THE LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 BY 
 
 B. F. RILEY, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 Author of " The White Man s Burden " 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 EDGAR Y. MULLINS, D.D., LL.D, 
 
 President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 
 LONDON AND EDINBURGH 
 

 
 Copyright, 1916, by 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY, 
 
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TO 
 
 All spirits of true nobleness who prize genuine worth, no matter 
 where found or in whom 
 
 343147 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 ONE of the most complicated of all social prob 
 lems during the past two generations has been 
 that of the Negro in his social, economic, and 
 civil relations in the South. Some writers have been 
 pessimistic in their view as to the outcome. We have 
 sometimes seen the view expressed in books by strong 
 writers that there is no solution of the Negro ques 
 tion. This reminds one of Mark Twain s story. He 
 carried forward the action of the characters up to a 
 certain point, and suddenly dropped the task of writ 
 ing. He informed the reader that the situation had 
 become so complicated that he, the author of the story, 
 was unable to handle it, and that he would have to 
 turn it over to the reader to develop the story to the 
 climax. This was excellent humor, and it is sugges 
 tive of the view some have held regarding the Provi 
 dence of God in relation to the Negro. It is as if 
 God had permitted a situation to develop which he 
 himself could not handle successfully. The writer 
 does not in any degree share the pessimistic view that 
 the Negro question is insoluble. 
 
 The late Booker T. Washington was one of the 
 most remarkable characters of his generation. He is, 
 indeed, the outstanding Negro of modern times. He 
 belonged to the last generation of slaves, and served 
 
 7 
 
8 INTRODUCTION 
 
 the admirable purpose of showing the capacity of the 
 Negro for progress. His career was an inspiration 
 to every Negro with whom he came in contact. He 
 was born before the war between the States, and was 
 too young to appreciate the nature of that titanic strug 
 gle, but he grew to boyhood and young manhood dur 
 ing that critical period following the war known as 
 the reconstruction period in the South. 
 
 Dr. B. F. Riley has told the story of Washington s 
 life in the pages which follow in a remarkably inter 
 esting and effective way. He has traced the career of 
 the great Negro from his childhood through to the end 
 of his life. He has painted him as the ambitious, 
 struggling, honest, earnest, faithful devotee of a great 
 ideal for his race. 
 
 Dr. Riley has brought into prominence the charac 
 teristic features of Washington. Among these may 
 be named the following: First, his thorough honesty. 
 He was burdened with a sixteen dollar debt at the end 
 of a vacation when he was attending school at Hamp 
 ton. He was restless and miserable until the debt was 
 paid. So, throughout his career he was characterized 
 by a splendid conscientiousness. 
 
 Again, Washington was remarkably sane and bal 
 anced in his views as to the place and future of the 
 Negro. He cherished no illusions as to social equality 
 between the Negroes and the white people of the 
 South. Indeed, the subject of social equality did not 
 interest him. There were other matters of far greater 
 moment. Washington felt that economic independ 
 ence was the great need of the Negro. He was thor- 
 
INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 oughly convinced that if the Negro could achieve this, 
 his destiny would take care of itself in other matters. 
 
 Another trait in Booker Washington s character 
 was his strong desire to unite the best sentiment among 
 the whites and the blacks. He appealed to the best 
 element among Southern white people and to the best 
 element among the Negroes, and it is remarkable how 
 well he commanded the respect of all. He was thor 
 oughly loyal to the Negro and genuinely tactful in 
 dealing with the white people of both North and South. 
 He was at home on any platform, North or South. 
 He was never known to fan into intensity Northern 
 prejudice against Southern views, and he was always 
 self-respecting in his attitude towards Southern white 
 people. But he understood the Negro and he under 
 stood the whites, and he was unusual in his ability to 
 mediate between the two. 
 
 Washington did much to secure for the Negro a 
 fair hearing all over the country. He was the mouth 
 piece for them in their aspirations and struggles. No 
 picture in history is more pathetic than that of the 
 Negro in his struggles for educational and economic 
 independence since his emancipation. Washington s 
 heart beat in unison with all that was best in the Negro 
 race. He built up the school at Tuskegee and did more 
 1 for the economic growth and development oPthe 
 Negroes than all other single agencies combined. 
 
 There has been to a certain extent a difference of 
 opinion as to the value of Washington s work at Tus 
 kegee, but I am fully persuaded that the final consensus 
 of opinion among students of history will vindicate 
 
10 INTRODUCTION 
 
 thoroughly the value of the work, and the wisdom 
 of the man who led in it. Southern white people, 
 especially those of intelligence and Christian character, 
 are coming every day to appreciate more deeply the 
 value of the Negro as an economic asset and the im 
 portance of giving him every advantage for his most 
 thorough training and development. 
 
 Dr. Riley, the author of the volume before us, has 
 rendered very fine service in the cause of Negro ad 
 vancement in past years. He has devoted a great deal 
 of unselfish labor and time to the improvement of the 
 Negro. What he has done has been exceedingly 
 helpful in enabling white people to understand the 
 Negro and in encouraging the Negro to realize his own 
 highest possibilities. Personally, I rejoice deeply that 
 there are such men as Dr. Riley among us in the South 
 men who are broad-minded, unselfish and conse 
 crated to the highest ends of the race, whether the race 
 be black, yellow, or white. The Biography of Booker 
 T. Washington which he has written will, I believe, 
 take a very important place in the literature of the 
 Negro. I rejoice in its publication, and believe it will 
 be found to be a contribution of incalculable value to 
 the life, development, and prosperity of the Negro and 
 to the enlightenment of all friends of the Negro race. 
 
 E. Y. MULLINS. 
 
 THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 
 Louisville, Ky. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE position held by Booker T. Washington in 
 the biographical annals of America is a unique 
 one. Others before him had risen from ob 
 scurity to eminence, and others had mastered serious 
 difficulties in their upward climb, but in addition to all 
 these the subject of this volume was hampered by the 
 fact that he was born a Negro slave. 
 
 An additional disadvantage was that of the pe 
 culiarity of the period in which Washington rose from 
 deep obscurity to high eminence. The temper of the 
 times was such as to be severely against him. Race 
 aversion was at its height, and the prevailing estimate 
 of the Negro was the lowest. From no possible source 
 could encouragement be expected. Hence the pos 
 sibility of recognition had to be created by the ex- 
 slave himself. By dint of rare genius he had to 
 generate a new atmosphere, a condition that seemed 
 impossible, in order to the recognition of his peculiar 
 gifts and qualities. 
 
 In this respect certainly Booker T. Washington is 
 unique among the great of American history. To have 
 done no more than to offset the difficulties springing 
 from lowliness of life and extreme penury would have 
 ranked him alongside many others whose names adorn 
 our biographical history. But when added to these 
 were the stigma of slavery and the adverse conditions 
 of the times, the lot of the great Negro was just so 
 
 11 
 
12 PREFACE 
 
 much the severer and his task of achievement the 
 harder. To this extent does he distance pthers with 
 the earliest years of whose lives are associated lowly 
 cabins, menial struggles, and the pinch of privation. 
 
 How this was done is sought to be shown in the 
 chapters of this volume. Though of another race, 
 the present biographer is not affected by the conscious 
 ness of the fact that he is writing of a Negro, but of 
 a man. Nor is it sought in these pages to diminish a 
 full statement of the fierceness of the times through 
 which the subject of this volume had to make his way 
 to the attainment of the preeminence which he reached. 
 Absolute frankness and fairness have been observed 
 throughout. 
 
 The greatness of the Negro educator and reformer 
 is as conspicuously shown in his novel mastery of the 
 difficulties of the period as in the rare qualities of 
 his character. That an ex-slave should have even 
 measurably succeeded with the odds so overwhelm 
 ingly against him would have been creditable, but when 
 he scaled the slippery heights with merit so unques 
 tioned and conspicuous as to subdue opposition and 
 compel general recognition, he is worthy of rare 
 distinction. 
 
 In the preparation of the present volume there has 
 been no disposition to minimize defect in order to 
 exaggerate unduly the worth of Booker T. Washing 
 ton, but throughout the effort has been for faith 
 ful fidelity to fact. As facts have been ascertained 
 they have been presented without modification or 
 extenuation. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS . . . 15 
 
 II NATIVITY AND EARLY LIFE ($ 
 
 III A COMMON LABORBR .... 38 
 
 IV HAMPTON INSTITUTE . . . . 51 
 V THE GENIUS OF HAMPTON INSTITUTE 63 
 
 VI VENTURES INTO THE WORLD . . 77 
 
 VII IN THE VESTIBULE OF His LIFE WORK 91 
 
 VIII TUSKEGEE 106 
 
 IX SUPREME DIFFICULTIES . . . 123 
 
 X CULTIVATION OF CORDIAL RELATIONS 138 
 
 XI THE INTEREST DEEPENS . . . 152 
 
 XII STILL ACHIEVING, STILL PURSUING . 166 
 
 XIII THE PROSPECT WIDENS . . , 177 
 
 XIV NATIONAL PROMINENCE . . . 186 
 XV EFFECTS OF THE ADDRESS . . 202 
 
 XVI HONOR FOLLOWS WORTH . . , 215 
 XVII WIDENING INFLUENCE AND INCREAS 
 ING POWER . . 231 
 XVIII RACE ORGANIZATION AND CONSTRUC 
 TION . . . . . . . 241 
 XIX THE SPIRIT OF ENLISTMENT . . 255 
 XX To EUROPE . . v . . . 268 
 XXI LAST YEARS 281 
 
ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS 
 
 EADERSHIP is indispensable to the guidance 
 and the development of every people. Even in 
 the rudest states of society the necessity of lead 
 ership is instinctively recognized, and because of the 
 possession of certain qualities, chiefs are chosen to 
 lead and command. In the juncture of certain crises, 
 leaders have sometimes suddenly arisen as the direct 
 creation of an emergency, hailing even from uncon- 
 jectured quarters, yet having just the qualities needed 
 for the exigency. In the absence of a leader among 
 the ancient people of Greece, Homer created Achilles, 
 and by the display of his mythical exploits fired the 
 hearts of a barbarian race which finally won the sta 
 tion of leadership in the world s thought. 
 
 When an eminent leader appears among men there 
 is at once activity in tracing his lineage to its source 
 in search of the discovery of the germ that first gave 
 it life. If the blood which courses through the veins 
 of a hero bears upon its own tide the virtues by which 
 he is distinguished such an one becomes preeminently 
 unique. 
 
 In the dawn of the emancipation of the slaves of 
 the South, no people ever stood in direr need of leader 
 ship of a peculiar type. Their situation was an ex- 
 
 15 
 
16 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 ceptional one. An exotic race, long enslaved, and 
 providentially left amid its former circumstances under 
 conditions peculiarly pitiable, the demand was most 
 urgent. Original paganism in the fatherland of the 
 black race, followed by centuries of bondage in a 
 civilized land, left these black people in an anomalous 
 condition. Inspiring leadership was needed not alone 
 to sound the rousing note of beginning to achieve for 
 themselves, but to stand at the front of the file and 
 direct to an outlook of race usefulness and aspiration. 
 
 At the gateway of freedom the race was in con 
 fusion. Their ancestors, wrenched by compulsion from 
 their native shores, had been brought half the circum 
 ference of the globe, there to be placed in conditions 
 of . enlightenment and progress for the white race; 
 their descendants had toiled as slaves. Touched by 
 the fresh vitality of a climate more favorable to the 
 generation of energy, and quickened even in their 
 torpid minds by their surroundings, thought began to 
 germinate like seeds long buried, and a once inert race 
 gradually awoke to mental activity even under the 
 sway of protracted servitude. 
 
 Conditions of dependableness could not have been 
 more pronounced than in the case of the imported and 
 enslaved man from Africa. His will was utterly sub 
 ordinated to that of another, and had its obliteration 
 been possible it would have been done. Kept in en 
 forced ignorance as a means of increased usefulness to 
 the owner, and yet provided with the necessary amount 
 of training to make him a valuable laborer, it is not 
 a matter of surprise that when the shackles of the slave 
 
ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS 17 
 
 were broken asunder, the Negro was somewhat ready, 
 because of such training, to enter on a new sphere of 
 life, even if in a crude and bungling fashion. He had 
 been considered by his once superior owner only as a 
 machine. Failing, often, to grasp the change wrought 
 by the new situation, the dominant ex-master still 
 thought that the freed slave, when unsupported by 
 stronger props, would relapse into original paganism, 
 or else, in his dependence, would be forced back into 
 practical servitude. 
 
 In a torrid zone and in haunts of inertia where 
 energy was paralyzed and where physical effort was 
 unnecessary by reason of the prodigality of nature, 
 this estimate might have been justified. But two pow 
 erful forces had mightily told on a race now more 
 American than African, one of which was a favorabl< 
 climatic change, and the other the stimulus affordec 
 by the spectacle of an advanced civilization. 
 
 Both in energy and in character these black people 
 had been largely transformed from the lowest barbar 
 ism to at least some realization of civilized ways. To 
 assume that with the relaxation of force and of over 
 sight they would involuntarily turn backward, was to 
 assume that which had never been true of any people 
 under similar conditions. Unconsciously to himself 
 and unobserved by his master, the Negro slave had 
 been ripening for the freedom which must inevitably 
 be his. This was foreseen by Jefferson, who wrote in 
 his diary just after the Revolution, " Nothing was ever 
 more inevitably written into the book of fate than 
 that these people will be free." 
 
18 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 The planting of the Negro on the salubrious and 
 enlivening shores of the New World was not unlike 
 that of sowing rare and exotic seeds from a distant 
 quarter of the globe. Time was necessary for adap 
 tation, germination, and for adjustment to new con 
 ditions, but when they should spring into new life there 
 would be profitable rootage and fruitage. The profit 
 to be derived from the enslaved African was dependent 
 on a certain degree of development in orde *-o reach 
 desired results, but during this process, while the slave 
 was contributing to the wealth of his owner, he was, 
 at the same time, slowly rising in the scale of civiliza 
 tion. This needed only the favor of opportunity in 
 order to the development of forces long hidden and 
 obscured. 
 
 With the Negro the same laws were operative as 
 with any other element of humanity, and when the 
 conditions attendant on slavery are taken into account, 
 it is not so much a matter of surprise, after all, that 
 the black man swept rapidly forward in achievement. 
 The discipline and direction of his life in slavery, 
 while he was within full view of advanced civilized 
 life, was his course taken in the school of civilization. 
 It would have been more surprising had the emanci 
 pated slave not moved rapidly forward. 
 
 Almost throughout the reign of slavery indications 
 $vere afforded of the longing of the Negro for en 
 lightenment. The readiness of the more favored slaves 
 to acquire the rudiments of learning and the pro 
 ficiency to which many were brought in the different 
 trades of handicraft showed their responsiveness to 
 
ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS 19 
 
 the advantages of civilized life. An idea long preva 
 lent in the states of the South was that enforced igno 
 rance made .the Negro more content with his lot ; and 
 therefore a more serviceable man, while if he were 
 taught to know his real condition it would result in 
 mischief alike to himself and to his master. It was 
 from this condition that there grew the assertion of 
 the gross mental inferiority of the Negro. That which 
 the Ner i has shown himself capable of becoming 
 within tne first fifty years of his freedom, is a direct 
 refutation of this theory. 
 
 Naturally enough the Negro has developed many 
 excellent qualities since his emancipation, of the ex 
 istence of which there was afforded no evidence during 
 the prevalence of slavery; but this is evidently due to 
 the fact that for practically the first time a favorable 
 opportunity has been afforded. The adverse judgment 
 pronounced against the Negro in the dawn of his 
 freedom, and the predictions concerning his destiny, 
 were founded on fallacious premises and suggested by 
 precedents that were strained. It was quite common 
 to refer to that which the Negro had failed to do irf. 
 regions like Haiti, San Domingo, and Liberia, and; 
 rarely to that which he had accomplished in Cuba, 
 which was nearer the temperate zone. In the regions 
 first mentioned the Negro had fallen short, but there 
 he was still within the compass of a retarding climate. 
 In Cuba he owns plantations and banks, and lives in 
 mansions. In the American states, climate stimulates 
 energy, both physical and mental. During the first 
 years of the freedom of the Negro, the task imposed 
 
20 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 on him by previous conditions of servitude was a 
 double one he had both to undo and to do. He had 
 to disencumber himself of the consequence of the false 
 notions of his master in whose general estimation the 
 slave was little more than a brute. The treatment 
 of the masters was in keeping with this estimate. De 
 prived of advantages of enlightenment and with no 
 hope of ever gaining it, the slaves naturally fell into a 
 state of apathy. They came to think of themselves 
 as little better than brutes, and their lives were 
 generally squared to that estimate. This was pointed 
 out by the masters as an evidence of intellectual in 
 feriority, and was further interpreted to mean an 
 abject condition which Providence designed for the 
 Negro. From all this the freed slave had to ex 
 tricate himself, while still pushing ahead toward the 
 attainment of a higher plane of life. 
 
 Scarcely could the condition of any people have been 
 more abnormal than that of the slaves of the South at 
 the outset of freedom. For generations they had 
 longed and prayed for liberty. The strivings within 
 them had often found vent in prayer in their squalid 
 quarters on the plantation. They pined for that which, 
 when it came, was an embarrassing boon. It was at 
 first liberty without ability of direction. It was a 
 confusion of joy with no foretaste as yet of its grim 
 reality of meaning. The sense of independence was 
 there without any idea of self-dependence. It was a 
 jumbled mass of glee, crudeness, capability, possibility, 
 hopefulness without foresight, and of kindly disposi 
 tion in poverty. What was to become of a mass like 
 
ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS 21 
 
 this? What destiny awaited this incongruous host? 
 The future must tell. 
 
 It will require considerable time yet for the Negro 
 to get rid of much that is ancestral to the race the 
 inheritance of centuries. Not only must he be patient, 
 but so must all others. Prejudice, aversion, force, 
 violence, and depreciation, will not tend to lift the 
 Negro up, but to cast him down. To demand a dis 
 play of quality equal to that of those favored by cen 
 turies of advantage is both unreasonable and absurd. 
 The Negro race is yet in its childhood. While the 
 criminal class deserves punishment for crimes com 
 mitted, reason should recognize the past disadvantage 
 of the Negro, and not exercise vengeance which is 
 contrary to the proper execution of the law. To this 
 the Negro in his present condition is much exposed. 
 The rule of vengeance rather than that of reason, is 
 debasing alike to the race on which it is wreaked 
 and to the inflictors, and, in the end, to American 
 civilization. 
 
 Time is needed for the Negro to pass from the 
 effects of the stigma of slavery, from under much 
 unreasonable race prejudice and preconceived theories 
 which, while largely insubstantial, operate with all the 
 force of fact. But the advancing black man is certain 
 to commend himself as he shall advance. To with 
 hold credit from the meritorious, no matter where 
 found, argues something wrong with him who enter 
 tains such views. 
 
 In his present condition, the Negro needs friends, 
 and friends of superior advantage and circumstance. 
 
22 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 He is in the South to remain as an integral part of 
 the country. To aid in his improvement is the clear 
 duty of advanced citizenship. To make him worse, 
 no matter by what method, is to retard general develop 
 ment. To demand conformity to an order of society 
 equal to that of the higher and more favored class is 
 as unreasonable as to expect children to be men. 
 Where he shows signs of improvement he should be 
 cheered by inspiration, and brought to a state of 
 citizenship as rapidly as possible. Where by unusual 
 force of energy and wisdom he succeeds, he should be 
 accorded respect and encouragement. A course like 
 this is consistent with patriotism, philanthropy, 
 morality, and Christianity. 
 
 The astonishment often expressed at the remarkable 
 strides made by the superior class of Negroes is not 
 reasonable. They are simply responding to conditions 
 which favor development. The results are but an 
 exemplification of the law of the adjustment of means 
 to ends. In a certain zone in the state of Washington, 
 it has been found that horses can be brought to the 
 highest degree of development; in a certain region of 
 California the finest specimens of domestic fowls can 
 be produced, while in still another the best celery of 
 the world is grown. Given the proper conditions, and 
 the requisite capability of responsiveness, and we have 
 the logical results. Not otherwise is it with men. 
 
 It is not difficult to apply these principles to the 
 Negro race as it was and is. Nothing is clearer than 
 that neither the paganism of ages with all its attendant 
 debasement, nor the oppression of slavery, could ex- 
 
ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS 23 
 
 terminate capability and responsiveness in the race. 
 Under right conditions these germs were stirred into 
 new life. The things which seemed to be hindrances 
 to the black man in his enforced servitude turned out 
 to be helps. 
 
 Nor does this justify the institution of slavery. 
 On the one side was the evil imposed by the mastery 
 of the white race, while on the other was the uninten 
 tional good done the Negro. He underwent much of 
 cruelty and of imposition, but it was not without much 
 ultimate profit to himself. While not justifying 
 slavery, this vindicates the ways of Providence. 
 
 Fresh from servitude, and equally fresh in the flush 
 of a new-born freedom, the Negro stood at the gateway 
 of a mighty transition. The way before him was yet 
 untried. In the great mass he was dismally ignorant ; 
 his qualities of coarse vice had been unchecked in 
 slavery, his moral perceptions were blunted, battered, 
 while the exercise of independent action and will was 
 much like the feet of a baby before he takes the first 
 step; his senses of discrimination and of judgment 
 were sorely restricted, and his powers were yet un- 
 drilled in the school of self-reliance. 
 
 This was true of the colored man as an individual, 
 but what about his environments ? He was a victim 
 of poverty. / Nothing was his in the midst of the 
 wealth of his own creation. He was penniless, home 
 less, foodless, landless. He was the innocent victim 
 of surroundings that seemed to mock him. Two pos 
 sessions were his, however, and two alone, and on 
 them he was absolutely dependent. These were his 
 
24 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 muscles of iron and a large stock of hopefulness. 
 With the one he could labor, by the other he was 
 cheered. Whatever the position of the Negro, his 
 spirits never forsook him. If sad, his sadness was 
 softened by song. No gloom was suffered to abide on 
 his spirit even while laboring under the lash. As he 
 cleared the forests, the echoes of his ax were accom 
 panied by gusts of glee; as he turned the furrows, 
 there was the freedom of song; as he reaped the 
 harvests of the master there was melody in his labor. 
 Often even after the exacting toils of the day were 
 over, he would seek vent for his pent-up spirits in danc 
 ing with tired but agile feet in response to the fiddle 
 and the discordant notes of the old banjo. Subjected 
 to the castigation of the lash, he cherished no malice, 
 fostered no deeply-nourished grudge, harbored no re 
 venge, but bearing from the punishment the marks 
 and scars of affliction, he was yet cheerful, docile, kind, 
 and loyal as before. Adversity could not eclipse his 
 cheerfulness, nor oppression dampen his joy. 
 
 The Negro is chided and criticised for this cheer 
 fulness which is often interpreted to mean indifference, 
 yet it is to him a natural reserve fund, an asset of 
 character necessary to his condition, an invisible rod 
 and staff that supports him when all else is gone. 
 With muscle and hope the Negro faced the future 
 undismayed by the jibes of his superiors in life-condi 
 tions, and undaunted by the discouragements which 
 frowned in the path before him. 
 
 Along with his freedom came aspiration, a new 
 possession which would have been useless in slavery. 
 
ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS 25 
 
 Its birth in his being gave fresh elasticity to hope, and 
 this sought expression in education. To his be 
 wildered mind it had been a profound mystery how his 
 master by looking on an open paper or book could 
 derive so much pleasure. In the early days of his 
 freedom the black man set himself to solve this mys 
 tery. Among the ex-slaves, with few exceptions, the 
 idea of education was, in the beginning, as insub 
 stantial as the air, but they knew enough to under 
 stand that it could be had by the mastery of books 
 and thus, with hungering and thirsting of spirit, they 
 fell to study. There was no limit to the ridicule to 
 which the ignorant searcher after knowledge was ex 
 posed, nevertheless he plodded on his laborious way. 
 His soul was on fire for enlightenment, and in this 
 fact lay the chief hope of a groping race. 
 
 Within a few years potent signs began to appear. 
 From obscure and unexpected quarters came former 
 slave boys and girls, incipient leaders of the race. 
 The law of sacrifice to which the Negro had paid 
 abundant tribute now began to assume expression in 
 the appearance of men and women of worth. The 
 former slave began to be heard and felt. Hence came 
 the erratic, but none the less unquestioned, genius, 
 John Jasper, of Richmond, Virginia; the oratorical 
 C. T. Walker, of Augusta, Georgia; the gifted states 
 man, B. K. Bruce, of Mississippi; the wizard of 
 finance, Richard H. Boyd, of Nashville, Tennessee; 
 the pioneer banker, W. R. Petti ford, of Birmingham, 
 Alabama, and, last of all to be named in this con 
 nection, the monumental race-builder and civilizer, 
 
26 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 Booker T. Washington. Hence, too, has come an 
 army of worthies in the wake of these, who have gone 
 into all the departments of human activity with 
 astonishing success. 
 
 Necessarily, at first, Negro leaders were exceptional. 
 They stood far apart and few, along the heights, 
 beckoning the race upward. They were the fore 
 runners of Negro success, the dispellers of doubt of 
 Negro capability, the indicators of that soon to be. 
 The generation next succeeding that of the slaves wit 
 nessed the uprising of an army of Negro worthies 
 whose achievements astonished the world. Now, it is 
 rare to find a Negro who cannot read and write. 
 With steps timid and faltering, the Negro first entered 
 on the professions, trades, and vocations, but now all 
 of these have their worthy colored representatives. 
 
 Original theories of the intellectual inferiority of 
 the Negro were overset within a few years, and on the 
 part of many the original estimate of the race was 
 reluctantly surrendered. Negro successes were re 
 garded at first as sporadic, but objections were hushed 
 when Negro education became general. Fact had 
 convinced. 
 
 This is but a rough and imperfect review of the 
 first struggles of the race, a background of the history 
 of a people, now still achieving, still pursuing, as they 
 face the years of the future. The survey prepares 
 us to take up the career and labors of one into whose 
 short life of wonderful activity were crowded momen 
 tous events, and on whose integrity the destiny of a 
 people of millions living and beginning under the 
 
ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS 27 
 
 conditions already described, depended more than on 
 any other. The changes that have been rapidly 
 wrought within the last half -century have made it 
 possible for a descendant of slaveholders cheerfully to 
 assume the task of committing to permanent form the 
 extraordinary life of a slave boy a life which, 
 through a period of four decades, was such as to 
 elicit not only the attention and interest of the world, 
 but its highest commendation. In the chapters which 
 follow will be recorded the life and times of Booker 
 Taliaferro Washington, the famous Negro educator, 
 reformer, elevator, pacifist, and leader. 
 
II 
 
 NATIVITY AND EARLY LIFE 
 
 IN tracing the life of Booker T. Washington, it is 
 not to be presumed that the pen of a white 
 biographer will be restrained to any extent from 
 the fullest expression because the subject was a Negro. 
 While there is no disposition either unduly to exalt 
 his worth or to exaggerate the importance of his 
 work, there will be accorded to him the merits of his 
 just deserts. The simple fact that he was a dis 
 tinguished American who wrought mightily in his 
 generation for the good of both races, entitles him to 
 full recognition and to the perpetuation of a fame 
 worthily won. 
 
 Of not a few great Americans the conditions of 
 birth have been low and obscure. The birth-place of 
 at least one brilliant military commander is unknown, 
 so humble were the conditions of his family and so 
 great is the lack of data concerning his advent into 
 the world. The most eager and diligent search of 
 biographers has been a failure on this point, yet he rose 
 to the command of the American army and became a 
 chief magistrate of the nation. The birth of another 
 president is wrapped in obscurity ; during almost thirty 
 years of the first part of his life he was an humble 
 laborer, a rail-splitter, and was inured to penury and 
 
NATIVITY AND EARLY LIFE 29 
 
 the deepest privation. Still another president was not 
 able to read till after his marriage. The early diffi 
 culties of other eminent Americans might be named, 
 but these are sufficient for the purpose now in hand. 
 
 Certainly none who attained to distinction could 
 have been more obscure than Booker T. Washington, 
 and his early life was handicapped by the additional 
 fact that he was a Negro slave. Still another fact 
 which operated most seriously against him was that 
 his career was begun when race antagonism in the 
 South was the severest. That one in his position and 
 condition should have been able to attain to a station 
 of any consequence is most remarkable, and that he 
 should be able to master the most obstinate obstruc 
 tions, and to achieve the seemingly impossible, crowns 
 him with a degree of merit to which the others named 
 cannot possibly lay claim. He was of a despised race ; 
 he was ignorant and poor; the tension of the times 
 was such that under ordinary conditions any expressed 
 ambition on his part to accomplish that which he suc 
 ceeded in achieving would have invited violent opposi 
 tion; and, in addition, he was without friends to ad 
 vise and direct. 
 
 Born in a slave hut, on an interior plantation, near 
 a cross-roads post office called Hale s Ford, in Frank 
 lin county, Virginia, about the year 1857, is the 
 earliest record of this notable man. On some of the 
 plantations of the South the birth of each black child, 
 the deaths of slaves, the purchase and sale, and what 
 ever was of consequence went on record, but on the 
 plantation on which Washington was born no such 
 
30 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 care was taken. Slaves knew nothing of dates, and 
 events were remembered by association with certain 
 other events of note. By such association Washington s 
 mother was enabled to indicate the approximate year 
 of his birth. 
 
 The slave child was called Booker, by which name 
 he was known till he was quite a lad. His mother, 
 Jane, was a cook for the slaves on the plantation. 
 Like other slaves, she was known by that name alone, 
 but when asked for her full name, she would give 
 that of Jane Ferguson. Nothing is known of Booker s 
 master other than that his name was Burroughs. 
 
 The time of the birth of this young slave, Booker, 
 was that of a struggle, the premonitions of which 
 were already beginning to appear. In 1857 James 
 Buchanan took his seat as president, the last repre 
 sentative of his party to do so for thirty-eight years. 
 The events of the time gave a fresh impulse to the 
 inevitable conflict. The assumed sincerity of Mr. 
 Buchanan in his initial statement to Congress that 
 slavery was a dead issue, had the direct effect of re 
 viving it as an issue, and his administration was 
 signalized by preparation for the great, Civil War. In 
 the same connection may be named another event 
 which occurred shortly after the inauguration of 
 President Buchanan, that of the opinion rendered by 
 Chief Justice Taney in the case of Dred Scott. These 
 deliverances seemed to sentence the slaves to perpetual 
 servitude. That there was born at the time of these 
 occurrences in the highest national councils at Wash 
 ington, a little slave, on whom would be providentially 
 
NATIVITY AND EARLY LIFE 31 
 
 imposed the supreme task of leadership in undoing the 
 complications into which the country was at that time 
 steadily moving, is a remarkable coincidence. Nothing 
 could have seemed more remote than such a possibility. 
 While the events of the time moved in ominous pro 
 cession toward a long and bloody conflict of sections, 
 the ignorant young slave on the plantation in Virginia 
 was subjected to all the conditions incident to such on 
 the plantations of the South. There was nothing to 
 differentiate him from any other youthful slave. Not 
 the slightest indication was given in anything said 
 or done by him of that which he was destined to be 
 come. His hard life in the midst of slavish environ 
 ment was a mere matter of course. Yet from this 
 abject quarter he was to come as a harbinger of a 
 new era. 
 
 " Manners with fortunes, humors turn with climes, 
 Tenets with books, and principles with times." 
 
 No less improbable seemed the emancipation of his 
 race, yet within the next half dozen years a proclama 
 tion of emancipation would be issued, and thus would 
 be enacted the first scene in the drama of his eventful 
 life. Even as late as 1861, the vice-president of the 
 Confederacy, in his famous " corner-stone " speech 
 at Savannah, Georgia, said that " slavery was the 
 natural and normal condition of the Negro because of 
 his racial inferiority." 
 
 The years immediately following that of Booker 
 T. Washington s birth were those of turbulence. Mr. 
 
32 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 , Buchanan had manifestly misconceived the spirit of 
 I the times. A storm of abolition violence broke forth 
 I afresh in the North, while the contests on the floors 
 of Congress waxed fiercer. Books in denunciation of 
 slavery and others written in its defense, poured in a 
 torrent from the press, and journals on both sides y of 
 Mason and Dixon s line warred with fury. Poets, 
 teachers, professors, ministers of the gospel, editors, 
 authors, speakers on the stump and on the platform, 
 hastened the " irrepressible conflict." Slavery was the 
 dominant topic around the fireside, in the village 
 group, in the circles of hotels, and in the corridors and 
 chambers of the national Capitol. The atmosphere 
 was more pregnantly charged with hostility as the 
 administration of Mr. Buchanan drew toward its 
 close. 
 
 Meanwhile, the little slave who was destined to play 
 so conspicuous a part in the subsequent drama, was 
 being nursed on the lap of his slave mother on an 
 )bscure plantation in Virginia. Events in our national 
 Ihistory were never more capricious and phenomenal 
 than in the years stretching from 1857 to 1882. It 
 ras an iconoclastic period. Passion raged to the sub 
 version of judgment, and policy was often exercised 
 in defiance of principle. Views were changed by pass 
 ing events rather than by the consequences toward 
 which they evidently tended. The coolness or delibera 
 tion of men was incapable of lofty thought and of 
 cautious action. Terms and designations once cher 
 ished, became those of opprobrium. Excitement and 
 not reason ruled the hour. Anglo-Saxon fervor was 
 
NATIVITY AND EARLY LIFE 33 
 
 wrought to the highest degree. The reaction was 
 destined to bring some marvelous changes. 
 
 The period of mind clashing against mind was 
 followed by that of contending armies in battle. 
 Virginia was the chief theater of the long struggle, 
 but the scenes of carnage were quite apart from the 
 region in which the young slave, Booker, had passed 
 out of the swaddlings of babyhood to the activity of 
 boyhood with no other prospect than of being a toiling 
 slave as his ancestors before him had been. 
 
 When the armies of the Confederacy had capitulated 
 and the war was over, a new era came ; the slave was 
 forever free, the great Emancipator had been assas 
 sinated, new complications had arisen, the passion of 
 contention was still rife, the victors were pressing their 
 issue to contemplated consummation, the defeated 
 were still resisting as far as they might, and there 
 came a strain to the utmost tension between the former 
 master and the erstwhile slave. . 
 
 It was a time of political agitation, and politicalN 
 parties were each playing for the utmost advantage \ 
 possible, the one riding at high tide, the other resisting j 
 to the utmost. On the ex-slave fell the consequence - f 
 of it all Without any positive or direct agency in 
 the events which so vitally affected him, he was the 
 burden-bearer of the results of the continued con-; 
 tention. That which had been true for many years 
 concerning the black man was still true. 
 
 The years immediately succeeding the close of the 
 Civil War were chaotic. With reference to the late 
 slave population they were peculiarly so. Without 
 
34 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 initiative because long dependent on others, ignorant, 
 penniless, homeless, and foodless, scarcely could the 
 condition of any class have been worse. In bewilder 
 ment these unfortunate people were scattered, many 
 hanging about the camps of the conquerors, others 
 wandering idly here and there, multitudes swarming 
 the cities, while not a few threaded the highways of 
 the country hungry and in search of employment else 
 where than on the plantations of their late servitude, 
 the impression being that to labor on these would imply 
 anything other than freedom. It was a period of 
 dark transition to the Negro. 
 
 Nor was it less so to the whites. The old system 
 was broken up. Extensive plantations, once yielding 
 immensely, were now lying idle. Land was a burden 
 to the former slaveholder. Gloom had come where 
 before there had been contentment and ease. It was 
 a period of irritation resulting from the dire effects of 
 war. Business in the South was stagnant, and the 
 price of goods high. The races now standing apart 
 regarded each other with distrustfulness. 
 
 When the armies of the Confederacy surrendered 
 Booker T. Washington was a mere boy. He heard 
 the terrors of the situation discussed by his elders. 
 He recalled in after years the impression made at a 
 period when children become receptive of the things 
 occurring about them. He heard of the surrender of 
 armies, and of freedom, without understanding its 
 meaning, and shared in the shifting movements of his 
 perplexed people. As before stated, simultaneously 
 with the comparative settlement of conditions, came 
 
NATIVITY AND EARLY LIFE 35 
 
 the desire of the freed people for education the first 
 real aspiration of the emancipated Negro. The first 
 schools for them were thronged alike by the aged and 
 the young thirsting for enlightenment. Not infre 
 quently in the same crowded schoolroom were 
 gathered, grotesquely and yet pathetically enough, the 
 spectacled grandfathers and grandmothers, and the 
 small children, all burrowing into the mysteries of the 
 blue-backed speller, The delight afforded by the 
 acquisition of the alphabet, and the ability to spell 
 syllables of two letters, was an incitement to bore with 
 increasing labor and zeal into the profounder mys 
 teries of orthography. In these excitants the clumsy 
 boy joined with the other children, and, indeed, with 
 those of every age, with a genuine ambition occasioned 
 by the excitability of the situation. 
 
 It was some years later that the vision of achieve 
 ment began to loom for him on the horizon of the 
 future. He was impressed by the unusual struggles 
 of his people to gather knowledge as well as by the 
 disadvantages which encumbered them. The ex-slaves 
 were very poor, and the few schools provided for them 
 were, for the most part, very indifferent. A few 
 Northern teachers had come South to aid the f reedmen 
 in their educational struggles. But they were socially 
 ostracized and otherwise embarrassed. 
 
 Then came the era of reconstruction. The most 
 designing of low politicians from the North uniting 
 with a similar class from the South, entered on the 
 work of deception, by pretense of kindness to the poor, 
 deluded colored man ; but they brought to his already 
 
36 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 weary shoulders a new burden, involving him in fresh 
 
 trouble. And when they had to flee, they left the 
 
 j Negro in his helplessness, with the results to shoulder. 
 
 Demoralization waxed into hostility, and then into 
 
 V violence. 
 
 The years of the boyhood and the young manhood 
 of this sketch were those of deepening depression to 
 his people. Throughout the states of the South the 
 situation grew worse as time went on. They were the 
 years of the first venture of the Negro into the sphere 
 of independence those of the first steps in experi 
 mental citizenship. This was offset by a corresponding 
 growth of irritation in the whites. Intent to demon 
 strate in some way his sense of liberty, the Negro 
 would not readily comply with the wishes of the 
 whites, and this would arouse increasing sensitiveness, 
 as the now assertive black man had just previously, 
 as a slave, been plastic and docile. The whites could 
 not yet understand why a Negro should not obey when 
 ordered, and when he declined, it was taken as an ex 
 pression of impudence, and friction would ensue. 
 
 The first efforts of Negroes in the spheres of in 
 dependent action, especially in that of industry, were 
 generally derided because of their awkwardness and 
 blundering, though in some instances the friendlier 
 and more sympathetic of the whites would aid them in 
 their local endeavors, especially in the formation of 
 their religious organizations. 
 
 /^ The Negro leader of the time was a politician, which 
 I made him especially obnoxious to the whites, while the 
 y colored ministry of the period was generally illiterate 
 
NATIVITY AND EARLY LIFE 37 
 
 and obscure, and therefore without influence. For a 
 long time the only point of contact between the races 
 was that of employer and employee. To add to 
 the irritation of the time, detachments of federal 
 troops were stationed about the country, vested with 
 authority, to whose commanders reports would be 
 made by the Negroes, and occasionally white men 
 would be placed in prison in consequence. Greater 
 fierceness was aroused when Negro constabulary 
 squads were sent out to arrest the whites. These conJ 
 ditions prevailed for a period of fifteen years before 
 Booker Washington appeared on the scene. 
 
 
Ill 
 
 A COMMON LABORER 
 
 THE sudden burst of freedom for the slaves 
 of the South, an event ushered in practically 
 after the surrender of the Confederate armies, 
 was the occasion of boundless joy. The proclama 
 tion of freedom by Mr. Lincoln in 1863, two years 
 before, was a merely formal deliverance at which the 
 slave owners at the time only hooted, so sanguine 
 were they of final success. Slavery was destined to 
 await the final surrender of the forces of the South. 
 
 To an ignorant people the full significance of the 
 gift was not at first understood and appreciated. The 
 general idea of the boon was the crudest. As slavery 
 to the slave meant labor, so to him freedom meant a 
 reversal of condition it meant immunity from toil 
 it meant rest. Beyond that conception as a final idea, 
 the ordinary slave thought did not go. Consequently, 
 with slight exception, the Negro was not disposed, 
 when freed, to labor on the same plantation from 
 which he had come, nor for his former owner. Neither 
 was he disposed to adopt the name of the master; 
 when he came to assume a surname, he generally took 
 that of another, sometimes arbitrarily, sometimes 
 from some former owner of his ancestors. 
 
 Among the earliest ambitions of the late slave was 
 
A COMMON LABORER 39 
 
 that of a middle letter or name. If his given name 
 was "Thomas," he would attach to it some other of 
 his own choice, brothers and sisters of the same family 
 bearing a variety of assumed names. Again, the 
 middle initial might signify a name or it might be 
 merely what they called their " entitles." On the 
 plantation as slaves they were known by their given 
 names only. To the recent slaves this assumption of 
 a name was one of the necessary accompaniments of 
 freedom. Their ambition was to have their names 
 sound like " de white folks ." 
 
 With the passing of the first passion of joy of the 
 liberated slave, came the stern, cold pinch and pres 
 sure of necessity. Labor was still as exactingly de4 
 manded as before, but it must now be done on a basis! 
 entirely different from that of slave regulation. Every! 
 one must now become his own regulator, both with 
 respect to the character of the work to be done and the 
 wages paid. Here the ignorant black was at a great 
 disadvantage. He knew nothing of the value of wages 
 and less of the value of money. Rates for labor were 
 low, prices for goods high, and the possession of a few 
 dollars was a peculiar delight. In his ignorance he 
 was exposed to every sort of extortion and disadvan 
 tage, of which not a few of the whites availed them 
 selves, although, on the other hand, many dealt with 
 the strictest honesty. 
 
 Another serious handicap to the blacks was that of 
 the dramshops. It was a period when disreputable 
 saloons held sway. One was at every crossroads, while 
 in every village there were a number. Denied intoxi- 
 
40 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 cants in slavery, the Negro now exulted in the privilege 
 of drink. The barroom flourished at the expense of 
 his victimized ignorance. This induced crime and, in 
 turn, violence. The irritation prevailing, the igno 
 rance of the blacks, and the abundance of liquor, 
 produced a situation the most appalling. Amidst these 
 early conditions moved the future leader of his people. 
 A mere boy yet, scarcely beyond the period of child 
 hood, he was already anxious to improve his condi 
 tion. In quest of the best position possible, his step 
 father had gone to the salt mines in the Kanawha 
 Valley of West Virginia, whence, later, he summoned 
 the family to follow. 
 
 At this time Booker had scarcely turned into the 
 teens. He helped dump the meager household goods 
 into a cart to start overland to West Virginia several 
 hundred miles away. Wide and deep streams were to 
 be crossed, besides mountain ranges. He must walk 
 for the most part, as the roads were rough lind the 
 team of oxen was small. This was Booker s first ven 
 ture into the world. Till now he had scarcely been 
 beyond the horizon of his plantation home. Bare 
 footed and bareheaded he trudged slowly along the 
 way following the wagon. Sharing in the eagerness 
 of others of his race for educational enlightenment, 
 he had not yet learned the first letter of the alphabet. 
 
 A long, tedious journey of weeks brought the 
 poverty-stricken family to Maiden, West Virginia, 
 the center of the salt and coal mining region. Bad 
 as the domestic conditions had been on the plantation, 
 they were here even worse. A temporary shanty 
 
A COMMON LABORER 41 
 
 standing among many others, the abodes of the miners, 
 with only the scantiest__com fort, and with abounding 
 filth, bad water, coarse food, a reeking atmosphere, 
 
 vice shocTong and^pjm^jmd plenty .QJLhard labor 
 these made up the elements of the new surroundings. V 
 Here Washington was to live and labor for years as a 
 common workman. He was duly assigned to work at 
 the salt furnaces along with a mass of laboring men, 
 rising sometimes at folIrnTrrtEeltnornmg to begin the 
 labor of the dayT~Tf waTsTHere that he learned the first 
 characters in the rudiments of knowledge. Each salt- 
 packer had his barrels numbered, that of the step 
 father of Booker was 18. Without knowing the 
 meaning of the figure, he learned to recognize it 
 wherever he met it, and know that it meant eighteen. 
 
 Booker was not indisposed to labor, he did it un-^ 
 complainingly, but within him the fire burned for 1 
 knowledge. To his ignorant but sympathetic mother 1 
 he made known the intensity of his desire, but her 
 consolation was slight, as she could only say to him 
 that maybe someday it would be better, and he could 
 learn to read. He had seen other boys with spelling 
 books, and he craved to own one too. By some means 
 his poor mother was enabled to buy him one. This 
 was a joy unspeakable. He longed to master it, but 
 how? Not a person in all the laboring community 
 knew a letter of the alphabet. He must seek himself 
 to unravel the mysteries of this, the first book he had 
 ever held in his hands. At odd moments during the 
 intervals of labor he was hard at work on his mys 
 terious speller, seeking to evoke its hidden meaning. 
 
42 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 There were white overseers about the camp, who 
 doubtless would have been glad to help an aspiring lad 
 over his alphabetical difficulty, but he knew but little 
 of the whites, and was shy of them. He knew enough 
 to know that a mastery of the alphabet was essential 
 to the acquisition of the rest, and by some means he 
 hammered it out for himself, and could combine the 
 letters into short syllables, but the pronunciation of 
 these he had to wait a future opportunity to learn. 
 
 Conditions slightly more favorable came a little 
 later. A colored youth who found his way to Maiden 
 from Ohio, having had some advantages in the public 
 schools of that state was able to read with ease. 
 Among the miners and salt-packers, this young man 
 was regarded a prodigy because he could actually read, 
 like a white man. At the close of each day he was 
 surrounded by a group of eager listeners to hear him 
 read the newspapers. Booker watched him closely, 
 studied him with eager care, and many a time left his 
 presence, longing to be able to read as did he and 
 resolved to learn. He was willing to stop when he 
 could do that, as he then thought. This became to him 
 a fresh incentive to his already intense desire to have 
 an education. 
 
 The advent of this partly-educated youth had a 
 stimulating effect on the community, and soon there 
 was a general desire for a school for the colored 
 children. This proved an entering wedge to a change 
 in the mental and moral uplift of that really depraved 
 community. But where was a teacher to be had? 
 Some suggested the engagement of the Ohio youth, 
 
A COMMON LABORER 43 
 
 but he was too young to govern a school, and that 
 suggestion was dismissed. 
 
 Meanwhile, another colored man from Ohio came 
 on the scene. He was an ex-soldier from the federal 
 army, and in addition to his ability to teach, he had 
 the advantage of maturity. He was employed on a 
 slender salary, each patron paying by monthly install 
 ment for the services of the teacher. For two reasons 
 it was deemed wise that he should " board around " 
 that is, by turns, spend one night with each of the 
 patrons. It was thought that it would arouse the 
 people from their lethargy of degraded existence, to 
 have a person of advanced culture in their homes, and 
 that thereby he would be the better able to afford aid 
 to the pupils in their studies. The list of homes was 
 duly made out for the teacher s visitation, the school 
 was opened, and the round of visits begun. " Teacher s 
 day " became an event in each home in the community. 
 There was every preparation to make his visit a 
 pleasant one. For once, the squalid surroundings were 
 cleared up, the house was put in as perfect order as 
 possible, and all the domestic arrangements underwent 
 a reformation. The result was a gradual change in 
 the squalid community. People found that conditions 
 could be improved, they liked it better than the original 
 circumstances, and the place gradually began to change, 
 and the people to improve in every way. These little 
 things were a turning point in that community, which 
 now started upgrade. 
 
 Similar changes were beginning to take place else 
 where among the colored people of the South. As 
 
44 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 yet, no provisions had been made in the South for 
 a public school system. In truth, the country was a 
 scene of general desolation. Blackened chimneys 
 stood sentinel over the ruins of many towns and cities. 
 In many instances, farms were still as they had been 
 left by the tramping armies. The struggle on the part 
 of all alike was for a livelihood. The one-armed 
 soldier was at work in the fields, and the once wealthy 
 land barons were concerned about making ends meet. 
 A great industrial system had suddenly collapsed into 
 a common crash of ruin, and the people were in per 
 plexity. Besides all this, an ex-slave population of 
 millions was adrift, restless, ignorant, aimless, home 
 less, and leaderless. Conditions were chaotic. 
 
 On its own initiation, the freed race began to found 
 schools to found them in their ignorance. It was 
 a racial grounds well. About five per cent of the 
 emancipated people could read and write, and these 
 were not slow to inject the spirit into the rest of their 
 people, and by the time that the states were ready 
 to inaugurate a system of schools, no class was more 
 responsive than the late slaves. Some of the former 
 slaves who had heard of colleges and universities, but 
 had never seen either, aspired to found such for their 
 people. The most remarkable instance occurred at 
 Louisville, Kentucky, where a group of unlettered ex- 
 slaves met in an old building in August (succeeding 
 the close of the war, in April, 1865) an d> though 
 bearing the marks of slavery on their bodies, and 
 simply knowing that a university meant a place of 
 learning, took steps to begin a school which gradually 
 
A COMMON LABORER 45 
 
 developed into what came to be known as the State 
 University of Kentucky, a large and flourishing col 
 lege for colored people which stands today in Louis 
 ville, with buildings and grounds in the heart of that 
 city. Throughout the years, from that early time 
 till now, it has done excellent work, not alone for the 
 colored race but for the commonwealth of Kentucky, 
 and is still a great educational lighthouse to a strug 
 gling people. 
 
