,,character ,,building ,,other ,,books ,,by ,,booker ,t4 ,,washington ,,up ,,from ,,slavery ,,the ,,future ,,of ,,the ,,american ,,negro ,illustration3 ,the ,chapel at ,tuskegee ,alabama4 ,,where ,,these ,,addresses ,,were ,,delivered4 ,,designed ,,by ,a ,,member ,,of ,,the ,,faculty1 ,,and ,,built ,,by ,,the ,,students4 ,,character ,,building ,,being ,,addresses ,,delivered ,,on ,,sunday ,,evenings ,,to ,,the ,,students ,,of ,,tuskegee ,,institute ,by ,,booker ,t4 ,,washington ,illustration3 ,logo ,,new ,,york ,,doubleday1 ,,page ,,company #aijb ,copyright1 #aijb1 by ,booker ,t4 ,washington ,published ,june1 #aijb ,printed by ,manhattan ,press1 ,new ,york1 ,u4 ,s4 ,a4 ,,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 ,mr4 ,washington's habit has for many years been to deliver a practical1 straightforward address to the students of ,tuskegee ,institute on ,sunday evening4 ,these addresses have had much to do with the building up of the character of his race1 for they are very forcible explanations of character building4 ,the speaker has put into them his whole moral earnestness1 his broad common-sense and1 in many places1 his eloquence4 ,many of ,mr4 ,washington's friends have said that some of these addresses are the best of his utterances4 ,they have an additional interest because they show him at his work and give an inside view of the school4 ,this volume is made up of selections from these addresses chosen by ,mr4 ,washington himself4 ,,preface ,a number of years ago1 when the ,tuskegee ,normal and ,industrial ,institute was quite small1 with only a few dozen students and two or three teachers1 ,i began the practice of giving what were called ,sunday ,evening ,talks to the students and teachers4 ,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 fireside4 ,as the institution gradually grew from year to year1 friends suggested that these addresses ought to be preserved1 and for that reason during the past few years they have been stenographically reported4 ,for the purpose of this book they have been somewhat revised2 and ,i am greatly indebted to my secretary1 ,mr4 ,emmett ,j4 ,scott1 and to ,mr4 ,max ,bennett ,thrasher1 for assisting me in the revision and in putting them into proper shape for publication2 and to ,mr4 ,t4 ,thomas ,fortune for suggesting that these addresses be published in book form4 ,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 ,south4 ,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 paid1 and the hearty way in which they have spoken to me of the help that they have received from them4 ,during the past four years these addresses have been published in the school paper each week4 ,this paper1 ,the ,tuskegee ,student1 has a wide circulation among our graduates and others in the ,south1 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 ,south4 ,if there is anything in these addresses which will be of interest or service to a still wider audience1 ,i shall feel ,i have been more than repaid for any effort that ,i have put forth in connection with them4 ,,booker ,t4 ,,washington4 ,tuskegee1 ,alabama4 ,,contents ,,two ,,sides ,,of ,,life #c ,,helping ,,others #aa ,,some ,,of ,,the ,,rocks ,,ahead #ai ,,on ,,influencing ,,by ,,example #bg ,,the ,,virtue ,,of ,,simplicity #cc ,,have ,,you ,,done ,,your ,,best8 #dc ,,don',t ,,be ,,discouraged #ea ,,on ,,getting ,a ,,home #eg ,,calling ,,things ,,by ,,their ,,right ,,names #fc ,,european ,,impressions #ga ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,system ,,in ,,home ,,life #ha ,,what ,,will ,,pay8 #hg ,,education ,,that ,,educates #ie ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,being ,,reliable #ajc ,,the ,,highest ,,education #aaa ,,unimproved ,,opportunities #aai ,,keeping ,,your ,,word #acc ,,some ,,lessons ,,of ,,the ,,hour #ada ,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,,service #adi ,,your ,,part ,,in ,,the ,,negro ,,conference #aeg ,,what ,,is ,,to ,,be ,,our ,,future8 #afe ,,some ,,great ,,little ,,things #agc ,,to ,,would-,,be ,,teachers #aha ,,the ,,cultivation ,,of ,,stable ,,habits #ahg ,,what ,,you ,,ought ,,to ,,do #aic ,,individual ,,responsibility #bjc ,,getting ,,on ,,in ,,the ,,world #bac ,,each ,,one ,,his ,,part #bag ,,what ,,would ,,father ,,and ,,mother ,,say8 #bbe ,,object ,,lessons #bcc ,,substance ,,vs4 ,,shadow #bci ,,character ,,as ,,shown ,,in ,,dress #bde ,,sing ,,the ,,old ,,songs #bea ,,getting ,,down ,,to ,,mother ,,earth #bei ,a ,,penny ,,saved #bfg ,,growth #bgg ,,last ,,words #bhc ,,character ,,building ,,two ,,sides ,,of ,,life ,there are quite a number of divisions into which life can be divided1 but for the purposes of this evening ,i am going to speak of two2 the bright side of life and the dark side4 ,in thought1 in talk1 in action1 ,i think you will find that you can separate life into these two divisions--the dark side and the bright side1 the discouraging side and the encouraging side4 ,you will find1 too1 that there are two classes of people1 just as there are two divisions of the subject4 ,there is one class that is schooling itself1 and constantly training itself1 to look upon the dark side of life2 and there is another class1 made up of people who are1 consciously or unconsciously1 constantly training themselves to look upon the bright side of life4 ,now it is not wise to go too far in either direction4 ,the person who schools himself to see the dark side of life is likely to make a mistake1 and the person who schools himself to look only upon the bright side of life1 forgetting all else1 also is apt to make a mistake4 ,notwithstanding this1 ,i think ,i am right in saying that the persons who accomplish most in this world1 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 life4 ,you will sometimes find two persons who get up in the morning1 perhaps a morning that is overcast with shadows--a damp1 wet1 rainy1 uninviting morning--and one of these persons will speak of the morning as being gloomy1 will speak of the mud-puddles about the house1 of the rain1 and of all of the disagreeable features4 ,the second person1 the one who has schooled himself to see the brighter side of life1 the beautiful things in life1 will speak of the beauties that are in the rain drops1 and the freshness of the newly bathed flowers1 shrubs and trees4 ,notwithstanding the gloomy and generally disconsolate appearance of things1 he will find something attractive in the scene out of doors1 and will discover something in the gloomy morning that will cheer him4 ,suppose that you see these same two persons eat their breakfast4 ,perhaps they will find out that the rolls are bad1 but that the coffee is excellent4 ,if the rolls are poor1 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 are1 and to let your thoughts dwell upon the good and satisfactory coffee4 ,call the attention of your near neighbour at the table to the excellence of the coffee4 ,what is the result of that kind of schooling8 ,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 dark1 and when everything seems to be discouraging4 ,in just the same way1 when you go into the class-rooms to recite your lessons1 do not dwell upon any mistakes that you may think you see the teacher make1 or upon any weakness in the presentation of the lesson4 ,all teachers make mistakes sometimes1 and you may depend upon it that it is an excellent teacher and a person of fine character who1 when he or she has made a mistake1 says frankly and plainly1 ,i have made a mistake1 or ,i don't know4 ,it takes a very good and a very bright teacher to say1 ,i don't know4 ,no teacher knows everything about every subject4 ,a good teacher will say frankly and clearly1 ,i don't know4 ,i cannot answer that question4 ,let me tell you1 right here1 too1 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 answer1 or asks you something about a subject on which you are not well informed1 you will find it better to say frankly and honestly1 ,i am unable to answer your question4 ,your students will respect you a great deal more for your frankness and honesty4 ,education is not what a person is able to hold in his head1 so much as it is what a person is able to find4 ,i believe it was ,daniel ,webster who said that the truly educated man was not the one who had all knowledge in his head1 but the one who knew where to look for information upon any subject upon which at any time he might want information4 ,each individual who wishes to succeed must get that kind of discipline4 ,he must get such training that he will know where to go and get facts1 rather than try to train himself to hold all facts in his head4 ,i want you to go out from this institution so trained and so developed that you will be constantly looking for the bright1 encouraging and beautiful things in life4 ,it is the weak individual1 as a rule1 who is constantly calling attention to the other side--to the dark and discouraging things of life4 ,when you go into your classrooms1 ,i repeat1 try to forget and overlook any weak points that you may think you see4 ,remember1 and dwell upon1 the consideration that has been given to the lesson1 the faithfulness with which it was prepared1 and the earnestness with which it is presented4 ,try to recall and to remember every good thing and every encouraging thing which has come under your observation1 whether it has been in the class-room1 or in the shop1 or in the field4 ,no matter where you are1 seize hold on the encouraging things with which you come in contact4 ,in connection with the personality of their teachers1 it is very unfortunate for students to form a habit of continually finding fault1 of criticising1 of seeing nothing but what the student may think are weak points4 ,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 teachers4 ,grow into the habit of talking about the bright side of life4 ,when you meet a fellow student1 a teacher1 or anybody1 or when you write letters home1 get into the habit of calling attention to the bright things of life that you have seen1 the things that are beautiful1 the things that are charming4 ,just in proportion as you do this1 you will find that you will not only influence yourself in the right direction1 but that you will also influence others that way4 ,it is a very bad habit to get into1 that of being continually moody and discouraged1 and of making the atmosphere uncomfortable for everybody who comes within ten feet of you4 ,there are some people who are so constantly looking on the dark side of life that they cannot see anything but that side4 ,everything that comes from their mouths is unpleasant1 about this thing and that thing1 and they make the whole atmosphere around them unpleasant for themselves and for everybody with whom they come in contact4 ,such persons are surely undesirable4 ,why1 ,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 them4 ,i didn't want to hear their tales of misery and woe4 ,i had heard those tales so many times that ,i didn't want to get into the atmosphere of the people who told them4 ,it is often very easy to influence others in the wrong direction1 and to grow into such a moody fault-finding disposition that one not only is miserable and unhappy himself1 but makes every one with whom he comes in contact miserable and unhappy4 ,the persons who live constantly in a fault-finding atmosphere1 who see only the dark side of life1 become negative characters4 ,they are the people who never go forward4 ,they never suggest a line of activity4 ,they live simply on the negative side of life4 ,now1 as students1 you cannot afford to grow in that way4 ,we want to send each one of you out from here1 not as a negative force1 but as a strong1 positive1 helpful force in the world4 ,you will not accomplish the task which we expect of you if you go with a moody1 discouraged1 fault-finding disposition4 ,to do the most that lies in you1 you must go with a heart and head full of hope and faith in the world1 believing that there is work for you to do1 believing that you are the person to accomplish that work1 and the one who is going to accomplish it4 ,in nine cases out of ten1 the person who cultivates the habit of looking on the dark side of life is the little person1 the miserable person1 the one who is weak in mind1 heart and purpose4 ,on the other hand1 the person who cultivates the habit of looking on the bright side of life1 and who calls attention to the beautiful and encouraging things in life is1 in nine cases out of ten1 the strong individual1 the one to whom the world goes for intelligent advice and support4 ,i am trying to get you to see1 as students1 the best things in life4 ,do not be satisfied with second-hand or third-hand things in life4 ,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 life4 ,,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 you4 ,this institution does not exist for your education alone2 it does not exist for your comfort and happiness altogether1 although those things are important1 and we keep them in mind2 it exists that we may give you intelligence1 skill of hand1 and strength of mind and heart2 and we help you in these ways that you1 in turn1 may help others4 ,we help you that you may help somebody else1 and if you do not do this1 when you go out from here1 then our work here has been in vain4 ,you would be surprised to know how small a part of your own expenses you pay here4 ,you pay but little2 and by reason of that fact it follows that as trustees of the funds which are given to this institution1 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 else4 ,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 else4 ,we are here for the purpose of educating you1 that you may become strong1 intelligent and helpful4 ,if you were paying the cost of your board here1 and for your tuition1 and fuel and lights1 then we should have a different problem4 ,but so long as it is true that you pay so small a proportion of your expenses as you do1 we must keep in view the fact that we have no right to keep a student here1 no matter how much we may sympathize with him or her1 unless that student is going to be able to do somebody else some good4 ,every young man and every young woman should feel that he or she is here on trust1 that every day here is a sacred day1 that it is a day that belongs to the race4 ,our graduates1 and the majority of the students that have gone out from here1 have ever had an unselfish spirit1 and have been willing to go out and work at first for small salaries1 and in uncomfortable places1 where in a large degree conditions have been discouraging and desolate4 ,we believe that kind of spirit will continue to exist in this institution1 and that we shall continue to have students who will go out from here to make other persons strong and useful4 ,now no individual can help another individual unless he himself is strong4 ,you notice that the curriculum here goes along in three directions--along the line of labour1 of academic training1 and of moral and religious training4 ,we expect those who are here to keep strong1 and to make themselves efficient in these three directions1 in each of which you are to learn to be leaders4 ,some people are able to do a thing when they are directed to do it1 but people of that kind are not worth very much4 ,there are people in the world who never think1 who never map out anything for themselves1 who have to wait to be told what to do4 ,people of that kind are not worth anything4 ,they really ought to pay rent for the air they breath1 for they only vitiate it4 ,now we do not want such people as those here4 ,we want people who are going to think1 people who are going to prepare themselves4 ,i noticed an incident this morning4 ,did you ever hear that side door creak on its hinges before this morning8 ,the janitor ought to have noticed that creaking and put some oil on the hinges without waiting to be told to do it4 ,then1 again1 this morning ,i noticed that after it had been raining hard for twenty-four hours1 when it was wet and muddy1 no provision had been made to protect the hogs at the sty1 and they were completely covered with mud4 ,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 dry4 ,no one in charge of the hogs ought to have waited to be told to do a thing like that4 ,the kind of persons we want here are those who are not going to wait for you to tell them to do such things1 but who will think of them for themselves and do them4 ,if we cannot turn out a man here who is capable of taking care of a pig sty1 how can we expect him to take care of affairs of ,state8 ,then1 again1 some of you are expected to take care of the roads4 ,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 gate4 ,i should have liked to see them put down some boards1 and arrange for the water to drain off4 ,we want such fellows as those here4 ,the ones we want are the ones who are going to think of such things as these without being told4 ,that is the only kind of people worth having4 ,those who have to wait to have somebody else put ideas into their minds are not worth much of anything4 ,and1 to be plain with you1 we cannot have such people here4 ,we want you to be thinkers1 to be leaders4 ,yesterday1 and the night before1 ,i travelled on the ,mobile and ,ohio railroad from ,st4 ,louis to ,montgomery1 and there was a young man on the same train who was not more than twenty years old1 ,i believe1 who recently had been appointed a special freight agent of the road4 ,all his conversation was about freight4 ,he talked freight to me and to everybody else4 ,he would ask this man and that man if they had any freight1 and if so he would tell them that they must have it shipped over the ,mobile and ,ohio railroad4 ,now that man will be general freight agent of that road some day3 he may be president of the road4 ,but suppose he had sat down and gone to sleep1 and had waited for some one to come to him to inquire the best way to ship freight4 ,do you suppose he would ever have secured any freight to ship8 ,begin to think4 ,if you cannot learn to think1 why1 you will be of no use to yourself or anybody else4 ,every once in a while--about every three months--we have to go through the process of weeding out among the students4 ,we are going to make that weeding out process more strict this year than ever before4 ,we are compelled to get rid of every student here who is weak in mind1 weak in morals1 or weak in industry4 ,we cannot keep a student here unless he counts for one4 ,you must count one yourself4 ,you eat for one1 you drink for one1 and you sleep for one2 and so you will have to count for one if you are going to stay here4 ,i want you to go out into the world1 not to have an easy time1 but to make sacrifices1 and to help somebody else4 ,there are those who need your help and your sacrifice4 ,you may be called upon to sacrifice a great deal2 you may have to work for small salaries2 you may have to teach school in uncomfortable buildings2 you may have to work in desolate places1 and the surroundings may be in every way discouraging4 ,and when ,i speak of your going out into life1 ,i do not confine you to the schoolroom4 ,i believe that those who go out and become farmers1 and leaders in other directions1 as well as teachers1 are to succeed4 ,the most interesting thing connected with this institution is the magnificent record that our graduates are making4 ,as the institution grows larger1 we do not want to lose the spirit of self-sacrifice1 the spirit of usefulness which the graduates and the students who have gone out from here have shown4 ,we want you to help somebody else4 ,we want you not to think of yourselves alone4 ,the more you do to make somebody else happy1 the more happiness will you receive in turn4 ,if you want to be happy1 if you want to live a contented life1 if you want to live a life of genuine pleasure1 do something for somebody else4 ,when you feel unhappy1 disagreeable and miserable1 go to some one else who is miserable and do that person an act of kindness1 and you will find that you will be made happy4 ,the miserable persons in this world are the ones whose hearts are narrow and hard2 the happy ones are those who have great big hearts4 ,such persons are always happy4 ,,some ,,of ,,the ,,rocks ,,ahead ,i feel sure that ,i can be of some degree of service to you to-night1 in helping you to anticipate some of the troubles that you are going to meet during the coming year4 ,do not look for trouble1 is a safe maxim to follow1 but it is equally safe to prepare for trouble4 ,all of you realize1 of course1 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 order1 or anything bordering upon perfect running order4 ,now1 ,i repeat1 it is the wise individual who prepares himself beforehand for the day of difficulties1 for the day of discouragements1 for the rainy day4 ,it is the wise individual who makes up his mind that life is not going to be all sunshine1 that all is not going to be perpetual pleasure4 ,what is true of everyday life is true of school life2 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 year1 and which1 if possible1 ,i want you to prepare yourselves against as wisely as you can4 ,in the first place1 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 assigned4 ,the average individual thinks he knows a great deal more than he does know4 ,the individual who really knows more than he thinks he knows is very rare indeed4 ,when a student gets to the point where he knows more than he thinks he knows1 that student is about ready to leave school4 ,i wish a very large number of you had reached that point4 ,i repeat1 numbers of you are going to be disappointed during the year as to the classes to which you are going to be assigned4 ,now1 ,i want to give you this advice4 ,before you go to an institution examine the catalogue of that school4 ,the catalogue will give you all the information about the school4 ,then make up your mind whether or not you have faith in that institution4 ,find out if it is the school you wish to attend1 and then decide if you have faith enough in it to become its pupil4 ,then1 if you have once done this1 make up your mind that those who are placed over you as your teachers have had more experience than you can have had1 and that they are therefore able to advise you as to your classes4 ,make up your mind that if you are asked to go into a lower class than you think your ability entitles you to go into1 you are going to follow the advice and instruction of the people who are older than you and who have more education than you have4 ,another way in which you are going to be disappointed1 and be made homesick1 perhaps1 if you have not already been made so1 is in the rooms to which you are going to be assigned4 ,you are going to get rooms that you do not like4 ,they will not be1 perhaps1 as attractive as you desire1 or they will be too crowded4 ,you are going to be given persons for room mates with whom you think it is going to be impossible to get along pleasantly1 people who are not congenial to you4 ,during the hot months your rooms are going to be too hot1 and during the cold months they are going to be too cold4 ,you are going to meet with all these difficulties in your rooms4 ,make up your mind that you are going to conquer them4 ,i have often said that the students who in the early years of this school had such hard times with their rooms have succeeded grandly4 ,many of you now live in palaces1 compared to the rooms which those students had4 ,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 previous4 ,from year to year there has been a steady growth in the accommodations1 and that is all that we can wish or expect4 ,from year to year we do not forget that it is our duty to make students more comfortable than in previous years1 and we are steadily growing1 in that direction4 ,but notwithstanding all this we cannot do all that we want to do4 ,make up your minds1 then1 that you are going to find difficulties in your room1 in reference to your room mates1 the heat1 the cold1 and any number of things that concern your stay in the buildings4 ,but in all these matters keep in mind the high purpose for which you came here--to get an education4 ,get that thought into your heart and body1 and it will enable you to be the master of all these little things1 all these minor and temporary obstacles4 ,many of you are going to be disappointed in regard to your food4 ,notwithstanding all the care we may try to take1 and want to take1 many of you are going to be disappointed in this respect4 ,but how little is the meaning of one meal1 how little a thing is being inconvenienced by one meal1 as compared with something that is going to be a part of you all the remainder of your lives4 ,it is not for the food1 the room1 or the minor things that you have come here2 it is to get something into your minds and hearts that will make you better1 that will stand by you and hold you up1 and make you useful all through life4 ,some of you are going to find it difficult to obey orders4 ,sometimes orders will be given you which you think are wrong and unjust4 ,perhaps orders will be given you sometimes that really are unjust4 ,in that respect no institution is perfect4 ,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 wrong1 and which perhaps was given you in a wrong spirit or with a mistaken motive4 ,it is better for you to obey even such an order as that1 than it is for any individual to get into the habit of disobeying and not respecting those in authority4 ,make up your mind that if you want to add to your happiness and strength of character1 you are1 before all things else1 going to learn to obey4 ,if it should happen that for a minute1 or five minutes1 one of your fellow-students is placed in authority over you1 that student's commands should be sacred4 ,you should obey his commands just as quickly as you would obey those of the highest officer in this institution4 ,learn that it is no disgrace to obey those in authority4 ,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 them4 ,i want to add here that it is to the credit of this institution that1 with very few exceptions1 the students have always been ready and willing to respect authority4 ,i want you to see1 as ,i think you will see1 that having a hard time1 running up against difficulties here and there1 helps to make an individual strong1 helps to make him powerful4 ,this is the point ,i want to make with you2 that one of the reasons you are here is that you may learn to overcome difficulties4 ,i have named some that you may expect to meet1 but ,i have not named them all4 ,they will keep springing up all the time4 ,just in proportion as you learn to rise above them and trample them under your feet1 just in that proportion will you accomplish the high purpose for which you came here1 and help to accomplish the purpose for which this institution exists4 ,,on ,,influencing ,,by ,,example ,a few evenings ago1 while in ,cincinnati1 ,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 room4 ,i expected1 when ,i went to the place designated1 to find a number of young men who1 perhaps1 had hired a room and fitted it up for the purpose of gratifying their own selfish pleasures4 ,i found that this was not the case4 ,instead1 ,i found fifteen young men whose ages ranged from eighteen to twenty years1 who had banded themselves together in a club known as the ,winona ,club1 for the purpose of improving themselves1 and further1 for the purpose1 so far as possible1 of getting hold of other young coloured men in the city who were inclined in the wrong direction4 ,i found a room beautifully fitted up1 with a carpet on the floor1 with beautiful pictures upon the walls1 with books and pictures in their little library1 and with fifteen of the brightest1 most honest1 and cleanest looking young men that it has been my pleasure to meet for a long time4 ,it was a very pleasant surprise to find these young men1 especially in the midst of the temptations of a ,northern city1 in the midst of evil surroundings1 banded together for influencing others in the right direction4 ,these young men came together1 and at their first meeting said that they were going to band themselves together for the purpose of improving themselves and helping others4 ,they said that the first article in their constitution should be to the effect that there should be no gambling in that club2 that there must be no strong drink allowed in that club1 and that there should be nothing there that was not in keeping with the life of a true and high-minded gentleman4 ,i repeat that it was very pleasant and encouraging for me to find such work as this going on in ,cincinnati4 ,what was equally gratifying1 and surprising1 was that at the close of the reception they presented me with a neat sum of money which they had collected1 and asked that this money be used to defray the expenses of some student at the school here4 ,now the point ,i especially want to make to-night is this3 all of you must bear in mind the fact that you are not only to keep yourselves clean1 and pure1 and sober1 and true1 in every respect1 but you owe a constant responsibility to yourself to see that you exert a helpful influence on others also4 ,a large proportion of you are to go from here into great cities4 ,some of you will go into such cities as ,montgomery1 and some1 perhaps1 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 ,south4 ,i believe that you will do better to remain in the country districts than to go into the cities4 ,i believe that you will find it to your advantage in every way to try to live in a small town1 or in a country district1 rather than in a city4 ,i believe that we are at our best in country life--in agricultural life--and too often at our worst in city life4 ,now when you go out into the world for yourselves1 you must remember in the first place that you cannot hold yourselves up unless you keep engaged and out of idleness4 ,no idle person is ever safe1 whether he be rich or poor4 ,make up your minds1 whether you are to live in the city or in the country1 that you are going to be constantly employed4 ,in a rich and prosperous country like ,america there is absolutely no excuse for persons living in idleness4 ,i have little patience with persons who go around whining that they cannot find anything to do4 ,especially is this true in the ,south4 ,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 work4 ,you cannot set proper examples unless you1 yourself1 are constantly employed4 ,see to it1 then1 whether you live in a city1 a town1 or in a country district1 that you are constantly employed when you are not engaged in the proper kind of recreation1 or in rest4 ,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 them4 ,refrain from staking your earnings upon games of chance4 ,see to it that you pass by those things which tend to your degradation4 ,teach this to others4 ,teach those with whom you come in contact that they cannot lead strong1 moral lives unless they keep away from the gambling table4 ,see to it that you regulate your life properly2 that you regulate your hours of sleep4 ,have the proper kinds of recreation4 ,quite a number of our young men in the cities stay up until twelve1 one and two o'clock each night4 ,sometimes they are at a dance1 and sometimes at the gambling table1 or in some brothel1 or drinking in some saloon4 ,as a result they go late to their work1 and in a short time you hear them complaining about having lost their positions4 ,they will tell you that they have lost their jobs on account of race prejudice1 or because their former employers are not going to hire coloured help any longer4 ,but you will find1 if you learn the real circumstances1 that it is much more likely they have lost their jobs because they were not punctual1 or on account of carelessness4 ,then1 too1 you will find that you will go down if you yield to the temptation of indulging in strong drink4 ,that is a thing that is carrying a great many of our young men down4 ,i do not say that all of our men are of this class1 or that all of them yield to temptations1 because ,i can go into many of the large cities and find just such men as those in ,cincinnati to whom ,i have referred4 ,you cannot hope to succeed if you keep bad company4 ,as far as possible try to form the habit of spending your nights at home4 ,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 place4 ,i want you1 as you go out from this institution1 whether you are graduates or not1 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 community4 ,you must remember that the people are watching you every day4 ,if you yield to the temptation of strong drink1 of going into bad company1 others will do the same thing4 ,they will shape their lives after yours4 ,you must so shape your lives that the hundreds and thousands of those who are looking to you for guidance may profit by your example4 ,,the ,,virtue ,,of ,,simplicity ,i hope that you all paid strict attention to what ,mr4 ,william ,h4 ,baldwin1 ,jr41 who recently spoke to you1 had to say4 ,in the few words that he spoke1 ,i think he told you the platform upon which this institution has been built4 ,you will remember that he laid a great deal of stress upon the importance of the institution remaining simple1 of keeping that degree of simplicity and thoroughness that it has always possessed4 ,it is true that in the last few months the institution has come into a great deal of prominence1 and is meeting with what the world calls success4 ,but we must remember that very often it is with institutions as it is with individuals--success may injure them more than poverty4 ,now1 this institution will continue to succeed1 will continue to have the good will and confidence1 the co-operation of the best and wisest and most generous people in the country1 just so long as its faculty1 its students1 and all connected with it1 remain simple1 earnest and thorough4 ,just as soon as in any department there are indications that we are beginning to become what the world calls stuck up1 just so soon will the people lose confidence in us1 and will fail to support us1 and just so soon will the institution begin to decay4 ,we will grow in buildings1 in industries1 in apparatus1 in the number of teachers and of students1 and in the confidence of the people1 just in proportion as we do what the institution has set out to do2 that is1 teach young men and women how to live simple1 plain and honourable lives by learning how to do something uncommonly well4 ,when ,i speak of humbleness and simplicity1 ,i do not mean that it is necessary for us to lose sight of what the world calls manhood and womanhood2 that it is necessary to be cringing and unmanly2 but you will find1 in the long run1 that the people who have the greatest influence in the world are the humble and simple ones4 ,now1 we must not only remain humble1 but we must be very sure that whatever is done in every department of the school is thoroughly done4 ,any institution runs a great risk when it begins to grow--to grow larger in numbers or larger in any respect4 ,it can succeed then only in proportion