THE BEGINNING OF A LIFE WORK
The singular way in which Booker Washington proceeded from one thing to
another, until, at length, he found himself beginning the great work of
his life before he was himself quite aware of the fact, strongly tends
to prove that he was destined to be a leader of his own people. We
believe that he would himself acknowledge that the chain of
circumstances which led up to his being landed at Tuskegee in 1881 was
entirely providential. He did not himself seek the opening; it came to
him unsought at a time when his services were still urgently needed at
Hampton, where he had become General Armstrong's right-hand man, or his
most efficient assistant. He was still fully occupied with the large
class of Indian boys during the day, and then, until a late hour every
night, with the more enthusiastic coloured pupils of his own people. At
the same time, he was pursuing his own studies for self-improvement with
characteristic ardour. Probably neither the good General Armstrong nor
this chief officer of his staff as yet thought the arrangements at the
Institute, which were found to work so well, were other than permanent.
A great change, which was nothing less than a great forward movement,
was at hand, however. It came to pass that, at a time when he was least
expecting it, the General received an urgent message for help from the
darkest part of the Black Belt of Alabama. The missive in question came
from white people, who were genuine friends of the negroes, and, as
such, were representative of large numbers of others in the Southern
States who were like minded. It occurred to these good souls that a
large proportion of the coloured people--admirable human material, if
turned to good account--was running to waste through lack of that
knowledge which could only come of education or training suitable to
their needs. The blacks greatly outnumbered the whites, and by very many
their capacities for service to the State were not understood. It was
thought by those who had put themselves in communication with General
Armstrong that an institute, similar to the one which had proved so
successful at Hampton, might be founded in the little town of Tuskegee,
which stood aside from the main railway line, but had a branch for its
accommodation. It had not entered into anybody's day-dreams to suppose
that anyone, save an accomplished white man, would be competent to
undertake so arduous an enterprise; but when the General received the
application, and had thought about it, he clearly saw, to his own
satisfaction, that Booker Washington was the man most likely to make
such a school as the one suggested a success. The following passage from
an open letter in the _Century Magazine_ for September 1895, by Mr G. T.
Speed, affords some notion of what the general outlook was in Alabama
at the date in question:--
"When the attention of philanthropists was first directed to the
ignorant condition of the freedmen in the South, in nine cases out of
ten the practical effort to do something for their improvement was
controlled by clergymen, and was largely influenced by sentimental
considerations. The chief object seemed to be to grow a great crop of
negro preachers, lawyers and doctors. The result was so disheartening
that, fifteen years after the war was over, there were grave doubts
whether the coloured race in the South was not lapsing into a barbarism
worse than that of slavery. Fortunately, among those educators and
philanthropists there was at least one sane man, the late General S. C.
Armstrong, of Hampton. His main idea was to train workmen and teachers.
Mr Washington was one of these teachers. Of him and his work General
Armstrong, shortly before his death, said:--'It is, I think, the noblest
and grandest work by any coloured man in the land. What compares with it
in general value and power for good? It is on the Hampton plan,
combining labour and study, commands high respect from both races, flies
no denominational flag, but is earnestly and thoroughly Christian, is
out of debt, well managed and organised.'"
Concerning the opinions, the aims and aspirations of General Armstrong's
disciple, the same friend says:--
"Mr Booker T. Washington had become persuaded that most of the efforts
at training his people in purely academic directions were almost
entirely thrown away. He held that the time was not ripe, and his people
were not prepared for the higher scholastic training of which the Greek
and Latin classics are the basis, but that they needed to be taught how
to work to advantage in the trades and handicrafts, how to be better
farmers, how to be more thrifty in their lives, and, most of all, how to
resist the money-lender's inducements to mortgage their crops before
they were made. It was with these great ideas that he began his work at
Tuskegee."
When Booker Washington acceded to General Armstrong's request to proceed
to Tuskegee to give practical shape to the white people's wishes, he
received as many good wishes and congratulations as if he was going to
accept an enviable appointment in some already founded and flourishing
institution. The fact was, however, that not even the straw was as yet
gathered for the bricks with which the proposed school would have to be
built. Not even a site had been chosen, and no one knew where this might
be found. The most favourable features of the situation were that the
coloured folk were very desirous of obtaining some education, while the
whites were equally anxious that a school should be provided for them.
