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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d21ae2d --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60484 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60484) diff --git a/old/60484-8.txt b/old/60484-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 74c24da..0000000 --- a/old/60484-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5815 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Character Building, by Booker T. Washington - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Character Building - Being Addresses Delivered on Sunday Evenings to the Students - of Tuskegee Institute - -Author: Booker T. Washington - -Release Date: October 13, 2019 [EBook #60484] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARACTER BUILDING *** - - - - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, MFR, Martin Pettit and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -CHARACTER BUILDING - - - - -OTHER BOOKS - -BY - -BOOKER T. WASHINGTON - -"UP FROM SLAVERY" -"THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO" - - -[Illustration: _The Chapel at Tuskegee Alabama._ - -WHERE THESE ADDRESSES WERE DELIVERED. - -DESIGNED BY A MEMBER OF THE FACULTY, AND BUILT BY THE -STUDENTS.] - - - - -CHARACTER -BUILDING - -BEING ADDRESSES DELIVERED -ON SUNDAY EVENINGS TO THE -STUDENTS OF TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE - -By -BOOKER T. WASHINGTON - -[Illustration: Logo] - -NEW YORK -DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY -1902 - - - - -Copyright, 1902, by -Booker T. Washington -Published June, 1902 - -Printed by Manhattan Press, -New York, U. S. A. - - - - - TO THE - OFFICERS AND TEACHERS OF - The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute - WHO HAVE UNSELFISHLY AND LOYALLY - STOOD BY AND SUPPORTED ME - IN MY EFFORTS TO BUILD - THIS INSTITUTION - - - - -PUBLISHERS' EXPLANATION - - -Mr. Washington's habit has for many years been to deliver a practical, -straightforward address to the students of Tuskegee Institute on Sunday -evening. These addresses have had much to do with the building up of -the character of his race, for they are very forcible explanations -of character building. The speaker has put into them his whole moral -earnestness, his broad common-sense and, in many places, his eloquence. -Many of Mr. Washington's friends have said that some of these addresses -are the best of his utterances. - -They have an additional interest because they show him at his work and -give an inside view of the school. - -This volume is made up of selections from these addresses chosen by Mr. -Washington himself. - - - - -PREFACE - - -A number of years ago, when the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial -Institute was quite small, with only a few dozen students and two or -three teachers, I began the practice of giving what were called Sunday -Evening Talks to the students and teachers. These addresses were always -delivered in a conversational tone and much in the same manner that I -would speak to my own children around my fireside. As the institution -gradually grew from year to year, friends suggested that these -addresses ought to be preserved, and for that reason during the past -few years they have been stenographically reported. For the purpose of -this book they have been somewhat revised; and I am greatly indebted -to my secretary, Mr. Emmett J. Scott, and to Mr. Max Bennett Thrasher, -for assisting me in the revision and in putting them into proper shape -for publication; and to Mr. T. Thomas Fortune for suggesting that these -addresses be published in book form. - -In these addresses I have attempted from week to week to speak straight -to the hearts of our students and teachers and visitors concerning the -problems and questions that confront them in their daily life here in -the South. The most encouraging thing in connection with the making of -these addresses has been the close attention which the students and -teachers and visitors have always paid, and the hearty way in which -they have spoken to me of the help that they have received from them. - -During the past four years these addresses have been published in the -school paper each week. This paper, _The Tuskegee Student_, has a -wide circulation among our graduates and others in the South, so that -in talking to our students on Sunday evening I have felt in a degree -that I was speaking to a large proportion of the coloured people in -the South. If there is anything in these addresses which will be of -interest or service to a still wider audience, I shall feel I have been -more than repaid for any effort that I have put forth in connection -with them. - -BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. - -Tuskegee, Alabama. - - - - -CONTENTS - - -TWO SIDES OF LIFE 3 - -HELPING OTHERS 11 - -SOME OF THE ROCKS AHEAD 19 - -ON INFLUENCING BY EXAMPLE 27 - -THE VIRTUE OF SIMPLICITY 33 - -HAVE YOU DONE YOUR BEST? 43 - -DON'T BE DISCOURAGED 51 - -ON GETTING A HOME 57 - -CALLING THINGS BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES 63 - -EUROPEAN IMPRESSIONS 71 - -THE VALUE OF SYSTEM IN HOME LIFE 81 - -WHAT WILL PAY? 87 - -EDUCATION THAT EDUCATES 95 - -THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING RELIABLE 103 - -THE HIGHEST EDUCATION 111 - -UNIMPROVED OPPORTUNITIES 119 - -KEEPING YOUR WORD 133 - -SOME LESSONS OF THE HOUR 141 - -THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE 149 - -YOUR PART IN THE NEGRO CONFERENCE 157 - -WHAT IS TO BE OUR FUTURE? 165 - -SOME GREAT LITTLE THINGS 173 - -TO WOULD-BE TEACHERS 181 - -THE CULTIVATION OF STABLE HABITS 187 - -WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO 193 - -INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY 203 - -GETTING ON IN THE WORLD 213 - -EACH ONE HIS PART 217 - -WHAT WOULD FATHER AND MOTHER SAY? 225 - -OBJECT LESSONS 233 - -SUBSTANCE VS. SHADOW 239 - -CHARACTER AS SHOWN IN DRESS 245 - -SING THE OLD SONGS 251 - -GETTING DOWN TO MOTHER EARTH 259 - -A PENNY SAVED 267 - -GROWTH 277 - -LAST WORDS 283 - - - - -CHARACTER BUILDING - - - - -TWO SIDES OF LIFE - - -There are quite a number of divisions into which life can be divided, -but for the purposes of this evening I am going to speak of two; the -bright side of life and the dark side. - -In thought, in talk, in action, I think you will find that you can -separate life into these two divisions--the dark side and the bright -side, the discouraging side and the encouraging side. You will find, -too, that there are two classes of people, just as there are two -divisions of the subject. There is one class that is schooling itself, -and constantly training itself, to look upon the dark side of life; -and there is another class, made up of people who are, consciously or -unconsciously, constantly training themselves to look upon the bright -side of life. - -Now it is not wise to go too far in either direction. The person -who schools himself to see the dark side of life is likely to make -a mistake, and the person who schools himself to look only upon the -bright side of life, forgetting all else, also is apt to make a -mistake. - -Notwithstanding this, I think I am right in saying that the persons -who accomplish most in this world, those to whom on account of their -helpfulness the world looks most for service--those who are most useful -in every way--are those who are constantly seeing and appreciating the -bright side as well as the dark side of life. - -You will sometimes find two persons who get up in the morning, perhaps -a morning that is overcast with shadows--a damp, wet, rainy, uninviting -morning--and one of these persons will speak of the morning as being -gloomy, will speak of the mud-puddles about the house, of the rain, and -of all of the disagreeable features. The second person, the one who -has schooled himself to see the brighter side of life, the beautiful -things in life, will speak of the beauties that are in the rain drops, -and the freshness of the newly bathed flowers, shrubs and trees. -Notwithstanding the gloomy and generally disconsolate appearance of -things, he will find something attractive in the scene out of doors, -and will discover something in the gloomy morning that will cheer him. - -Suppose that you see these same two persons eat their breakfast. -Perhaps they will find out that the rolls are bad, but that the coffee -is excellent. If the rolls are poor, it is a great deal better in such -a case to get into the habit--a habit that you will find pays from -every standpoint--of being able to forget how unpalatable they are, and -to let your thoughts dwell upon the good and satisfactory coffee. Call -the attention of your near neighbour at the table to the excellence -of the coffee. What is the result of that kind of schooling? You will -grow up to be an individual whom people will like to see coming near -them--an individual to whom people will go for encouragement when the -hours are dark, and when everything seems to be discouraging. - -In just the same way, when you go into the class-rooms to recite your -lessons, do not dwell upon any mistakes that you may think you see the -teacher make, or upon any weakness in the presentation of the lesson. -All teachers make mistakes sometimes, and you may depend upon it that -it is an excellent teacher and a person of fine character who, when -he or she has made a mistake, says frankly and plainly, "I have made -a mistake," or "I don't know." It takes a very good and a very bright -teacher to say, "I don't know." No teacher knows everything about -every subject. A good teacher will say frankly and clearly, "I don't -know. I cannot answer that question." - -Let me tell you, right here, too, that when you go out from here -to become teachers yourselves--as a large proportion of you will -go--whenever you get to a point where a student asks you a question -which you are not able to answer, or asks you something about a -subject on which you are not well informed, you will find it better -to say frankly and honestly, "I am unable to answer your question." -Your students will respect you a great deal more for your frankness -and honesty. Education is not what a person is able to hold in his -head, so much as it is what a person is able to find. I believe it was -Daniel Webster who said that the truly educated man was not the one -who had all knowledge in his head, but the one who knew where to look -for information upon any subject upon which at any time he might want -information. Each individual who wishes to succeed must get that kind -of discipline. He must get such training that he will know where to go -and get facts, rather than try to train himself to hold all facts in -his head. - -I want you to go out from this institution so trained and so developed -that you will be constantly looking for the bright, encouraging and -beautiful things in life. It is the weak individual, as a rule, who -is constantly calling attention to the other side--to the dark and -discouraging things of life. When you go into your classrooms, I -repeat, try to forget and overlook any weak points that you may think -you see. Remember, and dwell upon, the consideration that has been -given to the lesson, the faithfulness with which it was prepared, -and the earnestness with which it is presented. Try to recall and to -remember every good thing and every encouraging thing which has come -under your observation, whether it has been in the class-room, or in -the shop, or in the field. No matter where you are, seize hold on the -encouraging things with which you come in contact. - -In connection with the personality of their teachers, it is very -unfortunate for students to form a habit of continually finding fault, -of criticising, of seeing nothing but what the student may think -are weak points. Try to get into a frame of mind where you will be -constantly seeing and calling attention to the strong and beautiful -things which you observe in the life and work of your teachers. Grow -into the habit of talking about the bright side of life. When you meet -a fellow student, a teacher, or anybody, or when you write letters -home, get into the habit of calling attention to the bright things of -life that you have seen, the things that are beautiful, the things that -are charming. Just in proportion as you do this, you will find that -you will not only influence yourself in the right direction, but that -you will also influence others that way. It is a very bad habit to get -into, that of being continually moody and discouraged, and of making -the atmosphere uncomfortable for everybody who comes within ten feet of -you. There are some people who are so constantly looking on the dark -side of life that they cannot see anything but that side. Everything -that comes from their mouths is unpleasant, about this thing and that -thing, and they make the whole atmosphere around them unpleasant for -themselves and for everybody with whom they come in contact. Such -persons are surely undesirable. Why, I have seen people coming up the -road who caused me to feel like wanting to cross over on to the other -side of the way so as not to meet them. I didn't want to hear their -tales of misery and woe. I had heard those tales so many times that I -didn't want to get into the atmosphere of the people who told them. - -It is often very easy to influence others in the wrong direction, and -to grow into such a moody fault-finding disposition that one not only -is miserable and unhappy himself, but makes every one with whom he -comes in contact miserable and unhappy. The persons who live constantly -in a fault-finding atmosphere, who see only the dark side of life, -become negative characters. They are the people who never go forward. -They never suggest a line of activity. They live simply on the negative -side of life. Now, as students, you cannot afford to grow in that way. -We want to send each one of you out from here, not as a negative force, -but as a strong, positive, helpful force in the world. You will not -accomplish the task which we expect of you if you go with a moody, -discouraged, fault-finding disposition. To do the most that lies in -you, you must go with a heart and head full of hope and faith in the -world, believing that there is work for you to do, believing that you -are the person to accomplish that work, and the one who is going to -accomplish it. - -In nine cases out of ten, the person who cultivates the habit of -looking on the dark side of life is the little person, the miserable -person, the one who is weak in mind, heart and purpose. On the other -hand, the person who cultivates the habit of looking on the bright -side of life, and who calls attention to the beautiful and encouraging -things in life is, in nine cases out of ten, the strong individual, -the one to whom the world goes for intelligent advice and support. I -am trying to get you to see, as students, the best things in life. Do -not be satisfied with second-hand or third-hand things in life. Do not -be satisfied until you have put yourselves into that atmosphere where -you can seize and hold on to the very highest and most beautiful things -that can be got out of life. - - - - -HELPING OTHERS - - -There are a few essential things in an institution of this kind that I -think it is well for you to keep ever before you. - -This institution does not exist for your education alone; it does not -exist for your comfort and happiness altogether, although those things -are important, and we keep them in mind; it exists that we may give you -intelligence, skill of hand, and strength of mind and heart; and we -help you in these ways that you, in turn, may help others. We help you -that you may help somebody else, and if you do not do this, when you go -out from here, then our work here has been in vain. - -You would be surprised to know how small a part of your own expenses -you pay here. You pay but little; and by reason of that fact it follows -that as trustees of the funds which are given to this institution, we -have no right to keep an individual here who we do not think is going -to be able to go out and help somebody else. We have no right to keep a -student here who we do not think is strong enough to go out and be of -assistance to somebody else. We are here for the purpose of educating -you, that you may become strong, intelligent and helpful. - -If you were paying the cost of your board here, and for your tuition, -and fuel and lights, then we should have a different problem. But so -long as it is true that you pay so small a proportion of your expenses -as you do, we must keep in view the fact that we have no right to -keep a student here, no matter how much we may sympathize with him -or her, unless that student is going to be able to do somebody else -some good. Every young man and every young woman should feel that he -or she is here on trust, that every day here is a sacred day, that it -is a day that belongs to the race. Our graduates, and the majority of -the students that have gone out from here, have ever had an unselfish -spirit, and have been willing to go out and work at first for small -salaries, and in uncomfortable places, where in a large degree -conditions have been discouraging and desolate. We believe that kind of -spirit will continue to exist in this institution, and that we shall -continue to have students who will go out from here to make other -persons strong and useful. - -Now no individual can help another individual unless he himself is -strong. You notice that the curriculum here goes along in three -directions--along the line of labour, of academic training, and of -moral and religious training. We expect those who are here to keep -strong, and to make themselves efficient in these three directions, in -each of which you are to learn to be leaders. - -Some people are able to do a thing when they are directed to do it, but -people of that kind are not worth very much. There are people in the -world who never think, who never map out anything for themselves, who -have to wait to be told what to do. People of that kind are not worth -anything. They really ought to pay rent for the air they breath, for -they only vitiate it. Now we do not want such people as those here. We -want people who are going to think, people who are going to prepare -themselves. I noticed an incident this morning. Did you ever hear that -side door creak on its hinges before this morning? The janitor ought -to have noticed that creaking and put some oil on the hinges without -waiting to be told to do it. Then, again, this morning I noticed that -after it had been raining hard for twenty-four hours, when it was wet -and muddy, no provision had been made to protect the hogs at the sty, -and they were completely covered with mud. Now the person who had -charge of the sty should not have waited for some one to tell him to -go down there and put some straw in for bedding and put boards over -the sty to keep the animals dry. No one in charge of the hogs ought to -have waited to be told to do a thing like that. The kind of persons we -want here are those who are not going to wait for you to tell them to -do such things, but who will think of them for themselves and do them. -If we cannot turn out a man here who is capable of taking care of a pig -sty, how can we expect him to take care of affairs of State? - -Then, again, some of you are expected to take care of the roads. I -should have liked to have seen boys this morning so much interested -in working on the roads that they would have put sawdust from this -building to the gate. I should have liked to see them put down some -boards, and arrange for the water to drain off. We want such fellows -as those here. The ones we want are the ones who are going to think -of such things as these without being told. That is the only kind of -people worth having. Those who have to wait to have somebody else put -ideas into their minds are not worth much of anything. And, to be plain -with you, we cannot have such people here. We want you to be thinkers, -to be leaders. - -Yesterday, and the night before, I travelled on the Mobile and Ohio -railroad from St. Louis to Montgomery, and there was a young man on -the same train who was not more than twenty years old, I believe, who -recently had been appointed a special freight agent of the road. All -his conversation was about freight. He talked freight to me and to -everybody else. He would ask this man and that man if they had any -freight, and if so he would tell them that they must have it shipped -over the Mobile and Ohio railroad. Now that man will be general freight -agent of that road some day: he may be president of the road. But -suppose he had sat down and gone to sleep, and had waited for some one -to come to him to inquire the best way to ship freight. Do you suppose -he would ever have secured any freight to ship? - -Begin to think. If you cannot learn to think, why, you will be of no -use to yourself or anybody else. Every once in a while--about every -three months--we have to go through the process of "weeding out" among -the students. We are going to make that "weeding out" process more -strict this year than ever before. We are compelled to get rid of every -student here who is weak in mind, weak in morals, or weak in industry. -We cannot keep a student here unless he counts for one. You must count -one yourself. You eat for one, you drink for one, and you sleep for -one; and so you will have to count for one if you are going to stay -here. - -I want you to go out into the world, not to have an easy time, but to -make sacrifices, and to help somebody else. There are those who need -your help and your sacrifice. You may be called upon to sacrifice a -great deal; you may have to work for small salaries; you may have -to teach school in uncomfortable buildings; you may have to work in -desolate places, and the surroundings may be in every way discouraging. -And when I speak of your going out into life, I do not confine you to -the schoolroom. I believe that those who go out and become farmers, and -leaders in other directions, as well as teachers, are to succeed. - -The most interesting thing connected with this institution is the -magnificent record that our graduates are making. As the institution -grows larger, we do not want to lose the spirit of self-sacrifice, the -spirit of usefulness which the graduates and the students who have gone -out from here have shown. We want you to help somebody else. We want -you not to think of yourselves alone. The more you do to make somebody -else happy, the more happiness will you receive in turn. If you want -to be happy, if you want to live a contented life, if you want to live -a life of genuine pleasure, do something for somebody else. When you -feel unhappy, disagreeable and miserable, go to some one else who is -miserable and do that person an act of kindness, and you will find that -you will be made happy. The miserable persons in this world are the -ones whose hearts are narrow and hard; the happy ones are those who -have great big hearts. Such persons are always happy. - - - - -SOME OF THE ROCKS AHEAD - - -I feel sure that I can be of some degree of service to you to-night, in -helping you to anticipate some of the troubles that you are going to -meet during the coming year. "Do not look for trouble," is a safe maxim -to follow, but it is equally safe to prepare for trouble. - -All of you realize, of course, that where we have so large a machine -as we happen to have here--when I speak of machine in this way you -will understand that I refer to the school--it takes some time to get -it into perfect order, or anything bordering upon perfect running -order. Now, I repeat, it is the wise individual who prepares himself -beforehand for the day of difficulties, for the day of discouragements, -for the rainy day. It is the wise individual who makes up his mind -that life is not going to be all sunshine, that all is not going to be -perpetual pleasure. What is true of everyday life is true of school -life; there are a number of difficulties which it is probable you are -going to meet or which are going to meet you during the coming school -year, and which, if possible, I want you to prepare yourselves against -as wisely as you can. - -In the first place, a great many of you are going to be -disappointed--if this has not already been the case--in the classes -to which you will be assigned. The average individual thinks he knows -a great deal more than he does know. The individual who really knows -more than he thinks he knows is very rare indeed. When a student -gets to the point where he knows more than he thinks he knows, that -student is about ready to leave school. I wish a very large number of -you had reached that point. I repeat, numbers of you are going to be -disappointed during the year as to the classes to which you are going -to be assigned. - -Now, I want to give you this advice. Before you go to an institution -examine the catalogue of that school. The catalogue will give you all -the information about the school. Then make up your mind whether or -not you have faith in that institution. Find out if it is the school -you wish to attend, and then decide if you have faith enough in it to -become its pupil. Then, if you have once done this, make up your mind -that those who are placed over you as your teachers have had more -experience than you can have had, and that they are therefore able to -advise you as to your classes. Make up your mind that if you are asked -to go into a lower class than you think your ability entitles you to go -into, you are going to follow the advice and instruction of the people -who are older than you and who have more education than you have. - -Another way in which you are going to be disappointed, and be made -homesick, perhaps, if you have not already been made so, is in the -rooms to which you are going to be assigned. You are going to get -rooms that you do not like. They will not be, perhaps, as attractive -as you desire, or they will be too crowded. You are going to be given -persons for room mates with whom you think it is going to be impossible -to get along pleasantly, people who are not congenial to you. During -the hot months your rooms are going to be too hot, and during the -cold months they are going to be too cold. You are going to meet with -all these difficulties in your rooms. Make up your mind that you are -going to conquer them. I have often said that the students who in the -early years of this school had such hard times with their rooms have -succeeded grandly. Many of you now live in palaces, compared to the -rooms which those students had. I am sure that the students who attend -this school find that the institution is better fitted every year to -take care of them than it was the year previous. From year to year -there has been a steady growth in the accommodations, and that is all -that we can wish or expect. From year to year we do not forget that it -is our duty to make students more comfortable than in previous years, -and we are steadily growing, in that direction. But notwithstanding all -this we cannot do all that we want to do. - -Make up your minds, then, that you are going to find difficulties in -your room, in reference to your room mates, the heat, the cold, and any -number of things that concern your stay in the buildings. But in all -these matters keep in mind the high purpose for which you came here--to -get an education. Get that thought into your heart and body, and it -will enable you to be the master of all these little things, all these -minor and temporary obstacles. - -Many of you are going to be disappointed in regard to your food. -Notwithstanding all the care we may try to take, and want to take, -many of you are going to be disappointed in this respect. But how -little is the meaning of one meal, how little a thing is being -inconvenienced by one meal, as compared with something that is going -to be a part of you all the remainder of your lives. It is not for the -food, the room, or the minor things that you have come here; it is to -get something into your minds and hearts that will make you better, -that will stand by you and hold you up, and make you useful all through -life. - -Some of you are going to find it difficult to obey orders. Sometimes -orders will be given you which you think are wrong and unjust. Perhaps -orders will be given you sometimes that really are unjust. In that -respect no institution is perfect. But I want you to learn this lesson -in respect to orders--that it is always best to learn to obey orders -and respect authority--that it is better ten times over for you to obey -an order that you know is wrong, and which perhaps was given you in a -wrong spirit or with a mistaken motive. It is better for you to obey -even such an order as that, than it is for any individual to get into -the habit of disobeying and not respecting those in authority. - -Make up your mind that if you want to add to your happiness and -strength of character, you are, before all things else, going to learn -to obey. If it should happen that for a minute, or five minutes, one of -your fellow-students is placed in authority over you, that student's -commands should be sacred. You should obey his commands just as quickly -as you would obey those of the highest officer in this institution. -Learn that it is no disgrace to obey those in authority. One of the -highest and surest signs of civilization is that a people have learned -to obey the commands of those who are placed over them. I want to add -here that it is to the credit of this institution that, with very few -exceptions, the students have always been ready and willing to respect -authority. - -I want you to see, as I think you will see, that having a hard time, -running up against difficulties here and there, helps to make an -individual strong, helps to make him powerful. This is the point I -want to make with you; that one of the reasons you are here is that -you may learn to overcome difficulties. I have named some that you may -expect to meet, but I have not named them all. They will keep springing -up all the time. Just in proportion as you learn to rise above them -and trample them under your feet, just in that proportion will you -accomplish the high purpose for which you came here, and help to -accomplish the purpose for which this institution exists. - - - - -ON INFLUENCING BY EXAMPLE - - -A few evenings ago, while in Cincinnati, I was very pleasantly -surprised after speaking at a large meeting to be invited by a company -of young coloured men to attend for a few minutes a reception at their -club room. I expected, when I went to the place designated, to find a -number of young men who, perhaps, had hired a room and fitted it up -for the purpose of gratifying their own selfish pleasures. I found -that this was not the case. Instead, I found fifteen young men whose -ages ranged from eighteen to twenty years, who had banded themselves -together in a club known as the "Winona Club," for the purpose of -improving themselves, and further, for the purpose, so far as possible, -of getting hold of other young coloured men in the city who were -inclined in the wrong direction. I found a room beautifully fitted up, -with a carpet on the floor, with beautiful pictures upon the walls, -with books and pictures in their little library, and with fifteen of -the brightest, most honest, and cleanest looking young men that it has -been my pleasure to meet for a long time. - -It was a very pleasant surprise to find these young men, especially -in the midst of the temptations of a Northern city, in the midst of -evil surroundings, banded together for influencing others in the right -direction. - -These young men came together, and at their first meeting said that -they were going to band themselves together for the purpose of -improving themselves and helping others. They said that the first -article in their constitution should be to the effect that there should -be no gambling in that club; that there must be no strong drink allowed -in that club, and that there should be nothing there that was not in -keeping with the life of a true and high-minded gentleman. - -I repeat that it was very pleasant and encouraging for me to find such -work as this going on in Cincinnati. What was equally gratifying, and -surprising, was that at the close of the reception they presented me -with a neat sum of money which they had collected, and asked that this -money be used to defray the expenses of some student at the school here. - -Now the point I especially want to make to-night is this: all of you -must bear in mind the fact that you are not only to keep yourselves -clean, and pure, and sober, and true, in every respect, but you owe a -constant responsibility to yourself to see that you exert a helpful -influence on others also. - -A large proportion of you are to go from here into great cities. Some -of you will go into such cities as Montgomery, and some, perhaps, will -go into the cities of the North--although I hope that the most of you -will see your way clear to remain in the South. I believe that you -will do better to remain in the country districts than to go into the -cities. I believe that you will find it to your advantage in every -way to try to live in a small town, or in a country district, rather -than in a city. I believe that we are at our best in country life--in -agricultural life--and too often at our worst in city life. Now when -you go out into the world for yourselves, you must remember in the -first place that you cannot hold yourselves up unless you keep engaged -and out of idleness. No idle person is ever safe, whether he be rich or -poor. Make up your minds, whether you are to live in the city or in the -country, that you are going to be constantly employed. - -In a rich and prosperous country like America there is absolutely no -excuse for persons living in idleness. I have little patience with -persons who go around whining that they cannot find anything to do. -Especially is this true in the South. Where the soil is cheap there is -little or no excuse for any man or woman going about complaining that -he or she cannot find work. You cannot set proper examples unless you, -yourself, are constantly employed. See to it, then, whether you live -in a city, a town, or in a country district, that you are constantly -employed when you are not engaged in the proper kind of recreation, -or in rest. Unless you do this you will find that you will go down as -thousands of our young men have gone down--as thousands of our young -men are constantly going down--who yield to the temptations which beset -them. - -Refrain from staking your earnings upon games of chance. See to it that -you pass by those things which tend to your degradation. Teach this -to others. Teach those with whom you come in contact that they cannot -lead strong, moral lives unless they keep away from the gambling table. -See to it that you regulate your life properly; that you regulate -your hours of sleep. Have the proper kinds of recreation. Quite a -number of our young men in the cities stay up until twelve, one and -two o'clock each night. Sometimes they are at a dance, and sometimes -at the gambling table, or in some brothel, or drinking in some saloon. -As a result they go late to their work, and in a short time you hear -them complaining about having lost their positions. They will tell you -that they have lost their jobs on account of race prejudice, or because -their former employers are not going to hire coloured help any longer. -But you will find, if you learn the real circumstances, that it is much -more likely they have lost their jobs because they were not punctual, -or on account of carelessness. - -Then, too, you will find that you will go down if you yield to the -temptation of indulging in strong drink. That is a thing that is -carrying a great many of our young men down. I do not say that all of -our men are of this class, or that all of them yield to temptations, -because I can go into many of the large cities and find just such men -as those in Cincinnati to whom I have referred. You cannot hope to -succeed if you keep bad company. As far as possible try to form the -habit of spending your nights at home. There is nothing worse for a -young man or young woman than to get into the habit of thinking that he -or she must spend every night on the street or in some public place. - -I want you, as you go out from this institution, whether you are -graduates or not, whether you have been here one year or four years--to -go out with the idea that you must set a high example for every one -in your community. You must remember that the people are watching you -every day. If you yield to the temptation of strong drink, of going -into bad company, others will do the same thing. They will shape their -lives after yours. You must so shape your lives that the hundreds and -thousands of those who are looking to you for guidance may profit by -your example. - - - - -THE VIRTUE OF SIMPLICITY - - -I hope that you all paid strict attention to what Mr. William H. -Baldwin, Jr., who recently spoke to you, had to say. In the few words -that he spoke, I think he told you the platform upon which this -institution has been built. You will remember that he laid a great deal -of stress upon the importance of the institution remaining simple, of -keeping that degree of simplicity and thoroughness that it has always -possessed. - -It is true that in the last few months the institution has come into -a great deal of prominence, and is meeting with what the world calls -"success." But we must remember that very often it is with institutions -as it is with individuals--success may injure them more than poverty. -Now, this institution will continue to succeed, will continue to have -the good will and confidence, the co-operation of the best and wisest -and most generous people in the country, just so long as its faculty, -its students, and all connected with it, remain simple, earnest and -thorough. Just as soon as in any department there are indications -that we are beginning to become what the world calls "stuck up," -just so soon will the people lose confidence in us, and will fail to -support us, and just so soon will the institution begin to decay. We -will grow in buildings, in industries, in apparatus, in the number of -teachers and of students, and in the confidence of the people, just -in proportion as we do what the institution has set out to do; that -is, teach young men and women how to live simple, plain and honourable -lives by learning how to do something uncommonly well. - -When I speak of humbleness and simplicity, I do not mean that it is -necessary for us to lose sight of what the world calls manhood and -womanhood; that it is necessary to be cringing and unmanly; but you -will find, in the long run, that the people who have the greatest -influence in the world are the humble and simple ones. - -Now, we must not only remain humble, but we must be very sure that -whatever is done in every department of the school is thoroughly done. -Any institution runs a great risk when it begins to grow--to grow -larger in numbers or larger in any respect. It can succeed then only -in proportion as those who have responsibilities are conscientious in -the highest degree. We can succeed in putting up good buildings only in -proportion as every one performs well his part in the erection of each -building. We can succeed only in proportion as the student who makes -the mortar, who lays the bricks, puts his whole conscience into that -work, and does it just as thoroughly as it is possible for him to do -it. If he is mixing mortar, he must do it just as well as he can, and -then, to-morrow, must do it still better than he did it to-day, and the -next week better than he did it this week. The student who lays the -bricks must learn to lay each brick as well as it is possible for him -to lay it, and then do still better work on the morrow. - -We must remember, too, that we have a certain amount of responsibility -to care for our buildings, and that a great deal of interest should -be taken not only in putting up all our buildings thoroughly, but in -looking out for their preservation as well. We must see to it that the -buildings which the students have worked so hard to erect, and which -generous friends have so kindly enabled us to secure, are not marred in -any way. You must make new students know that this property is yours, -and that every building here is yours. No student has any right to mar -in any way what you have worked so hard to erect, and your friends have -been generous enough to provide. If you find a student drawing a lead -pencil across a piece of plastering which you have put on, you must -let that student know that he is destroying what you have worked hard -to create, and that when he destroys that building he is destroying -something which students yet to come should have the opportunity of -enjoying. - -We want to be sure that in every industry, in every department of the -institution, there is simplicity, humbleness, thoroughness. Whatever -is intrusted to you to do in the industrial departments, in the class -rooms, be sure that you put your whole heart into that thing. - -We do not expect to have fine, costly buildings, nor do we want to -have them. But we do expect to have well-constructed buildings, and -attractive buildings; and, if we can go on in this simple, humble way, -the time will come when we shall have all the buildings we need. Just -in proportion as our friends see that we are worthy of these good -things, they will come to us. - -We want to be sure, also, that in no department is there any -wastefulness. We must try to make every dollar go as far as possible. -"We must stretch a dollar," as I have heard Mr. Baldwin say, "until -it can be stretched no further." Now, there will be waste unless we -put our conscience into everything that we do. There will be waste in -the boarding department, in the academic department, in the industrial -department, in the religious department, in all the departments about -us, unless we put our conscience into everything that we do. Let us be -sure that not a single dollar that is given to us is wasted, because -the same people who give to us are called upon almost every day in the -week, each year, to give for hundreds of purposes, and they have to -choose which they will support. They must decide whether they want to -give to this cause, or to that cause, and they will give to us if we -make them feel that we are more worthy than other similar institutions. - -We want, also, to be sure that we remain simple in our dress and in all -our outward appearance. I do not like to see a young man who is poor, -and whose tuition is being paid by some one, and who has no books, -sometimes has no socks, sometimes has no decent shoes, wearing a white, -stiff, shining collar which he has sent away to be laundered. I do not -like to ask people to give money for such a young man as that. It is -much better for a young man to learn to launder his collars himself, -than to pretend to the world that he is what he is not. When you send a -collar to the city laundry, it indicates that you have a bank account; -it indicates that you have money ahead, and can afford that luxury. Now -I do not believe that you can afford it; and that kind of pretence and -that kind of acting do not pay. - -Get right down to business, and, as I have said, if we cannot do up -your collars well enough here to suit you, why, get some soap and -water, and starch, and an iron, and learn to launder your own collars, -and keep on laundering them until you can do them better than anybody -else. - -I am not trying to discourage you about wearing nice collars. I like -to see every collar shine. I like to see every collar as bright as -possible. I like to see you wear good, attractive collars. I do not, -however, want you to get the idea that collars make the man. You quite -often see fine cuffs and collars, when there is no real man there. You -want to be sure to get the man first. Be sure that the man is there, -and if he is, the collars and the cuffs will come in due time. If there -is no man there, we may put on all the collars and cuffs we can get, -and we shall find that they will not make the man. - -When you have finished school, after you have gone out and established -yourselves in some kind of business, after you have learned to save -money, and have got a good bank account ahead, if you are where the -laundering is not sufficiently well done to suit you, why perhaps you -can afford to send your collars forty or fifty miles away. But as I -see you young men, I do not believe you can afford it. And if you can -afford it, why, I should like to have you pay that money for a part of -your tuition, which we now have to get some one else to pay for you. - -You want to be very sure, too, that as you go out into the world, -you go out not ashamed to work; not ashamed to put in practice what -you have learned here. As I come in contact with our graduates, I am -very glad to be able to say that in almost no instance have I found a -student who has been at Tuskegee long enough to learn the ways of the -institution, or a graduate who has been ashamed to use his hands. Now -that reputation we want to keep up. We want to be sure that such a -reputation as this follows every student who goes out. - -And then be very sure that you are simple in your words and your -language. Write your letters in the simplest and plainest manner -possible. Who of you did not understand what was said by Mr. John D. -Rockefeller, Jr., when he spoke from this platform a few evenings ago? -Was there a single word, or a single reference, or figure of speech, -that he used that you did not understand the full force of, or did not -appreciate? Here is a man whose father is perhaps the richest man in -the world, and yet there was no "tomfoolery" about his speech. Every -word was simple and plain, and everybody could understand everything -that he said. He used no Latin or Greek quotations. - -Some people get the idea that if they can get a little education, and -a little money ahead, and can talk so that no one can understand them, -they are educated. That is a great mistake, because nobody understands -them, and they do not understand themselves. Now, the world has no -sympathy with that kind of thing. If you have anything to write, write -it in the plainest manner possible. Use just as few words as possible, -and as simple words as possible. If you can get a word with one -syllable that will express your meaning, use it in preference to one -of two syllables. If you can not get a suitable word of one syllable, -try to get one of two syllables instead of three or four. At any rate -make your words just as short as possible, and your sentences as short -and simple as you can make them. There is great power in simplicity, -simplicity of speech, simplicity of life in every form. The world has -no patience with people who are superficial, who are trying to show -off, who are trying to be what the world knows they are not. - -You know you sometimes get frightened and discouraged about the laws -that some of the States are inclined to pass, and that some of them -are passing, but there is no State, there is no municipality, there is -no power on earth, that can neutralize the influence of a high, pure, -simple and useful life. Every individual who learns to live such a life -will find an opportunity to make his influence felt. - -No one can in any way permanently hold back a race of people who are -getting those elements of strength which the world recognizes, which -the world has always recognized, and which it always will recognize, -as indicating the highest type of manhood and womanhood. There is -nothing, then, to be discouraged about. We are going forward, and we -shall keep going forward if we do not let these difficulties which -sometimes occur discourage us. You will find that every man and every -woman who is worthy to be respected and praised and recognized will be -respected and praised and recognized. - - - - -HAVE YOU DONE YOUR BEST? - -[This talk was given at the middle of the school year.] - - -If you have not already done so--and I hope you have--I think that you -will find this a convenient season for each one of you to stop and -to consider your school-year very carefully; to consider your life -in school from every point of view; to place yourselves, as it were, -in the presence of your parents, or your friends at home; to place -yourselves in the presence of those who stand by and support this -institution; to place yourselves in the presence of your teachers and -of all who are in any way interested in you. - -Now, suppose you were to-night sitting down by your parents' side, -by their fireside, looking them in the face, or by the side of your -nearest and dearest friends, those who have done the most for you, -those who have stood by you most closely. Suppose you were in that -position. I want to ask you to answer this question, In considering -your school life--in your studies, for example--during the year, thus -far, have you done your best? - -Have you been really honest with your parents, who have struggled, who -have sacrificed, who have toiled for years, in ways you do not know of, -in order that you might come here, and in order that you might remain -here? Have you really been interested in them? Have you really been -honest with your teachers? Have you been honest with those who support -this institution? Have you really, in a word, in the preparation and -recitation of your lessons, done your level best? Right out from your -hearts, have you done your best? I fear that a great many of you, when -you look your conscience squarely in the face, when you get right down -to your real selves, at the bottom of your lives, must answer that you -have not done your best. There have been precious minutes, there have -been precious hours, that you have completely thrown away, hours for -which you cannot show a single return. - -Now, if you have not done your level best, right out straight from -your heart, in the preparation and recitation of your lessons, and in -all your work, it is not too late for you to make amends. I should be -very sorry if I waited until the end of the term to remind you of this, -because it would then be too late. There would be many of you with -long faces, who would say, if you were reminded then, that you could -have done so much better, would have been so much more honest with your -parents and friends, if you had only been reminded earlier; and that in -every way you would have made your lives so different from what they -had been. Now, it isn't too late. - -Grant, as I know that numbers of you will grant, that you have thrown -away precious time, that you have been indifferent to the advice of -your teachers, that you really haven't been honest with yourselves in -the preparation of your lessons, that you have been careless in your -recitations. I want you to be really honest with yourselves and say, -from to-night on, "I am going to take charge of myself. I am not going -to drift in this respect. I am going to row up the stream; and my life, -as a schoolboy or a schoolgirl, is going to be different from what it -has been." - -Now place yourselves again in the presence of your parents, of those -who are dearest to you, and answer this question, In your work, in your -industrial work here, have you done your real best? In the field and -in the shop, with the plough, the trowel, the hammer, the saw, have -you done your level best? Have you done your best in the sewing room -and in the cooking classes? Have you justified your parents in the -sacrifice of time and money which they have made in order to allow you -to come here? If you haven't done your best in these respects--and many -of you haven't--there is still time for you to become a different man -or woman. It isn't too late. You can turn yourselves completely around. -Those of you who have been indifferent and slow, those of you who have -been thoughtless and slovenly, those of you who have tried to find out -how little effort of body or mind you could put into your industrial -work here,--it isn't too late for you to turn yourselves completely -around in that respect, and to say that from to-night you are going to -be a different man or woman. - -Have you done your level best in making your surroundings what the -school requires, what your school life should be, in learning how to -take care of your bodies, in learning how to keep your bodies clean and -pure, in the conscientious, systematic use of the tooth brush? Have -you done your best? Have you been downright honest in that respect, -alone? Have you used the tooth brush just because you felt it was a -requirement of the school, or because you felt that you could not be -clean or honest with your room-mates, that you could not be yourself -in the sight of God, unless you used the tooth brush? Have you used -it in the dark, as well as in the light? Have you learned that, even -if your room was not going to be inspected on a certain day, it was -just as important that you learn the lesson of being conscientious -about keeping it in order as if you knew it was going to be inspected? -Have you been careful in this respect? Have you shifted this duty, -or neglected that duty? Have you thrown some task off on to your -room-mates? Have you tried to "slide out" of it, or, as it were, -"to get by," as the slang phrase goes, without doing really honest, -straightforward work, as regards the cleanliness of your room, the -improvement of it, the making of it more attractive? - -Have you been really honest with yourselves and your parents, and with -those who spend so much money for the support of this institution? -Above all, have you been really true to your parents and to your best -selves in growing in strength of character, in strength of purpose, in -being downright honest? Those of you who came here, for instance, with -the habit of telling falsehoods, of deceiving in one way or another; -those of you who came here with the temptation, perhaps, in too many -cases, overshadowing you and overpowering you, to take property which -does not belong to you; have you been really honest in overcoming -habits of this kind? Are you building character? Are you less willing -to yield to temptation? Are you more able to overcome temptation now -than you were? If you are not more able, you have not grown in this -respect. - -But it is not too late. If there are some of you who have been -unfortunate enough to allow little mean habits, mean dispositions, mean -acts, mean thoughts, mean words, to get the uppermost of you--in a -word, if your life thus far has been a little, dried-up, narrow life, -get rid of that life. Throw open your heart. Say now, "I am not going -to be conquered by little, mean thoughts, words and acts any longer. -Hereafter all my thoughts, all my words, all my acts, shall be large, -generous, high, pure." - -In a word, I want you to get hold of this idea, that you can make the -future of your lives just what you want to make it. You can make it -bright, happy, useful, if you learn this fundamental lesson, and stick -to it while in school, or after you go away from here, that it doesn't -pay any individual to do any less than his very best. It doesn't pay -to be anything else but downright honest in heart. Any person who is -not honest, who is not trying to do his very best in the classroom or -in the shop, no matter where he may be, will find out that it does not -pay in the long run. You may think it best for a little while, but -permanently it does not pay any man or woman to be anything but really, -downright honest, and to do his or her level best. - -Now I want you to think about these things, not only here in the chapel -to-night, but to-morrow in your class-rooms, and with reference to -everything you touch. I want to see you let it shine out, even at the -very ends of your fingers, that you are doing your best in everything. -Do this, and you will find at the end of the year that you are growing -stronger, purer, and brighter, that you are making your parents and -those interested in you happier, and that you are preparing yourselves -to do what this institution and the country expect you to do. - - - - -DON'T BE DISCOURAGED - - -Last Sunday evening I spoke to you for a few minutes regarding the -importance of determining to do the right thing in every phase of your -school life. There are a few things that enter into student life which, -in a very large degree, cause the untrue to fall by the wayside, and -which prevent students from doing their very best. Among these things -is the disposition to grow discouraged. Very many people, very many -students, who otherwise would succeed, who would go through school -creditably, graduating with honours, have failed to succeed because -they became discouraged. - -Now there are a number of things in school life that cause a student to -become discouraged, and I am going to try to enumerate a few of them, -although I do not know that I shall mention nearly all of them. - -Students frequently become discouraged on account of their industrial -work. It is not of the character that they want it to be, or they do -not get assigned to the trade they want to work at. Still others -become discouraged because of their classroom studies. They find that -their studies are difficult; that their lessons are too long and their -memories too short. They find that they cannot understand the teacher, -or they think they find that the teacher does not understand them. -Some become discouraged because they think that they are entirely -misunderstood, are misunderstood by their classmates and by their -teachers. They think that their efforts in the classroom and in the -shop are not properly appreciated. - -Others become discouraged because they feel that they are without -friends. It seems to them that other students have friends on every -hand who are encouraging them, who send them money, who supply them -with clothing, and that they themselves have no such friends. - -You become discouraged for such reasons as these. You feel that your -highest and best efforts are not appreciated. This tends to discourage -you. There are not a few of you who get discouraged because you feel -that you belong to a despised race; that for a long time you have been -trampled upon because of your colour, and because of certain peculiar -characteristics; that you have been neglected or oppressed, and that -there is no reason why you should make an effort to go forward; that -you belong to a race that is doomed to disappointment, to stay under, -and to not succeed. - -Some of you become discouraged and despondent because of poverty. -Perhaps here I strike the basis of the reason for most of the -discouragement. You come here, and your parents disappoint you. They -do not supply you with money. You become discouraged because they do -not supply you with proper clothing, or with what you think you ought -to have, and, very often, with such as you really ought to have, and -that disheartens you. You find that other students have money, and you -have none. They have money not only for the necessities of school life, -but for some of the luxuries, while you have not enough for even the -bare necessities. Other students are more than supplied with clothing, -while you are very scantily supplied. You shiver, in many cases, by -reason of the cold, while others are comfortable and nicely dressed. -Sometimes you are even ashamed to show yourself in public, because of -the appearance of the old coat, or trousers, or shoes that you have to -wear. - -Some of you become discouraged because you find yourselves without -the proper books. Some of you cannot get the money needed to purchase -books, a tooth brush, and other necessary things. You find yourselves -cramped and hampered on every hand. You are discouraged at this point -and at that point, and you feel that nobody's lot is as hard as your -own. You become discouraged, you become dissatisfied, and you feel like -giving up. - -Now I want to suggest to you to-night that this very thing of -discouragement, as an element in life, is for a purpose. I do not -believe that anything, any element of your lives, is put into them -without a purpose. I believe that every effort that we are obliged -to make to overcome obstacles will give us strength, will give us a -confidence in ourselves, that nothing else can give us. I would ten -times rather see you having a hard struggle to elevate yourselves, -having a hard time either at work on the farm, or on the buildings, or -in the shops, without money and without clothes, than to see you here -having too much money, and having everything that you want come to you -without any effort on your part. You are blessed, as compared with some -people. The man or woman who has money, without having had to work for -it, who has all the comforts of life, without effort, and who saves his -own soul and perhaps the soul of somebody else, such an individual is -rare, very rare indeed. - -Now it is not a curse to be situated as some of you are, and if you -will make up your minds that you are going to overcome the obstacles -and the difficulties by which you are surrounded, you will find that in -every effort you make to overcome these difficulties you are growing -in strength and confidence. Make up your minds that you are not going -to allow anything to discourage you. Make up your minds that poor -lessons, scoldings on the part of your teachers, want of money, want of -books--that none of these shall discourage you. Make up your mind that -in spite of race and colour, in spite of the obstacles that surround -you, in spite of everything, you are going to succeed in your school -life, and are going to prepare yourself for usefulness hereafter. - -Every person who has grown to any degree of usefulness, every person -who has grown to distinction, almost without exception has been a -person who has risen by overcoming obstacles, by removing difficulties, -by resolving that when he met discouragements he would not give up. -Make up your minds that you are going to overcome every discouragement, -and that you are not going to let any discouragement overcome you. -Those of you who have been inclined to be moody and morose, or have -been inclined to feel that the whole world is against you, that there -is no use for you to try to elevate yourselves, make up your minds that -your future is just as bright as that of anybody else. Do this, and you -will find that you have it in your own power to make your future bright -or gloomy, just as you desire. - - - - -ON GETTING A HOME - - -Every coloured man owes it to himself, and to his children as well, to -secure a home just as soon as possible. No matter how small the plot of -ground may be, or how humble the dwelling placed on it, something that -can be called a home should be secured without delay. - -A home can be secured much easier than many imagine. A small amount of -money saved from week to week, or from month to month, and carefully -invested in a piece of land, will soon secure a site upon which to -build a comfortable house. No individual should feel satisfied until he -has a comfortable home. More and more the Southern States are making -one of the conditions for voting, the ownership of at least $300 worth -of property, so that persons who own homes will not only reap the -benefits that come from owning a home, in other directions, but will -also find themselves entitled to cast their ballot. - -Care should be taken as to the location of the land. It is of little -advantage to secure a lot in some crowded, filthy alley. One should -try to secure a lot on a good street, a street that is carefully and -well worked, so that the surroundings of the home will be enjoyable. -Even if one has to go a good ways into the country to secure such a -lot, it is much better than to buy a building spot on an unsightly, -undesirable alley. - -I believe that our people do best, as a rule, to buy land in the -country instead of in the city; but in either case we should not rest -until we have secured a home in one place or the other. No man has -a right to marry and run the risk of leaving his wife at his death -without a home. - -I notice with regret that there are many of our people who have already -bought homes, who, after they have secured the land, paid for it and -built a cabin containing two or three rooms, do not seek to go any -further in the improvement of the property. In the first place, in -too many cases, the house and yard, especially the yard, are not kept -clean. The fences are not kept in repair. Whitewash and paint are not -used as they should be. After the house is paid for, the greatest care -should be exercised to see that it is kept in first-class repair; -that the walls of the house and the fences are kept neatly painted -or whitewashed; that no palings are allowed to fall off the fence, or -if they do fall off, to remain off. If there is a barn or a henhouse, -these should be kept in repair, and should, like the house, be made to -look neat and attractive by paint and whitewash. - -Paint and whitewash add a great deal to the value of a house. If -persons would learn to use even a part of the time they spend in idle -gossip or in standing about on the streets, in whitewashing or painting -their houses, it would make a great difference in the appearance of the -buildings, as well as add to their value. - -Only a short time ago, near a certain town, I visited the house--I -could not call it a home--of a presiding elder, a man who had received -considerable education, and who spent his time in going about over -his district preaching to hundreds and thousands of coloured people; -and yet the home of this man was almost a disgrace to him and to his -race. The house was not painted or whitewashed; the fence was in the -same condition; the yard was full of weeds; there were no walks laid -out in the yard; there were no flowers in it. In fact everything on -the outside of the house and in the yard presented a most dismal and -discouraging appearance. So far as I could see there was not a single -vegetable around this house, nor did I see any chickens or fowls of any -kind. - -This is not the way to live, and especially is it not the way for a -minister or a teacher to live, for they are men who are supposed to -lead their people not only by word but by example. Every minister and -every teacher should make his home, his yard, and his garden, models -for the people whom he attempts to teach and lead. I confess that I -have no confidence in the preaching of a minister whose home is in -the condition of the one I have described. There is no need why, as a -race, we should get into the miserable and unfortunate habit of living -in houses that are out of repair, that are not whitewashed or painted, -that are not comfortable, and above all else, in houses that we do -not own. There is no reason why we should not make our homes not only -comfortable, but attractive, so that no one can tell from the outside -appearance, at least, whether the house is occupied by a white family -or a black family. - -After a house has been paid for, it not only should be improved from -year to year and kept in good repair, but, as the family grows, new -rooms should be added. The house should not only be made comfortable, -but should be made convenient. As soon as possible there should be a -sitting room, where books and papers can be found, a room in which -the whole family may read and study during the winter nights. I do -not believe that any house is complete without a bathroom. As soon as -possible every one of our houses should be provided with a bathroom, -so that the body of every member of the family can be baptized every -morning in clean, invigorating, fresh water. Such a bath puts one in -proper condition for the work of the day, and not only keeps one well -physically, but strong morally and religiously. - -Another important part of the home is the dining-room. The dining-room -should be the most attractive and most comfortable room in the house. -It should be large and airy, a room into which plenty of sunlight can -come, and a room that can be kept comfortable both in the summer and in -the winter. - -These suggestions are made to you with the hope that you will put -them into practice, and also that you will influence others to do the -same. They are all suggestions that we, as a race, notwithstanding -our poverty, in most cases can find a way to put into practice. Every -one of them should be taken up by our teachers, our ministers and by -our educated young people. They should be taught and urged in school, -in church, in farmers' meetings, in women's meetings, and, in fact, -wherever the people of the race come together. - - - - -CALLING THINGS BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES - - -A few evenings ago I talked with you about the importance of learning -to be simple, humble and child-like before going out into the world. -You should remain in school until you get to the point where you feel -that you do not know anything, where you feel that you are willing to -learn from any one who can teach you. - -Unfortunately there are many things here in the South which tend to -lead away from this simplicity to which I have referred. There is a -great inclination to make things appear what they are not. For example: -take the schools. There is a great tendency to call schools by names -which do not belong to them, and which do not correctly represent that -which in reality exists. You will find the habit growing more prevalent -every year, I fear, of calling a school a university, or a college, -or an academy, or a high-school. In fact we seldom hear of a plain, -common, public or graded school. - -We do ourselves no good when we yield to that temptation. If a school -is a public school, call it one; but do not think that we gain anything -by calling a little country school, with two or three rooms and one or -two teachers, where some of the students are studying the alphabet, a -university. And still this is too often done throughout the South, as -you know. No respect or confidence is gained by the practice, but, on -the contrary, sensible people get disgusted with such false pretences. -When you go out into the world and meet with such cases as this, try -to make the people see that it is a great deal better to call their -small public school by a name which truly represents it, than to call -it a high-school or an academy. I do not by any means intend to say -that schools do not have the right to aspire to become high-schools and -colleges. What I mean to say is that it is hurtful to the race to get -into the habit of calling every little institution of learning that is -opened, a college or a university. It weakens us and prevents us from -getting a solid, sure foundation. - -Again, we make the same mistake when we call every preacher or person -who stands in a pulpit to read from it, "Doctor," whether or not that -degree has been conferred upon him. Sensible people get tired of that -kind of thing. