Society. Its object shall be the general uplift of the people of
the Black Belt of Alabama; to make them better morally, mentally,
spiritually, and financially.
2. It shall be the object of the Black Belt Improvement Society to,
as far as possible, eliminate the credit system from our social
fabric; to stimulate in all members the desire to raise, as far as
possible, all their food supplies at home, and pay cash for
whatever may be purchased at the stores.
3. To bring about a system of cooperation in the purchase of what
supplies can not be raised at home wherever it can be done to
advantage.
4. To discuss topics of interest to the communities in which the
various societies may be organized, and topics relating to the
general welfare of the race, and especially to farmers.
5. To teach the people to practise the strictest economy, and
especially to obtain and diffuse such information among farmers as
shall lead to the improvement and diversification of crops, in
order to create in farmers a desire for homes and better home
conditions, and to stimulate a love for labor in both old and
young. Each local organization may offer small prizes for the
cleanest and best-kept house, the best pea-patch, and the best ear
of corn, etc.
6. To aid each other in sickness and in death; for this purpose a
fee of ten cents will be collected from each member every month and
held sacred, to be used for no other purpose whatever.
7. It shall be one of the great objects of this society to
stimulate its members to acquire homes, and urge those who already
possess homes to improve and beautify them.
8. To urge our members to purchase only the things that are
absolutely necessary.
9. To exert our every effort to obliterate those evils which tend
to destroy our character and our homes, such as intemperance,
gambling, and social impurity.
10. To refrain from spending money and time foolishly or in
unprofitable ways; to take an interest in the care of our highways,
in the paying of our taxes, and the education of our children; to
plant shade trees, repair our yard fences, and in general, as far
as possible, bring our home life up to the highest standards of
civilization.
This society has several standing committees, as follows: on government,
on education, on business, on housekeeping, on labor, and on farming.
The chairman of these respective committees holds monthly meetings in
the various communities, at which time various topics pertaining to the
welfare and uplift of the people are discussed. As a result of these
meetings the people return to their homes with new inspiration. These
meetings are doing good in the communities where they are being held,
and our sincere hope is that such meetings may be extended. The ills
that most retard the Negroes of the rural South are sought to be reached
by the school and by the several organizations which have been organized
by it. These articles of the simple constitution go to the very bottom
of the conditions.
If one would again take the trip which I made in the summer of 1893, he
would find that two-thirds of the land lying between Snow Hill and
Carlowville, a distance of seven miles, is now owned and controlled
entirely by Negroes. In Carlowville, instead of the old one-room-cabin
church, there is a beautiful church with glass windows. An acre of land
has been bought, and a neat and comfortable schoolhouse with glass
windows has been erected, and a graduate of my school is the teacher.
Many families in that section are now owning homes. A great revolution
is also taking place in Tilden. John Thomas, one of our graduates, Class
of '01, has gone into this place, induced the people to buy thirty acres
of land, on which they have erected a splendid building having two
rooms, and the school is being conducted seven months in the year. Many
farmers in this section are now owning homes, some of them owning as
much as 400 acres of land. This improvement is steadily going on in all
sections where the influence of our school has reached.
Thus it will be seen that the work in the class-room is only a small
part of what we are trying to do for the uplift of the Negro people in
the Black Belt.
In order that this good work may be pushed more rapidly, it is necessary
that we give some time to this particular movement. This can only be
done by our having here a strong and healthy institution with an
endowment sufficiently large to relieve us of our great financial
burden. An adequate endowment would meet this need. While we are anxious
to raise an endowment fund, our burden could be partially relieved by
the school securing possession of a large plantation in the neighborhood
which is now, and has been for three years, offered to us. This
plantation contains between three thousand and four thousand acres of
land, and can be bought for $30,000, and would afford us unbounded
opportunity for the extension of the agricultural features of our work,
which would enable us to raise more, if not all, of our food supplies.
I have tried as simply as possible in this article to state the real
condition of the people in the Black Belt section of this State, and to
tell how we are trying to cope with these conditions. Our constant
feeling is that there is so much to be done, and that so little has been
accomplished.
In closing: The inspiration derived at Tuskegee; the instruction given
in shop, and field, and class-room; the guiding hand of its illustrious
Principal--all of these have had their impress upon me and have urged me
to dedicate myself unreservedly to these people, among whom I was
reared, among whom I shall continue to labor, among whom I shall at the
last be buried.
XI
A DAIRYMAN'S STORY
BY LEWIS A. SMITH
In any attempt to write a story of my life and work, the "work" feature
must predominate.
I was born March 27, 1877, at Louisville, Ky. My father and mother were
slaves of old Georgia stock. My father, after freedom, was for a time
permitted to attend Howard University, Washington, D. C. He was a
candy-maker. My mother attended Atlanta University.
