Therefore, the institute strove to teach the student
manners, cleanliness, morality, and practical skills with which to
make a living, He believed that hard work for its own sake
developed moral virtue, and he tried to instill this respect for
labor into his students.
After graduating, Washington became an instructor at Hampton
Institute. Then in 1881, he was invited to Tuskegee, Alabama, to
found a similar school there. Louis Adams, a skilled freedman,
had made a political deal which led to the establishment of the
Tuskegee Institute. In return for his delivery of the Negro vote,
the state legislature provided minimal funds for educating ex-
slaves. The roof of the building which they were using leaked and
the students often had to study with umbrellas over their heads.
In effect, the institute became a kind of commune. The students
grew their own food on the adJoining land, and they erected their
own buildings. They sold their excess produce to the citizens of
Tuskegee. They also developed skills in carpentry, brick-making,
and a score of other trades and sold their products to the
community.
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