Seeds of Faith : A Brief Biographical history of the Christian Church Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ---John 12:24 America, Civil War & The Abolition of Slavery Week #10 Booker T. Washington The African Slave trade is a sad period of human history. France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, England and America, among others engaged in the willing capture and forcible relocation of African people, trading them as commodities, like coffee or soybeans. Thanks in large part to the efforts of William Wilberforce, who was driven by his Christian convictions to use his position in parliament for good, England abolished the slave trade (1807), and then slavery itself (1833). Efforts were made worldwide in the 1800's to do away, first with the slave trade, and then with slavery itself. Right around the time that John Paton was travelling as a missionary to the New Hebrides (1858), Booker T. Washington was born as a slave in Virginia. Only a couple years after, America was engulfed in a bloody civil war over the rights of the states to govern themselves, one of which was the right to hold slaves. When the dust settled and the states were once again united, the slaves were free. While that sounds like a happy ending, it was just the beginning. Booker described the difficulty of that situation for the emancipated slaves: 'In a few hours, the great questions with which the Anglo-Saxon race had been grappling with for centuries had been thrown upon these people to be solved. These were questions of a home, a living, the rearing of children, education, citizenship, and the establishment and support of churches. ' (45) The challenges which Booker described were challenges which he faced and overcame, and by God's grace, he became the means by which many others found hope and a future as well. Certainly the issues of race and racial harmony are much talked about in our day and age. These are not separate subjects to be considered outside of Christianity, but questions whose only abiding answer lies within the truth of the Christian Faith. Booker T. Washington understood this, and for this reason, and many others, his life and story are a gift to anyone who longs for true peace. This morning I am going to look at his life by asking, who was Booker T. Washington, what did he accomplish, and what were the qualities that enabled his accomplishments? The first will be really short, the second will be of medium length, and then we will camp on the last question. Who was He? Born a slave. His autobiography, Up From Slavery (which is now a free E-book) details his humble beginnings to becoming the most influential spokesman for the black community in the country. Booker was born of his mother, Jane on the plantation of James Burroughs. It was not a particularly harsh plantation life, although the fact that his father was a white man whom he never knew, and who never took
responsibility for him demonstrates how even 'peaceful' plantations were often wrought with injustice. An inventory of the household in 1861 lists his value at $400. Think of having your life boiled down to a number! His mother married a man from a neighboring town, Washington Ferguson, and that is where Booker got his last name. He was about seven or eight years old when his family, along with the rest of the slaves in the South were set free. Jane moved with 'Wash', who was working in Malden, West Virginia in the Salt Furnaces--bringing Booker, John and her other children with her. Raised in Poverty. Starting with literally nothing, In West Virginia the family struggled, even though Wash worked where he could. Booker began to work where he could as well, first in the salt furnaces. Scraping to learn wherever he could, he attended school, and the training he received and his intelligence helped him to get a better, safer job at the home of the owner of the salt works and coal mine there in Malden. The woman of the house, Viola Ruffner, was an exacting and demanding woman, but that relationship helped Booker to gain skills and discipline that would prepare him for the next stages of his life. (51-52) The Hampton Institute. When Booker got his chance, he took a risky 500 mile journey to the town of Newport News, Virginia, where he enrolled in one of the first schools for blacks in the country. He worked hard, and under the tutelage of dedicated teachers like Miss Mary Mackie (66-67), Miss Nathalie Ward (63) and Headmaster General Armstrong, he grew in abilities and graduated. After graduation, he worked as a teacher and considered entering the ministry, even enrolling in Wayland Seminary in Washington D.C. for a time. (78) After a couple months, he decided against continuing in the seminary, sadly, because he felt the students there graduated with a greater interest in carriage rides than hard work, unsuited for the difficult labor and heat of the South. Called to Tuskegee. Booker was called to Tuskegee in 1881, recommended for the post of headmaster at the school by his mentor at the Hampton Institute, General Armstrong. He labored there, both as primary teacher first, then as headmaster and as a tireless fundraiser for the school, which required constant support, as it received no funds for buildings or other expenses. Booker was meticulous, and his effort and attention to detail caused the school to prosper and grow substantially. Speaking at a critical event in Atlanta at the Atlanta Exposition in 1895, he became nationally known and trusted as a leader on racial reconciliation. He advised numerous presidents on their policies, particularly Teddy Roosevelt, and was invited to dine at the White house in 1906. His frugal nature and gracious spirit made him trusted by many wealthy philanthropists, such as Andrew Carnegie, Harvard President Charles Eliot, and many others. His humility and willingness to accept segregation in the short term were seen by some in the black community as a step in the wrong direction. We will look at that and see if that criticism was legitimate. Family. A driven man living in a difficult time, he married and was widowed twice by the time he was thirty-three. At that point he had three children (Portia, Booker Junior & Earnest Davidson), and the enormous burdens of the school simultaneously. His third wife, Maggie Murray, outlived him.
