Life at Hampton was a constant revelation to me; was constantly
taking me into a new world. The matter of having meals at regular
hours, of eating on a tablecloth, using a napkin, the use of the
bath-tub and of the tooth-brush, as well as the use of sheets
upon the bed, were all new to me.
I sometimes feel that almost the most valuable lesson I got at
the Hampton Institute was in the use and value of the bath. I
learned there for the first time some of its value, not only in
keeping the body healthy, but in inspiring self-respect and
promoting virtue. In all my travels in the South and elsewhere
since leaving Hampton I have always in some way sought my daily
bath. To get it sometimes when I have been the guest of my own
people in a single-roomed cabin has not always been easy to do,
except by slipping away to some stream in the woods. I have
always tried to teach my people that some provision for bathing
should be a part of every house.
For some time, while a student at Hampton, I possessed but a
single pair of socks, but when I had worn these till they became
soiled, I would wash them at night and hang them by the fire to
dry, so that I might wear them again the next morning.
The charge for my board at Hampton was ten dollars per month.
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