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was once held in the -highest esteem, and was conferred only upon those ministers who had -really become entitled to it because of some original research or other -work of high scholarship. Among highly educated people this rule holds -still. But to-day, especially in the South, many a little institution -that opens its doors and calls itself a college or a university, is -beginning to confer degrees, and make doctors of divinity of persons -who are unworthy of degrees. And sometimes, should these persons fail -to get an institution to confer a degree on them, they confer it on -themselves! The habit is getting to be so common that in little towns -the ministers are calling themselves Doctors. One pastor will meet -another and say, "Good morning, Doctor," and the other, wishing to be -as polite as his friend, will say, "How are you, Doctor?" and so it -goes on, until both begin to believe they really are Doctors. Now this -practice is not only ridiculous, but it is very hurtful to us as a -race, and it should be discouraged. - -Much the same criticism may be made of many of those who teach. -A person who teaches a little country school, perhaps in a brush -arbour, is called "Professor." Every person who leads a string band is -called "Professor." I was in a small town not long ago, and I heard -the people speaking of some one as "the professor." I was anxious to -know who the professor was. So I waited a few minutes, and finally -the professor came up, and I recognized him as a member of one of our -preparatory classes. Now, don't suffer the world to put you in this -silly, ridiculous position. If people attempt to call you "Professor," -or by any other title that is not yours, tell them that you are not a -professor, that you are a simple mister. That is a good enough title -for any one. We have the same right to become professors as any other -people, when we occupy positions which entitle us to that name, but we -drag that title, which ought to be a badge of scholarship, down into -the mud and mire when we allow it to be misapplied. - -We carry a similar kind of deception into our school work when, in -the essays which we read and the orations which we deliver, we simply -rehearse matter a great deal of which has been copied from some one -else. Go into almost any church where there is one of the doctors of -divinity to whom I have referred, and you will hear sermons copied out -of books and pamphlets. The essays, the orations, the sermons that are -not the productions of the people who pretend to write them, all come -from this false foundation. - -Then there is another error to which I wish to call your attention. In -many parts of the South, especially in the cities and towns, there are -excellent public schools, well equipped in every way with apparatus -and material, and provided with good, competent teachers, but in some -cases these schools are crippled by reason of the fact that there -are little denominational schools which deprive the public schools -of their rightful attendance. If the school can't be in the church -of some particular denomination, it must be near it. In the average -town there may be the denominational school of the African Methodist -Episcopal church, of the Zion church, of the Baptist church, of the -Wesleyan Methodist church, and so on, all in different parts of the -town. Instead of supporting one public school, provided at the expense -of the town or city, there exists this little, narrow denominational -spirit, which is robbing these innocent children of their education. -We want to say to such people as these, people who are content so -to deprive their children, and have them taught by some second-rate -teacher, that they are wrong. We want you to let the people know that -the great public-school system of America is the nation's greatest -glory, and that we do not help matters when we attempt to tear down -the public school. Of course it is the right and the duty of every -denomination to erect its own theological seminaries and its colleges, -where the special tenets of that denomination are taught to those -who are preparing for its pulpit; but no one has a right to let this -denominational spirit defeat the work of a public school to which all -should be free to go. - -I have in mind a place where the coloured people have an excellent -school, equal to that of the whites. I went through the building and -found it supplied with improved apparatus and capable teachers, and -saw that first-class work was done there. Later, I was taken about -a mile outside the city, where there was a school with an incapable -teacher, and some sixty or seventy pupils being poorly taught. Here -was a third-rate teacher in a third-rate building, poor work, and the -children suffering for lack of proper instruction. Why? Simply because -the people wanted a school of their own denomination in that part of -the city. - -Now you want to cultivate courage, and see to it that you are brave -enough to condemn these wrongs and to show the people the mistakes -which they make in these matters. - -I mention all these things because they hinder us from getting a solid -foundation. They hinder us, further, in that in many cases they prevent -us from getting the right power of leadership in teaching, in the work -of the ministry, and in many other respects. Wherever you go, then, -make up your minds that you are going to make your influence felt in -favour of better prepared teachers and preachers--in better preparation -of all those who stand for leaders of the people. Just in proportion as -you set your lives right in this matter, will the masses of the race be -inclined to follow you. - - - - -EUROPEAN IMPRESSIONS - - -Some people here in America think that some of us make too much ado -over the matter of industrial training for the Negro. I wish some of -the skeptics might go to Europe and see what races that are years ahead -of us are doing there in that respect. I shall not take the time here -to outline what is being done for men in the direction of industrial -training in Europe, but I shall give some account of what I saw being -done for women in England. - -Mrs. Washington and I visited the Agricultural College for women, at -Swanley, England, where we found forty intelligent, cultivated women, -who were most of them graduates from high schools and colleges, engaged -in studying practical agriculture, horticulture, dairying and poultry -raising. We found the women in the laboratory and classrooms, studying -agricultural chemistry, botany, zoölogy, and applied mathematics, -and we also saw these same women in the garden, planting vegetables, -trimming rose bushes, scattering manure, growing grapes and raising -fruit in the hot-houses and in the field. - -As another suggestion for our people, I might mention that while I was -in England I knew of one of the leading members of Parliament leaving -his duties in that body for three days to preside at a meeting of the -National Association of Poultry Raisers, which was largely attended by -people from all parts of the United Kingdom. - -In the trip which Mrs. Washington and I made through Holland, we saw -much which may be of interest to you. It has been said that, God made -the world, but the Dutch made Holland. For one to fully realize the -force of this one must see Holland for himself. One of the best ways -to see the interior of Holland, and the peasant life, is to take a -trip, as we did, on one of the canal boats plying between Antwerp, in -Belgium, and Rotterdam, in Holland. - -It was especially interesting for me to compare the rural life in -Holland with the life of the country coloured people in the South. -Holland has been made what it is very largely by the unique system of -dykes or levees which have been built there to keep out the water of -the ocean, and thus enable the people to use to advantage all the land -there is in that small country. - -The great lesson which our coloured farmers can learn from the Dutch, -is how to make a living from a small plot of ground well cultivated, -instead of from forty or fifty acres poorly tilled. I have seen a whole -family making a comfortable living by cultivating two acres of land -there, while our Southern farmers, in too many cases, try to till fifty -or a hundred acres, and find themselves in debt at the end of the year. -In all Holland, I do not think one can find a hundred acres of waste -land; every foot of land is covered with grass, vegetables, grain or -fruit trees. Another advantage which our Southern farmers might have -in trying to pattern after the farmers of Holland, would be that they -would not be obliged to go to so much additional expense for horse or -mule power. Most of the cultivating of the soil there is done with a -hoe and spade. - -I saw the people of Holland on Sunday and on week days, but I did not -see a single Dutch man, woman or child in rags. There were practically -no beggars and no very poor people. They owe their prosperity, too, -very largely to their thorough and intelligent cultivation of the soil. - -Next to the thorough tilling of the soil, the thing of most interest -there, from which the coloured people in America may learn a lesson, -is the fine dairying which has made Holland famous throughout the -world. Even the poorest family has its herd of Holstein cattle, and -they are the finest specimens of cattle that it has ever been my -pleasure to see. To watch thousands of these cattle grazing on the -fields is worth a trip to Holland. As the result of the attention which -they have given to breeding Holstein cattle, Dutch butter and cheese -are in demand all through Europe. The most ordinary farmer there has a -cash income as the result of the sale of his butter and milk. - -Many of these people make more out of the wind that blows over the -fields than our poor Southern people make out of the soil. The -old-fashioned windmill is to be seen on every farm. This mill not only -pumps the water for the live stock, but, in many cases, is made to -operate the dairy, to saw the wood, to grind the grain, and to run the -heavy machinery. These people are, however, not unlike our Southern -people in one respect, and that is in having their women and children -work in the fields. This, I think, is done in a larger measure even -than in the South among the coloured people. - -An element of strength in the farming and dairying interests of -these people is to be found in the fact that many of the farmers have -received a college or university training. After this they take a -special course in agriculture and dairying. This is as it should be. -Our people in the South will prosper in proportion as a larger number -of university men take up agriculture and kindred callings after they -have finished their academic education. - -In the matter of physical appearance, including grace, beauty, and -carriage of the body, I think our own people are far ahead of the -Dutch. But the Dutch are a hardy, rugged, industrious race of people. -In our trip in the canal boat we saw the men at the landings in large -numbers, in their wooden shoes, and the women and children in their -beautiful, old-fashioned head-dresses, each community having its own -style of head-dress, which has been handed down from one generation to -another. - -We were in Rotterdam over Sunday. The free and rather boisterous -commingling of the sexes on the street was noteworthy. In this, also, -our people in the United States could set an example to the Dutch. - -The foundation of the civilization of these people is in their regard -for and respect for the law, and their observance of it. This is the -great lesson which the entire South must learn before it can hope to -receive the respect and confidence of the world. Europeans do not -understand how the South can disregard its own laws as it so often -does. If you ask any man on that side of the Atlantic why he does not -emigrate to the Southern part of the United States, he shrugs his -shoulders and says, "No law; they kill." I pray God that no part of our -country may much longer have such a reputation as that in any part of -the world. - -From Holland we went to Paris. On a beautiful, sunny day, if you could -combine the whirl of fashion and gaiety of New York City, Boston and -Chicago on a prominent avenue, you would have some idea of what is to -be seen in Paris upon one of her popular boulevards. Fashion seemed to -sway everything in that great city; for example, when I went into a -shoe store to purchase a pair of shoes, I could not find a pair large -enough to be comfortable. I was gently told that it was not the fashion -to wear large shoes there. - -One of the things I had in mind when I went to France was to visit -the tomb of Toussaint L'Ouverture, but I learned from some Haitian -gentlemen residing in Paris that the grave of that general was in the -northern part of France, and these same gentlemen informed me that his -burial place is still without a monument of any kind. It seems that it -has been in the minds of the Haitians for some time to remove his body -to Haiti, but thus far it has been neglected. The Haitian Government -and people owe it to themselves, it appears to me, to see to it that -the resting place of this great hero is given a proper memorial, either -in France or on the island of Haiti. - -Speaking of the Haitians, there are a good many well educated and -cultivated men and women of that nationality in Paris. Numbers of -them are sent there each year for education, and they take high rank -in scholarship. It is greatly to be regretted, however, that some of -these do not take advantage of the excellent training which is given -there in the colleges of physical science, agriculture, mechanics and -domestic science. They would then be in a position to return home and -assist in developing the agricultural and mineral resources of their -native land. Haiti will never be what it should be until a large number -of the natives receive an education which will enable them to develop -agriculture, build roads, start manufactories, build railroads and -bridges, and thus keep on the island the large amount of money which is -now being sent outside for productions which these people themselves -could supply. - -In all the European cities which we visited, we compared the conduct -of the rank and file of the people on the streets and in other places -with that of our own people in the United States, and we have no -hesitation in saying that, in all that marks a lady or gentleman, our -people in the South do not suffer at all by the comparison. Even at the -camp-meetings and other holiday gatherings in the South, the deportment -of the masses of the coloured people is quite up to the standard of -that of the average European in the larger cities which we saw. - -I should strongly advise our people against going to Europe, and -especially to Paris, with the hope of securing employment, unless -fortified by strong friends and a good supply of money. In one week, -in Paris, three men of my race called to see me, and in each case I -found the man to be practically in a starving condition. They were -well-meaning, industrious men, who had gone there with the idea that -life was easy and work sure; but notwithstanding the fact that they -walked the streets for days, they could get no work. The fact that they -did not speak the language, nor understand the customs of the people, -made their life just so much the harder. With the assistance of other -Americans, I secured passage for one of these men to America. His -parting word to me was, "The United States is good enough for me in the -future." - - - - -THE VALUE OF SYSTEM IN HOME LIFE - - -Most of you are going out from Tuskegee sooner or later to exert -your influence in the home life of our people. You are going to have -influence in homes of your own, you are going to have influence in the -homes of your mothers and fathers, or in the homes of your relatives. -You are going to exert an influence for good or for evil in the homes -wherever you may go. Now the question how to bring about the greatest -amount of happiness in these homes is one that should concern every -student here. I say this because I want you to realize that each one of -you is to go out from here to exert an influence. You are to exercise -this influence in the communities where you go; and if you fail to -exercise it for the good of other individuals, you have failed to -accomplish the purpose for which this institution exists. - -In the first place you want to exert your influence in those directions -that will bring about the best results; among these it is important -that the people have presented to them the highest forms of home life. - -Very often I find it true--and especially the more I travel about among -our people--that many persons have the idea that they cannot have -comfortable homes unless they have a great amount of money. Now some of -the happiest and most comfortable homes I have ever been in have been -homes where the people have but little money; in fact, they might well -be called poor people. But in these homes there was a certain degree of -order and convenience which made you feel as comfortable as if you were -in the homes of people of great wealth. - -I want to speak plainly. In the first place there must be promptness -in connection with everything in the life of the home. Take the matter -of the meals, for instance. It is impossible for a home to be properly -conducted unless there is a certain time for each meal, and promptness -must be insisted on. In some homes the breakfast may be eaten at six -o'clock one morning, at eight o'clock the next morning, and, perhaps, -at nine o'clock the morning after that. Dinner may be served at twelve, -one, or two o'clock, and supper may be eaten at five, six or seven; and -even then one-half the members of the family be absent when the meal -is served. There is useless waste of time and energy in this, and an -unnecessary amount of worry. It saves time, and it saves a great amount -of worry, to have it understood that there is to be a certain time for -each meal, and that all the members of the family are to be present -at that time. In this way the family will get rid of a great deal of -annoyance, and precious time will be saved to be used in reading or in -some other useful occupation. - -Then as to the matter of system. No matter how cheap your homes are, -no matter how poverty-stricken you may be in regard to money, it is -possible for each home to have its affairs properly systematized. I -wonder how many housekeepers can go into their homes on the darkest -night there is, and put their hands on the box of matches without -difficulty. That is one way to test a good housekeeper. If she cannot -do this, then there is a waste of time. It saves time and it saves -worry, too, if you have a certain place in which the matches are to be -kept, and if you teach all the members of the family that the matches -are always to be kept in that place. Oftentimes you find the match box -on the table, or on a shelf in the corner of the room, or perhaps on -the floor; sometimes here, sometimes there. In many homes five or ten -minutes are wasted every day just on account of the negligence of the -housekeeper or the wife in this little matter. - -Then as to the matter of the dish cloth. You should have a place for -your dish cloth, and put it there every day. The persons who do not -have a place for an article are the persons who are found looking -in-doors and out-of-doors for it, from five to ten minutes every time -that article is needed. They will be saying, "Johnnie," or "Jennie, -where is it? Where did you put it the last time you had it?" and all -that kind of thing. - -The same thing is true of the broom. In the first place, in the home -where there is system, you do not find the broom left standing on the -wrong end. I hope all of you know which the right end of the broom is -in this respect. You do not find the broom on the wrong end, and you -always find that there is a certain place for it, and that it is kept -there. When things are out of place and you have to hunt for them, you -are spending not only time, but you are spending strength that should -be used in some more profitable way. There should be a place for the -coat and the cloak, for the hat, and, in fact, a place for everything -in the house. - -The people who have a place for everything are the people who will -find time to read, and who will have time for recreation. You wonder -sometimes how the people in New England can afford to have so much -time for reading books and newspapers, and still have sufficient money -to send as much as they do here to this institute to be used in our -education. These people find time to keep themselves thus intelligent, -and to keep themselves in touch with all that takes place in the world, -because everything is so well systematized about their homes that they -save the time which you and I spend in worrying about something which -we should know all about. - -I have very rarely gone into a boarding house kept by our people and -found the lamp in its proper place. When you go into such a house it is -too apt to be the case that the people there will have to look for the -lamp; then, when they have found it, it is not filled; somebody forgot -to put the oil in it in the morning; then they have to go and hunt up a -wick, and then they must get a chimney. Then, when they get all these -things, they must hunt for the matches to light the lamp. - -I wonder how many girls there are here now who can go into a room and -arrange it properly for an individual to sleep in--that is, provide -the proper number of towels, the soap and matches, and have everything -that should be provided for the comfort of the person who is to use the -room, put in the room and put in its proper place. I should be afraid -to test some of you. You must learn to be able to do such things before -you leave here, in order that you may be of some use to yourself and to -others. If you are not able to do this, you will be a disappointment to -us. - - - - -WHAT WILL PAY - - -I wish to talk with you for a few minutes upon a subject that is much -discussed, especially by young people--What things pay in life? There -is no question, perhaps, which is asked oftener by a person entering -upon a career than this--What will pay? Will this course of action, or -that, pay? Will it pay to enter into this business or that business? -What will pay? - -Let us see if we can answer that question, a question which every -student in this school should ask himself or herself. What will profit -me most? What will make my life most useful? What will bring about the -greatest degree of happiness? What will pay best? - -Not long ago a certain minister secured the testimony of forty men who -had been successful in business, persons who beyond question had been -pronounced to be business men of authority. The question which this -minister put to these business men was, whether under any circumstances -it paid to be dishonest in business; whether they had found, in -all their business career, that under any circumstances it paid to -cheat, swindle or take advantage of their fellow-men, or in any way to -deceive those with whom they came in contact. Every one of the forty -answered, without hesitation, that nothing short of downright honesty -and fair dealing ever paid in any business. They said that no one could -succeed permanently in business who was not honest in dealing with his -fellow-men, to say nothing of the future life or of doing right for -right's sake. - -It does not pay an individual to do anything except what his conscience -will approve of every day, and every hour and minute in the day. - -I want you to put that question to yourselves to-night: ask yourselves -what course of action will pay. - -You may be tempted to go astray in the matter of money. Think, when you -are tempted to do that: "Will it pay?" Persons who are likely to go -astray in the matter of money, furthermore are likely to do so in the -matter of dress, in tampering with each other's property, in the matter -of acting dishonestly with each other's books. Such persons will be -dishonest in the matter of labour, too. - -It pays an individual to be honest with another person's money. It -never pays to be dishonest in taking another person's clothes or books. -None of these things ever pays, and when you have occasion to yield -or not to yield to such a temptation, you should ask yourself the -question: "Will it pay me to do this?" Put that question constantly to -yourself. - -Whenever you promise, moreover, to do a piece of work for a man, -there is a contract binding you to do an honest day's labour--and the -man to pay you for an honest day's labour. If you fail to give such -service, if you break that contract, you will find that such a course -of action never pays. It will never pay you to deal dishonestly with an -individual, or to permit dishonest dealing. If you fail to give a full -honest day's work, if you know that you have done only three-quarters -of a day's work, or four-fifths, it may seem to you at the time that it -has paid, but in the long run you lose by it. - -I regret to say that we sometimes have occasion to meet students here -who are inclined to be dishonest. Such students come to Mr. Palmer or -to me, and say they wish to go home. When they are asked why they wish -to go home, some of them say they wish to go because they are sick. -Then, when they have been talked with a few minutes, they may say that -they do not like the food here, or perhaps that some disappointment has -befallen their parents. In some cases I have had students give me half -a dozen excuses in little more than the same number of minutes. - -The proper thing for students to do, when they wish to go home, is to -state the exact reason, and then stick to it. The student who does -that is the kind that will succeed in the world. The students who are -downright dishonest in what they say, will find out that they are not -strong in anything, that they are not what they ought to be. The time -will come when that sort of thing will carry them down instead of up. - -In a certain year--I think it was 1857--there was a great financial -panic in the United States, especially in the city of New York. A great -many of the principal banks in the country failed, and others were in -daily danger of failure. I remember a story that was told of one of the -bank presidents of that time, William Taylor, I believe. All the bank -presidents in the city of New York were having meetings every night to -find out how well they were succeeding in keeping their institutions -solvent. At one of these meetings, after a critical day in the most -trying period of the panic, when some men reported that they had lost -money during that day, and others that so much money had been withdrawn -from their banks during the day that if there were another like it they -did not see how they could stand the strain, William Taylor reported -that money had been added to the deposits of his bank that day instead -of being withdrawn. - -What was behind all this? William Taylor had learned in early life -that it did not pay to be dishonest, but that it paid to be honest -with all his depositors and with all persons who did business with -his bank. When other people were failing in all parts of the country, -the evidence of this man's character, his regard for truth and honest -dealing, caused money to come into his bank when it was being withdrawn -from others. - -Character is a power. If you want to be powerful in the world, if you -want to be strong, influential and useful, you can be so in no better -way than by having strong character; but you cannot have a strong -character if you yield to the temptations about which I have been -speaking. - -Some one asked, some time ago, what it was that gave such a power to -the sermons of the late Dr. John Hall. In the usual sense he was not -a powerful speaker; but everything he said carried conviction with -it. The explanation was that the character of the man was behind the -sermon. You may go out and make great speeches, you may write books or -addresses which are great literature, but unless you have character -behind what you say and write, it will amount to nothing; it will all -go to the winds. - -I leave this question with you, then. When you are tempted to do what -your conscience tells you is not right, ask yourself: "Will it pay me -to do this thing which I know is not right?" Go to the penitentiary. -Ask the people there who have failed, who have made mistakes, why they -are there, and in every case they will tell you that they are there -because they yielded to temptation, because they did not ask themselves -the question: "Will it pay?" - -Go ask those people who have no care for life, who have thrown away -their virtue, as it were, ask them why they are without character, and -the answer will be, in so many words, that they sought but temporary -success. In order to find some short road to success, in order to have -momentary happiness, they yielded to temptation. We want to feel that -in every student who goes out from here there is a character which can -be depended upon in the night as well as in the day. That is the kind -of young men and young women we wish to send out from here. Whenever -you are tempted to yield a hair's breadth in the direction which I have -indicated, ask yourself the question over and over again: "Will it pay -me in this world? Will it pay me in the world to come?" - - - - -EDUCATION THAT EDUCATES[1] - - -Perhaps I am safe in saying that during the last ten days you have not -given much systematic effort to book study in the usual sense. When -interruptions come such as we have just had, taking you away from your -regular routine work and study, and the preparation of routine lessons -is interrupted, the first thought to some may be that this time is -lost, in so far as it relates to education in the ordinary sense; that -it is so much time taken away from that part of one's life that should -be devoted to acquiring education. I suppose that during the last few -days the questions have come to many of you: "What are we gaining? What -are we getting from the irregularity that has characterized the school -grounds within the last week, that will in any degree compensate for -the amount of book study that we have lost?" - -To my mind I do not believe that you have lost anything by the -interruption. On the other hand, I am convinced that you have got the -best kind of education. I do not mean to say that we can depend upon -it for all time to come for systematic training of the mind, but so far -as real education, so far as development of the mind and heart and body -are concerned, I do not believe that a single student has lost anything -by the irregularity of the last week or more. - -You have gained in this respect: in preparing for the reception and -entertainment of the President of the United States and his Cabinet, -and the distinguished persons who accompanied the party, you have had -to do an amount of original thinking which you, perhaps, have never had -to do before in your lives. You have been compelled to think; you have -been compelled to put more than your bodily strength into what you have -been doing. You could not have made the magnificent exhibition of our -work which you have made if you had not been compelled to do original -thinking and execution. Most of you never saw such an exhibition -before; I never did. Those of you who had to construct floats that -would illustrate our agricultural work and our mechanical and academic -work, had to put a certain amount of original thought into the planning -of these floats, in order to make them show the work to the best -advantage; and two-thirds of you--yes, practically all of you--had -never seen anything of the kind before. For this reason it was a matter -that had to be thought out by you and planned out by you, and then put -into visible shape. - -Now compare that kind of education with the mere committing to memory -of certain rules, or something which some one else thought out and -executed a thousand years ago perhaps--and that is what a large part -of our education really is. Education in the usual sense of the word -is the mere committing to memory of something which has been known -before us. Now during the last ten days we have had to solve problems -of our own, not problems and puzzles that some one else originated -for us. I do not believe that there is a person connected with the -institution who is not stronger in mind, who is not more self-confident -and self-reliant, so far as the qualities relate to what he is able -to do with his mind or his hands, than he was ten or twelve days ago. -There is the benefit that came to all of us. It put us to thinking and -planning; it brought us in to contact with things that are out of the -ordinary; and there is no education that surpasses this. I see more and -more every year that the world is to be brought to the study of men -and of things, rather than to the study of mere books. You will find -more and more as the years go by, that people will gradually lay aside -books, and study the nature of man in a way they have never done as -yet. I tell you, then, that in this interruption of the regular school -work you have not lost anything:--you have gained; you have had your -minds awakened, your faculties strengthened, and your hands guided. - -I do not wish to speak of this matter egotistically, but it is true -that I have heard a great many persons from elsewhere mention the -pleasure which they have received in meeting Tuskegee students, because -when they come in contact with a student who has been here, they are -impressed with the fact that he or she does not seem to be dead or -sleepy. They say that when they meet a Tuskegee boy or girl they find a -person who has had contact with real life. The education that you have -been getting during the last few days, you will find, as the years go -by, has been of a kind that will serve you in good stead all through -your lives. - -Just in proportion as we learn to execute something, to put our -education into tangible form--as we have been doing during the last -few days--in just the same proportion will we find ourselves of value -as individuals and as a race. Those people who came here to visit us -knew perfectly well that we could commit to memory certain lines of -poetry, they knew we were able to solve certain problems in algebra -and geometry, they understood that we could learn certain rules in -chemistry and agriculture; but what interested them most was to see us -put into visible form the results of our education. Just in proportion -as an individual is able to do that, he is of value to the world. That -is the object of the work which we are trying to do here. We are trying -to turn out men and women who are able to do something that the world -wants done, that the world needs to have done. Just in proportion as -you can comply with that demand you will find that there is a place for -you--there is going to be standing room. By the training we are giving -you here we are preparing you for a place in the world. We are going to -train you so that when you get to that place, if you fail in it, the -failure will not be our fault. - -It is a great satisfaction to have connected with a race men and women -who are able to do something, not merely to talk about doing it, not -merely to theorize about doing it, but actually to do something that -makes the world better to live in, something that enhances the comforts -and conveniences of life. I had a good example of this last week. I -wanted something done in my office which required a practical knowledge -of electricity. It was a great satisfaction when I called upon one -of the teachers, to have him do the work in a careful, praiseworthy -manner. It is very well to talk or lecture about electricity, but it -is better to be able to do something of value with one's knowledge of -electricity. - -And so, as you go on, increasing your ability to do things of value, -you will find that the problem which often now-a-days looks more and -more difficult of solution will gradually become easier. One of the -Cabinet members who were here a few days ago said, after witnessing the -exhibition which you made here, that the islands which this country -had taken into its possession during the recent war are soon going to -require the service of every man and woman we can turn out from this -institution. You will find it true, not only in this country but in -other countries, that the demand will be more and more for people who -can do something. Just in proportion as we can, as a race, get the -reputation which I spoke to you about a few days ago, you will find -there will be places for us. Regardless of colour or condition, the -world is going to give the places of trust and remuneration to the men -and women who can do a certain thing as well as anybody else or better. -This is the whole problem. Shall we prepare ourselves to do something -as well as anybody else or better? Just in proportion as we do this, -you will find that nothing under the sun will keep us back. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] This talk was given soon after the visit of President McKinley to -Tuskegee Institute in the fall of 1898. - - - - -THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING RELIABLE. - - -I am going to call your attention this evening to a tendency of the -people of our race which I had occasion to notice in the course of a -visit recently made to certain portions of North Carolina and South -Carolina. - -I find that with persons who are the employers or who might be the -employers of numbers of our people, there is a very general impression -that as a race we lack steadiness--that we lack steadiness as -labourers. Now you may say that this is not true, and you may cite any -number of instances to show that we are not unreliable in that respect; -whether it is true or not, the results are the same;--it works against -us in the matter of securing paying employment. - -Almost without exception, in talking with persons who are in a position -to employ us, or who have been employing us, or who are thinking of -employing us, I have found that this objection has been very largely in -their minds,--that we cannot be depended upon, that we are unsteady -and unreliable in matters of labour. I am speaking, of course, of -that class of people of our race who depend mainly upon a day's -work--working by the day, as we call it--for their living. These men -with whom I talked gave several illustrations of this tendency. In the -first place, I think they mentioned, without exception, this fact--that -if the coloured people are employed in a factory, they work well and -steadily for a few days, say until Saturday night comes, and they are -paid their week's wages. Then they cannot be depended upon to put in an -appearance the following Monday morning. - -That special criticism was made without exception. The coloured people, -these men said, would work earnestly, and give good satisfaction until -they got a little money ahead, and got food enough assured to last them -two or three weeks; then they would give up the job, or simply remain -away from the factory until others had been put in their places. That -was one of the statements that was made to me over and over again. - -People also mentioned to me as an unfavourable tendency the inclination -which the people of our race have to go on excursions. They said that -if an excursion were going to Wilmington or Greensboro, or Charleston, -and the coloured people had a little money on hand, you could not -depend on their going to work instead of going on the excursion; that -people would say that they must go on this or that excursion, and that -nothing should stop them. A great many people lose employment and money -because of this tendency to go on excursions. - -Another thing that was mentioned to me was the Sunday dinners. Our -people are too likely to starve all through the week, and then on -Sunday invite all the neighbours to come in and eat up what they have -made through the week. People say that we take our week's earnings -on Saturday night, and go to the market and spend it all, and then -invite all of our kindred and neighbours to come in on Sunday to have -a great party. Then by Monday morning we have made ourselves so ill by -overeating that we are unfit for work. This was given as one of the -reasons which cause people to complain of our race for unsteadiness. - -Then there was complaint of a general lack of perseverance, of an -unwillingness to be steady, to put money into the bank, to begin at -the bottom and gradually work toward the top. You can easily see some -of the results of such a reputation as this. I have noticed some of -the results in many of the places where our people have been securing -paying employment. One result is a general distrust of the entire race -in matters pertaining to industry. Another is that people are not going -to employ persons on whom they cannot depend, to fill responsible -positions. Employers are not likely to employ for responsible positions -persons who are likely to go away unexpectedly on excursions. - -Another result is loss of money. You will find many of our people -in poverty simply because, in so large a measure, we have got this -reputation of being unsteady and unreliable. Wherever our people are -not getting regular, paying employment, it is largely on account -of these things of which I have been speaking; and gradually the -opportunities for employment are slipping into the hands of the people -of other races. You can easily understand that where people are not -getting steady employment--but a job this week and a job next week, and -perhaps nothing the week after--it is impossible for them to put money -in the bank, impossible to acquire homes and property, and to settle -down as reliable, prosperous citizens. - -Now, how are we going to change all these things? I do not see any -hope unless we can depend upon you to change them, you young men and -young women who are being educated in institutions of learning. It -rests largely with you to change public sentiment among our people in -all these directions, to a point where we shall feel that we must be -as reliable and as responsible as it is possible for the people of any -other race to be. But in order to do this it is necessary for you to -learn how to control yourselves in these respects. Young men come here -and want to work at this industry or that, for a while, and then get -tired and want to change to something else. Some come with a strong -determination to work, and stay until something happens that is not -quite pleasant, and then they want to leave and go to some other school -or go back home. Now we cannot make the leaders and the examples of -our people that we should make, if we are going to be guilty of these -same weaknesses in these institutions. Let each of you take control of -himself or herself, and determine that whatever you plan to be you are -going to be; you are going to keep driving away, pegging away, moving -on and on each hour, each day, until you have accomplished the purpose -for which you came here. - -Such are the persons, the men and women, that the world is looking for. -These are the men and women we want to send to North Carolina and South -Carolina, to Georgia, to Mississippi, and about in our own State of -Alabama, to reach hundreds and thousands of our people, and to bring -about such a sentiment that these people can control themselves in the -directions I have mentioned and become steady and reliable along all -the avenues of industry. - -I have spoken very plainly about these things, because I believe that -they are matters to which as a race we ought to give more attention. -No race can thrive and prosper and grow strong if it is living on the -outer edges of the industrial world, is jumping here and there after a -job that somebody else has given up. At the risk of repeating myself, -I say that we must give attention to this matter,--we must be more -trustworthy and more reliable in matters of labour. As you go home, -and go into your churches, your schools and your families, preach, -teach and talk from day to day the doctrine that our people must become -steady and reliable, must become worthy of confidence in all their -occupations. - -I am sorry to say that it is too often true of young people that they -overlook these matters in their conversation. We are always ready to -talk about Mars and Jupiter, about the sun and moon, and about things -under the earth and over the earth--in fact about everything except -these little matters that have so much to do with our real living. -Now if we cannot put a spirit of determination into you to go out and -change public sentiment, then the future for us as a race is not very -bright. - -But I have faith in you to believe that you are going to set a high -standard for yourselves in all these matters, and that if you can stay -here two, four, five years, some of you will control yourselves in all -these respects, and will bring yourselves to be examples of what we -hope and expect the people whom you are going to teach are to become. -If you will do this you will find that in a few years there will be a -decided change for the better in the things of which I have spoken, a -change in regard to these matters that will make us as a race firmer -and stronger in these important directions. - - - - -THE HIGHEST EDUCATION - - -It may seem to some of you that I am continually talking to you about -education--the right kind of education, how to get an education, and -such kindred subjects--but surely no subject could be more pertinent, -since the object for which you all are here is to get an education; and -if you are to do this, you wish to get the best kind possible. - -You will understand, then, I am sure, if I speak often about this, -or refer to the subject frequently, that it is because I am very -anxious that all of you go out from here with a definite and correct -idea of what is meant by education, of what an education is meant to -accomplish, what it may be expected to do for one. - -We are very apt to get the idea that education means the memorizing -of a number of dates, of being able to state when a certain battle -took place, of being able to recall with accuracy this event or that -event. We are likely to get the impression that education consists in -being able to commit to memory a certain number of rules in grammar, -a certain number of rules in arithmetic, and in being able to locate -correctly on the earth's surface this mountain or that river, and to -name this lake and that gulf. - -Now I do not mean to disparage the value of this kind of training, -because among the things that education should do for us is to give us -strong, orderly and well developed minds. I do not wish to have you -get the idea that I undervalue or overlook the strengthening of the -mind. If there is one person more than another who is to be pitied, it -is the individual who is all heart and no head. You will see numbers -of persons going through the world whose hearts are full of good -things--running over with the wish to do something to make somebody -better, or the desire to make somebody happier--but they have made the -sad mistake of being absolutely without development of mind to go with -this willingness of heart. We want development of mind and we want -strengthening of the mind. - -I have often said to you that one of the best things that education can -do for an individual is to teach that individual to get hold of what -he wants, rather than to teach him how to commit to memory a number -of facts in history or a number of names in geography. I wish you to -feel that we can give you here orderliness of mind--I mean a trained -mind--that will enable you to find dates in history or to put your -finger on names in geography when you want them. I wish to give you -an education that will enable you to construct rules in grammar and -arithmetic for yourselves. That is the highest kind of training. - -But, after all, this kind of thing is not the end of education. What, -then, do we mean by education? I would say that education is meant to -give us an idea of truth. Whatever we get out of text books, whatever -we get out of industry, whatever we get here and there from any -sources, if we do not get the idea of truth at the end, we do not get -education. I do not care how much you get out of history, or geography, -or algebra, or literature, I do not care how much you have got out of -all your text books:--unless you have got truth, you have failed in -your purpose to be educated. Unless you get the idea of truth so pure -that you cannot be false in anything, your education is a failure. - -Then education is meant to make us just in our dealings with our fellow -men. The man or woman who has learned to be absolutely just, so far as -he can interpret, has, in that degree, an education, is to that degree -an educated man or woman. Education is meant to make us change for the -better, to make us more thoughtful, to make us so broad that we will -not seek to help one man because he belongs to this race or that race -of people, and seek to hinder another man because he does not belong to -this race or that race of people. - -Education in the broadest and truest sense will make an individual -seek to help all people, regardless of race, regardless of colour, -regardless of condition. And you will find that the person who is most -truly educated is the one who is going to be kindest, and is going to -act in the gentlest manner toward persons who are unfortunate, toward -the race or the individual that is most despised. The highly educated -person is the one who is the most considerate of those individuals -who are less fortunate. I hope that when you go out from here, and -meet persons who are afflicted by poverty, whether of mind or body, -or persons who are unfortunate in any way, that you will show your -education by being just as kind and just as considerate toward those -persons as it is possible for you to be. That is the way to test a -person with education. You may see ignorant persons, who, perhaps, -think themselves educated, going about the street, who, when they meet -an individual who is unfortunate--lame, or with a defect of body, mind -or speech--are inclined to laugh at and make sport of that individual. -But the highly educated person, the one who is really cultivated, is -gentle and sympathetic to everyone. - -Education is meant to make us absolutely honest in dealing with our -fellows. I don't care how much arithmetic we have, or how many cities -we can locate;--it all is useless unless we have an education that -makes us absolutely honest. - -Education is meant to make us give satisfaction, and to get -satisfaction out of giving it. It is meant to make us get happiness out -of service for our fellows. And until we get to the point where we can -get happiness and supreme satisfaction out of helping our fellows, we -are not truly educated. Education is meant to make us generous. In this -connection let me say that I very much hope that when you go out from -here you will show that you have learned this lesson of being generous -in all charitable objects, in the support of your churches, your Sunday -schools, your hospitals, and in being generous in giving help to the -poor. - -I hope, for instance, that a large proportion of you--in fact all -of you--will make it a practice to give something yearly to this -institution. If you cannot give but twenty-five cents, fifty cents, or -a dollar a year, I hope you will put it down as a thing that you will -not forget, to give something to this institution every year. We want -to show to our friends who have done so much for us, who have supported -this school so generously, how much interest we take in the institution -that has given us so nearly all that we possess. I hope that every -senior, in particular, will keep this in mind. I am glad to say that -we have many graduates who send us such sums, even if small, and one -graduate who for the last eight or ten years has sent us ten dollars -annually. I hope a number of you in the senior class that I see before -me will do the same thing. - -Education is meant to make us appreciate the things that are beautiful -in nature. A person is never educated until he is able to go into the -swamps and woods and see something that is beautiful in the trees -and shrubs there, is able to see something beautiful in the grass -and flowers that surround him, is, in short, able to see something -beautiful, elevating and inspiring in everything that God has created. -Not only should education enable us to see the beauty in these objects -which God has put about us, but it is meant to influence us to bring -beautiful objects about us. I hope that each one of you, after you -graduate, will surround himself at home with what is beautiful, -inspiring and elevating. I do not believe that any person is educated -so long as he lives in a dirty, miserable shanty. I do not believe -that any person is educated until he has learned to want to live in -a clean room made attractive with pictures and books, and with such -surroundings as are elevating. - -In a word, I wish to say again, that education is meant to give us that -culture, that refinement, that taste which will make us deal truthfully -with our fellow men, and will make us see what is beautiful, elevating -and inspiring in what God has created. I want you to bear in mind that -your text books, with all their contents, are not an end, but a means -to an end, a means to help us get the highest, the best, the purest and -the most beautiful things out of life. - - - - -UNIMPROVED OPPORTUNITIES - - -Several of the things which I shall say to you to-night may not sound -very agreeable or encouraging to many of you, yet I think you will -agree with me that they are facts that cannot be denied. - -We must recognize the fact, in the first place, that our condition -as a race is, in a large measure, different from the condition of -the white race by which we are surrounded; that our capacity is very -largely different from that of the people of the white race. I know we -like to say the opposite. It sounds well in compositions, does well -in rhetoric, and makes a splendid essay, for us to make the opposite -assertion. It does very well in a newspaper article, but when we come -down to hard facts we must acknowledge that our condition and capacity -are not equal to those of the majority of the white people with whom we -come in daily contact. - -Of course that does not sound very well; but to say that we are equal -to the whites is to say that slavery was no disadvantage to us. That -is the logic of it. To illustrate. Suppose a person has been confined -in a sick room, deprived of the use of his faculties, the use of his -body and senses, and that he comes out and is placed by the side of a -man who has been healthy in body and mind. Are these two persons in -the same condition? Are they equal in capacity? Is the young animal -of a week old, although he has all the characteristics that his -mother has, as strong as she? With proper development he will be, in -time, as strong as she, but it is unreasonable to say that he is as -strong at present. And so, I think, this is all that we can say of -ourselves--with proper development our condition and capacity will be -the same as those of the people of any other race. - -Now, the fact that our capacity as a people is different, and that the -conditions which we must meet are different, makes it reasonable for us -to believe that, when the question of education is considered, we shall -find that different educational methods are desirable for us from those -which would be appropriate to the needs of a people whose capacity and -conditions are different from ours. What we most need, in my opinion, -for the next few generations, is such an education as will help us most -effectually to conquer the forces of nature;--I mean in the general -sense of supplying food, clothing, homes, and a substantial provision -for the future. - -Do not think that I mean by this that I do not believe in every -individual getting all the education, he or she can get,--for I do. -But since for some years to come, at least, it must of necessity -be impossible for all of our young people to get all the education -possible, or even all they may want to get, I believe they should apply -their energies to getting such a training as will be best fitted to -supply their immediate needs. - -In Scotland, for instance, where higher education has been within reach -of the people for many years, and where the people have reached a high -degree of civilization, it is not out of place for the young people -to give their time and attention to the study of metaphysics and of -law and the other professions. Of course I do not mean to say that we -shall not have lawyers and metaphysicians and other professional men -after a while, but I do mean to say that I think the efforts of a large -majority of us should be devoted to securing the material necessities -of life. - -When you speak to the average person about labor--industrial work, -especially--he seems to get the idea at once that you are opposed -to his head being educated--that you simply wish to put him to work. -Anybody that knows anything about industrial education knows that it -teaches a person just the opposite--how not to work. It teaches him to -make water work for him,--air, steam, all the forces of nature. That is -what is meant by industrial education. - -Let us make an illustration. Yesterday I was over in the creamery and -became greatly interested in the process of separating the cream. The -only energy spent was that required to turn a crank. The apparatus had -been so constructed as to utilize natural forces. Now compare the old -process of butter-making with the new. Before, you had to go through a -long process of drudgery before the cream could be separated from the -milk, and then another long process before the cream could be turned -into butter, and then, even after churning three or four hours at a -time, you got only a small portion of butter. Now what we mean by -giving you an industrial education is to teach you so to put brains -into your work that if your work is butter-making, you can make butter -simply by standing at a machine and turning a crank. - -If you are studying chemistry, be sure you get all you can out of the -course here, and then go to a higher school somewhere else. Become as -proficient in the science as you can. When you have done this, do not -sit down and wait for the world to honour you because you know a great -deal about chemistry--you will be disappointed if you do--but if you -wish to make the best use of your knowledge of chemistry, come back -here to the South and use it in making this poor soil rich, and in -making good butter where the farmers have made poor butter before. Used -in this way you will find that your knowledge of chemistry will cause -others to honour you. - -During the last thirty years we, as a race, have let some golden -opportunities slip from us, and partly, I fear, because we have not had -enough plain talk in the direction I am following with you to-night. -If you ever have an opportunity to go into any of the large cities -of the North you will be able to see for yourselves what I mean. I -remember that the first time I went North--and it was not so very many -years ago--it was not an uncommon thing to see the barber shops in the -hands of coloured men. I know coloured men who in that way could have -become comfortably rich. You cannot find to-day in the city of New -York or Boston a first-class barber shop in the hands of coloured men. -That opportunity is gone, and something is wrong that it is so. Coming -nearer home; go to Montgomery, Memphis, New Orleans, and you will find -that the barber shops are gradually slipping away from the hands of the -coloured men, and they are going back into dark streets and opening -little holes. These opportunities have slipped from us largely because -we have not learned to dignify labour. The coloured man puts a dirty -little chair and a pair of razors into a dirtier looking hole, while -the white man opens his shop on one of the principal streets, or in -connection with some fashionable hotel, fits it up luxuriously with -carpets, handsome mirrors and other attractive furniture, and calls -the place a "tonsorial parlour." The proprietor sits at his desk and -takes the cash. He has transformed what we call drudgery into a paying -business. - -Still another instance. You can remember that only a few years ago -one of the best paying positions that a large number of coloured -men filled was that of doing whitewashing. A few years ago it would -not have been hard to see coloured men in Boston, Philadelphia or -Washington carrying a whitewash tub and a long pole into somebody's -house to do a job of whitewashing. You go into the North to-day, and -you will find very few coloured men at that work. White men learned -that they could dignify that branch of labour, and they began to study -it in schools. They gained a knowledge of chemistry which would enable -them to understand the mixing of the necessary ingredients; they -learned decorating and frescoing; and now they call themselves "house -decorators." Now that job is gone, perhaps to come no more; for now -that these men have elevated this work, and introduced more intelligent -skill into it, do you suppose any one is going to allow some old man -with a pole and a bucket to come into the house? - -Then there is the field occupied by the cooks. You know that all over -the South we have held--and still hold to a large extent--the matter -of cooking in our hands. Wherever there was any cooking to be done, -a coloured man or a coloured woman did it. But while we still have -something of a monopoly of this work, it is a fact that even this is -slipping away from us. People do not wish always to eat fried meat, and -bread that is made almost wholly of water and salt. They get tired -of such food, and they desire a person to cook for them who will put -brains into the work. To met this demand white people have transformed -what was once the menial occupation of cooking into a profession; they -have gone to school and studied how to elevate this work, and if we -can judge by the almost total absence of coloured cooks in the North, -we are led to believe that they have learned how. Even here in the -South coloured cooks are gradually disappearing, and unless they exert -themselves they will go entirely. They have disappeared in the North -because they have not kept pace with the demand for the most improved -methods of cooking, and because they have not realized that the world -is moving forward rapidly in the march of civilization. A few days -ago, when in Chicago, I noticed in one of the fashionable restaurants -a fine-looking man, well dressed, who seemed to be the proprietor. -I asked who he was, and was told that he was the "chef," as he is -called--the head cook. Of course I was surprised to see a man dressed -so stylishly and presenting such an air of culture, filling the place -of chief cook in a restaurant, but I remembered then, more forcibly -than ever, that cooking had been transformed into a profession--into -dignified labour. - -Still another opportunity is going, and we laugh when we mention it, -although it is really no laughing matter. When we think of what we -might have done to elevate it in the same way that white persons have -elevated it, we realize that it was an opportunity after all. I refer -to the opportunity which was in boot-blacking. Of course, here in the -South, we have that yet, to a large extent, because the competition -here is not quite so sharp as in the North. In too many Southern towns -and cities, if you wish your shoes blacked, you wait until you meet a -boy with a box slung over his shoulder. When he begins to polish your -shoes you will very likely see that he uses a much-worn shoe brush, -or, worse still, a scrubbing brush, and unless you watch him closely -there is a chance that he will polish your shoes with stove polish. But -if you go into a Northern city you will find that such a boy as this -does not stand a chance of making a living. White boys and even men -have opened shops which they have fitted up with carpets, pictures, -mirrors, and comfortable chairs, and sometimes their brushes are even -run by electricity. They have the latest newspapers always within -reach for their patrons to read while their work is being done, and -they grow rich. The man who owns and runs such a place as that is not -called a "boot-black"; he is called the proprietor of such and such a -"Shoe-blacking Emporium." And that chance is gone to come no more. Now -there are many coloured men who understand about electricity, but where -is the coloured man who would apply his knowledge of that science to -running brushes in a boot-black stand? - -In the South it was a common thing when anybody was taken ill to notify -the old mammy nurse. We had a monopoly of the nursing business for -many years, and up to a short time ago it was the common opinion that -nobody could nurse but one of those old black mammies. But this idea -is being dissipated. In the North, when a person gets ill, he does not -think of sending for any one but a professional nurse, one who has -received a diploma from some nurse-training school, or a certificate of -proficiency from some reputable institution. - -I hope you have understood me in what I have been trying to say of -these little things. They all tend to show that if we are to keep pace -with the progress of civilization, we must pay attention to the small -things as well as the larger and more important things in life. They go -to prove that we must put brains into what we do. If education means -anything at all, it means putting brains into the common affairs of -life and making something of them. That is just what we are seeking to -tell to the world through the work of this institution. - -There are many opportunities all about us where we can use our -education. You very rarely see a man idle who knows all about -house-building, who knows how to draw plans, to test the strength of -materials that enter into the making of a first-class house. Did you -ever see such a man out of a job? Did you ever see such a man as that -writing letters to this place and that place applying for work? People -are wanted all over the world who can do work well. Men and women are -wanted who understand the preparation and supplying of food--I don't -mean in the small menial sense--but people who know all about it. Even -in this there is a great opportunity. A few days ago I met a woman who -had spent years in this country and in Europe studying the subject of -food economics in all its details. I learn that this person is in -constant demand by institutions of learning and other establishments -where the preparation and the serving of food are important features. -She spends a few months at each institution. She is wanted everywhere, -because she has applied her education to one of the most important -necessities of life. - -And so you will find it all through life--those persons who are going -to be constantly sought after, constantly in demand, are those who make -the best use of their opportunities, who work unceasingly to become -proficient in whatever they attempt to do. Always be sure that you have -something out of which you can make a living, and then you will not -only be independent, but you will be in a much better position to help -your fellow-men. - -I have spoken about these matters at this length because I believe -them to be the foundation of our future success. We often hear a man -spoken of as having moral character. A man cannot have moral character -unless he has something to wear, and something to eat three hundred -and sixty-five days in a year. He cannot have any religion either. You -will find at the bottom of much crime the fact that the criminals have -not had the common necessities of life supplied them. Men must have -some of the comforts and conveniences--certainly the necessities of -life--supplied them before they can be morally or religiously what they -ought to be. - - - - -KEEPING YOUR WORD - - -I do not want to speak to you continually upon subjects that tend to -show up the weaker traits of character which our race has, but there -are some characteristic points in our life so important that it seems -to me well that we emphasize those which are specially weak just now. - -A few weeks ago I mentioned two or three examples which had come under -my own personal observation, of the unreliability of the race, and to -those I now add one or two more. - -On three distinct occasions, while travelling, I have found it -necessary to make engagements with hackmen to call at a certain hour -in the morning to take me to an early train, and on no one of these -occasions has the hackman kept his word. In the first case the man -disappointed me entirely, so that I had to walk to the station, a -distance of a mile or more. In the second instance the hackman was to -come at six o'clock, and did not come until half-past six. By that time -I had started to walk, and had gone two or three squares, meeting him -on the way to the place where I had stopped. In the third case the man -was at least an hour late when we met him, after we had walked over -half the distance to the station. - -I have spoken at another time of the fact that men who employ coloured -workmen have complained to me that after these men had drawn a week's -pay, they could not be depended upon to return to work the next Monday -morning. In the city of Savannah, Georgia, there are a great many -coloured men employed as stevedores--men who load and unload ships. -If you have read the newspapers carefully you will have noticed that -recently the persons who employ these men have made a new rule, by -which they refuse to pay the stevedores all of their wages at the end -of the week, but retain two days' pay out of each week, from every -individual who works for them, to be paid to them at the end of the -next week. Of course the men do not lose anything in the end by this -method; it simply means that so long as they work for one employer -there are at least two days' pay due them. Of course the labourers -whose wages were thus kept back have made a great noise about it, but -when their employers were asked for an explanation, they said: "We -find by experience that if we pay you all that we owe you on Saturday -night, we cannot depend upon your returning on Monday morning to -continue your work. You are apt to get drunk, or to debauch yourselves -on Sunday so that you are unfitted for your work the next day." This is -the decision these men have arrived at after having employed these men -for a number of years. - -Now think of the things I have spoken to you about. You may say with -regard to the last, that to a great extent this action on the part of -the Savannah employers was due to prejudice, to a desire to use the -money withheld for their own selfish purposes, and because they had the -power to do so, but you can very easily understand that if a person -goes on being disappointed month after month in his business, he will -soon conclude that it is best for him to try a hackman of some other -colour and disposition, and that if these Savannah employers find -year after year that they cannot depend on coloured men to give them -thorough, regular, systematic labour, they are going to look out for -persons of another race who will do their work properly. - -It is not necessary for me to continue in this strain, and to call -attention to other incidents of this kind, to show, as I have told -you before, that one of the weak points which we as a race must fight -against, is that of not being reliable. Of course I understand that -it is not always possible for a person to keep an engagement, but if -he cannot, it is very rarely the case that he cannot send word to the -person with whom he has made the engagement of his inability to keep -his part of it. In the case of the hackmen who disappointed me, if they -had sent word two or three hours ahead of the time, that they could -not come, or if they had sent another hackman to fill the engagement -for them, I should have thought nothing about it. In the case of those -Savannah labourers, when they found they could not go back to their -work promptly, if they had sent word to that effect, their absence, -perhaps, could have been excused. But it is this habit of disappointing -people in business matters without apparent care or concern that has -given the race the damaging reputation which it has for unreliability. - -I speak of these things repeatedly and so plainly because I am -constantly meeting persons who are employers or who would be employers -of our people, and they tell me every time when I speak to them about -work, that their only objection to employing coloured labour is this -very matter I have been speaking of, its unreliability. Many of them -say that they want to employ coloured people, would be glad to give -them places of responsibility, but that they cannot find men who will -stick to their work. - -You may say that it is impossible for us to grow and develop, to get -positions of trust and responsibility that will pay good wages, simply -because we are coloured. I will give you an example on this very point. -A few days ago I was in New Orleans, visiting a large sugar refinery. -The firm which operates this refinery employs from two hundred to -three hundred men. I found the young man who has charge of all the -bookkeeping of the firm, through whose hands all the business and cash -of the firm pass--I found this man to be coloured, and that all the -other persons filling responsible positions under him were white. - -I remember some two or three years ago having met one of the partners -of this firm in the White Mountains, and he told me at that time of -this young man. He told me that a great many persons came to him and -said: "You ought not to have this coloured man filling this position -when there are so many white persons who want the place." He told me -that he said to these persons: "This young man does my work better than -any one else I have yet found, and so long as he does this, so long -shall I employ him." This gentleman has since died, but the business is -in the hands of his widow, who has so much confidence in the ability of -this young coloured man to manage the affairs of a great business--Mr. -Lewis is his name; perhaps some of you know him--that he is retained, -practically at the head of this great establishment. This single -instance shows that notwithstanding his colour a man can rise for what -is in him; that he can advance when he shows that he can be depended -upon. - -Remember that whether you are hackmen, or business men, it pays -whenever you cannot fill an engagement to explain beforehand why you -cannot, and that unless you make a practice of doing this, it will be -impossible for you to get ahead or to attain to places of trust and -responsibility, no matter how much education you may have. - -As I have so often said before, if we cannot send out from Tuskegee -and similar schools young men and women who can be depended upon, our -reputation as a race, for the years that are to come, is not going to -be very bright. On the other hand, if we can succeed in sending out -young men and women with a high sense of responsibility, who can at all -times be relied upon to be prompt in business matters, we shall have -gone a long way in redeeming the character of the race and in lifting -it up. In this important matter all of you can help. Do not wait until -you go out from Tuskegee, but begin to-morrow morning, every boy and -girl, to be reliable and to keep at it until reliability becomes a part -of you. - - - - -SOME LESSONS OF THE HOUR - - -This evening I am going to remind you of a few things which you should -get out of the school year, but it will be of very little use for me to -do this unless you make up your minds to do two things. - -In the first place you must resolve that you are going to remember -the things I am going to say, and in the second place you must put my -suggestions into practice. If you will make up your minds, then, that -you are going to hold on to these suggestions, so far as your memory is -concerned, and then so far as possible put them into practice, we shall -be able to discuss something that will be of profit to you during the -year. - -I want you to get it firmly fixed in your minds that books, industries, -or tools of any character, no matter how thoroughly you master them, do -not within themselves constitute education. Committing to memory pages -of written matter, or becoming deft in the handling of tools, is not -the supreme thing at which education aims. Books, tools, and industries -are but the means to fit you for something that is higher and better. -All these are not ends within themselves; they are simply means. The -end of all education, whether of head or hand or heart, is to make an -individual good, to make him useful, to make him powerful; is to give -him goodness, usefulness and power in order that he may exert a helpful -influence upon his fellows. - -One of the things I want you to get out of this year is the ability -to put a proper value upon time. If there is any one lesson that we -all of us need to have impressed upon us more thoroughly and more -constantly than any other, it is that each minute of our lives is of -supreme value, and that we are committing a sin when we allow a single -minute to go to waste. Remember that every five minutes of time you are -spending at this institution is worth so much money to you. How many -people there are who, after they have arrived at the ages of sixty, -seventy, or eighty years, look back with regret and say, "I wish I -could live the years over again." But they cannot. All they can do is -to regret that they have wasted precious minutes, precious hours. - -Now your lives are yet before you, not, as in the case of these people, -behind you. Your lives are yet to be lived, and they will be made -successful lives just in proportion as you learn to place a value upon -the minutes. Spend every minute here in hard, earnest study, or in -helpful recreation. Be sure that none of your time is thrown away. - -Among other things, you should get out of the year the habit of -reading. Any individual who has learned to love good books, to love -the best newspapers, the best magazines, and has learned to spend some -portion of the day in communication with them, is a happy individual. -You should get yourselves to the point where you will not be happy -unless you do spend a part of each day in this way. - -You should get out of the year the habit of being kind and polite to -every individual. As a general thing it is not difficult for a person -to be polite in words and courteous in actions to individuals who are -classed in the same social scale, or who, perhaps, are above him in -wealth and influence. The test of a true lady or gentleman comes when -that individual is brought in contact with some one who is considered -beneath her or him, some one who is ignorant or poor. Show me a man who -is himself wealthy, and who is gentle and polite to the ignorant about -him, and to the poor people about him, and I will show you every time -a true gentleman. When Prince Henry of Prussia was in this country, -I remember reading this description of one of the prominent public -men who received him: "He is such a true gentleman that he can meet -a prince without himself being embarrassed, and can meet a poor man -without embarrassing the poor man." - -Learn to speak kindly to every individual, white or black. No man loses -anything by being gentlemanly, by learning to be polite, by treating -the most unfortunate individual with the highest deference. - -We want you to learn to control your temper. Some one has said that the -difference between an animal and a man is that the beast has no method -of learning to control his temper. With the individual, the human -being, there is education and training. He learns to master himself, to -have an even temper; learns to master his temper completely. Now if any -of you have a temper that often gets to be your master, make up your -mind that it is a part of your duty here to learn to control it. Step -upon it, as it were, and say: "I will be master of my temper, instead -of letting it be my master." - -You want to have that kind of courage that is going to make you able -to speak the truth at all times, no matter what it may seem to cost -you. This may, for the time being, seem to make you unpopular; it may -inconvenience you, it may deprive you of something that you count dear; -but the individual who cultivates that kind of courage, who, at the -cost of everything, always speaks the truth, is the individual who -in the end will be successful, is the one who in the end will come -out the conqueror. You cannot afford to learn to speak anything but -the absolute truth. One of the most beautiful things that I have seen -printed about President Roosevelt was where someone wrote of him that -one of the President's greatest faults was that he did not know when -to lie--when to deceive people--but that he always spoke the absolute, -frank truth. As a result of his honesty, his truth speaking, he is at -the head of the nation. - -We also want you to learn to be absolutely honest in all your dealings -with other people's property. We may just as well speak plainly and -emphatically. One of our worst sins, one of our weaknesses, is that of -not being able to handle other people's property and be honest with -it. You should learn to be absolutely honest with the property of your -room-mates, school-mates and teachers. Make up your minds that nothing -is going to tempt you from the path of absolute honesty. There is no -man or woman who begins with meddling with other people's property and -affairs, who begins to learn to take that which does not belong to -him or her, who is not beginning in a downward path ending in misery, -sorrow and disappointment. Make up your minds that you are going to be -absolutely honest and truthful in all cases. There is no way to get -happiness out of life, there is no way to get satisfaction out of your -school career, except by following the lessons that I have here tried -to emphasize. - -When we speak of honesty, the first thought may be that the word -applies only to the taking of property that does not belong to us, but -this is not so. It is possible for a person to be dishonest by taking -time or energy that belongs to someone else, just as much as tangible -property. In going into a class-room, office, store or shop, one man -may ask himself the question: "How little can I do to-day and still -get through the day?" Another man will have constantly before him the -question: "How much can I put into this hour or this day?" Now we -expect every student who goes out from Tuskegee to be, not the man who -tries to see how little he can do, or the average man who proposes to -do merely his duty, but the man above the average, who will do more -than his duty. And you will disappoint us unless you are above the -average man, unless you go out from here with the determination that -you are going to perform more than your duty. - -I like to see young men or young women who, if employed in any -capacity, no matter how small or unimportant that capacity may be, if -the hour is eight o'clock at which they must come to work, I like to -see them at work ten or fifteen minutes before that hour. I like to see -a man or woman who, if the closing hour is five o'clock or six o'clock, -goes to the person in charge and says: "Shall I not stay longer? Is -there not something else I ought to do before I go?" Put your whole -souls into whatever you attempt to do. That is honesty. - -Another thing you should learn this year is to get into touch with the -best people there are in the world. You should learn to associate with -the best students in the institution. Take them as models, and say that -you are going to improve from month to month, and from year to year, -until you are as good as they are, or better. You cannot reach these -things all at once, but I hope that each one of you will make up his -mind or her mind that from to-night, throughout the year and throughout -life, there is going to be a hard striving on your part toward reaching -the best results. If you do this, when you get ready to leave this -institution, you will find that it has been worth your while to have -spent your time here. - - - - -THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE - - -The subject on which I am going to speak to you for a few minutes -to-night, "The Gospel of Service," may not, when you first hear it, -strike a very responsive chord in your hearts and minds, but I assure -you I have nothing but the very highest and best interest of the race -at heart when I select this subject to talk about. - -The word "service" has too often been misunderstood, and on this -account it has in too many cases carried with it a meaning which -indicates degradation. Every individual serves another in some -capacity, or should do so. Christ said that he who would become the -greatest of all must become the servant of all; that is, He meant that -in proportion as one renders service he becomes great. The President of -the United States is a servant of the people, because he serves them; -the Governor of Alabama is a servant, because he renders service to the -people of the State; the greatest merchant in Montgomery is a servant, -because he renders service to his customers; the school teacher is -a servant, because it is his duty to serve the best interests of his -pupils; the cook is a servant, because it is her duty to serve those -for whom she works; the housemaid is a servant, because it is her duty -to care for the property intrusted to her in the best manner in which -she is able. - -In one way or another, every individual who amounts to anything is -a servant. The man or the woman who is not a servant is one who -accomplishes nothing. It is very often true that a race, like an -individual, does not appreciate the opportunities that are spread -out before it until those opportunities have disappeared. Before us, -as a race in the South to-day, there is a vast field for service and -usefulness which is still in our hands, but which I fear will not be -ours to the same extent very much longer unless we change our ideas of -service, and put new life, put new dignity and intelligence into it. - -Perhaps I am right in thinking that in no department of life has -there been such great progress and such changes for the better during -the last ten years as in the department of domestic service, or -housekeeping. The cook who does not make herself