New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-05-28

the English language correctly. the statement
'ound Judgement in my mind and stayed there.
into words clearly enough to express instructive
disagreement with my teacher. this definition did
young ears. and l had reasons for feeling that
to teach him to read and write While this
scheme OF education was being held up before me
the commonest necessaries OF life. and working
day and night 20 give me chance TO go to school
ior two or three months OF the year. Ana my
foremost aim in going 20 school was TO learn WAYS
durable. and. II possible. even attractive, for my
There were several boys OF our neghborhood
who had superior school advantages. and who. In
where they were called ''educated which meant
parents pare were not far removed from the conditions
IN which my mother was living and could no. not
alone fitted 10 help in the immediate needs
OF relieving the hard times at home THIS idea;
come 10 have the feeling that to be free boy
work with the hands. and that this status APP
piled especially 10 the educated boy.
Soon after this the boy had chance to work
for a wealthy woman Of the neighborhood who
had the reputation Of being so particular that
the other boys never succeeded IN remaining
with her for more than week He found on
acquaintance that all she wanted was for him TO
do we'll the simple things she set him 10 do. She
demanded cleanliness. truth and promptness
This seemed to him stern programme. and
discouragement was only overcome by the
promise that II he pleased her he might go 10
school nights. He had hard struggle 10 cut
the lawn to suit with a hand scythe and keep
the flower beds trim. but. he says when saw
and realized that all this creation Of my
own hands. my whole nature began to change.
/ felt a self-respect an encouragement and
satisfaction that 1 had never before enjoyed or
thought possible" For the first time he came in
touch with what he considered the real things Of
life He began to lay awake nights trying TO
decide upon the prettest curves for the flower
beds. and to feel that any imperfection in his
work was dishonest He came 10 feel the Joy of
work and it's power in the development OF char
acter While I have never wished" he says. Ito
underestimate the awakening power OF purely
mental training. l believe that this visible. tan
gible contact with nature gave me inspirations
and ambitions which could not have come I'm any
other way favor the most thorough mental
training and the highest development Of mind.
but want TO see these linked with the common
things Of the universal life about our doors"
IN this spirit. quite much with the aim
Of helping the negroes along the nearest road TO
prosperity. TuskePee has been developed. Mr..
Washington pays tribute 10 the general cordi-
ality OF the Southern white people toward the
idea Of negro education. and corrects the notion
sometimes Pvt forth that the favor shown TO his
work is due TO it's supposed tendency TO keep the
negro in subordination He says that when
TuskePee was established most of the white peo-
pie took It for granted that he would teach Latin
and Greek. and nobody opposed this. The
schools for negroes managed by Southern white
people almost invariably offer higher instruc-
tion in purely academic branches. The Tus-
kegee scheme not spontaneously welcomed
by the white South. but it has become the basis
OF united and sympathetic interest between the
two races at the South and the whites at the
North and South. 1t means the conquest of
idleness and vice. which the bane OF the
negroes themselves and those among whom they
live. and the development of the wealth of the
whole South A prosperous. moral negro popu-
lation is the great need Of both races. and the
only way to secure it is by training every negro
10 start right from the point where he is and
Make the land that he stands on the hammer
at his elbow the instrument Of his salvation.
Mr. Washington had much prejudice on the
part of his own students TO overcome. When he
first told the boys he wanted them to go with
him into the field they were reluctant. They
were ashamed to work with their hands espe-
cially to be seen working by the girls Long
after this feeling had been overcome Mr.. Wash
ington saw the women IN the English agri-
cultural colleges learning gardening. bee keep
ing and poultry raising and concluded that
such outdoor work offered the greatest posi-
bilites for money. health and pleasure TO the
negro women of the Southern countryside
whose activities sadly limited. When he
proposed it at the school the girls who were
learning cooking and sewing could hardly be In
duced 10 take up what they thought degrading
employments for women. but finally he con-
WINGED them OF the dignity Of such work and
showed them the larger aspects OF such in
dustrial development for their race. Both men
and women everywhere in the South are learn
he he
product of a sweet potato patch. TO raise. by
knowing how. more cotton from the sand OF the
Appalachian foothills than white men commonly