Booker T. Washington, the master mind of a child of slavery; an appealing life story rivaling in its picturesque simplicity and power those recounted about the lives of Washington and Lincoln. A biographical tale destined to live in history and furnish an inspiration for present and future generations; a human interest story depicting the life achievements of a great leader of a rising race

Front matter

■mwmf ' ' t

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

THE MASTER MIND OF A CHILD OF SLAVERY

Introduction

THE ESTIMATE OF MEN.

HE truth of that homely axiom, “ Great Oaks From Little

Acorns Grow/’ finds no better exemplification than in the life of Booker T. Washington. So much has been written about this extraordinary negro educator, who rose from obscurity, that it is deemed necessary in offering the public this work to say that it is not presented as a biography, but rather as a story pointing a moral and carrying with it a lesson for all mankind to study and heed.

Dr. Washington has contributed much to the literature of the age, telling the story of his struggles and ambitions in a characteristic, simple, straightforward and effective manner, and the world is better for his works. But his very simplicity and the utter unselfishness which his humble life and training produced made it impossible for him to “ stand without ” and view himself with justice.

The purpose here is to present a faithful picture of Booker T. Washington, as viewed through the eyes of those “ outside ” who watched his rise and studied his work and progress, and to provide an unprejudiced and unbiased work of some economic as well as historic value.

The Publishers.

Chapter I. The Slave Child Who Became A Leader, And His Lowly

HABITAT.

A Negro Babe Born in Obscurity— A Crude Plantation Cabin Home— “Booker,” the Child Slave— A Mother’s Prayer for Freedom — An Inspiring Message — Freed but Not Equipped — A New Home — Adopts a Good Name . 17

Chapter II. Matriculating In College With A Broom

Off to Hampton, the Negro Educational Mecca — A Friendly Boardwalk’s Shelter— Psychology of the Bathtub — Brothers, too, Start Educa¬ tional Careers— Feeling the Kuklux Influence — A Call to Tuskegee . . 38

Chapter III

A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. BUILDING A SCHOOL FROM NOTHING.

An Inauspicious Beginning in Alabama — A Chicken Coop School House — Lessons of Self-Help — Students Build Their Own Industrial Col¬ lege — Dr. Washington Acclaimed “Colored Man of Century”. 58

Chapter IV. A Job Of Making Citizens From The Rough

Southern White Men Aid Venture— Increased Appropriation Marks State Approval — An Experimental Farm — Seeking Funds in the North — An Epoch-Making Atlanta Address — Exposition Has Significance for Negro Race. . . . 76

Chapter V. In The Full Light Of Publicity

Praise from Grover Cleveland— Honored by “Old” Harvard— Chicago Peace Jubilee Orator— President McKinley Sees Tuskegee— The Striking Tribute of a Cabinet Officer . . 95

Chapter VI. The Gospel Of Service That Won

Dignifies Industrial Training as Economic Factor— Experience Meetings for Negro Farmers— Teaching Thrift to Entire Communities — Land Ownership Basis for Political Independence . 108

v vi CONTENTS.

Chapter VII. Was Once Valued At Four Hundred Dollars

Worth But Little as Slave, but of Inestimable Value as Freedman- Constructive Measures for Race Betterment— The Negro Business League— A Pioneer in Real Uplift Work— Rural School Super¬ vision . . . .

Chapter VIII. The Capstones Of Fame

When He Dined with Roosevelt at the White House — Big Enough for a Cabinet Portfolio— Paving Way for Race to Win on Merit — A Eu¬ ropean Visit — Entertained by Queen Victoria . . 129

THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME.

Loved His Fireside— Fond of Telling Plantation Stories and Negro Folk-Lore— Friends Build Him a New House— Hog-Raising a Hobby— His Last Illness— Eight Thousand at His Bier . 162

Chapter XII. A Black Man’s Epitaph Writ In Words Of Gold

A Unanimous Press Praises His Work— His Life a Lesson for Every Boy — Did Not Scold Whites and Took Rebuffs with Philosophy — Industry and Thrift His Gospel .................. 173

Chapter XXIII. En Passant

Dr. Washington’s Opposition — Proof of Economic Worth Versus RecuG. nition as a Matter of Human Justice — Is Exploitation of Negro a War Cause? — Colored Leader’s Early Pleas for Just Negro Suf. frage Laws . 299

Chapter XXIV. Where Falls The Mantle That He Wore?