intelligent, who does -not learn to do things in the latest, and in the neatest and cleanest -manner, will soon find herself without employment, or will at least -find herself a "drug on the market," instead of being sought after and -paid higher wages. The woman who does not keep up with all the latest -methods of decorating and setting her table, and of putting the food on -it properly, will find her occupation gone within a few years. The same -is true of general housekeeping, of laundering and of nursing. - -All the occupations of which I have been talking are at present in our -hands in the South; but I repeat that very great progress is being made -in all of them in every part of the world, and we shall find that we -shall lose them unless our women go forward and get rid of the old idea -that such occupations are fit only for ignorant people to follow. At -the present time scores of books and magazines are appearing bearing -upon every branch of domestic service. People are learning to do things -in an intelligent and scientific manner. Not long ago I sat for an -hour and listened to a lecture delivered upon the subject of dusting, -and it was one of the most valuable hours I ever spent. The person who -gave this lecture upon dusting was a highly educated and a cultivated -woman, and her audience was composed of wealthy and cultivated people. -We must bring ourselves to the point where we can feel that one who -cooks, and does it well, should be just as much honoured as the person -who teaches school. - -What I have said in regard to the employments of our women is equally -true of the occupations followed by our men. It is true that at the -present we are largely cultivating the soil of the South, but if other -people learn to do this work more intelligently, learn more about -labour-saving machinery, and become more conscientious about their -work than we, we shall find our occupation departing. It used to be -the case in many parts of the North that the Negro was the coachman; -but in a very large degree, in cities like New York and Philadelphia, -the Negro has lost this occupation, and lost it, in my opinion, not -because he was a Negro, but because in many cases he did not see that -the occupation of coachman was constantly being improved. It has been -improved and lifted up until now it has almost become a profession. The -Negro who expects to remain a coachman should learn the proper dress -for a coachman, and learn how to care for horses and vehicles in the -most approved manner. - -What is true of the coachman is true of the butler. In too many cases, -I fear, we use these occupations merely as stepping stones, holding -on to them until we can find something else to do, in a careless and -slipshod manner. We want to change all this, and put our whole souls -into these occupations, and in a large degree make them our life-work. -In proportion as we do this, we shall lay a foundation upon which our -children and grandchildren are to rise to higher things. The foundation -of every race must be laid in the common every-day occupations that are -right about our doors. It should not be our thought to see how little -we can put into our work, but how much; not how quickly we can get rid -of our tasks, but how well we can do them. - -I often wish that I had the means to put into every city a large -training-school for giving instruction in all lines of domestic -service. Few things would add more to the fundamental usefulness of the -race than such a school. Perhaps it may be suggested that my argument -has reference only to our serving white people. It has reference to -doing whatever we do in the best manner, no matter whom we serve. -The individual who serves a black man poorly will serve a white man -poorly. Let me illustrate what I mean. In a Southern city, a few days -ago, I found a large hotel conducted by coloured people. It is one of -the very cleanest and best and most attractive hotels for coloured -people that I have found in any part of the country. In talking with -the proprietors I asked them what was the greatest obstacle they had -had to overcome, and they told me it was in finding coloured women to -work in the house who would do their work systematically and well, -women who would, in a word, keep the rooms in every part of the hotel -thoroughly swept and cleaned. This hotel had been opened three months, -and I found that during that time the proprietors had employed fifteen -different chambermaids, and they had got rid of a large proportion of -these simply because they were determined not to have people in their -employment who did not do their work well. - -One weakness pertaining to the whole matter of domestic employment -in the South, at present, is this: it is too easy for our people to -find work. If there was a rule followed in every family that employs -persons, that no man or woman should be hired unless he or she brought -a letter of recommendation from the last employer, we should find that -the whole matter of domestic service would be lifted up a hundred per -cent. So long as an individual can do poor work for one family, and -perhaps be dishonest at the same time, and be sure that he or she will -be employed by some other family, without regard to the kind of service -rendered the last employer, so long will domestic service be poor and -unsatisfactory. - -Many white people seldom come in contact with the Negro in any other -capacity than that of domestic service. If they get a poor idea of our -character and service in that respect, they will infer that the entire -life of the Negro is unsatisfactory from every point of view. We want -to be sure that wherever our life touches that of the white man, we -conduct ourselves so that he will get the best impression possible of -us. - -In spite of all the fault I have found, I would say this before I stop. -I recognize that the people of no race, under similar circumstances, -have made greater progress in thirty-five years than is true of the -people of the Negro race. If I have spoken to you thus plainly and -frankly, it is that our progress in the future may be still greater -than it has been in the past. - - - - -YOUR PART IN THE NEGRO CONFERENCE - - -For eight or nine years, now, it has been our custom to hold here -what is known as the Tuskegee Negro Conference. A number of years ago -it occurred to some of us that instead of confining the work of this -institution to the immediate body of students gathered within its -walls, we perhaps could extend and broaden its scope so as to reach out -to, and try to help, the parents of the students and the older people -in the country districts, and, to some extent, if possible, in the -cities also. - -With this end in view, we, some years ago, invited a number of men and -women to come and spend the day with us, and, while here, to tell us in -a very plain and straightforward manner something about their material, -moral and religious condition. Then the afternoon of that same day was -spent in hearing from these same men and women suggestions as to how -they thought this institution and other institutions might help them, -and also how they thought they might help themselves. - -Out of these simple and small meetings has grown what we now call -"The Tuskegee Negro Conference," which, in the last few years, has -grown until it numbers from nine hundred to twelve hundred persons. -We not only have that large number of persons, most of whom come from -farms and are engaged in farm work, but we now also have "The Workers' -Conference," which meets on the day following the Negro Conference. -This Workers' Conference brings together representatives from all the -larger institutions for the education of the Negro in the South. - -Now these meetings for this year begin next Wednesday morning, and the -practical question that I wish to discuss with you to-night is,--What -can we do to make that Conference a success? What can you do for the -Conference, and what can the Conference do for you? - -I wish you to grasp the idea that is growing through the country--that -very few institutions now confine themselves and their work to mere -teaching in the class-room, in the old-fashioned manner. Very few now -confine themselves and their work to the comparatively small number of -students that they can reach in that way, as they did a few years ago. -In many cases they have their college extension work. In one way or -another they are reaching out and getting hold of the young people--and -getting a hold on the older people as well. And just so, to a very -large degree, through this Conference, Tuskegee is doing something of -the same kind of thing. - -During these few days we shall have hundreds of the farmers, with their -wives and daughters, gathered here. We want each and every one of you -here in the institution to make up your mind that you can do something -to help these people. We want each one of you here to-night to feel -that he or she has a special responsibility during the time these -people are gathered together at Tuskegee. We sometimes speak of it as -their one day of schooling in the whole year,--that is, the one day -out of the whole three hundred and sixty-five days in the year when, -perhaps, they will give the greatest amount of attention to matters -pertaining to themselves. In inviting them here, not only the teachers -and officers of this institution have a responsibility, but each and -every student here also has a responsibility. I want you to feel that, -and see to what extent you can take hold of these people while they are -here, to inspire and encourage them, so as to have them go away from -here feeling that it is worth their while to come to the Institute for -this meeting, even if--as is true of some of them--they have come a -long distance. - -Some of these people who will come here are ignorant, so far as books -are concerned, but I want you to know that not every person who cannot -read and write is ignorant. Some of the persons whom I have met and -from whom I have learned much, are persons who cannot write a word. -Very many of the people who will come here may not be able to read or -write, but we can learn something from them notwithstanding, while they -are here, and they can learn something from us. - -I want you to take delight in getting hold of these people and taking -them through our shops, guiding them through our various agricultural -and mechanical departments. Be sure that you exert every effort -possible to make them comfortable and happy while they are here. -Heretofore the students have been so generous, at the time of this -meeting, that many of them, if necessary, have given up their rooms -that these people might have a comfortable night's rest. I do not know -where you have slept, but I do not think that in the history of the -school a student was ever asked to give up his room to any of these -people that he did not gladly and freely do so. I believe that you are -going to do the same thing this year. - -I want you, also, to remember that you not only can help the Conference -to be a success by being polite and kindly to the farmers who come -from this and other Southern States, but also by being polite and -attentive to the representatives from the large institutions that -will be here. We will have present representatives from every large -institution engaged in the education of our people. It means much for -the principals and instructors in these large colleges and industrial -schools to leave their work and come as far as many of them do, to -spend these days here. We have a responsibility on their account; we -desire them to feel that it has been worth their while to leave their -work and spend their time and money to come here for these meetings. We -wish them to get something out of our industries here; we wish them to -get something out of the training here, in every department, something -which they can take back to their own institution to make their work -there stronger and better. - -Now as to yourselves. You can get something out of this Conference -for yourselves, by getting hold of everything possible, so that when -you go out from Tuskegee you will have just that much more helpful -information to put into practice. I want to see you go out through the -South and establish local conferences. Call them together, and teach -the same kind of lessons that we teach at these gatherings at Tuskegee. -You can get the most out of this Conference by putting into practice -this effort to make other people happy. To get the greatest happiness -out of life is to make somebody else happy. To get the greatest good -out of life is to do something for somebody else. I want you to find -the persons who are most ignorant and most poverty stricken; I want you -to find the persons who are most forlorn and most discouraged, and do -something for them to make their hours happy. In doing that, you will -do the most for yourselves. - -I want each boy and each girl who belongs to this institution to be -deep down in his or her heart a gentleman or a lady. A gentleman means -simply this: a generous person; one who has learned to be kind; one -who has learned to think not of himself first, but of the happiness -and welfare of others. Let us put this spirit into our Conference -day the coming week, and the day and week will be the greatest and -most successful that we have ever had. Let our resolution be that the -persons who come here, whether they represent a university, a college, -an industrial school, a farm, or a shop--let our resolve be that when -these people leave here they shall take away with them from Tuskegee -something that will make their lives happier, brighter, stronger and -more useful. - - - - -WHAT IS TO BE OUR FUTURE? - - -Last Thursday afternoon I received a telegram from a gentleman stopping -for a time in a city in Georgia, asking me to come there at once on -important business; and being rather curious to know what he wanted of -me, I went. I found that this man was in the act of making his will, -and that he had in mind the putting aside of a considerable sum in his -will--some $20,000, in fact--for this institution. - -The special point upon which this gentleman wished to consult me was -the future of the Institution. He said that he had worked very hard -for his money, that it had come as a result of much sacrifice and hard -effort, and that there were friends of his who were beseeching him to -use his money in other directions, because they thought it would be -more likely to do permanent good elsewhere. And so he wished to know -what the future of this Institution is likely to be, because he did not -care to risk his money upon an uncertain venture, one that was likely -to prosper for a few years, and then fail. He said that he would not -like to give his money to an institution where it would not go on -through the years, accomplishing a certain amount of good. Accordingly -the question he repeated to me over and over again was: "What is to be -the future of Tuskegee?" He wished to know whether, if we were given -the money, it would go on from year to year, blessing one generation -after another. - -My point in speaking to you to-night is to emphasize what I think our -good friend Professor Brown has already brought to our attention in -one or two of his talks to us this week, the importance of making this -institution what it ought to be, what its reputation gives it, and what -its name implies. - -More and more I realize--and I remember that the gentleman of whom I -have spoken repeated this to me with great emphasis--that so far as -the outside world is concerned, Tuskegee is sure; you need not have -the least doubt that the institution will be supported. If we keep -things right at the institution, if it is worthy of support, the -moneyed people of the country will support it and stand by it. More and -more each year this impression grows upon me, and more and more each -year there are convincing evidences of the fact that the permanence -and growth of this institution do not rest upon whether the people -of the South or the people of the North are going to support it with -their means. I have the most implicit confidence that the institution -is going to be supported. But the question that comes to us with the -greatest force is: "Are we going to be worthy of that support? Shall we -be worthy of the confidence of the public?" That is the question that -is most serious; that is the question that presses most heavily upon my -heart, and upon the hearts of the other teachers here. - -Now these questions can be answered satisfactorily only by evidence -that each student, each individual connected with the school in any -way, no matter in how low or high a capacity, is putting his or her -whole conscience into the work here. When I say work, I mean study of -books, work of the hand, effort of the body, willingness of the heart. -No matter what the thing is, put your conscience into it; do your best. -Let it be possible for you to say: "I have put my whole soul into my -study, into my work, into whatever I have attempted. Whatever I have -done I have honestly endeavored to do to the best of my ability." - -The questions which this gentleman asked me, and similar kinds of -questions, are being asked over and over again by people all over -the country. The question can be answered only by our putting our -consciences into our work, and by our being entirely unselfish in it. -Let every person get into the habit of planning every day for the -comfort and welfare of others, let each one try to live as unselfishly -as possible, remembering that the Bible says: "He that would save his -life, must lose it." And you never saw a person save his life in this -higher sense, in the Christ-like sense, unless that person was willing, -day by day, to lose himself in the interest of his fellow-men. Such -persons save their own lives, and in saving them save thousands of -other lives. - -Such questions as these can be satisfactorily answered not merely -by our putting our consciences into every effort, no matter what -the effort may be, but by improving, day by day, upon what has been -done the day before. In large institutions and establishments it is -comparatively easy to find persons who will sweep a room day by day, -or plough a field during certain seasons of the year, and do other -work at certain other seasons of the year, but the difficulty comes -in finding persons who make improvements in the manner of sweeping -rooms, of ploughing fields and planting corn. The question for us is: -"Are we going to put so much brains into our efforts every year, that -we are going to go on steadily and constantly improving from year to -year?" Are you going to get into the habit of so thinking about your -work here that the habit will become, as it were, a part of yourself, -so that when you go out into the world you will not be satisfied to -take a position and go on in the same humdrum manner, but will not be -satisfied until your work has been improved in every possible detail, -and made easier, more systematic, and more convenient? - -We must put brains into our work. There must be improvement in every -department of this institution every year. It is absolutely impossible -for an institution to stand still; it must go forward or backward, -grow better or worse each year. An institution grows stronger and more -useful each year, or weaker and less useful. - -This institution can grow only by each person putting his thought into -his work, by planning how he can improve the work of his particular -department, by constantly striving to make his work more useful to the -institution, by keeping the place where he works cleaner, and making -his work more business-like and more systematic. That is the only way -in which the questions which people all over the country are asking -about this institution can be satisfactorily answered. - -You will find that people will look to us more and more for tangible -results. Not only here, but all over the country, our race is going -to be called on to answer the question: "What can the race really -accomplish?" It is perfectly well understood by our friends as well -as by our enemies, that we can write good newspaper articles and make -good addresses, that we can sing well and talk well, and all that kind -of thing. All that is perfectly well understood and conceded. But the -question that will be more and more forced upon us for an answer is: -"Can we work out our thoughts, can we put them into tangible shape, -so that the world may see from day to day actual evidences of our -intellectuality?" - -Last winter I was in the town of Clinton, Iowa. I think I had never -heard of the place before, and when I got there I was surprised to find -it a place of more than 16,000 inhabitants. The gentleman who was to -entertain me wanted to take me to a coloured restaurant. I expected -to go into a restaurant of the kind operated by our people generally, -and I was very much surprised when he took me into a large, two-story -building. I found the floors carpeted, and everything about the place -as pleasant and attractive as it was possible to make it. In fact the -restaurant compared very favourably with many in the largest cities -in the country. I found the waiters clean, the service good, and -everything conducted in the most systematic manner. And there was not -the least thing, except the colour of the proprietor's skin, to show -that the place was operated by coloured people. - -Afterward my friend took me into another establishment of the same -size, operated in the same creditable manner by another coloured man. -In both I found that these gentlemen not only carried on a regular -restaurant business, but manufactured their own candies and ice cream, -and did a sort of wholesale catering business. I asked the white people -there what they thought of the coloured people, and I did not find a -single white person who did not have the most implicit confidence in -the coloured people. The trouble was that there were not many coloured -people there. That accounts possibly for the good opinion which the -white people have of them. But you see what just two black men can do. -These people had never seen many black people, but fortunately for us -they had with them two of the best specimens of our race that I have -ever seen anywhere in this country. As a result you do not find any one -cursing the black man in that town. Everybody had the utmost confidence -in black people, and respected them. - -Just in proportion as we can establish object lessons of this kind -all over the country, you will find that the problem that now is so -perplexing will disappear. Until we do this, we shall not be able to -talk away, or to argue away, this prejudice. We cannot talk our way -into our rights; we must work our way, think our way, into them. And -you will find that just in proportion as we do this, we are going to -get all we deserve. - - - - -SOME GREAT LITTLE THINGS - - -I am going to speak to you for a few minutes to-night upon what I shall -term "Some Great Little Things." I speak of them as great, because of -their supreme importance, and I speak of them as little, because they -come in a class of things which are usually looked upon by many people -as small and unimportant. But in an institution like this I think they -often hold first place--certainly they come under the head of important -things that we can learn. - -You will remember that in the sermon the Chaplain preached this -morning, he mentioned the three-fold division of our nature; the -physical part, the mental part, and the spiritual part. What I shall -refer to to-night has largely to do with the material, the physical -part of our natures. There are certain little things that each one of -you can learn now, in connection with the care of your bodies, which, -if left unlearned now, will perhaps go without being learned all your -lives. You are now, as it were, at the parting of the ways--you are -going to make these habits a part of yourselves, or you are going to -let them escape you forever, and be weak in a measure all your lives -for not having made them a part of yourselves. - -I am going to speak very plainly, because I feel that such talk means -nothing unless it is in language which every one can appreciate and -understand. Now, among the first things that a person going to a -boarding school should learn, if he has not already learned it at -home--and I am constantly being surprised at the number who seem to -have thus left it unlearned--is the habit of regular and systematic -bathing. No person who has left this habit unlearned can reach the -highest success in life. I mean by that, that a person who does not -get into the habit of keeping the body clean, cannot do the highest -work and the greatest amount of work in the world. When it comes to -competing with persons who have learned the habit of keeping the body -in good condition, you will find that the first named persons usually -win in the race of life. I think many of you have already learned from -your physiologies that when it comes to the combating of disease, where -two persons are on a sick-bed with the same disease, the one who is -habitually clean in his personal habits has a far greater chance for -recovery than the one who has not learned the habit of cleanliness. You -will also find that the person who is in the habit of caring for his -body is in a better condition for study; he is in a condition to bear -prolonged and severe exertion, while the person whose body is unclean -is in a weak condition. - -Take the matter of the teeth. Persons cannot call themselves educated -and refined who do not make the matter of the cleanliness and proper -care of their teeth an important part of themselves. When I speak of -making such a thing a part of yourselves, I mean that you should make -it such a strong habit that to leave it undone would seem unnatural. -Some person has defined man as a bundle of habits. There are many -habits that I wish you to make a part of yourselves, by practising so -constantly that they may really be said to have become that. - -There is the matter of the care of the hair, which everyone should make -a part of himself. There is also the proper care of the finger nails. - -Now all of these are common things, but they are great things. I should -not recommend very highly a young man or young woman who went out from -this institution as a graduate, and had not learned the habit of caring -for the teeth, hair and nails systematically. Are you making these -lessons a part of yourself? - -Take the young men and young women who have been here two or three -years. Have you grown to the point where you are dissatisfied and all -out of sorts when your hair is not combed, your finger nails dirty, and -your body not in the condition it should be in? If you have not reached -that point, when you come to graduate, then there will be something -wrong with your education, and you are not ready to go out from this -institution, whether you are in the senior class or in the preparatory -class. - -Another thing; I confess that I cannot have the highest kind of respect -for the person who is in the habit of going day after day with buttons -off his clothes. There is no excuse for it, when buttons are so cheap. -I wonder how many of you could stand, if I were now to ask all to stand -who have every button in its place. I cannot have the best opinion of a -girl who will let a hole remain in her apron day after day. Nor can I -think well of a man who does not remove a grease spot from his coat as -soon as he discovers it. - -You have more respect for yourselves, and other people have more -respect for you, when you get into the habit of polishing your shoes, -no matter where you are, but especially when you are at school. Every -man should get into the habit of polishing his shoes. See to it that -they are in proper condition at all times. - -I need not repeat here, after what I have said, that it is of the -utmost importance that every person wear the cleanest of linen. If I -speak to you so plainly, it is because I want you to make these matters -a part of yourselves to such an extent that they will be essential to -your happiness and success. I want every girl who goes away from here -to be so nearly perfect in her dress that she cannot be happy if there -is any detail unattended to; and I want the same thing to be true of -the young men. Let these things have an important bearing on your -education here, and on your life hereafter. - -And then, above all things, although on account of the number of -students here you are very much crowded in your rooms and will have to -make all the harder effort on that account, get into the habit of being -orderly and neat. School your room-mates to the point where they will -have a place for everything. Always know where to put your hands on -anything you may want in your room, whether in the light or in the dark. - -Then there are one or two other little things. You should have quiet -in your rooms, at your work or in your talk with your fellow students. -Do your work quietly. Get into the habit of closing doors quietly. You -cannot realize how much all these little things add to your happiness -and to the manhood and womanhood which you are going to build up as the -years go on. - -And then, in conclusion, so order your lives that you can form the -habit of reading. Set aside a certain amount of time each day, even -if it be not more than four or five minutes, for reading and studying -aside from your lessons. Read books of travel, history and biography. I -want you to patronize the library this year as never before. In it are -great numbers of books by authors of the highest rank. - -Be regular in all your habits. Have a regular time for studying, for -recreation, and for sleeping. - -And last, but far from least, set aside a regular time for thinking, -for meditating with yourself. Take yourself up, pick yourself to -pieces, see wherein you are weak and need strengthening. Analyze -yourself. Get rid, as it were, of all the weights that have been -holding you back, and resolve at the end of each week that you will -walk upon your dead selves of the week before. If you will go on, -making that kind of progress, you will find at the end of the nine -school months that you are stronger in everything essential to good -manhood and good womanhood. - - - - -TO WOULD-BE TEACHERS - - -Since very many of you whom I see before me to-night will spend some -part of your lives after you leave here as teachers, even if you do not -make teaching your life work, I am going to talk over with you again a -subject on which I have spoken elsewhere--How to build up a good school -in the South. - -The coloured schools of the South, especially in the country districts -and smaller towns, are not kept open by the State fund, as a rule, -longer than three or four months in the year. One of the great -questions, then, with teachers and parents, is how to extend the school -term to seven or eight months, so that the school shall really do some -good. - -I want to give a few plain suggestions, which will, I think, if -carefully followed, result in placing a good school in almost every -community. In this I am not speculating, because more than one Tuskegee -graduate has built up a good school on the plan I outline. - -In the first place the teacher must be willing to settle down in the -community, and feel that that is to be his home, and teaching there his -chief object in life while he is there. Not only must he not feel that -he can move about from place to place every three months, but he must -feel that he is not working for his salary alone. He must be willing to -sacrifice for the good of the community. - -The next thing is to get a convenient school-house. Usually, in the -far South, the State has not been able to build a school-house. How -is it to be secured? A good school-house should be carefully planned. -Then the teacher or some one else should go among the people in -the community, coloured and white, and get each individual to give -something, no matter how small an amount if in money, or, if not in -money, how little in value, for purchasing lumber. When we were getting -started here at Tuskegee one old coloured woman brought me six eggs as -her contribution to our work. - -If enough money cannot be secured by subscription and collection to -pay for the lumber, a supper, a festival, entertainment or church -collection will help out. After the lumber is secured, the parents -should be asked to "club in" with their waggons and haul it free. Then -at least one good carpenter should be secured to take the lead in -building. Each member of the community should agree to give a certain -number of days' work in helping to put up the structure. In this work -of building, the larger pupils can help a good deal, and they will -have all the more interest in the school-house because they have had a -hand in its erection. In these ways, by patient effort, a good frame -school-house can be secured in almost any community. - -Where it is possible, take a three or four months' public school as a -starting point, and work in co-operation with the school officers, but -do not let the school close at the end of these three or four months, -because if that is done it will amount to almost nothing. - -As soon as the teacher goes into a community, he should organize the -people into an educational society or club, and there should be regular -meetings once a week, or once in two weeks, at which plans for the -improvement of the school should be discussed. - -There are a number of ways for extending the school term. One is for -each parent to pay ten, fifteen, twenty-five or fifty cents each month -during the whole time the school is in session. Frequently parents who -cannot pay in cash can let the teacher have eggs, chickens, butter, -sweet potatoes, corn or some other kind of produce which will help to -supply the teacher with food. Another plan is for each farmer to set -aside a portion of land and give all that is raised upon it to the -school. Still another plan, and one that is being successfully carried -out in at least one place, and one that I think much of, is for the -teacher to secure, either by renting or purchase, a small tract of -land--say from two to five acres--and let the children cultivate this -land while they are attending school. If, in this way, three bales of -cotton can be raised, and a variety of vegetables and grain also, the -produce can be sold and the school term extended from three months to -six or seven months. - -Some parents may object to this at first, but they will soon see that -it is better to let the school close at one o'clock or two o'clock in -the afternoon, so that the children may work on the school land for an -hour or two, and in this way keep the school open six or seven months, -than to let it close entirely at the end of three months. There is -another advantage in this latter plan. The teacher can in this way -teach the students, in a practical way, better methods of farming. -Short talks on the principles of agriculture are worth much more to -them than time spent in committing to memory the names of mountain -peaks in Central Africa. Very often there is enough land right around -the school-house for the pupils to cultivate. - -In every case where it is possible, the teacher should buy a home in -the community, and make his home in every way a model for those of -the people who live around him. The teacher should cultivate a farm, -or follow some trade while not teaching. This not only helps him, but -sets a good example for the people in the community. If the teacher be -a woman, there are few communities where she cannot add much to her -income by sewing, dressmaking or poultry-raising. - - - - -THE CULTIVATION OF STABLE HABITS - - -I am going to speak with you a few minutes this evening upon the matter -of stability. I want you to understand when you start out in school, -that no individual can accomplish anything unless he means to stick -to what he undertakes. No matter how many possessions he may have, no -matter how much he may have in this or that direction, no matter how -much learning or skill of hand he may possess, an individual cannot -succeed unless, at the same time, he possesses that quality which will -enable him to stick to what he undertakes. In a word he is not to be -jumping from this thing to that thing. - -That is the reason why so many ministers fail. They preach awhile, -and then jump to something else. They do not stick to one thing. It -is the same with many lawyers and doctors. They do not stick to what -they undertake. Many business men fail for the same reason. When an -individual gets a reputation--no matter what he has undertaken--of -not having the quality of sticking to a thing until he succeeds in -reaching the end, that reputation nullifies the influence for good of -the better traits of his character in every direction. It is said of -him that he is unstable. - -I want you to begin your school life with the idea that you are going -to stick to whatever you undertake until you have completed it. I take -it for granted that all of you have come here with that idea in mind; -that before you came here you sat down and talked the matter over with -your father and mother, read over the circulars giving information -about the school, and then deliberately decided that this institution -was the one whose course of study you wished to complete. I take it -for granted that you have come here with that end in view, and I want -to say to you now, that you will injure yourselves, your parents, and -the institution--and you will hurt your own reputation--unless, after -having come here with the determination to succeed, you remain here -for that purpose, and remain for the full time, until you receive your -diploma. I hope every individual here, every young man and woman at the -school, is here with the determination that he or she will not give up -the struggle until the object aimed at has been attained. - -You are at a stage now, when, if you begin jumping about here and -there, if you begin in this course of study and then go to that course -of study, you will very likely be jumping about from one thing to -another all your life. You must make up your minds, after coming here, -to do well whatever you undertake. This is a good rule not only to -begin your school life with, but also to begin your later life with. - -Perhaps I was never more interested than I was last evening in -Montgomery, while standing on one of the streets there for an hour. I -seldom stand on any street for an hour, but last night I did stand on -that street for an hour, in front of a large, beautiful store that is -owned by Mr. J. W. Adams, and watched the notice taken of the display -of millinery made in his store windows by two girls that finished their -academic and industrial courses at this school--Miss Jemmie Pierce and -Miss Lydia Robinson. The first Monday in October is always the day in -Montgomery for what they call the millinery openings; on that day the -stores which handle such goods all make a great display of ladies' hats -and bonnets. It was surprising and interesting to note how these two -girls had entered a great city like Montgomery and had taken entire -charge of the millinery department in a large store. Hundreds of people -stopped to comment favourably upon the taste that was displayed in the -decoration of those windows. - -Now, all this work was done by two Tuskegee graduates. And the -complimentary remarks that were made came not only from coloured people -but from white people as well. No one could tell from the windows of -that store whether it was a coloured or a white establishment. Many of -the white ladies who were standing there did not know that they were -standing in front of a store that was owned by a black man. It had -none of the usual earmarks about it. Usually when you go into coloured -establishments you see grease on the doors or on the counters; or you -see this sign or that sign that this is a coloured man's establishment. -Those of you here who are going to go into business after you leave -school do not want to have any such earmarks about your establishments. -Such a store as that of Mr. Adams is the kind of a store to have. - -Now, these two young women have made a reputation for themselves. -They went into the millinery division while they were here, and they -remained until they graduated. One of them, I believe had not finished -in the millinery department when she received her academic diploma, and -so she came back last year and took a postgraduate course in millinery. -It is interesting and encouraging to see these two young women -succeeding in their work, and it all comes from their determination -to succeed, and because they had sense enough to finish what they had -undertaken. - -That is the lesson that you all want to learn. If you do not learn it -now, in a large degree you will be failures in life. You want to be -like these young women. You want to fight it out. Now if you mean to -get your diploma, you are going to have a hard time. Some of you are -going to be without shoes, without a hat, without proper clothing of -any kind. You will get discouraged because you have not as nice a dress -or as nice a hat as this person or that person. I would not give a snap -of my finger for a person who would give up for that. The thing for you -to do is to fight it out. Get something in your head, and don't worry -about what you can get to put on it. The clothes will come afterward. - -You are going to be greatly discouraged sometimes, but if you will -heed the lesson of fighting out what you have undertaken, that same -disposition will follow you all through life, and you will get a -reputation, because people will say of you that there is a person who -sticks to whatever he or she undertakes. One of the saddest things -in life is to see an individual who has grown to old age, with no -profession, with no calling whatever from which he is sure of getting -an independent living. It is sad to see such individuals without money, -without homes, in their old age, simply because they did not learn the -lesson of saving money and getting for themselves a beautiful home when -they ought to have done this. And so, all through life, we can point to -many people who have not learned this lesson--that for whatever they -undertake they must pay the price which the world asks of them if they -would succeed. If we are going to succeed we must pay the price for -what we get; and he who accomplishes the most, accomplishes it in an -humble and straightforward way, by sticking to what he has undertaken. -He who does this finds in the end that he has achieved a tremendous -success. - - - - -WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO - - -It is comparatively easy to perform almost any kind of work, but the -value of any work is in having it performed so that the desired results -may be most speedily reached, and in having the means with which the -worker labours arranged so as to meet certain ends. It is the constant -problem of those organs which have charge of the well-being of the -body, to cause digestion to take place, so that what is nourishing in -the food may reach every part of the body, not only the portions near -the organs in which digestion takes place, but also the most extreme -parts of the different members. - -Just so it is the aim of all persons who are accustomed to making -public addresses to try to make those who are far away from them hear -them as well as those who sit near. In this same way, it seems to me -more and more every year, it is going to be the main object of all -our schools in the South to make their influence felt most forcibly -among those who are remote from them. How can we reach the masses -who are remote--I mean remote from educational advantages and from -opportunities for encouragement and enlightenment? The problem in the -rural districts is difficult because of the vastness of the number to -be reached, and of the frequent difficulty of reaching them. We must -keep this fact before us, then; that institutions of this kind are of -little value unless they can pave the way to make the results of their -work felt among the masses of the people who are especially remote from -these institutions. - -It is a fact, as most of you know, that we very seldom meet with a -thoroughly well-educated teacher in the rural districts, in spite of -the passing of over thirty years since we became men and women. You -know, too, that the same thing is, in too large a measure, true of the -ministry. The responsibility for reaching these people, for affecting -them for good, rests upon the young men and young women who are being -educated in these Southern institutions to-day. - -What are you going to do as your part towards reaching these people, -towards carrying to them the light which they need so much and so -earnestly long for? Difficult as this problem is, it is not a -discouraging one, because these people are ready to follow the light -as soon as they are sure that the right kind of light is set up before -them. You very seldom meet with a coloured man who is not conscious of -his ignorance, and who is not anxious to get up as soon as he finds -himself down. In this respect the problem is encouraging. - -One of the ways in which the problem is serious is with respect to -labour. In almost every city and town in the South a large proportion -of the coloured people are shiftless so far as manual labour is -concerned, although I think there is already improvement. The masses of -our people are given to thrift and industry, and to unremitting toil, -in their way. The hard thing about it, the discouraging thing, is that -they do not know how to realize on the results of their toil; because -they have no education and little idea of industrial development, they -do not know how to make their work tell for what it ought to. As a -general thing the people--those in the country especially--do not ask -anybody to come and give them food, clothing and houses; all they ask -is for some person, some honest, upright man or woman who is interested -in their welfare, to come among them and show them how to direct their -efforts and their energy, show them how best to realize on the results -of their work, so that they can supply their own moral, religious and -material needs and educate their children. - -And you will find that wherever this institution, Hampton, Talladega, -Fisk, Atlanta or any other, can put in the midst of the people -young men and young women who will settle down among them and make -their lives object lessons for the people--plant a good school and -convince the people that the teacher has settled down there to stay -through encouraging or discouraging circumstances--you will find that -such a teacher will not only be encouraged, but will be supported -materially. In every way there will be an opportunity for that person -to revolutionize the community. That opportunity is open to you. It is -an opportunity which is being opened to no other set of young men and -young women who are being educated anywhere else in the world. Are you -going to appreciate the beauty and grandeur of this opportunity? - -I was talking with a gentleman last night who has recently spent some -time in one of the Southern states, and he told me that in hardly any -country district in that state was there a public school which is kept -open longer than four months. He tells me that the average salary in -some of those districts is little more than fifteen dollars a month. In -another state the condition of the people is about the same. In our own -state perhaps the conditions are worse even than in the states referred -to. In some counties in Alabama the people are this year receiving no -money to run their schools more than three and a half months in the -year, except, of course, in the cities and towns. In some counties the -teachers are being paid only twelve to twenty dollars, and there are -possibly some where the teachers get not more than ten dollars from the -state fund. - -I was talking with a gentleman from another state not long ago about -the material condition of the people in that state, and he told me that -so far as their industrial life is concerned, the masses are in a very -bad condition this year; that they are too often at the mercy of the -landowners--I refer to the persons who run the large plantations--and -that the same thing is largely true of all of the cotton-raising -states. I need not go on to describe to you the moral results that must -inevitably follow such a condition of things. I need not take your -time to tell you that there can be little morality or religion among -people who are so ignorant as these people, and who do not know where -they are going to get anything to eat. It is needless to describe the -train of moral evils that must follow such conditions as these. - -What I have attempted to describe to you as existing to-day in these -country districts may not be very encouraging, but it seems to me that -every young man and young woman who has enjoyed the privileges afforded -by this and by other institutions in the South--I speak especially now -to the members of the next graduating class--should feel that such -conditions as these present one of the most inviting fields possible -for labour. Every young man and woman here is being educated by money -that is given by others. None of you are paying for the education you -are receiving. You might pay for your board, but you would have to do -that elsewhere. Every one must pay for his or her own clothing, but the -cost of buildings, rent, tuition, expenses and other matters pertaining -to the institution you do not pay. Your education, in a large measure, -is a gift from the public, and it seems to me that one of the first -things you should do is to repay, to as large an extent as is possible -with your services, what has been spent in giving you so large a part -of your education. - -This is a debt that you owe not only to yourselves, but to our race and -our country. It is a religious debt as well, that you be willing to -go out into these country districts and suffer, as it were, for a few -years, until you can get a foothold, so that you can plant yourselves -in one of these dark communities. I feel sure that you would not have -to suffer very long. I believe that the hardest part of the struggle -would come during the first two or three years. When you can convince -the people that you are in earnest, the battle is won. When you can -convince them that it is cheaper to keep an educated teacher than -to keep one who is ignorant, and when you can once demonstrate your -value to them not only in an educational respect but industrially and -morally, the battle is won, and these people will stand by you and -support you. In many cases, it is my belief, you will eventually find -yourselves better supported financially than you would if you had gone -to work in cities and large towns. No matter from which side you look -at this problem, good is bound to come from it. - -And while we are talking about the reward that will come as a result of -your services, let me tell you that no greater satisfaction can come -to any one than that which you will get from the worship and praise -which will come to you from these old mothers and fathers who will be -benefited by your services. I know of instances where teachers have -gone and planted themselves in these country districts who, even if -they do not make such a very great success financially, receive the -love and most sincere worship from year to year, because of the feeling -of gratitude which the people among whom they have settled have for -them on account of their having helped them in so many ways. - -This same kind of pioneer work had to be done all over the world -before the right kind of civilization was planted. It was such -work as this that the people did who settled the great West, where -they were deprived of the comforts of life. The people who planted -Oberlin College in what was then a wilderness had to suffer many such -hardships. The men who went to Washington, Oregon, and California and -established what are now large cities there, had to suffer many such -hardships; they had to suffer just what you must and should suffer. -Are you going to suffer for your own people until they can receive the -light which they so much need? If the young men and women before me -have the right kind of stuff in them they will do this. Most certainly -do I hope that you are going to carry out into these dark communities -the light which you receive here from day to day. I hope you will -fill these districts with men and women of education. When you go out -from here with your diploma, whether it be next May or at some other -time, resolve to plant yourself in one community and stay there. No -matter what your work is, you cannot accomplish much if you become the -wandering Jew. Find the community where you think you can use your life -to the best advantage, and then stay there. - - - [In the time that has elapsed since this talk was given, I think - there has been improvement in many of the country schools in the - South, and in the general condition of the people as described to - me then.--B. T. W.] - - - - -INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY - - -I have referred in a general way, before this, when I have been -speaking to you, to the fact that each one of you ought to feel an -interest in whatever task is set you to do here over and above the -mere bearing which that task has on your own life. I wish to speak -more specifically to-night on this subject--on what I may term the -importance of your feeling a sense of personal responsibility not only -for the successful performance of every task set you, but for the -successful outcome of every worthy undertaking with which you come in -contact. - -You ought to realize that your actions will not affect yourselves -alone. In this age it is almost impossible for a man to live for -himself alone. On every side our lives touch those of others; their -lives touch ours. Even if it were possible to live otherwise, few would -wish to. A narrow life, a selfish life, is almost sure to be not only -unprofitable but unhappy. The happy people and the successful people -are those who go out of their way to reach and influence for good as -many persons as they can. In order to do this, though, in order best to -fit one's self to live this kind of life, it is important that certain -habits be acquired; and an essential one of these is the habit of -realizing one's responsibility to others. - -Your actions will affect other people in one way or another, and you -will be responsible for the result. You ought always to remember this, -and govern yourselves accordingly. Suppose it is the matter of the -recitation of a lesson, for instance. Some one may say: "It is nobody's -business but my own if I fail in a recitation. Nobody will suffer but -me." This is not so. Indirectly you injure your teacher also, for while -a conscientious, hard-working teacher ought not to be blamed for the -failures of pupils who do not learn simply because they do not want -to, or are too lazy to try, it is generally the case that a teacher's -reputation gains or loses as his or her class averages high or low. -And each failure in recitation, for whatever cause, brings down the -average. Then, too, you are having an influence upon your classmates, -even if it be unconscious. There is hardly ever a student who is not -observed by some one at some time as an example. "There is such a -boy," some other student says to himself. "He has failed in class ever -so many times, and still he gets along. It can't make much difference -if I fail once." And as a result he neglects his duty, and does fail. - -The same thing is true of work in the industrial departments. Too many -students try to see how easily they can get through the day, or the -work period, and yet not get into trouble. Or even if they take more -interest than this, they care for their work only for the sake of what -they can get out of it for themselves, either as pay, or as instruction -which will enable them to work for pay at some later time. Now there -ought to be a higher impulse behind your efforts than that. Each -student ought to feel that he or she has a personal responsibility to -do each task in the very best manner possible. You owe this not only -to your fellow-students, your teachers, the school, and the people who -support the institution, but you owe it even more to yourselves. You -owe it to yourselves because it is right and honest, because nothing -less than this is right and honest, and because you never can be really -successful and really happy until you do study and work and live in -this way. - -I have been led to speak specifically on this subject to-night on -account of two occurrences here which have come to my notice. One of -these illustrates the failure on the part of students to feel this -sense of responsibility to which I have referred. The other affords an -illustration of the possession by a student of a feeling of personal -interest and personal responsibility which has been very gratifying and -encouraging. The first incident, I may say, occurred some months ago. -It is possible that the students who were concerned in it may not be -here now or, if they are, that it would not happen again. I certainly -hope not. - -A gentleman who had been visiting here was to go away. He left word at -the office of his wish, saying that he planned to leave town on the -five o'clock train in the afternoon. A boy was sent from the office -early in the afternoon with a note to the barn ordering a carriage to -take this gentleman and his luggage to the station. Half-past four -came, and the man had his luggage brought down to the door of the -building in which he had been staying, so as to be ready when the -team came. But no team came. The visitor finally became so anxious -that he walked over to the barn himself. Just as he reached the barn -he met the man who was in charge there, with the note in his hand. -The note had only just that moment reached this man, and of course no -carriage had been sent because the first person who felt that he had -any responsibility in the matter had only just learned that a carriage -was wanted. The boy who had brought the note had given it to another -boy, and he to someone else, and he, perhaps, to someone else. At any -rate it had been delayed because no one had taken enough interest in -the errand to see that whatever business the note referred to received -proper attention. This occurred, as I have said, several months ago, -before the local train here went over to Chehaw to meet all of the -trains. It happened that this particular passenger was going north, and -it was possible by driving to Chehaw for him to get there in time to -take the north-bound train. If he had been going the other way, though, -towards Montgomery, he would have lost the train entirely, and, as -chanced to be the case, would have been unable to keep a very important -engagement. As it was, he was obliged to ride to Chehaw in a carriage, -and the time of a man and team, which otherwise would have been saved, -was required to take him there. - -Now when such a thing as this happens, no amount of saying, "I am -sorry," by the person or persons to blame, will help the matter any. -It is too late to help it then. The thing to do is to feel some -responsibility in seeing that things are done right yourself. Take -enough interest in whatever you are engaged in to see that it is going -to come out in the end just as nearly right, just as nearly perfect, -as anything you can do will go towards making it right or perfect. And -if the task or errand passes out of your hands before it is completed, -do not feel that your responsibility in the matter ends until you have -impressed it upon the minds and heart of the person to whom you turn -over the further performance of the duty. - -The world is looking for men and women who can tell one why they can -do this thing or that thing, how a certain difficulty was surmounted -or a certain obstacle removed. But the world has little patience with -the man or woman who takes no real interest in the performance of a -duty, or who runs against a snag and gets discouraged, and then simply -tells why he did not do a thing, and gives excuses instead of results. -Opportunities never come a second time, nor do they wait for our -leisure. The years come to us but once, and they come then only to pass -swiftly on, bearing the ineffaceable record we have put upon them. If -we wish to make them beautiful years or profitable years, we must do it -moment by moment as they glide before us. - -The other case to which I have referred is pleasanter to speak about. -One day this spring, after it had got late enough in the season so -that it was not as a general thing necessary to have fires to heat -our buildings, a student passing Phelps Hall noticed that there was a -volume of black smoke pouring out of one of the chimneys there. Some -boys might not have noticed the smoke at all; others would have said -that it came from the chimney; still others would have said that it -was none of their business anyway, and would have gone along. This boy -was different. He noticed the smoke, and although he saw, or thought -he saw that it came from the chimney, and if so was probably no sign -of harm, he felt that any smoke at all there at that time was such an -unusual thing that it ought to be investigated for fear it might mean -danger to the building. He was not satisfied until he had gone into the -building and had inspected every floor clear up to the attic, to see -that the chimney and the building were not in danger. As it happened, -the janitor had built a fire in the furnace in the basement for some -reason, so that the young man's anxiety fortunately was unfounded, but -I am heartily glad he had such an anxiety, and that he could not rest -until he found out whether there was any foundation for it or not. I -shall feel that all of our buildings are safer for his being here, and -when he graduates and goes away I hope he will leave many others here -who will have the same sense of personal responsibility which he had. -Let me tell you, here and now, that unless you young men and young -women come to have this characteristic, your lives are going to fall -far short of the best and noblest achievement possible. - -We frequently hear the word "lucky" used with reference to a man's -life. Two boys start out in the world at the same time, having the same -amount of education. When twenty years have passed, we find one of them -wealthy and independent; we find him a successful professional man with -an assured reputation, or perhaps at the head of a large commercial -establishment employing many men, or perhaps a farmer owning and -cultivating hundreds of acres of land. We find the second boy, grown -now to be a man, working for perhaps a dollar or a dollar and a half a -day, and living from hand to mouth in a rented house. When we remember -that the boys started out in life equal-handed, we may be tempted to -remark that the first boy has been fortunate, that fortune has smiled -on him; and that the second has been unfortunate. There is no such -nonsense as that. When the first boy saw a thing that he knew he ought -to do, he did it; and he kept rising from one position to another -until he became independent. The second boy was an eye-servant who was -afraid that he would do more than he was paid to do--he was afraid that -he would give fifty cents' worth of labour for twenty-five cents. He -watched the clock, for fear that he would work one minute past twelve -o'clock at noon and past six o'clock at night. He did not feel that he -had any responsibility to look out for his employer's interests. The -first boy did a dollar's worth of work for fifty cents. He was always -ready to be at the store before time; and then, when the bell rang to -stop work, he would go to his employer and ask him if there was not -something more that ought to be done that night before he went home. -It was this quality in the first boy that made him valuable and caused -him to rise. Why should we call him "fortunate" or "lucky?" I think it -would be much more suitable to say of him: "He is responsible." - - - - -GETTING ON IN THE WORLD - - -It is natural and praiseworthy for a person to be looking for a higher -and better position than the one he occupies. So long as a man does -his whole duty in what he is engaged in, he is not to be condemned for -looking for something better to do. Now the question arises:--How are -you going to put yourself in a condition to be in demand for these -higher and more important positions? - -In the first place you should be continually on the lookout for -opportunities to improve yourselves in your present work. You should be -constantly on the lookout for chances to make yourselves more valuable -to your present employer, and more efficient in your work for him. -Suppose you are engaged in the work of milking cows--I think it better -to talk of practical things with which you all are acquainted, although -I know that many of you boys had rather I would tell you how to go to -Congress than how to become successful milkers. Inasmuch, though, as -I suspect a good many more of us will have to milk cows than can go -to Congress, I think it will not hurt us to talk about milking. If the -boy who milks cows now does that thoroughly, by doing it he may lay the -foundation to go to Congress later. The point is, that we want to be -constantly on the lookout for ways of improving whatever work we are -engaged in, whether that work be milking cows or doing something else. - -In whatever you are doing, there are a great many improvements which -you want to become acquainted with. If your work is dairying, read the -dairy journals. Get hold of every book or paper that you can which has -anything to do with your line of work. Be sure that you know all--or as -nearly as possible all--there is to be known about milking cows. And -then don't be content with what you get out of books and newspapers, -for that information is only the result of some other person's -experience. By conversing with intelligent and experienced persons, and -by your own experiments, you can get much valuable information about -your work. Never get to the point where you are ashamed to ask somebody -else for information. The ignorant man will always be ignorant, if -he fears that by asking for information he will betray his lack of -knowledge. - -Know all there is to be known about the position you occupy, but ever -feel that there is more for you to learn. There is no person who makes -himself of so little use in the world as the one who feels that he -knows all there is to be known about his work. If you are milking cows, -and feel that you know all there is to be known about that subject, -you have simply reached a point where you are practically useless and -unfitted for the work. Feel that you can always learn something from -somebody else. It is a mark of intelligence to learn, even from the -humblest person. I do not mean for you always to put into practice -every suggestion that is made to you, or to agree with every statement -made to you; but listen to what people say, weigh their plans alongside -of your own, and then profit by the one which you are convinced is -the best. Persevere in such conversation, and in reading. You will -constantly be surprised to find how little you really know about your -work, and how much more somebody else knows about it than you do. - -You want to get to the point where you can anticipate the wants of -your employer. In this way you will make yourself of great service to -him. You do not know how vexing and discouraging it is to a man to -be compelled to say every morning to those in his employ: "Do this -at nine o'clock, and that at twelve o'clock, and the other at five;" -or how pleasant it is to have a person with whom you come in contact -anticipate the needs of the man who employs him. - -Then you can make yourself valuable and in demand just in proportion -as you consider that the work you are performing is your own. Do not -consider that it is being performed for a certain man or a particular -organization. Make haste and get to the point where you can feel -that everything connected with the shop in which you work, or in the -office, or in the stable, is under your care, and that you alone are -responsible for it. If you are at the head of a stable or barn, plan -day by day how you can best provide for the well-being of your cows and -horses. When you make yourself master of these humble positions, you -will find that the calls to higher places will come to you. The men you -see spending most of their time looking for higher and more lucrative -positions are, nine times out of ten, men who have made worthless -failures in other places. - - - - -EACH ONE HIS PART - - -I desire to call your attention for a few minutes to-night to the fact -that one thing is dependent for success upon another, one individual -is dependent for success upon another, one family in a community upon -other families for their mutual prosperity, one part of a State upon -the other parts for the successful government of the State. The same -thing is true in nature. One thing cannot exist unless another exists; -cannot succeed without the success of something else. The very forces -of nature are dependent upon other forces for their existence. Without -vegetable life we could not have animal life; without mineral life we -could not have vegetable life. So, throughout all kinds of life, as -throughout the life of nature, everything is dependent upon something -else for its success. - -The same thing is true of this institution and of every institution. -The success of the whole depends upon having every person connected -with the institution do his or her whole duty. - -We are very apt to get the idea that there are high positions and -that there are low positions, that there is important service and -unimportant service; but I believe that God expects the same amount -of conscientious work from a person in a low position as from one -in a high position, that He expects the same conscientious service -whether the work be a big task or a little one. We are dependent as -an institution--every institution is dependent--for success, upon the -individual consciences of those connected with it as teachers and -students; and there is nothing that gives me more satisfaction and -pleasure, and more faith in the future of the school, than to see -examples of conscientious work here. - -I remember a special instance of this kind that occurred at one of -our Commencements. I believe that Commencement, more than any other -time in the school year, is an occasion when there is excitement and a -desire to witness the exercises. After the exercises of that year were -over, I had occasion to go to the dining room, and I found there one -of the teachers who from her appearance I thought had not attended the -exercises. When I asked her about this, she said: "No. I intended to -go, but at the last minute I saw that there were some dishes here that -needed to be washed, and I stayed here to see that they were washed." - -Now that was one of the finest exhibitions of conscientious regard for -duty that I ever saw, and there are very few persons who would have -done a thing like that. That we have teachers here whose hearts are -so much in their work that they are willing to do such things as this -gives me great faith in the future of this school as the years go on. - -It takes a person with a conscience, when there are public men of note -here, a great many strangers and many things to attract attention, to -be so mindful of her duty that she will stay behind and wash dishes -when every one else is in attendance upon the exercises and seeking -enjoyment. When the people connected with this institution can bring -themselves up to that point, I have no fear for the success of the -institution; and it can succeed only as they do bring their consciences -up to that point. - -If I were to ask you individually as students to deliver an address -upon this platform, or to read an essay, I should not be at all afraid -that you would fail. I believe that you would carefully prepare that -address or essay. You would look up all the references necessary in -order to give you what information you needed, and then you would get -up here and speak or read successfully. I feel sure that I would hear -something that I should not be ashamed of. The average man and woman -does succeed when before the public. But where I fear for your success -is when you come to the performance of the small duties--the duties -which you think no one else will know about, the things which no one -will see you do. It is when you think that no one is going to see you -washing dishes, or getting dirt out of crevices, that I am afraid you -are going to fail. - -I remember that some time ago when I was travelling in a buggy from -one New England village to another, after we had gone some miles on -our way, the young man who was driving me stopped the horse and got -out. I asked him what was the matter, and he said that something was -the matter with the harness. I looked with all the eyes I had, and yet -I could see nothing at fault. Still the man mended a piece of harness -that he said was not as it should be. It had not seemed to me that -this fault in the harness had been irritating the horse or hindering -him from going so fast as he ought, but after it had been repaired I -could see a difference for the better. That, to my mind, was a great -lesson. It taught me how the people of New England have educated their -consciences so that they cannot allow themselves to let even the -smallest thing go undone or be improperly done. It is this trait in the -New England character that has come to make the very name itself of -that part of the country a synonym for success. Don't we wish that we -had a hundred such men as that driver here! If I could put my hand on a -thousand such persons as that, we could find employment for all of them -as soon as they got their diplomas. - -One learns to judge persons by their character in this respect. Not -long ago I had an opportunity to go through the jail of this county. As -the sheriff showed me through the building I was impressed to see how -clean everything was, and I noticed that the man who seemed to be the -janitor of the jail, although he too was a prisoner, seemed to take a -great deal of pride in showing me the cleanness of the corners and the -general good appearance of the place. He seemed to put his whole heart -into the keeping of that jail clean. - -"Who is that man?" I asked the sheriff, after we had got out of the -janitor's hearing. - -"He is a prisoner," the sheriff replied, "but I believe he is innocent. -I do not believe that a man can be so honest and faithful about his -work and be guilty of a crime. When I see how well he does his work -here, notwithstanding the fact that he is shut up here in prison, I -believe that he is an honest man and deserves his freedom." - -In plain words, then, the problem we must work out here is not:--Can -you master algebra, or literature? We know you can do that. We know -you can master the sciences. The general problem we have to work out -here, and work it out with fear and trembling, is:--Can we educate -the individual conscience? Can we so educate a group of students that -there will be in every one of them a conscience on which we can depend. -Can we educate a class of girls here who will not be satisfied when -sweeping their rooms to make the middle of the rooms look clean, but -leave a trail of dirt in the comers and under the furniture? Will -they see to it that everything is properly cleaned and put in its -appropriate place? Can we educate a class of young men who will do -their duty on the farm as they would do it on this platform? Can we -educate your consciences so that you will do certain things, not -because it is the rule that they should be done, but because they -should be done? These are the problems we must work out here. - - - - -WHAT WOULD FATHER AND MOTHER SAY? - - -I think there is no more important or more critical time in a person's -life than when he or she leaves home for the first time, to enter -school, or to go to work, or to go into business. I think that as a -general thing you can judge pretty accurately what a person is going to -amount to in life by the way he or she acts during the first year or -two after leaving home. - -You will find, usually, that if a young man is able during this time -to stand up against temptation, is able to practise the lessons that -his father and mother have taught him, and instead of falling by the -wayside gains help and inspiration as he goes along from these lessons, -he is almost sure to prove himself a valuable citizen, one who not -only will be a help to his parents in their old age, but a help to the -community in which he lives. - -There is no better way to test an act than to ask yourself the -question: "What would my father or my mother think of this? Would they -approve, or should I be ashamed to let them know that I have done this -thing?" If you will ask yourselves these questions day by day, I think -you will find that you will get a great deal of assistance from them in -the shaping of your lives while you are here at school. - -I want you to put that question to yourselves with regard to -deportment, because that is a thing on which we must lay emphasis. We -can fill your heads with knowledge, and we can train your hands to work -with skill, but unless all this training of head and hand is based upon -high, upright character, upon a true heart, it will amount to nothing. -You will be no better off than the most ignorant. - -Now, one of the ways in which young people are likely to go astray, -especially when they first go away from home to school, is in yielding -to a temptation to spend their time with persons who have mean and low -dispositions; persons whom you would be ashamed to have your parents -know that you kept company with. Avoid that. Be sure that the young men -and women with whom you associate are persons who are able to raise you -up, persons who will help to make you stronger in every way. - -I do not need to tell you, I am sure, of the consequences of -association with persons who will have, a bad influence upon you, or -the results of a disregard of admonitions for good. A student who -persistently keeps bad company, who breaks rules, who is constantly -disobedient, who is repeatedly behind at roll call, who time after time -has to be called up by the officer of the day, or watched in the dining -room or on the parade ground, is the student who in a few years is -going to bring sorrow to the hearts of his parents. There is no getting -away from that. - -Only to-day the mother of one of the students came here with a message -from another mother whose son had been sent here. She