For some time after the opening of the boarding department we had no
chairs in the students' bedrooms or in the dining rooms. Instead of
chairs we used stools which the students constructed by nailing
together three pieces of rough board. As a rule, the furniture in the
students' rooms during the early days of the school consisted of a
bed, some stools, and sometimes a rough table made by the students.
The plan of having the students make the furniture is still followed,
but the number of pieces in a room has been increased, and the
workmanship has so improved that little fault can be found with the
articles now. One thing that I have always insisted upon at Tuskegee
is that everywhere there should be absolute cleanliness. Over and
over again the students were reminded in those first years -- and are
reminded now -- that people would excuse us for our poverty, for our
lack of comforts and conveniences, but that they would not excuse us
for dirt.
Another thing that has been insisted upon at the school is the use
of the tooth-brush. "The gospel of the tooth-brush," as General
Armstrong used to call it, is part of our creed at Tuskegee. No
student is permitted to retain who does not keep and use a tooth-
brush. Several times, in recent years, students have come to us who
brought with them almost no other article except a tooth-brush.
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