Soon after I began work at Tuskegee I formed a resolution, in the
secret of my heart, that I would try to build up a school that would
be of so much service to the country that the President of the United
States would one day come to see it. This was, I confess, rather a
bold resolution, and for a number of years I kept it hidden in my own
thoughts, not daring to share it with any one.
In November, 1897, I made the first move in this direction, and
that was in securing a visit from a member of President McKinley's
Cabinet, the Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture. He came to
deliver an address at the formal opening of the Slater-Armstrong
Agricultural Building, our first large building to be used for the
purpose of giving training to our students in agriculture and kindred
branches.
In the fall of 1898 I heard that President McKinley was likely to
visit Atlanta, Georgia, for the purpose of taking part in the Peace
Jubilee exercises to be held there to commemorate the successful close
of the Spanish-American war. At this time I had been hard at work,
together with our teachers, for eighteen years, trying to build up a
school that we thought would be of service to the Nation, and I
determined to make a direct effort to secure a visit from the
President and his Cabinet.
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