HEAD AND HANDS TOGETHER
That the distinctive feature of Tuskegee Institute--ample provision for
industrial training--has received in the public prints almost exclusive
attention is not strange. But it is well to remember that Tuskegee
Institute stands for education as well as for training, for men and
women as well as for bricks and mortar.
Of course, the distinction involved in the words, "education" and
"training," is largely theoretical. My experience convinces me that
training to some productive trade, be it wagon-building or farming,
educates. For example, one of our students is foreman on the large
and beautifully planned Collis P. Huntington Memorial Building,
now in process of construction; that young man is notable for a
simple honesty, an unobtrusive confidence and self-reliance, that
abundantly testify to his manliness. That this manliness is in large
degree directly traceable to his skill and his experience in bearing
industrial responsibility--in short, to his training--is beyond
peradventure. Indeed, in running over the long list of students
who, for one reason or another--lack of money or lack of taste for
books--have left Tuskegee without completing the prescribed course in
the Academic Department, I have been forcibly impressed with the fact
that training to productive industry directly tends to develop sound
judgment and manly independence--those qualities of the mind and heart
that collectively constitute the character of the educated man.
[Illustration: CLASS IN OUTDOOR GEOMETRY]
Another example of the effect of the training given at the Tuskegee
Institute on the mind of the student occurs to me. A few weeks ago it
was decided to modify the Day School system. To make any change in a
great organisation like ours requires great discriminating judgment
and care. The faculty discussed the change in its every phase, and
I finally called the students of the four upper classes together,
presented to them our plans, and explained to them the reasons for the
proposed change.
Their response was not a negative acquiescence, but a series of direct
and searching questions. They were alert and quick to see minor
defects, and to give direct and constructive criticism in regard to
many details. Their work in the shops and on the farm had brought
them into touch with real issues and real things--their daily work in
constructing and equipping our buildings and in helping to build the
institute had brought with it an intelligent interest in the school and
an enlightened appreciation of values; in other words, it had taught
them to think.
It is obvious that a man cannot build wagons or run a farm with
continuous success who is unable to read, write, and cipher. But, far
deeper than the mere commercial advantage of academic studies, is the
fact that they afford incentives to good conduct and high thinking.
To make a boy an efficient mechanic is good, for it enables him to
earn a living and to add his mite to the productiveness of society;
but a school must do more--must create in him abiding interests in the
intellectual achievements of mankind in art and literature, and must
stimulate his spiritual nature. And so Tuskegee has always maintained
an Academic Department, at present housed mainly in four buildings. The
most important of these are Porter Hall, a three-story frame building,
the first building erected after the opening of the Institute, though
poor in appointments, yet rich in traditions; Thrasher Hall, a handsome
three-story brick building with well-equipped physical and chemical
laboratories; and the Carnegie Library, a beautifully proportioned
brick structure, which is the center of Academic interests. The
collection of books is well selected, and the generosity of Tuskegee's
friends keeps it constantly growing. The admirable Collis P. Huntington
Memorial Building will be the largest building on the grounds, and is
to be used exclusively for academic purposes.
[Illustration: STUDENTS FRAMING THE ROOF OF A LARGE BUILDING]
On the faculty of the Academic Department are twenty-eight men and
women of Negro blood with degrees from Michigan, Nebraska, Oberlin,
Amherst, Cornell, Columbia, and Harvard. In order to display the
character of work done in the Department, it may be well for me to
explain the course of study in some special branches.
The aim of the work in English in the preparatory classes is to bring
about familiarity with the mother tongue, and correctness and ease in
its use. From contact with good models of spoken or written discourse
the pupil learns to appreciate and interpret thought well expressed.
From the careful attention given his own language, he learns to feel
the correctness or incorrectness of an expression, without slavish
reliance upon rules. In other words, in these classes language is
taught as an art; the necessary rules and definitions, when they occur,
are treated as working principles, and abundant practice in applying
them is given. In the advanced years of the course, technical grammar
is taught because at this stage the pupil has already become familiar
with good usage, and has attained a certain facility in employing the
mother tongue. He should now be taught more thoroughly the fundamental
principles governing the correct or incorrect use of an expression,
while in the preparatory classes, oral exercises in narration,
description and reproduction predominate. The pupil is encouraged to
talk simply and naturally about something he has seen or heard or read.
He is taught to exercise care for unity, logical sequence of ideas,
and smoothness of transition. To the narration and description of the
lower grades, argumentation and exposition are added in the advanced
work, these subjects being expanded to form the basis of a course in
public speaking.
