My invitation to speak in Atlanta
stipulated that I was to confine my address to five minutes. The
question, then, was whether or not I could put enough into a
five-minute address to make it worth while for me to make such a
trip.
I knew that the audience would be largely composed of the most
influential class of white men and women, and that it would be a
rare opportunity for me to let them know what we were trying to
do at Tuskegee, as well as to speak to them about the relations
of the races. So I decided to make the trip. I spoke for five
minutes to an audience of two thousand people, composed mostly of
Southern and Northern whites. What I said seemed to be received
with favour and enthusiasm. The Atlanta papers of the next day
commented in friendly terms on my address, and a good deal was
said about it in different parts of the country. I felt that I
had in some degree accomplished my object--that of getting a
hearing from the dominant class of the South.
The demands made upon me for public addresses continued to
increase, coming in about equal numbers from my own people and
from Northern whites. I gave as much time to these addresses as I
could spare from the immediate work at Tuskegee. Most of the
addresses in the North were made for the direct purpose of
getting funds with which to support the school.
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