The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1912-08-23
THE CALL FOR sKILLFUL NEGRO
TRAINING WOMEN.

nFiNItNG WOMG EN-
Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala,
Aug. 17.-Whatever her station in
life, it is pretty certain that sooner or
later the young woman will have
something to do with things domestic.
The few who do not are rare indeed.
Taking this as a fact, not stopping to
argue whether she will be house
wife, a school teacher, a community
worker, or even a business woman,
Tuskegee Institute has so shaped its
course for women that both in gen.
eral way and IN a particular trade,
the girl graduate goes forth ready to
take her place in the world.
The general work all girls who pur-
sue the regular course at Tuskegee
must take. They must know how to
clean and put room in order, how to
set and wait on a table, how to cook
and serve a meal, and how to care
for and handle young children. What
ever their particular trade, these
branches they must study both in
theory and in practice. This work
begins with their own rooms, which
must be kept tidy, at all times sub
ject to inspection. They must attend
cooking classes so many hours per
week, where they take up the theory
of cooking and then actually cook,
under the direction of several compe-
tent teachers. In these classes much
stress is placed on cooking the ordi-
nary dishes, so as to bring more de-
light in the homes of the common
people. Along with this instruction
in setting the table, managing the
meal from the point of view OF a
hostess receives much attention
Then they go away to the student
dining-hall, thence to the teachers
dining-hall where they are required
to serve a certain amount of time put
ting their theories into actual prac-
tice.
A regular room is set apart for the
child-study work. Basinet pillows,
toys and all the material used in an
ordinary nursery are placed at the
disposal Of the girls. The teacher
begins with the study of the child in
its earliest infancy, how to amuse,
battle, dress and care for the infant
in it's earliest stages. The Tuskegee
hospital and the surrounding homes
serve as laboratories for the students
in these classes, They visit, observe
and then do the work themselves.
This course, however, is open to up
per class girls only, and not to those
beginning their course.
With her general work and her AGA
demic work the young women may
choose one of several trades. OF
course young women may pursue
studies of poultry raising, dairying,
fruit growing and the like, as many
are now doing; but the trades open
particularly for girls are: plain sew
ing, dressmaking, ladies' tailoring,
millinery, cooking or domestic sci
ence, soap making laundering, mat
tress-making, basketry, broom making
and nurse training.
In all these trades a fair balance
is struck between theory and prac-
tice. A young woman who works in
the laundry, for example, does not
simply learn to wash and iron. She
learns the various chemicals used in
washing, how to bleach, remove stains
and the like. She learns how to han
die all the up-to-date machinery in the
laundry the washer, the mangle, the
evaporator, machines built especially
for certain garments, for collars or
for shirts. Then she gains business
knowledge of the trade by handling
and checking clothes as they come in
and again checking them and verify
ing them as they 60 out. When, there
fore she receives her certificate, she is
not simply ready to go out and wash
and iron, but to establish a laundry
business, with all modern equipment,