as those who have responsibilities are conscientious in the highest degree4 ,we can succeed in putting up good buildings only in proportion as every one performs well his part in the erection of each building4 ,we can succeed only in proportion as the student who makes the mortar1 who lays the bricks1 puts his whole conscience into that work1 and does it just as thoroughly as it is possible for him to do it4 ,if he is mixing mortar1 he must do it just as well as he can1 and then1 to-morrow1 must do it still better than he did it to-day1 and the next week better than he did it this week4 ,the student who lays the bricks must learn to lay each brick as well as it is possible for him to lay it1 and then do still better work on the morrow4 ,we must remember1 too1 that we have a certain amount of responsibility to care for our buildings1 and that a great deal of interest should be taken not only in putting up all our buildings thoroughly1 but in looking out for their preservation as well4 ,we must see to it that the buildings which the students have worked so hard to erect1 and which generous friends have so kindly enabled us to secure1 are not marred in any way4 ,you must make new students know that this property is yours1 and that every building here is yours4 ,no student has any right to mar in any way what you have worked so hard to erect1 and your friends have been generous enough to provide4 ,if you find a student drawing a lead pencil across a piece of plastering which you have put on1 you must let that student know that he is destroying what you have worked hard to create1 and that when he destroys that building he is destroying something which students yet to come should have the opportunity of enjoying4 ,we want to be sure that in every industry1 in every department of the institution1 there is simplicity1 humbleness1 thoroughness4 ,whatever is intrusted to you to do in the industrial departments1 in the class rooms1 be sure that you put your whole heart into that thing4 ,we do not expect to have fine1 costly buildings1 nor do we want to have them4 ,but we do expect to have well-constructed buildings1 and attractive buildings2 and1 if we can go on in this simple1 humble way1 the time will come when we shall have all the buildings we need4 ,just in proportion as our friends see that we are worthy of these good things1 they will come to us4 ,we want to be sure1 also1 that in no department is there any wastefulness4 ,we must try to make every dollar go as far as possible4 ,we must stretch a dollar1 as ,i have heard ,mr4 ,baldwin say1 until it can be stretched no further4 ,now1 there will be waste unless we put our conscience into everything that we do4 ,there will be waste in the boarding department1 in the academic department1 in the industrial department1 in the religious department1 in all the departments about us1 unless we put our conscience into everything that we do4 ,let us be sure that not a single dollar that is given to us is wasted1 because the same people who give to us are called upon almost every day in the week1 each year1 to give for hundreds of purposes1 and they have to choose which they will support4 ,they must decide whether they want to give to this cause1 or to that cause1 and they will give to us if we make them feel that we are more worthy than other similar institutions4 ,we want1 also1 to be sure that we remain simple in our dress and in all our outward appearance4 ,i do not like to see a young man who is poor1 and whose tuition is being paid by some one1 and who has no books1 sometimes has no socks1 sometimes has no decent shoes1 wearing a white1 stiff1 shining collar which he has sent away to be laundered4 ,i do not like to ask people to give money for such a young man as that4 ,it is much better for a young man to learn to launder his collars himself1 than to pretend to the world that he is what he is not4 ,when you send a collar to the city laundry1 it indicates that you have a bank account2 it indicates that you have money ahead1 and can afford that luxury4 ,now ,i do not believe that you can afford it2 and that kind of pretence and that kind of acting do not pay4 ,get right down to business1 and1 as ,i have said1 if we cannot do up your collars well enough here to suit you1 why1 get some soap and water1 and starch1 and an iron1 and learn to launder your own collars1 and keep on laundering them until you can do them better than anybody else4 ,i am not trying to discourage you about wearing nice collars4 ,i like to see every collar shine4 ,i like to see every collar as bright as possible4 ,i like to see you wear good1 attractive collars4 ,i do not1 however1 want you to get the idea that collars make the man4 ,you quite often see fine cuffs and collars1 when there is no real man there4 ,you want to be sure to get the man first4 ,be sure that the man is there1 and if he is1 the collars and the cuffs will come in due time4 ,if there is no man there1 we may put on all the collars and cuffs we can get1 and we shall find that they will not make the man4 ,when you have finished school1 after you have gone out and established yourselves in some kind of business1 after you have learned to save money1 and have got a good bank account ahead1 if you are where the laundering is not sufficiently well done to suit you1 why perhaps you can afford to send your collars forty or fifty miles away4 ,but as ,i see you young men1 ,i do not believe you can afford it4 ,and if you can afford it1 why1 ,i should like to have you pay that money for a part of your tuition1 which we now have to get some one else to pay for you4 ,you want to be very sure1 too1 that as you go out into the world1 you go out not ashamed to work2 not ashamed to put in practice what you have learned here4 ,as ,i come in contact with our graduates1 ,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 institution1 or a graduate who has been ashamed to use his hands4 ,now that reputation we want to keep up4 ,we want to be sure that such a reputation as this follows every student who goes out4 ,and then be very sure that you are simple in your words and your language4 ,write your letters in the simplest and plainest manner possible4 ,who of you did not understand what was said by ,mr4 ,john ,d4 ,rockefeller1 ,jr41 when he spoke from this platform a few evenings ago8 ,was there a single word1 or a single reference1 or figure of speech1 that he used that you did not understand the full force of1 or did not appreciate8 ,here is a man whose father is perhaps the richest man in the world1 and yet there was no tomfoolery about his speech4 ,every word was simple and plain1 and everybody could understand everything that he said4 ,he used no ,latin or ,greek quotations4 ,some people get the idea that if they can get a little education1 and a little money ahead1 and can talk so that no one can understand them1 they are educated4 ,that is a great mistake1 because nobody understands them1 and they do not understand themselves4 ,now1 the world has no sympathy with that kind of thing4 ,if you have anything to write1 write it in the plainest manner possible4 ,use just as few words as possible1 and as simple words as possible4 ,if you can get a word with one syllable that will express your meaning1 use it in preference to one of two syllables4 ,if you can not get a suitable word of one syllable1 try to get one of two syllables instead of three or four4 ,at any rate make your words just as short as possible1 and your sentences as short and simple as you can make them4 ,there is great power in simplicity1 simplicity of speech1 simplicity of life in every form4 ,the world has no patience with people who are superficial1 who are trying to show off1 who are trying to be what the world knows they are not4 ,you know you sometimes get frightened and discouraged about the laws that some of the ,states are inclined to pass1 and that some of them are passing1 but there is no ,state1 there is no municipality1 there is no power on earth1 that can neutralize the influence of a high1 pure1 simple and useful life4 ,every individual who learns to live such a life will find an opportunity to make his influence felt4 ,no one can in any way permanently hold back a race of people who are getting those elements of strength which the world recognizes1 which the world has always recognized1 and which it always will recognize1 as indicating the highest type of manhood and womanhood4 ,there is nothing1 then1 to be discouraged about4 ,we are going forward1 and we shall keep going forward if we do not let these difficulties which sometimes occur discourage us4 ,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 recognized4 ,,have ,,you ,,done ,,your ,,best8 ,this talk was given at the middle of the school year4 ,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 carefully2 to consider your life in school from every point of view2 to place yourselves1 as it were1 in the presence of your parents1 or your friends at home2 to place yourselves in the presence of those who stand by and support this institution2 to place yourselves in the presence of your teachers and of all who are in any way interested in you4 ,now1 suppose you were to-night sitting down by your parents' side1 by their fireside1 looking them in the face1 or by the side of your nearest and dearest friends1 those who have done the most for you1 those who have stood by you most closely4 ,suppose you were in that position4 ,i want to ask you to answer this question1 ,in considering your school life--in your studies1 for example--during the year1 thus far1 have you done your best8 ,have you been really honest with your parents1 who have struggled1 who have sacrificed1 who have toiled for years1 in ways you do not know of1 in order that you might come here1 and in order that you might remain here8 ,have you really been interested in them8 ,have you really been honest with your teachers8 ,have you been honest with those who support this institution8 ,have you really1 in a word1 in the preparation and recitation of your lessons1 done your level best8 ,right out from your hearts1 have you done your best8 ,i fear that a great many of you1 when you look your conscience squarely in the face1 when you get right down to your real selves1 at the bottom of your lives1 must answer that you have not done your best4 ,there have been precious minutes1 there have been precious hours1 that you have completely thrown away1 hours for which you cannot show a single return4 ,now1 if you have not done your level best1 right out straight from your heart1 in the preparation and recitation of your lessons1 and in all your work1 it is not too late for you to make amends4 ,i should be very sorry if ,i waited until the end of the term to remind you of this1 because it would then be too late4 ,there would be many of you with long faces1 who would say1 if you were reminded then1 that you could have done so much better1 would have been so much more honest with your parents and friends1 if you had only been reminded earlier2 and that in every way you would have made your lives so different from what they had been4 ,now1 it isn't too late4 ,grant1 as ,i know that numbers of you will grant1 that you have thrown away precious time1 that you have been indifferent to the advice of your teachers1 that you really haven't been honest with yourselves in the preparation of your lessons1 that you have been careless in your recitations4 ,i want you to be really honest with yourselves and say1 from to-night on1 ,i am going to take charge of myself4 ,i am not going to drift in this respect4 ,i am going to row up the stream2 and my life1 as a schoolboy or a schoolgirl1 is going to be different from what it has been4 ,now place yourselves again in the presence of your parents1 of those who are dearest to you1 and answer this question1 ,in your work1 in your industrial work here1 have you done your real best8 ,in the field and in the shop1 with the plough1 the trowel1 the hammer1 the saw1 have you done your level best8 ,have you done your best in the sewing room and in the cooking classes8 ,have you justified your parents in the sacrifice of time and money which they have made in order to allow you to come here8 ,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 woman4 ,it isn't too late4 ,you can turn yourselves completely around4 ,those of you who have been indifferent and slow1 those of you who have been thoughtless and slovenly1 those of you who have tried to find out how little effort of body or mind you could put into your industrial work here1--it isn't too late for you to turn yourselves completely around in that respect1 and to say that from to-night you are going to be a different man or woman4 ,have you done your level best in making your surroundings what the school requires1 what your school life should be1 in learning how to take care of your bodies1 in learning how to keep your bodies clean and pure1 in the conscientious1 systematic use of the tooth brush8 ,have you done your best8 ,have you been downright honest in that respect1 alone8 ,have you used the tooth brush just because you felt it was a requirement of the school1 or because you felt that you could not be clean or honest with your room-mates1 that you could not be yourself in the sight of ,god1 unless you used the tooth brush8 ,have you used it in the dark1 as well as in the light8 ,have you learned that1 even if your room was not going to be inspected on a certain day1 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 inspected8 ,have you been careful in this respect8 ,have you shifted this duty1 or neglected that duty8 ,have you thrown some task off on to your room-mates8 ,have you tried to slide out of it1 or1 as it were1 to get by1 as the slang phrase goes1 without doing really honest1 straightforward work1 as regards the cleanliness of your room1 the improvement of it1 the making of it more attractive8 ,have you been really honest with yourselves and your parents1 and with those who spend so much money for the support of this institution8 ,above all1 have you been really true to your parents and to your best selves in growing in strength of character1 in strength of purpose1 in being downright honest8 ,those of you who came here1 for instance1 with the habit of telling falsehoods1 of deceiving in one way or another2 those of you who came here with the temptation1 perhaps1 in too many cases1 overshadowing you and overpowering you1 to take property which does not belong to you2 have you been really honest in overcoming habits of this kind8 ,are you building character8 ,are you less willing to yield to temptation8 ,are you more able to overcome temptation now than you were8 ,if you are not more able1 you have not grown in this respect4 ,but it is not too late4 ,if there are some of you who have been unfortunate enough to allow little mean habits1 mean dispositions1 mean acts1 mean thoughts1 mean words1 to get the uppermost of you--in a word1 if your life thus far has been a little1 dried-up1 narrow life1 get rid of that life4 ,throw open your heart4 ,say now1 ,i am not going to be conquered by little1 mean thoughts1 words and acts any longer4 ,hereafter all my thoughts1 all my words1 all my acts1 shall be large1 generous1 high1 pure4 ,in a word1 ,i want you to get hold of this idea1 that you can make the future of your lives just what you want to make it4 ,you can make it bright1 happy1 useful1 if you learn this fundamental lesson1 and stick to it while in school1 or after you go away from here1 that it doesn't pay any individual to do any less than his very best4 ,it doesn't pay to be anything else but downright honest in heart4 ,any person who is not honest1 who is not trying to do his very best in the classroom or in the shop1 no matter where he may be1 will find out that it does not pay in the long run4 ,you may think it best for a little while1 but permanently it does not pay any man or woman to be anything but really1 downright honest1 and to do his or her level best4 ,now ,i want you to think about these things1 not only here in the chapel to-night1 but to-morrow in your class-rooms1 and with reference to everything you touch4 ,i want to see you let it shine out1 even at the very ends of your fingers1 that you are doing your best in everything4 ,do this1 and you will find at the end of the year that you are growing stronger1 purer1 and brighter1 that you are making your parents and those interested in you happier1 and that you are preparing yourselves to do what this institution and the country expect you to do4 ,,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 life4 ,there are a few things that enter into student life which1 in a very large degree1 cause the untrue to fall by the wayside1 and which prevent students from doing their very best4 ,among these things is the disposition to grow discouraged4 ,very many people1 very many students1 who otherwise would succeed1 who would go through school creditably1 graduating with honours1 have failed to succeed because they became discouraged4 ,now there are a number of things in school life that cause a student to become discouraged1 and ,i am going to try to enumerate a few of them1 although ,i do not know that ,i shall mention nearly all of them4 ,students frequently become discouraged on account of their industrial work4 ,it is not of the character that they want it to be1 or they do not get assigned to the trade they want to work at4 ,still others become discouraged because of their classroom studies4 ,they find that their studies are difficult2 that their lessons are too long and their memories too short4 ,they find that they cannot understand the teacher1 or they think they find that the teacher does not understand them4 ,some become discouraged because they think that they are entirely misunderstood1 are misunderstood by their classmates and by their teachers4 ,they think that their efforts in the classroom and in the shop are not properly appreciated4 ,others become discouraged because they feel that they are without friends4 ,it seems to them that other students have friends on every hand who are encouraging them1 who send them money1 who supply them with clothing1 and that they themselves have no such friends4 ,you become discouraged for such reasons as these4 ,you feel that your highest and best efforts are not appreciated4 ,this tends to discourage you4 ,there are not a few of you who get discouraged because you feel that you belong to a despised race2 that for a long time you have been trampled upon because of your colour1 and because of certain peculiar characteristics2 that you have been neglected or oppressed1 and that there is no reason why you should make an effort to go forward2 that you belong to a race that is doomed to disappointment1 to stay under1 and to not succeed4 ,some of you become discouraged and despondent because of poverty4 ,perhaps here ,i strike the basis of the reason for most of the discouragement4 ,you come here1 and your parents disappoint you4 ,they do not supply you with money4 ,you become discouraged because they do not supply you with proper clothing1 or with what you think you ought to have1 and1 very often1 with such as you really ought to have1 and that disheartens you4 ,you find that other students have money1 and you have none4 ,they have money not only for the necessities of school life1 but for some of the luxuries1 while you have not enough for even the bare necessities4 ,other students are more than supplied with clothing1 while you are very scantily supplied4 ,you shiver1 in many cases1 by reason of the cold1 while others are comfortable and nicely dressed4 ,sometimes you are even ashamed to show yourself in public1 because of the appearance of the old coat1 or trousers1 or shoes that you have to wear4 ,some of you become discouraged because you find yourselves without the proper books4 ,some of you cannot get the money needed to purchase books1 a tooth brush1 and other necessary things4 ,you find yourselves cramped and hampered on every hand4 ,you are discouraged at this point and at that point1 and you feel that nobody's lot is as hard as your own4 ,you become discouraged1 you become dissatisfied1 and you feel like giving up4 ,now ,i want to suggest to you to-night that this very thing of discouragement1 as an element in life1 is for a purpose4 ,i do not believe that anything1 any element of your lives1 is put into them without a purpose4 ,i believe that every effort that we are obliged to make to overcome obstacles will give us strength1 will give us a confidence in ourselves1 that nothing else can give us4 ,i would ten times rather see you having a hard struggle to elevate yourselves1 having a hard time either at work on the farm1 or on the buildings1 or in the shops1 without money and without clothes1 than to see you here having too much money1 and having everything that you want come to you without any effort on your part4 ,you are blessed1 as compared with some people4 ,the man or woman who has money1 without having had to work for it1 who has all the comforts of life1 without effort1 and who saves his own soul and perhaps the soul of somebody else1 such an individual is rare1 very rare indeed4 ,now it is not a curse to be situated as some of you are1 and if you will make up your minds that you are going to overcome the obstacles and the difficulties by which you are surrounded1 you will find that in every effort you make to overcome these difficulties you are growing in strength and confidence4 ,make up your minds that you are not going to allow anything to discourage you4 ,make up your minds that poor lessons1 scoldings on the part of your teachers1 want of money1 want of books--that none of these shall discourage you4 ,make up your mind that in spite of race and colour1 in spite of the obstacles that surround you1 in spite of everything1 you are going to succeed in your school life1 and are going to prepare yourself for usefulness hereafter4 ,every person who has grown to any degree of usefulness1 every person who has grown to distinction1 almost without exception has been a person who has risen by overcoming obstacles1 by removing difficulties1 by resolving that when he met discouragements he would not give up4 ,make up your minds that you are going to overcome every discouragement1 and that you are not going to let any discouragement overcome you4 ,those of you who have been inclined to be moody and morose1 or have been inclined to feel that the whole world is against you1 that there is no use for you to try to elevate yourselves1 make up your minds that your future is just as bright as that of anybody else4 ,do this1 and you will find that you have it in your own power to make your future bright or gloomy1 just as you desire4 ,,on ,,getting ,a ,,home ,every coloured man owes it to himself1 and to his children as well1 to secure a home just as soon as possible4 ,no matter how small the plot of ground may be1 or how humble the dwelling placed on it1 something that can be called a home should be secured without delay4 ,a home can be secured much easier than many imagine4 ,a small amount of money saved from week to week1 or from month to month1 and carefully invested in a piece of land1 will soon secure a site upon which to build a comfortable house4 ,no individual should feel satisfied until he has a comfortable home4 ,more and more the ,southern ,states are making one of the conditions for voting1 the ownership of at least #cjj worth of property1 so that persons who own homes will not only reap the benefits that come from owning a home1 in other directions1 but will also find themselves entitled to cast their ballot4 ,care should be taken as to the location of the land4 ,it is of little advantage to secure a lot in some crowded1 filthy alley4 ,one should try to secure a lot on a good street1 a street that is carefully and well worked1 so that the surroundings of the home will be enjoyable4 ,even if one has to go a good ways into the country to secure such a lot1 it is much better than to buy a building spot on an unsightly1 undesirable alley4 ,i believe that our people do best1 as a rule1 to buy land in the country instead of in the city2 but in either case we should not rest until we have secured a home in one place or the other4 ,no man has a right to marry and run the risk of leaving his wife at his death without a home4 ,i notice with regret that there are many of our people who have already bought homes1 who1 after they have secured the land1 paid for it and built a cabin containing two or three rooms1 do not seek to go any further in the improvement of the property4 ,in the first place1 in too many cases1 the house and yard1 especially the yard1 are not kept clean4 ,the fences are not kept in repair4 ,whitewash and paint are not used as they should be4 ,after the house is paid for1 the greatest care should be exercised to see that it is kept in first-class repair2 that the walls of the house and the fences are kept neatly painted or whitewashed2 that no palings are allowed to fall off the fence1 or if they do fall off1 to remain off4 ,if there is a barn or a henhouse1 these should be kept in repair1 and should1 like the house1 be made to look neat and attractive by paint and whitewash4 ,paint and whitewash add a great deal to the value of a house4 ,if persons would learn to use even a part of the time they spend in idle gossip or in standing about on the streets1 in whitewashing or painting their houses1 it would make a great difference in the appearance of the buildings1 as well as add to their value4 ,only a short time ago1 near a certain town1 ,i visited the house--,i could not call it a home--of a presiding elder1 a man who had received considerable education1 and who spent his time in going about over his district preaching to hundreds and thousands of coloured people2 and yet the home of this man was almost a disgrace to him and to his race4 ,the house was not painted or whitewashed2 the fence was in the same condition2 the yard was full of weeds2 there were no walks laid out in the yard2 there were no flowers in it4 ,in fact everything on the outside of the house and in the yard presented a most dismal and discouraging appearance4 ,so far as ,i could see there was not a single vegetable around this house1 nor did ,i see any chickens or fowls of any kind4 ,this is not the way to live1 and especially is it not the way for a minister or a teacher to live1 for they are men who are supposed to lead their people not only by word but by example4 ,every minister and every teacher should make his home1 his yard1 and his garden1 models for the people whom he attempts to teach and lead4 ,i confess that ,i have no confidence in the preaching of a minister whose home is in the condition of the one ,i have described4 ,there is no need why1 as a race1 we should get into the miserable and unfortunate habit of living in houses that are out of repair1 that are not whitewashed or painted1 that are not comfortable1 and above all else1 in houses that we do not own4 ,there is no reason why we should not make our homes not only comfortable1 but attractive1 so that no one can tell from the outside appearance1 at least1 whether the house is occupied by a white family or a black family4 ,after a house has been paid for1 it not only should be improved from year to year and kept in good repair1 but1 as the family grows1 new rooms should be added4 ,the house should not only be made comfortable1 but should be made convenient4 ,as soon as possible there should be a sitting room1 where books and papers can be found1 a room in which the whole family may read and study during the winter nights4 ,i do not believe that any house is complete without a bathroom4 ,as soon as possible every one of our houses should be provided with a bathroom1 so that the body of every member of the family can be baptized every morning in clean1 invigorating1 fresh water4 ,such a bath puts one in proper condition for the work of the day1 and not only keeps one well physically1 but strong morally and religiously4 ,another important part of the home is the dining-room4 ,the dining-room should be the most attractive and most comfortable room in the house4 ,it should be large and airy1 a room into which plenty of sunlight can come1 and a room that can be kept comfortable both in the summer and in the winter4 ,these suggestions are made to you with the hope that you will put them into practice1 and also that you will influence others to do the same4 ,they are all suggestions that we1 as a race1 notwithstanding our poverty1 in most cases can find a way to put into practice4 ,every one of them should be taken up by our teachers1 our ministers and by our educated young people4 ,they should be taught and urged in school1 in church1 in farmers' meetings1 in women's meetings1 and1 in fact1 wherever the people of the race come together4 ,,calling ,,things ,,by ,,their ,,right ,,names ,a few evenings ago ,i talked with you about the importance of learning to be simple1 humble and child-like before going out into the world4 ,you should remain in school until you get to the point where you feel that you do not know anything1 where you feel that you are willing to learn from any one who can teach you4 ,unfortunately there are many things here in the ,south which tend to lead away from this simplicity to which ,i have referred4 ,there is a great inclination to make things appear what they are not4 ,for example3 take the schools4 ,there is a great tendency to call schools by names which do not belong to them1 and which do not correctly represent that which in reality exists4 ,you will find the habit growing more prevalent every year1 ,i fear1 of calling a school a university1 or a college1 or an academy1 or a high-school4 ,in fact we seldom hear of a plain1 common1 public or graded school4 ,we do ourselves no good when we yield to that temptation4 ,if a school is a public school1 call it one2 but do not think that we gain anything by calling a little country school1 with two or three rooms and one or two teachers1 where some of the students are studying the alphabet1 a university4 ,and still this is too often done throughout the ,south1 as you know4 ,no respect or confidence is gained by the practice1 but1 on the contrary1 sensible people get disgusted with such false pretences4 ,when you go out into the world and meet with such cases as this1 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 it1 than to call it a high-school or an academy4 ,i do not by any means intend to say that schools do not have the right to aspire to become high-schools and colleges4 ,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 opened1 a college or a university4 ,it weakens us and prevents us from getting a solid1 sure foundation4 ,again1 we make the same mistake when we call every preacher or person who stands in a pulpit to read from it1 ,doctor1 whether or not that degree has been conferred upon him4 ,sensible people get tired of that kind of thing4 ,the degree of ,doctor of ,divinity was once held in the highest esteem1 and was conferred only upon those ministers who had really become entitled to it because of some original research or other work of high scholarship4 ,among highly educated people this rule holds still4 ,but to-day1 especially in the ,south1 many a little institution that opens its doors and calls itself a college or a university1 is beginning to confer degrees1 and make doctors of divinity of persons who are unworthy of degrees4 ,and sometimes1 should these persons fail to get an institution to confer a degree on them1 they confer it on themselves6 ,the habit is getting to be so common that in little towns the ministers are calling themselves ,doctors4 ,one pastor will meet another and say1 ,good morning1 ,doctor1 and the other1 wishing to be as polite as his friend1 will say1 ,how are you1 ,doctor8 and so it goes on1 until both begin to believe they really are ,doctors4 ,now this practice is not only ridiculous1 but it is very hurtful to us as a race1 and it should be discouraged4 ,much the same criticism may be made of many of those who teach4 ,a person who teaches a little country school1 perhaps in a brush arbour1 is called ,professor4 ,every person who leads a string band is called ,professor4 ,i was in a small town not long ago1 and ,i heard the people speaking of some one as the professor4 ,i was anxious to know who the professor was4 ,so ,i waited a few minutes1 and finally the professor came up1 and ,i recognized him as a member of one of our preparatory classes4 ,now1 don't suffer the world to put you in this silly1 ridiculous position4 ,if people attempt to call you ,professor1 or by any other title that is not yours1 tell them that you are not a professor1 that you are a simple mister4 ,that is a good enough title for any one4 ,we have the same right to become professors as any other people1 when we occupy positions which entitle us to that name1 but we drag that title1 which ought to be a badge of scholarship1 down into the mud and mire when we allow it to be misapplied4 ,we carry a similar kind of deception into our school work when1 in the essays which we read and the orations which we deliver1 we simply rehearse matter a great deal of which has been copied from some one else4 ,go into almost any church where there is one of the doctors of divinity to whom ,i have referred1 and you will hear sermons copied out of books and pamphlets4 ,the essays1 the orations1 the sermons that are not the productions of the people who pretend to write them1 all come from this false foundation4 ,then there is another error to which ,i wish to call your attention4 ,in many parts of the ,south1 especially in the cities and towns1 there are excellent public schools1 well equipped in every way with apparatus and material1 and provided with good1 competent teachers1 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 attendance4 ,if the school can't be in the church of some particular denomination1 it must be near it4 ,in the average town there may be the denominational school of the ,african ,methodist ,episcopal church1 of the ,zion church1 of the ,baptist church1 of the ,wesleyan ,methodist church1 and so on1 all in different parts of the town4 ,instead of supporting one public school1 provided at the expense of the town or city1 there exists this little1 narrow denominational spirit1 which is robbing these innocent children of their education4 ,we want to say to such people as these1 people who are content so to deprive their children1 and have them taught by some second-rate teacher1 that they are wrong4 ,we want you to let the people know that the great public-school system of ,america is the nation's greatest glory1 and that we do not help matters when we attempt to tear down the public school4 ,of course it is the right and the duty of every denomination to erect its own theological seminaries and its colleges1 where the special tenets of that denomination are taught to those who are preparing for