Booker T. Washington, Builder of a Civilization

by Emmett J. Scott; Lyman Beecher Stowe

"The following Sunday night he lectured in the Chapel. His title was, 'Have a Place to Put Everything and Put Everything in That Place.' In his talk he said: 'There are many people who have no system about their work nor home. Often you visit persons' homes and every member of the family is looking for the broom. The same is true of a match when the time comes to light the lamp.'

"That talk was the most impressive one that I ever heard before or since. From that talk I have reaped more benefit than any other. It was the talk that I took in and began practising. I first started in my room having a place to put everything and putting everything in that place. After getting my room systematized I then began putting this talk in practise at my work, etc...."

The next quotation is from the paper of a native African boy. He says: "My first impression, or, at least, the first time I heard the name of Booker T. Washington, was about the year 1902. I was then a young boy, just arrived in one of the Native Training Institutions existing in South Africa. These schools train young native boys primarily to become teachers in their communities. As a native African I had just acquired the elementary use of the English language, when the following incident took place: One, a native teacher from the upper part of the country, was announced and that he was to give a lecture to the 'Boys' Saturday Evening Society.'

"The meeting assembled, and I at once heard that the lecture was about a boy—Booker T. Washington—who obtained an education through his struggles.... I did not hear or understand more. But it is strange to say that this name was pinned in the bottom of my heart....

"It was during the coronation of King George V of England that I saw this name. I had now finished that school and was teaching. It was printed in a native paper that Booker T. Washington, an American Negro, made an excellent speech. I cannot, however, say the exact words of the editor, which were in greatest praise of that man, nor do I recall the circumstances under which Mr. Washington had spoken.

"When I wanted to come to school in this country I made up my mind to find the school—as I found later he was principal of one—where this man was leader; and so I came to Tuskegee Institute. I found the editor had well described the man's character and disposition."

Still another boy writes: "I first saw Dr. Washington at the Appalachian Exposition held at Knoxville, Tenn., in 1912. It was Negro Day and there were thousands of Negroes out to hear Dr. Washington speak.... At times he would make the people laugh and then again he would have a few crying. When I saw the tears in the eyes of his listeners, I looked at Dr. Washington and thought of him with awe because he was so highly honored. I thought of him with admiration because he could speak so well, and I thought of him with pride because he was a Negro.... His speech made me feel as if there were really a few Negro men and women in the world who were making a mark, and that there was a chance for more."

Booker Washington's interest in the lives of his students, as in all things else, showed his combination of breadth of view and attention to what less-thorough persons would have considered trivial details. When, for instance, in 1913 Tuskegee was visited by one of the very infrequent snowstorms which occur so far South, he himself went from building to building to see that they were properly heated and to many of the rooms, particularly of the poorer students, to make sure that they had sufficient bed-clothes. During the last three winters of his life he had a confidential agent make an early morning tour of all the dormitories to make sure that they were so heated that the students might dress in comfort on getting up in the morning.

Also when the weather was unusually cold he would make sure that the boys who drove the teams that hauled wood and other supplies were provided with gloves and warm clothing. One cold night he sent for Mr. Palmer, the Registrar of the school, and said to him: "I wish you would seek out the poor worthy students and see that it is made possible for them to secure proper shoes and warm clothing. Some of the most deserving of them will often actually suffer before they will ask for assistance. We'll look out for the expense some way." He was, in fact, as insistent that the students should have comforts as he was that they should not have luxuries.

His attention to details and the comfort of the students was well illustrated in the close watch he kept over the dining-rooms and kitchens which he inspected every day he was on the grounds. Tomkins dining-hall is the largest building on the Institute grounds and is one of the largest dining-halls in America. It can seat over two thousand persons at one time. Adjoining this hall is a spacious dining-room for the teachers as well as extensive kitchens and a bakery. Underneath it is a great assembly hall which seats twenty-five hundred. Mr. Washington would usually appear before breakfast to assure himself at first hand that the stewards, matrons, and cooks were giving the students warm, nourishing, and appetizing food upon which to begin the day's work on the farm and in the shops and classrooms. Nothing made him more indignant than to find the coffee served lukewarm and the cereal watery or the eggs stale. For such derelictions the guilty party was promptly located and admonition or discharge followed speedily. Probably in nothing was his instinct for putting first things first better shown than in his insistence upon proper food, properly prepared and served for both students and teachers.