When I was through, I reported to the head
teacher. She was a "Yankee" woman who knew just where to look for
dirt. She went into the room and inspected the floor and closets;
then she took her handkerchief and rubbed it on the woodwork
about the walls, and over the table and benches. When she was
unable to find one bit of dirt on the floor, or a particle of
dust on any of the furniture, she quietly remarked, "I guess you
will do to enter this institution."
I was one of the happiest souls on Earth. The sweeping of that
room was my college examination, and never did any youth pass an
examination for entrance into Harvard or Yale that gave him more
genuine satisfaction. I have passed several examinations since
then, but I have always felt that this was the best one I ever
passed.
I have spoken of my own experience in entering the Hampton
Institute. Perhaps few, if any, had anything like the same
experience that I had, but about the same period there were
hundreds who found their way to Hampton and other institutions
after experiencing something of the same difficulties that I went
through. The young men and women were determined to secure an
education at any cost.
The sweeping of the recitation-room in the manner that I did it
seems to have paved the way for me to get through Hampton.
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