its pulpit2 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 go4 ,i have in mind a place where the coloured people have an excellent school1 equal to that of the whites4 ,i went through the building and found it supplied with improved apparatus and capable teachers1 and saw that first-class work was done there4 ,later1 ,i was taken about a mile outside the city1 where there was a school with an incapable teacher1 and some sixty or seventy pupils being poorly taught4 ,here was a third-rate teacher in a third-rate building1 poor work1 and the children suffering for lack of proper instruction4 ,why8 ,simply because the people wanted a school of their own denomination in that part of the city4 ,now you want to cultivate courage1 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 matters4 ,i mention all these things because they hinder us from getting a solid foundation4 ,they hinder us1 further1 in that in many cases they prevent us from getting the right power of leadership in teaching1 in the work of the ministry1 and in many other respects4 ,wherever you go1 then1 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 people4 ,just in proportion as you set your lives right in this matter1 will the masses of the race be inclined to follow you4 ,,european ,,impressions ,some people here in ,america think that some of us make too much ado over the matter of industrial training for the ,negro4 ,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 respect4 ,i shall not take the time here to outline what is being done for men in the direction of industrial training in ,europe1 but ,i shall give some account of what ,i saw being done for women in ,england4 ,mrs4 ,washington and ,i visited the ,agricultural ,college for women1 at ,swanley1 ,england1 where we found forty intelligent1 cultivated women1 who were most of them graduates from high schools and colleges1 engaged in studying practical agriculture1 horticulture1 dairying and poultry raising4 ,we found the women in the laboratory and classrooms1 studying agricultural chemistry1 botany1 zology1 and applied mathematics1 and we also saw these same women in the garden1 planting vegetables1 trimming rose bushes1 scattering manure1 growing grapes and raising fruit in the hot-houses and in the field4 ,as another suggestion for our people1 ,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 ,raisers1 which was largely attended by people from all parts of the ,united ,kingdom4 ,in the trip which ,mrs4 ,washington and ,i made through ,holland1 we saw much which may be of interest to you4 ,it has been said that1 ,god made the world1 but the ,dutch made ,holland4 ,for one to fully realize the force of this one must see ,holland for himself4 ,one of the best ways to see the interior of ,holland1 and the peasant life1 is to take a trip1 as we did1 on one of the canal boats plying between ,antwerp1 in ,belgium1 and ,rotterdam1 in ,holland4 ,it was especially interesting for me to compare the rural life in ,holland with the life of the country coloured people in the ,south4 ,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 ocean1 and thus enable the people to use to advantage all the land there is in that small country4 ,the great lesson which our coloured farmers can learn from the ,dutch1 is how to make a living from a small plot of ground well cultivated1 instead of from forty or fifty acres poorly tilled4 ,i have seen a whole family making a comfortable living by cultivating two acres of land there1 while our ,southern farmers1 in too many cases1 try to till fifty or a hundred acres1 and find themselves in debt at the end of the year4 ,in all ,holland1 ,i do not think one can find a hundred acres of waste land2 every foot of land is covered with grass1 vegetables1 grain or fruit trees4 ,another advantage which our ,southern farmers might have in trying to pattern after the farmers of ,holland1 would be that they would not be obliged to go to so much additional expense for horse or mule power4 ,most of the cultivating of the soil there is done with a hoe and spade4 ,i saw the people of ,holland on ,sunday and on week days1 but ,i did not see a single ,dutch man1 woman or child in rags4 ,there were practically no beggars and no very poor people4 ,they owe their prosperity1 too1 very largely to their thorough and intelligent cultivation of the soil4 ,next to the thorough tilling of the soil1 the thing of most interest there1 from which the coloured people in ,america may learn a lesson1 is the fine dairying which has made ,holland famous throughout the world4 ,even the poorest family has its herd of ,holstein cattle1 and they are the finest specimens of cattle that it has ever been my pleasure to see4 ,to watch thousands of these cattle grazing on the fields is worth a trip to ,holland4 ,as the result of the attention which they have given to breeding ,holstein cattle1 ,dutch butter and cheese are in demand all through ,europe4 ,the most ordinary farmer there has a cash income as the result of the sale of his butter and milk4 ,many of these people make more out of the wind that blows over the fields than our poor ,southern people make out of the soil4 ,the old-fashioned windmill is to be seen on every farm4 ,this mill not only pumps the water for the live stock1 but1 in many cases1 is made to operate the dairy1 to saw the wood1 to grind the grain1 and to run the heavy machinery4 ,these people are1 however1 not unlike our ,southern people in one respect1 and that is in having their women and children work in the fields4 ,this1 ,i think1 is done in a larger measure even than in the ,south among the coloured people4 ,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 training4 ,after this they take a special course in agriculture and dairying4 ,this is as it should be4 ,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 education4 ,in the matter of physical appearance1 including grace1 beauty1 and carriage of the body1 ,i think our own people are far ahead of the ,dutch4 ,but the ,dutch are a hardy1 rugged1 industrious race of people4 ,in our trip in the canal boat we saw the men at the landings in large numbers1 in their wooden shoes1 and the women and children in their beautiful1 old-fashioned head-dresses1 each community having its own style of head-dress1 which has been handed down from one generation to another4 ,we were in ,rotterdam over ,sunday4 ,the free and rather boisterous commingling of the sexes on the street was noteworthy4 ,in this1 also1 our people in the ,united ,states could set an example to the ,dutch4 ,the foundation of the civilization of these people is in their regard for and respect for the law1 and their observance of it4 ,this is the great lesson which the entire ,south must learn before it can hope to receive the respect and confidence of the world4 ,europeans do not understand how the ,south can disregard its own laws as it so often does4 ,if you ask any man on that side of the ,atlantic why he does not emigrate to the ,southern part of the ,united ,states1 he shrugs his shoulders and says1 ,no law2 they kill4 ,i pray ,god that no part of our country may much longer have such a reputation as that in any part of the world4 ,from ,holland we went to ,paris4 ,on a beautiful1 sunny day1 if you could combine the whirl of fashion and gaiety of ,new ,york ,city1 ,boston and ,chicago on a prominent avenue1 you would have some idea of what is to be seen in ,paris upon one of her popular boulevards4 ,fashion seemed to sway everything in that great city2 for example1 when ,i went into a shoe store to purchase a pair of shoes1 ,i could not find a pair large enough to be comfortable4 ,i was gently told that it was not the fashion to wear large shoes there4 ,one of the things ,i had in mind when ,i went to ,france was to visit the tomb of ,toussaint ,l',ouverture1 but ,i learned from some ,haitian gentlemen residing in ,paris that the grave of that general was in the northern part of ,france1 and these same gentlemen informed me that his burial place is still without a monument of any kind4 ,it seems that it has been in the minds of the ,haitians for some time to remove his body to ,haiti1 but thus far it has been neglected4 ,the ,haitian ,government and people owe it to themselves1 it appears to me1 to see to it that the resting place of this great hero is given a proper memorial1 either in ,france or on the island of ,haiti4 ,speaking of the ,haitians1 there are a good many well educated and cultivated men and women of that nationality in ,paris4 ,numbers of them are sent there each year for education1 and they take high rank in scholarship4 ,it is greatly to be regretted1 however1 that some of these do not take advantage of the excellent training which is given there in the colleges of physical science1 agriculture1 mechanics and domestic science4 ,they would then be in a position to return home and assist in developing the agricultural and mineral resources of their native land4 ,haiti will never be what it should be until a large number of the natives receive an education which will enable them to develop agriculture1 build roads1 start manufactories1 build railroads and bridges1 and thus keep on the island the large amount of money which is now being sent outside for productions which these people themselves could supply4 ,in all the ,european cities which we visited1 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 ,states1 and we have no hesitation in saying that1 in all that marks a lady or gentleman1 our people in the ,south do not suffer at all by the comparison4 ,even at the camp-meetings and other holiday gatherings in the ,south1 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 saw4 ,i should strongly advise our people against going to ,europe1 and especially to ,paris1 with the hope of securing employment1 unless fortified by strong friends and a good supply of money4 ,in one week1 in ,paris1 three men of my race called to see me1 and in each case ,i found the man to be practically in a starving condition4 ,they were well-meaning1 industrious men1 who had gone there with the idea that life was easy and work sure2 but notwithstanding the fact that they walked the streets for days1 they could get no work4 ,the fact that they did not speak the language1 nor understand the customs of the people1 made their life just so much the harder4 ,with the assistance of other ,americans1 ,i secured passage for one of these men to ,america4 ,his parting word to me was1 ,the ,united ,states is good enough for me in the future4 ,,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 people4 ,you are going to have influence in homes of your own1 you are going to have influence in the homes of your mothers and fathers1 or in the homes of your relatives4 ,you are going to exert an influence for good or for evil in the homes wherever you may go4 ,now the question how to bring about the greatest amount of happiness in these homes is one that should concern every student here4 ,i say this because ,i want you to realize that each one of you is to go out from here to exert an influence4 ,you are to exercise this influence in the communities where you go2 and if you fail to exercise it for the good of other individuals1 you have failed to accomplish the purpose for which this institution exists4 ,in the first place you want to exert your influence in those directions that will bring about the best results2 among these it is important that the people have presented to them the highest forms of home life4 ,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 money4 ,now some of the happiest and most comfortable homes ,i have ever been in have been homes where the people have but little money2 in fact1 they might well be called poor people4 ,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 wealth4 ,i want to speak plainly4 ,in the first place there must be promptness in connection with everything in the life of the home4 ,take the matter of the meals1 for instance4 ,it is impossible for a home to be properly conducted unless there is a certain time for each meal1 and promptness must be insisted on4 ,in some homes the breakfast may be eaten at six o'clock one morning1 at eight o'clock the next morning1 and1 perhaps1 at nine o'clock the morning after that4 ,dinner may be served at twelve1 one1 or two o'clock1 and supper may be eaten at five1 six or seven2 and even then one-half the members of the family be absent when the meal is served4 ,there is useless waste of time and energy in this1 and an unnecessary amount of worry4 ,it saves time1 and it saves a great amount of worry1 to have it understood that there is to be a certain time for each meal1 and that all the members of the family are to be present at that time4 ,in this way the family will get rid of a great deal of annoyance1 and precious time will be saved to be used in reading or in some other useful occupation4 ,then as to the matter of system4 ,no matter how cheap your homes are1 no matter how poverty-stricken you may be in regard to money1 it is possible for each home to have its affairs properly systematized4 ,i wonder how many housekeepers can go into their homes on the darkest night there is1 and put their hands on the box of matches without difficulty4 ,that is one way to test a good housekeeper4 ,if she cannot do this1 then there is a waste of time4 ,it saves time and it saves worry1 too1 if you have a certain place in which the matches are to be kept1 and if you teach all the members of the family that the matches are always to be kept in that place4 ,oftentimes you find the match box on the table1 or on a shelf in the corner of the room1 or perhaps on the floor2 sometimes here1 sometimes there4 ,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 matter4 ,then as to the matter of the dish cloth4 ,you should have a place for your dish cloth1 and put it there every day4 ,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 it1 from five to ten minutes every time that article is needed4 ,they will be saying1 ,johnnie1 or ,jennie1 where is it8 ,where did you put it the last time you had it8 and all that kind of thing4 ,the same thing is true of the broom4 ,in the first place1 in the home where there is system1 you do not find the broom left standing on the wrong end4 ,i hope all of you know which the right end of the broom is in this respect4 ,you do not find the broom on the wrong end1 and you always find that there is a certain place for it1 and that it is kept there4 ,when things are out of place and you have to hunt for them1 you are spending not only time1 but you are spending strength that should be used in some more profitable way4 ,there should be a place for the coat and the cloak1 for the hat1 and1 in fact1 a place for everything in the house4 ,the people who have a place for everything are the people who will find time to read1 and who will have time for recreation4 ,you wonder sometimes how the people in ,new ,england can afford to have so much time for reading books and newspapers1 and still have sufficient money to send as much as they do here to this institute to be used in our education4 ,these people find time to keep themselves thus intelligent1 and to keep themselves in touch with all that takes place in the world1 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 about4 ,i have very rarely gone into a boarding house kept by our people and found the lamp in its proper place4 ,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 lamp2 then1 when they have found it1 it is not filled2 somebody forgot to put the oil in it in the morning2 then they have to go and hunt up a wick1 and then they must get a chimney4 ,then1 when they get all these things1 they must hunt for the matches to light the lamp4 ,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 is1 provide the proper number of towels1 the soap and matches1 and have everything that should be provided for the comfort of the person who is to use the room1 put in the room and put in its proper place4 ,i should be afraid to test some of you4 ,you must learn to be able to do such things before you leave here1 in order that you may be of some use to yourself and to others4 ,if you are not able to do this1 you will be a disappointment to us4 ,,what ,,will ,,pay ,i wish to talk with you for a few minutes upon a subject that is much discussed1 especially by young people--,what things pay in life8 ,there is no question1 perhaps1 which is asked oftener by a person entering upon a career than this--,what will pay8 ,will this course of action1 or that1 pay8 ,will it pay to enter into this business or that business8 ,what will pay8 ,let us see if we can answer that question1 a question which every student in this school should ask himself or herself4 ,what will profit me most8 ,what will make my life most useful8 ,what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness8 ,what will pay best8 ,not long ago a certain minister secured the testimony of forty men who had been successful in business1 persons who beyond question had been pronounced to be business men of authority4 ,the question which this minister put to these business men was1 whether under any circumstances it paid to be dishonest in business2 whether they had found1 in all their business career1 that under any circumstances it paid to cheat1 swindle or take advantage of their fellow-men1 or in any way to deceive those with whom they came in contact4 ,every one of the forty answered1 without hesitation1 that nothing short of downright honesty and fair dealing ever paid in any business4 ,they said that no one could succeed permanently in business who was not honest in dealing with his fellow-men1 to say nothing of the future life or of doing right for right's sake4 ,it does not pay an individual to do anything except what his conscience will approve of every day1 and every hour and minute in the day4 ,i want you to put that question to yourselves to-night3 ask yourselves what course of action will pay4 ,you may be tempted to go astray in the matter of money4 ,think1 when you are tempted to do that3 ,will it pay8 ,persons who are likely to go astray in the matter of money1 furthermore are likely to do so in the matter of dress1 in tampering with each other's property1 in the matter of acting dishonestly with each other's books4 ,such persons will be dishonest in the matter of labour1 too4 ,it pays an individual to be honest with another person's money4 ,it never pays to be dishonest in taking another person's clothes or books4 ,none of these things ever pays1 and when you have occasion to yield or not to yield to such a temptation1 you should ask yourself the question3 ,will it pay me to do this8 ,put that question constantly to yourself4 ,whenever you promise1 moreover1 to do a piece of work for a man1 there is a contract binding you to do an honest day's labour--and the man to pay you for an honest day's labour4 ,if you fail to give such service1 if you break that contract1 you will find that such a course of action never pays4 ,it will never pay you to deal dishonestly with an individual1 or to permit dishonest dealing4 ,if you fail to give a full honest day's work1 if you know that you have done only three-quarters of a day's work1 or four-fifths1 it may seem to you at the time that it has paid1 but in the long run you lose by it4 ,i regret to say that we sometimes have occasion to meet students here who are inclined to be dishonest4 ,such students come to ,mr4 ,palmer or to me1 and say they wish to go home4 ,when they are asked why they wish to go home1 some of them say they wish to go because they are sick4 ,then1 when they have been talked with a few minutes1 they may say that they do not like the food here1 or perhaps that some disappointment has befallen their parents4 ,in some cases ,i have had students give me half a dozen excuses in little more than the same number of minutes4 ,the proper thing for students to do1 when they wish to go home1 is to state the exact reason1 and then stick to it4 ,the student who does that is the kind that will succeed in the world4 ,the students who are downright dishonest in what they say1 will find out that they are not strong in anything1 that they are not what they ought to be4 ,the time will come when that sort of thing will carry them down instead of up4 ,in a certain year--,i think it was #aheg--there was a great financial panic in the ,united ,states1 especially in the city of ,new ,york4 ,a great many of the principal banks in the country failed1 and others were in daily danger of failure4 ,i remember a story that was told of one of the bank presidents of that time1 ,william ,taylor1 ,i believe4 ,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 solvent4 ,at one of these meetings1 after a critical day in the most trying period of the panic1 when some men reported that they had lost money during that day1 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 strain1 ,william ,taylor reported that money had been added to the deposits of his bank that day instead of being withdrawn4 ,what was behind all this8 ,william ,taylor had learned in early life that it did not pay to be dishonest1 but that it paid to be honest with all his depositors and with all persons who did business with his bank4 ,when other people were failing in all parts of the country1 the evidence of this man's character1 his regard for truth and honest dealing1 caused money to come into his bank when it was being withdrawn from others4 ,character is a power4 ,if you want to be powerful in the world1 if you want to be strong1 influential and useful1 you can be so in no better way than by having strong character2 but you cannot have a strong character if you yield to the temptations about which ,i have been speaking4 ,some one asked1 some time ago1 what it was that gave such a power to the sermons of the late ,dr4 ,john ,hall4 ,in the usual sense he was not a powerful speaker2 but everything he said carried conviction with it4 ,the explanation was that the character of the man was behind the sermon4 ,you may go out and make great speeches1 you may write books or addresses which are great literature1 but unless you have character behind what you say and write1 it will amount to nothing2 it will all go to the winds4 ,i leave this question with you1 then4 ,when you are tempted to do what your conscience tells you is not right1 ask yourself3 ,will it pay me to do this thing which ,i know is not right8 ,go to the penitentiary4 ,ask the people there who have failed1 who have made mistakes1 why they are there1 and in every case they will tell you that they are there because they yielded to temptation1 because they did not ask themselves the question3 ,will it pay8 ,go ask those people who have no care for life1 who have thrown away their virtue1 as it were1 ask them why they are without character1 and the answer will be1 in so many words1 that they sought but temporary success4 ,in order to find some short road to success1 in order to have momentary happiness1 they yielded to temptation4 ,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 day4 ,that is the kind of young men and young women we wish to send out from here4 ,whenever you are tempted to yield a hair's breadth in the direction which ,i have indicated1 ask yourself the question over and over again3 ,will it pay me in this world8 ,will it pay me in the world to come8 ,,education ,,that ,,educates#a ,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 sense4 ,when interruptions come such as we have just had1 taking you away from your regular routine work and study1 and the preparation of routine lessons is interrupted1 the first thought to some may be that this time is lost1 in so far as it relates to education in the ordinary sense2 that it is so much time taken away from that part of one's life that should be devoted to acquiring education4 ,i suppose that during the last few days the questions have come to many of you3 ,what are we gaining8 ,what are we getting from the irregularity that has characterized the school grounds within the last week1 that will in any degree compensate for the amount of book study that we have lost8 ,to my mind ,i do not believe that you have lost anything by the interruption4 ,on the other hand1 ,i am convinced that you have got the best kind of education4 ,i do not mean to say that we can depend upon it for all time to come for systematic training of the mind1 but so far as real education1 so far as development of the mind and heart and body are concerned1 ,i do not believe that a single student has lost anything by the irregularity of the last week or more4 ,you have gained in this respect3 in preparing for the reception and entertainment of the ,president of the ,united ,states and his ,cabinet1 and the distinguished persons who accompanied the party1 you have had to do an amount of original thinking which you1 perhaps1 have never had to do before in your lives4 ,you have been compelled to think2 you have been compelled to put more than your bodily strength into what you have been doing4 ,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 execution4 ,most of you never saw such an exhibition before2 ,i never did4 ,those of you who had to construct floats that would illustrate our agricultural work and our mechanical and academic work1 had to put a certain amount of original thought into the planning of these floats1 in order to make them show the work to the best advantage2 and two-thirds of you--yes1 practically all of you--had never seen anything of the kind before4 ,for this reason it was a matter that had to be thought out by you and planned out by you1 and then put into visible shape4 ,now compare that kind of education with the mere committing to memory of certain rules1 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 is4 ,education in the usual sense of the word is the mere committing to memory of something which has been known before us4 ,now during the last ten days we have had to solve problems of our own1 not problems and puzzles that some one else originated for us4 ,i do not believe that there is a person connected with the institution who is not stronger in mind1 who is not more self-confident and self-reliant1 so far as the qualities relate to what he is able to do with his mind or his hands1 than he was ten or twelve days ago4 ,there is the benefit that came to all of us4 ,it put us to thinking and planning2 it brought us in to contact with things that are out of the ordinary2 and there is no education that surpasses this4 ,i see more and more every year that the world is to be brought to the study of men and of things1 rather than to the study of mere books4 ,you will find more and more as the years go by1 that people will gradually lay aside books1 and study the nature of man in a way they have never done as yet4 ,i tell you1 then1 that in this interruption of the regular school work you have not lost anything3--you have gained2 you have had your minds awakened1 your faculties strengthened1 and your hands guided4 ,i do not wish to speak of this matter egotistically1 but it is true that ,i have heard a great many persons from elsewhere mention the pleasure which they have received in meeting ,tuskegee students1 because when they come in contact with a student who has been here1 they are impressed with the fact that he or she does not seem to be dead or sleepy4 ,they say that when they meet a ,tuskegee boy or girl they find a person who has had contact with real life4 ,the education that you have been getting during the last few days1 you will find1 as the years go by1 has been of a kind that will serve you in good stead all through your lives4 ,just in proportion as we learn to execute something1 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 race4 ,those people who came here to visit us knew perfectly well that we could commit to memory certain lines of poetry1 they knew we were able to solve certain problems in algebra and geometry1 they understood that we could learn certain rules in chemistry and agriculture2 but what interested them most was to see us put into visible form the results of our education4 ,just in proportion as an individual is able to do that1 he is of value to the world4 ,that is the object of the work which we are trying to do here4 ,we are trying to turn out men and women who are able to do something that the world wants done1 that the world needs to have done4 ,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 room4 ,by the training we are giving you here we are preparing you for a place in the world4 ,we are going to train you so that when you get to that place1 if you fail in it1 the failure will not be our fault4 ,it is a great satisfaction to have connected with a race men and women who are able to do something1 not merely to talk about doing it1 not merely to theorize about doing it1 but actually to do something that makes the world better to live in1 something that enhances the comforts and conveniences of life4 ,i had a good example of this last week4 ,i wanted something done in my office which required a practical knowledge of electricity4 ,it was a great satisfaction when ,i called upon one of the teachers1 to have him do the work in a careful1 praiseworthy manner4 ,it is very well to talk or lecture about electricity1 but it is better to be able to do something of value with one's knowledge of electricity4 ,and so1 as you go on1 increasing your ability to do things of value1 you will find that the problem which often now-a-days looks more and more difficult of solution will gradually become easier4 ,one of the ,cabinet members who were here a few days ago said1 after witnessing the exhibition which you made here1 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 institution4 ,you will find it true1 not only in this country but in other countries1 that the demand will be more and more for people who can do something4 ,just in proportion as we can1 as a race1 get the reputation which ,i spoke to you about a few days ago1 you will find there will be places for us4 ,regardless of colour or condition1 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 better4 ,this is the whole problem4 ,shall we prepare ourselves to do something as well as anybody else or better8 ,just in proportion as we do this1 you will find that nothing under the sun will keep us back4 ,,footnote3 #a ,this talk was given soon after the visit of ,president ,mc,kinley to ,tuskegee ,institute in the fall of #ahih4 ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,being ,,reliable4 ,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 ,carolina4 ,i find that with persons who are the employers or who might be the employers of numbers of our people1 there is a very general impression that as a race we lack steadiness--that we lack steadiness as labourers4 ,now you may say that this is not true1 and you may cite any number of instances to show that we are not unreliable in that respect2 whether it is true or not1 the results are the same2--it works against us in the matter of securing paying employment4 ,almost without exception1 in talking with persons who are in a position to employ us1 or who have been employing us1 or who are thinking of employing us1 ,i have found that this objection has been very largely in their minds1--that we cannot be depended upon1 that we are unsteady and unreliable in matters of labour4 ,i am speaking1 of course1 of that class of people of our race who depend mainly upon a day's work--working by the day1 as we call it--for their living4 ,these men with whom ,i talked gave several illustrations of this tendency4 ,in the first place1 ,i think they mentioned1 without exception1 this fact--that if the coloured people are employed in a factory1 they work well and steadily for a few days1 say until ,saturday night comes1 and they are paid their week's wages4 ,then they cannot be depended upon to put in an appearance the following ,monday morning4 ,that special criticism was made without exception4 ,the coloured people1 these men said1 would work earnestly1 and give good satisfaction until they got a little money ahead1 and got food enough assured to last them two or three weeks2 then they would give up the job1 or simply remain away from the factory until others had been put in their places4 ,that was one of the statements that was made to me over and over again4 ,people also mentioned to me as an unfavourable tendency the inclination which the people of our race have to go on excursions4 ,they said that if an excursion were going to ,wilmington or ,greensboro1 or ,charleston1 and the coloured people had a little money on hand1 you could not depend on their going to work instead of going on the excursion2 that people would say that they must go on this or that excursion1 and that nothing should stop them4 ,a great many people lose employment and money because of this tendency to go on excursions4 ,another thing that was mentioned to me was the ,sunday dinners4 ,our people are too likely to starve all through the week1 and then on ,sunday invite all the neighbours to come in and eat up what they have made through the week4 ,people say that we take our week's earnings on ,saturday night1 and go to the market and spend it all1 and then invite all of our kindred and neighbours to come in on ,sunday to have a great party4 ,then by ,monday morning we have made ourselves so ill by overeating that we are unfit for work4 ,this was given as one of the reasons which cause people to complain of our race for unsteadiness4 ,then there was complaint of a general lack of perseverance1 of an unwillingness to be steady1 to put money into the bank1 to begin at the bottom and gradually work toward the top4 ,you can easily see some of the results of such a reputation as this4 ,i have noticed some of the results in many of the places where our people have been securing paying employment4 ,one result is a general distrust of the entire race in matters pertaining to industry4 ,another is that people are not going to employ persons on whom they cannot depend1 to fill responsible positions4 ,employers are not likely to employ for responsible positions persons who are likely to go away unexpectedly on excursions4 ,another result is loss of money4 ,you will find many of our people in poverty simply because1 in so large a measure1 we have got this reputation of being unsteady and unreliable4 ,wherever our people are not getting regular1 paying employment1 it is largely on account of these things of which ,i have been speaking2 and gradually the opportunities for employment are slipping into the hands of the people of other races4 ,you can easily understand that where people are not getting steady employment--but a job this week and a job next week1 and perhaps nothing the week after--it is impossible for them to put money in the bank1 impossible to acquire homes and property1 and to settle down as reliable1 prosperous citizens4 ,now1 how are we going to change all these things8 ,i do not see any