that it was the same old slavery from which we have emerged under a
new name; and the Tuskegee graduates have prosecuted their work in the
face of the misrepresentations, prejudice, opposition, and ridicule of
those of their own race who could or would not understand the spirit
of industrial education--a spirit broader and finer than the phrase
suggests. More than this: in the communities where they have worked it
has been the fashion to permit our graduates to do the difficult tasks
and carry all the burdens of leadership; but if there were any honors
to be bestowed, they were given to the graduates of other schools.
"Being human and denied those honors and public marks of esteem which
always gladden the heart, these Tuskegee men and women have often
grown discouraged and have been tempted to lay down their work. But
like Daniel, when those gloomy hours came, they have turned their
faces toward Jerusalem, to Tuskegee, over which the great spirit of
Dr. Washington brooded and lived; and from this place he has sent back
to them whenever they have called, encouragement, counsel, and help.
"Sometimes they have been so depressed that they have come to Tuskegee
just to see and talk with their prophet once more and to be baptized
again in his sweet and noble spirit. Many times we have seen them here
and wondered at their presence. They were here to receive comfort,
and to hear Mr. Washington say in his own convincing manner: 'It has
been my experience that if a man will do the right thing and go ahead,
everything will be all right at last.' And these men and women who
have sat at his feet and who trusted him have gone back to their work
with new and increasing strength.
"But now Dr. Washington is gone, and the graduates of the school will
never again receive his counsel and encouragement, however gloomy
their paths may be. That is the measure of our loss.
"And yet our Principal is not buried out yonder. It is his tired body
which is resting just beyond that wall; but he is not buried in that
grave. The real Dr. Washington is buried in the graduates who sat at
his feet and imbibed his spirit, and he lives in them.
"King David, pondering over God's mercies and goodness to him,
thinking of how he had been taken from minding sheep and placed upon
the throne of Israel; and how God had guided and protected him and
made his name great in the earth, exclaimed reverently, one day, 'What
shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits unto me?' and he
answered his question, in part, by saying: 'I will pay my vows unto
the Lord now in the presence of all the people.'
"If all our graduates could speak to-night, they would have me pay
their vows of gratitude for the opportunity to make blessed and
beautiful their lives, given by our great teacher; and they would have
me give public assurance of their fealty to the work for which Mr.
Washington gave his life.
"And so, Mr. Chairman, in the name of the Alumni Association and in
the spirit of him whose body lies buried just beyond those walls, I
pledge you and the Trustees the loyalty of the Tuskegee graduates to
whatever work they are called in connection with the realization of
Dr. Washington's great purpose. I pledge you their support in the work
which you have come to Tuskegee to perform; because we are learning
self-government and wish to help prove to the world that we can pass
the succession to the Principalship here without revolution. By this
time to-morrow night another prophet will have been raised up to serve
in the room of the great founder of this school. I want you, Sir, and
the Board of Trustees to know that when the proclamation is made that
'The King is Dead!' our Alumni Association will be ready to reply:
'Long Live the King!' and we will faithfully, honestly, and loyally
support the person you elect to succeed our great father, whoever that
person may be.
"In the furtherance of Dr. Washington's work, the graduates stand
ready to say:
"'I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,
O'er the mountain, or plain, or sea;
I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord;
I'll be what you want me to be.'"
In the _Survey_ article, after briefly describing the ups and downs of
Mr. Washington's long fight against a breaking constitution, Mr.
Richardson says:
"With such perpetual rallying power who could cope? A latent feeling
crept among many that he was immune to pain as he had been to insult
and abuse. You know he could steer on over an insult and never see it.
Some of us shook our heads and said, 'Why he is good for ten years
yet.' Seeing that he thus defied nerves and baffled pain, we hoped. It
was in the hour of hope that the last stroke came, and we felt that
pulling at the throat which we should have felt had he gone by sudden
accident.
"How Tuskegee took Dr. Washington's death can probably best be
appreciated by an account of what his life meant among his teachers.
Officially he was a stern and exacting task master. A tireless worker
himself, he imposed heavy tasks upon others. In the home, however, he
had a genius for cheering by little kindnesses and by a thoughtful
word. Now he would send around a basket of vegetables from his garden,
now a cut of one of his pigs which he had killed and in which he took
great delight.