In 1878 my parents left Atlanta, where my two brothers were born, and
located in Louisville. Leaving Louisville in 1881, the family moved to
Chicago, Ill., where I lived until I entered Tuskegee Institute, of
which my mother and I had heard much.
After reaching Chicago, my parents established a confectionery store. My
earlier days were mostly spent behind the counter in the store, not as a
clerk helping to earn profits, but in an endeavor to make profits
disappear. I was much in love with the nice things we had for sale.
An unfortunate family "incident" in 1882 resulted in placing my two
brothers and me in the custody of my mother. Our childhood pleasures
were marred by this affair. Although I was too young to fully understand
the situation, I realized that I lacked the pleasures that other
children had; I realized the absence of that paternal care and affection
that other children enjoyed--the home was not complete. I can not recall
my childhood with any special pleasure.
I entered the public schools of Chicago when I was seven years of age. I
made a very good record in my studies, attested by the fact that I made
two grades the first year, and one grade with excellent marks each
succeeding year thereafter. My deportment was not exemplary. I can
remember occasions when I was severely reprimanded for being absent from
school without an excuse, having gone fishing, or bathing in Lake
Michigan, or skating in the parks in winter.
[Illustration: IN THE DAIRY.
Students using separators.]
That was before the compulsory school law went into effect, or at least
before it affected me. I was not, however, a bad boy. I was neither
rough nor tough; I had no bad habits other than smoking corn-silk
cigarettes, and I soon stopped that as the novelty of the thing wore
off. My young mind and body required recreation. Unlike the children of
the South, who had three months of school and nine months of play or
work in the fields, I had nine months of school and three months of
play. I thought the ratio was in the wrong proportion. But as I grew
older I became more settled and more interested in my studies.
Although during the greater portion of my school life in Chicago I was
the sole Negro pupil in my classes, yet I do not remember a single
occasion when prejudice was leveled at me by teacher or schoolmate.
Early, after throwing off my wildness, I realized the need and the
advantage of possessing an education, and, having such excellent
facilities at hand, determined to become educated, and diligently
pursued that object. Just as I was about to enter the eighth grade,
however, I had to give up going to school, and go to work.
I secured employment with a wood-engraving firm as general office- and
errand-boy. My wages were $2.50 a week. About fifty cents of this sum I
spent each week for car-fare and incidentals. As I lived three miles
from my work it would have been necessary for me to spend my whole
allowance for car-fare had I not stolen rides on railroad trains. I
often wonder now how I could have jumped on and off swift-moving trains,
day after day, without receiving some serious injury. Surely Providence
must have protected me in my endeavor to save my scanty earnings. My
clothing did not cost much, as I was the "happy" recipient of the
cast-off clothes of the older members of the family.
My work was agreeable and my employer was generously sympathetic.
Realizing that wood-engraving and illustrating would offer remunerative
employment, I sought to learn the trade, but was told that I would have
to serve an apprenticeship of six months without pay; that precluded all
hope of learning that trade.
Manhood approached before I was prepared to do anything. I did not earn
much in my youth, and could not expect to earn much in manhood without
preparation. I then resolved to enter school again, but the expense of a
thorough course was an apparently insurmountable obstacle. I had been
unable to save much from my meager allowance. I had heard of the
Tuskegee Institute and of the opportunities there offered to poor young
men and women. I decided to enter that school. A friend helped me to
purchase an excursion ticket to Atlanta, Ga., where was being held the
Cotton-States and International Exposition. I left Chicago in November,
and after two days spent in Atlanta with relatives and in seeing the
sights, I exchanged my return coupon for a ticket to Tuskegee.
I arrived at Chehaw, the station where passengers transfer for Tuskegee,
and taking passage in a wagonette, a crude substitute for our modern
means of interurban transit--the little train was not running on that
day--we drove through a picturesque country abounding in woods, vales,
and cultivated fields, occasionally coming across landmarks of
antebellum days. Here one was really in communion with Nature, so
different it was from the massive specimens of architecture, the clatter
of horses on the cobblestone pavement, the rattle of elevated trains,
and the activity of commercial life of the Western metropolis from which
I had come. As we reached high elevations glimpses of the institution
came into view.
Tuskegee was a surprise to me; it surpassed my fondest hope. The
majestic buildings, the monuments to the fidelity and building skill of
past classes, the well-designed landscape architecture, made me feel
that I had at last found the place where I could be prepared for real
life. I received a cordial welcome from the teachers; also from the
students, especially from those connected with the religious and
literary organizations, of which there are quite a number.
When asked the industry I wished to learn, I chose that of agriculture.
