[Illustration: MR. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AND HIS FAMILY.]
THE STORY OF MY LIFE
AND WORK
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
PRINCIPAL OF TUSKEGEE NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
DR. J. L. M. CURRY
COMMISSIONER PEABODY AND SLATER FUNDS
COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTO-ENGRAVINGS
ORIGINAL PEN DRAWINGS BY
FRANK BEARD
W. H. FERGUSON COMPANY,
230-232 East Fifth Street,
CINCINNATI, OHIO.
1900
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1900
BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
Sold only by Subscription, and not to be had in book stores. Any one desiring
a copy should address the Publishers
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
[Illustration: HON. FREDERICK DOUGLASS.]
[Illustration: DR. J. L. M. CURRY, WASHINGTON, D. C.]
INTRODUCTION.
I have cheerfully consented to prefix a few words introductory to this
autobiography. While I have encouraged its publication, not a sentence
has been submitted to my examination. From my intimate acquaintance with
the subject, because of my connection with the Peabody and the Slater
Education Funds, I am sure the volume has such a strong claim upon the
people that no commendation is needed.
The life of Booker T. Washington cannot be written. Incidents of birth,
parentage, schooling, early struggles, later triumphs, may be detailed
with accuracy, but the life has been so incorporated, transfused, into
such a multitude of other lives,--broadening views, exalting ideals,
molding character,--that no human being can know its deep and beneficent
influence, and no pen can describe it. Few living Americans have made a
deeper impression on public opinion, softened or removed so many
prejudices, or awakened greater hopefulness in relation to the solution
of a problem, encompassed with a thousand difficulties and perplexing
the minds of philanthropists and statesmen. His personality is unique,
his work has been exceptional, his circle of friendships has constantly
widened; his race, through his utterances and labors, has felt an upward
tendency, and he himself has been an example of what worth and energy
can accomplish and a stimulus to every one of both races, aspiring to a
better life and to doing good for others.
It has been said with truth that the race problem requires the patient
and wise co-operation of the North and the South, of the white people
and the Negroes. It is encouraging to see how one true, wise, prudent,
courageous man can contribute far more than many men to the
comprehension and settlement of questions which perplex the highest
capabilities. Great eras have often revolved around an individual; and,
so, in this country, it is singular that, contrary to what pessimists
have predicted, a colored man, born a slave, freed by the results of the
War, is accomplishing so much toward thorough pacification and good
citizenship.
While Mr. Washington has achieved wonders, in his own recognition as a
leader and by his thoughtful addresses, his largest work has been the
founding and the building up of the Normal and Industrial Institute, at
Tuskegee, Alabama. That institution illustrates what can be accomplished
under the supervision, control, and teaching of the colored people, and
it stands conspicuous for industrial training, for intelligent,
productive labor, for increased usefulness in agriculture and mechanics,
for self-respect and self-support, and for the purification of
home-life. A late Circular of the Trustees of Hampton Institute makes
the startling statement that “six millions of our Negroes are now living
in one-room cabins.” Under such conditions morality and progress are
impossible. If the estimate be approximately correct, it enforces the
wisdom of Mr. Washington in his earnest crusade against “the one-room
cabin”, and is an honorable tribute to the revolution wrought through
his students in the communities where they have settled. Every student
at Tuskegee, in the proportion of the impression produced by the
Principal, becomes a better husband, a better wife, a better citizen, a
better man or woman. A series of useful books on the “Great Educators”
has been published in England and the United States. While Washington
cannot, in learning and philosophy, be ranked with Herbart, Pestalozzi,
Froebel, Hopkins, Wayland, Harris, he may be truly classed among those
who have wrought grandest results on mind and character.
J. L. M. CURRY.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Nov. 16, 1899.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD.
Author’s Reasons for Writing Autobiography--Ancestry--Mother--Author’s
Early Recollections and Impressions of Her--Father--Who He Was--When
and Where Author Was Born--A Description of the Cabin Where Born--Dress
of the Author in Early Childhood--The “Tow Shirt"--Early Services
of Author at Holding Horses and Going to the Mill--Name of Author’s
Owner--His Treatment of His Slaves--Author First Hears of the War from
the Slaves in the “Quarters"--He Assembles with His Mother at the “Big
House” and Hears Freedom to the Slaves Announced--Removal of Author’s
Family to West Virginia--Incidents of the Journey--Of Whom the Family
Consisted at That Time.
CHAPTER II.
BOYHOOD IN WEST VIRGINIA.
Beginning Life in West Virginia--Author Sees a Negro Reading a
Newspaper in Malden which Kindles His First Ambition--He Learns His
Letters while Working in Coal Mines and Salt Furnaces--Attends His
First School--Author Gives Himself a Surname--He Turns Forward the
Hands of the Clock to Enable Him to Get to School on Time--Author
Learns of Sunday School from an Old Man and Becomes a Regular
Attendant--Some Experiences in the Coal Mines--Author Goes to
Live with the Family of Gen. Lewis Ruffner--He Runs Away, but
Returns--Some Experiences as a Market Boy while Working for Mrs.
Ruffner--Mrs. Ruffner, Author’s Estimate of Her--Author Hears of
the Hampton Institute while Working in the Coal Mines and Resolves
to go There--Joins the Baptist Church in Malden Before Leaving for
Hampton--Still a Member of This Church.
CHAPTER III.
LIFE AT HAMPTON INSTITUTE.