Finding a Successor to Dr. Washington Difficult— His Unselfishness and Devotion to His Race — No Similar Conditions to Develop An¬ other “Booker.” . 311

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. From a late photograph.

Under his guiding hand, Tuskegee grew up and became famed the world over for what it has done for the colored race.

THE FAMILY HOME, TUSKEGEE

This handsome residence of Mr. Washington was well earned, and stands as another monument to his life work.

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.

MR. AND MRS. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

And their sons, Davidson and Booker T., Jr., at home, Tuskegee, Alabama.

WORKING IN THE GARDEN FEEDING THE CHICKENS

Mr. Washington is hoeing potatoes. He has his over- Mr. Washington paid frequent and friendly visits to

alls on, as was his custom when doing garden work. his chicken yard.

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON DELIVERING A PUBLIC ADDRESS

He was an eloquent speaker and a tireless worker. He proved himself to be one of the leading educators of his time.

m a

<D

5 £ •+■* a.

T3 bfl S3

"d

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON IN HIS LETTUCE BED

‘Tilling the soil with his hands” was one of the things Mr. Washington preached and practiced. He demon¬ strated personally.

INTERNATIONAL NEGRO CONFERENCE FOR BETTER EDUCATION

This conference for a world-wide educational movement was held at Tuskegee in July, 1912.

THE GREAT LEADER OF A RISING RACE

A man whose struggles and life achievements are interwoven with the history of the nation.

BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS OF THE TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE, TU3KEGEE, ALABAMA.

The smokestack at the upper left indicates the new Trades Building. The building with the steeple, to the right of the Trades Building, is the Chapel and Assembly Rooms. Alabama Hall, the girls’ dormitory, is the large building with the cupola, just above the cen¬ tre of the picture. In front of this building, just below and to the right, is Porter Hall, and below and to the left of Porter Hall is Phelp’s Hall Bible Training School. To the left of the latter building is the Principal’s residence.

LINCOLN GATES, TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE

Named after the immortal Lincoln and always an inspiration to the student and visitor.

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.

GYMNASIUM, TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE

Physical development for young women, as well as young men, is provided for

Chapter I. The Slave Child Who Became A Leader, And His Lowly Habitat

ABOUT three years before the outbreak of the Civil War, which was destined to bring about the abolition of slavery, there was born in a plantation cabin, within the borders of the famous old State of Virginia, a sturdy-framed negro boy, out of whose record of achievements the world has since come to recognize the truth and justice of those words of Frederick Douglass, the negro statesman and orator, who, in an impassioned plea for his fellow black men, once said : “ Their day will come, and they will be found in all pursuits, achieving distinction and showing capabilities which they were never sup¬ posed to possess.”

The instrument to make this prophecy come true was Booker T. Washington— the negro boy of the plantation cabin — « who on Sunday, November 14, 1915, died at Tuskegee, Ala¬ bama, amidst scenes of industrial and educational activity which under his spell grew in one generation from a little frame country school into one of the greatest institutions for the education, training and development of the colored race the world has ever known.

Throughout all the ages and in every clime mankind has ever stood ready to acclaim those members of society who by their deeds of bravery, heroism, sacrifice or individual accom¬ plishments have shown themselves to be worthy of leadership ; but history offers few life-stories that can serve as a greater inspiration to struggling humanity than that of the slave babe who developed into the foremost negro educator and industrial 2-W 17 trainer of his people, and became the honored friend and con¬ fident of presidents, statesmen, financiers, educators and philan¬ thropists.