Like hundreds of boys confined to city environment, I had a craving for
Nature, a fondness for live stock, and for all that I should come in
contact with while taking that course. I worked during the daytime the
first year and attended school at night, thereby acquiring experience
and accumulating a credit to apply to my board when I should enter the
day-school. Soon after entering the agricultural department I had made
such progress that I was placed in charge of the hotbeds and grew
vegetables all winter. It was a marvelous accomplishment with me, for I
could not have grown them even in the summer before I entered that
department. The care of the various seeds used on the farm was also in
my charge.
This privilege afforded me opportunities for seed-testing and for
observing plant development; it was all very instructive. While
attending the academic classes at night, the daytime was devoted
entirely to study in the various divisions of the agricultural
department.
At the expiration of my first year as a night-school student, I entered
day-school, devoting about equal time to academic and agricultural
classes, and a small portion of the time to the study of music, being a
member of the Institute brass band, and in my last year a member of the
orchestra.
During my second summer's vacation I went into the southern part of
Montgomery County, Ala., in search of a school to teach. There was no
schoolhouse, no school fund, nor any appropriation available except for
a three months' term during the winter. After further canvass I was
permitted to open a school in the little church at Strata, Ala. The
large attendance of pupils and their eagerness to learn won my sympathy
and I would gladly have planted a sprig of Tuskegee there had I not had
strong inclinations for a commercial life. I conducted a class in
agriculture for the benefit of the farmers. I believe it was helpful to
them. My spare time was spent in going through the country noting the
waste of the land and the lack of enterprise among the owners and
tenants, due in large measure, I am sure, to the mortgage system and the
deep ignorance of the people. Most of the evenings I spent listening to
the terrible stories of slavery days from the lips of those who had
passed through them.
In the midst of this service I received a telegram announcing the death
of my mother. I was too far from home to return in time to see the last
of her, even if I had had the means to do so. I was in grief; I had
sustained a great loss; she was my all, my mother.
I returned to Tuskegee and graduated with the Class of '98.
I am grateful to Tuskegee Institute, to the genius of Mr. Washington,
for the opportunities I had to acquire an education; to the members of
the Faculty for their assistance, and to my father, who gave me much of
material aid and encouragement.
After graduating, I spent two months at special work in the school
dairy; then, with the assistance of my father, I secured a position with
the Forest City Creamery Company of Rockford, Ill. Entering this
company's employ about the 15th of August, 1898, I have been employed
ever since at the same place.
The Forest City Creamery is one of the largest butter-making concerns
in the United States, averaging twenty thousand pounds of butter per
day. We make two grades of butter, known as process, or renovated, and
creamery butter. There are employed at this plant about seventy-five
persons.
My work consists in what is known to the trade as "starter-making" and
preparing the flavor for the butter. The work is bacteriological,
propagating a species of bacteria which produces the pleasant aroma and
flavor of good butter. It requires not only an understanding of
bacteriology, but skilled workmanship and earnest attention to details.
The secret processes of this company are known to a close group only, of
which I am one. My work here has been entirely successful and
satisfactory to my employers, if I may judge from a highly complimentary
interview with one of the officers of the company regarding my work,
published in one of the leading daily newspapers of Rockford, and the
fact that I am now receiving double my initial wages.
I have a record not surpassed by any other employee of this company.
Between June 24, 1901, following a wedding-trip to Tuskegee, and August
15, 1904, when we visited the St. Louis Exposition, I have worked each
day at the Creamery, including Sundays and holidays, my work requiring
that I do so. These 1,155 consecutive days of labor were made possible
by a total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors and tobacco. My
success here can be credited to the efficient training I received at
Tuskegee.
"It is not well for man to live alone." Following this injunction I have
taken unto myself a helpmeet, who is all that the word implies, loving,
economical, and well trained in domestic arts. Shortly after our
marriage we began paying for a home of eleven rooms located in a good
residence portion of the city. The lower part of the house, containing
six rooms, we occupy, and have comfortably furnished; the up-stairs
portion, containing five rooms, we rent to a family of white people; the
rent we receive equals the interest on the investment.
We have one child, a little girl two years old, who furnishes sunshine
to an already happy home.
Our house is surrounded by a lawn with shade- and fruit-trees, and many
flower-beds. The back yard contains a garden with berry plants, a
well-built and well-arranged poultry-house, a yard containing a flock of
pure-bred fowls, the nucleus of a future enterprise, and a barn with a
good horse, a buggy, etc., for our pleasure and convenience.
My ambition when leaving school was first to endeavor to become
independent financially, so that I might enjoy my old age; then, if it
were possible, to gain that independence early in life by economy, by
earning for myself what I earn for my employer; to try to make it
possible for the Negro farmer to sell his produce to the Negro gin, the
Negro cotton-mill, or creamery, as the case might be; my idea being, by
this community of interest, to help the Negro people about me to help
themselves and their fellows. I believe, in the words of the motto of
the Class of '98--my class--that "we rise upon the structure we
ourselves have builded." I have tried to live with this thought ever
before me.
