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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter seven of A Boy's Life of Booker T. Washington.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Mary Patterson. A Boy's
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  Speaker 1: Life of Booker T. Washington by W. C. Jackson. Building
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  Speaker 1: a Great School at Hampton. The chapel exercises were at night.
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  Speaker 1: Here they sang the beautiful old Negro melodies and listened
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  Speaker 1: to a talk by General Armstrong or some other good speaker.
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  Speaker 1: One Sunday night in May of eighteen eighty one, after
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  Speaker 1: the regular exercises, General Armstrong, who had a way of
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  Speaker 1: taking the students into his confidence as well as keeping
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  Speaker 1: them informed of matters of interest to the race, announced
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  Speaker 1: that he had received a very interesting letter. He then
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  Speaker 1: told them that the Legislature of Alabama at its last
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  Speaker 1: session had set aside some money for the establishment of
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  Speaker 1: a Nigro normal school, and that they were looking for
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  Speaker 1: a man to be the head of this school, and
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  Speaker 1: that he had been asked to recommend such a man.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, they wanted a white man. However, the next
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  Speaker 1: day General Armstrong sent for Booker Washington and said, Washington,
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  Speaker 1: you heard the announcement last night about the men in
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  Speaker 1: Alabama who want a man to be the head of
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  Speaker 1: their school. I have decided that you are the man
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  Speaker 1: for them. Will you take the place if it is
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  Speaker 1: offered to you? This was surely a great surprise, but
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  Speaker 1: Booker Washington was always ready. He said, I think I
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  Speaker 1: can fill the place, and I and willing to try.
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  Speaker 1: General Armstrong wrote at once about Washington. The next Sunday night,
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  Speaker 1: during the chapel exercises, a telegram was handed to General Armstrong.
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  Speaker 1: It was from the committee in Alabama. He opened it
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  Speaker 1: and read it to the audience. It said, Booker Washington,
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  Speaker 1: will suit us send him at once. Washington prepared to
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  Speaker 1: go at once to his new field. After finishing his
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  Speaker 1: work at Hampton, he paid a visit to his old
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  Speaker 1: home at Maiden, and a couple of weeks later, early
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  Speaker 1: in June, he arrived at Tuskegee, Alabama, to begin his
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  Speaker 1: new task. Tuskegee at this time was a quiet little
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  Speaker 1: town of about two thousand inhabitants. It is on a
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  Speaker 1: small branch railroad, five miles from the main line, which
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  Speaker 1: runs from Atlanta, Georgia to Montgomery. Alabama. The town is
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  Speaker 1: about fifty miles from Montgomery. It is right in the
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  Speaker 1: heart of what is known as the Black Belt in
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  Speaker 1: the South. A large and typical population lived round about.
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  Speaker 1: The town was the county seat of Macon County, in
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  Speaker 1: which lived a large number of Nigro farmers, all living
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  Speaker 1: very much as the Negro family lived in the South
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  Speaker 1: at that time. The white people and the Nigroes were
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  Speaker 1: about equal in population in the town and lived in
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  Speaker 1: cordial and friendly relations. Booker Washington had a great surprise
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  Speaker 1: awaiting him when he reached Tuskegee. He thought that this
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  Speaker 1: school that he was to be the head of was
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  Speaker 1: already in existence, and naturally looked about to find the schoolhouse,
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  Speaker 1: of course, expecting to see a nice building. Imagine his
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  Speaker 1: surprise when he found that there was at yet no
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  Speaker 1: school at all, and absolutely no building, no sign of
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  Speaker 1: a school whatsoever. He was to start the school himself.