Death. Booker died early, in 1915, at the age of 57. His discipline of work and tendencies, possibly for overwork, may have shortened his life. It was a critical time, as we will see, and in God's providence, the black community lost one of its wisest and most gifted leaders when his leadership was sorely needed. What did He Accomplish? Builder. He Built A School (Tuskegee) out of Nothing. When Booker arrived in Tuskegee in 1881, he believed he had come to head up a school for blacks. However, when he met with the three man committee in charge, he discovered that there was no school, no teachers, no buildings, no curriculum, no books, no supplies, no land. The only money that had been allocated was reserved for teachers salaries. Nonetheless, he did not complain about the surprise, but immediately began solving the problems--first securing a place to meet at a spare building of the Zion AME church in the town. The conditions were very primitive, just a couple rooms with a leaky roof--but Washington did not let himself be fazed--john Perry records: As principal, teaching staff, and janitor all rolled into one, Washington prepared his modest schoolroom for opening day. He had no books or supplies and only broken down furniture. But the floor was swept and mopped until it shone, and the ragged, cast off chairs were arranged in neat rows with military precision. On July 4, 1881, 'The Normal School for Colored Teachers at Tuskegee' was called into session. (22) From that beginning, with no funds for buildings or curriculum or anything else, Booker found a way to raise funds, grow crops, purchase land, build the school's own structures and educate thousands. By 1904, after 23 years, the school had an annual enrollment of 2,042. Tuition was still free, with the entire amount offset by the raising and sale of livestock, crops and industry, as well as donations generated by Washington's efforts for the school. (243) In 1895, At the center of the campus, Washington commissioned--and one of Tuskegee's own teachers, Robert Taylor (the first black MIT graduate & valedictorian), designed and built the tallest and largest and finest building in the county--and it was the chapel. It had seating for 2500 and reached 105 feet into the air. It was built entirely by students and staff, utilizing its own manufactured bricks--1.2 million of them. Statesman. Through the Atlanta exposition speech of 1895--and through the success of his school and his diligent efforts, Booker Taliaferro Washington became the leading figure of the black race in the country. He became an inspiration to blacks and a wise and trusted counselor to reconciliation minded whites. He demonstrated wisdom and forbearance in countless situations of rudeness and ignorance that he experienced and encountered. For example, former president Grover Cleveland once spoke before him at a large fundraising meeting in New York, describing the 'racial and slavery-bred imperfections' of the negro race in the South, who lived in 'a grevious amount of ignorance, a sad amount of laziness and thriftlessness.' Washington graciously redirected these words, saying: The most fundamental and far reaching deed that has been accomplished in the last quarter century has been that by which the Negro has been helped to find himself and to learn the secret of civilization--to learn that there are a few simple, cardinal principles upon which a race must start its upward course...you of the North owe an unfulfilled duty to the Negro, and an equal unfulfilled duty to your white brethren in the South in assisting them to help remove the load of ignorance resting upon my race. (202)
Some might question if such language sounds too shockingly accepting of the assumptions--but as we will see, Booker was a man of action, and cared about what could make a difference in the long run. What he believed would make a difference was not verbal chastising of misguided views, but training his race to be equal in mind and skills, so that eventually that equality would be undeniable to all. As a result, he became a trusted advisor to Teddy Roosevelt, as well as other presidents on matters of race, at a time when public sentiment was hostile and suspicious of the black community. Roosevelt wrote to Washington: 'I must see you as soon as possible. I want to talk over the question of possible appointments in the South exactly along the lines of our last conversation together.' (193) As a result, Washington had dinner at the White House to discuss policies and strategy for improving conditions in the South at a time when whites and blacks eating together and mixing socially was still considered shocking. Tuskegee graduates were sought for, and paid more, because of their general excellence. Booker's recommendation and reputation carried weight. Booker constantly provided names for businesses and government posts seeking well trained graduates. He managed to weave through an almost impossible maze of complexity, helping to diffuse situations and to promote peace and unity at a time when an entire generation could have exploded in violence. Conduit. Because of his gracious demeanor and meticulous, frugal habits, Booker also became an advisor to wealthy benefactors who wished to help the black community. Keeping Tuskegee's tuition free took a substantial amount of money, even with all their offsetting industries and trades that the school participated in. JLM Curry, Henry Rogers, Harvard President Charles Eliot and many other wealthy men became regular supporters of the school. After the speech mentioned above, where Washington untangled Grover Cleveland's foolish words, Andrew Carnegie pledged a gift to the school of $600,000. In a day when tuition was $117 per year per student, that was a staggering sum. Carnegie wrote in his donation letter: To me, he seems one of the greatest living men, because his work is unique, the modern Moses, who leads his race and lifts it through education, to even better and higher things than a land flowing with milk and honey. History is to tell of two Washingtons, one white, the other black, both fathers of their people. I am satisfied that the serious race problem in the South is to be solved wisely only through Mr. Washington's policy of education, which he seems to have been specially born--a slave among slaves to establish, and in his own day, greatly to advance. (203) Trailblazer. Through his educational efforts, and through his reconciling voice, Washington provided a blueprint for overcoming ignorance and inequality. He truly believed that if blacks would gain the same skills, and pursue excellence in work and character, that equality would be an inevitable by-product of such transformation. As Harry Reeder said, Booker did not believe in demanding a seat at the table. He wanted to build the table, and sell it to you. Then when you saw what an excellent table that he had built, you would invite him to sit at it with you.
What Made these Accomplishments Possible? I want to consider four qualities that Booker possessed that account for his success, and then look at what lay underneath and unified all those qualities. 1) Discipline Booker T. Washington learned and valued a rigorous level of discipline and self control. This manifested itself in careful personal hygiene, meticulous dress and a regimented schedule. He first learned these traits from Viola Ruffner, the wife of the Coal mine owner in Malden. At first he was terrified of her, but as he grew to know her, he appreciated her cleanliness and order and attention to detail. He absorbed these qualities, and it was key in helping him gain admittance to the Hampton Institute, which led to every other step he took. Washington once said that the simple habit of brushing teeth had an incalculable effect on civilization. The genius of the Hampton institute, shaped by General Samuel Chapman Armstrong, was the awareness that education did not consist only, or even primarily, in books. The Hampton institute trained its students to be careful in hygiene, tidy in dress, structured and diligent in schedule. Armstrong, a Christian as well, had been the son of a Presbyterian pastor and missionary to the Hawaiian islands. He believed the solution for helping all people was the formation of Christian character, teaching them to have moral principles and practical life skills. These lessons Booker learned well, lived out, and put them in practice at Tuskegee. Every morning the entire school would put on their uniforms, assemble together for personal inspection, and then march in ranks to the chapel for morning prayers and devotions. The entire day was accounted for, and to be used wisely. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 summarizes the scripture's value of discipline: 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. We are saved by grace--but no one who has been saved by such precious grace desires to squander it. 2) Willingness to Work Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men. (Proverbs 22:29) One of the key elements of Booker's philosophy of education was that it was a means to more effective work--not as a way to avoid work. Many of that day--and of this day, I might add--equated the idea of education as a means to a life of ease. The entire structure of the Tuskegee school subverted that, expecting students to work at practical trades while gaining instruction in the classroom. In his autobiography, Booker wrote:
'Each of these students works half a day at some industry, in order to get the skill and love of work, so that when he goes out from the institution, he is prepared to set the people with whom he goes to labor a proper example in the matter of industry...' (191) This idea that willingness to work is a critical component of education was reflected even in the acceptance process. By 1900, Tuskegee could only accept half of the applicants who applied for admission. One of the 'entrance exams' at Tuskegee was for the applicant to be greeted, shown to a room, and asked to clean it up. They would leave the applicant there for about twenty minutes, and then come to inspect how well it had been cleaned. If it was thoroughly done, you were in. One can't help but wonder, in a day and age with spiraling educational costs and with practically every college and university garnering the reputation of being a party school, if Booker did not understand something which we deeply need to recover. The apostle Paul urged this of the Thessalonian church: 6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. (2 Thessalonians 3:6-11) 3) Refusal to Complain There were many situations and opportunities for Booker to air grievances for treatment that we would, in today's society, find intolerable, and likely grounds for a lawsuit--being denied access to railroad cars for travel, refused service at hotels and many more such affronts. Yet Booker never found blaming others a productive activity. In spite of being abandoned by his father, and never even knowing who he was or what his name was, henever expressed resentment toward him: 'Whoever he was,' Booker later wrote, 'I never heard of his taking the least interest in me or providing in any way for my rearing. But I do not find especial fault with him. He was simply another unfortunate victim of the institution which the Nation had engrafted upon it at that time.' (40) Many difficult things happened to Washington, and it would have been easy at any point to vent frustration at disadvantages he had to face, either due to his own birth or the discrimination levied at his race in general. Yet he seemed remarkably immune to such as response. Whatever form an obstacle seemed to take, he did not lament the obstacle, but immediately set about removing it or going around or over it. His own personal philosophy in refusing to complain was thoughtful and intentional, summed up by a short answer he once gave to W.E.B. Dubois, a strong critic of his conciliatory approach to racial reconciliation ; 'An inch of progress is worth a yard of complaint.' (209) Scripture supports this philosophy, as Philippians 2:14 says, ' Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,'
