She at once replied that under no circumstances and
for no considerations would she consent to deceive any one in regard
to her racial identity.
Soon after her graduation from the Framingham institution, Miss
Davidson came to Tuskegee, bringing into the school many valuable and
fresh ideas as to the best methods of teaching, as well as a rare
moral character and a life of unselfishness that I think has seldom
been equalled. No single individual did more toward laying the
foundations of the Tuskegee Institute so as to insure the successful
work that has been done there than Olivia A. Davidson.
Miss Davidson and I began consulting as to the future of the
school from the first. The students were making progress in learning
books and in development their minds; but it became apparent at once
that, if we were to make any permanent impression upon those who had
come to us for training we must do something besides teach them mere
books. The students had come from homes where they had had no
opportunities for lessons which would teach them how to care for their
bodies. With few exceptions, the homes in Tuskegee in which the
students boarded were but little improvement upon those from which
they had come. We wanted to teach the students how to bathe; how to
care for their teeth and clothing.
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