It was not merely that he won recognition from men in, every station of life, but that he did so with every presumption of success against him. There was nothing in his early life, or in the history of his family, or in his environment which gave rise to the belief that Booker T. Washington would ever be more than one of many thousands of ordinary negro boys of the South. In fact he had little “ family/' even as families might go with those hordes of black men who were brought in bondage from the shores of Africa, and from whom he des¬ cended.

HIS PROGENITORS UNKNOWN.

He possessed no pride of ancestry, for he knew little, if any¬ thing, about his progenitors. It may be that in his veins there coursed the blood of black forest kings, born to rule, but the pages of time contain no such records. What little there is known of his infant history is almost an open book.

The scene of his birth was Franklin County, Virginia, near a cross-roads post-office called Hale's Ford. His mother was a slave, and he came into the world, so far as it has been able to determine, about the year i858. His birth-place was a typical cabin in the slave quarter of a plantation — a one-room, rough-hewn, board hut, probably sixteen or eighteen feet wide by twenty feet long. Though the war has passed more than half a century and many of the famous old plantations of the South have been rehabilitated since their desolation, here and there in dell and glade are still to be found remnants of these cabins which housed the black chattels of the owners of generations gone.

Some of them may still be found in that same Virginia in which “ Booker ” first saw the light of day. The rude hut or cabin boasted of no modern window with crystal panes through which the warm sun might send its rays to cheer the in¬ mates when cold winds blew. Square holes cut in the sides of the weather-beaten board house were truly windows through which the gentle summer zephyrs blew and the cold blasts of winter penetrated.

DOOR OF ROUGH BOARDS.

The door of rough boards, held together on the inner side by battens, hung treacherously upon rusty hinges, forged by plantation or country blacksmith. It swung wide open in summer and rattled and banged in the sharp winds of winter in a pitiful attempt to fill the doorway. But the crude archi¬ tect of the cabin had given the door a bigger job than it was capable of filling. Its shortcomings were represented by large cracks and crevices through which the light of day streamed into the single room and the cool evening breezes crept.,

At one end of the cabin was fireplace of stone and rough plaster, blackened by the soot and smoke from many embers. The grimy maw of the fire-place held an assortment of crane, pot hooks and hangers, upon which the iron pot or skillet was wont to hang in the hour of preparing meals.

Somewhere there seems to have been, and still is, an ir¬ resistible charm about the crude old-fashioned open fire-place that imparts a distinct air of “ hominess ” to the most forlorn and barren cottage. So it was in the plantation cabin where was born the colored man who was destined to become the leader of his race.

The cheerful blaze, under the blackened pots, sent its glow across the hard, packed earthen floor, in the centre of which was a large hole covered with boards, that served as a store¬ house for the family food supply during the winter months, the principal portion of which consisted of sweet potatoes grown on the plantation. There was a rough board table, for the cabin was the cook-house or kitchen for the slave population of the plantation. There were also a couple of rough wooden benches and a bunk or bed, but the sleeping quarters for Dr. Washington — the “ Booker ” of those early days — was the floor, where with an older brother and sister he laid his weary body down on a straw filled pallet, or a bundle of discarded clothing, bags or rags.

A CRUDE HUT AND A BIG HOME.

The crude hut stood at some little distance from the big home of his master, Jones Burroughs. Close beside it ran the lane, and near one end stood a sturdy tree whose green foliage cast a gentle shadow over the sloping roof in summer.

There was no accident of fortunate birth to weigh in the making of this strange child of nature. The white child brought into the world under a cloud of doubtful parentage finds himself burdened with what society regards as a handicap, but no one looked askant at the little negro boy who knew his mother as Jane, but found no one to answer to the call of “ father ;” though he was known to be a white man.

His identity among the slaves on the plantation was fixed by the brief name “ Booker.” Nameless children were part of the institution of slavery, but unlike “ Topsy ” of Uncle Tom's Cabin fame, who “ never had no mudder,” Booker knew his mother and in all of his writings described her as the “ noblest embodiment of womanhood with whom I have come in contact,” and declared that the lessons of virtue and thrift which she instilled in those early days on the plantation were never for¬ gotten.

The little Virginia cabin was the home of “ Booker ” during those troublesome days just before and during the entire four-year war which was to make him a free child and send him into the highways and byways of the world.

