Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-24
BUILDING DEDICATED
Manual Training School Edi-
flee Formally Set Apart.
ORDER OF EXERCISES
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON SPEAKS
FOR CoLORED RACE.
Opening Address by Commissioner II.
B. F. acknowledgements
ton Of Portraits.
ORDER OF EXERCISES

Booker T. Washington, who has become
national factor in the cause of education
for the colored youth of the United States,
made the principal address at the dedication
of the Armstrong Manual Training School,
on street between 1st and I'd streets, this
afternoon DIR. Richard Kingsman, repre-
senting the board of education, presided at
the exercises which were held in the beau
tiful new building that has just been COM
pleted. and there were presnt, in addition
to the pupils who have been enrolled, many
residents of the District of Columbia who
are interested in furthering manual train
ing.
In calling the assemblage to order at
o'clock, Dr. Kingsman felicitated the col
ored people of the city on the new build
ing that will be devoted to the interests of
their children. The school sang Holy,
Holy Holy, Lord God Almighty after
which Mr.. H. B. F. mcfarland, president of
the board of Commissioners Of the District
of Columbia, was introduced.
Commissioner Macfarland's Address.
Mr.. Mcfarland opened by saying:
The spirit must be educated-yes. The
mind must be educated-yes. But the hand
must be educated also. And the three lines
OF education are not and cannot be abso-
lutely separable. Certainly the best train
ing for the hand, representing the body
and all physical activity, is through the
spirit while of course, there can he no
training of the hand except through the
mind Indeed, complete education is i'm
possible without the training of spirit, mind
and body. Wise kings realize this, and
give such training to their sons and daugh-
tiers. The sovereign citizens of this republic
would do well to follow their example
Continuing, he said: Until such perfect
education is given the children of the re-
public the public schools cannot be eX-
ptcted to end the moral evils of the coun-
try. We must have learned professions
there are far more than the original three
and must have especially learned teach
ers and ministers, just as we must have
poets and philosophers. But the great ma
jority of any people must emphasize the
training of the hand, because they must live
and keep the race alive by their handiWork.
They can be trained in spirit and in mind,
but they must be trained in hand. Indus
trial independence means financial indie
pendenCe, and anything else means slavery
by whatever name you call it.
Therefore, the necessity of schools of
manual training. From the humblest be-
ginnings this school has moved to this
perfect building. 1t is typical of the race
for which 1t stands in the progress which
It has already made and in the promise
which rises bright before it. Nothing is
more hopeful in the prospect of that race
than the recognition its part of the
necessity for such training this school
gives. Not, let me emphasize, that it means
that the spirit and the mind are not to be
cultivated as well as the hand. On the
contrary, they must be cultivated or the
hand cannot be trained. The man behind
the hand is a spirit, intelligence, and
will do better work in proportion to the
completeness of his preparation. Let him
learn that he Is working q spirit and
not a machine. Let him know that the
poorest man is more than the dearest ma
chine. Let him labor as under the COM
mand of God, and so make drudgery di-
vine
Students working with eager earnestness
In that spirit here Will show themselves
worthy of the noble name which this build
ing bears Samuel Chapman Armstrong
was burning and shining light, radiat-
ing the warmth Of love and the illumination
of wisdom And all that he did was done
with his might, as unto God and not unto
men. He was very perfect gentle knight,
full Of strength and sagacity. full of ten
derness and sympathy. He did more than
any other man. in his work at Hampton,
to give spiritual and physical independence
to those who had been slaves, and their
children after them. Ten millions Of .peo-
pie of African descent in this country may
well rise up to call him blessed, through
their representatives here today. and
pecially through that man of color who
ceived a double portion of his spirit and of
his wisdom, and who has shown most prom
inently. what others have shown in their
measure of the results, of Armstrong; la
bors and prayers.
And we who are of Armstrong; race
and must lift up those ten millions If we
would not be dragged down TO moral death
ourselves may well join with them in their
praise Of him"
Given an Ovation.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic was
sung with will by the school, after which
Mr.. Washington was introduced. He was
accorded an ovation when he arose TO
speak. In part he said:
mo name could more fittingly have been
given to this new school, whose purpose 1t
Is to train the hand as well the head
and heart, than that of Armstrong Few
are there IN this country. 1t occurs to me,
who doubt the fact that Gen. Samuel Chap
Armstrong did more to teach Amer
lean educators. north and south. and the
men of all races the value Of hand train
ing than any other American who has ever
lived.
AT first there were many Of my race
who viewed work with the hand with sus-
picion. and expressed objection thereto be-
cause they feared that II a kind of ed
ucation that was to be applied for the ben
eft of black youth alone: but at the present
moment universal and popular has the
idea become that all races. In all parts of
the world are asking for 1t with degree
OF earnestness that has never been equaled
in the educational history OF the world.
I'm behalf OF my race. l want to thank
the public school authorities of the District
of Columbia for their foresight in providing
for the black children of Washington this
attractive, this substantial, manual train
ing building. and for its elegant equipment.
In doing this l sure that 1 voice the
sentiments of the negro people of the Dis
trict. ! would also especially thank DIR.
W. Bruce Evans for the energy, courage
and faith which have been shown by him,
and which are responsible largely for what
we now see here.
Past and Present.
The past and the present of my race is
part OF American life which should attract
and hold the thought. the sympathy and
the active aid of all thoughtful and serio is
citizens. No one not member of race
can fully appreciate all the conditions that
have surrounded us from the beginning OF
our freedom till now-more than thirty
hve years ago. But a few years ago we
were, so to speak, new race, thrust sud
denly, projected into the midst of an older
one. We were without that material foun-
dation and that experience which this other
race had been centuries in gaining. We
saw every side evidences of a highly
polished civilization. and. in many cases
luxuries. and without stopping to inquire
how these had been secured, It was not
strange that many Of our people yielded to