New-York tribune., 1901-03-30
4 SELF-MADE MAN.
THE CAREER OF BOOKER 7. WASH
INGTON.

Mr. Washington was a small boy on VIZ
rInian plantation. the son OF a slave and himself
a slave. when the Civil War broke out His
memories OF that time are nevertheless Gear.
he describes the surroundings in which he ana
his family lived and can vividly recall the sub
aued excitement OF the slaves when talk OF Their
Communication was in the air. when the grape
vine telegraph" carried news Of the war from
one plantation 10 another with mysterious switt-
ness and when al last, the Emancipation Proc
lanation was read from the veranda OF the pig
bouse" as the dwellers in the negro quarters
called the home OF their owner. He makes us
see the members Of his masters family, crowd
ing about 10 witness the episode and observe the
attitude OF the negroes toward the new con-
dition OF affairs In the faces OF the white folks
he saw feeling OF deep interest, perhaps sad
ness but he adds no bitterness. "As now re-
call the impression they made upon me- he
continues they did not the moment seem
20 be sad because OF the loss of property, but
rather because Of parting with those whom they
had reared and who were in many ways very
close TO them" The relations between master and
/ man had been not only close, but sympathetic.
| Mr.. Washington speaks Of the sorrow among
HIS fellow slaves when Mars Billy, one of
their young masters, was killed fighting to keep
their freedom from them; he tells OF their anx-
iety 10 nurse the sons of the house who were
brought home wounded. and altogether paints
DicIQfe OF genuine deNOlOn on the part OF lnS
slaves toward those who possessed them. When
Yankee" invasions were feared at the big
house" the sverware and other valuables were
buried in the woods. and were guarded by the
slaves themselves, who would have died in their
defence. But Mr. Washington can recollect also
being awakened one morning before daylight by
his mother. kneeng over her children and pray
ing that she and they might be free. He thus
describes the situation among his own people
when freedom came:
For some minutes there was great rejoicing
and thanksgiving and wild scenes Of ecstasy
But there was feeling of bitterness. In fact
there was pity among the slaves for our former
owners. The wild rejoicing on the part Of the
emancipated colored people lasted but for brief
period for noticed that by the time they re-
turned 10 their cabins there change in
their feelings The great responsibility Of being
free, OF having charge of themselves. of having
10 think and plan for themselves and their chill
dren, seemed 20 take possession Of them. IL
was very much like suddenly turning youth OF
ten or twelve years out into the world to provide
Tor himself IN Few hours the great questions
with which the Anglo-Saxon race had been
graphing for centuries had been thrown upon
these people 10 be solved.
These were the questions OF home. living
the rearing OF children, education. citizenship
and the establishment and support Of churches
Was il any wonder that within a few hours the
gloom seemed 10 perT-ade the slave quarters
To some II seemed that. now that they in
actual possession Of IL. freedom more seIi-
Gus thing than they had expected TO find it,
old; their tcs' days gone. They had no
strength with aich TO earn a living in a strange
place and among strange people, il they
had been sure where 10 hnd new place of
abode. To this class the problem seemed
pecially hard Besides deep down in their hearts
there was strange and peculiar attachment 10
old marster" and "old missus," and 10 their
children, which they found it hard TO think Of
breaking of. With these they had spent in
some cases nearly half century. and il was no
Light trthing 10 think OF parting. Gradually, one
by one stealthily at first the older slaves began
10 wander from the slave Quarters hack ~ the
'hig house" 10 have whispered conversation
with their former owners as 10 the future.
There is nothing more interesting in Mr..
washington's book than his account of the
struggle made by the slaves to cope with their
new responsibilities The conditions in which
they had lived We're far from resembling those
usually presented by the novelists. There were
no cosey cabins, from which hoated appet!zing
odors Of delicious meals prepared by resplendent
mamnies.' There were cheerless squalid huts:
khere was little food, and that of the plainest
= and hard work early and late was everybody's
portion. When freedom scattered the slaves
and they established their own settlements they
continued the slipshod ways familiar 10 them.
they were poor and ignorant and Mr. Washing.
ton himself grew up accustomed 10 bitter dis
comforts and burdens. Education was hard IN
get at He taught himself the alphabet and
little by little obtained some slight schooling
When he heard Of Hampton his soul was on fire
~ PiOOeeu ihlther ana NJ hlmsolf for a career OF
some sort he hardly knew what by obtaining
genuine education IL took time. and heart
breaking work to win his desire He Was s,a
hundred miles away from his goal when he
started Tor IT, and much Of the wsy he traversad
on loot often hungry aid sleeping sometimes in
the streets. arrived al Hampton he endured
further pIivatons but also he met General
Armstrong, and under the auspices OF mar d.
voted soul for whose noble character ne char
ishes The profoundest love. he developed rapidlv
the natural resources which have made mir, The
effective champion Of his race.
he writes with delightful oan6or No, hool,
leaInins alone, he lets US know has enabled hin,
20 carry On his splendid work al Tuskeeee Frror,
the start he has been a believer in the sunrs,,a
Importance OF life itself as the erest teacher
ana m striving to uplift the negro he taLas
pains to bring home 10 him not only tn. vaiue %
stndN but the virtue of baths OF tidiness in all
thrgs of unoeasing industry in every direction
HeaHh moral and physical, he breaches with no
ieSs ferNor than he uses when advocating the
ofoinary forms Of education. He is hopeful Of
his race, because ne has witnessed i,s a,n,os,
passi0hateiS eager endeavor 10 raise itself 20 n
hsner plane When he first Wen, 10 Hamnto,
he witnessed the keenest enthusiasm, ,,,,or,- .t
students for everything that their wise teachers
wished them 20 DO and ever since he has watched
ms people steadily and hungrily working ,oV,sra
netter things. or his own share in fos,,f-
the progressive elements among the narro,s -
Nt''ss Win perfect modesty, and. in fact an
Pn'oush ms autobiography he seems 10 cara
more ABOUT ms work and his fellows than ahou,
h'fhseh hut patient. brave and very vtnnin,,
personaiity is clearly reflected in these pages
STORIES ABOCT rERDI