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  Speaker 1: From the very beginning. The legislature had simply set aside
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  Speaker 1: two thousand dollars a year to be used only for
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  Speaker 1: paying salaries, and no provision had been made for building
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  Speaker 1: and grounds. Was Booker Washington discouraged. Not for a single
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  Speaker 1: minute did he sit down and whine and complained, and
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  Speaker 1: say that he might as well give up. He went
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  Speaker 1: right out into town, looked up some of the leading
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  Speaker 1: men of both races, and told them that he was
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  Speaker 1: going to start something, that he was going to open
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  Speaker 1: a school. And the men, a little amazed at first,
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  Speaker 1: caught his enthusiasm and said, good for you. We are
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  Speaker 1: with you. You can count on us. We will help. His
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  Speaker 1: first effort was to find a house to use as
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  Speaker 1: a school building. He finally secured a little shanty that
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  Speaker 1: stood near the aame E church. It was agreed that
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  Speaker 1: he could use this building for meetings of any kind,
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  Speaker 1: and that he could teach in the shanty. After consulting
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  Speaker 1: again with his friends, he announced that on July fourth,
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  Speaker 1: eighteen eighty one, the Tuskegee Institute would open. Now that
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  Speaker 1: he had a place in which to begin work, his
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  Speaker 1: next job was to get students for his school. He
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  Speaker 1: began to visit around in the country, making talks in
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  Speaker 1: the churches at the regular service or at Sunday school,
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  Speaker 1: and at preaching services in schoolhouses and other places. He
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  Speaker 1: visited in the homes of the people and everywhere he
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  Speaker 1: told them of his school plans. And this way he
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  Speaker 1: came to know the people just as they lived, and
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  Speaker 1: they learned how sympathetic Washington was and how he was
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  Speaker 1: trying to help them. Most of those he visited he
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  Speaker 1: found living in one or two room houses, with fat
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  Speaker 1: pork and corn bread as their principal food. But they
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  Speaker 1: always treated him kindly and entertained him the best they could.
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  Speaker 1: One thing that distressed him was the discovery that many
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  Speaker 1: of these people had been persuaded to buy such things
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  Speaker 1: as costly sewing machines and organs when they didn't have
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  Speaker 1: enough to eat and to wear. At one place where
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  Speaker 1: he took dinner, there were four in the family, and
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  Speaker 1: when they sat down at the table, he found that
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  Speaker 1: there was but one fork for all five of them.
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  Speaker 1: Their lives were filled with much drudgery and hard work,
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  Speaker 1: almost no opportunities for improvement. It was nearly impossible for
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  Speaker 1: them to make a living, much less save any money.
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  Speaker 1: Their schools, if they had any at all, had very
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  Speaker 1: short terms and were taught by teachers who knew very
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  Speaker 1: little more than the children. It was a discouraging situation
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  Speaker 1: to anyone except a man like Booker Washington. These are
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  Speaker 1: my people, he said, They need help. They need education,
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  Speaker 1: and the kind of education that will give them cleaner
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  Speaker 1: and happier homes, healthier bodies, better schools, and better life.
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  Speaker 1: In every way, I am going to help them. The
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  Speaker 1: school opened on July fourth, eighteen eighty one, with thirty students.
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  Speaker 1: Washington was the only teacher. A large number of students
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  Speaker 1: wanted to enter, but he decided not to admit any
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  Speaker 1: under fifteen years of age. Some of these students were boys,
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  Speaker 1: and some were girls. Some were grown men and women.
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  Speaker 1: Most of them had been teachers. None of them was
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  Speaker 1: very well prepared, however, for they had been very poorly taught.
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  Speaker 1: But the teacher found all of them eager to learn
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  Speaker 1: and ready to work. Soon there were more students calling
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  Speaker 1: for admission. Within six weeks there were fifty students. It
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  Speaker 1: was necessary to have a new teacher, and the person
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  Speaker 1: secured for this work was Olivia Davidson, who afterwards became
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  Speaker 1: Booker Washington's second wife. She was a great help to him,
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  Speaker 1: and she agreed with him that they must do something
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  Speaker 1: for the students beside merely teaching them books. Washington says
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  Speaker 1: that they wanted to teach them how to be clean
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  Speaker 1: and how to take care of their teeth and clothing,
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  Speaker 1: what and how to eat, and how to make a living.
