This was, I
confess, rather a bold resolution, and for a number of years I
kept it hidden in my own thoughts, not daring to share it with
any one.
In November, 1897, I made the first move in this direction, and
that was in securing a visit from a member of President
McKinley's Cabinet, the Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of
Agriculture. He came to deliver an address at the formal opening
of the Slater-Armstrong Agricultural Building, our first large
building to be used for the purpose of giving training to our
students in agriculture and kindred branches.
In the fall of 1898 I heard that President McKinley was likely to
visit Atlanta, Georgia, for the purpose of taking part in the
Peace Jubilee exercises to be held there to commemorate the
successful close of the Spanish-American war. At this time I had
been hard at work, together with our teachers, for eighteen
years, trying to build up a school that we thought would be of
service to the Nation, and I determined to make a direct effort
to secure a visit from the President and his Cabinet. I went to
Washington, and I was not long in the city before I found my way
to the White House. When I got there I found the waiting rooms
full of people, and my heart began to sink, for I feared there
would not be much chance of my seeing the President that day, if
at all.
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