New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-11-15

he had no last name, but was simply
the property of the man who owned his
mother.
Years later he appropriated the sur
name Washington, and later, following
information given by his mother, added
the middle initial T.. standing for
Taliaferro.
When the end of the Civil War
brought emancipation 10 Virginia the
freed woman aad her little boy moved
70 West Virginia There the mothe'
married, and her child went 70 work in
a salt furnace, labOring from I o'clock
in the morning until long after dark.
Barrels Were His Primers.
Long hours 81 toll and sordid sur
roundlngs could rot Kill the passion for
education which was born in him.
Stenc.lled addresses on the barrels he
.a.4cc 10 and f-o al the furnace were
Booker Washington's first primer. Then
a negro school came to the community,
but the knowledge hungry youth could
not avail himself OF the adv antage be
fore him. lie had TO work 10 keep from
starving For TINE he endeavored 70
work az day am attend night school.
Some little learning he gathered IN this
way, and this only Thetted his eager
ness FOR more.
A. he grew older and stronger as
stcpfather found work FOR him in 4
coal mine All chance Of snstching an
education in of hours was now lot,
and for several years he labored I'M
derground without any chance 10 bet
ter himself
One day, while at work, he heard
~ antion Of Hampton institute, the n
dustrial school for negroes, then in
~ infancy. Booker Washington had
At last found certain information re-
gar3lng his paradise" Here was
place where negro men and women
might receive education and pay foc
Il out of their labors In the fields
ana shops.
With renewed hope. the young man
continued his work, scraping together
and saving every cent he could. AT
last. lily noursheG and worse clad,
with a bare handful Of painfully treas
ured change IN his pocket, re turned
his face east, and started from the
small hamlet in West Virginia Tor
Hampton.
Part Of the time he walked, paus-
ing on the way 20 do any odd Jot5
d lift a few miles along his road. Rare
lv he travelled By steam. Yet when
he reached Richmond he was weak.
hungry and penniless. He slept that,
night with pile of sand for bed AND
a wooden Sidewalk overhead as his oniy
shelter The next morning. cnfed, be
haunted the docks until he obtained
lob. For q week he laDored there,
returning at night 10 his sand Del
beneath the Sidewalk. When he judged
he had enough money he set out again
for Hampton.
He reached the institution, worn,
ragged and tired. with fifty cents in
his rocket The teacher 20 whom he
applied for admission looked OF him
doubtfully and then set him 20 sweep
ing out o. q classroom. 81.
~ swept tina. room out four times,
DR.. Washington said in after years,
"and then ! busted it half dozen
times more. When the teacher returned
she went over the woodwork with her
handkerchief and then said TO me. i
think YOU will do well in this school.
With his ideal OF an education WITHIN
his grasp the young negro dld n)e
stop In his large dreams for the fui are.
with the frs. steps IN his personal ad-
vancement came tie broader conception
of an advancement and improvement
for his race following mis- graduation
from Hampton be studied for time at
the Wayland Seminary. az Washington,
and then retur1ei TO his alma mater as
a teacher.
Throuzhout the strife and bitterness
Of reconstruct or he kept mis- vision
clear and straight lie did not mingie,
a. did so many r MS fellows with a
little knowledge, in the politics OF the
war-ruined Southern states. FOR a
time he thought Of entering the MN
i.try. but the knowledge that so many
Of The negro preachers Of the time were
inefficient and lazy led him 10 refrain
and direct his energy 20 the broader
field o. race education.
His opportunity came 10 him in 1881,
when he was called BY state officials to
take charge Of trc failing negro school
"a, Iuskegec. Ala. He acct pied, and
went South 20 Get his life's work.
Begins Crest Life Fight
Conditions in the weak. primitive in
etitute were enough 20 have DIS
couraged a far more influential man
than Booker Washington was AZ this
umc There were no buildings owned
By .he school. The educational system
was utterly useless for race on the
,bTeehold Of slavery. Men and women
were taught French and mathemstics
and the elassic1. and were then turned
out on The world utterly unable 20 DO
skilled labor Of my kind.
borrowing $3.50 fro-i friend as
part payment for a war-seourged plan
taton. Dr. Washington instituted the
deals which were 20 make Tuskegce
the great institution II has become.
4 The schools new property consisted Of
1000 acres Of land. a stable and a
chicken house. Washington estsb-
lshed the PROFESSIONAL department Of
the institute IN he chicken coop,
which he had cleaned ard white
washed with his own hands, and tho
informed me students that, by their
,ro-l 30 thc 6clda hey we've 20 pav
for their education and help ra.s,
he 1,oebtedness u the school. Stormy
he ,food hrm and supervised IN
4 5rctes, greeted this encouragement. 9u-
farming, as well az handling prac.i-
j ..fI. all the instruction.