These verses indicate that refusing to grumble or dispute is a means of proving your innocence--without arguing that you are. Secondly, such behavior is so unusual it becomes a witness--appearing as lights in the world'. 4) Determination Though it was demonstrated at the beginning, when Booker arrived to head a school that did not exist, I think the best illustration of the critical role determination plays is to read you the story of the kiln. Booker wanted to develop practical industries at Tuskegee, which would both produce revenue for the school and train students so that they could immediately work and earn a living upon graduation. To that end, he wanted to develop a brick making and masonry department. In order to do that, they would need to have a working kiln in which to fire the bricks. Perry tells the story: 'In spite of the initial enthusiasm Washington had inspired, brick making proved to be a much harder sell to the students than clearing timber had been. Most of the boys knew how to handle a saw, but molding bricks was completely foreign to their experience. It was also muddy, dusty, hot and monotonous. Faced with the prospect of standing in mud up to their knees for hours at a time, day after day, a number of students quit school instead. The first day, the remaining crew molded fifty bricks in the used wooden molds Mr. Varner had donated. Gradually their skill and efficiency improved to the point where they were molding five thousand bricks a day. When they had a stock of twenty-five thousand, they stopped to fire them in their wood-burning kiln, built in place around the bricks on site. Washington and his students nervously awaited the results. The kiln was a failure; something was wrong with its design or construction, and the whole firing of twenty-five thousand was worthless. Gamely, Washington supervised the construction of a second kiln and tried again. Once again the kiln failed. Washington wanted to make a third attempt. This time it was even harder to persuade the students to participate, and many did so only grudgingly. Teachers were embarrassed, too, at having promoted an unpopular project that failed so completely. Drawing on the same persuasive powers that had brought the school so far in such a short time, Washington induced them to clean up the mess, build another kiln, and have a final go. The firing took a week. This time, only hours from the time when the bricks would be fully fired, the kiln collapsed. His teachers advised Washington to forget it; without professionals to build and tend the kiln, they argued, his efforts were obviously in vain. Besides, he had used up his two hundred dollars from General Armstrong--and more--on wood and materials for three kilns, and there was nothing more to spend. Washington had a gold pocket watch that had been a gift from one of his New England benefactors. He took the train to Montgomery and pawned the watch for fifteen dollars. Returning to Tuskegee and the clay pit, he rallied his teachers and students for one more try. They cleared away the rubble and the ashes of the third kiln and built a fourth. This time they were completely successful, and at the end of the week they had the great satisfaction of seeing stack after stack of perfectly cured bricks needed to begin work on the new building, which they christened, 'Alabama Hall'. (79-80) The lesson which I draw from the kiln is this: often, to succeed, you must persevere beyond all reasonable expectation--long after the point at which people would totally excuse you for giving up. The question I have is--
how do you become like that? I want to know how to become like that! So let's consider the Reality beneath all of Washington's character. The reality beneath his character The explanation for all of the amazing qualities Booker possessed is the grace of God operative in his life. His Christian Faith undergirded & enabled all of these things. In regards to spiritual disciplines, It seemed as if he gathered wisdom at each stage of life, adding the best he could from each source. It is not clear exactly when he believed unto salvation, but it was likely either during his time in Malden or after at the Hampton Institute. Booker learned to pray from an early age, listening to his mother Jane. (48) Booker had a correctable spirit, which is an explanation for how he learned so much--as Proverbs 9:8 says, 'rebuke a wise man and he will love you.' One Sunday as a young boy in Malden, The Reverend Lewis Rice corrected him for playing marbles in the street rather than going to church. Booker left the marbles behind and began to attend church faithfully, being baptized by Reverend Rice. (48) Once he went to Hampton Institute, he learned the practice of regularly reading his bible from his teacher, Nathalie Lord. Booker made it a faithful practice to read the bible 15 minutes a day for the rest of his life. Booker made scripture training a fundamental part of education at Tuskegee. The chapel was the literal and figurative center of life in the community on campus. He established Friday night meetings from what he learned from Miss Lord at Hampton, and many Tuskegee students traced their conversion to one of those evenings. Those who believed signed a card that they kept, entitled 'my pledge'. It said this: 'I thank God that I was led by the Spirit to accept Christ. I am glad that I am a Christian, and I promise: 1. That, as soon as I can, I will join the church of my choice, and by word and by deed help to build up the kingdom of Christ on earth. 