Author Starts for Hampton in 1872--The Journey--How Made--Sleeping
Under Sidewalk in Richmond--Unloads Pig Iron from a Vessel in
Richmond and Thereby Earns Money Enough to Continue the Journey to
Hampton--Arrives at Hampton--Sees Miss Mary F. Mackie, the Lady
Principal--Undergoes a “Sweeping Examination” and is Admitted as a
Student--Author Sees Gen. Armstrong for the First Time--First and Last
Impressions of Him--Hampton Institute when Author First Entered It--His
Connection with the Debating Societies--His Destitute Condition at
Hampton--After Two Years at Hampton, Author Spends Vacation at Home in
Malden--Death of His Mother--He is Graduated at Hampton in 1875--Some
Helpful Friends at Hampton, Misses Nathalie Lord and Elizabeth
Brewer--Goes as a Waiter to Saratoga Springs.
CHAPTER IV.
HOW THE FIRST SIX YEARS AFTER GRADUATION FROM HAMPTON WERE SPENT.
Author Begins Teaching at Malden--Encourages His Pupils to go to
Hampton--Helps His Brother John to Enter Hampton--Enters Wayland
Seminary, Washington, D. C., and Spends a Year There--Stumps the
State of West Virginia in the Interest of the Removal of the State
Capital--Studies Law for a Short Time--Invited by Gen. Armstrong
to Deliver the Graduate’s Address--Asked to Return to Hampton by
Gen. Armstrong as a Special Student and to Take Charge of Night
School--Accepts--The “Plucky Class"--In Charge of Indian Boys at
Hampton--The Call from Tuskegee for Some One to Start a Normal
School--Gen. Armstrong Recommends the Author--Author Accepts and
Proceeds to Tuskegee.
CHAPTER V.
THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK AT TUSKEGEE.
Author’s Difficulty in Locating the Town of Tuskegee Before Starting
Thither--Description and Some Early History of Tuskegee by Maj. W. W.
Screws--Author’s Meeting with Mr. Lewis Adams, Who First Advanced the
Idea of a Normal School at Tuskegee--How Mr. Adams Secured the First
Appropriation Through Hons. A. L. Brooks and W. F. Foster--The Opening
of the Normal School, July 4, 1881--The House in which the School Was
Started.
CHAPTER VI.
THE FIRST YEAR AT TUSKEGEE.
The Necessity for a Permanent Location for the School Early Seen by
the Author--Objections of the Early Students to Manual Labor--Gen.
Marshall, Treasurer at Hampton, Lends $500 with which the Present Site
of Tuskegee Was Purchased--The Coming of Miss Olivia A. Davidson and
Her Valuable Service to the School in Its Early Struggles--The Struggle
for Money--Generosity of Both White and Colored Citizens of Tuskegee
Towards the Institute--Miss Davidson Goes to Boston in the Interest
of the School and Secures Money for the Erection of Porter Hall--More
About the Shanty in which the School Was Started and Taught for the
First Year--Author is Married to Miss Fannie N. Smith of Malden--Birth
of Daughter Portia, and the Mother’s Early Death.
CHAPTER VII.
THE STRUGGLES AND SUCCESS OF THE WORKERS AT TUSKEGEE FROM 1882 TO 1884.
The Putting the Farm in Order for the Raising of a Crop--The Students
Volunteer to Assist in Clearing the Land--Mr. Campbell Gives the School
Its First Horse--Old Buildings Put in Use--First Service in Porter
Hall, Sermon by Rev. R. C. Bedford--Knowledge of the School Spreads
and Brings Increase of Students--Hardships and Discomforts Undergone
by the Young Men During the Second Winter of the School--The Rule that
All Students Should do Some Work in Connection with Studies--Early
Objections of Parents and Students to This Rule--Objections Now Passed
Away--Early Determination of Author to Have Students do All the Work
of Putting up Buildings and Carrying on Departments--The Legislature
of Alabama Increases the Appropriation to the School from $2,000 to
$3,000--The Work of Hon. W. F. Foster in Securing This Increase--The
Letter of Rev. R. C. Bedford to Gen. Armstrong in Regard to the
Increase of Appropriation and the Work of Tuskegee--Gen. J. F. B.
Marshall, Treasurer of Hampton Institute, Visits Tuskegee and Writes
a Letter to the “Southern Workman” in Regard to the Work There--The
Celebration of the Second Anniversary of Tuskegee--The Building of
Cottages at Tuskegee--The Coming of Mr. Warren Logan to the School
and His Valuable Services Ever Since--Mr. J. H. Washington Accepts
a Position in the School--His Efficient Services as Superintendent
of Industries--The Finance Committee, the Principal’s Cabinet--The
Trustees of the Slater Fund Through Rev. R. C. Bedford, Donate $1,100
to the School--Slater Fund Annual Appropriation Now Increased to
$11,000--Gen. Armstrong Invites Author to Accompany Him and Speak
in the Interest of Tuskegee at a Series of Meetings which He (Gen.
Armstrong) Proposed to Hold in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and
Other Cities--Author Accepts and Meetings Result Largely in Favor
of Tuskegee--Miss Mary F. Mackie, Lady Principal at Hampton, Visits
Tuskegee and Writes an Encouraging Letter to a Friend--Commencement at
Tuskegee in May, 1884--Author Invited to Address National Educational
Association at Madison, Wisconsin--Author’s First Opportunity of
Presenting the Work at Tuskegee to Such a Large Audience of National
Character--Extracts from the Address--Good Impression Made by This
Address Brings Many Invitations to Speak.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE HISTORY OF TUSKEGEE FROM 1884 TO 1894.
