de me feel as if there were
really a few Negro men and women in the world who were making a mark,
and that there was a chance for more."

Booker Washington's interest in the lives of his students, as in all
things else, showed his combination of breadth of view and attention
to what less-thorough persons would have considered trivial details.
When, for instance, in 1913 Tuskegee was visited by one of the very
infrequent snowstorms which occur so far South, he himself went from
building to building to see that they were properly heated and to many
of the rooms, particularly of the poorer students, to make sure that
they had sufficient bed-clothes. During the last three winters of his
life he had a confidential agent make an early morning tour of all the
dormitories to make sure that they were so heated that the students
might dress in comfort on getting up in the morning.

Also when the weather was unusually cold he would make sure that the
boys who drove the teams that hauled wood and other supplies were
provided with gloves and warm clothing. One cold night he sent for Mr.
Palmer, the Registrar of the school, and said to him: "I wish you
would seek out the poor worthy students and see that it is made
possible for them to secure proper shoes and warm clothing. Some of
the most deserving of them will often actually suffer before they will
ask for assistance. We'll look out for the expense some way." He was,
in fact, as insistent that the students should have comforts as he was
that they should not have luxuries.

His attention to details and the comfort of the students was well
illustrated in the close watch he kept over the dining-rooms and
kitchens which he inspected every day he was on the grounds. Tomkins
dining-hall is the largest building on the Institute grounds and is
one of the largest dining-halls in America. It can seat over two
thousand persons at one time. Adjoining this hall is a spacious
dining-room for the teachers as well as extensive kitchens and a
bakery. Underneath it is a great assembly hall which seats twenty-five
hundred. Mr. Washington would usually appear before breakfast to
assure himself at first hand that the stewards, matrons, and cooks
were giving the students warm, nourishing, and appetizing food upon
which to begin the day's work on the farm and in the shops and
classrooms. Nothing made him more indignant than to find the coffee
served lukewarm and the cereal watery or the eggs stale. F