From Slave to College President Part 2

Considering what the relations.h.i.+p between the whites and the blacks had been, and what kind of traditional views the former had been trained to receive concerning the inferiority of the coloured race, we cannot wonder that the planters, and those who were with them, should have been appalled at the outlook. The situation became more anomalous, or even dangerous, through the mistakes of the Northern politicians, quite as much as through any want of charity, whether real or imaginary, on the part of the Southern statesmen. There were wounds to be healed on both sides, and there was too much of a disposition to maintain the vindictive war spirit after the war was over. Those who aimed at reconstruction certainly endangered their cause when they suddenly gave to the negroes greater political privileges than they understood, or would be able to use with any advantage to themselves. It would seem that some ludicrous instances occurred of even the lower kind of negroes being installed in important State offices. The result of this and many more indiscretions was naturally to foment feelings of great bitterness on both sides. If many in the North were disposed to make the emanc.i.p.ated slaves a bone of contention--a means of punis.h.i.+ng the States which had wished to secede and to found a Commonwealth of their own--they missed their mark and involved the coloured race in much additional suffering which they might well have been spared. If we look through such a record as the autobiography of Laura Haviland, we find mention made of a number of atrocities belonging to this unsettled period of the kind which, under the circ.u.mstances, were pretty sure to happen. In a sense, Southern society was in a condition of that kind of chaos which has often marked similar transition periods. Never before were leaders more urgently needed who would work for peace and advancement by showing those, whose interests were supposed to be at variance, that their cause was one. Who could have prophesied at that time that the coloured people were destined to find some of their best friends among the whites of the south?

It has also to be confessed, that the outlook among the emanc.i.p.ated people themselves was such as might be expected to inspire misgiving, or even some alarm. They neither comprehended the situation nor could they properly understand what was the true aim of education. Booker Was.h.i.+ngton himself had been so thoroughly well trained in the best school that then existed, that of General Armstrong at the Hampton Inst.i.tute, that he saw at a glance the kind of obstacles which threatened to bring disaster to his race by hindering their progress. In large measure the squalor and superst.i.tion which naturally come of generations of the darkest ignorance prevailed. It was seen that the training which was imperatively needed would have to be mainly industrial, while there must be no aspiration for equality with the whites by attempting to come into compet.i.tion with them in the common avocations of everyday life. This was actually happening, however, so that while he studied for a time at Was.h.i.+ngton, the future founder of the great inst.i.tute at Tuskegee saw that there were breakers ahead unless certain errors could be corrected. The negroes became too much disposed to look to the Government to make full provision for them, especially when they attained to the distinction of being able to read and write. Many would indulge in extravagant habits in order to make it appear that they were better off than they really were. Then there were an extraordinary number who aspired to the rare distinction of s.h.i.+ning as divines and as admired preachers of the Gospel. Young men sought to become instructors of others before they had any ballast of character of their own. It was a time of danger and of the threatened loss of great opportunities, making it all the more remarkable that, in the way of social, educational and industrial progress, the negroes are where they are to-day. In those days of uncertainty the prophets of evil made their voices heard. As Booker Was.h.i.+ngton recently remarked in the _International Monthly_: "There were not a few who predicted that, as soon as the negro became a free man, he would not only cease to support himself and others, but he would become a tax upon the community."

Persons who held notions of this kind doubtless supposed that negroes had some physical kins.h.i.+p with the native American Indians, who have never shown any disposition to take to field labour; and while they involve the Government in no small annual expense, their tribes are gradually dying out. The negroes, on the contrary, are fast multiplying, and their value as field labourers, and as workers in other departments of service, is a grateful contrast to the general incapacity of the Indians. In the article just referred to, Booker Was.h.i.+ngton is able to bear this high testimony to the general worth of his own people:--

"Few people in any part of our country have ever seen a black hand reached out from a street corner asking for charity. In our Northern communities a large amount of money is spent by individuals and munic.i.p.alities in caring for the sick, the poor, and other cla.s.ses of unfortunates. In the South, with very few exceptions, the negro takes care of himself, and of the unfortunate members of his race. This is usually done by a combination of individual members of the race, or through the churches or fraternal organisations. Not only is this true, but I want to make a story ill.u.s.trate the condition that prevails in some parts of the South. The white people in a certain Black Belt county in the South had been holding a convention, the object of which was to encourage white people to emigrate into the county. After the adjournment of the convention an old coloured man met the president of the meeting on the street and asked the object of the convention. When told, the old coloured man replied, ''Fore G.o.d, Boss, don't you know that we n.i.g.g.e.rs have just as many white people in this county as we can support?'"