The cordial greeting accorded to the newcomer on every hand was perhaps
more flattering than reassuring; for the obstacles in the way of success
seemed so formidable that even the sanguine and persevering Booker
Washington might have been excused had he hesitated. Had he not been a
negro, he would probably have declared that the task assigned to him was
impossible.
The blighting effects of the Civil War were still visible; and when a
beginning at teaching was actually made, the class had to be content
with the accommodation of a tumble-down kind of building which was a
very imperfect protection from the weather. In some respects the
ex-slaves appeared to be no better off than when they were in bondage.
In order to become acquainted with the people, and to understand their
general condition and in what degree an effort to raise them promised to
succeed, it was necessary to visit them in their homes in the
surrounding country. In the main, their cabins showed no improvement on
those in which they had been housed in the days of slavery; and some of
their habits were as comical on the one hand as they were improvident on
the other. Practically what we call one-room life was, in a great number
of instances, a chief obstacle to their more complete civilisation.
While in need of better homesteads and of many necessary but commonplace
things, either for use or ornament, which they were, through their
ignorance, quite unable to turn to any account. Their ignorance also led
to superstition and to one-sided views of things, which suggested
mischievous action. False pride would naturally inspire a love of
showing off, which meant a waste of resources, which, in the hands of
better economists, would have gone far towards providing the family with
the comforts of life.
The school teaching commenced just after midsummer, 1881; and the number
of the students who came was at once as many as could be accommodated,
and their eagerness to learn testified to the earnest desire for
education which was common among the coloured race. Had all been taken
who wished to come, the school would have been a very large one at the
outset; but at first the plan was to take only those who were not mere
children and who had already acquired some learning. Some who sat in the
classes were even approaching middle-age. Perhaps a chief drawback was
that the aims of the teacher and the expectations of the learners did
not generally agree. As Mr Speed tells us, Booker Washington's capital
originally consisted of "nothing but ideas, ambition and a few friends,
none of whom could do much in the way of contributions." His ideas were
worth more than gold, however; while his friends were of sterling
quality, one being an ex-slaveholder, who had done more than anyone else
in originating the school. It may seem to be strange that some of the
best and shrewdest friends of negroes in the Southern States at the
present time are ex-slave-owners. Others among the white people would
have preferred that the old-time hewers of wood and drawers of water for
the superior race should remain illiterate, thinking that their coming
in contact with books would have the effect of marring their capacity
for field service. Not a few, especially at that time, in common with
the coloured people themselves, entirely misapprehended in what an
effective education consisted. It was too often supposed that it meant
mere book-learning that would release its possessors from hard, manual
labour. To General Armstrong and Booker Washington education would be of
value to negroes because it would enable them to do more effectively
the labour connected with a number of important industries to which they
were called. This obvious truth is far better understood than it was a
quarter of a century ago. The work done at Hampton, at Tuskegee, and at
the many schools on a similar basis which have since sprung up in the
Southern States, has not only demonstrated that the negro race may be
made to become a source of vast good or profit to the Republic, it has
revolutionised public opinion.
Meanwhile the numbers actually under instruction, and also of those who
were exceedingly anxious to enter the classes, increased daily. At the
same time, the overwhelming need of the coloured race, and the great
opportunities to raise them which offered themselves, made a deep
impression on Booker Washington, as it also did on one who was thus
early an able and sympathetic helper in the work--Miss Olivia Davidson,
afterwards Mrs Booker Washington. The latter was a superior girl, of
coloured ancestry, although personally she was as white as the most
pure-blooded descendant of the Pilgrim Fathers that could have been
found. These two kindred souls were now one in the work, and, of course,
they had many anxious consultations. It did not seem as though the work
of the school could continue to be carried on in the forsaken church and
half-ruinous shed which so far had been the only accommodation.
