CHAPTER VII Head and Hands Together
That the distinctive feature of Tuskegee Institute—ample provision for industrial training—has received in the public prints almost exclusive attention is not strange. But it is well to remember that Tuskegee Institute stands for education as well as for training, for men and women as well as for bricks and mortar.
Of course, the distinction involved in the words, "education" and "training," is largely theoretical. My experience convinces me that training to some productive trade, be it wagon-building or farming, educates. For example, one of our students is foreman on the large and beautifully planned Collis P. Huntington Memorial Building, now in process of construction; that young man is notable for a simple honesty, an unobtrusive confidence and self-reliance, that abundantly testify to his manliness. That this manliness is in large degree directly traceable to his skill and his experience in bearing industrial responsibility—in short, to his training—is beyond peradventure. Indeed, in running over the long list of students who, for one reason or another—lack of money or lack of taste for books—have left Tuskegee without completing the prescribed course in the Academic Department, I have been forcibly impressed with the fact that training to productive industry directly tends to develop sound judgment and manly independence—those qualities of the mind and heart that collectively constitute the character of the educated man.
CLASS IN OUTDOOR GEOMETRY
Another example of the effect of the training given at the Tuskegee Institute on the mind of the student occurs to me. A few weeks ago it was decided to modify the Day School system. To make any change in a great organisation like ours requires great discriminating judgment and care. The faculty discussed the change in its every phase, and I finally called the students of the four upper classes together, presented to them our plans, and explained to them the reasons for the proposed change.
Their response was not a negative acquiescence, but a series of direct and searching questions. They were alert and quick to see minor defects, and to give direct and constructive criticism in regard to many details. Their work in the shops and on the farm had brought them into touch with real issues and real things—their daily work in constructing and equipping our buildings and in helping to build the institute had brought with it an intelligent interest in the school and an enlightened appreciation of values; in other words, it had taught them to think.
It is obvious that a man cannot build wagons or run a farm with continuous success who is unable to read, write, and cipher. But, far deeper than the mere commercial advantage of academic studies, is the fact that they afford incentives to good conduct and high thinking. To make a boy an efficient mechanic is good, for it enables him to earn a living and to add his mite to the productiveness of society; but a school must do more—must create in him abiding interests in the intellectual achievements of mankind in art and literature, and must stimulate his spiritual nature. And so Tuskegee has always maintained an Academic Department, at present housed mainly in four buildings. The most important of these are Porter Hall, a three-story frame building, the first building erected after the opening of the Institute, though poor in appointments, yet rich in traditions; Thrasher Hall, a handsome three-story brick building with well-equipped physical and chemical laboratories; and the Carnegie Library, a beautifully proportioned brick structure, which is the center of Academic interests. The collection of books is well selected, and the generosity of Tuskegee's friends keeps it constantly growing. The admirable Collis P. Huntington Memorial Building will be the largest building on the grounds, and is to be used exclusively for academic purposes.
STUDENTS FRAMING THE ROOF OF A LARGE BUILDING
On the faculty of the Academic Department are twenty-eight men and women of Negro blood with degrees from Michigan, Nebraska, Oberlin, Amherst, Cornell, Columbia, and Harvard. In order to display the character of work done in the Department, it may be well for me to explain the course of study in some special branches.
The aim of the work in English in the preparatory classes is to bring about familiarity with the mother tongue, and correctness and ease in its use. From contact with good models of spoken or written discourse the pupil learns to appreciate and interpret thought well expressed. From the careful attention given his own language, he learns to feel the correctness or incorrectness of an expression, without slavish reliance upon rules. In other words, in these classes language is taught as an art; the necessary rules and definitions, when they occur, are treated as working principles, and abundant practice in applying them is given. In the advanced years of the course, technical grammar is taught because at this stage the pupil has already become familiar with good usage, and has attained a certain facility in employing the mother tongue. He should now be taught more thoroughly the fundamental principles governing the correct or incorrect use of an expression, while in the preparatory classes, oral exercises in narration, description and reproduction predominate. The pupil is encouraged to talk simply and naturally about something he has seen or heard or read. He is taught to exercise care for unity, logical sequence of ideas, and smoothness of transition. To the narration and description of the lower grades, argumentation and exposition are added in the advanced work, these subjects being expanded to form the basis of a course in public speaking.