He was a serious minded fellow upon whom the burdens of life began to weigh early. The mutterings among the slaves who were filled with hopes for their freedom were not under¬ standable to “ Booker/' but one of his earliest recollections centred around an early morning scene in the humble cabin, when he awoke to find his mother kneeling in prayer over his pallet.

LIFTS HER EYES TO HEAVEN IN PRAYER.

Voicing the feelings of thousands of her people held in bondage she lifted up her eyes to heaven and prayed:

“ Oh, Lord, save Massa Lincoln and his armies, so that we cain be free!"

This, Dr. Washington said, was the first intimation he had that he was a slave — and the incident seemed to mark the dawn of his intellectual development.

A second incident more vividly impressed upon his child¬ ish mind the fact that he and his were but human chattels.

The early morning sun painted the rough-hewn cabin a golden hue and the corn pone baked over the open fire had satiated the hunger of the negro child who found his way toward one of the houses in the slave quarter, when he was startled by the piteous cries of his mother's brother.

“ Oh, pray, massa ; pray massa !"

A rawhide thong swept through the morning sun and fell upon the bared back of the boy's sturdy uncle who was tied like some obstreperous animal to a monster tree. The boy did not stop to inquire the cause of the chastisement. His brown legs carried him to the safer region of his cabin, but the impression made upon his tender mind was one that he declared was in¬ effaceable.

Boys of his age were not usually subjected to the vigorous punishment meted out to the slaves who aroused their master's wrath in those ante-bellum days, but they were not relieved of the hardships that came as a result of the devastation of the country by the hordes of war.

NEGRO HAS LITTLE TO SACRIFICE.

History is replete with stories of gentle folk who gave or sacrificed their all in the support of the cause in which they be¬ lieved. The negro had little to sacrifice, but when “ master ” could no longer provide for himself or family, his black “ pos¬ sessions " fared still worse. Beginning his life at this period when the North and South were entering a bitter struggle, this particular boy slave — the Booker T. Washington of the future —secured little of the world's goods and for a long period of time his entire wardrobe consisted of a flax or “ tow " shirt, and his single pair of shoes belonged to a crude type of footwear with wooden soles.

The slave boy has had his place in the world's history in every age and in every country. His enjoyments have been restricted to the enjoyments of those around him. In the plan¬ tation days his playground was the barn-yard, the shed, the cabin, the corn fields and the wooded land; his playthings nature's own toys, and on occasions he found opportunity to listen to the singing of plantation melodies or watch the “ white folk," in the “ big house.'"

There came a time when the keen eye of the “ master "

saw in “ Booker ” material to be developed and so it came to pass that “ Jim/’ the rangy brown horse, found a small brown figure straddling his back along with a big bag of corn. The boy and the corn, over which he was custodian, bounced up and down as the animal jogged over the country road to the mill, and back again with the corn turned into a golden meal which was destined to provide pone or corn bread for the “ master’s ” family and the slaves.

A BELATED SLAVE’S RETURN.

Once a belated slave returning to the plantation from an adjoining place found a small boy seated beside the road with the end of a halter strap in his hands. A gentle horse at the other end of the halter was nibbling the green grass. Beside the boy lay a large sack of corn-meal. A plaintive voice wailed :

“ The baig dun fall off. Mout yo’ help we up wif ’im?”

“ Booker ” returned to the plantation late that night, tired and supperless, but the supply of freshly ground meal was not lost to the “ master.”

Just what conclusions may be drawn from a study of the early history of this negro boy by students of psychology, so¬ ciology and kindred subjects, who on one hand hold that en¬ vironment is the most important factor in the development of child character, and on the other that “ heredity ” will tell, is somewhat puzzling to contemplate.

What inherited traits came to him at an age when other boys were thinking of the immediate pleasure they could get out of life, to cause him to crave an education? It is true that in the agitation which came of the abolition movement the slaves were charged to prepare for their future freedom, and that their conception of what constituted a preparedness for citizenship was to be able to read and write— to be educated. It was probably this influence which was reflected in his mother’s spirit when she came to support and help him in his ambitions to secure an education — to go to school.

