Latest / Boys Life of Booker T. Washington / 11 - Boys Life of Booker T. Washington by Walter Clinton Jackson

Transcript

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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter ten of A Boy's Life of Booker T. Washington.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Tina Ding. A Boy's
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Life of Booker T. Washington by W. C. Jackson, Chapter
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: ten Making Speeches. Frederick Douglas and Booker Washington rank as
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the greatest orators the Negro race has ever produced. This
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: is a high place to occupy, for the race has
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: produced many remarkable speakers. Douglas was the great spokesman for
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: the race just before the Civil War and during the
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: troublesome days of reconstruction. Washington began his career just at
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: the time that Douglas ended his Douglas was a very
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: eloquent man, perhaps more eloquent at times than Washington. On
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: the other hand, Washington was a better educated man than
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Douglas and probably had a more lasting influence upon his generation.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Booker Washington made thousands of speeches in his life. He
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: spoke to white and black in the North and in
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: the South, in Europe as well as in America. He
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: spoke in churches, at school commencements, at conventions, at educational
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: and religious meetings, at county fairs, and to every kind
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: and condition of people. He spoke before kings and presidents.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: He spoke to the lowliest men of his own race
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: in the heart of the Black Belt in Alabama. It
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: is a wonderful thing to be an orator, to speak
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: to men and women in such a way that they
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: will be helped and inspired and made happier and more useful.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: When Washington was at Hampton, he began to learn the
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: art of speaking. You remember how he organized a debating
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: society which met for the twenty minutes they had between
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: supper and time to begin work. You remember how he
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: spoke and spoke at these meetings, doing his best to
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: learn how to express himself well. One of his teachers,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Miss Mackie, knew of his ambition to become a good speaker,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: and she gave him a great deal of help, teaching
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: him how to stand, how to pronounce his words, and
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: how to control his voice and gestures. By much hard work,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: he came to be the best speaker among the boys
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: at Hampton. You will recall too, how General Armstrong invited
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: him to deliver the alumni address in eighteen seventy nine,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: and what a big succes says he made of that.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: All this time he was speaking at Sunday schools, at churches,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: at educational meetings, and everywhere he had an opportunity. His
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: trip north with General Armstrong gave him much valuable experience.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: The first speech that he made that attracted the attention
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: of all the people was that the National Education Association
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: in Madison, Wisconsin. The most important thing he said in
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: this speech was that the whole future of the Negro
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: rested largely upon the question as to whether or not
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: he should make himself, through his skill, intelligence, and character,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: of such undeniable value to the community in which he
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: lived that the community could not dispense with his presence.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: He said that anyone who learned to do something better
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: than anybody else, learned to do a common thing in
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: an uncommon manner, had solved his problem, regardless of the
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: color of his skin. He also said that the two
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: races ought to be brought closer together and cultivate the
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: most cordial and friendly relations, rather than become bitter toward
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: each other. But the greatest speech of Washington's life was
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: the Atlanta's speech. In the year eighteen ninety five, the
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: people of Georgia determined to hold a great Cotton States
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Exposition in Atlanta, which would set forth the progress of
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: the South since the Civil War. In order to make
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: the exposition a great success, it was necessary to have
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: the financial assistance of Congress com MEETI was appointed to
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: go to Washington to confer with a committee from Congress.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Booker Washington was appointed on this Georgia committee, and his
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: speech in Washington before the Congressional Committee was one of
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: unusual force. Many said it was the best speech made
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Congress gave the assistance asked. When the authorities came to
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: plan the exposition in detail, they decided to have a
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Negro division. The Negros were asked to take part, and
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: they gladly agreed to do so. They built one of
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: the best buildings on the grounds. This building was planned
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: by a Negro architect and was erected entirely by Negro labor.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: It contained exhibits prepared altogether by negroes. It was one
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: of the most interesting parts of the Higher Exposition. When
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: the exposition was formerly opened in September eighteen ninety five,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Booker Washington was invited to make an address as a
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: representative of the Negro race. James Creelman, a noted newspaperman,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: the correspondent of the New York World, heard that speech,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: and he wrote to the world about it. This is
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: what he wrote. Missus Thompson, one of the other speakers
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: on the program, had hardly taken her seat when all
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: eyes were turned on a tall, tawny Negro sitting in
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: the front row of the platform. It was Professor Booker T. Washington,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: president of the Tuskegee, Alabama Normal and Industrial Institute, who
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: must rank from this time forth as the foremost men
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: of his race in America. Gilmore's band played the Star
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Spangled Banner, and the audience cheered. The tune changed to Dixie,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: and the audience roared with real he ease. Again, the
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: music changed, this time to Yankee Doodle, and the clamor lessened.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: All this time the eyes of the thousands present looked
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: straight at the Negro orator. A strange thing was to happen.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: A black man was to speak for his people with
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: none to interrupt him. As Professor Washington strode to the
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: edge of the stage, the low descending sun shot fiery
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: rays through the windows into his face. A great shout
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: greeted him. He turned his head to avoid the blinding
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: light and moved about the platform for relief. Then he
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: turned his wonderful countenance to the sun without the blink
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: of the eyelids, and began to talk. There was a
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: remarkable figure, tall, bony, straight as a sou chief, high forehead,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: straight nose, heavy jaws, and strong determined mouth, with big
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: white teeth, piercing eyes and a commending manner. The sinews
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: stood out on his bronzed neck, and his muscular right
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: arm swung high in the air with a lead pencil
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: grasped in the clinched brown fist. His big feet were
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: planted squarely, with the heels together and the toes turned out.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: His voice rang out clear and true, and he paused
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: impressively as he made each point. Within ten minutes, the
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: multitude was in an uproar of enthusiasm. Handkerchiefs were waved,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: canes were flourished, hats were tossed in the air. The
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: furiest women of Georgia stood up and cheered. It was
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: as if the orator had bewitched them. And when he
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: held his dusky hand high above his head, with the
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: fingers stretched wide apart and set to the white people
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: of the South on behalf of his race. In all
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: things that are purely social, we can be as separate
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: as the fingers, yet one as the hand, in all
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: things essential to mutual progress. The great wave of sound
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: dashed itself against the walls, and the whole audience was
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: on its feet in a delirium of applause. I have
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: heard the great orators of many countries, but not even
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: Gladstone himself could have pleaded a cause with more consummate power.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Then did this angular negro, standing in a nimbus of sunshine,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: surrounding by the men who once fought to keep his
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: rays in bondage. The roar might swell ever so high,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: but the expression of his earnest face never changed. A
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: ragged ebony giant squatted on the floor in one of
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: the aisles, watched the orator with burning eyes and tremulous
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: face until the supreme burst of applause came, and then
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: the tears ran down his face. Most of the Negroes
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: in the audience were crying, perhaps without knowing just why.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: At the close of the speech, Governor Bullock rushed across
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: the stage and seized the orator's hand. Another shout greeted
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: this demostration, and for a few minutes the two men
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: stood facing each other, hand in hand. It was a
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: wonderful speech. It contained much good advice, both to the
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: whites and to the negroes. It was fair to both,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: as Clark Howell, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, said, it
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: was a platform upon which both races, black and white
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: could stand with full justice to each other. In the speech,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: he told the following story. A ship lost at sea
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: for many days, suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal, water water,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: we die of thirst. The answer from the friendly vessel
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: at once came back, cast down your buckets where you are.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: A second time, the signal water water send a water
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: ran up from the distressed vessel and was answered, cast
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: down your buckets where you are. And a third and
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: a fourth signal for water was answered, cast down your
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: buckets where you are. The captain of the distressed vessel,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: at last, heating the injunction, cast down his bucket, and
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: mouth of the Amazon River. Washington then appealed to his
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: own people to cast down their buckets where they are,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: by making friends with their white neighbors in every manly way,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: by training themselves where they were in agriculture, in mechanics,
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: in commerce, instead of trying to batter their condition by immigration.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: And finally, to the white southern people, he appealed to
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: cast down the buckets where they were by using and
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: training the Negroes whom they knew, rather than seeking to
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: import laborers whom they did not know. Frederick Douglas had
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: died only a few months before this great speech was made.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: At once from all parts of the country came the statement,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: here is the man who will take the place of
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Douglas as leader of the Negro race. And from that
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: time on Booker Washington was the accepted leader of his
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: people in this country. He was immediately called upon to
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: speak in all parts of the country. He was offered
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: big sums of money to lecture. One speaker's bureau offered
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: him fifty thousand dollars a year. He refused all these
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: offers of money, saying that he must give his time
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: to Tuskegee and to the interest of his people, rather
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: than try to make money for himself. Another of his
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: great speeches was made at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in eighteen ninety six.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Harvard University, the oldest and most famous university in America,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: conferred the honorary degree of Master of Arts upon mister
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Washington in eighteen ninety six. This was the first time
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: in the history of America that a college or university
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: of such high standing had ever conferred an honorary degree
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: upon a negro. Washington says this honor was the greatest
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: surprise of his life. At the time the ceremony of
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: conferring this degree took place, he made a speech that
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: won great applause from the audience. It is very interesting
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: to read Washington's own account of his experiences. People often
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: ask me, he says, if I feel nervous before speaking,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: or else suggests that since I speak so often, they