The pupil obtains material for themes and debates from his experience in shop and field and from literature technical to the subject. The themes are submitted for correction and in due course committed, and, after preliminary training, delivered at the monthly public rhetoricals of the class. Except for the written brief required of each disputant, debates are extemporaneous. In the preparation of a program like the following, considerable experience and research must necessarily be involved.
CLASS IN LANGUAGE
"A" MIDDLE RHETORICAL
EVENING PRAYER SERVICE
A Model Southern Farm
"It is this noble agriculture which feeds the human race and all the humbler orders of animated nature dependent on man."
—Speech by Edward Everett
* * *
Exercises like the foregoing not only assist the Industrial Department in its work with the pupil, but offer admirable Academic training in English and in practical elocution. Besides the discussion relative to industrial pursuits, the pupils consider questions important to them as future citizens and men of business. This phase of the English work trains the pupil to rigorous methods of reasoning, and to clearness and forcefulness in public discourse.
Literature in the preparatory classes is taught under the head of reading. The physical requisites to effective expression receive due attention, but great stress is laid upon reading as a means by which the mind is furnished with knowledge. Literature is taught by reading and language teachers, the former dealing with the subject-matter for literary values, the latter having an eye to construction. The course is of twofold importance; contact with finished style gives to the pupil a sense of what is most fitting and beautiful in expression, thus proving an invaluable aid to his own oral and written diction. The work of the Senior class in English literature and composition aims to develop in the pupil power to think clearly and logically, and ability to appreciate thought expressed by others; to teach clearness and correctness of expression together with facility and power in the use of language; to produce an appreciation of good books by contact with classic authors; and to give, by an outline study of the history of English literature, a proper setting for the authors read. To supplement the class-room work in literature, a course in home reading has been arranged. It is the aim of the division of English to make the home reading as much like play as possible, a relaxation from sterner requirements of the curriculum, an occupation for idle hours. By persuading the most stupid pupil to read books which appeal to him, the teacher can lead him gradually to more solid literature.
CLASS IN OUTDOOR NATURE STUDY
As personal achievements appeal to the undeveloped mind more strongly than the chronicles of conflicts and political changes, the first course in history deals with biography. The student is given facts in the lives of men, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and is made to feel that these men actually lived, that they are not mere abstract influences. At the very beginning their lives are studied in the light of character building. After the first ideas of character building have been presented, the next step is to awaken the power of the observation, to quicken the imagination. The elementary course in English history is adapted to this purpose.
The course in advanced American History is for developing judgment and discrimination. Little attention is given to the periods of discovery and of colonisation, except to show the student how the American people, as is true of all great nations, began as cultivators of the soil.
The peculiar position of the Negro in American History, from the earliest days of the slave trade, through the wars with England and the Civil War, to the present time, is given due importance, not by isolating it, but by introducing it in its proper place with other events.
In the Senior year, a course is given in the State History of Alabama, for the benefit of those who wish to fit themselves as teachers in that State. The object is to acquaint the Normal student with the important facts in the settlement of Alabama, its entrance into the Union, and its present industrial and political status.
During the first three years, the course in Geography is taught with Nature Study. In the last year, Geography is combined with History. The purpose of this arrangement is obvious. Geography is really a broad phase of Nature Study. Questions regarding natural features, the sun, moon, planets, water-courses, physical points, etc., are explained in the course in Nature Study. Hence the pupil appreciates all the more what is said about them when he comes to them again in his Geography. The same intimacy is found in the study of plant and animal life, minerals, and rock formation.
