Up From Slavery

This chapter begins with Washington’s introduction at the exposition, followed by a full transcript of his speech, in which he revisits many of the same sentiments found throughout Up From Slavery. He implores Black Southerners to “cast down [their] bucket where [they] are” (230) and try to improve their lives through hard work and personal relationships, rather than striving for government positions and other elite jobs. Because of the immense sense of freedom felt after slavery ended, Washington believes that many Black people hope to jump straight to the top of society and have forgotten that there is honor in humble occupations. In addressing the white audience members, he asks them to trust and rely on their Black neighbors to work alongside them, and to give them the same opportunities that they would give to other white people. He reminds them that many of the enslaved people cared deeply about their enslavers, were loyal to them, and continue to be valuable assets to the white community after slavery ended. He says that even if social segregation is to continue, Black and white people must learn to work together for society as a whole to progress. He believes that if Black and white people work against each other, it will ultimately damage the entire social order. If they cooperate, though, they can build a better world. He ends the speech by stating that Black progress will not come through force, but through slow and steady progress. He shuns the idea that Black people should push for full equality, as he believes that his race still has to progress to make before such equality is deserved.

The speech is met with immense support from exposition attendees, his fellow organizers, and society as a whole. Both at the event and throughout the city of Atlanta, he is crowded with adoring men fighting to congratulate him and shake his hand. As he journeys home to Tuskegee the following day, people at every train station rush to greet him. Papers from across the nation publish the speech alongside glowing reviews, many calling it the greatest Southern speech ever given. He is inundated with requests for speaking engagements and articles to publish. He receives a congratulatory letter from President Grover Cleveland, and later meets him at the exposition, where the president spends an hour at the “Negro Building.” Washington notes that Cleveland seems extremely engaged in the exhibit and in meeting his Black constituents.

Although the initial reaction to the speech is almost entirely positive, Washington soon begins to receive pushback from other Black people who believe that he did not push for equal rights strongly enough. He brushes off this criticism, believing that people will eventually come around to his way of thinking. He believes that equality will eventually come for all Southerners, but that Black people should be patient, waiting for full equality to come to him from “the slow but sure influences that proceed from the possession of property, intelligence, and high character” (249).

Shortly afterward, he finds himself in another controversy, when a prominent pastor asks him to write a report about the condition of the ministry in Black churches. Washington writes what he sees as an honest document, which does not paint the ministers in a good light. This causes a backlash among many Southern churches, some of which begin preaching to parents to keep their children out of Tuskegee. Once again, though, Washington writes that he ultimately prevailed when other pastors began to realize that his critique was correct. 

After the 1895 Atlanta speech, Washington quickly becomes famous around the country. He slowly begins accepting lecture invitations and spends more and more time away from Tuskegee, as the school is by now so well established that the staff can run it without him. He often speaks at formal events, and he writes that he does not enjoy sitting down to a 14-course meal, spending hours talking to important men while thinking about all the ways in which his after-dinner speech might go wrong. During these times, he thinks back fondly on his childhood, when his mother would bring a small amount of molasses from the “big house” every Sunday. He holds that this weekly treat was more enjoyable and memorable than any fine dinner when so much depends on the success of his performance. Although he does not enjoy the long meals, Washington puts groups of businessmen at the top of the list of audiences he likes to speak to. He finds them receptive, intelligent, and quick to understand the intent behind his words. He also enjoys talking to the common people of the South and to college students.

Washington and his wife also embark on a series of mass meetings around the South. These meetings are meant for formerly enslaved people, but they are equally well attended by white people. Washington sees this as a sign that his racially conciliatory message is taking hold. He is impressed by the people he encounters in these meetings and sees the intelligent discussions that take place there as proof that people who degrade Black people as immoral or unintelligent are wrong. He also sees the meetings as a chance for his wife to see the lives of Black people outside Tuskegee firsthand.

One of Washington’s proudest public speaking moments comes in 1897, when he is invited to dedicate the Robert Gould Shaw monument in Boston. The dedication is a gathering of many important figures from the anti-slavery movement, including the Black Civil War hero William Harvey Carney, one of the only survivors of the battle at Fort Wagner. After the entire color guard was killed, Carney—despite his own serious wounds—kept the flag from touching the ground and brought it back to the Union encampment under heavy fire. At the dedication, Carney raises the same flag in front of a rapturous audience, and Washington writes that he has never seen such a dramatic emotional response from any audience before or since.