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  Speaker 1: All these pupils lived on a farm, as did nearly
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  Speaker 1: all the people of the South. Washington wanted to teach
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  Speaker 1: them that they would continue to live among their own people,
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  Speaker 1: and their lives would be happier and better in every way.
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  Speaker 1: He did not want them to get a false idea
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  Speaker 1: about education. Many of them had the wrong impression already.
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  Speaker 1: They thought that getting an education consisted in reading big books,
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  Speaker 1: and then of being able to earn a living without work.
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  Speaker 1: Both of these ideas were wrong. He wanted to teach
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  Speaker 1: them something that would make them useful and happy and
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  Speaker 1: prosperous on the land in their native state. He certainly
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  Speaker 1: could not do this while teaching in a little o'shanty
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  Speaker 1: with one room that was in such bad condition that
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  Speaker 1: one of the pupils had to hold an umbrella over
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  Speaker 1: the teacher when it rained. He had the same experience
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  Speaker 1: at his boarding house, where his landlady often held an
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  Speaker 1: umbrella over him while he ate his breakfast. About three
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  Speaker 1: months after the opening of his school, a small farm
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  Speaker 1: about one mile from town was offered for sale. Washington
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  Speaker 1: went out and looked it over and came to the
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  Speaker 1: conclusion that it was just the place for the kind
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  Speaker 1: of school that he intended to build. But the price
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  Speaker 1: was five hundred dollars, and he didn't even have a dollar.
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  Speaker 1: The owner said, pay me two fifty cash, and I
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  Speaker 1: will give you one year to pay the other. Washington
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  Speaker 1: borrowed two fifty and closed the deal. He decided I
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  Speaker 1: to move the school at once to the new home.
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  Speaker 1: On this farm were four buildings. The big house had
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  Speaker 1: been burned, but there was left standing a little cabin
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  Speaker 1: formerly used as a dining room, an old kitchen, a stable,
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  Speaker 1: and a hen house. Booker Washington and his growing school
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  Speaker 1: moved into these four buildings. The buildings were thoroughly cleaned
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  Speaker 1: and worked over, and put in as good condition as possible.
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  Speaker 1: Washington says, I recall one morning when I told an
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  Speaker 1: old colored man who lived near and who sometimes helped me,
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  Speaker 1: that our school had grown so large that it would
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  Speaker 1: be necessary for us to use the hen house for
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  Speaker 1: school purposes, and that I wanted him to help me
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  Speaker 1: give it a thorough cleaning out. The next day, he replied,
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  Speaker 1: in the most earnest manner, what do you mean, boss,
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  Speaker 1: You you surely ain't gonna clean out the henhouse in
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  Speaker 1: the daytime. Do you know what a chopping bee is? Well,
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  Speaker 1: the students of Tuskegee didn't know until Booker t taught them.
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  Speaker 1: After they had been in their new quarters for several weeks,
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  Speaker 1: Washington walked in one day and said, tomorrow, we are
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  Speaker 1: going to have a chopping bee. Now, all of you
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  Speaker 1: that have an axe, bring it to school with you.
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  Speaker 1: Those of you who don't have one, let me know
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  Speaker 1: and I'll get one for you. We will dismiss school
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  Speaker 1: early and go to the bee next day. Everybody had
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  Speaker 1: an axe, and all of them were wondering what sort
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  Speaker 1: of game a chopping bee was. They had never been
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  Speaker 1: to one, and they were much excited over it. Soon
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  Speaker 1: after dinner, Washington got his axe and threw it on
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  Speaker 1: his shoulder and told the boys to come on. They
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  Speaker 1: eagerly followed. He led them out to the woods and
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  Speaker 1: began cutting down a tree and told them to do
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  Speaker 1: the same thing. They did so, Washington, swinging his axe
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  Speaker 1: faster and better than any of them, led the crowd.
