CHAPTER IX
RAISING MONEY FOR TUSKEGEE
Tuskegee grew rapidly and steadily. Students began to pour in from all parts of the country. Girls were coming as well as boys. It was absolutely necessary to find some place for these students to live and carry on their school work. Tuskegee Institute had no money. You will remember that the Legislature of Alabama appropriated two thousand dollars a year for the payment of teachers, but gave nothing for buildings or land or equipment. So if new buildings were to be erected, it meant that the money would have to be raised by some other means. This was not a church school, and it could not, therefore, appeal to any religious denomination for help. There was only one way to secure funds for its development and growth and that was by going out and asking people directly for aid.
Washington did not like to do this, but, recognizing the necessity for it, he went bravely ahead. And perhaps no man was ever more successful in this work than he was. President Charles W. Eliot, of Harvard University, had to raise money in the same way for Harvard. He was so successful that it was said of him, “When he goes to rich men they just throw up their hands and say, ‘Don’t shoot! How much do you want?’” And President Eliot said that Washington could beat him raising money.
Before Washington’s death in 1915, it required from $250,000 to $300,000 a year to run Tuskegee. That is a big sum of money. A very large part of it had to be raised by personal solicitation. And it had to be raised almost entirely in the North. This meant that Washington had to spend a large part of his time away from Tuskegee, traveling over the country, making speeches, and talking to individual men. It was hard work, and it took a great deal of strength and effort as well as time. He had many remarkable experiences. He met many great and good people, who were glad to help him. He had an opportunity to tell them about his school and about his people in the South; and an opportunity to hear this remarkable man was given to many people.
This is the way he was led to undertake this work. When the girls began coming to school, they had to have a dormitory. The boys had been staying in the attic of Porter Hall, living in the shanty, or boarding in town. But this would not do for the girls. They must have different accommodations. The boys ought to have, but the girls must have better surroundings. So they proceeded to plan a dormitory. They did not have any money with which to build a house. It was just like starting Porter Hall. But they said they could at least plan the kind of building they would build if they had the money. They made plans for a building that would cost ten thousand dollars, and named it Alabama Hall. But that Alabama Hall was on paper only and in the minds of folks; so they could not use it very well.
White Hall (Girls’ dormitory), Chapel (rear), Tatum Hall (right), Tuskegee Institute
Then an interesting thing happened. Have you noticed how often something interesting turned up with Washington? Perhaps there is a good reason for it. “Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work,” Washington himself has said. It was not just an accident after all that these good things were happening. It was because Washington by his work and his good sense had made lasting impressions upon people who were in positions to give him help.
This is what happened. While thinking about how he could get the ten thousand dollars for Alabama Hall, he received a letter from General Armstrong, asking if he would agree to go with him on a tour of the North; if so, to come to Hampton at once. Washington was delighted and accepted the invitation. To his great surprise he found that General Armstrong had planned to take a quartette of singers from Hampton and go himself with Washington on a tour of the North in the interests of Tuskegee. Washington thought the trip was planned for Hampton, of course, and, when he found that General Armstrong had been so unselfish as to plan it for him, he was overcome with gratitude.
They had a great trip. General Armstrong had Washington do most of the speaking. “Give them an idea for every word,” he said to Washington as they started. And Washington did. It was on this trip that Washington first introduced Tuskegee to the people of the North, and that the people first got acquainted with Washington. When he returned from this trip, he was able to begin work on Alabama Hall, and it was soon completed and paid for. From this time on Washington went North a great deal to speak publicly and to talk privately to men about the needs of Tuskegee.