The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-03-07
WHAT THE NEGRO CAN DO.
Exhibits from Tuskeegee and Hamp.
ton Institutes.
Fine Specimens of the Industrial Work
in Both Schools Now Displayed in New
York-Furniture, Harness, Carriages,
TaiIormade Gowns, and Underclothes.

Great crowds in New York have
recently paid visits to the Victoria
Hotel stores at Fifth avenue
to Twenty -seventh street to see the exhi-
bition of work done by the Negro and In
dian students in the Hampton and Tuskee-
gee institutes. The exhibit attracted great
deal of attention at the Atlanta Exposition,
and was brought here by the Armstrong As
ISOLATION, of which William Jay Schieffelin is
President, to extend public interest in the
work for the negroes in the two schools, and
to show those who have contributed to their
support just what is done with the money.
The Hampton exhibit is in the store facing
Fifth avenue and is under the supervision
of C. FL. Stokes, graduate of the class of
81. Mr.. Stokes is assisted by several other
graduates who never seem to tire of:explain-
ing the work OF their alma matter and set
ting forth her needs On entering the door
the visitor notices first a huge India ink
picture, done by teacher in the Hampton
Institute. 1t shows the institute buildings
giving distinct idea Of their location on
an arm of the Chesapeake Bay, two miles
from Fort Monroe. The fifty buildings ac-
commodate 500 negro boarding pupils, 140 In
dians, and 300 primary day scholars.
work from the two schools, which have in
view the training of the heads and hands of
the students SO that they will start out in
the world as practical men and women,
that they exelaim, s'But this is special work,
done for the Exposition, and no doubt the
students spent months over it, This is not
true. The quartered oak tables, hat racks,
chairs, desks and other pieces of furniture,
Ia;D II
dresses, are fair samples of the everyday
work of the students. When asked what was
done with the furniture turned out by the
students, Mr.. Stokes said:
ga good bit of it is used in furnishing the
institute, and then individuals who know
the excellent quality of our furniture buy it
from us. We haven't had up to this time the
facilities for doing work in this department
to place us in general competition, but when
we get our new trade school, for which we
are working, we hope to make every de-
partment self-supporting. If people could
only be made to realize how much this trade
school is needed Now we can take only
a limited number of pupils in the industrial
departments, and they must be connected
with the normal, whereas, when we get the
new trade school the large number who al
ready have fair literary education can en-
ter the trade department.. Every student,
whether a trade student or not, is required
to take manual training, and the result of
the work speaks for itself on these walls,
where the draughts are to be seen side by
side with the articles made from Them
The academic work is shown by large
screen, illustrating methods and results in
teaching geography, history and sociology.
At the left of the screen is.a large map of
the ground Jpn which the school buildings
stand, showing each building and its uses.
Then there are historical and political
maps of every country in the world, to-
gether with a series Of maps showing the
distribution of races. On the table beneath
the screen are objects made from stiff ma
nilla paper by the students, to be used in
the teaching on form and measures in the
country schools, and charts for the same
purpose. These things are so simple and
easy of construction that the poorest teacher
in the back woods district can make them.
On this table also are uncorrected papers
handed in by the classes, from the sociology
papers of the graduates to the writing les
sons of the 1rst-year children.
The exhibit of the carpenter and repair
shops attracts perhaps more attention than
any other. 1t consists of handsome solid
furniture, which, In its finish shows what is
doing in the painting and upholstery depart
1nents. A large mahogany sideboard was
built by two students who have been in the |
shop two years. The harness shop, to which |
special attention is devoted, has sent sever
al sets of single and double handmade har-
ness. 1t is represented also in the leather |
work and upholstery of UNDERGROUND |
ban-bearing trotting buggy and child's |
pony phaeton, which took the first prize in |
Atlanta. Two cases of tools, one forged out |
by hand and the other made and polished |
by machinery by the student blacksmiths, |
are worthy of mention, and series of hubs,
spokes and rims, from the rough to the |
wheel, shows the thoroughness Of each step
in the one struction of vehicles
The women who visit the exhibition are
especially enthusiastic over two wrought |
iron lamp stands from the machine shop, |
while the men pay more attention to a large
drill press, half horse power engine with
governor attached, wheelbarrow, truck, |
and other things such as are manufactured
regul arly for the market. The female stu
dents have sent specimens of their skill |
with the needle, beginning with the work
in darning and patching, and ending with
the tailor-made uniforms worn by the male
students, and a handsome siIk-lined gown |
The fine handwork on several sets of IN
derclothing and childr ems garments, the
buttonholes and other minute details of
finish show the best thorough work done in
this department IT.
"The girls also do fine work in the print |
ing department" said Mr.. Stokes, sand
then they learn to become trained nurses
and have lessons in domestic science. in |
oluding fine cooking and laundering. Agri- |
culture is taken up scientifically at Hamp- |
ton, and we have $50 acres connected with
the institute grounds which we use for ex-
periments while 800 acres, four and one half
miles away, are under practical cultivation |
We raise our own stock, poultry and most of
our vegetables necessary
The exhibit is in the room facing Broad |
way, and is under the supervision of r. r. |
Taylor, an instructor in drawing When a |
person examines this exhibit it is almost i'm |
possible for him to believe that the Tus5ee- |
gee Normal and Industrial Institute was |
opened i'll 1881 in church in the Black Belt |
of Alabama, where the colored people out |
number the white three to one, with thirty