n
the yard, and teacher and pupils passed in and out of the house as they
got cold or warm. With few exceptions, I found the teachers in these
country schools to be miserably poor in preparation for their work, and
poor in moral character. The schools were in session from three to five
months. There was practically no apparatus in the schoolhouses, except
that occasionally there was a rough blackboard. I recall that one day I
went into a schoolhouse--or rather into an abandoned log cabin that was
being used as a schoolhouse--and found five pupils who were studying a
lesson from one book. Two of these, on the front seat, were using
the book between them; behind these were two others peeping over the
shoulders of the first two, and behind the four was a fifth little
fellow who was peeping over the shoulders of all four.

What I have said concerning the character of the schoolhouses and
teachers will also apply quite accurately as a description of the church
buildings and the ministers.

I met some very interesting characters during my travels. As
illustrating the peculiar mental processes of the country people, I
remember that I asked one coloured man, who was about sixty years old,
to tell me something of his history. He said that he had been born in
Virginia, and sold into Alabama in 1845. I asked him how many were sold
at the same time. He said, "There were five of us; myself and brother
and three mules."

In giving all these descriptions of what I saw during my mouth of travel
in the country around Tuskegee, I wish my readers to keep in mind the
fact that there were many encouraging exceptions to the conditions which
I have described. I have stated in such plain words what I saw, mainly
for the reason that later I want to emphasize the encouraging changes
that have taken place in the community, not wholly by the work of the
Tuskegee school, but by that of other institutions as well.

Chapter VIII. Teaching School In A Stable And A Hen-House

I confess that what I saw during my month of travel and investigation
left me with a very heavy heart. The work to be done in order to lift
these people up seemed almost beyond accomplishing. I was only one
person, and it seemed to me that the little effort which I could put
forth could go such a short distance toward bringing about results. I
wondered if I could accomplish anything, and if it were worth while for
me to try.

Of one thing I felt more strongly convinced