WOOD-TURNING MACHINERY
WOOD-TURNING MACHINERY
The course in mathematics covers a period of seven years, including Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Surveying. Throughout the entire course, the aim is to give the student, as faras possible, a practical knowledge of the subjects embraced. The pupil is required to deal in things associated with figures, rather than with figures alone. In multiples and measures, his work is brought in close and effective touch with the trade work. For example, the carpenter must get the greatest common length of board from several different lengths without any waste: the dressmaker must find and use the smallest number of yards of cloth that suffice for the making of dresses of different sizes. Mathematics is shown to be an instrument of economy. In fractions, estimates are made of the cost of bales of cotton at prevailing prices. The student is often required to weigh out in each case the amounts of various articles which can be purchased for given amounts of money. In compound quantities and in the various measurements, the student does the measuring. Yards, rods, tons of coal, and tons of hay are measured. In carpeting, he is required to carpet a room. In lathing and plastering, he must witness the work in active operation. In percentage, problems which must be solved in the daily work the student is able to get from the industrial departments. For example, if the leather for a pair of shoes costs a definite amount, and the shoes are sold at a definite rate, what per cent. is gained? Or for what must they be sold so as to gain a certain per cent.?
Much actual outdoor work is done during thestudy of trigonometry, and in surveying the student learns to lay off lots, country roads; to plot, map, etc. The last term of the Senior year is spent in mastering the elements of Civil Engineering, work for which the first two terms have prepared the student. The South is sorely in need of surveyors and men grounded in the elements of engineering; positions of this character are easy to find, and pay well.
The object of the work in Nature Study, as taught in the Academic Department, is to train the faculty of observation, create an interest in and love of nature, gain knowledge which will be of service in the future, and to cultivate a practical interest in Agriculture. Knowledge of things near at hand should be acquired first, and later of things more distant; a clear and definite acquaintance with home surroundings (plants, animals, minerals, natural phenomena, and the human body) is made the basis of the teaching as a foundation for more advanced study. In the assignment of work and selection of material for study, the special needs of special classes are kept in mind, the work being determined by the student's power of observation and interpretation. Subjects for study are selected largely according to the seasons. This work is conducted with reference to its correlation with Geography, language, and other subjects. Field excursions, collecting and preserving specimens, and gardening of variouskinds, are prominent features of the courses in Nature Study.
CLASS IN OUTDOOR ARITHMETIC
CLASS IN OUTDOOR ARITHMETIC
The school offers also through the Academic Department, a two-years' course, especially treating of the affairs of the farm. Instruction is by laboratory work, supplemented by text-books, lectures, and reference readings, which are assigned from standard volumes and periodicals. The student is brought into close practical contact with his subject. He studies farm implements, traces root systems of corn and other crops, tests germination of seeds, determines the properties of soils and the effects of various crops and of rotation of crops upon soil fertility. He tests milk, studies butter and cheese, and judges a variety of animals.
The school owns an ample supply of plows, cultivators, planters, cutters, engines, etc. It has extensive collections of agricultural plants, seeds and products. Laboratories are well equipped with apparatus for the study of manures, fertilisers, soil bacteriology, germination of seeds, and judging cotton and corn. The Institute grounds and the fields and orchards of the Experiment Station are always available for illustrations in class work. Collections of seeds and woods, cabinets of beneficial and noxious insects, photographs, maps, charts, and drawings afford valuable material for study and demonstration. Specimens of draft and coach horses, Jersey, Ayrshire and Holsteincattle, Southdown sheep, and Berkshire swine, afford material for judging. In the Dairy Division is a complete outfit for cream separation and butter and cheese making. We have, also, levels, microscopes, and an extensive list of agricultural journals, a complete file of experiment station bulletins from all the States, and an excellent assortment of standard reference books.
The one purpose is to acquaint the student with the facts and principles needed for the improvement of soils, the increase of fertility, the nature of the various crops, the conditions governing their successful and economic production, and with the general development of agriculture. The student is also made familiar with animals, first, as to fitness for specific purposes; second, as to their care and management; third, as to their improvement by breeding; and fourth, as to the manufacture of animal products. He learns the principles of orchard management, small fruit culture, vegetable gardening and plant propagation, as well as the evolution of cultivated plants. A sense of the beautiful is cultivated and given expression in floriculture, to the end that more of nature's beauty shall pervade the home and its surroundings.
CHEMICAL LABORATORY
CHEMICAL LABORATORY
The work of each year of strictly mental education is prescribed. We aim to arouse the students' interest in important educational problems, with especial reference to the South, rewarding that interest withpractical suggestions; and to train efficiently teachers who will render valuable service in school and society. The courses in Normal Education comprise a critical study of human nature; an outline history of American education; general and special methods in teaching; and school organisation and administration. The students in these courses observe expert teaching in a primary school under the direction of the Academic Department. Senior students are not only permitted to observe, but also to practice teaching under supervision. This division of Education is being strengthened, and keeps steadily before it the fact that Tuskegee is to send out teachers as well as trained artisans and industrial leaders.