2. That I will, daily, think of, or read some portion of the bible, and will pray, each day of my life, closing each prayer with this verse: Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole, I want thee forever to live in my soul, Break down every idol, cast out every foe, Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. --Amen (89) Note on this pledge, the affirmation of the work of the Spirit as sovereign in salvation. He remained broadly nondenominational his entire life, but his faith was not 'watered down' as a result. He was always careful in affirming the supernatural work of God in the world. Likewise, he cared deeply about genuine conversion. At one point, wanting to be a minister, he actually enrolled at a seminary in Washington D.C., but withdrew because it seemed to make all the ministers less fit for rigorous work and risky priorities. (70) Though he did not become a minister, he carried that same passion and concern to Tuskegee. Though he focused on training students to gain trades and value physical work, he maintained an interest in an educated and integrity-driven clergy. Discouraged at what he found at Tuskegee, he said:
'I have no hesitancy,' he wrote, 'In asserting that 3/4 of the baptist ministers and 2/3 of the methodist ministers are unfit, either mentally or morally, or both, to preach the gospel to anyone or attempt to lead anyone.' Washington's solution was a bible training school on a 'thoroughly Christian but strictly undenominational basis.' (104) All of the students of Tuskegee were encouraged that their 'pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud by day shall be property, economy, education and Christian Character.' (91) Though a regimented and structured person by nature, we should not draw the inference that Booker was a legalist. Character was not mere moral improvement--it was Christian character that he was after. He saw Christian faith as the engine which enabled the life of sacrifice, humility and honor that resulted in blessings of excellence and distinction. I want to consider one chief theological understanding that enabled his life: namely, a belief in eternal life. This is fundamental because it enabled Booker to be patient with change in attitudes of discrimination, even if the decisive blows would be struck after him (which they were). W.E.B. Dubois, who would later be the first president of the NAACP, believed Washington was too passive, too willing to accept social inequality. Dubois was an atheist-- which I think contributed to his impatience with solutions that would need to extend beyond his own life. I do not think that Booker was truly willing to accept social inequality as the ultimate goal. Rather, I believe that he saw the process would take time, and that attempting to hurrying it would only result in longer delays for real change. He said, 'No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized.' (99) He said further, 'Brains, property and character for the Negro will settle the question of civil rights.' (85) Booker, because he had faith in a resurrection, could be patient and work for a change that he knew he would likely never see. So this brings me to one last practical question which Washington's life helps to answer: How can we as Christians be agents of change in difficult situations? (Racial or otherwise) 1) By being like Paul (Gal 3:27)--We are Christians before we are Americans, before we are male or female, before we are white or black or any other color, before we are for Alabama or Auburn or anything else. 2) By Staying in the conversation and refusing to be easily offended. Booker never took offense--as a conscious decision. He once said, 'I would permit no man, whatever his color may be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.' 3) Remembering that racial reconciliation is not the gospel -- it is the fruit of believing the gospel. The Holy Spirit gives the power to change, or change will not be real or lasting. Anyone who takes the gospel and replaces it with the social gospel, guts Christianity. God will not be used as a means to serve another end. God is the end for which all things exist! Works Cited Perry, John. Unshakeable Faith. Multnomah Publishers, Portland, 1999.
The Very Quotable Booker T. Washington I would permit no man, whatever his color may be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him. An inch of progress is worth a yard of complaint. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. In all my teaching I have watched carefully the influence of the tooth-brush, and I am convinced that there are few single agencies of civilization that are more far-reaching. Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. Character is power. Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him. I am afraid there is a certain class of race problem solvers who do not want the patient to get well. Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company. A race, like an individual, lifts itself up by lifting others up -- inscribed on his Tombstone.