HIS PERSONALITY.

        The average person would probably not be impressed with Dr. Carver, on first sight, as being a man of unusual ability and talents. I recall an incident of significance which occurred some years ago. Dr. Carver had been invited to speak and demonstrate his products in a meeting at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. I prepared for him as he was to spend some time with me.

        My landlady became somewhat nervous as she said, "That big man" was going to stop at her home. Early in the morning, about three o'clock, a friend of mine accompanied me to the station to meet Dr. Carver. After getting back to the house we retired until late that morning.

        After getting breakfast ready, however, I rushed upstairs to have him come to breakfast, as she nervously poised to see a great giant with a stiff neck and high collar, and with a walking cane, who would come striding downstairs as a mighty oak, with an imposing spirit of self-importance. But she was very much surprised when she saw that unassuming, unselfish, and God-fearing man of three score years, upon whose countenance radiated the spirit of friendliness, peace and good will to all mankind. After meeting Dr. Carver she soon felt perfectly comfortable again. All of that nervousness disappeared.

        She found Dr. Carver very interesting, so much until this breakfast resulted almost into a conference, we spent at least two hours at the table. He made an impression upon her which will probably linger forever. She often relates that story now to her friends. This is not the only occasion which Dr. Carver has made lasting friends in almost this same way.

        A few years ago Dr. Carver was invited to speak and make a display of his products in a certain city in Texas. The people who made this invitation to Dr. Carver, had made an agreement with the manager of a large theatre to have Dr. Carver speak there, but the manager's wife informed them that she wouldn't permit a Negro to appear in that building. Finally, however, she was persuaded to allow the meeting to be held there. After Dr. Carver had finished making his demonstration of the various products, and also the impressive

explanations of it, the manager and his wife were very much pleased and were profoundly impressed in every way. She asked Dr. Carver to be sure to come again and make a complete display of all of his products.

        Dr. Carver has lectured to students and teachers of various institutions and colleges throughout the South and parts of the North, both to colored and white people. This takes somewhat an interracial aspect, as his tours have resulted in better understanding between the races. Although he never talks on the so-called "race problem. Dr. Carver always confines his efforts on his work.

A display of the Truck Garden during the Farmers'
Conference at Tuskegee, December 7, 1928.

CHAPTER VI.

THE TUSKEGEE FARMERS' CONFERENCE

        Dr. Carver's exhibits have been looked upon as one of the outstanding phases of the Tuskegee Negro Farmers' Conference, during the past thirty years.

        The primary object of this conference is that of assisting the farmers in that section, or throughout the South, in every possible way. Dr. Carver has always been a factor in carrying out this plan of the late Dr. Washington.

        1"From the time I first began working at Tuskegee, I began to study closely not only the young people, but the condition, the weak points and the strong points, of the older people. I was very often surprised to see how much common sense and wisdom these older people possessed, notwithstanding they were wholly ignorant as far as the letter of the book was concerned.

        "About the first of January, 1892, I sent out invitations to about seventy-five of the common, hard-working farmers, as well as to mechanics, ministers and teachers, asking them to assemble at Tuskegee on the 23rd of February and spend the day in talking over their present condition, their help and their hinderances, and to see if it were possible to suggest any means by which the rank and file of the people might be able to benefit themselves.

        "In the Conference, two ends will be kept in view, first, to find out the actual industrial, moral and educational condition of the masses; second, to get as much light as possible on what is the most effective way for the young men and women whom the Tuskegee Institute and other institutions are educating, to use their education in helping the masses of the colored people to lift themselves up.

        "In this connection, it may be said that, in general, a very large majority of the colored people in the Black Belt cotton district are in debt for supplies secured through the 'mortgage

system', rent the land on which they live, and dwell in one-room log cabins. The schools are in session in the country districts not often longer than three months, and are taught in most cases in churches or log cabins with almost no apparatus or school furniture.

        "The poverty and ignorance of the Negro which show themselves by his being compelled to 'mortgage his crops,' go in debt for the food and clothes on which to live from day to day, are not only a terrible drawback to the Negro himself but a severe drain on the resources of the white man. Say what he will, the fact remains, that in the presence of the poverty and ignorance of the millions of Negroes in the Black Belt, the material, moral and educational interests of both races are making but slow headway.