 To this work of the race throughout the South, 
 these people were actuated, not because any possessed 
 prosperity, for they were extremely poor, nor by any 
 prospective wealth, but purely in recognition of the 
 necessity of education for their people if they were 
 to be able to cope with their peculiar difficulties, and 
 rise in the scale of civilization. The money contributed 
 to this end, no matter by whom, was never more 
 worthily given. To study this movement, at a time 
 so inauspicious, and with an outlook so unpromising, 
 is to see that the southern Negro, made over anew 
 from his ancestral savagery of two or three centuries 
 before, is not a comedy race. In these beginnings was 
 the germination of a people whose coming worth and 
 importance would challenge the admiration of the 
 country at large, and, in some respects, that of the 
 civilized world. It was the first great movement 
 toward a race awakening, and from a situation like this 
 was to come forth a leader who should rapidly scale 
 the heights as a stimulator, leader, and exemplar. 
 
 The matter of religion had much to do with the 
 new quickening of the race now in possession of a 
 
46 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 new freedom. Two causes operated to prompt the 
 freed slave of the South to an awakening from mental 
 lethargy. One of these was his impulsive emotional 
 ism and the other, the friendlessness of the situation. 
 In his wretchedness the Negro knew God. His first, 
 and practically universal ambition was to learn to read 
 the Bible. Under the impulse of this initial passion the 
 aged and the young alike thronged into the day school, 
 the Sunday-school, and the first rude churches estab 
 lished by themselves. That this so largely escaped the 
 attention of the local Christendom was due to the 
 sway of the current passions of the period. If the 
 current had then been diverted into proper channels 
 conditions in the South would doubtlessly have been 
 marvelously changed. 
 
 The ambition of young Washington had been 
 \ quietly but deeply stirred by the prospective school in 
 his community, but he was destined to profound dis 
 appointment. He had proved a valuable laborer in the 
 manufacture of salt, always prompt, willing, active, 
 and reliable, and his stepfather, lured more by desire 
 of gain than by that of mental improvement, did not 
 share in the movement for the establishment of the 
 sorely-needed school. He sternly decided that a hand 
 so valuable as Booker could not be easily spared from 
 the salt furnace. The gentle mother disclosed this 
 fact to the aspiring boy, who heard it with bitter and 
 sullen disappointment. Still he would not give up, 
 nor banish hope. The old " blue-back " was still his 
 property and he would continue to delve into its 
 hidden mysteries. The chagrin experienced was en- 
 
A COMMON LABORER 47 
 
 hanced by the passing by the furnace each afternoon of 
 bevies of gleeful colored boys and girls on their way 
 homeward from school, while he, a barefooted and 
 bareheaded laborer, was toiling at the hot furnace. 
 With a feeling of sadness he listened to their cheery 
 laughter, and envied them their good fortune. 
 
 In slight amendment of his disappointment, in which 
 his doting mother shared, he was able to make ar 
 rangements with the local teacher to study at night 
 after the toils of the day were over; but even this 
 slight pittance of advantage could not be had until 
 he had enlisted the persuasive powers of his mother in 
 begging the unfeeling stepfather to grant this poor 
 chance to the boy. By plying his mother as a sort 
 of mediator between himself and his stepfather, 
 Booker was at last able to quit fromjiine in the 
 morning till four in the afternoon in order to study 
 at the local school. This advantage, however, was 
 gained at the cost of unusual exaction. He had to be 
 out of bed at four in order to hurry away to the kilns; 
 laboring there till nine o clock, he would then scamper 
 away to the distant school. Though the advantage 
 gained was in part penal for his persistency, he would 
 turn it to the greatest possible account. 
 
 An incident which occurred in this connection is as 
 amusing as it was pathetic. In his overweening desire 
 to learn, he wished to gain all the time possible, and 
 in a conflict between his ambition and his conscience, 
 he thought of turning forward the hands of the big 
 clock in the office by which the affairs of the industry 
 were guided. Having done this several mornings, by 
 
48 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 thus gaining additional time, it was found that the 
 clock was running awry and the work was disturbed in 
 consequence. Seeing that the clock had either been 
 tinkered with or was running irregularly, the super 
 intendent locked it away, and depended on his watch 
 for future guidance. Casuists must determine how 
 much moral turpitude was involved in the doubtful 
 act of the aspiring stripling. 
 
 On entering school, Booker, by which name alone 
 he had been known, must enroll his full name. He 
 had learned from some source of a great man named 
 Washington, and he thought of calling himself Booker 
 Washington, but he felt that he must, of course, have 
 a middle name, so he injected that of Taliaferro. He 
 thus gave his full name as Booker Taliaferro Wash 
 ington, by which he was afterward known through 
 out the world. 
 
 Another incident occurred in this connection which, 
 though trifling enough in itself, indicated the character 
 of the Negro youth. He had never worn a hat or 
 a cap, and was the only pupil who went to school bare 
 headed. This was a source of embarrassment, and he 
 laid his case before his mother, who told him that she 
 had no money with which to buy a hat, nor had she 
 any prospect of getting any. Still the lad persisted, 
 and to satisfy him she managed to get hold of a 
 small bit of jeans cloth, sewing the sides together 
 somewhat in the shape of a cap. She placed it on the 
 head of the proud possessor, and the difficulty was 
 solved. 
 
 Not a moment was lost by the youth in his applica- 
 
A COMMON LABORER 49 
 
 tion to his books, but his privileges, small as they were, 
 were soon cut off by his stepfather. To this sudden 
 deprivation he regretfully submitted, and went into 
 the mines as a common miner. However he clung to 
 his books, and engaged the service of a teacher who 
 agreed to give an hour or two of private instruction 
 at night. Hurrying to the completion of his assigned 
 task in the mines, he would bathe, snatch a hasty 
 supper which his kind mother would always have in 
 readiness, shift his clothes, and hasten to meet his 
 teacher some miles away, remain as long as possible, 
 return to his hard bunk, and by four in the morning 
 resume his tasks. The spirit of hope so characteristic 
 of his race never forsook him during those days of. 
 gloom, and he still cherished the belief that he would 
 find a way to procure an education. 
 
 In the resounding caverns voices are easily heard, 
 and one day while the youth was plying his pick, he 
 overheard the conversation of two colored miners. 
 They were discussing the matter of Negro education, 
 and Booker overheard an allusion to a school where 
 black youths could work their way through. Extin 
 guishing the lamp in his cap, he crept through the 
 gloom toward the miners in order to hear more clearly. 
 Neither of the conversers knew just where it was, but 
 the name of the school was Hampton. This gave 
 fresh hope to the toiling lad. He would seek it till 
 he should find it. He hid the information in his heart, 
 and resolved to reach Hampton, no matter where it 
 was. 
 
 In his eager search for the desired information, he 
 
50 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 learned that the school was in distant Virginia, but 
 this did not affect either his zeal or his purpose. He 
 bent all his energies toward the attainment of his 
 cherished hope. He presented the matter to his elder 
 brother, John, and the proposal was made by the 
 brother that he would assist the younger as far as he 
 was able, with the understanding that when Bookei 
 should complete his studies he would, in turn, assisl 
 the older brother. To that devoted brother Bookei 
 was largely indebted for his ability to go to Hampton, 
 John would deny himself much in order to enable the 
 younger to get through, and he was willing to wail 
 and labor till this could be consummated. The agree 
 ment was finally carried out, and though the elder 
 brother was eclipsed by the splendor of the younger, 
 he became in future years a valuable ally to Bookei 
 in his struggles at Tuskegee. 
 
 Captivated by the new prospect of the gratification 
 of his ambition, toil to the youthful Booker now bo- 
 came sweet. He had visions of coming success as an 
 educated man, for beyond the attainment of an educa 
 tion he did not yet consider. A perennial optimism 
 possessed him, and unpromising as the outlook was in 
 his poverty, he was cheered by the hope of one day be 
 ing able to reach Hampton. True to the principle by 
 which he was actuated through life, he would still labor 
 on, hope on, and do well the tasks assigned him. " Seesl 
 thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand 
 before kings, he shall not stand before mean men." 
 
IV 
 HAMPTON INSTITUTE 
 
 A DISTINCT purpose was now before Wash 
 ington. He kept up his random studies as 
 best he could, and meanwhile continued to 
 learn what he could of Hampton. Besides talking it 
 over with his brother, he spoke to his mother of his 
 plans, but she had little encouragement to offer, save 
 to say that she was willing to do anything for the 
 interest of her children. He was reminded of their 
 extreme poverty and of the slight prospect of im 
 provement. Still the lad believed that a way would yet 
 be opened for him to go. One thought encouraged 
 him he had learned that at Hampton any worthy 
 colored youth would be allowed to work his way 
 through, and he was neither too proud nor indisposed 
 to labor. He thought not of the expenses that would 
 be incurred by his stay there, but was sure that if he 
 could ever reach the school, he would find a way 
 of pushing himself through. This philosophic dis 
 position characterized the life of Washington through 
 out. He would make good the present as the surest 
 means of future success. 
 
 In seeking to devise means for reaching Hampton 
 he decided to apply for a position as a servant in the 
 home of the owner of the mines, General Ruffner, 
 
52 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 whose wife was from Vermont, and had the reputa 
 tion of being difficult to please. Servants had been 
 frequently dismissed by her, some having been turned 
 off after remaining but a short while. However, 
 Booker was sure he could please her, and sent his 
 mother to solicit the job. The result was that he was 
 engaged on trial at five dollars a week. He appeared 
 before Mrs. RufTner with fear and trembling, and 
 was at once set to work. He no more closely studied 
 his work than he did his new mistress. Perfectly 
 docile and polite, he sought to satisfy her in every 
 minute particular. He resolved to give the fullest 
 satisfaction, and succeeded. Mrs. Ruffner was very 
 exacting, but to this the boy did not object, and in 
 subsequent years he reverted to his experience and 
 training in the Ruffner home as elements of his suc 
 cess. Among the requirements was that of being 
 scrupulously frank and honest. The exactions im 
 posed were right, in every particular, whether of 
 service or of character, and Booker felt that no one 
 could object to being right and doing right. To the 
 youth, unused to the demands of cultivated life, the 
 drill and discipline of that home were a blessing. 
 
 For about eighteen months Washington remained 
 in the home of the Ruffners and without the slightest 
 difficulty. Mrs. Ruffner sympathized with his plans 
 for the future and allowed him a few hours each day 
 to attend school, after his tasks were done. Finally 
 she permitted him to employ a tutor to come on the 
 premises each day to hear his recitations. 
 
 Having saved a small amount, Washington re* 
 
HAMPTON INSTITUTE 53 
 
 solved in the fall of 1872 to go to Hampton. He was 
 encouraged by the demonstrations of his people, most 
 of whom seemed anxious to aid him in his worthy 
 endeavor by giving him small sums of money, and 
 wearing apparel. But his chief reliance was his brother. 
 After all, he had not sufficient funds to defray his 
 expenses for the five hundred miles to Hampton, but 
 even with an inadequate amount, he determined to 
 start. 
 
 With a small cheap satchel containing all that was 
 his, Washington set forth toward Hampton, and soon 
 learned that his money was altogether insufficient for 
 the trip. The railway fare was five cents a mile, and 
 the expenses were increased by reason of the fact that 
 at certain points along the way he had to travel by 
 coach, which was much more expensive. But he 
 decided to go as far as he could, and rely on the 
 conditions of each juncture to provide for the fu 
 ture. 
 
 Having reached the limit of the railway from Mai 
 den in the direction of Richmond, he took the stage 
 over the mountains, being the only colored passenger 
 on the coach. When the coach reached a wayside inn 
 for the night, the inn-keeper denied him food 
 and lodging, even in an out-house. He was hungry, 
 and the mountain air was cold, but there was nothing 
 left to do but to tramp up and down the road through 
 out the night to keep warm. 
 
 Thence to Richmond the trip was attended by mucK 
 difficulty. His purse was now empty, and he was 
 forced, when he could do so, to beg a ride on the 
 
54 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 train; again he would walk or else ride on vehicles 
 that chanced to overtake him as he plodded his way. 
 Richmond was reached at night, and without a cent 
 in his pocket he ventured into the city. His condition 
 was well-nigh desperate. He had never before been 
 in a city of any consequence, he was a total stranger, 
 unused to the city ways, was hungry, worn, travel- 
 soiled, and depressed. With his little satchel he 
 tramped up and down the streets, and in his extreme 
 hunger was tantalized by the piles of bread, pies, 
 cakes, and fruits at the stands along the way. 
 
 At a late hour of the night, overcome by fatigue, 
 he slipped unobserved under an elevated plank walk 
 on the street, and, cold and hungry, pillowed his head 
 on his satchel, and slept, though disturbed throughout 
 the night by the passers above his head. Creeping 
 from his place of rest in the early morning, his first 
 thought was to find some employment as a means to 
 relieve his hunger, and to enable him to prosecute his 
 trip onward to Hampton, still about eighty-five miles 
 further on. Fortunately he found men unloading a 
 vessel of pig iron, and applied to the manager for 
 work. He was gladly engaged, and by this means 
 not only relieved his immediate wants but was able 
 to make sufficient to enable him to reach Hampton. 
 
 Without further delay he went on, reaching his 
 destination with just fifty cents in his pocket. A 
 fresh dilemma now confronted him. The first step in 
 the fulfillment of his ambition had been taken. But 
 he was without means, in a strange place, where no 
 one knew him, and where he must rely on his wits for 
 
HAMPTON INSTITUTE 55 
 
 future guidance. It was a crisis to the raw youth 
 from the country. 
 
 Summoning all his courage, he went with the rest 
 of the newly-arrived students to the office of regis 
 tration. When his turn came the registrar scanned 
 him. He had a bland face, was courteous and polite, 
 but dirty and forbidding in appearance. A question 
 or two was asked, but there was some hesitation on the 
 part of the registrar, and Booker was not permitted 
 to enroll as were the others, but told to stand aside 
 for the present. All the other applicants being dis 
 posed of, the registrar gave him a broom, a dusting 
 brush, and some cloths, and told him to clean a certain 
 room. He fell to his work, sweeping, dusting, and 
 scrubbing the surface not alone of the floor, but of 
 every piece of furniture, the blinds, sills, and walls. 
 The task completed, he again reported to the registrar 
 and invited inspection. She subjected the room to the 
 most rigid examination, using even her cambric hand 
 kerchief to test the thoroughness of the cleansing. 
 This over, Booker was permitted to enroll. Better 
 still, the proficiency shown in clearing up the room 
 led to his appointment as janitor, by means of 
 which he was able to w r ork his way through the 
 session. 
 
 Washington could desire nothing better than this 
 unexpected turn of affairs. There were yet other 
 embarrassing considerations, such as provision for 
 clothing and books, to say nothing of numerous 
 incidentals, but he would meet each emergency 
 as it should arise. In these incidents was afforded 
 
56 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 the index of the leader that he was to become in 
 the extrication of his people from distress. His con 
 fidence, coolness, and sanity, readiness to lay under 
 tribute whatever was within sight that would conduce 
 to success, temperamental equableness, force of will, 
 high ideals, and contentment for the time with the 
 best that could be had, were remarkable qualities that 
 stamped the embryonic leader. Difficulty he expected, 
 but he was ready to meet it as it came, was willing to 
 stoop to necessity in order to conquer in these lay 
 the germs of future greatness alike of soul, mind, 
 and heart. 
 
 If Washington s difficulties had only begun, the way 
 to success was also open. The resources of his man 
 hood would now be called into active play, and the 
 conditions were to be such as would result in the 
 expansion of his many-sidedness. Along with the 
 struggle for mental development would be that of his 
 character in the wrestle with forces in the contest for 
 success. His mastery of difficulty here would be 
 prophetic of his ability to grapple with the herculean 
 obstructions which lay far in the future. The stamp 
 of destiny was on him, though he now saw no farther 
 than the demands of the stern present. He was 
 actuated by one consuming ambition, that of procuring 
 an education, but in accomplishing this, in his fierce 
 struggles with penury, he was doing far more. His 
 moral fiber was developed side by side with his gradual 
 mental improvement. The enforced conditions of 
 severe labor and frugality to which the youth was 
 subjected at Hampton, would have been regarded by 
 
HAMPTON INSTITUTE 57 
 
 many, even of his own race, as beneath the position of 
 a student at college; rather than undergo them, many 
 would have rebelled. But lowliness is essential to 
 loftiness. 
 
 " Lowliness is the base of every virtue, 
 And he who goes the lowest, builds the safest" 
 
 At this time the odds were greatly against the 
 colored youth. He might have sullenly pined, and in 
 despair have said : " Where s the use, I am only a 
 Negro." A view like this might have been at the 
 time abundantly justified, but no obstructions moved 
 him from his original purpose and plans. He would 
 let the future take care of itself. The success of the 
 present was to him sufficient for the time, and to 
 make that secure would be a guarantee of future suc 
 cess. This was his abiding motto through life, as was 
 abundantly illustrated later during his struggles at 
 Tuskegee. 
 
 The work of the janitorship was heavy and exact 
 ing. Often he might have been seen panting from his 
 excessive labor, with his broom resting against him, 
 mopping the perspiration from his face, while there 
 was the pressing demand for preparation for the class 
 room; but he was confident that he could master the 
 difficulty in some way. Reduced to the extreme of 
 poverty, he had to make every possible makeshift in 
 order to make ends meet. He had but one suit, which 
 was often soiled by labor and yet it had to be clean for 
 inspection each day. An only pair of hose had to 
 
58 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 undergo a daily laundering at his hands. Unable to 
 buy books, he must borrow from such students as were 
 willing to lend. The lot of no one could have been 
 harder. 
 
 To the rough youth from the plantation and the coal 
 mines, who had never known comfort, the conditions 
 at Hampton were extremely odd. Neither on the 
 plantation nor at the mines had he ever slept in a bed. 
 A hard bunk or a pallet of rough straw had been his 
 bed from babyhood. Even stated hours for meals 
 were to him a novelty. Knives, forks, and spoons he 
 now used for the first time. Sleeping between sheets 
 was to him at first amusing and seemingly unnecessary. 
 The great buildings, large and commanding, with 
 their various departments, were to the raw youth 
 astonishing. But every scene was one of inspiration. 
 Not a waking hour was to be lost. The double task 
 of the janitorship and preparation for the classroom, 
 was daily his. He was possessed of the ambition both 
 to hold his place in his classes and to perform his work 
 of drudgery well. Others might find time for recrea 
 tion on the playgrounds, or lounging on the seats under 
 the shade trees, but he must continue his work, either 
 with his books or his brooms and brushes. Still he 
 never repined, but wrought with a spirit of cheerful 
 ness throughout. 
 
 His thought was all the while engrossed with the 
 concern of duty well done. There was never cessation 
 of work, but to this he was inured by past experiences, 
 and no temptation could lure him to negligence. The 
 labor performed was enormous, but he was able to do 
 
HAMPTON INSTITUTE 59 
 
 it. Throughout he was quiet and reserved, never ob 
 truding himself on the attention of any, but uniformly 
 courteous and polite, and by this course he won his way 
 to favor, not only of the students, but of the officers 
 of the school. Best of all he attracted the attention 
 of the faculty. It was seen that in the uncouth stripling 
 there was an element of rareness. His exact com 
 pliance with duty, of whatever character, first won 
 attention and then sympathy. He was dutiful above 
 most others, unceasing in labor, intent on cleanliness, 
 and so studious withal, that teachers began to aid him 
 by gifts of small sums of money and by special 
 personal assistance. It did not escape the attention of 
 the teachers that this unusual and exceptional student 
 was embarrassed by his engrossed attention to that 
 only suit of his. It was duly observed how embar 
 rassed he was to preserve his outfit from inevitable 
 threadbareness, and at the same time subject it to con 
 stant scrubbing and cleansing. It was a conflict be 
 tween two practical laws, the perplexity of which he 
 could not well master. 
 
 There was one element in the character of young 
 Washington which is perhaps the most exceptional and 
 indispensable one to success of any, and that is, 
 subordination to authority. This he yielded, not from 
 policy, nor with sullen reluctance, but readily, from 
 a sense of duty. One of the most comprehensive of 
 the virtues, when this obtains, it compasses other and 
 lesser virtues. Where prompt obedience to authority 
 is merely mechanical and is rendered for temporary 
 advantage only, with the spirit of proper subordination 
 
60 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 absent, one becomes insincere, sordid, shriveled; but 
 where it is accepted as unquestionably right, and 
 obedience is rendered in exact proportion to require 
 ment, the character necessarily expands in nobleness. 
 Had there been no other element in this young Negro, 
 that one was a sure guarantee of success. 
 
 Immense was the gain made by Booker T. Wash 
 ington when he attracted the attention of General 
 Samuel C. Armstrong, the Principal of the Institute. 
 General Armstrong had been an officer in the federal 
 army, and he applied the rules of the camp, in many 
 particulars, to the management of the school. In 
 founding the institution, he had promptly recognized 
 the necessity of rigid discipline in molding and shaping 
 the leaders of the colored race as it then was. Laxness, 
 slovenliness, indifference, he would not tolerate, and 
 he was the more determined to exact their opposites 
 at that time, than he might otherwise have been. It 
 was the first school of that character established for 
 the race in the South, and he would set a pace for the 
 future. In addition to his military exactness were his 
 profound kindness and disinterestedness. In him were 
 blended just the qualities needed for an important 
 initial venture like the one at Hampton. Born the son 
 of a missionary to the Hawaiian Islands, he inherited 
 in rich measure the evangelistic spirit of his parents. 
 Graduated from Williams College, in 1862, he be 
 came a member of the I25th regiment of New York 
 Volunteers, where he rose from the rank of captain 
 to that of colonel. Later he commanded a colored 
 regiment, won distinction for gallantry, and when 
 
HAMPTON INSTITUTE 61 
 
 mustered out of service it was with the rank of brevet 
 brigadier-general. 
 
 At the close of the war, an immense population of 
 blacks, wandering and aimless, gathered in Hampton, 
 and General Armstrong was impressed with the im 
 portance of founding a school there, to meet the im 
 mediate and future needs of this unfortunate people. 
 Enamored of the enterprise from the beginning, he 
 gave his life to the task. Far too little is known of 
 this pioneer hero in a cause so timely. Whatever may 
 have been thought of him at that time, General Arm 
 strong was a benefactor to the entire South. The 
 results of his labors have been reaped in all the states 
 of the South in the equipped men and women whom 
 he sent out as torch-bearers to a benighted people. 
 Gallant as General Armstrong was on the field, he 
 was braver to assume a task like this and at a time like 
 that. He was emphatically a benefactor alike to both 
 races. Facing the fiercest passion at the time, he 
 calmly wrought and nobly achieved. Fortunately time 
 has so toned passion that today he is regarded some 
 what in proportion to his just desert. 
 
 Brought into interested contact with the raw but 
 unusually promising colored youth from West Vir 
 ginia, General Armstrong thenceforth became increas 
 ingly interested in him. A man of affairs, a student 
 of character, and favored with wide observation, he 
 was much impressed by the struggles and sacrifices of 
 young Washington, whose exceptional spirit became a 
 source of hopeful inspiration to this pioneer race- 
 lifter. He quite understood how easy it was to delude 
 
62 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 those unsuspecting young people with a thin veneer 
 of education, and he was resolved on the rigid exaction 
 of duties that related to the fundamental necessities of 
 the black people in their outset on life. He studied 
 with rigid incisiveness those of the colored boys and 
 girls who gave promise of future leadership, and, 
 often subjected them to tests of which they were un 
 aware. Washington did not know at the time, that 
 General Armstrong had discovered in him unusual 
 qualities, and that he was keeping a close watch on 
 his conduct in order to the future usefulness of the 
 young man. But General Armstrong was the force 
 behind the successive stages of Washington s future 
 career. 
 
THE GENIUS OF HAMPTON INSTITUTE 
 
 THE interest organized and fostered by General 
 Armstrong at Hampton, was wisely adjusted 
 to the principal needs of the colored race. 
 Nothing could have been more sanely conceived, nor 
 more properly and wisely conducted. The school was 
 not merely for the training of the minds of the young. 
 The mere development of the minds of the colored 
 youth at that time, would have resulted in top-heavi 
 ness and lop-sidedness. So far from rendering prac 
 tical service to these people then, it would have more 
 unfitted them for adjustment to the practical affairs of 
 life. Not mind alone was sought to be developed at 
 Hampton, but character, as well. This was the com 
 plement of the purpose of this Christian philanthro 
 pist in giving his life to the service of these people. 
 They needed proper formation of character, right 
 views of life, the full meaning of duty, and a just 
 appreciation of manhood and of womanhood. In or 
 der to such attainment, General Armstrong intro 
 duced into the school the regulations of the camp. 
 
 Nor was this sufficient, for the exercise of the gen 
 tler virtues was just as essential to the full accom 
 plishment of the purpose in view, as mere drill and 
 
64 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 discipline on the sterner side. Firmness coupled with 
 kindness, exactness with liberty, and patient drill in 
 order to the development of body, mind, and char 
 acter, were just as necessary as rigid regulation. It 
 was a source of continued encouragement to General 
 Armstrong to see how readily these requirements were 
 complied with by the crude elements coming to the 
 institution from the huts and hovels of plantation 
 life. 
 
 The standard of requirement was productive of 
 most salutary results. It produced a beneficent at 
 mosphere, for it came to be a principle at Hampton 
 that one must not only be a recipient, but a dispenser, 
 as well. The spirit of the school was one in which 
 there was exercised proper interdependence mutu 
 ality of help. As the pioneer leaders of an unde 
 veloped race, the young men and women thus fitted at 
 Hampton would be able to erect a standard of life for 
 their people. From the time of his entrance into the 
 institution till his retirement, each was impressed by 
 this principle. He was helped in order that he might, 
 in turn, help others. 
 
 The first year at Hampton had been passed by 
 Booker T. Washington. He had entered the school 
 with the barest rudiments of technical knowledge and 
 with but slight acquaintanceship with the ways of the 
 world. The little that he had previously acquired was 
 angular and irregular, and needed to be brought into 
 symmetrical shape, and made consistent with much 
 else required by the course at Hampton. As already 
 seen, he was beset by severe difficulty in providing 
 
GENIUS OF HAMPTON INSTITUTE 65 
 
 means of self -maintenance during the year, but, some 
 how, he had been able to reach the close of the first 
 session. 
 
 The year had wrought a marvelous change in the 
 young man. While none the less intent on his educa 
 tional purpose, he now had an entirely different view 
 of its application. His ideas had been limited to the 
 attainment of knowledge, and he had had no specific 
 end in view. To what he would devote his life had 
 not occurred to him. After the close of the first year 
 at Hampton the boundary of the once near horizon 
 had been pushed back. He now breathed a different 
 and purer atmosphere, and things did not seem as in 
 former days. His ambition to accomplish the most 
 possible in text-books, instead of being slackened was 
 increased. There had come into the life of the strip 
 ling new purposes, chief among which was the desire 
 to acquire qualifications sufficient to enable him to 
 aid his people in deliverance from their peculiar situa 
 tion. Just how this was to be done he did not know, 
 but the study of their condition and acquaintanceship 
 with their needs had aroused this new desire. This he 
 had received at Hampton. 
 
 It is not easy to appreciate the nature of the diffi 
 culty involved in the undertaking of General Arm 
 strong and his associates at Hampton. Only the 
 most skilled instructors could equal the demand of that 
 peculiar situation. The work done was both educa 
 tional and evangelistic, both preparatory and direc 
 tory. Young slaves who had grown to incipient man 
 hood and womanhood, in the presence of a civilization 
 
66 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 in the benefits of which they were only the slightest 
 recipients, must be qualified to enter that civilization 
 at an advanced stage. Not only so, but as the van 
 guard of their race in an anomalous era they must 
 be able to establish a standard of life worthy of a 
 great people. To assume thus the transformation of 
 a large mass of young ex-slaves who would bring with 
 them to the school their rude plantation characteristics, 
 and to knead this mass into respectability while at the 
 same time inculcating the principles by the exercise of 
 which they must become race-lifters, was a task worthy 
 of any man. The means by which this difficult work 
 was done were subtle and ingenious. There was no 
 bewailing the condition of the colored race on the 
 part of the teachers, nor any appeal to the emotional 
 side of the colored pupils, nor yet driveling admoni 
 tions on piety and religion. But the regulations and 
 requirements of the institution were pitched on a 
 plane so high as to create a condition from which 
 came the beneficent and manly spirit which pervaded 
 Hampton throughout. 
 
 Everything taught and done had reference to that 
 which was expected to be taken away from the in 
 stitution as a guide to future life. Students were im 
 pressed by the fact that the advantages which were 
 theirs were denied millions of their race who were 
 altogether as worthy as themselves, and that they 
 must go to these as inspirers, lifters, and helpers. It 
 was this influence that had thus turned the thought 
 of young Washington into a new channel. It gave 
 purpose to life, and seriousness to work. He would 
 
GENIUS OF HAMPTON INSTITUTE 67 
 
 henceforth meet at each step new suggestions of value 
 for that which was to come. 
 
 Right on the grounds of the school there was 
 daily exemplification of these principles. While the 
 officers and teachers governed, and taught, and 
 rigidly enforced the regulations, they did so with an 
 air of helpful interest. The spirit was not difficult of 
 inculcation, therefore, because it was communicated 
 from every source of authority to the humblest pupil 
 on the grounds. In consequence of this, so thoroughly 
 imbued became the students that they would often 
 reduce themselves to straits of sacrifice in the interest 
 of others. Without this, the poor stranger from West 
 Virginia could not have advanced. As already stated, 
 he was at first forced to borrow the books from which 
 to study. He was the janitor, often seen with his 
 broom on his shoulder about the buildings and 
 grounds, and the favored treated him with the cor 
 diality of an equal. Not only books were lent, but 
 small sums of money among the students; the sick 
 were cared for and tenderly nursed, and when arrival 
 of fresh installments of students over-ran the limits 
 of accommodation, the students already settled would 
 willingly accept scantier comfort by the surrender of 
 their rooms, and by going into improvised quarters 
 of tent life, till better arrangements could be made. 
 This was invariably done in a cordial and cheerful 
 spirit. 
 
 Qualities like these developed in the future leaders 
 of the race were destined to immense effect, in a 
 variety of ways. There was current at the time the 
 
68 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 idea that education would spoil the Negro, unfit him 
 for usefulness, and give him a sense of consequence 
 that would invite friction. The education inculcated 
 at Hampton was, and still is, a complete refutation of 
 this theory, which is as groundless as it is ungracious. 
 Nobody ever saw a Negro " spoiled " by real mental 
 development and genuine culture. Harebrained in 
 dividuals of the race, there doubtless are. Those who 
 mistake a thin veneer for solid mahogany are just as 
 apt to be supercilious as the same class of any other 
 race, and no more. So far as superficiality goes, ob 
 servation teaches that no race can lay claim to mo 
 nopoly. Most of the students who have gone out 
 from Hampton, Tuskegee, and other great colored 
 schools are a thorough refutation of this prejudicial 
 fling. 
 
 Washington s painful experiences were not yet 
 over. The close of the first session brought glee to 
 the students who were leaving for their homes in the 
 different states, but the youth from the salt pits of 
 West Virginia had no means with which to return to 
 his distant home, and, more, he had no means of 
 subsistence to be anywhere. Anxious to get away to 
 obtain work, he sought to sell a second-hand coat for 
 three dollars, but those who wished his garment were 
 unable to pay for it. With clatter and laughter, the 
 boys and girls were leaving, the doors and grounds 
 of the school were closed, and silence supreme came, 
 and Washington had to go somewhere, he knew not 
 where. 
 
 Finding at last a job in a restaurant at Fortress 
 
GENIUS OF HAMPTON INSTITUTE 69 
 
 Monroe, he entered on his work, but the wages were 
 extremely low, being slightly more than enough to. 
 defray his cheap board. The session had ended at 
 Hampton with the encumbrance of a debt of sixteen 
 dollars on him, and this he was anxious to cancel. 
 To him sixteen dollars was then an enormous amount. 
 The debt preyed on his high sense of honor, and to 
 pay it was to him a consuming desire above all others. 
 He worked hard, scrimped, lived in a most niggardly 
 way, did his own laundrying, went without needed 
 clothing, and turned an honest penny whenever he 
 could, but he could not get ahead. It mortified him to 
 think of returning to school for the next session with 
 indebtedness of the former session still unpaid, but 
 it seemed inevitable. One day someone inadvertently 
 let fall under one of the tables of the restaurant a 
 new, crisp ten-dollar bill, and on finding it, Washing 
 ton was much rejoiced; but he felt that he should re 
 port it to the proprietor, as it was picked up in his 
 place of business, presuming that he would gladly let 
 him keep it, but instead, the owner himself laid claim 
 to it because it was found in his restaurant. The act 
 of the proprietor is its own commentary. 
 
 Vacation over, and with but slight means in his 
 pocket, and the debt of sixteen dollars still hanging 
 over him, Washington wished to return to Hampton. 
 He was humiliated, but not unto despair. He would 
 not give up. He had met severer difficulties, and 
 while it was embarrassing, he would face the situa 
 tion. After a frank statement to the treasurer, and 
 the proposal to cancel the debt by extra labor, the 
 
70 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 matter was settled, and he entered on the second ses 
 sion with increased confidence and zeal. Much to his 
 delight he was continued in the chief janitorship of 
 the school, than which he desired nothing better. 
 Relieved of some of the handicaps of the previous 
 session he felt that he was now prepared to do the 
 best work of his life. There was no longer novelty 
 respecting any feature of the institution. He fully 
 knew what was expected of each student, he had 
 learned how to economize time in his labors, he had 
 acquired fixed habits of study, and in spite of his 
 poverty, none was more cheerful. 
 
 Booker T. Washington was now about sixteen years 
 old, yet the immature youth had already become much 
 concerned about the fate of his people. His experi 
 ence as one of the lower class, coupled with the en 
 larged views which he had gathered at Hampton, 
 deepened his solicitude, especially for the Negroes in 
 the rural regions of the South. The questions often 
 arose, "What is to become of the Negro, anyway? 
 Where is the hope of subsequent relief ? How can he 
 possibly emerge from the incubus under which he is? " 
 
 Within the school t^ere was no one more familiar 
 with the deep poverty of the black man, none who bet 
 ter knew his condition mentally and materially, and 
 none better prepared to sympathize with him in his 
 dejected state. Coextensive with the growth of the 
 thought of the youth was that of sympathy for his 
 people. It is not difficult to see how, as a result of the 
 conditions now centering about and within the life of 
 Booker T. Washington, he should finally become the 
 
GENIUS OF HAMPTON INSTITUTE 71 
 
 great race leader. Long after he left Hampton, he 
 made a published statement which reveals equally the 
 character of Hampton and the new purpose which had 
 come to possess him. He said : " The education that 
 I received at Hampton out of the text-books was but 
 a small part of what I learned. One of the things 
 which impressed itself upon me deeply, the second 
 year, was the unselfishness of the teachers. It was 
 hard for me to understand how any individuals could 
 bring themselves to the point where they could be so 
 happy in working for others. Before the end of the 
 year I think I began learning that those that are hap 
 piest are those who do most for others. This lesson 
 I have tried to carry with me ever since." 
 
 Notes, or data, kept by him at Hampton reveal the 
 fact that in proportion to his increased fitness for 
 future work, grew his chafing to get abroad in the 
 world that he might become somewhat a means of 
 helpfulness to others. His chief concern was his 
 mother. She was long an overworked slave, and there 
 had been no diminution of her labors since the dawn 
 of emancipation. Indeed, if there had been change, 
 her lot was the harder now, since in her devotion to 
 her children she toiled but the more to lift them to 
 heights which she was destined never to enjoy. 
 
 Among the numerous advantages afforded Wash 
 ington at Hampton, was that of drill in speaking, or 
 declaiming. He was highly favored in having so 
 efficient a teacher as Miss Nathalie Lord, of Portland, 
 Maine. Miss Lord was among the many scholarly 
 missionaries who went South when colored schools 
 
72 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 were established, to aid in teaching the colored popu 
 lation. Denounced as fanatics, as this class was for 
 years, no missionaries in the early days of Chris 
 tianity exceeded them in devoutness of spirit, loftiness 
 of purpose, and the amount of needed service ren 
 dered. Washington aspired to become a public 
 speaker, for which he had peculiar gifts. The ease of 
 manner and quiet poise which so distinguished him 
 later before large audiences throughout the country, 
 as well as the thoroughly modulated voice, with pene 
 trating power, were the results of his cultivation at 
 Hampton. 
 
 At the close of the second session of school, Wash 
 ington found himself able to return to his home at 
 Maiden. This coming back to his former haunts 
 among the salt kilns and coal mines was the occasion 
 of a mild sensation among his people. Two years 
 before he had left them a rough, unhewn stripling; 
 he had developed much physically, and otherwise was 
 vastly improved. He returned the cordial greetings 
 of his old-time friends who alluded to him with pride 
 as " our boy." In the rough hospitality so generously 
 extended, he joined appreciatingly ; each home would 
 assert a special claim for a given night when he was 
 to come and tell of the ups and downs of his experi 
 ences since he went away. The colored people have a 
 peculiar passion for public speaking, especially by one 
 of their own number. So Washington must be heard 
 again and yet again, the attention being the more 
 riveted since they recalled him as an urchin of former 
 years going in and out among them bareheaded and 
 
GENIUS OF HAMPTON INSTITUTE 73 
 
 barefooted. Sunday-schools, churches, and impro 
 vised special occasions afforded to him the amplest op 
 portunity for public speaking. 
 
 While all this was gratifying to the young man, he 
 had an eye to business. He wanted work. The sum 
 mer was slipping past, and he had yet another year to 
 complete his course at Hampton, and that meant 
 money. But no employment could be had. A strike 
 was prevailing, the furnaces no longer smoked, nor 
 was the pick active in the mines. While away for a 
 day from home, he received the news of the death 
 of his mother. 
 
 Among the characteristics of the colored race may 
 be named as one of the most dominant that of the de 
 votion of the Negro mother to her children. One 
 must know the race to be able to appreciate this art 
 less and unaffected love. Were she a mother of any 
 other race than that of the Negro, her singular devo 
 tion would find expression in " the flower-crowned 
 annals of song." The abiding tradition of the " old 
 black Mammy " in the records of the South is an 
 illustration of the supreme tenderness of the affection 
 of the colored woman for the young. The old 
 " Mammy " is immortalized by reason of her vital 
 touch with the children of a dominant race, but that 
 affection is only an index of that which she bears for 
 her own children. The world has yet to come to a 
 proper appreciation of the value of Negro motherhood 
 in the promotion of the good of their children. Thou 
 sands slavishly labor at the washtub, in the field, and 
 in various household functions, often in the most 
 
74- LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 menial ways, simply to advance the condition of their 
 children. As men like Booker Washington have 
 risen from disadvantage of race, and from deep ob 
 scurity to prominence, they have never lost sight of 
 the fact that their mothers were the chief and primary 
 causes of their success. 
 
 The vacation was going past and rapidly; a month 
 was already spent, and Washington could still find no 
 employment. At last, Mrs. Ruffner, who had kindly 
 united in the salutations to her former servant-boy, 
 gave him temporary employment, after which a distant 
 coal mine enabled him to find additional work. In all 
 his varied experiences and needs, Booker Washing 
 ton never failed to find an abiding friend and cordial 
 helper in his brother, John, and never did he cease 
 telling of that brother and of his unstinted kindness to 
 a brother whom he found pride in aiding. In the 
 discovery of the dawning greatness of the one, the 
 other was willing to sink himself out of view in his 
 disinterested assistance. 
 
 With the odds against him, it seemed at one time 
 during the summer vacation, that Washington would 
 have to give up all hope of returning the following 
 session to Hampton. But the unselfish brother John 
 came again to his rescue, dividing with him his scanty 
 wardrobe, and, by supplementing the slender con 
 tents of Booker s purse, enabled him to see the way 
 open again to Hampton, for the last year. 
 
 Fortunately, several weeks before the session was 
 to open, Washington received a letter from Miss 
 Mackie, the white lady principal, the same who on 
 
GENIUS OF HAMPTON INSTITUTE 75 
 
 Booker s application to enter Hampton gave him a 
 broom and dusting-brush to test him, as there was 
 nothing in his personal appearance at the time to com 
 mend him. This lady wrote him to come on several 
 weeks in advance of the opening of the session, to aid 
 her in getting the buildings and grounds in shape. This 
 was a fortunate rift in the gloom. The labor meant 
 an advanced balance in the college treasury at Hamp 
 ton. At the appointed time he was on hand with 
 cheerful spirit, ready to do the bidding of the lady 
 principal, and so he entered on his last year at Hamp 
 ton. 
 
 Though a senior, Washington was still the janitor, 
 working his way as he had done from the first. By 
 this time, his merits as a student as well as a janitor 
 had come to be fully recognized. He was regarded 
 as one of the most laborious of the students. He had 
 a strong, well-knit frame, was inured from child 
 hood to hard service, possessed an equable temper, 
 never fretting nor chafing, was ambitious and untir 
 ing; he absorbed suggestions and hints from all his 
 surroundings, was careful in the mastery of every de 
 tail of school work, whether of his books or in the serv 
 ice rendered as janitor, found an abiding pleasure in 
 cleanliness and neatness of person, had a growing 
 consciousness of his forces without show of vanity or 
 of arrogance, was notably courteous to all alike, and 
 among the pupils was regarded as an ideal student. 
 In the student body he came to be recognized more 
 than any other, as the readiest man for all occasions 
 and special events. Everyone trusted him for his 
 
76 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 sterling integrity, and with all, both among faculty 
 and students, he was popular because of his uniform 
 temperament, affableness, and jocularity^ 
 
 To special students in the graduating class there 
 were accorded certain honors, one of which was the 
 distinction of delivering graduating addresses. This 
 distinction he coveted, but it was based on merit of 
 scholarship. Yet in spite of all handicaps, he won the 
 coveted honor, and was graduated in June, 1875. 
 
 By dint of hard labor, both manually and mentally, 
 Washington had reaped the honors he had so long de 
 sired. Added to his mental acquirements was a fund 
 of practical knowledge rarely possessed by anyone on 
 quitting college. He had often struck the hard sides 
 of life, but was the stronger and the better therefor. 
 He was just now budding into manhood. A severe 
 strain of life of which he now little dreamed was be 
 fore him. The commission to leadership of a race of 
 millions had not yet been given him, but the forces 
 were accumulating in his character and flowing into 
 his life, and in due time an effectual door of oppor 
 tunity was opened. 
 
VI 
 VENTURES INTO THE WORLD 
 
 A NEGRO graduate in the South at the period of 
 the retirement of Washington from Hampton, 
 was not hailed with an ovation. Race aver 
 sion was at its height, and Negro merit was not only 
 discounted, it was discredited, especially in the sphere 
 of scholarship. The more meritorious he might be 
 for scholarship the more pretentious was he consid 
 ered. The times were altogether unfavorable to the 
 educated Negro. A colored man was accounted 
 " good " in proportion to his conformity to the old- 
 time requirements of slavery. One was " a good 
 Negro " if he suffered the imposition of heavy tasks 
 with slight compensation, and would submit to 
 any disposition without protest. At this time, too, 
 colored schools were regarded with suspicion, serv 
 ants were poorly paid, and the common laborer among 
 the blacks was often mercilessly swindled. 
 
 These were some of the conditions extant in 18 
 when Booker T. Washington graduated from Hamp 
 ton. It was the period of reconstruction, of which to 
 read only is to gain but a slight idea of its terrors. It 
 was more aptly the period of the victimized Negro. 
 Like a shuttle in a loom he was tossed to and fro be 
 tween the two classes of contending whites, and it 
 
 77 
 
78 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 would be difficult to decide which was the stronger, 
 the antipathy of one class, or the passion for spoils on 
 the part of the other. Between them, however, the 
 Negro was the victim. Being suddenly invested with 
 the franchise of the significance of which millions of 
 the race knew nothing, the occasion was seized on by 
 a host of harpies, in the contribution to which both 
 the North and the South shared, and the period was 
 turned to the sad and lasting detriment of the Negro. 
 From sordid selfishness, one class would incite to 
 undue assertion the innocent and ignorant black man; 
 this would often be fiercely and violently resented, 
 and while the instigators would skulk in safety the 
 misguided colored man was made to suffer indescrib 
 ably. Vengeance and violence ruled the hour and 
 turbulence and terror filled the land. There seemed no 
 possibility of relief, none of race adjustment when 
 both races were suffering, none of calmness and of 
 conservatism. The times were out of joint, race rela 
 tion was distraught. Only to show the peculiar times 
 in which Booker T. Washington began his career 
 after quitting school, is this dreadful period of re 
 construction recalled in this connection. It would 
 have seemed impossible for a colored man even mea 
 surably to accomplish that which he achieved within 
 the -next few years. Least of all would a Negro, at 
 the time, have been thought of as one who could con 
 tribute to the solution of the tangled racial conditions 
 of the period. 
 
 With a keener insight into the situation as he neared 
 manhood, Washington saw but little to cheer, anc} 
 
VENTURES INTO THE WORLD 79 
 
 but slight chance for the Negro. No freedom of 
 utterance was the black man s, no protest could he 
 raise, no matter what the imposition; and with hostile 
 passion so prevalent, with the easy versatility of man 
 kind in the mass existing, the Negro seemed doomed. 
 When he came out from college into the world, 
 he started back in horror to learn of some of the 
 atrocities perpetrated on his people. The intensity of 
 the passion of the time was such that even the latent 
 white friends of the Negro, thousands of whom were 
 bound by traditional ties to the one-time slaves, dared 
 not lift a finger or raise a voice in protest lest the 
 blows fall on their heads. It was a time like this when 
 the future race-deliverer left Hampton with his 
 diploma. 
 
 Washington entered on life as he had several years 
 ago entered school without a dime in his pocket. It 
 had been a struggle with him since first he had felt 
 a rising ambition to accomplish something of worth. 
 He was now somewhat ready for the rough encount 
 ers of the world, but he was balked by existing con 
 ditions. There was not the slightest encouragement 
 in any direction. But he must be engaged in some 
 thing. He was not above the most menial service if 
 only an opportunity would offer for work. It was the 
 dull season, and he thought of some watering resort 
 where he might find employment for the time. Un 
 able to find work in the South he sought the East, and 
 at a fashionable summer resort in Connecticut, he 
 engaged to serve as a waiter in a hotel. The work 
 was new and untried, and he was awkward in his new 
 
80 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 vocation. The fashionable ones at a certain table as 
 signed him, were severe in their denunciation of his 
 deficiency, and he fled the dining-room from sheer 
 fear. He willingly accepted a subordinate place as 
 dish-carrier, for this he could do, while learning the 
 ways of the resort and acquiring from observation 
 that which made a successful waiter. When he found 
 that he could successfully move in the groove required, 
 he again assumed the role of waiter with decided 
 success. 
 
 The season over, Washington accepted the position 
 of teacher at his old home at Maiden. This was the 
 same school which he attended in former years as a 
 barefoot and bareheaded boy, and from which he was 
 so suddenly and ruthlessly withdrawn by an igno 
 rant and unsympathetic stepfather and assigned to 
 work in the mines. While the school had grown in 
 size, its character was not changed. Inefficient teach 
 ers had been unable to classify the motley group 
 ranging in age from the smallest child to matured men 
 . and women, so that the first care of the new teacher 
 was that of the reconstruction and classification of 
 the school, and his next, that of the personal condi 
 tion of each. The pupils were generally indifferently 
 clad, and wore their clothes in a bungling way; there 
 was a demand for much soap and water to be applied 
 to their persons, their teeth had never known a brush, 
 their hair never a comb or brush, their shoes were 
 shabby and often stringless or untied, and there was 
 work for the young civilizer as well as for the teacher. 
 
 A brief time was all that was necessary to bring intc 
 
VENTURES INTO THE WORLD 81 
 
 the schoolroom a complete transformation. There 
 came a pride to each pupil as was shown by a neater 
 appearance, the boys now wearing cravats, and the 
 girls with rosebuds or bits of ribbon in their hair; the 
 books were no longer soiled, the floor was kept clean, 
 order and quietude came to possess the school, and 
 thus Maiden became a dim index of future Tuskegee. 
 The home life of the community was also changed. 
 Whitewash was given the fences and the humble 
 homes of the black people, flowers were planted about 
 the little homes, and other signs of improvement were 
 evident. If the schoolmaster was abroad, so was the 
 civilizer and reformer. With kindly aid the young 
 teacher was here and there, with advice and sympa 
 thetic interest. Backward students were sought out in 
 their homes at night and helped over difficulties, an 
 occasional old man or woman who wanted to learn 
 to read, was aided, the sick were visited and cared 
 for, and wherever there was needed service that he 
 could render, it was given. The Hampton ideals were 
 equaled as far -as practicable, and the colored popula 
 tion of Maiden was undergoing a great change. 
 