The more we become acquainted with the general character and capacity of the negro, the more are we likely to become convinced that, instead of these people being any drawback to life in the South, those States, so favoured by Nature, could not do without them. It is true that a number of white persons in the States chiefly concerned have boldly testified that the coloured race have proved the best labourers which the country has ever had for its peculiar needs, and better than are likely to be forthcoming in the future. This fact is now being recognised by those whose interests are chiefly affected. Thus we even find it stated, "The greatest excitement and anxiety has been recently created among the white people in two counties in Georgia, because of the fact that a large proportion of the coloured people decided to leave. No stone has been left unturned to induce the coloured people to remain in the country and prevent financial ruin to many white farmers." The 8,900,000 bales of cotton grown in 1899, under free labour, is nearly fourfold greater than was produced in 1850 by slave labour.

During the transition or reconstruction time, especially during the period when he was completing his college training at Was.h.i.+ngton, Booker Was.h.i.+ngton was a keen observer of his own people, the result being that he probably understands their needs, idiosyncrasies and tendencies better than any other living authority. He also eagerly reads what others who are not members of his own race say upon the subject. What he considers the most valuable testimony under this head appeared about two years ago in an article in _Appleton's Popular Science Monthly_, written by Professor N. S. Shaler of Harvard University, and Dean of the Scientific School. Take this pa.s.sage:--

"The negroes who came to North America had to undergo as complete a transition as ever fell to the lot of man, without the least chance to undergo an acclimatising process. They were brought from the hottest part of the earth to the region where the winter's cold is almost of arctic severity; from an exceedingly humid to a very dry air. They came to service under alien taskmasters, strange to them in speech and in purpose. They had to betake themselves to unaccustomed food, and to clothing such as they had never worn before. Rarely could one of the creatures find about him a familiar face of friend, parent or child, or an object that recalled his past life to him. It was an appalling change. Only those who know how the negro cleaves to all the dear, familiar things of life, how fond he is of life and friendliness, can conceive the physical and mental shock that this introduction to new conditions meant to them. To people of our own race it would have meant death. But these wonderful folk appear to have withstood the trials of their deportation in a marvellous way. They showed no particular liability to disease. Their longevity or period of usefulness was not diminished, or their fecundity obviously impaired. So far as I have been able to learn, nostalgia was not a source of mortality, as it would have been with any Aryan population. The price they brought in the market and the satisfaction of their purchasers with their qualities show that they were from the first almost ideal labourers."

When Booker Was.h.i.+ngton took up his residence in the town which the first President of the United States called the Federal City, but which was destined to take the name of that great patriot himself, a large number of negroes were found there. As a town, Was.h.i.+ngton has made wonderful strides since the close of the Civil War. The schools or colleges for coloured students, which are provided, of course have attraction for negroes, while other characteristics of the city also have strong fascination for such susceptible folk. If we may say so, in connection with a Republic, Was.h.i.+ngton is the seat of the Court and of the Legislature. The population may be a quarter of a million or more; but though not a very large town, it has recently developed into a beautiful place, fine buildings of wide thoroughfares and charming recreation grounds. Booker Was.h.i.+ngton seems to have discovered that such a place failed to exercise the best of influence on negro students. It is not in any sense an industrial centre; the people are for the most part Government officials, professional people, and persons of means who settle there because the surroundings and society are congenial. The temptation to coloured students was to a.s.sume too lofty airs, to despise any occupation other than a profession, and to think that the President and his Government were bound to find openings for them.

CHAPTER VI

AMERICAN INDIANS--WORK AT HAMPTON

Just about the time that he completed his education at the capital city, Booker Was.h.i.+ngton seems to have been tempted in a strange and unexpected way to give his life and energy to public speaking and politics. He took part in the agitation as a representative of a committee--which resulted in Charleston taking the place of Wheeling as capital of West Virginia.

