NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1904
Copyright, 1904, by
Doubleday, Page & Company
Published, May, 1904
INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL
SUBSCRIPTION EDITION
There are few subjects that are more important to the people of all sections of the country than emphasising the value of labour with the hands. It has an especial interest for the people who dwell in small towns and in country districts. It has an interest for the farmer, the mechanic, and for the woman who is engaged in domestic work, as well as for those whose occupations are more in the direction of mental work alone. How to dignify all forms of hand-labour, and to make it attractive instead of repulsive, is a question that vitally concerns every family. It is my earnest desire that what I have said in the following pages may reach that class of people in our country, especially those who are struggling with the hands to reach a higher and more useful plane of life. It is my further wish that many youths who may read what I have said may have their ambition quickened and their courage strengthened for the battle of life.
For several years, I have been receiving requests, from many parts of the United States and from foreign countries as well, for some detailed information concerning the value of industrial training and the methods employed to develop it. This little volume is the result, in part, of an attempt to answer these queries. Two proved facts need emphasis here:
First: Mere hand training, without thorough moral, religious, and mental education, counts for very little. The hands, the head, and the heart together should be so correlated that one may be made to help the others. At the Tuskegee Institute we find constantly that we can make our industrial work assist in the academic training, and vice versa.