As soon as we got the cabins in condition to be used,
I determined to clear up some land so that we could plant a crop.
When I explained my plan to the young men, I noticed that they
did not seem to take to it very kindly. It was hard for them to
see the connection between clearing land and an education.
Besides, many of them had been school-teachers, and they
questioned whether or not clearing land would be in keeping with
their dignity. In order to relieve them from any embarrassment,
each afternoon after school I took my axe and led the way to the
woods. When they saw that I was not afraid or ashamed to work,
they began to assist with more enthusiasm. We kept at the work
each afternoon, until we had cleared about twenty acres and had
planted a crop.
In the meantime Miss Davidson was devising plans to repay the
loan. Her first effort was made by holding festivals, or
"suppers." She made a personal canvass among the white and
coloured families in the town of Tuskegee, and got them to agree
to give something, like a cake, a chicken, bread, or pies, that
could be sold at the festival. Of course the coloured people were
glad to give anything that they could spare, but I want to add
that Miss Davidson did not apply to a single white family, so far
as I now remember, that failed to donate something; and in many
ways the white families showed their interested in the school.
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