A short distance outside of the town there was an old plantation of a
hundred acres, and as the house had been burned down, this was to be
secured for the low price of a hundred dollars. If it could possibly be
effected, the removal of the school to such a site promised to be a
great step in advance; and, after overcoming a good many difficulties, a
portion of the money was borrowed and possession was obtained. Having
made such a good beginning, it seemed to be impossible not to go
forward, especially when the enthusiasm of the coloured people was
encouraged by the hearty sympathy and practical help of the whites. The
fact is that, in proportion as the schools prospered, both blacks and
whites were being made to see that they had very much in common; and
friends of the negro will gladly recognise that the continued aid of
friends in the Southern States has made uninterrupted progress possible.
The next thing was to put up a main school building at a cost of six
thousand dollars, the students themselves being the builders. For some
time after this the difficulty in obtaining adequate funds was a cause
of great anxiety; but what at the time seemed to be unsurmountable
obstacles were always overcome, and the way was then open for still
further advances. The first year's work at Tuskegee was, on the whole, a
time of preparation and of founding what was destined to become a
distinguished institute on a solid basis. It was then that Booker
Washington set up a home of his own, into which he was able to receive
his teaching staff. He was united in marriage to Miss Fannie Smith, who,
like himself, had been trained at Hampton. In less than two years the
first Mrs Washington died, leaving an infant daughter. In this early
stage of the work, distinguished aid continued to be given by Miss
Davidson in collecting, in giving shrewd advice, and in other service,
including that of teaching. As will be made to appear, from this date
the progress made and the growth of the Institute was no less rapid than
wonderful.
But while the work was thus extending, the question came to be asked,
even by intelligent and far-seeing people, Is not industrial education
for negroes a craze? The majority were convinced that industrial
training in this case needed to go hand-in-hand with book-learning. It
was thought that men should understand farming and divers handicrafts,
and that women should possess such accomplishments as cooking, sewing
and dressmaking, and other domestic matters. Other friends of the negro,
who in the main agreed with this policy, still thought that there was
danger of its being pushed too far, in which case the movement might
even develop into a craze, and then it was almost certain that the
outcome would be "a less extended and thorough mental and moral
culture." In an open letter in the _Century Magazine_ for 1889, Mr S. W.
Powell referred to such objections:--
"The proposed change implies too great a concession to the widely
prevalent opinion that the negro is, and in the nature of the case must
be, better fitted for manual than for mental labour. They argue also
that the new departure tends to foster materialistic notions of the
value of education, the main object of which should be the ennoblement
of the worker rather than the production of more cotton, sugar, coal,
iron or lumber.... Then, again, the surprising success in some schools,
and notably in one, in mastering the more advanced branches is
profoundly affecting the opinions of many of the most influential
people in the South as to the capacity of the negro, and to do anything
which would make the work in these brigade schools less extensive, or
less thorough, will push him and his friends off this hard-won
vantage-ground."
Still further, we are exhorted to remember that "leaders qualified to
hold their own in the sharp competition of professional life are a
great, if not the greatest, need of the coloured race in this country.
Over wide areas most of their clergy are illiterate, immoral,
self-seeking, bitter sectarians, and the most determined opponents of
every kind of improvement. So, too, the lack of lawyers, editors and
physicians of sufficiently broad and thorough training to be able to
defend their weaker brethren against designers or incapable advisers is
a very discouraging feature of the situation. The negroes do not, as a
rule, seek the leadership or counsel of competent and honest whites in
matters of religion or of business, hence the greater need of
well-qualified men of their own race."
It need hardly be emphasised that those who are favouring the cause of
industrial education, as a means best calculated to raise the coloured
race, are quite as earnest in their desire for negroes to advance to
higher culture when exceptional capacity shows itself. In the nature of
things, however, this higher culture can be extended only to a
comparatively few individuals. Referring to those who are unable to push
their way so far, and yet are aiming at becoming scholars, Mr Powell
adds:--
"If they had the industrial education now given in some schools they
might support themselves in the same communities where they teach,
acquiring decent homes of their own, which would be a much-needed
example and incentive to all about them. The lack of anything worthy to
be called home is the most appalling obstacle to the elevation of the
negro. If these higher schools should furnish this industrial training,
as some of them are beginning to do, nine-tenths, or, in many cases,
nineteen-twentieths, of the pupils who never finish even the
grammar-school course might be put in the way of living for the rest of
their lives like human beings instead of like beasts."
