Thomas W. Bicknell, was present at one of those meetings and
heard me speak. A few days afterward he sent me an invitation to
deliver an address at the next meeting of the Educational
Association. This meeting was to be held in Madison, Wis. I
accepted the invitation. This was, in a sense, the beginning of
my public-speaking career.
On the evening that I spoke before the Association there must
have been not far from four thousand persons present. Without my
knowing it, there were a large number of people present from
Alabama, and some from the town of Tuskegee. These white people
afterward frankly told me that they went to this meeting
expecting to hear the South roundly abused, but were pleasantly
surprised to find that there was no word of abuse in my address.
On the contrary, the South was given credit for all the
praiseworthy things that it had done. A white lady who was
teacher in a college in Tuskegee wrote back to the local paper
that she was gratified, as well as surprised, to note the credit
which I gave the white people of Tuskegee for their help in
getting the school started. This address at Madison was the first
that I had delivered that in any large measure dealt with the
general problem of the races. Those who heard it seemed to be
pleased with what I said and with the general position that I
took.
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