Growth in Number of Students, Teachers and Officers, and Buildings
during the Early Years of This Period--Hard Work of Raising Money with
which to Meet the Increasing Demands--Some Providential Ways Whereby
the School Was Helped Out of Tight Places Financially--Financial
Assistance Rendered the School by the Citizens and Banks of
Tuskegee--First Donation from the Peabody Fund--Dr. Curry Reasons That
the School That Makes Extra Effort to Secure Funds is the School to
be Helped--Some Statistics in Regard to the Money Raised for Tuskegee
during This Period--Our Financial Embarrassment during the Fourth
Year--Gen. Armstrong Comes to Our Relief by Lending Us Nearly all the
Money He Possessed--Author’s Fourth Annual Report, Extracts--Generosity
of Gen. J. F. B. Marshall Enables Tuskegee to Start a Sawmill--The
Opening of the Night School--The Advantages it Affords Needy
Students--Full Description of the Seventh Commencement or Anniversary
of the School Indicating its Growth to that Time--Tuskegee’s
Daily Program in Force in 1886--The Death of Mrs. Olivia Davidson
Washington--An Estimate of Her Character and Worth to Tuskegee by Rev.
R. C. Bedford--Further Growth of the School in Number of Students--The
Visit of the Hon. Frederick Douglass to Tuskegee--His Views in Regard
to Industrial Education and Other Matters Affecting the Negro
Race--His Letter to Mrs. Harriett Beecher Stowe in 1853, Pleading for
an Industrial College for Negroes--Author’s Marriage to Miss Maggie
James Murray--Her Interest in and Labors Towards the Advancement of the
Work at Tuskegee.
CHAPTER IX.
INVITED TO DELIVER LECTURE AT FISK UNIVERSITY.
Author Invited to Deliver Lecture at Fisk University Under Auspices of
the Fisk Lecture Bureau--Full Description of the Occasion, an Excellent
Synopsis of Lecture Published in Nashville Daily Papers--Lecture
Caused Much Newspaper Comment--Account of the Lecture by the Nashville
Daily American--Memphis Commercial Appeal, in an Editorial, Uses the
Published Accounts of This Lecture as a Basis for an Argument for More
Industrial Training for the White Race--The Editorial.
CHAPTER X.
THE SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF THE COTTON STATES’ EXPOSITION, AND
INCIDENTS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
Invitation to Accompany a Committee of Atlanta Gentlemen to Washington
to Intercede for a Congressional Appropriation for the Cotton States’
Exposition--The Author Among Others Speaks before the Committee
on Appropriations--Arguments Set Forth by Him in Favor of an
Appropriation--Appropriation Granted--The Negro Building at the Atlanta
or Cotton States’ Exposition and the Success of the Negro Exhibit
under Chief Commissioner, I. Garland Penn--The Exhibit of the Tuskegee
Institute--Author Invited by the Board of Directors to Deliver an
Address at the Public Exercises on the Opening Day--He Feels the Weight
of this Responsibility--An Account of the Author’s Feelings as the Time
Drew Near for the Opening of the Exposition--He Leaves Tuskegee for
Atlanta, Accompanied by Mrs. Washington and His Daughter Portia and
the Two Boys, Baker and Davidson--Incidents of the Day before the Time
for the Opening Exercises at the Exposition--At the Exercises Author
is Introduced to the Audience by Ex-Governor Bullock, Who Presided on
that Occasion--Author’s Speech in Full--Author Invited by D. C. Gilman
of Johns Hopkins University to be one of the Judges of Awards in the
Department of Education in Atlanta--An Account of the Reception of
His Speech Written by James Creelman, Correspondent to the New York
World--Hon. Clark Howell, Editor of the Atlanta Constitution, Writes
Concerning the Speech to the New York World--Some Samples of What the
Press of the Country Had to Say in Regard to this Speech--His Letter in
Full--In a Few Hours After the Speech Author Begins Receiving Messages
of Congratulation--He Returns to Tuskegee the Next Day, at Every
Station on the Route Meeting Crowds of People Anxious to Shake Hands
with Him--Hon. Grover Cleveland, then President of the United States,
Writes Author a Letter in Regard to the Atlanta Speech--Author Receives
Many Flattering Offers from Lecture Bureaus to Deliver Lectures but
Refuses Them All--He Continues His Labors in Behalf of Tuskegee.
CHAPTER XI.
AN APPEAL FOR JUSTICE.
Author Writes an Open Letter to Senator Tillman during the Meeting of a
Constitutional Convention in South Carolina--He Sets Forth the Negro’s
Claim upon the Whites for Justice and Fair Play--He Urges the Whites to
Help and Not to Hinder the Progress of the Negroes--He Pleads for Negro
Education--The Letter in Full--Is Asked by an Atlanta Paper to Write
a Letter on the Benefits of the Atlanta Exposition of 1895--Complies
in an Interesting Letter which Outlines the Benefits of the Exposition
Alike to Negroes, Southern Whites, and to the Country Generally--This
Letter in Full--Author Continues His Campaign of Speech Making in the
North during the Winter of 1895-6--Speaks at Carnegie Hall, New York,
Appearing with Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage and Others, President Grover
Cleveland Presiding--Some Extracts from the Speech Delivered on this
Occasion--Returning to Tuskegee to be Present at the Annual Meeting
of the Tuskegee Negro Farmer’s Conference--In March, 1896, Speaks
Before the Bethel Literary Society of Washington, D. C.--Answers Some
Criticisms by Colored Newspapers of His Atlanta Speech.
CHAPTER XII.