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  Speaker 1: Though all of them were doing their best, and as
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  Speaker 1: they just kept on at this, it presently dawned on
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  Speaker 1: them that a chopping bee. After all, was nothing but
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  Speaker 1: plain cutting down trees and clearing land. Some of the
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  Speaker 1: students became angry. They said they did not come to
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  Speaker 1: school to do that kind of work. They came to
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  Speaker 1: study books. But they looked at Washington, who was an
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  Speaker 1: educated man, and they saw that he was not ashamed
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  Speaker 1: to do this kind of work. After a time, they
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  Speaker 1: began to see what Washington's purpose was, and they quit
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  Speaker 1: complaining and gladly helped with all their might to get
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  Speaker 1: this needful work done. There was another way in which
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  Speaker 1: Washington secured the assistance of others to build up his school.
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  Speaker 1: He had no way of going about over the country
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  Speaker 1: except by walking. He did not have a horse or mule,
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  Speaker 1: and he could not cover much territory by walking. So
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  Speaker 1: he would watch for some old nigro with a mule
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  Speaker 1: and wagon and go to him and tell him about
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  Speaker 1: his plans. Then he would say, now, uncle, don't you
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  Speaker 1: want to help in this good work. Well, come around
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  Speaker 1: early Saturday morning with your mule and wagon and take
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  Speaker 1: me out in the country where I can see the
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  Speaker 1: people and tell them about our school. And the old
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  Speaker 1: man would be there on time. So, with the cordial
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  Speaker 1: cooperation of the students and friends in the town. The
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  Speaker 1: school was making progress. Land was being cleared, and the
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  Speaker 1: buildings and grounds were being improved. Washington was spreading the
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  Speaker 1: fame of his school throughout the country and everyone was
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  Speaker 1: becoming interested. But that debt of five hundred dollars for
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  Speaker 1: the land on which the school was being built had
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  Speaker 1: not been paid. Where was the money coming from? That
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  Speaker 1: was the hard question. Miss Davison started the plan of
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  Speaker 1: having suppers or festivals. She would go about town and
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  Speaker 1: get friends to donate a chicken or a cake or
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  Speaker 1: a pie for a supper. In this way, a good
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  Speaker 1: sum was raised. Washington wrote to his friends, explained the
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  Speaker 1: situation and asked for contributions. He asked the Nigros as
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  Speaker 1: well as the white people in town to give, and
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  Speaker 1: they did. Washington says that sometimes they would give five
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  Speaker 1: cents or twenty five cents, or a quilt or some
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  Speaker 1: sugar cane. I recall one old colored woman, he says,
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  Speaker 1: who was about seventy years of age. She hobbled into
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  Speaker 1: the room where I was leaning on a cane. She
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  Speaker 1: was clad in rags, but they were clean, she said,
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  Speaker 1: mister Washington, God knows I spent the best days of
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  Speaker 1: my life in slavery. God knows I's ignorant and poor,
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  Speaker 1: but I know what you and Miss Davison is trying
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  Speaker 1: to do. I knows you was trying to make better
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  Speaker 1: men and women for the colored race. I ain't got
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  Speaker 1: no money, but I wants you to take these six
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  Speaker 1: eggs what of his, save it up, and I want
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  Speaker 1: you to put these eggs into the edication of those
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  Speaker 1: boys and gals. Washington says that he has received many
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  Speaker 1: gifts for Tuskegee, but none that affected him more deeply
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  Speaker 1: than this one. Needless to say, by the end of
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  Speaker 1: the year, the five hundred dollars had been raised and
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  Speaker 1: the debt paid. Thus ended the first year of the
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  Speaker 1: history of Tuskegee. If you go there now and see
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  Speaker 1: the many fine buildings, the broad acres, the hundreds of students,
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  Speaker 1: and everything that goes to make up a great and
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  Speaker 1: wonderful college, it would be very hard to realize that
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  Speaker 1: it started off with one little shanty with the leaky
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  Speaker 1: roof one teacher and thirty students. From this simple and humble,
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  Speaker 1: but very earnest beginning, Tuskegee grew by leaps and bounds
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  Speaker 1: until it came to be the most remarkable Negro school
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  Speaker 1: in the South. End of chapter seven