Washington spends the end of the chapter explaining how he juggles his extensive speaking calendar with his leadership of the Tuskegee school. He explains that he always keeps on top of his work, making sure his desk is clear each day, so he never feels that the work has control of him. He also takes time to relax in nature with his family, especially when he is home in Tuskegee. He enjoys reading newspapers while traveling, but dislikes fiction and games, reporting that he never had time to develop a taste for such leisure pursuits in his youth.

Washington begins this chapter by introducing his family. In 1893, he married his third wife, Margaret James Murray, who plays a similar role in life at Tuskegee to his two previous wives. Together they raise his three children: Portia, who is a talented dressmaker and musician, Baker Taliaferro, who is an expert brickmaker and hopes to be an architect, and Ernest David, who wants to be a doctor. Impressed by his children’s skill and work ethic, Washington regrets that he is often away from home and cannot spend more time with them. In 1899, some of Washington’s friends in Boston begin to tell him he needs a break; he has been working almost non-stop for his entire life. They offer to pay for a European vacation for him and Margaret. Washington tries to decline, saying that Tuskegee will not survive financially without his fundraising efforts. When the Bostonians agree to fund the school for several months, he finally accepts their offer. He writes that he can hardly imagine himself in Europe; for most of his life, the continent felt as unreachable as Heaven, somewhere that only wealthy white people could dream of going.

The Washingtons board a ship and are surprised by the warm welcome they receive, having heard terrible stories from other Black people who have traveled on passenger ships. They already know several people aboard, and many others recognize them. Upon reaching Europe, they find that their Boston friends have spoken with a range of prominent Europeans, and they begin receiving invitations to dinners, receptions, and other events. They travel through Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and England. In the Netherlands, Washington is particularly impressed with the neat farms that seem to use every inch of space to maximum effect. In Paris, they visit an exhibition of works by a famous Black American artist. This reinforces Washington’s belief that if a person is great at what they do, they will succeed regardless of their race.

In England, the couple visit many luxurious country homes and meet famous people including Mark Twain and Queen Victoria. Throughout the trip, Washington has continuously turned down speaking invitations, but he accepts several in England. He finds the British people overly earnest and serious and therefore difficult to speak with. During the trip home, Washington finds a book by Fredrick Douglass in the ship library, and he reads a passage in which the statesman is forced to remain on deck during an Atlantic crossing due to his race. Sitting in his upper-class cabin, Washington feels like direct proof that racial equality has improved. 

The final chapter lists some of the “unexpected encouragements” that have arrived in recent years, allowing Washington to see that his endeavors have been successful. The first of these involves his alma mater. Shortly before leaving for Europe, Washington is honored to receive a visit from the ailing General Armstrong. Armstrong visits Tuskegee, and the students greet the general by waving pine bough torches in long lines, a tradition he finds delightful. After Armstrong dies a few weeks later, Washington meets his successor at Hampton and is pleased to see that Armstrong has chosen a man with similar ideals who will continue to run another successful industrial school.

In 1896, Washington receives an invitation to attend the commencement ceremony at Harvard University, where he is to be awarded an honorary degree. Despite his fame, Washington cannot imagine what he has done to deserve such a high honor from the country’s leading university. He is the first Black man in history to be awarded an honorary degree by a New England college, and he is met with adoration from the school’s administration and students.

When he first started the school in Tuskegee, Washington’s greatest dream was to have a president pay a visit. He finally gets the honor in 1898, when William McKinley travels to Atlanta for the Peace Jubilee to celebrate the end of the Spanish American war. Several Southern cities are in the midst of violent racial conflicts, and after several requests from Washington, the president’s cabinet decides that visiting Tuskegee will be a good way for him to show his commitment to racial cooperation in the South. Both Black and white citizens spend weeks decorating the town in preparation for his visit, and crowds line the streets to get a glimpse of him when he arrives.

The end of the chapter outlines the many improvements at Tuskegee between its inception and the time of the book’s writing around 20 years later. The school is no longer impoverished—it has a steady endowment and a combined student and teacher population of around 1,400 people. They live and work in beautiful, student-built buildings, work a 700-acre farm, and learn from experts in a range of industries.

As he finishes the book, Washington sits in Richmond, Virginia preparing for a speech. He remembers the time 25 years before when he slept under a walkway in the same city. He is grateful to his home state for inspiring him to improve both his own life and to work toward improving the lives of all Black people.