HONORED BY HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
Tuskegee Institute, in Connection with Hampton, Makes an Industrial
Exhibit in New York, Boston and Philadelphia--Academic Work at
Tuskegee, Its Thoroughness--The Great Surprise of the Author’s
Life--An Account of Commencement at Harvard in June, 1896--The Degree
of Master of Arts Conferred Upon Author--Takes Lunch with President
Eliot Along with Gen. Miles, Dr. Savage and Others Receiving Honorary
Degrees--Speaks at the Alumni Dinner--A Notable Address--The Address
in Full--Thos. J. Calloway’s Letter to the Colored American Concerning
this Event--Some Newspaper Comments--Speaks to a Large Audience at the
Meeting of the National Christian Endeavor Convention, Washington,
D. C.--The Following Evening Addresses the National Educational
Association at Buffalo, New York, Where 20,000 Teachers Were
Present--Some Newspaper Accounts of this Address--Visits North Carolina
in October, 1896, and Speaks to the Colored People at a Fair in
Durham--While in Durham Invited to Address Students of Trinity College,
White--Warmly Received and Heartily Cheered by Students.
CHAPTER XIII.
URGED FOR A CABINET POSITION.
The Washington Post and Other Papers Urge the Appointment of the Author
in the Cabinet of President McKinley--Some Extracts From Articles
Urging Such Appointment--In the Midst of this Discussion Author
Declares He Would Not Accept a Political Position That Would Compel
Him to Turn Aside From the Work at Tuskegee--He Speaks in Washington
in March, 1897--He Urges Negroes to Cease Depending Too Much on
Office Getting, and Give More Attention to Industrial and Business
Enterprises--Certain Criticisms of Author Answered.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE SHAW MONUMENT SPEECH, THE VISIT OF SECRETARY JAMES WILSON, AND THE
LETTER TO THE LOUISIANA CONVENTION.
Author Invited to Make an Address at the Dedication in Boston of
a Monument to Col. Robert Gould Shaw and Regiment--He Accepts and
Delivered the Address--The Speech in Full--Impressions of this Speech
as Told by the Boston Transcript and Other Papers--The Thrilling
Incident of Sergeant Carney, the Color-Bearer for the Old Fifty-Fourth
Massachusetts During the Dedicatory Exercises--The Visit of Secretary
of Agriculture, Hon. James Wilson, and Other Prominent Statesmen and
Educators at the Dedication of the Agricultural Building--Something
of the Agricultural Department at Tuskegee--An Open Letter to the
Louisiana State Constitutional Convention--In this Letter Author Pleads
that More of a Christian Spirit Should Animate the Races in their
Dealings with each Other--That Negroes be not Treated as Aliens--That
if Ballot Restrictions be Necessary, any Law Passed on the Subject
Ought to Apply Alike to Whites and Blacks--That in the Same Degree
the Ballot Box is Closed to the Negro, the Public Schools be Opened
to Him--The Letter in Full--Author’s Position Endorsed by the Leading
Democratic Papers in New Orleans--Author Delivers an Address Before the
Regents of the University of New York in June, 1898.
CHAPTER XV.
CUBAN EDUCATION AND THE CHICAGO PEACE JUBILEE ADDRESS.
The Movement at Tuskegee for the Education of Cubans and Porto
Ricans--The Trustees of the John F. Slater Fund Enables Author and Mrs.
Washington to Lecture in the Cities of the South--These Lectures were
Plain Talks to the Colored People about the Financial, Physical, Mental
and Moral Needs--The Peace Celebrations in the United States after the
Spanish-American War--The Author Invited to Speak at the Chicago Peace
Jubilee--Accepts and Speaks October 16, 1898--Many Prominent People
Present, Including President McKinley, Cabinet Officers, Heroes of the
Late War, and Others--Names of Other Speakers--Author’s Speech in Full
on this Occasion--What the Chicago Times-Herald had to say in Regard
to this Speech--President McKinley Listened to this Speech and Bowed
His Appreciation--Some Criticisms in the South of Portions of this
Speech--Criticisms Replied to by Author in a Letter to the Birmingham
(Ala.) Age-Herald--Author’s Policy in Speech Making--The Need of
Greater Charity of the Races Towards Each Other.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE VISIT OF PRESIDENT WILLIAM McKINLEY TO TUSKEGEE.
Author’s Early Desire to Have the President of the United States
Visit Tuskegee--After Years of Work and Struggle, Author is More
than ever Determined to Secure a Visit from the President--President
McKinley’s Coming to Atlanta Gives Author Opportunity to Invite Him
to Tuskegee--For this Purpose Author goes to Washington and Sees
the President--He Goes a Second Time to Washington Accompanied by
Mr. Chas. W. Hare of Tuskegee--Dr. J. L. M. Curry, Without Author’s
Knowledge Urges the President to Visit Tuskegee Institute--During His
Second Visit to Washington Author Secures a Definite Promise from the
President to Visit Tuskegee--President McKinley in Conversation with
Author Exhibits Great Interest in the Welfare of the Negro--Other
Prominent Men with the President’s Party--Great Crowds at Tuskegee
on the Day of the President’s Visit--How the Day was Spent--The
Parade--Exercises and Speech-making in the Chapel--The President’s
Address--Extracts from Address of Secretary of the Navy, John D.
Long--Postmaster-General Smith’s Closing Remarks--White and Colored
Citizens of Tuskegee Show Great Interest in the President’s Visit--They
Assist Materially in Giving the President a Becoming Reception--The
President’s Opinion of the Visit Told in His Letter to Author--The
Letter in Full.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE TUSKEGEE NEGRO CONFERENCE.
