The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-05-06
SOMETHING ABOUT
 BOOKER I. WASHINGTON
Noted Colored Educator Is to Deliver Address at
 South Church May Il

People generally like to hear of men
 who have triumphed over difficult CIT
 cumstances There is probably no
 more striking illustration of men or
 this type than Booker T. Washington.
 From his inspiring and fascinating
 autobiography. up from Slavery, the
 subioined incidents are taken. MT.
 Washington is to speak in this city Of
 his work in, educating the Southern
 negroes. He will give the address in
 the South Congregational church. We'd
 nesday evening, May II.
 Speaking of slavery days and the
 beginning of his life this foremost man
 of his race says: "I was born a slave
 on a plantation in Virginia. I am
 not quite sure of the exact place or
 date of my birth but suspect I must
 have been born somewhere and at
 some time. As nearly as I have been able to learn. I was born near a cross
 roads post office called Hale's Ford,
 and the year was 1858 or 1S59y The
 earliest impressions I have are of the slave quarters on the big plantation. "Of my ancestry I know almost
 nothing I have heard of the tortures my mothers ancestors suffered on the slave ship while being brought from Africa. . I do not even know the name of my father. Whoever he was,
 never heard of his taking the least in terest in me or providing in any way for my rearing.
 OtUr CdDln was nIdUo lOSS. IL was 14 by 16 feet in size. Mother was the plantation cook. The cabin had no glass in the windows. The open l ings let in the chilly air of winter.
 The door hung crookedly. In a lower l corner of the room was the "cat-hoie." I never could understand the necessity for this convenience. since there were : at; least 8 half-dozen other places in ! the cabin that would have accoIhmo-
 dated the cats. My brother. sister and I slept in and on bundle of filthy rags on the dirt floor.
 "I cannot remember single instance in my boyhood when our entire fafrily sat down to the table together, had blessing, and ate a meal in a civilized 1 manner. The children got their meals
 like animals. niece of bread here and a scrap of meat there. When I was older I had to go to the "big house"
 at meal times to fan away the flies from the table. One day I recall sec ing the young ladies eating ginger cakes in the yard The sight was so free the height of my ambition would be reached when I could get and eat ginger cakes as those ladies did. My first pair of shoes were wooden ,ones. very awkward. But the most ] trying ordeal was the wearing of flax shirt. It was made of refuse flax. It was torture to put it on for the first time. It felt like a dozen chest
 nut burrs. Or a hundred pin points, in contact with the flesh. Had I my choice I should have worn no covering
 at all. One of the most generous acts
 my older brother John ever did was to "break in" a new flax shirt for me.
 AS a rule the negroes did not only entertain no feelines of bitterness against the whites before and during
 the war, hut there are many instances wherein they tenderly cared for their former masters and mistresses who had become poor and independent since
 the. war. None the less the slaves did
 desire freedom. They recognized that
 the great question in the conflict was
 their emancipation. By means of the
 grape vine teleeraph'' the negroes kept in close touch with the progress of events. As they slowly gained con- fidence they were not afraid to let it be known that the freedom in their songs referred no longer only to the next life but freedom of the body in this world.
 "F'inally the Emancipation Procla-' nation was read to all of us assem- 1 bled about the masters house. We were told that we were free to go when and where we pleased. For some min utes there was wild rejoicing and scenes of ecstasy. It lasted among the colored people but for a brief time. Then a deep gloom seemed to pervade i the quarters. Freedom was a more
 serious thing than they had expected i to find it. In few hours the ques- | tions with which the Anglo Saxon race | had been grappling for centuries had I been thrown upon these people to be 1 solved. These were the questions of l a home. living. rearing children, education. citizenship. the establish | ing and supptrt of churches. Was it | surprising that the first shouts of joy
 were turned into silent thought? One | bV one StoalthilV at first the older slaves began to wander back to the ''big house. to have whispered con- versation with their former owners as 1 to the future"