Tuskegee is admirably fitted for the study of Geography, and every effort is made to make the teaching easily grasped. The industrial shops are always open to academic teachers and students. When the student takes up the subject of lumber, for example, he is able, by going to the shops, to understand the various stages through which the rough, uncut log must pass in order to make suitable building material. Then, too, the school grounds are put to excellent use. Various kinds of plant-life are studied; hills, valleys, small water-courses, examples of erosion, different kinds of soil, are seen on every hand. In connection with Nature Study and Geography, the pupils are urged to be on the alert to detect something new, something which they have seen often, but can afterward view in a new light because of the information obtained.
WOOD-TURNING MACHINERY
The course in mathematics covers a period of seven years, including Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Surveying. Throughout the entire course, the aim is to give the student, as far as possible, a practical knowledge of the subjects embraced. The pupil is required to deal in things associated with figures, rather than with figures alone. In multiples and measures, his work is brought in close and effective touch with the trade work. For example, the carpenter must get the greatest common length of board from several different lengths without any waste: the dressmaker must find and use the smallest number of yards of cloth that suffice for the making of dresses of different sizes. Mathematics is shown to be an instrument of economy. In fractions, estimates are made of the cost of bales of cotton at prevailing prices. The student is often required to weigh out in each case the amounts of various articles which can be purchased for given amounts of money. In compound quantities and in the various measurements, the student does the measuring. Yards, rods, tons of coal, and tons of hay are measured. In carpeting, he is required to carpet a room. In lathing and plastering, he must witness the work in active operation. In percentage, problems which must be solved in the daily work the student is able to get from the industrial departments. For example, if the leather for a pair of shoes costs a definite amount, and the shoes are sold at a definite rate, what per cent. is gained? Or for what must they be sold so as to gain a certain per cent.?
Much actual outdoor work is done during the study of trigonometry, and in surveying the student learns to lay off lots, country roads; to plot, map, etc. The last term of the Senior year is spent in mastering the elements of Civil Engineering, work for which the first two terms have prepared the student. The South is sorely in need of surveyors and men grounded in the elements of engineering; positions of this character are easy to find, and pay well.
The object of the work in Nature Study, as taught in the Academic Department, is to train the faculty of observation, create an interest in and love of nature, gain knowledge which will be of service in the future, and to cultivate a practical interest in Agriculture. Knowledge of things near at hand should be acquired first, and later of things more distant; a clear and definite acquaintance with home surroundings (plants, animals, minerals, natural phenomena, and the human body) is made the basis of the teaching as a foundation for more advanced study. In the assignment of work and selection of material for study, the special needs of special classes are kept in mind, the work being determined by the student's power of observation and interpretation. Subjects for study are selected largely according to the seasons. This work is conducted with reference to its correlation with Geography, language, and other subjects. Field excursions, collecting and preserving specimens, and gardening of various kinds, are prominent features of the courses in Nature Study.
CLASS IN OUTDOOR ARITHMETIC
The school offers also through the Academic Department, a two-years' course, especially treating of the affairs of the farm. Instruction is by laboratory work, supplemented by text-books, lectures, and reference readings, which are assigned from standard volumes and periodicals. The student is brought into close practical contact with his subject. He studies farm implements, traces root systems of corn and other crops, tests germination of seeds, determines the properties of soils and the effects of various crops and of rotation of crops upon soil fertility. He tests milk, studies butter and cheese, and judges a variety of animals.
The school owns an ample supply of plows, cultivators, planters, cutters, engines, etc. It has extensive collections of agricultural plants, seeds and products. Laboratories are well equipped with apparatus for the study of manures, fertilisers, soil bacteriology, germination of seeds, and judging cotton and corn. The Institute grounds and the fields and orchards of the Experiment Station are always available for illustrations in class work. Collections of seeds and woods, cabinets of beneficial and noxious insects, photographs, maps, charts, and drawings afford valuable material for study and demonstration. Specimens of draft and coach horses, Jersey, Ayrshire and Holstein cattle, Southdown sheep, and Berkshire swine, afford material for judging. In the Dairy Division is a complete outfit for cream separation and butter and cheese making. We have, also, levels, microscopes, and an extensive list of agricultural journals, a complete file of experiment station bulletins from all the States, and an excellent assortment of standard reference books.