How the Conference Movement was Started--The First Invitations that
were Sent Out--The Financial Condition of the Negroes in the Black
Belt--The Mortgage System--The Large Number that Came to the First
Conference a Surprise to Author--Author States in His Opening Address
His Plans of Conducting the Conference--The Method of Ascertaining
the Condition of the People in the Various Communities--Things
Discussed--Others Present Besides Negro Farmers of the Black
Belt--Newspaper Representatives Present--The Declarations of the First
Conference--The Number of Conferences Already Held--The Attendance
at the Conferences--Similar Conferences in Other States--Local
Conferences--The Spirit of the Earlier Conferences as Compared with
the Later Ones--What These Conferences have Taught the People--Some
Extracts from Talks or Reports at the Conferences Made by Black Belt
Negroes--The Workers’ Conference--Of Whom Composed--The Subjects
Discussed in Workers’ Conferences.
CHAPTER XVIII.
A VACATION IN EUROPE.
Author Appears with Dr. W. E. B. DuBois and Paul Laurence Dunbar
Before a Representative Audience at Hollis St. Theatre, Boston--He
Speaks Before the Birmingham Lyceum, Birmingham, Ala.--Kind
Friends in Boston Arrange to Have Author and Mrs. Washington Spend
a Vacation in Europe--They Sail for Europe in May, Landing at
Antwerp--Visit the Rural Districts in Belgium and Holland and Look
Into the Dairy Systems--From Holland Back to Antwerp and thence to
Brussels--From Brussels to Paris, Remaining there Six Weeks--The Stay
in Paris--Attentions from the American Ambassador--Author Addressed
the University Club--The Stay in Paris a Restful One--From Paris to
London--The Stay in England Full of Social Functions--Author Speaks at
Essex Hall on the Race Problem--The American Ambassador, Hon. Joseph
H. Choate, Presides, and Hon. James Bryce also Speaks--Reception to
Author and Wife in Connection with this Meeting by Rev. Brooke Hereford
and Wife--Other Receptions--Editorial in the London Daily Chronicle in
Regard to Author and His Work--The Most Restful and Interesting Part
of the Vacation in England--Several Cities in England Visited--Author
Writes Letters to the American Press, and Makes a Study of Africa
While in London--In Letter Written While in London he Argues Against
American Negroes Emigrating to Africa--Some Reasons for His Position--A
Letter to the American Press on Lynching--A Strong Appeal Against this
Evil--Facts and Figures Presented Showing that Lynching Does Not Lessen
Crime, and is Not Inflicted for Any One Crime.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE WEST VIRGINIA AND OTHER RECEPTIONS AFTER EUROPEAN TRIP.
The Return from Europe--A Communication from W. Herman Smith, Mayor of
Charleston, West Virginia--An Invitation to Visit Charleston, Signed by
the Governor, ex-Governor, and Many of the Most Prominent Citizens--The
Invitation Accepted--The Reception at Charleston--Receptions to Author
by the Citizens of Atlanta, Montgomery and New Orleans--The Industrial
Convention at Huntsville, Ala.--Author Invited to Address that
Convention--His Address on that Occasion--The Address of ex-Governor
MacCorkle--The Influence of that Address and of the Huntsville
Convention--The Movement for an Annual Conference in Montgomery to
Afford Opportunities for Generous and Liberal Discussions of the Race
Question--Its Fitness Discussed.
CHAPTER XX.
THE MOVEMENT FOR A PERMANENT ENDOWMENT.
How the Money for Carrying on the Work at Tuskegee Was Being
Raised during Eighteen Years--The Need of an Endowment Fund--The
Grant of 25,000 Acres of Land by Congress--The Organized Effort
to Secure Endowment Fund--The Meeting for this Purpose in Madison
Square Garden--Ex-President Grover Cleveland Interested in the
Movement--Prominent People Present at This Meeting--President
Cleveland’s Encouraging Letter Stating His Inability to be
Present--Hon. Carl Schurz Presides at This Meeting--Address of Mr.
Walter H. Page--Mr. W. H. Baldwin, Jr., Speaks--Extracts from This
Address--The Financial Condition of the Institute Stated--The Author
Speaks at This Meeting--Dr. Rainsford’s Remarks--Some Immediate Results
of This Meeting--The Gift of Mr. C. P. Huntington and Others Towards
the Endowment.
CHAPTER XXI.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK OF THE TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE.
The Building Up of the Institute, the Author’s Life Work--A History
of the Institute Unavoidable in His Autobiography--The Land Owned by
the Institute--The Buildings--The Brickyard--The Present Valuation
of the Property--The Agricultural Department of the Institute--Its
Director--The Agricultural Experiment Station--Some of Prof. Carver’s
Experiments--The Home Farm--The Marshall Farm--The Mechanical
Department--A Description of the Slater-Armstrong Memorial Trades
Building--The Trades Taught--The Department of Domestic Sciences, Mrs.
Booker T. Washington Directress--What the Department Embraces--The
Nurse Training Division--Facilities for Instruction in Connection with
the School’s Hospital--The Course of Study, what it Embraces--The
Division of Music--The Course in Piano Forte--Vocal Music--Musical
Organizations at the Institute--The Band and Orchestra--The Bible
Training Department--Phelps Hall--Objects of This Department--The
Academic Department--The Course of Study--Students in This
Department--The Day School--The Night School--The Chapel of the
Institute--A Description of It.
CHAPTER XXII.
LOOKING BACKWARD.
