The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-05-31
Opening Southern Ewes.

VEN the South it seems, is be
ginning to discover the merit
IL from the point Of view of it
own welfare, in the worl
which Booker Washington is doing il
educating the black man to be of us,
to society. The other day the Atlant;
Constitution printed II letter from
staff correspondent on observation.
annd results at Tuskegee which Is no.
table. 1t was the correspondents frs
visit to the Booker Washington school
and while to some extent he insists
upon the conventional southern point
of view that the environment at Tus-
| kegee is exceptional and that the negro
as ordinarily situated in the South is fl,
only for the fate meted out to him. he
cannot help showing enthusiasm over
| Tuskcgee Listen:
'ln this community are some loo
| male and females who are being
| equipped for the duties of life. They
come from all classes and conditions of
| life. Many arrive ut the institute in
abiect poverty. without the means to
pay the small tuition which is charged.
The most unpromising are soon
whipped into condition. Each is given
Il practical education. Each is taught
Il trade. All are I'M kulcated with ideas
of morality. thought. cleanliness. in
dustry and discipline. No false ideas
are preached. The dominant note
which one hears from morning until
night is the dignity of work. The aver
age student. coming from the most pow
erty-strcken surroundings, soon catches
space of IA few months Il wonderful
transformation takes place. Order
comes out of chaos. The habits of a
lifetime are reversed.
"'rhe result of all this is an ideal neg
TO community. The expression IAN ideal
negro community will give but vague
idea to the average southerner. ! have
visited many college towns and studied
the work of many colleges. / have new
er seen one which apprOXimates Tus-
kegee in many respects. During the
two days spent ut Tuskegee ! never
heard the suggestion of profanity, I did
not detect the semblance of immoral
ity, and the bosterousness and disor-
der which one instinctively associates
with the negro was absolutely lacking.
Perfect order neatness, self-respect
and absolute polteness prevailed every
where. The absurd affectation of the
average educated negro was not no.
ticeable. These negroes had been edu-
Gated in the broadest and best sense.
All sides Of them had been developed
and the best had been brought out.
There was no suggestion of il SUPER
fetal veneer which temporarily hides
all the original crudities. The visit was,
as said in the beginning. revelation.
The same revelation is in store for any
southern man who will take the trouble
to visit Tuskegee."
While the correspondent of the At
lanta paper emphasizes the fact of the
the environment at Tuskegee he is man
enough to admit that what can be done
in one place can be done in another:
1T will be urged that Tuskegee is an
exceptional case and that one can form
no idea of the net result of negro in
dustrial education from this isolated
example. This Is not true. In the
state of Alabama the results of the
ruskegee spirit are becoming manifest
ed everywhere. Similar schools. on a
small scale, founded by Tuskegee
graduates, are springing up in many
sections. All of these schools are an
nually turning out men and women
who are making better carpenters, bet
Ter blacksmiths, better cooks, nurses. |
farmers and better men |
and women. The South owes Booker |
Washington a lasting debt of gratitude. |
II the rank and file of his race will fol-
ow his ideas, the race question will |
eventually become thing of the past"
1t Is certainly encouraging to read
n southern newspapers literature like
his. We trust that there will be more
If it.