 This was the first opportunity afforded him for 
 giving expression to the sentiments cherished while 
 he was a student at Hampton. Much of the colored 
 population in the region of Maiden was degraded, as 
 a result of the mining operations of the section, and 
 thus a sphere sufficient to enlist all the forces of 
 thought, time, and energy of the young civilizer was 
 afforded. 
 
 The condition here witnessed suggested to Wash- 
 
82 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 ington the comprehensive needs of his people every 
 where. That which he saw in the neighborhood of 
 his original home was necessarily true of the condi 
 tion of the colored people throughout the country. If 
 by the infusion of even slight aid the spirit of the peo 
 ple could be aroused, as was shown at Maiden, what 
 might be the result of a general movement of the 
 kind? He found the people encouragingly receptive 
 and responsive, and if a system could be devised by 
 means of which the masses of the blacks could be 
 reached, the most wholesome and salutary results 
 would follow. 
 
 He appreciated the fact of the existence of serious 
 difficulties. There was a sentiment altogether unfa 
 vorable to Negro development. The common estimate 
 of the whites throughout much of the South, con 
 cerning the Negro, was quite low. The result of the 
 reaction of this spirit largely disheartened the Negro, 
 often demoralized him, and had not a little to do with 
 depressing him toward the straits of criminality. 
 
 The opposition to the Negro at this time was en 
 hanced by the appearance of certain pretentious pub 
 lications which appealed to the worst passions of the 
 time to the financial advantage of the authors of these 
 notorious effusions. The earliest of these to appear 
 was called " Ariel," and it proposed to show that the 
 Negro was the serpent that beguiled Eve. By ridicu 
 lous assumption and a pretense of scholarship this 
 small but bitter pamphlet appealed to race prejudice 
 at a time when it was most sensitive, much to the 
 detriment of the ignorant Negro. " Ariel " was 
 
VENTURES INTO THE WORLD 83 
 
 equaled in its preposterousness by still another 
 pamphlet which soon after appeared under the title, 
 " The Negro a Beast." The title indicates its char 
 acter, and equally its sole design. While for some 
 reasons these are unworthy of respectful notice, they 
 are now recalled in connection with that particular 
 period in order to show the temper of the times. 
 These worthless and absurd publications, while ridi 
 culed by the thoughtful, had the effect of generating 
 passion in the most inflammable element of the whites. 
 
 Then came the period of the Ku Klux Klan, and 
 whatever merit may attach to the claim that this or 
 ganization was necessary in order, in popular parlance, 
 " to keep the Negro in his place," certain it is that it 
 was diverted to much abuse, by unworthy persons 
 employing it for reasons of violence against the former 
 slave. Such was the awe and sense of insecurity in 
 certain quarters of the South that no Negro knew 
 when he might become a victim. Whatever else may 
 be said of the work or purpose of this organization, 
 it left in its wake the recrudescence of savagery known 
 as mobocracy. 
 
 The peculiar elements entering into this period are 
 recalled in order to indicate the inauspiciousness of 
 the time for the entrance of a young ex-slave on the 
 work of race reformation. The two races, the whites 
 and blacks, were cloven asunder in mutual distrustful- 
 ness, and any point of racial contact seemed most 
 remote. Nor was it yet contemplated by Washing 
 ton that he would undertake other work than that he 
 was doing at Maiden. His work, first of all, had to be 
 
84 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 fundamental and adjusted to the conditions then pre 
 vailing. No one had yet appeared who was able even 
 . to indicate what the preparatory work for these peo 
 ple could be. It was widely hinted at, at Hampton, 
 but a Hampton could not be located in every com 
 munity, and there must be means found for the dis 
 semination of the wholesome principles there sug- 
 \ gested. Hampton suggested the principles, but the 
 - application of these to the millions scattered through 
 \ many states was not so easy. This way was yet to be 
 discovered. The ex-slaves had to be taught certain 
 rudimentary elements of civilization, without the pos 
 session of which they could not begin the upward 
 climb of racehood. 
 
 Not least among these was that of the essential 
 meaning of an education. Generally speaking, they 
 had emerged from slavery a grossly ignorant mass of 
 humanity. In slavery their ignorance was accounted 
 as one of the indispensable adjuncts to service and use 
 fulness. For them to have learned the history of 
 their servitude and of the efforts made by the aboli 
 tionists to procure their freedom, would have engen 
 dered restlessness and perhaps revolution. The sole 
 security of slavery was, therefore, dismal ignorance. 
 In order to this, means of information must not only 
 be withheld, but the heaviest penalties imposed by 
 law on any who dared to give them instruction. Here 
 was encountered the same difficulty as that encount 
 ered by the Moravians, who were the first to give the 
 gospel to the Negro, when their missionaries went to 
 the West Indies, For teaching the gospel to the igno- 
 
VENTURES INTO THE WORLD 85 
 
 rant black laborers on the sugar plantations of the 
 Indies, the two original missionaries, Dober and 
 Nitzschmann, were imprisoned. William Carey met 
 the same obstruction as a missionary to India, when 
 from motives entirely mercenary the British East In 
 dia Company sought to suppress him in his efforts to 
 ^evangelize the people. This was the condition in 
 which the emancipated man of the states of the South 
 emerged from servitude. 
 
 His original idea of education did not exceed that of 
 personal satisfaction. Beyond that he did not at first 
 peer, for he was incapable of doing so. He had to be 
 taught that education was a means to a useful end. 
 Happily he was eager to learn, but it was that he might 
 read the newspapers and the Bible. There was a time 
 when even Booker Washington placed no higher esti 
 mate on the acquisition of knowledge than just this. In 
 dependent of wise and progressive leadership, the race 
 must have remained in this condition. But the leader 
 was in process of preparation, and from the gathered 
 store of suggestion from Hampton, he was already 
 beginning to apply at Maiden the principles there 
 gained. That which he later achieved was only a vast 
 expansion of the embryonic efforts which he made 
 in the little town in the Kanawha Valley. He had to 
 teach his people that in the ultimate outreach of an 
 acquired education the object was one of race and of 
 world-wide beneficence. 
 
 The other necessary element of civilization, the 
 knowledge of which the freedmen of the South had to 
 acquire before the race could fairly start on its ascent, 
 
86 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 was the meaning of a home and of home life. In 
 estimating the progress made by the Negro since his 
 freedom, but slight notice is accorded to that of his 
 rapidly-improved idea of home life; yet it is one of 
 the highest evidences of his advancement. At his 
 emancipation the ex-slave was practically without the 
 idea of familyhood. Proverbially affectionate as the 
 black race is, as shown by its loyalty and devotion, this 
 sense of home-life had been made to suffer in slavery 
 along with the debasement of all other virtues. The 
 germ had to be touched into vitality, and as it sprang 
 into life, it had to be directed. The slave knew noth 
 ing of real home-life. The elements which enter into 
 that life, unity as well as diversity, the tenderness of 
 care, the love of the old place called home, the dis 
 cipline of parents, the variety of affection among the 
 different members of the home, and all else that really 
 constitutes home-life, were practically unknown to 
 him. He had no home. He had an abiding-place 
 which to him was much like the perch of the fowls, or 
 the barn to the home-coming brute at the close of day. 
 That was not a home where the chief elements of fur 
 niture were a hard bunk or two for a household, a 
 few backless stools, or inverted boxes on which the 
 tired slave could sit. Nor was it a home where the 
 family might at any day be dismembered by the sale 
 of the parents or the children, occasioning sometimes 
 such separations that the families were never again 
 united. One of the primary essentials of the ex- 
 slave was that of learning the meaning of home. 
 The proverbial fondness of the Negro for early 
 
VENTURES INTO THE WORLD 87 
 
 and sacred associations invested the little cabin home 
 on the old plantation, and the burial place of his dead 
 in the little clump of trees hard by, with a reverence 
 that was remarkable, but it was not because of the 
 joy of home-life there experienced, but rather because 
 of sad memories. The idea of home had first to be 
 generated among the emancipated blacks, then would 
 follow the thought of making it comfortable and at 
 tractive. How readily this could be done was illus 
 trated to Washington at Maiden. Realizing the moral 
 influence of the ownership of a home and of lands, he 
 continued through life to urge this upon his people. 
 -He -insisted, and rightly, tliat a landless people are a 
 4e^endQnJt4ieople ; and that the Negro, in order to rise 
 in the scale of excellence, must own his home and 
 farm. By thus combining the two essential ideas of 
 home and the true meaning of education, the Negro 
 was ready to enter on civilized life, and not till then. 
 For generations he had been living within full view 
 of civilization, had gazed on it as an idle spectator, 
 without the opportunity of appropriating it, but now 
 that the opportunity was his, the coming leader saw 
 that without proper training the race would continue 
 its vague blundering. To the extent of his opportu 
 nity, he was demonstrating his idea at Maiden. 
 
 It will be readily seen how stupendous was the task 
 that awaited Washington within the next few years. 
 The race was in confusion. Some white teachers and 
 missionaries had come southward to enlighten the late 
 slave, but they were without the advantage of under 
 standing the Negro in his depressed condition, and 
 
88 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 while their service was valuable, only one who had 
 been through the tribulations from slavery all the way, 
 was able to weld the race into symmetry of sentiment 
 and of life. Hence Washington was raised up. 
 
 The conception of real life derived by Booker T. 
 Washington, at Hampton, was a revelation, for, as 
 Lessing says, " Revelation is education coming to the 
 human race." It is just as true that education is 
 revelation. These cardinal ideas, once possessed, 
 would put the race into the way of procuring other 
 acquisitions relative to the true life of a home and a 
 true conception of life. 
 
 Washington had no patience with the Negro pos 
 sessed of an assumed sense of personal consequence 
 and importance, with nothing else to indicate it than a 
 flashy cravat, glazed shoes, a jaunty hat, a long coat, 
 and a cigarette. Himself intensely practical, he sought 
 to impress this lesson on all others of his race, and to 
 this end labored till the summons came at last. This 
 led him, whether in his instruction in the classroom, 
 on the platform, in the council, or as a visitor in the 
 homes of his people, to dispel certain erroneous no 
 tions which came early to possess so many members of 
 his race. His work was many-sided. Though him 
 self not a minister, he often found it necessary to dis 
 sipate the ideas of many who claimed to have a cer 
 tain mysterious " call " to preach, which, especially in 
 the early stages of freedom, sought expression in a 
 stentorian roar, stamping the floor with the feet, and 
 frantic and frenzied action. With unsparing criticism 
 he attacked this and much else, in his own inimitable 
 
VENTURES INTO THE WORLD 89 
 
 way, and exposed its folly. His example as a public 
 speaker, calm, poised, self-possessed, simple, logical, 
 and direct, set a pace which subdued much of the ex 
 travagance of the clerical tyros of his people. 
 
 At Maiden his sphere was limited, but then he was 
 quite young. With him as with every other genuine 
 teacher, while he taught others he was really learning 
 more than they. Numerous were the erroneous tend 
 encies checked by this chosen leader. That which 
 was his, he imparted, and so practical and timely was 
 his wisdom, and so aptly expressed in every way, that 
 he was heeded. He never ceased to urge that knowl 
 edge is an acquisition to be practically wielded, as 
 one would use an instrument or an implement. To 
 have and not to use was clearly an abuse. Thus he 
 regarded with contempt those of his race who were 
 pedantic, and who, in disregard of the essentials of 
 their own tongue, strove for a mere smattering of 
 the ancient classics in order to excite the wonder of 
 the ignorant, recalling the quaint lines of the English 
 poet: 
 
 "For many a lad returns from school, 
 A Latin, Greek, and Hebrew fool; 
 In arts and knowledge still a block, 
 Though deeply skilled in hie, haec, hoc." 
 
 It was not that Washington undervalued a knowl 
 edge of the classics, for he highly prized it, and re- \ 
 joiced in meeting a really learned black man, but 
 superficiality coupled with assumption he profoundly 
 despised and stoutly opposed. His risibles were now 
 and then aroused by meeting one of his race with a 
 
90 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 scholastic veneer and a superficial varnish smeared 
 over an ignorant surface. He regarded with sincere 
 pity men of his race who in the misguided period of 
 reconstruction were raised to positions for which they 
 were not qualified, and who, in subsequent years, bore 
 their original official titles while performing the most 
 \ menial service. 
 
 From all distorted notions he sought to divert the 
 attention of his people, and in order to save them 
 from the misconceptions of life he would insist that 
 \ each begin at the lowest rung of the ladder, and ascend 
 \is rapidly as he might. He sought to show that there 
 was no nigh-cut in education for anyone, and certainly 
 not for the Negro, and that merit would be as readily 
 recognized by those whose judgment was worthy, for 
 the genuinely deserving colored man, as for any other. 
 In substantiation of this view he would point to men 
 like Senator B. K. Bruce, of Mississippi, an acknowl 
 edged statesman; to Henry O. Tanner, the great 
 American painter, and to Paul Laurence Dunbar, the 
 bard of the Negro race, all of whom received recog 
 nition because none could deny their claims. Men 
 like these were frequently pointed out by Washing 
 ton as ornaments of the race, men who would be 
 prized by any people, because of their genuine value. 
 
VII 
 IN THE VESTIBULE OF HIS LIFE WORK 
 
 WITHIN the narrow compass of the small work 
 done by Washington at Maiden, we see the 
 blossom which was prophetic of the coming 
 fruit. The magnitude of that which was there done 
 is not to be measured by its restricted limitations so 
 much as by its predictive significance. He was seek 
 ing to do nothing great, and he did not, at Maiden, 
 only as that done related itself to his future career. 
 Maiden was Tuskegee in embryo. He infused his 
 spirit into not a few of his own race there, fitting a 
 number for entrance at Hampton, among whom were 
 his devoted brother John and another of his brothers. 
 The vision of service had been caught at Hampton, 
 and in a modest and most unpretentious way, he was 
 conforming to that vision in this his earliest effort. 
 Each step upward threw back the horizon and widened 
 the prospect. At the time, he was not aware that he 
 had found the clew which, when followed, would lead 
 to the heart of the chief difficulty by which his people 
 were encumbered. Hitherto the clew had not been dis 
 covered, nor by anyone even remotely suggested. Re 
 garding the situation generally from without, and 
 casually, the wisest and best thought of it only as a 
 " problem." 
 
 91 
 

 92 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 By the sudden turn of the wheel of revolution a 
 vast jumble of incoherent elements had ensued, pre 
 senting a spectacle to civilization such as the world 
 had never before seen. The situation was one not 
 only tremendously novel, it was overwhelmingly per 
 plexing. If the race recently freed was confronted 
 by difficulty, no less so was the dominant white race. 
 The freedmen were in the South in massed millions. 
 What was to be done with them? To expel them, 
 even if such a thing were possible, would be to cut 
 the chief artery of labor, without which the lands of 
 fabulous fertility would fall into desuetude, and the 
 multiplied needs of service would go. Yet to retain 
 them in their present condition meant perpetual fric 
 tion between the upper and nether millstones of so 
 ciety. 
 
 The thought of bringing to the South an element of 
 labor imported from abroad was sometimes suggested 
 as a means of relief, and measures looking to that 
 end had been introduced into some of the legislative 
 bodies of the Southern states. But so far from a 
 step like this leading toward solution, it would only 
 result in the aggravation of conditions, for then there 
 would be introduced an additional element of discord 
 and friction. This was the view from one side of a 
 most serious situation. 
 
 From the side of the emancipated blacks it was 
 equally as bad, if not worse. The Negro was poor and 
 ignorant, rough, and in his present state had no place 
 in life. He was eager to learn, but there were no 
 facilities for instruction, and the belief was prevalent 
 
HIS LIFE WORK 93 
 
 among the whites that increased enlightenment would 
 mean decreased efficiency. He was without training in 
 the new sphere of independence, and without judg 
 ment. Some points of sympathetic contact with his 
 former owner existed, but they were not of a character 
 that conduced to general race elevation. They were 
 more of pity than of substantial and enduring helpful 
 ness. Pity is generally a most commendable virtue; 
 but in this instance, as applied to the liberated black 
 race of the South, it tended to contempt and humilia 
 tion, and this, in turn, to degeneration. 
 
 In brief statement, this was the bi-racial condition 
 in the South at the time now under review. It gave 
 birth to the expressions, " The Negro Question " and 
 " The Race Problem," the very utterance of either 
 of which in almost any circle would awaken prejudice 
 and suggest perplexity which boded no good to the 
 recently emancipated. How were the difficulties which 
 embarrassed the situation to be removed? This was 
 the ominous question of the hour. Its answer lay in 
 the womb of the future. Years must be required to 
 answer it. 
 
 Meanwhile a former slave boy, an agency least sug 
 gested to any, was being gradually equipped to press 
 the solution to the front. He no more conceived it 
 then, nor even remotely conjectured it, than any other. 
 Providence is full of surprises. A solution equally 
 acceptable to the members of both races and, at the 
 same time, commending the Negro race, would remove 
 much serious misapprehension. While doing this 
 would not entirely remove racial hostility, it would 
 
94 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 so effectually tone into soberness the tension of public 
 sentiment that an attitude of thoughtful consideration 
 would follow. A new sentiment would have, first of 
 all, to be brought about and so far as then appeared, 
 there was no one to do this. Conciliation must be 
 had before consideration. 
 
 As has already been shown, it was not possible, at 
 the time, for a Southern white friend of the colored 
 race to espouse its cause, even had one been so dis 
 posed; for had one lifted a voice or raised a finger in 
 behalf of the Negro he would have found public senti 
 ment very much opposed to the step, and would have 
 invited only railing outcries from the seething vehe 
 mence then prevalent. At the same time, it would have 
 been thought more impossible for one who had been 
 a slave to do this. But there was coming about a 
 means which would eventually find expression. God 
 hid his power in a young colored man and set him for 
 ward to give expression to the solution. 
 
 To resume, now, the narrative, Washington was 
 destined to encounter a twofold difficulty of immense 
 /proportions. The social, political, and moral condi 
 tions of the whites were a most serious barrier, while 
 the poverty, ignorance, and scattered condition of his 
 own people, with no means of intercommunication, 
 was another. Still he firmly believed then, and did 
 to the last, that his people would eventually come to 
 their own by downright merit, a quality that could not 
 fail to recommend itself even to the obdurate. Nor 
 was there wanting at least a partial desire on the part 
 
HIS LIFE WORK 95 
 
 of some of the whites to see a change from existing 
 conditions. 
 
 In the fall of 1878, realizing his own scholastic 
 limitations and deficiencies, Washington decided to go 
 to Wayland seminary, at Washington, and prosecute 
 his course farther. While doing this he would obtain 
 an acquaintanceship with a side of the life of his peo 
 ple entirely new to himself ; this would give him not 
 only increased facilities of instruction but a wider view 
 of life. The information which he was destined to 
 gather in the national city, aside from his studies, was 
 just as essential as that at Hampton. Conditions were 
 vastly different from those which he had known at 
 the school on the Virginia shore. At Wayland semi 
 nary he met many colored youths with plenty of mone; 
 to spend, no matter whence it came, and they would 
 spend it and pass into oblivion without once being 
 heard of by a great race in distress. They wore fine 
 clothes, and with gloved hands played the role of sport, 
 as they drove fine horses along Pennsylvania Avenue. 
 Colored girls were there, who in their anxiety to 
 " shine in society " obtained money in vicious ways, 
 and went the road to ruin. Not that this was gener 
 ally true of the spirit of that school, but it was suffi 
 cient to give to the practical and studious mind of the 
 young man despair of anything hopeful for the race 
 from a quarter like this. No matter whence these 
 boys and girls had come, he had sprung from the 
 commonest walks of the life of his people, knew their 
 distressing needs, their lack of direction, and scenes 
 
96 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 like these did not appeal to his judgment, but they 
 rather saddened his intensely earnest spirit. 
 
 But this was not all that he met in the national capi 
 tal. In Congress were men of his own race who were 
 able to bear themselves with ability in the councils 
 of the nation. They did not have to assume an air of 
 bumptiousness in order to excite attention to an as 
 sumed consequence, nor did they have to cringe in 
 suppliance of due recognition they were simply men 
 of ability among others. These were not without valu 
 able suggestions, while they were a source of inspira 
 tion to the younger man, already serious in his im 
 pression of the importance of the race becoming that 
 of which it was worthy and capable. 
 
 Between the two classes there was a far cry. Wash 
 ington would accept the lessons from the one, and 
 reject the other. He was greatly inspired and im 
 pressed by Senator Bruce of Mississippi, who, though 
 a colored man, disarmed the prejudice of all by the 
 simplicity and naturalness of his manner, and by his 
 courtesy to everyone alike. Such was his bearing that 
 when, later, he retired from the senate, Hon. L. Q. 
 C. Lamar, who afterward was on the Supreme Court 
 bench, took occasion to speak at some length on the 
 merit and ability of his retiring colleague. Senator 
 Lamar was a man of proportions sufficient to accord 
 to the colored senator the merit of his just desert, and 
 sufficiently courageous, even at a sensitive time racially, 
 to defy unworthy sentiment against one because of 
 his color. There was in all this, abounding suggestive- 
 ness to the receptive and judicious spirit of a man 
 
HIS LIFE WORK 97 
 
 like Washington. There were others of his race in 
 Congress by whose brilliancy and force he was im 
 pressed, but by Senator Bruce he was most captivated 
 because of his naturalness and the utter absence of the 
 supercilious spirit. 
 
 Up to this time the contact of Washington with 
 members of the white race had been only of an inci 
 dental character. His first years on the plantation 
 were spent apart from them, and only slight occasion 
 had since that time been afforded him for touch with 
 them. He had shown unusual timidity in approach 
 ing any white person during his career as a laborer, 
 and the bearing in the mansion in which he served at 
 Maiden, made him squeamish, for fear that he might 
 incur the disapprobation of Mrs. Ruffner. Although 
 at Hampton he had come into somewhat closer touch 
 with General Armstrong, still he regarded the bearing 
 of this great principal as being due more to his position 
 as a teacher of Negro youth than to genuine and sin 
 cere friendliness. His superficial view was due largely 
 to the violence of the Ku Klux Klan and other agen 
 cies, and to the fervid tone of the Southern papers of 
 the period in which the Negro was a special object of 
 denunciation. All this created in him a sense of awe 
 bordering on fright. 
 
 Hence his astonishment was the greater when, 
 the close of the year at Washington, he received a 
 formal invitation from the leading white citizens of 
 West Virginia to go before the people of that new 
 state in advocacy of the transfer of its capital from 
 Wheeling to Charleston. For more than a year the 
 

 98 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 matter had been agitated, and popular sentiment had at 
 last reached a pitch that made legislative action neces 
 sary. That he had arrested the attention of the whites 
 in his undemonstrative work at Maiden was now quite 
 plain, but Washington himself had had no idea of it 
 till the receipt of this most courteous invitation. 
 Here was added another element to his future career, 
 and from a quarter most unexpected. 
 
 Without hesitation, accepting the invitation, he pro 
 ceeded at once to West Virginia, |and threw himself 
 into the spirited canvass, speaking throughout the 
 state day and night for three months. His calm 
 bearing on the stump, devoid of ostentation, his ready 
 utterance and free, jovial manner, with a quaint hu 
 mor lurking in his sallies, and, withal, his utmost 
 respect for all opponents, won for him immense popu 
 larity. He would never suffer himself to be drawn 
 into warmth of expression, no matter how pert the 
 sallies made, or the flings offered. Without bluster or 
 rant, so characteristic of colored orators of the time, 
 he was so forceful and convincing that the masses 
 heard him gladly, and his speeches became the sub 
 ject of much favorable comment. It was difficult to 
 decide which class more appreciated his addresses, 
 the whites or the blacks. He received little short of 
 an ovation throughout the entire state. While Charles- 
 on won the location of the capital, more than that 
 resulted to Washington from the heated canvass. The 
 young colored orator had demonstrated the capability 
 of his race in excess of any impression hitherto made 
 in that state. He had inserted the wedge of cleavage 
 
 ; 
 
HIS LIFE WORK 99 
 
 in public sentiment respecting the Negro, at least in 
 West Virginia. 
 
 As a result of the campaign, Washington was ear 
 nestly solicited by members of both races to enter 
 politics. It was urged that he would at once take an 
 advanced position and prove the peer of any of 
 race then in public life. This solicitation did n< 
 fail, for certain reasons, to appeal to him. He hac 
 just seen the positions of consequence held by men oi 
 his race in the national capital, and the position of the| 
 white race in politics seemed secure, while the Negro; 
 needed to be represented. Still he saw but little in a: 
 political position that would reach and affect the race 
 in its depths and varied needs, and to the welfare of 
 his people he had dedicated his life, so he would noil 
 listen to the flatteries of his persuaders. 
 
 Washington was not indifferent to the political 
 privileges which he wished to see his people enjoy, but 
 there were other considerations which were of far more 
 fundamental value than political rights. In this view 
 he was, not supported by some of the ..leaders of his 
 race, but this did not affect his opinion. He felt that 
 for that which would come politically to his people 
 they could well afford to wait, in view of the necessity 
 of other possessions more important. Washington s 
 jdea was that the Negro needed economic independence 
 far more, than political; he needed more the possession 
 of land and a home, and the education of his children. 
 
 Just after the West Virginia campaign, Washing 
 ton was invited by General Armstrong to deliver the 
 post-graduate address at Hampton at the approaching 
 
100 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 Commencement. To him the offer of an honor like 
 that was most gratifying. While he had graduated 
 with some distinction from Hampton, he had been the 
 college janitor throughout his collegiate career, and 
 was as much distinguished for his ability to sweep as 
 for his scholastic qualities. He was not in a position, 
 therefore, to expect the distinction. In high apprecia 
 tion of the honor he set himself to the preparation of 
 an address on " The Force that Wins." 
 
 As he went toward Hampton in compliance with 
 the honored invitation, he passed over the same route 
 pursued several years before, and naturally his 
 thought would revert to the difference between his con 
 dition then and now. Then he was an ignorant pauper 
 going in quest of a place of which he had heard and 
 the direction of which he had learned from others. 
 Now he was passing over the route under conditions 
 quite different. Then there were railway facilities 
 in the direction of Hampton only in part, now the 
 gaps had been filled, so that he could travel the entire 
 distance by rail. Then he suffered from unavoidable 
 hardships, while now he had ample means of comfort. 
 Then he was utterly unknown, now he was recognized 
 by those who knew him as the foremost young man of 
 his race. In cooperating with self-effort, Providence 
 had wrought a wonderful change. 
 
 The address was delivered at Hampton, the con 
 gratulations were numerous, and the young orator 
 returned to his home, with plans still unformed for the 
 summer and fall, when he received a letter from Gen 
 eral Armstrong offering him a position at Hampton 
 
HIS LIFE WORK 101 
 
 with some unusual advantages to do advanced work in 
 the prosecution of his studies. For the time Washing 
 ton was unwilling to surrender the work so auspiciously 
 begun at Maiden, to which point he had returned 
 with a view of enlarging the educational facilities of 
 his people; this would be the easier since he had made 
 so many friends in the canvass of a few months be 
 fore. He felt sure of aid which had been hitherto 
 unavailable, and the opportunity was favorable for 
 planting a good school at Maiden. Yet, while re 
 luctant to give up his cherished project, he felt that 
 he might enlarge his facilities for usefulness by going 
 to Hampton, and therefore accepted the offer made by 
 General Armstrong. 
 
 The position assigned to the young man at Hamp 
 ton was a novel one, and he at first doubted his ability 
 to meet its demands. It was an experiment made by 
 General Armstrong to test the ability of the Indian 
 to learn. More than a hundred young braves had 
 been procured from the western reservations and 
 brought in a body to Hampton. Fresh from the in 
 terior reservations, they were wild, and totally igno 
 rant of the ways of civilization. Assigned to a sepa 
 rate building on the grounds of the Institute, Wash 
 ington was to room in the same building and have 
 complete oversight of them, and, with the aid of as 
 sistants, train them first in the rudiments of civiliza 
 tion. Their faces were smileless, their eyes keen, they 
 wore blankets, and a long tuft of hair down their 
 backs. Washington had some misgivings of the sub 
 mission of the Indian to the discipline of a Negro, but 
 
102 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 he would combine kindness with becoming firmness, 
 and he soon found that the Indian would yield to these 
 as readily as any other. The long hair had to be 
 clipped, and the blanket exchanged for a civilized 
 garb, agairist both of which the young bucks of the 
 plains at first protested; but finally they were induced 
 to yield. He was encouraged by the progress made by 
 his novel pupils as with the readiness of their response 
 to his orders. If the Indian was a novelty in the 
 school, the surroundings were equally a novelty to 
 the Indians. Regular bathing, certain meal hours, the 
 enforced regulations of study, and, most of all, the 
 immense buildings, were sources of unending wonder 
 to the young men from the wilds. Not one of them 
 could at first speak a word of English, but by degrees 
 they acquired a knowledge of the tongue and gradu 
 ally came to glide into study along with all others. 
 
 After spending a successful year in this novel 
 work, General Armstrong requested Professor Wash 
 ington to take charge of a large and growing class of 
 indigent students who had found their way to Hamp 
 ton without means, and who could study only after 
 the work of each day was done. These had to labor 
 during the day to meet expenses, and to study at night. 
 He succeeded in infusing an earnest spirit into this 
 mass of unpromising students, and stirred them into 
 diligence by naming them the " plucky class." He 
 could the more readily adjust himself to their de 
 mands, for he had not long been outside the same 
 class himself. These earnest boys and girls proved 
 to be among the most studious of the school, and to be 
 
HIS LIFE WORK 103 
 
 able to go out from the institution with certificates 
 of proficiency from Washington was to each a con 
 suming ambition. 
 
 As we now come to the eve of the entrance of 
 Washington on his monumental work at Tuskegee, it 
 is interesting to regard the rapid progress made by him 
 within a few years. The condition of no one am 
 bitious for an education could have been more dis 
 couraging than was his. Every possible obstruction 
 was in his way at the outset. If one like him could 
 succeed, none need despair. He met with cool and 
 resistless courage every difficulty that disputed his 
 way, and won. He acquired power in the process of 
 turning every difficulty into an element of success. In 
 the annals of America there is no trophy of democracy 
 that outshines Booker T. Washington. No matter 
 what the odds were against him, he declined to be dis 
 couraged. This was the master motive of his life. 
 As we shall have abundant opportunity to see later 
 on, his difficulties grew in corresponding magnitude 
 with his advanced positions. If encouragements came, 
 they were attended by difficulties of corresponding 
 size. While he had encouragement to advance, he had 
 discouragement often sufficient to appall and to check. 
 But he belteved that there was a way out of every 
 trouble, and to this thought he steadfastly clung and 
 by it was stimulated till the difficulty finally gave 
 way to his irresistible pluck and downright doggedness 
 and unconquerable persistency. Absolutely nothing 
 could thwart him. He believed in himself as does 
 every man who succeeds. 
 
104 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 Back of all this was his soul-possessing idea of aid 
 ing others, especially of his own race. Lured at first 
 solely by the idea of procuring an education, this 
 gradually succumbed to another dominant thought 
 which was injected into his life, and that was to turn 
 that which was his, as won, to the good of his fellows. 
 Then, too, his judgment was not only cool and clear, 
 but discriminative. Of course this was largely the 
 result of training and experience in his varied ups 
 and downs. He was without impetuosity of decision. 
 He schooled himself to temperamental calmness. 
 While naturally gifted with coolness, he re-enforced 
 this with a growing stock of observation and in 
 struction, and calmly weighed men and affairs. He 
 ^ was never hasty of utterance. Many times was he 
 , subjected to a fierce fire of criticism, and he knew 
 \the importance of preserving a golden silence. He 
 knew when to speak and when to keep quiet. Even in 
 his younger years, before he had entered on the hercu 
 lean task of his life, these elements attracted the 
 .. -attention of those who knew him best. He philo- 
 / sophically recognized the limitations imposed on him 
 by reason of his position in life, and did not chafe 
 under them, nor resist them, but falling into the cur- 
 \ rent, he watched for every passing advantage, seized 
 \ it, and turned it to good account. Devoted to the 
 good of his people, he never lost sight of any advan 
 tage that would contribute to that end. Many did not 
 agree with his methods, his motives were often ques 
 tioned, but he held on his way, and when the curtain 
 fell on the scene of his life, his career had vindicated 
 
HIS LIFE WORK 105 
 
 the purpose that had dominated him, and in the aggre 
 gation of the results it was seen that none other of his 
 time and of his race had approximated the good that he 
 had wrought not only for his people, but for the 
 entire country. 
 
VIII 
 TUSKEGEE 
 
 NEAR the eastern confines of Alabama, located 
 close to the center of the state, is the county 
 of Macon, one of the famous Black Belt re 
 gion, noted in the days of slavery for its production 
 of cotton. The seat of justice of Macon County is 
 Tuskegee, one of the interior social and wealthy cen 
 ters for which the South was at one time noted. 
 Like many other points in the South, Tuskegee was 
 the residence of a number of wealthy planters whose 
 plantations lay in the adjacent regions, tilled by numer 
 ous black slaves. The homes of these land barons 
 were distinguished by splendor, refinement, all the 
 evidences of affluence, and by the copious hospitality 
 for which the old South was proverbial. In them 
 were hosts of well-dressed colored servants porters, 
 maids, laundresses, cooks, coachmen, butlers, and hos 
 tlers. It was a typical Southern town of the olden 
 days. Within its limits were institutions of learning 
 of high order which lent significance to its culture. 
 Its streets and roadways were lined at long intervals 
 with the architectural beauty and gravity of the old 
 colonial mansions of the rich planters, while its places 
 of business were sufficient to meet the demands of an 
 inland town. 
 
 106 
 
TUSKEGEE 107 
 
 In the year 1857 Tuskegee was at the height of its 
 social and educational splendor. It was classed as one 
 of the leading interior towns of Alabama, and from 
 it went forth judges, congressmen, educators, and, at a 
 later period, men who won renown on the fields of 
 battle. At the time alluded to, nothing seemed more 
 inevitably perpetual than Negro slavery. There was 
 no other thought in the minds of the people in that 
 tranquil community of wealth. They were undis 
 turbed by the outbursts of oratory in New England 
 and elsewhere, against the institution of domestic 
 slavery, addresses concerning which they would lei 
 surely read, as well as of the proceedings, sometimes of 
 a stormy nature, in Congress. James Buchanan had 
 just taken his seat as the fifteenth elected president 
 of the United States, and in his first annual message 
 to Congress had complacently said, in substance, al 
 luding to the Kansas question, that since the agitation 
 of slavery was now over, the country might return 
 to matters of grave importance. Just after this de 
 liverance from the president, Chief Justice Taney had 
 rendered his famous decision in the Dred Scott case, 
 in which he took occasion to recall, in justification of 
 his action, that of the original builders of the nation : 
 " They [the Negroes] were at that time considered 
 as a subordinate and inferior class who had been sub 
 jugated by the dominant race, and had no rights or 
 privileges but such as those who held the power and 
 the government might choose to grant them. They 
 had for more than a century been regarded as beings 
 of an inferior grade, and so far inferior that they 
 
108 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 had no rights which the white man is bound to respect ; 
 and that the negro might justly and lawfully be re 
 duced to slavery for his (the white man s) benefit." 
 
 Assurances like these from the highest possible 
 sources calmed into serenity apprehensions that might 
 arise in the minds of any. Evidently all lawful hold 
 ers of valuable slave property, the most valuable of all 
 Southern assets indeed, were to retain these beings in 
 perpetual servitude, to till their fertile fields and to 
 fill each year their coffers. 
 
 In the same year, 1857, a slave child was born on a 
 Virginia plantation, of an ignorant black cook, who 
 was destined within the next twenty-five years, to 
 appear on the scene at Tuskegee as the harbinger of 
 a new order induced by the intervention of many 
 changes. The events were to come in an order of 
 logical sequence a long and bloody war, slave eman- 
 cipation, political and social disorder, during the preva 
 lence of all which Tuskegee would decline, like every 
 other Southern community. This infant slave was 
 destined to come to relieve confusion by a method all 
 his own. He would accomplish that which was baf 
 fling the sagest statesmen and the ripest philosophers 
 of the time, and bring order out of chaos. The eman 
 cipation of the slave had induced an entanglement of 
 both races, and this slave boy was to discover the 
 means of relief. It is difficult to find in history a 
 parallel to a condition so anomalous. Yet the means 
 by which all this came about was thoroughly logical. 
 
 Of the change wrought at Tuskegee within the 
 quarter century lying between 1857 and 1882, nothing 
 
TUSKEGEE 109 
 
 more need be said than that it had come about in a 
 regular but revolutionary order. The abolition of the 
 institution of slavery had resulted in the overturning 
 of the South s industrial system, which reposed on 
 the labor of slaves. The freedom of the slave in his 
 ignorance and poverty had set him adrift, and the 
 whole situation had resulted in race friction and 
 alienation, to the detriment of both white and black 
 races. Thoughtful men of both longed for a change 
 in the situation. The past was full of darkness and 
 sorrow, and the future was altogether uncertain. To 
 the dominant white the situation presented a perplex 
 ing problem to the disturbed black man it was an 
 occasion of deep sorrow. The novel situation induced 
 by the sudden emancipation of millions of slaves and 
 by their transformation into citizens, resulted in a 
 change so appalling as to bewilder the wisest. No 
 hint or suggestion of relief came from any quarter. 
 The tension was just such that any suggested means 
 of deliverance from the situation would have been 
 hailed with delight. Grave concern had come to take 
 the place of disappointment and passion. Even the 
 most vehement among the whites had become sobered 
 by the protracted disturbance, the tendency of which 
 was in the direction of that which was worse. On 
 both sides of the race line there were serious concern 
 and profound perplexity. 
 
 It was at this juncture that a few colored men, late 
 slaves, made an humble overture to the Alabama 
 legislature for an appropriation of money sufficient to 
 found a school for the training of young colored men 
 
110 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 and women as teachers and leaders of the race. This 
 suggestion was the only feasible one that occurred to 
 them as the beginning of a course that might bring 
 relief. With but slight confidence in the virtue of the 
 proposed plan, the Alabama legislators felt that for 
 the sake of an experiment the sum of $2,000 might 
 be risked from the treasury of the state. Still, only 
 slight faith was had in the success of the proposed 
 undertaking. Nor must the small amount be spent for 
 any other purpose than that of paying teachers. Be 
 yond that restriction and that of naming Tuskegee as 
 the location of the proposed school, the measure did 
 not go. With practical unanimity the step was re 
 garded as one of folly, ridiculous, and a wild-goose 
 chase. / However, if by the use of the trifling sum of 
 $2,000 invested in Negro brawn and brain, any good 
 could come, they were willing to incur the risk. The 
 nature of the measure itself would seem to place the 
 success of an undertaking like this in jeopardy at the 
 outset. No land was provided, no buildings were 
 bought, or erected, nor any provision made for these 
 necessary concomitants, nor for the slightest equip 
 ment of the school. However, if with the little drib 
 ble the colored people wished to provide teachers and 
 leaders, they might proceed to do so! 
 
 But what could a mass of ignorant, penniless peo 
 ple do with a sum so slight, in the establishment of a 
 school that was expected to produce leaders and teach 
 ers from their own ranks to direct their people through 
 a crisis so dire ? They had no means of their own, no 
 land, no idea of how to establish a school, and no 
 
TUSKEGEE 111 
 
 teachers, even if the school were founded. The pro 
 vision, instead of aiding, only served to embarrass the 
 situation the more. It was not that the Alabama legis 
 lators were indifferent to the seriousness of the situa 
 tion, but they simply had no confidence in either the 
 ability or the capability of the Negro to do anything 
 but to wield the implement of labor. He was deemed 
 as utterly incapable of the acquisition of knowledge 
 beyond the barest rudiments, which opinion was re- 
 enforced by the theory that education would spoil 
 him. It would fit him for a sphere in which trite, 
 Negro could find no place, while it would ruin him as \ 
 a laborer. A boon to all others, education would I 
 prove only a bane to the Negro. The idea of it was| 
 hooted at as chimerical, and laughed at as a fool s! 
 errand. If the coming generation could be made bet 
 ter tillers of the soil, well enough, but the idea of 
 Negroes attaining to scholarship, and to ability to 
 teach and to lead anybody was preposterous! This 
 was the current conviction at that time. 
 
 However, the more thoughtful and serious of the 
 colored race would not give up. They would see what 
 might be done. Influential white citizens of sympa 
 thetic temperament were enlisted, most of them only 
 partially ; but one, George W. Campbell, of Tuskegee, 
 a merchant, banker, and an original owner of slaves, 
 was seriously sympathetic in behalf of the movement. 
 Plain, direct, matter-of-fact, and intensely practical 
 withal, Mr. Campbell felt that it might be encouraged 
 with some promise of ultimate success. At any rate, 
 an honest venture might disclose a workable plan. In 
 
112 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 his efforts he was seconded by Lewis Adams, an un 
 usually wise and wide-awake ex-slave. For the op 
 portunity which he had enjoyed, none of his race was 
 wiser, none more sagacious. In the days of his servi 
 tude he had acquired skill as a shoemaker, a harness- 
 maker, and a tinner. These two, a white man 
 and an ex-slave, cooperated initially in the move 
 ment. 
 
 The legislators had done their work and had gone 
 to their homes, dismissing any further thought of the 
 chimerical dream of a normal and industrial school for 
 Negroes. The seriousness of the undertaking had 
 come to repose on the white man and colored man al 
 ready named. They began to cast about for a prac 
 tical beginning. What could possibly be done? No 
 white man would assume to establish a Negro school, 
 and the Negroes in their universal ignorance had no 
 one to propose for the management of the school 
 which existed as yet only in imagination. In truth, 
 there was but little to be managed, when only $2,000 
 was available, and that was so circumscribed by limita 
 tion as to make it practicably unavailable. Nothing 
 could have been more farcical than for an ignorant 
 race, utterly pauperized, and without the slightest 
 idea about founding a school of any character, to as 
 sume a task like this. 
 
 Once enlisted, Mr. Campbell began to correspond 
 with well-known educators and others relative to the 
 possibility of finding a colored man capable of assum 
 ing a task so serious within itself, and the more serious 
 because not a cent was available for first establishing 
 
TUSKEGEE 113 
 
 the proposed school. Throughout it seemed a comedy 
 play, if not a roaring farce. 
 
 As a result of his correspondence Mr. Campbell 
 came upon the fact that at Hampton, Virginia, there 
 was a colored school devoted to the preparation of 
 teachers for intellectual and industrial education, and 
 he was informed that he might be able to receive some 
 illumination in relief of his perplexity by writing to 
 the Principal of the Hampton school, General Samuel 
 C. Armstrong. This led to an exchange of letters 
 between Mr. Campbell and General Armstrong, the lat 
 ter stating that there was a young man at Hampton 
 Booker T. Washington whom he could recommend. 
 
 At the time, Washington was absorbed in his night 
 work at Hampton, or in encouraging his " plucky 
 class." General Armstrong had submitted the matter 
 to Professor Washington, under the impression, gath 
 ered from the drift of the correspondence, that new 
 buildings with adequate equipments were in readiness 
 for the assumption of control by anyone whom he 
 might recommend. After a time he received a tele 
 gram from Mr. Campbell : " Booker T. Washington 
 will suit us send him on." 
 
 The dispatch was received on Sunday evening while 
 General Armstrong was conducting the chapel exer 
 cises at Hampton. When the exercises were over, he 
 read the message in the presence of the entire school, 
 and it was greeted with wild applause. Congratula 
 tions followed in abundance, and Professor Wash 
 ington began to prepare to go to Tuskegee to take 
 charge of what he at the time thought was a great 
 
114 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 school, with ample buildings and adequate equipments. 
 On reaching Tuskegee in May, 1881, he was not 
 only greatly surprised but profoundly disappointed to 
 find the situation just as it was. What was he to do? 
 He had been sought, highly recommended, and sent, 
 but he found absolutely nothing with which to begin 
 save the slight appropriation. He was young, being only 
 
 Qwenty-four, and had never faced a serious responsi- 
 )ility, was a stranger in a strange land, and without 
 eputation. In addition to this, he was the representa- 
 ive of a race of people against whom there existed 
 much hostile sentiment. They were poor and illiterate, 
 and the few strides they had taken in the life of free 
 dom were mostly mistaken ones. There was much 
 cial hostility and almost universal distrustfulness 
 either of the capability of his people or of their in 
 tegrity. As a strange young man with an education, 
 he must encounter the strong sentiment against an 
 educated Negro. His condition was little short of 
 bejng deplorable. 
 
 Almost any other would have been paralyzed in 
 spirit by the appalling situation. He could have gone 
 back to Hampton fully vindicated after explanations. 
 Who could blame one for declining to undertake the 
 practically impossible ? 
 
 After mature deliberation Washington resolved to 
 try out the situation to the utmost. But how was he 
 even to begin? He had no means at hand through 
 which to reach the people in order to solicit patronage, 
 now an unquestioned necessity. For a Southern news 
 paper at that time to have alluded in any way to a 
 
TUSKEGEE 115 
 
 prospective Negro school, or to a colored teacher com 
 ing from Virginia to establish a school for blacks, no 
 matter for what purpose, would have created a stormy 
 sensation. Even had there been facilities of advertise 
 ment, his people could not read. For the same reason, 
 it was folly to think of correspondence by letter. 
 There was nothing left him after his final decision to 
 venture, but to go boldly out among his people in the 
 country, visit them as rapidly as possible in their 
 homes, and solicit what patronage he might. To this 
 course he was absolutely shut up. 
 
 After conference with his two friends, George W. 
 Campbell and Lewis Adams, both of whom assured 
 him of their sympathy and the utmost of their sup 
 port, he entered on his canvass. In making his way 
 into the country he had to avail himself of any means 
 possible to go from place to place. Many times he 
 would tramp considerable distances, again he would be 
 conveyed in a buggy or wagon. He found the condi 
 tion of the colored people miserable in many ways. 
 The huts in which they dwelt were often but little 
 better than pig-stys, their food was scant and poorly 
 cooked, they lived as they had in the days of slavery, 
 an entire family in a cabin of a single room. Yet in 
 an effort to appear to be living in an advanced con 
 dition, not a few had bought on the installment plan 
 cheap but ornamental clocks, though unable to tell 
 the time of day; on the same plan, they had organs, 
 pianos, and other musical instruments, yet none could 
 play; large and profusely gilded Bibles, yet none could 
 read. In the neglect of much else that was valuable, 
 
116 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 the men could talk politics to the extent of announcing 
 to which party they belonged, yet had not the slightest 
 conception of the significance of the franchise. In 
 short, he realized that there must be an arrest of pres 
 ent conditions along all lines to save the people from 
 degeneration. Hard as was the lot chosen by him 
 self, there was an under joy within it that changed the 
 bitter into sweet. 
 
 The incongruous condition of his people was to him 
 grotesquely and pathetically ridiculous. It appealed to 
 one who, " though young in years, was in experience 
 
 /"old." One thing was clear, and that was that at the 
 present rate there was no hope for the Negro race. 
 He saw at a glance how rapidly they must decline in 
 
 ^public esteem, and gradually sink into degeneration. 
 Many false notions must be expelled and right ones 
 substituted, and the eyes of the people must be lifted 
 toward the ideals of civilization. In order to this, 
 there was to his mind but one course to be pursued, 
 and that was for the race to begin at the bottom prin 
 ciples of life and work as rapidly upward as possible. 
 The utter absence of school-houses in the country was 
 enhanced by the fact that they were useless so long as 
 there were no colored teachers. His people worshiped, 
 for the most part, under brush arbors, and the preach 
 ing which was dispensed consisted almost entirely of 
 vociferous outcries by the minister, so-called, who 
 would say next to nothing, relying on his intonations 
 of voice and violent antics to create frantic excitement 
 among his auditors rather than to impart instruction. 
 Washington was beset before and behind with every 
 
TUSKEGEE 117 
 
 conceivable difficulty. He soon found that while there 
 were many friendly whites there were many others 
 who seriously doubted the propriety of the venture on 
 which he had entered, thinking it one which would 
 undermine the value of the Negro as an economic 
 factor, the theory being that in proportion to his edu 
 cation would he decline as a contributor to prosperity. 
 There was some cheer in the fact of the toleration of 
 " a risk " in that direction. It implied that they would 
 watch his venture, and be governed accordingly, and 
 this imposed an obligation on himself that burdened his 
 spirit. 
 
 The summer of 1881 was over. The canvass of 
 a limited territory had closed, and arrangements had 
 been made to open the industrial institute for colored 
 people in two dilapidated buildings, one a run-down 
 church building and the other a nearby cabin. Thirty 
 students from the town and the adjoining country 
 presented themselves for enrollment, and with these 
 shabby beginnings the school began. Most of the 
 members of the student body were teachers, some of 
 whom had already reached middle age. Their no 
 tions of what an education meant were the rudest and 
 crudest possible, some even venturing to suggest that 
 they wished " to push right through," within a period 
 of three or four months at the most, get their diplomas, 
 and hurry back to their schools. All this suggested 
 to the young man the tremendousness of the task that 
 he had assumed. 
 