told me how this -anxious mother had told her to impress upon her son the necessity of -obeying every rule here, and how she wanted him to put in every moment -in hard study and honest work. She wanted this woman to impress upon -the boy how hard his mother was struggling every day so that she could -keep him here, and at the same time provide for the younger children -of the family at home. Now, when this message was delivered, where was -that boy? Was he doing as his mother was so earnestly praying him to -do? No. He had already disgraced himself, and had been sent away from -the institution. How much sorrow will he bring to his poor mother's -heart when she knows! No wonder he was trying to conceal his misconduct -and disgrace from her. - -Let me entreat you, then, if you are inclined to fritter away the best -hours of your lives, think how the news of your misconduct will act -upon the hearts of your parents, those fathers and mothers whose every -thought is of you. - -I have spoken of these as some of the things that we do not want to -have you do at school. What are some of the things that we do want you -to learn to do? We want to have you learn to see and appreciate the -practical value of the religion of Christ. We hope to help you to see -that religion, that Christianity, is not something that is far off, -something in the air, that it is not something to be enjoyed only after -the breath has left the body. We want to have you see that the religion -of Christ is a real and helpful thing; that it is something which you -can take with you into your class-rooms, into your shops, on to the -farm, into your very sleeping rooms, and that you do not have to wait -until to-morrow before you can find out about the power and helpfulness -of Christ's religion. - -We want to have you feel that this religion is a part of your lives, -and that it is meant to be a help to you from day to day. We hope to -have you feel that the religious services that we have you attend here -are not burdens, but that it is a privilege, greatly to be desired, to -come to these meetings, and into the prayer meetings of the various -societies on the grounds, and there commune, not in a far-off, -imaginary way, but in an humble but intimate way, with the spirit of -Jesus. We want you to feel that religion is something to make you -happier, brighter and more hopeful, not something to make you go about -with long, solemn faces. We want you to learn, if you do not already -know, that in order to be Christlike one does not have to be unnatural. - -Then we want to have you to learn to govern your actions, not alone for -the sake of the result which they will have upon yourself and those -who are near and dear to you, but for the sake of your influence upon -all with whom you will come in contact. Your life here will be largely -wasted--I am tempted to say wholly wasted--if you fail to learn that -higher, broader, and far more important lesson of your relations to -your fellow-students and to all the persons by whom you are going to -be daily surrounded. Your life will be wasted if you go away from here -and have not learned that the greatest lesson of all is the lesson -of brotherly love, of usefulness and of charity. I want to see young -men who are here realize this spirit to such an extent that they will -rise in chapel and give their seats to students who are strangers at -the school. I want to have you get to the point where you will go to -the matron in the dining room and ask her permission to have some new -student who has not had a chance to get acquainted take his meals at a -seat beside you. - -Of the many noble traits exhibited by the late General Armstrong, -none made a deeper impression upon me than his supreme unselfishness. -I do not believe that I ever saw in all my association with General -Armstrong anything in his life or actions which indicated in the -slightest degree that he was selfish. He was interested not only in the -black South, but in the white South, not only in his own school, but -in all schools. Anything which he could do or say to benefit another -institution seemed to give him as much pleasure as if he were speaking -or acting directly for the benefit of Hampton Institute. - -I had a pleasant experience of this spirit of a desire to be helpful -to others a little while ago, when I was visiting a certain theological -seminary in Pennsylvania. I think I was never in such an atmosphere -as during the two days I spent in that institution. I was surrounded -by a crowd of young men whose sole object seemed to be to make me -comfortable and happy. Most of these young men were far advanced in the -study of theology and the sciences, and yet they were not above serving -me, even to the extent of offering to black my boots. When I came away -several wished to carry my luggage to the station. This is the kind of -thoughtfulness we want to have in every corner of this institution. -Get hold of the spirit of wanting to help somebody else. Seek every -opportunity possible to make somebody happy and comfortable. Do all -this, and you will find that the years will not be many before we will -have one of the best institutions on the face of the globe, and that -you, in helping to make it such, have been doing things that, when you -ask yourselves: "What would father and mother say about my doing this?" -will enable you to answer the question with pride and satisfaction. - - - - -OBJECT LESSONS - - -Not long ago an old coloured man living in this State said to me: "I's -done quit libin' in de ashes. I's got my second freedom." - -That remark meant, in this case, that that old man by economy, hard -work and proper guidance, after twenty years of struggle, had freed -himself from debt, had paid for fifty acres of land, had built a -comfortable house, and was a tax-payer. It meant that his two sons had -been educated in academic and agricultural branches, that his daughter -had received mental training in connection with lessons in sewing and -cooking. Within certain limitations here was a Christian, American -home, the result of industrial effort and philanthropy. This Negro had -been given a chance to get upon his feet. That is all that any Negro in -America asks. That is all that you in this school ask. - -What position in State, in letters, or in commerce and in business the -offspring of that man is to occupy must be left to the future and the -capacity of the race. What position you are to occupy must be left to -your future and to your capacity. During the days of slavery we were -shielded from competition. To-day, unless we prepare ourselves to -compete with the world, we must go to the wall as a race. - -If I were to go into certain communities in the United States and say -that the German is ignorant, I should be pointed to the best-paying -truck-farm in that neighbourhood, owned and operated by a German. If I -said that the German is without skill, I should be shown the largest -machine-shop in the city, owned and operated by a German. If I said -the German is lazy, I should be shown the largest and finest residence -on the most fashionable avenue, built from the savings of a German who -began life in poverty. If I said that the German could not be trusted, -I should be introduced to a man of that race who is the president of -the largest bank in the city. If I said that the German is not fitted -for citizenship, I should be shown a German who is a respected and -influential member of the city government. - -Now, when your critics say that the Negro is lazy, I want you to be -able to show them the finest farm in the community owned and operated -by a Negro. When they ask if the Negro is honest, I want you to show -them a Negro whose note is acceptable at the bank for $5,000. When they -say that the Negro is not economical, I want you to show them a Negro -with $50,000 in the bank. When they say that the Negro is not fit for -citizenship, I want you to show them a man of our race paying taxes on -a cotton factory. I want you to be able to show them Negroes who stand -in the front in the affairs of State, of religion, of education, of -mechanics, of commerce and of household economy. You remember the old -admonition: "By this sign we shall conquer." Let it be our motto. - -There are people in the North who have been aiding in the matter of -Negro education in the South during the last ten, twenty, or even -thirty years. It is in part the money of those people that has made -this institution possible. Those people have a right, as a plain matter -of business, to ask what are the results of this aid they have been -giving. What evidences can we present to prove to them that their -investments in this direction have been paying ones? It is, in no small -measure, the duty of you, as students of Tuskegee Institute, to answer, -and to answer satisfactorily, such a question as that. - -We have reached a point, largely through the aid which the North has -given to the South during the last thirty years, where there is little -opposition in the South to the people of the Negro race receiving any -form of education. You can go out from here and plant a school in any -county in the South, which will not meet with opposition from the white -residents of the community. What is more, in many cases it will receive -encouragement, and in some a hearty sympathy and support. Not long ago -I received fifty dollars from a white man in Mississippi to pay for the -education of a black boy. This man was formerly a slave-holder, and -at first he was not inclined to encourage the education of the Negro, -but he stated to me frankly, in his letter, that he now believes that -Tuskegee and similar institutions are doing the work that the Negro -most needs to have done. He wanted to show the people of the North, -he said, that Southern white men are as deeply interested in the -development of the Negro as they are. I have in mind another case, of -a Southern white man in Alabama who during the last year contributed -out of his own pocket nearly $2,000 for the building and maintenance of -a Negro school in his county. Still another Southern white man, Mr. -Belton Gilreath, of Birmingham, Alabama, recently sent the Institute -his check for $500--up to that time the largest sum which the school -had received from a Southern man--with this letter: - -"As a Southern man and the son of one of the largest slave owners of -the South, I am anxious for our people to do all that can reasonably be -expected of them for the education of the Negroes, thereby making them -more content and useful citizens and friends. - -"Furthermore, I think the time has come in the South for all our people -to consider more fully than they have ever done before the question of -the education of _all of our population_; and, wherever practicable, to -give attention in our schools to teaching the art of saving also." - -More recently still, Mr. H. M. Atkinson, of Atlanta, one of the most -successful business men in the entire South, came to Tuskegee Institute -and made a thorough inspection of our work. After he returned to -Atlanta I received a letter from him from which I quote one paragraph: -"I enclose my check for $1,000, for the benefit of your school, to be -used as your judgment dictates. I was very much impressed by what I -saw. I will not forget it." - -These white people are beginning to see the difference between the -value of an educated Negro and one who is not educated. It is for you -to demonstrate to them this value more and more clearly every year. - - - - -SUBSTANCE vs. SHADOW - - -You are here for the purpose of getting an education. Now, one of the -results of an education is to increase a person's wants. You take the -ordinary person who lives on a plantation, and so long as that person -is ignorant, he is content to live in a cabin with one room, in which -he has a skillet, a bedstead--or an apology for one--a table, and a few -chairs or stools. He is content if he has fat meat, corn bread and peas -on the table to eat, and for clothing he is satisfied to wear jeans -and osnaburg himself, and to have his wife wear a calico dress and a -twenty-five cent hat. - -But, as soon as that man becomes educated, he feels that he must have a -house with at least two or three rooms in it, furnished with neat and -substantial furniture. Instead of jeans and osnaburg for clothes, he -wants decent woollen cloth, neat-fitting shoes, and a white collar and -a necktie, things which he never thought of wearing before he became -educated. Sometimes he even thinks that he must have jewellery. - -So you see the result of education is to increase a person's wants. -Now, the crisis in that person's affairs comes when the question -arises whether his education has increased his ability to supply his -wants. Such an ability, I claim, is one of the results of industrial -education. By such an education as that, while we are getting culture -along all the lines that in any degree tend to increase the wants of a -person, we are, in the meantime, getting skill to increase our ability -to supply these wants. And, unless we have this ability, we will find, -sooner or later, that instead of going forward we are going backward. - -I think that the temptation for us, especially for those who are only -half educated, is to try to get hold of a certain kind of shallow -culture, instead of getting the substantial--instead of getting hold of -real education, of property and material prosperity. - -You who study history know how the Pilgrim Fathers, who landed at -Plymouth Rock in the bleak winter of 1620, were willing to wear -homespun clothes, and to be married in them, if necessary, and to -have a wedding that in all would not cost more than four dollars, I -suppose. On the other hand, when one of our boys wants to get married -now, he must have a wedding that costs not less than one hundred and -fifty dollars. His wife must have a dress with a long train, and he -must have a Prince Albert, broadcloth coat that he either rents, or -buys on the instalment plan. They think that they must have a bevy of -waiting bridesmaids, and there must be a line of hacks standing on the -outside of the church door that will cost him not less than twenty-five -dollars. Then, after the ceremony, where do these people go to live? -The chances are the young man who has been to all this expense for the -sake of the show of it, takes his bride to live in a small cabin with -only two rooms--sometimes only one room--rented at that. - -This is what I mean by getting the superficial culture before the -dollars are made; grasping at the shadow instead of the substance. Now -what we want to do here is to send out a set of young men and young -women who will go into the communities where such mistakes as these -are made, and show the people by example and by work how much better -it is to get married for four dollars, and to pay as you go, than to -get married for a hundred and fifty dollars, and then pay four dollars -a month to live in a rented cabin. When I go to New York, or to any -large city, there is nothing more discouraging than to see people of -this very class I am speaking of, people who seek the superficial -culture, the shadow, rather than the substantial dollars and education. -If you stand for a few minutes on any of the fashionable streets in the -Northern cities, you will see these elaborately dressed men, wearing -five dollar hats on heads that at most are not worth more than fifty -cents. This is the class of people who have got just enough education -to make them want everything they see, but who have not got enough to -make them able to get what they want unless they go beyond their means -to do so. - -A superficial education, too, makes us inclined to seek show in other -things besides dress. We are inclined, for one thing, to seek to show -off in the use of titles. I remember that once I was introduced to a -company of about sixty men, and out of the whole number there were only -six who were not doctors, professors, or colonels, or who did not have -some title. I must say I thought more of the six who were just plain -misters than I did of all the rest, for among the others there were -some very hard-looking doctors and professors. An over-desire for these -things shows a shallowness in us which makes us ridiculous. We want -to stop making that kind of mistake. If you are a mister, encourage -the people to call you by that title. If you are a minister and preach -interesting and instructive sermons, people are going to be impressed -by what you say and not by the title you bear. The title is the shadow; -what you say is the substance. - -When a person is simple, he is on the strong side. People not only -have more respect for him, but he accomplishes more. I was once at -a memorial meeting held in honour of a man who had done a great and -useful work, not only for the race but for the school with which he had -been connected. After about two hours of speechmaking, somebody took -the platform and said that a collection ought to be taken up for the -benefit of the school which this man had worked so hard for, to show -the appreciation which those present felt for this man's services. -After a good deal of talk, $6.65 was collected. Then the question was -raised again as to what was going to be done with this money--just how -it was to be donated to the school. - -The meeting had passed a set of resolutions testifying to the high -character of the man and the worth of his work. Somebody suggested -that these resolutions be engrossed and sent to the school. This was -a big word, and the people liked the sound of it. Upon inquiry it was -found that it would cost $6.00 to have the resolutions engrossed. It -was voted to have this done, and it was done; when the resolutions -would have done just as much good typewritten, at a cost of twenty-five -cents. But the meeting paid out the $6.00, and sent the engrossed copy -of the resolutions down to the school, along with the sixty-five cents -left to be expended for the help of the school. That, it seemed to me, -was another case of grasping the shadow instead of the substance. The -engrossed resolutions were the shadow; the sixty-five cents were all -that was left of the substance. - -In all these matters we need speedy and effective reforms. We want you -to go out into the world and use your influence toward securing these -reforms. There are too many people in the world who give their whole -lives to grasping at the shadow instead of the substance--grasping at -a sham instead of real worth. We want you to teach by word and action -simple, right and honest living. - - - - -CHARACTER AS SHOWN IN DRESS - - -It is surprising how much we can tell about a person's character by his -dress. I think it is very seldom that we cannot tell whether a person -is ignorant or educated, simply by his dress; and there are some few, -plain facts about dress that I am going to mention to you to-night. -While it is hard to lay down any rules as to how we must dress, I -think there are some well-defined principles of dress to which all -well-educated persons will conform. - -I think we will all agree that our dress should be clean. There is -little excuse for persons wearing filthy clothes--I think we all will -agree as to that. It is disgraceful for a man to go about with ragged -clothes or with clothes fastened together with pins where buttons ought -to be. It is disgraceful for a girl to go about with a soiled apron, or -with her clothes pinned together. Our clothes should be kept clean and -in good repair. Thus far, I think, we shall have no disagreement. - -But there are some people who make the mistake of giving their -whole mind to the subject of dress. From the very beginning of the -week you will find that a great part of their thought and attention -is given to planning what they are going to wear the next Sunday. -Some people will go in rags all through the week, in order to have -something showy to wear on Sunday. I think we should respect Sunday by -putting on something different from what we wear during the week if -we can--although of course these things are largely governed by our -station in life--but even then it certainly is inappropriate to wear -our most showy clothes on that day. - -Dress in the way that your pocket will allow. There are some persons -who not only employ all their thoughts in considering what they shall -wear, but also spend all their money on their clothes. - -There are some persons who live for the sake of dress. These persons -are usually denominated "fops." I think the people in the Northern -cities are the worst in this respect. If you go through Sixth Avenue, -in New York, or Cambridge Street, in Boston, you will see many of these -fops, who perhaps earn about twenty dollars a month, standing on the -street corners with kid gloves on, cigars between their lips, and high -hats. Now that kind of a person is a foolish fop, and one whom we do -not care to have in this institution. There is no more foolish person -than the one who spends all he makes, and sometimes more, on dress. - -Then, too, I think there are persons who make mistakes in the matter -of ornaments--what we call jewellery. You will find many a man whose -income is not twenty dollars a month wearing a great brass watch chain -with so much brass in it that you can almost smell it. You will see -men and women with three or four brass finger rings, or women with -brass ear-rings. Do you know that one of the most common mistakes among -the masses of our people in the country is throwing away their money -on cheap jewellery? Do you know that they will come in to town to -the stores, and spend their money on jewellery worth about ten cents -apiece, jewellery that you actually can get for six dollars and seven -dollars a bushel at wholesale? Our people spend thousands of dollars -every year for this cheap jewellery. If there is a young man or a young -woman here who likes jewellery, and is going to indulge in it, be sure -to get that which is modest. - -Another mistake that some of our people make is in wearing flashy or -loud dress--dress in which bright colours and red ribbons predominate. -Our dress should be modest; with few colours. - -We often make a mistake in getting shoes about two sizes too small. -I saw a girl this morning in perfect misery, simply because she had -bought, and was trying to wear, a pair of shoes about two sizes too -small. Such people simply punish their feet to make people think they -have small feet, though it is just as honourable to have a large foot -as a small one; there is no difference. Then we make another mistake -in buying cheap, showy shoes simply because they have a gloss on -them. Such shoes are made to attract attention, and not for comfort -or durability. When you are spending your money for shoes, be sure -that you get something good, something that will last you. Do not buy -those worthless things, which, when they come in contact with water, -will shrivel up because they are made of cheap material. A man cannot -respect a girl who punishes her feet in order to make them look small. - -Then, another thing. Some of us think we can improve our colour. Some -get flour, and others get other kinds of mixtures which are called -face powders. There is no use for this. Any man will lose respect for -a girl who abuses herself in this way. Only get something into your -head, and then you will find that these matters of dress will adjust -themselves. While some of you do not dress so well as you might, yet, -if you will give the contents of your heads the proper attention, you -will find that the matter of dress will not trouble you. You can get -dresses and clothes after you have secured your education, but now is -the only time that you have in which to secure the education. - - - - -SING THE OLD SONGS - - -There is no part of our chapel exercises that gives me more pleasure -than the beautiful Negro melodies which you sing. I believe there is no -part of the service more truly spiritual, more elevating. Wherever you -go, after you leave this school, I hope that you will never give up the -singing of these songs. If you go out to have schools of your own, have -your pupils sing them as you have sung them here, and teach them to -see the beauty which dwells in these songs. When in New York, not long -ago, I had the pleasure of conversing with Prince Henry of Prussia, he -spoke particularly of the beauty of these songs, and said that in his -own home, in Germany, he and his family often sing them. He asked if -there was any printed collection of these songs, that a copy might be -sent him, and I have since then forwarded to him a copy of the book -of plantation melodies collected and published under the auspices of -Hampton Institute. - -When Christ was upon this earth He said: "A little child shall lead -them." Whence comes this supreme power of leadership? In this age, when -we hear so much said about leaders of men, about successful leadership, -we do well to stop to consider this admonition of the Saviour. Some -are said to lead in business, others in education, others in politics, -or in religion. What is the explanation of "A little child shall lead -them?" Simply this. A little child, under all circumstances, is its -simple, pure, sweet self; never appearing big when it is little; never -appearing learned when it is ignorant; never appearing wealthy when it -is in poverty; never appearing important when it is unimportant. In a -word, the life of the child is founded upon the great and immutable, -and yet simple, tender and delicate laws of nature. There is no -pretence. There is no mockery. - -There is an unconscious, beautiful, strong clinging to truth; and -it is this divine quality in child or in man, in Jew or Gentile, in -Christian or Mohammedan, in the ancient world or in the modern world, -in a black man or in a white man, that always has led men and moulded -their activity. The men who have been brave enough, wise enough, simple -enough, self-denying enough to plant themselves upon this rock of -truth and there stand, have, in the end, drawn the world unto them, -even as Christ said: "I will draw all men unto me." Such a man was -Luther, such a man was Wesley, such a man was Carlyle, such a man was -Cromwell, such were Garrison and Phillips, such was Abraham Lincoln, -and such was our own great Frederick Douglass. - -The thing aimed at by all great souls has been to bring men and races -back to the simplicity and purity of childhood--back to reality. - -What is the most original product with which the Negro race stands -accredited? Yes, I am almost ready to add, with which America stands -accredited? Without hesitation I answer:--Those beautiful, weird, -quaint, sweet melodies which were the simple, child-like expression of -the anguish, the joy, the hopes, the burdens, the faith, the trials of -our forefathers who wore the yoke of slavery. - -Why are they the admiration of the world? Why does every attempt at -improvement spoil them? Why do they never fail to touch the tenderest -chord--to bring tears from the eyes of rich and poor--from king and -humblest toiler alike? - -Listen how in this beautiful song the soul in trouble is told not to go -to houses and temples made by man, but to get close to Nature: - - - Ef yer want to see Jesus - Go in de wilderness, - Go in de wilderness, - Go in de wilderness, - Go in de wilderness. - If yer want to see Jesus, - Go in de wilderness - Leanin' on de Lord. - Oh brudder, how d'ye feel, when ye come out de wilderness, - Come out de wilderness, - Come out de wilderness, - Oh, brudder, how d'ye feel, when ye come out de wilderness, - Leanin' on de Lord? - - -Then, in another, hear how our foreparents broke through all the -deceptions and allurements of false wealth, and in their long days of -weariness expressed their faith in a place where every day would be one -of rest: - - - Oh, religion is a fortune, - I r'a'ly do believe. - Oh, religion is a fortune, - I r'a'ly do believe. - Oh, religion is a fortune, - I r'a'ly do believe, - Whar Sabbaths hab no end. - Whar yo' been, poor mourner, whar yo' been so long? - "Been down in de valley, for to pray; - An' I ain't done prayin' yet." - - -Then, how, when oppressed by years of servitude to which others -thought there would be no end, we hear them break out into quaint and -wild bursts of appeal to fact: - - - My Lord delibered Daniel, - My Lord delibered Daniel, - My Lord delibered Daniel; - Why can't He deliber me? - I met a pilgrim on de way, an' I ask him where he's gwine. - "I'm bound for Canaan's happy lan', - An' dis is de shoutin' band. - Go on." - - He delibered Daniel from de lion's den, - Jonah from de belly ob de whale, - An' de Hebrew children from de fiery furnace. - Den why not ebery man?" - - -Or when the burden seemed almost too great for human body to endure, -there came this simple, child-like prayer: - - - O Lord, O, my Lord, O, my good Lord, - Keep me from sinkin' down. - O Lord, O my Lord, O my good Lord, - Keep me from sinkin' down. - I tell yo' what I mean to do. - Keep me from sinkin' down. - I mean to go to hebben, too. - Keep me from sinkin' down. - - -Or what could go more directly to Nature's heart than the pathetic yet -hopeful, trustful outburst of the little slave boy who was to be taken -from his mother to be sold into the far South, when it seemed to him -that all earthly happiness was forever blighted. Hear him: - - - I'm gwine to jine de great 'sociation, - I'm gwine to jine de great 'sociation, - I'm gwine to jine de great 'sociation. - Den my little soul's gwine to shine, shine; - Den my little soul's gwine to shine along. Oh! - - I'm gwine to climb up Jacob's ladder. - Den my little soul's gwine to shine, shine. - Den my little soul's gwine to shine along. Oh! - - I'm gwine to climb up higher an' higher. - Den my little soul's gwine, etc - - I'm gwine to sit at de welcome table - I'm gwine to feast off milk an' honey. - - I'm gwine to tell God how-a' you sarved me. - Den my little soul's gwine to shine, shine. - Den my little soul's gwine to shine along. Oh! - - -And so it has ever been, so it is, and ever will be. The world, -regardless of race, or colour, or condition, admires and approves a -real thing. But sham, buffoonery, mere imitation, mere superficiality, -never has brought success and never will bring it. - -An individual or a race that is strong enough, is wise enough, to -disregard makeshifts, customs, prejudices, alluring temptations, -deceptions, imitations--to throw off the mask of unreality and plant -itself deep down in the clay, or on the solid granite of nature, is -the individual or the race that will crawl up, struggle up, yes, even -burst up; and in the effort of doing so will gain a strength that will -command for it respect and recognition. Before an individual or a race -thus equipped, race prejudice, senseless customs, oppressions, will -hide their faces forever in blushing shame. - - - - -GETTING DOWN TO MOTHER EARTH - - -One of the highest ambitions of every man leaving Tuskegee Institute -should be to help the people of his race find bottom--find bed -rock--and then help them to stand upon that foundation. If we who -are interested in the school can help you to do this, we shall count -ourselves satisfied. And until the bed-rock of our life is found, -and until we are planted thereon, all else is but plaster, but -make-believe, but the paper on the walls of a house without framework. - -That is one of the stepping stones with which nature has provided -us. Here the path is plain, if we have the courage to follow it. -Eighty-five per cent. of the people of the Negro race live--or attempt -to live--by some form of agriculture. If we would save the race, and -lift it up, here is the great opportunity around which, in a large -measure, individual, organized, religious and secular effort should -centre for the next fifty years. - -But to do this we must take advantage of the forces at hand. We must -stand upon our own feet, and not upon a foundation supplied by another. -We must begin our growth where our civilization finds us, and not try -to begin on some other civilization. - -To illustrate what I mean, we need not go to another race, nor very far -from home. In a little town in Alabama there was a sturdy, industrious -black man who for nearly twenty years had lived upon rented land, had -hired mules and horses to work that land, and had mortgaged his crops -to secure food and clothes. He had driven to church on Sunday in a -buggy that was not his, and he wore good-looking clothes that were not -paid for. In outward appearance he seemed to prosper. He seemed to be -what the white men about him were. - -But this black man knew that he was trying to stand upon an imperfect -basis. And so, one day about a dozen years ago, he made up his mind -that henceforth he would be himself--that he would stand upon his own -foundation. He told the white man to take back his mules, to take back -his waggon and buggy; and he gave up the rented land. He had resolved -to be a man. A few acres of land were secured. He made his bed in the -cotton seed at night. He hired a boy to come to his place at night, -and by moonlight he pulled a plough which the boy guided. In this way -a cotton crop was made free from debt. With the small surplus which he -got from this he bought an ox, and with this beast made a second crop -free from debt. A mule was bought, and then another. To-day this man is -the owner of a comfortable home, is a stockholder in one of the banks -of his county, and his note or check will be honoured by any business -house there. While others were talking, or debating over second-hand -doctrines learned by rote, this strong son of nature had found himself -and solved his own problem. - -I might tell you the story of another man of our race who began his -successful business life in the hollow of a tree for his home; without -furniture or bed-clothing. But that tree, and the land on which it -stood, were his own. You had better begin life in a hollow tree and -be a man, than begin it in a rented house and be a mere tool, the -imitation of a man. If you were to go into the Western part of this -country you would find it filled with men of the highest culture, -profound scholarship, and enduring wealth, whose ancestors a few -generations ago began life in a dug-out, in a hay loft, or in a hole -in the side of a mountain. Young men and young women, there is no -escape. If we would be great, and good, and useful, we must pay the -price. And remember that when we get down to the fundamental principles -of truth, nature draws no colour line. - -I do not want to startle you when I say it, but I should like to see -during the next fifty years every coloured minister and teacher, whose -work lies outside the large cities, armed with a thorough knowledge -of theoretical and practical agriculture, in connection with his -theological and academic training. This, I believe, should be so -because the race is an agricultural one, and because my hope is that it -will remain such. Upon this foundation almost every race in history has -got its start. With cheap lands, a beautiful climate and a rich soil, -we can lay the foundation of a great and powerful race. The question -that confronts us is whether we will take advantage of this opportunity? - -In a recent number of the New York _Independent_, Rev. Russel -H. Conwell, the pastor of the great Temple Baptist Church, in -Philadelphia, a church that has a membership of three thousand persons, -tells of the pastor of a small country church in Massachusetts who, -in perplexity at the eternally recurring question of how to make his -church pay its expenses, asked Mr. Conwell's advice. "I advised him," -Mr. Conwell says, "to study agricultural chemistry, dairy farming -and household economy. I meant the advice seriously, and he took it -seriously. He made his studies, and he made them thoroughly. On the -Sunday when he preached his first practical sermon which was the -outgrowth of his helpful learning, its topic was scientific manures, -with appropriate scriptural allusions. He had just seventeen listeners. -These seventeen, however, were greatly interested. Later on, they -discussed the remarkable departure with their friends who had not -attended the service. The result was that within five Sundays the -church was packed with worshippers, who had discovered that heaven is -not such a long distance from earth after all." - -In the present condition of our race, what an immense gain it would be -if from every church in the vast agricultural region of the South there -could be preached every Sunday two sermons on religion, and a lesson -or lecture given on the principles of intelligent agriculture, on the -importance of the ownership of land, and on the importance of building -comfortable homes. I believe that if this policy could be pursued, -instead of the now too often poorly clothed, poorly fed, and poorly -housed ministers, with salaries ranging from one hundred to three -hundred dollars a year, we should soon have communities and churches -on their feet, to such an extent that hundreds of ministers who now -live at a dying rate would be supported in a manner commensurate with -the dignity of the profession. Not only this, but such a policy would -result in giving the ministry such an ideal of the dignity of labour -and such a love for it, that the minister's own home and garden and -farm would be constant object lessons for his followers, and at the -same time sources from which he could draw a support which would make -him in a large measure independent. - -One of the most successful and most honoured ministers I know is a man -who owns and cultivates fifty acres of land. This land yields him an -income sufficient to live on each year. This man's note or check is -gladly honoured at the bank. Because of his independence he leads his -people instead of having to cater to their whims. It may be suggested -that what I plead for has not been done by others, after this fashion. -It was done in the early years of the settlement of New England, and -persevered in by the ministers there until the people of the country -had become sufficiently prosperous to support their ministers suitably. -Besides, if one race of people, or one individual, is simply to follow -in the steps of another, no progress would ever be possible in the -world. Let us remember that no other race of people ever had just such -a problem to work out as we have. - -What I have tried to say to you to-night about agricultural life may -be said with equal emphasis about city occupations. Show me the race -that leads in work in wood and in metal, in the building of houses and -factories, and in the constructing and operating of machinery, and I -will show you the race that in the long run moulds public thought, that -controls government, that leads in commerce, in the sciences, in the -arts and in the professions. - -What we should do in all our schools is to turn out fewer job-seekers -and more job-makers. Any one can seek a job, but it requires a person -of rare ability to create a job. - -If it may seem to some of you that what I have been saying overlooks -the development of the race in morals, ethics, religion and -statesmanship, my answer would be this. You might as well argue that -because a tree is planted deep down in Mother Earth, because it comes -in contact with clay, and rocks, and sand, and water, that through its -graceful branches, its beautiful leaves and its fragrant blossoms it -teaches no lesson of truth, beauty and divinity. You cannot plant a -tree in air and have it live. Try it. No matter how much we may praise -its proportions and enjoy its beauty, it dies unless its roots and -fibres touch and have their foundation in Mother Earth. What is true of -the tree is true of a race. - - - - -A PENNY SAVED - - -A large proportion of you, for one reason or another, will not be able -to return to this institution after the close of the present year. On -that account there are some central thoughts which I should like to -impress upon your minds this evening, and which I wish you to take with -you into the world, whether you go out from the school as graduates or -whether you go as undergraduates. - -I have often spoken to you about the matter of learning to economize -your time, to save your time, the matter of trying to make the most of -every minute and hour of your existence. I have often spoken to you -about the hurtful reputation which a large proportion of the people of -our race get in one way or another because of this seeming inability to -put a proper value upon time, or a proper value upon the importance of -keeping one's word in connection with obligations. - -You know to what a large extent the feeling prevails--whether justly -or unjustly--that as a people we cannot be depended upon to keep our -word; that if we are hired to work in a mill or a factory, we work -until we have got three dollars or four dollars in wages ahead, and -then go on an excursion, or go to town, and do not return to work until -what we have earned has been consumed. - -And so, in one way or another, a large proportion of us get the -reputation that we cannot be depended upon for faithful, regular, -efficient service; and that hurts the race. Wherever you go, we wish -you by your own actions, by your advice, by your influence, to try and -disprove and counteract that hurtful reputation. You can do this in the -most efficient manner by yourselves being the highest possible example. - -The people who succeed are, very largely, those who learn to economize -time, in the ways I have referred to, and those who also have learned -to save, not only time, but money. - -Now this may seem to you a very materialistic thought for me to -emphasize this evening--the saving of money--but to us, as a race, it -is of vital importance. I have heard it expressed recently on several -occasions that the Negro was becoming too much materialized, too much -industrialized. Too much attention, it has been said, is given to the -material side of life. Now it seems to me that I have as yet seen very -little that need arouse our fears in that direction. I am not able -to understand how a race that does not own a single steam railroad, -that does not own a single street-car line, that owns hardly a bank, -that does not own a single block of houses in a large city--I am not -able to understand how such a race as that is in danger of becoming -materialized. When you get millions of dollars in banks, when you get -millions of dollars invested in railroad stocks, when you get other -millions invested in street-car lines, or in the control of large -factories, great plantations, or in other great industrial enterprises -in the South, then I shall say that there are signs of your becoming -too materialistic, of your getting to be too rich; but I do not see any -such signs yet. And until we do see such signs, we can rest ourselves -in peace, I think, so far as that danger is concerned. - -But there is a certain influence of money that I do not think we -emphasize enough. In the first place the getting hold of money, the -getting hold of a competency, insures us the possession of certain -influences that we can get in no other way. In order to get hold of -the spiritually best and highest things in life there are certain -material things that we are compelled to have first. In the first place -the getting hold of money and the saving of this money will assure the -possession of decent comfortable houses to live in. No person can do -his best work, or can be of the greatest service to himself and to his -fellow-beings, until he is able to live in a decent, comfortable house. -You will not be ready for life until you own such a house, whether you -live in it or not. Even if you own such a house and rent it out, you -are that much more of a man. I often hear people say that they do not -own a house, or property, because they do not expect to live long in -this place or that place. I have known such people to move six times in -six years. They never will own a house, simply because they have got -into the habit of giving excuses, instead of trying to get to own a -home. - -The possession of a decent house insures us a certain amount of proper -comfort. No person can do the best work, can think well, can get along -well, unless he has a certain amount of comfort, and, I may add, a -certain amount of good, nourishing food, well cooked. The person who is -not sure where he is going to get his breakfast, or the one who is not -sure where he is going to get the money to pay his next week's board, -is the individual who cannot do the best work, whether the work be -physical, mental or spiritual. The possession of money enables us to be -sure that we are going to have comfortable clothing, clothing enough to -keep the body warm and vigorous, and in good, healthy condition. - -The possession of money enables us to get to the point where we can -do our part in the building of school-houses, churches, hospitals; -it enables us to do our part in all these directions. Money not only -enables us to get upon our feet in these material directions, but it -has another value. The getting of it develops foresight on our part. -People cannot get money without learning to exercise forethought, -without planning to-day for to-morrow, this week for the next week, -and this year for next year. People cannot get hold of money--or -at least cannot keep hold of it--who have not learned to exercise -self-control. They must be able to say "No." I want you students, when -you go out from here, to be able to say "No." I want you to be able to -go by a store and, as you notice the things in that store--whether -candy or spring hats, or whatever it is that attracts you--to be able, -notwithstanding the fact that you have the money in your pockets to -buy, to exercise a self-control that will enable you to pass these -things by and save your money to invest it in a home. Persons cannot -get hold of money without learning to exercise economy, without -learning to make everything go just as far as it is possible to make it -go. - -Then, again, the getting money enables a person to become a good, -steady, safe citizen. The people who kill and are killed, nine times -out of ten, whether they are black or white, are people who do not own -a home, who do not have money in the bank. They are people who live in -their gripsacks. They are gripsack leaders. If their gripsacks are in -Montgomery to-night, there is their home. If they are in Opelika the -next night, there is their home that night. There are numbers of these -people who have no home except their gripsacks. Now I don't want you to -go out from here to be that kind of men and women. I want to see you -own land. I want to see you own a decent home. And let me say right -here that your home is not decent or complete unless it contains a -good, comfortable bath-tub. Of the two, I believe I would rather see -you own a bathtub without a house, than a house without a bathtub. If -you get the tub you are sure to get the house later. So when you go out -from here, buy a bathtub, even if you cannot afford to buy anything -else. - -The possession of money, the having of a bank account, even if small, -gives us a certain amount of self-respect. An individual who has a bank -account walks through a street so much more erect; he looks people -in the face. The people in the community in which he lives have a -confidence in him and a respect for him which they would not have if he -did not possess the bank account. - -Now one great mistake that we make in striving to reach these things -is that we keep putting off beginning. The young man says that he will -begin when he gets married. The young woman says that she will begin -when she gets dressed well enough, or gets a little further on in life. -Yielding to this temptation or to that, they keep putting off beginning -to save. It makes one sick at heart, as he goes into the cities, to -see young men on Sunday afternoons paying two or three dollars for a -hack or carriage to take young women out to drive, when in too many -cases the men do not earn a salary of more than four dollars a week. -Young women, don't go driving with such men. A man who goes driving on -a salary of four dollars a week cannot own a home or possess a bank -account. When you are asked to go to drive by such a man as that, tell -him you would rather he would put his money in the bank, because you -know he is not able to afford to spend it in that way. - -I like to see people comfortably and neatly dressed; but there is no -sadder sight than to see young men and women yielding to the temptation -to spend all they earn upon clothes. Then when they die--in many, many -cases--somebody has to pass around a hat to take up a collection in -order that they may be decently put away. Do not make that mistake. -Resolve that no matter how little you may earn, you will put a part of -the money in the bank. If you earn five dollars a week, put two dollars -in the bank. If you earn ten dollars, save four of them. Put the money -in the bank. Let it stay there. When it begins to draw interest you -will find that you will appreciate the value of money. - -A little while ago I was in the city of New Bedford, the city which was -formerly the home of Mrs. Hetty Green, who is said to be the richest -woman in the world. I want to tell you a story about her that was told -me by a gentleman who lived in New Bedford, and who knew Mrs. Green -when she lived there. For many years they had in New Bedford no savings -bank that would take a very small deposit. Finally a five-cent savings -bank was opened there. Just after this had been done, Mrs. Green told -this gentleman that she was glad they had opened a five-cent bank, -so that now she would be able to put that amount in and have it draw -interest. You who are here do not think about five cents as a sum to be -saved. You think of it only as money to buy peanuts and candy, or cheap -ribbons, or cheap jewellery. - -On last Sunday evening I was in the home of a gentleman in New York who -has in his family a girl who is now only eighteen years old, and who, -when she came to this country a few years ago and went to work in this -family as a maid, could not speak a word of English. This girl now has -fifteen hundred dollars in the bank. Think of it! A young woman coming -to this country poor, and unable to speak a word of English, has saved -in a short time fifteen hundred dollars! I wonder how many of you, five -years from now, will have fifteen hundred dollars in the bank or in -some other safe kind of property. - -The civilization of New England and of other such prosperous regions -rests more, perhaps, upon the savings banks of the country than upon -any other one thing. You ask where the wealth of New England is. It is -not in the hands of millionaires. It is in the hands of individuals, -who have a few hundreds or a few thousands of dollars put safely away -in some bank or banks. You will find that the savings banks of New -England, and of all countries that are prosperous, are filled with the -dollars of poor people, dollars aggregating millions in all. - -We cannot get upon our feet, as a people, until we learn the saving -habit; until we learn to save every nickel, every dime and every dollar -that we can spare. - - - - -GROWTH - - -I want to impress upon you this evening the importance of continued -growth. I very much wish that each one of you might imagine, this -evening, your father and your mother to be looking at you and examining -into every act of your life while here. I wish that you might feel, -as it were, their very heart throbs. I wish that you might realize, -perhaps as you have never realized before, how anxious they are that -you should succeed here. I wish that you could know how many prayers -they send up, day after day, that your school life may be more and -more successful as one day succeeds another, that you may grow to be -successful, studious, strong men and women, who will reflect credit -upon yourselves and honour upon your families. - -Each one of you must have had some thoughts about those who are anxious -about you, some thought for those persons whose hearts are very often -bowed down in anxiety because they fear your school life here will not -be successful. Not only for your own sake, but for the sake of those -who are near and dear to you, those who have done more for you than -anybody else, I want you to make up your minds that this year is going -to be the best one of your lives. - -I want you to resolve that you are going to put into this year the -hardest and the most earnest work that you have ever done in your life, -to resolve that this is going to be the greatest, the most courageous -and the most sinless year of life that you have ever lived; I want -you to make up your minds to do this; to decide that you are going to -continually grow--and grow more to-morrow than to-day. There are but -two directions in this life in which you can grow; backward or forward. -You can grow stronger, or you can grow weaker; you can grow greater, or -smaller; but it will be impossible for you to stand still. - -Now in regard to your studies; your lessons. I want you to make up -your minds that you are going to be more and more thorough in your -lessons each day you remain here; that you are going to so discipline -yourselves that each morning will find you in the recitation rooms with -your lessons more thoroughly and more conscientiously prepared for the -day's work than they were for the work of the day before. I want you to -make up your minds that you are going to be more nearly perfect, are -going to put more manly and womanly strength into the preparation of -your lessons each day, that you may be more useful. Then you will find -yourselves wanting to grow, I hope; will find yourselves learning the -dignity of labour, and that no class of people can get up and stay up, -can be strong and useful and respected, until they learn that there is -no disgrace in any form of labour. - -I hope you are learning that labour with the hand, in any form -whatever, is not disgraceful. I hope that you are learning, day by day, -that all kinds of labour--whether with the mind or with the hand--are -honourable, and that people only disgrace themselves by being and -keeping in idleness. - -I want you to go forward by thoroughness in your work; by being more -conscientious in your work; by loving your work more to-day than you -did yesterday. If you are not growing in these respects--that is, -if you are not going forward--you are going backward, and are not -answering the purpose for which this institution was established, are -not answering the purpose for which your parents sent you here. - -I want to emphasize the fact that we want you to grow in the direction -of character--to grow stronger each day in the matter of character. -When I say character, here, I mean to use the word in its broadest -sense. The institution wants to find you growing more polite to your -fellows every day, as you come in contact with them, whether it be in -the class-room, in the shop, in the field, in the dining-room, or in -your bedroom. No matter where you are, I want you to find yourselves -growing more polite and gentlemanly. Notice I do not say merely that I -want your teachers--those who are over you--to find you growing more -polite; I want you to find yourselves so. If you are not doing this, -you are going backward, you are going in the wrong direction. - -I want to find you each day more thoughtful of others, and less -selfish. I want you to be more conscientious in your thoughts and -in your work, and with regard to your duty toward others. This is -growing in the right direction; not doing this is growing in the wrong -direction. Nor do I want you to feel that you are to strive for this -spirit of growth for this one year alone, or for the time that you are -here. I hope that you will continue to grow in the forward direction. - -Then, and this is more important still, we want you to take this habit -of growth--this disposition to grow in the right direction--out with -you from the school, and scatter it as an influence for good wherever -you go. We want you to take it into your schools; for many of you -are going to become teachers. We want you not only to begin it when -you begin teaching in an humble way, but we want to see you grow and -improve in it every year. We want to see you make your school-houses -more attractive; to see you make everything in connection with your -schools and your teaching better and stronger; to see you make a school -more useful every year that you remain as its teacher. - -Then, too, when you go out and get employment--no matter of what kind -it may be--we want to see you grow better in that employment; we want -to see you advance in ability, commanding always a larger salary, -advancing in value to those who employ you. We want to see you grow in -reputation for being honest, conscientious, intelligent, hard-working; -no matter in what capacity you are employed. - -Some of you are going out to establish homes and settle down in -home life. We want to see you grow in that direction. Nothing is so -disheartening--there is nothing so discouraging--as to see a man or -woman settle down in a home, and then not to see that home grow more -beautiful, inside and outside;--to see it, instead of this, each year -grow dingy and dirty, because it each year receives less and less -attention. - -We want Tuskegee students to go out from here and establish homes that -will be models in every respect for those about them--homes that will -show that the lives of the persons who have established them are models -for the lives of those who live about them. If you do this, your lives -are going to be a constant going forward; for, I repeat, your lives -are going to be one thing or the other, continually going backward or -continually going forward. - - - - -LAST WORDS - - -We have come to the close of another school year. Some of you will -go out from among us now, not to return. Others will go home for the -summer vacation and return at the end of that for the next school year. - -As you go out, there is one thing that I want to especially caution you -about. Don't go home and feel that you are better than the rest of the -folks in your neighbourhood because you have been away at school. Don't -go home and feel ashamed of your parents because you think they don't -know as much as you think you know. Don't think that you are too good -to help them. It would be better for you not to have any education, -than for you to go home and feel ashamed of your parents, or not want -to help them. - -Let me tell you of one of the most encouraging and most helpful things -that I have known of in connection with the life of our students after -they leave this institution. I was in a Southern city, and going -about among the homes of the people of our race. Among these homes I -noticed one which was so neat looking that it was conspicuous. I asked -the person who was with me, "How is it that this house is in such -good condition, looks so much better than some of the others in the -neighbourhood?" "It is like this," said the man who was accompanying -me. "The people who live there have a son whom they sent to your -school, at considerable self-denial to themselves. This young man came -home from school a few weeks ago. For some time after he came back he -did not have work to keep him busy, and so he employed his spare time -in fixing up his parents' home. He fixed the roof and chimney, put new -palings in the fence where they were needed and did such things as -that. Then he got a stock of paint and painted the house thoroughly, -two coats, outside and in. That is why the place looks so neat." - -Such testimony as that is very helpful. It shows that the students -carry out from here the spirit which we try to inculcate. - -Another thing. Go home and lead a simple life. Don't give the -impression that you think education means superficiality and dress. - -Be polite; to white and coloured people, both. It is possible for -you, by paying heed to this, to do a great deal toward securing and -preserving pleasant relations between the people of both races in the -South. Try to have your manners in this respect so good that people -will notice them and ask where you have been, at what school you -learned to be so polite. You will find that politeness counts for a -great deal, not only in helping you to get work, but in helping you to -keep it. - -Don't be ashamed to go to church and Sunday school, to the Young Men's -Christian Association and the Christian Endeavour Society. Show that -education has only deepened your interest in such things. Have no going -backward. Be clean, in your person, your language and in your thoughts. - -It seems appropriate during these closing days of the school year to -re-emphasize, if possible, that for which the institution stands. -We want to have every student get what we have--in our egotism, -perhaps--called the "Tuskegee spirit"; that is, to get hold of the -spirit of the institution, get hold of that for which it stands; and -then spread that spirit just as widely as possible, and plant it just -as deeply as it is possible to plant it. - -In addition to the members of our graduating class, we have each year -a large number of students who go out to spend their vacations. Some -of these will return at the close of vacation, but some, for various -reasons, will not return. Whether you go out as graduates, whether you -go out to return or not to return, it is important that all of you get -hold of the "Tuskegee spirit"; the spirit of giving yourselves, in -order that you may help lift up others. In no matter how small a degree -it may be, see that you are assisting some one else. - -Now, after a number of years' experience, the institution feels that it -has reached a point where it can, with some degree of authority, give -advice as to the best way in which you can spend your life. - -In the first place, as to your location--the place where you shall -work. I very much hope that the larger part of the students who go out -from Tuskegee will choose the country districts for their place of -work, rather than the large cities. For one thing, you will find that -the larger places are much better supplied with workers and helpers -than is true of the towns, and especially of the country districts. -The cities are better supplied with churches and schools, with -everything that tends to uplift people; and they are at the same time -much more prolific of those agencies which tend to pull people down. -Notwithstanding this latter fact, the greater portion, by far, of those -who need help live in the country districts. I think a census report -will show that eighty per cent. of our people are to be found in the -country and small towns. I advise you, then, to go into the country and -the towns, rather than into the cities. - -Then, as to the manner of work. You must make up your minds in the -first place, as I have said before, that you are going to make some -sacrifice, that you are going to live your lives in an unselfish way, -in order that you may help some one. Go out with a spirit that will not -allow you to become discouraged when you have opposition, when you meet -with obstacles to be overcome. You must go with a determination that -you are going to succeed in whatever undertaking you have entered upon. - -I do not attempt to give you specific advice as to the kind of work you -shall do, but I should say that in a general way I believe that you -can accomplish more good--and perhaps this will hold good for the next -fifty years here in the South--by taking a country school for your -nucleus. Take a three months school, and gradually impress upon the -people of the community the need of having a longer school. Get them to -add one month to three months, and then another month, until they get -to the point where they will have six, seven or eight months of school -in a year. Then get them to where they will see the importance of -building a decent school-house--getting out of the one-room log cabin -school-house--and of having suitable apparatus for instruction. - -There are two things you must fix your mind on: the building of a -suitable school-house and the arousing in the people, at the same time, -a spirit that will make them support your efforts. In order to do this -you must go into the country with the idea of staying there for some -time at least. Plant yourself in the community, and by economical -living, year by year, manage to buy land for yourself, on which to -build a nice and comfortable home. You will find that the longer you -stay there the more the people will give you their confidence, and the -more they will respect and love you. - -I find that many of our graduates have done excellent work by having a -farm in connection with their schools. This is true, also, of many who -did not remain here to graduate. I have in mind such a man. He has been -teaching school in one of the counties of this State for seven or eight -years. He has lengthened the school year to eight months. He has a nice -cottage with four rooms in it, and a beautiful farm of forty acres. -This man is carrying out the "Tuskegee idea." - -There will be some of you who can spend your life to better advantage -by devoting it to farming than to any other industry. I speak of -farming particularly, because I believe that to be the great foundation -upon which we must build for the future. I believe that we are coming -to the point where we are going to be recognized for our worth in the -proportion that we secure an agricultural foundation. Throughout the -South we can give ourselves in a free, open way to getting hold of -property and building homes, in a way that we cannot do in any other -industry. In farming, as in teaching, no matter where you go, remember -to go with the "Tuskegee spirit." - -I want the boys to go out and do as Mr. N. E. Henry is doing; I want -the girls to go out and do as Miss Anna Davis and Miss Lizzie Wright -are doing. I want you to go out into the country districts and build -up schools. I would not advise you to be too ambitious at first. Be -willing to begin with a small salary and work your way up gradually. I -have in mind one young man who began teaching school for five dollars a -month; another who began teaching in the open air under a tree. - -Then, too, I want you to go out in a spirit of liberality toward the -white people with whom you come in contact. That is an important -matter. When I say this I do not mean that you shall go lowering your -manhood or your dignity. Go in a manly way, in a straightforward and -honourable way, and then you will show the white people that you are -not of a belittling race, that the prejudice which so many people -possess cannot come among you and those with whom you work. If you can -extend a helping hand to a white person, feel just as happy in doing so -as in helping a black person. - -In the sight of God there is no colour line, and we want to cultivate a -spirit that will make us forget that there is such a line anywhere. We -want to be larger and broader than the people who would oppress us on -account of our colour. - -No one ever loses anything by being a gentleman or a lady. No person -ever lost anything by being broad. Remember that if we are kind and -useful, if we are moral, if we go out and practise these traits, no -matter what people say about us, they cannot pull us down. But, on -the other hand, if we are without the spirit of usefulness, if we are -without morality, without liberality, without economy and property, -without all those qualities which go to make a people and a nation -great and strong, no matter what we may say about ourselves and what -other people may say about us, we are losing ground. Nobody can give us -those qualities merely by praising us and talking well about us; and -when we possess them, nobody can take them from us by speaking ill of -us. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Character Building, by Booker T. 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Washington. - </title> - <style type="text/css"> - - p { margin-top: .75em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .75em; - } - - p.bold {text-align: center; font-weight: bold;} - p.bold2 {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: 150%;} - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; - } - h1 span, h2 span { display: block; text-align: center; } - #id1 { font-size: smaller } - - - hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; - } - - hr.smler { - width: 15%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 42.5%; - margin-right: 42.5%; - clear: both; - } - - body{margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - } - - table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; border-collapse: collapse; border: none; text-align: right;} - - .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - text-indent: 0px; - } /* page numbers */ - - .center {text-align: center;} - .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - .space-above {margin-top: 3em;} - .right {text-align: right;} - .left {text-align: left;} - - .poem {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} - .poem br {display: none;} - .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - .poem div {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - .poem div.i1 {margin-left: 1em;} - .poem div.i2 {margin-left: 2em;} - .poem div.i3 {margin-left: 3em;} - .poem div.i4 {margin-left: 4em;} - .poem div.i5 {margin-left: 5em;} - .poem div.i6 {margin-left: 6em;} - .poem div.i16 {margin-left: 16em;} - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Character Building, by Booker T. Washington - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Character Building - Being Addresses Delivered on Sunday Evenings to the Students - of Tuskegee Institute - -Author: Booker T. Washington - -Release Date: October 13, 2019 [EBook #60484] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARACTER BUILDING *** - - - - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, MFR, Martin Pettit and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="center"><a name="cover.jpg" id="cover.jpg"></a><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p class="bold2">CHARACTER BUILDING</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/ad.jpg" alt="OTHER BOOKS" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i004.jpg" alt="The Chapel at Tuskegee Alabama" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<h1> -CHARACTER<br /> BUILDING</h1> - -<p class="bold">BEING ADDRESSES DELIVERED<br />ON SUNDAY EVENINGS TO THE<br />STUDENTS OF TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">By</p> - -<p class="bold2">BOOKER T. WASHINGTON</p> - -<div class="center space-above"><img src="images/logo.jpg" alt="Logo" /></div> - -<p class="bold space-above">NEW YORK<br />DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY<br />1902</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="center">Copyright, 1902, by<br />Booker T. Washington<br />Published June, 1902</p> - -<p class="center space-above">—————<br />Printed by Manhattan Press,<br />New York, U. S. A.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="center">TO THE<br />OFFICERS AND TEACHERS OF<br />The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute<br /> -WHO HAVE UNSELFISHLY AND LOYALLY<br />STOOD BY AND SUPPORTED ME<br />IN MY EFFORTS TO BUILD<br />THIS INSTITUTION</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>PUBLISHERS' EXPLANATION</h2> - -<p>Mr. Washington's habit has for many years been to deliver a practical, -straightforward address to the students of Tuskegee Institute on Sunday -evening. These addresses have had much to do with the building up of -the character of his race, for they are very forcible explanations -of character building. The speaker has put into them his whole moral -earnestness, his broad common-sense and, in many places, his eloquence. -Many of Mr. Washington's friends have said that some of these addresses -are the best of his utterances.</p> - -<p>They have an additional interest because they show him at his work and -give an inside view of the school.</p> - -<p>This volume is made up of selections from these addresses chosen by Mr. -Washington himself.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>PREFACE</h2> - -<p>A number of years ago, when the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial -Institute was quite small, with only a few dozen students and two or -three teachers, I began the practice of giving what were called Sunday -Evening Talks to the students and teachers. These addresses were always -delivered in a conversational tone and much in the same manner that I -would speak to my own children around my fireside. As the institution -gradually grew from year to year, friends suggested that these -addresses ought to be preserved, and for that reason during the past -few years they have been stenographically reported. For the purpose of -this book they have been somewhat revised; and I am greatly indebted -to my secretary, Mr. Emmett J. Scott, and to Mr. Max Bennett Thrasher, -for assisting me in the revision and in putting them into proper shape -for publication; and to Mr. T. Thomas Fortune for suggesting that these -addresses be published in book form.</p> - -<p>In these addresses I have attempted from week to week to speak straight -to the hearts of our students and teachers and visitors concerning the -problems and questions that confront them in their daily life here in -the South. The most encouraging thing in connection with the making of -these addresses has been the close attention which the students and -teachers and visitors have always paid, and the hearty way in which -they have spoken to me of the help that they have received from them.</p> - -<p>During the past four years these addresses have been published in the -school paper each week. This paper, <i>The Tuskegee Student</i>, has a -wide circulation among our graduates and others in the South, so that -in talking to our students on Sunday evening I have felt in a degree -that I was speaking to a large proportion of the coloured people in -the South. If there is anything in these addresses which will be of -interest or service to a still wider audience, I shall feel I have been -more than repaid for any effort that I have put forth in connection -with them.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Booker T. Washington.</span></p> - -<p>Tuskegee, Alabama.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="CONTENTS"> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Two Sides of Life</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Helping Others</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Some of the Rocks Ahead</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">On Influencing By Example</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Virtue of Simplicity</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Have You Done Your Best?</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Don't Be Discouraged</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">On Getting a Home</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Calling Things By Their Right Names</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">European Impressions</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Value of System In Home Life</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">What Will Pay?</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Education that Educates</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Importance of Being Reliable</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Highest Education</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Unimproved Opportunities</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Keeping Your Word</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Some Lessons of the Hour</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Gospel of Service</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Your Part in the Negro Conference</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">What Is To Be Our Future?</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Some Great Little Things</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">To Would-Be Teachers</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Cultivation of Stable Habits</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">What You Ought to Do</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Individual Responsibility</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Getting On In the World</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Each One His Part</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">What Would Father and Mother Say? </span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Object Lessons</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Substance vs. Shadow</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_239">239</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Character as Shown in Dress</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_245">245</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Sing the Old Songs</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Getting Down to Mother Earth</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">A Penny Saved</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Growth</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Last Words</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHARACTER BUILDING</h2> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> - -<h2>TWO SIDES OF LIFE</h2> - -<p>There are quite a number of divisions into which life can be divided, -but for the purposes of this evening I am going to speak of two; the -bright side of life and the dark side.</p> - -<p>In thought, in talk, in action, I think you will find that you can -separate life into these two divisions—the dark side and the bright -side, the discouraging side and the encouraging side. You will find, -too, that there are two classes of people, just as there are two -divisions of the subject. There is one class that is schooling itself, -and constantly training itself, to look upon the dark side of life; -and there is another class, made up of people who are, consciously or -unconsciously, constantly training themselves to look upon the bright -side of life.</p> - -<p>Now it is not wise to go too far in either direction. The person -who schools himself to see the dark side of life is likely to make -a mistake, and the person who schools himself to look only upon the -bright side of life, forgetting all else, also is apt to make a -mistake.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> - -<p>Notwithstanding this, I think I am right in saying that the persons -who accomplish most in this world, those to whom on account of their -helpfulness the world looks most for service—those who are most useful -in every way—are those who are constantly seeing and appreciating the -bright side as well as the dark side of life.