hope unless we can depend upon you to change them1 you young men and young women who are being educated in institutions of learning4 ,it rests largely with you to change public sentiment among our people in all these directions1 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 be4 ,but in order to do this it is necessary for you to learn how to control yourselves in these respects4 ,young men come here and want to work at this industry or that1 for a while1 and then get tired and want to change to something else4 ,some come with a strong determination to work1 and stay until something happens that is not quite pleasant1 and then they want to leave and go to some other school or go back home4 ,now we cannot make the leaders and the examples of our people that we should make1 if we are going to be guilty of these same weaknesses in these institutions4 ,let each of you take control of himself or herself1 and determine that whatever you plan to be you are going to be2 you are going to keep driving away1 pegging away1 moving on and on each hour1 each day1 until you have accomplished the purpose for which you came here4 ,such are the persons1 the men and women1 that the world is looking for4 ,these are the men and women we want to send to ,north ,carolina and ,south ,carolina1 to ,georgia1 to ,mississippi1 and about in our own ,state of ,alabama1 to reach hundreds and thousands of our people1 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 industry4 ,i have spoken very plainly about these things1 because ,i believe that they are matters to which as a race we ought to give more attention4 ,no race can thrive and prosper and grow strong if it is living on the outer edges of the industrial world1 is jumping here and there after a job that somebody else has given up4 ,at the risk of repeating myself1 ,i say that we must give attention to this matter1--we must be more trustworthy and more reliable in matters of labour4 ,as you go home1 and go into your churches1 your schools and your families1 preach1 teach and talk from day to day the doctrine that our people must become steady and reliable1 must become worthy of confidence in all their occupations4 ,i am sorry to say that it is too often true of young people that they overlook these matters in their conversation4 ,we are always ready to talk about ,mars and ,jupiter1 about the sun and moon1 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 living4 ,now if we cannot put a spirit of determination into you to go out and change public sentiment1 then the future for us as a race is not very bright4 ,but ,i have faith in you to believe that you are going to set a high standard for yourselves in all these matters1 and that if you can stay here two1 four1 five years1 some of you will control yourselves in all these respects1 and will bring yourselves to be examples of what we hope and expect the people whom you are going to teach are to become4 ,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 spoken1 a change in regard to these matters that will make us as a race firmer and stronger in these important directions4 ,,the ,,highest ,,education ,it may seem to some of you that ,i am continually talking to you about education--the right kind of education1 how to get an education1 and such kindred subjects--but surely no subject could be more pertinent1 since the object for which you all are here is to get an education2 and if you are to do this1 you wish to get the best kind possible4 ,you will understand1 then1 ,i am sure1 if ,i speak often about this1 or refer to the subject frequently1 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 education1 of what an education is meant to accomplish1 what it may be expected to do for one4 ,we are very apt to get the idea that education means the memorizing of a number of dates1 of being able to state when a certain battle took place1 of being able to recall with accuracy this event or that event4 ,we are likely to get the impression that education consists in being able to commit to memory a certain number of rules in grammar1 a certain number of rules in arithmetic1 and in being able to locate correctly on the earth's surface this mountain or that river1 and to name this lake and that gulf4 ,now ,i do not mean to disparage the value of this kind of training1 because among the things that education should do for us is to give us strong1 orderly and well developed minds4 ,i do not wish to have you get the idea that ,i undervalue or overlook the strengthening of the mind4 ,if there is one person more than another who is to be pitied1 it is the individual who is all heart and no head4 ,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 better1 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 heart4 ,we want development of mind and we want strengthening of the mind4 ,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 wants1 rather than to teach him how to commit to memory a number of facts in history or a number of names in geography4 ,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 them4 ,i wish to give you an education that will enable you to construct rules in grammar and arithmetic for yourselves4 ,that is the highest kind of training4 ,but1 after all1 this kind of thing is not the end of education4 ,what1 then1 do we mean by education8 ,i would say that education is meant to give us an idea of truth4 ,whatever we get out of text books1 whatever we get out of industry1 whatever we get here and there from any sources1 if we do not get the idea of truth at the end1 we do not get education4 ,i do not care how much you get out of history1 or geography1 or algebra1 or literature1 ,i do not care how much you have got out of all your text books3--unless you have got truth1 you have failed in your purpose to be educated4 ,unless you get the idea of truth so pure that you cannot be false in anything1 your education is a failure4 ,then education is meant to make us just in our dealings with our fellow men4 ,the man or woman who has learned to be absolutely just1 so far as he can interpret1 has1 in that degree1 an education1 is to that degree an educated man or woman4 ,education is meant to make us change for the better1 to make us more thoughtful1 to make us so broad that we will not seek to help one man because he belongs to this race or that race of people1 and seek to hinder another man because he does not belong to this race or that race of people4 ,education in the broadest and truest sense will make an individual seek to help all people1 regardless of race1 regardless of colour1 regardless of condition4 ,and you will find that the person who is most truly educated is the one who is going to be kindest1 and is going to act in the gentlest manner toward persons who are unfortunate1 toward the race or the individual that is most despised4 ,the highly educated person is the one who is the most considerate of those individuals who are less fortunate4 ,i hope that when you go out from here1 and meet persons who are afflicted by poverty1 whether of mind or body1 or persons who are unfortunate in any way1 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 be4 ,that is the way to test a person with education4 ,you may see ignorant persons1 who1 perhaps1 think themselves educated1 going about the street1 who1 when they meet an individual who is unfortunate--lame1 or with a defect of body1 mind or speech--are inclined to laugh at and make sport of that individual4 ,but the highly educated person1 the one who is really cultivated1 is gentle and sympathetic to everyone4 ,education is meant to make us absolutely honest in dealing with our fellows4 ,i don't care how much arithmetic we have1 or how many cities we can locate2--it all is useless unless we have an education that makes us absolutely honest4 ,education is meant to make us give satisfaction1 and to get satisfaction out of giving it4 ,it is meant to make us get happiness out of service for our fellows4 ,and until we get to the point where we can get happiness and supreme satisfaction out of helping our fellows1 we are not truly educated4 ,education is meant to make us generous4 ,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 objects1 in the support of your churches1 your ,sunday schools1 your hospitals1 and in being generous in giving help to the poor4 ,i hope1 for instance1 that a large proportion of you--in fact all of you--will make it a practice to give something yearly to this institution4 ,if you cannot give but twenty-five cents1 fifty cents1 or a dollar a year1 ,i hope you will put it down as a thing that you will not forget1 to give something to this institution every year4 ,we want to show to our friends who have done so much for us1 who have supported this school so generously1 how much interest we take in the institution that has given us so nearly all that we possess4 ,i hope that every senior1 in particular1 will keep this in mind4 ,i am glad to say that we have many graduates who send us such sums1 even if small1 and one graduate who for the last eight or ten years has sent us ten dollars annually4 ,i hope a number of you in the senior class that ,i see before me will do the same thing4 ,education is meant to make us appreciate the things that are beautiful in nature4 ,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 there1 is able to see something beautiful in the grass and flowers that surround him1 is1 in short1 able to see something beautiful1 elevating and inspiring in everything that ,god has created4 ,not only should education enable us to see the beauty in these objects which ,god has put about us1 but it is meant to influence us to bring beautiful objects about us4 ,i hope that each one of you1 after you graduate1 will surround himself at home with what is beautiful1 inspiring and elevating4 ,i do not believe that any person is educated so long as he lives in a dirty1 miserable shanty4 ,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 books1 and with such surroundings as are elevating4 ,in a word1 ,i wish to say again1 that education is meant to give us that culture1 that refinement1 that taste which will make us deal truthfully with our fellow men1 and will make us see what is beautiful1 elevating and inspiring in what ,god has created4 ,i want you to bear in mind that your text books1 with all their contents1 are not an end1 but a means to an end1 a means to help us get the highest1 the best1 the purest and the most beautiful things out of life4 ,,unimproved ,,opportunities ,several of the things which ,i shall say to you to-night may not sound very agreeable or encouraging to many of you1 yet ,i think you will agree with me that they are facts that cannot be denied4 ,we must recognize the fact1 in the first place1 that our condition as a race is1 in a large measure1 different from the condition of the white race by which we are surrounded2 that our capacity is very largely different from that of the people of the white race4 ,i know we like to say the opposite4 ,it sounds well in compositions1 does well in rhetoric1 and makes a splendid essay1 for us to make the opposite assertion4 ,it does very well in a newspaper article1 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 contact4 ,of course that does not sound very well2 but to say that we are equal to the whites is to say that slavery was no disadvantage to us4 ,that is the logic of it4 ,to illustrate4 ,suppose a person has been confined in a sick room1 deprived of the use of his faculties1 the use of his body and senses1 and that he comes out and is placed by the side of a man who has been healthy in body and mind4 ,are these two persons in the same condition8 ,are they equal in capacity8 ,is the young animal of a week old1 although he has all the characteristics that his mother has1 as strong as she8 ,with proper development he will be1 in time1 as strong as she1 but it is unreasonable to say that he is as strong at present4 ,and so1 ,i think1 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 race4 ,now1 the fact that our capacity as a people is different1 and that the conditions which we must meet are different1 makes it reasonable for us to believe that1 when the question of education is considered1 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 ours4 ,what we most need1 in my opinion1 for the next few generations1 is such an education as will help us most effectually to conquer the forces of nature2--,i mean in the general sense of supplying food1 clothing1 homes1 and a substantial provision for the future4 ,do not think that ,i mean by this that ,i do not believe in every individual getting all the education1 he or she can get1--for ,i do4 ,but since for some years to come1 at least1 it must of necessity be impossible for all of our young people to get all the education possible1 or even all they may want to get1 ,i believe they should apply their energies to getting such a training as will be best fitted to supply their immediate needs4 ,in ,scotland1 for instance1 where higher education has been within reach of the people for many years1 and where the people have reached a high degree of civilization1 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 professions4 ,of course ,i do not mean to say that we shall not have lawyers and metaphysicians and other professional men after a while1 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 life4 ,when you speak to the average person about labor--industrial work1 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 work4 ,anybody that knows anything about industrial education knows that it teaches a person just the opposite--how not to work4 ,it teaches him to make water work for him1--air1 steam1 all the forces of nature4 ,that is what is meant by industrial education4 ,let us make an illustration4 ,yesterday ,i was over in the creamery and became greatly interested in the process of separating the cream4 ,the only energy spent was that required to turn a crank4 ,the apparatus had been so constructed as to utilize natural forces4 ,now compare the old process of butter-making with the new4 ,before1 you had to go through a long process of drudgery before the cream could be separated from the milk1 and then another long process before the cream could be turned into butter1 and then1 even after churning three or four hours at a time1 you got only a small portion of butter4 ,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-making1 you can make butter simply by standing at a machine and turning a crank4 ,if you are studying chemistry1 be sure you get all you can out of the course here1 and then go to a higher school somewhere else4 ,become as proficient in the science as you can4 ,when you have done this1 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 chemistry1 come back here to the ,south and use it in making this poor soil rich1 and in making good butter where the farmers have made poor butter before4 ,used in this way you will find that your knowledge of chemistry will cause others to honour you4 ,during the last thirty years we1 as a race1 have let some golden opportunities slip from us1 and partly1 ,i fear1 because we have not had enough plain talk in the direction ,i am following with you to-night4 ,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 mean4 ,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 men4 ,i know coloured men who in that way could have become comfortably rich4 ,you cannot find to-day in the city of ,new ,york or ,boston a first-class barber shop in the hands of coloured men4 ,that opportunity is gone1 and something is wrong that it is so4 ,coming nearer home2 go to ,montgomery1 ,memphis1 ,new ,orleans1 and you will find that the barber shops are gradually slipping away from the hands of the coloured men1 and they are going back into dark streets and opening little holes4 ,these opportunities have slipped from us largely because we have not learned to dignify labour4 ,the coloured man puts a dirty little chair and a pair of razors into a dirtier looking hole1 while the white man opens his shop on one of the principal streets1 or in connection with some fashionable hotel1 fits it up luxuriously with carpets1 handsome mirrors and other attractive furniture1 and calls the place a tonsorial parlour4 ,the proprietor sits at his desk and takes the cash4 ,he has transformed what we call drudgery into a paying business4 ,still another instance4 ,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 whitewashing4 ,a few years ago it would not have been hard to see coloured men in ,boston1 ,philadelphia or ,washington carrying a whitewash tub and a long pole into somebody's house to do a job of whitewashing4 ,you go into the ,north to-day1 and you will find very few coloured men at that work4 ,white men learned that they could dignify that branch of labour1 and they began to study it in schools4 ,they gained a knowledge of chemistry which would enable them to understand the mixing of the necessary ingredients2 they learned decorating and frescoing2 and now they call themselves house decorators4 ,now that job is gone1 perhaps to come no more2 for now that these men have elevated this work1 and introduced more intelligent skill into it1 do you suppose any one is going to allow some old man with a pole and a bucket to come into the house8 ,then there is the field occupied by the cooks4 ,you know that all over the ,south we have held--and still hold to a large extent--the matter of cooking in our hands4 ,wherever there was any cooking to be done1 a coloured man or a coloured woman did it4 ,but while we still have something of a monopoly of this work1 it is a fact that even this is slipping away from us4 ,people do not wish always to eat fried meat1 and bread that is made almost wholly of water and salt4 ,they get tired of such food1 and they desire a person to cook for them who will put brains into the work4 ,to met this demand white people have transformed what was once the menial occupation of cooking into a profession2 they have gone to school and studied how to elevate this work1 and if we can judge by the almost total absence of coloured cooks in the ,north1 we are led to believe that they have learned how4 ,even here in the ,south coloured cooks are gradually disappearing1 and unless they exert themselves they will go entirely4 ,they have disappeared in the ,north because they have not kept pace with the demand for the most improved methods of cooking1 and because they have not realized that the world is moving forward rapidly in the march of civilization4 ,a few days ago1 when in ,chicago1 ,i noticed in one of the fashionable restaurants a fine-looking man1 well dressed1 who seemed to be the proprietor4 ,i asked who he was1 and was told that he was the chef1 as he is called--the head cook4 ,of course ,i was surprised to see a man dressed so stylishly and presenting such an air of culture1 filling the place of chief cook in a restaurant1 but ,i remembered then1 more forcibly than ever1 that cooking had been transformed into a profession--into dignified labour4 ,still another opportunity is going1 and we laugh when we mention it1 although it is really no laughing matter4 ,when we think of what we might have done to elevate it in the same way that white persons have elevated it1 we realize that it was an opportunity after all4 ,i refer to the opportunity which was in boot-blacking4 ,of course1 here in the ,south1 we have that yet1 to a large extent1 because the competition here is not quite so sharp as in the ,north4 ,in too many ,southern towns and cities1 if you wish your shoes blacked1 you wait until you meet a boy with a box slung over his shoulder4 ,when he begins to polish your shoes you will very likely see that he uses a much-worn shoe brush1 or1 worse still1 a scrubbing brush1 and unless you watch him closely there is a chance that he will polish your shoes with stove polish4 ,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 living4 ,white boys and even men have opened shops which they have fitted up with carpets1 pictures1 mirrors1 and comfortable chairs1 and sometimes their brushes are even run by electricity4 ,they have the latest newspapers always within reach for their patrons to read while their work is being done1 and they grow rich4 ,the man who owns and runs such a place as that is not called a boot-black2 he is called the proprietor of such and such a ,shoe-blacking ,emporium4 ,and that chance is gone to come no more4 ,now there are many coloured men who understand about electricity1 but where is the coloured man who would apply his knowledge of that science to running brushes in a boot-black stand8 ,in the ,south it was a common thing when anybody was taken ill to notify the old mammy nurse4 ,we had a monopoly of the nursing business for many years1 and up to a short time ago it was the common opinion that nobody could nurse but one of those old black mammies4 ,but this idea is being dissipated4 ,in the ,north1 when a person gets ill1 he does not think of sending for any one but a professional nurse1 one who has received a diploma from some nurse-training school1 or a certificate of proficiency from some reputable institution4 ,i hope you have understood me in what ,i have been trying to say of these little things4 ,they all tend to show that if we are to keep pace with the progress of civilization1 we must pay attention to the small things as well as the larger and more important things in life4 ,they go to prove that we must put brains into what we do4 ,if education means anything at all1 it means putting brains into the common affairs of life and making something of them4 ,that is just what we are seeking to tell to the world through the work of this institution4 ,there are many opportunities all about us where we can use our education4 ,you very rarely see a man idle who knows all about house-building1 who knows how to draw plans1 to test the strength of materials that enter into the making of a first-class house4 ,did you ever see such a man out of a job8 ,did you ever see such a man as that writing letters to this place and that place applying for work8 ,people are wanted all over the world who can do work well4 ,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 it4 ,even in this there is a great opportunity4 ,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 details4 ,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 features4 ,she spends a few months at each institution4 ,she is wanted everywhere1 because she has applied her education to one of the most important necessities of life4 ,and so you will find it all through life--those persons who are going to be constantly sought after1 constantly in demand1 are those who make the best use of their opportunities1 who work unceasingly to become proficient in whatever they attempt to do4 ,always be sure that you have something out of which you can make a living1 and then you will not only be independent1 but you will be in a much better position to help your fellow-men4 ,i have spoken about these matters at this length because ,i believe them to be the foundation of our future success4 ,we often hear a man spoken of as having moral character4 ,a man cannot have moral character unless he has something to wear1 and something to eat three hundred and sixty-five days in a year4 ,he cannot have any religion either4 ,you will find at the bottom of much crime the fact that the criminals have not had the common necessities of life supplied them4 ,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 be4 ,,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 has1 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 now4 ,a few weeks ago ,i mentioned two or three examples which had come under my own personal observation1 of the unreliability of the race1 and to those ,i now add one or two more4 ,on three distinct occasions1 while travelling1 ,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 train1 and on no one of these occasions has the hackman kept his word4 ,in the first case the man disappointed me entirely1 so that ,i had to walk to the station1 a distance of a mile or more4 ,in the second instance the hackman was to come at six o'clock1 and did not come until half-past six4 ,by that time ,i had started to walk1 and had gone two or three squares1 meeting him on the way to the place where ,i had stopped4 ,in the third case the man was at least an hour late when we met him1 after we had walked over half the distance to the station4 ,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 pay1 they could not be depended upon to return to work the next ,monday morning4 ,in the city of ,savannah1 ,georgia1 there are a great many coloured men employed as stevedores--men who load and unload ships4 ,if you have read the newspapers carefully you will have noticed that recently the persons who employ these men have made a new rule1 by which they refuse to pay the stevedores all of their wages at the end of the week1 but retain two days' pay out of each week1 from every individual who works for them1 to be paid to them at the end of the next week4 ,of course the men do not lose anything in the end by this method2 it simply means that so long as they work for one employer there are at least two days' pay due them4 ,of course the labourers whose wages were thus kept back have made a great noise about it1 but when their employers were asked for an explanation1 they said3 ,we find by experience that if we pay you all that we owe you on ,saturday night1 we cannot depend upon your returning on ,monday morning to continue your work4 ,you are apt to get drunk1 or to debauch yourselves on ,sunday so that you are unfitted for your work the next day4 ,this is the decision these men have arrived at after having employed these men for a number of years4 ,now think of the things ,i have spoken to you about4 ,you may say with regard to the last1 that to a great extent this action on the part of the ,savannah employers was due to prejudice1 to a desire to use the money withheld for their own selfish purposes1 and because they had the power to do so1 but you can very easily understand that if a person goes on being disappointed month after month in his business1 he will soon conclude that it is best for him to try a hackman of some other colour and disposition1 and that if these ,savannah employers find year after year that they cannot depend on coloured men to give them thorough1 regular1 systematic labour1 they are going to look out for persons of another race who will do their work properly4 ,it is not necessary for me to continue in this strain1 and to call attention to other incidents of this kind1 to show1 as ,i have told you before1 that one of the weak points which we as a race must fight against1 is that of not being reliable4 ,of course ,i understand that it is not always possible for a person to keep an engagement1 but if he cannot1 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 it4 ,in the case of the hackmen who disappointed me1 if they had sent word two or three hours ahead of the time1 that they could not come1 or if they had sent another hackman to fill the engagement for them1 ,i should have thought nothing about it4 ,in the case of those ,savannah labourers1 when they found they could not go back to their work promptly1 if they had sent word to that effect1 their absence1 perhaps1 could have been excused4 ,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 unreliability4 ,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 people1 and they tell me every time when ,i speak to them about work1 that their only objection to employing coloured labour is this very matter ,i have been speaking of1 its unreliability4 ,many of them say that they want to employ coloured people1 would be glad to give them places of responsibility1 but that they cannot find men who will stick to their work4 ,you may say that it is impossible for us to grow and develop1 to get positions of trust and responsibility that will pay good wages1 simply because we are coloured4 ,i will give you an example on this very point4 ,a few days ago ,i was in ,new ,orleans1 visiting a large sugar refinery4 ,the firm which operates this refinery employs from two hundred to three hundred men4 ,i found the young man who has charge of all the bookkeeping of the firm1 through whose hands all the business and cash of the firm pass--,i found this man to be coloured1 and that all the other persons filling responsible positions under him were white4 ,i remember some two or three years ago having met one of the partners of this firm in the ,white ,mountains1 and he told me at that time of this young man4 ,he told me that a great many persons came to him and said3 ,you ought not to have this coloured man filling this position when there are so many white persons who want the place4 ,he told me that he said to these persons3 ,this young man does my work better than any one else ,i have yet found1 and so long as he does this1 so long shall ,i employ him4 ,this gentleman has since died1 but the business is in the hands of his widow1 who has so much confidence in the ability of this young coloured man to manage the affairs of a great business--,mr4 ,lewis is his name2 perhaps some of you know him--that he is retained1 practically at the head of this great establishment4 ,this single instance shows that notwithstanding his colour a man can rise for what is in him2 that he can advance when he shows that he can be depended upon4 ,remember that whether you are hackmen1 or business men1 it pays whenever you cannot fill an engagement to explain beforehand why you cannot1 and that unless you make a practice of doing this1 it will be impossible for you to get ahead or to attain to places of trust and responsibility1 no matter how much education you may have4 ,as ,i have so often said before1 if we cannot send out from ,tuskegee and similar schools young men and women who can be depended upon1 our reputation as a race1 for the years that are to come1 is not going to be very bright4 ,on the other hand1 if we can succeed in sending out young men and women with a high sense of responsibility1 who can at all times be relied upon to be prompt in business matters1 we shall have gone a long way in redeeming the character of the race and in lifting it up4 ,in this important matter all of you can help4 ,do not wait until you go out from ,tuskegee1 but begin to-morrow morning1 every boy and girl1 to be reliable and to keep at it until reliability becomes a part of you4 ,,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 year1 but it will be of very little use for me to do this unless you make up your minds to do two things4 ,in the first place you must resolve that you are going to remember the things ,i am going to say1 and in the second place you must put my suggestions into practice4 ,if you will make up your minds1 then1 that you are going to hold on to these suggestions1 so far as your memory is concerned1 and then so far as possible put them into practice1 we shall be able to discuss something that will be of profit to you during the year4 ,i want you to get it firmly fixed in your minds that books1 industries1 or tools of any character1 no matter how thoroughly you master them1 do not within themselves constitute education4 ,committing to memory pages of written matter1 or becoming deft in the handling of tools1 is not the supreme thing at which education aims4 ,books1 tools1 and industries are but the means to fit you for something that is higher and better4 ,all these are not ends within themselves2 they are simply means4 ,the end of all education1 whether of head or hand or heart1 is to make an individual good1 to make him useful1 to make him powerful2 is to give him goodness1 usefulness and power in order that he may exert a helpful influence upon his fellows4 ,one of the things ,i want you to get out of this year is the ability to put a proper value upon time4 ,if there is any one lesson that we all of us need to have impressed upon us more thoroughly and more constantly than any other1 it is that each minute of our lives is of supreme value1 and that we are committing a sin when we allow a single minute to go to waste4 ,remember that every five minutes of time you are spending at this institution is worth so much money to you4 ,how many people there are who1 after they have arrived at the ages of sixty1 seventy1 or eighty years1 look back with regret and say1 ,i wish ,i could live the years over again4 ,but they cannot4 ,all they can do is to regret that they have wasted precious minutes1 precious hours4 ,now your lives are yet before you1 not1 as in the case of these people1 behind you4 ,your lives are yet to be lived1 and they will be made successful lives just in proportion as you learn to place a value upon the minutes4 ,spend every minute here in hard1 earnest study1 or in helpful recreation4 ,be sure that none of your time is thrown away4 ,among other things1 you should get out of the year the habit of reading4 ,any individual who has learned to love good books1 to love the best newspapers1 the best magazines1 and has learned to spend some portion of the day in communication with them1 is a happy individual4 ,you should get yourselves to the point where you will not be happy unless you do spend a part of each day in this way4 ,you should get out of the year the habit of being kind and polite to every individual4 ,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 scale1 or who1 perhaps1 are above him in wealth and influence4 ,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 him1 some one who is ignorant or poor4 ,show me a man who is himself wealthy1 and who is gentle and polite to the ignorant about him1 and to the poor people about him1 and ,i will show you every time a true gentleman4 ,when ,prince ,henry of ,prussia was in this country1 ,i remember reading this description of one of the prominent public men who received him3 ,he is such a true gentleman that he can meet a prince without himself being embarrassed1 and can meet a poor man without embarrassing the poor man4 ,learn to speak kindly to every individual1 white or black4 ,no man loses anything by being gentlemanly1 by learning to be polite1 by treating the most unfortunate individual with the highest deference4 ,we want you to learn to control your temper4 ,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 temper4 ,with the individual1 the human being1 there is education and training4 ,he learns to master himself1 to have an even temper2 learns to master his temper completely4 ,now if any of you have a temper that often gets to be your master1 make up your mind that it is a part of your duty here to learn to control it4 ,step upon it1 as it were1 and say3 ,i will be master of my temper1 instead of letting it be my master4 ,you want to have that kind of courage that is going to make you able to speak the truth at all times1 no matter what it may seem to cost you4 ,this may1 for the time being1 seem to make you unpopular2 it may