The fact is, that the industrial training is not only becoming more
widely recognised as being what the coloured people most urgently need,
it tends largely to make the students more independent by placing them
in a situation in which they can pay their own way instead of receiving
outside aid. Then, while the negroes have splendid capacities for
service, there is surely no other people who so greatly need to be made
to realise the value and dignity of labour. As Mr Powell further says:--
"It was one of the greatest evils of slavery that manual labour was
considered degrading. This was especially mischievous in its effects on
the poor whites. The South is only slowly coming to believe that one who
works for a living can be qualified for good society. In many of the
industrial schools already established, students are beginning to take
pride in their command of tools, in their well-planned and executed
mechanical work, and in the thorough, clean tillage, the enlarged and
varied products, and the improved stock and buildings of the farms
attached to these schools.... The ability to plan or build a church, a
schoolhouse, or a dwelling, or to carry on a farm as it should be
carried on, gives a man's opinion about purely professional matters
greater weight in all struggling communities. A teacher, minister or
physician could hardly have, aside from his mental and moral qualities,
a more effective passport to the confidence and respect of coloured
people."
It was well both for himself no less than for those who were dependent
upon him for guidance and education, that Booker Washington harboured
the notions he did concerning the worth of labour. Anyone who had
visited the institution he was building up at Tuskegee, during the first
and second year of its struggling existence, would have seen that if the
work eventually succeeded order would have to be brought out of chaos.
This was emphatically true of all things connected with the daily life
of the students on the estate; but beyond that the hereditary prejudices
of the students and their family connections had to be overcome. There
seems to have been a deeply rooted opinion that, if school learning did
not lift a man up above the necessity to labour, it was hardly worth
having. Parents and students alike tenaciously held this notion, so
that, besides looking after his growing institute, Booker Washington had
to travel about the State of Alabama to show that such prejudices were
no less false than mischievous. At the same time he had what would
generally be regarded as his own prejudices, but, come what would, he
was determined to hold his idea, and to give it practical expression.
When buildings had to be put up on the estate, he took care that none
save the students themselves should have any hand in building them.
These coloured aspirants had even to dig the clay, to make and burn the
bricks that were needed; and it was only after three dismal failures in
trying to form a kiln on scientific principles that this enterprise,
which demanded exhausting labour, was crowned with success. As was to be
expected, some of the students grew discouraged while undergoing such
experience; but those who persevered and conquered with their leader at
last found themselves braced or strengthened, rather than injured, by
the difficulties which they had been enabled to conquer. At the present
time the students at Tuskegee are competent to turn out 100,000 bricks
of superior quality a month, and all of the forty buildings on the
ground are their own work. The latest addition in this department is a
magnificent library building, the gift of Mr Andrew Carnegie, which, in
the _Southern Letter_ of December 1901, was spoken of as "now being
rushed to completion." This house has cost Mr Carnegie £4000, and when
finished there was already a large collection of books waiting to be
placed on its shelves.
In proportion as the students increased in the early days of the
Tuskegee Institute, there came the urgent need for additional buildings
and more money, both for providing these and for the general outlay. It
was decided to put up a main building at a cost of £2000, and in order
to raise money Booker Washington had to do a good deal of travelling as
a collector. He found the rich quite willing to respond in a handsome
way when his needs became known; but while the work has often been
stimulated by large gifts, the more numerous small gifts of commonplace
people have from the first been its mainstay. Practically he was
introduced to the people of the Northern States by General Armstrong,
who accompanied him on a collecting tour. On this and other occasions
some striking adventures were met with, and all tended to show that hard
work, perseverance and freedom from worry carried a man over a great
deal of ground, while in a providential way all things seemed in the end
to turn out for the best. Booker Washington had the gift of being able
to impart some of his own energy and enthusiasm to his subordinates, and
even to the students, who generally came round to see in what direction
their best interests lay. A wholesome discipline was maintained
throughout the institution, and thus, while being qualified to become
instructors of their fellows of the coloured race, the students learned
to love and to respect their leader.