The one purpose is to acquaint the student with the facts and principles needed for the improvement of soils, the increase of fertility, the nature of the various crops, the conditions governing their successful and economic production, and with the general development of agriculture. The student is also made familiar with animals, first, as to fitness for specific purposes; second, as to their care and management; third, as to their improvement by breeding; and fourth, as to the manufacture of animal products. He learns the principles of orchard management, small fruit culture, vegetable gardening and plant propagation, as well as the evolution of cultivated plants. A sense of the beautiful is cultivated and given expression in floriculture, to the end that more of nature's beauty shall pervade the home and its surroundings.
CHEMICAL LABORATORY
The work of each year of strictly mental education is prescribed. We aim to arouse the students' interest in important educational problems, with especial reference to the South, rewarding that interest with practical suggestions; and to train efficiently teachers who will render valuable service in school and society. The courses in Normal Education comprise a critical study of human nature; an outline history of American education; general and special methods in teaching; and school organisation and administration. The students in these courses observe expert teaching in a primary school under the direction of the Academic Department. Senior students are not only permitted to observe, but also to practice teaching under supervision. This division of Education is being strengthened, and keeps steadily before it the fact that Tuskegee is to send out teachers as well as trained artisans and industrial leaders.
The courses in Chemistry and in Physics, more clearly than any other Academic courses, complement the work of the Industrial Department. Thus in the course in Chemistry, operations in the shops and on the farm, involving chemical reactions, are drawn upon as illustrative material for the first year's work. The artisan, with a knowledge of chemical matters, grows and thinks, and is not automatic. The courses are not those in which the students are merely taught how to do, but to do. Soap is taken apart and put together. Polishes, lacquers, chemical cleansers, are not known merely as formulæ; but are actually made in small quantities by students themselves, so as to develop their power of doing things. Is this flour, bran, and baking powder, pure? Is the fertiliser of high grade? How shall the sick-room be disinfected? How shall we destroy the cabbage-devouring worm? To these and similar questions, the division of Chemistry seeks to enable students readily to find answers. In the course in Physics, the principles taken up are illustrated by the actual work going on in the outside building construction, and the farm work. Great stress is laid upon the bearing of Physics on tools, machines, and operations of the shops. Inspection of the various industrial plants in the vicinity of Tuskegee is required in order that the student may see the applications of Physics to the processes in use. Throughout the courses, a notebook is accurately kept by each student, in which are recorded the results of his observations and experiments, together with sketches for illustration.
An exercise given to one of the Junior classes in the night school, not long ago, shows how the attempt is made, even in so simple a matter as a spelling lesson, to correlate the Academic work with the Industrial.
CLASS IN PHYSIOLOGY
The theme of this lesson was "Building a Chest," and the teacher brought to the class a small chest in which were placed most of the tools and materials needed in its construction. The teacher exhibited each article as he came to it in telling the story, and required the student to spell the word and then write it on the blackboard as neatly as possible. The synonyms and homonyms of some of the words were given, and the student required to illustrate their difference in spelling and use.
The teacher proceeded as follows, eliciting from the students the words in italics: To build this article we must have Timber, such as Pine, or Cedar, or Cypress, and other Material. We also need several Tools, such as a Plane to Smooth the Planks; a Chisel to cut these Dove-tails; and some Glue, with which to fasten the pieces together substantially, as we shall not need Nails. Then with these Sprigs we put on this Moulding, which should be cut in a Miter, or we may cut it by this Bevel, which can be changed to a Square. We now put on these Butts—not Strap-Hinges—with Screws. In front must be Bored a hole and the Lock put on; then the Escutcheon over the hole as a finish; the Key is inserted, and we have completed the Chest. A Carpenter—one engaged in Carpentry—or a Cabinet-Maker, builds things like this, and we call him a Mechanic.
The practical usefulness of the Academic Department lies in the aid which the study of physics and chemistry and mathematics and drawing offers to the blacksmith, the carpenter, the nurse, and the housewife—an aid that does much to transform listlessness and drudgery into vivacity and gratifying efficiency.