The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.12, page 226, July 1913, U. of Illinois Press

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The BOOKER T. WASHINGTON Papers to the honor that had been conferred upon him, he declared that he had no illusions, he knew, he said, that it was not in spite of, but because of the fact that he was a Negro that he had been honored with this high office. He added that he accepted the responsibilities of the position not merely as a distinction conferred upon himself but upon the whole race which he represented. The reason ~ mention this fact Is because it Is not always comfortable to be a colored man in this country, and the inconveniences frequently increase as individuals, either by fortune or through their own particular merits, succeed In rising to a position above the masses of their fellows. One reason why I, with most other colored people, believe in, honor and respect Mr. Lewis Is because, in the high position in which he has risen, he has neither forgotten his own path nor sought to separate hi~nself from the race to which he belongs. Booker T. Washington American Magazine, (June 19~3), 3~37. BOW submitted the article to the American Magazine in Sept. 19~. See BTW to the Editor of the American Magazine, Sept. ~3, 9, Con. 447, BREW Papers, DLC. From Thomas B. Patterson Downingtown Pa., Ind. School, July 2/~3 My Dear Dr. Washington, ~ am writing you this letter in fear & trembling because of the fact that I am uncertain as to the out-come of it, but deep down in my heart ~ hope that it will not have been written in vain. Inclosed you will find 2 clippings from a recent letter that ~ received from Mr. T. Thos. Fortune of the Age which wiD give you an inkling of the mission of this letter.2 Also my authority for writing it. ~ am a friend of Mr. Fortune's and have been for a number of vears. I am also a great & staunch admirer of you, not because of your great work alone, but because of your friendship to me when ~ could not help myself. This being the case it occurred to me that it was a national calamity for the greatest Negro Educator living, or ~6