sideration and oftentimes
offered him a compartment in place of the berth which he had
purchased.

Pullman cars in the South are not as a rule open to members of the
Negro race. It is only under more or less unusual conditions that a
black man is able to secure Pullman accommodations. Dr. Washington,
however, was generally treated with marked consideration whenever he
applied for Pullman car reservations. He was sometimes criticised, not
only by members of his own race, but by the unthinking of the white
race who accused him of thus seeking "social equality" with the white
passengers.

The work he was compelled to do, however, in constantly travelling
from place to place, and dictating letters while travelling, made it
necessary that he conserve his strength as much as possible. He never
believed that he was defying Southern traditions in seeking the
comfort essential to his work.

Upon one occasion Dr. Washington went to Houston, Texas, and was
invited by the Secretary of the Cotton Exchange, in the name of the
Exchange, to speak to the members of the leading business
organizations of Houston, upon the floor of the Cotton Exchange Bank.
He was introduced by the secretary, who desired to give Dr. Washington
the opportunity to put before representative Southern white men the
thoughts and ideas of a representative colored man as to how the two
races might live together in the South on terms of mutual helpfulness.
Such was the impression he made upon the whites that when Dr.
Washington's secretary applied for Pullman accommodations for him,
returning East, they were not only ungrudgingly but even eagerly
granted. In those days it was unheard of for a colored man to travel
as a passenger in a Pullman car in Texas.

The injustices mentioned and all others connected with railway
passenger service for Negroes Booker Washington sought in
characteristic fashion to mitigate by instituting, through the agency
of the National Negro Business League, what are known as Railroad
Days. On these days each year colored patrons of railroads lay before
the responsible officials the respects in which they believe they are
unfairly treated and request certain definite changes. Although
started only a few years ago these Railroad Days have already
accomplished a number of the improvements desired in various
localities.

As an aid to the committees appointed in the various communities Mr.
Washington sent out a letter addressed to these