The courses in Chemistry and in Physics, more clearly than any other Academic courses, complement the work of the Industrial Department. Thus in the course in Chemistry, operations in the shops and on the farm, involving chemical reactions, are drawn upon as illustrative material for the first year's work. The artisan, with a knowledge of chemical matters, grows and thinks, and is not automatic. The courses are not those in which the students are merely taughthowto do, butto do. Soap is taken apart and put together. Polishes, lacquers, chemical cleansers, are not known merely as formulæ; but are actually made in small quantities by students themselves, so as to develop theirpower of doing things. Is this flour, bran, and baking powder, pure? Is the fertiliser of high grade? How shall the sick-room be disinfected? How shall we destroy the cabbage-devouring worm? To these and similar questions, the division of Chemistry seeks to enable students readily to find answers. In the course in Physics, the principles taken up are illustrated by the actual work going on in the outside building construction, and the farm work. Great stress is laid upon the bearing of Physics on tools, machines, and operations of the shops. Inspection of the various industrial plants in the vicinity of Tuskegee is required in order that the student may see the applications of Physics to the processes in use. Throughout the courses, a notebook is accurately kept by each student, in which are recorded the results of his observations and experiments, together with sketches for illustration.
An exercise given to one of the Junior classes in the night school, not long ago, shows how the attempt is made, even in so simple a matter as a spelling lesson, to correlate the Academic work with the Industrial.
CLASS IN PHYSIOLOGY
CLASS IN PHYSIOLOGY
The theme of this lesson was "Building a Chest," and the teacher brought to the class a small chest in which were placed most of the tools and materials needed in its construction. The teacher exhibited each article as he came to it in telling the story, and required the student to spell the word and thenwrite it on the blackboard as neatly as possible. The synonyms and homonyms of some of the words were given, and the student required to illustrate their difference in spelling and use.
The teacher proceeded as follows, eliciting from the students the words in italics: To build this article we must haveTimber, such asPine, orCedar, orCypress, and otherMaterial. We also need severalTools, such as aPlanetoSmooththePlanks; aChiselto cut theseDove-tails; and someGlue, with which to fasten the pieces together substantially, as we shall not needNails. Then with theseSprigswe put on thisMoulding, which should be cut in aMiter, or we may cut it by thisBevel, which can be changed to aSquare. We now put on theseButts—notStrap-Hinges—withScrews. In front must beBoreda hole and theLockput on; then theEscutcheonover the hole as a finish; theKeyis inserted, and we have completed theChest. ACarpenter—one engaged inCarpentry—or aCabinet-Maker, builds things like this, and we call him aMechanic.
The practical usefulness of the Academic Department lies in the aid which the study of physics and chemistry and mathematics and drawing offers to the blacksmith, the carpenter, the nurse, and the housewife—an aid that does much to transform listlessness and drudgery into vivacity and gratifying efficiency.
While the men must work to get and keep the home, the wives and daughters must, in a great measure, supply and guard the health, strength, morals, and happiness of the family. Their responsibility is great in all that makes for the development of the individual and the community. The home is built on an ancient foundation among the white population of this country, especially in the rural communities. The Negro has had to learn the meaning of home since he learned the meaning of freedom. All work which has to do with his uplifting must begin with his home and its surroundings.
DOROTHY HALL
DOROTHY HALLIN WHICH MOST OF THE INDUSTRIES FOR GIRLS ARE TAUGHT
Those familiar only with the rural life of the North and West, where, even in poverty, there are deep-grounded habits of thrift and comfort, do not know what home lacks among great masses of the cabin-dwellers of the South. Nowhere is there a nobler opportunity than that which confronts the young women who are learning at Hampton and Tuskegee, and other educational institutions, what home should be. The crowded one-room cabinaffects the moral and physical life of the family, it slowly destroys the right inclinations given by nature to every child, and develops a manner of life which, coöperating with other causes, produces mental weakness, loss of ambition, and a shiftless disregard of responsibilities.
It goes without saying that many of the young women who come to Tuskegee need such training as will enable them to make homes that are worthy the name. It is the need first at hand, and the school tries to meet it in a practical way. The most liberal courses in literature and the sciences, if they exclude all practical training that will help a young woman to solve the problems which center around her own hearth, will not help her to get what she needs most.
At Tuskegee she is given a thorough English education, she can go out from the school and obtain a teacher's position in a field where the demand is greater than the supply, but after all her duty begins at home, and it would be worse than folly to overlook these essentials. It is interesting to note, in this connection, that, after the household training system of Tuskegee had been in operation for some time, the need of similar education for young women whose natural advantages were infinitely greater than those of the coloured girls in the South, prompted the following announcement in the advertisement of what is, perhaps, themost high-priced and exclusive seminary in Massachusetts:
"In planning a system of education for young ladies, with the view of fitting them for the greatest usefulness in life, the idea was conceived of supplementing the purely intellectual work by practical training in the art of home management and its related subjects.
"It was the first school of high literary grade to introduce courses in Domestic Science into the regular curriculum.
"The results were so gratifying as to lead to the equipment of Experiment Hall, a special building, fitted for the purpose of studying the principles of Applied Housekeeping. Here the girls do the actual work of cooking, marketing, arranging menus, and attend to all the affairs of a well-arranged household.
