When he does need to call attention to wrongdoings, he feels the proper place to do so is in the south. He had long before decided never to say anything in the north that he would not be willing to say in the south. While many of these southerners expected him to speak poorly of the south, he instead praised southern whites for their help in starting the school. There were around 4,000 people present, many from Alabama and some even from Tuskegee. This address began Washington's public-speaking career.

However, when he went north with General Armstrong, Thomas Bicknell, President of the National Educational Association, heard him speak and invited him to deliver an address at the next meeting of the association in Madison, WI. Washington reflects on his life as a public speaker, a vocation he never intended to have. After just four years of marriage, however, she passed away, having worn herself out. She gave birth to two sons, Booker Taliaferro and Ernest Davidson, the older of whom mastered the brickmaker's trade at Tuskegee.

In 1885, Washington married Olivia Davidson, who had been working for some time at the school and traveling north to fundraise. It was non-denominational but Christian and offered preaching services, prayer meetings, Sunday school, and several Christian societies and missionary organizations. The school also provided religious training. The school grew from 12 students at its opening to 457 at the time of the book's writing. They also typically worked over the summer months. At this point, they studied academics four days a week and worked at their trade for two days. Students were required to work for ten hours during the day and study academics for two hours in the evenings, with nearly all of their earnings given to the treasury to use to pay their board in the day school once they were able to transfer.

Not wishing to refuse these applicants, in 1884 they opened a night school based on the model used at Hampton. Many students applied to Tuskegee who had no money to pay even the small fees required. Chapter 13: Two Thousand Miles For A Five-Minute Speech

Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington