ited
States Supreme Court. During our entire stay of a month in Paris,
both the American Ambassador and his wife, as well as several other
Americans, were very kind to us.

While in Paris we saw a good deal of the now famous American Negro
painter, Mr. Henry O. Tanner, whom we had formerly known in America. It
was very satisfactory to find how well known Mr. Tanner was in the field
of art, and to note the high standing which all classes accorded to him.
When we told some Americans that we were going to the Luxembourg Palace
to see a painting by an American Negro, it was hard to convince them
that a Negro had been thus honoured. I do not believe that they were
really convinced of the fact until they saw the picture for themselves.
My acquaintance with Mr. Tanner reenforced in my mind the truth which
I am constantly trying to impress upon our students at Tuskegee--and on
our people throughout the country, as far as I can reach them with
my voice--that any man, regardless of colour, will be recognized and
rewarded just in proportion as he learns to do something well--learns to
do it better than some one else--however humble the thing may be. As
I have said, I believe that my race will succeed in proportion as it
learns to do a common thing in an uncommon manner; learns to do a thing
so thoroughly that no one can improve upon what it has done; learns
to make its services of indispensable value. This was the spirit
that inspired me in my first effort at Hampton, when I was given the
opportunity to sweep and dust that schoolroom. In a degree I felt that
my whole future life depended upon the thoroughness with which I cleaned
that room, and I was determined to do it so well that no one could find
any fault with the job. Few people ever stopped, I found, when looking
at his pictures, to inquire whether Mr. Tanner was a Negro painter, a
French painter, or a German painter. They simply knew that he was able
to produce something which the world wanted--a great painting--and the
matter of his colour did not enter into their minds. When a Negro girl
learns to cook, to wash dishes, to sew, or write a book, or a Negro boy
learns to groom horses, or to grow sweet potatoes, or to produce butter,
or to build a house, or to be able to practise medicine, as well or
better than some one else, they will be rewarded regardless of race or
colour. In the long run, the world is going to have the best, and any
difference in race, religion, or pre