</p> - -<p>You will sometimes find two persons who get up in the morning, perhaps -a morning that is overcast with shadows—a damp, wet, rainy, uninviting -morning—and one of these persons will speak of the morning as being -gloomy, will speak of the mud-puddles about the house, of the rain, and -of all of the disagreeable features. The second person, the one who -has schooled himself to see the brighter side of life, the beautiful -things in life, will speak of the beauties that are in the rain drops, -and the freshness of the newly bathed flowers, shrubs and trees. -Notwithstanding the gloomy and generally disconsolate appearance of -things, he will find something attractive in the scene out of doors, -and will discover something in the gloomy morning that will cheer him.</p> - -<p>Suppose that you see these same two persons eat their breakfast. -Perhaps they will find out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> that the rolls are bad, but that the coffee -is excellent. If the rolls are poor, it is a great deal better in such -a case to get into the habit—a habit that you will find pays from -every standpoint—of being able to forget how unpalatable they are, and -to let your thoughts dwell upon the good and satisfactory coffee. Call -the attention of your near neighbour at the table to the excellence -of the coffee. What is the result of that kind of schooling? You will -grow up to be an individual whom people will like to see coming near -them—an individual to whom people will go for encouragement when the -hours are dark, and when everything seems to be discouraging.</p> - -<p>In just the same way, when you go into the class-rooms to recite your -lessons, do not dwell upon any mistakes that you may think you see the -teacher make, or upon any weakness in the presentation of the lesson. -All teachers make mistakes sometimes, and you may depend upon it that -it is an excellent teacher and a person of fine character who, when -he or she has made a mistake, says frankly and plainly, "I have made -a mistake," or "I don't know." It takes a very good and a very bright -teacher to say, "I don't know." No teacher knows everything about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> -every subject. A good teacher will say frankly and clearly, "I don't -know. I cannot answer that question."</p> - -<p>Let me tell you, right here, too, that when you go out from here -to become teachers yourselves—as a large proportion of you will -go—whenever you get to a point where a student asks you a question -which you are not able to answer, or asks you something about a -subject on which you are not well informed, you will find it better -to say frankly and honestly, "I am unable to answer your question." -Your students will respect you a great deal more for your frankness -and honesty. Education is not what a person is able to hold in his -head, so much as it is what a person is able to find. I believe it was -Daniel Webster who said that the truly educated man was not the one -who had all knowledge in his head, but the one who knew where to look -for information upon any subject upon which at any time he might want -information. Each individual who wishes to succeed must get that kind -of discipline. He must get such training that he will know where to go -and get facts, rather than try to train himself to hold all facts in -his head.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> - -<p>I want you to go out from this institution so trained and so developed -that you will be constantly looking for the bright, encouraging and -beautiful things in life. It is the weak individual, as a rule, who -is constantly calling attention to the other side—to the dark and -discouraging things of life. When you go into your classrooms, I -repeat, try to forget and overlook any weak points that you may think -you see. Remember, and dwell upon, the consideration that has been -given to the lesson, the faithfulness with which it was prepared, -and the earnestness with which it is presented. Try to recall and to -remember every good thing and every encouraging thing which has come -under your observation, whether it has been in the class-room, or in -the shop, or in the field. No matter where you are, seize hold on the -encouraging things with which you come in contact.</p> - -<p>In connection with the personality of their teachers, it is very -unfortunate for students to form a habit of continually finding fault, -of criticising, of seeing nothing but what the student may think -are weak points. Try to get into a frame of mind where you will be -constantly seeing and calling attention to the strong and beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> -things which you observe in the life and work of your teachers. Grow -into the habit of talking about the bright side of life. When you meet -a fellow student, a teacher, or anybody, or when you write letters -home, get into the habit of calling attention to the bright things of -life that you have seen, the things that are beautiful, the things that -are charming. Just in proportion as you do this, you will find that -you will not only influence yourself in the right direction, but that -you will also influence others that way. It is a very bad habit to get -into, that of being continually moody and discouraged, and of making -the atmosphere uncomfortable for everybody who comes within ten feet of -you. There are some people who are so constantly looking on the dark -side of life that they cannot see anything but that side. Everything -that comes from their mouths is unpleasant, about this thing and that -thing, and they make the whole atmosphere around them unpleasant for -themselves and for everybody with whom they come in contact. Such -persons are surely undesirable. Why, I have seen people coming up the -road who caused me to feel like wanting to cross over on to the other -side of the way so as not to meet them. I didn't<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> want to hear their -tales of misery and woe. I had heard those tales so many times that I -didn't want to get into the atmosphere of the people who told them.</p> - -<p>It is often very easy to influence others in the wrong direction, and -to grow into such a moody fault-finding disposition that one not only -is miserable and unhappy himself, but makes every one with whom he -comes in contact miserable and unhappy. The persons who live constantly -in a fault-finding atmosphere, who see only the dark side of life, -become negative characters. They are the people who never go forward. -They never suggest a line of activity. They live simply on the negative -side of life. Now, as students, you cannot afford to grow in that way. -We want to send each one of you out from here, not as a negative force, -but as a strong, positive, helpful force in the world. You will not -accomplish the task which we expect of you if you go with a moody, -discouraged, fault-finding disposition. To do the most that lies in -you, you must go with a heart and head full of hope and faith in the -world, believing that there is work for you to do, believing that you -are the person to accomplish that work, and the one who is going to -accomplish it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> - -<p>In nine cases out of ten, the person who cultivates the habit of -looking on the dark side of life is the little person, the miserable -person, the one who is weak in mind, heart and purpose. On the other -hand, the person who cultivates the habit of looking on the bright -side of life, and who calls attention to the beautiful and encouraging -things in life is, in nine cases out of ten, the strong individual, -the one to whom the world goes for intelligent advice and support. I -am trying to get you to see, as students, the best things in life. Do -not be satisfied with second-hand or third-hand things in life. Do not -be satisfied until you have put yourselves into that atmosphere where -you can seize and hold on to the very highest and most beautiful things -that can be got out of life.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> - -<h2>HELPING OTHERS</h2> - -<p>There are a few essential things in an institution of this kind that I -think it is well for you to keep ever before you.</p> - -<p>This institution does not exist for your education alone; it does not -exist for your comfort and happiness altogether, although those things -are important, and we keep them in mind; it exists that we may give you -intelligence, skill of hand, and strength of mind and heart; and we -help you in these ways that you, in turn, may help others. We help you -that you may help somebody else, and if you do not do this, when you go -out from here, then our work here has been in vain.</p> - -<p>You would be surprised to know how small a part of your own expenses -you pay here. You pay but little; and by reason of that fact it follows -that as trustees of the funds which are given to this institution, we -have no right to keep an individual here who we do not think is going -to be able to go out and help somebody else. We have no right to keep a -student here who we do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> not think is strong enough to go out and be of -assistance to somebody else. We are here for the purpose of educating -you, that you may become strong, intelligent and helpful.</p> - -<p>If you were paying the cost of your board here, and for your tuition, -and fuel and lights, then we should have a different problem. But so -long as it is true that you pay so small a proportion of your expenses -as you do, we must keep in view the fact that we have no right to -keep a student here, no matter how much we may sympathize with him -or her, unless that student is going to be able to do somebody else -some good. Every young man and every young woman should feel that he -or she is here on trust, that every day here is a sacred day, that it -is a day that belongs to the race. Our graduates, and the majority of -the students that have gone out from here, have ever had an unselfish -spirit, and have been willing to go out and work at first for small -salaries, and in uncomfortable places, where in a large degree -conditions have been discouraging and desolate. We believe that kind of -spirit will continue to exist in this institution, and that we shall -continue to have students who will go out from here to make other -persons strong and useful.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> - -<p>Now no individual can help another individual unless he himself is -strong. You notice that the curriculum here goes along in three -directions—along the line of labour, of academic training, and of -moral and religious training. We expect those who are here to keep -strong, and to make themselves efficient in these three directions, in -each of which you are to learn to be leaders.</p> - -<p>Some people are able to do a thing when they are directed to do it, but -people of that kind are not worth very much. There are people in the -world who never think, who never map out anything for themselves, who -have to wait to be told what to do. People of that kind are not worth -anything. They really ought to pay rent for the air they breath, for -they only vitiate it. Now we do not want such people as those here. We -want people who are going to think, people who are going to prepare -themselves. I noticed an incident this morning. Did you ever hear that -side door creak on its hinges before this morning? The janitor ought -to have noticed that creaking and put some oil on the hinges without -waiting to be told to do it. Then, again, this morning I noticed that -after it had been raining hard for twenty-four hours, when it was wet -and muddy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> no provision had been made to protect the hogs at the sty, -and they were completely covered with mud. Now the person who had -charge of the sty should not have waited for some one to tell him to -go down there and put some straw in for bedding and put boards over -the sty to keep the animals dry. No one in charge of the hogs ought to -have waited to be told to do a thing like that. The kind of persons we -want here are those who are not going to wait for you to tell them to -do such things, but who will think of them for themselves and do them. -If we cannot turn out a man here who is capable of taking care of a pig -sty, how can we expect him to take care of affairs of State?</p> - -<p>Then, again, some of you are expected to take care of the roads. I -should have liked to have seen boys this morning so much interested -in working on the roads that they would have put sawdust from this -building to the gate. I should have liked to see them put down some -boards, and arrange for the water to drain off. We want such fellows -as those here. The ones we want are the ones who are going to think -of such things as these without being told. That is the only kind of -people worth having. Those who have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> to wait to have somebody else put -ideas into their minds are not worth much of anything. And, to be plain -with you, we cannot have such people here. We want you to be thinkers, -to be leaders.</p> - -<p>Yesterday, and the night before, I travelled on the Mobile and Ohio -railroad from St. Louis to Montgomery, and there was a young man on -the same train who was not more than twenty years old, I believe, who -recently had been appointed a special freight agent of the road. All -his conversation was about freight. He talked freight to me and to -everybody else. He would ask this man and that man if they had any -freight, and if so he would tell them that they must have it shipped -over the Mobile and Ohio railroad. Now that man will be general freight -agent of that road some day: he may be president of the road. But -suppose he had sat down and gone to sleep, and had waited for some one -to come to him to inquire the best way to ship freight. Do you suppose -he would ever have secured any freight to ship?</p> - -<p>Begin to think. If you cannot learn to think, why, you will be of no -use to yourself or anybody else. Every once in a while—about every -three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> months—we have to go through the process of "weeding out" among -the students. We are going to make that "weeding out" process more -strict this year than ever before. We are compelled to get rid of every -student here who is weak in mind, weak in morals, or weak in industry. -We cannot keep a student here unless he counts for one. You must count -one yourself. You eat for one, you drink for one, and you sleep for -one; and so you will have to count for one if you are going to stay -here.</p> - -<p>I want you to go out into the world, not to have an easy time, but to -make sacrifices, and to help somebody else. There are those who need -your help and your sacrifice. You may be called upon to sacrifice a -great deal; you may have to work for small salaries; you may have -to teach school in uncomfortable buildings; you may have to work in -desolate places, and the surroundings may be in every way discouraging. -And when I speak of your going out into life, I do not confine you to -the schoolroom. I believe that those who go out and become farmers, and -leaders in other directions, as well as teachers, are to succeed.</p> - -<p>The most interesting thing connected with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> this institution is the -magnificent record that our graduates are making. As the institution -grows larger, we do not want to lose the spirit of self-sacrifice, the -spirit of usefulness which the graduates and the students who have gone -out from here have shown. We want you to help somebody else. We want -you not to think of yourselves alone. The more you do to make somebody -else happy, the more happiness will you receive in turn. If you want -to be happy, if you want to live a contented life, if you want to live -a life of genuine pleasure, do something for somebody else. When you -feel unhappy, disagreeable and miserable, go to some one else who is -miserable and do that person an act of kindness, and you will find that -you will be made happy. The miserable persons in this world are the -ones whose hearts are narrow and hard; the happy ones are those who -have great big hearts. Such persons are always happy.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> - -<h2>SOME OF THE ROCKS AHEAD</h2> - -<p>I feel sure that I can be of some degree of service to you to-night, in -helping you to anticipate some of the troubles that you are going to -meet during the coming year. "Do not look for trouble," is a safe maxim -to follow, but it is equally safe to prepare for trouble.</p> - -<p>All of you realize, of course, that where we have so large a machine -as we happen to have here—when I speak of machine in this way you -will understand that I refer to the school—it takes some time to get -it into perfect order, or anything bordering upon perfect running -order. Now, I repeat, it is the wise individual who prepares himself -beforehand for the day of difficulties, for the day of discouragements, -for the rainy day. It is the wise individual who makes up his mind -that life is not going to be all sunshine, that all is not going to be -perpetual pleasure. What is true of everyday life is true of school -life; there are a number of difficulties which it is probable you are -going to meet or which are going to meet you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> during the coming school -year, and which, if possible, I want you to prepare yourselves against -as wisely as you can.</p> - -<p>In the first place, a great many of you are going to be -disappointed—if this has not already been the case—in the classes -to which you will be assigned. The average individual thinks he knows -a great deal more than he does know. The individual who really knows -more than he thinks he knows is very rare indeed. When a student -gets to the point where he knows more than he thinks he knows, that -student is about ready to leave school. I wish a very large number of -you had reached that point. I repeat, numbers of you are going to be -disappointed during the year as to the classes to which you are going -to be assigned.</p> - -<p>Now, I want to give you this advice. Before you go to an institution -examine the catalogue of that school. The catalogue will give you all -the information about the school. Then make up your mind whether or -not you have faith in that institution. Find out if it is the school -you wish to attend, and then decide if you have faith enough in it to -become its pupil. Then, if you have once done this, make up your mind -that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> those who are placed over you as your teachers have had more -experience than you can have had, and that they are therefore able to -advise you as to your classes. Make up your mind that if you are asked -to go into a lower class than you think your ability entitles you to go -into, you are going to follow the advice and instruction of the people -who are older than you and who have more education than you have.</p> - -<p>Another way in which you are going to be disappointed, and be made -homesick, perhaps, if you have not already been made so, is in the -rooms to which you are going to be assigned. You are going to get -rooms that you do not like. They will not be, perhaps, as attractive -as you desire, or they will be too crowded. You are going to be given -persons for room mates with whom you think it is going to be impossible -to get along pleasantly, people who are not congenial to you. During -the hot months your rooms are going to be too hot, and during the -cold months they are going to be too cold. You are going to meet with -all these difficulties in your rooms. Make up your mind that you are -going to conquer them. I have often said that the students who in the -early years of this school had such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> hard times with their rooms have -succeeded grandly. Many of you now live in palaces, compared to the -rooms which those students had. I am sure that the students who attend -this school find that the institution is better fitted every year to -take care of them than it was the year previous. From year to year -there has been a steady growth in the accommodations, and that is all -that we can wish or expect. From year to year we do not forget that it -is our duty to make students more comfortable than in previous years, -and we are steadily growing, in that direction. But notwithstanding all -this we cannot do all that we want to do.</p> - -<p>Make up your minds, then, that you are going to find difficulties in -your room, in reference to your room mates, the heat, the cold, and any -number of things that concern your stay in the buildings. But in all -these matters keep in mind the high purpose for which you came here—to -get an education. Get that thought into your heart and body, and it -will enable you to be the master of all these little things, all these -minor and temporary obstacles.</p> - -<p>Many of you are going to be disappointed in regard to your food. -Notwithstanding all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> care we may try to take, and want to take, -many of you are going to be disappointed in this respect. But how -little is the meaning of one meal, how little a thing is being -inconvenienced by one meal, as compared with something that is going -to be a part of you all the remainder of your lives. It is not for the -food, the room, or the minor things that you have come here; it is to -get something into your minds and hearts that will make you better, -that will stand by you and hold you up, and make you useful all through -life.</p> - -<p>Some of you are going to find it difficult to obey orders. Sometimes -orders will be given you which you think are wrong and unjust. Perhaps -orders will be given you sometimes that really are unjust. In that -respect no institution is perfect. But I want you to learn this lesson -in respect to orders—that it is always best to learn to obey orders -and respect authority—that it is better ten times over for you to obey -an order that you know is wrong, and which perhaps was given you in a -wrong spirit or with a mistaken motive. It is better for you to obey -even such an order as that, than it is for any individual to get into -the habit of disobeying and not respecting those in authority.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> - -<p>Make up your mind that if you want to add to your happiness and -strength of character, you are, before all things else, going to learn -to obey. If it should happen that for a minute, or five minutes, one of -your fellow-students is placed in authority over you, that student's -commands should be sacred. You should obey his commands just as quickly -as you would obey those of the highest officer in this institution. -Learn that it is no disgrace to obey those in authority. One of the -highest and surest signs of civilization is that a people have learned -to obey the commands of those who are placed over them. I want to add -here that it is to the credit of this institution that, with very few -exceptions, the students have always been ready and willing to respect -authority.</p> - -<p>I want you to see, as I think you will see, that having a hard time, -running up against difficulties here and there, helps to make an -individual strong, helps to make him powerful. This is the point I -want to make with you; that one of the reasons you are here is that -you may learn to overcome difficulties. I have named some that you may -expect to meet, but I have not named them all. They will keep springing -up all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> time. Just in proportion as you learn to rise above them -and trample them under your feet, just in that proportion will you -accomplish the high purpose for which you came here, and help to -accomplish the purpose for which this institution exists.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> - -<h2>ON INFLUENCING BY EXAMPLE</h2> - -<p>A few evenings ago, while in Cincinnati, I was very pleasantly -surprised after speaking at a large meeting to be invited by a company -of young coloured men to attend for a few minutes a reception at their -club room. I expected, when I went to the place designated, to find a -number of young men who, perhaps, had hired a room and fitted it up -for the purpose of gratifying their own selfish pleasures. I found -that this was not the case. Instead, I found fifteen young men whose -ages ranged from eighteen to twenty years, who had banded themselves -together in a club known as the "Winona Club," for the purpose of -improving themselves, and further, for the purpose, so far as possible, -of getting hold of other young coloured men in the city who were -inclined in the wrong direction. I found a room beautifully fitted up, -with a carpet on the floor, with beautiful pictures upon the walls, -with books and pictures in their little library, and with fifteen of -the brightest, most honest, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> cleanest looking young men that it has -been my pleasure to meet for a long time.</p> - -<p>It was a very pleasant surprise to find these young men, especially -in the midst of the temptations of a Northern city, in the midst of -evil surroundings, banded together for influencing others in the right -direction.</p> - -<p>These young men came together, and at their first meeting said that -they were going to band themselves together for the purpose of -improving themselves and helping others. They said that the first -article in their constitution should be to the effect that there should -be no gambling in that club; that there must be no strong drink allowed -in that club, and that there should be nothing there that was not in -keeping with the life of a true and high-minded gentleman.</p> - -<p>I repeat that it was very pleasant and encouraging for me to find such -work as this going on in Cincinnati. What was equally gratifying, and -surprising, was that at the close of the reception they presented me -with a neat sum of money which they had collected, and asked that this -money be used to defray the expenses of some student at the school here.</p> - -<p>Now the point I especially want to make to-night <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>is this: all of you -must bear in mind the fact that you are not only to keep yourselves -clean, and pure, and sober, and true, in every respect, but you owe a -constant responsibility to yourself to see that you exert a helpful -influence on others also.</p> - -<p>A large proportion of you are to go from here into great cities. Some -of you will go into such cities as Montgomery, and some, perhaps, will -go into the cities of the North—although I hope that the most of you -will see your way clear to remain in the South. I believe that you -will do better to remain in the country districts than to go into the -cities. I believe that you will find it to your advantage in every -way to try to live in a small town, or in a country district, rather -than in a city. I believe that we are at our best in country life—in -agricultural life—and too often at our worst in city life. Now when -you go out into the world for yourselves, you must remember in the -first place that you cannot hold yourselves up unless you keep engaged -and out of idleness. No idle person is ever safe, whether he be rich or -poor. Make up your minds, whether you are to live in the city or in the -country, that you are going to be constantly employed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> - -<p>In a rich and prosperous country like America there is absolutely no -excuse for persons living in idleness. I have little patience with -persons who go around whining that they cannot find anything to do. -Especially is this true in the South. Where the soil is cheap there is -little or no excuse for any man or woman going about complaining that -he or she cannot find work. You cannot set proper examples unless you, -yourself, are constantly employed. See to it, then, whether you live -in a city, a town, or in a country district, that you are constantly -employed when you are not engaged in the proper kind of recreation, -or in rest. Unless you do this you will find that you will go down as -thousands of our young men have gone down—as thousands of our young -men are constantly going down—who yield to the temptations which beset -them.</p> - -<p>Refrain from staking your earnings upon games of chance. See to it that -you pass by those things which tend to your degradation. Teach this -to others. Teach those with whom you come in contact that they cannot -lead strong, moral lives unless they keep away from the gambling table. -See to it that you regulate your life properly; that you regulate -your hours of sleep.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> Have the proper kinds of recreation. Quite a -number of our young men in the cities stay up until twelve, one and -two o'clock each night. Sometimes they are at a dance, and sometimes -at the gambling table, or in some brothel, or drinking in some saloon. -As a result they go late to their work, and in a short time you hear -them complaining about having lost their positions. They will tell you -that they have lost their jobs on account of race prejudice, or because -their former employers are not going to hire coloured help any longer. -But you will find, if you learn the real circumstances, that it is much -more likely they have lost their jobs because they were not punctual, -or on account of carelessness.</p> - -<p>Then, too, you will find that you will go down if you yield to the -temptation of indulging in strong drink. That is a thing that is -carrying a great many of our young men down. I do not say that all of -our men are of this class, or that all of them yield to temptations, -because I can go into many of the large cities and find just such men -as those in Cincinnati to whom I have referred. You cannot hope to -succeed if you keep bad company. As far as possible try to form the -habit of spending your nights at home. There is nothing worse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> for a -young man or young woman than to get into the habit of thinking that he -or she must spend every night on the street or in some public place.</p> - -<p>I want you, as you go out from this institution, whether you are -graduates or not, whether you have been here one year or four years—to -go out with the idea that you must set a high example for every one -in your community. You must remember that the people are watching you -every day. If you yield to the temptation of strong drink, of going -into bad company, others will do the same thing. They will shape their -lives after yours. You must so shape your lives that the hundreds and -thousands of those who are looking to you for guidance may profit by -your example.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> - -<h2>THE VIRTUE OF SIMPLICITY</h2> - -<p>I hope that you all paid strict attention to what Mr. William H. -Baldwin, Jr., who recently spoke to you, had to say. In the few words -that he spoke, I think he told you the platform upon which this -institution has been built. You will remember that he laid a great deal -of stress upon the importance of the institution remaining simple, of -keeping that degree of simplicity and thoroughness that it has always -possessed.</p> - -<p>It is true that in the last few months the institution has come into -a great deal of prominence, and is meeting with what the world calls -"success." But we must remember that very often it is with institutions -as it is with individuals—success may injure them more than poverty. -Now, this institution will continue to succeed, will continue to have -the good will and confidence, the co-operation of the best and wisest -and most generous people in the country, just so long as its faculty, -its students, and all connected with it, remain simple, earnest and -thorough. Just as soon as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> in any department there are indications -that we are beginning to become what the world calls "stuck up," -just so soon will the people lose confidence in us, and will fail to -support us, and just so soon will the institution begin to decay. We -will grow in buildings, in industries, in apparatus, in the number of -teachers and of students, and in the confidence of the people, just -in proportion as we do what the institution has set out to do; that -is, teach young men and women how to live simple, plain and honourable -lives by learning how to do something uncommonly well.</p> - -<p>When I speak of humbleness and simplicity, I do not mean that it is -necessary for us to lose sight of what the world calls manhood and -womanhood; that it is necessary to be cringing and unmanly; but you -will find, in the long run, that the people who have the greatest -influence in the world are the humble and simple ones.</p> - -<p>Now, we must not only remain humble, but we must be very sure that -whatever is done in every department of the school is thoroughly done. -Any institution runs a great risk when it begins to grow—to grow -larger in numbers or larger in any respect. It can succeed then only -in proportion as those who have responsibilities are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> conscientious in -the highest degree. We can succeed in putting up good buildings only in -proportion as every one performs well his part in the erection of each -building. We can succeed only in proportion as the student who makes -the mortar, who lays the bricks, puts his whole conscience into that -work, and does it just as thoroughly as it is possible for him to do -it. If he is mixing mortar, he must do it just as well as he can, and -then, to-morrow, must do it still better than he did it to-day, and the -next week better than he did it this week. The student who lays the -bricks must learn to lay each brick as well as it is possible for him -to lay it, and then do still better work on the morrow.</p> - -<p>We must remember, too, that we have a certain amount of responsibility -to care for our buildings, and that a great deal of interest should -be taken not only in putting up all our buildings thoroughly, but in -looking out for their preservation as well. We must see to it that the -buildings which the students have worked so hard to erect, and which -generous friends have so kindly enabled us to secure, are not marred in -any way. You must make new students know that this property is yours, -and that every building here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> is yours. No student has any right to mar -in any way what you have worked so hard to erect, and your friends have -been generous enough to provide. If you find a student drawing a lead -pencil across a piece of plastering which you have put on, you must -let that student know that he is destroying what you have worked hard -to create, and that when he destroys that building he is destroying -something which students yet to come should have the opportunity of -enjoying.</p> - -<p>We want to be sure that in every industry, in every department of the -institution, there is simplicity, humbleness, thoroughness. Whatever -is intrusted to you to do in the industrial departments, in the class -rooms, be sure that you put your whole heart into that thing.</p> - -<p>We do not expect to have fine, costly buildings, nor do we want to -have them. But we do expect to have well-constructed buildings, and -attractive buildings; and, if we can go on in this simple, humble way, -the time will come when we shall have all the buildings we need. Just -in proportion as our friends see that we are worthy of these good -things, they will come to us.</p> - -<p>We want to be sure, also, that in no department is there any -wastefulness. We must try<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> to make every dollar go as far as possible. -"We must stretch a dollar," as I have heard Mr. Baldwin say, "until -it can be stretched no further." Now, there will be waste unless we -put our conscience into everything that we do. There will be waste in -the boarding department, in the academic department, in the industrial -department, in the religious department, in all the departments about -us, unless we put our conscience into everything that we do. Let us be -sure that not a single dollar that is given to us is wasted, because -the same people who give to us are called upon almost every day in the -week, each year, to give for hundreds of purposes, and they have to -choose which they will support. They must decide whether they want to -give to this cause, or to that cause, and they will give to us if we -make them feel that we are more worthy than other similar institutions.</p> - -<p>We want, also, to be sure that we remain simple in our dress and in all -our outward appearance. I do not like to see a young man who is poor, -and whose tuition is being paid by some one, and who has no books, -sometimes has no socks, sometimes has no decent shoes, wearing a white, -stiff, shining collar which he has sent away to be <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>laundered. I do not -like to ask people to give money for such a young man as that. It is -much better for a young man to learn to launder his collars himself, -than to pretend to the world that he is what he is not. When you send a -collar to the city laundry, it indicates that you have a bank account; -it indicates that you have money ahead, and can afford that luxury. Now -I do not believe that you can afford it; and that kind of pretence and -that kind of acting do not pay.</p> - -<p>Get right down to business, and, as I have said, if we cannot do up -your collars well enough here to suit you, why, get some soap and -water, and starch, and an iron, and learn to launder your own collars, -and keep on laundering them until you can do them better than anybody -else.</p> - -<p>I am not trying to discourage you about wearing nice collars. I like -to see every collar shine. I like to see every collar as bright as -possible. I like to see you wear good, attractive collars. I do not, -however, want you to get the idea that collars make the man. You quite -often see fine cuffs and collars, when there is no real man there. You -want to be sure to get the man first. Be sure that the man is there, -and if he is, the collars and the cuffs will come in due time. If there -is no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> man there, we may put on all the collars and cuffs we can get, -and we shall find that they will not make the man.</p> - -<p>When you have finished school, after you have gone out and established -yourselves in some kind of business, after you have learned to save -money, and have got a good bank account ahead, if you are where the -laundering is not sufficiently well done to suit you, why perhaps you -can afford to send your collars forty or fifty miles away. But as I -see you young men, I do not believe you can afford it. And if you can -afford it, why, I should like to have you pay that money for a part of -your tuition, which we now have to get some one else to pay for you.</p> - -<p>You want to be very sure, too, that as you go out into the world, -you go out not ashamed to work; not ashamed to put in practice what -you have learned here. As I come in contact with our graduates, I am -very glad to be able to say that in almost no instance have I found a -student who has been at Tuskegee long enough to learn the ways of the -institution, or a graduate who has been ashamed to use his hands. Now -that reputation we want to keep up. We want to be sure that such a -reputation as this follows every student who goes out.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> - -<p>And then be very sure that you are simple in your words and your -language. Write your letters in the simplest and plainest manner -possible. Who of you did not understand what was said by Mr. John D. -Rockefeller, Jr., when he spoke from this platform a few evenings ago? -Was there a single word, or a single reference, or figure of speech, -that he used that you did not understand the full force of, or did not -appreciate? Here is a man whose father is perhaps the richest man in -the world, and yet there was no "tomfoolery" about his speech. Every -word was simple and plain, and everybody could understand everything -that he said. He used no Latin or Greek quotations.</p> - -<p>Some people get the idea that if they can get a little education, and -a little money ahead, and can talk so that no one can understand them, -they are educated. That is a great mistake, because nobody understands -them, and they do not understand themselves. Now, the world has no -sympathy with that kind of thing. If you have anything to write, write -it in the plainest manner possible. Use just as few words as possible, -and as simple words as possible. If you can get a word with one -syllable that will express your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> meaning, use it in preference to one -of two syllables. If you can not get a suitable word of one syllable, -try to get one of two syllables instead of three or four. At any rate -make your words just as short as possible, and your sentences as short -and simple as you can make them. There is great power in simplicity, -simplicity of speech, simplicity of life in every form. The world has -no patience with people who are superficial, who are trying to show -off, who are trying to be what the world knows they are not.</p> - -<p>You know you sometimes get frightened and discouraged about the laws -that some of the States are inclined to pass, and that some of them -are passing, but there is no State, there is no municipality, there is -no power on earth, that can neutralize the influence of a high, pure, -simple and useful life. Every individual who learns to live such a life -will find an opportunity to make his influence felt.</p> - -<p>No one can in any way permanently hold back a race of people who are -getting those elements of strength which the world recognizes, which -the world has always recognized, and which it always will recognize, -as indicating the highest type of manhood and womanhood. There is -nothing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> then, to be discouraged about. We are going forward, and we -shall keep going forward if we do not let these difficulties which -sometimes occur discourage us. You will find that every man and every -woman who is worthy to be respected and praised and recognized will be -respected and praised and recognized.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> - -<h2>HAVE YOU DONE YOUR BEST?</h2> - -<p class="center">[This talk was given at the middle of the school year.]</p> - -<p>If you have not already done so—and I hope you have—I think that you -will find this a convenient season for each one of you to stop and -to consider your school-year very carefully; to consider your life -in school from every point of view; to place yourselves, as it were, -in the presence of your parents, or your friends at home; to place -yourselves in the presence of those who stand by and support this -institution; to place yourselves in the presence of your teachers and -of all who are in any way interested in you.</p> - -<p>Now, suppose you were to-night sitting down by your parents' side, -by their fireside, looking them in the face, or by the side of your -nearest and dearest friends, those who have done the most for you, -those who have stood by you most closely. Suppose you were in that -position. I want to ask you to answer this question, In considering -your school life—in your studies, for example—during the year, thus -far, have you done your best?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> - -<p>Have you been really honest with your parents, who have struggled, who -have sacrificed, who have toiled for years, in ways you do not know of, -in order that you might come here, and in order that you might remain -here? Have you really been interested in them? Have you really been -honest with your teachers? Have you been honest with those who support -this institution? Have you really, in a word, in the preparation and -recitation of your lessons, done your level best? Right out from your -hearts, have you done your best? I fear that a great many of you, when -you look your conscience squarely in the face, when you get right down -to your real selves, at the bottom of your lives, must answer that you -have not done your best. There have been precious minutes, there have -been precious hours, that you have completely thrown away, hours for -which you cannot show a single return.</p> - -<p>Now, if you have not done your level best, right out straight from -your heart, in the preparation and recitation of your lessons, and in -all your work, it is not too late for you to make amends. I should be -very sorry if I waited until the end of the term to remind you of this, -because it would then be too late. There would be many of you with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> -long faces, who would say, if you were reminded then, that you could -have done so much better, would have been so much more honest with your -parents and friends, if you had only been reminded earlier; and that in -every way you would have made your lives so different from what they -had been. Now, it isn't too late.</p> - -<p>Grant, as I know that numbers of you will grant, that you have thrown -away precious time, that you have been indifferent to the advice of -your teachers, that you really haven't been honest with yourselves in -the preparation of your lessons, that you have been careless in your -recitations. I want you to be really honest with yourselves and say, -from to-night on, "I am going to take charge of myself. I am not going -to drift in this respect. I am going to row up the stream; and my life, -as a schoolboy or a schoolgirl, is going to be different from what it -has been."</p> - -<p>Now place yourselves again in the presence of your parents, of those -who are dearest to you, and answer this question, In your work, in your -industrial work here, have you done your real best? In the field and -in the shop, with the plough, the trowel, the hammer, the saw, have -you done your level best? Have you done your best in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>sewing room -and in the cooking classes? Have you justified your parents in the -sacrifice of time and money which they have made in order to allow you -to come here? If you haven't done your best in these respects—and many -of you haven't—there is still time for you to become a different man -or woman. It isn't too late. You can turn yourselves completely around. -Those of you who have been indifferent and slow, those of you who have -been thoughtless and slovenly, those of you who have tried to find out -how little effort of body or mind you could put into your industrial -work here,—it isn't too late for you to turn yourselves completely -around in that respect, and to say that from to-night you are going to -be a different man or woman.</p> - -<p>Have you done your level best in making your surroundings what the -school requires, what your school life should be, in learning how to -take care of your bodies, in learning how to keep your bodies clean and -pure, in the conscientious, systematic use of the tooth brush? Have -you done your best? Have you been downright honest in that respect, -alone? Have you used the tooth brush just because you felt it was a -requirement of the school, or because you felt that you could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> not be -clean or honest with your room-mates, that you could not be yourself -in the sight of God, unless you used the tooth brush? Have you used -it in the dark, as well as in the light? Have you learned that, even -if your room was not going to be inspected on a certain day, it was -just as important that you learn the lesson of being conscientious -about keeping it in order as if you knew it was going to be inspected? -Have you been careful in this respect? Have you shifted this duty, -or neglected that duty? Have you thrown some task off on to your -room-mates? Have you tried to "slide out" of it, or, as it were, -"to get by," as the slang phrase goes, without doing really honest, -straightforward work, as regards the cleanliness of your room, the -improvement of it, the making of it more attractive?</p> - -<p>Have you been really honest with yourselves and your parents, and with -those who spend so much money for the support of this institution? -Above all, have you been really true to your parents and to your best -selves in growing in strength of character, in strength of purpose, in -being downright honest? Those of you who came here, for instance, with -the habit of telling falsehoods, of deceiving in one way or another; -those of you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> who came here with the temptation, perhaps, in too many -cases, overshadowing you and overpowering you, to take property which -does not belong to you; have you been really honest in overcoming -habits of this kind? Are you building character? Are you less willing -to yield to temptation? Are you more able to overcome temptation now -than you were? If you are not more able, you have not grown in this -respect.</p> - -<p>But it is not too late. If there are some of you who have been -unfortunate enough to allow little mean habits, mean dispositions, mean -acts, mean thoughts, mean words, to get the uppermost of you—in a -word, if your life thus far has been a little, dried-up, narrow life, -get rid of that life. Throw open your heart. Say now, "I am not going -to be conquered by little, mean thoughts, words and acts any longer. -Hereafter all my thoughts, all my words, all my acts, shall be large, -generous, high, pure."</p> - -<p>In a word, I want you to get hold of this idea, that you can make the -future of your lives just what you want to make it. You can make it -bright, happy, useful, if you learn this fundamental lesson, and stick -to it while in school, or after you go away from here, that it doesn't -pay<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> any individual to do any less than his very best. It doesn't pay -to be anything else but downright honest in heart. Any person who is -not honest, who is not trying to do his very best in the classroom or -in the shop, no matter where he may be, will find out that it does not -pay in the long run. You may think it best for a little while, but -permanently it does not pay any man or woman to be anything but really, -downright honest, and to do his or her level best.</p> - -<p>Now I want you to think about these things, not only here in the chapel -to-night, but to-morrow in your class-rooms, and with reference to -everything you touch. I want to see you let it shine out, even at the -very ends of your fingers, that you are doing your best in everything. -Do this, and you will find at the end of the year that you are growing -stronger, purer, and brighter, that you are making your parents and -those interested in you happier, and that you are preparing yourselves -to do what this institution and the country expect you to do.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> - -<h2>DON'T BE DISCOURAGED</h2> - -<p>Last Sunday evening I spoke to you for a few minutes regarding the -importance of determining to do the right thing in every phase of your -school life. There are a few things that enter into student life which, -in a very large degree, cause the untrue to fall by the wayside, and -which prevent students from doing their very best. Among these things -is the disposition to grow discouraged. Very many people, very many -students, who otherwise would succeed, who would go through school -creditably, graduating with honours, have failed to succeed because -they became discouraged.</p> - -<p>Now there are a number of things in school life that cause a student to -become discouraged, and I am going to try to enumerate a few of them, -although I do not know that I shall mention nearly all of them.</p> - -<p>Students frequently become discouraged on account of their industrial -work. It is not of the character that they want it to be, or they do -not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> get assigned to the trade they want to work at. Still others -become discouraged because of their classroom studies. They find that -their studies are difficult; that their lessons are too long and their -memories too short. They find that they cannot understand the teacher, -or they think they find that the teacher does not understand them. -Some become discouraged because they think that they are entirely -misunderstood, are misunderstood by their classmates and by their -teachers. They think that their efforts in the classroom and in the -shop are not properly appreciated.</p> - -<p>Others become discouraged because they feel that they are without -friends. It seems to them that other students have friends on every -hand who are encouraging them, who send them money, who supply them -with clothing, and that they themselves have no such friends.</p> - -<p>You become discouraged for such reasons as these. You feel that your -highest and best efforts are not appreciated. This tends to discourage -you. There are not a few of you who get discouraged because you feel -that you belong to a despised race; that for a long time you have been -trampled upon because of your colour, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>because of certain peculiar -characteristics; that you have been neglected or oppressed, and that -there is no reason why you should make an effort to go forward; that -you belong to a race that is doomed to disappointment, to stay under, -and to not succeed.</p> - -<p>Some of you become discouraged and despondent because of poverty. -Perhaps here I strike the basis of the reason for most of the -discouragement. You come here, and your parents disappoint you. They -do not supply you with money. You become discouraged because they do -not supply you with proper clothing, or with what you think you ought -to have, and, very often, with such as you really ought to have, and -that disheartens you. You find that other students have money, and you -have none. They have money not only for the necessities of school life, -but for some of the luxuries, while you have not enough for even the -bare necessities. Other students are more than supplied with clothing, -while you are very scantily supplied. You shiver, in many cases, by -reason of the cold, while others are comfortable and nicely dressed. -Sometimes you are even ashamed to show yourself in public, because of -the appearance of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> old coat, or trousers, or shoes that you have to -wear.</p> - -<p>Some of you become discouraged because you find yourselves without -the proper books. Some of you cannot get the money needed to purchase -books, a tooth brush, and other necessary things. You find yourselves -cramped and hampered on every hand. You are discouraged at this point -and at that point, and you feel that nobody's lot is as hard as your -own. You become discouraged, you become dissatisfied, and you feel like -giving up.</p> - -<p>Now I want to suggest to you to-night that this very thing of -discouragement, as an element in life, is for a purpose. I do not -believe that anything, any element of your lives, is put into them -without a purpose. I believe that every effort that we are obliged -to make to overcome obstacles will give us strength, will give us a -confidence in ourselves, that nothing else can give us. I would ten -times rather see you having a hard struggle to elevate yourselves, -having a hard time either at work on the farm, or on the buildings, or -in the shops, without money and without clothes, than to see you here -having too much money, and having everything that you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> want come to you -without any effort on your part. You are blessed, as compared with some -people. The man or woman who has money, without having had to work for -it, who has all the comforts of life, without effort, and who saves his -own soul and perhaps the soul of somebody else, such an individual is -rare, very rare indeed.</p> - -<p>Now it is not a curse to be situated as some of you are, and if you -will make up your minds that you are going to overcome the obstacles -and the difficulties by which you are surrounded, you will find that in -every effort you make to overcome these difficulties you are growing -in strength and confidence. Make up your minds that you are not going -to allow anything to discourage you. Make up your minds that poor -lessons, scoldings on the part of your teachers, want of money, want of -books—that none of these shall discourage you. Make up your mind that -in spite of race and colour, in spite of the obstacles that surround -you, in spite of everything, you are going to succeed in your school -life, and are going to prepare yourself for usefulness hereafter.</p> - -<p>Every person who has grown to any degree of usefulness, every person -who has grown to distinction, almost without exception has been a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> -person who has risen by overcoming obstacles, by removing difficulties, -by resolving that when he met discouragements he would not give up. -Make up your minds that you are going to overcome every discouragement, -and that you are not going to let any discouragement overcome you. -Those of you who have been inclined to be moody and morose, or have -been inclined to feel that the whole world is against you, that there -is no use for you to try to elevate yourselves, make up your minds that -your future is just as bright as that of anybody else. Do this, and you -will find that you have it in your own power to make your future bright -or gloomy, just as you desire.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> - -<h2>ON GETTING A HOME</h2> - -<p>Every coloured man owes it to himself, and to his children as well, to -secure a home just as soon as possible. No matter how small the plot of -ground may be, or how humble the dwelling placed on it, something that -can be called a home should be secured without delay.</p> - -<p>A home can be secured much easier than many imagine. A small amount of -money saved from week to week, or from month to month, and carefully -invested in a piece of land, will soon secure a site upon which to -build a comfortable house. No individual should feel satisfied until he -has a comfortable home. More and more the Southern States are making -one of the conditions for voting, the ownership of at least $300 worth -of property, so that persons who own homes will not only reap the -benefits that come from owning a home, in other directions, but will -also find themselves entitled to cast their ballot.</p> - -<p>Care should be taken as to the location of the land. It is of little -advantage to secure a lot in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> some crowded, filthy alley. One should -try to secure a lot on a good street, a street that is carefully and -well worked, so that the surroundings of the home will be enjoyable. -Even if one has to go a good ways into the country to secure such a -lot, it is much better than to buy a building spot on an unsightly, -undesirable alley.</p> - -<p>I believe that our people do best, as a rule, to buy land in the -country instead of in the city; but in either case we should not rest -until we have secured a home in one place or the other. No man has -a right to marry and run the risk of leaving his wife at his death -without a home.</p> - -<p>I notice with regret that there are many of our people who have already -bought homes, who, after they have secured the land, paid for it and -built a cabin containing two or three rooms, do not seek to go any -further in the improvement of the property. In the first place, in -too many cases, the house and yard, especially the yard, are not kept -clean. The fences are not kept in repair. Whitewash and paint are not -used as they should be. After the house is paid for, the greatest care -should be exercised to see that it is kept in first-class repair; -that the walls of the house and the fences<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> are kept neatly painted -or whitewashed; that no palings are allowed to fall off the fence, or -if they do fall off, to remain off. If there is a barn or a henhouse, -these should be kept in repair, and should, like the house, be made to -look neat and attractive by paint and whitewash.</p> - -<p>Paint and whitewash add a great deal to the value of a house. If -persons would learn to use even a part of the time they spend in idle -gossip or in standing about on the streets, in whitewashing or painting -their houses, it would make a great difference in the appearance of the -buildings, as well as add to their value.</p> - -<p>Only a short time ago, near a certain town, I visited the house—I -could not call it a home—of a presiding elder, a man who had received -considerable education, and who spent his time in going about over -his district preaching to hundreds and thousands of coloured people; -and yet the home of this man was almost a disgrace to him and to his -race. The house was not painted or whitewashed; the fence was in the -same condition; the yard was full of weeds; there were no walks laid -out in the yard; there were no flowers in it. In fact everything on -the outside of the house and in the yard presented a most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> dismal and -discouraging appearance. So far as I could see there was not a single -vegetable around this house, nor did I see any chickens or fowls of any -kind.</p> - -<p>This is not the way to live, and especially is it not the way for a -minister or a teacher to live, for they are men who are supposed to -lead their people not only by word but by example. Every minister and -every teacher should make his home, his yard, and his garden, models -for the people whom he attempts to teach and lead. I confess that I -have no confidence in the preaching of a minister whose home is in -the condition of the one I have described. There is no need why, as a -race, we should get into the miserable and unfortunate habit of living -in houses that are out of repair, that are not whitewashed or painted, -that are not comfortable, and above all else, in houses that we do -not own. There is no reason why we should not make our homes not only -comfortable, but attractive, so that no one can tell from the outside -appearance, at least, whether the house is occupied by a white family -or a black family.</p> - -<p>After a house has been paid for, it not only should be improved from -year to year and kept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> in good repair, but, as the family grows, new -rooms should be added. The house should not only be made comfortable, -but should be made convenient. As soon as possible there should be a -sitting room, where books and papers can be found, a room in which -the whole family may read and study during the winter nights. I do -not believe that any house is complete without a bathroom. As soon as -possible every one of our houses should be provided with a bathroom, -so that the body of every member of the family can be baptized every -morning in clean, invigorating, fresh water. Such a bath puts one in -proper condition for the work of the day, and not only keeps one well -physically, but strong morally and religiously.</p> - -<p>Another important part of the home is the dining-room. The dining-room -should be the most attractive and most comfortable room in the house. -It should be large and airy, a room into which plenty of sunlight can -come, and a room that can be kept comfortable both in the summer and in -the winter.</p> - -<p>These suggestions are made to you with the hope that you will put -them into practice, and also that you will influence others to do the -same.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> They are all suggestions that we, as a race, notwithstanding -our poverty, in most cases can find a way to put into practice. Every -one of them should be taken up by our teachers, our ministers and by -our educated young people. They should be taught and urged in school, -in church, in farmers' meetings, in women's meetings, and, in fact, -wherever the people of the race come together.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CALLING THINGS BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES</h2> - -<p>A few evenings ago I talked with you about the importance of learning -to be simple, humble and child-like before going out into the world. -You should remain in school until you get to the point where you feel -that you do not know anything, where you feel that you are willing to -learn from any one who can teach you.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately there are many things here in the South which tend to -lead away from this simplicity to which I have referred. There is a -great inclination to make things appear what they are not. For example: -take the schools. There is a great tendency to call schools by names -which do not belong to them, and which do not correctly represent that -which in reality exists. You will find the habit growing more prevalent -every year, I fear, of calling a school a university, or a college, -or an academy, or a high-school. In fact we seldom hear of a plain, -common, public or graded school.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> - -<p>We do ourselves no good when we yield to that temptation. If a school -is a public school, call it one; but do not think that we gain anything -by calling a little country school, with two or three rooms and one or -two teachers, where some of the students are studying the alphabet, a -university. And still this is too often done throughout the South, as -you know. No respect or confidence is gained by the practice, but, on -the contrary, sensible people get disgusted with such false pretences. -When you go out into the world and meet with such cases as this, try -to make the people see that it is a great deal better to call their -small public school by a name which truly represents it, than to call -it a high-school or an academy. I do not by any means intend to say -that schools do not have the right to aspire to become high-schools and -colleges. What I mean to say is that it is hurtful to the race to get -into the habit of calling every little institution of learning that is -opened, a college or a university. It weakens us and prevents us from -getting a solid, sure foundation.</p> - -<p>Again, we make the same mistake when we call every preacher or person -who stands in a pulpit to read from it, "Doctor," whether or not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> that -degree has been conferred upon him. Sensible people get tired of that -kind of thing. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was once held in the -highest esteem, and was conferred only upon those ministers who had -really become entitled to it because of some original research or other -work of high scholarship. Among highly educated people this rule holds -still. But to-day, especially in the South, many a little institution -that opens its doors and calls itself a college or a university, is -beginning to confer degrees, and make doctors of divinity of persons -who are unworthy of degrees. And sometimes, should these persons fail -to get an institution to confer a degree on them, they confer it on -themselves! The habit is getting to be so common that in little towns -the ministers are calling themselves Doctors. One pastor will meet -another and say, "Good morning, Doctor," and the other, wishing to be -as polite as his friend, will say, "How are you, Doctor?" and so it -goes on, until both begin to believe they really are Doctors. Now this -practice is not only ridiculous, but it is very hurtful to us as a -race, and it should be discouraged.</p> - -<p>Much the same criticism may be made of many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> of those who teach. -A person who teaches a little country school, perhaps in a brush -arbour, is called "Professor." Every person who leads a string band is -called "Professor." I was in a small town not long ago, and I heard -the people speaking of some one as "the professor." I was anxious to -know who the professor was. So I waited a few minutes, and finally -the professor came up, and I recognized him as a member of one of our -preparatory classes. Now, don't suffer the world to put you in this -silly, ridiculous position. If people attempt to call you "Professor," -or by any other title that is not yours, tell them that you are not a -professor, that you are a simple mister. That is a good enough title -for any one. We have the same right to become professors as any other -people, when we occupy positions which entitle us to that name, but we -drag that title, which ought to be a badge of scholarship, down into -the mud and mire when we allow it to be misapplied.</p> - -<p>We carry a similar kind of deception into our school work when, in -the essays which we read and the orations which we deliver, we simply -rehearse matter a great deal of which has been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> copied from some one -else. Go into almost any church where there is one of the doctors of -divinity to whom I have referred, and you will hear sermons copied out -of books and pamphlets. The essays, the orations, the sermons that are -not the productions of the people who pretend to write them, all come -from this false foundation.</p> - -<p>Then there is another error to which I wish to call your attention. In -many parts of the South, especially in the cities and towns, there are -excellent public schools, well equipped in every way with apparatus -and material, and provided with good, competent teachers, but in some -cases these schools are crippled by reason of the fact that there -are little denominational schools which deprive the public schools -of their rightful attendance. If the school can't be in the church -of some particular denomination, it must be near it. In the average -town there may be the denominational school of the African Methodist -Episcopal church, of the Zion church, of the Baptist church, of the -Wesleyan Methodist church, and so on, all in different parts of the -town. Instead of supporting one public school, provided at the expense -of the town or city, there exists this little, narrow denominational -spirit, which is robbing these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> innocent children of their education. -We want to say to such people as these, people who are content so -to deprive their children, and have them taught by some second-rate -teacher, that they are wrong. We want you to let the people know that -the great public-school system of America is the nation's greatest -glory, and that we do not help matters when we attempt to tear down -the public school. Of course it is the right and the duty of every -denomination to erect its own theological seminaries and its colleges, -where the special tenets of that denomination are taught to those -who are preparing for its pulpit; but no one has a right to let this -denominational spirit defeat the work of a public school to which all -should be free to go.</p> - -<p>I have in mind a place where the coloured people have an excellent -school, equal to that of the whites. I went through the building and -found it supplied with improved apparatus and capable teachers, and -saw that first-class work was done there. Later, I was taken about -a mile outside the city, where there was a school with an incapable -teacher, and some sixty or seventy pupils being poorly taught. Here -was a third-rate teacher in a third-rate building, poor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> work, and the -children suffering for lack of proper instruction. Why? Simply because -the people wanted a school of their own denomination in that part of -the city.</p> - -<p>Now you want to cultivate courage, and see to it that you are brave -enough to condemn these wrongs and to show the people the mistakes -which they make in these matters.</p> - -<p>I mention all these things because they hinder us from getting a solid -foundation. They hinder us, further, in that in many cases they prevent -us from getting the right power of leadership in teaching, in the work -of the ministry, and in many other respects. Wherever you go, then, -make up your minds that you are going to make your influence felt in -favour of better prepared teachers and preachers—in better preparation -of all those who stand for leaders of the people. Just in proportion as -you set your lives right in this matter, will the masses of the race be -inclined to follow you.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> - -<h2>EUROPEAN IMPRESSIONS</h2> - -<p>Some people here in America think that some of us make too much ado -over the matter of industrial training for the Negro. I wish some of -the skeptics might go to Europe and see what races that are years ahead -of us are doing there in that respect. I shall not take the time here -to outline what is being done for men in the direction of industrial -training in Europe, but I shall give some account of what I saw being -done for women in England.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Washington and I visited the Agricultural College for women, at -Swanley, England, where we found forty intelligent, cultivated women, -who were most of them graduates from high schools and colleges, engaged -in studying practical agriculture, horticulture, dairying and poultry -raising. We found the women in the laboratory and classrooms, studying -agricultural chemistry, botany, zoölogy, and applied mathematics, -and we also saw these same women in the garden, planting vegetables, -trimming rose bushes, scattering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> manure, growing grapes and raising -fruit in the hot-houses and in the field.</p> - -<p>As another suggestion for our people, I might mention that while I was -in England I knew of one of the leading members of Parliament leaving -his duties in that body for three days to preside at a meeting of the -National Association of Poultry Raisers, which was largely attended by -people from all parts of the United Kingdom.</p> - -<p>In the trip which Mrs. Washington and I made through Holland, we saw -much which may be of interest to you. It has been said that, God made -the world, but the Dutch made Holland. For one to fully realize the -force of this one must see Holland for himself. One of the best ways -to see the interior of Holland, and the peasant life, is to take a -trip, as we did, on one of the canal boats plying between Antwerp, in -Belgium, and Rotterdam, in Holland.</p> - -<p>It was especially interesting for me to compare the rural life in -Holland with the life of the country coloured people in the South. -Holland has been made what it is very largely by the unique system of -dykes or levees which have been built there to keep out the water of -the ocean, and thus enable the people to use to advantage all the land -there is in that small country.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> - -<p>The great lesson which our coloured farmers can learn from the Dutch, -is how to make a living from a small plot of ground well cultivated, -instead of from forty or fifty acres poorly tilled. I have seen a whole -family making a comfortable living by cultivating two acres of land -there, while our Southern farmers, in too many cases, try to till fifty -or a hundred acres, and find themselves in debt at the end of the year. -In all Holland, I do not think one can find a hundred acres of waste -land; every foot of land is covered with grass, vegetables, grain or -fruit trees. Another advantage which our Southern farmers might have -in trying to pattern after the farmers of Holland, would be that they -would not be obliged to go to so much additional expense for horse or -mule power. Most of the cultivating of the soil there is done with a -hoe and spade.</p> - -<p>I saw the people of Holland on Sunday and on week days, but I did not -see a single Dutch man, woman or child in rags. There were practically -no beggars and no very poor people. They owe their prosperity, too, -very largely to their thorough and intelligent cultivation of the soil.</p> - -<p>Next to the thorough tilling of the soil, the thing of most interest -there, from which the coloured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> people in America may learn a lesson, -is the fine dairying which has made Holland famous throughout the -world. Even the poorest family has its herd of Holstein cattle, and -they are the finest specimens of cattle that it has ever been my -pleasure to see. To watch thousands of these cattle grazing on the -fields is worth a trip to Holland. As the result of the attention which -they have given to breeding Holstein cattle, Dutch butter and cheese -are in demand all through Europe. The most ordinary farmer there has a -cash income as the result of the sale of his butter and milk.</p> - -<p>Many of these people make more out of the wind that blows over the -fields than our poor Southern people make out of the soil. The -old-fashioned windmill is to be seen on every farm. This mill not only -pumps the water for the live stock, but, in many cases, is made to -operate the dairy, to saw the wood, to grind the grain, and to run the -heavy machinery. These people are, however, not unlike our Southern -people in one respect, and that is in having their women and children -work in the fields. This, I think, is done in a larger measure even -than in the South among the coloured people.</p> - -<p>An element of strength in the farming and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>dairying interests of -these people is to be found in the fact that many of the farmers have -received a college or university training. After this they take a -special course in agriculture and dairying. This is as it should be. -Our people in the South will prosper in proportion as a larger number -of university men take up agriculture and kindred callings after they -have finished their academic education.</p> - -<p>In the matter of physical appearance, including grace, beauty, and -carriage of the body, I think our own people are far ahead of the -Dutch. But the Dutch are a hardy, rugged, industrious race of people. -In our trip in the canal boat we saw the men at the landings in large -numbers, in their wooden shoes, and the women and children in their -beautiful, old-fashioned head-dresses, each community having its own -style of head-dress, which has been handed down from one generation to -another.