A peep in the open door of the country school, when as an attendant he carried the books of the “ misses ” to class, seems to have been one of the sources of his early inspirations. And the big event of his boyhood days was marked by the ending of the war ; when he and his mother, brother and sister were given their freedom.

SLAVE QUESTION PROBLEMATICAL.

What real knowledge or understanding of the slave ques¬ tion the boy may have had, or any boy might have at the age or eight or nine years, is problematical. It is hardly con¬ ceivable that he had any, but it is certain that a deep impres¬ sion was made upon the mind of “ Booker,” when at the close of the war the slaves were called from their quarters and as¬ sembled on the plantation in front of the big house to hear read :hat immemorial document which formally conveyed to them the information that they were free to go where they willed.

No such event had previously been recorded in the history of the world as that which marked his release from bondage. A whole people set free. Every slave, no matter how ignorant, had some conception of what the outcome of the war meant to him. For generations the black men had viewed the con¬ ditions under which their masters lived. They saw for them¬ selves, in their freedom, lives of comparative ease and affluence ; the end of toil and strife. A word of hope lay before them. Such hopes and views werq reflected in the discussions in the slave quarters, and gave inspiration to “ Booker.”

Somehow he came to realize that the very process by which the information as to the freedom of his people was conveyed to them— the formal reading of document— was in itself sig¬ nificant. That the ability to read was a necessary requisite. He had no childish books, and there would have been no one to read them to him had they been part of his coveted possessions.

But his attendance at the reading of the document which gave formal notice of the severance of the ties of bondage gave him something to think about. It was an incident which fur¬ ther opened the door for intellectual development. While the group of slaves gave vent to their long pent up feelings, the boy’s mother bent over him and with deep feeling whispered :

“ Honey , the good Lord has answered yo’ mammy’s prayer. Mr. Lincoln dun set us free!”

A PERIOD OF REJOICING.

There was a period of rejoicing, followed by a time in which a readjustment of conditions was effected. Many of ;he slaves were re-employed by their old masters ; some even beg¬ ged to be allowed to remain in their old places without giving any consideration to the larger economic problems that con ¬ fronted them. The boy’s mother was not of those who sought to retain the old relationship. She had become a unit, an indi¬ vidual, in the scheme of things.

As humble and inconspicuous was his origin , it is none the less true that the boy was thrown upon his own resources at a most opportune time. His life proves that he was the type of man who would “ find himself ” under almost any conditions, but neither his mother nor those around him could have had any idea of the situation that would be produced by the liberation of the negro.

Few realized that the zealousness with which the radical abolitionists of the North pressed their suit in the interest of the freed slaves would have a far reaching influence which would ultimately make the struggle for the black men more dif¬ ficult. Yet this condition made the need for such men as the boy was destined to be, more urgent, and when there is a great need, in some way, Providence always seems to provide it.

The Emancipation Proclamation had been issued as a mili¬ tary measure, and while slavery had fallen to pieces at the very touch of President Lincoln’s pen, it became necessary later for Congress to adopt an amendment to the Constitution, by which slavery was abolished and forbidden.

A STORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD.

The story of this period has been written in blood. The stain on the page of life was made by the blood of President Lincoln, whose assassination came as one act of what proved to have been a conspiracy to overthrow the government, for it is a notable fact too frequently overlooked that a murderous at¬ tack was made upon Secretary Seward, of the martyred Presi¬ dent’s cabinet, at the same time that John Wilkes Booth enacted his part in the diabolical drama in which Mr. Lincoln was sacri¬ ficed at Ford’s Theatre, in Washington.

That the South and the freed negro lost their most power¬ ful friend and ally in the death of Lincoln is a matter of his¬ toric record.

He was not vindictive enough to suit the radical abolition¬ ists and some stern leaders who sought to rule with an iron: hand, nor did the attitude of President Johnson, who was elevated to the Presidency, meet with the approval of this element.

