100 The Tuskegee Adventure

Booker T. Washington started Tuskegee with 30 students. But where were the school building and the classrooms? At the beginning, a church loaned Washington a dilapidated shanty. When it rained, a student held an umbrella over him as he lectured. It was discouraging. Almost everyone saw a failed enterprise. But Washington was too strong-willed to give up.

Then an abandoned plantation was put on sale. The house had burned, and the land was a jungle of weeds. There were, however, four buildings standing. One was a slaves’ dining room. There were also an uncleaned hen house, a wooden kitchen, and a small stable. The owner asked $500 for the plantation. This included 100 acres of land in addition to the four buildings.

Washington was penniless, but he got a loan from the Hampton Institute. He closed the deal quickly and went right to work. After cleaning the filth, he moved the classes in the next day.

Washington had vision. He wanted brick buildings—permanence. There was good clay on the land. The students dug the clay and shaped it by hand into bricks. They also built a kiln.

Brickmaking was Tuskegee’s first “practical skill.” Businessmen now came to the campus to buy the bricks. Students who graduated with this skill got high pay. They were in demand throughout the state. Through bricks the fame of Tuskegee spread. More departments were created. Carpentry was added in 1884, printing in 1885. Cabinet-making came in 1887. When Washington died in 1915, the Institute had the following: over 100 well-equipped buildings, 1,500 students, and a faculty of 200. Washington had succeeded through sheer determination.

100 塔斯基吉的冒險

布克·T·華盛頓以30名學生創辦了塔斯基吉。但學校的建築和教室在哪裡呢？一開始，一間教堂借給華盛頓一間破舊的小屋。下雨時，一名學生撐著傘讓他能講課。這令人沮喪，幾乎所有人都認為這是一個失敗的事業。但華盛頓意志堅定，沒有放棄。

後來，一個被遺棄的種植園開始出售。房子已經燒毀，土地長滿雜草。然而，仍有四棟建築屹立不倒。其中一棟是奴隸的餐廳，還有一個未清理的雞舍、一個木製廚房，以及一個小馬廄。地主開價500美元，這包括四棟建築以及100英畝的土地。

華盛頓身無分文，但他從漢普頓學院獲得貸款。他迅速完成交易並立刻開始工作。清理污穢後，他隔天就把課程搬進去。

華盛頓有遠見。他想要磚造建築——象徵永久性。土地上有優質黏土，學生們挖出黏土並用手塑造成磚。他們還建造了一個磚窯。

製磚成為塔斯基吉的第一項「實用技能」。商人開始到校園購買磚塊。畢業生憑此技能能獲得高薪，在全州都很搶手。透過磚塊，塔斯基吉的名聲傳開。更多科系相繼成立：木工於1884年加入，印刷於1885年，櫥櫃製作於1887年。當華盛頓於1915年去世時，該學院擁有超過100棟設備完善的建築、1,500名學生，以及200名教職員。華盛頓憑藉堅定的決心取得成功。