</p> - -<p>We were in Rotterdam over Sunday. The free and rather boisterous -commingling of the sexes on the street was noteworthy. In this, also, -our people in the United States could set an example to the Dutch.</p> - -<p>The foundation of the civilization of these <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>people is in their regard -for and respect for the law, and their observance of it. This is the -great lesson which the entire South must learn before it can hope to -receive the respect and confidence of the world. Europeans do not -understand how the South can disregard its own laws as it so often -does. If you ask any man on that side of the Atlantic why he does not -emigrate to the Southern part of the United States, he shrugs his -shoulders and says, "No law; they kill." I pray God that no part of our -country may much longer have such a reputation as that in any part of -the world.</p> - -<p>From Holland we went to Paris. On a beautiful, sunny day, if you could -combine the whirl of fashion and gaiety of New York City, Boston and -Chicago on a prominent avenue, you would have some idea of what is to -be seen in Paris upon one of her popular boulevards. Fashion seemed to -sway everything in that great city; for example, when I went into a -shoe store to purchase a pair of shoes, I could not find a pair large -enough to be comfortable. I was gently told that it was not the fashion -to wear large shoes there.</p> - -<p>One of the things I had in mind when I went to France was to visit -the tomb of Toussaint <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>L'Ouverture, but I learned from some Haitian -gentlemen residing in Paris that the grave of that general was in the -northern part of France, and these same gentlemen informed me that his -burial place is still without a monument of any kind. It seems that it -has been in the minds of the Haitians for some time to remove his body -to Haiti, but thus far it has been neglected. The Haitian Government -and people owe it to themselves, it appears to me, to see to it that -the resting place of this great hero is given a proper memorial, either -in France or on the island of Haiti.</p> - -<p>Speaking of the Haitians, there are a good many well educated and -cultivated men and women of that nationality in Paris. Numbers of -them are sent there each year for education, and they take high rank -in scholarship. It is greatly to be regretted, however, that some of -these do not take advantage of the excellent training which is given -there in the colleges of physical science, agriculture, mechanics and -domestic science. They would then be in a position to return home and -assist in developing the agricultural and mineral resources of their -native land. Haiti will never be what it should be until a large number -of the natives receive an education which will enable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> them to develop -agriculture, build roads, start manufactories, build railroads and -bridges, and thus keep on the island the large amount of money which is -now being sent outside for productions which these people themselves -could supply.</p> - -<p>In all the European cities which we visited, we compared the conduct -of the rank and file of the people on the streets and in other places -with that of our own people in the United States, and we have no -hesitation in saying that, in all that marks a lady or gentleman, our -people in the South do not suffer at all by the comparison. Even at the -camp-meetings and other holiday gatherings in the South, the deportment -of the masses of the coloured people is quite up to the standard of -that of the average European in the larger cities which we saw.</p> - -<p>I should strongly advise our people against going to Europe, and -especially to Paris, with the hope of securing employment, unless -fortified by strong friends and a good supply of money. In one week, -in Paris, three men of my race called to see me, and in each case I -found the man to be practically in a starving condition. They were -well-meaning, industrious men, who had gone there with the idea that -life was easy and work sure;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> but notwithstanding the fact that they -walked the streets for days, they could get no work. The fact that they -did not speak the language, nor understand the customs of the people, -made their life just so much the harder. With the assistance of other -Americans, I secured passage for one of these men to America. His -parting word to me was, "The United States is good enough for me in the -future."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> - -<h2>THE VALUE OF SYSTEM IN HOME LIFE</h2> - -<p>Most of you are going out from Tuskegee sooner or later to exert -your influence in the home life of our people. You are going to have -influence in homes of your own, you are going to have influence in the -homes of your mothers and fathers, or in the homes of your relatives. -You are going to exert an influence for good or for evil in the homes -wherever you may go. Now the question how to bring about the greatest -amount of happiness in these homes is one that should concern every -student here. I say this because I want you to realize that each one of -you is to go out from here to exert an influence. You are to exercise -this influence in the communities where you go; and if you fail to -exercise it for the good of other individuals, you have failed to -accomplish the purpose for which this institution exists.</p> - -<p>In the first place you want to exert your influence in those directions -that will bring about the best results; among these it is important -that the people have presented to them the highest forms of home life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> - -<p>Very often I find it true—and especially the more I travel about among -our people—that many persons have the idea that they cannot have -comfortable homes unless they have a great amount of money. Now some of -the happiest and most comfortable homes I have ever been in have been -homes where the people have but little money; in fact, they might well -be called poor people. But in these homes there was a certain degree of -order and convenience which made you feel as comfortable as if you were -in the homes of people of great wealth.</p> - -<p>I want to speak plainly. In the first place there must be promptness -in connection with everything in the life of the home. Take the matter -of the meals, for instance. It is impossible for a home to be properly -conducted unless there is a certain time for each meal, and promptness -must be insisted on. In some homes the breakfast may be eaten at six -o'clock one morning, at eight o'clock the next morning, and, perhaps, -at nine o'clock the morning after that. Dinner may be served at twelve, -one, or two o'clock, and supper may be eaten at five, six or seven; and -even then one-half the members of the family be absent when the meal -is served. There is useless waste<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> of time and energy in this, and an -unnecessary amount of worry. It saves time, and it saves a great amount -of worry, to have it understood that there is to be a certain time for -each meal, and that all the members of the family are to be present -at that time. In this way the family will get rid of a great deal of -annoyance, and precious time will be saved to be used in reading or in -some other useful occupation.</p> - -<p>Then as to the matter of system. No matter how cheap your homes are, -no matter how poverty-stricken you may be in regard to money, it is -possible for each home to have its affairs properly systematized. I -wonder how many housekeepers can go into their homes on the darkest -night there is, and put their hands on the box of matches without -difficulty. That is one way to test a good housekeeper. If she cannot -do this, then there is a waste of time. It saves time and it saves -worry, too, if you have a certain place in which the matches are to be -kept, and if you teach all the members of the family that the matches -are always to be kept in that place. Oftentimes you find the match box -on the table, or on a shelf in the corner of the room, or perhaps on -the floor; sometimes here, sometimes there.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> In many homes five or ten -minutes are wasted every day just on account of the negligence of the -housekeeper or the wife in this little matter.</p> - -<p>Then as to the matter of the dish cloth. You should have a place for -your dish cloth, and put it there every day. The persons who do not -have a place for an article are the persons who are found looking -in-doors and out-of-doors for it, from five to ten minutes every time -that article is needed. They will be saying, "Johnnie," or "Jennie, -where is it? Where did you put it the last time you had it?" and all -that kind of thing.</p> - -<p>The same thing is true of the broom. In the first place, in the home -where there is system, you do not find the broom left standing on the -wrong end. I hope all of you know which the right end of the broom is -in this respect. You do not find the broom on the wrong end, and you -always find that there is a certain place for it, and that it is kept -there. When things are out of place and you have to hunt for them, you -are spending not only time, but you are spending strength that should -be used in some more profitable way. There should be a place for the -coat and the cloak, for the hat, and, in fact, a place for everything -in the house.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> - -<p>The people who have a place for everything are the people who will -find time to read, and who will have time for recreation. You wonder -sometimes how the people in New England can afford to have so much -time for reading books and newspapers, and still have sufficient money -to send as much as they do here to this institute to be used in our -education. These people find time to keep themselves thus intelligent, -and to keep themselves in touch with all that takes place in the world, -because everything is so well systematized about their homes that they -save the time which you and I spend in worrying about something which -we should know all about.</p> - -<p>I have very rarely gone into a boarding house kept by our people and -found the lamp in its proper place. When you go into such a house it is -too apt to be the case that the people there will have to look for the -lamp; then, when they have found it, it is not filled; somebody forgot -to put the oil in it in the morning; then they have to go and hunt up a -wick, and then they must get a chimney. Then, when they get all these -things, they must hunt for the matches to light the lamp.</p> - -<p>I wonder how many girls there are here now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> who can go into a room and -arrange it properly for an individual to sleep in—that is, provide -the proper number of towels, the soap and matches, and have everything -that should be provided for the comfort of the person who is to use the -room, put in the room and put in its proper place. I should be afraid -to test some of you. You must learn to be able to do such things before -you leave here, in order that you may be of some use to yourself and to -others. If you are not able to do this, you will be a disappointment to us.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> - -<h2>WHAT WILL PAY</h2> - -<p>I wish to talk with you for a few minutes upon a subject that is much -discussed, especially by young people—What things pay in life? There -is no question, perhaps, which is asked oftener by a person entering -upon a career than this—What will pay? Will this course of action, or -that, pay? Will it pay to enter into this business or that business? -What will pay?</p> - -<p>Let us see if we can answer that question, a question which every -student in this school should ask himself or herself. What will profit -me most? What will make my life most useful? What will bring about the -greatest degree of happiness? What will pay best?</p> - -<p>Not long ago a certain minister secured the testimony of forty men who -had been successful in business, persons who beyond question had been -pronounced to be business men of authority. The question which this -minister put to these business men was, whether under any circumstances -it paid to be dishonest in business; whether<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> they had found, in -all their business career, that under any circumstances it paid to -cheat, swindle or take advantage of their fellow-men, or in any way to -deceive those with whom they came in contact. Every one of the forty -answered, without hesitation, that nothing short of downright honesty -and fair dealing ever paid in any business. They said that no one could -succeed permanently in business who was not honest in dealing with his -fellow-men, to say nothing of the future life or of doing right for -right's sake.</p> - -<p>It does not pay an individual to do anything except what his conscience -will approve of every day, and every hour and minute in the day.</p> - -<p>I want you to put that question to yourselves to-night: ask yourselves -what course of action will pay.</p> - -<p>You may be tempted to go astray in the matter of money. Think, when you -are tempted to do that: "Will it pay?" Persons who are likely to go -astray in the matter of money, furthermore are likely to do so in the -matter of dress, in tampering with each other's property, in the matter -of acting dishonestly with each other's books. Such persons will be -dishonest in the matter of labour, too.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> - -<p>It pays an individual to be honest with another person's money. It -never pays to be dishonest in taking another person's clothes or books. -None of these things ever pays, and when you have occasion to yield -or not to yield to such a temptation, you should ask yourself the -question: "Will it pay me to do this?" Put that question constantly to -yourself.</p> - -<p>Whenever you promise, moreover, to do a piece of work for a man, -there is a contract binding you to do an honest day's labour—and the -man to pay you for an honest day's labour. If you fail to give such -service, if you break that contract, you will find that such a course -of action never pays. It will never pay you to deal dishonestly with an -individual, or to permit dishonest dealing. If you fail to give a full -honest day's work, if you know that you have done only three-quarters -of a day's work, or four-fifths, it may seem to you at the time that it -has paid, but in the long run you lose by it.</p> - -<p>I regret to say that we sometimes have occasion to meet students here -who are inclined to be dishonest. Such students come to Mr. Palmer or -to me, and say they wish to go home. When they are asked why they wish -to go home, some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> of them say they wish to go because they are sick. -Then, when they have been talked with a few minutes, they may say that -they do not like the food here, or perhaps that some disappointment has -befallen their parents. In some cases I have had students give me half -a dozen excuses in little more than the same number of minutes.</p> - -<p>The proper thing for students to do, when they wish to go home, is to -state the exact reason, and then stick to it. The student who does -that is the kind that will succeed in the world. The students who are -downright dishonest in what they say, will find out that they are not -strong in anything, that they are not what they ought to be. The time -will come when that sort of thing will carry them down instead of up.</p> - -<p>In a certain year—I think it was 1857—there was a great financial -panic in the United States, especially in the city of New York. A great -many of the principal banks in the country failed, and others were in -daily danger of failure. I remember a story that was told of one of the -bank presidents of that time, William Taylor, I believe. All the bank -presidents in the city of New York were having meetings every night to -find out how well they were succeeding in keeping their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>institutions -solvent. At one of these meetings, after a critical day in the most -trying period of the panic, when some men reported that they had lost -money during that day, and others that so much money had been withdrawn -from their banks during the day that if there were another like it they -did not see how they could stand the strain, William Taylor reported -that money had been added to the deposits of his bank that day instead -of being withdrawn.</p> - -<p>What was behind all this? William Taylor had learned in early life -that it did not pay to be dishonest, but that it paid to be honest -with all his depositors and with all persons who did business with -his bank. When other people were failing in all parts of the country, -the evidence of this man's character, his regard for truth and honest -dealing, caused money to come into his bank when it was being withdrawn -from others.</p> - -<p>Character is a power. If you want to be powerful in the world, if you -want to be strong, influential and useful, you can be so in no better -way than by having strong character; but you cannot have a strong -character if you yield to the temptations about which I have been -speaking.</p> - -<p>Some one asked, some time ago, what it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> that gave such a power to -the sermons of the late Dr. John Hall. In the usual sense he was not -a powerful speaker; but everything he said carried conviction with -it. The explanation was that the character of the man was behind the -sermon. You may go out and make great speeches, you may write books or -addresses which are great literature, but unless you have character -behind what you say and write, it will amount to nothing; it will all -go to the winds.</p> - -<p>I leave this question with you, then. When you are tempted to do what -your conscience tells you is not right, ask yourself: "Will it pay me -to do this thing which I know is not right?" Go to the penitentiary. -Ask the people there who have failed, who have made mistakes, why they -are there, and in every case they will tell you that they are there -because they yielded to temptation, because they did not ask themselves -the question: "Will it pay?"</p> - -<p>Go ask those people who have no care for life, who have thrown away -their virtue, as it were, ask them why they are without character, and -the answer will be, in so many words, that they sought but temporary -success. In order to find some short road to success, in order to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> -momentary happiness, they yielded to temptation. We want to feel that -in every student who goes out from here there is a character which can -be depended upon in the night as well as in the day. That is the kind -of young men and young women we wish to send out from here. Whenever -you are tempted to yield a hair's breadth in the direction which I have -indicated, ask yourself the question over and over again: "Will it pay -me in this world? Will it pay me in the world to come?"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> - -<h2>EDUCATION THAT EDUCATES<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h2> - -<p>Perhaps I am safe in saying that during the last ten days you have not -given much systematic effort to book study in the usual sense. When -interruptions come such as we have just had, taking you away from your -regular routine work and study, and the preparation of routine lessons -is interrupted, the first thought to some may be that this time is -lost, in so far as it relates to education in the ordinary sense; that -it is so much time taken away from that part of one's life that should -be devoted to acquiring education. I suppose that during the last few -days the questions have come to many of you: "What are we gaining? What -are we getting from the irregularity that has characterized the school -grounds within the last week, that will in any degree compensate for -the amount of book study that we have lost?"</p> - -<p>To my mind I do not believe that you have lost anything by the -interruption. On the other hand, I am convinced that you have got the -best<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> kind of education. I do not mean to say that we can depend upon -it for all time to come for systematic training of the mind, but so far -as real education, so far as development of the mind and heart and body -are concerned, I do not believe that a single student has lost anything -by the irregularity of the last week or more.</p> - -<p>You have gained in this respect: in preparing for the reception and -entertainment of the President of the United States and his Cabinet, -and the distinguished persons who accompanied the party, you have had -to do an amount of original thinking which you, perhaps, have never had -to do before in your lives. You have been compelled to think; you have -been compelled to put more than your bodily strength into what you have -been doing. You could not have made the magnificent exhibition of our -work which you have made if you had not been compelled to do original -thinking and execution. Most of you never saw such an exhibition -before; I never did. Those of you who had to construct floats that -would illustrate our agricultural work and our mechanical and academic -work, had to put a certain amount of original thought into the planning -of these floats, in order to make them show the work to the best -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>advantage; and two-thirds of you—yes, practically all of you—had -never seen anything of the kind before. For this reason it was a matter -that had to be thought out by you and planned out by you, and then put -into visible shape.</p> - -<p>Now compare that kind of education with the mere committing to memory -of certain rules, or something which some one else thought out and -executed a thousand years ago perhaps—and that is what a large part -of our education really is. Education in the usual sense of the word -is the mere committing to memory of something which has been known -before us. Now during the last ten days we have had to solve problems -of our own, not problems and puzzles that some one else originated -for us. I do not believe that there is a person connected with the -institution who is not stronger in mind, who is not more self-confident -and self-reliant, so far as the qualities relate to what he is able -to do with his mind or his hands, than he was ten or twelve days ago. -There is the benefit that came to all of us. It put us to thinking and -planning; it brought us in to contact with things that are out of the -ordinary; and there is no education that surpasses this. I see more and -more every year that the world is to be brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> to the study of men -and of things, rather than to the study of mere books. You will find -more and more as the years go by, that people will gradually lay aside -books, and study the nature of man in a way they have never done as -yet. I tell you, then, that in this interruption of the regular school -work you have not lost anything:—you have gained; you have had your -minds awakened, your faculties strengthened, and your hands guided.</p> - -<p>I do not wish to speak of this matter egotistically, but it is true -that I have heard a great many persons from elsewhere mention the -pleasure which they have received in meeting Tuskegee students, because -when they come in contact with a student who has been here, they are -impressed with the fact that he or she does not seem to be dead or -sleepy. They say that when they meet a Tuskegee boy or girl they find a -person who has had contact with real life. The education that you have -been getting during the last few days, you will find, as the years go -by, has been of a kind that will serve you in good stead all through -your lives.</p> - -<p>Just in proportion as we learn to execute something, to put our -education into tangible form—as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> we have been doing during the last -few days—in just the same proportion will we find ourselves of value -as individuals and as a race. Those people who came here to visit us -knew perfectly well that we could commit to memory certain lines of -poetry, they knew we were able to solve certain problems in algebra -and geometry, they understood that we could learn certain rules in -chemistry and agriculture; but what interested them most was to see us -put into visible form the results of our education. Just in proportion -as an individual is able to do that, he is of value to the world. That -is the object of the work which we are trying to do here. We are trying -to turn out men and women who are able to do something that the world -wants done, that the world needs to have done. Just in proportion as -you can comply with that demand you will find that there is a place for -you—there is going to be standing room. By the training we are giving -you here we are preparing you for a place in the world. We are going to -train you so that when you get to that place, if you fail in it, the -failure will not be our fault.</p> - -<p>It is a great satisfaction to have connected with a race men and women -who are able to do something, not merely to talk about doing it, not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> -merely to theorize about doing it, but actually to do something that -makes the world better to live in, something that enhances the comforts -and conveniences of life. I had a good example of this last week. I -wanted something done in my office which required a practical knowledge -of electricity. It was a great satisfaction when I called upon one -of the teachers, to have him do the work in a careful, praiseworthy -manner. It is very well to talk or lecture about electricity, but it -is better to be able to do something of value with one's knowledge of -electricity.</p> - -<p>And so, as you go on, increasing your ability to do things of value, -you will find that the problem which often now-a-days looks more and -more difficult of solution will gradually become easier. One of the -Cabinet members who were here a few days ago said, after witnessing the -exhibition which you made here, that the islands which this country -had taken into its possession during the recent war are soon going to -require the service of every man and woman we can turn out from this -institution. You will find it true, not only in this country but in -other countries, that the demand will be more and more for people who -can do something. Just in proportion as we can, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> a race, get the -reputation which I spoke to you about a few days ago, you will find -there will be places for us. Regardless of colour or condition, the -world is going to give the places of trust and remuneration to the men -and women who can do a certain thing as well as anybody else or better. -This is the whole problem. Shall we prepare ourselves to do something -as well as anybody else or better? Just in proportion as we do this, -you will find that nothing under the sun will keep us back.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> This talk was given soon after the visit of President -McKinley to Tuskegee Institute in the fall of 1898.</p></div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> - -<h2>THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING RELIABLE.</h2> - -<p>I am going to call your attention this evening to a tendency of the -people of our race which I had occasion to notice in the course of a -visit recently made to certain portions of North Carolina and South -Carolina.</p> - -<p>I find that with persons who are the employers or who might be the -employers of numbers of our people, there is a very general impression -that as a race we lack steadiness—that we lack steadiness as -labourers. Now you may say that this is not true, and you may cite any -number of instances to show that we are not unreliable in that respect; -whether it is true or not, the results are the same;—it works against -us in the matter of securing paying employment.</p> - -<p>Almost without exception, in talking with persons who are in a position -to employ us, or who have been employing us, or who are thinking of -employing us, I have found that this objection has been very largely in -their minds,—that we cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> be depended upon, that we are unsteady -and unreliable in matters of labour. I am speaking, of course, of -that class of people of our race who depend mainly upon a day's -work—working by the day, as we call it—for their living. These men -with whom I talked gave several illustrations of this tendency. In the -first place, I think they mentioned, without exception, this fact—that -if the coloured people are employed in a factory, they work well and -steadily for a few days, say until Saturday night comes, and they are -paid their week's wages. Then they cannot be depended upon to put in an -appearance the following Monday morning.</p> - -<p>That special criticism was made without exception. The coloured people, -these men said, would work earnestly, and give good satisfaction until -they got a little money ahead, and got food enough assured to last them -two or three weeks; then they would give up the job, or simply remain -away from the factory until others had been put in their places. That -was one of the statements that was made to me over and over again.</p> - -<p>People also mentioned to me as an unfavourable tendency the inclination -which the people of our race have to go on excursions. They said that -if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> an excursion were going to Wilmington or Greensboro, or Charleston, -and the coloured people had a little money on hand, you could not -depend on their going to work instead of going on the excursion; that -people would say that they must go on this or that excursion, and that -nothing should stop them. A great many people lose employment and money -because of this tendency to go on excursions.</p> - -<p>Another thing that was mentioned to me was the Sunday dinners. Our -people are too likely to starve all through the week, and then on -Sunday invite all the neighbours to come in and eat up what they have -made through the week. People say that we take our week's earnings -on Saturday night, and go to the market and spend it all, and then -invite all of our kindred and neighbours to come in on Sunday to have -a great party. Then by Monday morning we have made ourselves so ill by -overeating that we are unfit for work. This was given as one of the -reasons which cause people to complain of our race for unsteadiness.</p> - -<p>Then there was complaint of a general lack of perseverance, of an -unwillingness to be steady, to put money into the bank, to begin at -the bottom and gradually work toward the top. You can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> easily see some -of the results of such a reputation as this. I have noticed some of -the results in many of the places where our people have been securing -paying employment. One result is a general distrust of the entire race -in matters pertaining to industry. Another is that people are not going -to employ persons on whom they cannot depend, to fill responsible -positions. Employers are not likely to employ for responsible positions -persons who are likely to go away unexpectedly on excursions.</p> - -<p>Another result is loss of money. You will find many of our people -in poverty simply because, in so large a measure, we have got this -reputation of being unsteady and unreliable. Wherever our people are -not getting regular, paying employment, it is largely on account -of these things of which I have been speaking; and gradually the -opportunities for employment are slipping into the hands of the people -of other races. You can easily understand that where people are not -getting steady employment—but a job this week and a job next week, and -perhaps nothing the week after—it is impossible for them to put money -in the bank, impossible to acquire homes and property, and to settle -down as reliable, prosperous citizens.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> - -<p>Now, how are we going to change all these things? I do not see any -hope unless we can depend upon you to change them, you young men and -young women who are being educated in institutions of learning. It -rests largely with you to change public sentiment among our people in -all these directions, to a point where we shall feel that we must be -as reliable and as responsible as it is possible for the people of any -other race to be. But in order to do this it is necessary for you to -learn how to control yourselves in these respects. Young men come here -and want to work at this industry or that, for a while, and then get -tired and want to change to something else. Some come with a strong -determination to work, and stay until something happens that is not -quite pleasant, and then they want to leave and go to some other school -or go back home. Now we cannot make the leaders and the examples of -our people that we should make, if we are going to be guilty of these -same weaknesses in these institutions. Let each of you take control of -himself or herself, and determine that whatever you plan to be you are -going to be; you are going to keep driving away, pegging away, moving -on and on each hour, each day, until you have accomplished the purpose -for which you came here.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> - -<p>Such are the persons, the men and women, that the world is looking for. -These are the men and women we want to send to North Carolina and South -Carolina, to Georgia, to Mississippi, and about in our own State of -Alabama, to reach hundreds and thousands of our people, and to bring -about such a sentiment that these people can control themselves in the -directions I have mentioned and become steady and reliable along all -the avenues of industry.</p> - -<p>I have spoken very plainly about these things, because I believe that -they are matters to which as a race we ought to give more attention. -No race can thrive and prosper and grow strong if it is living on the -outer edges of the industrial world, is jumping here and there after a -job that somebody else has given up. At the risk of repeating myself, -I say that we must give attention to this matter,—we must be more -trustworthy and more reliable in matters of labour. As you go home, -and go into your churches, your schools and your families, preach, -teach and talk from day to day the doctrine that our people must become -steady and reliable, must become worthy of confidence in all their -occupations.</p> - -<p>I am sorry to say that it is too often true of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> young people that they -overlook these matters in their conversation. We are always ready to -talk about Mars and Jupiter, about the sun and moon, and about things -under the earth and over the earth—in fact about everything except -these little matters that have so much to do with our real living. -Now if we cannot put a spirit of determination into you to go out and -change public sentiment, then the future for us as a race is not very -bright.</p> - -<p>But I have faith in you to believe that you are going to set a high -standard for yourselves in all these matters, and that if you can stay -here two, four, five years, some of you will control yourselves in all -these respects, and will bring yourselves to be examples of what we -hope and expect the people whom you are going to teach are to become. -If you will do this you will find that in a few years there will be a -decided change for the better in the things of which I have spoken, a -change in regard to these matters that will make us as a race firmer -and stronger in these important directions.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> - -<h2>THE HIGHEST EDUCATION</h2> - -<p>It may seem to some of you that I am continually talking to you about -education—the right kind of education, how to get an education, and -such kindred subjects—but surely no subject could be more pertinent, -since the object for which you all are here is to get an education; and -if you are to do this, you wish to get the best kind possible.</p> - -<p>You will understand, then, I am sure, if I speak often about this, -or refer to the subject frequently, that it is because I am very -anxious that all of you go out from here with a definite and correct -idea of what is meant by education, of what an education is meant to -accomplish, what it may be expected to do for one.</p> - -<p>We are very apt to get the idea that education means the memorizing -of a number of dates, of being able to state when a certain battle -took place, of being able to recall with accuracy this event or that -event. We are likely to get the impression that education consists in -being able<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> to commit to memory a certain number of rules in grammar, -a certain number of rules in arithmetic, and in being able to locate -correctly on the earth's surface this mountain or that river, and to -name this lake and that gulf.</p> - -<p>Now I do not mean to disparage the value of this kind of training, -because among the things that education should do for us is to give us -strong, orderly and well developed minds. I do not wish to have you -get the idea that I undervalue or overlook the strengthening of the -mind. If there is one person more than another who is to be pitied, it -is the individual who is all heart and no head. You will see numbers -of persons going through the world whose hearts are full of good -things—running over with the wish to do something to make somebody -better, or the desire to make somebody happier—but they have made the -sad mistake of being absolutely without development of mind to go with -this willingness of heart. We want development of mind and we want -strengthening of the mind.</p> - -<p>I have often said to you that one of the best things that education can -do for an individual is to teach that individual to get hold of what -he wants, rather than to teach him how to commit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> to memory a number -of facts in history or a number of names in geography. I wish you to -feel that we can give you here orderliness of mind—I mean a trained -mind—that will enable you to find dates in history or to put your -finger on names in geography when you want them. I wish to give you -an education that will enable you to construct rules in grammar and -arithmetic for yourselves. That is the highest kind of training.</p> - -<p>But, after all, this kind of thing is not the end of education. What, -then, do we mean by education? I would say that education is meant to -give us an idea of truth. Whatever we get out of text books, whatever -we get out of industry, whatever we get here and there from any -sources, if we do not get the idea of truth at the end, we do not get -education. I do not care how much you get out of history, or geography, -or algebra, or literature, I do not care how much you have got out of -all your text books:—unless you have got truth, you have failed in -your purpose to be educated. Unless you get the idea of truth so pure -that you cannot be false in anything, your education is a failure.</p> - -<p>Then education is meant to make us just in our dealings with our fellow -men. The man or woman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> who has learned to be absolutely just, so far as -he can interpret, has, in that degree, an education, is to that degree -an educated man or woman. Education is meant to make us change for the -better, to make us more thoughtful, to make us so broad that we will -not seek to help one man because he belongs to this race or that race -of people, and seek to hinder another man because he does not belong to -this race or that race of people.</p> - -<p>Education in the broadest and truest sense will make an individual -seek to help all people, regardless of race, regardless of colour, -regardless of condition. And you will find that the person who is most -truly educated is the one who is going to be kindest, and is going to -act in the gentlest manner toward persons who are unfortunate, toward -the race or the individual that is most despised. The highly educated -person is the one who is the most considerate of those individuals -who are less fortunate. I hope that when you go out from here, and -meet persons who are afflicted by poverty, whether of mind or body, -or persons who are unfortunate in any way, that you will show your -education by being just as kind and just as considerate toward those -persons as it is possible for you to be. That is the way to test<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> a -person with education. You may see ignorant persons, who, perhaps, -think themselves educated, going about the street, who, when they meet -an individual who is unfortunate—lame, or with a defect of body, mind -or speech—are inclined to laugh at and make sport of that individual. -But the highly educated person, the one who is really cultivated, is -gentle and sympathetic to everyone.</p> - -<p>Education is meant to make us absolutely honest in dealing with our -fellows. I don't care how much arithmetic we have, or how many cities -we can locate;—it all is useless unless we have an education that -makes us absolutely honest.</p> - -<p>Education is meant to make us give satisfaction, and to get -satisfaction out of giving it. It is meant to make us get happiness out -of service for our fellows. And until we get to the point where we can -get happiness and supreme satisfaction out of helping our fellows, we -are not truly educated. Education is meant to make us generous. In this -connection let me say that I very much hope that when you go out from -here you will show that you have learned this lesson of being generous -in all charitable objects, in the support of your churches, your Sunday -schools,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> your hospitals, and in being generous in giving help to the -poor.</p> - -<p>I hope, for instance, that a large proportion of you—in fact all -of you—will make it a practice to give something yearly to this -institution. If you cannot give but twenty-five cents, fifty cents, or -a dollar a year, I hope you will put it down as a thing that you will -not forget, to give something to this institution every year. We want -to show to our friends who have done so much for us, who have supported -this school so generously, how much interest we take in the institution -that has given us so nearly all that we possess. I hope that every -senior, in particular, will keep this in mind. I am glad to say that -we have many graduates who send us such sums, even if small, and one -graduate who for the last eight or ten years has sent us ten dollars -annually. I hope a number of you in the senior class that I see before -me will do the same thing.</p> - -<p>Education is meant to make us appreciate the things that are beautiful -in nature. A person is never educated until he is able to go into the -swamps and woods and see something that is beautiful in the trees -and shrubs there, is able to see something beautiful in the grass -and flowers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> that surround him, is, in short, able to see something -beautiful, elevating and inspiring in everything that God has created. -Not only should education enable us to see the beauty in these objects -which God has put about us, but it is meant to influence us to bring -beautiful objects about us. I hope that each one of you, after you -graduate, will surround himself at home with what is beautiful, -inspiring and elevating. I do not believe that any person is educated -so long as he lives in a dirty, miserable shanty. I do not believe -that any person is educated until he has learned to want to live in -a clean room made attractive with pictures and books, and with such -surroundings as are elevating.</p> - -<p>In a word, I wish to say again, that education is meant to give us that -culture, that refinement, that taste which will make us deal truthfully -with our fellow men, and will make us see what is beautiful, elevating -and inspiring in what God has created. I want you to bear in mind that -your text books, with all their contents, are not an end, but a means -to an end, a means to help us get the highest, the best, the purest and -the most beautiful things out of life.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> - -<h2>UNIMPROVED OPPORTUNITIES</h2> - -<p>Several of the things which I shall say to you to-night may not sound -very agreeable or encouraging to many of you, yet I think you will -agree with me that they are facts that cannot be denied.</p> - -<p>We must recognize the fact, in the first place, that our condition -as a race is, in a large measure, different from the condition of -the white race by which we are surrounded; that our capacity is very -largely different from that of the people of the white race. I know we -like to say the opposite. It sounds well in compositions, does well -in rhetoric, and makes a splendid essay, for us to make the opposite -assertion. It does very well in a newspaper article, but when we come -down to hard facts we must acknowledge that our condition and capacity -are not equal to those of the majority of the white people with whom we -come in daily contact.</p> - -<p>Of course that does not sound very well; but to say that we are equal -to the whites is to say that slavery was no disadvantage to us. That -is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> the logic of it. To illustrate. Suppose a person has been confined -in a sick room, deprived of the use of his faculties, the use of his -body and senses, and that he comes out and is placed by the side of a -man who has been healthy in body and mind. Are these two persons in -the same condition? Are they equal in capacity? Is the young animal -of a week old, although he has all the characteristics that his -mother has, as strong as she? With proper development he will be, in -time, as strong as she, but it is unreasonable to say that he is as -strong at present. And so, I think, this is all that we can say of -ourselves—with proper development our condition and capacity will be -the same as those of the people of any other race.</p> - -<p>Now, the fact that our capacity as a people is different, and that the -conditions which we must meet are different, makes it reasonable for us -to believe that, when the question of education is considered, we shall -find that different educational methods are desirable for us from those -which would be appropriate to the needs of a people whose capacity and -conditions are different from ours. What we most need, in my opinion, -for the next few generations, is such an education as will help us most -effectually to conquer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> the forces of nature;—I mean in the general -sense of supplying food, clothing, homes, and a substantial provision -for the future.</p> - -<p>Do not think that I mean by this that I do not believe in every -individual getting all the education, he or she can get,—for I do. -But since for some years to come, at least, it must of necessity -be impossible for all of our young people to get all the education -possible, or even all they may want to get, I believe they should apply -their energies to getting such a training as will be best fitted to -supply their immediate needs.</p> - -<p>In Scotland, for instance, where higher education has been within reach -of the people for many years, and where the people have reached a high -degree of civilization, it is not out of place for the young people -to give their time and attention to the study of metaphysics and of -law and the other professions. Of course I do not mean to say that we -shall not have lawyers and metaphysicians and other professional men -after a while, but I do mean to say that I think the efforts of a large -majority of us should be devoted to securing the material necessities -of life.</p> - -<p>When you speak to the average person about labor—industrial work, -especially—he seems to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> get the idea at once that you are opposed -to his head being educated—that you simply wish to put him to work. -Anybody that knows anything about industrial education knows that it -teaches a person just the opposite—how not to work. It teaches him to -make water work for him,—air, steam, all the forces of nature. That is -what is meant by industrial education.</p> - -<p>Let us make an illustration. Yesterday I was over in the creamery and -became greatly interested in the process of separating the cream. The -only energy spent was that required to turn a crank. The apparatus had -been so constructed as to utilize natural forces. Now compare the old -process of butter-making with the new. Before, you had to go through a -long process of drudgery before the cream could be separated from the -milk, and then another long process before the cream could be turned -into butter, and then, even after churning three or four hours at a -time, you got only a small portion of butter. Now what we mean by -giving you an industrial education is to teach you so to put brains -into your work that if your work is butter-making, you can make butter -simply by standing at a machine and turning a crank.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> - -<p>If you are studying chemistry, be sure you get all you can out of the -course here, and then go to a higher school somewhere else. Become as -proficient in the science as you can. When you have done this, do not -sit down and wait for the world to honour you because you know a great -deal about chemistry—you will be disappointed if you do—but if you -wish to make the best use of your knowledge of chemistry, come back -here to the South and use it in making this poor soil rich, and in -making good butter where the farmers have made poor butter before. Used -in this way you will find that your knowledge of chemistry will cause -others to honour you.</p> - -<p>During the last thirty years we, as a race, have let some golden -opportunities slip from us, and partly, I fear, because we have not had -enough plain talk in the direction I am following with you to-night. -If you ever have an opportunity to go into any of the large cities -of the North you will be able to see for yourselves what I mean. I -remember that the first time I went North—and it was not so very many -years ago—it was not an uncommon thing to see the barber shops in the -hands of coloured men. I know coloured men who in that way could have -become comfortably<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> rich. You cannot find to-day in the city of New -York or Boston a first-class barber shop in the hands of coloured men. -That opportunity is gone, and something is wrong that it is so. Coming -nearer home; go to Montgomery, Memphis, New Orleans, and you will find -that the barber shops are gradually slipping away from the hands of the -coloured men, and they are going back into dark streets and opening -little holes. These opportunities have slipped from us largely because -we have not learned to dignify labour. The coloured man puts a dirty -little chair and a pair of razors into a dirtier looking hole, while -the white man opens his shop on one of the principal streets, or in -connection with some fashionable hotel, fits it up luxuriously with -carpets, handsome mirrors and other attractive furniture, and calls -the place a "tonsorial parlour." The proprietor sits at his desk and -takes the cash. He has transformed what we call drudgery into a paying -business.</p> - -<p>Still another instance. You can remember that only a few years ago -one of the best paying positions that a large number of coloured -men filled was that of doing whitewashing. A few years ago it would -not have been hard to see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> coloured men in Boston, Philadelphia or -Washington carrying a whitewash tub and a long pole into somebody's -house to do a job of whitewashing. You go into the North to-day, and -you will find very few coloured men at that work. White men learned -that they could dignify that branch of labour, and they began to study -it in schools. They gained a knowledge of chemistry which would enable -them to understand the mixing of the necessary ingredients; they -learned decorating and frescoing; and now they call themselves "house -decorators." Now that job is gone, perhaps to come no more; for now -that these men have elevated this work, and introduced more intelligent -skill into it, do you suppose any one is going to allow some old man -with a pole and a bucket to come into the house?</p> - -<p>Then there is the field occupied by the cooks. You know that all over -the South we have held—and still hold to a large extent—the matter -of cooking in our hands. Wherever there was any cooking to be done, -a coloured man or a coloured woman did it. But while we still have -something of a monopoly of this work, it is a fact that even this is -slipping away from us. People do not wish always to eat fried meat, and -bread that is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> made almost wholly of water and salt. They get tired -of such food, and they desire a person to cook for them who will put -brains into the work. To met this demand white people have transformed -what was once the menial occupation of cooking into a profession; they -have gone to school and studied how to elevate this work, and if we -can judge by the almost total absence of coloured cooks in the North, -we are led to believe that they have learned how. Even here in the -South coloured cooks are gradually disappearing, and unless they exert -themselves they will go entirely. They have disappeared in the North -because they have not kept pace with the demand for the most improved -methods of cooking, and because they have not realized that the world -is moving forward rapidly in the march of civilization. A few days -ago, when in Chicago, I noticed in one of the fashionable restaurants -a fine-looking man, well dressed, who seemed to be the proprietor. -I asked who he was, and was told that he was the "chef," as he is -called—the head cook. Of course I was surprised to see a man dressed -so stylishly and presenting such an air of culture, filling the place -of chief cook in a restaurant, but I remembered then, more forcibly -than ever, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> cooking had been transformed into a profession—into -dignified labour.</p> - -<p>Still another opportunity is going, and we laugh when we mention it, -although it is really no laughing matter. When we think of what we -might have done to elevate it in the same way that white persons have -elevated it, we realize that it was an opportunity after all. I refer -to the opportunity which was in boot-blacking. Of course, here in the -South, we have that yet, to a large extent, because the competition -here is not quite so sharp as in the North. In too many Southern towns -and cities, if you wish your shoes blacked, you wait until you meet a -boy with a box slung over his shoulder. When he begins to polish your -shoes you will very likely see that he uses a much-worn shoe brush, -or, worse still, a scrubbing brush, and unless you watch him closely -there is a chance that he will polish your shoes with stove polish. But -if you go into a Northern city you will find that such a boy as this -does not stand a chance of making a living. White boys and even men -have opened shops which they have fitted up with carpets, pictures, -mirrors, and comfortable chairs, and sometimes their brushes are even -run by electricity. They have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> the latest newspapers always within -reach for their patrons to read while their work is being done, and -they grow rich. The man who owns and runs such a place as that is not -called a "boot-black"; he is called the proprietor of such and such a -"Shoe-blacking Emporium." And that chance is gone to come no more. Now -there are many coloured men who understand about electricity, but where -is the coloured man who would apply his knowledge of that science to -running brushes in a boot-black stand?</p> - -<p>In the South it was a common thing when anybody was taken ill to notify -the old mammy nurse. We had a monopoly of the nursing business for -many years, and up to a short time ago it was the common opinion that -nobody could nurse but one of those old black mammies. But this idea -is being dissipated. In the North, when a person gets ill, he does not -think of sending for any one but a professional nurse, one who has -received a diploma from some nurse-training school, or a certificate of -proficiency from some reputable institution.</p> - -<p>I hope you have understood me in what I have been trying to say of -these little things. They all tend to show that if we are to keep pace -with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> progress of civilization, we must pay attention to the small -things as well as the larger and more important things in life. They go -to prove that we must put brains into what we do. If education means -anything at all, it means putting brains into the common affairs of -life and making something of them. That is just what we are seeking to -tell to the world through the work of this institution.</p> - -<p>There are many opportunities all about us where we can use our -education. You very rarely see a man idle who knows all about -house-building, who knows how to draw plans, to test the strength of -materials that enter into the making of a first-class house. Did you -ever see such a man out of a job? Did you ever see such a man as that -writing letters to this place and that place applying for work? People -are wanted all over the world who can do work well. Men and women are -wanted who understand the preparation and supplying of food—I don't -mean in the small menial sense—but people who know all about it. Even -in this there is a great opportunity. A few days ago I met a woman who -had spent years in this country and in Europe studying the subject of -food economics in all its details. I learn that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> this person is in -constant demand by institutions of learning and other establishments -where the preparation and the serving of food are important features. -She spends a few months at each institution. She is wanted everywhere, -because she has applied her education to one of the most important -necessities of life.</p> - -<p>And so you will find it all through life—those persons who are going -to be constantly sought after, constantly in demand, are those who make -the best use of their opportunities, who work unceasingly to become -proficient in whatever they attempt to do. Always be sure that you have -something out of which you can make a living, and then you will not -only be independent, but you will be in a much better position to help -your fellow-men.</p> - -<p>I have spoken about these matters at this length because I believe -them to be the foundation of our future success. We often hear a man -spoken of as having moral character. A man cannot have moral character -unless he has something to wear, and something to eat three hundred -and sixty-five days in a year. He cannot have any religion either. You -will find at the bottom of much crime the fact that the criminals have -not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> had the common necessities of life supplied them. Men must have -some of the comforts and conveniences—certainly the necessities of -life—supplied them before they can be morally or religiously what they -ought to be.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> - -<h2>KEEPING YOUR WORD</h2> - -<p>I do not want to speak to you continually upon subjects that tend to -show up the weaker traits of character which our race has, but there -are some characteristic points in our life so important that it seems -to me well that we emphasize those which are specially weak just now.</p> - -<p>A few weeks ago I mentioned two or three examples which had come under -my own personal observation, of the unreliability of the race, and to -those I now add one or two more.</p> - -<p>On three distinct occasions, while travelling, I have found it -necessary to make engagements with hackmen to call at a certain hour -in the morning to take me to an early train, and on no one of these -occasions has the hackman kept his word. In the first case the man -disappointed me entirely, so that I had to walk to the station, a -distance of a mile or more. In the second instance the hackman was to -come at six o'clock, and did not come until half-past six. By that time -I had started to walk, and had gone two or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> three squares, meeting him -on the way to the place where I had stopped. In the third case the man -was at least an hour late when we met him, after we had walked over -half the distance to the station.</p> - -<p>I have spoken at another time of the fact that men who employ coloured -workmen have complained to me that after these men had drawn a week's -pay, they could not be depended upon to return to work the next Monday -morning. In the city of Savannah, Georgia, there are a great many -coloured men employed as stevedores—men who load and unload ships. -If you have read the newspapers carefully you will have noticed that -recently the persons who employ these men have made a new rule, by -which they refuse to pay the stevedores all of their wages at the end -of the week, but retain two days' pay out of each week, from every -individual who works for them, to be paid to them at the end of the -next week. Of course the men do not lose anything in the end by this -method; it simply means that so long as they work for one employer -there are at least two days' pay due them. Of course the labourers -whose wages were thus kept back have made a great noise about it, but -when their employers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> were asked for an explanation, they said: "We -find by experience that if we pay you all that we owe you on Saturday -night, we cannot depend upon your returning on Monday morning to -continue your work. You are apt to get drunk, or to debauch yourselves -on Sunday so that you are unfitted for your work the next day." This is -the decision these men have arrived at after having employed these men -for a number of years.</p> - -<p>Now think of the things I have spoken to you about. You may say with -regard to the last, that to a great extent this action on the part of -the Savannah employers was due to prejudice, to a desire to use the -money withheld for their own selfish purposes, and because they had the -power to do so, but you can very easily understand that if a person -goes on being disappointed month after month in his business, he will -soon conclude that it is best for him to try a hackman of some other -colour and disposition, and that if these Savannah employers find -year after year that they cannot depend on coloured men to give them -thorough, regular, systematic labour, they are going to look out for -persons of another race who will do their work properly.</p> - -<p>It is not necessary for me to continue in this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> strain, and to call -attention to other incidents of this kind, to show, as I have told -you before, that one of the weak points which we as a race must fight -against, is that of not being reliable. Of course I understand that -it is not always possible for a person to keep an engagement, but if -he cannot, it is very rarely the case that he cannot send word to the -person with whom he has made the engagement of his inability to keep -his part of it. In the case of the hackmen who disappointed me, if they -had sent word two or three hours ahead of the time, that they could -not come, or if they had sent another hackman to fill the engagement -for them, I should have thought nothing about it. In the case of those -Savannah labourers, when they found they could not go back to their -work promptly, if they had sent word to that effect, their absence, -perhaps, could have been excused. But it is this habit of disappointing -people in business matters without apparent care or concern that has -given the race the damaging reputation which it has for unreliability.</p> - -<p>I speak of these things repeatedly and so plainly because I am -constantly meeting persons who are employers or who would be employers -of our people, and they tell me every time when I speak<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> to them about -work, that their only objection to employing coloured labour is this -very matter I have been speaking of, its unreliability. Many of them -say that they want to employ coloured people, would be glad to give -them places of responsibility, but that they cannot find men who will -stick to their work.</p> - -<p>You may say that it is impossible for us to grow and develop, to get -positions of trust and responsibility that will pay good wages, simply -because we are coloured. I will give you an example on this very point. -A few days ago I was in New Orleans, visiting a large sugar refinery. -The firm which operates this refinery employs from two hundred to -three hundred men. I found the young man who has charge of all the -bookkeeping of the firm, through whose hands all the business and cash -of the firm pass—I found this man to be coloured, and that all the -other persons filling responsible positions under him were white.</p> - -<p>I remember some two or three years ago having met one of the partners -of this firm in the White Mountains, and he told me at that time of -this young man. He told me that a great many persons came to him and -said: "You ought not to have this coloured man filling this position -when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> there are so many white persons who want the place." He told me -that he said to these persons: "This young man does my work better than -any one else I have yet found, and so long as he does this, so long -shall I employ him." This gentleman has since died, but the business is -in the hands of his widow, who has so much confidence in the ability of -this young coloured man to manage the affairs of a great business—Mr. -Lewis is his name; perhaps some of you know him—that he is retained, -practically at the head of this great establishment. This single -instance shows that notwithstanding his colour a man can rise for what -is in him; that he can advance when he shows that he can be depended -upon.</p> - -<p>Remember that whether you are hackmen, or business men, it pays -whenever you cannot fill an engagement to explain beforehand why you -cannot, and that unless you make a practice of doing this, it will be -impossible for you to get ahead or to attain to places of trust and -responsibility, no matter how much education you may have.</p> - -<p>As I have so often said before, if we cannot send out from Tuskegee -and similar schools young men and women who can be depended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> upon, our -reputation as a race, for the years that are to come, is not going to -be very bright. On the other hand, if we can succeed in sending out -young men and women with a high sense of responsibility, who can at all -times be relied upon to be prompt in business matters, we shall have -gone a long way in redeeming the character of the race and in lifting -it up. In this important matter all of you can help. Do not wait until -you go out from Tuskegee, but begin to-morrow morning, every boy and -girl, to be reliable and to keep at it until reliability becomes a part -of you.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> - -<h2>SOME LESSONS OF THE HOUR</h2> - -<p>This evening I am going to remind you of a few things which you should -get out of the school year, but it will be of very little use for me to -do this unless you make up your minds to do two things.</p> - -<p>In the first place you must resolve that you are going to remember -the things I am going to say, and in the second place you must put my -suggestions into practice. If you will make up your minds, then, that -you are going to hold on to these suggestions, so far as your memory is -concerned, and then so far as possible put them into practice, we shall -be able to discuss something that will be of profit to you during the -year.</p> - -<p>I want you to get it firmly fixed in your minds that books, industries, -or tools of any character, no matter how thoroughly you master them, do -not within themselves constitute education. Committing to memory pages -of written matter, or becoming deft in the handling of tools, is not -the supreme thing at which education aims. Books, tools, and industries -are but the means to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> fit you for something that is higher and better. -All these are not ends within themselves; they are simply means. The -end of all education, whether of head or hand or heart, is to make an -individual good, to make him useful, to make him powerful; is to give -him goodness, usefulness and power in order that he may exert a helpful -influence upon his fellows.</p> - -<p>One of the things I want you to get out of this year is the ability -to put a proper value upon time. If there is any one lesson that we -all of us need to have impressed upon us more thoroughly and more -constantly than any other, it is that each minute of our lives is of -supreme value, and that we are committing a sin when we allow a single -minute to go to waste. Remember that every five minutes of time you are -spending at this institution is worth so much money to you. How many -people there are who, after they have arrived at the ages of sixty, -seventy, or eighty years, look back with regret and say, "I wish I -could live the years over again." But they cannot. All they can do is -to regret that they have wasted precious minutes, precious hours.</p> - -<p>Now your lives are yet before you, not, as in the case of these people, -behind you. Your lives<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> are yet to be lived, and they will be made -successful lives just in proportion as you learn to place a value upon -the minutes. Spend every minute here in hard, earnest study, or in -helpful recreation. Be sure that none of your time is thrown away.</p> - -<p>Among other things, you should get out of the year the habit of -reading. Any individual who has learned to love good books, to love -the best newspapers, the best magazines, and has learned to spend some -portion of the day in communication with them, is a happy individual. -You should get yourselves to the point where you will not be happy -unless you do spend a part of each day in this way.</p> - -<p>You should get out of the year the habit of being kind and polite to -every individual. As a general thing it is not difficult for a person -to be polite in words and courteous in actions to individuals who are -classed in the same social scale, or who, perhaps, are above him in -wealth and influence. The test of a true lady or gentleman comes when -that individual is brought in contact with some one who is considered -beneath her or him, some one who is ignorant or poor. Show me a man who -is himself wealthy, and who is gentle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> and polite to the ignorant about -him, and to the poor people about him, and I will show you every time -a true gentleman. When Prince Henry of Prussia was in this country, -I remember reading this description of one of the prominent public -men who received him: "He is such a true gentleman that he can meet -a prince without himself being embarrassed, and can meet a poor man -without embarrassing the poor man."</p> - -<p>Learn to speak kindly to every individual, white or black. No man loses -anything by being gentlemanly, by learning to be polite, by treating -the most unfortunate individual with the highest deference.</p> - -<p>We want you to learn to control your temper. Some one has said that the -difference between an animal and a man is that the beast has no method -of learning to control his temper. With the individual, the human -being, there is education and training. He learns to master himself, to -have an even temper; learns to master his temper completely. Now if any -of you have a temper that often gets to be your master, make up your -mind that it is a part of your duty here to learn to control it. Step -upon it, as it were, and say: "I will be master of my temper, instead -of letting it be my master."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> - -<p>You want to have that kind of courage that is going to make you able -to speak the truth at all times, no matter what it may seem to cost -you. This may, for the time being, seem to make you unpopular; it may -inconvenience you, it may deprive you of something that you count dear; -but the individual who cultivates that kind of courage, who, at the -cost of everything, always speaks the truth, is the individual who -in the end will be successful, is the one who in the end will come -out the conqueror. You cannot afford to learn to speak anything but -the absolute truth. One of the most beautiful things that I have seen -printed about President Roosevelt was where someone wrote of him that -one of the President's greatest faults was that he did not know when -to lie—when to deceive people—but that he always spoke the absolute, -frank truth. As a result of his honesty, his truth speaking, he is at -the head of the nation.</p> - -<p>We also want you to learn to be absolutely honest in all your dealings -with other people's property. We may just as well speak plainly and -emphatically. One of our worst sins, one of our weaknesses, is that of -not being able to handle other people's property and be honest with -it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> You should learn to be absolutely honest with the property of your -room-mates, school-mates and teachers. Make up your minds that nothing -is going to tempt you from the path of absolute honesty. There is no -man or woman who begins with meddling with other people's property and -affairs, who begins to learn to take that which does not belong to -him or her, who is not beginning in a downward path ending in misery, -sorrow and disappointment. Make up your minds that you are going to be -absolutely honest and truthful in all cases. There is no way to get -happiness out of life, there is no way to get satisfaction out of your -school career, except by following the lessons that I have here tried -to emphasize.</p> - -<p>When we speak of honesty, the first thought may be that the word -applies only to the taking of property that does not belong to us, but -this is not so. It is possible for a person to be dishonest by taking -time or energy that belongs to someone else, just as much as tangible -property. In going into a class-room, office, store or shop, one man -may ask himself the question: "How little can I do to-day and still -get through the day?" Another man will have constantly before him the -question: "How much can I put into this hour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> or this day?" Now we -expect every student who goes out from Tuskegee to be, not the man who -tries to see how little he can do, or the average man who proposes to -do merely his duty, but the man above the average, who will do more -than his duty. And you will disappoint us unless you are above the -average man, unless you go out from here with the determination that -you are going to perform more than your duty.</p> - -<p>I like to see young men or young women who, if employed in any -capacity, no matter how small or unimportant that capacity may be, if -the hour is eight o'clock at which they must come to work, I like to -see them at work ten or fifteen minutes before that hour. I like to see -a man or woman who, if the closing hour is five o'clock or six o'clock, -goes to the person in charge and says: "Shall I not stay longer? Is -there not something else I ought to do before I go?" Put your whole -souls into whatever you attempt to do. That is honesty.</p> - -<p>Another thing you should learn this year is to get into touch with the -best people there are in the world. You should learn to associate with -the best students in the institution. Take them as models, and say that -you are going to improve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> from month to month, and from year to year, -until you are as good as they are, or better. You cannot reach these -things all at once, but I hope that each one of you will make up his -mind or her mind that from to-night, throughout the year and throughout -life, there is going to be a hard striving on your part toward reaching -the best results. If you do this, when you get ready to leave this -institution, you will find that it has been worth your while to have -spent your time here.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> - -<h2>THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE</h2> - -<p>The subject on which I am going to speak to you for a few minutes -to-night, "The Gospel of Service," may not, when you first hear it, -strike a very responsive chord in your hearts and minds, but I assure -you I have nothing but the very highest and best interest of the race -at heart when I select this subject to talk about.</p> - -<p>The word "service" has too often been misunderstood, and on this -account it has in too many cases carried with it a meaning which -indicates degradation. Every individual serves another in some -capacity, or should do so. Christ said that he who would become the -greatest of all must become the servant of all; that is, He meant that -in proportion as one renders service he becomes great. The President of -the United States is a servant of the people, because he serves them; -the Governor of Alabama is a servant, because he renders service to the -people of the State; the greatest merchant in Montgomery is a servant, -because he renders service to his customers; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> school teacher is -a servant, because it is his duty to serve the best interests of his -pupils; the cook is a servant, because it is her duty to serve those -for whom she works; the housemaid is a servant, because it is her duty -to care for the property intrusted to her in the best manner in which -she is able.