"Courses are arranged also in sewing, dressmaking, and millinery; they are conducted on a similar practical basis, and equip the student with a thorough knowledge of the subject."
A dozen years ago, I do not believe that any such announcement would have been made.
LEARNING DRESSMAKING
LEARNING DRESSMAKING
At Tuskegee there is a modest dwelling of four rooms, called the "practice cottage." In the shadow of the massive brick buildings which surround it, this cottage seems to have strayed in from some one of the country roads aroundTuskegee. But is has a trim and well-kept air, such as all country homes can have, no matter how poor and simple they may be. It contains a bedroom, sitting-room, dining-room and kitchen. These rooms are comfortably furnished for family housekeeping, but there is nothing in them that is not within reach of any Alabama farmer who is able to make both ends meet.
Much of the furniture is home-made. The creton-covered chairs, divan, and sofa are made from common barrels, which the girls are taught to make into furniture in the upholstering department. This kind of utility furniture has been so successful for ornament and comfort that a good deal of it has been ordered by visitors for their Northern homes. The floors of the cottage are covered with clean, cheap matting and oilcloth, and the students are taught to make pretty and serviceable mats from corn-husks. Whatever there is in the rooms is in good taste, for pictures, wall paper, and humble adornment can be worked out in good taste without extra cost.
The girls of the Senior class live in the "practice cottage" in turn, four at one time, for periods of five weeks. They are able to put into practice, under the supervision of Mrs. Washington, much that they have learned in their school life of three or four years. This is not, in reality, an "experiment station," for the girls are thoroughly equipped totake charge of every department of the house, and they run it themselves, being held responsible only for results.
They do the sweeping, dusting, cooking, washing, and ironing, sewing if need be, and their own marketing. The family of four is given an allowance of not more than three dollars a week for food, which they invest at the school store and the school farm. With this allowance they are expected to set the table for four, and to run their cuisine through the week without any outside help. This seems a very modest sum, but it is in fair proportion to the average incomes of the class of people who need just such training. The girls are thoroughly acquainted with the nutritive and appetising values of the foods which will be available in their home neighbourhoods.
Distinguished visitors have been guests of the "practice cottage girls," and have enjoyed the simple meals, skillfully prepared by the hostesses, who make no extra preparations. On their small allowance, and with the menu prepared in advance, they are able to entertain without flurry or embarrassment. They have been taught that the truest hospitality is in making the most of what one has to do with, and offering no apologies for the absence of luxuries one cannot afford. The "practice cottage" is well kept, and is an interesting picture in miniature of the essentially practicalside of the school gospel of hard work with the hands as a part of a useful education.
BARREL FURNITURE
BARREL FURNITUREA thriving Tuskegee industry
Of course, this cottage routine is not allowed to interfere with the class work; and while they are testing their ability to manage a modest, clean, attractive, livable home, the girls are pursuing the studies they have selected to fit them for their several lines of work after graduation. In addition to the training in the Academic Department, these girls are learning trades, and, what is more important, how to make homes for themselves or for others. In this cottage the Senior girls round out their course by the practical application of all the theories in household economy that they have learned during the earlier years of their training. The course in "Domestic Science" is perhaps worth outlining in part because it is practical, and is designed to make the home an uplifting agency by its daily operation and influence:
First year: Making and care of fires; care and adjustment of lamps used for cooking; cleaning and keeping in order the tables, closets, sinks, and pantries; care of material as it comes from market; washing kitchen and cooking dishes, and care of baking-bowls, dish-towels, and dish-cloths; cleaning painted and unpainted woodwork; washing windows, sweeping and dusting; the proper use and care of utensils; making breads without yeast; making biscuit, cornbread, sweet and white potato, graham andoatmeal bread; muffins of each of the flours, and combinations of rice or grits with them; making different kinds of toast and using stale breads; cooking vegetables in simple ways. The simplest forms of cooking meats; making plain, brown and milk gravies and sweet sauces; cooking cereals and serving in various ways; also cooking fish and eggs.
Second year: Care of silver, glass, china, brass and nickel; care of table linen; laying table for different meals, waiting, clearing table and washing dishes; cleaning oiled floors; lessons on providing material for meals, and calculating cost. Preparing given menus, and estimating time required in preparation; making yeast bread, brown and white, rolls, muffins, coffee, spice and raisin bread. Soup-making, with and without meat; purées from beans, peas and other vegetables, with or without milk; stews, hashes, minces. Cleaning and cooking chicken in various ways; bacon: boiled, fried. Making tea, chocolate, coffee and cocoa.
The third year deals with the theory of foods, their source, selection and composition and economic value, and the practice of principles involved in different methods of preparation.
The fourth and final year covers the study of dietaries, including the arrangement of bills of fare for daily living, in which the expense is limited to fifty cents for each person, and dinners of three courses for six persons.
CLASS IN COOKING
CLASS IN COOKING
In the school laundry the young women are taught the art of washing and ironing according to improved methods. Two washers, an extractor, a mangle, starcher, collar and cuff ironer, have been added to lighten the drudgery. Drying-rooms and ironing-rooms provided with excellent facilities afford means for thorough teaching. All of the washing for teachers and students, including bed and table linen, is done in this department. The course covers one school year.