The pupil obtains material for themes and debates from his experience
in shop and field and from literature technical to the subject. The
themes are submitted for correction and in due course committed, and,
after preliminary training, delivered at the monthly public rhetoricals
of the class. Except for the written brief required of each disputant,
debates are extemporaneous. In the preparation of a program like the
following, considerable experience and research must necessarily be
involved.
[Illustration: CLASS IN LANGUAGE]
"A" MIDDLE RHETORICAL
EVENING PRAYER SERVICE
_A Model Southern Farm_
"It is this noble agriculture which feeds the human race and all
the humbler orders of animated nature dependent on man."
--Speech by EDWARD EVERETT
* * *
OVERTURE ORCHESTRA
1 Choosing and Preparing the Land _Leon Harris_
2 The Crops _Terry Hart_
Song, "Old Folks at Home" _A Middle Quartette_
3 Constructing the Farm House _Alonzo Fields_
4 Constructing the Chimneys and Fireplaces _Charles Weir_
Duet _Miss Young_, _Mr. Weaver_
5 Care of the Farm House
(_a_) The Dining-room and Kitchen _Miss Emma Smith_
(_b_) Bedrooms and Parlour _Miss Pearl Rousseau_
Music Waltz _Orchestra_
6 The Kitchen Garden _Cornelius Richardson_
7 The Poultry-yard and Contents _Miss Stella Pinkston_
Music _A Middle Brass Quartett_
8 A Model Storage Barn _Thomas Brittain_
9 The Farm Machinery _William Lewis_
Music March _Orchestra_
10 The Dairy Herd _Mr. Wesley McCoy_
11 A Model Dairy-barn _Wm. J. Williams_
Music Polka _Orchestra_
Exercises like the foregoing not only assist the Industrial Department
in its work with the pupil, but offer admirable Academic training in
English and in practical elocution. Besides the discussion relative to
industrial pursuits, the pupils consider questions important to them
as future citizens and men of business. This phase of the English work
trains the pupil to rigorous methods of reasoning, and to clearness and
forcefulness in public discourse.
Literature in the preparatory classes is taught under the head of
reading. The physical requisites to effective expression receive due
attention, but great stress is laid upon reading as a means by which
the mind is furnished with knowledge. Literature is taught by reading
and language teachers, the former dealing with the subject-matter for
literary values, the latter having an eye to construction. The course
is of twofold importance; contact with finished style gives to the
pupil a sense of what is most fitting and beautiful in expression,
thus proving an invaluable aid to his own oral and written diction.
The work of the Senior class in English literature and composition
aims to develop in the pupil power to think clearly and logically, and
ability to appreciate thought expressed by others; to teach clearness
and correctness of expression together with facility and power in the
use of language; to produce an appreciation of good books by contact
with classic authors; and to give, by an outline study of the history
of English literature, a proper setting for the authors read. To
supplement the class-room work in literature, a course in home reading
has been arranged. It is the aim of the division of English to make the
home reading as much like play as possible, a relaxation from sterner
requirements of the curriculum, an occupation for idle hours. By
persuading the most stupid pupil to read books which appeal to him, the
teacher can lead him gradually to more solid literature.
[Illustration: CLASS IN OUTDOOR NATURE STUDY]
As personal achievements appeal to the undeveloped mind more strongly
than the chronicles of conflicts and political changes, the first
course in history deals with biography. The student is given facts
in the lives of men, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and is made to
feel that these men actually lived, that they are not mere abstract
influences. At the very beginning their lives are studied in the
light of character building. After the first ideas of character
building have been presented, the next step is to awaken the power of
the observation, to quicken the imagination. The elementary course in
English history is adapted to this purpose.
The course in advanced American History is for developing judgment and
discrimination. Little attention is given to the periods of discovery
and of colonisation, except to show the student how the American
people, as is true of all great nations, began as cultivators of the
soil.
The peculiar position of the Negro in American History, from the
earliest days of the slave trade, through the wars with England and
the Civil War, to the present time, is given due importance, not by
isolating it, but by introducing it in its proper place with other
events.
In the Senior year, a course is given in the State History of Alabama,
for the benefit of those who wish to fit themselves as teachers in that
State. The object is to acquaint the Normal student with the important
facts in the settlement of Alabama, its entrance into the Union, and
its present industrial and political status.
During the first three years, the course in Geography is taught with
Nature Study. In the last year, Geography is combined with History. The
purpose of this arrangement is obvious. Geography is really a broad
phase of Nature Study. Questions regarding natural features, the sun,
moon, planets, water-courses, physical points, etc., are explained in
the course in Nature Study. Hence the pupil appreciates all the more
what is said about them when he comes to them again in his Geography.
