Walter Clinton Jackson

“ They kept on talking and Booker heard a conversation something like this: "I wish my boy could go to that school over in Virginia," said one miner. "They say it is the best school anywhere in the country."
"What school are you talking about?" said the other.
"The one at a place called Hampton, over in Virginia," was the reply.
"Well, suppose there is a good school there; negro boys can't go to it, can they?" was asked.
"Yes, they can," said the other. "It is a school just for negro boys and girls, and they teach the boys and girls something besides books, too. ”

“ But Booker was restless. He wanted to get started to school. He had not saved much money, for he had not been working for himself very long, but he determined to start with what little money he had.
What did his determination mean? Look at your map and you will see that Hampton is about five-hundred miles from Malden. Booker was a boy of sixteen years. He did not know a soul beyond the borders of his own community. He had but a few dollars. His mother was not well, and he doubted very much whether he would ever see her alive again. ”

“ Let him tell his own story of another incident of this famous journey. "By walking," he says, "begging rides both in wagons and in the cars, in some way, after a number of days, I reached the city of Richmond, Va., about eighty-two miles from Hampton. When I reached there, tired, hungry, and dirty, it was late in the night. I had never been in a large city, and this was rather to add to my misery. When I reached Richmond, I was completely out of money. ”