When he became the Chief Executive it was feared that President Johnson would pursue a course of angry retribution toward those who had been engaged in the rebellion. As a matter of fact this is what a large element hoped would be done, and there were drafted proposed legislation measures which world arbitrarily elevate the negro to a commanding position.

Not only was it proposed to give him the franchise without restriction, but it was even planned to confiscate the land of the white plantation owners and apportion some of their land among the freed negroes. Congress had, in its growing ani¬ mosity to President Johnson, taken an attitude of relentless hos¬ tility to the Confederate Party of the South, while the President in his efforts to carry out the policy of President Lincoln was accused of having deliberately turned to favor the partv of the South.

A VITAL QUESTION TO THE NEGRO.

Briefly, the question which was to have such a great effect on the future of the country and the negro in particular was as to whether the plan of reconstruction be of a military or civil character. The objection to the civil plan was based on the fear that the enfranchised negroes would form an alliance with the Republicans of the North and wield a power that would leave the Southern whites powerless. It was this situa¬ tion which in the years to follow made more difficult the position of the negro.

The military plan of reconstruction or reorganization of the Southern States, which was authorized by an act of Con¬ gress, had for its feature the division of the ten seceded States into five military districts, each district under control of a military governor. These had been appointed and in some of the territory the service of armed negro soldiers was invoked in the carrying out of the plan. Fortunately for the future of the country, President Johnson subsequently issued orders to military commanders of the districts which had the effect of nullifying the whole plan and the Congressional plan of reor¬ ganization was followed.

But the fact that in some sections armed negroes, pre¬ viously slaves, had by force of arms attempted to dominate the plantation owners who had formerly been their master, and that some grave charges of cruelty and barbarity were made against the negroes, did not add to their welcome into the South as citizens.

GOVERNMENT FAILS TO PROVIDE FOR NEGRO.

Had the Government provided means for helping the freed negro, much of the bitterness that grew out of the original struggle would have been assuaged, but the negro was left to look after his own development and no rosy path was left for him to follow. The fact that for generations he had been re¬ garded by a large portion of the Southern people as a creature that needed no education was a matter of great influence. It is difficult for a people to change their attitude at a moment’s notice. Established precedent is a thing which is always con¬ sidered, and so if there was no opposition to the negro in his attempts to secure an education and better his condition, there was for a long time little effort made to help him.

The negroes knew nothing of these conditions. In a gen¬ eral way the slaves had been well cared for, just as a good farmer cares for his live stock, and they had yet to learn that their mere freedom from bondage would not give them all that they had seen in their visions ; that they would face opposition, bitterness , prejudice and hatred, and that laws are fundamen¬ tally preventive measures and not constructive.

These conditions made urgent the need for leaders among the negroes, if at the same time they made it more difficult for such leaders to win recognition. Certainly the boy who was to become one of these leaders — the foremost of his time — could not have realized the gigantic task that lay before him.

Sometime after his birth his mother had married, and in the closing days of the war her husband had found his way over the hills and into the soft coal district of West Virginia. He had secured work in the salt and coal mines and thither the boy, with his older brother John, his sister Amanda and their mother, went in the logical course of events.

VIRGINIA LOSES ITS FAVORITE SON.

Virginia was to know “ Booker ” no more as its son. The plantation cabin was abandoned. A rickety old wagon drawn by two mules served as a conveyance to transport the little family and their few possession over the dusty roads and ridges into the adjoining State. Their destination was the little town of Malden, in Kanawha County, West Virginia.

Here again can be traced the influence of environment in the life of the boy. He entered an atmosphere of industrialism where direct material reward came as the result of working with the hands. The step-father of the boy was already employed in a salt furnace and by his earnings had been able to finance the journey of his wife and step-children.

There was no restriction as to child labor in those far gone days and “ Booker ” and his older brother soon found them¬ selves at work in the furnaces or mines. This was their pri¬ mary school of industrial training. Show a child how he can help himself and he is quick to grasp the situation. The lessons the boy received in this hard school served him all the days of his life and gave him the inspiration which made of him an educational pioneer among his people.