inconvenience you1 it may deprive you of something that you count dear2 but the individual who cultivates that kind of courage1 who1 at the cost of everything1 always speaks the truth1 is the individual who in the end will be successful1 is the one who in the end will come out the conqueror4 ,you cannot afford to learn to speak anything but the absolute truth4 ,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 absolute1 frank truth4 ,as a result of his honesty1 his truth speaking1 he is at the head of the nation4 ,we also want you to learn to be absolutely honest in all your dealings with other people's property4 ,we may just as well speak plainly and emphatically4 ,one of our worst sins1 one of our weaknesses1 is that of not being able to handle other people's property and be honest with it4 ,you should learn to be absolutely honest with the property of your room-mates1 school-mates and teachers4 ,make up your minds that nothing is going to tempt you from the path of absolute honesty4 ,there is no man or woman who begins with meddling with other people's property and affairs1 who begins to learn to take that which does not belong to him or her1 who is not beginning in a downward path ending in misery1 sorrow and disappointment4 ,make up your minds that you are going to be absolutely honest and truthful in all cases4 ,there is no way to get happiness out of life1 there is no way to get satisfaction out of your school career1 except by following the lessons that ,i have here tried to emphasize4 ,when we speak of honesty1 the first thought may be that the word applies only to the taking of property that does not belong to us1 but this is not so4 ,it is possible for a person to be dishonest by taking time or energy that belongs to someone else1 just as much as tangible property4 ,in going into a class-room1 office1 store or shop1 one man may ask himself the question3 ,how little can ,i do to-day and still get through the day8 ,another man will have constantly before him the question3 ,how much can ,i put into this hour or this day8 ,now we expect every student who goes out from ,tuskegee to be1 not the man who tries to see how little he can do1 or the average man who proposes to do merely his duty1 but the man above the average1 who will do more than his duty4 ,and you will disappoint us unless you are above the average man1 unless you go out from here with the determination that you are going to perform more than your duty4 ,i like to see young men or young women who1 if employed in any capacity1 no matter how small or unimportant that capacity may be1 if the hour is eight o'clock at which they must come to work1 ,i like to see them at work ten or fifteen minutes before that hour4 ,i like to see a man or woman who1 if the closing hour is five o'clock or six o'clock1 goes to the person in charge and says3 ,shall ,i not stay longer8 ,is there not something else ,i ought to do before ,i go8 ,put your whole souls into whatever you attempt to do4 ,that is honesty4 ,another thing you should learn this year is to get into touch with the best people there are in the world4 ,you should learn to associate with the best students in the institution4 ,take them as models1 and say that you are going to improve from month to month1 and from year to year1 until you are as good as they are1 or better4 ,you cannot reach these things all at once1 but ,i hope that each one of you will make up his mind or her mind that from to-night1 throughout the year and throughout life1 there is going to be a hard striving on your part toward reaching the best results4 ,if you do this1 when you get ready to leave this institution1 you will find that it has been worth your while to have spent your time here4 ,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,,service ,the subject on which ,i am going to speak to you for a few minutes to-night1 ,the ,gospel of ,service1 may not1 when you first hear it1 strike a very responsive chord in your hearts and minds1 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 about4 ,the word service has too often been misunderstood1 and on this account it has in too many cases carried with it a meaning which indicates degradation4 ,every individual serves another in some capacity1 or should do so4 ,christ said that he who would become the greatest of all must become the servant of all2 that is1 ,he meant that in proportion as one renders service he becomes great4 ,the ,president of the ,united ,states is a servant of the people1 because he serves them2 the ,governor of ,alabama is a servant1 because he renders service to the people of the ,state2 the greatest merchant in ,montgomery is a servant1 because he renders service to his customers2 the school teacher is a servant1 because it is his duty to serve the best interests of his pupils2 the cook is a servant1 because it is her duty to serve those for whom she works2 the housemaid is a servant1 because it is her duty to care for the property intrusted to her in the best manner in which she is able4 ,in one way or another1 every individual who amounts to anything is a servant4 ,the man or the woman who is not a servant is one who accomplishes nothing4 ,it is very often true that a race1 like an individual1 does not appreciate the opportunities that are spread out before it until those opportunities have disappeared4 ,before us1 as a race in the ,south to-day1 there is a vast field for service and usefulness which is still in our hands1 but which ,i fear will not be ours to the same extent very much longer unless we change our ideas of service1 and put new life1 put new dignity and intelligence into it4 ,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 service1 or housekeeping4 ,the cook who does not make herself intelligent1 who does not learn to do things in the latest1 and in the neatest and cleanest manner1 will soon find herself without employment1 or will at least find herself a drug on the market1 instead of being sought after and paid higher wages4 ,the woman who does not keep up with all the latest methods of decorating and setting her table1 and of putting the food on it properly1 will find her occupation gone within a few years4 ,the same is true of general housekeeping1 of laundering and of nursing4 ,all the occupations of which ,i have been talking are at present in our hands in the ,south2 but ,i repeat that very great progress is being made in all of them in every part of the world1 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 follow4 ,at the present time scores of books and magazines are appearing bearing upon every branch of domestic service4 ,people are learning to do things in an intelligent and scientific manner4 ,not long ago ,i sat for an hour and listened to a lecture delivered upon the subject of dusting1 and it was one of the most valuable hours ,i ever spent4 ,the person who gave this lecture upon dusting was a highly educated and a cultivated woman1 and her audience was composed of wealthy and cultivated people4 ,we must bring ourselves to the point where we can feel that one who cooks1 and does it well1 should be just as much honoured as the person who teaches school4 ,what ,i have said in regard to the employments of our women is equally true of the occupations followed by our men4 ,it is true that at the present we are largely cultivating the soil of the ,south1 but if other people learn to do this work more intelligently1 learn more about labour-saving machinery1 and become more conscientious about their work than we1 we shall find our occupation departing4 ,it used to be the case in many parts of the ,north that the ,negro was the coachman2 but in a very large degree1 in cities like ,new ,york and ,philadelphia1 the ,negro has lost this occupation1 and lost it1 in my opinion1 not because he was a ,negro1 but because in many cases he did not see that the occupation of coachman was constantly being improved4 ,it has been improved and lifted up until now it has almost become a profession4 ,the ,negro who expects to remain a coachman should learn the proper dress for a coachman1 and learn how to care for horses and vehicles in the most approved manner4 ,what is true of the coachman is true of the butler4 ,in too many cases1 ,i fear1 we use these occupations merely as stepping stones1 holding on to them until we can find something else to do1 in a careless and slipshod manner4 ,we want to change all this1 and put our whole souls into these occupations1 and in a large degree make them our life-work4 ,in proportion as we do this1 we shall lay a foundation upon which our children and grandchildren are to rise to higher things4 ,the foundation of every race must be laid in the common every-day occupations that are right about our doors4 ,it should not be our thought to see how little we can put into our work1 but how much2 not how quickly we can get rid of our tasks1 but how well we can do them4 ,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 service4 ,few things would add more to the fundamental usefulness of the race than such a school4 ,perhaps it may be suggested that my argument has reference only to our serving white people4 ,it has reference to doing whatever we do in the best manner1 no matter whom we serve4 ,the individual who serves a black man poorly will serve a white man poorly4 ,let me illustrate what ,i mean4 ,in a ,southern city1 a few days ago1 ,i found a large hotel conducted by coloured people4 ,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 country4 ,in talking with the proprietors ,i asked them what was the greatest obstacle they had had to overcome1 and they told me it was in finding coloured women to work in the house who would do their work systematically and well1 women who would1 in a word1 keep the rooms in every part of the hotel thoroughly swept and cleaned4 ,this hotel had been opened three months1 and ,i found that during that time the proprietors had employed fifteen different chambermaids1 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 well4 ,one weakness pertaining to the whole matter of domestic employment in the ,south1 at present1 is this3 it is too easy for our people to find work4 ,if there was a rule followed in every family that employs persons1 that no man or woman should be hired unless he or she brought a letter of recommendation from the last employer1 we should find that the whole matter of domestic service would be lifted up a hundred per cent4 ,so long as an individual can do poor work for one family1 and perhaps be dishonest at the same time1 and be sure that he or she will be employed by some other family1 without regard to the kind of service rendered the last employer1 so long will domestic service be poor and unsatisfactory4 ,many white people seldom come in contact with the ,negro in any other capacity than that of domestic service4 ,if they get a poor idea of our character and service in that respect1 they will infer that the entire life of the ,negro is unsatisfactory from every point of view4 ,we want to be sure that wherever our life touches that of the white man1 we conduct ourselves so that he will get the best impression possible of us4 ,in spite of all the fault ,i have found1 ,i would say this before ,i stop4 ,i recognize that the people of no race1 under similar circumstances1 have made greater progress in thirty-five years than is true of the people of the ,negro race4 ,if ,i have spoken to you thus plainly and frankly1 it is that our progress in the future may be still greater than it has been in the past4 ,,your ,,part ,,in ,,the ,,negro ,,conference ,for eight or nine years1 now1 it has been our custom to hold here what is known as the ,tuskegee ,negro ,conference4 ,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 walls1 we perhaps could extend and broaden its scope so as to reach out to1 and try to help1 the parents of the students and the older people in the country districts1 and1 to some extent1 if possible1 in the cities also4 ,with this end in view1 we1 some years ago1 invited a number of men and women to come and spend the day with us1 and1 while here1 to tell us in a very plain and straightforward manner something about their material1 moral and religious condition4 ,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 them1 and also how they thought they might help themselves4 ,out of these simple and small meetings has grown what we now call ,the ,tuskegee ,negro ,conference1 which1 in the last few years1 has grown until it numbers from nine hundred to twelve hundred persons4 ,we not only have that large number of persons1 most of whom come from farms and are engaged in farm work1 but we now also have ,the ,workers' ,conference1 which meets on the day following the ,negro ,conference4 ,this ,workers' ,conference brings together representatives from all the larger institutions for the education of the ,negro in the ,south4 ,now these meetings for this year begin next ,wednesday morning1 and the practical question that ,i wish to discuss with you to-night is1--,what can we do to make that ,conference a success8 ,what can you do for the ,conference1 and what can the ,conference do for you8 ,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-room1 in the old-fashioned manner4 ,very few now confine themselves and their work to the comparatively small number of students that they can reach in that way1 as they did a few years ago4 ,in many cases they have their college extension work4 ,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 well4 ,and just so1 to a very large degree1 through this ,conference1 ,tuskegee is doing something of the same kind of thing4 ,during these few days we shall have hundreds of the farmers1 with their wives and daughters1 gathered here4 ,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 people4 ,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 ,tuskegee4 ,we sometimes speak of it as their one day of schooling in the whole year1--that is1 the one day out of the whole three hundred and sixty-five days in the year when1 perhaps1 they will give the greatest amount of attention to matters pertaining to themselves4 ,in inviting them here1 not only the teachers and officers of this institution have a responsibility1 but each and every student here also has a responsibility4 ,i want you to feel that1 and see to what extent you can take hold of these people while they are here1 to inspire and encourage them1 so as to have them go away from here feeling that it is worth their while to come to the ,institute for this meeting1 even if--as is true of some of them--they have come a long distance4 ,some of these people who will come here are ignorant1 so far as books are concerned1 but ,i want you to know that not every person who cannot read and write is ignorant4 ,some of the persons whom ,i have met and from whom ,i have learned much1 are persons who cannot write a word4 ,very many of the people who will come here may not be able to read or write1 but we can learn something from them notwithstanding1 while they are here1 and they can learn something from us4 ,i want you to take delight in getting hold of these people and taking them through our shops1 guiding them through our various agricultural and mechanical departments4 ,be sure that you exert every effort possible to make them comfortable and happy while they are here4 ,heretofore the students have been so generous1 at the time of this meeting1 that many of them1 if necessary1 have given up their rooms that these people might have a comfortable night's rest4 ,i do not know where you have slept1 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 so4 ,i believe that you are going to do the same thing this year4 ,i want you1 also1 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 ,states1 but also by being polite and attentive to the representatives from the large institutions that will be here4 ,we will have present representatives from every large institution engaged in the education of our people4 ,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 do1 to spend these days here4 ,we have a responsibility on their account2 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 meetings4 ,we wish them to get something out of our industries here2 we wish them to get something out of the training here1 in every department1 something which they can take back to their own institution to make their work there stronger and better4 ,now as to yourselves4 ,you can get something out of this ,conference for yourselves1 by getting hold of everything possible1 so that when you go out from ,tuskegee you will have just that much more helpful information to put into practice4 ,i want to see you go out through the ,south and establish local conferences4 ,call them together1 and teach the same kind of lessons that we teach at these gatherings at ,tuskegee4 ,you can get the most out of this ,conference by putting into practice this effort to make other people happy4 ,to get the greatest happiness out of life is to make somebody else happy4 ,to get the greatest good out of life is to do something for somebody else4 ,i want you to find the persons who are most ignorant and most poverty stricken2 ,i want you to find the persons who are most forlorn and most discouraged1 and do something for them to make their hours happy4 ,in doing that1 you will do the most for yourselves4 ,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 lady4 ,a gentleman means simply this3 a generous person2 one who has learned to be kind2 one who has learned to think not of himself first1 but of the happiness and welfare of others4 ,let us put this spirit into our ,conference day the coming week1 and the day and week will be the greatest and most successful that we have ever had4 ,let our resolution be that the persons who come here1 whether they represent a university1 a college1 an industrial school1 a farm1 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 happier1 brighter1 stronger and more useful4 ,,what ,,is ,,to ,,be ,,our ,,future8 ,last ,thursday afternoon ,i received a telegram from a gentleman stopping for a time in a city in ,georgia1 asking me to come there at once on important business2 and being rather curious to know what he wanted of me1 ,i went4 ,i found that this man was in the act of making his will1 and that he had in mind the putting aside of a considerable sum in his will--some #bj1jjj1 in fact--for this institution4 ,the special point upon which this gentleman wished to consult me was the future of the ,institution4 ,he said that he had worked very hard for his money1 that it had come as a result of much sacrifice and hard effort1 and that there were friends of his who were beseeching him to use his money in other directions1 because they thought it would be more likely to do permanent good elsewhere4 ,and so he wished to know what the future of this ,institution is likely to be1 because he did not care to risk his money upon an uncertain venture1 one that was likely to prosper for a few years1 and then fail4 ,he said that he would not like to give his money to an institution where it would not go on through the years1 accomplishing a certain amount of good4 ,accordingly the question he repeated to me over and over again was3 ,what is to be the future of ,tuskegee8 ,he wished to know whether1 if we were given the money1 it would go on from year to year1 blessing one generation after another4 ,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 week1 the importance of making this institution what it ought to be1 what its reputation gives it1 and what its name implies4 ,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 concerned1 ,tuskegee is sure2 you need not have the least doubt that the institution will be supported4 ,if we keep things right at the institution1 if it is worthy of support1 the moneyed people of the country will support it and stand by it4 ,more and more each year this impression grows upon me1 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 means4 ,i have the most implicit confidence that the institution is going to be supported4 ,but the question that comes to us with the greatest force is3 ,are we going to be worthy of that support8 ,shall we be worthy of the confidence of the public8 ,that is the question that is most serious2 that is the question that presses most heavily upon my heart1 and upon the hearts of the other teachers here4 ,now these questions can be answered satisfactorily only by evidence that each student1 each individual connected with the school in any way1 no matter in how low or high a capacity1 is putting his or her whole conscience into the work here4 ,when ,i say work1 ,i mean study of books1 work of the hand1 effort of the body1 willingness of the heart4 ,no matter what the thing is1 put your conscience into it2 do your best4 ,let it be possible for you to say3 ,i have put my whole soul into my study1 into my work1 into whatever ,i have attempted4 ,whatever ,i have done ,i have honestly endeavored to do to the best of my ability4 ,the questions which this gentleman asked me1 and similar kinds of questions1 are being asked over and over again by people all over the country4 ,the question can be answered only by our putting our consciences into our work1 and by our being entirely unselfish in it4 ,let every person get into the habit of planning every day for the comfort and welfare of others1 let each one try to live as unselfishly as possible1 remembering that the ,bible says3 ,he that would save his life1 must lose it4 ,and you never saw a person save his life in this higher sense1 in the ,christ-like sense1 unless that person was willing1 day by day1 to lose himself in the interest of his fellow-men4 ,such persons save their own lives1 and in saving them save thousands of other lives4 ,such questions as these can be satisfactorily answered not merely by our putting our consciences into every effort1 no matter what the effort may be1 but by improving1 day by day1 upon what has been done the day before4 ,in large institutions and establishments it is comparatively easy to find persons who will sweep a room day by day1 or plough a field during certain seasons of the year1 and do other work at certain other seasons of the year1 but the difficulty comes in finding persons who make improvements in the manner of sweeping rooms1 of ploughing fields and planting corn4 ,the question for us is3 ,are we going to put so much brains into our efforts every year1 that we are going to go on steadily and constantly improving from year to year8 ,are you going to get into the habit of so thinking about your work here that the habit will become1 as it were1 a part of yourself1 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 manner1 but will not be satisfied until your work has been improved in every possible detail1 and made easier1 more systematic1 and more convenient8 ,we must put brains into our work4 ,there must be improvement in every department of this institution every year4 ,it is absolutely impossible for an institution to stand still2 it must go forward or backward1 grow better or worse each year4 ,an institution grows stronger and more useful each year1 or weaker and less useful4 ,this institution can grow only by each person putting his thought into his work1 by planning how he can improve the work of his particular department1 by constantly striving to make his work more useful to the institution1 by keeping the place where he works cleaner1 and making his work more business-like and more systematic4 ,that is the only way in which the questions which people all over the country are asking about this institution can be satisfactorily answered4 ,you will find that people will look to us more and more for tangible results4 ,not only here1 but all over the country1 our race is going to be called on to answer the question3 ,what can the race really accomplish8 ,it is perfectly well understood by our friends as well as by our enemies1 that we can write good newspaper articles and make good addresses1 that we can sing well and talk well1 and all that kind of thing4 ,all that is perfectly well understood and conceded4 ,but the question that will be more and more forced upon us for an answer is3 ,can we work out our thoughts1 can we put them into tangible shape1 so that the world may see from day to day actual evidences of our intellectuality8 ,last winter ,i was in the town of ,clinton1 ,iowa4 ,i think ,i had never heard of the place before1 and when ,i got there ,i was surprised to find it a place of more than #af1jjj inhabitants4 ,the gentleman who was to entertain me wanted to take me to a coloured restaurant4 ,i expected to go into a restaurant of the kind operated by our people generally1 and ,i was very much surprised when he took me into a large1 two-story building4 ,i found the floors carpeted1 and everything about the place as pleasant and attractive as it was possible to make it4 ,in fact the restaurant compared very favourably with many in the largest cities in the country4 ,i found the waiters clean1 the service good1 and everything conducted in the most systematic manner4 ,and there was not the least thing1 except the colour of the proprietor's skin1 to show that the place was operated by coloured people4 ,afterward my friend took me into another establishment of the same size1 operated in the same creditable manner by another coloured man4 ,in both ,i found that these gentlemen not only carried on a regular restaurant business1 but manufactured their own candies and ice cream1 and did a sort of wholesale catering business4 ,i asked the white people there what they thought of the coloured people1 and ,i did not find a single white person who did not have the most implicit confidence in the coloured people4 ,the trouble was that there were not many coloured people there4 ,that accounts possibly for the good opinion which the white people have of them4 ,but you see what just two black men can do4 ,these people had never seen many black people1 but fortunately for us they had with them two of the best specimens of our race that ,i have ever seen anywhere in this country4 ,as a result you do not find any one cursing the black man in that town4 ,everybody had the utmost confidence in black people1 and respected them4 ,just in proportion as we can establish object lessons of this kind all over the country1 you will find that the problem that now is so perplexing will disappear4 ,until we do this1 we shall not be able to talk away1 or to argue away1 this prejudice4 ,we cannot talk our way into our rights2 we must work our way1 think our way1 into them4 ,and you will find that just in proportion as we do this1 we are going to get all we deserve4 ,,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 ,things4 ,i speak of them as great1 because of their supreme importance1 and ,i speak of them as little1 because they come in a class of things which are usually looked upon by many people as small and unimportant4 ,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 learn4 ,you will remember that in the sermon the ,chaplain preached this morning1 he mentioned the three-fold division of our nature2 the physical part1 the mental part1 and the spiritual part4 ,what ,i shall refer to to-night has largely to do with the material1 the physical part of our natures4 ,there are certain little things that each one of you can learn now1 in connection with the care of your bodies1 which1 if left unlearned now1 will perhaps go without being learned all your lives4 ,you are now1 as it were1 at the parting of the ways--you are going to make these habits a part of yourselves1 or you are going to let them escape you forever1 and be weak in a measure all your lives for not having made them a part of yourselves4 ,i am going to speak very plainly1 because ,i feel that such talk means nothing unless it is in language which every one can appreciate and understand4 ,now1 among the first things that a person going to a boarding school should learn1 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 bathing4 ,no person who has left this habit unlearned can reach the highest success in life4 ,i mean by that1 that a person who does not get into the habit of keeping the body clean1 cannot do the highest work and the greatest amount of work in the world4 ,when it comes to competing with persons who have learned the habit of keeping the body in good condition1 you will find that the first named persons usually win in the race of life4 ,i think many of you have already learned from your physiologies that when it comes to the combating of disease1 where two persons are on a sick-bed with the same disease1 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 cleanliness4 ,you will also find that the person who is in the habit of caring for his body is in a better condition for study2 he is in a condition to bear prolonged and severe exertion1 while the person whose body is unclean is in a weak condition4 ,take the matter of the teeth4 ,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 themselves4 ,when ,i speak of making such a thing a part of yourselves1 ,i mean that you should make it such a strong habit that to leave it undone would seem unnatural4 ,some person has defined man as a bundle of habits4 ,there are many habits that ,i wish you to make a part of yourselves1 by practising so constantly that they may really be said to have become that4 ,there is the matter of the care of the hair1 which everyone should make a part of himself4 ,there is also the proper care of the finger nails4 ,now all of these are common things1 but they are great things4 ,i should not recommend very highly a young man or young woman who went out from this institution as a graduate1 and had not learned the habit of caring for the teeth1 hair and nails systematically4 ,are you making these lessons a part of yourself8 ,take the young men and young women who have been here two or three years4 ,have you grown to the point where you are dissatisfied and all out of sorts when your hair is not combed1 your finger nails dirty1 and your body not in the condition it should be in8 ,if you have not reached that point1 when you come to graduate1 then there will be something wrong with your education1 and you are not ready to go out from this institution1 whether you are in the senior class or in the preparatory class4 ,another thing2 ,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 clothes4 ,there is no excuse for it1 when buttons are so cheap4 ,i wonder how many of you could stand1 if ,i were now to ask all to stand who have every button in its place4 ,i cannot have the best opinion of a girl who will let a hole remain in her apron day after day4 ,nor can ,i think well of a man who does not remove a grease spot from his coat as soon as he discovers it4 ,you have more respect for yourselves1 and other people have more respect for you1 when you get into the habit of polishing your shoes1 no matter where you are1 but especially when you are at school4 ,every man should get into the habit of polishing his shoes4 ,see to it that they are in proper condition at all times4 ,i need not repeat here1 after what ,i have said1 that it is of the utmost importance that every person wear the cleanest of linen4 ,if ,i speak to you so plainly1 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 success4 ,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 to2 and ,i want the same thing to be true of the young men4 ,let these things have an important bearing on your education here1 and on your life hereafter4 ,and then1 above all things1 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 account1 get into the habit of being orderly and neat4 ,school your room-mates to the point where they will have a place for everything4 ,always know where to put your hands on anything you may want in your room1 whether in the light or in the dark4 ,then there are one or two other little things4 ,you should have quiet in your rooms1 at your work or in your talk with your fellow students4 ,do your work quietly4 ,get into the habit of closing doors quietly4 ,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 on4 ,and then1 in conclusion1 so order your lives that you can form the habit of reading4 ,set aside a certain amount of time each day1 even if it be not more than four or five minutes1 for reading and studying aside from your lessons4 ,read books of travel1 history and biography4 ,i want you to patronize the library this year as never before4 ,in it are great numbers of books by authors of the highest rank4 ,be regular in all your habits4 ,have a regular time for studying1 for recreation1 and for sleeping4 ,and last1 but far from least1 set aside a regular time for thinking1 for meditating with yourself4 ,take yourself up1 pick yourself to pieces1 see wherein you are weak and need strengthening4 ,analyze yourself4 ,get rid1 as it were1 of all the weights that have been holding you back1 and resolve at the end of each week that you will walk upon your dead selves of the week before4 ,if you will go on1 making that kind of progress1 you will find at the end of the nine school months that you are stronger in everything essential to good manhood and good womanhood4 ,,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 teachers1 even if you do not make teaching your life work1 ,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 ,south4 ,the coloured schools of the ,south1 especially in the country districts and smaller towns1 are not kept open by the ,state fund1 as a rule1 longer than three or four months in the year4 ,one of the great questions1 then1 with teachers and parents1 is how to extend the school term to seven or eight months1 so that the school shall really do some good4 ,i want to give a few plain suggestions1 which will1 ,i think1 if carefully followed1 result in placing a good school in almost every community4 ,in this ,i am not speculating1 because more than one ,tuskegee graduate has built up a good school on the plan ,i outline4 ,in the first place the teacher must be willing to settle down in the community1 and feel that that is to be his home1 and teaching there his chief object in life while he is there4 ,not only must he not feel that he can move about from place to place every three months1 but he must feel that he is not working for his salary alone4 ,he must be willing to sacrifice for the good of the community4 ,the next thing is to get a convenient school-house4 ,usually1 in the far ,south1 the ,state has not been able to build a school-house4 ,how is it to be secured8 ,a good school-house should be carefully planned4 ,then the teacher or some one else should go among the people in the community1 coloured and white1 and get each individual to give something1 no matter how small an amount if in money1 or1 if not in money1 how little in value1 for purchasing lumber4 ,when we were getting started here at ,tuskegee one old coloured woman brought me six eggs as her contribution to our work4 ,if enough money cannot be secured by subscription