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10 - Boys Life of Booker T. Washington by Walter Clinton Jackson · Boys Life of Booker T. Washington

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  Speaker 1: Chapter nine of A Boy's Life of Booker T. Washington.
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  Speaker 2: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 2: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 2: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Mary Patterson. A Boy's
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  Speaker 2: Life of Booker T. Washington by W. C. Jackson.
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  Speaker 1: Raising money for Tuskegee Tuskegee grew rapidly and steadily. Students
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  Speaker 1: began to pour in from all parts of the country.
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  Speaker 1: Girls were coming as well as boys. It was absolutely
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  Speaker 1: necessary to find some place for these students to live
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  Speaker 1: and carry on their schoolwork. Tuskegee Institute had no money.
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  Speaker 1: You will remember that the legislature of Alabama appropriated two
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  Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year for the payment of tea, but
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  Speaker 1: gave nothing for buildings, or land or equipment. So if
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  Speaker 1: new buildings were to be erected, it meant that the
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  Speaker 1: money would have to be raised by some other means.
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  Speaker 1: This was not a church school and it could not
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  Speaker 1: therefore appeal to any religious denomination for help. There was
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  Speaker 1: only one way to secure funds for its development and growth,
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  Speaker 1: and that was by going out and asking people directly
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  Speaker 1: for aid. Washington did not like to do this, but
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  Speaker 1: recognizing the necessity for it, he went bravely ahead. And
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  Speaker 1: perhaps no man was ever more successful in this work
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  Speaker 1: than he was. President Charles w. Eliot of Harvard University
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  Speaker 1: had to raise money in the same way for Harvard.
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  Speaker 1: It was so successful that it was said of him,
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  Speaker 1: when he goes to rich men, they just throw up
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  Speaker 1: their hands and say, don't shoot. How much do you want?
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  Speaker 1: And President Eliot said that Washington could beat him. Raising money.
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  Speaker 1: Before Washington's death in nineteen fifteen, it required from two
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand dollars to three hundred thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: a year to run Tuskegee. That is a big sum
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  Speaker 1: of money. A very large part of it had to
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  Speaker 1: be raised by personal solicitation, and it had to be
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  Speaker 1: raised almost entirely in the North. This meant that Washington
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  Speaker 1: had to spend a large part of his time away
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  Speaker 1: from Tuskegee traveling over the country, making speeches and talking
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  Speaker 1: to individual men. It was hard work, and it took
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  Speaker 1: a great deal of strength and effort as well as time.
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  Speaker 1: He had many remarkable excits experiences. He met many great
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  Speaker 1: and good people who were glad to help him. He
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  Speaker 1: had an opportunity to tell them about his school and
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  Speaker 1: about his people in the South, and an opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: hear this remarkable man was given to many people. This
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  Speaker 1: is the way he was led to undertake this work.
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  Speaker 1: When the girls began coming to school, they had to
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  Speaker 1: have a dormitory. The boys had been staying in the
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  Speaker 1: attic of Porter Hall, living in the shanty or boarding
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  Speaker 1: in town, but this would not do for the girls.
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  Speaker 1: They must have different accommodations. The boys ought to have,
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  Speaker 1: but the girls must have better surroundings. So they proceeded
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  Speaker 1: to plan a dormitory. They did not have any money
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  Speaker 1: with which to build a house. It was just like
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  Speaker 1: starting Porter Hall. But they said they could at least
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  Speaker 1: plan the kind of building they would build if they
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  Speaker 1: had the money. They made plans for a building that
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  Speaker 1: would cost ten thousand dollars and named it Alabama Hall.
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  Speaker 1: But that Alabama Hall was on paper only in the
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  Speaker 1: minds of folks, so they could not use it very well.
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  Speaker 1: Then an interesting thing happened. Have you noticed how often
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  Speaker 1: something interesting turned up with Washington. Perhaps there is a
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  Speaker 1: good reason for it. Nothing ever comes to one that
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  Speaker 1: is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
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  Speaker 1: Washington himself has said it was not just an accident
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  Speaker 1: after all, that these good things were happening. It was
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  Speaker 1: because Washington, by his work and his good sense, had
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  Speaker 1: made lasting impressions upon people who were in positions to
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  Speaker 1: give him help. This is what happened. While thinking about
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  Speaker 1: how he could get the ten thousand dollars for Alabama Hall,
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  Speaker 1: he received a letter from General Armstrong asking if he
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  Speaker 1: would agree to go with him on a tour of
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  Speaker 1: the North. If so, to come to Hampton at once.
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  Speaker 1: Washington was delighted and accepted the invitation. To his surprise,
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  Speaker 1: he found that General Armstrong had planned to take a
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  Speaker 1: quartette of singers from Hampton to go himself with Washington
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  Speaker 1: on the tour of the North in the interests of Tuskegee.
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  Speaker 1: Washington thought the trip was planned for Hampton, of course,
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  Speaker 1: and then he found that General Armstrong had been so
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  Speaker 1: unselfish as to plan it for him. He was overwhelmed
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  Speaker 1: with gratitude. They had a great trip. General Armstrong had
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  Speaker 1: Washington do most of the speaking. Give them an idea
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  Speaker 1: for every word, he said to Washington as they started,
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  Speaker 1: and Washington did. It was on this trip that Washington
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  Speaker 1: first introduced Tuskegee to the people of the North, and
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  Speaker 1: that the people first got acquainted with Washington. When he
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  Speaker 1: returned from his trip, he was able to begin work
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  Speaker 1: on Alabama Hall, and it was soon completed and paid for.
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  Speaker 1: From this time on, Washington went north a great deal
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  Speaker 1: to speak publicly and to talk privately to men about
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  Speaker 1: the needs of Tuskegee. He met a great many rich men.
