I have always felt proud that
she refused to go into debt for that which she did not have the money
to pay for. Since that time I have owned many kinds of caps and hats,
but never one of which I have felt so proud as of the cap made of the
two pieces of cloth sewed together by my mother. I have noted the
fact, but without satisfaction, I need not add, that several of the
boys who began their careers with "store hats" and who were my
schoolmates and used to join in the sport that was made of me because
I had only a "homespun" cap, have ended their careers in the
penitentiary, while others are not able now to buy any kind of hat.
My second difficulty was with regard to my name, or rather _a_
name. From the time when I could remember anything, I had been called
simply "Booker." Before going to school it had never occurred to me
that it was needful or appropriate to have an additional name. When I
heard the schoolroll called, I noticed that all of the children had at
least two names, and some of them indulged in what seemed to me the
extravagance of having three. I was in deep perplexity, because I
knew that the teacher would demand of me at least two names, and I had
only one. By the time the occasion came for the enrolling of my name,
an idea occurred to me which I thought would make me equal to the
situation; and so, when the teacher asked me what my full name was, I
calmly told him "Booker Washington," as if I had been called by that
name all my life; and by that name I have since been known.
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