A Boys' Life of Booker T. Washington/Chapter 3
CHAPTER III
PLANNING FOR AN EDUCATION
Later in life Washington said: "There was never a time in my youth, no matter how dark and discouraging the days might be, when one resolve did not continually remain with me, and that was to secure an education at any cost."[1]
This was the thought that was in his mind as he toiled from day to day in the dark and dirty coal mine. He had never heard of any school except the little one he had attended for a short time in Malden. But he was sure that somewhere and in some way he would find a place that would give him what he so much desired.
One day, while digging away in the mine, he heard a miner say something to another about a big school for negroes. He was greatly excited and on his hands and feet he crept through the dark, as close to the two men as he dared, and listened. 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. They are taught some useful trades so that they can go out and make a good living and be independent and have pleasant work to do."
"Well," said the other miner, "that sounds pretty good, but nobody but rich folks can afford such a school as that; so I don't see where it is going to help us any."
"There is where you are mistaken again," was the answer, "for poor boys and girls can go to this school. That is what I have heard. They say that they give the boys and girls different kinds of work to do, so that they can pay their own way through school."
Booker heard no more. He returned to his work very greatly excited. That certainly was the place for him. He then and there made up his mind that he would go to that school no matter what happened. He did not know where the place was, but he determined that he would find it. From that day on, one thought was in his mind—to go to Hampton.
He wanted to quit work in the mines, because the work was so dangerous, and because he was not making enough money. A few days after he heard the conversation about Hampton, he heard that Mrs. Ruffner wanted a servant. She was the wife of General Lewis Ruffner, the owner of the salt furnaces and the coal mines. The lady, Mrs. Viola Ruffner, was said to be very strict with her servants, and consequently no servant would stay with her long at a time.
When Booker heard that she was looking for another servant, he decided to apply for the place. He was terribly frightened when he went into her presence; and he was surprised to find her very kind and considerate. She employed him, giving him five dollars a month. She became very fond of this boy, who worked so hard and so well and tried to do the work so as to please her. She showed her interest in his ambition to get an education, by letting him off a part of the day to study, and by encouraging him to go to the night school.
Washington says also that he learned from Mrs. Ruffner many valuable lessons in cleanliness, promptness, and order. He says: "Even to this day, I never see bits of paper scattered around a house or in the street that I do not want to pick them up at once. I never see a filthy yard that I do not want to clean it, a paling off a fence that I do not want to put it on, an unpainted or unwhite-washed house that I do not want to paint or white-wash it; or a button off one's clothes, or a grease spot on them or on a floor, that I do not want to call attention to it."[2]
It was while working for Mrs. Ruffner that he started his first "library." He got an old dry-goods box, knocked out one side of it, nailed it up against the wall, arranged some shelves, and then put into it every book that he could lay his hands on.
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. But he must go and learn, and his good mother, noble and brave as she was, encouraged her boy and helped him to get away.
All the people in the community were much interested in his going. While they had never had a chance, they wanted to encourage this boy who was so determined to get an education. Some of them would give him a nickel, some a quarter, and others a handkerchief to show their desire to help him. By and by the day for his departure came. He put his few dollars in his pocket, picked up the little satchel containing his few clothes, said good-by to the neighbors, kissed his weeping mother good-by, and turned his face towards Hampton.
There was no through train in those days, and he had to travel by stagecoach as well as by train. He had no idea, when he started, how costly it was to travel, and he had not gone far before he realized that he did not have enough money to take him to Hampton. So he walked much of the way. He would ask for a ride with passers-by, and in this way made fairly good progress.
Early in his journey he had a new and trying experience. He had been riding, together with a number of white passengers, all day in the stagecoach. At nightfall they stopped at a house which was called a hotel, and all the passengers went in and were given rooms. When Booker went in and asked for a room, he was told that they could not take him, that they did not take negroes. He had not intended to offend. He himself says it was simply the first time that he realized that the color of his skin made a difference. He was so intent upon getting to Hampton, he never thought of getting angry. He simply walked about all night, as it was rather cold, and went on his journey next morning.
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. I had not a single acquaintance in that place, and being unused to city ways, I did not know where to go.
I applied at several places for lodging, but they all wanted money, and that was what I did not have. Knowing nothing else better to do I walked the streets. In doing so, I passed by many places and foodstands where fried chicken and half-moon apple pies were piled high and made to present a most tempting appearance. At that time it seemed to me that I would have promised all that I expected to possess in the future to have gotten hold of one of those chicken legs or one of those pies. But I could not get either of these, nor anything else to eat.
I must have walked till after midnight. At last I became exhausted and I could walk no longer. I was tired. I was hungry. I was everything but discouraged. Just about the time when I reached extreme physical exhaustion, I came upon a portion of the street where the board sidewalk was considerably elevated. I waited for a few minutes, till I was sure that no passer-by could see me, and then crept under the sidewalk, and lay for the night upon the ground with my satchel for a pillow."[3]
When he awoke in the morning, he found that he was near a large ship which was unloading a cargo of pig iron. He went directly to the ship, told the captain his situation, and asked for work in order that he might earn money with which to buy some food. The captain gave him work and was so well pleased with him that he gave him employment for several days. Washington was anxious to get enough money to take him to Hampton as soon as possible. So in order to save as much of his wages as possible, he continued to sleep under the sidewalk where he slept the first night he arrived.
Many years after that, he was given a great reception in Richmond, at a place near this spot, and Washington says that his mind was more upon that sidewalk that night than it was upon the great reception given him by the two thousand people present.
After a few days of work in unloading the vessel, he felt that he had enough money to take him to Hampton; so he continued his journey. Several days later he reached Hampton, with just exactly fifty cents.
What a wonderful journey it had been! And now at its end, as the big buildings of the school came into view, he had a thrill that more than repaid him for all the hardships of his trip. He was supremely happy, for he had reached the end of his rainbow and had found his great treasure.