The Nature of the Author’s Work at Tuskegee--The Discouragements Met
with in the Early Years--Author’s First Experience at Speaking to
Northern Audiences--General Armstrong’s Advice and Helpfulness--His
Interest in the Work at Tuskegee--His Last Visit to Tuskegee--His
Reception by Teachers and Students--Author’s First Public Address in
the North--Author’s Campaign of Speech-making in the South to His Own
People--His First Opportunity to Speak to a Large Audience of White
People in the South--Some Incidents and the Results of this Speech
as Told by the Christian World--Author’s Rule About Engagements of a
Public Nature--The Difficulty in the Early Years in Getting Interviews
with Prominent People--The Difficulty to Secure Opportunities to
Speak in Churches in the Beginning--Some Reasons Why This Was So--The
First Legacy Received by the School--Later Legacies--Some of Author’s
Experiences with Benefactors--Some Interesting and Lucky Experiences
of Author While Collecting Money--An Article in the “Outlook” on the
Ministry--Criticism and Censure--Bishop D. A. Payne Corroborates
Author’s Position--Credit Given T. Thomas Fortune and E. J. Scott,
Author’s Private Secretary--The Financial Policy of Tuskegee at Present
Contrasted with That of the Early Years--The System of Book-keeping at
Tuskegee--$1,000,000 Raised--How to Succeed in Any Undertaking--The
Kind of People the World Needs--Hard Work the Author’s Synonym of
“Luck” and the Price of All Success.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
Booker T. Washington and Family Frontispiece
Hon. Frederick Douglass 3
Dr. J. L. M. Curry 4
Mr. Washington and Two of his Distinguished Friends and
Supporters--Pres. William McKinley, Gov. J. F. Johnston 27
The House in Virginia where Booker T. Washington was born 28
Little Booker and his Mother Praying to be Delivered from
Slavery. (Original Illustration.) 31
Little Booker a Favorite with his Master--Is Allowed to Peep
into the Parlor of the Big House 33
The House in which Booker T. Washington’s Family Lived in
West Virginia, at the Time he Left for Hampton Institute 41
The Cabin in Old Virginia where Booker T. Washington
Lived when a Boy 42
“This fired my ambition to learn to read as nothing had done
before.” (Original Illustration.) 44
“Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation.” (Original
Illustration.) 46
“Booker Starting for Hampton Institute.” (Original Illustration.) 56
Booker T. Washington Rehearsing his Graduating Oration
at Hampton. (Original Illustration.) 60
Teachers at Tuskegee Institute--Warren Logan, Lewis
Adams, and John H. Washington 65
A Brilliant Trio of Colored Americans--E. J. Scott, Edgar
Webber, T. Thomas Fortune 66
A Group of Mr. Washington’s Warm Friends and Supporters--Rev.
R. C. Bedford, Ex-Pres. Grover Cleveland, Gov. G. W. Atkinson 83
Distinguished Americans who have Introduced Mr. Washington
on Public Occasions--Ex-Governor Bullock, Hon. Joseph
A. Choate, William Harper, Pres. of Chicago University 84
Olivia Davidson Hall at Tuskegee Institute 91
Cassidy Industrial Hall--Erected by Students, Tuskegee Normal
and Industrial Institute 92
Booker T. Washington’s Residence, Tuskegee, Ala. 113
Faculty Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute--Eighty-eight
Teachers 114
Bird’s-eye View of the Grounds of the Tuskegee Normal and
Industrial Institute 117
Printing-press Room--They do Their Own Printing at Tuskegee
Institute 201
Paint Shop--Students at Work 202
President Eliot Conferring Honorary Degree upon Mr. Washington
at Harvard University, June 24, 1896. (Original Illustration.) 206
Senior Class in Psychology, Tuskegee Institute 219
Brickmaking at the Tuskegee Brickyard 220
A Corner in a Millinery Room, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial
Institute 225
Girls at Tuskegee Learning Dairying 226
Mrs. Olivia Davidson Washington 255
Girls at Tuskegee Engaged in Floriculture 256
Mr. Washington Making a Speech at the Chicago Peace Jubilee,
October 19, 1898. (Original Illustration.) 262
Laundry Building at Tuskegee Institute 273
Porter Hall--First Building Erected of Tuskegee Institute 274
Bird’s-eye View of the Grounds and Review Stand at Tuskegee,
December 16, 1898, when President McKinley and
Party Visited the Institute 279
Waiting for the Procession to Pass at the Time of President
McKinley’s Visit to Tuskegee 280
Shoe Shop, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute 285
Cooking at Tuskegee Institute 286
Young Women at Work in the Sewing Room, Tuskegee Institute 287
Girls at Tuskegee Engaged in Horticulture 288
Mathematical Float, December 16, 1898, at Tuskegee Normal
and Industrial Institute 297
Student Carpenters at Work on the Trade’s Building 298
Agricultural Building at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial
Institute 307
Blacksmith Shop--Built by Students 308
Dressmaking at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute 309
Bee Culture at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute 310
Tuskegee Negro Conference, February 22, 1899--Negro Farmers
Coming Out of the Dining Hall 319
Tailoring Division, Tuskegee Institute 320
Reception Given Booker T. Washington after his return from
Europe, by Gov. G. W. Atkinson at Charleston, W. Va. 346
A View of the Machine Shop--Students at Work 377
Harness Making and Carriage Dressing at Tuskegee Institute 378
The New Chapel--Built by Students 387
Alabama Hall, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute 388
Float--Representing Tinning Department, Passed in Parade
on the Occasion of President McKinley’s Visit to the Tuskegee
Institute 389
Bird’s-eye View of Some of the Floats at the Tuskegee Institute,
December 16, 1898 390
President McKinley and Party Watching the Parade 407
Science Hall--Erected by Students at Tuskegee Normal and
Industrial Institute 408
[Illustration: MR. WASHINGTON AND TWO OF HIS DISTINGUISHED FRIENDS AND
SUPPORTERS.]