It is the policy of the Institute to give special attention to the training of girls in all matters pertaining to dress, health, etiquette, physical culture and general housekeeping. The girls are constantly under the strict and watchful care of the Dean of the Woman's Department and the women teachers. Special rules governing the conduct of the girls are made known to each girl upon her arrival. In addition to the general training, they receive special practical talks from various members of the Faculty on such matters as relate to the care of the body, social purity, etc.
The course in household training includes such instruction as:—The location and sanitation of the home. Furniture: its purchase, arrangement, and proper care. Surroundings and their advantages. Cleaning: lamps, beds, bedrooms, and general weekly cleaning. The care of the dining-room: serving the table and the care of linen, silver, pantry,dishes, and towels. The duties and manners of the hostess. The furnishing and care of the kitchen. Marketing, and economy, punctuality, and regularity in preparation of food. The sick-room: its attractions and proper ventilation. Changing the patient's clothing and bedding. Feeding and visiting the sick. Yards and outhouses: how to keep clean and how to beautify. The housekeeper's personal appearance. Dress: what to wear and the colors suitable.
The hospital and training-school for nurses were organised to provide for the physical needs of the Tuskegee colony, and to equip young women for efficient service among their people. A beautiful two-story hospital building, with all modern improvements, has been finished, with enlarged facilities for the care of patients. The facilities for the training of nurses are excellent and the standard of admission high. Graduates from the hospital are doing good work, many of them holding excellent positions in the hospitals, schools and private infirmaries throughout the South. The five Tuskegee nurses sent to the front in the Spanish-American war were the only coloured female nurses employed by the Government. The course of study covers three years, but is so arranged that students of exceptional ability are able to complete it in two.
AN OUT-OF-DOOR CLASS IN LAUNDRY WORK
AN OUT-OF-DOOR CLASS IN LAUNDRY WORKAt the Mount Meig's School
Seven years ago I became impressed with the idea that there was a wider range of industrial work for our girls. The idea grew upon me that it was unwise in a climate like ours in the South to narrow the work of our girls, and confine them to indoor occupations.
If one makes a close study of economic conditions in the South, he will soon be convinced that one of the weak points is the want of occupations for women. This lack of opportunity grows largely out of traditional prejudice and because of lack of skill. All through the period of slavery, the idea prevailed that women, not slaves, should do as little work as possible with their hands. There were notable exceptions, but this was the rule.
Most of the work inside the homes was done by the coloured women. Such a thing as cooking, sewing, and laundering, as part of a white woman's education, was not thought of in the days of slavery. Training in art, music, and general literature was emphasised. When the coloured girl became free, she naturally craved thesame education in which she had seen the white woman specialising. I have already described our trials at the Tuskegee Institute, in attempting to get our girls to feel and see that they should secure the most thorough education in everything relating to the care of a home. When we were able to free them of the idea that it was degrading to study and practice those household duties which are connected with one's life every day in the year, I felt convinced that one other step was necessary.
New England and most of the Middle States are largely engaged in manufacturing. The factories, therefore, naturally give employment to a large number of women. The South is not yet in any large degree manufacturing territory, but is an agricultural section and will probably remain such for a long period. This fact confirmed my belief that an industrial school should not only give training in household occupations to women, but should go further in meeting their needs and in providing education for them in out-of-door industries.
OUTDOOR WORK FOR GIRLS
OUTDOOR WORK FOR GIRLS
In making a study of this subject it became evident that the climate of every Southern State was peculiarly adapted to out-of-door work for women. A little later I had the opportunity of going to Europe and visiting the agricultural college for women at Swanley, England. There I found about forty women from some of the best families of Great Britain. Many of these women were graduates ofhigh schools and colleges. In the morning I saw them in the laboratory and class room studying botany and chemistry and mathematics as applied to agriculture and horticulture. In the afternoon these same women were clad in suitable garments and at work in the field with the hoe or rake, planting vegetable seeds, pruning fruit trees or learning to raise poultry and bees and how to care for the dairy. After I had seen this work and had made a close study of it, I saw all the more clearly what should be done for the coloured girls of the South where there was so large an unemployed proportion of the population. I reasoned that if this kind of hand-training is necessary for a people who have back of them the centuries of English wealth and culture, it is tenfold more needful for a people who are in the condition of my race at the South.
I came home determined to begin the training of a portion of our women at Tuskegee in the outdoor industries. Mrs. Washington, who had made a careful study of the work in England, took charge of the outdoor work at Tuskegee. At first the girls were very timid. They felt ashamed to have any one see them at work in the garden or orchard. The young men and some of the women were inclined to ridicule those who were bold enough to lead off. Not a few became discouraged and stopped. There is nothing harder to overcome than an unreasonable prejudice against an occupation or a race. The moreunreasonable it is, the harder it is to conquer. Mrs. Washington made a careful study of the girls and discovered the social leaders of a certain group. With this knowledge in hand she called the leaders together and had several conferences with them and explained in detail just what was desired and what the plans were. These leaders decided that they would be the pioneers in the outdoor work.