 He firmly announced his double aim in conducting 
 the school, the construction of character, not pro- 
 
118 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 fessedly, but positively, and utilization of education. 
 To make these two principles mutually aid and supple 
 ment each other was the basis on which he began and 
 which he continued throughout his career. His people 
 had freedom, but they had not yet learned how to 
 apply it to the best use. They were in a wilderness of 
 confusion. That which they mistakenly did, indi 
 cated that they would do the right thing if shown. 
 The extravagance in expenditure for useless articles 
 in their homes was not without a favorable side. It 
 showed that these illiterate people were seeking to be 
 worth while, and this course seemed the one most con 
 ducive to that end. The fad of adopting long names 
 and middle names was not without suggestion of a 
 commendable ambition which was ill-directed. All this 
 quackery he would replace with that which was solid 
 and substantial. 
 
 Distressing as was that side of the situation, there 
 was another equally so. The Negro had till recently 
 been a valuable chattel, but was suddenly transformed 
 into a citizen. Not only was he a valuable asset taken 
 away, but at a time when the country was in ruin from 
 the war. Irritation and pent wrath occasioned by this 
 condition were visited by some on the passive black 
 man. Then the turbulence of the reconstruction period 
 was still a memory of the immediate past. In not a 
 few counties of the Black Belt the blacks outnumbered 
 the whites, sometimes six to one. In a number of the 
 original slave states, the populations, white and black, 
 were about equal, and in perhaps more than one, the 
 blacks outnumbered the whites. The murmur was that 
 
TUSKEGEE 119 
 
 for more than ten years these people had been free, 
 and they had been years of turbulence. They were 
 still groping in darkness, were still the same mass that 
 they were when they were liberated. The discussion 
 of the Negro as a menace to civilization was common 
 in conversation as well as in the press. Numerous 
 theories obtained as to the ultimate result of this, none 
 of which was favorable to the unfortunate blacks. 
 
 What could be done to relieve the situation? In 
 the tension of the times, sweepingly decisive plans 
 were proposed, some the most inhuman possible. Tfife 
 old-time idea of colonization was openly advocated.^ 
 The slogan, " This is the white man s country," be 
 came to some a dominant note that thrilled. A west 
 ern reservation was suggested, then Mexico, and again 
 Africa. That this did not assume some sort of shape 
 was due to two very practical obstructions, one of 
 which was its cost, and the other, the indispensable- 
 ness of the Negro as a laborer. A few openly advo 
 cated annihilation, but this was ridiculed by the many. 
 Still the fact remained, still the problem pressed. 
 
 All these, it will be observed, looked only in a 
 detrimental direction to the Negro. The forces of 
 elevation were only partly and weakly urged-^those 
 of education and of patient evangelization. Force 
 and not suasion was the sentiment, not universal, but 
 general. 
 
 Nor was this yet all. The short-comings of the 
 Negro were exaggerated by reason of the sensitive 
 ness of the times. Those in search of faults in others 
 are apt to find them. In his ignorance and blunder- 
 
120 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 ing, his short-sightedness and obtuseness of moral 
 character, all of which were in some part, at least, 
 the fruits of slavery, Negro vice and criminality 
 abounded. This elicited violence on the part of those 
 violently disposed. Whatever the profession of the 
 Negro, he was, on all hands, suspected. Then came 
 the indiscriminate judgment of the Negro. A criminal 
 was taken as an apt representative of the entire race. 
 
 f A crime was charged not only to a Negro, but to the 
 
 \Negro, including the whole of the people. 
 
 This is a fair representation of the spirit of the 
 times in the interior of the South when Professor 
 Washington made his advent at Tuskegee. It is now 
 recalled only for the purpose of making visual the 
 enormity of the difficulty confronting the youthful 
 leader in his embryonic venture at this particular time. 
 He saw that without systematic direction, and without 
 clearness of aim and distinctiveness of purpose, noth 
 ing could be done. 
 
 perhaps the severest test of the moral poise of char 
 acter to which Principal Washington was subjected 
 was that by a contingent of his own race who objected 
 to his idea and policy of undertaking to provide a 
 foundation basis of labor for the race, as a fulcrum 
 for race-lifting. His purpose was misapprehended, 
 
 . his views were distorted by not a few. To some it 
 bore the aspect of degradation rather than of eleva- 
 
 : e tion. To others, it was interpreted to mean the frank 
 acknowledgment of the inferiority of the colored race, 
 while to others it implied the return to practical servi 
 tude. Washington would have his people disregard all 
 
TUSKEGEE 121 
 
 else than the laying of a race foundation sure and firm, 
 in order that thence they might gradually climb up 
 ward, being amply able to take each ascending step of 
 the grade by the firmness of the footing already 
 secured. His conception of a bottom race beginning 
 at the bottom, in the region right about it, was vindi 
 cated alike by logic and by history. 
 
 The opposite course, that of the race seeking by a 
 single bound to vault to the summit, was against the 
 simplest law of nature and in direct conflict with all 
 racial history. Of this he had known the most lamen 
 table exhibitions. He had seen the shoddy and super 
 ficial fellow with a smattering education, decked in 
 the garb of the latest fashion, who found no sphere 
 in which to move because there was none. He had 
 seen the unequipped and the unprepared tumble from 
 his superficial eminence because he had none of the 
 forces to maintain him. He had observed with interest 
 and concern the laudable but mistaken efforts of his \ 
 people in the far interior, seeking to find the way to 
 respectability by the purchase of showy tinselry and 
 ornamental books and furniture for which they had 
 no earthly use, while the children remained unfed and 
 unclad, and their miserable places of abode were but / 
 little better than the stalls of oxen. 
 
 Against all this folly he set himself, not captiously 
 nor abusively, but patiently and persuasively, and was 
 willing to go into the trenches of the struggle along 
 side them in their honest efforts to aspire while he 
 would direct. Misjudged, misinterpreted, and often 
 misquoted, he persevered, and when the end came, he 
 
122 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 left in many thousands concrete evidences of his work. 
 True, his resources at the outset were contemptible 
 enough in aspect, but they embodied the germ of a 
 new civilization, the norm of a new race, the hidden 
 power of a people who during fifty years of disadvan 
 tage exceeded in progress any other race in history 
 within the same compass of time. Washington was 
 a sincere believer in his people. He loved his race, and 
 transmuted bitterness into respect, and hostility into 
 interest, by that which he demonstrated in the unques 
 tioned capability of the Negro. 
 
IX 
 SUPREME DIFFICULTIES 
 
 WHILE only a bare outline of the situation 
 in the South at the time that Principal 
 Washington began his life work at Tus- 
 kegee has been given, sufficient has been presented to 
 show how colossal was the task that he had assumed. 
 He would secure a sure footing as he advanced. If 
 he had but little either of substantial means or of en 
 couragement, he would make the most of these, and 
 by mounting them, he would gain a view of the steps 
 next succeeding; and if the process was slow and irk 
 some, it at least had the moral value of accomplishing 
 thus much, which was an advance of that from which 
 he had risen. A heroic philosopher, he met conditions 
 as they came, with calm and unblinking front. His 
 was a singleness of aim, a oneness of purpose, that of 
 raising his people to the height of commanding re 
 spectability by the possession of virtues which to reject 
 and despise would condemn the despiser. His material 
 was exceedingly crude, but good-naturedly he would 
 mold it into shape by a process altogether natural, 
 and in the end would make the result vindicate itself. 
 By every means he was qualified for the task. His 
 was no empty theory; he worked by the hard, stern 
 rules of experience, rules he had already tested. He 
 
 123 
 
124 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 himself had been in the deeps, as far down as any. 
 He knew the pathway of emergence. Naturally op 
 timistic, courageous, inventive, resourceful, sympa 
 thetic, a race-lover and a race-lifter, he knew every 
 step of the way, and thus endowed, he was divinely 
 appointed to the kingdom for a time like this. He 
 met force, harsh and frowning as it was, with an 
 ability of achievement that sealed the lips of the gain- 
 sayer. He was profuse in deed, rather than in promise. 
 Gathering his little band of unpromising students 
 within the walls of dilapidated buildings, he would 
 demonstrate first to them the possibility of achieve 
 ment against odds. At times a stretched umbrella 
 had to protect him against the rain pouring through 
 a decayed roof while he stood book in hand, to in 
 struct and inspire. If at other times the umbrella 
 was necessary to shield him from the leaky roof while 
 he snatched his hasty meal in the tumble-down cabin, 
 he was inspiring his pupils by an example that made 
 heroes and heroines. This spectacle of heroism is 
 worthy of the encomium of any pen, yea, it is worthy 
 of the emulation of any. The demands of the time 
 were rigorously exacting, but he had the pluck to 
 meet them. Had he been other than a struggling 
 Negro, sympathy and support would have flowed to 
 him in confluent currents, but he, and he alone, had 
 to receive the dire predictions of failure and endure 
 the whispered innuendoes that the upshot of the whole 
 thing would be the engenderment of mischief in the 
 heart of dangerous Negroes. Taken all in all, it is 
 impossible to conceive of a situation the endurance of 
 
SUPREME DIFFICULTIES 125 
 
 which surpasses in severity that which he was com 
 pelled to undergo in these opening years at Tuskegee. 
 He gave vent to no rash promises of success. He 
 regaled none with rosy dreams. When reviled he 
 reviled not again, but with philosophic fortitude bore 
 all in cheerful silence, and labored on. Out of the 
 depths of his own discouragement he sought to inspire 
 courage in the hearts of his people, and in the midst of 
 bitter environments he was still courteous to all alike. 
 Having but little, he would use that to the utmost. 
 Thwarted in one direction, he would turn, with his 
 wounded spirit disguised, calmly in another. Mem 
 bers of both races were prodigal of advice and sug 
 gestion, to all of which he would listen with due re 
 spect, and then onward plod his own way, guided by a 
 judgment derived from the exigencies of a trying 
 situation. . The numerous instances of discouragement 
 recorded by him in later years in a jocular strain did 
 not move him the width of a hair from his quiet and 
 settled purpose. When a colored brother undertook 
 to lecture him most seriously in derogation of his 
 policy, by telling him that labor was originally cursed, 
 and that therefore to teach to labor was criminally 
 wrong before the Most High, it only appealed to the 
 humorous side of his nature. When accused of being 
 in collusion with the whites to bring his people back 
 into slavery, because he strenuously enforced the duty 
 of diligent activity, he was willing to wait for the 
 future to bring the answer of vindication. Thus he 
 stood with steadfast footing, and bravely met what 
 ever came, without waver of purpose, or diminution of 
 
126 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 effort. The young man had an ideal, and he would 
 test it to the fullest. 
 
 It is eminently fair, in this connection, that appro 
 priate mention be made of the earliest and most worthy 
 assistant of Professor Washington in the outset of 
 his struggles at Tuskegee Miss Olivia A. Davidson. 
 With exceptional scholastic advantages, she had had 
 much experience as a teacher and successful manager, 
 and her connection with the school at the outset was 
 most fortunate. The distressing 1 condition of her 
 people in the Black Belt lured her more than anything 
 else to join with Principal Washington in his pro 
 posed venture. Tempting offers of remuneration failed 
 to divert her from her purpose to aid in the Tuskegee 
 enterprise, and to her more than to any other was 
 Principal Washington indebted for his success in es 
 tablishing his renowned school. She brought to her 
 difficult work at Tuskegee a most worthy record not 
 only of scholarship and of experience, but of sympathy 
 for her struggling race to which she was ardently de 
 voted. Then, too, she was a woman of rare judgment 
 and of acute discrimination. A graduate of Hampton, 
 her course was subsequently enlarged by her gradua 
 tion from the Massachusetts State Normal School at 
 Framingham. 
 
 A woman of excellent culture, tact, and taste, she 
 was exactly suited to the demand of the situation at 
 Tuskegee in the beginning. The advent of two 
 strange colored teachers at Tuskegee, one from Vir 
 ginia, and the other from Ohio, would excite not a 
 little suspicion concerning the effect which they would 
 
SUPREME DIFFICULTIES 127 
 
 have on the Negro population, but so soon as Prin 
 cipal Washington and his able assistant came to be 
 known, they became popular with the leading people 
 of the town. The admirable judgment and race loyalty 
 of Miss Davidson are illustrated by the fact that dur 
 ing her course of study in New England she posi 
 tively declined to deny her race identity, even though 
 assured that she could do so because of the lightness 
 of her complexion. She openly said that she was a 
 Negro, was proud of the fact, and wished, as one, to 
 assist her people to make the term " Negro " as honor 
 able as any race name. She bore no small part in 
 framing the original policy of Tuskegee, and in view 
 of that which the school has done for the good of 
 the country at large, she is worthy of the gratitude of 
 all the people, irrespective of race. 
 
 Had these two worthy and accomplished people 
 been content with mere text-book drill, nothing would 
 have been easier than to have restricted their efforts 
 to this alone; but together they sought the highest and 
 widest equipment of their people for the serious issues 
 of life, and never wavered in their devotion to the at 
 tainment of the greatest good. That which they to 
 gether sought was to make men and women who 
 would become helpers to the vast and needy multitude. 
 
 Hailing almost altogether from interior plantations, 
 the colored youth who sought the advantages offered 
 at Tuskegee were at first largely indifferent to per 
 sonal cleanliness, either of their persons or of their 
 clothing. Their food on the plantation had been a 
 uniformity of cornbread and fried bacon, and as 
 
128 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 for tooth-brushes, most of them had never used 
 them. 
 
 Nothing was clearer to these worthy and scrupulous 
 teachers than that to do no more than to develop the 
 minds of these young people would have made them 
 totally unfit for life. A course like this would have 
 educated them away from the practical affairs with 
 which they were most familiar. But what could be 
 done to improve conditions in their shabby quarters? 
 Neither Washington nor his able assistant had means 
 to improve conditions. They fully understood the 
 impossibility of the best results either mental or 
 moral from conditions like these, but there was noth 
 ing left them but to make the most of that in hand, and 
 keep a close outlook for better things as they would 
 be suggested from time to time. 
 
 The vision which haunted Washington was that of 
 a fully-equipped school in which mental and manual 
 effort would go hand in hand, so that ability to cope 
 I with life s requirements would be acquired by each 
 Vpupil. He was the more concerned about this with 
 respect to the first students who came to Tuskegee, 
 because in their artlessness and ignorance they dis 
 closed the fact that they were seekers after education 
 as a means of relief from manual or physical effort. 
 The latter would remind of slavery, the former of 
 freedom and independence. To give mental instruc 
 tion the first year, was all that could be done, and in 
 doing this the utmost was done that was possible with 
 the character of students on hand. Washington con 
 tinued to dream, however, of a time in the future when 
 
SUPREME DIFFICULTIES 129 
 
 his perplexity would be relieved by means of ample 
 facilities for training the head, heart, and hands. 
 
 If this ideal was to be realized, land, buildings for 
 shops, recitation rooms, dormitories, laboratories, a 
 library, and all else pertaining to a first-class institu 
 tion, were necessary. But how were these to be had ? 
 At that time he had no one in mind on whom he could 
 rely for so much as a cent. His acquaintanceship was 
 very limited. He could not then name a man or 
 woman in all the country to whom he could go with 
 a proposal for aid. He believed, however, that where 
 a necessity was so urgent, a race so eager to advance, 
 and yet so low in the scale of even the ordinary con 
 ditions of real life, a way would be eventually opened, 
 however remote it now seemed. One of Washing 
 ton s staying qualities was that of faith. He be 
 lieved in himself, in his fellow-men, and in God. It 
 was Napoleon who said : " All the scholastic scaf 
 folding falls as a ruined edifice before one single word 
 faith." 
 
 Fortunately for Washington at this time, land in the 
 South was very cheap. It went begging in every 
 market. The collapse of slavery had thrown on the 
 market millions of valuable acres that could be had at 
 amazingly low prices. While he had not a dime to 
 invest in land, he could create means by his own exer 
 tions, and he was on the alert for any opportunity that 
 might come his way. Investigation brought to his 
 knowledge the fact that lying just outside Tuskegee 
 and running up to its limits, was an abandoned planta 
 tion of five hundred acres on which were the ruins of 
 
130 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 an old-time mansion that had been burned. The 
 original dining-room, a stable, and a hen-house still 
 remained. The land was on the market for five hun 
 dred dollars. It was not fertile, yet it was good, and 
 by methods of reclamation and fertilization could be 
 made very productive. While the cost was quite low 
 at that figure, it was high to one who had no money. 
 The combined assets of both Washington and his able 
 assistant were not so much as one-tenth of the pro 
 posed amount. However the terms were made easy by 
 the offer of the property for one-half cash, and the 
 balance within twelve months. By making this ar 
 rangement, they might occupy the property at once. 
 Washington had had his eye on this tract for some 
 time, and was willing to accept the terms offered, if 
 only a little while could be allowed him to see what 
 could be done. He at once wrote to the treasurer of 
 the Hampton school to know if the amount of two 
 hundred and fifty dollars could be lent him. General 
 Marshall, the treasurer, promptly replied that of 
 course he could not use the funds of the school for 
 such a purpose, but that he would himself lend the 
 proposed amount on the assumption of the responsi 
 bility of the loan by Washington. 
 
 The kind offer was accepted, and without delay the 
 new owners took possession. The buildings were in 
 a dilapidated condition, not having been used for a 
 number of years, but, practical to the bottom, the 
 plucky Principal began to repair them for use as class 
 rooms the dining-room, the kitchen, the stall, and 
 the hen-house. Every student was set to work at 
 
SUPREME DIFFICULTIES 131 
 
 the expiration of school hours, the Principal leading 
 in the labor. This did not pleasantly impress the 
 country school-teachers the idea of manual service 
 and some of them protested that they had come to col 
 lege, and not to labor in repairing old houses. But 
 when they saw the vim with which the Principal him 
 self went at it, in sheer shame they followed. The 
 houses were duly repaired in the most economical way 
 possible, and gotten into shape for classrooms. 
 
 This was no sooner done than Washington went to 
 work to clear land for a crop to be planted dur 
 ing the ensuing spring. Here again the teachers ob 
 jected, but Washington had thrown off his coat, and 
 gone to work with such vigor that they forgot their 
 mistaken dignity and importance, and followed. The 
 uplands fast assumed an aspect of activity. The old 
 houses reclaimed gave to the situation a new look of 
 life, while the cleared surroundings suggested prog 
 ress. The fresh movements on the hill stirred the 
 attention of the town, and the locality was visited by 
 not a few to see the wonderful transformation that had 
 taken place. Suppressed criticism came to an end in 
 the town, and with prompt interest the people began 
 to applaud where before they had objected to the 
 location of a " darkey school " in their midst. This 
 was a matter of growing delight to Washington, who 
 well understood that while most of the whites were 
 friendly toward the project, there were others who 
 had misgivings, and were only waiting for something 
 unfavorable to occur so that they might be able to say, 
 " I told you so." Now that the opposite was taking 
 
132 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 place, the sentiment of the community was in a 
 friendly direction. Success always wins applause, 
 and effectually seals the lips of opposition. With 
 keenness of vision Washington saw this, and more, he 
 saw that he was going to win the favor of the com 
 munity, on which his venture in establishing a suc 
 cessful school so much depended. Without the f riend- 
 hip of the whites, he knew that success was impos 
 sible. Private opinion is weak, but public sentiment 
 is well-nigh omnipotent. 
 
 That sentiment was practically demonstrated when 
 Miss Davidson began to canvass the town for aid 
 with which to meet the first note. Every white friend 
 gave something, and the gift was accompanied with 
 words of assurance and of encouragement. This same 
 indefatigable assistant held festivals, suppers, and 
 divers entertainments, to which the whites contributed, 
 but most of their gifts were in the way of direct dona 
 tions. The news of the success thus far attained 
 spread through the colored population far and wide, 
 a thrill was created everywhere, the whites were talk 
 ing of the wonderful young colored man and his pluck 
 and progress, and students came in increased num 
 bers. Negroes took fresh courage, breathed more 
 freely, and were profuse in their varied contributions 
 to the advancing cause. A chord had been struck that 
 awoke new energy. The quiet demonstrations on that 
 upland outside Tuskegee set people to thinking, and 
 light came where before there was darkness. 
 
 The scene was pathetic in many of its aspects. 
 Every colored man and woman was eager to aid. 
 
SUPREME DIFFICULTIES 133 
 
 When unable to give money, they would bring as 
 offerings a division of what they called " plantation 
 truck " beans, peas, sugar cane, molasses, bedquilts, 
 ginger cakes, fresh meat anything that could be 
 turned into money. One donation Washington long 
 afterward recalled, and always with emotion. An 
 old, ignorant colored woman, in garments worn and 
 faded, but clean, sought her way to the Principal s 
 presence with a bandana handkerchief in her hand. 
 With upraised eyes, filmed by age and hard service, 
 she said : " Mr. Washin ton, God knows I don spent 
 de bes days of mer life in slav ry. Fs ig rant and 
 po, an all dat, but I knows what you an Miss Dav son 
 a tryin ter do fer de collud race, an whiles I ain t 
 got no money to gin yer, I don fotch dese six eggs 
 what Fs been savin , an I wants yer to put dese eggs 
 inter de edication of dese here boys and girls. Fs too 
 old merself ter git any good out n it, but I kin help a 
 leetle." 
 
 The Christmas holidays came, affording a new chap 
 ter to Washington s observation of the needs of his 
 people. An army of them from plantations near and 
 far, poured into the town, where in masses they 
 floated aimlessly along the streets, many in rags, and 
 the few who had small sums of money investing in 
 gewgaws, candy, snuff, tobacco, and liquor. Days of 
 pauper jollity were indulged in, and it was next to 
 impossible to employ any of them in any labor, for it 
 was " Chrismus times," and labor was therefore not 
 to be thought of. Not till New Year s Day came, was 
 work in order. But to the teachers, ambitious for the 
 
134 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 progress of the race, the scenes of drunkenness of 
 both sexes, were most shocking and discouraging. 
 Fireworks, firearms, and razors, all freely used by the 
 intoxicated Negroes, resulted in numerous casualties, 
 and a harvest of petty lawsuits was a logical after 
 math of the Christmas. Here was suggestive work 
 for the missionary teacher. 
 
 During the winter months of the first session, the 
 hours outside of school were devoted to the prepara 
 tion of the newly-cleared land for the approaching 
 crop. As plans developed, they would, in turn, create 
 others. Each successful development was closely fol 
 lowed up, and with increasing encouragement condi 
 tions were improving. While Washington was mak 
 ing Tuskegee, Tuskegee was making Washington. 
 All successful action is reaction. " Nothing suc 
 ceeds like success." By dint of unflagging effort and 
 rigid conservation the two hundred and fifty dol 
 lars lent by General Marshall was repaid within three 
 months, and the entire debt of five hundred dollars 
 was wiped out within five months seven months in 
 advance of maturity. To the efforts of Miss David 
 son, afterward Mrs. Washington, the cancellation of 
 these debts was mainly due. Together the two teach 
 ers planned, and the assistant executed. 
 
 The school was now in possession of valuable prop 
 erty, in a location destined to become one of the most 
 noted on the continent. Both races were cheered in so 
 far as they were in sufficient touch with that which 
 had been done, and confidence grew. Other lands 
 were later bought, till the tract after a number of 
 
SUPREME DIFFICULTIES 135 
 
 years was increased to more than 2,200 acres. An 
 old blind horse was given Washington with which to 
 cultivate his land, but after -the payment for the whole 
 had been made, there were no means with which to 
 buy implements; but someone gave him an old hoe, 
 and with this implement and the old blind horse he 
 made his first crop. Every pupil had to labor, or 
 leave, and the rule thus early adopted served as guide 
 to that which all other future applicants for admis 
 sion into the school were to expect. It served to over 
 set many false notions entertained by his people, but 
 this was what he wished. No one surpassed him in 
 the desire to see his people come into the possession of 
 wealth and learning, but the road to these lay not along 
 the surface of bare assumption. It must be substan 
 tially and fundamentally buttressed and ballasted. No 
 man of his race saw this with equal perception at that 
 time. Any other method was that of shoddiness and 
 hollowness. In the face of protest, and breasting op 
 position, he would proceed to the end. Tuskegee and 
 its achievements tell the story. While the students 
 were laboring at odd hours, they were meeting their 
 current expenses, but this was not all they were 
 learning the art of doing something that was worth 
 while. This was, and still is, the Tuskegee idea. He 
 taught the honorableness of labor as the highway to 
 independence. The idea is a capital one for any and 
 all to grasp. 
 
 The fact must not be overlooked that to Booker T. 
 Washington, the ex-slave, belongs the distinction of 
 establishing the first agricultural college in the South. 
 
136 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 Its principles were first demonstrated by him. Long 
 in advance of the now noted schools of that character, 
 one of the chief features of later educational methods, 
 he demonstrated on the barren soils of the uplands 
 lying outside Tuskegee how lands can be reclaimed and 
 brought to such a degree of productiveness as to be 
 made valuable. Now, in each state, there is a great 
 agricultural school doing just those things which 
 Washington had done many years before their estab 
 lishment, and done them as a necessity to a race 
 groping through the gloom for a means of relief. The 
 chief difference between the original school founded 
 by Washington and those later established in the states 
 is that the students actually labor at Tuskegee, and 
 learn by labor, whereas in the great state schools the 
 work done is mostly in " experimentation." With 
 Washington it was all along lines of experience rather 
 than of experiment. 
 
 Financially straitened, nothing was wasted at Tus 
 kegee. Every scrap of everything could be turned 
 to some useful end. The first aim was to produce 
 supplies for the school, but in doing this much else 
 was accomplished. Washington s economical manage 
 ment had already begun to arrest serious attention. 
 He was not only lifting a race out of the mire, he was 
 setting the pace of the redemption of the entire South 
 under the new order to which it was brought as a 
 result of the Civil War. He published no bulletins, 
 advertised no methods, offered no suggestions through 
 the public prints to others. He simply did things! 
 Nor was he seeking to do anything great, he was not 
 
SUPREME DIFFICULTIES 137 
 
 even aware that he was doing great things. He was 
 absorbed in the idea of getting his people fairly afoot 
 that they might stand erect and gain a place in Amer 
 ican life through merit. Simply and without demon 
 stration he wrought to the benefit of both races in all 
 that he achieved. 
 
CULTIVATION OF CORDIAL RELATIONS 
 
 WHATEVER be the underlying purpose or 
 motive of those who have seen fit to sub 
 ject Booker T. Washington to criticism and 
 animadversion, the great fact of his successful career 
 is now a matter of history. In trailing the successive 
 steps of his life even up to this time, it seems impos 
 sible not to commend that which was done. He was 
 not a noisy man, he was free from ostentation, sought 
 no special methods to bring himself into notice, and 
 when he spoke, whether to his own race or to the 
 whites, he was listened to with profound interest, 
 because he spoke words of wisdom that none could 
 gainsay. All heard him gladly, and only when his 
 language was subjected to microscopic sharp-sighted- 
 ness and tortured into meaning other than that which 
 he sought to convey, was there ever a question raised. 
 A few times, but only a few, were his utterances chal 
 lenged. He spoke both South and North, before all 
 classes of people, spoke openly on all subjects, often 
 trenching on grounds the most sensitive where there 
 were ears eager to detect the slightest insincerity to 
 the people of the entire nation; but never was anyone 
 able to force into his lips, even by the most tortuous 
 misinterpretation, anything unbecoming. Speaking 
 
 138 
 
CORDIAL RELATIONS 139 
 
 freely on so many occasions when he might have 
 slipped into unbecoming speech, it is amazing that he 
 did not at times fall into erroneous diction, but no 
 such instance is to be found. 
 
 The reason of this lies in the fact that,as a -man o 
 sincerity he always spoke the truth. While it may 
 have been, at times, distasteful to some, that was no 
 fault of his, if fault there was. The truth, and not 
 Washington, was responsible for itself. Whatever 
 else may be susceptible to answer, a fact never is. It 
 shines by its own light. If he won the confidence of 
 the white race, he did it with honest speech and an 
 honest Yiifc. He condoned nothing. He was not a 
 mendicant at the feet of offenders. He was careful, 
 and therein lay his wisdom. ,. 
 
 The policy pursued by Principal Washington in \ 
 studiously seeking to maintain cordial relations with 
 the white race evoked not a little adverse criticism, / 
 especially from members of his own race. To this 
 criticism there may be given two answers, one of 
 which is that the result is in vindication of his policy. 
 He overcame existing difficulties, and gave to the 
 colored people a propulsion forward far in excess 
 of anything done by any other of the race. Complaint 
 and criticism may be cheap, while that which he ac 
 complished was most difficult of performance. The 
 complaint lodged against Washington that he fawned 
 and cringed at the feet of the white race in order 
 
 to obtain financial aid in the prosecution of his work, 
 seems strained, both because of the character of the 
 contributors and the occasion of the gifts. The lib- 
 
 
140 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 eral donors to Tuskegee were not of the type of men 
 and women who could be wheedled or cajoled into 
 the gift of large sums of money, nor, again, would the 
 donations be made by them to a cause that did not 
 commend itself by undoubted merit. The reflection 
 is thus really diverted from Washington to the liberal 
 contributors to the work at Tuskegee. In addition, 
 the critics do Washington much unintentional honor 
 in assuming that by the exercise of a magical force 
 he could extort these liberal sums from the most cau 
 tious of givers. 
 
 If the basis of the adverse criticism and complaint 
 be that by compromise, adulation, or fawning Wash 
 ington was content to disregard the claims of a great 
 and needy race in the promotion of his personal am 
 bition as the founder of Tuskegee, then we have a 
 mere theory contradicted by an undeniable fact. That 
 Washington did succeed in establishing a great col 
 lege at Tuskegee the effects of which are immense to 
 his race, is beyond dispute. That he not only estab 
 lished the school, but that it is a standard of race ele 
 vation is beyond denial. That in accomplishing this, 
 he at the same time wrought a marvelous change in 
 race relationship is unquestioned. That any other 
 course than that adopted would have fallen short 
 of these results, seems clear. That which was actu 
 ally achieved phenomenally, and a theoretical com 
 plaint, are thus set over against each other. 
 
 Booker T. Washington was sometimes severely ar 
 raigned for not more openly espousing the cause of 
 his people in the South, with respect to much from 
 
CORDIAL RELATIONS 141 
 
 which they suffered socially, politically, and other 
 wise. The charge, sometimes implied, and again pro\ 
 nounced, is that because of the position in public 
 confidence attained by him, loyalty on his part de 
 manded that he be heard in a more emphatic way than 
 he was, and that his silence was due to sinister motives 
 of undue if not treacherous deference to the white 
 race. That this is as utterly void of foundation in. 
 fact as that already challenged can be clearly shown. 
 That injustice is done the colored race is a fact 
 lamentably true, and a matter of common knowledge. 
 That this injustice is often imposed for no other rea 
 son than that of race aversion, is also a fact. That, 
 politically, this injustice is manifested in the indis 
 criminate disfranchisement of the blacks, without re 
 spect to merit, is also true. That, though sought to 
 be ingeniously disguised in ambiguous phraseology and 
 vague terminology, the fact remains of the existence 
 of taxation without representation, and more besides 
 which is in utter disregard of the constitution, is a fact 
 that cannot be denied. That injustice and forceful 
 cruelty are officially unseen in instances not a few, is 
 beyond denial. None recognize these conditions more 
 promptly than do thousands of the best white repre 
 sentatives in the states of the South, and in tones not 
 to be mistaken, they have inveighed against them ; and 
 while these conditions are slackening in their virulence, 
 it is a reflection on American civilization that they 
 exist at all, and the more so that they should have had 
 a sway so wanton in the past; but the condition is 
 here, and must be met not as a. theory but as a fact. 
 
142 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 The problem created by a total disregard of the sanc 
 tity of official oath and by wanton murder under the 
 sham guise of chivalry, and the entertainment of 
 antipathy for a reason no higher than that of the 
 pigment of complexion, is one far in excess of an at 
 tempted shift of responsibility by dubbing the difficulty 
 a " race problem." If there be a race problem the 
 Negro is not responsible for it, for from the outset 
 his position has been of enforced passivity and victim 
 ization which must ultimately appeal to a higher than 
 human tribunal, and which must just as ultimately 
 result in retribution; but up to this time this appeal 
 seems to have been of slight avail. Eminent white 
 men have stood bravely on the floors of constitu 
 tional conventions in solemn protest of these wrongs, 
 and have sought to stay the drastic framing of funda 
 mental law by the wholesale and indiscriminate adop- 
 tipn of such absurd provisions as " grandfather 
 clauses," but have failed. , Men like these could do so 
 with immunity, but a colored man, no matter who he 
 be, could not. It boots absolutely nothing to say that 
 a procedure like this is unjust and should not be, and 
 that is precisely what was said by fair and fearless 
 men, but all the same, the constitutions were adopted. 
 That an august court of the nation, presided over by 
 an ex-Confederate officer, is, in the exercise of sheer 
 justice, squaring enactments like the ones alluded to in 
 the constitution, is a matter of some relief, but that is 
 only recent. 
 
 Denounce the whole system, if one may, it is never 
 theless the will of the majority, ancj that is the genius 
 
CORDIAL RELATIONS 143 
 
 of democracy. The present writer bows with servility 
 to no sentiment when he expresses the conviction, as 
 he has frequently done, that the line of the right of 
 enfranchisement should not be one of race or color, 
 but one of character. Civilized progress can proceed 
 on no other basis. It is an utterly indefensible pro 
 cedure to turn away a man of culture and of edu 
 cation, one of good repute and of property, because 
 his face is black or yellow, while an ignorant, un 
 worthy, and incompetent man is permitted to vote be 
 cause his face happens to be white. To make reply to 
 this that the one is a white man and the other a 
 Negro, is childish aversion too petty to be seriously 
 answered. 
 
 Dr. Washington was in a position to do man 
 things, and do them well, for the benefit of both races, 
 but he was not in a position to do everything that 
 needed to be done, nor was any other of either race. 
 He pushed his way to great success and nobly achieved 
 by many successive steps against odds the fiercest. 
 Had he even sought to comply with the implied re\ 
 quirements of his critics respecting the political con-\ 
 ditions of his people in the South, that which he was I 
 doing would have ignobly failed. The vials of wrath 
 would have been unstopped, and Booker T. Washing 
 ton would have been obliterated, and Tuskegee would 
 not be. If there be a commendation of his wisdom 
 for any one thing more than for another, it is that 
 he abstained from giving utterance to the things im- 
 pliedly demanded by his opponents. 
 
 The case would have been vastly different had he 
 
144 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 openly and avowedly endorsed all this procedure. 
 Then the charge of disloyalty might have been laid 
 at his doorsteps. Then might he have been charged 
 with treachery. But none of these things he did. 
 There never came a juncture when he did not do all 
 that was possible. To many things he had to submit 
 in silence because at the time silence was golden. He 
 was on the ground, was a Southern man, knew South 
 ern sentiment from close observation and study, was 
 a profound student of the most minute of current 
 affairs, loved his race, as his career shows, and deduced 
 his conclusions as the man of wisdom that he was. 
 
 That he was not indifferent to certain junctures 
 which here and there arose was illustrated by his con 
 duct when into the constitution of Alabama, the state 
 of his adoption, there was incorporated the " grand 
 father clause " which many of the ablest elements of 
 the convention resisted, and afterward, in a canvass of 
 the state, sought to defeat, Washington said that the 
 high standard of citizenship erected for the attainment 
 of the Negro should incite him to fresher endeavor to 
 attain to it, and should not occasion undue discourage 
 ment. This was far from servile acquiescence in the 
 measure, and far removed from treachery. He knew 
 the situation, and would not sacrifice the possibility 
 of doing great good in many ways, by unwisely and 
 even uselessly inveighing against the impossible. He 
 was too wise a man for that. 
 
 Yet in total disregard of all the conditions involved, 
 Washington was made a target of unjustifiable criti 
 cism because he did not unwisely pronounce himself 
 
CORDIAL RELATIONS 145 
 
 openly against these things which could have resulted 
 not only in failure of attempt, but which would have 
 eventuated in undoing his superior work. There are 
 some reformations and corrections of abuses for which 
 the world will have to wait. There are lagging con 
 ditions which need to be brought up abreast of those 
 now in advance. The condition already described is 
 one of them. To seek to pluck the fruit before it is 
 ripe is to do no one good. By his reserved silence on 
 some things, Booker T. Washington was neither cow 
 ardly nor sycophantic, but he was wise and level 
 headed. 
 
 Take the matter of lynching. If he had denounceoN 
 it as a recrudescence of savagery, he would have been 1 
 correct. Had he designated it as murder, he would/ 
 have done no more than to give expression to that 
 which is contained in the statutes of the codes of both 
 human and divine origin, but it would possibly have 
 cost him his life. He kept a faithful record of the \ 
 number and character of the outbreaks of violence 
 called lynchings, and at the end of every year would 
 publish them to the world, thus educating public sen 
 timent. It may be claimed that this was a cold pro 
 cedure, but what more could he do? There was no 
 possible chance of activity or of interference on his 
 part at the time of the commission of these crimes. 
 
 So, throughout his career, from the outset to the close, 
 Dr. Washington sought to preserve the best possible 
 relations between the two races living in close neigh 
 borly touch, and so taught his people. To him it was a 
 study of the best and most effectual means of doing 
 
146 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 * 
 
 this. More than once the effort was made to show 
 that he sold the rights and principles of his people for 
 a mess of pottage, when, in truth, all his life lay 
 in the other direction. He never lost an opportunity 
 to urge a plea in their behalf, nor was there ever ces- 
 ition of effort to improve their condition. Had he 
 adopted the policy urged by those who could so easily 
 criticise, and who insisted that he should do so in 
 virtue of his opportunity, his career would have ended, 
 and that which the race so munificently reaped in con 
 sequence of his life, would have been lost. The in 
 stance was never known of his being before white 
 audiences when he did not present with telling effect 
 the strongest pleas in behalf of his people. This was 
 sometimes done good-humoredly and with not a little 
 sly irony, but it would prevail when other methods 
 
 r would fail. Had he, instead, been violent, or even 
 offensive, he would have cut short his career, obliter 
 ated his influence, and undone that already achieved. 
 His method of emphasizing the prevailing disparage 
 ment and inequality of advantage between the two 
 races, was illustrated in an address before a crowded 
 house, composed of members of both races, in Atlanta, 
 several years before his death. 
 
 The largest theater in the city had been procured, 
 and both races were interested in his visit, which was 
 extensively advertised. In the course of his remarks 
 on that occasion, he alluded to the struggles and dis 
 advantages of his people, in the race for education. 
 Taking up the report of the superintendent of educa 
 tion of Georgio, he quoted the figures of the amount 
 
CORDIAL RELATIONS 147 
 
 appropriated to the industrial education of the whites, 
 and in contrast read out the amount given to the 
 colored schools, an amount much less. With a char 
 acteristic smile he laid the copy of the report down 
 and naively said that he knew his race was rapidly 
 increasing in importance, but did not before know that 
 it had so distanced the white race that it required so 
 much more to sustain the white schools than the 
 colored ones ! The bit of irony was so keen and the 
 insinuation so clever that it evoked a roar of laughter 
 and round after round of applause in which both races 
 equally joined. It amused while it cut like a rapierN 
 and had a most telling effect. That hit of genuine J 
 wit and of sound wisdom was widely quoted and be- I 
 came an effective agent of good. / 
 
 He surrendered nothing, gave up no conviction, but 
 was ever studious of ways and means for the promo 
 tion of the interests of his people. He was his own 
 counselor as to huw this should be done. That he 
 may at times have erred, is admitted. It would have 
 been extraordinary had he not, but when the multi 
 plicity of situations into which he was brought is 
 understood, and the aggregate of the results is had, 
 his errors appear negligible in contrast with his ex 
 traordinary success. Like the lithe sapling of his own 
 Southern forests, he bent to the storm while it raged, 
 and when it was spent, he was still standing upright, 
 while stubborn trunks, in attempting to withstand its 
 fury, fell By methods of his own devisement he was 
 constantly injecting important lessons into the situa 
 tion. His people, from the beginning at Tuskegee, 
 
148 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 yes, as far back as Hampton, were the supreme concern 
 of his life. He often asserted before white audiences 
 that he was proud of being a Negro, and he besought 
 his people to cultivate race loyalty and pride, not vain- 
 gloriousness, and to make the race, though now back 
 ward and young, one of which every member could 
 be proud. By means like these he commended his 
 people to the other race, disarmed suspicion and criti 
 cism, and won his way to the esteem of the best of the 
 white race. He taught the interdependence of the two 
 peoples living in immediate contact, and that the 
 merits or demerits of the one would react on the 
 other. 
 
 Illustrations of the effect of a policy like this were 
 abundant, even, in the beginning of the history of 
 Tuskegee Institute. As intensity of interest increased, 
 the young blacks continued to come to Tuskegee, so 
 that it was evident that a large new building was 
 necessary the first to be erected. As before, no 
 visible means were at his command, not a cent, and 
 there was no substantial prospect of obtaining the 
 necessary quarters. However the new building be 
 came a topic of general conversation, not only among 
 the colored people, but among the whites as well, and 
 the discussion made it popular. The cramped quarters 
 and meager means of instruction at his command be 
 gat sympathy in pace with the growth of public in 
 terest. The necessity had become extreme, and much 
 to his surprise, he was visited by a prominent white 
 citizen who owned a mill some miles away, who pro 
 posed to the heroic teacher that he would haul all the 
 
CORDIAL RELATIONS 149 
 
 lumber needed for the new building, place it on the 
 ground, and give him his own time in which to pay 
 for it. While the Principal expressed his gratitude 
 for an offer so generous, he frankly told the mill man 
 that he had no means at command, and no prospect 
 of any, and doubted the wisdom of assuming a risk so 
 great. But the mill owner insisted on doing it, and 
 within a few days the lumber was stacked on the 
 ground. 
 
 This meant a revival of the suspended interest on 
 the part of the collectors and solicitors of the school. 
 Dr. Washington and his able assistant, Miss David 
 son, at once began a campaign of activity to raise the 
 required amount. A public meeting of the colored 
 people was held in behalf of the movement, to which 
 a lively impulse was given by a Negro laborer from 
 the country, who happened to be present; when the 
 appeal was made he arose and contributed two large 
 hogs to aid in the erection of the proposed building, 
 and in illiterate eloquence, pleaded with his people to 
 unite in sacrifice and devotion for the successful erec 
 tion of the first building. The effect was electrical 
 and the result most beneficial to the Negroes resid 
 ing in that region. This incident is mentioned in 
 order to indicate the trifling means at the command of 
 Washington at a critical juncture of the school, and 
 to show the influence which he was acquiring over his 
 people. 
 
 Little by little money was collected and husbanded 
 by Dr. Washington and his assistant, and the walls of 
 the new building began to rise. It is due to the liberal 
 
150 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 gifts of Mr. A. H. Porter, of Brooklyn, New York, 
 that requisite funds were made available for the com 
 pletion of this much-needed edifice. In recognition 
 of the timely benefaction, the building which still 
 stands as a monument to his liberality, bears the name 
 of Porter Hall. 
 
 The straits to which Washington was frequently 
 subjected were illustrated in connection with the erec 
 tion of this first building. His people had an unen 
 viable reputation of incurring debts with a disposition 
 to ignore them. Washington found this to be one of 
 the chief sources of the existing troubles between the 
 races. He resolved by a course of promptness in 
 meeting his obligations to demonstrate to the whites 
 how honest a Negro may be, and thus set an example 
 worthy of emulation by his own people. It so hap 
 pened that a note for $400 was due on a given day, 
 and when it was made, there was every indication of 
 his ability to meet it. The day preceding that on 
 which the note was to be met, came, and Washington 
 had not a cent. To the young man it was an occa 
 sion of agony. Not only would his reputation be in 
 volved by his failure to meet his promise, but his 
 example to his people would vanish. The night before 
 the day of the maturity of the note was one of sleep 
 lessness. Morning came, and there was no prospect 
 of his ability to take up the note. The mail from the 
 east reached the institute at ten in the morning, and 
 in the mass of letters received was one from his in 
 defatigable assistant, Miss Davidson, containing a 
 check for just $400! More than once in his heroic 
 
CORDIAL RELATIONS 151 
 
 struggles were his faith and courage thus signally re 
 warded. 
 
 In the erection of this new building Washington 
 continued to put into execution his well-defined plan 
 of accomplishing a double result by having the stu 
 dents perform the labor. By building this hall they 
 would be able to meet their personal expenses while 
 erecting the structure which they so much needed. 
 The reluctance of some of the colored teachers from 
 the country to engage in manual service, was the more 
 pronounced because they had long ago divorced them 
 selves from such in the rural regions whence they came 
 and had betaken themselves to the dignified pursuit of 
 teaching. To have it understood at home that a young 
 colored teacher had engaged them in manual labor, 
 under the guise of a college course, was more than 
 had been bargained for. But Washington had 
 tact in demonstrating the wisdom of his policy with 
 out much ado, and the work went on. Besides thev 
 results already named, this course on the part of Wash- \ 
 ington had the direct effect of disabusing the minds 
 of the whites of the superficiality and artificiality of / 
 Negro education. He banished prejudice while de- / 
 veloping the minds and characters of his people. / 
 
A 
 
 XI 
 
 THE INTEREST DEEPENS 
 
 GENERAL survey of the situation in the 
 South at this period will serve to show the 
 growing success of Booker T. Washington in 
 his novel undertaking, under conditions so embarrass 
 ing. By the advent of 1882, a lull had come in the 
 disorder which had so long reigned in the states of 
 the South. In recognition of the now clearly inevi 
 table, the people had begun to discuss the matter of 
 " accepting the situation," which was only another 
 way of saying that they would set themselves to the 
 work of adjustment to new conditions. A new gen- 
 \ eration was coming to manhood and to the assump- 
 l tion of the responsibility of public affairs, and the 
 \ disposition to face things squarely was rapidly ob 
 taining. Tjit idea of seeking to bring the immigrant 
 < from southern Europe as a laborer was disappearing, 
 \ and the black man was coming to be recognized as 
 x the only one who was adapted to Southern sentiment 
 and to the tillage of Southern soils. 
 
 In some instances colored men were beginning to 
 demonstrate their force by the purchase of land and 
 by successful tillage. The colored man was fast gain 
 ing self-reliance. The former slave was not only buy- 
 
 152 
 
THE INTEREST DEEPENS 153 
 
 V 
 
 ing land on terms satisfactory both to himself and the 
 original owner, but he was building his homes, stock 
 ing his farms, establishing his churches and schools, 
 and tilling the land with increasing intelligence. A \ 
 few educated colored ministers began to appear here 
 and there, in place of the noisy and frantic class whose 
 emotionalism had too long prevailed as a dominant 
 feature of worship, while Tuskegee, as a lighthouse 
 in a dark and stormy sea, lent increasing relief to the / 
 scene. 
 
 Political agitation was still rampant, there had 
 come on the scene a new class of politicians. The 
 Southern politician prior to the war had usually been 
 of the highest type of society, a gentleman of leisure, 
 to whom politics was somewhat of a diversion in the 
 humdrum of life, but nevertheless, from pride if from 
 no higher motive, an efficient officer. That class, once 
 the wealthiest, was now more concerned about a liveli 
 hood and the rehabilitation of the country, while the" 
 man of lesser note and of much less force, had come to 
 the front as a seeker of political honor. He was gen 
 erally intent on popularity, no matter at what cost, 
 and while worthy men were still retained as repre 
 sentatives of the people, those of the secondary class 
 predominated. Here was a turning-point in the po 
 litical dominance of the South in the councils of the 
 nation. 
 
 This lesser class found an apt slogan in the race 
 question, and it was resounded from every quarter, 
 to the detriment of the Negro. He was the usual text 
 and topic of the ordinary stump orator. The topic was 
 
154 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 a superficial one and therefore well adapted to his 
 mentality, hence he used it with not a little vocifera 
 tion. It was through this means that not a few cheap 
 men found their way into position, some coming to 
 occupy the highest places. Nor is the end yet with 
 some of that class. 
 
 Out of the conditions of that period grew a situa 
 tion most lamentable. The prevailing sentiment fa 
 vored nullifying the vote of the Negro, by any means 
 suggested, and thus it was popular, in making the 
 returns of a given election, to count the Negro out. 
 The enfranchisement of the ignorant blacks was an 
 undoubted political blunder, fully as detrimental to 
 the colored race as to the white, till the colored man 
 ^ould come to know the significance of the ballot. 
 Yet the wholesale demoralization of young white men 
 who prided themselves on stealing votes and stuffing 
 ballot-boxes, brought results from which the South is 
 still suffering. If there was no logical justification in 
 the vote being placed in incompetent hands, equally 
 there was none in the wholesale demoralization then 
 overlooked and indirectly encouraged. 
 
 These conditions are recalled to keep within sight 
 of the situation at that time. These facts, however 
 unpleasant now in their retrospection, represent the 
 strenuous times in the South at that period. 
 
 From these facts may be seen the difficulty en 
 countered by a young man of the despised race who, 
 while not openly resisting this condition, was seeking 
 to avert the results, so far as he might, from his 
 own disadvantaged people. One of the worst features 
 
THE INTEREST DEEPENS 155 
 
 was the example set by the dominant race. The 
 colored man, accused of being a servile imitator, un 
 fortunately imitated the worst examples quite as much 
 as the best. To turn their eyes away from scenes like 
 these was the task of the young colored reformer at 
 Tuskegee. To bring cheer in the gloom of despond 
 ency, is not easy for any man, and especially 
 formidable was it to a young Negro. Yet, in spite of 
 the worst conditions, he kept heart and labored un 
 ceasingly on. Had it been possible at a period like 
 this for some towering white leader to rise, and with 
 conciliatory spirit and by the pointing of the unerring 
 finger toward the right, direct both races to different 
 courses, the situation in the South to-day would be 
 much improved. To say that it was impossible, by 
 any means, to bring about a change for the better, 
 was concretely answered at Tuskegee. 
 
