrs. C. A. Runkle, Miss Matilda W. Bruce, Miss Mary Parsons, Mr. W. H. Baldwin, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Morris K. Jesup, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore K. Gibbs, Mrs. W. H. Harkness, Mrs. C. B. Hackley, Miss Bryce, Mrs. F. C. Barlow, Mr. and Mrs. A. T. White, Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Pratt, Mr. C. E. Bigelow. The day before the meeting was to be held Mr. Cleveland found himself confined to his house by illness, and wrote me of his inability to be present. The letter proved to be almost, if not quite, as BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 339 great an encouragement to the object of the meet- ing as Mr. Cleveland's presence would have been. The letter was read at the meeting, and I think the reader will not complain if I quote it here. It is as follows: Princeton, N. J., Dec. 3, 1899. " My Dear Mr. Washington: " My inability to attend the meeting to-morrow evening, in the interest of Tuskegee Institute, is a very great disappointment to me. If my partici- pation could have, in the slightest degree, aided the cause you represent, or in the least encouraged you in your noble efforts, I would have felt that my highest duty was in close company with my greatest personal gratification, u It has frequently occurred to me that in the present condition of our free Negro population in the South, and the incidents often surrounding them, we cannot absolutely calculate that the future of our nation will always be free from dangers and convulsions, perhaps not less lament- able than those which resulted from the enslaved Negros, less than forty years ago. Then the cause of trouble was the injustice of the enslavement of four millions; but now we have to deal with eight millions, who, though free, and invested with all the rights of citizenship, still constitute, in the body politic, a mass largely affected with igno- 340 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, ranee, slothfulness and a resulting lack of appre- ciation of the obligations of that citizenship. " I am so certain that these conditions cannot be neglected, and so convinced that the mission marked out by the Tuskegee Institute presents the best hope of their amelioration, and that every consideration makes immediate action important, whether based upon Christian benevolence, a love of countr}', or selfish material interests, that I am profoundly impressed with the necessity of such prompt aid to } r our efforts as will best insure their success. " I cannot believe that your appeal to the good people of our country will be unsuccessful. Such disinterested devotion as you have exhibited, and the results already accomplished by your unselfish work, ought to be sufficient guarantee of the far- reaching and beneficent results that must follow such a manifestation of Christian charity and good citizenship, as would be apparent in a cordial and effective support of your endeavor. " I need not say how gratified I am to be able to indicate to you that such support is forthcom- ing. It will be seen by the letters which I enclose, that already an offer has been made through me, by a benevolent lady in a Western city, to con- tribute twenty-five thousand dollars toward the Endowment Fund, upon condition that other sub- scriptions to this fund aggregate the amount re- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 341 quired. With so good a beginning I cannot believe it possible that there will be a failure in securing the endowment which Tuskegee so much needs. " Yours very truly, " Grover Cleveland." " Booker T. Washington, Esq." In the absence of Mr. Cleveland, the Hon. Carl Schurz consented to preside at the meeting; and, as might be expected of one so ripe in experiences, he proved to be all that could be desired of a presiding officer. His short speech on taking the chair showed a hearty sympathy with the work that is being done at Hampton and Tuskegee. Mr. Schurz is a well-known German- American, who has been a general in the war of the Rebellion, a Senator in Congress and a member of the Cabinet of President Hayes. He has been for years a foremost worker in the Civil Service Reform movement. He is a writer of ability and a man who needs no introduction in the United States. The Tuskegee Male Quartette was present and rendered plantation melodies, to the great delight of the audience. The first speaker of the evening was Mr. "Walter H. Page, a native of North Carolina, but for several years the editor of the Atlantic 342 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, Monthly, in Boston. The effort of Mr. Page was truly wonderful. He is a native Southerner, who has studied the Negro question for more than twenty years, from every point of view, as he alleged . He was well prepared to speak, and with irresistible logic and unusual eloquence, pointed out the benefits of the Tuskegee plan for the solution of the race problem. He claimed it to be the only solution that had been discovered. He pointed out how hopeless was the condition of the race, unless the problem was solved by industrial and moral training, and how hopeful would be its condition if the problem were settled in this way. At the conclusion of Mr. Page's address, Mr. William H. Baldwin, Jr., one of our trustees, and a member of the Committee on the Invest- ment of the Endowment Fund, spoke in behalf of the trustees, as follows: " It is my privilege to speak to you as a trustee of Tuskegee Institute on the subject of its finances. The generous friends who have made Tuskegee possible should know its exact business condition. It has been a hard but bene- ficial struggle for Mr. Washington to raise the funds necessary to pay the current expenses of the Institution, to acquire the 2,267 acres of land, and to erect the forty-two buildings now com- prising the school. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 84E "During the eighteen years of development, there have been imperative demands from time to time for buildings for which no specific funds were available. The rapid growth of the work, the constantly increasing number of students, with applications for admission far beyond the capacity of the buildings, put a burden on the trustees which compelled them in their positions as trustees, to advance some of the unrestricted contributions for the construction of buildings to protect the general welfare of the Institution. "During this period, enough money has been collected to pay the current expenses, and to accumulate $300,000 in plant and equipment, and an endowment fund of $62,253.39. " No mortgage has ever been placed upon the property, and the trustees desire to pay any and all indebtedness without mortgaging the property, and without using other resources which should be used for endowment, or for increased plant. "The grant of 25,000 acres of land from the United States Government in 1897, is valued at a minimum of $100,000, and that land, together with unrestricted legacies to be received, are obviously full security for the advances made by the trustees. But these resources should be kept for permanent uses, and to care for the con- stantly increasing demands of the School. "The income for the fiscal year ending May 344 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, 31, 1899, amounted to $110,161.59. The current expenses for running the Institution were $64,- 386.70, showing very economical administration for the care of nearly 1,200 people. The balance of income was used in the construction and com- pletion of buildings, and in reducing a part of the indebtedness. The endowment fund received $38,848.93 last year. "In order that the accounts of the School should be kept on a strictly business basis, the trustees, in 1897, appointed an auditor, a certified public accountant of New York, to direct and supervise all the accounts. The trustees are in position to assure you that any contributions made, are properly and rigidly accounted for; and furthermore, that all expenditures are made with great economy and wise discretion. "In short, Tuskegee has a good business organization, and warrants the entire confidence of its friends. Its endowment fund will be strictly preserved. Special contributions for buildings or other specific purposes will be kept separate for their particular uses, and the contri- butions for current expenses will be expended economically and effectively. "Though the School is still in need of simple buildings for dormitories, classrooms and shops, the trustees determined in. 1898 that a point of development had been reached when the Institute BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 345 should not go into debt for any new buildings, and that in future no buildings should be erected until all the necessary funds are guaranteed for the purpose. " There are two interests to be served by the upbuilding and strengthening of Tuskegee — the whole Negro race, and the country as a whole. The industrial education of the Negro — the education from the foundation up, as practiced at Tuskegee, is of vast business importance to all of us. The difference between ten million ignorant Blacks and ten million reasonably educated indus- trial workers, means more than sympathy, more than sentiment, more than our duty — it means wealth to the community. " There is no longer the old problem of what to do with the Negro. That question has been settled. The problem now is one of co-operation and help and work. "Booker Washington represents the evolution of this problem. His untiring devotion to the cause of the Blacks, his modesty, integrit}', ability, in short, his greatness in dealing with this question, has brought about such a complete change in the understanding of the problem within the last few years that we can hardly repay the debt. " Can we stand by and see a man who has such power to lead and educate his people, begging 846 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, from door to door for the funds necessary to carry on his work? Is it not our duty to raise such a fund as will enable him to spend most of his time in the South, where he is needed, and where he can serve his people, and all of us, as no other man can do? " Now is the time and the opportunity to show our recognition of the wonderful service he has done his people and his country, and to make the opportunity for him to be free to work to the best advantage. He asks an endowment fund of $500,000 — a very modest request. Now that the White and the Negro of both the North and the South, and the authorities of the State of Alabama, and the President and Congress of the United States, have all agreed that Tuskegee and Booker Washington show the true way, we feel confident that there will be a quick response to the appeal to place Tuskegee on a firm finan- cial standing. "The friends of Tuskegee, in the past, have con- tributed generously to work out a problem. The