Though the examples we leave them may have been given under adverse circumstances, they will understand it. They will know as well as we that there is no reward without labor, no prize without a struggle, no victory without a battle.
We as a race cannot afford to let this great undertaking fail. We will not let it fail. Do not hesitate to send your exhibits because you feel that they are not perfect. Do the best you can in getting them up, send them, and leave the result of their defects to the Great Judge, who knows the depths from which we have come, the heights to which we are aspiring, and the condition of our environment. We have the ability, the means, and the opportunity is at hand to erect a monument to the race. During the century we are about to celebrate, we acted as heroes for others. Why not play the man for ourselves now? Why not as citizens of Tennessee join in the celebration of the birth of our State? She was born into the Union June 1, 1796. She has been in one hundred years (minus the year of secession), and we, as a race, have been right along with her. Not only have we been connected with Tennessee, but we have been identified with the whole country since 1620, and have assisted in producing peace, prosperity. We have helped to clear the forests, till the soil, level the mountains, fill the valleys, bridge rivers, build railroads, factories, schoolhouses, churches, towns, and cities. We have labored assiduously to make this country bloom as a rose. This fact is admitted by multiplied thousands of the best white people in the whole South. We are not ashamed of our record in the history of our State, neither do we wish it to be ashamed of us.