Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephanie Eason, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE BLACK BELT [Illustration: WILLIAM J. EDWARDS] Twenty-Five Years in the Black Belt BY WILLIAM J. EDWARDS ILLUSTRATED THE CORNHILL COMPANY BOSTON Copyright, 1918 by THE CORNHILL COMPANY TO MY LOVING WIFE WHO ENCOURAGED ME IN ALL MY EARLY STRUGGLES AND AIDED ME IN ALL MY ACHIEVEMENTS CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1. CHILDHOOD DAYS 1 2. SHADOWS 7 3. A RAY OF LIGHT 13 4. LIFE AT TUSKEGEE 18 5. RECONNOITERING 26 6. FOUNDING THE SNOW HILL SCHOOL 35 7. SMALL BEGINNINGS 37 8. CAMPAIGNING FOR FUNDS IN THE NORTH 43 9. RESULTS 49 10. ORIGIN OF THE JEANES FUND 54 11. APPRECIATION 56 12. GRADUATES AND EX-STUDENTS 63 13. THE SOLUTION OF THE NEGRO PROBLEM 77 14. THE GREATEST MENACE OF THE SOUTH 86 15. THE NEGRO EXODUS 94 16. THE NEGRO AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE SOUTH 100 17. WHERE LIES THE NEGRO'S OPPORTUNITY? 104 18. SCHOOL PROBLEMS OF A TUSKEGEE GRADUATE 109 19. BENEFITS WROUGHT BY HARDSHIPS 115 20. THE NEGRO AND THE WORLD WAR 120 APPENDIX 127 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS WILLIAM J. EDWARDS _Frontispiece_ UNCLE CHARLES LEE AND HIS HOME IN THE BLACK BELT _Facing Page_ 32 FIRST TRUSTEES OF SNOW HILL AND TWO OF THEIR WIVES " " 36 PARTIAL VIEW OF SNOW HILL INSTITUTE " " 48 A NEW TYPE OF HOME IN THE BLACK BELT " " 52 TYPICAL LOG CABIN IN THE BLACK BELT " " 60 HOME OF A SNOW HILL GRADUATE " " 60 GRADUATES OF SNOW HILL INSTITUTE " " 72 TEACHERS OF SNOW HILL INSTITUTE " " 100 PREFACE