I
have always felt proud that she refused to go into debt for that
which she did not have the money to pay for. Since that time I
have owned many kinds of caps and hats, but never one of which I
have felt so proud as of the cap made of the two pieces of cloth
sewed together by my mother. I have noted the fact, but without
satisfaction, I need not add, that several of the boys who began
their careers with "store hats" and who were my schoolmates and
used to join in the sport that was made of me because I had only
a "homespun" cap, have ended their careers in the penitentiary,
while others are not able now to buy any kind of hat.
My second difficulty was with regard to my name, or rather A
name. From the time when I could remember anything, I had been
called simply "Booker." Before going to school it had never
occurred to me that it was needful or appropriate to have an
additional name. When I heard the schoolroll called, I noticed
that all of the children had at least two names, and some of them
indulged in what seemed to me the extravagance of having three. I
was in deep perplexity, because I knew that the teacher would
demand of me at least two names, and I had only one. By the time
the occasion came for the enrolling of my name, an idea occurred
to me which I thought would make me equal to the situation; and
so, when the teacher asked me what my full name was, I calmly
told him "Booker Washington," as if I had been called by that
name all my life; and by that name I have since been known.
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