 Amid all these conditions, Washington acted with 
 consummate wisdom and extraordinary foresight. 
 At this distance he glitters like a star in the darkness 
 of that time. No matter what took place, he stood 
 with the steadfastness of a Roman sentinel, and con 
 tinued his fundamental work for his race. He drilled 
 a pioneer army which would one day be able to demon 
 strate to the world the capability of his people and 
 demonstrate it by actual deed. To him this was 
 infinitely better than to go on the stump and with 
 ravings and pleadings uselessly spend his force by 
 word of mouth. An attempt of that kind would have 
 fallen on leaden ears and enraged sentiment. Dis 
 counted as he may have been at the time by some, 
 
156 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 his wisdom stands vindicated through the vista of 
 years. 
 
 No thoughtful man will say, at this distant day, 
 that this young teacher, trainer, leader, and reformer 
 was not wiser than his generation. No one will now 
 assert that he did not with prophetic and philosophic 
 ken recognize that actual worth would stand appraised, 
 when duly demonstrated by his people, while theory 
 would take to itself a thousand wings and fly away. 
 Who does not recognize the wisdom that he displayed 
 when he insisted that merit would force its own recog 
 nition and appreciation, though it be wrapped in a 
 dark skin? Now that the questions of more than 
 three decades ago can be approached fairly free from 
 partisan bias, historic appraisal may be awarded the 
 conspicuous actors in that disturbed drama. Now that 
 Booker T. Washington has wrought and gone, and the 
 tomb seals in silence his tongue, and his spirit of con 
 ciliation has passed, let the truth in its fullness be 
 spoken without reservation, and in no uncertain way. 
 
 Returning to his cherished project at Tuskegee, we 
 follow for the time the successive steps of its develop 
 ment. He enters on his second year. He is yet gen 
 erally unknown save to a few friends here and there 
 about the North to whom Miss Davidson has been 
 able so to present the situation at the South and espe 
 cially at Tuskegee, as to enlist slight sympathy. 
 Weary and footsore she had tramped the streets of 
 different cities, told the story of struggle and sacri 
 fice both of the builders of the school and of those 
 who came to learn, and succeeded now and then in 
 
THE INTEREST DEEPENS 157 
 
 procuring a small amount to go at once into the work. 
 The uncouth boys and girls, together with those of 
 more mature years, continued to go to Tuskegee from 
 the plantations, increasing all along the embarrassment 
 of the founder, and thus the struggle went on. 
 
 During the second year of the school there was 
 apparent one fact which gave great encouragement to 
 the Principal, and that was the growing loyalty of 
 these rude students to the cause which could hardly 
 as yet be called a school. There was a recognition 
 of their identity with the school. It had now become 
 their school. The labor expended by them in making 
 it had enlisted their interest, and had the moral effect 
 of identifying each boy and girl, no matter how 
 crude at first, with every interest there fostered. Not 
 the slightest abuse of the property, not even deface 
 ment of the rude walls, was tolerated by these black 
 youths who found pleasure in alluding to " our build 
 ings " and " our school." Loyalty to the location was 
 already budding, much to the gratification of the 
 young Principal. With acute observation he noted the 
 germination of sentiment like this, and took fresh 
 courage. 
 
 The first crop gathered from the soil adjacent to 
 the premises was not large, but it was exceedingly 
 helpful in the replenishment of the food supplies, 
 while the moral worth of the labor to the pupils was 
 of even more profit. Washington was not slow to 
 learn that in the latitude of Tuskegee, vegetables of 
 some kind would grow any month in the year, and 
 having abundant land he would turn it to profitable 
 
158 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 account. While he was making men and women of 
 the rough material which came to him from the planta 
 tions, he was also making sturdy character by train 
 ing them in the practical arts. In this training lay 
 the redemption of his people. 
 
 On the part of Washington there was a homely 
 insistence on industrial expansion. On the land bought 
 was an abundance of brick clay, and be undertook the 
 manufacture of bricks, though ignorant of the art. 
 He tried twice, and failed. The third attempt would 
 have succeeded, but the kiln collapsed just before the 
 bricks were fully burned. Each effort was attended 
 by increasing signs of rebellion on the part of the 
 students. Brick-making was severe drudgery, and 
 for three successive times their labor had come to 
 naught. Some were disposed to quit outright and 
 return home. Others wrote home in complaint of the 
 drudgery, and the Principal was taken to sharp ac 
 count for his treatment of boys and girls who were 
 sent to college, and not to slavish labor. Irate parents 
 notified him that their children were no longer slaves 
 and were sent to Tuskegee to study. He replied in 
 consolatory and encouraging terms which satisfied 
 some, but not all. If a student withdrew, he indicated 
 by thus doing that he was not of the class that Wash 
 ington wished, and his place was soon filled by another 
 who would conform to the regulations. 
 
 After some delay in the matter of brick-making, 
 Washington resolved to make still another effort. 
 Not only did the students protest, but some of the 
 teachers joined in objecting to a fourth attempt as 
 
THE INTEREST DEEPENS 159 
 
 futile, claiming it had been demonstrated that brick- 
 making could not be done at Tuskegee. But assum 
 ing the responsibility, Washington determined again 
 to try. His money had given out, and he was sorely 
 pressed for just a few dollars with which to make 
 another experiment. Going to Montgomery, he found 
 that he could pawn his watch for fifteen dollars, an 
 amount sufficient for the fourth experiment. With 
 this amount he again tried, and was vindicated in his 
 judgment by the success of the effort and now he had 
 bricks to sell. The watch was unredeemed and there 
 fore lost to him, but he had the bricks and had found 
 the means of making them. White purchasers of his 
 product would come on the ground to buy, and would 
 thereby become acquainted with his general plan, and 
 thus a new point of contact would be gained. Be 
 sides the market value of the bricks, skill and labor 
 had been given the students, and means had been sup 
 plied for the erection of buildings for the school. Not 
 a few of his young men seeing the profit in brick- 
 making became themselves proficient in the art, and, 
 having mastered it, went into different parts of the 
 country and established profitable plants of their own. 
 It came to pass that when it was known that these 
 manufacturers of bricks were from Tuskegee, that 
 was a sufficient guarantee of the value of the product. 
 The points of practical contact with the outlying world 
 were thus multiplying, and the wholesome influence of 
 Tuskegee was increasing. 
 
 Though still quite young, crude, and weak, Tus 
 kegee Institute was now fairly on its feet. Slight as 
 
160 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 the progress had been up to this time it had served the 
 valuable purpose of showing what could be done. The 
 success was at least encouragingly suggestive. The 
 less worthy young people shunned the school because 
 of the labor required, but others sought it as a 
 means of equipment. This meant better and more 
 select students who would contribute to the increased 
 order of the school, and who, in going out from it, 
 would illustrate the type of work done. The officials 
 of Hampton on learning of the growing success of 
 Washington came one after another to note his prog 
 ress, actuated by the double motive of witnessing the 
 expansion of the industrial idea there inculcated, and 
 of seeing the success of one of their own students. 
 
 This was an additional incentive to the enterprising 
 Principal and a wider advertisement of Tuskegee. 
 Success was begetting success. There was no pre 
 scribed boundary in the mind of Washington as to the 
 future of the school. His plan was to extend the limits 
 of the crafts and industries to the utmost possible. 
 No sooner was one well established than he would 
 address himself to another. The students must manu 
 facture everything on the ground and construct every 
 thing to be used. Bricks would mean additional 
 buildings, and buildings would mean devotion to some 
 industry, and the industry would come to mean inde 
 pendence in the race of life. From the beginning 
 Tuskegee became a hive of industry in books and in 
 handicraft. 
 
 The close of the second session found the new build 
 ing still unfinished. For more than a year it had been 
 
THE INTEREST DEEPENS 161 
 
 creeping up by slow stages as money was available to 
 enable the work to go on, and as the students at odd 
 times could devote to its completion a few spare hours. 
 It was at this time that the Principal himself decided 
 to go North in search of possible means with which to 
 carry the building to completion. Heretofore his 
 active and able assistant had done the soliciting, but 
 now both would go, and by their combined efforts 
 make a supreme attempt to procure funds sufficient to 
 finish the much-needed structure. Washington was 
 yet unknown, was young, being only twenty-six, and 
 was naturally timid in pressing his claims. To be 
 able so to present his cause as he himself knew it to 
 be, was a matter of grave concern to the inexperi 
 enced solicitor for the needed aid. In his self-distrust 
 he thought to procure a recommendation from a friend 
 of his in New York who was connected with a mis 
 sionary organization. He supposed the privilege of 
 aiding a colored friend who was doing a work so 
 commendable, would afford delight to the official of 
 the missionary society, but to the utter disappoint 
 ment of Washington the supposed friend not only 
 declined to indorse the young Principal by giving him 
 a letter, but otherwise discouraged him and advised 
 him to return to Tuskegee at once, make the most of 
 that within reach, and never again undertake to annoy 
 Northern people about money for colored schools. 
 Washington listened in silence, interposing not the 
 least objection to all this gratuitous advice, and then 
 went his way as he originally intended. He relied on 
 the worthiness of his cause, and while he was rewarded 
 
162 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 with no considerable amount, he was able to make 
 some additions to the growing building. 
 
 After the opening of the following session, Wash 
 ington resolved to celebrate his first thanksgiving at 
 Tuskegee in the chapel of the new but still incom 
 plete Porter Hall. Rev. R. C. Bedford, a white min 
 ister of Wisconsin, who was the pastor of the colored 
 Congregational church at Montgomery, was invited 
 to conduct the exercises on Thanksgiving day. The 
 announcement that services were to be held in the new 
 building was heralded through the country, accom 
 panied by a cordial invitation to all to attend, and 
 the result was an overflowing congregation. Till this 
 time the colored people had never observed Thanks 
 giving, and many attended to learn its meaning. In 
 terest in the school was deepened, the enthusiasm of 
 the colored people increased, and some substantial 
 aid was realized as the result of this first Thanksgiving 
 service in the new building. To Washington it was 
 a gratification that his white friends at Tuskegee 
 shared in the pleasure of the first occupation of 
 Porter Hall. 
 
 Among the numerous perplexities encountered at 
 this time by the ambitious Principal was that of the 
 best disposal of the pupils of both sexes who were 
 coming in increasing numbers to attend the school. 
 Up to this time, these unripe boys and girls who came 
 from the plantations, were forced to find board where 
 they might, and were scattered here and there about 
 the community without oversight, all of which was 
 suggestive of demoralization. Would not a condition 
 
THE INTEREST DEEPENS 163 
 
 like this effectually defeat the scheme in the fertile 
 mind of the Principal by immorality to which both 
 sexes would be exposed ? To have the students under 
 his immediate eye was his desire, and means must be 
 found for the consummation of this much-desired end. 
 He would make of the new building a dormitory as 
 far as his means would justify, but how about the 
 boarding? He conceived the plan of excavating the 
 foundation, making a basement, and using this for 
 cooking and dining purposes. Again enlisting the 
 muscular energy of the students, the cellar was dug, 
 and while in its rough condition it more nearly re 
 sembled a dungeon than the cooking and eating de 
 partment of a school, still it was the best that could, 
 at the time, be done. Yet there was still the diffi 
 culty of procuring stoves, tables, and table-ware even 
 of the plainest and most inexpensive kind. The stu 
 dents could construct rough tables, use improvised 
 stools and boxes for seats, and as for the cooking, 
 that had to be done on the outside on blazing fires 
 and coals. Spoons, knives, and forks were not to 
 be had except in limited quantity, and these implements 
 would have to be passed from student to student, 
 while at table. While this did not conduce to the 
 development of refinement, it had to serve the present 
 purpose. The test was a severe one both to the Prin 
 cipal and to the students, but the man in the lead felt 
 sure of ultimate success. 
 
 While at this period the outlook was a gloomy one, 
 there was no thought of failure on the part of Wash 
 ington. He had gleaned all possible, it would seem, 
 
164 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 from friends in the North, and while he had made 
 friends of the whites of the community, they were 
 still poor, and could aid only slightly. The local 
 merchants were willing and glad to give credit to 
 Washington, and urged him to venture, and rely on 
 the future for means to meet his obligations, but he 
 was too wise to go farther than the prospect would 
 justify, and kindly declined the proffered credit. Not 
 only was his reputation at stake, but that of his people, 
 who were altogether too ready to avail themselves 
 of any credit possible, and thus become the victims of 
 the merchant. For the sake of example, if for noth 
 ing else, he would not be unduly enticed to purchase. 
 At numerous junctures in his complicated work the 
 temptation was great to overstride in the incurrence 
 of risk, and many times a single blunder on his part 
 would have brought down in a common crash of ruin 
 the unfinished fabric, but the brake of caution was 
 always on the wheel of progress, and he knew just 
 how far to venture. Experience and endowed wis 
 dom were the elements that made the brake. He could 
 not now afford to fail, for on his work reposed the suc 
 cess of millions. 
 
 Encompassed by difficulty of every sort Washing 
 ton was still optimistic. He believed that there was 
 a way out of every difficulty. He counted the cost 
 of each contemplated stride, set the difficulty over 
 against the advantage, and acted on the judgment of 
 the occasion. He was many times effectually stalled, 
 but he made the most possible out of the present, and 
 still hoped for the future. The period immediately 
 
THE INTEREST DEEPENS 165 
 
 under review was the most testing time in the experi 
 ence of the young man. He was standing on the brink, 
 with everything, apparently, against him, yet the fact 
 that he stood and wrestled with giant difficulties 
 showed him to be the man that he was. Without a 
 cent of money, with so many dependent on him, with 
 the difficulties thick about him, without ability to see 
 an inch ahead, he still stood, exhibiting a moral courage 
 rarely witnessed. 
 
XII 
 STILL ACHIEVING, STILL PURSUING 
 
 THOUGH Booker T. Washington had been at 
 Tuskegee but little more than two years, he 
 had established a character second to that of 
 no one in the community. His work was the subject 
 of general comment. He was discussed in numerous 
 circles of both races, and the unanimous conclusion 
 was that he was a remarkable young man. The third 
 year came and went with increased elevation in public 
 esteem. 
 
 Much as he had done in the general improvement 
 of the grounds and the school, he had accomplished 
 far more by his moral influence. He had extended the 
 scope of his industries, the number of attendants had 
 greatly increased, he had successfully met each emer 
 gency as it arose, but in the exercise of a silent influ 
 ence he had done more. He had brought heart and 
 fresh hope to his people, had infused both inspira 
 tion and aspiration, had revealed the possibility and 
 capability of his race, had erected a standard of char 
 acter and of success, had become an object lesson to 
 a race in despair, had elicited energy and force where 
 he found only apathy, had become a mediator of peace 
 and good-will between the races at a time when pas 
 sion was the fiercest, had arrested attention when no 
 one of different temperament could have done so, had 
 
 166 
 
STILL ACHIEVING, STILL PURSUING 167 
 
 "v 
 
 won increased esteem for himself and his people at 
 a period when it would have seemed impossible, and 
 nad compelled recognition of Negro merit on the part 
 of even the most prejudiced. 
 
 One of the most striking evidences of the greatness 
 of Washington s character was that he kept his own 
 counsel. He had few confidential matters to communi 
 cate. Others would talk to him about still others, but 
 he was careful to be silent. He discouraged gossip 
 amc ng his people. Not a few times was he whisper- 
 ingly approached with bits of confidential tidings 
 about certain white men, in order that he might be on 
 his gt. ird against them ; while he listened, he answered 
 not a yord. Some sought to advise him how to vote, 
 and to impress on him the importance of his taking 
 a prominent lead in certain movements, but he would 
 never coiLtnit himself to anyone, either with respect 
 to his senttnents or his purpose. He was grave!] 
 informed more than once that if he wished to know 
 how to vote, he could watch the whites, and always 
 cast, his vote the other way. This was given him as 
 the controlling rule in the politics of his race. But 
 no one was able to quote him concerning any matter 
 of doubtful question. Indeed he was sometimes ac 
 cused of doing certain things of which he was entirely 
 innocent, yet he seldom sought to correct their in 
 accuracy. 
 
 When, in later years, there was much ado over the 
 rumor of Washington s having dined with President 
 Roosevelt, he did not undertake to correct the state 
 ments which widely obtained throughout the press of 
 
168 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 the country, and are still quoted as facts. He stated 
 to an intimate friend at the time that there was noth 
 ing in it but exaggeration by some omnivorous cor 
 respondent at Washington who in his desire to make 
 a " scoop/ had spread the report. The occasion 
 which gave rise to the rumor was a very trifling inci 
 dent. Mr. Washington had occasion to see the Presi 
 dent on some matters relating to the school, and Mr. 
 Roosevelt was too busy at the time of his call to give 
 him the required attention, so he asked him to return 
 to his office at noon when he would be privately 1 anch- 
 ing, saying that then he would be glad to go over the 
 matter with him. Washington came at th ; time 
 named, and while the conversation was in progress 
 the president s luncheon was brought to his office on 
 a large waiter. Remarking that there was sufficient 
 for both, Mr. Roosevelt offered to shar^ with his 
 caller, who could not have declined and be polite. 
 While they went through the business they ate the 
 limited luncheon, after which Mr. Washington left. 
 Both the president and Mr. Washington under 
 went a severe fire of criticism because of the reported 
 formal " dining " at the White House, but neither 
 thought it worth while to explain to the public what 
 actually took place. Why did not Washington publish 
 the facts as they were? To have done so would have 
 raised a storm of controversy, and invectives would 
 have flown like bullets in battle. Once the storm was 
 started it would have passed beyond control. It was 
 Washington s policy never to be betrayed into news 
 paper controversy. Like other things conjured up 
 
STILL ACHIEVING, STILL PURSUING 169 
 
 against him, he met this report with silence and suf 
 fered the sensation to spend itself. 
 
 Each successive step taken at Tuskegee, though 
 logically necessary, involved new difficulty and em 
 barrassment, due to the lack of means. Like all 
 other schools of consequence, that at Tuskegee was a 
 spender of money. No school of worth can exist save 
 as a consumer of means. It gives not back dollar for 
 dollar, in kind, but is a creator of channels, not for 
 money alone but for the things that make for social 
 advancement and financial prosperity. Means from 
 some source had to be created by Booker Washington 
 in response to the demands of advancement. The 
 opening of the modest and unpretentious boarding 
 department at Tuskegee Institute was noised far and 
 wide, and in greater numbers the pupils came trooping 
 in. For all these not only must food be provided but 
 beds also. With all his resources exhausted with his 
 exhausted plans, difficulty and embarrassment in 
 creased. In one direction was success, in another was 
 seeming failure. The pressure of the burden was 
 great. 
 
 Filled to overrunning as the humble boarding de 
 partment was, the Principal was compelled to have 
 recourse to renting some neighboring shanties for a 
 large number of boys. These were bare rooms, the 
 walls abounding in open cracks, and the winter nights 
 were bitterly cold. The Principal was doing his best, 
 and he so impressed the students. To a spirit of less 
 nerve this would have been an occasion of despair, 
 but Washington held on, planned on, and labored on. 
 
170 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 In the midst of these scenes, he would sometimes 
 wake at night and lie listening to the hoarse roar of 
 the wintry winds without, and from sympathy for the 
 boys in the bleak cabins, he would arise, dress, and go 
 to the wretched places. There he would sometimes 
 find a number so grouped over a small fire as to be 
 able to use a common blanket stretched around all, 
 and held tightly by those at each end of the semi 
 circle. He would often sit down with them, offer 
 what cheer he could, and assure them that so soon 
 as conditions could be made better, the suffering stu 
 dents should have the benefit of them. Thus it was 
 that he retained the confidence of the students, none 
 of whom, either while at Tuskegee or after leaving 
 there, was ever heard to utter aught against the sym 
 pathetic Principal. The heroism shown by these black 
 boys from the plantation might have been displayed by 
 superior beings, but heroism was never more sublime 
 than here. 
 
 As has already been said, this was the most severe 
 testing-time in Washington s life. The conditions 
 were sufficient to appall anyone. The temptation was 
 great to avail himself of the advantage of the credit 
 offered by local merchants, but the fact that he de 
 clined to venture into debt redounded, in the end, to 
 his credit. The confidence which he had come to en 
 joy on the part of the worthy whites of the South was 
 illustrated on one occasion while he was going on a 
 Pullman from Augusta to Atlanta. Just after getting 
 aboard at Augusta, Washington was discovered by two 
 ladies whom he had known in Boston, and to whom 
 
STILL ACHIEVING, STILL PURSUING 171 
 
 he was indebted for contributions to his school. He 
 was embarrassed when they invited him to a seat with 
 them. The presence of Southern men on board, in 
 the face of so kind an invitation from two benefac 
 tors, threw him into a quandary. There was nothing 
 left but to accept the invitation, be the consequences 
 what they might. But this was not all. After he was 
 seated, dinner was ordered by one of the ladies, and his 
 embarrassment became sorer still. 
 
 He noticed that the gentlemen on returning from 
 dinner had gone into the smoking-room, and so soon 
 as he could excuse himself from his Boston friends, 
 Washington sought the smoking-car, as he was sure 
 that if his unavoidable conduct awakened opposition 
 it would be developed in the smoker. To his unspeak 
 able surprise and gratification, on entering the smok 
 ing-room, he was kindly greeted by each of the South 
 ern gentlemen, some of whom went so far as to say 
 to the colored principal that he did not know them, 
 but that they knew him. Then they proceeded to con 
 gratulate him on his growing success at Tuskegee, 
 advising him of the fact that they were regarding his 
 work with peculiar interest, and assuring him that no 
 one of either race was doing so much for the promo 
 tion of race amity as himself. 
 
 The thorough disinterestedness of this expression 
 was a peculiar delight to Washington. These could 
 have been none other than expressions of sincerity, 
 and coming as they did from Southern men, without 
 any special occasion to evoke them, they occasioned the 
 profoundest satisfaction. Till then he was not aware 
 
172 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 that the school at Tuskegee had awakened any public 
 interest. But here were gentlemen of affairs and of 
 wide observation, who were expressing the most en 
 couraging delight in his enterprise and progress. It 
 k~a remarkable fact in connection with Washington s 
 career in the South that he was never insulted by a 
 Southern white man. He was many times exposed to 
 conditions when insult might have been expected; he 
 went often through the rural regions where aversion 
 was intense, but no one was ever offensive to him. 
 He was invariably treated with the utmost considera 
 tion. 
 
 To what was this due? To many ignorant whites 
 
 he was totally unknown, and yet they accorded to 
 
 / him the utmost courtesy. It was not due to the fact 
 
 fthat it was his habit to truckle or fawn, for that would 
 \have awakened contempt. None understand the 
 Negro better than the Southerner. Sycophancy on 
 the part of a colored man amuses a Southerner and 
 elicits a bandying of jocularity at the expense of the 
 Fegro. The only explanation of the peculiar treat- 
 lent universally accorded to Washington was that his 
 )earing compelled it. He neither assumed nor cringed, 
 but invariably bore himself with a naturalness and a 
 poise which to have disregarded or disrespected would 
 have been a reflection on the one guilty of such dis 
 courtesy. In his frequent intercourse with white 
 men, whether on matters of business, or in ordinary 
 conversation, they were impressed by the idea that 
 they were not speaking to a colored man, but simply 
 to a man. He gave no impression of borrowed polite- 
 
STILL ACHIEVING, STILL PURSUING 173 
 
 ness or assumed courtesy, he had no obsequious air, 
 and the consequence was that he received the utmost 
 courtesy. He was free without undue familiarity, 
 agreeable without assumption, and courteous without 
 palaver or the slightest display of servility. He met 
 every man with the civility with which one man meets 
 another. If he was remarkable in this respect, it was 
 only remarkable naturalness. 
 
 Whatever may be said to the contrary by vague 
 theorists, the policy of Washington was the only sane 
 one. It embodied the two elements of increasing con 
 sideration of the strong for the weak and aspiring, 
 with a growing and responsive strength for the 
 weaker. All transitional periods in individuals and in 
 peoples are trying, both to those who are passing from 
 one stage to another and to those who have to bear the 
 experience. To overcome in both opposing directions 
 was the task set the freedmen of the South when the 
 note of emancipation sounded. They had first to vindi 
 cate their claim to fitness in the social framework by 
 unquestioned merit and not by verbal assertion alone. 
 They had to commend themselves "before they could \ 
 command respect. This could not be done by the enact- j y\ 
 ment of formal laws, but must be through the process / 
 of natural laws. Other considerations than those of 
 merely barren rights had to be taken into account. 
 
 As a matter of judgment and without sacrifice of 
 principle, Booker Washington maintained that in order 
 to permanent solidity of condition for the relations 
 of the races in the South, (xiaciliatLoajcausl precede \ 
 cooperation,. Without the former of these the latter .! 
 
;m LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 is impossible; and without the latter, neighborly resi 
 dence in the states of the South is equally impossible. 
 It is one thing, as he contended, to prate about certain 
 " rights," and continue race strife with only trouble 
 and friction continually ensuing, and quite another 
 thing for the colored race to win its way to confidence 
 and esteem by dint of merit. 
 
 He insisted that the gain by the colored man of the 
 sane and conservative sentiment of the South would 
 bring with it a growing sense of equity and justice 
 which would serve to protect the Negro against an 
 element whose unfriendliness would grow commen- 
 surately with the expanding worth of the colored man. 
 ;He was fully aware of the fact that as the once en 
 slaved race should acquire self-consciousness and come 
 to take on worthy ambition, antagonism would re 
 sult with a certain element of whites, Negro ad 
 vancement would excite unrest because they are hos 
 tile to the progress of the colored man. 
 
 Frequently demonstrated as this was, an incident 
 which took place on the Georgia Railroad, a few years 
 ago, affords a striking illustration of this unworthy 
 sentiment. The white employees of the road sought 
 to have all colored firemen expelled, not because of 
 inefficiency, but because they were Negroes. What 
 should be done with this aspect of opposition? Just 
 what was then done. A tribunal of white arbitrators 
 to whom the matter was submitted, forthwith reduced 
 the issue to one of equity, and decided, not that the 
 employees of the road should be retained, but that, 
 irrespective of color or aught else, where the authori- 
 
STILL ACHIEVING, STILL PURSUING 175 
 
 ties should engage a man for a given service, his com 
 pensation should be equal to that of every other simi 
 larly engaged, and that if his work was satisfactory 
 to the officers of the road, no one should be interfered 
 with in the discharge of his service. This settled a 
 principle finally in the South, and settled it on the 
 basis of merit and of equity. 
 
 This is the central principle for which Washington 
 so long labored as the one which would ultimately 
 conduct his people from darkness into light, and in 
 demonstration of this policy, he continued his work at ; 
 Tuskegee from the outset of his career to its close.,/ 
 By extraordinary skill conditions were produced at 
 Tuskegee within a few years that reversed much ad 
 verse theory concerning the Negro race and com 
 pelled patriotic acquiescence. The change there 
 wrought was so prophetic of permanent good and so 
 indicative of unlimited benefit to both races, that there 
 came a growing enlistment of interest in behalf of 
 the Negro, interest which was coextensive with the 
 knowledge of the work done at Tuskegee. 
 
 While the recognized representative of the colorecK 
 race, Washington came, after a time, to be thought of 
 as a boon to both races. The development of the in- / 
 herent qualities of the colored man, as a component I 
 part of society, meant much for the white man. One 
 who makes even one man good, makes many better. 
 That which mere wordy argument could not accom 
 plish was being achieved with practical result at Tus 
 kegee. Washington was answering all the ominous 
 predictions concerning the Negro by indisputable fact. 
 
176 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 He was arresting current and erroneous theory by 
 tangible demonstration. He was exploding in rapid 
 succession mistaken ideas of the Negro, by showing 
 Ihat he is not only a man, but one of vast capability. 
 lie was silencing the original hoot of ridicule by sum 
 moning from the depths of long-buried gloom the 
 latent forces of his people. 
 
 It is therefore not a matter of surprise that the 
 thoughtful of the white race came to hold Booker T. 
 Washington in honored esteem. Indeed, he had by 
 his own genius created a condition which logically 
 compelled recognition of his own personal merit and 
 that of the work he was doing in the transformation 
 of character. While steadily commending himself by 
 his course and his work to the public irrespective of 
 race, he was not without opposition on the part of 
 certain leaders of his own people who openly asserted 
 that " the white South naturally agreed with Mr. 
 Washington, and the white North thought they saw 
 here a chance for peace in the racial conflict, and 
 ^ safety in their Southern investments." * Sentiments 
 like these were thrown as so many obstructions in his 
 way, much to his embarrassment. Men like these in 
 the ranks of his own race found their counterpart in 
 the ultra element of the white race, which could see 
 no possible good that could come from the Negro, no 
 matter what was done. But in spite of these limited 
 contentions, the work at Tuskegee went on, and as the 
 institution grew so grew favorable public sentiment. 
 W r ith Washington success was succeeding. 
 *W. E. B. DuBois: The Negro, p. 226. 
 
XIII 
 THE PROSPECT WIDENS 
 
 WE come now to contemplate Booker T. Wash 
 ington after the laborious work of years. 
 For a number of years he labored in re 
 stricted obscurity, and was suffered to work out his 
 plans in his own way, the only interest excited being 
 that of seeing the result of his experiment. Even this 
 was known and observed by but few. 
 
 The confidence which comes as the result of final 
 success has now arrived. The tangled surface of the 
 hill once crowned by the mansion of a slave owner 
 had largely relapsed into original conditions. The 
 charred ruins of the burnt mansion were overgrown 
 with tangled vines and riotous weeds, and there was 
 a scene of silent desolation unrelieved by the few 
 small buildings left by the fire which had destroyed 
 the original home of the planter. 
 
 The whole face of the surface has now been cleared 
 of its debris, the stunted growth that had sprung up 
 has been removed, and the few minor buildings are 
 devoted to valuable service. The adjacent forest has 
 been brought into cultivation, new painted fences sur 
 round the patches and gardens, and excellent build 
 ings have come to fill much of the space. Drive 
 ways mark the surface, and graceful walks wind here 
 and there amid shady trees, and across lawns em- 
 
 177 
 
178 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 broidered with grass and flowers. Well-tilled farms, 
 experimental gardens, hot-houses, ranches of different 
 kinds, and all that relates to a great industrial school 
 now extend over a wide area, where a few years ago 
 there were all the signs of abandonment. In the dif 
 ferent buildings are groups of well-dressed students 
 of both sexes at systematic work, while beneath the 
 shades are other groups engaged in quiet study. The 
 utmost order and discipline prevail, and the utmost 
 courtesy is shown by all to visitors. 
 
 Mr. Washington has already been North a number 
 of times, and a number of friends of the school have 
 visited it as a result of its reputation, and in order 
 to see the man who had wrought such wonders from 
 nothing. The aid with which to establish the institu 
 tion had been difficult to get at first, but increasing 
 success had made it increasingly easy to obtain funds. 
 Among the many ties that have come to rebind the 
 two sections since the temporary separation of " the 
 sixties," none has been more fruitful of good than 
 that of the service rendered at the most crucial point 
 of the South s overshadowing perplexity, centered at 
 Tuskegee. The dissolution of the general difficulty 
 there begun, and so amazingly fostered by a media 
 torial agent who sprang from the ranks of the slaves, 
 deserves the recognition of being perhaps the most 
 distinctive contribution to the rehabilitation of the 
 prostrate South. 
 
 Washington had no superficial race pride which he 
 would offensively fleer at the white .race. He as much 
 desired an amicable relationship between the races as 
 
THE PROSPECT WIDENS 179 
 
 he did the elevation of his own people. He came not 
 with observation, but quite the contrary. He wrought 
 not with noisy demonstration of rash thundering and 
 wordy tumult. His was the opposite course. Con 
 sidering this plan as the dissolvent of the strained 
 condition, he so taught and trained those under his 
 immediate tutelage, and enforced the principle so far 
 as he might among his people throughout the country. 
 
 He was often deeply grieved by the inequality of 
 treatment accorded his people by those possessing force 
 and authority. He was shocked by the awful atrocity 
 of lynching and of other cruel outrages, the power 
 to perpetrate which was derived solely from superior 
 ity of advantage. He often insisted that the strong 
 could well afford to be kind to the weak, but he de 
 clined to be betrayed into the slightest encouragement 
 of redress by violence. He would protest with all his 
 manhood, but he would not offer resistance. Because 
 of this influence exerted in a way so salutary, at a 
 time so tumultuous, there is due a debt of gratitude on 
 the part of both races, to Booker T. Washington, that 
 can never be canceled. Had the policy pursued by 
 Washington with his great influence among his peo 
 ple, been one of resistance rather than one of con 
 ciliation, the results would have been horribly different. 
 He could have inflamed the race as could no other. 
 That he was the man he was, and that he did that 
 which was done, places both races in the South under 
 obligation to him. 
 
 During the first years at Tuskegee, Washington 
 sought neither to disguise nor to display himself. 
 
180 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 Neither of these was to him a matter of concern. He 
 was seeking to work out a practical principle, and to 
 him this was all-engrossing. He would generate the 
 force of initiativeness in his people, and at the same 
 time seek a fair chance for its display. This chance 
 the race had never enjoyed since it set foot on Amer 
 ican shores. He was slowly hewing his way through 
 accumulated obstructions in order that his people 
 might find a place in American life where they would 
 be able to demonstrate their ability to contribute to 
 the good of society and of civilization. He was labor 
 ing at a point of juncture most important to both 
 races. At such a juncture, with marvelous success 
 attending his efforts, he could not escape observation. 
 In proportion to the growth of his success attention 
 would be diverted from the turbulence of passion 
 which had hitherto swayed the public, to the man who 
 was bringing things to pass. The consequence was 
 that when Washington came to achieve wonders with 
 resources of his own creation, the fact resolved itself 
 into an appeal which could not be disregarded. While 
 creating a condition more favorable for his people, 
 he was at the same time creating a new public situa 
 tion. In consequence of this, the neighboring whites 
 at Tuskegee, and others beyond the South, came, one 
 by one, and in increasing numbers, to the rescue of 
 the man who was accomplishing so much. In the ex 
 ercise of his genius he was blending the interests of 
 the two races in a way that would bring mutual help 
 fulness. 
 As Tuskegee rose into prominence the attendance 
 
THE PROSPECT WIDENS 181 
 
 increased and this, in turn, led to an increase of 
 facilities. The erection of one edifice called for an 
 other, just as the introduction of a new branch of 
 industry necessitated the creation of another. As the 
 institution became known, the task of raising funds 
 was not so great, and yet the increasing necessity 
 which called for larger amounts made their procure 
 ment more difficult. The consequence was that the 
 labors of Mr. Washington continued to increase as 
 the institution developed. As the pressure of neces 
 sity came, he proceeded as if the resources were in 
 hand, as not to do so would check the progress of 
 the school. The means would come in due time, 
 but not without labor on his part. This was true even 
 in the case of the second building to be erected on the 
 grounds. Its cost was estimated at $10,000, and with 
 out a cent in sight, the work of erection was begun. 
 
 It was at this time that he received a letter from his 
 former president, General Armstrong, inviting him to 
 join him on a tour North, in the interest of Tuskegee. 
 Up to this time, Washington had been but little before 
 the general public. He had a natural shyness, even 
 unto timidity. So far from his vanity being excited 
 by his success, he was rather humbled. Among many 
 others, General Armstrong had visited Tuskegee, and 
 was impressed by its growth and by the dominating 
 force of its great founder, but not till now had the 
 president of Hampton deemed it wise to come to the 
 succor of his former student. Now that Tuskegee 
 had passed the experimental stage and become a per 
 manent fixture, was the time for aid. General Arm- 
 
182 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 strong could not aid financially, but he could influen- 
 tially, hence the invitation to Principal Washington 
 to accompany him. To Washington it was at first a 
 sore test to appear before cultured audiences in the 
 great centers of the North, but he had a message and 
 could deliver it as could no other. Together with 
 General Armstrong he appeared in New York, Brook 
 lyn, Boston, and Philadelphia, as well as in other 
 cities, to make his plea for his cause. Introduced 
 as an original slave boy from a Southern plantation, 
 he was presented as a type of that which the colored 
 youth of the South might become if properly and 
 timely aided. His bland face, ease of manner, and 
 readiness of utterance, finding expression in simplicity 
 and vigor, and in power of presentation and graphic 
 description by apt touch of detail, interested a sym 
 pathetic public. Without display of emotion he would 
 recite the situation in a way often pathetic and tell 
 of his ups and downs in seeking to meet the demands 
 of a condition so unique. This displayed his native 
 pluck and determination, oneness of purpose, race 
 hopefulness, and freedom from rancor; all these were 
 lighted up here and there with touches of the 
 emotional and glints of inimitable humor, and the 
 listeners were captivated. 
 
 Some were present on those occasions who had in 
 former years attended on great gatherings when there 
 was a different kind of appeal made in behalf of the 
 Southern Negro. But here was an occasion quite 
 different. Twenty or more years of freedom had its 
 result here in concrete form. Here was the practical 
 
THE PROSPECT WIDENS 183 
 
 result of the liberty then pleaded for. If it was right 
 that interest then be had in the slave encumbered by 
 shackles, how much more important that he be assisted 
 now that he was establishing his ability and need only 
 to be lifted over the rough places? The story told, the 
 hearts of the people were moved. From the simple, 
 unaffected diction of the young educator they could 
 see Tuskegee in its throes as if they were spectators 
 on the ground. 
 
 The virtue of the plea of former years, when the 
 physical liberation of the black race was sought, was 
 greatly enhanced when that race plead through its own 
 representative for ability to disentangle itself from 
 the mesh of conditions into which physical liberty had 
 brought the once enslaved. To be now left in that 
 condition would mean but little to the black man, but 
 if now encouraged and guided to that which was within 
 sight, the race would eventually come to take its place 
 worthily among other races. The first emancipation, 
 largely physical, called for a second emancipation, 
 largely mental and moral. Interest in the one should 
 insure interest in the other. If experimental result was 
 needed in order to insure a safe investment in hu 
 manity, here it was. The original slave was before 
 them, a convincing argument and advocate. 
 
 This first trip North was fraught with immense 
 consequences. It brought Booker Washington before\ 
 the public as a revelation of the possibilities of Negro 
 freedom. An insight was afforded into the Southern/ 
 situation such as had never been given before. The r 
 Negro was not to become a ward of the nation as the 
 
184 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 4 v 1 Indian was. He had force which needed only an out 
 let. He did not so much need a fish as a hook. The 
 clew was clear would it be followed ? This was the 
 state of reflection occasioned by that visit. 
 
 While it meant substantial relief for the stress of 
 the present, it meant more for the future. If under 
 disadvantages so grave the Negro had been able to 
 come thus far, what might he not achieve for the 
 future if timely assistance was his? This meant the 
 uplifting of Tuskegee, which was destined to over 
 shadow all other institutions and interests fostered in 
 behalf of the black race. Its success meant the final 
 dissolution of race tension in the South. Here was 
 manifestly the dissolvent to elevate the race to a 
 standard of dignity and merit equal to that already 
 existing for the white race, which would answer all 
 questions, equal all possible demands, and silence the 
 disquietude forever. The plan for doing this had been 
 found and needed only the means to put it into exe 
 cution. This was the logic of the situation. 
 
 The impression produced on the North by this visit 
 of Washington was most profound. It was but the 
 beginning of hundreds of others. He had caught the 
 eye and ear of the people as had no other man of 
 his race. He awoke hopefulness for the future. He 
 injected fresh ideas. He aroused a sympathy never 
 before entertained for the colored people of the coun 
 try. He riveted attention with a seriousness never 
 before shown. He brought to the people a new con 
 science, and his deliverances were of superlative value 
 to the whole country. 
 
THE PROSPECT WIDENS 185 
 
 The large new building could now easily go forward 
 to completion. This finished and another, and yet many 
 others, would follow as they were needed. While 
 the intensity of his labors was not diminished, but 
 rather increased, his success was secured. The colored 
 people of the South were inspired by fresh hope and 
 courage, while the whites applauded, and many aided. 
 The points of hostility began to disappear and those 
 of sympathetic contact began to multiply. 
 
 Under the efficient management of a corps of teach 
 ers who had been trained under his direction, the 
 affairs of the school went along during his absence as 
 when he was present. His impress was on the school, 
 the pace must be kept up in every department, order 
 strictly observed and enforced, and during all the long 
 years of its existence, with him frequently absent from 
 business necessity, there was never an escapade or un 
 becoming demonstration of any kind on the campus. 
 Not more remarkable is the school itself in its peculiar 
 history than is the fact of the absolute absence of 
 disorder among the students. Its morale accounts for 
 the fact that among its many thousand students who 
 in the succession of years have taken their places in 
 the world, not one of them, so far as can be ascer 
 tained, ever fell into serious disorder after quitting 
 the school. The pace there set was kept up in after 
 life. This high standard Tuskegee won within the 
 compass of a few years. While up to the time now 
 under review much had been achieved, it was but the 
 beginning. A hard, long, and laborious struggle still 
 stretched into the years to come. 
 
XIV 
 NATIONAL PROMINENCE 
 
 FOR fourteen years Booker T. Washington had 
 been at Tuskegee. By this time the school had 
 vastly grown in every way. The attendance 
 was now considerably over a thousand, a number of 
 large brick buildings had been erected, the students 
 first making the bricks and then putting up the struc 
 tures, many departments were in successful operation, 
 outlying and well-tilled farms were adjacent, ranches 
 for stock of different kinds, dairies, gardens, hot 
 houses, water-works and an electric-plant, and other 
 appurtenances were attached, and the entire face of 
 the region had become transformed. The school had 
 now become The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial In 
 stitute, and so proficient that it was now famous 
 throughout the country. Its graduates had gone into 
 different states, and in their varied professions had 
 made the school still more famous, while not a few 
 had established schools modeled on that at Tuskegee. 
 By this time, The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial 
 Institute was the most talked-of school in the country. 
 From having gone North first to solicit funds, the 
 trips of Principal Washington had become frequent 
 in later years, in consequence of the invested funds of 
 the endowment, which had steadily increased as a re- 
 
 186 
 
NATIONAL PROMINENCE 187 
 
 suit of the growth of the school. On many occasions 
 he had addressed audiences in the cities of the North 
 and his sentiments had attracted wide attention and 
 evoked much favorable comment both in the North 
 ern and the Southern press. Up to 1895 he had deliv 
 ered no address to a popular audience in the South, 
 but on the opening of the International and Cotton 
 States Exposition at Atlanta, Georgia, during that 
 year, he was .chosen to be one of the speakers. So 
 great an innovation as that of having a Negro thus 
 distinguished, and he an ex-slave, to sit on the 
 platform with white speakers, both gentlemen and 
 ladies, and deliver an address, awoke wide comment. 
 
 Widely divergent conditions at that time prevailed 
 throughout the South. In the current discussions of 
 the time, the Negro came in for his full share. Here 
 and there to the extent of the encouragement given 
 him, he was demolishing all former theories concern 
 ing him, was sacrificing much for education, buying 
 land and cultivating it with marked success, building 
 homes, churches, and school-houses, and gaining 
 rapidly in public confidence and esteem, but the sub 
 ject of the Negro and his elevation was not a con 
 genial one to many ears in the South. 
 
 In the central South, Hampton was known but 
 slightly, but right here was a tremendous fact that 
 stood out conspicuously and indisputably the Tus- 
 kegee Normal and Industrial Institute was a great 
 institution, founded and fostered by an ex-slave, where 
 the utmost order prevailed and the most excellent 
 results were achieved. It had won its way by merit, 
 
188 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 and was most highly prized by those who knew it 
 best. In the old, staid, and refined community of 
 Tuskegee, long noted as an educational center, this 
 colored school had grown to proportions that placed 
 it in advance of schools of established reputation for 
 many years. It would have seemed that at no point 
 could a colored school have encountered more ob 
 structions than at Tuskegee, yet the leading citizens 
 of the town were enthusiastic in their praise of its 
 merits, and readily resented any reflection on the 
 school. Still racial antipathy was widely prevalent, 
 notwithstanding the sentiments of many had been ma 
 terially changed by the exhibitions of the unques 
 tioned capability of the Negro. 
 
 As was to be expected, the invitation extended to 
 a Negro at that time was made the occasion on the 
 part of some newspapers to sound the apprehensive 
 warning that the South was veering in the direction 
 of that everlasting specter, " social equality." While 
 Booker Washington had frequently spoken at the 
 North, only one slight occasion had been afforded him 
 to speak to a white audience in the South. He had 
 spoken before the National Education Association, 
 in which body were many Southerners; in the old 
 historic churches of Plymouth, in Brooklyn, and 
 Trinity, in Boston; before the Twentieth Century 
 Club, Boston, and before the political science club of 
 Cornell University, and elsewhere, with enthusiastic 
 acceptance, and had won wide distinction throughout 
 the North as a speaker of uncommon ability. Nor 
 was he without a certain degree of eagerness to speak 
 
NATIONAL PROMINENCE 189- 
 
 before an audience in the South, not in gratification 
 of a vain ambition, but in order that he might be able 
 to relieve still more the tension of the times. That 
 which he had succeeded in doing at Tuskegee in 
 practical life, resulting in curbing undue sentiment of 
 hostility, he believed he could effect in another way, if 
 the Southern people could hear him. 
 
 There were conditions which favored the invitation 
 to speak at the Atlanta exposition, one of which was*\ 
 that at that time Atlanta was regarded as the most 
 cosmopolitan city in the South. It was seeking to at 
 tract capital from all quarters, in the worthy ambition 
 of its people to make it a great city. Much Northern 
 capital had already been invested there, and at that 
 time many Northern people were traversing the South 
 with a view to investment, hence its cosmopolitan ^ 
 spirit. Atlanta would set the pace of national con 
 ciliation. It was the home of Henry Grady, than 
 whom the South never had a more sanely conciliatory , 
 spirit. 
 
 Nor was the spirit of the growing city other than 
 the most worthy. Nothing of marked consequence was 
 expected from the speech of Booker Washington. 
 The mass of the people of Atlanta, or of the South, 
 knew little more of him than that he was an enter 
 prising colored man who had gone to Tuskegee and 
 had built a school for the education of colored people, 
 and that he was succeeding beyond the original ex 
 pectations of those who regarded the school at the 
 outset. This vague idea and estimate was about all 
 that was known of him. His speech would be brief, 
 
190 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 anyway, and it was easily conceived what kind of 
 speech a Negro would make. Thus much could be 
 afforded for the sake of imparting to the occasion of 
 the exposition the cosmopolitanism which it deserved 
 as a point where an international show was to be had. 
 That the speech would of itself be of any moment, few 
 thought. 
 
 Altogether different was it with Washington. To 
 him it would afford an opportunity to say some things 
 which he felt should be said, and becomingly said, 
 by one of his race. He had a message for the people, 
 the people of both races, yea, of all races, and the 
 consciousness that he would be able fittingly to say 
 just the things necessary if the chance were once given 
 him. He desired, as a colored man, to open his heart 
 to all people alike. If an opportunity like this could 
 be his, he believed that he could create a new epoch 
 of sentiment between the two races, white and black. 
 A slight bit of a chance had been afforded him in At 
 lanta just two years before, but it was altogether too 
 brief to afford an opportunity for a distinctive de 
 liverance that was worth while. 
 
 The occasion alluded to was that of the international 
 convention of Christian Workers held in Atlanta in 
 1893. Washington was invited to be present on the 
 occasion and deliver a talk of just five minutes. The 
 time of the convention seriously conflicted with an 
 engagement which he had in Boston, but so eager was 
 he to be able to speak in the South, that he deter 
 mined to be present if to speak only five minutes. 
 Though earnestly engaged in Boston, he timed him- 
 
NATIONAL PROMINENCE 191 
 
 self to be present at the appointed hour. On examin 
 ing the schedules of the trains, he found that he could 
 reach Atlanta, remain just one hour, during which 
 time he would speak, and hurry back to Boston. This 
 he did, making a round trip of about three thousand 
 miles in order to make a five minutes talk. Short 
 though the time for speaking was, he would meet in 
 the convention of Christian Workers influential men 
 and women of both sections, North and South, and 
 he deemed it of sufficient importance to make the sac 
 rifice of time and money. He packed within five 
 minutes just as much as possible in giving at least an 
 inkling of that which he was doing at Tuskegee. But 
 while the little talk was well received, it was far from 
 giving Washington satisfaction. 
 
 Doubtless the invitation which came to him to speak 
 at the opening exercises of the exposition was primarily 
 due to that which preceded in connection with a trip 
 to the national capital. A large deputation of promi 
 nent Atlanta citizens were to appear before a Con 
 gressional committee to ask for an appropriation from 
 the government in promotion of the enterprise. Wash 
 ington was invited to accompany the party, in which 
 were two other prominent colored men, Bishops Grant 
 and Gaines. The most distinguished citizens of At 
 lanta, and of Georgia, were in the white contingent 
 of the deputation, to the number of twenty-five. This 
 appearance before a Congressional committee was a 
 novel venture to the young man, and he seriously 
 doubted his ability to contribute to the success of the 
 object of the trip. He was preceded before the com- 
 
192 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 mittee by several white gentlemen, including the 
 mayor of Atlanta and others of the city officials, as 
 well as by some of the state officers, and the two 
 colored bishops. Washington was the last to be 
 heard. 
 
