Walter Clinton Jackson

“ I wish that any one who does not believe it possible to make a subject like cabbages interesting in a commencement oration could have heard the hearty cheers which greeted the speaker when, at the close of his speech, he held up one of the largest cabbages on the platform for the audience to look at and admire. As a matter of fact there is just as much that is interesting, strange, mysterious and wonderful ”

“ He felt that education was the greatest need of his race. Before the war, it had been against the law for a slave to be taught from books. At the close of the war, then, there were no schools, no teachers, and no books. The whole race could neither read nor write. The whole race had had no training of any kind except in agriculture. It is true a few, but a very few, had had a little training in certain trades such as bricklaying, blacksmithing, and carpentry. ”

“ This form of commencement exercise is one of Booker Washington's contributions to education which has been widely copied by schools for whites as well as blacks. That it appeals to his own people is eloquently attested by the people themselves, who come in ever-greater numbers as the commencement days recur. At three o'clock in the
Domestic Science Class at Tuskegee morning of this great day, vehicles of every description, each loaded to capacity with men, women, and children, begin to roll in, in an unbroken line which sometimes extends along the road for three miles. ”

“ Perhaps there is no better way of understanding Washington's ideas of education and just what he was striving to do at Tuskegee than to describe the commencement exercises at this school.
"On the platform before the audience is a miniature engine to which steam has been piped, a miniature frame house in course of construction, and a piece of brick wall in process of erection. A young man in jumpers comes on the platform, starts the engine and blows the whistle. Whereupon young men and women come hurrying from all directions, and each turns to his or her appointed task. ”

“ It is impossible to overestimate the good they have done.
Tuskegee has grown to be one of the greatest schools in the country, and the greatest of all schools for the negroes. It has grown from 100 acres and three little buildings to a plant of 2100 acres and 111 buildings. Instead of one teacher with 30 pupils there are now more than 200 teachers and 1500 students. The institution has a large endowment, and it owns 20,000 acres of land given it by the United States Government. It keeps a large dairy herd, runs a large farm, a poultry farm, and keeps a large number of pigs, horses and sheep. ”

“ Every phase of education is taught, but the main work is industrial,—carpentry, brick masonry, basket making, metal working, draughting, auto-mechanics, blacksmithing, telegraphy, farming, dairying, lumbering, building, cooking, sewing, nursing, housekeeping—all these and a large number of other callings are taught. It is through such training as this that Washington believed that the negroes, in largest numbers, would first get their best start in life.
Life is strenuous in this school. ”

“ Washington had the greatest sympathy for these people, knowing why they were in poverty and ignorance, and he had a great desire to help them. And it is through this extension work that these people are helped. The Institute sends its workers throughout the surrounding country to show the farmers improved farm machinery, better methods of farming, better breeds of live stock of all kinds, better methods of dairying, and better ways of preparing food, keeping house, and caring for the children. ”

“ A young carpenter completes the little house, a young mason finishes the laying of the brick wall, a young farmer leads forth a cow and milks her in full view of the audience, a sturdy blacksmith shoes a horse, and, after this patient, educative animal has been shod, he is turned over to a representative of the veterinary division to have his teeth filed. ”

“ Still others are hard at work on hats, mats, and dresses, while boys from the tailoring department sit cross-legged working on suits and uniforms. In the background are arranged the finest specimens which scientific agriculture has produced on the farm and mechanical skill has turned out in the shop. The pumpkin, potatoes, corn, cotton, and other agricultural products predominate, because agriculture is the chief industry at Tuskegee, just as it is among the negro people of the South. ”

“ They insist on improving the school buildings, the churches, and the homes. As a result of this work, there are now in Macon County a number of neat new schoolhouses, with a teacher's house alongside each school, several acres of land adjoining, and a good church close by. Thus clean, pleasant, and thoroughly happy communities are created. In such communities there is the smallest amount of crime, and there is the largest amount of prosperity and contentment and enjoyment. ”

“ In a short time people began to come from all parts of the state and outside the state to buy land or to work within reach of these excellent schools. Land advanced in price. Desirable citizens flocked in. ”

“ So he worked for the advancement of the cause of the white schools as well as the black, and his services to the white schools were great.
The future of negro education is very bright. Schools and colleges are being built every year. Better teachers are being prepared. ”