Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-02
GALA DAY AT TUSKEGEE
CoMMENCEMENTa EXERCISES AT
NOTED coEDRED INSTITUTE.
City and Plantation Folk Came From
Miles Around = Douglass
Dormitory dedicated.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
TUSKEGEE. Ala, May 26, 1904.
Today occurred the commencement exer-
cises or the Tuskege6 Institute. In honor
OF the occasion farm and plantation. town
ana city sent more than a thousand repre-
sentatfves. A special car brought large
company of distinguished white citizens of
montgomery the elite Of white society In
IusKegee were present, and white people
came from all nearby cities and towns. A
train OF eight cars arrived at the grounds,
bringing colored people from Birmingham.
Montgomery, Atlanta, Selma, West Point
and numberless scattered villages and
towns.
But more interesting than these sophis-
tcated city folk were the country people,
the plantation negroes. They came by hun
dreqs, some stoutly afoot, some on peppery
little horses. some astride ponderous mules,
some In Homeric oxcarts, some in fimsy
puggies, and some in great. numbering
wagons The van Of the gay cavalcade ar
rived at the school grounds shortly after
sunrise. and the rest of the column came
up soon after. All turned into the schools
ample drill ground to tie up the animals
ana DISPOSE of the vehicles for the day.
ana to these visitors. white and black,
ricn ana poor, were handed the keys of the
town: All day long the visitors were en-
tertained with Industrial and academic ex-
nlolts; with song and speech; all day long
they looked and wondered.
At IL am. the commodious adrls dorni
Tory, recently erected by a modest donor in
nonor OF Frederick Douglass, was dedicated
WIN appropriate exercises. The building
rs OF brick, two stories high. with generous
plazzas on three sides. The dedicatory ex-
erclses were held in the assembly hall of
the building. The program included intro
auS'ory remarks by Elizabeth Thompson
ana an address by Mrs. j. B. Bruce The
dedicatory grafton was delivered by Charles
n N douglass Of Washington, D. c., son of
frederick Douglass.
Exercises in the Chapel.
Inc commencement exercises began in the
chapel at O'Clock. At LAS the trustees.
oihcers ana teachers of the school formed
Al t"os IN front of the library building. the
siri pupils line four abreast in front of
ALABAMA Hall. and the battalion of boys
IN 'front.' or the administration building. To
martial music the column moved toward
Inc chapel. The senior class followed
the9 the group of teachers moved for
ward In column of twos, Mr. Booker T.
washington, the principal and Mr. Lewis
Adams. the oldest trustee, leading. AT
the chapel the students had halted and
formed In TWO lines thirty feet apart, the
boys at salute. Between them the column
Oh teachers passed. This ceremony was
more than formal; 1t was a simple express
sion OF the genuine respect existing be-
The program Of the commencement exer-
clses included number of attractive fea-
lures, songs being rendered by the choir
ana schooi chorus with music by the
school orchestra. The salutatory after
Tuskegee, What?" was read by Upshur
Lloyd Knox of Baltimore. How Can the
Southern Village School Uplift its Commu-
nltyH' was the topic of paper read by
Rosa Lee Howard Of MONTGOMERY Ala
Other papers by the students were: How
Can Better Built Homes Contribute to the
Uplift of the Classes2' by A. r. Stewart
Darien. Ca; "a Cabin Interior and What a
by William H. Cash. Flovilla. Ga; What
Has Tuskegee Extension Work Done for
the South?" by Moses Smalls, Darlington,
s. c.; valedictory, How Can the Farmer
by Sanford H. Lee, Brockton, Ala. The
graduate address was delivered by Eliza
beth b. Wright, 81, OF Denmark, 8. c.
The commencement address was delivered
by Mr.. ]. Z. Bush of Little Rock Ark.
Principal Washington presented the diplo-
mas and certificates.
The Students Addresses.
The dominant note in the students ad-
dresses was social service. There was
nothing academic and inapplicable in the
ideas presented. For example, William
Cash talked with answering common sense
of certain inexpensive means Of converting
a cabin interior into home. He showed
himself well equipped to answer the de-
mand that is everywhere arising in the
black belt for more comfortable cabins.
Moses Smalls outlined Tuskegee's extern
sion work. "Tuskegee extension work." he
said, possesses value not on account of
its past, but on account of its future; not
because 1t embOdies past sacrifices but be-
cause it promises future satisfaction as an
instrument of social and Industrial regen-
Grafton"
In further illustration of the fact that
Tuskegee eQuips young men and women for
life not in Utopia. but in Alabama and
Mississippi, and the darkest corners there
of, the address of Rosa Howard. a city
girl, upon the ways in which a village
school may uplift its community was no
ticeable. Her emphasis was upon enrich
ing the poverty stricken curriculum with
manual training, nature study, gardening
and the elements of agriculture not merely
because Of the unquestioned educational
values of these subjects, but also because
of their industrial value; and upon the
teachers seeking to organize the social life
of the community upon sound principles,
tactfully restraining grossness and unob-
trusively proffering new and nobler sources
nf 0r1inx nd