[Illustration: THE HOUSE IN VIRGINIA WHERE BOOKER T. WASHINGTON WAS
BORN. (STILL STANDING.)]
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD.
Many requests have been made of me to write something of the story of my
life. Until recently I have never given much consideration to these
requests, for the reason that I have never thought that I had done
enough in the world to warrant anything in the way of an autobiography;
and I hope that my life work, by reason of my present age, lies more in
the future than in the past. My daughter, Portia, said to me, not long
ago: “Papa, do you know that you have never told me much about your
early life, and your children want to know more about you.” Then it came
upon me as never before that I ought to put something about my life in
writing for the sake of my family, if for no other reason.
I will not trouble those who read these lines with any lengthy
historical research concerning my ancestry, for I know nothing of my
ancestry beyond my mother. My mother was a slave on a plantation near
Hale’s Ford, in Franklin County,
I am indebted to and beg to thank Mr. E. Webber for valuable
assistance rendered in connection with the preparation of this
publication.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.
Virginia, and she was, as I now remember it, the cook for her owners as
well as for a large part of the slaves on the plantation. The first time
that I got a knowledge of the fact that my mother and I were slaves, was
by being awakened by my mother early one morning, while I was sleeping
in a bed of rags, on a clay floor of our little cabin. She was kneeling
over me, fervently praying as was her custom to do, that some day she
and her children might be free. The name of my mother was Jane. She, to
me, will always remain the noblest embodiment of womanhood with whom I
have come in contact. She was wholly ignorant, as far as books were
concerned, and, I presume, never had a book in her hands for two minutes
at a time. But the lessons in virtue and thrift which she instilled into
me during the short period of my life that she lived will never leave
me. Some people blame the Negro for not being more honest, as judged by
the Anglo-Saxon’s standard of honesty; but I can recall many times when,
after all was dark and still, in the late hours of the night, when her
children had been without sufficient food during the day, my mother
would awaken us, and we would find that she had gotten from somewhere
something in the way of eggs or chickens and had cooked them during the
night for us. These eggs and chickens were gotten without my master’s
permission or
[Illustration: LITTLE BOOKER AND HIS MOTHER PRAYING TO BE DELIVERED FROM
SLAVERY.]
knowledge. Perhaps, by some code of ethics, this would be classed as
stealing, but deep down in my heart I can never decide that my mother,
under such circumstances, was guilty of theft. Had she acted thus as a
free woman she would have been a thief, but not so, in my opinion, as a
slave. After our freedom no one was stricter than my mother in teaching
and observing the highest rules of integrity.
Who my father was, or is, I have never been able to learn with any
degree of certainty. I only know that he was a white man.
As nearly as I can get at the facts, I was born in the year 1858 or
1859. At the time I came into the world no careful registry of births of
people of my complexion was kept. My birth place was near Hale’s Ford,
in Franklin County, Virginia. It was about as near to Nowhere as any
locality gets to be, so far as I can learn. Hale’s Ford, I think, was a
town with one house and a postoffice, and my birth place was on a large
plantation several miles distant from it.
I remember very distinctly the appearance of the cabin in which I was
born and lived until freedom came. It was a small log cabin about 12x16
feet, and without windows. There was no floor, except a dirt one. There
was a large opening in the center of the floor, where sweet potatoes
were kept for my master’s family during
[Illustration: LITTLE BOOKER, A FAVORITE WITH HIS MASTER, IS ALLOWED TO
PEEP INTO THE PARLOR OF THE “BIGH HOUSE.”]
the winter. In this cabin my mother did the cooking, the greater part of
the time, for my master’s family. Our bed, or “pallet,” as we called it,
was made every night on the dirt floor. Our bed clothing consisted of a
few rags gathered here and there.
One thing I remember more vividly than any other in connection with the
days when I was a slave was my dress, or, rather, my lack of dress.
The years that the war[A] was in progress between the States were
especially trying to the slaves, so far as clothing was concerned. The
Southern white people found it extremely hard to get clothing for
themselves during that war, and, of course, the slaves underwent no
little suffering in this respect. The only garment that I remember
receiving from my owners during the war was a “tow shirt.” When I did
not wear this shirt I was positively without any garment. In Virginia,
the tow shirt was quite an institution during slavery. This shirt was
made of the refuse flax that grew in that part of Virginia, and it was a
veritable instrument of torture. It was stiff and coarse. Until it had
been worn for about six weeks it made one feel as if a thousand needle
points were pricking his flesh. I suppose I was about six years old when
I was given one of these shirts to wear. After repeated trials the
torture was more than my childish flesh could endure and I gave it up in
despair. To this day the sight of a new shirt revives the recollection
of the tortures of my first new shirt. In the midst of my despair, in
connection with this garment, my brother John, who was about two years
older than I, did me a kindness which I shall never forget. He
volunteered to wear my new shirt for me until it was “broken in.” After
he had worn it for several weeks I ventured to wear it myself, but not
without pain.
[A] The War of the Rebellion, 1860-65.
Soon after my shirt experience, when the winter had grown quite cold, I
received my first pair of shoes. These shoes had wooden bottoms, and the
tops consisted of a coarse kind of leather covering, and I have never
felt so proud since of a pair of shoes.