Beginning in a very modest way with a few girls, the outdoor work has grown from year to year, until it is now a recognised part of the work of the school, and the idea that this kind of labour is degrading has almost disappeared. In order to give, if possible, a more practical idea of just what is taught the girls, I give the entire course of study. In reading this it should be borne in mind that the theory is not only given, but in each case the girls have the training in actual work. Since the school year opens in the fall, the work naturally begins with the industries relating to the fall and winter. The course of study is:
First Year.—Fall Term.—Dairying.—The home dairy is first taken up, and a detailed knowledge of the following facts taught: Kinds, use and care of utensils, gravity, creaming. A study of stone, wooden, and tin churns, ripening of cream, churning, working and salting butter, preparation and marketing of same. Feeding and care of dairy cows.
Poultry Raising.—A working knowledge is required of the economic value of poultry on the farm, pure and mixed breeds, plain poultry-house construction, making of yards, nests, and runs.
Horticulture.—Instruction is given as to the importance of an orchard and small fruits, varieties best suited, particular locality, selection and preparation of ground, setting, trimming, extermination of borers, lice, etc., special stress being laid upon the quality and quantity of peaches, pears, apples, plums, figs, grapes, and strawberries that should be planted in a home orchard.
Floriculture and Landscape Gardening.—A study of our door-yards, how to utilise and beautify them. The kinds, care, and use of tools used in floriculture and landscape gardening. Trimming and shaping of beds and borders, and the general care of shrubbery and flowers. The gathering and saving of seed. Special treatment of rose bushes and shrubbery.
Market Gardening.—Importance of proper management of the home garden, its value to the home, selection and preparation of ground; kinds, care and use of tools, planting, gardening and marketing of all vegetables. Gathering of seeds, drying of pumpkins, okra, and fruits.
Live Stock.—Study is limited wholly to ordinary farm animals; the number and kind needed, how,when and what to feed; characteristics and utility of the various animals.
Winter Term.—Dairying.-The commercial dairy is the subject of study, and emphasis is laid upon the following: Use of separators, of which the school has two leading styles; churns, feeding, and care of the dairy herd, breeds of dairy cattle and their selection, butter-making, packing, salting and preparation for market.
Poultry Raising.—Special study of breeding and feeding. When, how and what kind of eggs and the breed of fowls to set; the period of incubation, poultry book-keeping, saving of eggs for market; an introductory of study of young chickens.
Floriculture and Landscape Gardening.—Trimming of beds and borders, mulching, tying, wrapping, and preparation of plants for the winter.
Winter decoration of grounds, the decorative value of native shrubbery; a study of window plants, their value in the home, halls and public buildings, their economic value, etc.
Market Gardening.—The selection of grounds and making of hotbeds, cold frames, etc., planting and managing of same, the raising of winter vegetables, marketing.
Spring Term.—Dairying.—Milking; a study of pastures, how to destroy lice and other parasites, the care of calves, the utilisation of waste in the dairy; laboratory work.
Poultry Raising.—A more advanced study of young poultry; brooders, sanitation of the house, runs, and of all the apparatus; egg-testing, moulting and its effects upon different breeds.
Horticulture.—Spring planting, trimming, budding, grafting, spraying, care of grape vines; the wire and post system of supports; spring layering and cuttings.
Floriculture and Landscape Gardening.—Renewing of beds and borders, seed sowing, special study of propagation by layers, cuttings, division of roots, bulbs, etc.; kinds and uses of fertilisers for this special season.
Market Gardening.—Preparation of ground, what and how to plant, special stress being laid upon the production of early vegetables for the home and market. Reproduction of plants by seeds and by division of numbers; water and its office in plant economy.
Live Stock.—Course includes the history, development, characteristics, standard points, utility, adaptability to climatic conditions; lessons on judging, care, selection and management of the leading breeds of horses, sheep and hogs.
Second Year.—Fall Term.—Dairying.—A more comprehensive study of milk and its constituents; weeds and their harmful effect upon dairy products; general sanitation of dairy barns; the drawing of plans, etc.
Poultry Raising.—Insecticides, how to make, when and how much to use, diseases of fowls and their treatment. A study of foods and their adaptability to different breeds, special study of turkeys and guineas.
Horticulture.—Root and stem grafting with active and dormant buds; formation of trunk and top starch, and its relation to the hardiness of fruits and shrubs, botany of the orchard, entomology; book-keeping.
Floriculture and Landscape Gardening.—Systematic botany, bouquet-making—harmony of colour, form and size of flowers; laying out of private and public grounds, roads, parks, walks, and streets; entomology of the flower garden.
Market Gardening.—Botany of the field and garden; physical analysis of soils and the improvement of clay and sandy soils; the depletion of plant food and its replacement by direct and indirect fertilisers; the source of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. Draining.
Live Stock.—How to hitch and unhitch horses, the care of vehicles and harness, how to drive, the names of common diseases and treatment of sick animals; swine for profit.
Winter Term.—Dairying.—The weighing and recording of milk in a commercial dairy; the Babcock and other methods of testing milk; composition of cheese and its value as a food.