 When he arose to speak it was in a very unosten 
 tatious way, but with projectile force. His plea was 
 that if Congress wished to assist in removing the agita 
 tion of the race question from the South, and bring 
 ing about a condition of race relationship that would 
 be conducive to the good of both peoples, it could not 
 be more effectually done than by encouraging the ma 
 terial and intellectual development of both races. A 
 rare opportunity for doing this was afforded by the 
 proposed exposition, at which both races would be 
 able to show the progress made since the freedom of 
 the slaves, while the general effect of the exhibition 
 would be to encourage, on the part of both races, con 
 tinued effort in the same direction. He urged that 
 while the Negro should not be deprived by unfair 
 means of the franchise, still politics alone would not 
 save the Negro, as lying back of the ballot was that 
 which gave to the ballot practical significance and 
 worth property, industry, skill, and economy, intelli 
 gence and weight of character, without the possession 
 of which the race could not advance. Should the ap 
 propriation asked for be given by Congress, then 
 something of practical, tangible value would be given, 
 that which would be alike permanent to both races. 
 It was the first opportunity since the close of the war 
 for Congress to manifest an interest in undoing much 
 
NATIONAL PROMINENCE 193 
 
 that should not be in the states of the South, and in 
 doing much that should be done. 
 
 In a speech of fifteen or twenty minutes he spoke 
 with perfect ease and even with abandon. When he 
 closed the Atlanta delegation grouped about him, con 
 gratulated him, expressed absolute satisfaction at the 
 contribution that he had made, and most cordially 
 thanked him for the timely service. With unanimity 
 the committee recommended the appropriation. Just 
 how much that simple talk had to do with the invita 
 tion that came later to speak at the opening of the 
 exposition in the fall following, there is no way of 
 deciding. 
 
 At any rate, the invitation came in due time. Wash 
 ington regarded it as one of the golden chances of his 
 life. With the utmost care he prepared his address. 
 He felt profoundly how much depended, not only on 
 that which he should be able to say, but on how he 
 should say it. Perhaps the destiny of his race in the 
 South would depend on that speech. He wrote it 
 and had it well in hand. He was not without cer 
 tain misgivings of his success. The pressure of the 
 peculiar condition of the times was on him. He 
 prayed that he might succeed, not as a means of per 
 sonal gratification only, but as a means of helpfulness 
 to his people. If he could only succeed, he was sure 
 that a new era would dawn. 
 
 The morning came for Principal Washington to 
 leave Tuskegee for Atlanta to deliver the address on 
 the next day. He felt a burden of responsibility never 
 before experienced. That he might have some sup- 
 
194 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 port for the sentiments expressed in his address, he 
 requested the presence of the faculty that he might 
 read its content to them. If anything was to be added, 
 or omitted, he wanted it frankly stated right there. 
 With emphatic unanimity it was approved through 
 out by the entire body. This heartened him afresh. 
 But he was to undertake in the South, in her chief 
 inland city, that which no other of his race had ever 
 been called on to do. He could not escape the haunt 
 ing question, " Suppose you should fail?" 
 
 As he was leaving Tuskegee in company with his 
 wife for the train to Atlanta, a white friend, a farmer 
 from the country who lived some distance away, said 
 to him : " Washington, you ve got a job on your hands. 
 You have spoken before the whites of the North, the 
 Negroes of the South, and to us country white folks 
 about farming, but when you get to Atlanta to-mor 
 row, you will have all sorts of folks to speak to 
 Northern whites, Southern whites, and the Negroes 
 all put together. I m afraid you are going to get into 
 a tight place, old fellow." Washington was feeling 
 just that which his white friend from the country 
 expressed, but he set his face toward Atlanta. 
 
 When his train pulled under the car-shed at At 
 lanta, there had gathered a curious throng eager to 
 see the Negro who was to speak the next morning at 
 the exposition grounds. Curious gazers were pointing 
 him out, and a large crowd of the people of his own 
 race were on hand as eager to see him as any. He 
 could hear such expressions as, " That s him," Yon 
 der he is," and a colored teamster regarding him with 
 
NATIONAL PROMINENCE 195 
 
 yawning jaws, said in a stentorian voice, " Dat s de 
 man o my race what s gwine ter speak out yonder at 
 de Expersition to-morrer, an I m gwine ter hear im 
 shore." Atlanta was jammed with crowds from every 
 quarter of the country. 
 
 In flaming headlines the afternoon papers printed 
 the opening event on the morrow. Washington s 
 heart was in his mouth. The supreme moment of his 
 life had come. The night was not a restful one. The 
 early hours were broken by the tramp of crowds, and 
 the cries of newsboys. He ate but little breakfast. 
 In his room alone he paced his floor as the brief time 
 passed, went over his speech, and in his dependence 
 fell on his knees and prayed for strength to meet the 
 serious responsibility of the hour. He prayed for 
 his people, and that his address might be used in some 
 measure to procure their relief. He was alone with his 
 own beating heart and with God. 
 
 Soon a committee of colored men appeared to escort 
 Washington to his place in the procession which was 
 to wind slowly out to the grounds under the hot sun. 
 The presence of colored men wearing flashing rosettes, 
 and speaking in exciting tones, did not relieve his 
 nervousness. Negro military organizations, and car 
 riages bearing hundreds of his people had a conspicu 
 ous place in the long procession, which crept like a 
 sluggish stream, to the exposition grounds. For a 
 considerable area about the auditorium the scene was 
 one of animation. Thousands were struggling to 
 gain entrance, and were held back by the police. 
 Washington entered from the rear. In the immense 
 
196 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 inclosure were seated fully fifteen thousand people. 
 He was greeted by loud cheers from his own people 
 and with only a ripple of applause from the whites, 
 but every eye was fixed on him. 
 
 After reaching Atlanta, Washington had learned 
 that many whites had expressed a wish to hear him out 
 of sheer curiosity, simply to see what a Negro would 
 do with himself in a position so unusual and novel; 
 while a few whites were friendly to him, many were 
 going to hear him as they would attend a minstrel 
 show, to see a Negro make a fool of himself. Instead 
 of depressing him, this nerved him with fresh cour 
 age. Just thirty-eight years old, and at his best, he 
 was the center of attraction. Besides the opening ad 
 dress by Governor Bullock, and another by a lady, 
 Washington s was the only one of any length to be 
 delivered. 
 
 The bustle of preparation over, the bands blared, 
 an ode was sung, and the preceding addresses were 
 made. With guarded caution of expression, Governor 
 Bullock said on introducing the colored speaker : " We 
 have with us to-day a representative of Negro enter 
 prise and Negro civilization, Principal Booker T. 
 Washington, of Tuskegee, Alabama." Wildly greeted 
 by the large contingent of colored people, he stepped 
 to the front, his face perfectly calm, and in voice as 
 clear as the notes of a trumpet, he said: 
 
 " Mr. President, and gentlemen of the Board of Di 
 rectors, 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 dis- 
 
NATIONAL PROMINENCE 197 
 
 regard 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 
 American Negro been more fittingly and generously 
 recognized than by the managers of this 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 occurrence 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 in the state 
 legislature was more sought than real estate or industrial 
 skill ; that the political convention or stump speaking had 
 more attraction than starting a dairy farm or truck 
 garden. A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly 
 sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfor 
 tunate 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, Cast down 
 your bucket where you are. The captain of the dis 
 tressed 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, in mechanics, in com 
 merce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And 
 in this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever 
 
198 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 other sins the South may be called to bear, when it 
 comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the South 
 that the Negro is given a man s chance in the commercial 
 world, and in nothing is this Exposition 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 productions of our hands, and fail to keep in 
 mind that we are to prosper in proportion as we learn 
 to dignify and glorify common labor, and put brains 
 and skill into the common occupations of life; we shall 
 prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line be 
 tween 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 I 
 would repeat what I say to my own race, Cast down 
 your bucket where you are. Cast it down among the 
 eight millions of 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, builded your railroads and cities, and 
 brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth and 
 helped make possible this magnificent representation of 
 the progress of the South. Cast down your bucket among 
 my people, help and encourage them as you are doing on 
 these grounds, and added to 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 unresentful people that the world has 
 
NATIONAL PROMINENCE 199 
 
 seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, 
 in nursing your children, watching by the sick-beds 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 yours 
 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 fingers, yet one as the hands in all things essential 
 to mutual progress. 
 
 " There is no defense or security for any of us except 
 in the highest intelligence and development of all. If 
 anywhere there are efforts tending to curtail the fullest 
 growth of the Negro, let those efforts be turned into 
 stimulating encouragement, and making him the most 
 useful and intelligent citizen. Effort or means so in 
 vested will pay a thousand per cent interest. These 
 efforts will be twice blessed blessing him that gives 
 and him that takes/ There is no escape in the law of 
 man or God from the inevitable : 
 
 The laws of changeless justice bind 
 Oppressor and oppressed; 
 And close as sin and suffering joined 
 We march to fate abreast. 
 
 " Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pull 
 ing the load upward, or they will pull the load downward 
 against you. We shall constitute one-third and more 
 of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one-third 
 of 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. Starting thirty years ago 
 with ownership here and there in a few quilts and 
 
200 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 pumpkins and chickens (gathered from miscellaneous 
 sources), remember that the path that has led from 
 these to the invention and production of agricultural 
 implements, buggies, steam-engines, newspapers, books, 
 statuary, 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 the result of our independent efforts, we 
 do not for a moment forget that our part in this exhibi 
 tion 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 agi 
 tation of the questions of social equality is the ex- 
 tremest folly, and that progress in all the privileges that 
 will come to us must be the result of severe and con 
 stant 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 
 exercise of these 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 within 
 thirty years has given us more hope and encouragement, 
 and drawn us so near to you of the white race, as the 
 opportunity offered by this Exposition; and here bend 
 ing, as it were, over the altar that represents the strug 
 gles of your race and mine, both starting practically 
 empty-handed three decades ago, I pledge that in your 
 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 borne in mind, that while 
 from representations in these buildings of the product 
 of field, of forest, of mine, of factory, of letters and 
 art, much good will come, yet far above and beyond 
 
NATIONAL PROMINENCE 201 
 
 material benefits will be that higher good, that, let us 
 pray God, will come in a blotting out of sectional differ 
 ences and racial animosities and suspicions, in a de 
 termination to administer absolute justice, in a willing 
 obedience among all classes to the mandates of law. 
 This, this, coupled with our material prosperity, will 
 bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new 
 earth." 
 
XV 
 EFFECTS OF THE ADDRESS 
 
 THE address was historic. It sounded a note 
 never before heard within the borders of the 
 South. It came from a source least expected, 
 and was magnanimous, serious, pathetic. It was a 
 manly note. Within it lurked no uncertain sound, no 
 implied threat, no trace of murmuring, no undue as 
 sertion. It was at once a recognition of the broad 
 principles of a complicated situation, and the remedy 
 for it. No message could have been saner, none 
 sounder. It produced a marvelous effect. Washing 
 ton s wish was gratified he had ushered in a new 
 era. When the tall, stalwart man of dusky hue turned 
 to sit down, he was prevented from doing so by an 
 ovation that stirred the vast assemblage. Governor 
 Bullock rushed across the stage and grasped his hand. 
 This was the signal for many others to do likewise. 
 The speaker stood smiling, and gracefully returned the 
 universal greeting. A giant had risen from the 
 ranks of the once enslaved. He had come pleading 
 for peace and good-will among men of all classes. 
 He hailed from a race much misunderstood, much 
 underrated, much abused. On his return trip to Tus- 
 kegee, there was a popular ovation all along the way. 
 Throngs of people of both races pressed toward the 
 
 203 
 
EFFECTS OF THE ADDRESS 203 
 
 train to shake the hand of the messenger of good 
 will. 
 
 The result of this notable occasion was both imme 
 diate and remote. Directly the effect was electrical, 
 inspiring, hopeful, revelational. Rarely, before, would 
 a white man shake hands with a Negro, but now it 
 was irresistible. In the thrill of the hour, the Negro 
 was a man among men. It was a scene never before 
 witnessed in the South. Another wide rift had been 
 made in the cloud of misunderstanding. But even in 
 advance of this scene there were indications pregnant 
 of immense meaning. During the delivery of the ad 
 dress the vast concourse was a subject of study. Those 
 who had deemed the step an unwise one, gradually 
 underwent a psychological reaction, as the changing 
 expressions of their faces showed. From looks of dis 
 gust, but of submissive toleration in obedience to the 
 propriety of the occasion, their faces completely re 
 laxed. Those who had come to witness a farce, a 
 grotesque performance, which would settle forever 
 the folly of injecting a Negro into an occasion like 
 this, were completely disarmed and nonplused. Those 
 who had favored the invitation to Professor Washing 
 ton were, of course, delighted, while the orderly 
 colored people present were overwhelmed with joy. 
 
 The orator was calm and dignified throughout. He 
 showed no sign of embarrassment, as if seeking to 
 thread his cautious way through a labyrinth of diffi 
 culty, halting here, and hesitating there, lest he should 
 let fall some unbecoming and unwelcome word. There 
 was no abjectness to one race in politic words, nor 
 
204 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 reflection on his own people in order to become the 
 exceptional hero of the popular side; nor was there 
 adroit compromise of view or evasion of principle at 
 any point, but a straight, direct, projectile statement 
 of principles, to question which would react on the 
 commonplace views of ordinary humanity. 
 
 Nor could there be even microscopically discerned 
 in manner, matter, or method the slightest effort to 
 escape the task of urging on all alike the opportunity 
 and the responsibility emphasized by the auspicious- 
 ness of the occasion. If ever a speaker was heard with 
 intensity it was on this occasion; if ever the words of 
 one were weighed and measured as they fell from his 
 lips, it was when Booker T. Washington delivered his 
 opening address at the Cotton States and International 
 Exposition, at Atlanta, Georgia, on September 18, 
 1895. I n every respect it was a representative audi 
 ence to which he spoke, made up of every possible 
 phase of society and of humanity. The statesman 
 was there with problems present and to come before 
 him; the publicist, with the current of affairs inter 
 rupted here and there by certain obstructions that 
 seemed to defy removal; the philosopher with his 
 vision perplexed by a new order injected politically 
 and sociologically into a once serene situation; the 
 professor with his instructions disturbed by conditions 
 which induced caution while directing the thoughts of 
 the young; the politician with his flexible manner and 
 elastic tongue equally adjusted to all occasions and 
 emergencies; the gospel minister whose sacred func 
 tion required that if he was to be as his Master, he 
 
EFFECTS OF THE ADDRESS 205 
 
 must be no respecter of persons ; the editor, who while 
 he must lead, must not unduly offend; the man of 
 business, who, while his thoughts were largely capi 
 talistic, was widely interested in the currents and cross 
 currents of public sentiment; the official with his oath 
 binding him to an exactness of duty that placed him 
 beyond discrimination respecting anyone in the ad 
 ministration of his functions; the man from the North 
 and the man from the South with a concrete spectacle 
 of their recent contention directly before them, and, in 
 the aftermath of the struggle, pointing out the way of 
 final deliverance; the refined woman with her delicate 
 sensitiveness of thought and deftness of sentiment, and 
 last of all, both races with their hostility and misun 
 derstanding hitherto in chaos, but now realizing how 
 easy it is to adjust all causes on the basis of 
 equity. 
 
 These were the components of the audience gath 
 ered on that occasion to listen to the utterances of a 
 late slave who was showing the only way out of the 
 difficulty which a mighty revolution had produced. 
 There was no gainsaying the soundness of his homely 
 philosophy the principles of which had been obscured 
 by the passions of the hour. He was simply recalling 
 just those things without which there was no possible 
 deliverance from the entanglements of the time. 
 
 The quiet manner of the speaker after the address, 
 his placid urbanity and general deportment lent to the 
 occasion much additional strength. There was not the 
 slightest show of pomposity, nor the strut of triumph 
 in his air, but rather the quiet bearing of a man who 
 
206 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 seemed conscious of the fact that he had succeeded in 
 a serious duty under serious difficulty. No place was 
 found for the insertion of a single syllable of adverse 
 criticism. Attention had been keen throughout, and 
 from the heated furnace of a difficult situation he had 
 come forth without even the smell of suspicion or of 
 objection, but rather with the highest praise for a 
 service well done. 
 
 The address was equally commended for its exalted 
 sentiment, its philosophical thought, its calm delivery, 
 its pure diction, and its admirable spirit. It was caught 
 up by the press of the country and voiced throughout 
 its borders. Journals North and journals South vied 
 with each other in giving it praise. The Atlanta Con 
 stitution bowed to its saneness and wisdom by saying, 
 " It is no disparagement to the others to say that, all 
 things considered, Booker T. Washington s address 
 was the hit of the day." In telegraphing to a metro 
 politan journal, Hon. Clark How ell said among other 
 things, " I do not exaggerate when I say that Pro 
 fessor Booker T. Washington s address yesterday was 
 one of the most notable speeches, both as to character 
 and as to warmth of reception, ever delivered to a 
 Southern audience. The address was a revelation. 
 The whole speech is a platform upon which blacks 
 and whites can stand with full justice to each other." 
 Editorially the Boston Transcript said, " The speech 
 of Booker T. Washington at the Atlanta Exposition 
 this week seems to have dwarfed all the other pro 
 ceedings and the Exposition itself. The sensation that 
 it has caused in the press has never been equaled." 
 
EFFECTS OF THE ADDRESS 207 
 
 Throughout the country this was the dominant tone 
 of the press. Its notes continued to linger for weeks 
 and seemed to die out with reluctant subsidence. It 
 became the topic of many circles, a subject of favor 
 able comment on the part of the public. As a note of 
 timely sentiment and as a classic it passed into the 
 realm of the world s famous orations. The praise 
 evoked by the address would have upset an ordinary 
 man, but the next day Washington might have been 
 seen in his ordinary treadmill at Tuskegee going about 
 his work as though nothing unusual had occurred. 
 Not only did congratulations pour in from every quar 
 ter, but enticing offers reached the man in his com 
 parative retreat on his farm outside the little town of 
 Tuskegee. Magazines offered tempting inducements 
 to him to write for their pages, bureaus and lyceums 
 urged him to accept proposals to go on the platform, 
 one going so far as to offer him $50,000 for his serv 
 ices, and still another making the offer of $200 a night 
 and all expenses paid. He was a poor man, laboring 
 hard in a hard sphere, and these blandishments were 
 glittering prizes to be dangled before him in a su 
 preme moment like this. He stood on the step of fame 
 and fortune. To the majority of men the temptations 
 offered would have been far too great for their in 
 tegrity. 
 
 But what did Booker Washington say and do? 
 With quiet courtesy he duly thanked each for the 
 proffers made, and modestly replied that his chosen 
 life-work was for his struggling race at one of the 
 great central stations of race stimulation and eleva- 
 
208 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 tion. His simple declination embodies words worthy 
 of immortality. The value to the world of his conduct 
 on that occasion is above that of rubies. His words 
 deserve a place alongside those of General Robert E. 
 Lee, who, when offered the presidency of a metropoli 
 tan insurance company at a salary of $50,000, blandly 
 replied in his poverty that he knew nothing of insur 
 ance business; and when, with commercial frankness, 
 he was told that his skill was not so much desired as 
 his name, and that he need do nothing, he declined, put 
 aside the tempting offer, and accepted the presidency 
 of a small and struggling college, giving expression to 
 his dominant sentiment in this memorable passage, 
 " I have a self-imposed task which I must accomplish. 
 I have led the young men of the South in battle, and 
 have seen many of them fall under my standard. I 
 shall devote my life now to training young men to their 
 duty in life." The two instances are almost parallel in 
 the spirit of nobleness and of self-abnegation. General 
 Lee had known wealth, and chose poverty from a high 
 sense of duty; Professor Washington had never 
 known what it was to have wealth, but he would not 
 hazard the opportunity of doing a work for millions 
 who needed aid, though fortune was offered to desist 
 from such work as he was doing. He, too, thought of 
 the coming youth of a race. That youth needed assist 
 ance in climbing the toilsome ascent to worth. He 
 would, therefore, turn aside from the dazzling offers 
 made, to serve others of the generation present and 
 to come. 
 
 In response to a note from Professor Washington, 
 
EFFECTS OF THE ADDRESS 209 
 
 President Cleveland, to whom was sent a copy of the 
 Atlanta address, wrote as follows: 
 
 GRAY GABLES, BUZZARD S BAY, MASS., 
 
 October 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 ad 
 dress. I have read it with intense interest, and I think 
 the Exposition would be fully justified if it did not do 
 more than to furnish the opportunity for its delivery. 
 Your words cannot fail to delight and encourage all 
 who wish well for your race ; and if our colored fellow- 
 citizens do not from your utterances gather new hope 
 and form new determinations to gain every valuable 
 advantage offered them by their citizenship, it will be 
 strange indeed. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 This was written by Mr. Cleveland with his own hand 
 on dainty note paper. 
 
 Up to that time Principal Washington had never 
 seen Mr. Cleveland, but later he met him at the At 
 lanta Exposition on the occasion of the President s 
 visit. Mr. Cleveland took occasion to renew his ex 
 pression of esteem for Mr. Washington and for the 
 work that he was doing, at the same time expressing 
 much interest in the colored race by visiting the 
 colored building, and spending considerable time in 
 inspecting the exhibit there made by the colored peo 
 ple. With the genuine democratic simplicity for which 
 Mr. Cleveland was noted, he would shake hands with 
 the humblest Negro, and make kindly reply to the 
 
210 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 grotesque, simple, but sincere politeness with which 
 he was greeted. With the utmost readiness and af- 
 fableness he would write his autograph for them on 
 scraps of paper or old envelopes, or in some old book, 
 that they might retain it as a keepsake. 
 
 The reputation gained by Washington in conse 
 quence of his address was evidenced from many 
 prominent quarters. He received the following letter 
 from Dr. Daniel Coit Gilman, President of Johns 
 Hopkins University, who had been made chairman of 
 the judges of award at the Atlanta Exposition : 
 
 JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE, 
 
 President s Office, September 30, 1895. 
 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. A line by telegraph will be 
 welcomed. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 D. C. OILMAN. 
 
 The thrill produced by the address subsided into a 
 quiet calm, which was broken in one or two instances 
 by a complaint on the part of some of the would-be 
 leaders of Washington s own people. Seemingly from 
 the sting of envy there came the remarkable state 
 ment that after all there was but little in the speech 
 for the good of the colored race. Detached passages 
 were severed from their logical connection and pa 
 raded in vindication of the assertion of the jealous, 
 and with an evident attempt to disparage the merit of 
 the famous address. A jealous man always finds 
 
EFFECTS OF THE ADDRESS 211 
 
 more than he looks for. How there could have been 
 tortured from that address that which certain persons 
 claimed to find, is amazing. The studied distortion 
 was made the basis of an accusation that Washington 
 was shrewdly pandering to white sentiment in total 
 disregard of the good of the colored race. The ac 
 cusation continued, but the colored race itself declined 
 to be thus led into lack of appreciation; and be il| 
 said to their credit that they continued to cling to 
 Washington to the end as their leader, and turned a 
 deaf ear to the few whose envy did not cease to find 
 vent in every way possible through the years of the 
 future. The Southern Negro knows the SouthernN 
 white man, and none knows the Negro better than j y v 
 the white man of the South. Each equally recognizes J 
 the wrong done the Negro, often clandestinely, under 
 the cover of night, the chief shield of bad men always; 
 and while the rights of the Negro have not always been 
 respected, it is not due to the best and the most 
 thoughtful whites of the South. But such, in the 
 colored race, are yet in the minority. Among the 
 abuses of democratic free speech none is more con 
 spicuous than that of the utterances of the cheap clat- 
 terer and designing demagogue on the political stump, 
 whose ravenous appetite feeds with avidity on the 
 wrongs of the oppressed in summoning to his support 
 the ruffianism and the thoughtlessness of different 
 localities. The attempt to disparage the address of 
 Dr. Washington signally failed, for it became a land 
 mark in Southern history. 
 
 That Booker Washington would do just that which 
 
212 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 an exceptional few of his own race insisted he should 
 have done on the occasion of his address at Atlanta, 
 was the expectation of some whites who had gone to 
 the opening exercises to witness the folly. To the 
 disappointment of both, however, in the ripeness of 
 his wisdom, he diverted his deliverance into the chan 
 nel unexpected. He built his speech on the wide basis 
 of humanitarianism which applied to both races in 
 practical conditions, and not only put it beyond the 
 pale of objection, but struck telling blows for his own 
 people. Thenceforward not Washington alone but 
 numerous other men of his race were gladly heard, 
 and not without effect. 
 
 Washington had reached the point where he did not 
 have to seek an opportunity to speak to the whites of 
 the South. He was in actual demand. He was as 
 gladly heard in one region of the country as in the 
 other. As never before he became the mouthpiece 
 of his people, and anything he said claimed attention. 
 His contributions to the press were gladly published, 
 he was sought out for interviews, and was heeded, 
 since it came to be known that there was a force be 
 hind his words. Oftener than he himself knew he 
 controlled public thought by a single expression. He 
 was quoted here and there with a weight of authority 
 that often preponderated in favor of his people. He 
 was taken into the counsel of white men in the con 
 sideration of questions in which both races were inter 
 ested. In some instances, his influence extended to the 
 highest councils of the nation, and more than once he 
 became a decisive factor in emergencies, That he 
 
EFFECTS OF THE ADDRESS 213 
 
 should have thus won is not surprising, since he was 
 seen to be an extraordinary man. Color was not 
 taken into account, when men came to confer with 
 him. Indeed, as one of the direct results of his ad 
 dress, he could thereafter give more candid expression 
 of sentiment concerning his people than before. He 
 was respected because of his sincere force and influ 
 ence, and he .was not menaced by a lurking suspicion 
 that what he might say had within it a sinister pur 
 pose. 
 
 ( In his estimate of the effect of an address to a repre-\ 
 sentative white audience in the South, he found himself 
 correct. He saw the tension slackening, the barriers / 
 heretofore existing now giving away. It was cheer<- 
 ing to see how gratified were the best whites with the 
 coming change, and to note that where alienation had 
 been there was now often to be seen the spirit of co 
 operation between members of the two races. On the 
 part of both, expressions of unkindness had given 
 place to those of friendship. 
 
 It was not, of course, that Washington acquiesced 
 in all that was done to his people, for violence was 
 still abroad, and much there was yet to do; but if he 
 could not effect the desired end in a spirit of concilia 
 tion, and if he could not fully arrest the wrongs done, 
 it was certain that these ends could not be attained by 
 clamor or noisy abuse. With the calmness of a sage 
 he studied the situation throughout, and when the 
 opportune time came, he spoke in no uncertain way, 
 and always with effect. 
 / What, then, was the general gain of the notable 
 
LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 address delivered at Atlanta? For one thing, it won 
 for the colored race a position in public esteem never 
 
 r before even approximated. It afforded an insight 
 into the forces of Negro capability which had all along 
 been obscured by an unpardonable and unreasonable 
 prejudice. It was the beginning of obtaining for the 
 !Negro a place in American life. Whatever the merits 
 of the race, so long as they were obscured they must 
 remain unknown. It was Booker T. Washington who 
 took the veil off the face of misconception, ignorance, 
 and prejudice. To be sure he did not accomplish 
 everything for the race, but that which he alone did 
 was necessary to be done before other things could 
 be made possible. 
 
 The address gave him national prominence, Negro 
 as he was, erstwhile slave as he was, and while this 
 may be accounted by some as small, it was vast gain 
 for the American Negro. It would indeed have been 
 phenomenal had he achieved all that was to be for the 
 colored people by a single act. That he did not, nor 
 could it have been done by any, but he removed the 
 stone from the mouth of the tomb, and made possible 
 the emergence of his race into a new life. The event 
 passed and was not even known to many of a later 
 generation, but its influence still abides. The strides 
 made by his people since that time run back in logical 
 connection to Washington s address at Atlanta. ) 
 
XVI 
 HONOR FOLLOWS WORTH 
 
 AMONG the direct results of the Atlanta address 
 was that of turning toward Mr. Washington 
 the attention of leading educators, many of 
 whom had heard of him only in a casual way, as a 
 colored man who had founded a school for his race 
 
 4 
 
 in the lower South. The address proved him to be 
 a man of extraordinary parts, and inquiry was 
 awakened which led to closer and clearer investiga 
 tion of the man and his work. 
 
 The recognition accorded him by a great institution 
 of learning during the summer following the Atlanta 
 address was so distinctive, as to deserve here space for 
 an account of it in detail. It was not presumed by 
 any, and least of all by Professor Washington him 
 self, that the address would lead to academic honors 
 from the oldest and most eminent institution of learn 
 ing in the American states. Washington s sole am 
 bition had been to make a sane deliverance before a 
 representative Southern audience, in order that the 
 proper view of the race question might be presented 
 from the side of the colored people. Up to this time 
 only one side of the question had been heard, and 
 public opinion was warped in a direction very detri 
 mental to his race. 
 
 215 
 
216 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 His expectations having been fully realized by the 
 nature of the reception given his speech, he was nerved 
 by a stronger purpose to persevere as never before. 
 But appreciation from an unexpected source was re 
 vealed in the following letter: 
 
 HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, May 28, 1896. 
 PRESIDENT BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Harvard University desires to confer 
 on you at the approaching Commencement an honorary 
 degree, but it is our custom to confer degrees only on 
 gentlemen who are present. Our Commencement occurs 
 this year on June 24, and your presence would be de 
 sirable from about noon till about five o clock in the 
 afternoon. Would it be possible for you to be in Cam 
 bridge on that day? 
 
 Believe me with great regard, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 CHARLES W. ELIOT. 
 
 . i 
 
 This was the greatest surprise of his life. He 
 prized the recognition of kindness and courtesy, but 
 the thought of recognition by a great institution of 
 learning was as remote from his mind as possible. 
 As he held in his hand the letter from the president 
 of America s most renowned, as well as her oldest, 
 institution of learning, his life rose before him.^ The 
 memories of his slave days, his work among the lime 
 kilns and in the coal mines, his hunger and lack of 
 clothing, his struggles to obtain an education, his night 
 under the plank sidewalk in Richmond, his privations 
 at Hampton, his first efforts at Tuskegee, and the 
 suffering of heart which he had undergone, and now 
 to be recognized by Harvard University as one worthy 
 
HONOR FOLLOWS WORTH 217 
 
 of an academic degree, was more than he had ever 
 dared to dream. As he held the letter and reread it, 
 he wept as he sat alone on nis veranda at Tuskegee. 
 He had never aspired to fame, and all that had come 
 to him he had sought to turn toward the accomplish 
 ment of his life s aim that of the good of his people. 
 If this could conduce to that end, he would accept it. 
 It was another indication that things were growing 
 better. Not only were passions cooling, but it was 
 actually coming to pass in democratic America that 
 the worthy were honored in proportion to the esti 
 mate placed on each, and here was a concrete illustra 
 tion of the fact. To him the incident was more not 
 able because of the Negro race in general, than because 
 of any personal distinction shown to him. He saw in 
 it a prophecy of the coming recognition of the merit 
 of his race. 
 
 To Washington this was the consuming idea of 
 life. He had always felt that in the long run humanity 
 was fair. The Anglo-Saxon might be stern and arro 
 gant, proud of his race and of his station in the world, 
 but after all, he was usually not only fair, but gener 
 ous. He had a heart and judgment that needed only 
 to be ^convinced, and other conditions would follow. 
 It was the mistaken colored man, the unruly, the law 
 less, that brought the race into most of its trouble. 
 Cruelty was sometimes meted out by unworthy whites, 
 but they were not representatives of the highest type. 
 And even these were actuated frequently by that done 
 by unworthy Negroes who were taken as representa 
 tives of the colored people. While he deplored con- 
 
218 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 ditions in the South which made this possible, he could 
 not recall a single instance where a really worthy 
 colored person was not protected by white friends 
 when such were needed. The humblest washer 
 woman, if she were worthy, could gain the confidence 
 of those who would become her protectors. He in 
 sisted that this was the policy to be pursued by the 
 colored people of the South, and he so taught to the 
 end. 
 
 On the date named in the letter of President Eliot, 
 June 24, Washington was in Cambridge; he met the 
 president of the university, the board of overseers of 
 the institution, and other distinguished attendants on 
 the occasion, and, with others who were to be the 
 recipients of honors, was escorted to the hall where the 
 exercises were to be held. Among those invited to 
 the Commencement for the purpose of having honors 
 bestowed on them were distinguished men like Gen 
 eral Nelson A. Miles, Alexander Graham Bell, of tele 
 phone fame, Bishop John Heyl Vincent, the founder 
 and chancellor of Chautauqua, and Rev. Minot J. 
 Savage. 
 
 The conferring of degrees is the most interesting 
 occasion in connection with Commencement exercises 
 at Harvard. Those to be honored are not known till 
 their names are announced. As each distinction is 
 bestowed, it is greeted by the applause of the students 
 and the brilliant audience, in proportion to the popu 
 larity of the recipient. When the name of Booker 
 Taliaferro Washington was called the applause was 
 tremendous throughout the great hall. In a few words 
 
HONOR FOLLOWS WORTH 219 
 
 of vigorous diction Professor Eliot conferred on him 
 the degree of Master of Arts. 
 
 After the interesting exercises had closed, the re 
 cipients of honors, together with a few other guests, 
 were invited to lunch at the home of the president of 
 the university. Among the speakers here were Presi 
 dent Eliot. Governor Wolcott, General Miles, Sena 
 tor Cabot Lodge, Dr. Minot J. Savage, and Principal 
 Booker T. Washington. When called on, Dr. Wash 
 ington arose and said: 
 
 " It would in some measure relieve my embarrass 
 ment 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 
 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 of the 
 lowliest cabin in Alabama cotton-fields or Louisiana 
 sugar bottoms? This problem Harvard University is 
 solving, not by bringing itself down, but by bringing the 
 masses up. 
 
 " If my life in the past has meant anything in the 
 lifting up of my people and the bringing about better 
 relations between your race and mine, I assure you 
 that 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. The 
 country demands that every race shall measure itself by 
 the American standard. By it a race must rise or fall, 
 
220 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 succeed or fail, aSd in the last analysis mere sentiment 
 counts for little. 5 During the next half-century and 
 more, my race mulTcontinue passing through the severe 
 American crucible. We are to be tested in our patience, 
 our forbearance, our perseverance, 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 is the substance of what he said on that not 
 able occasion, the more notable because it was the first 
 instance in which a New England university had ever 
 conferred an honorary degree on a Negro. The sober- - 
 ness and the wisdom of Washington s address at the 
 luncheon struck the country with great force. Here 
 was the type of the possible Negro of the future. 
 Here was one w r ho had emerged from the lowliest 
 station, who was recognized by the leading university 
 of the continent as one worthy of its honors. Wash 
 ington was not an anachronism, he was an index. He 
 had been raised up to show the possibilities of the race. 
 His was an appeal for consideration soberly and wisely 
 made. He was not apologizing for being a colored 
 man, he was soliciting from the source of domination 
 the consideration which would yield to the black man 
 a chance. While he had made his own chance by dint 
 of merit, the conditions of his people were such that 
 this could not be true of everyone, except by the high 
 having respect unto the humble. That which he ex 
 hibited was an earnest of that which the world might 
 expect of multitudes of others. 
 
HONOR FOLLOWS WORTH 221 
 
 The bestowment of this title on Washington was so 
 exceptional and unique that it created a sensation. A 
 correspondent of a cosmopolitan journal writing in 
 description of the occasion said : " 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 ap 
 plause was not studied and stiff, sympathetic and con 
 doling; 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 
 sincere appreciation of the rising struggle of an ex- 
 slave and the work he has accomplished for his 
 race." 
 
 In a similar strain a Boston daily wrote editorially : 
 " In conferring the honorary degree of Master of 
 Arts upon the Principal of Tuskegee Institute, Har 
 vard University has honored itself as well as the object 
 of this distinction. The work which Professor Booker 
 T. Washington has accomplished for the education, 
 good citizenship, and popular enlightenment in his 
 chosen field of labor in the South entitles him to rank 
 with our national benefactors. The university which 
 can claim him on its list of sons whether in regular 
 course, or honoris causa, may be proud. Mr. Wash 
 ington 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 con 
 ferred because Mr. Washington is a colored man, or 
 because he was born in slavery, but because he has 
 
222 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 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." 
 
 Still another Boston daily said : " It is Harvard 
 which, first among New England colleges, confers an 
 honorary degree upon a black man. No one who has 
 followed Tuskegee and its work can fail to admire the 
 courage, persistence, 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 Boston correspondent of the New York Times 
 wrote to that journal thus : " 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." 
 
 These are only samples of the comments of the 
 press throughout the country. The proper recognition 
 of himself personally, and of his race prospectively, 
 is shown in these comments. There is suggested 
 here that with proper encouragement and patience, in 
 stead of restlessness and fault-finding, there are pos 
 sibilities in the Negro race which to help will be for 
 the common weal, while to hinder will inevitably have 
 the effect of public detriment. 
 
 It was in December, 1897, that President McKinley 
 paid a visit to the South to attend, at Atlanta, Georgia, 
 the Peace Jubilee, in commemoration of the success 
 ful issue of the conflict between America and Spain. 
 
HONOR FOLLOWS WORTH 223 
 
 On learning of his proposed visit, Dr. Washington 
 went to the national capital, in November, to invite 
 the president to visit his school. He acknowledged 
 that it was among the ambitions of his life to build 
 up such an institution as would be worthy of a visit 
 from the President of the United States. The inter 
 view with the President did not result in a promise 
 to visit the school, but he showed great interest in the 
 enterprise, and agreed to consider the matter of ,a 
 visit. Soon after, there were several sporadic out* 
 breaks of race violence in the South, the result of 
 tolerated ruffianism too often regarded with indiffer 
 ence when it should have prompt official and just 
 attention and these tended to impair the prospect of I 
 the President s visit to the school. / 
 
 However, Dr. Washington went again to visit the 
 President at the White House in regard to the visit to 
 Tuskegee, but again he declined to commit himself, 
 wishing to wait until he should reach Atlanta to de 
 cide. When he came to Atlanta, Washington again 
 urged him to extend his visit to Tuskegee, insisting 
 that nothing would so aid him in his racial work as an 
 indorsement like that from the chief executive of the 
 nation. The President wished to go, but was doubtful 
 of the wisdom of the step, not being sure how it might 
 impress the people of the South. While he was dis 
 cussing the matter with Washington, a prominent 
 gentleman of the South, an original slave-holder, came 
 in, and the President referred the matter to him for 
 advice. The gentleman said that a visit to the South 
 would not be complete without seeing the wonderful 
 
T 
 
 I 
 
 224 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 school at Tuskegee, and urged the President, by all 
 means, to go. This was re-enforced by the persua 
 sion of Dr. J. L. M. Curry, who happened also to be 
 present. The result was the promise of Mr. McKinley 
 to go to Tuskegee on December i6th. 
 
 With this assurance Washington hurried back to 
 Tuskegee, made the fact known, and soon the town 
 as agog over the promised visit. The white popula- 
 ion became as much interested as the blacks. Both 
 men and women of the whites began the formation 
 of committees for the decoration of the town, and all 
 placed themselves at the service of Dr. Washington 
 to do as he might wish in preparing for the distin 
 guished event. Bunting was provided in profusion, 
 arches were erected, flags were got in readiness, and 
 all the ornamentation necessary was provided, the 
 races vying with each other, under the general direc 
 tion of Dr. Washington. 
 
 In order to afford a practical display of the school 
 and its work to the presidential party on its arrival 
 it was arranged to have the great body of colored 
 students pass in array before the President. Each 
 was significantly to carry a stalk of sugar-cane, borne 
 as a musket, with several bolls of cotton tied to the 
 upper end of each cane. Following the students came 
 the several departments of the school represented by 
 floats drawn by horses, mules, or oxen, all the prop 
 erty of the Institute. These floats not only represented 
 the present work done, but, in contrast, on each were 
 exhibited the old methods, showing to the eye the 
 advancement of the colored school beyond that which 
 
HONOR FOLLOWS WORTH 225 
 
 had been. For an hour and a half these floats passed 
 in review before the distinguished guests. 
 
 The morning of December i6th dawned bright and 
 beautiful, and in due time the train arrived bearing the 
 presidential party. Besides the President and Mrs. 
 McKinley there were the members of the cabinet and 
 their wives, and a number of leading generals in the 
 late war with Spain, including Wheeler and Shafter. 
 The legislature of Alabama, in session at the time, 
 adjourned, and came in a body to join in the festivities 
 of the occasion. The little town of Tuskegee was 
 thronged as never before. Vast multitudes filled the 
 grounds and streets, and adjacent environs. The order 
 throughout, under Washington, was complete. Brass 
 bands were in evidence, flags floated, bunting shone, 
 and the occasion was one of quiet splendor. 
 
 The parades being at last over, the throngs repaired 
 to the new and spacious chapel that had just been com 
 pleted, and President McKinley, introduced by Dr. 
 Washington, said in part : 
 
 " To meet you under such pleasant auspices and to 
 have the opportunity of a personal observation of your 
 work, is indeed most gratifying. The Tuskegee Normal 
 and Industrial Institute is ideal in its conception, 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 in the good work 
 which it is doing in the education of its students to lead 
 lives of honor and of usefulness, thus exalting the race 
 for which it was established. Nowhere, I think, could 
 a more delightful location have been chosen for this 
 unique educational experiment, which has attracted the 
 
226 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 attention and won the support, even, of conservative 
 philanthropists in all sections of the country. 
 
 " To speak of Tuskegee without paying special tribute 
 to Booker T. Washington s genius and perseverance 
 would be impossible. The inception of this noble enter 
 prise was his, and he deserves high credit for it. His 
 was the enthusiasm and enterprise which made its steady 
 progress 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. * 
 
 Addresses were also delivered by Hon. John D. 
 Long, secretary of the navy, and Hon. Charles Emory 
 Smith, postmaster-general in Mr. McKinley s cabinet. 
 After the return of the party to Washington, the 
 Principal of Tuskegee Institute received the following 
 letter from the President s secretary: 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, 
 
 December 23, 1897. 
 
 DEAR SIR: By this mail I take pleasure in sending 
 you engrossed copies of the souvenir of the visit of the 
 President to your institution. These sheets bear the 
 names of the President and the members of the cabinet 
 who accompanied him on the trip. Let me take this 
 opportunity of congratulating you most heartily and sin 
 cerely upon the great success of the exercises provided 
 for the entertainment furnished us under your auspices 
 during our visit to Tuskegee. Every feature of the 
 program was perfectly executed and was viewed, or 
 participated in, with the heartiest satisfaction by every 
 visitor present. The unique exhibition which you gave 
 of your pupils engaged in their industrial vocations was 
 not only artistic but thoroughly impressive. The tribute 
 paid by the President and his cabinet to your work was 
 
HONOR FOLLOWS WORTH 227 
 
 none too high, and forms a most encouraging augury, 
 I think, for the future prosperity of your institution. I 
 cannot close without assuring you that the modesty 
 shown by yourself in the exercises was most favorably 
 commented on by all the members of our party. 
 
 With best wishes for the continued advance of your 
 most useful and patriotic undertaking, kind personal re 
 gards, and the compliments of the season, believe me 
 always, 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 JOHN ADDISON PORTER, 
 Secretary to the President. 
 
 About the same time that this visit of President 
 McKinley to Atlanta took place, peace demonstra 
 tions were popular throughout the country, none of 
 which exceeded either in proportion or grandeur the 
 one held at Chicago. President William R. Harper 
 of the University of Chicago was the chairman of the 
 committee on invitations and, among others, he in 
 vited Dr. Washington to deliver an address. The 
 occasion was a notable one, President McKinley and 
 his cabinet, and many army and navy officers who par 
 ticipated in the struggle, being present, besides a num 
 ber of foreign ministers. The cosmopolitan character 
 of the occasion seems to have suggested the character 
 of the speakers, who were President John H. Barrows 
 of Oberlin College, Rabbi Emil G. Hirsh, Rev. T. P. 
 Hodnett, a Catholic priest, and Booker T. Wash 
 ington. 
 
 The exercises were held in the Auditorium, and 
 the gathering was an immense one. President Mc 
 Kinley was seated in a box at the right of the stage. 
 When Washington spoke all else seemed to be forgot- 
 
228 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 ten. The Chicago Times-Herald gave this account of 
 the effects of Washington s address: 
 
 " He pictured the Negro choosing slavery rather 
 than extinction; recalled Chrispus Attucks shedding 
 his blood at the beginning of the American Revolu 
 tion, 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 pro 
 tecting and supporting the families of their masters 
 while the latter were fighting to perpetuate black slav 
 ery; 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 freedom to the enslaved 
 people of Cuba, forgetting, for the time being, that 
 law and custom made against them in their own 
 country. 
 
 " In all these things, the speaker declared, his peo 
 ple had chosen the better part. And then he made his 
 eloquent appeal to the consciences of the white Amer 
 icans : * When you have gotten the full story of the 
 heroic conduct of the Negro in the Spanish-American 
 War, have 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/ 
 
 At one stage of his speech, while the enthusiasm 
 was highest, he thanked the President for his recog 
 nition of the Negro in his appointments during the 
 
HONOR FOLLOWS WORTH 229 
 
 Spanish-American War. The passage was uttered 
 with so much pathos and burning earnestness that the 
 vast audience arose as one man, yelling and shrieking, 
 while they waved hats, handkerchiefs, canes, and um 
 brellas, so that the President had to arise and acknowl 
 edge the demonstration. 
 
 One portion of the address was misinterpreted by 
 the press of the South. Allusion was made to the right 
 of the Negro to live in the full enjoyment of his rights. 
 The quotation and accompanying misinterpretation 
 went the circuit of the Southern press, to all of which, 
 according to his habit, Washington gave no heed, until 
 the editor of the Age-Herald, at Birmingham, Ala 
 bama, asked an explanation of that part of his speech. 
 This led Washington to reply that he did not deem it 
 necessary to go into detailed explanation of what he 
 had said, for if seventeen years of the character of the 
 work he had done right in the heart of the South was 
 not an ample answer as to what he meant he did not 
 think that words would explain it. He further said 
 that it had been an invariable rule of his to say noth 
 ing in the North which he would not say in the South. 
 He referred to his address at Atlanta, and stated that 
 what he said at Chicago was the same in spirit, and 
 had reference to the obliteration of race prejudice in 
 " commercial and civil relations." He further ex 
 plained that what is known as " social recognition " 
 was a question never discussed by him anywhere, and 
 recalled what he had said at Atlanta on that subject. 
 This closed the discussion of the matter, and no fur 
 ther question was ever raised concerning his position. 
 
230 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 Many other addresses were made by him through 
 out the country, South and North, after this, but he 
 was never again called to account because of his 
 utterances. The confidence in the man and in his mis 
 sion was complete, as was shown by the elevated 
 classes of society who listened to him gladly. 
 
XVII 
 
 WIDENING INFLUENCE AND INCREASING 
 POWER 
 
 BOOKER T. WASHINGTON had now become 
 a national figure. He was equally known in 
 every quarter of the Union. He had attained 
 a distinction never before held by a Negro. His 
 greatness was appreciated everywhere. His influence 
 was potential. Sketches of his career appeared in 
 the papers and magazines throughout the country. 
 Only a few were disposed to modify the estimate of 
 his importance by the expression that that which he 
 did was excellent " for a Negro." 
 
 On one occasion, after he had spoken to an immense 
 crowd in a Southern city, an audience composed of 
 both races, three gentlemen were walking away from 
 the hall when one of them remarked that the address 
 was a most remarkable one. Another said in rather 
 a disparaging way, " Yes, that does pretty well for 
 a Negro." The third remarked that he was a philoso 
 pher, and asked if the disparager had ever heard any 
 one who did better. He acknowledged that it was 
 remarkably good, when it was further insisted that 
 to undertake to modify it was not fair, and that the 
 address would have been ranked great no matter by 
 whom delivered. Washington had caught the atten- 
 
 231 
 
232 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 tion of the entire country, and his race was the chief 
 beneficiary. 
 
 In the colored race there were men far more scholarly 
 than he, others more fascinating orators, but in the 
 combination of great forces, he was peerless among his 
 people, and ranked with the foremost of any race. 
 The advantages which had been given to others of his 
 race in educational culture stood in marked contrast 
 with the advantages which Washington had had to 
 create for himself. He was emphatically a self-made 
 man. His disadvantages at every stage of his career 
 had been enormous and grave, and it was by master 
 ing these that he came to great prominence. His 
 knowledge of life was from within. Experience had 
 ripened him, and solid good sense enabled him to 
 formulate principles of conduct for his own guidance 
 and for that of others. " Experience joined with com 
 mon sense to mortals is a providence." The rules 
 which experience suggests are better than those which 
 theorists elaborate in their libraries. 
 
 All along, certain silent movements had been oper 
 ating which culminated in the vindication of the force 
 of the colored race in Booker T. Washington. For 
 a number of years, the Negro had not been without 
 pronounced friends, even in the heart of the South. 
 These quiet forces were dissociated and largely local, 
 but in each instance were thoroughly disinterested. 
 Even at a period when one hazarded much, especially 
 of personal reputation, to espouse the cause of the 
 blacks, there were those of a slave-holding generation 
 who knew the Negro, and who, braving all opposing 
 
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON IN MIDDLE LIFE 
 
INFLUENCE AND POWER 233 
 
 sentiment, made bold to speak openly in his behalf. 
 This was not without incurring much disapprobation, 
 but the advocates had the manhood to take counsel of 
 their own consciences, and were indifferent to aught 
 else. The most notable instance of this kind was 
 when a leading educator and bishop of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, South, Bishop Atticus Haygood, 
 became, not vehemently, but decisively, a pronounced 
 advocate of the consideration due the Negro, and 
 boldly published in the early eighties, " The Brother 
 in Black." The moral heroism of his conduct was the 
 more conspicuous because this was done at a time when 
 race opposition was fiercest in the South. Not a whit 
 less pronounced was Bishop Galloway, some time con 
 temporaneous with Bishop Haygood, who lived a num 
 ber of years after the decease of the former to con 
 tinue the espousal of the cause of the Negro. Ex 
 pressions like these, and from such sources, completely 
 nullified those of the crazed penny bookmakers and 
 cheap actors whose highly-colored sensationalism had 
 a motive no higher than that of a plethoric purse. 
 
 But still a concrete demonstration was needed of 
 that which had been insisted on by others for years, 
 and that came when Washington appeared on the scene 
 in the fullness of time and duly revealed that which 
 the Negro is, and the possibilities resident within him. 
 The conditions which had preceded, united with those 
 that then were, gave an impulse to the cause of the 
 black man that is incalculable. In a sense the country 
 was not unprepared for the demonstration when it 
 came to be made. 
 
234 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 The way being open to Washington, keener vigi 
 lance was kept on him than ever before. Every 
 utterance was weighed, every action watched, to see 
 what a Negro would do with privileges so great. But 
 his friends, who were multiplying among the most 
 elevated of the whites of the South, lost no oppor 
 tunity to show their confidence and esteem. A few 
 years after the delivery of the Atlanta address, Dr. 
 Washington had occasion to go to California via 
 Houston, Texas; the business men of that city made 
 a special effort to induce him to stop over and deliver 
 an address at that point. His engagements being 
 previously made forbade an arrangement of the kind, 
 but he consented to stop over between trains and make 
 an informal talk. On his arrival, he met with the 
 leading business men of the city in a large office, where 
 perhaps fifty of the picked citizens of Houston were 
 ready to hear him. He was accorded a greeting worthy 
 of any distinguished visitor, and though it was in the 
 midst of the busy season, they had come to hear the 
 noted reconciler and race-lifter, and for more than 
 an hour many of those present stood while he spoke. 
 This was only an incident, but it meant much in a 
 large, busy city like Houston. The present writer 
 heard him on that occasion and was surprised at the 
 /reception and responsiveness accorded him. He spoke 
 / with bold but courteous frankness in the presentation 
 of the claims of his people, not without an occasional 
 bold sally, and never in a subservient or apologetic 
 way, but throughout with directness and respect, and 
 no one could have had more attention and considera- 
 
 A 
 
INFLUENCE AND POWER 235 
 
 tion. He made a profound impression, and at the 
 close of his talk was applauded and each one present 
 gladly approached him with the outstretched hand of 
 congratulation. 
 
 On one occasion while uttering a stirring period 
 in an address before an audience of both races, he 
 recited the wrongs heaped on his people, trampling 
 them down under the feet of force, and it seemed for 
 a time that he was trenching on the ground of in 
 cendiarism. Finally he rose to his full height and 
 asked in stentorian tones, " What are we to do? Are 
 we to turn in vengeance, and pillage and burn, and 
 return hate for hate? Not so. I will permit no 
 enemy to degrade my soul to the level of hate. I shall 
 endure, and so advise my people to be patient, for the 
 day of deliverance will come." Expressions like these 
 were eagerly caught up by his enemies within his own 
 race and sought to be exploited as indications of the 
 surrender of the race to all conditions whatsoever. 
 For Washington to have adopted the policy desirecf\ 
 to be pursued by his opposers in his own race, would j 
 have been to destroy himself and to have arrested the / 
 progress of his race for many years to come. En-/ 
 durance is not a servile quality, but sycophancy is. 
 No one ever knew of Washington s indorsement of im 
 position on his people. By reason of his attitude of 
 endurance he was in a better position to plead for that 
 which was right. His voice was always heard in 
 protest. He could at any time have inflamed his people 
 with a word, and at any moment have precipitated 
 slaughter and blood. But if he had done so, what 
 
236 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 would have been the result? His race would have 
 been crushed, and the possibility of an upward move 
 would have been delayed indefinitely. His voice was 
 always raised for endurance under wrong, for patience 
 in tribulation, and for persistence in right living, as 
 the sure antidote for persecution, and he believed that 
 in due time all cruelties would be cured by a course 
 like this. 
 
 History is not without a parallel to the condition 
 of the Negro in America. At a certain period in 
 English history, the Jew was the victim of as cruel 
 persecution as was ever visited on any inoffensive and 
 dependable people. Their synagogues, homes, and 
 places of business were burned, and themselves were 
 hanged, quartered, and otherwise mangled. They 
 were oppressed by cruel taxation during the reigns of 
 several kings, till at last under Edward I they were 
 expelled with confiscation of their property; many of 
 them were drowned, and such as were spared to live 
 were stranded on barren shores with expressions of 
 mockery and jeer. For fully three hundred years not 
 a Jew was permitted to set foot on English soil, but 
 under Cromwell they came slowly back. The laws 
 against them were finally annulled, the Hebrews came 
 to their own in the realm, many of them becoming 
 eminent in the politics of the nation, one rising to the 
 premiership of Great Britain while others became dis 
 tinguished jurists. The present Lord Chief Justice, 
 Sir Rufus Isaacs, or Lord Reading, is a Jew, while 
 capitalists among them are manifold. The Jew to-day 
 holds the purse-strings of Europe. Persecution is its 
 
INFLUENCE AND POWER 237 
 
 own avenger. Unless history teaches this important 
 lesson, then as an instructor it is useless. 
 Until recent years, not only was the Negro not heard 
 in his appeals against wholesale indiscrimination, but 
 a white friend was placed under the ban if he should 
 essay to interpose by a statement of fact. It is not 
 least among the favorable signs of the times that that 
 which has long been discussed as the race question, 
 is at last beginning to be approached in a temper fairly 
 free from partisan bias. Yet, despite the lapse of more 
 than a half-century, the embers of the great con 
 flict in which slavery perished are still hot, if one but 
 deeply stir the ashes. 
 
 That which took place in connection with the Jews 
 in Britain occurred in the thirteenth century in a 
 monarchy not yet sufficiently removed from the period 
 of barbarism to have given expectation of much else. 
 But this is the twentieth century, and this is demo 
 cratic America, the conditions in which evoked from 
 an Englishman, some years ago, a parody on a fa 
 miliar line, " The land of the free, and the home of 
 the slave" 
 
 Certainly nobody would seek to idolize the Negro, 
 nor even to accord to him that beyond his desert; but 
 to the extent that he is worthy, every consideration 
 of humanity, justice, and righteousness demands that 
 recognition be given him. He asks no more he could 
 not ask less. 
 
 In the role he had assumed, Washington would avoid 
 friction. He saw no possible good in even the slight 
 est display of violence. He counseled peace as the 
 
238 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 only possible means whereby the colored race could 
 accomplish anything. He urged that when reviled 
 his people revile not again. There was hope in sub 
 mission to cruelty, none whatever in resisting it. He 
 would " seek peace and pursue it." So far from seek 
 ing to absorb within himself whatever benefit might ac 
 crue from a course like this, Washington was constantly 
 pressing the claims of his race. His people were being 
 disfranchised in one state after another, including 
 I Alabama, his own state, but he was helpless. He still 
 urged submission to the inevitable, insisting that by 
 the limitations imposed as a standard for Negro quali 
 fication for voting, the colored man .would be stimu 
 lated to fresher exertion, and that, in the long run, he 
 would be the beneficiary. This failed to satisfy some 
 of his own people, who insisted that his attitude was 
 one of indifference to the good of the race, and that 
 he was bought by the money of the white men in the 
 promotion of his cherished interests at Tuskegee. 
 While he knew that this was unfounded and therefore 
 unjust, he was calm in the assurance of doing his full 
 duty as he knew it, and would not deign to make 
 reply. This accusation was, however, quite limited, 
 while the masses of his people were with him. 
 
 Instead of resistance he would have his people 
 neither pine nor whine, but with uplifted vision to 
 higher things, press on in the way of industry and 
 peace, and finally win by worth. This he continued to 
 inculcate at Tuskegee, and on occasions before the 
 public. In addressing his own race, he urged this, 
 while at the same time he lost no opportunity to indi- 
 
INFLUENCE AND POWER 239 
 
 cate to the white race the importance of recognizing 
 the fact that the good of one people was that of the 
 other, and that the interests of the races were so iden 
 tical that they must stand or fall together. With equal X 
 force he insisted that to keep the Negro depressed \ 
 the white man must depress the standard of his own 
 manhood, using the apt but homely figure which be- / 
 came a proverb " In order to keep the colored man / 
 down in the ditch the white man must be there also." 
 
 From all this it is clear that Washington, more 
 than any other man of either race, was laboring for 
 the welfare of the Negro. More than any man 
 of either race, perhaps, he saw the philosophy of the 
 situation. It is true that his growth of popularity 
 and of prominence gave him enlarged opportunity, 
 and he was seeking to turn it to the best account pos 
 sible. That the vision which he had was the sanest 
 one possible, events have proved, and from the pres 
 ent trend of conditions the possibilities which he fore 
 saw many years ago are gradually coming about. 
 Severely criticised as he was he budged not an inch 
 from his position, while he was equally steadfast in 
 the provision of methods for race advancement. The 
 many-sidedness of his character was brought out by 
 the unusual conditions in which he was placed. 
 Looked at from the distance of years, his work under 
 the strain to which he was subjected is even more 
 wonderful than it then appeared to be. 
 
 Booker T. Washington combined in a potent way 
 qualities which no other of either race displayed, at the 
 time that he was laboring and planning for better 
 
240 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 things. It was not extravagant to say that he was at 
 once a seer, prophet, practical philosopher, sage, con- 
 structionist, race-builder, wise counselor, and a citizen 
 of unimpeachable character, and as such, and because 
 of the possession of these qualities, he made for him 
 self a name in the annals not only of America, but 
 in those of the most advanced civilization of the globe. 
 It is easy to punctuate his record with " if s," " buts," 
 and " unlesses " and other terms equally disparaging, 
 but his record is secure. He lived and wrought phe 
 nomenally and his name and fame are co-existent 
 with modern civilization. 
 
XVIII 
 
 RACE ORGANIZATION AND CONSTRUC 
 TION 
 
 DR. WASHINGTON S work at Tuskegee be 
 ing now fully established and thoroughly 
 manned, he was able to give more attention 
 to the general interests of the race. Up to this time, 
 that which he had done for his people in a general 
 way, had been incidental and occasional. Of course, 
 the school at Tuskegee was his first care, but he had 
 constructed this solidly through the years. Capitalists 
 and philanthropists, seeing its wonderful success, had 
 become its cordial supporters. It is an error, how 
 ever, to suppose that these resources came in copious 
 profusion without solicitation. Every dollar invested 
 at Tuskegee represented labor to procure it the labor 
 of the wise master-builder of the school. Not till he 
 had shown his ability to construct, organize, and direct, 
 was aid forthcoming. The financial assistance was 
 the effect and not the means of his marvelous success. 
 He had created something out of nothing, had built 
 solidly and symmetrically at each succeeding stage of 
 his laborious advancement, had wrought and achieved 
 without flourish, and had displayed an ability so many- 
 sided that he had occasioned a condition eliciting the 
 attention of philanthropists, in consequence of which 
 
 241 
 
242 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 money came, as well as the timely counsel of able 
 capitalists. Tuskegee came to afford an opportunity 
 for investment in character that is rarely equaled. 
 What more could be desired as an object worthy of 
 aid than an institution that had been literally forced 
 into existence in response to a necessity growing out 
 of the conditions of ten million people who had but 
 lately been slaves ? Through years of difficulty it had 
 forced its way, opposed by every possible obstruction, 
 and had become famous by reason of its unprecedented 
 and novel success. It was next to the seemingly im 
 possible that had been wrought by Booker T. Wash 
 ington. He had upset every adverse theory indulged 
 in concerning his race while it was yet struggling, and 
 as its champion and leader he had shown that which 
 the Negro is capable of becoming and of doing. 
 
 Tuskegee had thus become a great race fulcrum. 
 That fulcrum constructed, Washington could now 
 turn his attention and administrative skill toward 
 measures looking to race elevation. Here was even a 
 greater task, vast and herculean in its proportions, 
 but the principles so successfully applied at Tuskegee 
 would now be applied as far as was practicable to the 
 needs of a great race. Stupendous difficulties dis 
 puted his way at the outset, but the race must grapple 
 with these and thereby establish its worthiness. They 
 must be met by the black man in order to vindicate his 
 claim to a place in American life. Could it be done? 
 Tuskegee was the inspiring answer. 
 
 Washington never assumed that he embodied within 
 himself the forces of the race, but just the contrary. 
 
RACE ORGANIZATION 243 
 
 He knew his people, knew their spirit and their pos 
 sibilities, and knew how to touch keys that would 
 evoke response. Familiar with the principles which 
 had yielded success at Tuskegee, he sought to apply 
 them as far as practicable to the race as a whole. 
 One advantage was his he had already in an inci 
 dental way aided in different directions these same 
 people, had thus far succeeded, and he could point 
 continually to Tuskegee as an object-lesson of that 
 which all could achieve, at least to some extent. 
 
 Another advantage was his the Negro had already 
 shown by the most unmistakable signs that he was 
 willing to do, was wishing to become worthy, and was 
 longing for relief, but had been working blindly. 
 His efforts had been incoherent. He could produce, 
 but he was not an economical husbandman of the re 
 sults of his labors. He was too much of a spend 
 thrift of his precious dollars. He needed stern in 
 struction, guidance, direction. He had been striking 
 in the dark. His forces were dissipated, and his lack 
 of knowledge made him the easy victim of the de 
 signing and the unscrupulous. He produced, but did 
 not realize. Others realized the results of his labors. 
 He must be trained to economy. There were unques 
 tioned indications of vast ability on the part of the 
 race, but that ability needed to be diverted into proper 
 channels. 
 
 Some things that produced merriment at the ex 
 pense of the race were in themselves indexes of deep 
 worth if they could be properly manipulated. The 
 Negro had great ambition that germ from which all 
 
244 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 growth of nobleness proceeds. As a mass he pined 
 for something, he scarcely knew what. His struggle 
 for education under every phase of disadvantage, suf 
 fering, and endurance was intense. His desire for a 
 home of his own, churches, and schools, and places of 
 business, was an indication of profound racial worth. 
 Even his fondness for titles for which he was not 
 worthy or prepared, though esteemed a weakness, and 
 laughed at, had within itself a dynamic force that 
 meant much. So far as was possible, he had shown 
 his worth. The advance guard of his destined prog 
 ress in the various vocations was already on the 
 march. He had his pioneer poet of unquestioned 
 ability in Dunbar, his novelist of force and beauty in 
 Chestnutt, his painter of international distinction in 
 Tanner, his scholars in men like Du Bois and Miller, 
 his successful planters many, at the head of the pro 
 fession of which was Grooves, his brilliant editors 
 like Fortune and Trotter, his ecclesiastical leaders like 
 Tanner, Turner, Morris, and others, his capitalists 
 like Boyd and Pettiford, his jurists like Terrell and 
 Lewis, his statesmen like Bruce, his orators like 
 Walker and Mason, all of whom had pushed their way 
 through difficulty and had attained to eminence in 
 their respective orbits. Nor were all of these of 
 mixed blood, to which fact of Anglo-Saxon re-enforce 
 ment is so often attributed Negro success, for some 
 were as black as any. What did the race need in 
 order to multiply these manifold? Nothing more 
 than a fair chance in the race of life. Oppressed, sup 
 pressed, depressed, discouraged rather than animated, 
 
RACE ORGANIZATION 245 
 
 it needed the force of organization by means of which 
 it could make itself so emphatically felt that recog 
 nition of merit could not be withheld. 
 
 To this end Washington now gave much attention 
 without in the least releasing his grip on the school at 
 Tuskegee. If the dominant public declined to accord 4 
 recognition to the merit of these worthy people by the \ 
 ordinary laws of recognition, then the Negro must 
 prove by extraordinary fact that he was an element 
 of undeniable value as an asset of American civiliza 
 tion. If the fact of his worth was that which was 
 demanded, and if the unquestioned evidence of so 
 many worthies was interpreted to mean only partial 
 exceptions while the race was still regarded with seri 
 ous doubt, then the Negro must rise in his gigantic 
 race strength, and evince such worth that recognition 
 could not be withheld. It was hard that this was so, 
 very hard, but such was the logic of the situation. 
 
 The imported man from Europe and from Asia 
 could come across the seas, become naturalized, and be 
 invested with all the functions of American citizen 
 ship; but then they were not Negroes, a thing that 
 meant much to many people. Here were millions of 
 native Americans whose loyalty had not slackened 
 through centuries, and whose capability had been 
 phenomenally demonstrated where even the slightest 
 chance was given but then they were Negroes! 
 Strangely blind as were many to all else than the fact 
 of race, the opportunity of the Negro was narrowly 
 restricted and largely to that of his own creation. 
 
 Very well, then, the race must meet the situation. 
 
246 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 It could not afford to curse the situation, foment agi 
 tation and strife, and thereby make worse the condi 
 tions. There was a way out, and that way Washing 
 ton took, followed by thousands of enthusiastic co 
 adjutors. While regarded with a sneer by not a few, 
 the efforts of the American Negro afford one of the 
 most pathetic displays of human struggle the world 
 has ever known. One has only to discard from his 
 thought the race idea to appreciate the seriousness 
 of the inner meaning of this struggle. At the first, 
 Washington himself had been distrusted, and thought 
 of by some as only a race-ruiner; but now that he had 
 succeeded and had won the heights, he was applauded. 
 Every Negro could not become a Washington, but 
 every one, in proportion to ability, could do some 
 thing, and in the aggregation of these into organiza 
 tion, a serried front of merit could be shown that none 
 could gainsay. It was this which this great leader now 
 sought. 
 
 He would lay under tribute every means of en 
 couragement. He would write a timely book, a 
 revelation to both races, in which he would show his 
 own struggles from the period of a pauperized youth 
 fresh from slavery, all along up the slippery heights 
 that he had scaled. Hence his " Up from Slavery." 
 He would follow this with yet another which would 
 be a source of inspiration and of stimulation; hence 
 The Negro in Business," itself a revelation to his 
 own people and to others besides. By word of mouth 
 and by busy pen and constant trips and tours, he was 
 infusing fresh life into his people everywhere by means 
 
RACE ORGANIZATION 247 
 
 of facts and principles which were a source of aston 
 ishment alike to both races. 
 
 There was that in his course of procedure at this 
 time which, had he been other than a Negro, would 
 have been ranked as the highest exhibition of mag 
 nanimity, which it was; but being a Negro, many 
 esteemed it no more than a display of servility and of 
 sycophancy for purposes purely sinister. The spirit 
 which dwelt in Washington s course was that of a 
 common Americanism, not one of isolated and defiant 
 racialism. He encouraged no such spirit as that of 
 defiance, of assumption, or of presumption, but he 
 would weld into compactness a common American 
 sentiment, a democratic unanimity of cooperation on 
 the part of both races living in a common country, 
 under a common fundamental law, and under a com 
 mon flag, with a common goal to be reached. While 
 a great race-lover, he was a greater man-lover. He 
 would smooth down the asperities of both peoples 
 alike, and bring them into common union of effort, 
 each in its own sphere, distinct in race, one in pur 
 pose. 
 
 Exceedingly valuable to his own race, Washington 
 was not a whit less so to the Anglo-Saxon. He was 
 a common benefactor, and the dominant race will be 
 recreant to the simplest principle of gratitude if there 
 be withheld the appraisal due him as a great man whose 
 entire force was spent in genuine patriotism for the 
 good of all alike. At the time about which we now 
 write, he was in the performance of his most delicate 
 mission, and was sometimes gratuitously misjudged 
 
248 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 and his conduct forced into a meaning which was 
 the opposite of what it really was. This was illus 
 trated at different times of which he was not aware, 
 and an instance is here recorded as an index of others. 
 He was traveling on a Pullman, with his wife, from 
 Montgomery to New Orleans. A white gentleman 
 who knew him was passing along the aisle and he 
 stopped and shook hands with him. Another, observ 
 ing the hand-shaking, followed the gentleman into 
 the smoking-room, with the impertinent question : 
 " Was that not a nigger with whom you shook hands, 
 just now?" He was told that it was, and that the 
 one with whom he had thus spoken was Booker T. 
 Washington. This led to a tirade on the part of the 
 interferer, a rain of abuse of Washington with an 
 interlarding of oaths, concluding with the expression 
 of the opinion that both Washington and his wife 
 should be expelled from the sleeper. A number of 
 gentlemen overheard the remarks, and a manly defense 
 of Washington was made by every other, not without 
 the expenditure of much passion. The chief and un 
 answerable thought was advanced that the demand was 
 made on the Negro to become somebody, and that 
 when he sought to do this, he was denounced. He 
 was railed on when he did not dance at the piping of 
 others, and there was mourning when he would not 
 lament. Finally the objector fell back on the defense, 
 :< Yes, but Booker Washington is a nigger ! " Here 
 again, he was not permitted to make a stand, but his 
 inconsistency was made so clear that he was utterly 
 routed, and sought to turn the occasion into a joke, 
 
RACE ORGANIZATION 249 
 
 to the disgust of all present. Booker T. Washington 
 had reached a period in his life when there were 
 many who would befriend him in any circle, and as a 
 representative of his race his people shared in the 
 growing sentiment in the South. He was still achiev 
 ing, still pursuing. 
 
 One other occasion may be mentioned in the same 
 connection. A gentleman from the South had been 
 visiting Tuskegee, where he became overwhelmingly 
 impressed by the school and its work; wishing to 
 ascertain the estimate in which the institution was 
 held in the locality, he engaged in conversation on 
 the train with a prominent citizen of Tuskegee, a 
 judge, whose premises abutted on those of the campus 
 of the Institute. Feigning sincerity the visitor quizzed 
 the judge by asking how it was possible for the peo 
 ple of Tuskegee to tolerate the presence of so many 
 young Negroes, and of a herd of teachers of that race 
 under such a man as Booker Washington. 
 
 The judge, taking the questioner seriously, replied 
 that no doubt many who lived away from Tuskegee 
 entertained thoughts like those, but added that his 
 yard adjoined the campus, and he presumed that if 
 anyone was able to express an opinion of the school 
 he was. Then he said he had been living there for 
 years, and that he regarded the presence of those 
 people as a genuine protection to his home. He ex 
 plained that he was often away from home for days 
 together, and felt the securer because the school was 
 there. He said that those people in the school would 
 die for his family if necessary, and that so far from 
 
250 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 being a menace they were a protection and a blessing. 
 Then at great length he proceeded to tell of the utmost 
 order preserved, the absence even of yelling on the 
 grounds, the politeness always shown by the humblest 
 student, the aid of those valuable people to the town, 
 the service that they rendered with so much cheerful 
 ness, the excellent butter and milk, vegetables and 
 fruits that they furnished, the readiness and skill with 
 which they executed any work desired, and concluded 
 by saying that the school was the pride of the town. 
 Still insistent in his assumed sincerity, the questioner 
 remarked, " But they are Negroes." This led the 
 judge to remark with decided emphasis that it made 
 no difference if they were, they met the demands of 
 first-class neighbors, and that should be sufficient to 
 satisfy any reasonable man. Proceeding still farther 
 he remarked that there was a marked disposition on 
 the part of some to underestimate the Negro, but if the 
 visitor would stay sufficiently long about Tuskegee 
 he would be thoroughly converted. The questioner 
 thereupon expressed ample satisfaction, and the con 
 versation was turned. 
 
 One of the direct methods of race organization and 
 construction was the suggestion to a number of his 
 brightest students to found schools in the midst of 
 the densest populations of the colored race in different 
 parts of the South. These miniature Tuskegees were 
 indirectly fostered by Dr. Washington, land being 
 procured in each instance through the enlistment of 
 influential white citizens, and, in due time, adequate 
 buildings erected. 
 
RACE ORGANIZATION 251 
 
 The most far-reaching work in race enlistment, 
 however, was that of the organization of the National 
 Negro Business League, the first session being held at 
 Boston in {1900^^ This organization cohered the 
 Negro forces of the nation as nothing else has doi 
 Year after year it has brought together the active) 
 economic forces of the race, and has imparted 
 stimulus that has more thrilled the colored race tin 
 has any other movement. An annual session of the 
 general body is held in some city, North or South, at 
 which times Negro business men vie with each other 
 in exhibiting their varied enterprises of whatever 
 kind. For fifteen years these annual sessions have 
 now been held with a wonderful increase of interest 
 and enterprise. The master spirit of Washington has 
 dominated its councils and proceedings, he having been 
 chosen the presiding officer at each annual session till 
 his death. 
 
 What are some of the visible results of this organi 
 zation? There are twelve auxiliary state leagues 
 maintained in each of the following states : Alabama, 
 Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mis 
 sissippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, 
 Texas, and Virginia. In each of the states named 
 and in others there are chartered local leagues as 
 follows: Alabama, 18; Arkansas, 3; California, 5; 
 Colorado, 2; Connecticut, 2; Delaware, i; District 
 of Columbia, i; Florida, 10; Georgia, 16; Illinois, 6; 
 Indiana, 4; Kansas, 9; Kentucky, 13; Louisiana, 9; 
 Maryland, 6; Massachusetts, 3; Mississippi, n; Mis 
 souri, 5; Nebraska, i; New Jersey, 6; New York, 3; 
 
252 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 North Carolina, 23; Ohio, 4; Oklahoma, 16; Penn 
 sylvania, 4; Rhode Island, 2; South Carolina, n; 
 Tennessee, 15; Texas, 21; Virginia, 18; West Vir 
 ginia, 8, and Africa, i. This makes a grand total 
 of 257 local leagues, every one of which is a busy 
 hive of activity and enthusiasm. Here we have as 
 the product of this wizard of quiet organization a 
 long chain of local business centers of inspiration and 
 force in race construction. 
 
 Nor are these merely nominal organizations. They 
 are instinct with vitality. To attend their meetings, 
 especially those of the largest, or national, organi 
 zation, gives an idea of the rapid development of the 
 race such as cannot be elsewhere had. The well- 
 dressed men of business are not present for verbose 
 prattle, but are calm and dignified, and in their brief 
 speeches are short and sharp, with the due regard for 
 economy of time so characteristic of men of business. 
 
 According to the census of 1910 the Negroes owned 
 218,972 farms embracing almost 20,000,000 acres, 
 owned or presided over by 600,000 colored men, and 
 had built and equipped about 500,000 homes, while 
 they had 38,000 churches, 22,000 business interests, 
 and 53 banks. The total valuation of the property 
 owned by the Negroes of the country amounts to 
 about $800,000,000. It is altogether worthy of 
 mention that Negroes sustain about 200 private 
 .-schools and colleges, besides hospitals, old folks 
 homes, and sanitaria. The conditions of the race 
 in the different states of the South are in propor 
 tion to the extent of cooperation between the two 
 
RACE ORGANIZATION 253 
 
 races. While there are perplexing features of thatX , 
 which is popularly called the race question, there is \ / 
 no doubt about the continued rapid progress of the < 
 Negro. 
 
 As the years went by, the labors and travels of Dr. 
 Washington were greatly increased. He was sub 
 jected to a strain which itself became normal so 
 habituated was he to it. He was in perpetual demand 
 here, there, and everywhere, and honored everywhere 
 for his works sake. Several years before his death 
 he had an appointment to deliver an address at Char 
 lotte, North Carolina, and no pains were spared to 
 show him every possible distinction. A committee of 
 prominent white citizens were appointed by the mayor 
 to meet him at the station and accord to him a recep 
 tion worthy of his position. These white citizens o?\ 
 the South had nothing to gain by flattering the great 
 pioneer of Negro elevation, therefore their actions 
 could not have been other than sincere. It may be said / 
 in passing, that in no other state of the Union is the / 
 colored race more advanced than in North Carolina. 
 
 This and other incidents in the career of Dr. Wash 
 ington and, indeed, in that of other colored men of* 
 worth, proved to him and to them that a reformation 
 looking to race adjustment is on the march in the 
 South. Expressions like the one just mentioned bore 
 positive proof to the mind of the illustrious uplifter 
 that his labors were not in vain. In summing up 
 the estimate of his worth nothing is clearer than that 
 he did more for his people during his career than all 
 others of the race combined, and did it in such way as 
 
254 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 to win the approbation of the humanitarians of the 
 world. 
 
 Not till twenty years before he passed away was 
 Washington enabled to catch in public address the ear 
 of the South, but thenceforward no one of the South 
 engaged more the attention of the public. If he stooped 
 to conquer, the people, irrespective of race, were the 
 beneficiaries, and he passed to his tomb followed by 
 a universal acclaim that a great man was gone. 
 
XIX 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF ENLISTMENT 
 
 IT required nearly twenty-five years of gigantic 
 grapple with difficulty for Booker T. Washington 
 to bring his race in America to the attention of 
 the world. In obscure regions here and there about 
 the South, entirely unobserved save in the localities 
 in which they were, many colored men had gradually, 
 come into the possession of land cheapened in value \ % 
 as the result of the war, had gone to work, and were ! 
 quietly and obscurely accumulating wealth, while/ 
 others had established little industries of various kinds | 
 these formed a nucleus of organization which became*- 
 an engine of propulsion to the pioneers of race ad-j 
 vancement, and stirred others from their lethargy., 
 These forces were working without concert of action, 
 and unknown to each other, because they had no means 
 of intercommunication, and it was this that Wash 
 ington supplied at a time when public sentiment had 
 become more conciliatory. By the combination of 
 these two agencies of organization and conciliation the 
 race was enabled to set forth on a new era. 
 
 Being able to exploit the achievements of his peo 
 ple under difficulty, he 
 
 stantial aid v and the first line of racial barriers went 
 
 255 
 
256 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 down. Not till then was he able to enlist the sub 
 stantial help so greatly needed. Tuskegee had become 
 a common point of distribution of Negro force and 
 influence. Its graduates were demonstrating in trades, 
 agriculture, professions, schools, and in much else, 
 that for which the school stood, and these agencies 
 combined with the numerous voluntary strides made 
 in different regions furnished a basis not alone for 
 race elevation, but for an appeal of enlistment of 
 those who could do so, to aid in the work of uplift 
 ing. 
 
 It is an error to think that men and women of wealth 
 fanatically and surreptitiously poured their money out 
 to Washington in order to contribute to the school of 
 a race so long in bondage, coupled with the purpose of 
 rebuking the South by the elevation of the Negro. 
 Such a conclusion is not only most illogical, but is 
 entirely foreign to the motives of benefactors in the 
 North, every dollar of whose gifts was a means of re 
 lief to the entire South, and worthy of the highest 
 appreciation. The contributions made to Tuskegee 
 were in no wise more helpful to one race than to the 
 other. Time will vindicate not only these, but the 
 outlay of such great organizations as the American 
 Baptist Missionary Society, the American Missionary 
 Association, and other great religious bodies that were 
 early on the field as the contributors to a needed civili 
 zation. This is the spirit with which the most en 
 lightened and unbiased sentiment of the South regards 
 these benefactions, and views to the contrary are ex 
 ceptional alike in character and in number. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF ENLISTMENT 257 
 
 As the clearness of the motive of Dr. Washington 
 became increasingly transparent with the evolution and 
 practical demonstration of his plans, means came, but 
 not without continued strain of effort on his part. To 
 those without, it meant much when Dr. Washington 
 had succeeded in winning the approbation of the peo 
 ple of the South. Not till he had established a sub 
 stantial footing was he able to obtain a hearing at 
 the tribunal of public opinion. He alone demonstrated 
 the only method of effecting race adjustment. Nor 
 did he, by any means, accomplish all that needs yet 
 to be done, but he did succeed in dissolving the ad 
 vanced lines of difficulty, without which nothing 
 was possible. His individual wisdom and success 
 brought the means of success in a way praised by 
 all. 
 
 Those whom Washington drew to his support were 
 not men of hasty and unwise action, nor of a type to 
 be merely sentimentally affected. They v were stern, 
 Jbusiness men. The investment made in character at 
 TusKegee and elsewhere was one as seriously and 
 considerately made as if they were investing in stocks 
 and bonds. Their investments were for returns, the 
 prospect of which must be visible in dividends of 
 character and of life, else not a penny would have 
 been contributed. Investments like these, therefore, 
 made by men like these, are a guarantee of the 
 tremendous worth of the enterprise. Nor is it un 
 becoming or unreasonable to suggest and even to urge, 
 in this connection, in view of the increasing wealth of 
 the South and the increasing value to both races of 
 
258 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 our worthy colored institutions of learning, that these 
 merit the timely financial aid of many Southerners 
 who can now assist. It is difficult to conceive of ob 
 jects more worthy. This admits of application alike 
 to the Tuskegee enterprise and to numerous other 
 schools. With the increased standards of these schools 
 there must come increased value of common weal. 
 
 Among the earliest philanthropists to recognize the 
 worth of Tuskegee was Mr. A. H. Porter, of Brook 
 lyn, New York, already named. Later came a host of 
 other donors, some of whom, though liberal in the 
 bestowment of gifts, withheld their names and insisted 
 that that which they did should be privately applied 
 without themselves being known. That which was 
 subsequently given by many capitalists was judiciously 
 withheld from undue publication, and the general 
 result is known only in the continued expansion of the 
 great school. Knowledge of the amounts given by 
 men like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, 
 Julius Rosenwald, and other generous givers is not 
 a matter of serious concern. The important thing is 
 the fact that men like these became seriously enlisted 
 in the great work, and liberally aided in its support. 
 
 When Mr. Carnegie s attention was first called to 
 the work, he failed to see sufficient in it to enlist him, 
 and not unlike many others, withheld his gifts till 
 Washington should be able to demonstrate that his 
 enterprise was worthy of substantial help. Declining 
 in 1890 to contribute to the school, it had within the 
 next ten years so progressed that Dr, Washington 
 wrote the following letter; 
 
THE SPIRIT OF ENLISTMENT 259 
 
 TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA, December 15, igoo. 
 MR. ANDREW CARNEGIE, 5 West Fifty-first Street, New 
 York. 
 
 DEAR SIR : Complying with the request which you 
 made of me when I saw you at your residence a few 
 days ago, I now submit in writing an appeal for a 
 library building for our institution. 
 
 We have 1,100 students, 86 officers and instructors, to 
 gether with their families, and about 200 colored people 
 living near the school, all of whom would make use of 
 the library building. 
 
 We have over 12,000 books, periodicals, etc., gifts from 
 our friends, but we have no suitable place for them, and 
 we have no suitable reading-room. 
 
 Our graduates go to work in every section of the 
 South, and whatever knowledge might be obtained in 
 the library would serve to assist in the elevation of the 
 whole Negro race. 
 
 Such a building as we need could be erected for about 
 $20,000. All of the work for the building, such as brick- 
 making, brick-masonry, carpentry, blacksmithing, etc., 
 would be done by the students. The money which you 
 would give would not only supply the building, but the 
 erection of the building would give a large number of 
 students an opportunity to learn the building trades, and 
 the students would use the money paid to them to keep 
 themselves in school. I do not believe that a similar 
 amount of money often could be made to go so far in 
 uplifting a whole race. 
 
 If you wish further information I shall be glad to 
 furnish it. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, Principal. 
 
 In response to this came the following reply: 
 
 " I will be very glad to pay the bills for the library 
 building as they are incurred, to the extent of twenty 
 thousand dollars, and I am glad of this opportunity to 
 show the interest I have in your noble work." 
 
260 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 While generous gifts occasionally came, the bulk of 
 the basis of support for the Tuskegee Normal and In 
 dustrial Institute came from innumerable small dona 
 tions derived from as many sources. This had the 
 double meaning of wide popularization of the work 
 and of much intense labor on the part of the inde 
 fatigable Principal. It is worthy of record that the 
 graduates who went out from the school would an 
 nually remit from their slender incomes amounts 
 ranging from twenty-five cents to ten dollars. Nor 
 should the significant fact be overlooked that the 
 legislature of Alabama, through the efforts of Hon. 
 M. F. Foster, the leading representative of the county 
 in which Tuskegee is located, increased the appropria 
 tion from $2,000 to $3,000, and afterward raised it 
 to $4,500. Generous aid was also given from the 
 John F. Slater Fund, of which Dr. J. L. M. Curry, 
 an Alabamian, and a former member of the Confeder 
 ate Congress, was the general agent. In the same con 
 nection should be named Mr. Morris K. Jesup, of 
 New York, who as a capitalist became interested in 
 the Tuskegee enterprise, and gave unstintingly of his 
 means and his time and thought to the work. No 
 friend of the enterprise has been more loyal and unre 
 mitting in his efforts than Hon. Seth Low, of New 
 York, at present the chairman of the board of trustees 
 of the Institute. It is of peculiar significance that 
 two Presidents of the United States, Roosevelt and 
 Taft, have given personal time and labor to the pro 
 motion of the same great interest. With increasing 
 significance the interest of Southern men like Messrs. 
 
 ^IP 
 
THE SPIRIT OF ENLISTMENT 261 
 
 Belton Gilreath, of Birmingham, Alabama, and W. 
 W. Campbell, of Tuskegee, has for years been zeal 
 ously enlisted in the same worthy cause. 
 
 The object here is not so much to undertake to 
 furnish a list of the host of friends and supporters 
 of the great and growing school at Tuskegee, as to 
 give an idea of the rapid increase of enlisted interest 
 in its behalf. The interest of those and of hundreds 
 of others that might be worthily named, was not that 
 which was merely verbal and nominal, but that which 
 meant labor and money often rendered, and cheerfully. 
 The dawn was gradually brightening into the fuller 
 day. 
 
 In view of the popular misconception of the ease 
 with which the resources both of influence and of 
 means came to Booker T. Washington, it is only fair 
 to say that none of these was without the most unre 
 mitting labor on his part. The belief that his was a 
 sphere of indolent ease and comfort is wide of the 
 fact. As opportunities and advantages multiplied, 
 whether locally at Tuskegee, or generally in his efforts 
 in behalf of his race, his labor was correspondingly 
 increased. Skill and facility were acquired by him as 
 a result of the bitter experience of years, and these he 
 was unremitting in turning to great account, not in 
 one direction alone, but in many. The work which he 
 daily did for years was enormous. Experience in the 
 rapid management of detail brought him to the point 
 where he could rapidly dispatch business, but it was 
 never without draft on his resources of mind and 
 nerve. Conceiving, planning, devising, directing, ad- 
 
262 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 vising, by pen or correspondence, were always his. 
 With the return of consciousness every morning from 
 sleep, often restless from perplexing enigmas, his mind 
 was confronted by huge tasks which he alone could 
 perform. He had pressed the work of his life to the 
 point where to stop meant not alone a standstill, but 
 stagnation. He had a prodigious fund of physical 
 strength acquired in his younger years, but even that 
 was now being sapped under the strain to which he 
 was subjected. The interests of millions were piled 
 on him by the necessity of the situation, and, Atlas- 
 like, he had all to bear. His peculiar lot afforded the 
 spectacle of one silently toiling, thinking, planning, 
 by day, by night, pressed by encompassing burdens 
 which bore in from every quarter, and yet of one 
 quietly and uncomplainingly enduring while he cheer 
 fully labored on. 
 
 An erroneous view of Washington was that of a 
 man who had shrewdly become famous by taking ad 
 vantage of a peculiar situation, delivering an occa 
 sional public address, drinking in applause, writing 
 now and then an article for a magazine, and reposing 
 at ease either in a pleasant home at Tuskegee, or else 
 lounging in a New York hotel. The truth is that he 
 was a sorely pressed man, knowing nothing of ease or 
 of release from intense labor, but vexed by problems 
 of divers kinds of which the world knew nothing. 
 He was eliciting, combining, and directing unceas 
 ingly. Possessed of a cheerful temperament and a 
 spirit that was optimistic, these qualities were in con 
 stant conflict with the wear and tear of body and 
 
THE SPIRIT OF ENLISTMENT 263 
 
 of mind. He never complained and seemed never to 
 think that recuperation was necessary, and but for 
 his systematic methods of work he would have sunk 
 under the burden which he bore. The marvel is how 
 he accomplished so much and did it so well. How one 
 could find time to write books as he did, under a 
 constant strain of keeping in advance of the necessary 
 demands made on him, it is difficult to see. That 
 which the public saw of him was the least of the 
 features of his life. 
 
 His correspondence became prodigious. Whether in 
 New York or at Tuskegee, he was daily inundated with 
 letters, while at either end during his absence they 
 would accumulate in vast heaps. Miscellaneous in 
 formation was sought by members of both races, 
 advice solicited by farmers, mechanics, bankers, mer 
 chants, and educators, and these always received re 
 spectful answers, and as promptly as possible, while 
 he must at the same time be managing the affairs of his 
 great school from which he received a detailed daily 
 report during his absence. He must all along be mind 
 ful not only for the present needs of the school, but 
 must make due provision for its advancement as it 
 was constantly expanding. He had a corps of trained 
 and efficient helpers, but their functions were circum 
 scribed, since he must be responsible for the things 
 said and done. By reason of the conditions of which 
 he was the creator, with respect to the guidance of the 
 complicated affairs of his people, who were them 
 selves hindered and hampered, his immediate future 
 was always filled with difficulties to be solved. 
 
264 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 Besides all this, there were numerous minor ques 
 tions that constantly came before him which needed 
 prompt answers. At one time a musician of some 
 pretension lingered about Tuskegee with a desire to 
 render some musical performances, and eagerly sought 
 to gain the consent of Dr. Washington to give an 
 entertainment at the Institute, but the permission was 
 kindly but firmly withheld. Because of his failure, 
 he published a booklet in which he proposed to make 
 certain exposures of the conduct of the faculty and 
 students of the institution, which was described as 
 viciously immoral, while he sought to inflame race 
 passion by the strongest appeals possible. He gave 
 as wide circulation to his little book as possible, but 
 it fell still-born. In no way was attention given it 
 by Dr. Washington or any other, and its failure was 
 complete. Washington s invariable habit was to give 
 no heed to rumors or reports, and he would never men 
 tion them unless asked about them by a friend. 
 
 In his perpetual labors he had to do with the lowli 
 est as well as with the leaders of the races; he had to 
 deal with both races as an advocate for the things due 
 his people, and his position was often a delicate one. 
 He had also to do with both sections, South and 
 North, and that he should have been able in the most 
 turbulent period of our national history, so effectually 
 to escape blundering, was exceedingly creditable to 
 his wisdom. That, again, he should have so thor 
 oughly won the confidence of all classes, save that 
 of the invidious, is most astonishing. All efforts made 
 to thwart him were futile. He established a reputa- 
 
THE SPIRIT OF ENLISTMENT 265 
 
 tion for integrity that made him practically invulner 
 able to the assaults of his enemies, and in his long 
 career succeeded in enlisting the best people of the 
 land in his behalf personally, and in behalf of the 
 great cause which he fostered. 
 
 Exceedingly desirous for the elevation of his people, 
 he pleaded for patience and consideration and was 
 intent on proving that the Negro is 
 
 " as much a man 
 
 As moves the throng among; 
 As much a part of the great plan 
 With which creation s dawn began 
 
 As any of the throng." 
 
 He sought unceasingly to make a place for his peo 
 ple in American life. For the Negro to be always 
 dependable on another race would make him despicable. 
 Honorable industry would lead to independence. In 
 dustrial ability would make the race an indispensable 
 adjunct to our civilization, and this he impressed on 
 all his race organizations, while he sought to turn his 
 people away from the fancied idea of bounding up 
 ward by a single leap to the highest rung of the 
 ladder. The South was gradually returning to its own 
 under new conditions, and he would have the colored 
 race become one of the chief factors in the progress 
 made, and thereby become established on a basis th< 
 worth of which could not be questioned. In other 
 words, he wished his race to be identified with the 
 rehabilitation of the South, that the Negro might ever 
 afterward become an important part of the section. 
 
266 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 To him it was a golden opportunity for the Negro 
 race, and one that it could not afford to slight. 
 
 As he viewed it, the Negro could thus establish for 
 all time a base of worth whence could be drawn sup 
 plies. In a sphere like this the Negro was without 
 competition. Should he fail, the foreigner would be 
 imported, and the Negro would be jostled aside in his 
 helplessness. The colored man could be educated, and 
 should be, but alongside his mental training he would 
 have him an industrial factor; for, as he reasoned, 
 what use would he have for an education entirely 
 classical, or literary, if he had only this? Washing 
 ton would have the Negro possessed of a force indis 
 pensable and always in demand. This would make him 
 independent, while without it, he would be the most 
 dependent of men, no matter what his mental equip 
 ment might be. If there were denials of the rights 
 of the colored race, of justice, protection, security 
 of property, and political privileges, even while this 
 was being demonstrated, what would be the condition 
 of the man of color if his ability was confined to his 
 mind? On the other hand, as the worth of the race 
 came more and more to be recognized, there would 
 come about consideration and good-will, respect and 
 neighborliness, and an identity of interest of both 
 races, that would enable the colored man to win in the 
 long run. So thoroughly was he possessed of this 
 idea that he declined to abandon it to the close of his 
 life. Others of his race did not acquiesce in this view, 
 and insisted that it placed the Negro in a menial at 
 titude; but while he had a practical demonstration of 
 
THE SPIRIT OF ENLISTMENT 267 
 
 his view, there was left to others no more than theory. 
 In the upward movement of the race, despite the ob 
 structions which still in part remain, the public must 
 decide how nearly his conception has been equaled, 
 and how far his course and counsel have been vindi 
 cated. 
 
XX 
 
 TO EUROPE 
 
 FOR eighteen years Dr. Washington had been 
 under constant strain. He was possessed of a 
 virile constitution, and his toughness of fiber 
 and equableness of temperament had served to sus 
 tain him through the tension of years. He never 
 mentioned resting, because it seems not to have oc 
 curred to him that it was his duty to recuperate. He 
 was so fastened in a combination of circumstances 
 that every waking hour had its appointed task. Not 
 only did he not find time for repose or recuperation 
 of his vital forces, but the process of his labor af 
 forded promise of increased taxation of strength as 
 new demands were constantly arising along the path 
 of his projected plans. His friends observed that he 
 was yielding to the incessant burdens which he uncom 
 plainingly bore, and began to devise means for his 
 relief. To himself there was no end of the tasks that 
 were accumulating constantly. With increasing gait 
 he had been going the round of the treadmill for 
 years together. 
 
 His normal condition had become one of fatigue, 
 of the gravity of which he was not aware. His 
 friends had noticed a languor in his eye, a f orlornness 
 of expression, and a disposition to preserve a quietness 
 
TO EUROPE 269 
 
 in company, whereas before he had been quick of 
 speech and alert in action. He was evidently a very 
 tired man, but buoyed by a prospect of advancement 
 at all times, the fact had escaped his detection. 
 
 By preconcerted action on the part of a number 
 of his friends in Boston, he was invited to that city, in 
 the early part of 1899, to attend a meeting, the osten 
 sible purpose of which was that of raising funds for 
 his cherished school at Tuskegee. It was well known 
 that the announcement of a purpose like that would 
 lure him to Boston, and this was the plan hit upon to 
 induce him to go. An attractive program was ar 
 ranged, two other colored men of note were to speak, 
 and the meeting was to be presided over by Bishop 
 William Lawrence, of Massachusetts. He was assured 
 that the meeting would mean much for Tuskegee, and 
 no matter what the nature of his engagements was, 
 he must shape his plans to be present and to speak. 
 The other colored men to be present were the poet, 
 Dunbar, who was to read some of his selections, and 
 Professor W. E. B. Du Bois, both of whom were to 
 be followed by Professor Washington, whose address 
 was to be the chief feature of the occasion. 
 
 A meeting so unexpected to Washington, and so 
 gratifying, withal, he promptly agreed to attend. He 
 husbanded his strength to the utmost, as he felt how 
 much depended on a meeting involving so much for 
 the school. There was an evident effort on his part 
 to appear at his best in his speech, which was well 
 received and gratifyingly responded to financially, but 
 he was much exhausted when it was over, He was 
 
270 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 about to leave the hall and hasten back to Tuskegee, 
 when he was accosted by some ladies and asked how he 
 would like to take a trip to Europe. Presuming that 
 this was simply a passing question, he merely remarked 
 that it was one of the dreams of his life, but that he 
 was too busy a man to hope that it would ever be 
 realized. 
 