By effective platform work he no doubt was a chief agent in bringing about this change. Thus early, although he was hardly more than a youth himself, the future Professor of Tuskegee seems to have seen in what direction lay his pathway of life. Rightly guided, and taught to turn their energies and gifts to the best account, the negroes are a very capable race; but it was being proved on every hand that when left to go their own way without check or control they were liable to be captivated by very high-flown notions. As legislators, poets, jurists, artists and musicians their services were not pressingly in request; but in the world of a hundred industries there were magnificent openings for all who were adequately trained. It was fortunate both for himself and his own people that Booker Was.h.i.+ngton saw his opportunity and determined not to be diverted from it by any considerations of self-interest.

Under these conditions it was something like a special providence when he received an urgent message from General Armstrong asking him to revisit Hampton to address the students. It had become a custom for some one of the graduates who had pa.s.sed through the inst.i.tution to undertake this duty periodically, and the request was understood to be one of the greatest of compliments. The request was, of course, gladly complied with; and a revisit to the Inst.i.tute showed that, under General Armstrong's capable and sympathetic control, the all-round educational work, and especially the industrial training, which was ever considered to be of first importance, had made great progress. The General had a quick eye to see where improvement could be introduced, and his energy never flagged. Until that time the negro race had not had such a friend, one who had a genius for seeing in what direction the coloured people would find that their best interests lay. Thus early he also probably saw that in his quondam pupil, Booker Was.h.i.+ngton, he had a comrade who was in every way fitted to extend the great enterprise. Certain students who had been prepared by this coloured tutor before being sent on to Hampton, had done exceedingly well, and this suggested that operations should be carried on in other directions.

It was characteristic of General Armstrong that he believed the American Indians, in common with the negroes, were capable of being raised to a condition of honour and usefulness by education and adequate training.

The inst.i.tute at Hampton was specially intended for Indians as well as for ex-slaves; and when it was decided to extend the accommodation for such pupils, where could so competent a teacher be found for them as Booker Was.h.i.+ngton? The acceptance on the part of the latter of such an office of course made it necessary for other connections of comparatively long standing to be severed, but the path of duty seemed to be clearly marked out, though the coloured pupils in the school in West Virginia would sorely miss their greatly-valued teacher.

Booker Was.h.i.+ngton's situation was now strangely anomalous. In their own eyes, and even in the eye of United States law, the Red folk were quite above those who happened to be black. In ante-emanc.i.p.ation days the Reds had actually been the owners of a number of Blacks as slaves. We believe that it may be a.s.sumed that even in the present day a Red man would be cordially welcomed at many hotels where negroes would be refused accommodation. Thus Booker Was.h.i.+ngton's large cla.s.s of some scores of Indians would regard themselves as being socially quite superior to their tutor! A thoroughly well-educated negro had now to seek the improvement of a semi-wild a.s.sembly who might be disposed to resent such innovations as white people's civilisation suggested. Why should they have shorter hair? Why should the ancestral blanket be superseded by the conventional dress sanctioned by the United States President and the people he governed? On the whole, however, Booker Was.h.i.+ngton found these strange pupils to be amenable to reason; they were quite tractable when kindly treated.

The American Indians are an interesting nation of aborigines, and in course of an admirable article on their characteristics, habits and present condition, by Dr C. W. Greene, in _Chambers's Encyclopaedia_, it is remarked that "their physical and mental characters are much the same from the Arctic Ocean to Fuegia." The tribes differ somewhat, some being devoted to hunting, according to the ancient, uncivilised way, others take to the tilling of the ground. One tribe may be warlike, another will be more effeminate, while both s.e.xes appear to have a liking for athletic exercises. The following descriptive pa.s.sage is borrowed from Dr Greene's article:--

"Their physical characters are a certain tallness and robustness, with an erect posture of the body; a skull narrowing from the eyebrows upward; prominence of the cheek-bones; the eyes black, deep-set, and having, it is thought, a slight tendency, in many cases, to strabismus; the hair coa.r.s.e, very black, and perfectly straight; the nose prominent or even aquiline; the complexion usually of a reddish, coppery, or cinnamon colour, but with considerable variations in this respect. They have seldom much beard. In physical qualities the Indians thus make a somewhat close approximation to the Mongolian type. There is also a certain remarkable feebleness of const.i.tution, combined, it may be, with vigour, suppleness and strength of body. At least, the aboriginal races do not resist well the epidemics introduced by the whites; and many tribes have been exterminated by the effects of the 'firewater' and the vicious habits brought in by more civilised men. The Red man is usually proud and reserved; serious, if not gloomy, in his views of life; comparatively indifferent to wit or pleasantry; vain of personal endowments; brave and fond of war, yet extremely cautious and taking no needless risks; fond of gambling and drinking; seemingly indifferent to pain; kind and hospitable to strangers, yet revengeful and cruel, almost beyond belief, to those who have given offence.... They often excel in horsemans.h.i.+p, and, as a rule, sight and hearing are wonderfully acute."