</p> - -<p>In one way or another, every individual who amounts to anything is -a servant. The man or the woman who is not a servant is one who -accomplishes nothing. It is very often true that a race, like an -individual, does not appreciate the opportunities that are spread -out before it until those opportunities have disappeared. Before us, -as a race in the South to-day, there is a vast field for service and -usefulness which is still in our hands, but which I fear will not be -ours to the same extent very much longer unless we change our ideas of -service, and put new life, put new dignity and intelligence into it.</p> - -<p>Perhaps I am right in thinking that in no department of life has -there been such great progress and such changes for the better during -the last ten years as in the department of domestic service, or -housekeeping. The cook who does not make herself intelligent, who does -not learn to do things<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> in the latest, and in the neatest and cleanest -manner, will soon find herself without employment, or will at least -find herself a "drug on the market," instead of being sought after and -paid higher wages. The woman who does not keep up with all the latest -methods of decorating and setting her table, and of putting the food on -it properly, will find her occupation gone within a few years. The same -is true of general housekeeping, of laundering and of nursing.</p> - -<p>All the occupations of which I have been talking are at present in our -hands in the South; but I repeat that very great progress is being made -in all of them in every part of the world, and we shall find that we -shall lose them unless our women go forward and get rid of the old idea -that such occupations are fit only for ignorant people to follow. At -the present time scores of books and magazines are appearing bearing -upon every branch of domestic service. People are learning to do things -in an intelligent and scientific manner. Not long ago I sat for an -hour and listened to a lecture delivered upon the subject of dusting, -and it was one of the most valuable hours I ever spent. The person who -gave this lecture upon dusting was a highly educated and a cultivated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> -woman, and her audience was composed of wealthy and cultivated people. -We must bring ourselves to the point where we can feel that one who -cooks, and does it well, should be just as much honoured as the person -who teaches school.</p> - -<p>What I have said in regard to the employments of our women is equally -true of the occupations followed by our men. It is true that at the -present we are largely cultivating the soil of the South, but if other -people learn to do this work more intelligently, learn more about -labour-saving machinery, and become more conscientious about their -work than we, we shall find our occupation departing. It used to be -the case in many parts of the North that the Negro was the coachman; -but in a very large degree, in cities like New York and Philadelphia, -the Negro has lost this occupation, and lost it, in my opinion, not -because he was a Negro, but because in many cases he did not see that -the occupation of coachman was constantly being improved. It has been -improved and lifted up until now it has almost become a profession. The -Negro who expects to remain a coachman should learn the proper dress -for a coachman, and learn how to care for horses and vehicles in the -most approved manner.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> - -<p>What is true of the coachman is true of the butler. In too many cases, -I fear, we use these occupations merely as stepping stones, holding -on to them until we can find something else to do, in a careless and -slipshod manner. We want to change all this, and put our whole souls -into these occupations, and in a large degree make them our life-work. -In proportion as we do this, we shall lay a foundation upon which our -children and grandchildren are to rise to higher things. The foundation -of every race must be laid in the common every-day occupations that are -right about our doors. It should not be our thought to see how little -we can put into our work, but how much; not how quickly we can get rid -of our tasks, but how well we can do them.</p> - -<p>I often wish that I had the means to put into every city a large -training-school for giving instruction in all lines of domestic -service. Few things would add more to the fundamental usefulness of the -race than such a school. Perhaps it may be suggested that my argument -has reference only to our serving white people. It has reference to -doing whatever we do in the best manner, no matter whom we serve. -The individual who serves a black man poorly will serve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> a white man -poorly. Let me illustrate what I mean. In a Southern city, a few days -ago, I found a large hotel conducted by coloured people. It is one of -the very cleanest and best and most attractive hotels for coloured -people that I have found in any part of the country. In talking with -the proprietors I asked them what was the greatest obstacle they had -had to overcome, and they told me it was in finding coloured women to -work in the house who would do their work systematically and well, -women who would, in a word, keep the rooms in every part of the hotel -thoroughly swept and cleaned. This hotel had been opened three months, -and I found that during that time the proprietors had employed fifteen -different chambermaids, and they had got rid of a large proportion of -these simply because they were determined not to have people in their -employment who did not do their work well.</p> - -<p>One weakness pertaining to the whole matter of domestic employment -in the South, at present, is this: it is too easy for our people to -find work. If there was a rule followed in every family that employs -persons, that no man or woman should be hired unless he or she brought -a letter of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> recommendation from the last employer, we should find that -the whole matter of domestic service would be lifted up a hundred per -cent. So long as an individual can do poor work for one family, and -perhaps be dishonest at the same time, and be sure that he or she will -be employed by some other family, without regard to the kind of service -rendered the last employer, so long will domestic service be poor and -unsatisfactory.</p> - -<p>Many white people seldom come in contact with the Negro in any other -capacity than that of domestic service. If they get a poor idea of our -character and service in that respect, they will infer that the entire -life of the Negro is unsatisfactory from every point of view. We want -to be sure that wherever our life touches that of the white man, we -conduct ourselves so that he will get the best impression possible of -us.</p> - -<p>In spite of all the fault I have found, I would say this before I stop. -I recognize that the people of no race, under similar circumstances, -have made greater progress in thirty-five years than is true of the -people of the Negro race. If I have spoken to you thus plainly and -frankly, it is that our progress in the future may be still greater -than it has been in the past.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> - -<h2>YOUR PART IN THE NEGRO CONFERENCE</h2> - -<p>For eight or nine years, now, it has been our custom to hold here -what is known as the Tuskegee Negro Conference. A number of years ago -it occurred to some of us that instead of confining the work of this -institution to the immediate body of students gathered within its -walls, we perhaps could extend and broaden its scope so as to reach out -to, and try to help, the parents of the students and the older people -in the country districts, and, to some extent, if possible, in the -cities also.</p> - -<p>With this end in view, we, some years ago, invited a number of men and -women to come and spend the day with us, and, while here, to tell us in -a very plain and straightforward manner something about their material, -moral and religious condition. Then the afternoon of that same day was -spent in hearing from these same men and women suggestions as to how -they thought this institution and other institutions might help them, -and also how they thought they might help themselves.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> - -<p>Out of these simple and small meetings has grown what we now call -"The Tuskegee Negro Conference," which, in the last few years, has -grown until it numbers from nine hundred to twelve hundred persons. -We not only have that large number of persons, most of whom come from -farms and are engaged in farm work, but we now also have "The Workers' -Conference," which meets on the day following the Negro Conference. -This Workers' Conference brings together representatives from all the -larger institutions for the education of the Negro in the South.</p> - -<p>Now these meetings for this year begin next Wednesday morning, and the -practical question that I wish to discuss with you to-night is,—What -can we do to make that Conference a success? What can you do for the -Conference, and what can the Conference do for you?</p> - -<p>I wish you to grasp the idea that is growing through the country—that -very few institutions now confine themselves and their work to mere -teaching in the class-room, in the old-fashioned manner. Very few now -confine themselves and their work to the comparatively small number of -students that they can reach in that way, as they did a few years ago. -In many cases they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> have their college extension work. In one way or -another they are reaching out and getting hold of the young people—and -getting a hold on the older people as well. And just so, to a very -large degree, through this Conference, Tuskegee is doing something of -the same kind of thing.</p> - -<p>During these few days we shall have hundreds of the farmers, with their -wives and daughters, gathered here. We want each and every one of you -here in the institution to make up your mind that you can do something -to help these people. We want each one of you here to-night to feel -that he or she has a special responsibility during the time these -people are gathered together at Tuskegee. We sometimes speak of it as -their one day of schooling in the whole year,—that is, the one day -out of the whole three hundred and sixty-five days in the year when, -perhaps, they will give the greatest amount of attention to matters -pertaining to themselves. In inviting them here, not only the teachers -and officers of this institution have a responsibility, but each and -every student here also has a responsibility. I want you to feel that, -and see to what extent you can take hold of these people while they are -here, to inspire and encourage them, so as to have them go away<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> from -here feeling that it is worth their while to come to the Institute for -this meeting, even if—as is true of some of them—they have come a -long distance.</p> - -<p>Some of these people who will come here are ignorant, so far as books -are concerned, but I want you to know that not every person who cannot -read and write is ignorant. Some of the persons whom I have met and -from whom I have learned much, are persons who cannot write a word. -Very many of the people who will come here may not be able to read or -write, but we can learn something from them notwithstanding, while they -are here, and they can learn something from us.</p> - -<p>I want you to take delight in getting hold of these people and taking -them through our shops, guiding them through our various agricultural -and mechanical departments. Be sure that you exert every effort -possible to make them comfortable and happy while they are here. -Heretofore the students have been so generous, at the time of this -meeting, that many of them, if necessary, have given up their rooms -that these people might have a comfortable night's rest. I do not know -where you have slept, but I do not think that in the history of the -school a student was ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> asked to give up his room to any of these -people that he did not gladly and freely do so. I believe that you are -going to do the same thing this year.</p> - -<p>I want you, also, to remember that you not only can help the Conference -to be a success by being polite and kindly to the farmers who come -from this and other Southern States, but also by being polite and -attentive to the representatives from the large institutions that -will be here. We will have present representatives from every large -institution engaged in the education of our people. It means much for -the principals and instructors in these large colleges and industrial -schools to leave their work and come as far as many of them do, to -spend these days here. We have a responsibility on their account; we -desire them to feel that it has been worth their while to leave their -work and spend their time and money to come here for these meetings. We -wish them to get something out of our industries here; we wish them to -get something out of the training here, in every department, something -which they can take back to their own institution to make their work -there stronger and better.</p> - -<p>Now as to yourselves. You can get something out of this Conference -for yourselves, by getting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> hold of everything possible, so that when -you go out from Tuskegee you will have just that much more helpful -information to put into practice. I want to see you go out through the -South and establish local conferences. Call them together, and teach -the same kind of lessons that we teach at these gatherings at Tuskegee. -You can get the most out of this Conference by putting into practice -this effort to make other people happy. To get the greatest happiness -out of life is to make somebody else happy. To get the greatest good -out of life is to do something for somebody else. I want you to find -the persons who are most ignorant and most poverty stricken; I want you -to find the persons who are most forlorn and most discouraged, and do -something for them to make their hours happy. In doing that, you will -do the most for yourselves.</p> - -<p>I want each boy and each girl who belongs to this institution to be -deep down in his or her heart a gentleman or a lady. A gentleman means -simply this: a generous person; one who has learned to be kind; one -who has learned to think not of himself first, but of the happiness -and welfare of others. Let us put this spirit into our Conference -day the coming week, and the day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> and week will be the greatest and -most successful that we have ever had. Let our resolution be that the -persons who come here, whether they represent a university, a college, -an industrial school, a farm, or a shop—let our resolve be that when -these people leave here they shall take away with them from Tuskegee -something that will make their lives happier, brighter, stronger and -more useful.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> - -<h2>WHAT IS TO BE OUR FUTURE?</h2> - -<p>Last Thursday afternoon I received a telegram from a gentleman stopping -for a time in a city in Georgia, asking me to come there at once on -important business; and being rather curious to know what he wanted of -me, I went. I found that this man was in the act of making his will, -and that he had in mind the putting aside of a considerable sum in his -will—some $20,000, in fact—for this institution.</p> - -<p>The special point upon which this gentleman wished to consult me was -the future of the Institution. He said that he had worked very hard -for his money, that it had come as a result of much sacrifice and hard -effort, and that there were friends of his who were beseeching him to -use his money in other directions, because they thought it would be -more likely to do permanent good elsewhere. And so he wished to know -what the future of this Institution is likely to be, because he did not -care to risk his money upon an uncertain venture, one that was likely -to prosper for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> a few years, and then fail. He said that he would not -like to give his money to an institution where it would not go on -through the years, accomplishing a certain amount of good. Accordingly -the question he repeated to me over and over again was: "What is to be -the future of Tuskegee?" He wished to know whether, if we were given -the money, it would go on from year to year, blessing one generation -after another.</p> - -<p>My point in speaking to you to-night is to emphasize what I think our -good friend Professor Brown has already brought to our attention in -one or two of his talks to us this week, the importance of making this -institution what it ought to be, what its reputation gives it, and what -its name implies.</p> - -<p>More and more I realize—and I remember that the gentleman of whom I -have spoken repeated this to me with great emphasis—that so far as -the outside world is concerned, Tuskegee is sure; you need not have -the least doubt that the institution will be supported. If we keep -things right at the institution, if it is worthy of support, the -moneyed people of the country will support it and stand by it. More and -more each year this impression grows upon me, and more and more each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> -year there are convincing evidences of the fact that the permanence -and growth of this institution do not rest upon whether the people -of the South or the people of the North are going to support it with -their means. I have the most implicit confidence that the institution -is going to be supported. But the question that comes to us with the -greatest force is: "Are we going to be worthy of that support? Shall we -be worthy of the confidence of the public?" That is the question that -is most serious; that is the question that presses most heavily upon my -heart, and upon the hearts of the other teachers here.</p> - -<p>Now these questions can be answered satisfactorily only by evidence -that each student, each individual connected with the school in any -way, no matter in how low or high a capacity, is putting his or her -whole conscience into the work here. When I say work, I mean study of -books, work of the hand, effort of the body, willingness of the heart. -No matter what the thing is, put your conscience into it; do your best. -Let it be possible for you to say: "I have put my whole soul into my -study, into my work, into whatever I have attempted. Whatever I have -done I have honestly endeavored to do to the best of my ability."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> - -<p>The questions which this gentleman asked me, and similar kinds of -questions, are being asked over and over again by people all over -the country. The question can be answered only by our putting our -consciences into our work, and by our being entirely unselfish in it. -Let every person get into the habit of planning every day for the -comfort and welfare of others, let each one try to live as unselfishly -as possible, remembering that the Bible says: "He that would save his -life, must lose it." And you never saw a person save his life in this -higher sense, in the Christ-like sense, unless that person was willing, -day by day, to lose himself in the interest of his fellow-men. Such -persons save their own lives, and in saving them save thousands of -other lives.</p> - -<p>Such questions as these can be satisfactorily answered not merely -by our putting our consciences into every effort, no matter what -the effort may be, but by improving, day by day, upon what has been -done the day before. In large institutions and establishments it is -comparatively easy to find persons who will sweep a room day by day, -or plough a field during certain seasons of the year, and do other -work at certain other seasons of the year, but the difficulty comes -in finding <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>persons who make improvements in the manner of sweeping -rooms, of ploughing fields and planting corn. The question for us is: -"Are we going to put so much brains into our efforts every year, that -we are going to go on steadily and constantly improving from year to -year?" Are you going to get into the habit of so thinking about your -work here that the habit will become, as it were, a part of yourself, -so that when you go out into the world you will not be satisfied to -take a position and go on in the same humdrum manner, but will not be -satisfied until your work has been improved in every possible detail, -and made easier, more systematic, and more convenient?</p> - -<p>We must put brains into our work. There must be improvement in every -department of this institution every year. It is absolutely impossible -for an institution to stand still; it must go forward or backward, -grow better or worse each year. An institution grows stronger and more -useful each year, or weaker and less useful.</p> - -<p>This institution can grow only by each person putting his thought into -his work, by planning how he can improve the work of his particular -department, by constantly striving to make his work more useful to the -institution, by keeping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> the place where he works cleaner, and making -his work more business-like and more systematic. That is the only way -in which the questions which people all over the country are asking -about this institution can be satisfactorily answered.</p> - -<p>You will find that people will look to us more and more for tangible -results. Not only here, but all over the country, our race is going -to be called on to answer the question: "What can the race really -accomplish?" It is perfectly well understood by our friends as well -as by our enemies, that we can write good newspaper articles and make -good addresses, that we can sing well and talk well, and all that kind -of thing. All that is perfectly well understood and conceded. But the -question that will be more and more forced upon us for an answer is: -"Can we work out our thoughts, can we put them into tangible shape, -so that the world may see from day to day actual evidences of our -intellectuality?"</p> - -<p>Last winter I was in the town of Clinton, Iowa. I think I had never -heard of the place before, and when I got there I was surprised to find -it a place of more than 16,000 inhabitants. The gentleman who was to -entertain me wanted to take me to a coloured restaurant. I expected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> -to go into a restaurant of the kind operated by our people generally, -and I was very much surprised when he took me into a large, two-story -building. I found the floors carpeted, and everything about the place -as pleasant and attractive as it was possible to make it. In fact the -restaurant compared very favourably with many in the largest cities -in the country. I found the waiters clean, the service good, and -everything conducted in the most systematic manner. And there was not -the least thing, except the colour of the proprietor's skin, to show -that the place was operated by coloured people.</p> - -<p>Afterward my friend took me into another establishment of the same -size, operated in the same creditable manner by another coloured man. -In both I found that these gentlemen not only carried on a regular -restaurant business, but manufactured their own candies and ice cream, -and did a sort of wholesale catering business. I asked the white people -there what they thought of the coloured people, and I did not find a -single white person who did not have the most implicit confidence in -the coloured people. The trouble was that there were not many coloured -people there. That accounts possibly for the good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> opinion which the -white people have of them. But you see what just two black men can do. -These people had never seen many black people, but fortunately for us -they had with them two of the best specimens of our race that I have -ever seen anywhere in this country. As a result you do not find any one -cursing the black man in that town. Everybody had the utmost confidence -in black people, and respected them.</p> - -<p>Just in proportion as we can establish object lessons of this kind -all over the country, you will find that the problem that now is so -perplexing will disappear. Until we do this, we shall not be able to -talk away, or to argue away, this prejudice. We cannot talk our way -into our rights; we must work our way, think our way, into them. And -you will find that just in proportion as we do this, we are going to -get all we deserve.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> - -<h2>SOME GREAT LITTLE THINGS</h2> - -<p>I am going to speak to you for a few minutes to-night upon what I shall -term "Some Great Little Things." I speak of them as great, because of -their supreme importance, and I speak of them as little, because they -come in a class of things which are usually looked upon by many people -as small and unimportant. But in an institution like this I think they -often hold first place—certainly they come under the head of important -things that we can learn.</p> - -<p>You will remember that in the sermon the Chaplain preached this -morning, he mentioned the three-fold division of our nature; the -physical part, the mental part, and the spiritual part. What I shall -refer to to-night has largely to do with the material, the physical -part of our natures. There are certain little things that each one of -you can learn now, in connection with the care of your bodies, which, -if left unlearned now, will perhaps go without being learned all your -lives. You are now, as it were, at the parting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> of the ways—you are -going to make these habits a part of yourselves, or you are going to -let them escape you forever, and be weak in a measure all your lives -for not having made them a part of yourselves.</p> - -<p>I am going to speak very plainly, because I feel that such talk means -nothing unless it is in language which every one can appreciate and -understand. Now, among the first things that a person going to a -boarding school should learn, if he has not already learned it at -home—and I am constantly being surprised at the number who seem to -have thus left it unlearned—is the habit of regular and systematic -bathing. No person who has left this habit unlearned can reach the -highest success in life. I mean by that, that a person who does not -get into the habit of keeping the body clean, cannot do the highest -work and the greatest amount of work in the world. When it comes to -competing with persons who have learned the habit of keeping the body -in good condition, you will find that the first named persons usually -win in the race of life. I think many of you have already learned from -your physiologies that when it comes to the combating of disease, where -two persons are on a sick-bed with the same disease,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> the one who is -habitually clean in his personal habits has a far greater chance for -recovery than the one who has not learned the habit of cleanliness. You -will also find that the person who is in the habit of caring for his -body is in a better condition for study; he is in a condition to bear -prolonged and severe exertion, while the person whose body is unclean -is in a weak condition.</p> - -<p>Take the matter of the teeth. Persons cannot call themselves educated -and refined who do not make the matter of the cleanliness and proper -care of their teeth an important part of themselves. When I speak of -making such a thing a part of yourselves, I mean that you should make -it such a strong habit that to leave it undone would seem unnatural. -Some person has defined man as a bundle of habits. There are many -habits that I wish you to make a part of yourselves, by practising so -constantly that they may really be said to have become that.</p> - -<p>There is the matter of the care of the hair, which everyone should make -a part of himself. There is also the proper care of the finger nails.</p> - -<p>Now all of these are common things, but they are great things. I should -not recommend very highly a young man or young woman who went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> out from -this institution as a graduate, and had not learned the habit of caring -for the teeth, hair and nails systematically. Are you making these -lessons a part of yourself?</p> - -<p>Take the young men and young women who have been here two or three -years. Have you grown to the point where you are dissatisfied and all -out of sorts when your hair is not combed, your finger nails dirty, and -your body not in the condition it should be in? If you have not reached -that point, when you come to graduate, then there will be something -wrong with your education, and you are not ready to go out from this -institution, whether you are in the senior class or in the preparatory -class.</p> - -<p>Another thing; I confess that I cannot have the highest kind of respect -for the person who is in the habit of going day after day with buttons -off his clothes. There is no excuse for it, when buttons are so cheap. -I wonder how many of you could stand, if I were now to ask all to stand -who have every button in its place. I cannot have the best opinion of a -girl who will let a hole remain in her apron day after day. Nor can I -think well of a man who does not remove a grease spot from his coat as -soon as he discovers it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> - -<p>You have more respect for yourselves, and other people have more -respect for you, when you get into the habit of polishing your shoes, -no matter where you are, but especially when you are at school. Every -man should get into the habit of polishing his shoes. See to it that -they are in proper condition at all times.</p> - -<p>I need not repeat here, after what I have said, that it is of the -utmost importance that every person wear the cleanest of linen. If I -speak to you so plainly, it is because I want you to make these matters -a part of yourselves to such an extent that they will be essential to -your happiness and success. I want every girl who goes away from here -to be so nearly perfect in her dress that she cannot be happy if there -is any detail unattended to; and I want the same thing to be true of -the young men. Let these things have an important bearing on your -education here, and on your life hereafter.</p> - -<p>And then, above all things, although on account of the number of -students here you are very much crowded in your rooms and will have to -make all the harder effort on that account, get into the habit of being -orderly and neat. School your room-mates to the point where they will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> -have a place for everything. Always know where to put your hands on -anything you may want in your room, whether in the light or in the dark.</p> - -<p>Then there are one or two other little things. You should have quiet -in your rooms, at your work or in your talk with your fellow students. -Do your work quietly. Get into the habit of closing doors quietly. You -cannot realize how much all these little things add to your happiness -and to the manhood and womanhood which you are going to build up as the -years go on.</p> - -<p>And then, in conclusion, so order your lives that you can form the -habit of reading. Set aside a certain amount of time each day, even -if it be not more than four or five minutes, for reading and studying -aside from your lessons. Read books of travel, history and biography. I -want you to patronize the library this year as never before. In it are -great numbers of books by authors of the highest rank.</p> - -<p>Be regular in all your habits. Have a regular time for studying, for -recreation, and for sleeping.</p> - -<p>And last, but far from least, set aside a regular time for thinking, -for meditating with yourself. Take yourself up, pick yourself to -pieces, see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> wherein you are weak and need strengthening. Analyze -yourself. Get rid, as it were, of all the weights that have been -holding you back, and resolve at the end of each week that you will -walk upon your dead selves of the week before. If you will go on, -making that kind of progress, you will find at the end of the nine -school months that you are stronger in everything essential to good -manhood and good womanhood.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> - -<h2>TO WOULD-BE TEACHERS</h2> - -<p>Since very many of you whom I see before me to-night will spend some -part of your lives after you leave here as teachers, even if you do not -make teaching your life work, I am going to talk over with you again a -subject on which I have spoken elsewhere—How to build up a good school -in the South.</p> - -<p>The coloured schools of the South, especially in the country districts -and smaller towns, are not kept open by the State fund, as a rule, -longer than three or four months in the year. One of the great -questions, then, with teachers and parents, is how to extend the school -term to seven or eight months, so that the school shall really do some -good.</p> - -<p>I want to give a few plain suggestions, which will, I think, if -carefully followed, result in placing a good school in almost every -community. In this I am not speculating, because more than one Tuskegee -graduate has built up a good school on the plan I outline.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the first place the teacher must be willing to settle down in the -community, and feel that that is to be his home, and teaching there his -chief object in life while he is there. Not only must he not feel that -he can move about from place to place every three months, but he must -feel that he is not working for his salary alone. He must be willing to -sacrifice for the good of the community.</p> - -<p>The next thing is to get a convenient school-house. Usually, in the -far South, the State has not been able to build a school-house. How -is it to be secured? A good school-house should be carefully planned. -Then the teacher or some one else should go among the people in -the community, coloured and white, and get each individual to give -something, no matter how small an amount if in money, or, if not in -money, how little in value, for purchasing lumber. When we were getting -started here at Tuskegee one old coloured woman brought me six eggs as -her contribution to our work.</p> - -<p>If enough money cannot be secured by subscription and collection to -pay for the lumber, a supper, a festival, entertainment or church -collection will help out. After the lumber is secured,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> the parents -should be asked to "club in" with their waggons and haul it free. Then -at least one good carpenter should be secured to take the lead in -building. Each member of the community should agree to give a certain -number of days' work in helping to put up the structure. In this work -of building, the larger pupils can help a good deal, and they will -have all the more interest in the school-house because they have had a -hand in its erection. In these ways, by patient effort, a good frame -school-house can be secured in almost any community.</p> - -<p>Where it is possible, take a three or four months' public school as a -starting point, and work in co-operation with the school officers, but -do not let the school close at the end of these three or four months, -because if that is done it will amount to almost nothing.</p> - -<p>As soon as the teacher goes into a community, he should organize the -people into an educational society or club, and there should be regular -meetings once a week, or once in two weeks, at which plans for the -improvement of the school should be discussed.</p> - -<p>There are a number of ways for extending the school term. One is for -each parent to pay ten,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> fifteen, twenty-five or fifty cents each month -during the whole time the school is in session. Frequently parents who -cannot pay in cash can let the teacher have eggs, chickens, butter, -sweet potatoes, corn or some other kind of produce which will help to -supply the teacher with food. Another plan is for each farmer to set -aside a portion of land and give all that is raised upon it to the -school. Still another plan, and one that is being successfully carried -out in at least one place, and one that I think much of, is for the -teacher to secure, either by renting or purchase, a small tract of -land—say from two to five acres—and let the children cultivate this -land while they are attending school. If, in this way, three bales of -cotton can be raised, and a variety of vegetables and grain also, the -produce can be sold and the school term extended from three months to -six or seven months.</p> - -<p>Some parents may object to this at first, but they will soon see that -it is better to let the school close at one o'clock or two o'clock in -the afternoon, so that the children may work on the school land for an -hour or two, and in this way keep the school open six or seven months, -than to let it close entirely at the end of three months. There is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>another advantage in this latter plan. The teacher can in this way -teach the students, in a practical way, better methods of farming. -Short talks on the principles of agriculture are worth much more to -them than time spent in committing to memory the names of mountain -peaks in Central Africa. Very often there is enough land right around -the school-house for the pupils to cultivate.</p> - -<p>In every case where it is possible, the teacher should buy a home in -the community, and make his home in every way a model for those of -the people who live around him. The teacher should cultivate a farm, -or follow some trade while not teaching. This not only helps him, but -sets a good example for the people in the community. If the teacher be -a woman, there are few communities where she cannot add much to her -income by sewing, dressmaking or poultry-raising.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> - -<h2>THE CULTIVATION OF STABLE HABITS</h2> - -<p>I am going to speak with you a few minutes this evening upon the matter -of stability. I want you to understand when you start out in school, -that no individual can accomplish anything unless he means to stick -to what he undertakes. No matter how many possessions he may have, no -matter how much he may have in this or that direction, no matter how -much learning or skill of hand he may possess, an individual cannot -succeed unless, at the same time, he possesses that quality which will -enable him to stick to what he undertakes. In a word he is not to be -jumping from this thing to that thing.</p> - -<p>That is the reason why so many ministers fail. They preach awhile, -and then jump to something else. They do not stick to one thing. It -is the same with many lawyers and doctors. They do not stick to what -they undertake. Many business men fail for the same reason. When an -individual gets a reputation—no matter what he has undertaken—of -not having the quality of sticking to a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> thing until he succeeds in -reaching the end, that reputation nullifies the influence for good of -the better traits of his character in every direction. It is said of -him that he is unstable.</p> - -<p>I want you to begin your school life with the idea that you are going -to stick to whatever you undertake until you have completed it. I take -it for granted that all of you have come here with that idea in mind; -that before you came here you sat down and talked the matter over with -your father and mother, read over the circulars giving information -about the school, and then deliberately decided that this institution -was the one whose course of study you wished to complete. I take it -for granted that you have come here with that end in view, and I want -to say to you now, that you will injure yourselves, your parents, and -the institution—and you will hurt your own reputation—unless, after -having come here with the determination to succeed, you remain here -for that purpose, and remain for the full time, until you receive your -diploma. I hope every individual here, every young man and woman at the -school, is here with the determination that he or she will not give up -the struggle until the object aimed at has been attained.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> - -<p>You are at a stage now, when, if you begin jumping about here and -there, if you begin in this course of study and then go to that course -of study, you will very likely be jumping about from one thing to -another all your life. You must make up your minds, after coming here, -to do well whatever you undertake. This is a good rule not only to -begin your school life with, but also to begin your later life with.</p> - -<p>Perhaps I was never more interested than I was last evening in -Montgomery, while standing on one of the streets there for an hour. I -seldom stand on any street for an hour, but last night I did stand on -that street for an hour, in front of a large, beautiful store that is -owned by Mr. J. W. Adams, and watched the notice taken of the display -of millinery made in his store windows by two girls that finished their -academic and industrial courses at this school—Miss Jemmie Pierce and -Miss Lydia Robinson. The first Monday in October is always the day in -Montgomery for what they call the millinery openings; on that day the -stores which handle such goods all make a great display of ladies' hats -and bonnets. It was surprising and interesting to note how these two -girls had entered a great city like Montgomery<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> and had taken entire -charge of the millinery department in a large store. Hundreds of people -stopped to comment favourably upon the taste that was displayed in the -decoration of those windows.</p> - -<p>Now, all this work was done by two Tuskegee graduates. And the -complimentary remarks that were made came not only from coloured people -but from white people as well. No one could tell from the windows of -that store whether it was a coloured or a white establishment. Many of -the white ladies who were standing there did not know that they were -standing in front of a store that was owned by a black man. It had -none of the usual earmarks about it. Usually when you go into coloured -establishments you see grease on the doors or on the counters; or you -see this sign or that sign that this is a coloured man's establishment. -Those of you here who are going to go into business after you leave -school do not want to have any such earmarks about your establishments. -Such a store as that of Mr. Adams is the kind of a store to have.</p> - -<p>Now, these two young women have made a reputation for themselves. -They went into the millinery division while they were here, and they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>remained until they graduated. One of them, I believe had not finished -in the millinery department when she received her academic diploma, and -so she came back last year and took a postgraduate course in millinery. -It is interesting and encouraging to see these two young women -succeeding in their work, and it all comes from their determination -to succeed, and because they had sense enough to finish what they had -undertaken.</p> - -<p>That is the lesson that you all want to learn. If you do not learn it -now, in a large degree you will be failures in life. You want to be -like these young women. You want to fight it out. Now if you mean to -get your diploma, you are going to have a hard time. Some of you are -going to be without shoes, without a hat, without proper clothing of -any kind. You will get discouraged because you have not as nice a dress -or as nice a hat as this person or that person. I would not give a snap -of my finger for a person who would give up for that. The thing for you -to do is to fight it out. Get something in your head, and don't worry -about what you can get to put on it. The clothes will come afterward.</p> - -<p>You are going to be greatly discouraged <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>sometimes, but if you will -heed the lesson of fighting out what you have undertaken, that same -disposition will follow you all through life, and you will get a -reputation, because people will say of you that there is a person who -sticks to whatever he or she undertakes. One of the saddest things -in life is to see an individual who has grown to old age, with no -profession, with no calling whatever from which he is sure of getting -an independent living. It is sad to see such individuals without money, -without homes, in their old age, simply because they did not learn the -lesson of saving money and getting for themselves a beautiful home when -they ought to have done this. And so, all through life, we can point to -many people who have not learned this lesson—that for whatever they -undertake they must pay the price which the world asks of them if they -would succeed. If we are going to succeed we must pay the price for -what we get; and he who accomplishes the most, accomplishes it in an -humble and straightforward way, by sticking to what he has undertaken. -He who does this finds in the end that he has achieved a tremendous success.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> - -<h2>WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO</h2> - -<p>It is comparatively easy to perform almost any kind of work, but the -value of any work is in having it performed so that the desired results -may be most speedily reached, and in having the means with which the -worker labours arranged so as to meet certain ends. It is the constant -problem of those organs which have charge of the well-being of the -body, to cause digestion to take place, so that what is nourishing in -the food may reach every part of the body, not only the portions near -the organs in which digestion takes place, but also the most extreme -parts of the different members.</p> - -<p>Just so it is the aim of all persons who are accustomed to making -public addresses to try to make those who are far away from them hear -them as well as those who sit near. In this same way, it seems to me -more and more every year, it is going to be the main object of all -our schools in the South to make their influence felt most forcibly -among those who are remote from them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> How can we reach the masses -who are remote—I mean remote from educational advantages and from -opportunities for encouragement and enlightenment? The problem in the -rural districts is difficult because of the vastness of the number to -be reached, and of the frequent difficulty of reaching them. We must -keep this fact before us, then; that institutions of this kind are of -little value unless they can pave the way to make the results of their -work felt among the masses of the people who are especially remote from -these institutions.</p> - -<p>It is a fact, as most of you know, that we very seldom meet with a -thoroughly well-educated teacher in the rural districts, in spite of -the passing of over thirty years since we became men and women. You -know, too, that the same thing is, in too large a measure, true of the -ministry. The responsibility for reaching these people, for affecting -them for good, rests upon the young men and young women who are being -educated in these Southern institutions to-day.</p> - -<p>What are you going to do as your part towards reaching these people, -towards carrying to them the light which they need so much and so -earnestly long for? Difficult as this problem is, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> is not a -discouraging one, because these people are ready to follow the light -as soon as they are sure that the right kind of light is set up before -them. You very seldom meet with a coloured man who is not conscious of -his ignorance, and who is not anxious to get up as soon as he finds -himself down. In this respect the problem is encouraging.</p> - -<p>One of the ways in which the problem is serious is with respect to -labour. In almost every city and town in the South a large proportion -of the coloured people are shiftless so far as manual labour is -concerned, although I think there is already improvement. The masses of -our people are given to thrift and industry, and to unremitting toil, -in their way. The hard thing about it, the discouraging thing, is that -they do not know how to realize on the results of their toil; because -they have no education and little idea of industrial development, they -do not know how to make their work tell for what it ought to. As a -general thing the people—those in the country especially—do not ask -anybody to come and give them food, clothing and houses; all they ask -is for some person, some honest, upright man or woman who is interested -in their welfare, to come among them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> and show them how to direct their -efforts and their energy, show them how best to realize on the results -of their work, so that they can supply their own moral, religious and -material needs and educate their children.</p> - -<p>And you will find that wherever this institution, Hampton, Talladega, -Fisk, Atlanta or any other, can put in the midst of the people -young men and young women who will settle down among them and make -their lives object lessons for the people—plant a good school and -convince the people that the teacher has settled down there to stay -through encouraging or discouraging circumstances—you will find that -such a teacher will not only be encouraged, but will be supported -materially. In every way there will be an opportunity for that person -to revolutionize the community. That opportunity is open to you. It is -an opportunity which is being opened to no other set of young men and -young women who are being educated anywhere else in the world. Are you -going to appreciate the beauty and grandeur of this opportunity?</p> - -<p>I was talking with a gentleman last night who has recently spent some -time in one of the Southern states, and he told me that in hardly any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> -country district in that state was there a public school which is kept -open longer than four months. He tells me that the average salary in -some of those districts is little more than fifteen dollars a month. In -another state the condition of the people is about the same. In our own -state perhaps the conditions are worse even than in the states referred -to. In some counties in Alabama the people are this year receiving no -money to run their schools more than three and a half months in the -year, except, of course, in the cities and towns. In some counties the -teachers are being paid only twelve to twenty dollars, and there are -possibly some where the teachers get not more than ten dollars from the -state fund.</p> - -<p>I was talking with a gentleman from another state not long ago about -the material condition of the people in that state, and he told me that -so far as their industrial life is concerned, the masses are in a very -bad condition this year; that they are too often at the mercy of the -landowners—I refer to the persons who run the large plantations—and -that the same thing is largely true of all of the cotton-raising -states. I need not go on to describe to you the moral results that must -inevitably follow such a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> condition of things. I need not take your -time to tell you that there can be little morality or religion among -people who are so ignorant as these people, and who do not know where -they are going to get anything to eat. It is needless to describe the -train of moral evils that must follow such conditions as these.</p> - -<p>What I have attempted to describe to you as existing to-day in these -country districts may not be very encouraging, but it seems to me that -every young man and young woman who has enjoyed the privileges afforded -by this and by other institutions in the South—I speak especially now -to the members of the next graduating class—should feel that such -conditions as these present one of the most inviting fields possible -for labour. Every young man and woman here is being educated by money -that is given by others. None of you are paying for the education you -are receiving. You might pay for your board, but you would have to do -that elsewhere. Every one must pay for his or her own clothing, but the -cost of buildings, rent, tuition, expenses and other matters pertaining -to the institution you do not pay. Your education, in a large measure, -is a gift from the public, and it seems to me that one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> of the first -things you should do is to repay, to as large an extent as is possible -with your services, what has been spent in giving you so large a part -of your education.</p> - -<p>This is a debt that you owe not only to yourselves, but to our race and -our country. It is a religious debt as well, that you be willing to -go out into these country districts and suffer, as it were, for a few -years, until you can get a foothold, so that you can plant yourselves -in one of these dark communities. I feel sure that you would not have -to suffer very long. I believe that the hardest part of the struggle -would come during the first two or three years. When you can convince -the people that you are in earnest, the battle is won. When you can -convince them that it is cheaper to keep an educated teacher than -to keep one who is ignorant, and when you can once demonstrate your -value to them not only in an educational respect but industrially and -morally, the battle is won, and these people will stand by you and -support you. In many cases, it is my belief, you will eventually find -yourselves better supported financially than you would if you had gone -to work in cities and large towns. No matter from which side you look -at this problem, good is bound to come from it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> - -<p>And while we are talking about the reward that will come as a result of -your services, let me tell you that no greater satisfaction can come -to any one than that which you will get from the worship and praise -which will come to you from these old mothers and fathers who will be -benefited by your services. I know of instances where teachers have -gone and planted themselves in these country districts who, even if -they do not make such a very great success financially, receive the -love and most sincere worship from year to year, because of the feeling -of gratitude which the people among whom they have settled have for -them on account of their having helped them in so many ways.</p> - -<p>This same kind of pioneer work had to be done all over the world -before the right kind of civilization was planted. It was such -work as this that the people did who settled the great West, where -they were deprived of the comforts of life. The people who planted -Oberlin College in what was then a wilderness had to suffer many such -hardships. The men who went to Washington, Oregon, and California and -established what are now large cities there, had to suffer many such -hardships; they had to suffer just what you must and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> should suffer. -Are you going to suffer for your own people until they can receive the -light which they so much need? If the young men and women before me -have the right kind of stuff in them they will do this. Most certainly -do I hope that you are going to carry out into these dark communities -the light which you receive here from day to day. I hope you will -fill these districts with men and women of education. When you go out -from here with your diploma, whether it be next May or at some other -time, resolve to plant yourself in one community and stay there. No -matter what your work is, you cannot accomplish much if you become the -wandering Jew. Find the community where you think you can use your life -to the best advantage, and then stay there.</p> - -<blockquote><p>[In the time that has elapsed since this talk was given, I think -there has been improvement in many of the country schools in the -South, and in the general condition of the people as described to -me then.—B. T. W.]</p></blockquote> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> - -<h2>INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY</h2> - -<p>I have referred in a general way, before this, when I have been -speaking to you, to the fact that each one of you ought to feel an -interest in whatever task is set you to do here over and above the -mere bearing which that task has on your own life. I wish to speak -more specifically to-night on this subject—on what I may term the -importance of your feeling a sense of personal responsibility not only -for the successful performance of every task set you, but for the -successful outcome of every worthy undertaking with which you come in -contact.</p> - -<p>You ought to realize that your actions will not affect yourselves -alone. In this age it is almost impossible for a man to live for -himself alone. On every side our lives touch those of others; their -lives touch ours. Even if it were possible to live otherwise, few would -wish to. A narrow life, a selfish life, is almost sure to be not only -unprofitable but unhappy. The happy people and the successful people -are those who go out of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> way to reach and influence for good as -many persons as they can. In order to do this, though, in order best to -fit one's self to live this kind of life, it is important that certain -habits be acquired; and an essential one of these is the habit of -realizing one's responsibility to others.</p> - -<p>Your actions will affect other people in one way or another, and you -will be responsible for the result. You ought always to remember this, -and govern yourselves accordingly. Suppose it is the matter of the -recitation of a lesson, for instance. Some one may say: "It is nobody's -business but my own if I fail in a recitation. Nobody will suffer but -me." This is not so. Indirectly you injure your teacher also, for while -a conscientious, hard-working teacher ought not to be blamed for the -failures of pupils who do not learn simply because they do not want -to, or are too lazy to try, it is generally the case that a teacher's -reputation gains or loses as his or her class averages high or low. -And each failure in recitation, for whatever cause, brings down the -average. Then, too, you are having an influence upon your classmates, -even if it be unconscious. There is hardly ever a student who is not -observed by some one at some time as an example. "There is such a -boy,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> some other student says to himself. "He has failed in class ever -so many times, and still he gets along. It can't make much difference -if I fail once." And as a result he neglects his duty, and does fail.</p> - -<p>The same thing is true of work in the industrial departments. Too many -students try to see how easily they can get through the day, or the -work period, and yet not get into trouble. Or even if they take more -interest than this, they care for their work only for the sake of what -they can get out of it for themselves, either as pay, or as instruction -which will enable them to work for pay at some later time. Now there -ought to be a higher impulse behind your efforts than that. Each -student ought to feel that he or she has a personal responsibility to -do each task in the very best manner possible. You owe this not only -to your fellow-students, your teachers, the school, and the people who -support the institution, but you owe it even more to yourselves. You -owe it to yourselves because it is right and honest, because nothing -less than this is right and honest, and because you never can be really -successful and really happy until you do study and work and live in -this way.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> - -<p>I have been led to speak specifically on this subject to-night on -account of two occurrences here which have come to my notice. One of -these illustrates the failure on the part of students to feel this -sense of responsibility to which I have referred. The other affords an -illustration of the possession by a student of a feeling of personal -interest and personal responsibility which has been very gratifying and -encouraging. The first incident, I may say, occurred some months ago. -It is possible that the students who were concerned in it may not be -here now or, if they are, that it would not happen again. I certainly -hope not.</p> - -<p>A gentleman who had been visiting here was to go away. He left word at -the office of his wish, saying that he planned to leave town on the -five o'clock train in the afternoon. A boy was sent from the office -early in the afternoon with a note to the barn ordering a carriage to -take this gentleman and his luggage to the station. Half-past four -came, and the man had his luggage brought down to the door of the -building in which he had been staying, so as to be ready when the -team came. But no team came. The visitor finally became so anxious -that he walked over to the barn himself. Just as he reached the barn -he met<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> the man who was in charge there, with the note in his hand. -The note had only just that moment reached this man, and of course no -carriage had been sent because the first person who felt that he had -any responsibility in the matter had only just learned that a carriage -was wanted. The boy who had brought the note had given it to another -boy, and he to someone else, and he, perhaps, to someone else. At any -rate it had been delayed because no one had taken enough interest in -the errand to see that whatever business the note referred to received -proper attention. This occurred, as I have said, several months ago, -before the local train here went over to Chehaw to meet all of the -trains. It happened that this particular passenger was going north, and -it was possible by driving to Chehaw for him to get there in time to -take the north-bound train. If he had been going the other way, though, -towards Montgomery, he would have lost the train entirely, and, as -chanced to be the case, would have been unable to keep a very important -engagement. As it was, he was obliged to ride to Chehaw in a carriage, -and the time of a man and team, which otherwise would have been saved, -was required to take him there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> - -<p>Now when such a thing as this happens, no amount of saying, "I am -sorry," by the person or persons to blame, will help the matter any. -It is too late to help it then. The thing to do is to feel some -responsibility in seeing that things are done right yourself. Take -enough interest in whatever you are engaged in to see that it is going -to come out in the end just as nearly right, just as nearly perfect, -as anything you can do will go towards making it right or perfect. And -if the task or errand passes out of your hands before it is completed, -do not feel that your responsibility in the matter ends until you have -impressed it upon the minds and heart of the person to whom you turn -over the further performance of the duty.</p> - -<p>The world is looking for men and women who can tell one why they can -do this thing or that thing, how a certain difficulty was surmounted -or a certain obstacle removed. But the world has little patience with -the man or woman who takes no real interest in the performance of a -duty, or who runs against a snag and gets discouraged, and then simply -tells why he did not do a thing, and gives excuses instead of results. -Opportunities never come a second time, nor do they wait<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> for our -leisure. The years come to us but once, and they come then only to pass -swiftly on, bearing the ineffaceable record we have put upon them. If -we wish to make them beautiful years or profitable years, we must do it -moment by moment as they glide before us.</p> - -<p>The other case to which I have referred is pleasanter to speak about. -One day this spring, after it had got late enough in the season so -that it was not as a general thing necessary to have fires to heat -our buildings, a student passing Phelps Hall noticed that there was a -volume of black smoke pouring out of one of the chimneys there. Some -boys might not have noticed the smoke at all; others would have said -that it came from the chimney; still others would have said that it -was none of their business anyway, and would have gone along. This boy -was different. He noticed the smoke, and although he saw, or thought -he saw that it came from the chimney, and if so was probably no sign -of harm, he felt that any smoke at all there at that time was such an -unusual thing that it ought to be investigated for fear it might mean -danger to the building. He was not satisfied until he had gone into the -building and had inspected every floor clear up to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> the attic, to see -that the chimney and the building were not in danger. As it happened, -the janitor had built a fire in the furnace in the basement for some -reason, so that the young man's anxiety fortunately was unfounded, but -I am heartily glad he had such an anxiety, and that he could not rest -until he found out whether there was any foundation for it or not. I -shall feel that all of our buildings are safer for his being here, and -when he graduates and goes away I hope he will leave many others here -who will have the same sense of personal responsibility which he had. -Let me tell you, here and now, that unless you young men and young -women come to have this characteristic, your lives are going to fall -far short of the best and noblest achievement possible.</p> - -<p>We frequently hear the word "lucky" used with reference to a man's -life. Two boys start out in the world at the same time, having the same -amount of education. When twenty years have passed, we find one of them -wealthy and independent; we find him a successful professional man with -an assured reputation, or perhaps at the head of a large commercial -establishment employing many men, or perhaps a farmer owning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> and -cultivating hundreds of acres of land. We find the second boy, grown -now to be a man, working for perhaps a dollar or a dollar and a half a -day, and living from hand to mouth in a rented house. When we remember -that the boys started out in life equal-handed, we may be tempted to -remark that the first boy has been fortunate, that fortune has smiled -on him; and that the second has been unfortunate. There is no such -nonsense as that. When the first boy saw a thing that he knew he ought -to do, he did it; and he kept rising from one position to another -until he became independent. The second boy was an eye-servant who was -afraid that he would do more than he was paid to do—he was afraid that -he would give fifty cents' worth of labour for twenty-five cents. He -watched the clock, for fear that he would work one minute past twelve -o'clock at noon and past six o'clock at night. He did not feel that he -had any responsibility to look out for his employer's interests. The -first boy did a dollar's worth of work for fifty cents. He was always -ready to be at the store before time; and then, when the bell rang to -stop work, he would go to his employer and ask him if there was not -something more that ought to be done that night before he went home.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> -It was this quality in the first boy that made him valuable and caused -him to rise. Why should we call him "fortunate" or "lucky?" I think it -would be much more suitable to say of him: "He is responsible."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> - -<h2>GETTING ON IN THE WORLD</h2> - -<p>It is natural and praiseworthy for a person to be looking for a higher -and better position than the one he occupies. So long as a man does -his whole duty in what he is engaged in, he is not to be condemned for -looking for something better to do. Now the question arises:—How are -you going to put yourself in a condition to be in demand for these -higher and more important positions?</p> - -<p>In the first place you should be continually on the lookout for -opportunities to improve yourselves in your present work. You should be -constantly on the lookout for chances to make yourselves more valuable -to your present employer, and more efficient in your work for him. -Suppose you are engaged in the work of milking cows—I think it better -to talk of practical things with which you all are acquainted, although -I know that many of you boys had rather I would tell you how to go to -Congress than how to become successful milkers. Inasmuch, though, as -I suspect a good many more of us will have to milk cows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> than can go -to Congress, I think it will not hurt us to talk about milking. If the -boy who milks cows now does that thoroughly, by doing it he may lay the -foundation to go to Congress later. The point is, that we want to be -constantly on the lookout for ways of improving whatever work we are -engaged in, whether that work be milking cows or doing something else.</p> - -<p>In whatever you are doing, there are a great many improvements which -you want to become acquainted with. If your work is dairying, read the -dairy journals. Get hold of every book or paper that you can which has -anything to do with your line of work. Be sure that you know all—or as -nearly as possible all—there is to be known about milking cows. And -then don't be content with what you get out of books and newspapers, -for that information is only the result of some other person's -experience. By conversing with intelligent and experienced persons, and -by your own experiments, you can get much valuable information about -your work. Never get to the point where you are ashamed to ask somebody -else for information. The ignorant man will always be ignorant, if -he fears that by asking for information he will betray his lack of -knowledge.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> - -<p>Know all there is to be known about the position you occupy, but ever -feel that there is more for you to learn. There is no person who makes -himself of so little use in the world as the one who feels that he -knows all there is to be known about his work. If you are milking cows, -and feel that you know all there is to be known about that subject, -you have simply reached a point where you are practically useless and -unfitted for the work. Feel that you can always learn something from -somebody else. It is a mark of intelligence to learn, even from the -humblest person. I do not mean for you always to put into practice -every suggestion that is made to you, or to agree with every statement -made to you; but listen to what people say, weigh their plans alongside -of your own, and then profit by the one which you are convinced is -the best. Persevere in such conversation, and in reading. You will -constantly be surprised to find how little you really know about your -work, and how much more somebody else knows about it than you do.</p> - -<p>You want to get to the point where you can anticipate the wants of -your employer. In this way you will make yourself of great service to -him. You do not know how vexing and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>discouraging it is to a man to -be compelled to say every morning to those in his employ: "Do this -at nine o'clock, and that at twelve o'clock, and the other at five;" -or how pleasant it is to have a person with whom you come in contact -anticipate the needs of the man who employs him.</p> - -<p>Then you can make yourself valuable and in demand just in proportion -as you consider that the work you are performing is your own. Do not -consider that it is being performed for a certain man or a particular -organization. Make haste and get to the point where you can feel -that everything connected with the shop in which you work, or in the -office, or in the stable, is under your care, and that you alone are -responsible for it. If you are at the head of a stable or barn, plan -day by day how you can best provide for the well-being of your cows and -horses. When you make yourself master of these humble positions, you -will find that the calls to higher places will come to you. The men you -see spending most of their time looking for higher and more lucrative -positions are, nine times out of ten, men who have made worthless -failures in other places.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> - -<h2>EACH ONE HIS PART</h2> - -<p>I desire to call your attention for a few minutes to-night to the fact -that one thing is dependent for success upon another, one individual -is dependent for success upon another, one family in a community upon -other families for their mutual prosperity, one part of a State upon -the other parts for the successful government of the State. The same -thing is true in nature. One thing cannot exist unless another exists; -cannot succeed without the success of something else. The very forces -of nature are dependent upon other forces for their existence. Without -vegetable life we could not have animal life; without mineral life we -could not have vegetable life. So, throughout all kinds of life, as -throughout the life of nature, everything is dependent upon something -else for its success.</p> - -<p>The same thing is true of this institution and of every institution. -The success of the whole depends upon having every person connected -with the institution do his or her whole duty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> - -<p>We are very apt to get the idea that there are high positions and -that there are low positions, that there is important service and -unimportant service; but I believe that God expects the same amount -of conscientious work from a person in a low position as from one -in a high position, that He expects the same conscientious service -whether the work be a big task or a little one. We are dependent as -an institution—every institution is dependent—for success, upon the -individual consciences of those connected with it as teachers and -students; and there is nothing that gives me more satisfaction and -pleasure, and more faith in the future of the school, than to see -examples of conscientious work here.</p> - -<p>I remember a special instance of this kind that occurred at one of -our Commencements. I believe that Commencement, more than any other -time in the school year, is an occasion when there is excitement and a -desire to witness the exercises. After the exercises of that year were -over, I had occasion to go to the dining room, and I found there one -of the teachers who from her appearance I thought had not attended the -exercises. When I asked her about this, she said: "No. I intended to -go, but at the last minute I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> saw that there were some dishes here that -needed to be washed, and I stayed here to see that they were washed."</p> - -<p>Now that was one of the finest exhibitions of conscientious regard for -duty that I ever saw, and there are very few persons who would have -done a thing like that. That we have teachers here whose hearts are -so much in their work that they are willing to do such things as this -gives me great faith in the future of this school as the years go on.</p> - -<p>It takes a person with a conscience, when there are public men of note -here, a great many strangers and many things to attract attention, to -be so mindful of her duty that she will stay behind and wash dishes -when every one else is in attendance upon the exercises and seeking -enjoyment. When the people connected with this institution can bring -themselves up to that point, I have no fear for the success of the -institution; and it can succeed only as they do bring their consciences -up to that point.</p> - -<p>If I were to ask you individually as students to deliver an address -upon this platform, or to read an essay, I should not be at all afraid -that you would fail. I believe that you would carefully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> prepare that -address or essay. You would look up all the references necessary in -order to give you what information you needed, and then you would get -up here and speak or read successfully. I feel sure that I would hear -something that I should not be ashamed of. The average man and woman -does succeed when before the public. But where I fear for your success -is when you come to the performance of the small duties—the duties -which you think no one else will know about, the things which no one -will see you do. It is when you think that no one is going to see you -washing dishes, or getting dirt out of crevices, that I am afraid you -are going to fail.</p> - -<p>I remember that some time ago when I was travelling in a buggy from -one New England village to another, after we had gone some miles on -our way, the young man who was driving me stopped the horse and got -out. I asked him what was the matter, and he said that something was -the matter with the harness. I looked with all the eyes I had, and yet -I could see nothing at fault. Still the man mended a piece of harness -that he said was not as it should be. It had not seemed to me that -this fault in the harness had been irritating the horse or hindering -him from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> going so fast as he ought, but after it had been repaired I -could see a difference for the better. That, to my mind, was a great -lesson. It taught me how the people of New England have educated their -consciences so that they cannot allow themselves to let even the -smallest thing go undone or be improperly done. It is this trait in the -New England character that has come to make the very name itself of -that part of the country a synonym for success. Don't we wish that we -had a hundred such men as that driver here! If I could put my hand on a -thousand such persons as that, we could find employment for all of them -as soon as they got their diplomas.