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: suppose I get used to it. In answer to this question,
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: I have to say that I always suffer intensely from
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: nervousness before speaking, more than once, just before I was
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: to make an important address. This nervous strain has been
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: so great that I have resolved never again to speak
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: in public. I not only feel nervous before speaking, but
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: after I have finished, I usually feel a sense of
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: regret because it seems to me as if I had
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: left out of my address the best thing that I
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: had meant to say. Nothing tends to throw me off
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: my balance so quickly when I'm speaking as to have
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: someone leave the room. To prevent this, I make up
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: my mind as a rule that I will try to
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: make my address so interesting, will try to state so
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: many interesting facts one after another, that no one will leave.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Washington made it a rule never to say anything to
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: a northern audience that he would not say to a
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Southern audience. He also made it a rule never to
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: say to a Negro audience anything that he would not
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: say to a white audience. In this honest and fair way,
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: he kept close to the truth and at the same
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: time never offended fair minded people of either race. He
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: was a capital storyteller, but he did not make a
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: practice of telling jokes and funny stories in his speeches
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: just to make people laugh. He always had a serious
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: purpose in his stories. He had two or three stories
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: that he told frequently because they were so full of meaning.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: This was one of them. One day, he was going
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: along the road, and he met old Aunt Caroline with
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: a basket on her head. He said, good morning, Aunt Caroline,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: where are you going this morning? And she replied, Lord Blaster,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: mister Washington, I've done ben where I see are going.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: And so he would then say, some of the braces
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: of the earth have done been where they was air going.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: But the negro raised is not one of them. Its
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: future lies before it. Another of his stories was about
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: a good old negro who accompanied Washington on one of
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: his tours. At a certain city, they found that they
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: had several hours before the train left, so this old
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: man decided to stroll about to see the town. Presently,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: he looked at his watch and found that it was
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: just about time for his train to leave, and he
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: was some distance from the station. He rushed to a
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: hackstand and called out to the first driver he came to,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: who happened to be a white man, hurry up and
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: take me to the station. I's gotta get the four
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: thirty two train, to which the white driver replied, I
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: ain't never drove a nigger in my hack yet, and
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: I ain't going term begin now. You can get a
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: nigger driver ter take yeg down to this the old
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: colored man replied with perfect good nature. All right, my friend,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: we won't have no misunderstanding or trouble. I'll tell you
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: how we will settle it. You just hoppen on dear
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: back seat and do dear writing, and I'll sit in
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: front and do your driving. In this way, they reached
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: the station on good terms, and the old man caught
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: his train. Like this, old Negro Washington always devoted his
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: energies to catching the train, and it made little difference
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: to him whether he sat on the front or backseat.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: Two other speeches of Washington attracted wide attention. One of
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: these was delivered in Boston in eighteen ninety seven, at
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: the time of the dedication of a monument to Robert
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Gould Shaw. Shaw was the colonel of the famous Negro
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: regiment of soldiers from Massachusetts in the Civil War. It
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: was in this regiment that Sergeant William H. Carney served
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: the man who triumshantly carried the flag in the Great
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: Battle of Fort Wagner and exclaimed after the fight the
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: old flag never touched the ground. Colonel Shaw lost his
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: life in the Battle of Fort Wagner while leading his
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Negro regiment. The people of bos Boston erected a monument
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: to his memory, and Washington's speech at its dedication was
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: one of the greatest he ever made. One other speech
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: was delivered in Chicago in eighteen ninety eight at a
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: Grade peace celebration following the close of the Spanish American War.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: There was an enormous crowd, the largest he ever spoke to,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: Washington says there were sixteen thousand people present. President McKinley
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: was there, together with several cabinet members and other distinguished guests.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: The President was sitting in a box at the right
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: of the stage, says Washington. When I addressed him, I
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: turned to the box, and as I finished the sentence,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: thanking him for his generosity, the whole audience rose and
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: cheered again and again, waving hats and handkerchiefs and canes,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: until the President arose in the box and bowed his acknowledgments.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: At that the enthusiasm broke out again, and the demonstration
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: was almost indescribable. The demands for him to speak were
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: so great that it was impossible for him to meet
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: them all. He often spoke three or four times a
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: day he was away from Tuskegee, making speeches. A large
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: part of his time, he made extended tours by special
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: train all over the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: and Tennessee. On these tours he spoke to thousands and
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: thousands of people everywhere he went. All the people, white
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: and black, hurt him gladly. The good that this man
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: did through his oratory cannot be overestimated. End of Chapter
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: ten