Such was the remnant of the aborigines whom Booker Was.h.i.+ngton now endeavoured to educate and to drill into civilised habits. A master difficulty consisted in teaching them the English language. All in the inst.i.tute showed them great kindness and evidently won their grat.i.tude.

The strangest thing of all was that if the devoted tutor had occasion to go abroad with one of his pupils the Red man was eligible for reception anywhere, while in a steam-boat dining-room, or at the clerk's desk of an hotel, the Black one was ostracised. Apart from this there appeared to be some promise of success in the work of training the Indians; but it may be feared that through his kindness of heart their teacher harboured expectations which were too sanguine to be realised.

In the fall of 1900, as he himself explains in course of an article on "The Economic Value of the Negro," in _The International Monthly_ for December of that year, Booker Was.h.i.+ngton received letters showing that openings for negro labourers existed in Cuba, the Sandwich Islands and elsewhere. This naturally led him to think closely on the subject mentioned, and to compare the negro with the Red race, _e.g._:--

"When the first twenty slaves were landed at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, it was this economic value which caused them to be brought to this country. At the same time that these slaves were being brought to the sh.o.r.es of Virginia from their native land, Africa, the woods of Virginia were swarming with thousands of another dark-skinned race. The question naturally arises, Why did the importers of negro slaves go to the trouble and expense to go thousands of miles for a dark-skinned people, to hew wood and draw water for the whites, when they had right about them a people of another race who could have answered this purpose? The answer is that the Indian was tried and found wanting in the commercial qualities which the negro seemed to possess. The Indian would not submit to slavery as a race, and in those instances where he was tried as a slave his labour was not profitable, and he was found unable to stand the physical strain of slavery. As a slave, the Indian died in large numbers. This was true in San Domingo and other parts of the American continent.... The Indian refused to submit to bondage and to learn the white man's ways. The result is that the greater portion of American Indians have disappeared, and the greater portion of those who remain are not civilised. The negro, wiser and more enduring than the Indian, patiently endured slavery; and the contact with the white man has given the negro in America a civilisation vastly superior to that of the Indian."

To this may be added the testimony of Professor Shaler, of Harvard University, in _Appleton's Popular Science Monthly_:--"If we compare the Algonquin Indian, in appearance a st.u.r.dy fellow, with these negroes, we see of what stuff the blacks are made. A touch of housework and of honest toil took the breath of the aborigines away, but these tropical exotics fell to their tasks and trials far better than the men of our own kind could have done."

It has also to be remembered that the nearly ten million negroes in the Southern States show that the total has more than doubled since the close of the Civil War, and are still capable of being turned to vast profitable account. The Indians show a decrease, and cost the Government about 2,500,000 a year.

The attention thus given to the Indians' school at Hampton was an interesting pa.s.sage in Booker Was.h.i.+ngton's experience; but even while that work was in progress he was gradually drifting into the course which would represent the main service of his life. When the discoverers of America first came in contact with the Red Men they may have thought them to be superior to the negroes; but from that day to this they have practically made no progress, and to-day appear to be more than ever a dying nation. It was quite in keeping with the philanthropic General Armstrong to attempt to befriend and raise such tribes, but even he must have realised how vastly greater was the return in the case of the negroes.

As has been shown, in the years which followed the general emanc.i.p.ation, the coloured people showed the most eager desire to obtain some kind of education. It happened that at Hampton there was a large number outside of the Inst.i.tute who were of this cla.s.s, and when it was resolved to found a night school for their benefit Booker Was.h.i.+ngton was requested to undertake its superintendence. These evening cla.s.ses were to be a kind of preparatory school for such as might afterwards attend the day school of the Inst.i.tute, and the conditions of their receiving two hours' nightly instruction were sufficiently onerous to deter any from coming forward but the most determined enthusiasts. A long, hard day's work had to be fulfilled before they could think of joining their cla.s.s.

It is no wonder that such scholars are now doing well in the world. The school is still continued at Hampton, but the scholars have increased from tens to hundreds.

