Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-03-24

1
, within itself. The students have put up
nearly forty buildings; and, as Mr. Wash.
lnston explains, skill and knowledge are
now handed down from one class 10 an
other. until at the present time a build
ing OF any description or size can be con-
structed wholly by Tuskegec ins,rnctors
and students, from the drawing of the
plans to the putting in of the electrical
mixtures without going off the grounds
for single workman" The students
make carriages and farm implements
desks. dining and bedroom furniture and
clothing. In short. they support them
selves while acquiring AN education and
they learn the trades needed I'm n we'll
OrgariZed community
| II is in these shops and on the farm that
the students tried out If A man or
woman will stick to the work through
thick and thin, win an education by sheer
force of muscle and brain. that man or
woman is ALMOST sure to be a credit to
Fuskegcc. The brickyard is perhaps the
severest test of all. If "a boy comes. pen
niess, appealing for an education he Of
zen ,hderSoes ms probation in the brick
YARD. In case he shows the pluck and
strength to endure the back breaking toll
thing of 'o'"e
So much stress has been laid unon tbs
agricultural and industrial training tint
one fancicS the school work Of the ordi
nary Kind is slIbordinatcd As a matter
OF TACT, however. the instruction. so far
as IL goes. is exceedingly thorough Pr
| pllS are expected upon entrance IN he
ablc TO read. write, and understand addi
| tlon substraction, multiplication. and di-
| VISION. Inc sciences, mathematics. and
| tne so-called English branches. are car
iled through what corresponds roughly to
our nigh school grades. but neither an
tGlent nor modern foreign Languages have a
| pIaee IN the curriculum. In all the classes
| mere is distinct purpose to connect the
| S.uIeS with daily pursuits; to write the
| EnSilsh compositions on experiences in
n rmh S ;I1i or on III farms to apply the
In he La,
every day life, such as cooking, soap
making. dlSlnfecting a sick room and de-
stroylng garden pests. The excellence of
visitors.
All the staff are negroes or have negro
blood IN their veins, some of them must
ana 'e exert eaTiy oppor tn, and yet
the teaching as a wholes is more skiiify,Ii
IMAM that in any public school in New
York city Mr.. and Mrs. Washington
nave gathered an unusual faculty. The
instructors. whatever the extent of their
acknowledgement some are graduates of
our best Northern universities-have re-
cciVcd severe drill in the art of teach
ing. For success in exposition in happy
Illustration, in holding the attention Of a
class and in stimulating ambition, Mr..
aShinGton need not fear to match them
| against all corners. The precision of their
III onunciation and the distinction of their
manners are also worthy Of note Mr.
washington has. of course. chosen the
whom he could find. and has given them
the highest advantage at Teachers Col
lege in New York. at Harvard. or at Yale.
Thus it happens that the book learning.
though properly limited in extent, is like
the manual labor. exhaustive.
The night school is intended to help
| those who have little or no money. A
boy or girl can work ten hours Il day and
| tnen attend night school. BY this process
II is possible TO accumulate a money credit
on the books of the Institute, and in time
1 n phnn ~. ,I.,,v l,p.I,,,
has less work with his hands and more
| time to study. This night school. like the
brick yard, helps to weed out the unfit.
Those who can stand ten hours in field or
| shop and still have energy left for books
| are the kind that it pays to educate
| Mr.. Washington feels very justly that
| the opportunities belong to those who can
|proft by them. The institute contains be-
| tween l 400 and 800 pupils and 100 have
been turned away within a year for lack
| OF accommodations. The result is that
the students are picked body. That
fact is obvious to any one who sees them
| gathered in chapel; they are neat. erect.
alert. gathering of whom all friends Of
| FuskeSee may well be proud. Many have
come from the most wretched homes.
| where they have been reared in filth and
Ignorance. They have no family tradition
of learning or virtue to spur them on:
| and yet, though without ancestry they
are knit together in Il strong ambition to
| have a record which will be on honor to
the race and an incentive to stlll higher
| effort
| This is. after all, the most encouraging
| thing about Tuskegce. 1t is true that
| Mr.. and Mrs. Washington arc people OF
| Extraordinary intelligence and force; that
| they have gathered staff of unusually
| able teachers; that they have built up a
| great educational plant and that In or
| ganizlng and energiZing vast enterprise
| they have shown a skill that is winning
| every year a wider recognition. The sig
| nificant thing, however. is not the bril-
liant achievements of individuals or small
/ groups, but the steady supply of colored
youth who deserve the opportunities here
| offered. When one looks upon the stu.
| dents of Tuskegee and upon the men and
| women who have attended the recent con
| ferences here. one realizes that MT
| Washington is not drea ming when he talks
of the day when his race shall he recog-
| niZed as q sober. industrious, and sen
| respecting element in the commonwealth
| with the virtues of sturdy yeomanry'
| The students, he feels are but representa-
| tives of thousands of this generation ana
| millions of the next He rests on the as
| surance that though there has seldom
/ been time when Tuskegec has been IN
| greater need of money. the faith and inc
/ courage which have sustained him anu
/ his helpers in the past are as deeply
| rooted ever; and that when ms al,n
| shall fall other hands are ready ana aDie
| to carry forward the torch.