The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.10, page 123, May 1909, U. of Illinois Press

The page presentation framework of the Booker T. Washington papers is designed to provide researchers worldwide with searchable access to the thousands of pages comprising the fourteen volumes, most of which are out of print. Adapted from the National Academy Press's Open Book framework, this framework allows searching down to the page level, provides sorting of search results chronologically, enables easy navigation across multiple volumes, and allows page-by-page local printing (via PDF) of every page.

[ Top of Page ]

[ Home ]

[ Contact Us ]

[ Help ]

OCRed data provided for searching only.
MAY . 1 909 to call at his office. When ~ entered he- remarked that he hac! been present at the meeting the night previous and expected the ''hat to be passed,'' but as that was not done he wanted to ''chip in'' something. Thereupon he handed me ten one-thousandMollar bills for the Tuskegee Institute. In doing this he imposed only one condition, that the gift should be mentioned to no one. Later on, however, when I told him that I did not care to take so large a sum of money without some one knowing it, he consented that I tell one or two of our trustees about the source of the gift. I cannot now recall the number of times that he has helped us, but in doing so he always insisted that his name be never used. He seemed to enjoy making gifts in currency. AN UNINFORMED CRITIC Once, at least, I was compelled to disobey this injunction, and told about it. A well-known man from the North was visiting the Tuskegee Institute, and as he sat in my office something was said concerning Mr. Rogers. At once this individual began to denounce Mr. Rogers for his selfishness and stinginess. I did not make any reply for some moments, but at last I could not forbear telling him that the building in which we were then sitting was the gift of Mr. Rogers. He seemed to be taken off his feet with astonishment. He did not know Mr. Rogers, and the fact that a man so engrossed in business affairs should find time to interest himself in the fortunes of a negro school way off in Alabama was entirely out of keening with the opinion he had formed of him. As I grew to know Mr. Rogers better his interest in education in the South grew, and went beyond Tuskegee. He had assisted Tuskegee before this time, but he was anxious to see the work extended, and so at one time he gave me a considerable sum to be used in helping smaller industrial schools in the South. In this way he aidecl, I recall, about ten such schools in one year. None of these schools ever knew, however, the source of the gifts which they received. About four years ago he asked me to lay out a scheme by which, through a period of years, he coulcl systematically help a number of small rural schools in the South to obtain better schoolhouses, to prolong their school terms, and begin, to some extent, industrial 1 ~ 123