and collection to pay for the lumber1 a supper1 a festival1 entertainment or church collection will help out4 ,after the lumber is secured1 the parents should be asked to club in with their waggons and haul it free4 ,then at least one good carpenter should be secured to take the lead in building4 ,each member of the community should agree to give a certain number of days' work in helping to put up the structure4 ,in this work of building1 the larger pupils can help a good deal1 and they will have all the more interest in the school-house because they have had a hand in its erection4 ,in these ways1 by patient effort1 a good frame school-house can be secured in almost any community4 ,where it is possible1 take a three or four months' public school as a starting point1 and work in co-operation with the school officers1 but do not let the school close at the end of these three or four months1 because if that is done it will amount to almost nothing4 ,as soon as the teacher goes into a community1 he should organize the people into an educational society or club1 and there should be regular meetings once a week1 or once in two weeks1 at which plans for the improvement of the school should be discussed4 ,there are a number of ways for extending the school term4 ,one is for each parent to pay ten1 fifteen1 twenty-five or fifty cents each month during the whole time the school is in session4 ,frequently parents who cannot pay in cash can let the teacher have eggs1 chickens1 butter1 sweet potatoes1 corn or some other kind of produce which will help to supply the teacher with food4 ,another plan is for each farmer to set aside a portion of land and give all that is raised upon it to the school4 ,still another plan1 and one that is being successfully carried out in at least one place1 and one that ,i think much of1 is for the teacher to secure1 either by renting or purchase1 a small tract of land--say from two to five acres--and let the children cultivate this land while they are attending school4 ,if1 in this way1 three bales of cotton can be raised1 and a variety of vegetables and grain also1 the produce can be sold and the school term extended from three months to six or seven months4 ,some parents may object to this at first1 but they will soon see that it is better to let the school close at one o'clock or two o'clock in the afternoon1 so that the children may work on the school land for an hour or two1 and in this way keep the school open six or seven months1 than to let it close entirely at the end of three months4 ,there is another advantage in this latter plan4 ,the teacher can in this way teach the students1 in a practical way1 better methods of farming4 ,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 ,africa4 ,very often there is enough land right around the school-house for the pupils to cultivate4 ,in every case where it is possible1 the teacher should buy a home in the community1 and make his home in every way a model for those of the people who live around him4 ,the teacher should cultivate a farm1 or follow some trade while not teaching4 ,this not only helps him1 but sets a good example for the people in the community4 ,if the teacher be a woman1 there are few communities where she cannot add much to her income by sewing1 dressmaking or poultry-raising4 ,,the ,,cultivation ,,of ,,stable ,,habits ,i am going to speak with you a few minutes this evening upon the matter of stability4 ,i want you to understand when you start out in school1 that no individual can accomplish anything unless he means to stick to what he undertakes4 ,no matter how many possessions he may have1 no matter how much he may have in this or that direction1 no matter how much learning or skill of hand he may possess1 an individual cannot succeed unless1 at the same time1 he possesses that quality which will enable him to stick to what he undertakes4 ,in a word he is not to be jumping from this thing to that thing4 ,that is the reason why so many ministers fail4 ,they preach awhile1 and then jump to something else4 ,they do not stick to one thing4 ,it is the same with many lawyers and doctors4 ,they do not stick to what they undertake4 ,many business men fail for the same reason4 ,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 end1 that reputation nullifies the influence for good of the better traits of his character in every direction4 ,it is said of him that he is unstable4 ,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 it4 ,i take it for granted that all of you have come here with that idea in mind2 that before you came here you sat down and talked the matter over with your father and mother1 read over the circulars giving information about the school1 and then deliberately decided that this institution was the one whose course of study you wished to complete4 ,i take it for granted that you have come here with that end in view1 and ,i want to say to you now1 that you will injure yourselves1 your parents1 and the institution--and you will hurt your own reputation--unless1 after having come here with the determination to succeed1 you remain here for that purpose1 and remain for the full time1 until you receive your diploma4 ,i hope every individual here1 every young man and woman at the school1 is here with the determination that he or she will not give up the struggle until the object aimed at has been attained4 ,you are at a stage now1 when1 if you begin jumping about here and there1 if you begin in this course of study and then go to that course of study1 you will very likely be jumping about from one thing to another all your life4 ,you must make up your minds1 after coming here1 to do well whatever you undertake4 ,this is a good rule not only to begin your school life with1 but also to begin your later life with4 ,perhaps ,i was never more interested than ,i was last evening in ,montgomery1 while standing on one of the streets there for an hour4 ,i seldom stand on any street for an hour1 but last night ,i did stand on that street for an hour1 in front of a large1 beautiful store that is owned by ,mr4 ,j4 ,w4 ,adams1 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 ,robinson4 ,the first ,monday in ,october is always the day in ,montgomery for what they call the millinery openings2 on that day the stores which handle such goods all make a great display of ladies' hats and bonnets4 ,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 store4 ,hundreds of people stopped to comment favourably upon the taste that was displayed in the decoration of those windows4 ,now1 all this work was done by two ,tuskegee graduates4 ,and the complimentary remarks that were made came not only from coloured people but from white people as well4 ,no one could tell from the windows of that store whether it was a coloured or a white establishment4 ,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 man4 ,it had none of the usual earmarks about it4 ,usually when you go into coloured establishments you see grease on the doors or on the counters2 or you see this sign or that sign that this is a coloured man's establishment4 ,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 establishments4 ,such a store as that of ,mr4 ,adams is the kind of a store to have4 ,now1 these two young women have made a reputation for themselves4 ,they went into the millinery division while they were here1 and they remained until they graduated4 ,one of them1 ,i believe had not finished in the millinery department when she received her academic diploma1 and so she came back last year and took a postgraduate course in millinery4 ,it is interesting and encouraging to see these two young women succeeding in their work1 and it all comes from their determination to succeed1 and because they had sense enough to finish what they had undertaken4 ,that is the lesson that you all want to learn4 ,if you do not learn it now1 in a large degree you will be failures in life4 ,you want to be like these young women4 ,you want to fight it out4 ,now if you mean to get your diploma1 you are going to have a hard time4 ,some of you are going to be without shoes1 without a hat1 without proper clothing of any kind4 ,you will get discouraged because you have not as nice a dress or as nice a hat as this person or that person4 ,i would not give a snap of my finger for a person who would give up for that4 ,the thing for you to do is to fight it out4 ,get something in your head1 and don't worry about what you can get to put on it4 ,the clothes will come afterward4 ,you are going to be greatly discouraged sometimes1 but if you will heed the lesson of fighting out what you have undertaken1 that same disposition will follow you all through life1 and you will get a reputation1 because people will say of you that there is a person who sticks to whatever he or she undertakes4 ,one of the saddest things in life is to see an individual who has grown to old age1 with no profession1 with no calling whatever from which he is sure of getting an independent living4 ,it is sad to see such individuals without money1 without homes1 in their old age1 simply because they did not learn the lesson of saving money and getting for themselves a beautiful home when they ought to have done this4 ,and so1 all through life1 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 succeed4 ,if we are going to succeed we must pay the price for what we get2 and he who accomplishes the most1 accomplishes it in an humble and straightforward way1 by sticking to what he has undertaken4 ,he who does this finds in the end that he has achieved a tremendous success4 ,,what ,,you ,,ought ,,to ,,do ,it is comparatively easy to perform almost any kind of work1 but the value of any work is in having it performed so that the desired results may be most speedily reached1 and in having the means with which the worker labours arranged so as to meet certain ends4 ,it is the constant problem of those organs which have charge of the well-being of the body1 to cause digestion to take place1 so that what is nourishing in the food may reach every part of the body1 not only the portions near the organs in which digestion takes place1 but also the most extreme parts of the different members4 ,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 near4 ,in this same way1 it seems to me more and more every year1 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 them4 ,how can we reach the masses who are remote--,i mean remote from educational advantages and from opportunities for encouragement and enlightenment8 ,the problem in the rural districts is difficult because of the vastness of the number to be reached1 and of the frequent difficulty of reaching them4 ,we must keep this fact before us1 then2 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 institutions4 ,it is a fact1 as most of you know1 that we very seldom meet with a thoroughly well-educated teacher in the rural districts1 in spite of the passing of over thirty years since we became men and women4 ,you know1 too1 that the same thing is1 in too large a measure1 true of the ministry4 ,the responsibility for reaching these people1 for affecting them for good1 rests upon the young men and young women who are being educated in these ,southern institutions to-day4 ,what are you going to do as your part towards reaching these people1 towards carrying to them the light which they need so much and so earnestly long for8 ,difficult as this problem is1 it is not a discouraging one1 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 them4 ,you very seldom meet with a coloured man who is not conscious of his ignorance1 and who is not anxious to get up as soon as he finds himself down4 ,in this respect the problem is encouraging4 ,one of the ways in which the problem is serious is with respect to labour4 ,in almost every city and town in the ,south a large proportion of the coloured people are shiftless so far as manual labour is concerned1 although ,i think there is already improvement4 ,the masses of our people are given to thrift and industry1 and to unremitting toil1 in their way4 ,the hard thing about it1 the discouraging thing1 is that they do not know how to realize on the results of their toil2 because they have no education and little idea of industrial development1 they do not know how to make their work tell for what it ought to4 ,as a general thing the people--those in the country especially--do not ask anybody to come and give them food1 clothing and houses2 all they ask is for some person1 some honest1 upright man or woman who is interested in their welfare1 to come among them and show them how to direct their efforts and their energy1 show them how best to realize on the results of their work1 so that they can supply their own moral1 religious and material needs and educate their children4 ,and you will find that wherever this institution1 ,hampton1 ,talladega1 ,fisk1 ,atlanta or any other1 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 encouraged1 but will be supported materially4 ,in every way there will be an opportunity for that person to revolutionize the community4 ,that opportunity is open to you4 ,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 world4 ,are you going to appreciate the beauty and grandeur of this opportunity8 ,i was talking with a gentleman last night who has recently spent some time in one of the ,southern states1 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 months4 ,he tells me that the average salary in some of those districts is little more than fifteen dollars a month4 ,in another state the condition of the people is about the same4 ,in our own state perhaps the conditions are worse even than in the states referred to4 ,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 year1 except1 of course1 in the cities and towns4 ,in some counties the teachers are being paid only twelve to twenty dollars1 and there are possibly some where the teachers get not more than ten dollars from the state fund4 ,i was talking with a gentleman from another state not long ago about the material condition of the people in that state1 and he told me that so far as their industrial life is concerned1 the masses are in a very bad condition this year2 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 states4 ,i need not go on to describe to you the moral results that must inevitably follow such a condition of things4 ,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 people1 and who do not know where they are going to get anything to eat4 ,it is needless to describe the train of moral evils that must follow such conditions as these4 ,what ,i have attempted to describe to you as existing to-day in these country districts may not be very encouraging1 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 labour4 ,every young man and woman here is being educated by money that is given by others4 ,none of you are paying for the education you are receiving4 ,you might pay for your board1 but you would have to do that elsewhere4 ,every one must pay for his or her own clothing1 but the cost of buildings1 rent1 tuition1 expenses and other matters pertaining to the institution you do not pay4 ,your education1 in a large measure1 is a gift from the public1 and it seems to me that one of the first things you should do is to repay1 to as large an extent as is possible with your services1 what has been spent in giving you so large a part of your education4 ,this is a debt that you owe not only to yourselves1 but to our race and our country4 ,it is a religious debt as well1 that you be willing to go out into these country districts and suffer1 as it were1 for a few years1 until you can get a foothold1 so that you can plant yourselves in one of these dark communities4 ,i feel sure that you would not have to suffer very long4 ,i believe that the hardest part of the struggle would come during the first two or three years4 ,when you can convince the people that you are in earnest1 the battle is won4 ,when you can convince them that it is cheaper to keep an educated teacher than to keep one who is ignorant1 and when you can once demonstrate your value to them not only in an educational respect but industrially and morally1 the battle is won1 and these people will stand by you and support you4 ,in many cases1 it is my belief1 you will eventually find yourselves better supported financially than you would if you had gone to work in cities and large towns4 ,no matter from which side you look at this problem1 good is bound to come from it4 ,and while we are talking about the reward that will come as a result of your services1 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 services4 ,i know of instances where teachers have gone and planted themselves in these country districts who1 even if they do not make such a very great success financially1 receive the love and most sincere worship from year to year1 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 ways4 ,this same kind of pioneer work had to be done all over the world before the right kind of civilization was planted4 ,it was such work as this that the people did who settled the great ,west1 where they were deprived of the comforts of life4 ,the people who planted ,oberlin ,college in what was then a wilderness had to suffer many such hardships4 ,the men who went to ,washington1 ,oregon1 and ,california and established what are now large cities there1 had to suffer many such hardships2 they had to suffer just what you must and should suffer4 ,are you going to suffer for your own people until they can receive the light which they so much need8 ,if the young men and women before me have the right kind of stuff in them they will do this4 ,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 day4 ,i hope you will fill these districts with men and women of education4 ,when you go out from here with your diploma1 whether it be next ,may or at some other time1 resolve to plant yourself in one community and stay there4 ,no matter what your work is1 you cannot accomplish much if you become the wandering ,jew4 ,find the community where you think you can use your life to the best advantage1 and then stay there4 ,in the time that has elapsed since this talk was given1 ,i think there has been improvement in many of the country schools in the ,south1 and in the general condition of the people as described to me then4--,b4 ,t4 ,w4 ,,individual ,,responsibility ,i have referred in a general way1 before this1 when ,i have been speaking to you1 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 life4 ,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 you1 but for the successful outcome of every worthy undertaking with which you come in contact4 ,you ought to realize that your actions will not affect yourselves alone4 ,in this age it is almost impossible for a man to live for himself alone4 ,on every side our lives touch those of others2 their lives touch ours4 ,even if it were possible to live otherwise1 few would wish to4 ,a narrow life1 a selfish life1 is almost sure to be not only unprofitable but unhappy4 ,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 can4 ,in order to do this1 though1 in order best to fit one's self to live this kind of life1 it is important that certain habits be acquired2 and an essential one of these is the habit of realizing one's responsibility to others4 ,your actions will affect other people in one way or another1 and you will be responsible for the result4 ,you ought always to remember this1 and govern yourselves accordingly4 ,suppose it is the matter of the recitation of a lesson1 for instance4 ,some one may say3 ,it is nobody's business but my own if ,i fail in a recitation4 ,nobody will suffer but me4 ,this is not so4 ,indirectly you injure your teacher also1 for while a conscientious1 hard-working teacher ought not to be blamed for the failures of pupils who do not learn simply because they do not want to1 or are too lazy to try1 it is generally the case that a teacher's reputation gains or loses as his or her class averages high or low4 ,and each failure in recitation1 for whatever cause1 brings down the average4 ,then1 too1 you are having an influence upon your classmates1 even if it be unconscious4 ,there is hardly ever a student who is not observed by some one at some time as an example4 ,there is such a boy1 some other student says to himself4 ,he has failed in class ever so many times1 and still he gets along4 ,it can't make much difference if ,i fail once4 ,and as a result he neglects his duty1 and does fail4 ,the same thing is true of work in the industrial departments4 ,too many students try to see how easily they can get through the day1 or the work period1 and yet not get into trouble4 ,or even if they take more interest than this1 they care for their work only for the sake of what they can get out of it for themselves1 either as pay1 or as instruction which will enable them to work for pay at some later time4 ,now there ought to be a higher impulse behind your efforts than that4 ,each student ought to feel that he or she has a personal responsibility to do each task in the very best manner possible4 ,you owe this not only to your fellow-students1 your teachers1 the school1 and the people who support the institution1 but you owe it even more to yourselves4 ,you owe it to yourselves because it is right and honest1 because nothing less than this is right and honest1 and because you never can be really successful and really happy until you do study and work and live in this way4 ,i have been led to speak specifically on this subject to-night on account of two occurrences here which have come to my notice4 ,one of these illustrates the failure on the part of students to feel this sense of responsibility to which ,i have referred4 ,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 encouraging4 ,the first incident1 ,i may say1 occurred some months ago4 ,it is possible that the students who were concerned in it may not be here now or1 if they are1 that it would not happen again4 ,i certainly hope not4 ,a gentleman who had been visiting here was to go away4 ,he left word at the office of his wish1 saying that he planned to leave town on the five o'clock train in the afternoon4 ,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 station4 ,half-past four came1 and the man had his luggage brought down to the door of the building in which he had been staying1 so as to be ready when the team came4 ,but no team came4 ,the visitor finally became so anxious that he walked over to the barn himself4 ,just as he reached the barn he met the man who was in charge there1 with the note in his hand4 ,the note had only just that moment reached this man1 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 wanted4 ,the boy who had brought the note had given it to another boy1 and he to someone else1 and he1 perhaps1 to someone else4 ,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 attention4 ,this occurred1 as ,i have said1 several months ago1 before the local train here went over to ,chehaw to meet all of the trains4 ,it happened that this particular passenger was going north1 and it was possible by driving to ,chehaw for him to get there in time to take the north-bound train4 ,if he had been going the other way1 though1 towards ,montgomery1 he would have lost the train entirely1 and1 as chanced to be the case1 would have been unable to keep a very important engagement4 ,as it was1 he was obliged to ride to ,chehaw in a carriage1 and the time of a man and team1 which otherwise would have been saved1 was required to take him there4 ,now when such a thing as this happens1 no amount of saying1 ,i am sorry1 by the person or persons to blame1 will help the matter any4 ,it is too late to help it then4 ,the thing to do is to feel some responsibility in seeing that things are done right yourself4 ,take enough interest in whatever you are engaged in to see that it is going to come out in the end just as nearly right1 just as nearly perfect1 as anything you can do will go towards making it right or perfect4 ,and if the task or errand passes out of your hands before it is completed1 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 duty4 ,the world is looking for men and women who can tell one why they can do this thing or that thing1 how a certain difficulty was surmounted or a certain obstacle removed4 ,but the world has little patience with the man or woman who takes no real interest in the performance of a duty1 or who runs against a snag and gets discouraged1 and then simply tells why he did not do a thing1 and gives excuses instead of results4 ,opportunities never come a second time1 nor do they wait for our leisure4 ,the years come to us but once1 and they come then only to pass swiftly on1 bearing the ineffaceable record we have put upon them4 ,if we wish to make them beautiful years or profitable years1 we must do it moment by moment as they glide before us4 ,the other case to which ,i have referred is pleasanter to speak about4 ,one day this spring1 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 buildings1 a student passing ,phelps ,hall noticed that there was a volume of black smoke pouring out of one of the chimneys there4 ,some boys might not have noticed the smoke at all2 others would have said that it came from the chimney2 still others would have said that it was none of their business anyway1 and would have gone along4 ,this boy was different4 ,he noticed the smoke1 and although he saw1 or thought he saw that it came from the chimney1 and if so was probably no sign of harm1 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 building4 ,he was not satisfied until he had gone into the building and had inspected every floor clear up to the attic1 to see that the chimney and the building were not in danger4 ,as it happened1 the janitor had built a fire in the furnace in the basement for some reason1 so that the young man's anxiety fortunately was unfounded1 but ,i am heartily glad he had such an anxiety1 and that he could not rest until he found out whether there was any foundation for it or not4 ,i shall feel that all of our buildings are safer for his being here1 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 had4 ,let me tell you1 here and now1 that unless you young men and young women come to have this characteristic1 your lives are going to fall far short of the best and noblest achievement possible4 ,we frequently hear the word lucky used with reference to a man's life4 ,two boys start out in the world at the same time1 having the same amount of education4 ,when twenty years have passed1 we find one of them wealthy and independent2 we find him a successful professional man with an assured reputation1 or perhaps at the head of a large commercial establishment employing many men1 or perhaps a farmer owning and cultivating hundreds of acres of land4 ,we find the second boy1 grown now to be a man1 working for perhaps a dollar or a dollar and a half a day1 and living from hand to mouth in a rented house4 ,when we remember that the boys started out in life equal-handed1 we may be tempted to remark that the first boy has been fortunate1 that fortune has smiled on him2 and that the second has been unfortunate4 ,there is no such nonsense as that4 ,when the first boy saw a thing that he knew he ought to do1 he did it2 and he kept rising from one position to another until he became independent4 ,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 cents4 ,he watched the clock1 for fear that he would work one minute past twelve o'clock at noon and past six o'clock at night4 ,he did not feel that he had any responsibility to look out for his employer's interests4 ,the first boy did a dollar's worth of work for fifty cents4 ,he was always ready to be at the store before time2 and then1 when the bell rang to stop work1 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 home4 ,it was this quality in the first boy that made him valuable and caused him to rise4 ,why should we call him fortunate or lucky8 ,i think it would be much more suitable to say of him3 ,he is responsible4 ,,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 occupies4 ,so long as a man does his whole duty in what he is engaged in1 he is not to be condemned for looking for something better to do4 ,now the question arises3--,how are you going to put yourself in a condition to be in demand for these higher and more important positions8 ,in the first place you should be continually on the lookout for opportunities to improve yourselves in your present work4 ,you should be constantly on the lookout for chances to make yourselves more valuable to your present employer1 and more efficient in your work for him4 ,suppose you are engaged in the work of milking cows--,i think it better to talk of practical things with which you all are acquainted1 although ,i know that many of you boys had rather ,i would tell you how to go to ,congress than how to become successful milkers4 ,inasmuch1 though1 as ,i suspect a good many more of us will have to milk cows than can go to ,congress1 ,i think it will not hurt us to talk about milking4 ,if the boy who milks cows now does that thoroughly1 by doing it he may lay the foundation to go to ,congress later4 ,the point is1 that we want to be constantly on the lookout for ways of improving whatever work we are engaged in1 whether that work be milking cows or doing something else4 ,in whatever you are doing1 there are a great many improvements which you want to become acquainted with4 ,if your work is dairying1 read the dairy journals4 ,get hold of every book or paper that you can which has anything to do with your line of work4 ,be sure that you know all--or as nearly as possible all--there is to be known about milking cows4 ,and then don't be content with what you get out of books and newspapers1 for that information is only the result of some other person's experience4 ,by conversing with intelligent and experienced persons1 and by your own experiments1 you can get much valuable information about your work4 ,never get to the point where you are ashamed to ask somebody else for information4 ,the ignorant man will always be ignorant1 if he fears that by asking for information he will betray his lack of knowledge4 ,know all there is to be known about the position you occupy1 but ever feel that there is more for you to learn4 ,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 work4 ,if you are milking cows1 and feel that you know all there is to be known about that subject1 you have simply reached a point where you are practically useless and unfitted for the work4 ,feel that you can always learn something from somebody else4 ,it is a mark of intelligence to learn1 even from the humblest person4 ,i do not mean for you always to put into practice every suggestion that is made to you1 or to agree with every statement made to you2 but listen to what people say1 weigh their plans alongside of your own1 and then profit by the one which you are convinced is the best4 ,persevere in such conversation1 and in reading4 ,you will constantly be surprised to find how little you really know about your work1 and how much more somebody else knows about it than you do4 ,you want to get to the point where you can anticipate the wants of your employer4 ,in this way you will make yourself of great service to him4 ,you do not know how vexing and discouraging it is to a man to be compelled to say every morning to those in his employ3 ,do this at nine o'clock1 and that at twelve o'clock1 and the other at five2 or how pleasant it is to have a person with whom you come in contact anticipate the needs of the man who employs him4 ,then you can make yourself valuable and in demand just in proportion as you consider that the work you are performing is your own4 ,do not consider that it is being performed for a certain man or a particular organization4 ,make haste and get to the point where you can feel that everything connected with the shop in which you work1 or in the office1 or in the stable1 is under your care1 and that you alone are responsible for it4 ,if you are at the head of a stable or barn1 plan day by day how you can best provide for the well-being of your cows and horses4 ,when you make yourself master of these humble positions1 you will find that the calls to higher places will come to you4 ,the men you see spending most of their time looking for higher and more lucrative positions are1 nine times out of ten1 men who have made worthless failures in other places4 ,,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 another1 one individual is dependent for success upon another1 one family in a community upon other families for their mutual prosperity1 one part of a ,state upon the other parts for the successful government of the ,state4 ,the same thing is true in nature4 ,one thing cannot exist unless another exists2 cannot succeed without the success of something else4 ,the very forces of nature are dependent upon other forces for their existence4 ,without vegetable life we could not have animal life2 without mineral life we could not have vegetable life4 ,so1 throughout all kinds of life1 as throughout the life of nature1 everything is dependent upon something else for its success4 ,the same thing is true of this institution and of every institution4 ,the success of the whole depends upon having every person connected with the institution do his or her whole duty4 ,we are very apt to get the idea that there are high positions and that there are low positions1 that there is important service and unimportant service2 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 position1 that ,he expects the same conscientious service whether the work be a big task or a little one4 ,we are dependent as an institution--every institution is dependent--for success1 upon the individual consciences of those connected with it as teachers and students2 and there is nothing that gives me more satisfaction and pleasure1 and more faith in the future of the school1 than to see examples of conscientious work here4 ,i remember a special instance of this kind that occurred at one of our ,commencements4 ,i believe that ,commencement1 more than any other time in the school year1 is an occasion when there is excitement and a desire to witness the exercises4 ,after the exercises of that year were over1 ,i had occasion to go to the dining room1 and ,i found there one of the teachers who from her appearance ,i thought had not attended the exercises4 ,when ,i asked her about this1 she said3 ,no4 ,i intended to go1 but at the last minute ,i saw that there were some dishes here that needed to be washed1 and ,i stayed here to see that they were washed4 ,now that was one of the finest exhibitions of conscientious regard for duty that ,i ever saw1 and there are very few persons who would have done a thing like that4 ,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 on4 ,it takes a person with a conscience1 when there are public men of note here1 a great many strangers