ton thought my services were most desired. On two
occasions since I left there Bishop Scott has taken occasion to voice
his approval of my conduct while at Wiley: once before the East
Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in October,
1902, to my students, when he came to visit me at the Christiansburg
Institute.

About the first of May, 1896, I received a telegram from Principal
Washington requesting me to allow him to present my name to the Board of
Managers of the Christiansburg Industrial Institute for the
principalship then vacant. I agreed, and was elected to the place.
Before entering upon the duties of my new position at Christiansburg I
made a visit to Tuskegee, for the purpose of gaining information as to
the scope of my work and as to how I should best proceed.

After spending nearly two months at Tuskegee, I made my way to my new
field of labor in Virginia, reaching Christiansburg the 15th of July,
1896. The appearance of things at Christiansburg did not come up to my
expectations, nor was my reception in accordance with what I had
expected. Under the conditions which then existed, one of more
experience than I had would have expected just about such a reception as
I received. The people seemed almost crazed that a Tuskegee graduate
should be planning to engraft the Tuskegee Idea in that section--and
this, too, in spite of Hampton. In my effort to carry out the plans
sanctioned by Dr. Washington, I soon realized I was facing opposition
well-nigh insurmountable. This was due to their misunderstanding of Dr.
Washington, and of what Tuskegee really stands for. As far as possible,
I gathered around me men and women who, like myself, were thoroughly
imbued with the Tuskegee Idea, and together we pushed ahead with our
plans.

From the first I was given to understand that the desire of the Board
was that there should be at Christiansburg a school similar to Hampton
and Tuskegee; though smaller, it should be no less perfect in what it
was designed to do. To reach this end the school had to undergo the
change from a distinctly literary school to one with both literary and
industrial branches; from a regular, ordinary school to one with a
boarding department. My plans met the approval of all concerned, yet
there was little idea on my part as to the amount of money and labor
necessary to put them into operation. The course of study was rearranged
to suit the new conditions, and five industries w