After some difficulty I succeeded in securing an
interview with him. He listened with some degree of interest to
what I had to say, but did not give me anything. I could not help
having the feeling that, in a measure, the three hours that I had
spent in seeing him had been thrown away. Still, I had followed
my usual rule of doing my duty. If I had not seen him, I should
have felt unhappy over neglect of duty.
Two years after this visit a letter came to Tuskegee from this
man, which read like this: "Enclosed I send you a New York draft
for ten thousand dollars, to be used in furtherance of your work.
I had placed this sum in my will for your school, but deem it
wiser to give it to you while I live. I recall with pleasure your
visit to me two years ago."
I can hardly imagine any occurrence which could have given me
more genuine satisfaction than the receipt of this draft. It was
by far the largest single donation which up to that time the
school had ever received. It came at a time when an unusually
long period had passed since we had received any money. We were
in great distress because of lack of funds, and the nervous
strain was tremendous. It is difficult for me to think of any
situation that is more trying on the nerves than that of
conducting a large institution, with heavy obligations to meet,
without knowing where the money is to come from to meet these
obligations from month to month.
Pages:
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205