The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.9, page 292, May 1907, 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.
The B OOKER T. WASHINGTON Papers ers. The children now number fifty. They are taught simple lessons, and at the same time-receive practical talks on behavior at home and in the streets and elsewhere. A small library-room is also provided for them, with picture-books and simple games on the tables. There is marked improvement among the women in the matter of dress and care of the hair, the old plantation habit of ''wrapping'' it being almost entirely done away with. The women no longer go barefooted, nor do they sit around the streets in listless fashion indulging in a kind of reckless familiarity with the men. Thousands of papers and picture-cards sent by friends of the school have been distributed, so that the cracks of the cabin homes may be closed against the wind, and in order that the children may become accustomed to seeing something besides the cheerless logs that usually face them inside their homes. Very few of the women can tell how old they are. Mrs. Washington has them recall some incident in their lives as near as possible the time they were born, and in this way their ages are discovered. THE PLANTATION SETTLEMENT SHE STARTED TEN YEARS AGO About eight miles from Tuskegee there is a large plantation where some thirty families are living. Many other families live in the vicinity. It was here that some ten years ago Mrs. Washingto started what she called a ''Plantation Settlement.'' She asked some of the teachers at Tuskegee to begin to help these people. At first they went to the plantation on Sundays only. Mrs. Washington selected what seemed to be the most promising cabin, and asked the woman who lived there if she could come to that house the next Sunday and hold a meeting. When the party went down early the next Sunday morning a stout new brown was taken along. Making the woman a present of the broom, it was suggested that all take a hand in cleaning the house a little before the people should begin to corne. The woman took the broom and swept half of the room, when Mrs. Washington volunteered to finish the job. She had not gone far along on her half before the woman saicl: ''Oh, Mis' Washington, femme take de broom an' do mah half ovah.'' Mrs. Washington says: ''I have always thought that that one unconscious lesson in thoroughness was the foundation of our work on that plantation.'' The people came out quite largely to the meeting, and after a 292