Booker T. Washington: “Why do they never fail to touch the tenderest chord--to bring tears from the eyes of rich and poor--from king and…”

I cannot remember having slept in a bed until after our family was declared free by the Emancipation Proclamation.

No one section of our country was wholly responsible for its introduction, and, besides, it was recognized and protected for years by the General Government.

I can scarcely imagine any torture, except, perhaps, the pulling of a tooth, that is equal to that caused by putting on a new flax shirt for the first time.

When persons ask me in these days how, in the midst of what sometimes seem hopelessly discouraging conditions, I can have such faith in the future of my race in this country, I remind them of the wilderness through which and out of which…