The sun., 1905-09-03

Miss Cornelia Bowen, q graduate OF 1uske
gee, who has built up little Tuskegee
OF her own. She was born, on the ground
where Tuskegee Institute now stands, and
her mother. was In slavery. ,s..
Alone she went into the plantation region
OF Waugh, Ala, fourteen years ago, mere
girl. It was a community OF illiterate
negroes, living In one room cabins, owning
not foot OF ground, working cotton land
on shares. their crops mort gagged before
they were In the ground, living In poverty,
wastefulness and ignorance.
There was q public SCHOOL,, open three
months in tho year. but the extent towhich
it had been taken advantage OF may be
Judged by the fact that out Of 400 colored
children In the community only hve
could read. To-day there Is in this commun-
ity a boarding and day school, the Mount
Meigs Colored Institute, which has, four
we'll equipped buildings and ss7 enrolled
pupils.
The colored people Of this small and poor
community have themselves paid ,7s5
for one of these buildings, and out OF this
community comes $500 year in tuition
fees. Some 500 acres Of land are now owned
at Waugh by oolored men. where fourteen
years ago there was not one.
Comfortable homes have been erected,
money saved and the mode OF life is
changed. A visitor watching the morn
ing influx into the school now would think
the children came from city homes, 80 neat,
clean and we'll Glad are they. ..,t.
Numbers of the: graduates have gone
away to Tuskegee, or to other institutions
OF higher learning Numbers OF them are
married and settled In Waugh, and their
we'll kept homes testify to the influence
OF the school. Pupils are taken to the
eighth grade and taught wheelwrighting
blacksmithing. carpentry, sewing. cook
ing, general housework and general farming
Il has all been done by Miss Bowen.
She created the school and was its only
teacher until she could raise money to pay
another She has collected the money
for all the buildings and land. She raises
money each summer In the North to run
her school during the following year.
Booker T. Washing gton is one OF the trustees
of her school. William E. Peck OF 1l6
Broad street and Noah G. Rogers OF 81
Nassau street, this city, are two others.
How did I do it," said Miss Bowen.
"T wanted to do something for my people:
7 chose Waug because IT was very thickly
with no uplifting influences.
"The people raised only cotton. not bit
of food. They lived entirely out OF the
stores, and were always in debt. They
worked land on shares and paid the rent IN
cotton and the crop was mortgaged long
ahead. .
"Home life was at q deplorably low ebb.
The women worked in the fields. They
I(a
cleaned their houses, they never washed
their children. .,., .,--,
immortality was rife, for exactly the
same reason thatl your, economists say 1t
Is In your slum tenements-from over.
crowding, The whole family lived and
slept in one room. The first and greatest
need of the Southern negro is-to get him to
the point where no will haxe two rooms IN
his cabin. in many csses the father did
nothing whatever. for the family. He
simply lived there. The ;lmothsr worked
the land and supported him and the family
But when the crop was harvested and
settlement time came, It was he who settled
with the owner OF the land and pocketed
the surplus. The mother raised the crop,
but she never handled = cent Of the money.
To-day there h not q man in that COM
m,lnity who does not do something toward
the support of his family. How did do it?
7 shamed the men, and taught the women
to stand UP for their rights. l have
preached the doctrine always that either
the man ought to support his family or else
the wife ought to have the handling Of the
money.
MANY OF the men have built comfortable
cabins. Twenty Of them own farms ag-
eregatink 500 acres. and land is SIS an acre
there. 1t was ~ fourteen years ago.
"One great means to this prosperity
has been diversified crops. They raise
corn, potatoes, rice. cane and peas now
They are too far from market to market
these crops. But they live on them. and
this saves mortgaging their cotton at the
stores and il more healthful besides.
when began l went from house to
house and taught the women how to make
their beds, scrub their floors, cook; every
thing a woman should know. And all the
time talked to men and women to rouse
their ambition, their sef-respect and race
pride. .
Il still keep Saturday for my visiting day
throughout the year. | asked them all il
they wanted school of their own, a little
Tuskegee. met with general and hearty
response. All wanted it and promised
to do what they could to pay for 1t.
II was very fortunate in that Black
communities in the South are just as dH.
ferent az individuals. Some are eager
to grasp opportunities when they are
offered. Others care nothing about them
1t is just the same with Southern white
communities. Some are permeated with
a spirit OF kindly interest in the welfare
OF the negro. Others laugh at everything
the negro tries to do. can't explain it
but think the spirit has been inherited
from leading white families In the earlier
days They stamped the sentiment ol
the community. and this sentiment ha,
persisted year after year. There is one
leading white family nsAr Stsligh TO which
we are much indebted fd 0Ssyery thing.
well. lived alone in aone room log cabiI
at frst. Then a man in Connecticut LEM
me ~, ,735 for my first building. a two stor,
frame. He lent ~ v;sith5,IU1nterest, to bt
repaid when we could ''"'' ''" .',
Il cont suppose he ever expected tc sc.
s. his money again. but the negroes Of Waugh
paid. .eysri aePf IN scysa ysars. .~sndl ! have
! the receirNsto sho~ for it.. =