Poultry Raising.—Composition of the animal body; a special study of ducks and geese; brooders, ponds, runs, etc., by-products and their value.
Horticulture.—Forestry, botany, cryptogamic and systematic; nut culture; preservation of timber, the economic value of different woods; the relation of forests to climate, water supply, floods and erosion.
Market Gardening.—A study of the life-history of insects, injuries to stored grain, peas, beans, meal, flour, dried fruits; botany of the greenhouse, cold frame and hotbeds; the use of thermometers. A study of markets, library work.
Spring Term.—Dairying.—Cottage and Cheddar cheese-making, scoring of butter, bacteriology of milk, butter, and cheese. Judging of dairy animals by the score-card method, diseases of cows and their treatment; analysis of food stuffs.
Poultry Raising.—Physical and chemical study of foods, library work, fancy breeds, what and how to exhibit, the history and development of the industry. Heredity and the effects of in-breeding.
Horticulture.—Origin of new varieties by cross-fertilisation, hybrids, sports, atavisms and reversion, correlation between plants and animals, rejuvenating by pruning, grafting and scraping the bark, special diseases of both trees and fruit, and their treatment. Knot-growth, blight, gum excrescences and frost injuries; drying, preserving, making fruit syrups, etc.
Horticulture and Landscape Gardening.—Special designing in cultivated flowers. Origin of new species; bees and their relation to the forest and garden; the hiving of bees and after-management. A study of honey-producing plants; the economic value of the honey.
Market Gardening.—Relation of crops, geology of the garden, agricultural chemistry, good roads and their relation to the success and value of the farm, mineralogy and useful birds and insects.
I believe that all who will make a careful study of the subject will agree with me that there is a vast unexplored field for women in the open air. The South, with its mild climate and other advantages, is as well adapted to out-door labour for women as to that for men. There is not only an advantage in material welfare, but there is the advantage of a superior mental and moral growth. The average woman who works in a factory becomes little more than a machine. Her planning and thinking is done for her. Not so with the woman who depends upon raising poultry, for instance, for a living. She must plan this year for next, this month for the next. Naturally there is a growth of self-reliance, independence, and initiative.
Life out in the sweet, pure, bracing air is better from both a physical and a moral point of view than long days spent in the close atmosphere of a factory or store. There is almost no financial risk to beencountered, in the South, in following the occupations which I have enumerated. The immediate demands for the products of garden, dairy, poultry yard, apiary, orchard, etc., are pressing and ever present. The satisfaction and sense of independence that will come to a woman who is brave enough to follow any of these outdoor occupations infinitely surpass the results of such uncertain labor as that of peddling books or cheap jewelry, or similar employments, and I believe that a larger number of our schools in the near future will see the importance of outdoor handwork for women.
There is considerable significance in the fact that this year more than fifty girls have taken up the study of scientific farming at the Minnesota College of Agriculture, and have thus announced their intention to adhere to country life. The college has been in existence for the past decade, but girls have only recently been admitted. The character of the instruction available to the girl students is suggestive. The course presented emphasises the sciences of botany, chemistry, physics and geology, requiring, during the freshman and sophomore years at least, two terms' work in each of them. Boys and girls work together throughout two-thirds of the entire course, which includes study in language, mathematics, science, civics, and considerable technical work. In the courses for girls, cooking, laundering and sewing are substituted for carpentry,blacksmithing and veterinary science. The girls, too, give more attention to household art, home economy and domestic hygiene than to the business aspect of farming. It is happily the chief purpose of the college to awaken in its entire student body a keen interest in farming, farm life, the farm-house and farm society. Both boys and girls are taught to plan farm buildings and to lay out the grounds artistically. Considerable attention is given to the furnishing of houses, to literature, music and social culture, with the general thought of making the farm home the most attractive spot on earth. The result of the new movement is being watched with keen interest by agriculturists and educators. It is evident that, should it prove successful, the innovation will spread to other agricultural States. Its influence, one readily apprehends, is apt to be social as well as agricultural in character. Heretofore, one great drawback to farming, even in the North, has been the difficulty of keeping the farmers' sons on the farm. With trained and educated girls enthusiastically taking up the profession of farming, the country life will take on new charms, and the exodus of young men to cities will be materially lessened.
Something about the Woman's Meeting, organised and conducted in the town of Tuskegee by Mrs. Washington, seems not out of place in this book. It is her work, and she has kindly supplied the following outline of the aims and results of this attempt to better the conditions and lives of the people living in this typical Alabama community:
In the spring of '92, the first Negro Conference for farmers was held at Tuskegee. The purpose of this conference was to inspire the masses of coloured people to secure homes of their own, to help them to better ways of living, to insist upon better educational advantages for them, and so to raise their standards of living, morally, physically, intellectually and financially. Sitting in that first meeting of Negro farmers and hearing the resolutions which stood as the platform of the conference, I felt that history was repeating itself. In the days of Lucretia Mott, and the early struggles of Susan B. Anthony, women had no rights that were worth mentioning, and, notwithstanding the fact thatthere were many women present at this first conference, they had little actual place in it.