"People who sent books and pictures to Tuskegee can hardly realize
what a double pleasure they were shipping: the pleasure they gave him
and others through him. He would have the boxes opened and books and
pictures brought in to his office. Then from all his heaps of
correspondence, from business engagements, from matters of national
importance, he would turn aside and go through these himself, culling
them out. He would sort a pile here for this family; one there for
another, according to what he considered would suit each. Many a time
one could scarcely find a place to step in his office for the
pictures and books. In all things he received, but to share.
"Then he had a way of kicking organizations to pieces for a few
minutes. If some rural school had a creditable exhibit he would order
that the senior class, 150 strong, should be taken there, whether it
was one mile or ten miles away. He would order the class out to see
how some poor, illiterate farmer had raised a bumper crop of peas,
corn, sugar cane, and peanuts, how he surrounded himself with
conveniences, both inside and outside the home. Now he would declare a
half holiday; now he would allow the students to sleep a half-hour
later in the morning.
"In the same way the teachers would get an outing once or twice a
year, sometimes at night, sometimes in the day. As the teachers are on
duty for both day and night school, and as the students usually rise
at 5:30 and breakfast at 6, these little breaks were windfalls. They
sent each one back to his labors with a smile. He knew the value of
change and the psychology of cheer. No wonder then that when death
closed his eyes both teachers and students went about heavy of limb
and with eyes that told too plainly what the heart felt.
"Just as he touched the students and teachers with little thoughtful
deeds so he touched the town and State, both white and black. One
feature of his funeral illustrated how complete had been his triumph
over narrow prejudices. He was always talking about the white man up
the hollow, back in the woods. How many times have I heard him urge
picturesquely upon gatherings of teachers to 'win that old fellow
who, when you begin to talk Negro education and Negro schoolhouse,
scratches his head, leans to one side, and looks far away. That's the
man,' he would say, 'that you've got to convince that Negro education
is not a farce.'
"Well, that man was at Booker T. Washington's funeral. He came there
on foot, on horseback, in buggies, in wagons. He was there in working
clothes, in slouched hat, with no collar.
"During the service I chanced to stand near the end of the platform.
Pretty soon I felt a rough brushing against my elbow. As I turned I
saw a small white child, poorly clad, being thrust upon the end of the
flower-laden platform. Then followed an old white man, collarless,
wearing a dingy blue shirt and a coat somewhat tattered. After him
came two strapping fellows, apparently his sons. All grouped
themselves there and listened eagerly, freely spitting their tobacco
juice on the platform steps and on the floor.
"How thankful would Dr. Washington have been for their presence. What
a triumph! Ten years ago those men would not stop at the school. They
cursed it, cursed the whole system and the man at the head of it. But
quietly, persistently, he had gone on with that everlasting doctrine
that service can win even the meanest heart, that an institution had
the right to survive in just so far as it dovetailed its life into the
life of all the people. Beautiful to behold, to remember forever;
there was no race and no class in the Tuskegee chapel on Wednesday
morning, November 17th; heart went out to heart that a common friend
had gone.
"Broken as everybody is over the loss, no one is afraid. No panic as
to the future of the school disturbs the breasts of the 190 odd
teachers here. In the first place, poor as most of us are, we are
ready to suffer many a privation before we see the institution slip
back the slightest fraction of an inch. All these years it has been on
trial, on record. It has been a test, not of a mere school, but of a
race. A tacit pledge--not a word has thus far been spoken--has gone
out among us that it shall remain on record, that it shall stand here
as a breathing evidence that Negroes can bring things to pass.
"Back of this is the unshaken faith in our Board of Trustees. I doubt
if such another board exists. It is made up of white men and black
men, of men of the North and men of the South. There is not a
figurehead among them. Though intensely engaged they go into the
details of the workings of the school, getting close to the inner
workings and to the lives of the teachers and students.
"Finally, we are confident that the public will have a good deal to
say before Tuskegee is let die. The beaten path has been made to her
door. Her methods have not only been commended but adopted wholly or
in part both in this country and in other lands. Her use is
undisputed. She takes students almost literally out of the gutter,
puts them on their feet, and sends them out honest, peaceful, useful
citizens. This is the ideal for which Dr. Washington struggled, and
over which his life-cord snapped too soon.
"For the same ideal the people at Tuskegee, though broken in spirit,
are willing to spend themselves; for they are confident that their
cause is just and that the world is with them."
THE END
[Illustration]
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS
GARDEN CITY, N.Y.