Evening star., 1931-04-15
|TUSKEGEE INSPIRED
| BY HOOVER'S TALK
Applause Sweeps Gathering
as White House Speech
Ends Jubilee.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

over the 1000 men and women assem-
bled In Booker T. Washington Chapel
at Tuskegee Institute last night as
President Hoover began speaking to
them over the radio from the study In
the White House, where President Lin
coin signed the emancipation procla-
nation.
The galleries Of the little church, the
aisles. even the porticos, were packed
to capacity. Students who had been
plowing in the cotton field behind the
church left the plow in the furrow to
stand on the lawn so they might hear
the Presidents message. Boys and girls
came from the laundries of TuSkegee
and from the institutes shops and
kitchens. Among them were many
other colored men and women, some Of
whom had come from Chicago and New
York, some Of whom had walked from
Chehaw and Notasulga, to be present
at so great an occasion.
Words Heard Distinctly.
When DR.. Robert r. Motion. principal
OF Tuskegee, arose to announce, Ladies
and gentlemen, the President OF the
United States" the only other sound
to be heard was the song Of q mocking
bird which sat on a sycamore limb not
far from Booker T. Washtngton's grave.
The Presidents distinct words were
broadcast through the building from q
microphone which had been placed on
the pulpit above DR.. WaShington's Bible.
For 10 minutes there was no sound
other than the voice Of the President.
Then Mr.. Hoover completed his address.
Rising, DR.. Motion announced, Nov We
may applaud"
A great wave Of applause swept
through the chapel and. under the di-
rection of VILLAIN L. Dawson, director
of music at Tuskegee, every one began
singing "Hallelujah, we are climbing
Jacobs 1adder!"
the celebration of the first half CEN
tury of Tuskegees effort. It was the
second time q President Of the United
States had officially greeted the insti-
tute and its people. President Roose-
velt spoke in person In the same pulpit
in 1905. Mr. Taft, when Secretary Of
War, came to this little town In 1905
for Tuskegee'S twenty-fifth jubilee, and
Mr.. Coolidge, then Vice President, was
here in 1923.
DR.. III. A. Garfield Present.
On the platform this afternoon be-
side DR.. Motion sat DR.. Harry A. Gar.
field, president of williams College. The
last public address his father, James A.
Garfield, delivered. was at Hampton In
stitute, in Virginia, the school at which
Booker T. Washington received his
training. 1t was at Williams that Gen.
Samuel Armstrong, founder Of Hampton
and teacher Of DR.. Washington, received
his degree.
The students and visitors to Tuskegee
gathered in the chapel two hours be-
fore President Hoover began his address.
They first heard the Rev. DR. Arson
Phelps Stokes, canon of Washington
Cathedral, deliver the Founders day ad-
dress. 'Tuskegee," he said, 'is the
very highest example that can give Of
Negro potentialities and efficiency" It
may be said Of Tuskegee in relation to
Of the University Of Virginia, in rela-
ton to Thomas Jefferson, "The insti-
tuition Is essentially but the heightened
shadow of one man." DR.. Motion, he
declared, during his term Of admin
"has completely justified him.
self as DR.. Washington's successor"
The development Of Tuskegee under
DR.. Motion has been "an evolution
rather than revolution" DR.. Stokes
continued. 9He has stood for steady
progress in adjusting Tuskegee to meet
Negro today and the changed con-
ditionS in the South. Educational
standards, under his regime, have been
greatly improved; the college depart
ment has been started, many buildings
Of permanent construction and much
equipment have been added; the en-
dowment has been quadrupled so that
it now is about $8,000,0 900, the morale
of the student body has been fully
maintained at its highest level, and
the salaries and educational qualiflca.
tions of the faculty substantially raised.
"Two-thirds Of century out Of
slavery" Canon Stokes continued, els
but o fragment Of time in the evolu-
ton of mankind. That progress has
been so amazing Is due in no small
part to this and similar institutions
and to the changed attitude Of the
white people toward Negro education.
There Is high ground for optimism"
Mrs. B. B. Cobb Of TuSkegee, whose
father helped DR.. Washington in the
latter's early years, followed DR.. Stokes.
Simply and, as Canon Stokes afterward
said, beautifully and philosophically,
she, q member of an old Southern fam
lily, assured the gathering that in our
great land of Dixie there exists love
and brotherhood. We will find our
way out" DR.. William jay Schiedelin
of New York, Canon Stokes and DR..
Garfield stood up to shake hands with
Mrs. Cobb as she sat down. In the
audience there were cheers. Many said
her speech was the best heard at TLs-
kegee since the celebration began.
After the choir had sung king Jesus
Is a-Listening," DR.. Motion began his
address, which was broadcast over the
Nation. He paid an almost worshipful
tribute to DR.. Washington.
Praises DIR. Washington.
- %Sa.YI A1Jl - A.. A-..n.1~.~~.
in Honolulu, sending their
son. Samuel. to Williams, where he
might sit under Mark Hopkins, whose
was to put the head and
hand to work in unity, for self-support,
for Self-realizatton, for the advance
ment of the world"
Mark Hopkins, DR.. GARFIELD declared,
Inspired Samuel Armstrong, Samuel
Armstrong taught Booker T. Washing
ton and Booker T. Washington equipped
Robert Morton for his great work.
In clear words DR.. Garfield declared
cdr. Washington set forth the dig
nifty, the beauty and the civilizing
power of intelligent labor and stated
the object Of Tuskegee in unforgettaoie
words, namely, to teach the Negro to
lift labor out of drudgery and toll by
putting thought and skill into It, the
education of the head, the heart ana
the hand must go together.
Then q hush fell over the audience
as DR.. Morton announced:
"I have the distinguished honor OF
presenting the Hon. Herbert Hoover,
friend of all humanity"
It was amid this solemn quiet that
Mr.. Hoover began saying 1t was the
privilege Of the President Of the United
States to congratulate the institute on
Its fiftieth anniversary.
Happy and inspired, the students,
after Mr.. Hoover had finished, went