Several of these festivals were held, and quite a little sum of
money was raised. A canvass was also made among the people of
both races for direct gifts of money, and most of those applied
to gave small sums. It was often pathetic to note the gifts of
the older coloured people, most of whom had spent their best days
in slavery. Sometimes they would give five cents, sometimes
twenty-five cents. Sometimes the contribution was a quilt, or a
quantity of sugarcane. I recall one old coloured women who was
about seventy years of age, who came to see me when we were
raising money to pay for the farm. She hobbled into the room
where I was, leaning on a cane. She was clad in rags; but they
were clean. She said: "Mr. Washin'ton, God knows I spent de bes'
days of my life in slavery. God knows I's ignorant an' poor;
but," she added, "I knows what you an' Miss Davidson is tryin' to
do. I knows you is tryin' to make better men an' better women for
de coloured race. I ain't got no money, but I wants you to take
dese six eggs, what I's been savin' up, an' I wants you to put
dese six eggs into the eddication of dese boys an' gals."
Since the work at Tuskegee started, it has been my privilege to
receive many gifts for the benefit of the institution, but never
any, I think, that touched me so deeply as this one.
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