XII
THE STORY OF A WHEELWRIGHT
BY EDWARD LOMAX
I was born in the small town of Demopolis, in the western part of the
State of Alabama, January 17, 1877. My uncle was a wheelwright, and I,
at an early age, was led to desire to become an artisan such as my uncle
was. I interceded with him and became the "handy boy" around the shop in
which he worked, and picked up much useful information; but there was
nothing progressive or directly helpful in the work I was permitted to
do. I also did some little work in blacksmithing while in the shop.
What to me was a fortunate circumstance was the meeting with a chance
acquaintance who was returning from Tuskegee Institute for his vacation.
This young man told me most glowing stories of the Tuskegee Institute.
He was so enthusiastic that he imparted much of his enthusiasm to me. He
himself was taking instruction in the wheelwrighting division, and could
give at first-hand the information I most desired. The whole Tuskegee
plan was outlined to me: how I could learn my trade, and at the same
time get book instruction; how I could earn by labor enough to carry me
through school while securing to myself the advantages mentioned. I had
had to learn by seeing others do, and it was now pointed out to me how I
could "learn by doing," and that was the thing I wanted. I had been used
to being kept from the use of tools and everything that would really
help me to learn wheelwrighting; the only chances I ever had being to
"knock about" the shop, occasionally having some worthless job, with
cast-off tools to work with, entrusted to me.
The upshot of it was that I decided to go to Tuskegee, and carefully
saved as much of my wages of $2.50 per week as I possibly could, so as
to purchase clothing, books, and those incidentals insisted upon by the
school that each student must have. I wrote to the school, and received
a letter from Principal Washington admitting me should I find myself
able to meet the requirements stated as follows:
No person will be admitted to the school as a student who can not
pass the examination for the C Preparatory class. To enter this
class one must be able to read, write, and understand addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division. Applicants for
admission must be of good moral character and must bring at least
two letters of recommendation as to their moral character from
reliable persons of their communities.
_The Day-School._--The Day-School is intended for those who are
able to pay all or the greater part of their expenses in cash.
Students attending the Day-School are required to work one day in
each week and every other Saturday.
They must also be fourteen years of age, of good physique, and able
to pass the examination for the C Preparatory class, as stated
above.
_The Night-School._--The requirements for entering the Night-School
are the same as for entering the Day-School, with the additional
requisites: Applicants must be fully sixteen years of age instead
of fourteen, and physically able to perform an adult's labor.
Cripples are under no circumstances admitted to this department.
The Night-School is designed for young men and women who earnestly
desire to educate themselves, but who are too poor to pay even the
small charge made in the Day-School. Students will not be admitted
to the Night-School who are known to be able to enter the
Day-School; and when a student has fraudulently gained admission,
upon discovery of the deception, must either enter the Day-School
or leave the institution.
Trades are assigned as nearly as possible in accordance with the
students' desires. In assigning young men and women to a trade,
their mental ability and intelligence to grasp it, and physical
ability to perform the duties required, are all carefully
considered. At the beginning of the school year it often happens
that certain of the industries are quickly filled; and when this
happens, applicants for this particular industry are assigned to
some other division until a vacancy occurs.
The school authorities also sent me a card notifying me as to the
school's requirements in the way of discipline. These seemed to me to be
rather overexacting, but I resolved to try to live up to them if I
should be admitted. Among these were the following:
The rules governing the school are aimed to be those which best
promote the welfare and happiness of all.
Each student is required to have a Bible.
Regular habits of rest and recreation are required.
No student is allowed to leave the grounds without permission.
Male students when permitted to leave the grounds must wear the
regulation cap.
No young woman is permitted to leave the grounds of the institution
unless accompanied by a teacher.
The Institute has adequate facilities for bathing, and all
students are required to bathe at stated periods. Bath-houses for
young men and young women, with swimming-pools and shower-bath
appointments, afford every facility in this regard.
The use of intoxicating drinks and the use of tobacco are strictly
forbidden.
Dice-playing and card-playing are strictly prohibited.
Students are liable to be dropped for inability to master their
studies, irregularity of attendance, or for failure to comply with
the regulations of the school after due notice.
The demeriting system has been adopted by the school as the
principal method of discipline for misconduct: 33-1/3 demerit marks
constitute a "warning," and upon receiving three warnings a student
is liable to suspension or expulsion, according as the Executive
Council may determine.
All non-resident students are expected to board on the
school-grounds, unless there is some good reason for a contrary
arrangement.
Students are not registered for a shorter period than one month;
those who leave before the end of a month are charged for a full
month's board.
When students desire to leave the school they are required to have
parents or guardian write directly to the Principal for permission
to do so.