The making of these bricks caused many of the white residents of the neighbourhood to begin to feel that the education of the Negro was not making him worthless, but that in educating our students we were adding something to the wealth and comfort of the community.
Reflecting on the early days of Tuskegee Institute, Washington describes how practical skills like brick-making demonstrated the value of Black education to the wider community.
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More from Booker T. Washington
This tenderness and sympathy on the part of those held in bondage was a result of their kindly and generous nature.
I do not know how many have noticed it, but I think that it will be found to be true that there are few instances, either in slavery or freedom, in which a member of my race has been known to betray a specific trust.
Even the most ignorant members of my race on the remote plantations felt in their hearts, with a certainty that admitted of no doubt, that the freedom of the slaves would be the one great result of the war, if the Northern armies conquered.
I have always looked upon fame as something to be used in accomplishing good.