My invitation to speak
in Atlanta stipulated that I was to confine my address to five
minutes. The question, then, was whether or not I could put enough
into a five-minute address to make it worth while for me to make such
a trip.
I knew that the audience would be largely composed of the most
influential class of white men and women, and that it would be a rare
opportunity for me to let them know what we were trying to do at
Tuskegee, as well as to speak to them about the relations of the
races. So I decided to make the trip. I spoke for five minutes to an
audience of two thousand people, composed mostly of Southern and
Northern whites. What I said seemed to be received with favour and
enthusiasm. The Atlanta papers of the next day commented in friendly
terms on my address, and a good deal was said about it in different
parts of the country. I felt that I had in some degree accomplished
my object -- that of getting a hearing from the dominant class of the
South.
The demands made upon me for public addresses continued to
increase, coming in about equal numbers from my own people and from
Northern whites. I gave as much time to these addresses as I could
spare from the immediate work at Tuskegee. Most of the addresses in
the North were made for the direct purpose of getting funds with which
to support the school.
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