problem is now solved — and it should be a privi- lege to us all to aid in this work, with the full knowledge that every dollar expended by Tuske- gee will aid the Negro race in the only effective way, and that our whole country will profit by the investment." At the conclusion of Mr. Baldwin's address I BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 347 was introduced to the audience by the presiding officer. In my speech I told the audience, among other things, that the White people North and South, and the Negroes as well, had practically agreed that the methods of Tuskegee and Hamp- ton offered the best solution of the perplexing Negro problem that had been put forth. In other words, that the whole country had agreed upon this solution of so important an economic, political and social problem. It was the duty, therefore, of those who could, to supply the means for an effective solution in this way. I will not burden the reader with extracts from that speech. After I had concluded, Rev. Dr. W. S. Rains- ford, Rector of St. George's Church, New York, made a few extemporaneous remarks which were regarded as a strong appeal in behalf of the pur- pose of the meeting. I only wish I could lay be- fore the reader the remarks of this gentleman in full. He said, among other things, that Tuske- gee was doing a work for humanity — not only for the " Black Belt," but for the whole country. Pointing to me, he said, " It is our duty to do for that man, engaged in that noble work, what we failed to do for General Armstrong. We allowed General Armstrong to go around begging, beg- ging from door to door, to carry on the work at Hampton, until it killed him. It is our duty to save Mr. Washington from an untimely death, 318 THE STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, brought on in this way. It is our duty to save him for usefui service by endowing Tuskegee." As may be partly gleaned from Mr. Cleveland's letter, the results of this meeting began to be felt immediately. A few days after the lady in the West, men- tioned in Mr. Cleveland's letter, gave notice that she would give us $25,000 on condition that the whole amount sought for was raised, we were very pleasantly surprised to receive her check for the $25,000, she having decided to remove the condition. Counting this $2 5,000 with the $50,000 given by Mr. Huntington and $10,000 by Mr. John D. Rockefeller, the result of the meeting was $85,000; Mr. Rockefeller's $10,000, however, being given for current expenses. Adding what was received as a result of this meeting to our previous endowment fund, we have now (1901) in the hands of our endowment committee about $290,000 from which the school is receiving- interest. This does not, of course, include the value of the unsold 25,000 acres of public land. CHAPTER XXII. A DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK OF THE TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE. The reader has doubtless noted that much space has been occupied in this volume in detail- ing the history of the Tuskegee Institute, and to the casual reader this may have appeared out of place in an autobiography. When it is borne in mind, however, that the whole of my time, thought and energy, for the past eighteen years, have been devoted to the building up of this Institute, it will be conceded that in any auto- biography of mine, a history of the Tuskegee Institute is unavoidable and necessary. When the history of Tuskegee Institute, since its found- ing until now, shall be completely written, you will have also a history of my life for the same space of time. It shall be my purpose in this chapter, therefore, to give some definite idea of the extent to which the Institute has grown, and also to describe with some degree of accuracy the work that is being accomplished there in its various departments, agricultural, mechanical, domestic science, nurse training, musical, Bible training, and academic. As has been said many times before, the 349 350 STORY OF MY LIFE AND WORK, school began in 1881 with only the State appro- priation of $2,000 per annum, specifically for the payment of teachers' salaries, and for no other pur- pose. The method by which we have succeeded in securing the 2,500 acres of land which the school now owns has heretofore been described. This land is mainly comprised in two tracts. The tract that forms the site of the Institute is composed of 835 acres, and is known as the "home farm." The other large tract, which is about four miles southeast of the Institute, composed of 800 acres, is known as "Marshall farm." Upon the home farm are located the fifty-two buildings, counting large and small, which makeup the Tuskegee Institute. Of these fifty -two build- ings, Alabama, Davidson, Huntington, Cassedy and Science Halls, the Agricultural, Trades and Laundry Buildings, Carnegie Library, Rockefel- ler Hall, Dorothy Hall and the Chapel are built of brick. There are also two large frame halls — Porter Hall, which was the first building built of the Tuskegee group, and Phelps Hall, a commo- dious and well appointed structure dedicated to the Bible Training department. The other build- ings are smaller frame buildings and various cottages used for commissary, store rooms, reci- tation rooms, dormitories and teachers' resi- dences. There are also the shop and saw mill, with engine rooms and dynamo in conjunction. a a < a- a K H §?C5 c g a o £ < e o [>4 | H o Pi ^< a p 2; - H < 3 H CO P Q g Q