The same intimacy is found in the study of plant and animal life,
minerals, and rock formation.
Tuskegee is admirably fitted for the study of Geography, and every
effort is made to make the teaching easily grasped. The industrial
shops are always open to academic teachers and students. When the
student takes up the subject of lumber, for example, he is able, by
going to the shops, to understand the various stages through which the
rough, uncut log must pass in order to make suitable building material.
Then, too, the school grounds are put to excellent use. Various kinds
of plant-life are studied; hills, valleys, small water-courses,
examples of erosion, different kinds of soil, are seen on every hand.
In connection with Nature Study and Geography, the pupils are urged to
be on the alert to detect something new, something which they have seen
often, but can afterward view in a new light because of the information
obtained.
[Illustration: WOOD-TURNING MACHINERY]
The course in mathematics covers a period of seven years, including
Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Surveying. Throughout
the entire course, the aim is to give the student, as far as possible,
a practical knowledge of the subjects embraced. The pupil is required
to deal in things associated with figures, rather than with figures
alone. In multiples and measures, his work is brought in close and
effective touch with the trade work. For example, the carpenter must
get the greatest common length of board from several different lengths
without any waste: the dressmaker must find and use the smallest
number of yards of cloth that suffice for the making of dresses of
different sizes. Mathematics is shown to be an instrument of economy.
In fractions, estimates are made of the cost of bales of cotton at
prevailing prices. The student is often required to weigh out in
each case the amounts of various articles which can be purchased for
given amounts of money. In compound quantities and in the various
measurements, the student does the measuring. Yards, rods, tons of
coal, and tons of hay are measured. In carpeting, he is required to
carpet a room. In lathing and plastering, he must witness the work in
active operation. In percentage, problems which must be solved in the
daily work the student is able to get from the industrial departments.
For example, if the leather for a pair of shoes costs a definite
amount, and the shoes are sold at a definite rate, what per cent. is
gained? Or for what must they be sold so as to gain a certain per cent.?
Much actual outdoor work is done during the study of trigonometry,
and in surveying the student learns to lay off lots, country roads; to
plot, map, etc. The last term of the Senior year is spent in mastering
the elements of Civil Engineering, work for which the first two terms
have prepared the student. The South is sorely in need of surveyors
and men grounded in the elements of engineering; positions of this
character are easy to find, and pay well.
The object of the work in Nature Study, as taught in the Academic
Department, is to train the faculty of observation, create an interest
in and love of nature, gain knowledge which will be of service in the
future, and to cultivate a practical interest in Agriculture. Knowledge
of things near at hand should be acquired first, and later of things
more distant; a clear and definite acquaintance with home surroundings
(plants, animals, minerals, natural phenomena, and the human body)
is made the basis of the teaching as a foundation for more advanced
study. In the assignment of work and selection of material for study,
the special needs of special classes are kept in mind, the work being
determined by the student's power of observation and interpretation.
Subjects for study are selected largely according to the seasons. This
work is conducted with reference to its correlation with Geography,
language, and other subjects. Field excursions, collecting and
preserving specimens, and gardening of various kinds, are prominent
features of the courses in Nature Study.
[Illustration: CLASS IN OUTDOOR ARITHMETIC]
The school offers also through the Academic Department, a two-years'
course, especially treating of the affairs of the farm. Instruction is
by laboratory work, supplemented by text-books, lectures, and reference
readings, which are assigned from standard volumes and periodicals. The
student is brought into close practical contact with his subject. He
studies farm implements, traces root systems of corn and other crops,
tests germination of seeds, determines the properties of soils and the
effects of various crops and of rotation of crops upon soil fertility.
He tests milk, studies butter and cheese, and judges a variety of
animals.
The school owns an ample supply of plows, cultivators, planters,
cutters, engines, etc. It has extensive collections of agricultural
plants, seeds and products. Laboratories are well equipped with
apparatus for the study of manures, fertilisers, soil bacteriology,
germination of seeds, and judging cotton and corn. The Institute
grounds and the fields and orchards of the Experiment Station are
always available for illustrations in class work. Collections of seeds
and woods, cabinets of beneficial and noxious insects, photographs,
maps, charts, and drawings afford valuable material for study and
demonstration. Specimens of draft and coach horses, Jersey, Ayrshire
and Holstein cattle, Southdown sheep, and Berkshire swine, afford
material for judging. In the Dairy Division is a complete outfit for
cream separation and butter and cheese making. We have, also, levels,
microscopes, and an extensive list of agricultural journals, a complete
file of experiment station bulletins from all the States, and an
excellent assortment of standard reference books.
