I do not think I have ever made this fact public
before.
During the summer of 1882, at the end of the first year's work of
the school, I was married to Miss Fannie N. Smith, of Malden, W.
Va. We began keeping house in Tuskegee early in the fall. This
made a home for our teachers, who now had been increase to four
in number. My wife was also a graduate of the Hampton Institute.
After earnest and constant work in the interests of the school,
together with her housekeeping duties, my wife passed away in
May, 1884. One child, Portia M. Washington, was born during our
marriage.
From the first, my wife most earnestly devoted her thoughts and
time to the work of the school, and was completely one with me in
every interest and ambition. She passed away, however, before she
had an opportunity of seeing what the school was designed to be.
Chapter X. A Harder Task Than Making Bricks Without Straw
From the very beginning, at Tuskegee, I was determined to have
the students do not only the agricultural and domestic work, but
to have them erect their own buildings. My plan was to have them,
while performing this service, taught the latest and best methods
of labour, so that the school would not only get the benefit of
their efforts, but the students themselves would be taught to see
not only utility in labour, but beauty and dignity; would be
taught, in fact, how to lift labour up from mere drudgery and
toil, and would learn to love work for its own sake.
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