</p> - -<p>One learns to judge persons by their character in this respect. Not -long ago I had an opportunity to go through the jail of this county. As -the sheriff showed me through the building I was impressed to see how -clean everything was, and I noticed that the man who seemed to be the -janitor of the jail, although he too was a prisoner, seemed to take a -great deal of pride in showing me the cleanness of the corners and the -general good appearance of the place. He seemed to put his whole heart -into the keeping of that jail clean.</p> - -<p>"Who is that man?" I asked the sheriff, after we had got out of the -janitor's hearing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> - -<p>"He is a prisoner," the sheriff replied, "but I believe he is innocent. -I do not believe that a man can be so honest and faithful about his -work and be guilty of a crime. When I see how well he does his work -here, notwithstanding the fact that he is shut up here in prison, I -believe that he is an honest man and deserves his freedom."</p> - -<p>In plain words, then, the problem we must work out here is not:—Can -you master algebra, or literature? We know you can do that. We know -you can master the sciences. The general problem we have to work out -here, and work it out with fear and trembling, is:—Can we educate -the individual conscience? Can we so educate a group of students that -there will be in every one of them a conscience on which we can depend. -Can we educate a class of girls here who will not be satisfied when -sweeping their rooms to make the middle of the rooms look clean, but -leave a trail of dirt in the comers and under the furniture? Will -they see to it that everything is properly cleaned and put in its -appropriate place? Can we educate a class of young men who will do -their duty on the farm as they would do it on this platform? Can we -educate your consciences so that you will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> do certain things, not -because it is the rule that they should be done, but because they -should be done? These are the problems we must work out here.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> - -<h2>WHAT WOULD FATHER AND MOTHER SAY?</h2> - -<p>I think there is no more important or more critical time in a person's -life than when he or she leaves home for the first time, to enter -school, or to go to work, or to go into business. I think that as a -general thing you can judge pretty accurately what a person is going to -amount to in life by the way he or she acts during the first year or -two after leaving home.</p> - -<p>You will find, usually, that if a young man is able during this time -to stand up against temptation, is able to practise the lessons that -his father and mother have taught him, and instead of falling by the -wayside gains help and inspiration as he goes along from these lessons, -he is almost sure to prove himself a valuable citizen, one who not -only will be a help to his parents in their old age, but a help to the -community in which he lives.</p> - -<p>There is no better way to test an act than to ask yourself the -question: "What would my father or my mother think of this? Would they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> -approve, or should I be ashamed to let them know that I have done this -thing?" If you will ask yourselves these questions day by day, I think -you will find that you will get a great deal of assistance from them in -the shaping of your lives while you are here at school.</p> - -<p>I want you to put that question to yourselves with regard to -deportment, because that is a thing on which we must lay emphasis. We -can fill your heads with knowledge, and we can train your hands to work -with skill, but unless all this training of head and hand is based upon -high, upright character, upon a true heart, it will amount to nothing. -You will be no better off than the most ignorant.</p> - -<p>Now, one of the ways in which young people are likely to go astray, -especially when they first go away from home to school, is in yielding -to a temptation to spend their time with persons who have mean and low -dispositions; persons whom you would be ashamed to have your parents -know that you kept company with. Avoid that. Be sure that the young men -and women with whom you associate are persons who are able to raise you -up, persons who will help to make you stronger in every way.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> - -<p>I do not need to tell you, I am sure, of the consequences of -association with persons who will have, a bad influence upon you, or -the results of a disregard of admonitions for good. A student who -persistently keeps bad company, who breaks rules, who is constantly -disobedient, who is repeatedly behind at roll call, who time after time -has to be called up by the officer of the day, or watched in the dining -room or on the parade ground, is the student who in a few years is -going to bring sorrow to the hearts of his parents. There is no getting -away from that.</p> - -<p>Only to-day the mother of one of the students came here with a message -from another mother whose son had been sent here. She told me how this -anxious mother had told her to impress upon her son the necessity of -obeying every rule here, and how she wanted him to put in every moment -in hard study and honest work. She wanted this woman to impress upon -the boy how hard his mother was struggling every day so that she could -keep him here, and at the same time provide for the younger children -of the family at home. Now, when this message was delivered, where was -that boy? Was he doing as his mother was so earnestly praying him to -do? No. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> had already disgraced himself, and had been sent away from -the institution. How much sorrow will he bring to his poor mother's -heart when she knows! No wonder he was trying to conceal his misconduct -and disgrace from her.</p> - -<p>Let me entreat you, then, if you are inclined to fritter away the best -hours of your lives, think how the news of your misconduct will act -upon the hearts of your parents, those fathers and mothers whose every -thought is of you.</p> - -<p>I have spoken of these as some of the things that we do not want to -have you do at school. What are some of the things that we do want you -to learn to do? We want to have you learn to see and appreciate the -practical value of the religion of Christ. We hope to help you to see -that religion, that Christianity, is not something that is far off, -something in the air, that it is not something to be enjoyed only after -the breath has left the body. We want to have you see that the religion -of Christ is a real and helpful thing; that it is something which you -can take with you into your class-rooms, into your shops, on to the -farm, into your very sleeping rooms, and that you do not have to wait -until to-morrow before you can find out about the power and helpfulness -of Christ's religion.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> - -<p>We want to have you feel that this religion is a part of your lives, -and that it is meant to be a help to you from day to day. We hope to -have you feel that the religious services that we have you attend here -are not burdens, but that it is a privilege, greatly to be desired, to -come to these meetings, and into the prayer meetings of the various -societies on the grounds, and there commune, not in a far-off, -imaginary way, but in an humble but intimate way, with the spirit of -Jesus. We want you to feel that religion is something to make you -happier, brighter and more hopeful, not something to make you go about -with long, solemn faces. We want you to learn, if you do not already -know, that in order to be Christlike one does not have to be unnatural.</p> - -<p>Then we want to have you to learn to govern your actions, not alone for -the sake of the result which they will have upon yourself and those -who are near and dear to you, but for the sake of your influence upon -all with whom you will come in contact. Your life here will be largely -wasted—I am tempted to say wholly wasted—if you fail to learn that -higher, broader, and far more important lesson of your relations to -your fellow-students and to all the persons by whom you are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> going to -be daily surrounded. Your life will be wasted if you go away from here -and have not learned that the greatest lesson of all is the lesson -of brotherly love, of usefulness and of charity. I want to see young -men who are here realize this spirit to such an extent that they will -rise in chapel and give their seats to students who are strangers at -the school. I want to have you get to the point where you will go to -the matron in the dining room and ask her permission to have some new -student who has not had a chance to get acquainted take his meals at a -seat beside you.</p> - -<p>Of the many noble traits exhibited by the late General Armstrong, -none made a deeper impression upon me than his supreme unselfishness. -I do not believe that I ever saw in all my association with General -Armstrong anything in his life or actions which indicated in the -slightest degree that he was selfish. He was interested not only in the -black South, but in the white South, not only in his own school, but -in all schools. Anything which he could do or say to benefit another -institution seemed to give him as much pleasure as if he were speaking -or acting directly for the benefit of Hampton Institute.</p> - -<p>I had a pleasant experience of this spirit of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> desire to be helpful -to others a little while ago, when I was visiting a certain theological -seminary in Pennsylvania. I think I was never in such an atmosphere -as during the two days I spent in that institution. I was surrounded -by a crowd of young men whose sole object seemed to be to make me -comfortable and happy. Most of these young men were far advanced in the -study of theology and the sciences, and yet they were not above serving -me, even to the extent of offering to black my boots. When I came away -several wished to carry my luggage to the station. This is the kind of -thoughtfulness we want to have in every corner of this institution. -Get hold of the spirit of wanting to help somebody else. Seek every -opportunity possible to make somebody happy and comfortable. Do all -this, and you will find that the years will not be many before we will -have one of the best institutions on the face of the globe, and that -you, in helping to make it such, have been doing things that, when you -ask yourselves: "What would father and mother say about my doing this?" -will enable you to answer the question with pride and satisfaction.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> - -<h2>OBJECT LESSONS</h2> - -<p>Not long ago an old coloured man living in this State said to me: "I's -done quit libin' in de ashes. I's got my second freedom."</p> - -<p>That remark meant, in this case, that that old man by economy, hard -work and proper guidance, after twenty years of struggle, had freed -himself from debt, had paid for fifty acres of land, had built a -comfortable house, and was a tax-payer. It meant that his two sons had -been educated in academic and agricultural branches, that his daughter -had received mental training in connection with lessons in sewing and -cooking. Within certain limitations here was a Christian, American -home, the result of industrial effort and philanthropy. This Negro had -been given a chance to get upon his feet. That is all that any Negro in -America asks. That is all that you in this school ask.</p> - -<p>What position in State, in letters, or in commerce and in business the -offspring of that man is to occupy must be left to the future and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> -capacity of the race. What position you are to occupy must be left to -your future and to your capacity. During the days of slavery we were -shielded from competition. To-day, unless we prepare ourselves to -compete with the world, we must go to the wall as a race.</p> - -<p>If I were to go into certain communities in the United States and say -that the German is ignorant, I should be pointed to the best-paying -truck-farm in that neighbourhood, owned and operated by a German. If I -said that the German is without skill, I should be shown the largest -machine-shop in the city, owned and operated by a German. If I said -the German is lazy, I should be shown the largest and finest residence -on the most fashionable avenue, built from the savings of a German who -began life in poverty. If I said that the German could not be trusted, -I should be introduced to a man of that race who is the president of -the largest bank in the city. If I said that the German is not fitted -for citizenship, I should be shown a German who is a respected and -influential member of the city government.</p> - -<p>Now, when your critics say that the Negro is lazy, I want you to be -able to show them the finest farm in the community owned and operated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> -by a Negro. When they ask if the Negro is honest, I want you to show -them a Negro whose note is acceptable at the bank for $5,000. When they -say that the Negro is not economical, I want you to show them a Negro -with $50,000 in the bank. When they say that the Negro is not fit for -citizenship, I want you to show them a man of our race paying taxes on -a cotton factory. I want you to be able to show them Negroes who stand -in the front in the affairs of State, of religion, of education, of -mechanics, of commerce and of household economy. You remember the old -admonition: "By this sign we shall conquer." Let it be our motto.</p> - -<p>There are people in the North who have been aiding in the matter of -Negro education in the South during the last ten, twenty, or even -thirty years. It is in part the money of those people that has made -this institution possible. Those people have a right, as a plain matter -of business, to ask what are the results of this aid they have been -giving. What evidences can we present to prove to them that their -investments in this direction have been paying ones? It is, in no small -measure, the duty of you, as students of Tuskegee Institute, to answer, -and to answer satisfactorily, such a question as that.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> - -<p>We have reached a point, largely through the aid which the North has -given to the South during the last thirty years, where there is little -opposition in the South to the people of the Negro race receiving any -form of education. You can go out from here and plant a school in any -county in the South, which will not meet with opposition from the white -residents of the community. What is more, in many cases it will receive -encouragement, and in some a hearty sympathy and support. Not long ago -I received fifty dollars from a white man in Mississippi to pay for the -education of a black boy. This man was formerly a slave-holder, and -at first he was not inclined to encourage the education of the Negro, -but he stated to me frankly, in his letter, that he now believes that -Tuskegee and similar institutions are doing the work that the Negro -most needs to have done. He wanted to show the people of the North, -he said, that Southern white men are as deeply interested in the -development of the Negro as they are. I have in mind another case, of -a Southern white man in Alabama who during the last year contributed -out of his own pocket nearly $2,000 for the building and maintenance of -a Negro school in his county. Still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> another Southern white man, Mr. -Belton Gilreath, of Birmingham, Alabama, recently sent the Institute -his check for $500—up to that time the largest sum which the school -had received from a Southern man—with this letter:</p> - -<p>"As a Southern man and the son of one of the largest slave owners of -the South, I am anxious for our people to do all that can reasonably be -expected of them for the education of the Negroes, thereby making them -more content and useful citizens and friends.</p> - -<p>"Furthermore, I think the time has come in the South for all our people -to consider more fully than they have ever done before the question of -the education of <i>all of our population</i>; and, wherever practicable, to -give attention in our schools to teaching the art of saving also."</p> - -<p>More recently still, Mr. H. M. Atkinson, of Atlanta, one of the most -successful business men in the entire South, came to Tuskegee Institute -and made a thorough inspection of our work. After he returned to -Atlanta I received a letter from him from which I quote one paragraph: -"I enclose my check for $1,000, for the benefit of your school, to be -used as your judgment dictates. I was very much impressed by what I -saw. I will not forget it."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> - -<p>These white people are beginning to see the difference between the -value of an educated Negro and one who is not educated. It is for you -to demonstrate to them this value more and more clearly every year.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> - -<h2>SUBSTANCE vs. SHADOW</h2> - -<p>You are here for the purpose of getting an education. Now, one of the -results of an education is to increase a person's wants. You take the -ordinary person who lives on a plantation, and so long as that person -is ignorant, he is content to live in a cabin with one room, in which -he has a skillet, a bedstead—or an apology for one—a table, and a few -chairs or stools. He is content if he has fat meat, corn bread and peas -on the table to eat, and for clothing he is satisfied to wear jeans -and osnaburg himself, and to have his wife wear a calico dress and a -twenty-five cent hat.</p> - -<p>But, as soon as that man becomes educated, he feels that he must have a -house with at least two or three rooms in it, furnished with neat and -substantial furniture. Instead of jeans and osnaburg for clothes, he -wants decent woollen cloth, neat-fitting shoes, and a white collar and -a necktie, things which he never thought of wearing before he became -educated. Sometimes he even thinks that he must have jewellery.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> - -<p>So you see the result of education is to increase a person's wants. -Now, the crisis in that person's affairs comes when the question -arises whether his education has increased his ability to supply his -wants. Such an ability, I claim, is one of the results of industrial -education. By such an education as that, while we are getting culture -along all the lines that in any degree tend to increase the wants of a -person, we are, in the meantime, getting skill to increase our ability -to supply these wants. And, unless we have this ability, we will find, -sooner or later, that instead of going forward we are going backward.</p> - -<p>I think that the temptation for us, especially for those who are only -half educated, is to try to get hold of a certain kind of shallow -culture, instead of getting the substantial—instead of getting hold of -real education, of property and material prosperity.</p> - -<p>You who study history know how the Pilgrim Fathers, who landed at -Plymouth Rock in the bleak winter of 1620, were willing to wear -homespun clothes, and to be married in them, if necessary, and to -have a wedding that in all would not cost more than four dollars, I -suppose. On the other hand, when one of our boys wants to get<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> married -now, he must have a wedding that costs not less than one hundred and -fifty dollars. His wife must have a dress with a long train, and he -must have a Prince Albert, broadcloth coat that he either rents, or -buys on the instalment plan. They think that they must have a bevy of -waiting bridesmaids, and there must be a line of hacks standing on the -outside of the church door that will cost him not less than twenty-five -dollars. Then, after the ceremony, where do these people go to live? -The chances are the young man who has been to all this expense for the -sake of the show of it, takes his bride to live in a small cabin with -only two rooms—sometimes only one room—rented at that.</p> - -<p>This is what I mean by getting the superficial culture before the -dollars are made; grasping at the shadow instead of the substance. Now -what we want to do here is to send out a set of young men and young -women who will go into the communities where such mistakes as these -are made, and show the people by example and by work how much better -it is to get married for four dollars, and to pay as you go, than to -get married for a hundred and fifty dollars, and then pay four dollars -a month to live in a rented cabin. When<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> I go to New York, or to any -large city, there is nothing more discouraging than to see people of -this very class I am speaking of, people who seek the superficial -culture, the shadow, rather than the substantial dollars and education. -If you stand for a few minutes on any of the fashionable streets in the -Northern cities, you will see these elaborately dressed men, wearing -five dollar hats on heads that at most are not worth more than fifty -cents. This is the class of people who have got just enough education -to make them want everything they see, but who have not got enough to -make them able to get what they want unless they go beyond their means -to do so.</p> - -<p>A superficial education, too, makes us inclined to seek show in other -things besides dress. We are inclined, for one thing, to seek to show -off in the use of titles. I remember that once I was introduced to a -company of about sixty men, and out of the whole number there were only -six who were not doctors, professors, or colonels, or who did not have -some title. I must say I thought more of the six who were just plain -misters than I did of all the rest, for among the others there were -some very hard-looking doctors and professors. An over-desire for these -things shows a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>shallowness in us which makes us ridiculous. We want -to stop making that kind of mistake. If you are a mister, encourage -the people to call you by that title. If you are a minister and preach -interesting and instructive sermons, people are going to be impressed -by what you say and not by the title you bear. The title is the shadow; -what you say is the substance.</p> - -<p>When a person is simple, he is on the strong side. People not only -have more respect for him, but he accomplishes more. I was once at -a memorial meeting held in honour of a man who had done a great and -useful work, not only for the race but for the school with which he had -been connected. After about two hours of speechmaking, somebody took -the platform and said that a collection ought to be taken up for the -benefit of the school which this man had worked so hard for, to show -the appreciation which those present felt for this man's services. -After a good deal of talk, $6.65 was collected. Then the question was -raised again as to what was going to be done with this money—just how -it was to be donated to the school.</p> - -<p>The meeting had passed a set of resolutions testifying to the high -character of the man and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> the worth of his work. Somebody suggested -that these resolutions be engrossed and sent to the school. This was -a big word, and the people liked the sound of it. Upon inquiry it was -found that it would cost $6.00 to have the resolutions engrossed. It -was voted to have this done, and it was done; when the resolutions -would have done just as much good typewritten, at a cost of twenty-five -cents. But the meeting paid out the $6.00, and sent the engrossed copy -of the resolutions down to the school, along with the sixty-five cents -left to be expended for the help of the school. That, it seemed to me, -was another case of grasping the shadow instead of the substance. The -engrossed resolutions were the shadow; the sixty-five cents were all -that was left of the substance.</p> - -<p>In all these matters we need speedy and effective reforms. We want you -to go out into the world and use your influence toward securing these -reforms. There are too many people in the world who give their whole -lives to grasping at the shadow instead of the substance—grasping at -a sham instead of real worth. We want you to teach by word and action -simple, right and honest living.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHARACTER AS SHOWN IN DRESS</h2> - -<p>It is surprising how much we can tell about a person's character by his -dress. I think it is very seldom that we cannot tell whether a person -is ignorant or educated, simply by his dress; and there are some few, -plain facts about dress that I am going to mention to you to-night. -While it is hard to lay down any rules as to how we must dress, I -think there are some well-defined principles of dress to which all -well-educated persons will conform.</p> - -<p>I think we will all agree that our dress should be clean. There is -little excuse for persons wearing filthy clothes—I think we all will -agree as to that. It is disgraceful for a man to go about with ragged -clothes or with clothes fastened together with pins where buttons ought -to be. It is disgraceful for a girl to go about with a soiled apron, or -with her clothes pinned together. Our clothes should be kept clean and -in good repair. Thus far, I think, we shall have no disagreement.</p> - -<p>But there are some people who make the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>mistake of giving their -whole mind to the subject of dress. From the very beginning of the -week you will find that a great part of their thought and attention -is given to planning what they are going to wear the next Sunday. -Some people will go in rags all through the week, in order to have -something showy to wear on Sunday. I think we should respect Sunday by -putting on something different from what we wear during the week if -we can—although of course these things are largely governed by our -station in life—but even then it certainly is inappropriate to wear -our most showy clothes on that day.</p> - -<p>Dress in the way that your pocket will allow. There are some persons -who not only employ all their thoughts in considering what they shall -wear, but also spend all their money on their clothes.</p> - -<p>There are some persons who live for the sake of dress. These persons -are usually denominated "fops." I think the people in the Northern -cities are the worst in this respect. If you go through Sixth Avenue, -in New York, or Cambridge Street, in Boston, you will see many of these -fops, who perhaps earn about twenty dollars a month, standing on the -street corners with kid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> gloves on, cigars between their lips, and high -hats. Now that kind of a person is a foolish fop, and one whom we do -not care to have in this institution. There is no more foolish person -than the one who spends all he makes, and sometimes more, on dress.</p> - -<p>Then, too, I think there are persons who make mistakes in the matter -of ornaments—what we call jewellery. You will find many a man whose -income is not twenty dollars a month wearing a great brass watch chain -with so much brass in it that you can almost smell it. You will see -men and women with three or four brass finger rings, or women with -brass ear-rings. Do you know that one of the most common mistakes among -the masses of our people in the country is throwing away their money -on cheap jewellery? Do you know that they will come in to town to -the stores, and spend their money on jewellery worth about ten cents -apiece, jewellery that you actually can get for six dollars and seven -dollars a bushel at wholesale? Our people spend thousands of dollars -every year for this cheap jewellery. If there is a young man or a young -woman here who likes jewellery, and is going to indulge in it, be sure -to get that which is modest.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> - -<p>Another mistake that some of our people make is in wearing flashy or -loud dress—dress in which bright colours and red ribbons predominate. -Our dress should be modest; with few colours.</p> - -<p>We often make a mistake in getting shoes about two sizes too small. -I saw a girl this morning in perfect misery, simply because she had -bought, and was trying to wear, a pair of shoes about two sizes too -small. Such people simply punish their feet to make people think they -have small feet, though it is just as honourable to have a large foot -as a small one; there is no difference. Then we make another mistake -in buying cheap, showy shoes simply because they have a gloss on -them. Such shoes are made to attract attention, and not for comfort -or durability. When you are spending your money for shoes, be sure -that you get something good, something that will last you. Do not buy -those worthless things, which, when they come in contact with water, -will shrivel up because they are made of cheap material. A man cannot -respect a girl who punishes her feet in order to make them look small.</p> - -<p>Then, another thing. Some of us think we can improve our colour. Some -get flour, and others get other kinds of mixtures which are called -face<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> powders. There is no use for this. Any man will lose respect for -a girl who abuses herself in this way. Only get something into your -head, and then you will find that these matters of dress will adjust -themselves. While some of you do not dress so well as you might, yet, -if you will give the contents of your heads the proper attention, you -will find that the matter of dress will not trouble you. You can get -dresses and clothes after you have secured your education, but now is -the only time that you have in which to secure the education.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> - -<h2>SING THE OLD SONGS</h2> - -<p>There is no part of our chapel exercises that gives me more pleasure -than the beautiful Negro melodies which you sing. I believe there is no -part of the service more truly spiritual, more elevating. Wherever you -go, after you leave this school, I hope that you will never give up the -singing of these songs. If you go out to have schools of your own, have -your pupils sing them as you have sung them here, and teach them to -see the beauty which dwells in these songs. When in New York, not long -ago, I had the pleasure of conversing with Prince Henry of Prussia, he -spoke particularly of the beauty of these songs, and said that in his -own home, in Germany, he and his family often sing them. He asked if -there was any printed collection of these songs, that a copy might be -sent him, and I have since then forwarded to him a copy of the book -of plantation melodies collected and published under the auspices of -Hampton Institute.</p> - -<p>When Christ was upon this earth He said: "A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> little child shall lead -them." Whence comes this supreme power of leadership? In this age, when -we hear so much said about leaders of men, about successful leadership, -we do well to stop to consider this admonition of the Saviour. Some -are said to lead in business, others in education, others in politics, -or in religion. What is the explanation of "A little child shall lead -them?" Simply this. A little child, under all circumstances, is its -simple, pure, sweet self; never appearing big when it is little; never -appearing learned when it is ignorant; never appearing wealthy when it -is in poverty; never appearing important when it is unimportant. In a -word, the life of the child is founded upon the great and immutable, -and yet simple, tender and delicate laws of nature. There is no -pretence. There is no mockery.</p> - -<p>There is an unconscious, beautiful, strong clinging to truth; and -it is this divine quality in child or in man, in Jew or Gentile, in -Christian or Mohammedan, in the ancient world or in the modern world, -in a black man or in a white man, that always has led men and moulded -their activity. The men who have been brave enough, wise enough, simple -enough, self-denying enough to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> plant themselves upon this rock of -truth and there stand, have, in the end, drawn the world unto them, -even as Christ said: "I will draw all men unto me." Such a man was -Luther, such a man was Wesley, such a man was Carlyle, such a man was -Cromwell, such were Garrison and Phillips, such was Abraham Lincoln, -and such was our own great Frederick Douglass.</p> - -<p>The thing aimed at by all great souls has been to bring men and races -back to the simplicity and purity of childhood—back to reality.</p> - -<p>What is the most original product with which the Negro race stands -accredited? Yes, I am almost ready to add, with which America stands -accredited? Without hesitation I answer:—Those beautiful, weird, -quaint, sweet melodies which were the simple, child-like expression of -the anguish, the joy, the hopes, the burdens, the faith, the trials of -our forefathers who wore the yoke of slavery.</p> - -<p>Why are they the admiration of the world? Why does every attempt at -improvement spoil them? Why do they never fail to touch the tenderest -chord—to bring tears from the eyes of rich and poor—from king and -humblest toiler alike?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> - -<p>Listen how in this beautiful song the soul in trouble is told not to go -to houses and temples made by man, but to get close to Nature:</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i4">Ef yer want to see Jesus</div> -<div class="i4">Go in de wilderness,</div> -<div class="i4">Go in de wilderness,</div> -<div class="i4">Go in de wilderness,</div> -<div class="i4">Go in de wilderness.</div> -<div class="i4">If yer want to see Jesus,</div> -<div class="i4">Go in de wilderness</div> -<div class="i4">Leanin' on de Lord.</div> -<div>Oh brudder, how d'ye feel, when ye come out de wilderness,</div> -<div class="i4">Come out de wilderness,</div> -<div class="i4">Come out de wilderness,</div> -<div>Oh, brudder, how d'ye feel, when ye come out de wilderness,</div> -<div class="i4">Leanin' on de Lord?</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Then, in another, hear how our foreparents broke through all the -deceptions and allurements of false wealth, and in their long days of -weariness expressed their faith in a place where every day would be one -of rest:</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i4">Oh, religion is a fortune,</div> -<div class="i5">I r'a'ly do believe.</div> -<div class="i4">Oh, religion is a fortune,</div> -<div class="i5">I r'a'ly do believe.</div> -<div class="i4">Oh, religion is a fortune,</div> -<div class="i5">I r'a'ly do believe,</div> -<div class="i6">Whar Sabbaths hab no end.</div> -<div>Whar yo' been, poor mourner, whar yo' been so long?</div> -<div class="i2">"Been down in de valley, for to pray;</div> -<div class="i4">An' I ain't done prayin' yet."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Then, how, when oppressed by years of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>servitude to which others -thought there would be no end, we hear them break out into quaint and -wild bursts of appeal to fact:</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i5">My Lord delibered Daniel,</div> -<div class="i5">My Lord delibered Daniel,</div> -<div class="i5">My Lord delibered Daniel;</div> -<div class="i6">Why can't He deliber me?</div> -<div>I met a pilgrim on de way, an' I ask him where he's gwine.</div> -<div class="i4">"I'm bound for Canaan's happy lan',</div> -<div class="i4">An' dis is de shoutin' band.</div> -<div class="i16">Go on."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i3">He delibered Daniel from de lion's den,</div> -<div class="i4">Jonah from de belly ob de whale,</div> -<div class="i3">An' de Hebrew children from de fiery furnace.</div> -<div class="i4">Den why not ebery man?"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Or when the burden seemed almost too great for human body to endure, -there came this simple, child-like prayer:</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>O Lord, O, my Lord, O, my good Lord,</div> -<div class="i1">Keep me from sinkin' down.</div> -<div>O Lord, O my Lord, O my good Lord,</div> -<div class="i1">Keep me from sinkin' down.</div> -<div class="i2">I tell yo' what I mean to do.</div> -<div class="i1">Keep me from sinkin' down.</div> -<div class="i2">I mean to go to hebben, too.</div> -<div class="i1">Keep me from sinkin' down.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Or what could go more directly to Nature's heart than the pathetic yet -hopeful, trustful outburst of the little slave boy who was to be taken -from his mother to be sold into the far South,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> when it seemed to him -that all earthly happiness was forever blighted. Hear him:</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i1">I'm gwine to jine de great 'sociation,</div> -<div class="i1">I'm gwine to jine de great 'sociation,</div> -<div class="i1">I'm gwine to jine de great 'sociation.</div> -<div>Den my little soul's gwine to shine, shine;</div> -<div>Den my little soul's gwine to shine along. Oh!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i1">I'm gwine to climb up Jacob's ladder.</div> -<div>Den my little soul's gwine to shine, shine.</div> -<div>Den my little soul's gwine to shine along. Oh!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i1">I'm gwine to climb up higher an' higher.</div> -<div>Den my little soul's gwine, etc</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i1">I'm gwine to sit at de welcome table</div> -<div class="i1">I'm gwine to feast off milk an' honey.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i1">I'm gwine to tell God how-a' you sarved me.</div> -<div>Den my little soul's gwine to shine, shine.</div> -<div>Den my little soul's gwine to shine along. Oh!</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And so it has ever been, so it is, and ever will be. The world, -regardless of race, or colour, or condition, admires and approves a -real thing. But sham, buffoonery, mere imitation, mere superficiality, -never has brought success and never will bring it.</p> - -<p>An individual or a race that is strong enough, is wise enough, to -disregard makeshifts, customs, prejudices, alluring temptations, -deceptions, imitations—to throw off the mask of unreality and plant -itself deep down in the clay, or on the solid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> granite of nature, is -the individual or the race that will crawl up, struggle up, yes, even -burst up; and in the effort of doing so will gain a strength that will -command for it respect and recognition. Before an individual or a race -thus equipped, race prejudice, senseless customs, oppressions, will -hide their faces forever in blushing shame.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> - -<h2>GETTING DOWN TO MOTHER EARTH</h2> - -<p>One of the highest ambitions of every man leaving Tuskegee Institute -should be to help the people of his race find bottom—find bed -rock—and then help them to stand upon that foundation. If we who -are interested in the school can help you to do this, we shall count -ourselves satisfied. And until the bed-rock of our life is found, -and until we are planted thereon, all else is but plaster, but -make-believe, but the paper on the walls of a house without framework.</p> - -<p>That is one of the stepping stones with which nature has provided -us. Here the path is plain, if we have the courage to follow it. -Eighty-five per cent. of the people of the Negro race live—or attempt -to live—by some form of agriculture. If we would save the race, and -lift it up, here is the great opportunity around which, in a large -measure, individual, organized, religious and secular effort should -centre for the next fifty years.</p> - -<p>But to do this we must take advantage of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> forces at hand. We must -stand upon our own feet, and not upon a foundation supplied by another. -We must begin our growth where our civilization finds us, and not try -to begin on some other civilization.</p> - -<p>To illustrate what I mean, we need not go to another race, nor very far -from home. In a little town in Alabama there was a sturdy, industrious -black man who for nearly twenty years had lived upon rented land, had -hired mules and horses to work that land, and had mortgaged his crops -to secure food and clothes. He had driven to church on Sunday in a -buggy that was not his, and he wore good-looking clothes that were not -paid for. In outward appearance he seemed to prosper. He seemed to be -what the white men about him were.</p> - -<p>But this black man knew that he was trying to stand upon an imperfect -basis. And so, one day about a dozen years ago, he made up his mind -that henceforth he would be himself—that he would stand upon his own -foundation. He told the white man to take back his mules, to take back -his waggon and buggy; and he gave up the rented land. He had resolved -to be a man. A few acres of land were secured. He made his bed in the -cotton seed at night. He hired a boy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> to come to his place at night, -and by moonlight he pulled a plough which the boy guided. In this way -a cotton crop was made free from debt. With the small surplus which he -got from this he bought an ox, and with this beast made a second crop -free from debt. A mule was bought, and then another. To-day this man is -the owner of a comfortable home, is a stockholder in one of the banks -of his county, and his note or check will be honoured by any business -house there. While others were talking, or debating over second-hand -doctrines learned by rote, this strong son of nature had found himself -and solved his own problem.</p> - -<p>I might tell you the story of another man of our race who began his -successful business life in the hollow of a tree for his home; without -furniture or bed-clothing. But that tree, and the land on which it -stood, were his own. You had better begin life in a hollow tree and -be a man, than begin it in a rented house and be a mere tool, the -imitation of a man. If you were to go into the Western part of this -country you would find it filled with men of the highest culture, -profound scholarship, and enduring wealth, whose ancestors a few -generations ago began life in a dug-out, in a hay loft,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> or in a hole -in the side of a mountain. Young men and young women, there is no -escape. If we would be great, and good, and useful, we must pay the -price. And remember that when we get down to the fundamental principles -of truth, nature draws no colour line.</p> - -<p>I do not want to startle you when I say it, but I should like to see -during the next fifty years every coloured minister and teacher, whose -work lies outside the large cities, armed with a thorough knowledge -of theoretical and practical agriculture, in connection with his -theological and academic training. This, I believe, should be so -because the race is an agricultural one, and because my hope is that it -will remain such. Upon this foundation almost every race in history has -got its start. With cheap lands, a beautiful climate and a rich soil, -we can lay the foundation of a great and powerful race. The question -that confronts us is whether we will take advantage of this opportunity?</p> - -<p>In a recent number of the New York <i>Independent</i>, Rev. Russel -H. Conwell, the pastor of the great Temple Baptist Church, in -Philadelphia, a church that has a membership of three thousand persons, -tells of the pastor of a small country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> church in Massachusetts who, -in perplexity at the eternally recurring question of how to make his -church pay its expenses, asked Mr. Conwell's advice. "I advised him," -Mr. Conwell says, "to study agricultural chemistry, dairy farming -and household economy. I meant the advice seriously, and he took it -seriously. He made his studies, and he made them thoroughly. On the -Sunday when he preached his first practical sermon which was the -outgrowth of his helpful learning, its topic was scientific manures, -with appropriate scriptural allusions. He had just seventeen listeners. -These seventeen, however, were greatly interested. Later on, they -discussed the remarkable departure with their friends who had not -attended the service. The result was that within five Sundays the -church was packed with worshippers, who had discovered that heaven is -not such a long distance from earth after all."</p> - -<p>In the present condition of our race, what an immense gain it would be -if from every church in the vast agricultural region of the South there -could be preached every Sunday two sermons on religion, and a lesson -or lecture given on the principles of intelligent agriculture, on the -importance of the ownership of land, and on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> importance of building -comfortable homes. I believe that if this policy could be pursued, -instead of the now too often poorly clothed, poorly fed, and poorly -housed ministers, with salaries ranging from one hundred to three -hundred dollars a year, we should soon have communities and churches -on their feet, to such an extent that hundreds of ministers who now -live at a dying rate would be supported in a manner commensurate with -the dignity of the profession. Not only this, but such a policy would -result in giving the ministry such an ideal of the dignity of labour -and such a love for it, that the minister's own home and garden and -farm would be constant object lessons for his followers, and at the -same time sources from which he could draw a support which would make -him in a large measure independent.</p> - -<p>One of the most successful and most honoured ministers I know is a man -who owns and cultivates fifty acres of land. This land yields him an -income sufficient to live on each year. This man's note or check is -gladly honoured at the bank. Because of his independence he leads his -people instead of having to cater to their whims. It may be suggested -that what I plead for has not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> been done by others, after this fashion. -It was done in the early years of the settlement of New England, and -persevered in by the ministers there until the people of the country -had become sufficiently prosperous to support their ministers suitably. -Besides, if one race of people, or one individual, is simply to follow -in the steps of another, no progress would ever be possible in the -world. Let us remember that no other race of people ever had just such -a problem to work out as we have.</p> - -<p>What I have tried to say to you to-night about agricultural life may -be said with equal emphasis about city occupations. Show me the race -that leads in work in wood and in metal, in the building of houses and -factories, and in the constructing and operating of machinery, and I -will show you the race that in the long run moulds public thought, that -controls government, that leads in commerce, in the sciences, in the -arts and in the professions.</p> - -<p>What we should do in all our schools is to turn out fewer job-seekers -and more job-makers. Any one can seek a job, but it requires a person -of rare ability to create a job.</p> - -<p>If it may seem to some of you that what I have been saying overlooks -the development of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> race in morals, ethics, religion and -statesmanship, my answer would be this. You might as well argue that -because a tree is planted deep down in Mother Earth, because it comes -in contact with clay, and rocks, and sand, and water, that through its -graceful branches, its beautiful leaves and its fragrant blossoms it -teaches no lesson of truth, beauty and divinity. You cannot plant a -tree in air and have it live. Try it. No matter how much we may praise -its proportions and enjoy its beauty, it dies unless its roots and -fibres touch and have their foundation in Mother Earth. What is true of -the tree is true of a race.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> - -<h2>A PENNY SAVED</h2> - -<p>A large proportion of you, for one reason or another, will not be able -to return to this institution after the close of the present year. On -that account there are some central thoughts which I should like to -impress upon your minds this evening, and which I wish you to take with -you into the world, whether you go out from the school as graduates or -whether you go as undergraduates.</p> - -<p>I have often spoken to you about the matter of learning to economize -your time, to save your time, the matter of trying to make the most of -every minute and hour of your existence. I have often spoken to you -about the hurtful reputation which a large proportion of the people of -our race get in one way or another because of this seeming inability to -put a proper value upon time, or a proper value upon the importance of -keeping one's word in connection with obligations.</p> - -<p>You know to what a large extent the feeling prevails—whether justly -or unjustly—that as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> people we cannot be depended upon to keep our -word; that if we are hired to work in a mill or a factory, we work -until we have got three dollars or four dollars in wages ahead, and -then go on an excursion, or go to town, and do not return to work until -what we have earned has been consumed.</p> - -<p>And so, in one way or another, a large proportion of us get the -reputation that we cannot be depended upon for faithful, regular, -efficient service; and that hurts the race. Wherever you go, we wish -you by your own actions, by your advice, by your influence, to try and -disprove and counteract that hurtful reputation. You can do this in the -most efficient manner by yourselves being the highest possible example.</p> - -<p>The people who succeed are, very largely, those who learn to economize -time, in the ways I have referred to, and those who also have learned -to save, not only time, but money.</p> - -<p>Now this may seem to you a very materialistic thought for me to -emphasize this evening—the saving of money—but to us, as a race, it -is of vital importance. I have heard it expressed recently on several -occasions that the Negro was becoming too much materialized, too much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> -industrialized. Too much attention, it has been said, is given to the -material side of life. Now it seems to me that I have as yet seen very -little that need arouse our fears in that direction. I am not able -to understand how a race that does not own a single steam railroad, -that does not own a single street-car line, that owns hardly a bank, -that does not own a single block of houses in a large city—I am not -able to understand how such a race as that is in danger of becoming -materialized. When you get millions of dollars in banks, when you get -millions of dollars invested in railroad stocks, when you get other -millions invested in street-car lines, or in the control of large -factories, great plantations, or in other great industrial enterprises -in the South, then I shall say that there are signs of your becoming -too materialistic, of your getting to be too rich; but I do not see any -such signs yet. And until we do see such signs, we can rest ourselves -in peace, I think, so far as that danger is concerned.</p> - -<p>But there is a certain influence of money that I do not think we -emphasize enough. In the first place the getting hold of money, the -getting hold of a competency, insures us the possession of certain -influences that we can get in no other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> way. In order to get hold of -the spiritually best and highest things in life there are certain -material things that we are compelled to have first. In the first place -the getting hold of money and the saving of this money will assure the -possession of decent comfortable houses to live in. No person can do -his best work, or can be of the greatest service to himself and to his -fellow-beings, until he is able to live in a decent, comfortable house. -You will not be ready for life until you own such a house, whether you -live in it or not. Even if you own such a house and rent it out, you -are that much more of a man. I often hear people say that they do not -own a house, or property, because they do not expect to live long in -this place or that place. I have known such people to move six times in -six years. They never will own a house, simply because they have got -into the habit of giving excuses, instead of trying to get to own a -home.</p> - -<p>The possession of a decent house insures us a certain amount of proper -comfort. No person can do the best work, can think well, can get along -well, unless he has a certain amount of comfort, and, I may add, a -certain amount of good, nourishing food, well cooked. The person who is -not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> sure where he is going to get his breakfast, or the one who is not -sure where he is going to get the money to pay his next week's board, -is the individual who cannot do the best work, whether the work be -physical, mental or spiritual. The possession of money enables us to be -sure that we are going to have comfortable clothing, clothing enough to -keep the body warm and vigorous, and in good, healthy condition.</p> - -<p>The possession of money enables us to get to the point where we can -do our part in the building of school-houses, churches, hospitals; -it enables us to do our part in all these directions. Money not only -enables us to get upon our feet in these material directions, but it -has another value. The getting of it develops foresight on our part. -People cannot get money without learning to exercise forethought, -without planning to-day for to-morrow, this week for the next week, -and this year for next year. People cannot get hold of money—or -at least cannot keep hold of it—who have not learned to exercise -self-control. They must be able to say "No." I want you students, when -you go out from here, to be able to say "No." I want you to be able to -go by a store and, as you <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>notice the things in that store—whether -candy or spring hats, or whatever it is that attracts you—to be able, -notwithstanding the fact that you have the money in your pockets to -buy, to exercise a self-control that will enable you to pass these -things by and save your money to invest it in a home. Persons cannot -get hold of money without learning to exercise economy, without -learning to make everything go just as far as it is possible to make it -go.</p> - -<p>Then, again, the getting money enables a person to become a good, -steady, safe citizen. The people who kill and are killed, nine times -out of ten, whether they are black or white, are people who do not own -a home, who do not have money in the bank. They are people who live in -their gripsacks. They are gripsack leaders. If their gripsacks are in -Montgomery to-night, there is their home. If they are in Opelika the -next night, there is their home that night. There are numbers of these -people who have no home except their gripsacks. Now I don't want you to -go out from here to be that kind of men and women. I want to see you -own land. I want to see you own a decent home. And let me say right -here that your home is not decent or complete unless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> it contains a -good, comfortable bath-tub. Of the two, I believe I would rather see -you own a bathtub without a house, than a house without a bathtub. If -you get the tub you are sure to get the house later. So when you go out -from here, buy a bathtub, even if you cannot afford to buy anything -else.</p> - -<p>The possession of money, the having of a bank account, even if small, -gives us a certain amount of self-respect. An individual who has a bank -account walks through a street so much more erect; he looks people -in the face. The people in the community in which he lives have a -confidence in him and a respect for him which they would not have if he -did not possess the bank account.</p> - -<p>Now one great mistake that we make in striving to reach these things -is that we keep putting off beginning. The young man says that he will -begin when he gets married. The young woman says that she will begin -when she gets dressed well enough, or gets a little further on in life. -Yielding to this temptation or to that, they keep putting off beginning -to save. It makes one sick at heart, as he goes into the cities, to -see young men on Sunday afternoons paying two or three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> dollars for a -hack or carriage to take young women out to drive, when in too many -cases the men do not earn a salary of more than four dollars a week. -Young women, don't go driving with such men. A man who goes driving on -a salary of four dollars a week cannot own a home or possess a bank -account. When you are asked to go to drive by such a man as that, tell -him you would rather he would put his money in the bank, because you -know he is not able to afford to spend it in that way.</p> - -<p>I like to see people comfortably and neatly dressed; but there is no -sadder sight than to see young men and women yielding to the temptation -to spend all they earn upon clothes. Then when they die—in many, many -cases—somebody has to pass around a hat to take up a collection in -order that they may be decently put away. Do not make that mistake. -Resolve that no matter how little you may earn, you will put a part of -the money in the bank. If you earn five dollars a week, put two dollars -in the bank. If you earn ten dollars, save four of them. Put the money -in the bank. Let it stay there. When it begins to draw interest you -will find that you will appreciate the value of money.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> - -<p>A little while ago I was in the city of New Bedford, the city which was -formerly the home of Mrs. Hetty Green, who is said to be the richest -woman in the world. I want to tell you a story about her that was told -me by a gentleman who lived in New Bedford, and who knew Mrs. Green -when she lived there. For many years they had in New Bedford no savings -bank that would take a very small deposit. Finally a five-cent savings -bank was opened there. Just after this had been done, Mrs. Green told -this gentleman that she was glad they had opened a five-cent bank, -so that now she would be able to put that amount in and have it draw -interest. You who are here do not think about five cents as a sum to be -saved. You think of it only as money to buy peanuts and candy, or cheap -ribbons, or cheap jewellery.</p> - -<p>On last Sunday evening I was in the home of a gentleman in New York who -has in his family a girl who is now only eighteen years old, and who, -when she came to this country a few years ago and went to work in this -family as a maid, could not speak a word of English. This girl now has -fifteen hundred dollars in the bank. Think of it! A young woman coming -to this country poor, and unable to speak a word of English, has saved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> -in a short time fifteen hundred dollars! I wonder how many of you, five -years from now, will have fifteen hundred dollars in the bank or in -some other safe kind of property.</p> - -<p>The civilization of New England and of other such prosperous regions -rests more, perhaps, upon the savings banks of the country than upon -any other one thing. You ask where the wealth of New England is. It is -not in the hands of millionaires. It is in the hands of individuals, -who have a few hundreds or a few thousands of dollars put safely away -in some bank or banks. You will find that the savings banks of New -England, and of all countries that are prosperous, are filled with the -dollars of poor people, dollars aggregating millions in all.</p> - -<p>We cannot get upon our feet, as a people, until we learn the saving -habit; until we learn to save every nickel, every dime and every dollar -that we can spare.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> - -<h2>GROWTH</h2> - -<p>I want to impress upon you this evening the importance of continued -growth. I very much wish that each one of you might imagine, this -evening, your father and your mother to be looking at you and examining -into every act of your life while here. I wish that you might feel, -as it were, their very heart throbs. I wish that you might realize, -perhaps as you have never realized before, how anxious they are that -you should succeed here. I wish that you could know how many prayers -they send up, day after day, that your school life may be more and -more successful as one day succeeds another, that you may grow to be -successful, studious, strong men and women, who will reflect credit -upon yourselves and honour upon your families.</p> - -<p>Each one of you must have had some thoughts about those who are anxious -about you, some thought for those persons whose hearts are very often -bowed down in anxiety because they fear your school life here will not -be successful. Not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> only for your own sake, but for the sake of those -who are near and dear to you, those who have done more for you than -anybody else, I want you to make up your minds that this year is going -to be the best one of your lives.</p> - -<p>I want you to resolve that you are going to put into this year the -hardest and the most earnest work that you have ever done in your life, -to resolve that this is going to be the greatest, the most courageous -and the most sinless year of life that you have ever lived; I want -you to make up your minds to do this; to decide that you are going to -continually grow—and grow more to-morrow than to-day. There are but -two directions in this life in which you can grow; backward or forward. -You can grow stronger, or you can grow weaker; you can grow greater, or -smaller; but it will be impossible for you to stand still.</p> - -<p>Now in regard to your studies; your lessons. I want you to make up -your minds that you are going to be more and more thorough in your -lessons each day you remain here; that you are going to so discipline -yourselves that each morning will find you in the recitation rooms with -your lessons more thoroughly and more conscientiously <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>prepared for the -day's work than they were for the work of the day before. I want you to -make up your minds that you are going to be more nearly perfect, are -going to put more manly and womanly strength into the preparation of -your lessons each day, that you may be more useful. Then you will find -yourselves wanting to grow, I hope; will find yourselves learning the -dignity of labour, and that no class of people can get up and stay up, -can be strong and useful and respected, until they learn that there is -no disgrace in any form of labour.</p> - -<p>I hope you are learning that labour with the hand, in any form -whatever, is not disgraceful. I hope that you are learning, day by day, -that all kinds of labour—whether with the mind or with the hand—are -honourable, and that people only disgrace themselves by being and -keeping in idleness.</p> - -<p>I want you to go forward by thoroughness in your work; by being more -conscientious in your work; by loving your work more to-day than you -did yesterday. If you are not growing in these respects—that is, -if you are not going forward—you are going backward, and are not -answering the purpose for which this institution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> was established, are -not answering the purpose for which your parents sent you here.</p> - -<p>I want to emphasize the fact that we want you to grow in the direction -of character—to grow stronger each day in the matter of character. -When I say character, here, I mean to use the word in its broadest -sense. The institution wants to find you growing more polite to your -fellows every day, as you come in contact with them, whether it be in -the class-room, in the shop, in the field, in the dining-room, or in -your bedroom. No matter where you are, I want you to find yourselves -growing more polite and gentlemanly. Notice I do not say merely that I -want your teachers—those who are over you—to find you growing more -polite; I want you to find yourselves so. If you are not doing this, -you are going backward, you are going in the wrong direction.</p> - -<p>I want to find you each day more thoughtful of others, and less -selfish. I want you to be more conscientious in your thoughts and -in your work, and with regard to your duty toward others. This is -growing in the right direction; not doing this is growing in the wrong -direction. Nor do I want you to feel that you are to strive for this -spirit of growth for this one year alone, or for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> time that you are -here. I hope that you will continue to grow in the forward direction.</p> - -<p>Then, and this is more important still, we want you to take this habit -of growth—this disposition to grow in the right direction—out with -you from the school, and scatter it as an influence for good wherever -you go. We want you to take it into your schools; for many of you -are going to become teachers. We want you not only to begin it when -you begin teaching in an humble way, but we want to see you grow and -improve in it every year. We want to see you make your school-houses -more attractive; to see you make everything in connection with your -schools and your teaching better and stronger; to see you make a school -more useful every year that you remain as its teacher.</p> - -<p>Then, too, when you go out and get employment—no matter of what kind -it may be—we want to see you grow better in that employment; we want -to see you advance in ability, commanding always a larger salary, -advancing in value to those who employ you. We want to see you grow in -reputation for being honest, conscientious, intelligent, hard-working; -no matter in what capacity you are employed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p> - -<p>Some of you are going out to establish homes and settle down in -home life. We want to see you grow in that direction. Nothing is so -disheartening—there is nothing so discouraging—as to see a man or -woman settle down in a home, and then not to see that home grow more -beautiful, inside and outside;—to see it, instead of this, each year -grow dingy and dirty, because it each year receives less and less -attention.</p> - -<p>We want Tuskegee students to go out from here and establish homes that -will be models in every respect for those about them—homes that will -show that the lives of the persons who have established them are models -for the lives of those who live about them. If you do this, your lives -are going to be a constant going forward; for, I repeat, your lives -are going to be one thing or the other, continually going backward or -continually going forward.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p> - -<h2>LAST WORDS</h2> - -<p>We have come to the close of another school year. Some of you will -go out from among us now, not to return. Others will go home for the -summer vacation and return at the end of that for the next school year.</p> - -<p>As you go out, there is one thing that I want to especially caution you -about. Don't go home and feel that you are better than the rest of the -folks in your neighbourhood because you have been away at school. Don't -go home and feel ashamed of your parents because you think they don't -know as much as you think you know. Don't think that you are too good -to help them. It would be better for you not to have any education, -than for you to go home and feel ashamed of your parents, or not want -to help them.</p> - -<p>Let me tell you of one of the most encouraging and most helpful things -that I have known of in connection with the life of our students after -they leave this institution. I was in a Southern city, and going -about among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> the homes of the people of our race. Among these homes I -noticed one which was so neat looking that it was conspicuous. I asked -the person who was with me, "How is it that this house is in such -good condition, looks so much better than some of the others in the -neighbourhood?" "It is like this," said the man who was accompanying -me. "The people who live there have a son whom they sent to your -school, at considerable self-denial to themselves. This young man came -home from school a few weeks ago. For some time after he came back he -did not have work to keep him busy, and so he employed his spare time -in fixing up his parents' home. He fixed the roof and chimney, put new -palings in the fence where they were needed and did such things as -that. Then he got a stock of paint and painted the house thoroughly, -two coats, outside and in. That is why the place looks so neat."</p> - -<p>Such testimony as that is very helpful. It shows that the students -carry out from here the spirit which we try to inculcate.</p> - -<p>Another thing. Go home and lead a simple life. Don't give the -impression that you think education means superficiality and dress.</p> - -<p>Be polite; to white and coloured people, both.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> It is possible for -you, by paying heed to this, to do a great deal toward securing and -preserving pleasant relations between the people of both races in the -South. Try to have your manners in this respect so good that people -will notice them and ask where you have been, at what school you -learned to be so polite. You will find that politeness counts for a -great deal, not only in helping you to get work, but in helping you to -keep it.</p> - -<p>Don't be ashamed to go to church and Sunday school, to the Young Men's -Christian Association and the Christian Endeavour Society. Show that -education has only deepened your interest in such things. Have no going -backward. Be clean, in your person, your language and in your thoughts.</p> - -<p>It seems appropriate during these closing days of the school year to -re-emphasize, if possible, that for which the institution stands. -We want to have every student get what we have—in our egotism, -perhaps—called the "Tuskegee spirit"; that is, to get hold of the -spirit of the institution, get hold of that for which it stands; and -then spread that spirit just as widely as possible, and plant it just -as deeply as it is possible to plant it.</p> - -<p>In addition to the members of our graduating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> class, we have each year -a large number of students who go out to spend their vacations. Some -of these will return at the close of vacation, but some, for various -reasons, will not return. Whether you go out as graduates, whether you -go out to return or not to return, it is important that all of you get -hold of the "Tuskegee spirit"; the spirit of giving yourselves, in -order that you may help lift up others. In no matter how small a degree -it may be, see that you are assisting some one else.</p> - -<p>Now, after a number of years' experience, the institution feels that it -has reached a point where it can, with some degree of authority, give -advice as to the best way in which you can spend your life.</p> - -<p>In the first place, as to your location—the place where you shall -work. I very much hope that the larger part of the students who go out -from Tuskegee will choose the country districts for their place of -work, rather than the large cities. For one thing, you will find that -the larger places are much better supplied with workers and helpers -than is true of the towns, and especially of the country districts. -The cities are better supplied with churches and schools, with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>everything that tends to uplift people; and they are at the same time -much more prolific of those agencies which tend to pull people down. -Notwithstanding this latter fact, the greater portion, by far, of those -who need help live in the country districts. I think a census report -will show that eighty per cent. of our people are to be found in the -country and small towns. I advise you, then, to go into the country and -the towns, rather than into the cities.</p> - -<p>Then, as to the manner of work. You must make up your minds in the -first place, as I have said before, that you are going to make some -sacrifice, that you are going to live your lives in an unselfish way, -in order that you may help some one. Go out with a spirit that will not -allow you to become discouraged when you have opposition, when you meet -with obstacles to be overcome. You must go with a determination that -you are going to succeed in whatever undertaking you have entered upon.</p> - -<p>I do not attempt to give you specific advice as to the kind of work you -shall do, but I should say that in a general way I believe that you -can accomplish more good—and perhaps this will hold good for the next -fifty years here in the South—by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>taking a country school for your -nucleus. Take a three months school, and gradually impress upon the -people of the community the need of having a longer school. Get them to -add one month to three months, and then another month, until they get -to the point where they will have six, seven or eight months of school -in a year. Then get them to where they will see the importance of -building a decent school-house—getting out of the one-room log cabin -school-house—and of having suitable apparatus for instruction.</p> - -<p>There are two things you must fix your mind on: the building of a -suitable school-house and the arousing in the people, at the same time, -a spirit that will make them support your efforts. In order to do this -you must go into the country with the idea of staying there for some -time at least. Plant yourself in the community, and by economical -living, year by year, manage to buy land for yourself, on which to -build a nice and comfortable home. You will find that the longer you -stay there the more the people will give you their confidence, and the -more they will respect and love you.</p> - -<p>I find that many of our graduates have done excellent work by having a -farm in connection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> with their schools. This is true, also, of many who -did not remain here to graduate. I have in mind such a man. He has been -teaching school in one of the counties of this State for seven or eight -years. He has lengthened the school year to eight months. He has a nice -cottage with four rooms in it, and a beautiful farm of forty acres. -This man is carrying out the "Tuskegee idea."</p> - -<p>There will be some of you who can spend your life to better advantage -by devoting it to farming than to any other industry. I speak of -farming particularly, because I believe that to be the great foundation -upon which we must build for the future. I believe that we are coming -to the point where we are going to be recognized for our worth in the -proportion that we secure an agricultural foundation. Throughout the -South we can give ourselves in a free, open way to getting hold of -property and building homes, in a way that we cannot do in any other -industry. In farming, as in teaching, no matter where you go, remember -to go with the "Tuskegee spirit."</p> - -<p>I want the boys to go out and do as Mr. N. E. Henry is doing; I want -the girls to go out and do as Miss Anna Davis and Miss Lizzie Wright -are doing. I want you to go out into the country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> districts and build -up schools. I would not advise you to be too ambitious at first. Be -willing to begin with a small salary and work your way up gradually. I -have in mind one young man who began teaching school for five dollars a -month; another who began teaching in the open air under a tree.</p> - -<p>Then, too, I want you to go out in a spirit of liberality toward the -white people with whom you come in contact. That is an important -matter. When I say this I do not mean that you shall go lowering your -manhood or your dignity. Go in a manly way, in a straightforward and -honourable way, and then you will show the white people that you are -not of a belittling race, that the prejudice which so many people -possess cannot come among you and those with whom you work. If you can -extend a helping hand to a white person, feel just as happy in doing so -as in helping a black person.</p> - -<p>In the sight of God there is no colour line, and we want to cultivate a -spirit that will make us forget that there is such a line anywhere. We -want to be larger and broader than the people who would oppress us on -account of our colour.</p> - -<p>No one ever loses anything by being a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> gentleman or a lady. No person -ever lost anything by being broad. Remember that if we are kind and -useful, if we are moral, if we go out and practise these traits, no -matter what people say about us, they cannot pull us down. But, on -the other hand, if we are without the spirit of usefulness, if we are -without morality, without liberality, without economy and property, -without all those qualities which go to make a people and a nation -great and strong, no matter what we may say about ourselves and what -other people may say about us, we are losing ground. Nobody can give us -those qualities merely by praising us and talking well about us; and -when we possess them, nobody can take them from us by speaking ill of us.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Character Building, by Booker T. 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