So far throughout the course of his working life Booker Was.h.i.+ngton has never lost faith in his own people, and, while using his opportunities to benefit them, no hard-working leader has ever had fewer disappointments. While American politicians, sometimes with bated breath, have been talking about the problems of the Southern Black Belt, this far-sighted negro has clearly seen that ten millions of the coloured race in the wide territory of the South is rather an advantage to be thankful for than "a problem" to create dismay. How readily the young negro men and women can adapt themselves to circ.u.mstances, and benefit others of their own race while making a position for themselves, is constantly being proved. The fact is confirmed by many independent witnesses hailing from different quarters. We close this chapter by another pa.s.sage on this subject by Professor Shaler, in _Appleton's Popular Science Monthly_, and quoted, with admiration, by Booker Was.h.i.+ngton himself in _The International Monthly_:--

"Moreover, the production of good tobacco requires much care, which extends over about a year from the time the seed is planted. Some parts of the work demand a measure of judgment such as intelligent negroes readily acquire. They are, indeed, better fitted for the task than white men, for they are commonly more interested in their task than whites of the labouring cla.s.s. The result was that, before the period of the revolution, slavery was firmly established in the tobacco planting colonies of Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina; it was already the foundation of their only considerable industry.... This industry (cotton), even more than that of raising tobacco, called for abundant labour which could be absolutely commanded and severely tasked in the season of extreme heats. For this work the negro proved to be the only fit man, for, while the whites can do the work, they prefer other employment. Thus it came about that the power of slavery in this country became rooted in its soil. The facts show that, based on an ample foundation of experience, the judgment of the Southern people was to the effect that this creature of the tropics was a better labourer in their fields than the men of their own race.

"Much has been said about the dislike of the white man for work in a.s.sociation with negroes. The failure of the whites to have a larger share in the agriculture of the South has been attributed to this cause.

This seems to be clearly an error. The dislike to the a.s.sociation of races in labour is, in the slaveholding States, less than in the North.

There can be no question that, if the Southern folk could have made white labourers profitable, they would have preferred to employ them, for the reason that the plantations would have required less fixed capital for their operation. The fact was, and is, that the negro is there a better labouring man in the field than the white. Under the conditions he is more enduring, more contented and more trustworthy than the men of our own race."

The negroes have many qualities such as are sure to heighten their value in the eyes of employers and business men. On the whole, they are a contented race when fairly used. We can hardly think of them as becoming political agitators. They know too well where their interest lies to favour strikes, and so become the victims of those who professionally foment them. It would also seem that they generally contract a kind of affection for those who employ them and who use them well. Complaint is made of more crime showing itself among negroes in certain centres; but when it is considered that only a generation ago the whole race was in bondage, the wonder is that so little crime has been manifest. Provide good schools and an industrial training, and the coloured folk will prove to be a law-abiding race.

CHAPTER VII

THE BEGINNING OF A LIFE WORK

The singular way in which Booker Was.h.i.+ngton 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 circ.u.mstances 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 a.s.sistant. He was still fully occupied with the large cla.s.s 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 Inst.i.tute, 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 pa.s.s 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 inst.i.tute, 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 Was.h.i.+ngton was the man most likely to make such a school as the one suggested a success. The following pa.s.sage 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 Was.h.i.+ngton was one of these teachers. Of him and his work General Armstrong, shortly before his death, said:--'It is, I think, the n.o.blest 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. Was.h.i.+ngton 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 cla.s.sics 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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 flouris.h.i.+ng inst.i.tution. 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 rea.s.suring; for the obstacles in the way of success seemed so formidable that even the sanguine and persevering Booker Was.h.i.+ngton might have been excused had he hesitated. Had he not been a negro, he would probably have declared that the task a.s.signed to him was impossible.

The blighting effects of the Civil War were still visible; and when a beginning at teaching was actually made, the cla.s.s 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 superst.i.tion 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 cla.s.ses 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 Was.h.i.+ngton'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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 cla.s.ses, 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 Was.h.i.+ngton, as it also did on one who was thus early an able and sympathetic helper in the work--Miss Olivia Davidson, afterwards Mrs Booker Was.h.i.+ngton. 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 inst.i.tute on a solid basis. It was then that Booker Was.h.i.+ngton 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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 Inst.i.tute 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:--