Up from Slavery: An AutobiographyWashington, Booker T.
History
Up from Slavery: An Autobiography
Washington, Booker T.
African Americans -- Biography; Educators -- United States -- Biography; Tuskegee Institute; Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915
This small charge in cash gave us no capital with which to start a
boarding department. The weather during the second winter of our work
was very cold. We were not able to provide enough bed-clothes to keep
the students warm. In fact, for some time we were not able to provide,
except in a few cases, bedsteads and mattresses of any kind. During the
coldest nights I was so troubled about the discomfort of the students
that I could not sleep myself. I recall that on several occasions I
went in the middle of the night to the shanties occupied by the young
men, for the purpose of confronting them. Often I found some of them
sitting huddled around a fire, with the one blanket which we had been
able to provide wrapped around them, trying in this way to keep warm.
During the whole night some of them did not attempt to lie down. One
morning, when the night previous had been unusually cold, I asked those
of the students in the chapel who thought that they had been
frostbitten during the night to raise their hands. Three hands went up.
Notwithstanding these experiences, there was almost no complaining on
the part of the students. They knew that we were doing the best that we
could for them. They were happy in the privilege of being permitted to
enjoy any kind of opportunity that would enable them to improve their
condition. They were constantly asking what they might do to lighten
the burdens of the teachers.
I have heard it stated more than once, both in the North and in the
South, that coloured people would not obey and respect each other when
one member of the race is placed in a position of authority over
others. In regard to this general belief and these statements, I can
say that during the nineteen years of my experience at Tuskegee I
never, either by word or act, have been treated with disrespect by any
student or officer connected with the institution. On the other hand, I
am constantly embarrassed by the many acts of thoughtful kindness. The
students do not seem to want to see me carry a large book or a satchel
or any kind of a burden through the grounds. In such cases more than
one always offers to relieve me. I almost never go out of my office
when the rain is falling that some student does not come to my side
with an umbrella and ask to be allowed to hold it over me.
While writing upon this subject, it is a pleasure for me to add that in
all my contact with the white people of the South I have never received
a single personal insult. The white people in and near Tuskegee, to an
especial degree, seem to count it as a privilege to show me all the
respect within their power, and often go out of their way to do this.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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