As this was the first time that a New England university had
conferred an honorary degree upon a Negro, it was the occasion of
much newspaper comment throughout the country. A correspondent of
a New York Paper said:--
When the name of Booker T. Washington was called, and he arose to
acknowledge and accept, there was such an outburst of applause as
greeted no other name except that of the popular soldier patriot,
General Miles. The applause was not studied and stiff,
sympathetic and condoling; it was enthusiasm and admiration.
Every part of the audience from pit to gallery joined in, and a
glow covered the cheeks of those around me, proving sincere
appreciation of the rising struggle of an ex-slave and the work
he has accomplished for his race.
A Boston paper said, editorially:--
In conferring the honorary degree of Master of Arts upon the
Principal of Tuskegee Institute, Harvard University has honoured
itself as well as the object of this distinction. The work which
Professor Booker T. Washington has accomplished for the
education, good citizenship, and popular enlightenment in his
chosen field of labour in the South entitles him to rank with our
national
benefactors. The university which can claim him on its list of
sons, whether in regular course or honoris causa, may be proud.
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