The morning of December 16th brought to the little city of
Tuskegee such a crowd as it had never seen before. With the
President came Mrs. McKinley and all of the Cabinet officers but
one; and most of them brought their wives or some members of
their families. Several prominent generals came, including
General Shafter and General Joseph Wheeler, who were recently
returned from the Spanish-American war. There was also a host of
newspaper correspondents. The Alabama Legislature was in session
in Montgomery at this time. This body passed a resolution to
adjourn for the purpose of visited Tuskegee. Just before the
arrival of the President's party the Legislature arrived, headed
by the governor and other state officials.
The citizens of Tuskegee had decorated the town from the station
to the school in a generous manner. In order to economize in the
matter of time, we arranged to have the whole school pass in
review before the President. Each student carried a stalk of
sugar-cane with some open bolls of cotton fastened to the end of
it. Following the students the work of all departments of the
school passed in review, displayed on "floats" drawn by horses,
mules, and oxen. On these floats we tried to exhibit not only the
present work of the school, but to show the contrasts between the
old methods of doing things and the new.
Pages:
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317