Perhaps they did not realise that they, too, had a most prominent part to play in the life which their lovers, or their sons and husbands, were urged to seek. Perhaps they did not dream that they would some day have a vital part in the uplifting of our people. This thought would not be stilled: What can these poor farmers do with the new ideas, new hopes, new aspirations, unless the women can be equally inspired and interested in conferences of their own?
Not many days passed before there was a fixed purpose in my mind that these women in the homes represented by the farmers should be reached. How to reach and help them was the question. After many weary days and sleepless nights, praying for some way to open, the thought came that the village of Tuskegee was a good place to begin work. The country women, tired of the monotony of their lives, came crowding into the village every Saturday. There should be a place for them to go to be instructed for an hour or more each Saturday. Like a flash the idea was caught up, and it was not let go until such a place was secured.
Our first conference was held in the upper story of a very dilapidated store which stands on the main street of the village. The stairs were so rickety that we were often afraid to ascend them. Theroom was used by the coloured firemen of the village, and was a dark and dreary place, uninviting even to me. It answered our purpose for the time. We had no rent to pay, and that was one less burden for us. How to get the women to the first meeting was not easily settled. For fear of opposition from friends, no mention had been made of the plan, except to the man who let me have the room.
That first Saturday I walked up the stairs alone, and sat down in the room with all its utter dreariness. My heart almost failed me, and not until I remembered these words: "No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God," did I throw off the despondency. At this moment a small boy entered the room. I said to him, "Go through the streets and say to each woman, so that no one else will hear you, there is a woman up those stairs who has something for you."
That first meeting I can never forget. There were six women who came, and each one as she looked at me seemed to say: "Where is it?" We talked it all over, the needs of our women, the best ways of helping each other, and there was begun the first woman's weekly conference, which now numbers nearly three hundred women.
We now have a large, roomy hall on the main street, where we come together each Saturday, and spend two hours talking of the things which go tomake better and truer lives among women and children. Women come long distances on foot to these meetings. They soon brought with them their little girls, whom they could not afford to leave at home, and there arose a new question—what to do with the children? A plan was hit upon, and a room hired. These girls, now more than fifty in number, are taught simple lessons, and, at the same time, receive short practical talks on behaviour at home, on the streets and elsewhere. We also have a small library for them, and each one is allowed to draw the books she wants, to keep two weeks or longer. We also have picture books on the table for the younger children. We are now trying to get games for these children and pictures for the walls of the room. A friend gives two hours of her time on Saturday to these children, and it delights one's heart to see the improvement in them in all directions, especially in their quiet and becoming conduct on the streets.
The marked improvement among the women in the matter of dress has been frequently commented upon in the village. They are doing away with the wrapping of the hair, and substituting for it braiding or some other simple arrangement. The women no longer go barefooted, nor do they sit around the streets in a listless way. There is less familiarity among the men and women in the streets, and in many ways the women are being ledinto better ways of conduct, to say nothing of home improvements and the closer union of family life.
We visit the homes of the women and see that the lessons are put into practice. We have given out thousands of papers and picture cards, that the cracks might be closed against the wind and rain, and that the children of the home might have something besides the dark and cheerless logs to look at.
Soon the women began to see the importance of these conferences, and to do all in their power to promote their interests. Our talks were discussed on the farms and in neighbourhood chat. Their influence spread in indirect channels. These talks were planned along such simple and practical lines as the following subjects suggest:
Morals among young girls.The kinds of amusements for young girls.A mother's example.A mother's duty to her home.Dresses for women and children.Poultry raising for women.The part a woman should take in securing a home.Fruit canning, etc.
Morals among young girls.
The kinds of amusements for young girls.
A mother's example.
A mother's duty to her home.
Dresses for women and children.
Poultry raising for women.
The part a woman should take in securing a home.
Fruit canning, etc.
Many other subjects were suggested by the women themselves, and afterward put in written form so that they could read them intelligently. Many of the talks were grouped in a little book forwomen who could not reach the conferences. These books contain also little recipes which any woman may need in her country home, especially when there is sickness in the family. Work for the masses is always more difficult than for the individual, but it is work which must be done. Eighty per cent. of our women have their homes in the country or on the plantations, they live in the old-time log cabins, but they have hearts, they have aspirations for the future. In pursuance of the ideas which prompted this humble crusade, I have sent out leaflets which embody, among others, these suggestions for teachers and other workers, which I have found exceedingly helpful in organising home-union meetings for mothers:
Decide upon a definite time for holding a meeting, and then send notice to the mothers by the school children.
Once every three or six months have a general meeting with simple refreshments such as can be gotten in a country village.
Now and then an experience meeting can be held to the advantage of all. Encourage the women to talk freely of their own plans.
Find out by judicious visiting whether any advancement is made.
Do not expect too much in a short time, and, above all, do not be dictatorial while visiting, or personal in meetings when you wishto deal with mistakes that you have seen in the homes visited.
Some Subjects for Talks
How to keep home neat and tidy.
How to make home attractive for husband and children.
Amusements, music and reading in the home circle.
Is it necessary to teach the girls to do good by teaching them how to do housework, cooking and sewing?
The relations of mothers to their children.
