The first thing that I remember, after I had finished speaking,
was that Governor Bullock rushed across the platform and took me
by the hand, and that others did the same. I received so many and
such hearty congratulations that I found it difficult to get out
of the building. I did not appreciate to any degree, however, the
impression which my address seemed to have made, until the next
morning, when I went into the business part of the city. As soon
as I was recognized, I was surprised to find myself pointed out
and surrounded by a crowd of men who wished to shake hands with
me. This was kept up on every street on to which I went, to an
extent which embarrassed me so much that I went back to my
boarding-place. The next morning I returned to Tuskegee. At the
station in Atlanta, and at almost all of the stations at which
the train stopped between that city and Tuskegee, I found a crowd
of people anxious to shake hands with me.
The papers in all parts of the United States published the
address in full, and for months afterward there were
complimentary editorial references to it. Mr. Clark Howell, the
editor of the Atlanta Constitution, telegraphed to a New York
paper, among other words, the following, "I do not exaggerate
when I say that Professor Booker T.
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