and many things to attract attention1 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 enjoyment4 ,when the people connected with this institution can bring themselves up to that point1 ,i have no fear for the success of the institution2 and it can succeed only as they do bring their consciences up to that point4 ,if ,i were to ask you individually as students to deliver an address upon this platform1 or to read an essay1 ,i should not be at all afraid that you would fail4 ,i believe that you would carefully prepare that address or essay4 ,you would look up all the references necessary in order to give you what information you needed1 and then you would get up here and speak or read successfully4 ,i feel sure that ,i would hear something that ,i should not be ashamed of4 ,the average man and woman does succeed when before the public4 ,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 about1 the things which no one will see you do4 ,it is when you think that no one is going to see you washing dishes1 or getting dirt out of crevices1 that ,i am afraid you are going to fail4 ,i remember that some time ago when ,i was travelling in a buggy from one ,new ,england village to another1 after we had gone some miles on our way1 the young man who was driving me stopped the horse and got out4 ,i asked him what was the matter1 and he said that something was the matter with the harness4 ,i looked with all the eyes ,i had1 and yet ,i could see nothing at fault4 ,still the man mended a piece of harness that he said was not as it should be4 ,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 ought1 but after it had been repaired ,i could see a difference for the better4 ,that1 to my mind1 was a great lesson4 ,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 done4 ,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 success4 ,don't we wish that we had a hundred such men as that driver here6 ,if ,i could put my hand on a thousand such persons as that1 we could find employment for all of them as soon as they got their diplomas4 ,one learns to judge persons by their character in this respect4 ,not long ago ,i had an opportunity to go through the jail of this county4 ,as the sheriff showed me through the building ,i was impressed to see how clean everything was1 and ,i noticed that the man who seemed to be the janitor of the jail1 although he too was a prisoner1 seemed to take a great deal of pride in showing me the cleanness of the corners and the general good appearance of the place4 ,he seemed to put his whole heart into the keeping of that jail clean4 ,who is that man8 ,i asked the sheriff1 after we had got out of the janitor's hearing4 ,he is a prisoner1 the sheriff replied1 but ,i believe he is innocent4 ,i do not believe that a man can be so honest and faithful about his work and be guilty of a crime4 ,when ,i see how well he does his work here1 notwithstanding the fact that he is shut up here in prison1 ,i believe that he is an honest man and deserves his freedom4 ,in plain words1 then1 the problem we must work out here is not3--,can you master algebra1 or literature8 ,we know you can do that4 ,we know you can master the sciences4 ,the general problem we have to work out here1 and work it out with fear and trembling1 is3--,can we educate the individual conscience8 ,can we so educate a group of students that there will be in every one of them a conscience on which we can depend4 ,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 clean1 but leave a trail of dirt in the comers and under the furniture8 ,will they see to it that everything is properly cleaned and put in its appropriate place8 ,can we educate a class of young men who will do their duty on the farm as they would do it on this platform8 ,can we educate your consciences so that you will do certain things1 not because it is the rule that they should be done1 but because they should be done8 ,these are the problems we must work out here4 ,,what ,,would ,,father ,,and ,,mother ,,say8 ,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 time1 to enter school1 or to go to work1 or to go into business4 ,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 home4 ,you will find1 usually1 that if a young man is able during this time to stand up against temptation1 is able to practise the lessons that his father and mother have taught him1 and instead of falling by the wayside gains help and inspiration as he goes along from these lessons1 he is almost sure to prove himself a valuable citizen1 one who not only will be a help to his parents in their old age1 but a help to the community in which he lives4 ,there is no better way to test an act than to ask yourself the question3 ,what would my father or my mother think of this8 ,would they approve1 or should ,i be ashamed to let them know that ,i have done this thing8 ,if you will ask yourselves these questions day by day1 ,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 school4 ,i want you to put that question to yourselves with regard to deportment1 because that is a thing on which we must lay emphasis4 ,we can fill your heads with knowledge1 and we can train your hands to work with skill1 but unless all this training of head and hand is based upon high1 upright character1 upon a true heart1 it will amount to nothing4 ,you will be no better off than the most ignorant4 ,now1 one of the ways in which young people are likely to go astray1 especially when they first go away from home to school1 is in yielding to a temptation to spend their time with persons who have mean and low dispositions2 persons whom you would be ashamed to have your parents know that you kept company with4 ,avoid that4 ,be sure that the young men and women with whom you associate are persons who are able to raise you up1 persons who will help to make you stronger in every way4 ,i do not need to tell you1 ,i am sure1 of the consequences of association with persons who will have1 a bad influence upon you1 or the results of a disregard of admonitions for good4 ,a student who persistently keeps bad company1 who breaks rules1 who is constantly disobedient1 who is repeatedly behind at roll call1 who time after time has to be called up by the officer of the day1 or watched in the dining room or on the parade ground1 is the student who in a few years is going to bring sorrow to the hearts of his parents4 ,there is no getting away from that4 ,only to-day the mother of one of the students came here with a message from another mother whose son had been sent here4 ,she told me how this anxious mother had told her to impress upon her son the necessity of obeying every rule here1 and how she wanted him to put in every moment in hard study and honest work4 ,she wanted this woman to impress upon the boy how hard his mother was struggling every day so that she could keep him here1 and at the same time provide for the younger children of the family at home4 ,now1 when this message was delivered1 where was that boy8 ,was he doing as his mother was so earnestly praying him to do8 ,no4 ,he had already disgraced himself1 and had been sent away from the institution4 ,how much sorrow will he bring to his poor mother's heart when she knows6 ,no wonder he was trying to conceal his misconduct and disgrace from her4 ,let me entreat you1 then1 if you are inclined to fritter away the best hours of your lives1 think how the news of your misconduct will act upon the hearts of your parents1 those fathers and mothers whose every thought is of you4 ,i have spoken of these as some of the things that we do not want to have you do at school4 ,what are some of the things that we do want you to learn to do8 ,we want to have you learn to see and appreciate the practical value of the religion of ,christ4 ,we hope to help you to see that religion1 that ,christianity1 is not something that is far off1 something in the air1 that it is not something to be enjoyed only after the breath has left the body4 ,we want to have you see that the religion of ,christ is a real and helpful thing2 that it is something which you can take with you into your class-rooms1 into your shops1 on to the farm1 into your very sleeping rooms1 and that you do not have to wait until to-morrow before you can find out about the power and helpfulness of ,christ's religion4 ,we want to have you feel that this religion is a part of your lives1 and that it is meant to be a help to you from day to day4 ,we hope to have you feel that the religious services that we have you attend here are not burdens1 but that it is a privilege1 greatly to be desired1 to come to these meetings1 and into the prayer meetings of the various societies on the grounds1 and there commune1 not in a far-off1 imaginary way1 but in an humble but intimate way1 with the spirit of ,jesus4 ,we want you to feel that religion is something to make you happier1 brighter and more hopeful1 not something to make you go about with long1 solemn faces4 ,we want you to learn1 if you do not already know1 that in order to be ,christlike one does not have to be unnatural4 ,then we want to have you to learn to govern your actions1 not alone for the sake of the result which they will have upon yourself and those who are near and dear to you1 but for the sake of your influence upon all with whom you will come in contact4 ,your life here will be largely wasted--,i am tempted to say wholly wasted--if you fail to learn that higher1 broader1 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 surrounded4 ,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 love1 of usefulness and of charity4 ,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 school4 ,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 you4 ,of the many noble traits exhibited by the late ,general ,armstrong1 none made a deeper impression upon me than his supreme unselfishness4 ,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 selfish4 ,he was interested not only in the black ,south1 but in the white ,south1 not only in his own school1 but in all schools4 ,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 ,institute4 ,i had a pleasant experience of this spirit of a desire to be helpful to others a little while ago1 when ,i was visiting a certain theological seminary in ,pennsylvania4 ,i think ,i was never in such an atmosphere as during the two days ,i spent in that institution4 ,i was surrounded by a crowd of young men whose sole object seemed to be to make me comfortable and happy4 ,most of these young men were far advanced in the study of theology and the sciences1 and yet they were not above serving me1 even to the extent of offering to black my boots4 ,when ,i came away several wished to carry my luggage to the station4 ,this is the kind of thoughtfulness we want to have in every corner of this institution4 ,get hold of the spirit of wanting to help somebody else4 ,seek every opportunity possible to make somebody happy and comfortable4 ,do all this1 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 globe1 and that you1 in helping to make it such1 have been doing things that1 when you ask yourselves3 ,what would father and mother say about my doing this8 will enable you to answer the question with pride and satisfaction4 ,,object ,,lessons ,not long ago an old coloured man living in this ,state said to me3 ,i's done quit libin' in de ashes4 ,i's got my second freedom4 ,that remark meant1 in this case1 that that old man by economy1 hard work and proper guidance1 after twenty years of struggle1 had freed himself from debt1 had paid for fifty acres of land1 had built a comfortable house1 and was a tax-payer4 ,it meant that his two sons had been educated in academic and agricultural branches1 that his daughter had received mental training in connection with lessons in sewing and cooking4 ,within certain limitations here was a ,christian1 ,american home1 the result of industrial effort and philanthropy4 ,this ,negro had been given a chance to get upon his feet4 ,that is all that any ,negro in ,america asks4 ,that is all that you in this school ask4 ,what position in ,state1 in letters1 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 race4 ,what position you are to occupy must be left to your future and to your capacity4 ,during the days of slavery we were shielded from competition4 ,to-day1 unless we prepare ourselves to compete with the world1 we must go to the wall as a race4 ,if ,i were to go into certain communities in the ,united ,states and say that the ,german is ignorant1 ,i should be pointed to the best-paying truck-farm in that neighbourhood1 owned and operated by a ,german4 ,if ,i said that the ,german is without skill1 ,i should be shown the largest machine-shop in the city1 owned and operated by a ,german4 ,if ,i said the ,german is lazy1 ,i should be shown the largest and finest residence on the most fashionable avenue1 built from the savings of a ,german who began life in poverty4 ,if ,i said that the ,german could not be trusted1 ,i should be introduced to a man of that race who is the president of the largest bank in the city4 ,if ,i said that the ,german is not fitted for citizenship1 ,i should be shown a ,german who is a respected and influential member of the city government4 ,now1 when your critics say that the ,negro is lazy1 ,i want you to be able to show them the finest farm in the community owned and operated by a ,negro4 ,when they ask if the ,negro is honest1 ,i want you to show them a ,negro whose note is acceptable at the bank for #e1jjj4 ,when they say that the ,negro is not economical1 ,i want you to show them a ,negro with #ej1jjj in the bank4 ,when they say that the ,negro is not fit for citizenship1 ,i want you to show them a man of our race paying taxes on a cotton factory4 ,i want you to be able to show them ,negroes who stand in the front in the affairs of ,state1 of religion1 of education1 of mechanics1 of commerce and of household economy4 ,you remember the old admonition3 ,by this sign we shall conquer4 ,let it be our motto4 ,there are people in the ,north who have been aiding in the matter of ,negro education in the ,south during the last ten1 twenty1 or even thirty years4 ,it is in part the money of those people that has made this institution possible4 ,those people have a right1 as a plain matter of business1 to ask what are the results of this aid they have been giving4 ,what evidences can we present to prove to them that their investments in this direction have been paying ones8 ,it is1 in no small measure1 the duty of you1 as students of ,tuskegee ,institute1 to answer1 and to answer satisfactorily1 such a question as that4 ,we have reached a point1 largely through the aid which the ,north has given to the ,south during the last thirty years1 where there is little opposition in the ,south to the people of the ,negro race receiving any form of education4 ,you can go out from here and plant a school in any county in the ,south1 which will not meet with opposition from the white residents of the community4 ,what is more1 in many cases it will receive encouragement1 and in some a hearty sympathy and support4 ,not long ago ,i received fifty dollars from a white man in ,mississippi to pay for the education of a black boy4 ,this man was formerly a slave-holder1 and at first he was not inclined to encourage the education of the ,negro1 but he stated to me frankly1 in his letter1 that he now believes that ,tuskegee and similar institutions are doing the work that the ,negro most needs to have done4 ,he wanted to show the people of the ,north1 he said1 that ,southern white men are as deeply interested in the development of the ,negro as they are4 ,i have in mind another case1 of a ,southern white man in ,alabama who during the last year contributed out of his own pocket nearly #b1jjj for the building and maintenance of a ,negro school in his county4 ,still another ,southern white man1 ,mr4 ,belton ,gilreath1 of ,birmingham1 ,alabama1 recently sent the ,institute his check for #ejj--up to that time the largest sum which the school had received from a ,southern man--with this letter3 ,as a ,southern man and the son of one of the largest slave owners of the ,south1 ,i am anxious for our people to do all that can reasonably be expected of them for the education of the ,negroes1 thereby making them more content and useful citizens and friends4 ,furthermore1 ,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 population2 and1 wherever practicable1 to give attention in our schools to teaching the art of saving also4 ,more recently still1 ,mr4 ,h4 ,m4 ,atkinson1 of ,atlanta1 one of the most successful business men in the entire ,south1 came to ,tuskegee ,institute and made a thorough inspection of our work4 ,after he returned to ,atlanta ,i received a letter from him from which ,i quote one paragraph3 ,i enclose my check for #a1jjj1 for the benefit of your school1 to be used as your judgment dictates4 ,i was very much impressed by what ,i saw4 ,i will not forget it4 ,these white people are beginning to see the difference between the value of an educated ,negro and one who is not educated4 ,it is for you to demonstrate to them this value more and more clearly every year4 ,,substance vs4 ,,shadow ,you are here for the purpose of getting an education4 ,now1 one of the results of an education is to increase a person's wants4 ,you take the ordinary person who lives on a plantation1 and so long as that person is ignorant1 he is content to live in a cabin with one room1 in which he has a skillet1 a bedstead--or an apology for one--a table1 and a few chairs or stools4 ,he is content if he has fat meat1 corn bread and peas on the table to eat1 and for clothing he is satisfied to wear jeans and osnaburg himself1 and to have his wife wear a calico dress and a twenty-five cent hat4 ,but1 as soon as that man becomes educated1 he feels that he must have a house with at least two or three rooms in it1 furnished with neat and substantial furniture4 ,instead of jeans and osnaburg for clothes1 he wants decent woollen cloth1 neat-fitting shoes1 and a white collar and a necktie1 things which he never thought of wearing before he became educated4 ,sometimes he even thinks that he must have jewellery4 ,so you see the result of education is to increase a person's wants4 ,now1 the crisis in that person's affairs comes when the question arises whether his education has increased his ability to supply his wants4 ,such an ability1 ,i claim1 is one of the results of industrial education4 ,by such an education as that1 while we are getting culture along all the lines that in any degree tend to increase the wants of a person1 we are1 in the meantime1 getting skill to increase our ability to supply these wants4 ,and1 unless we have this ability1 we will find1 sooner or later1 that instead of going forward we are going backward4 ,i think that the temptation for us1 especially for those who are only half educated1 is to try to get hold of a certain kind of shallow culture1 instead of getting the substantial--instead of getting hold of real education1 of property and material prosperity4 ,you who study history know how the ,pilgrim ,fathers1 who landed at ,plymouth ,rock in the bleak winter of #afbj1 were willing to wear homespun clothes1 and to be married in them1 if necessary1 and to have a wedding that in all would not cost more than four dollars1 ,i suppose4 ,on the other hand1 when one of our boys wants to get married now1 he must have a wedding that costs not less than one hundred and fifty dollars4 ,his wife must have a dress with a long train1 and he must have a ,prince ,albert1 broadcloth coat that he either rents1 or buys on the instalment plan4 ,they think that they must have a bevy of waiting bridesmaids1 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 dollars4 ,then1 after the ceremony1 where do these people go to live8 ,the chances are the young man who has been to all this expense for the sake of the show of it1 takes his bride to live in a small cabin with only two rooms--sometimes only one room--rented at that4 ,this is what ,i mean by getting the superficial culture before the dollars are made2 grasping at the shadow instead of the substance4 ,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 made1 and show the people by example and by work how much better it is to get married for four dollars1 and to pay as you go1 than to get married for a hundred and fifty dollars1 and then pay four dollars a month to live in a rented cabin4 ,when ,i go to ,new ,york1 or to any large city1 there is nothing more discouraging than to see people of this very class ,i am speaking of1 people who seek the superficial culture1 the shadow1 rather than the substantial dollars and education4 ,if you stand for a few minutes on any of the fashionable streets in the ,northern cities1 you will see these elaborately dressed men1 wearing five dollar hats on heads that at most are not worth more than fifty cents4 ,this is the class of people who have got just enough education to make them want everything they see1 but who have not got enough to make them able to get what they want unless they go beyond their means to do so4 ,a superficial education1 too1 makes us inclined to seek show in other things besides dress4 ,we are inclined1 for one thing1 to seek to show off in the use of titles4 ,i remember that once ,i was introduced to a company of about sixty men1 and out of the whole number there were only six who were not doctors1 professors1 or colonels1 or who did not have some title4 ,i must say ,i thought more of the six who were just plain misters than ,i did of all the rest1 for among the others there were some very hard-looking doctors and professors4 ,an over-desire for these things shows a shallowness in us which makes us ridiculous4 ,we want to stop making that kind of mistake4 ,if you are a mister1 encourage the people to call you by that title4 ,if you are a minister and preach interesting and instructive sermons1 people are going to be impressed by what you say and not by the title you bear4 ,the title is the shadow2 what you say is the substance4 ,when a person is simple1 he is on the strong side4 ,people not only have more respect for him1 but he accomplishes more4 ,i was once at a memorial meeting held in honour of a man who had done a great and useful work1 not only for the race but for the school with which he had been connected4 ,after about two hours of speechmaking1 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 for1 to show the appreciation which those present felt for this man's services4 ,after a good deal of talk1 #f4fe was collected4 ,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 school4 ,the meeting had passed a set of resolutions testifying to the high character of the man and the worth of his work4 ,somebody suggested that these resolutions be engrossed and sent to the school4 ,this was a big word1 and the people liked the sound of it4 ,upon inquiry it was found that it would cost #f4jj to have the resolutions engrossed4 ,it was voted to have this done1 and it was done2 when the resolutions would have done just as much good typewritten1 at a cost of twenty-five cents4 ,but the meeting paid out the #f4jj1 and sent the engrossed copy of the resolutions down to the school1 along with the sixty-five cents left to be expended for the help of the school4 ,that1 it seemed to me1 was another case of grasping the shadow instead of the substance4 ,the engrossed resolutions were the shadow2 the sixty-five cents were all that was left of the substance4 ,in all these matters we need speedy and effective reforms4 ,we want you to go out into the world and use your influence toward securing these reforms4 ,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 worth4 ,we want you to teach by word and action simple1 right and honest living4 ,,character ,,as ,,shown ,,in ,,dress ,it is surprising how much we can tell about a person's character by his dress4 ,i think it is very seldom that we cannot tell whether a person is ignorant or educated1 simply by his dress2 and there are some few1 plain facts about dress that ,i am going to mention to you to-night4 ,while it is hard to lay down any rules as to how we must dress1 ,i think there are some well-defined principles of dress to which all well-educated persons will conform4 ,i think we will all agree that our dress should be clean4 ,there is little excuse for persons wearing filthy clothes--,i think we all will agree as to that4 ,it is disgraceful for a man to go about with ragged clothes or with clothes fastened together with pins where buttons ought to be4 ,it is disgraceful for a girl to go about with a soiled apron1 or with her clothes pinned together4 ,our clothes should be kept clean and in good repair4 ,thus far1 ,i think1 we shall have no disagreement4 ,but there are some people who make the mistake of giving their whole mind to the subject of dress4 ,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 ,sunday4 ,some people will go in rags all through the week1 in order to have something showy to wear on ,sunday4 ,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 day4 ,dress in the way that your pocket will allow4 ,there are some persons who not only employ all their thoughts in considering what they shall wear1 but also spend all their money on their clothes4 ,there are some persons who live for the sake of dress4 ,these persons are usually denominated fops4 ,i think the people in the ,northern cities are the worst in this respect4 ,if you go through ,sixth ,avenue1 in ,new ,york1 or ,cambridge ,street1 in ,boston1 you will see many of these fops1 who perhaps earn about twenty dollars a month1 standing on the street corners with kid gloves on1 cigars between their lips1 and high hats4 ,now that kind of a person is a foolish fop1 and one whom we do not care to have in this institution4 ,there is no more foolish person than the one who spends all he makes1 and sometimes more1 on dress4 ,then1 too1 ,i think there are persons who make mistakes in the matter of ornaments--what we call jewellery4 ,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 it4 ,you will see men and women with three or four brass finger rings1 or women with brass ear-rings4 ,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 jewellery8 ,do you know that they will come in to town to the stores1 and spend their money on jewellery worth about ten cents apiece1 jewellery that you actually can get for six dollars and seven dollars a bushel at wholesale8 ,our people spend thousands of dollars every year for this cheap jewellery4 ,if there is a young man or a young woman here who likes jewellery1 and is going to indulge in it1 be sure to get that which is modest4 ,another mistake that some of our people make is in wearing flashy or loud dress--dress in which bright colours and red ribbons predominate4 ,our dress should be modest2 with few colours4 ,we often make a mistake in getting shoes about two sizes too small4 ,i saw a girl this morning in perfect misery1 simply because she had bought1 and was trying to wear1 a pair of shoes about two sizes too small4 ,such people simply punish their feet to make people think they have small feet1 though it is just as honourable to have a large foot as a small one2 there is no difference4 ,then we make another mistake in buying cheap1 showy shoes simply because they have a gloss on them4 ,such shoes are made to attract attention1 and not for comfort or durability4 ,when you are spending your money for shoes1 be sure that you get something good1 something that will last you4 ,do not buy those worthless things1 which1 when they come in contact with water1 will shrivel up because they are made of cheap material4 ,a man cannot respect a girl who punishes her feet in order to make them look small4 ,then1 another thing4 ,some of us think we can improve our colour4 ,some get flour1 and others get other kinds of mixtures which are called face powders4 ,there is no use for this4 ,any man will lose respect for a girl who abuses herself in this way4 ,only get something into your head1 and then you will find that these matters of dress will adjust themselves4 ,while some of you do not dress so well as you might1 yet1 if you will give the contents of your heads the proper attention1 you will find that the matter of dress will not trouble you4 ,you can get dresses and clothes after you have secured your education1 but now is the only time that you have in which to secure the education4 ,,sing ,,the ,,old ,,songs ,there is no part of our chapel exercises that gives me more pleasure than the beautiful ,negro melodies which you sing4 ,i believe there is no part of the service more truly spiritual1 more elevating4 ,wherever you go1 after you leave this school1 ,i hope that you will never give up the singing of these songs4 ,if you go out to have schools of your own1 have your pupils sing them as you have sung them here1 and teach them to see the beauty which dwells in these songs4 ,when in ,new ,york1 not long ago1 ,i had the pleasure of conversing with ,prince ,henry of ,prussia1 he spoke particularly of the beauty of these songs1 and said that in his own home1 in ,germany1 he and his family often sing them4 ,he asked if there was any printed collection of these songs1 that a copy might be sent him1 and ,i have since then forwarded to him a copy of the book of plantation melodies collected and published under the auspices of ,hampton ,institute4 ,when ,christ was upon this earth ,he said3 ,a little child shall lead them4 ,whence comes this supreme power of leadership8 ,in this age1 when we hear so much said about leaders of men1 about successful leadership1 we do well to stop to consider this admonition of the ,saviour4 ,some are said to lead in business1 others in education1 others in politics1 or in religion4 ,what is the explanation of ,a little child shall lead them8 ,simply this4 ,a little child1 under all circumstances1 is its simple1 pure1 sweet self2 never appearing big when it is little2 never appearing learned when it is ignorant2 never appearing wealthy when it is in poverty2 never appearing important when it is unimportant4 ,in a word1 the life of the child is founded upon the great and immutable1 and yet simple1 tender and delicate laws of nature4 ,there is no pretence4 ,there is no mockery4 ,there is an unconscious1 beautiful1 strong clinging to truth2 and it is this divine quality in child or in man1 in ,jew or ,gentile1 in ,christian or ,mohammedan1 in the ancient world or in the modern world1 in a black man or in a white man1 that always has led men and moulded their activity4 ,the men who have been brave enough1 wise enough1 simple enough1 self-denying enough to plant themselves upon this rock of truth and there stand1 have1 in the end1 drawn the world unto them1 even as ,christ said3 ,i will draw all men unto me4 ,such a man was ,luther1 such a man was ,wesley1 such a man was ,carlyle1 such a man was ,cromwell1 such were ,garrison and ,phillips1 such was ,abraham ,lincoln1 and such was our own great ,frederick ,douglass4 ,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 reality4 ,what is the most original product with which the ,negro race stands accredited8 ,yes1 ,i am almost ready to add1 with which ,america stands accredited8 ,without hesitation ,i answer3--,those beautiful1 weird1 quaint1 sweet melodies which were the simple1 child-like expression of the anguish1 the joy1 the hopes1 the burdens1 the faith1 the trials of our forefathers who wore the yoke of slavery4 ,why are they the admiration of the world8 ,why does every attempt at improvement spoil them8 ,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 alike8 ,listen how in this beautiful song the soul in trouble is told not to go to houses and temples made by man1 but to get close to ,nature3 ,ef yer want to see ,jesus ,go in de wilderness1 ,go in de wilderness1 ,go in de wilderness1 ,go in de wilderness4 ,if yer want to see ,jesus1 ,go in de wilderness ,leanin' on de ,lord4 ,oh brudder1 how d'ye feel1 when ye come out de wilderness1 ,come out de wilderness1 ,come out de wilderness1 ,oh1 brudder1 how d'ye feel1 when ye come out de wilderness1 ,leanin' on de ,lord8 ,then1 in another1 hear how our foreparents broke through all the deceptions and allurements of false wealth1 and in their long days of weariness expressed their faith in a place where every day would be one of rest3 ,oh1 religion is a fortune1 ,i r'a'ly do believe4 ,oh1 religion is a fortune1 ,i r'a'ly do believe4 ,oh1 religion is a fortune1 ,i r'a'ly do believe1 ,whar ,sabbaths hab no end4 ,whar yo' been1 poor mourner1 whar yo' been so long8 ,been down in de valley1 for to pray2 ,an' ,i ain't done prayin' yet4 ,then1 how1 when oppressed by years of servitude to which others thought there would be no end1 we hear them break out into quaint and wild bursts of appeal to fact3 ,my ,lord delibered ,daniel1 ,my ,lord delibered ,daniel1 ,my ,lord delibered ,daniel2 ,why can't ,he deliber me8 ,i met a pilgrim on de way1 an' ,i ask him where he's gwine4 ,i'm bound for ,canaan's happy lan'1 ,an' dis is de shoutin' band4 ,go on4 ,he delibered ,daniel from de lion's den1 ,jonah from de belly ob de whale1 ,an' de ,hebrew children from de fiery furnace4 ,den why not ebery man8 ,or when the burden seemed almost too great for human body to endure1 there came this simple1 child-like prayer3 ,o ,lord1 ,o1 my ,lord1 ,o1 my good ,lord1 ,keep me from sinkin' down4 ,o ,lord1 ,o my ,lord1 ,o my good ,lord1 ,keep me from sinkin' down4 ,i tell yo' what ,i mean to do4 ,keep me from sinkin' down4 ,i mean to go to hebben1 too4 ,keep me from sinkin' down4 ,or what could go more directly to ,nature's heart than the pathetic yet hopeful1 trustful outburst of the little slave boy who was to be taken from his mother to be sold into the far ,south1 when it seemed to him that all earthly happiness was forever blighted4 ,hear him3 ,i'm gwine to jine de great 'sociation1 ,i'm gwine to jine de great 'sociation1 ,i'm gwine to jine de great 'sociation4 ,den my little soul's gwine to shine1 shine2 ,den my little soul's gwine to shine along4 ,oh6 ,i'm gwine to climb up ,jacob's ladder4 ,den my little soul's gwine to shine1 shine4 ,den my little soul's gwine to shine along4 ,oh6 ,i'm gwine to climb up higher an' higher4 ,den my little soul's gwine1 etc ,i'm gwine to sit at de welcome table ,i'm gwine to feast off milk an' honey4 ,i'm gwine to tell ,god how-a' you sarved me4 ,den my little soul's gwine to shine1 shine4 ,den my little soul's gwine to shine along4 ,oh6 ,and so it has ever been1 so it is1 and ever will be4 ,the world1 regardless of race1 or colour1 or condition1 admires and approves a real thing4 ,but sham1 buffoonery1 mere imitation1 mere superficiality1 never has brought success and never will bring it4 ,an individual or a race that is strong enough1 is wise enough1 to disregard makeshifts1 customs1 prejudices1 alluring temptations1 deceptions1 imitations--to throw off the mask of unreality and plant itself deep down in the clay1 or on the solid granite of nature1 