 He was then told that a liberal purse had been made 
 up for him and Mrs. Washington, that they might go 
 abroad the following summer, and that nothing was 
 left but for him to consent. He explained that it would 
 occasion so great a gap in his plans that while he was 
 grateful for the offer, he could not see how he could 
 possibly accept. He placed before them the enormous 
 work that had to be done during the summer, stating 
 that during that season he must raise the funds neces 
 sary for the next session. But he was told that all 
 this had been considered, that every feature of his 
 work was in contemplation, and all that was needed 
 was his consent to go. This was indeed a relief as well 
 as a great surprise, and after ascertaining how minute 
 the plans of caring for his work were, he consented. 
 He could now return to Tuskegee with a buoyant 
 heart, to make preparation to sail in the early summer 
 and thus obtain a much-needed rest. The session of 
 the school over, he went to New York ready to sail 
 at the appointed time. According to the original plan, 
 his wife accompanied him, as she had shared with him 
 his arduous work and care. 
 
 Until now practically nothing has been said about 
 the home life of Dr, Washington. He had been a 
 
TO EUROPE 271 
 
 man not only of many burdens and cares, as we have 
 abundantly seen, but a man of sorrow. He had lost 
 two wives, and was now married to a third. Some 
 what more than a year after going to Tuskegee, he 
 was married to Miss Fannie N. Smith, of Maiden, 
 West Virginia. His wife was a graduate of Hamp 
 ton, and a most valuable ally did she prove to him in 
 his early struggles at Tuskegee. She died within two 
 years after their marriage, and in 1885 he was mar 
 ried to Miss Olivia Davidson, who did so much to 
 get the school on its feet. She was invaluable to him 
 as a constant helper, and was the most successful 
 solicitor of funds he had ever had. She died in 1889. 
 In 1893 ne was married to Miss Margaret J. Murray, 
 who survives him. A graduate from Fisk University, 
 she became first a teacher at Tuskegee, and, later, lady 
 principal of the school, which position she was holding 
 at the time of the marriage. It was she who was now 
 to accompany him to Europe. 
 
 May 10, 1899, found a large party at the pier at 
 Hoboken, ready to sail on the Friesland, of the Red 
 Star Line. Mr. Francis J. Garrison had assumed the 
 task of making all the arrangements, the tickets were 
 in hand, and the room provided. Numerous friends 
 from New England and elsewhere had gone to New 
 York to see the party off. Washington had never been 
 on an ocean steamer. To him it was a novelty, and to 
 his practical mind nothing was more interesting than 
 to go over the steamer, learn all its parts and appoint 
 ments, and study its system and method. But he 
 found it difficult to rid his mind of care. He could not 
 
272 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 help falling now and then into a pensive mood and 
 wondering if, after all, it was the wisest thing to do. 
 Might not a break come somewhere in his plans of 
 work? Could others do as he would in certain con 
 tingencies ? Might not his own people misunderstand 
 the trip, and, to use a term of their own coining, regard 
 him as " uppity " ? Would it not have the effect of 
 alienating his race somewhat from him? Still he felt 
 that the cause was in hands as safe as his, and he 
 could not long survive the strain to which he was now 
 subjected unless he should unbend. So dismissing all 
 misgivings he would surrender himself to rest, and 
 get the most out of the opportunity. The conditions 
 that greeted him on the steamer gave an earnest of 
 the pleasure that awaited him. The crew was most 
 cordial, the captain especially kind in his greeting, 
 and the Southerners, of whom there were a number 
 on board, were as cordial and polite as were any 
 others. There was no reason why he should not have 
 a pleasant voyage. He was already a new man. He 
 felt the relief of the lifting of a world-burden. 
 
 The first morning after leaving New York, Dr. 
 Washington felt an unusual sense of drowsiness. It 
 was nature reasserting itself. He had so long been 
 under intense tension that he was not aware but that 
 that condition was a normal one. Now where care 
 could not reach him, relieved of the pressure of daily 
 drudgery, he could do nothing else than rest. Yield 
 ing to the suggestion of physical infirmity he slept, 
 and averaged fifteen hours of sleep out of the twenty- 
 four during the ten days passage from New York to 
 
TO EUROPE 273 
 
 Antwerp. Till now he had not discovered how very 
 tired he was. With the soothing thought that he had 
 no cares, no callers, no letters to dictate that day 
 all was rest, and he slept. 
 
 Consequently when Antwerp was reached on May 
 20, he was a new man. When he stepped off the 
 steamer, he felt like an athlete. Then began diver 
 sion from the novelty of scenes such as he had never 
 before witnessed. The peculiar customs of the Bel 
 gians, the gayly-dressed people in the park, whom he 
 could watch from his window in the hotel, the milk- 
 women with their braces of dogs hitched to tiny 
 carts on which were large, bright cans of milk, a 
 single horse hitched to one side of a double wagon; 
 men, women, and girls selling flowers, and making the 
 air strident with their outcries, the go-easy saunter of 
 the throngs along the streets, about the public places, 
 and in the gardens and parks all was a bright and 
 animating scene of novelty. 
 
 After a day or so came a trip to Holland. The 
 novelty of this trip lay in the fact that most of the 
 way the party was to go on a canal-boat. The old 
 boat moved sluggishly along the current, never the 
 least in a hurry, and Washington was all agog to 
 catch impressions. To his practical thoughts there 
 was much in the fact that the Hollanders left not a 
 foot of soil untilled. Down to the water s edge, in 
 every nook and cranny, the earth was made to yield 
 her increase. Always economical from necessity, here 
 was a fresh lesson to the practical economist. The 
 superior soil of the Netherlands, the bright green 
 
274 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 pastures freckled over with the beautiful Holstein 
 cattle, the sheep lazily grazing in the meadows and 
 scarcely raising their heads to give a casual wooden 
 stare at the boat, all suggested repose to the man from 
 bustling America. Yet the suggestions made impres 
 sions of value to a practical mind. At Rotterdam with 
 its peculiar shipping methods were yet other novelties, 
 while at The Hague, where a peace session was being 
 held, he was greeted by the distinguished American 
 representatives who showed the pioneer race-uplifter 
 of their country marked consideration. 
 
 Then came Belgium again, quiet old Brussels, with 
 its manufactories of carpets and lace, its fine galleries 
 of art, its spacious royal grounds, its historic associa 
 tions, its peculiar architecture; and Waterloo, a dozen 
 miles away, with its famous battlefield and its monu 
 ment of stone surmounted with the lion holding in its 
 uplifted paw a miniature globe, its once bloody ground 
 now covered with the wheat fields of peace. 
 
 Thence to France, with its grain waving in vernal 
 splendor, and finally to Paris, gay, thoughtless, and 
 beautiful Paris, where he lingered for weeks a gazer 
 at its beauties of art, and the recipient of many dis 
 tinguished expressions. In Paris he met many dis 
 tinguished Americans, among who was ex-President 
 Harrison. General Horace Porter, American ambas 
 sador, and Archbishop Ireland were also there to share 
 in the cordial greetings to the great Negro leader. 
 
 His appearance in the French capital became known, 
 and he was invited to a banquet, as an honorary 
 guest, at the University Club. In a speech at the 
 
TO EUROPE 275 
 
 banquet General Harrison made special allusion to 
 the distinguished colored educator and his phenomenal 
 achievements at Tuskegee, and amidst round on round 
 of applause and greeting Washington responded. A 
 circuit of social functions followed, and on the first 
 Sunday after his arrival, Washington was invited to 
 attend the American chapel, and address the audience 
 with Generals Harrison and Porter. 
 
 Naturally, nothing in Paris so interested him as the 
 famous American colored painter, Henry O. Tanner, 
 a native of Philadelphia, whose paintings had been 
 bought by the French government. When he advised 
 certain white friends to see these artistic triumphs, he 
 found it difficult to compel the belief that an American 
 Negro was among the world s greatest artists, a fact 
 to which France attested by buying his paintings 
 purely on their merit as expressions of art. As he 
 gazed with pride on these expressions of artistic 
 beauty, he recalled the principle which he had incul 
 cated from the beginning at Tuskegee that anyone, 
 no matter what his color be, will receive recognition 
 and reward in proportion to performance. To .do a 
 thing better than any other is to forestall competition. 
 When the French government was seeking the best 
 on the market, the best was taken, and the others left. 
 Tanner s proved to be the best, and no one stopped to 
 ask the color of the painter. It was the painting that 
 was sought, the highest expression of art, and as such 
 Henry Tanner s were bought and hung on the historic 
 walls of the Luxembourg Palace. 
 
 During the stay of several weeks in Paris, Wash- 
 
276 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 ington participated in several distinguished social 
 functions, including a brilliant reception given by Am 
 bassador Porter, who made a formal call on Wash 
 ington to invite him to be present. Here he met Chief 
 Justice Fuller, of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, and Mr. Justice Harlan, besides other eminent 
 Americans. 
 
 Every phase of French life was a study to the great 
 American Negro. The frivolity of Paris life, its go- 
 lucky population, the utter lack of seriousness in the 
 affairs of life, its splendid wealth and its poverty, 
 its gorgeous palaces and its haunts of squalor, its 
 ease and its misery, its museums of art and its shock 
 ing exhibitions of immorality, its nobles with time 
 hanging heavily on their hands and its poor with their 
 heavy burdens life here with its extremes and in 
 equalities took his thoughts constantly back to his own 
 people in the distant American states. He was com 
 paring the conditions about him in Paris with the 
 growing buoyancy and hopefulness of his own people, 
 and in his heart he decided he would rather be an 
 American Negro than a Frenchman. His responsive 
 and receptive mind was storing away lessons of value. 
 
 London came next merry England and then home, 
 which he was beginning to long once more to see. 
 London with its staid greatness and grandeur, its wind 
 ing streets and capacious circuses where many streets 
 converged, its ceaseless throb of energy, its places of 
 historic renown, its records, its monuments and mu 
 seums, its great libraries and hoary institutions, its 
 perpetual yet placid flow of life, so different from 
 
TO EUROPE 277 
 
 effervescent Paris what a great volume of study was 
 old London! 
 
 The gifted and courtly Choate was the American 
 minister to the Court of St. James, and he let pass no 
 opportunity to make pleasant the stay of the repre 
 sentative of a great race. He arranged for Prin 
 cipal Washington to address a public meeting at Essex 
 Hall, at which Mr. Choate presided. A vast concourse 
 of Londoners eager with curiosity to see so dis 
 tinguished a Negro, and to hear him speak, thronged 
 the immense hall. The introduction by Mr. Choate 
 was in his happiest and most inspiring vein, and 
 Washington was equally happy in his address. Among 
 the auditors were many of England s most eminent 
 men, including the Honorable James Bryce. As a 
 result of the occasion, invitations poured in on Wash 
 ington to address different institutions, to have re 
 sponded to even a fraction of which would have 
 prostrated him anew. He spoke several times, but 
 was forced to limit his acceptance of invitations. 
 
 Mr. Choate gave the distinguished American a re 
 ception where he met for the first time the eminent 
 humorist, Mark Twain. The greatest function at 
 tended was that of a tea given by Queen Victoria at 
 Windsor Castle, where Washington met many other 
 eminent Americans. In the House of Commons he 
 conversed with Sir Henry Stanley, and was prepared 
 thereby to advise his people in America that the United 
 States, with all its disadvantages to the race, was 
 vastly preferable to migration to Africa. With Mrs. 
 Washington he became guest in the mansions of lords 
 
278 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 and ladies, dukes and duchesses, and wealthy English 
 men in their manors. The chief cities were visited, 
 and the rural regions, as well. In England Wash 
 ington found the highest aspect of real life he had 
 ever witnessed. He was not so captivated by the 
 sheen and glitter of mansion and castle as by the coun 
 try life of the English. The precise adjustment of 
 affairs the most trifling, scientifically and patiently 
 arranged so that everything had a place and one knew 
 where to find it when wanted, the time which the Eng 
 lish took to do everything solidly and well, without 
 haste or bustle, clatter or confusion, greatly pleased 
 him. He was delighted with the hazy landscapes, 
 the care of the soil to prevent its washing, the fields 
 rolled and combed till they appeared to be finished with 
 a pencil instead of a plow, the undulating stretches of 
 grassy meadows, green and luxuriant, over which 
 browsed the herds of sleek cattle, and sheep with 
 their heavy coats of wool, the banks of streams lined 
 with solid masonry, so the waters could not wear 
 away the fields, the care of domestic animals in order 
 to the return of superior dividends in service, and the 
 arrangement of the homes of England, built with re 
 spect to comfort rather than of architectural beauty 
 these thoughts were absorbed to be taken with all their 
 suggestiveness of value back to Tuskegee. 
 
 While Washington would not agree with Alfieri that 
 Italy and England are the only countries worth liv 
 ing in, he was delighted with the rigid English meth 
 ods of life. Plastic and receptive as his mind was, 
 always on the outlook for suggestions of the things 
 
TO EUROPE 279 
 
 that help, there came instinctively the association of 
 all that was now passing under review with that which 
 was taking place in the little, distant, evolutionary 
 center at Tuskegee. While not indifferent to the kind 
 ness and courtesy extended by the nobility of Eng 
 land, for these were not without meaning to him as a 
 representative of his race, yet that which he could 
 practically accumulate and assimilate for the good of 
 his people was of immensely more value than recep 
 tions, dinners, and public addresses. He was not a 
 man to be dazzled by the bedizened trappings and 
 splendors of the court to the obliviousness of the 
 severely practical, and as the time came for him 
 to turn again homeward he took with him the value 
 of varied observation enjoyed, to turn it to gain when 
 he reached the scene of his labor. 
 
 Thus went by restfully, agreeably, profitably, the 
 respite of three months in distant lands. Without the 
 least regret or reluctance he now turned toward 
 America and his own cherished Tuskegee. As a ves 
 sel laden with rich argosies from a distant port, he 
 was bearing back to his ordinary work the golden 
 seeds of travel to be sown into the minds and char 
 acters of a youthful generation of a yet comparatively 
 obscure race of people, but one the power and prog 
 ress of which had already come to claim the attention 
 of the world. 
 
 The return trip was distinguished by one incident 
 that is worthy of mention. As Professor Washing 
 ton sat reading the "Life of Frederick Douglass," 
 and just as he had finished reading an account of the 
 
280 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 mistreatment accorded him on a certain occasion when 
 Douglas was returning home from Europe, a party of 
 ladies and gentlemen, a self-constituted committee, 
 came in a body into the library, and requested that he 
 would consent to deliver that evening an address to the 
 assembled passengers. He gladly accepted the invita 
 tion, and made the address, a number of Southerners 
 being present, and all greeted his remarks with re 
 peated expressions of applause. Governor Benjamin 
 B. Odell, of New York, presided at the meeting, and 
 after the delivery of the address a handsome sum was 
 raised for the school at Tuskegee. Without respect 
 to section the party gathered about Professor Wash 
 ington after the speech, and offered their congratula 
 tions. He saw in this the great change wrought in 
 public sentiment within the span of a few years. If 
 the passengers on a steamer in former years had 
 meted out mistreatment to Douglass, a miscellaneous 
 party of both Northerners and Southerners now 
 showed the most marked distinction to Washington. 
 As he construed it, the difference lay not between the 
 two men, but between the times. The incident gave 
 fresh elasticity to his spirit of hopefulness as he viewed 
 the future. 
 
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 Taken During a Late Visit to New York 
 
XXI 
 
 LAST YEARS 
 
 WE have now come to the last period of the 
 career of this remarkable man. In the 
 preceding chapters the events of his life 
 have been followed with sufficient explicitness of 
 detail to obviate the necessity of recalling anything 
 relating to his life from the cabin of the slave to the 
 position of distinction which he came to hold in the 
 nation and in the world, for his reputation had become 
 international. He occupied as high a niche as was 
 possible for a Negro in the American states. His 
 ability was universally recognized and he was honored 
 for his integrity and wisdom. The name of no Amer 
 ican was more familiar to the popular ear than was 
 his. As before shown he was an incessant laborer, 
 his toil keeping pace with the expansion of his work 
 for his cherished school at Tuskegee, in particular, and 
 for the colored race in general. His steps had now 
 become long strides, and much that he had in former 
 years done, was now largely done through others. 
 Not that this released his personal touch and profound 
 daily concern, but these were now exercised in a dif 
 ferent and in a more efficacious way. The amount of 
 labor rendered by him was prodigious. 
 
 But slight allusion has been made to his distinctive 
 281 
 
282 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 literary work, which was within itself immense, and 
 yet this was done at snatches of time when he had to 
 make fresh drafts on his strength after having 
 dispatched his other work. His literary productions 
 were eagerly sought and read by both races. His 
 principal works are, " The Future of the Negro," 
 "Up From Slavery" (an autobiography), "The 
 Story of the Negro" (in two volumes), "Working 
 with the Hands," " Character Building," " The Negro 
 in Business," " My Larger Education," and " The 
 Man Farthest Down." Besides, he wrote many es 
 says, booklets, and articles for the leading magazines. 
 Neither in speech nor with pen did he attempt the 
 ornate, but his diction is as clear as amber, and is 
 fascinating in its simplicity. 
 
 His closing years became so general in the service 
 rendered that the story of his career during this last 
 period will have to be equally so. More than any 
 other he had become the oracle of his race. His 
 piquant proverbs were quoted by all alike, and they 
 abide as a part of the current and proverbial thought 
 of the South. On all questions relative to the rela 
 tions between the races, he was consulted as authority. 
 
 This recalls the timely service rendered by him 
 in connection with the Atlanta riots which took place 
 in September of 1906. Rumors of insults and as 
 saults on white women had reached the city and it 
 was greatly stirred; in consequence, violence broke 
 out indiscriminately against the Negro population, to 
 quell which the state troops were ordered out. A 
 race war seemed inevitable. The better and wiser ele- 
 
LAST YEARS 283 
 
 ments of both races came together, and it was deemed 
 best to summon Dr. Washington to Atlanta to assist 
 in the restoration of order. He was never in better 
 position to serve both races, and was one of the chief 
 contributors to the restoration of order at that crisis. 
 His service was patriotic and timely in behalf of both 
 races. 
 
 Demand was frequently made on his time for ad 
 dresses before leading institutions of learning, clubs, 
 and different organizations. If he had accepted a- 
 tithe of them, there would have been left to him but 
 a slight margin of time. His office at Tuskegee was 
 besieged by callers who visited the school as one of 
 the attractions of a trip through that part of the 
 South, and having seen the fine buildings on the large 
 grounds of the Institute, and the model farms and 
 ranches adjacent, naturally wished to meet the fa 
 mous founder. 
 
 Not far from Tuskegee was Auburn, the location of 
 the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, between which 
 school and the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial In 
 stitute were the most cordial relations; it became a 
 custom to have a mutual exchange of visits between 
 a select deputation of students during each session. 
 The influence of Washington on his race throughout 
 the nation, and especially throughout the South in 
 which nine-tenths of his people are, had become po 
 tential. He kept in vital touch with every enterprise 
 begun and fostered by his race, from end to end of 
 the country. Under his direction local schools had 
 sprung up in districts where they were most needed 
 
284 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 by reason of the density of Negro population, indus 
 tries of varied sorts were established, large districts of 
 land were purchased on easy terms, banks were 
 founded, state and local fairs were held, agricultural 
 and commercial clubs were organized, newspapers and 
 magazines were published, and his people were moving 
 with no uncertain strides toward the fulfillment of his 
 original conception. 
 
 One of the happiest conceptions was that of the 
 publication at Tuskegee at the beginning of each year, 
 of a handsome volume known as the Negro Year 
 Book, an annual encyclopedia of Negro progress. It 
 is ably edited by Professor Monroe N. Work, and 
 is a compendium of most valuable information relat 
 ing to every phase of the history of the race and of 
 its achievements. This annual encyclopedia is destined 
 to become one of the most valuable means of reference 
 concerning the history and work of the Negro. 
 
 Be it said to the credit of Dr. Washington, that 
 he was nowhere so popular as at Tuskegee where he 
 was best known, and where he had resided an honor 
 able citizen for more than thirty years. The neat 
 homes of his people line the highways of the county, 
 and their well-tilled farms are everywhere seen. 
 Though in the Black Belt in which is massed an im 
 mense population of Negroes, there has not been com 
 mitted in the county a crime of any degree of serious 
 ness since his residence at Tuskegee. In the early 
 nineties, he organized at Tuskegee a conference of his 
 people which annually meets in increasing numbers, till 
 the attendance has come to exceed a thousand of repre- 
 
LAST YEARS 285 
 
 sentative men and women of the race. These bring 
 important reports from every part of the broad field 
 of the South, relative to every phase of Negro life 
 the progress, the industries, the successes, the failures, 
 the advantages and difficulties, the prospects and the 
 peculiar drawbacks all are gone over, suggestions are 
 made, experiences are compared, and general good 
 results. 
 
 At another season comes another assemblage, the 
 Tuskegee Negro Farmers Conference, to which are 
 brought tangible evidences of the products of field, 
 garden, and stock farm, all of which are displayed in 
 friendly rivalry and with astonishing results. On these 
 occasions addresses are numerous from orators of 
 both races, and both become beneficiaries of the great 
 displays made and, in consequence, of the speeches. 
 The orderly arrangement of products and of stock, 
 and the entertainment afforded the visitors are won 
 derful, and exhibit the master mind that conceived and 
 executed. The contribution thus made to race comity 
 of sentiment and good-will is incalculable. 
 
 Tuskegee long ago became the Mecca of the colored 
 race, especially of the South, and Booker T. Washing 
 ton throughout his life was the transcendent leader. 
 By their loyalty to him he was enabled to open, year 
 by year, fresh avenues of advancement, and by a re 
 action most natural, he was enabled to render increas 
 ing service to his people. Each recurring year called 
 forth a fresh stock of energy and of force from him 
 as he continued to blaze the way through the thicket 
 of difficulty, to be eagerly followed by his people. 
 
286 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 Never with the slightest truculence of spirit, but 
 often in sadness, would he crave the responsiveness 
 needed on the part of the white race. Much encour 
 agement he received, and in many instances, the ut 
 most that could be accorded, but with clearness of 
 vision he saw that with a spirit of general responsive 
 ness on the part of the dominant race, the situation 
 could be cleared of its difficulties. While a marvel 
 ous change had come to the South, and while multi 
 tudes had come to see the advantage derived by society 
 in general, yet there was a large segment of the white 
 race who in the indulgence of aversion withheld the 
 encouragement which he so seriously implored. 
 While there was much to encourage, there was much 
 that discouraged. His power and force were con 
 stantly thrown in the direction of the encouragement 
 of his people, the progress of whom produced favor 
 to society in general, while, on the other hand, the 
 power and influence of many of the dominant race 
 were employed in taking advantage of a weaker peo 
 ple. One of his temperament and cast of thought 
 could see how very easy it would be to exercise greater 
 kindness, and he could not understand how the ele 
 ment of white unfriendliness could be content to en 
 gage force rather than suasion and patience, simply 
 because force could be exercised. He chafed yet the 
 more because there were no means by which he could 
 give expression to his sentiments, as he knew that he 
 would be misunderstood did he go beyond a certain 
 limit of suggestiveness, protest, and appeal. -Ttere" 
 \yas nothing left but to endure. He had in- 
 
LAST YEARS 287 
 
 dulged the hope that as the race should gradually 
 emerge from its condition of lowliness there would be 
 corresponding responsiveness of appreciation, and 
 while this was not wanting on the part of multitudes 
 of white friends, it was not commensurate the one 
 with the other. He observed that while there wefe^ 
 numerous white friends whose sympathy was with \ 
 him in his efforts, yet they abstained from expression j 
 of this out of regard for the unpopularity which it / 
 might incur, and therefore the sympathy entertained 
 did not extend beyond a silent shake of the head or a 
 shrug of the shoulders. 
 
 If from the side of the whites the situation was con 
 sidered and discussed as a race problem, from his 
 point of view there were difficulties in the opposite 
 direction. How it was possible, for instance, for 
 officers of the law, in the exercise of their official 
 functions, officers from the lowest local functionary 
 to the highest in the state, acting under the sanctions 
 of solemn oaths to administer the laws equally, to 
 pass over with icy indifference so many outrages of 
 violence against his weak and defenseless people, was 
 to him often amazing. He invariably counseled peac 
 and patience on the part of his race, the results o 
 which were social benefits, yet the abuses continued 
 To his practical and philosophical mind schooled in the 
 furnace of adversity, he could see how it would cost 
 the unfriendly and violent element of the white race 
 nothing to accord consideration, but when, instead of 
 this, there were violence and hostility, optimistic as 
 
288 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 he naturally was, he could not see how this phase of 
 the situation could be changed. 
 
 Over barrier after barrier the Negro race had come 
 with little to stimulate and much to discourage, yet this 
 wanton lawlessness of arbitrary force continued, while 
 the high sources of authority betook themselves to 
 silence and apparent indifference. He voiced again and 
 again to his people the absolute necessity of being 
 law-abiding, honorable, prompt, upright, and always 
 . respectful. Yet violent and chaotic destruction of 
 order by members of the white race would often pass 
 or naught by officials, while the slips and trips of his 
 people were exaggerated. Not only was this true, 
 but not infrequently bands of irresponsible men under 
 the cover of darkness wreaked vengeance on the inno 
 cent merely on suspicion, and without taking care to 
 investigate the basis of their suspicion. In this way 
 innocent victims were made to expiate crimes, the 
 discovery of their innocence being sometimes made 
 after they had been killed. 
 
 The examples of atrocities like these bewildered 
 him. Yet he must remain silent. Meanwhile, with 
 now and then an exception, those in authority, either 
 through sympathy of sentiment, or out of respect for 
 a sentiment which they dare not disregard, would 
 raise not a finger and lisp not a syllable in arrest of a 
 wanton procedure like this. What could be done to 
 stay these bloody, nightly forays ? He asked not that 
 the criminal Negro be spared the full application of 
 the law, but if society was to be domineered by these 
 nocturnal visitants, terrorizing with pistol, rope, and 
 
LAST YEARS 289 
 
 fagot, whose life was safe? Under conditions like 
 these where were the safeguards of society? What 
 bulwarks of protection could, under these conditions, 
 fence about civilization? How could a man of peace 
 and progress encourage his people amidst circum 
 stances which meant only demoralization without 
 ceasing? The fact that the black man was left with 
 out appeal under these conditions, gave to him the bM 
 terness of sadness. The utmost left him was to pub 
 lish in the leading journals of the South, each year, 
 the list of lynchings that had taken place, and the 
 causes assigned, with the dim hope that the conscience I 
 of the public would at some time be smitten, and an / 
 arrest be made to the grewsome butchery. 
 
 For the kind protection accorded him, he was most 
 grateful. He had gone, never armed, often into the 
 far interior. He was well known as the leader of the 
 race, and not the slightest affront at the South had 
 ever been his. But men and women of his race as in 
 nocent as he, had been many times seized under cover 
 of darkness and beaten or killed for causes of which 
 they knew nothing. These things he could not under 
 stand, and they wrung his soul in silent agony. He 
 would turn his thoughts from a ghastly spectacle like 
 this and not alone himself seek to keep directly in the 
 path of right, but would continue to admonish his 
 people thus to do, cherishing the hope that a new con 
 science would one day come, and with it a cessation of 
 these tangled troubles. But here again his hopes were 
 flashed, as the infection spread northward along the 
 
290 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 if 
 
 ti 
 
 
 color line, north of the Ohio and beyond the Potomac, 
 and even into the new West. 
 
 In the summer of 1910, the trustees of the Tuskegee 
 Institute, noting the inroad made on Dr. Washington s 
 health by his incessant labor, granted him a leave of 
 absence for needed rest, and he went again to Europe. 
 He traveled over much of the continent, on a trip of 
 practical observation, with the special purpose of 
 studying the conditions of the under classes in the 
 different nations from the point of view of an Amer 
 ican Negro. He went leisurely and observantly, study 
 ing the conditions of the toiling masses in each Euro 
 pean state visited, the nature of the labor of each 
 class, their homes, food, compensation, sanitary con 
 ditions, and the general opportunities afforded in life. 
 As a result of this extensive tour he embodied his 
 observations in a lucid volume of great sociological 
 merit, with the conclusion that, hard as the lot of the 
 American Negro often is, it is vastly superior to that 
 of the laboring masses of Europe. 
 
 At that time Dr. Washington was in the full ma 
 turity of his powers. His observations among the 
 laboring classes of America, and especially among the 
 people of his own race were excelled by those of none, 
 and no one was better able to pronounce judgment 
 than he. Incidents of every phase of the life of the 
 people who toil in Europe are presented in the volume, 
 " The Man Farthest Down," in a most graphic way, 
 and his work proved to be one of the most valuable 
 contributions to sociological literature. In addition 
 to this, it became a valuable sidelight to the European 
 
LAST YEARS 291 
 
 struggle., which broke forth so suddenly in August, 
 1914. 
 
 His mission being accomplished, both with respect 
 to recuperation and to the object of his tour, Dr. 
 Washington returned to his work at Tuskegee. The 
 increasing claims on his time and vitality as the school 
 continued to expand, began after some months again 
 to tell on his health. He was duly warned by his 
 friends, but with his usual lightness of spirit, he did 
 not share in the expressed apprehension, and labored as 
 never before. Demands on his time continued, and 
 it became evident that he was yielding to the incessant 
 strain of labor and of years. All efforts made to per 
 suade him to relax were unavailing, and while he had 
 most competent and efficient co-laborers like Pro 
 fessor Emmet Scott, and Treasurer Logan, besides a 
 host of others, and while, in large measure, the general 
 management of the institution had passed into their 
 hands, he was not content unless he was in vital touch 
 with every possible interest. His presence was as 
 much demanded in New York as at Tuskegee, because 
 of the extensive interests of the school, and, like a 
 pendulum, he swung between the two points. 
 
 He was not an old man and, under ordinary con 
 ditions, should have been in his prime. He was ap 
 proaching his fifty-ninth birthday, and to appearances 
 he seemed to be vigorous, but his strength was fast 
 ebbing out. To him the struggle became one of seek 
 ing to persuade himself that he was in as full pos 
 session of manly vigor as ever, but his vitality was 
 rapidly oozing away. 
 
292 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 ^ As the last summer of his life came on, he was 
 obliged to have more frequent recourse to cessations 
 of labor, but he no sooner experienced a change for 
 the better than he again plunged into work as he had 
 done during all his straining life. He had become so 
 indispensable to his people that they came to consider 
 him a kind of oracle, and to have him present on an 
 occasion was an inspiration. Demands on his time 
 and energy continued to the last and, with a loyalty 
 rarely equaled, he would respond to the extent of 
 his ability. In the exuberance of his enthusiasm in the 
 constant strides now made by his people, he forgot 
 himself, and continued to tax his strength to the ut 
 most tension. It was impossible for him to comply 
 with all the demands made on him, but he prosecuted 
 his labors where he felt that the most could be accom 
 plished. This he did to the end, and when he fell it 
 was with the harness still on. His profound interest 
 eclipsed all things respecting himself and his physical 
 condition, and he could not be persuaded to believe 
 that the end was near. His plans were still projected 
 far into the future when he was smitten down, and 
 from sheer exhaustion could go no farther. He was 
 a race patriot to the core, and died a martyr to the in- 
 
 -ests of the colored people of America. 
 
 In September, 1915, Dr. Washington delivered an 
 address before the colored National Baptist Conven 
 tion, of which he was a member, in the Armory at 
 Chicago, and later spent a week on the shores of 
 Mobile Bay, the guest of Mr. Clarence W. Allen. 
 With the spirit of a boy he enjoyed fishing in the warm 
 
LAST YEARS 293 
 
 waters and inlets of the bay, and at the end of the week 
 expressed himself as feeling unusually well; but 
 doubtless this expression was more due to the desire 
 for a return to perfect health than to a fancied real 
 ization. The spirit was stronger than the flesh. 
 
 October 23, he left Tuskegee to attend the annual 
 meeting of the American Missionary Association at 
 New Haven, in connection with the National Con 
 ference of the Congregational churches. On the even 
 ing of October 25, he delivered his last address before 
 the combined assemblage in Woolsey Hall, Yale Uni 
 versity. Thence he went to New York. 
 
 The renewal of activity after his brief respite on 
 Mobile Bay served to develop afresh a nervous trouble 
 to which he had become a victim, and so seriously was 
 it telling on him, that on reaching New York, Messrs. 
 Seth Low, William G. Willcox, and Frank Trumbull, 
 all of whom are distinguished members of the board 
 of trustees of the Tuskegee Institute, prevailed on 
 him to go to St. Luke s Hospital, in that city, for 
 thorough examination and treatment. The services 
 of an eminent specialist, Dr. W. A. Bastedo, were 
 promptly procured and after a thorough examination 
 he announced that Dr. Washington was " completely 
 worn out, and in addition was suffering from nervous 
 exhaustion and from arteriosclerosis." 
 
 It was evident that the end was near, and Mrs. 
 Washington was promptly summoned by wire. When 
 the sufferer learned that he soon must die, he asked 
 to be taken back to his native South, that he might die 
 at the scene of his long labor and of his triumph. 
 
294 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 Every comfort was provided for the long trip South, 
 and, a totally helpless man, Booker T. Washington 
 was taken to Tuskegee to die. 
 
 Throughout the trip he was unconscious till he 
 reached Chehaw, the station a few miles from Tus 
 kegee, where the local short line deflects from the 
 main road. Then came a slightly lucid interval, when 
 he was told that he was soon to reach Tuskegee. Only 
 once again did he revive, and that was to learn that 
 he was at last in his own home. He reached there 
 after night on Saturday, and was destined never again 
 to open his eyes on the light of this world, for a few 
 minutes before five o clock on Sunday morning, No 
 vember 14, 1915, his spirit fled. 
 
 ^/H^ had rounded out his life as he wished. His race 
 had been relieved of many of the dire encumbrances 
 from which it was suffering twenty-three years before, 
 when as a young man he had set himself to the task of 
 
 XTace redemption. He had not only succeeded in sub 
 duing much racial rancor, but he had built an institu- 
 
 \ tion the fame of which had gone over the world. 
 As a fountain this school had sent out innumerable 
 rills of force and of fruitfulness, all of which he was 
 now able to bequeath to his still struggling people, 
 but struggling now with vast advantage gained, rather 
 v,.J&3n without hope and encouragement. 
 
 A m^n v:ith a record F,O. monumental could afford 
 thus silently to die. It was befitting that it was so. 
 For more than three decades his voice had been heard 
 from ocean to ocean, his active and prolific brain had 
 never ceased its exercise, his magnetic influence for 
 
LAST YEARS 295 
 
 peace and good-will had been most potent, and his 
 tongue, hands, and pen had never known idleness. 
 When Booker Taliaferro Washington died the one 
 for many America lost one of its greatest spirits. 
 He sank 
 
 " as sinks the morning star, 
 
 Which goes not down behind the darkened west, 
 Nor hides obscured amid the tempests of the sky, 
 But melts away in the light of heaven." 
 
 When the news of the death of Booker T. Wash 
 ington was flashed over the country, expressions of 
 regret and of sympathy came from every quarter of 
 the country and from every class, and notably from 
 the white newspapers of the South. 
 
 But the touching scenes witnessed as the great 
 Negro lay in state for several days, were in connec 
 tion with his own people. The following incident is 
 typical of many others, and expresses the tribute 
 most dear to his own heart : 
 
 " Most pathetic of all was the sight of the humble and 
 unlettered colored people of the cotton fields who literally 
 packed the school grounds. They had sustained a loss 
 which they did not know how to voice. You could see 
 them looking into every face near them for encourage 
 ment to say how much they were hurt and how they 
 would miss their devoted friend. 
 
 " Unless the visitors had been with Dr. Washington 
 through a quarter of a century and observed how much 
 he loved these simple poor of his race, how anxiously he 
 worked to help them, they could not understand how 
 broken-hearted these older colored people were. In the 
 past, when they have come to Tuskegee, Dr. Washington 
 has treated them as if they were princes. They were 
 
296 LIFE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 
 
 thinking of this when they gazed for the last time upon 
 his silent form. 
 
 " One old couple, themselves near the sunset of life, 
 walked a long, long distance to be here. Piteously the 
 man approached one of the instructors and with trembling 
 lips and eyes that overflowed asked : Do you reckon 
 they will let us see Booker ? and he hurried to explain : 
 We have come so fur jes to see him de las time. Do 
 you reckon they will mind us looking at him ? They 
 were especially escorted to the casket and given their 
 heart s desire ; for Dr. Washington s love for them when 
 he was here cannot be described." 
 
INDEX 
 
 ABOLITIONISM, a revival of, 32 
 
 Adams, Lewis, a valuable ex- 
 slave, 112 
 
 Age - Herald (Birmingham, 
 Ala.) alluded to, 229 
 
 Alabama, disquietude in, 109; 
 legislature of, appropriates 
 $2,000 to Negro education, 
 no; "grandfather clause" 
 in its constitution, 144 
 
 Alfieri quoted, 278 
 
 American Baptist Missionary 
 Society aids the Negro, 256 
 
 American Missionary Associa 
 tion aids the Negro, 256; 
 meeting at New Haven the 
 occasion of Washington s 
 last address, 293 
 
 Antwerp visited, 273 
 
 Armstrong, Gen. Samuel C., 
 his venture at Hampton, 60 ; 
 discovers Washington s 
 qualities, 62 ; accompanies 
 him North, 181 
 
 Atlanta Exposition, 87 ; effects 
 of Washington s address on 
 occasion of, 214 
 
 Attucks, Crispus, alluded to, 
 228 
 
 BASTEDO, Dr. W. A., Washing 
 ton s last physician, 293 
 
 Bedford, Rev. R. C, 218 
 
 Bell, Alexander Graham, al 
 luded to, 218 
 
 Boyd, Dr. R. H., 25 ; capitalist, 
 244 
 
 Brickmaking at Tuskegee, 158 
 
 Bryce, Hon. James, alluded to, 
 277 
 
 Bruce, Senator B. K., 25; in 
 
 the senate, 96; qualities of 
 
 statesmanship, 244 
 Buchanan, James, President, 
 
 alluded to, 30 
 Bullock, Gov. of Georgia, 202 
 
 CAMPBELL, G. W., an early 
 friend of the Negro, in 
 
 Campbell, W. W., a Southern 
 friend to the Negro, 261 
 
 Capitalists become interested in 
 Tuskegee, 241 
 
 Carey, William, alluded to, 85 
 
 Carnegie, Andrew, alluded to, 
 258; his letter to Washing 
 ton, 259 
 
 Charlotte, N. C., honors Wash 
 ington, 253 
 
 Chautauqua, 218 
 
 Chesnutt, Charles W., the 
 Negro novelist, 244 
 
 Chicago, Washington s notable 
 speech at, 228 
 
 Choate, Joseph, Ambassador, 
 greets Washington in Lon 
 don, 277 
 
 Civil War, its immediate re 
 sults, 33 
 
 Cleveland s (President) letter 
 to Washington, 209 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, alluded to, 
 236 
 
 Curry, Dr. J. L. M., alluded 
 to, 224; general agent of the 
 Slater Fund, 200 
 
 DAVIDSON, Miss Olivia A., 
 Washington s valuable as 
 sistant, 126; her character 
 illustrated, 127; her zeal, 156 
 
 Demoralization, Southern, 154 
 
 297 
 
298 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Development, principle of, 2.2. 
 Discrimination, unjust, 143, 245 
 Disfranchisement, 238 
 Dober, Moravian missionary to 
 
 the West India slaves, 85 
 Douglas, Frederick, alluded to, 
 
 Du Bois, Prof. W. E. B., 
 quoted, 176; Negro scholar, 
 244 
 
 Dunbar, Paul Laurence, Negro 
 poet, 244 
 
 EL CANEY, battle of, 228 
 
 Eliot, President of Harvard, 
 writes to Washington, 218 
 
 England, Washington s im 
 pression of, 278 
 
 Europe, Washington s first trip 
 to, 270; second, 290 
 
 FARMERS Conference at Tus- 
 kegee, 285 
 
 Fortune, T. T., Negro editor, 
 244 
 
 France, attention shown Wash 
 ington in, 274 
 
 GALLOWAY, Bishop, relation to 
 the Negro, 233 
 
 Garrison s (F. J.) special inter 
 est in Washington, 271 
 
 Gilman s (President D. C.) in 
 vitation to Washington, 210 
 
 Gilreath, Belton, a friend to 
 the Negro, 261 
 
 Grooves, J. G., the " potato 
 king," 244 
 
 HAITI, alluded to, 19 
 
 Hampton Institute, its spirit, 
 63 
 
 Harrison s (ex-President) at 
 tention to Washington, 274 
 
 Harvard University confers 
 degree on Washington, 219 
 
 Haygood, Bishop A. G., de 
 fends the Negro, 233 
 
 Holland, visited, 273 
 
 Houston, Texas, speech at, 234 
 
 Howell s (Hon. Clark) com 
 ment on Washington s At 
 lanta speech, 206 
 
 Hudson, Port, battle of, al 
 luded to, 228 
 
 IMMIGRATION, foreign, dis 
 cussed in the South, 152 
 
 Industry, Washington s idea 
 of, 265 
 
 Ireland, Archbishop, meets 
 Washington in Paris, 274 
 
 JACKSON, Gen., alluded to, 228 
 
 Jasper, Rev. John, noted col 
 ored preacher, 25 
 
 Jefferson s (Thomas) forecast 
 of emancipation, 17 
 
 Jews of England, a parallel, 
 236 
 
 KENTUCKY, Staite University 
 
 of, begun, 45 
 Ku Klux Klan, 83 ; serious 
 
 barrier to Washington, 97 
 
 LAMAR S (Hon. L. Q. C.) es 
 timate of Senator Bruce, 96 
 
 Leadership, indispensable, 15 
 
 Lee, Gen. Robert E., alluded 
 to, 208 
 
 Lessing, quoted, 88 
 
 Lewis, Hon. W. H., Negro 
 jurist, 244 
 
 Liberia, alluded to, 19 
 
 List of Washington s books, 
 282 
 
 Lodge, Hon. Cabot, alluded to, 
 219 
 
 London visited by Washington, 
 276 
 
 Long, Hon. J. D., alluded to, 
 220 
 
 Lord, Nathalie, her service to 
 Washington, 71 
 
INDEX 
 
 299 
 
 Low, Hon. Seth, chairman of 
 the Board of Trustees, Tus 
 kegee, 260; kindness to 
 Washington in his last ill 
 ness, 293 
 
 Luxembourg Palace, visit to, 
 
 275 
 Lynching, 145 
 
 MACKIE S (Miss) aid to Wash 
 ington, 74 
 
 McKinley, President, invited 
 to Tuskegee, 223; his ad 
 dress at Tuskegee, 225 
 
 Maiden, W. Va., 40; Negro 
 school at, 42; Washington s 
 return to, 72 
 
 Marshall s (Gen.) kindness to 
 Washington, 130 
 
 Mason, Dr. M. C. B., noted 
 orator, 244 
 
 Miles, Gen. Nelson A., alluded 
 to, 218 
 
 Miller, Prof. Kelley, a noted 
 scholar, 244 
 
 Mobile Bay, 292 
 
 Moravians, the first mission 
 aries to the Negro, 84 
 
 Morris, Dr. E. C., noted Negro 
 leader, 244 
 
 NATIONAL Baptist Convention, 
 address to, 292 
 
 Negro, original condition of, 
 15; in Cuba, 19; prosperity 
 of, 19; condition after free 
 dom, 20; outlook, 21 ; sud 
 den transition, 23; disposi 
 tion of, 24; first venture on 
 citizenship, 36 ; misconcep 
 tion of freedom, 38; de 
 moralizing influences, 39 ; 
 first schools of, 44; incorrect 
 idea of, 68; motherly devo 
 tion of, 73 ; original estimate 
 of an educated, 77 ; handi 
 caps, 79 ; creating the idea of 
 a home, 86 ; devotion of, 87 ; 
 disadvantages of, 87 ; " prob 
 
 lem," 91 ; rough experiences 
 of, 92 ; as Washington found 
 his condition in Alabama, 
 116; early struggles of, at 
 Tuskegee, 1 18 ; remarkable 
 
 loyalty of, 133; his sphere 
 as viewed by Washington, 
 266 
 
 Negro Business League organ 
 ized, 251 ; in different states, 
 251 
 
 Nitzschmann, Moravian mis 
 sionary to the Negro, 85 
 
 OBERLIN College, 227 
 Odell, Gov. Benjamin B., al 
 luded to, 280 
 
 PETTIFORD, Dr. W. R., 25; a 
 capitalist, 244 
 
 Pillow Fort, 228 
 
 Polytechnic Institute, of Ala 
 bama, kind relations with 
 Tuskegee, 283 
 
 Porter, A. H., 150 
 
 Porter, Gen. Horace, Ambas 
 sador to France, 274 
 
 Porter s (J. A.) letter to 
 Washington, 226 
 
 Press comments on Washing 
 ton s degree from Harvard, 
 221 
 
 Property acquired by Negroes, 
 252 
 
 READING, Lord, of England, 
 236 
 
 Reconstruction, 35 
 
 Religion and the Negro, 45 
 
 Rockefeller, John D., Sr., al 
 luded to, 258 
 
 Roosevelt, President, false re 
 port concerning, 168; mem 
 ber of the Tuskegee Board, 
 200 
 
 Rosenwald, Julius, alluded to, 
 258 
 
 Rotterdam, 274 
 
300 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Ruffner, Gen., 51 ; exactness of 
 
 Mrs., 52 
 
 SAN DOMINGO, 19 
 Santiago, battle of, 228 
 Savage, Dr. M. J., 218 
 Scott, Prof. Emmet, Washing 
 
 ton s colaborer, 291 
 Scott, Dred, case, 30 
 Shafter, Gen., 225 
 Slater (John F.) Fund aids 
 
 Tuskegee, 260 
 Slavery a school of civiliza 
 
 tion, 18 
 
 Smith, Postmaster-General, 226 
 South, The, after the war, 34; 
 
 unfavorable publications to 
 
 the Negro in the, 82 
 Spanish- American War, 228 
 Stanley, Sir Henry, greets 
 
 Washington in London, 271 
 Stephens, Alexander, quoted, 
 
 TAFT, President W. H., 260 
 Taney, Chief Justice, 30 
 Tanner, Bishop, race leader, 
 
 244 
 Tanner, H. O., the famous 
 
 painter, 244; his work in 
 
 Paris, 275 
 Terrell, Judge Robert H., col 
 
 ored jurist, 244 
 "The Man Farthest Down," 
 
 290 
 Trotter, J. M., noted editor 
 
 and leader, 244 
 Trumbull s (Frank) kindness, 
 
 293 
 
 Turner, Bishop H. M., 244 
 Tuskegee, original, 106; Insti 
 tute begins under improved 
 conditions, 135 ; handicaps, 
 136; progress of, 157; crude 
 conditions, 163 ; sufferings, 
 170; attains prominence, 186; 
 President McKinley s visit 
 to, 225 ; an unbiased opinion 
 of, 249 
 
 Twain, Mark, alluded to, 7; 
 meets Washington in Lon 
 don, 277 
 
 VICTORIA, Queen, invites Wash 
 ington to tea, 277 
 Vincent, Bishop J. H., 218 
 
 WALKER, Dr. C. T., 25 
 Washington, Booker T., his 
 prominence, 7 ; popularity, 9 ; 
 position in American history, 
 ii ; compared with others, 
 28; birth, 29; his mother, 
 30; first ambition, 35; first 
 venture into the world, 40; 
 first steps in knowledge, 41 ;- 
 struggles to gain an educa 
 tion, 46; anecdoteT 47; as 
 sumes a name, 48; hears "of 
 Hampton, 49; kindness of 
 his brother, 50; goes to 
 Hampton, 53; rough experi 
 ences, 54;" character shown, 
 55; attracts attention, 59; 
 engages as waiter, "68; his 
 estimate of Hampton, 71 ; 
 rapid development, 75 ; dis 
 tinguished graduation. 76 ; 
 seeks employment ih the 
 East, 79 ; opens a .school at 
 Maiden, 80; controlled by 
 Hampton ideal, 81 ; progress 
 at Maiden, 89; encounters 
 sore trials, 94 ; goes to Way- 
 land Seminary, 95; impres 
 sions gained of Washington 
 City, 96; called to canvass 
 West Virginia, 97; honored, 
 99; called to Hampton, 100; 
 
 placed in irhargg nf TndJa*^;- 
 
 101 ; callecTto Tuskegee, 113; 
 disappointment, 114; his 
 vision, 128; buys land, 130; 
 his example, 131 ; policy of, 
 139; unjust estimate of, 146; 
 goes North, 161 ; character 
 established, 166; at the 
 White House, 168 ; treatment 
 
INDEX 301 
 
 accorded him, 172 ; sanity of, 271; death, 294; pathetic 
 
 173; a boon to both races, scene, 295 
 
 175; impression made on the Wheeler, Gen. Joseph, alluded 
 
 North, 182; speech before a to, 225 
 
 congressional c o m m i 1 1 e e, Willcox s (William G.) 
 
 192 ; Atlanta speech, 193 ; his marked kindness, 293 
 
 literary works, 246; miscon- Work, Prof. M. N., and his 
 
 ceptions of, 262; his wives, compendium, 284 
 
 
 
 
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