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  Speaker 1: He had many interesting experiences with them. He did not
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  Speaker 1: beg from them, he said. He always followed two simple
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  Speaker 1: rules in this work. First to do his full duty
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  Speaker 1: in presenting the needs of the school, and second not
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  Speaker 1: to worry about the result. He found these rich men
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  Speaker 1: unlike what he had expected. He said. They were among
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  Speaker 1: the best and kindest and most generous people in the world.
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  Speaker 1: While he sometimes received discourteous treatment, as a rule he
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  Speaker 1: was gladly received and treated with great respect, and help
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  Speaker 1: was gladly given. Three of the rich men who helped
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  Speaker 1: Washington a great deal were Colline P. Huntington, the great
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  Speaker 1: railroad builder. H. H. Rogers of the Standard Oil Company,
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  Speaker 1: and Andrew Carnegie, the philanthropist who had made a fortune
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  Speaker 1: in the steel industry. Washington says. The first time he
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  Speaker 1: interviewed mister Huntington, he received a donation of two dollars
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  Speaker 1: two dollars from a millionaire. But the last donation he
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  Speaker 1: received from mister Huntington was a check for fifty thousand dollars,
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  Speaker 1: and between the two gifts there had been gifts of
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  Speaker 1: many thousands. Mister Rogers also gave many thousands of dollars
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  Speaker 1: and held particularly in the great extension work of the college.
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  Speaker 1: The most liberal giver was Andrew Carnegie. As soon as
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  Speaker 1: Carnegie heard of the work that Washington was doing, he
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  Speaker 1: sent for him to come to New York City. The
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  Speaker 1: result was that Carnegie gave him fifteen thousand dollars with
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  Speaker 1: which to build a library. Washington and his coworkers spent
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  Speaker 1: a great deal of time working out the plans for
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  Speaker 1: this building. All of the work was done by the
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  Speaker 1: students of Tuskegee. When it was completed, Carnegie was amazed
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  Speaker 1: that such a beautiful and useful building had been built
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  Speaker 1: for that sum of money. It convinced him that these
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  Speaker 1: people could be trusted to spend money wisely. He therefore
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  Speaker 1: determined to give a large sum to the school. Thus
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  Speaker 1: it happened in nineteen o three that the President of
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  Speaker 1: the Board of Trustees of Tuskegee received the following letter,
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  Speaker 1: My dear mister Baldwin, I have instructed mister Frank's secretary
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  Speaker 1: to deliver to you, as trustee of Tuskegee, six hundred
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  Speaker 1: thousand dollars of five percent US Steel Company bonds to
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  Speaker 1: complete the endowment fund as per Circular one. Condition only
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  Speaker 1: the revenue of one hundred and fifty thousand of these
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  Speaker 1: bonds is to be subject to Booker Washington's order, to
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  Speaker 1: be used by him first for his wants and those
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  Speaker 1: of his family during his life or the life of
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  Speaker 1: his widow. If any surplus is left, he can use
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  Speaker 1: it for Tuskegee. I wish that great and good man
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  Speaker 1: to be free from pecuniary cares, that he may devote
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  Speaker 1: himself wholly to his great mission. To me, he seems
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  Speaker 1: one of the foremost of living men, because his work
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  Speaker 1: is unique, the modern Moses, who leads his race and
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  Speaker 1: lifts it through education to ever better and higher things
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  Speaker 1: than a land overflowing with milk and honey. History is
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  Speaker 1: to know two Washington's, one white, the other black, both
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  Speaker 1: fathers of their people. I am satisfied that the serious
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  Speaker 1: race question of the South is to be solved wisely
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  Speaker 1: only by following book of Washington's policy, which he seems
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  Speaker 1: to have been especially born a slave among slaves, to establish,
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  Speaker 1: and even in his own day, greatly to advance. So
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  Speaker 1: glad to be able to assist this good work in
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  Speaker 1: which you and others are engaged. Yours truly, signed, Andrew Carnegie.
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  Speaker 1: One other name must be mentioned, that as Julius Rosenwald
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  Speaker 1: or Chicago, Mister Rosenwald not only gave Lord Sums himself
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  Speaker 1: and is still given enormous amounts not only to Tuskegee,
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  Speaker 1: but to the cause of Negro education throughout the South,
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  Speaker 1: but frequently left his own business and helped to raise
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  Speaker 1: money among his friends for Tuskegee. There were many large
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  Speaker 1: gifts from many men and women, all of whom cannot
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  Speaker 1: be mentioned here, of course, But most of the money
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  Speaker 1: that was given to Tuskegee came in small amounts from
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  Speaker 1: a large number of people, from churches, Sunday schools, missionary societies,
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  Speaker 1: and other organizations. From preachers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, farmers. From
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  Speaker 1: every class of people came gifts, sometimes large and sometimes small.
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  Speaker 1: All the graduates of Tuskegee were loyal and gave something,
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  Speaker 1: however small the amount might be. The Alabama Legislature gave
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  Speaker 1: more and more as the school grew. The Slater Fund
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  Speaker 1: and the Peabody Fund also began to make annual contributions
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  Speaker 1: to the school. It was through all of these channels
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  Speaker 1: that the money came pouring into Tuskegee in such amounts
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  Speaker 1: that it was possible for it to grow and develop
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  Speaker 1: in a remarkable way. Building after building went up, new
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  Speaker 1: students came, new equipment was purchased, Additional faculty members were secured,
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  Speaker 1: and the school grew in size and usefulness and in
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  Speaker 1: favor in the eyes of the people. End of Chapter
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  Speaker 1: nine