The one purpose is to acquaint the student with the facts and
principles needed for the improvement of soils, the increase of
fertility, the nature of the various crops, the conditions governing
their successful and economic production, and with the general
development of agriculture. The student is also made familiar with
animals, first, as to fitness for specific purposes; second, as to
their care and management; third, as to their improvement by breeding;
and fourth, as to the manufacture of animal products. He learns the
principles of orchard management, small fruit culture, vegetable
gardening and plant propagation, as well as the evolution of cultivated
plants. A sense of the beautiful is cultivated and given expression in
floriculture, to the end that more of nature's beauty shall pervade the
home and its surroundings.
[Illustration: CHEMICAL LABORATORY]
The work of each year of strictly mental education is prescribed. We
aim to arouse the students' interest in important educational problems,
with especial reference to the South, rewarding that interest with
practical suggestions; and to train efficiently teachers who will
render valuable service in school and society. The courses in Normal
Education comprise a critical study of human nature; an outline history
of American education; general and special methods in teaching; and
school organisation and administration. The students in these courses
observe expert teaching in a primary school under the direction of the
Academic Department. Senior students are not only permitted to observe,
but also to practice teaching under supervision. This division of
Education is being strengthened, and keeps steadily before it the fact
that Tuskegee is to send out teachers as well as trained artisans and
industrial leaders.
The courses in Chemistry and in Physics, more clearly than any other
Academic courses, complement the work of the Industrial Department.
Thus in the course in Chemistry, operations in the shops and on the
farm, involving chemical reactions, are drawn upon as illustrative
material for the first year's work. The artisan, with a knowledge
of chemical matters, grows and thinks, and is not automatic. The
courses are not those in which the students are merely taught _how_
to do, but _to do_. Soap is taken apart and put together. Polishes,
lacquers, chemical cleansers, are not known merely as formulæ; but are
actually made in small quantities by students themselves, so as to
develop their power of doing things. Is this flour, bran, and baking
powder, pure? Is the fertiliser of high grade? How shall the sick-room
be disinfected? How shall we destroy the cabbage-devouring worm?
To these and similar questions, the division of Chemistry seeks to
enable students readily to find answers. In the course in Physics, the
principles taken up are illustrated by the actual work going on in the
outside building construction, and the farm work. Great stress is laid
upon the bearing of Physics on tools, machines, and operations of the
shops. Inspection of the various industrial plants in the vicinity of
Tuskegee is required in order that the student may see the applications
of Physics to the processes in use. Throughout the courses, a notebook
is accurately kept by each student, in which are recorded the results
of his observations and experiments, together with sketches for
illustration.
An exercise given to one of the Junior classes in the night school, not
long ago, shows how the attempt is made, even in so simple a matter as
a spelling lesson, to correlate the Academic work with the Industrial.
[Illustration: CLASS IN PHYSIOLOGY]
The theme of this lesson was "Building a Chest," and the teacher
brought to the class a small chest in which were placed most of the
tools and materials needed in its construction. The teacher exhibited
each article as he came to it in telling the story, and required the
student to spell the word and then write it on the blackboard as
neatly as possible. The synonyms and homonyms of some of the words
were given, and the student required to illustrate their difference in
spelling and use.
The teacher proceeded as follows, eliciting from the students the
words in italics: To build this article we must have _Timber_, such as
_Pine_, or _Cedar_, or _Cypress_, and other _Material_. We also need
several _Tools_, such as a _Plane_ to _Smooth_ the _Planks_; a _Chisel_
to cut these _Dove-tails_; and some _Glue_, with which to fasten the
pieces together substantially, as we shall not need _Nails_. Then
with these _Sprigs_ we put on this _Moulding_, which should be cut
in a _Miter_, or we may cut it by this _Bevel_, which can be changed
to a _Square_. We now put on these _Butts_--not _Strap-Hinges_--with
_Screws_. In front must be _Bored_ a hole and the _Lock_ put on; then
the _Escutcheon_ over the hole as a finish; the _Key_ is inserted,
and we have completed the _Chest_. A _Carpenter_--one engaged in
_Carpentry_--or a _Cabinet-Maker_, builds things like this, and we call
him a _Mechanic_.
The practical usefulness of the Academic Department lies in the
aid which the study of physics and chemistry and mathematics and
drawing offers to the blacksmith, the carpenter, the nurse, and the
housewife--an aid that does much to transform listlessness and drudgery
into vivacity and gratifying efficiency.