How to gain the confidence of children.
How to correct falsehood and theft among boys and girls.
Is there not a share in the home for the boys?
How to teach boys and men to respect women generally by teaching them to respect mothers and sisters.
The mother's authority in selecting company for her sons and daughters.
When should a girl be allowed to receive company? How can a mother help her to avoid mistakes as regards the young man she loves?
What part should a woman take with her husband in securing a home or a piece of land on which to build one?
What is the effect upon the face when the hair iswrapped with coloured strings? Why not plat it or arrange it in some other becoming way?
Should women go barefooted?
Love of gaudy dress for children. What will the result be when they are older and cannot afford to buy the same sort?
Manners on the street.
Necessity of varying diet for the household.
Economy in the house as regards food.
The proper duty of mothers in having the family table set with care at the proper time.
The importance of ventilation, proper food, and cleanliness of body on the moral atmosphere of the home.
What lessons can be drawn from Thanksgiving Day, New Year's and Christmas?
The mother's relation to the church and the minister.
How the family should go to church. Isn't it better if all go together and sit together, too?
How can boys and girls be taught the habit of giving to the church and charitable purposes?
How may mothers and their daughters best resist men who attempt to rob them of their honour and virtue?
The best way to inspire children to purity of thought, speech, and action, at home and abroad?
In a leaflet of practical help, for these mothers' meetings, some of the simple teachings are put indetail form, and these may give an idea of what we are trying to do in these directions, and what are the common needs of the people among whom we are working. Under the head of "Your Needs" are the following items:
You need chairs in your houses. Get boxes. Cover them with bright calico, and use them for seats until you can buy chairs. You need plates, knives and forks, spoons and table-cloths. Buy them with tobacco and snuff money.
You need more respect for self. Get it by staying away from street corners, depots, and, above all, excursions. You need to stay away from these excursions to keep out of bad company, out of court, out of jail, and out of the disgust of every self-respecting person.
You need more race pride. Cultivate this as you would your crops. It means a step forward. You need a good home. Save all you can. Get your own home, and that will bring you nearer citizenship. You can supply all these needs. When will you begin? Every moment of delay is loss.
How to Become Prosperous
Keep no more than one dog. Stay away from court. Buy no snuff, whisky and tobacco. Raise your own pork. Raise your own vegetables. Put away thirty cents for every dollar you spend.
Get a good supply of poultry. Set your hens.
Keep your chickens until they will bring a good price.
Go to town on Thursday instead of Saturday. Buy no more than you need.
Stay in town no longer than necessary.
My Daily Work
I may take in washing, but every day I promise myself that I will do certain work for my family. I will set the table for every meal. I will wash the dishes after every meal.
Monday I will do my family washing. I will put my bedclothes out to air. I will clean the food closet with hot water and soap.
Tuesday I will do my ironing and family patching.
Wednesday I will scrub my kitchen, and clean my yard thoroughly.
Thursday I will clean and air the meal and pork boxes. I will scour my pots and pans with soap and ashes.
Friday I will wash my dish-cloth, dish-towels, and hand-towels. I will sweep and dust my whole house, and clean everything thoroughly.
Saturday I will bake bread, cake, and do other extra cooking for Sunday. I will spend one hour in talking with my children, that I may know them better.
Sunday I will go to church and Sunday School. I will take my children with me. I will stay athome during the remainder of the day. I will try to read aloud a something helpful to all.
Questions I Will Pledge Myself to Answer at the End of the Year
How many bushels of potatoes, corn, beans, and peanuts have we raised this year?
How many hogs and cows do we keep? How much poultry have we raised? How many bales of cotton have we raised? How much have we saved to buy a home?
How much have we done toward planting flowers and making our yard look pretty? How many kinds of vegetables did we raise in our home garden?
How many times did we stay away from miscellaneous excursions when we wished to go? What were our reasons for staying at home? Have we helped our boys and girls to stay out of bad company? What paper have we taken, and have we taken our children to church and had them sit with us?
The experiment of real settlement work on a plantation near Tuskegee was begun in 1896 in a dilapidated, unused one-room cabin in the quarters of the "big house," where resided the last scion of a family of slave-holders.
Seventy-five families lived scattered in cabins over the two-thousand-acre plantation in easy access totheir plots of land farmed on shares. Many of the men were paying for "time" bought by the owner of the plantation. Some had been arrested, and on trial found guilty. They had to pay either a certain sum or suffer imprisonment. The owner of the plantation paid the fines, and the men paid him for their time in labour. Schools were miles distant, and the only opportunity to teach the better way of life seemed to be establishing a settlement. The planter graciously granted the free use of the cabin aforesaid. Students from the Institute nailed the shingles on the open roof. The room was given a thorough cleaning, and in a short time a young woman graduate, now wife of the Principal of Christianburg Institute, Cambria, Virginia, and an undergraduate moved in with her home-made furniture—fashioned from dry-goods boxes, and covered with pretty chintz sent by an old friend who has now passed to her reward.
As a Sunday School had begun in one of the log houses several Sundays previous to the opening of the settlement, the young teacher's coming had been explained, and all had promised to contribute all they could to her support.