As soon as I was old enough I performed what, to me, was important
service, in holding the horses and riding behind the white women of the
household on their long horseback rides, which were very common in those
days. At one time, while holding the horses and assisting quite a party
of visiting ladies to mount their horses, I remember that, just before
the visitors rode away a tempting plate of ginger cakes was brought out
and handed around to the visitors. This, I think, was the first time
that I had ever seen any ginger cakes, and a very deep impression was
made upon my childish mind. I remember I said to myself that if I could
ever get to the point where I could eat ginger cakes as I saw those
ladies eating them the height of my ambition would be reached.
When I grew to be still larger and stronger the duty of going to the
mill was intrusted to me; that is, a large sack containing three or four
bushels of corn was thrown across the back of a horse and I would ride
away to the mill, which was often three or four miles distant, wait at
the mill until the corn was turned into meal, and then bring it home.
More than once, while performing this service, the corn or meal got
unevenly balanced on the back of the horse and fell off into the road,
carrying me with it. This left me in a very awkward and unfortunate
position. I, of course, was unable, with my small strength, to lift the
corn or meal upon the horse’s back, and, therefore would have to wait,
often for hours, until someone happened to be passing along the road
strong enough to replace the burden for me.
My owner’s name was Jones Burroughs, and I am quite sure he was above
the average in the treatment of his slaves. That is, except in a few
cases they were not cruelly whipped. Although I was born a slave, I was
too young to experience much of its hardships. The thing in connection
with slavery that has left the deepest impression on me was the
instance of seeing a grown man, my uncle, tied to a tree early one
morning, stripped naked and someone whipping him with a cowhide. As each
blow touched his back the cry, “Pray, master! Pray, master!” came from
his lips, and made an impression upon my boyish heart that I shall carry
with me to my grave.
When I was still quite a child, I could hear the slaves in our
“quarters” whispering in subdued tones that something unusual--the
war--was about to take place, and that it meant their freedom. These
whispered conferences continued, especially at night, until the war
actually began.
While there was not a single slave on our plantation that could read a
line, in some way we were kept informed of the progress of the war
almost as accurately as the most intelligent person. The “grapevine”
telegraph was in constant use. When Lee surrendered all of the
plantation people knew it, although all of them acted as if they were in
ignorance of the fact that anything unusual had taken place.
Early one morning, just after the close of the war, word was sent around
to the slave cabins that all the slaves must go to the “big house,” the
master’s house; and in company with my mother and a large number of
other slaves, including my sister Amanda and brother John, I went to the
“big house,” and stood by the side of my mother, and listened to the
reading of some papers and a little speech made by the one who read the
papers. This was the first public address I had ever heard, and I need
not add that it was the most effective one to which it had ever been my
privilege to listen. After the reading of the paper and the speech, my
mother leaned over and whispered, “Now, my children, we are free.” This
act was hailed with joy by all the slaves, but it threw a tremendous
responsibility upon my mother, as well as upon the other slaves. A large
portion of the former slaves hired themselves to their owners, while
others sought new employment; but, before the beginning of the new life,
most of the ex-slaves left the plantation for a few days at least, so as
to get the “hang” of the new life, and to be sure that they were free.
My mother’s husband, my step-father, had in some way wandered into West
Virginia during the war, and had secured employment in the salt furnace
near Malden, in Kanawha county. Soon after freedom was declared he
sought out my mother and sent a wagon to bring her and her children to
West Virginia. After many days of slow, tiresome traveling over the
mountains, during which we suffered much, we finally reached Malden, and
my mother and her husband were united after a long enforced separation.
The trip from Franklin county to Malden, West Virginia, was the first
one that had taken me out of the county where I was born, and, of
course, it was quite an event, especially to the children of the family,
although the parting from the old homestead was to my mother a very
serious affair. All of our household and other goods were packed into a
small wagon drawn by two horses or mules. I cannot recall how many days
it took us to make this trip, but it seems to me, as I recall it now,
that we were a least ten days. Of course we had to sleep in the wagon,
or what was more often true, on the ground. The children walked a great
portion of the distance.
One night we camped near an abandoned log cabin, and my mother decided
that, instead of cooking our frugal meal in the open air, as she had
been accustomed to do on the trip, she would build a fire in this cabin
and we should both cook and sleep in it during the night. When we had
gotten the fire well started, to the consternation of all of us, a large
and frightful looking snake came down the chimney. This, of course, did
away with all idea of our sheltering ourselves in the cabin for the
night, and we slept out in the open air, as we had done on previous
occasions.
Since I have grown to manhood it has been my privilege to pass over much
of the same road traveled on this first trip to West Virginia, but my
recent journeys have been made in well-appointed steam cars. At the
time I first traveled through that part of Virginia and West Virginia
there was no railroad, and if there had been we did not have the money
to pay our passage.
At the close of the war our family consisted of my mother, step-father,
my brother John and sister Amanda. My brother John is director of the
mechanical department of the Tuskegee Institute, and my sister, now Mrs.
Amanda Johnson, lives in Malden, West Virginia. Soon after we moved to
West Virginia my mother took into our family, notwithstanding our own
poverty, a young orphan boy who has always remained a part of our
family. We gave him the name of James B. Washington. He, now grown to
manhood, holds an important position at the Tuskegee Institute.
While I have not had the privilege of returning to the old homestead in
Franklin county, Virginia, since I left there as a child immediately
after the war, I have kept in more or less correspondence with members
of the Burroughs family, and they seem to take the deepest interest in
the progress of our work at Tuskegee.
[Illustration: THE HOUSE IN WHICH BOOKER T. WASHINGTON’S FAMILY LIVED IN
WEST VIRGINIA AT THE TIME HE LEFT FOR HAMPTON INSTITUTE.]
[Illustration: THE CABIN IN OLD VIRGINIA WHERE BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
LIVED WHEN A SMALL BOY.]