is the individual or the race that will crawl up1 struggle up1 yes1 even burst up2 and in the effort of doing so will gain a strength that will command for it respect and recognition4 ,before an individual or a race thus equipped1 race prejudice1 senseless customs1 oppressions1 will hide their faces forever in blushing shame4 ,,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 foundation4 ,if we who are interested in the school can help you to do this1 we shall count ourselves satisfied4 ,and until the bed-rock of our life is found1 and until we are planted thereon1 all else is but plaster1 but make-believe1 but the paper on the walls of a house without framework4 ,that is one of the stepping stones with which nature has provided us4 ,here the path is plain1 if we have the courage to follow it4 ,eighty-five per cent4 of the people of the ,negro race live--or attempt to live--by some form of agriculture4 ,if we would save the race1 and lift it up1 here is the great opportunity around which1 in a large measure1 individual1 organized1 religious and secular effort should centre for the next fifty years4 ,but to do this we must take advantage of the forces at hand4 ,we must stand upon our own feet1 and not upon a foundation supplied by another4 ,we must begin our growth where our civilization finds us1 and not try to begin on some other civilization4 ,to illustrate what ,i mean1 we need not go to another race1 nor very far from home4 ,in a little town in ,alabama there was a sturdy1 industrious black man who for nearly twenty years had lived upon rented land1 had hired mules and horses to work that land1 and had mortgaged his crops to secure food and clothes4 ,he had driven to church on ,sunday in a buggy that was not his1 and he wore good-looking clothes that were not paid for4 ,in outward appearance he seemed to prosper4 ,he seemed to be what the white men about him were4 ,but this black man knew that he was trying to stand upon an imperfect basis4 ,and so1 one day about a dozen years ago1 he made up his mind that henceforth he would be himself--that he would stand upon his own foundation4 ,he told the white man to take back his mules1 to take back his waggon and buggy2 and he gave up the rented land4 ,he had resolved to be a man4 ,a few acres of land were secured4 ,he made his bed in the cotton seed at night4 ,he hired a boy to come to his place at night1 and by moonlight he pulled a plough which the boy guided4 ,in this way a cotton crop was made free from debt4 ,with the small surplus which he got from this he bought an ox1 and with this beast made a second crop free from debt4 ,a mule was bought1 and then another4 ,to-day this man is the owner of a comfortable home1 is a stockholder in one of the banks of his county1 and his note or check will be honoured by any business house there4 ,while others were talking1 or debating over second-hand doctrines learned by rote1 this strong son of nature had found himself and solved his own problem4 ,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 home2 without furniture or bed-clothing4 ,but that tree1 and the land on which it stood1 were his own4 ,you had better begin life in a hollow tree and be a man1 than begin it in a rented house and be a mere tool1 the imitation of a man4 ,if you were to go into the ,western part of this country you would find it filled with men of the highest culture1 profound scholarship1 and enduring wealth1 whose ancestors a few generations ago began life in a dug-out1 in a hay loft1 or in a hole in the side of a mountain4 ,young men and young women1 there is no escape4 ,if we would be great1 and good1 and useful1 we must pay the price4 ,and remember that when we get down to the fundamental principles of truth1 nature draws no colour line4 ,i do not want to startle you when ,i say it1 but ,i should like to see during the next fifty years every coloured minister and teacher1 whose work lies outside the large cities1 armed with a thorough knowledge of theoretical and practical agriculture1 in connection with his theological and academic training4 ,this1 ,i believe1 should be so because the race is an agricultural one1 and because my hope is that it will remain such4 ,upon this foundation almost every race in history has got its start4 ,with cheap lands1 a beautiful climate and a rich soil1 we can lay the foundation of a great and powerful race4 ,the question that confronts us is whether we will take advantage of this opportunity8 ,in a recent number of the ,new ,york ,independent1 ,rev4 ,russel ,h4 ,conwell1 the pastor of the great ,temple ,baptist ,church1 in ,philadelphia1 a church that has a membership of three thousand persons1 tells of the pastor of a small country church in ,massachusetts who1 in perplexity at the eternally recurring question of how to make his church pay its expenses1 asked ,mr4 ,conwell's advice4 ,i advised him1 ,mr4 ,conwell says1 to study agricultural chemistry1 dairy farming and household economy4 ,i meant the advice seriously1 and he took it seriously4 ,he made his studies1 and he made them thoroughly4 ,on the ,sunday when he preached his first practical sermon which was the outgrowth of his helpful learning1 its topic was scientific manures1 with appropriate scriptural allusions4 ,he had just seventeen listeners4 ,these seventeen1 however1 were greatly interested4 ,later on1 they discussed the remarkable departure with their friends who had not attended the service4 ,the result was that within five ,sundays the church was packed with worshippers1 who had discovered that heaven is not such a long distance from earth after all4 ,in the present condition of our race1 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 religion1 and a lesson or lecture given on the principles of intelligent agriculture1 on the importance of the ownership of land1 and on the importance of building comfortable homes4 ,i believe that if this policy could be pursued1 instead of the now too often poorly clothed1 poorly fed1 and poorly housed ministers1 with salaries ranging from one hundred to three hundred dollars a year1 we should soon have communities and churches on their feet1 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 profession4 ,not only this1 but such a policy would result in giving the ministry such an ideal of the dignity of labour and such a love for it1 that the minister's own home and garden and farm would be constant object lessons for his followers1 and at the same time sources from which he could draw a support which would make him in a large measure independent4 ,one of the most successful and most honoured ministers ,i know is a man who owns and cultivates fifty acres of land4 ,this land yields him an income sufficient to live on each year4 ,this man's note or check is gladly honoured at the bank4 ,because of his independence he leads his people instead of having to cater to their whims4 ,it may be suggested that what ,i plead for has not been done by others1 after this fashion4 ,it was done in the early years of the settlement of ,new ,england1 and persevered in by the ministers there until the people of the country had become sufficiently prosperous to support their ministers suitably4 ,besides1 if one race of people1 or one individual1 is simply to follow in the steps of another1 no progress would ever be possible in the world4 ,let us remember that no other race of people ever had just such a problem to work out as we have4 ,what ,i have tried to say to you to-night about agricultural life may be said with equal emphasis about city occupations4 ,show me the race that leads in work in wood and in metal1 in the building of houses and factories1 and in the constructing and operating of machinery1 and ,i will show you the race that in the long run moulds public thought1 that controls government1 that leads in commerce1 in the sciences1 in the arts and in the professions4 ,what we should do in all our schools is to turn out fewer job-seekers and more job-makers4 ,any one can seek a job1 but it requires a person of rare ability to create a job4 ,if it may seem to some of you that what ,i have been saying overlooks the development of the race in morals1 ethics1 religion and statesmanship1 my answer would be this4 ,you might as well argue that because a tree is planted deep down in ,mother ,earth1 because it comes in contact with clay1 and rocks1 and sand1 and water1 that through its graceful branches1 its beautiful leaves and its fragrant blossoms it teaches no lesson of truth1 beauty and divinity4 ,you cannot plant a tree in air and have it live4 ,try it4 ,no matter how much we may praise its proportions and enjoy its beauty1 it dies unless its roots and fibres touch and have their foundation in ,mother ,earth4 ,what is true of the tree is true of a race4 ,a ,,penny ,,saved ,a large proportion of you1 for one reason or another1 will not be able to return to this institution after the close of the present year4 ,on that account there are some central thoughts which ,i should like to impress upon your minds this evening1 and which ,i wish you to take with you into the world1 whether you go out from the school as graduates or whether you go as undergraduates4 ,i have often spoken to you about the matter of learning to economize your time1 to save your time1 the matter of trying to make the most of every minute and hour of your existence4 ,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 time1 or a proper value upon the importance of keeping one's word in connection with obligations4 ,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 word2 that if we are hired to work in a mill or a factory1 we work until we have got three dollars or four dollars in wages ahead1 and then go on an excursion1 or go to town1 and do not return to work until what we have earned has been consumed4 ,and so1 in one way or another1 a large proportion of us get the reputation that we cannot be depended upon for faithful1 regular1 efficient service2 and that hurts the race4 ,wherever you go1 we wish you by your own actions1 by your advice1 by your influence1 to try and disprove and counteract that hurtful reputation4 ,you can do this in the most efficient manner by yourselves being the highest possible example4 ,the people who succeed are1 very largely1 those who learn to economize time1 in the ways ,i have referred to1 and those who also have learned to save1 not only time1 but money4 ,now this may seem to you a very materialistic thought for me to emphasize this evening--the saving of money--but to us1 as a race1 it is of vital importance4 ,i have heard it expressed recently on several occasions that the ,negro was becoming too much materialized1 too much industrialized4 ,too much attention1 it has been said1 is given to the material side of life4 ,now it seems to me that ,i have as yet seen very little that need arouse our fears in that direction4 ,i am not able to understand how a race that does not own a single steam railroad1 that does not own a single street-car line1 that owns hardly a bank1 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 materialized4 ,when you get millions of dollars in banks1 when you get millions of dollars invested in railroad stocks1 when you get other millions invested in street-car lines1 or in the control of large factories1 great plantations1 or in other great industrial enterprises in the ,south1 then ,i shall say that there are signs of your becoming too materialistic1 of your getting to be too rich2 but ,i do not see any such signs yet4 ,and until we do see such signs1 we can rest ourselves in peace1 ,i think1 so far as that danger is concerned4 ,but there is a certain influence of money that ,i do not think we emphasize enough4 ,in the first place the getting hold of money1 the getting hold of a competency1 insures us the possession of certain influences that we can get in no other way4 ,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 first4 ,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 in4 ,no person can do his best work1 or can be of the greatest service to himself and to his fellow-beings1 until he is able to live in a decent1 comfortable house4 ,you will not be ready for life until you own such a house1 whether you live in it or not4 ,even if you own such a house and rent it out1 you are that much more of a man4 ,i often hear people say that they do not own a house1 or property1 because they do not expect to live long in this place or that place4 ,i have known such people to move six times in six years4 ,they never will own a house1 simply because they have got into the habit of giving excuses1 instead of trying to get to own a home4 ,the possession of a decent house insures us a certain amount of proper comfort4 ,no person can do the best work1 can think well1 can get along well1 unless he has a certain amount of comfort1 and1 ,i may add1 a certain amount of good1 nourishing food1 well cooked4 ,the person who is not sure where he is going to get his breakfast1 or the one who is not sure where he is going to get the money to pay his next week's board1 is the individual who cannot do the best work1 whether the work be physical1 mental or spiritual4 ,the possession of money enables us to be sure that we are going to have comfortable clothing1 clothing enough to keep the body warm and vigorous1 and in good1 healthy condition4 ,the possession of money enables us to get to the point where we can do our part in the building of school-houses1 churches1 hospitals2 it enables us to do our part in all these directions4 ,money not only enables us to get upon our feet in these material directions1 but it has another value4 ,the getting of it develops foresight on our part4 ,people cannot get money without learning to exercise forethought1 without planning to-day for to-morrow1 this week for the next week1 and this year for next year4 ,people cannot get hold of money--or at least cannot keep hold of it--who have not learned to exercise self-control4 ,they must be able to say ,no4 ,i want you students1 when you go out from here1 to be able to say ,no4 ,i want you to be able to go by a store and1 as you notice the things in that store--whether candy or spring hats1 or whatever it is that attracts you--to be able1 notwithstanding the fact that you have the money in your pockets to buy1 to exercise a self-control that will enable you to pass these things by and save your money to invest it in a home4 ,persons cannot get hold of money without learning to exercise economy1 without learning to make everything go just as far as it is possible to make it go4 ,then1 again1 the getting money enables a person to become a good1 steady1 safe citizen4 ,the people who kill and are killed1 nine times out of ten1 whether they are black or white1 are people who do not own a home1 who do not have money in the bank4 ,they are people who live in their gripsacks4 ,they are gripsack leaders4 ,if their gripsacks are in ,montgomery to-night1 there is their home4 ,if they are in ,opelika the next night1 there is their home that night4 ,there are numbers of these people who have no home except their gripsacks4 ,now ,i don't want you to go out from here to be that kind of men and women4 ,i want to see you own land4 ,i want to see you own a decent home4 ,and let me say right here that your home is not decent or complete unless it contains a good1 comfortable bath-tub4 ,of the two1 ,i believe ,i would rather see you own a bathtub without a house1 than a house without a bathtub4 ,if you get the tub you are sure to get the house later4 ,so when you go out from here1 buy a bathtub1 even if you cannot afford to buy anything else4 ,the possession of money1 the having of a bank account1 even if small1 gives us a certain amount of self-respect4 ,an individual who has a bank account walks through a street so much more erect2 he looks people in the face4 ,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 account4 ,now one great mistake that we make in striving to reach these things is that we keep putting off beginning4 ,the young man says that he will begin when he gets married4 ,the young woman says that she will begin when she gets dressed well enough1 or gets a little further on in life4 ,yielding to this temptation or to that1 they keep putting off beginning to save4 ,it makes one sick at heart1 as he goes into the cities1 to see young men on ,sunday afternoons paying two or three dollars for a hack or carriage to take young women out to drive1 when in too many cases the men do not earn a salary of more than four dollars a week4 ,young women1 don't go driving with such men4 ,a man who goes driving on a salary of four dollars a week cannot own a home or possess a bank account4 ,when you are asked to go to drive by such a man as that1 tell him you would rather he would put his money in the bank1 because you know he is not able to afford to spend it in that way4 ,i like to see people comfortably and neatly dressed2 but there is no sadder sight than to see young men and women yielding to the temptation to spend all they earn upon clothes4 ,then when they die--in many1 many cases--somebody has to pass around a hat to take up a collection in order that they may be decently put away4 ,do not make that mistake4 ,resolve that no matter how little you may earn1 you will put a part of the money in the bank4 ,if you earn five dollars a week1 put two dollars in the bank4 ,if you earn ten dollars1 save four of them4 ,put the money in the bank4 ,let it stay there4 ,when it begins to draw interest you will find that you will appreciate the value of money4 ,a little while ago ,i was in the city of ,new ,bedford1 the city which was formerly the home of ,mrs4 ,hetty ,green1 who is said to be the richest woman in the world4 ,i want to tell you a story about her that was told me by a gentleman who lived in ,new ,bedford1 and who knew ,mrs4 ,green when she lived there4 ,for many years they had in ,new ,bedford no savings bank that would take a very small deposit4 ,finally a five-cent savings bank was opened there4 ,just after this had been done1 ,mrs4 ,green told this gentleman that she was glad they had opened a five-cent bank1 so that now she would be able to put that amount in and have it draw interest4 ,you who are here do not think about five cents as a sum to be saved4 ,you think of it only as money to buy peanuts and candy1 or cheap ribbons1 or cheap jewellery4 ,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 old1 and who1 when she came to this country a few years ago and went to work in this family as a maid1 could not speak a word of ,english4 ,this girl now has fifteen hundred dollars in the bank4 ,think of it6 ,a young woman coming to this country poor1 and unable to speak a word of ,english1 has saved in a short time fifteen hundred dollars6 ,i wonder how many of you1 five years from now1 will have fifteen hundred dollars in the bank or in some other safe kind of property4 ,the civilization of ,new ,england and of other such prosperous regions rests more1 perhaps1 upon the savings banks of the country than upon any other one thing4 ,you ask where the wealth of ,new ,england is4 ,it is not in the hands of millionaires4 ,it is in the hands of individuals1 who have a few hundreds or a few thousands of dollars put safely away in some bank or banks4 ,you will find that the savings banks of ,new ,england1 and of all countries that are prosperous1 are filled with the dollars of poor people1 dollars aggregating millions in all4 ,we cannot get upon our feet1 as a people1 until we learn the saving habit2 until we learn to save every nickel1 every dime and every dollar that we can spare4 ,,growth ,i want to impress upon you this evening the importance of continued growth4 ,i very much wish that each one of you might imagine1 this evening1 your father and your mother to be looking at you and examining into every act of your life while here4 ,i wish that you might feel1 as it were1 their very heart throbs4 ,i wish that you might realize1 perhaps as you have never realized before1 how anxious they are that you should succeed here4 ,i wish that you could know how many prayers they send up1 day after day1 that your school life may be more and more successful as one day succeeds another1 that you may grow to be successful1 studious1 strong men and women1 who will reflect credit upon yourselves and honour upon your families4 ,each one of you must have had some thoughts about those who are anxious about you1 some thought for those persons whose hearts are very often bowed down in anxiety because they fear your school life here will not be successful4 ,not only for your own sake1 but for the sake of those who are near and dear to you1 those who have done more for you than anybody else1 ,i want you to make up your minds that this year is going to be the best one of your lives4 ,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 life1 to resolve that this is going to be the greatest1 the most courageous and the most sinless year of life that you have ever lived2 ,i want you to make up your minds to do this2 to decide that you are going to continually grow--and grow more to-morrow than to-day4 ,there are but two directions in this life in which you can grow2 backward or forward4 ,you can grow stronger1 or you can grow weaker2 you can grow greater1 or smaller2 but it will be impossible for you to stand still4 ,now in regard to your studies2 your lessons4 ,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 here2 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 before4 ,i want you to make up your minds that you are going to be more nearly perfect1 are going to put more manly and womanly strength into the preparation of your lessons each day1 that you may be more useful4 ,then you will find yourselves wanting to grow1 ,i hope2 will find yourselves learning the dignity of labour1 and that no class of people can get up and stay up1 can be strong and useful and respected1 until they learn that there is no disgrace in any form of labour4 ,i hope you are learning that labour with the hand1 in any form whatever1 is not disgraceful4 ,i hope that you are learning1 day by day1 that all kinds of labour--whether with the mind or with the hand--are honourable1 and that people only disgrace themselves by being and keeping in idleness4 ,i want you to go forward by thoroughness in your work2 by being more conscientious in your work2 by loving your work more to-day than you did yesterday4 ,if you are not growing in these respects--that is1 if you are not going forward--you are going backward1 and are not answering the purpose for which this institution was established1 are not answering the purpose for which your parents sent you here4 ,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 character4 ,when ,i say character1 here1 ,i mean to use the word in its broadest sense4 ,the institution wants to find you growing more polite to your fellows every day1 as you come in contact with them1 whether it be in the class-room1 in the shop1 in the field1 in the dining-room1 or in your bedroom4 ,no matter where you are1 ,i want you to find yourselves growing more polite and gentlemanly4 ,notice ,i do not say merely that ,i want your teachers--those who are over you--to find you growing more polite2 ,i want you to find yourselves so4 ,if you are not doing this1 you are going backward1 you are going in the wrong direction4 ,i want to find you each day more thoughtful of others1 and less selfish4 ,i want you to be more conscientious in your thoughts and in your work1 and with regard to your duty toward others4 ,this is growing in the right direction2 not doing this is growing in the wrong direction4 ,nor do ,i want you to feel that you are to strive for this spirit of growth for this one year alone1 or for the time that you are here4 ,i hope that you will continue to grow in the forward direction4 ,then1 and this is more important still1 we want you to take this habit of growth--this disposition to grow in the right direction--out with you from the school1 and scatter it as an influence for good wherever you go4 ,we want you to take it into your schools2 for many of you are going to become teachers4 ,we want you not only to begin it when you begin teaching in an humble way1 but we want to see you grow and improve in it every year4 ,we want to see you make your school-houses more attractive2 to see you make everything in connection with your schools and your teaching better and stronger2 to see you make a school more useful every year that you remain as its teacher4 ,then1 too1 when you go out and get employment--no matter of what kind it may be--we want to see you grow better in that employment2 we want to see you advance in ability1 commanding always a larger salary1 advancing in value to those who employ you4 ,we want to see you grow in reputation for being honest1 conscientious1 intelligent1 hard-working2 no matter in what capacity you are employed4 ,some of you are going out to establish homes and settle down in home life4 ,we want to see you grow in that direction4 ,nothing is so disheartening--there is nothing so discouraging--as to see a man or woman settle down in a home1 and then not to see that home grow more beautiful1 inside and outside2--to see it1 instead of this1 each year grow dingy and dirty1 because it each year receives less and less attention4 ,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 them4 ,if you do this1 your lives are going to be a constant going forward2 for1 ,i repeat1 your lives are going to be one thing or the other1 continually going backward or continually going forward4 ,,last ,,words ,we have come to the close of another school year4 ,some of you will go out from among us now1 not to return4 ,others will go home for the summer vacation and return at the end of that for the next school year4 ,as you go out1 there is one thing that ,i want to especially caution you about4 ,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 school4 ,don't go home and feel ashamed of your parents because you think they don't know as much as you think you know4 ,don't think that you are too good to help them4 ,it would be better for you not to have any education1 than for you to go home and feel ashamed of your parents1 or not want to help them4 ,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 institution4 ,i was in a ,southern city1 and going about among the homes of the people of our race4 ,among these homes ,i noticed one which was so neat looking that it was conspicuous4 ,i asked the person who was with me1 ,how is it that this house is in such good condition1 looks so much better than some of the others in the neighbourhood8 ,it is like this1 said the man who was accompanying me4 ,the people who live there have a son whom they sent to your school1 at considerable self-denial to themselves4 ,this young man came home from school a few weeks ago4 ,for some time after he came back he did not have work to keep him busy1 and so he employed his spare time in fixing up his parents' home4 ,he fixed the roof and chimney1 put new palings in the fence where they were needed and did such things as that4 ,then he got a stock of paint and painted the house thoroughly1 two coats1 outside and in4 ,that is why the place looks so neat4 ,such testimony as that is very helpful4 ,it shows that the students carry out from here the spirit which we try to inculcate4 ,another thing4 ,go home and lead a simple life4 ,don't give the impression that you think education means superficiality and dress4 ,be polite2 to white and coloured people1 both4 ,it is possible for you1 by paying heed to this1 to do a great deal toward securing and preserving pleasant relations between the people of both races in the ,south4 ,try to have your manners in this respect so good that people will notice them and ask where you have been1 at what school you learned to be so polite4 ,you will find that politeness counts for a great deal1 not only in helping you to get work1 but in helping you to keep it4 ,don't be ashamed to go to church and ,sunday school1 to the ,young ,men's ,christian ,association and the ,christian ,endeavour ,society4 ,show that education has only deepened your interest in such things4 ,have no going backward4 ,be clean1 in your person1 your language and in your thoughts4 ,it seems appropriate during these closing days of the school year to re-emphasize1 if possible1 that for which the institution stands4 ,we want to have every student get what we have--in our egotism1 perhaps--called the ,tuskegee spirit2 that is1 to get hold of the spirit of the institution1 get hold of that for which it stands2 and then spread that spirit just as widely as possible1 and plant it just as deeply as it is possible to plant it4 ,in addition to the members of our graduating class1 we have each year a large number of students who go out to spend their vacations4 ,some of these will return at the close of vacation1 but some1 for various reasons1 will not return4 ,whether you go out as graduates1 whether you go out to return or not to return1 it is important that all of you get hold of the ,tuskegee spirit2 the spirit of giving yourselves1 in order that you may help lift up others4 ,in no matter how small a degree it may be1 see that you are assisting some one else4 ,now1 after a number of years' experience1 the institution feels that it has reached a point where it can1 with some degree of authority1 give advice as to the best way in which you can spend your life4 ,in the first place1 as to your location--the place where you shall work4 ,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 work1 rather than the large cities4 ,for one thing1 you will find that the larger places are much better supplied with workers and helpers than is true of the towns1 and especially of the country districts4 ,the cities are better supplied with churches and schools1 with everything that tends to uplift people2 and they are at the same time much more prolific of those agencies which tend to pull people down4 ,notwithstanding this latter fact1 the greater portion1 by far1 of those who need help live in the country districts4 ,i think a census report will show that eighty per cent4 of our people are to be found in the country and small towns4 ,i advise you1 then1 to go into the country and the towns1 rather than into the cities4 ,then1 as to the manner of work4 ,you must make up your minds in the first place1 as ,i have said before1 that you are going to make some sacrifice1 that you are going to live your lives in an unselfish way1 in order that you may help some one4 ,go out with a spirit that will not allow you to become discouraged when you have opposition1 when you meet with obstacles to be overcome4 ,you must go with a determination that you are going to succeed in whatever undertaking you have entered upon4 ,i do not attempt to give you specific advice as to the kind of work you shall do1 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 nucleus4 ,take a three months school1 and gradually impress upon the people of the community the need of having a longer school4 ,get them to add one month to three months1 and then another month1 until they get to the point where they will have six1 seven or eight months of school in a year4 ,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 instruction4 ,there are two things you must fix your mind on3 the building of a suitable school-house and the arousing in the people1 at the same time1 a spirit that will make them support your efforts4 ,in order to do this you must go into the country with the idea of staying there for some time at least4 ,plant yourself in the community1 and by economical living1 year by year1 manage to buy land for yourself1 on which to build a nice and comfortable home4 ,you will find that the longer you stay there the more the people will give you their confidence1 and the more they will respect and love you4 ,i find that many of our graduates have done excellent work by having a farm in connection with their schools4 ,this is true1 also1 of many who did not remain here to graduate4 ,i have in mind such a man4 ,he has been teaching school in one of the counties of this ,state for seven or eight years4 ,he has lengthened the school year to eight months4 ,he has a nice cottage with four rooms in it1 and a beautiful farm of forty acres4 ,this man is carrying out the ,tuskegee idea4 ,there will be some of you who can spend your life to better advantage by devoting it to farming than to any other industry4 ,i speak of farming particularly1 because ,i believe that to be the great foundation upon which we must build for the future4 ,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 foundation4 ,throughout the ,south we can give ourselves in a free1 open way to getting hold of property and building homes1 in a way that we cannot do in any other industry4 ,in farming1 as in teaching1 no matter where you go1 remember to go with the ,tuskegee spirit4 ,i want the boys to go out and do as ,mr4 ,n4 ,e4 ,henry is doing2 ,i want the girls to go out and do as ,miss ,anna ,davis and ,miss ,lizzie ,wright are doing4 ,i want you to go out into the country districts and build up schools4 ,i would not advise you to be too ambitious at first4 ,be willing to begin with a small salary and work your way up gradually4 ,i have in mind one young man who began teaching school for five dollars a month2 another who began teaching in the open air under a tree4 ,then1 too1 ,i want you to go out in a spirit of liberality toward the white people with whom you come in contact4 ,that is an important matter4 ,when ,i say this ,i do not mean that you shall go lowering your manhood or your dignity4 ,go in a manly way1 in a straightforward and honourable way1 and then you will show the white people that you are not of a belittling race1 that the prejudice which so many people possess cannot come among you and those with whom you work4 ,if you can extend a helping hand to a white person1 feel just as happy in doing so as in helping a black person4 ,in the sight of ,god there is no colour line1 and we want to cultivate a spirit that will make us forget that there is such a line anywhere4 ,we want to be larger and broader than the people who would oppress us on account of our colour4 ,no one ever loses anything by being a gentleman or a lady4 ,no person ever lost anything by being broad4 ,remember that if we are kind and useful1 if we are moral1 if we go out and practise these traits1 no matter what people say about us1 they cannot pull us down4 ,but1 on the other hand1 if we are without the spirit of usefulness1 if we are without morality1 without liberality1 without economy and property1 without all those qualities which go to make a people and a nation great and strong1 no matter what we may say about ourselves and what other people may say about us1 we are losing ground4 ,nobody can give us those qualities merely by praising us and talking well about us2 and when we possess them1 nobody can take them from us by speaking ill of us4