        "In answering to this invitation we were surprised to find that nearly four hundred men and women of all kinds and conditions came. In my opening address I impressed upon them the fact that we wanted to spend the first part of the day in having them state plainly and simply just what their conditions were. I told them that we wanted no exaggeration, and did not want any cut-and-dried or prepared speeches, we simply wanted each person to speak in a plain, simple manner, very much as he would if he were about his own family fireside, speaking to the members of his own family. I also insisted that we confine our discussion to such matters as we ourselves could remedy, rather than in spending the time in complaining or fault finding about those things which we could not directly reach. At the first meeting of this Conference we also adopted the plan of having these common people themselves speak, and refused to allow people who were far above them in education and surroundings take up the time in merely giving advice to these representatives of the masses.

        "Very early in the history of these Conferences I found that it meant a great deal more to the people to have one individual who had succeeded in getting out of debt, ceasing to mortgage his crop, and who had bought a home and was living well, occupy the time in telling the remainder of his fellows how he had succeeded, than in having some one who was entirely out of the atmosphere of the average farmer occupy the time in merely lecturing to them.

        "I will let no man drag me down so low as to hate him." This inscription is engraved on the statue of Dr. Booker T. Washington, which was one of his sayings, and a manifestation wrought through his labors.

        The statue is a typical illustration of his pleading for a fair chance for an oppressed people; through education, industry and thrift.

This group is composed of representatives of progressive farmers from various states,
attending the Annual Negro Farmers' Conference at Tuskegee Institute, December 1928. Certificate of Merit Men are:

Left to Right, J. S. Seale, Philadelphia, Mississippi; Chris Oliver and
wife, Snowdown, Ala.; P. L. Anderson, Boley, Okla.; John C. Claybrooks, Simsboro, Ark.

        "In the morning of the first day of the Conference we had many representatives from various parts as we had time in which to tell of the industrial condition existing in their immediate community. We did not let them generalize or tell what they thought ought to be or was existing in somebody else's community, we held each person down to a statement of the facts regarding his own individual community. For example, we had them state what proportion of the people in their community owned land, what proportion lived in one-room cabins, how many were in debt, the number that mortgage their crops, and what rate of interest they were paying on their indebtedness. Under this head we also discussed the number of acres of land that each individual was cultivating, and whether or not the crop was diversified or merely be confined to the growing of cotton. We also got hold of facts from the representatives of these people concerning their educational progress; that is, we had them state whether or not a school-house existed, what kind of teacher they had and what proportion of the children were attending school. We did not stop with these matters; we took up the moral and religious condition of the communities; had them state to what extent, for example, people had been sent to jail from their communities; how many were habitual drinkers; what kind of minister they had; whether or not he was able to lead the people in morality as well as in spiritual affairs.

        "After we had got hold of facts, which enabled us to judge of the actual state of affairs existing, we spent the afternoon of the first day in hearing from the lips of these same people in what way, in their opinion, the present condition of things could be improved, and it was most interesting as well as surprising to see how clearly these people saw into their present condition, and how intelligently they discussed their weak points as well as their strong points. It was generally agreed that the mortgage system, the habit of buying on credit and paying large rates of interest, was at the bottom of much of the evil existing among the people, and the fact that so large a proportion of them lived on rented land also had much to do with keeping them down. The condition of the schools was discussed with equal frankness, and means were suggested for prolonging the school term and building school-houses. Almost

without exception they agreed that the fact that so large a proportion of the people lived in one-room cabins, where there was almost no opportunity for privacy or separation of the sexes, was largely responsible for the bad moral condition of many communities.

        "When I asked how many in the audience owned their homes, only twenty-three hands went up.

        "Aside from the colored people who were present at the Conference who reside in the "Black Belt," there were many prominent white and colored men from various parts of the country, especially representatives of the various religious organizations engaged in educational work in the South, and officers and teachers from several of the larger institutions working in the South. There correspondents present representing such papers as the New York Independent, Evening Post, New York Weekly Witness, New York Tribune, Christian Union, Boston Evening Transcript, Christian Register, The Congregationalist, Chicago Inter-Ocean, Chicago Advance, and many others.

        "At the conclusion of the first Conference the following set of declarations was adopted as showing the concensus of opinion of those composing the Conference:

        "We, some of the representatives of the colored people, living in the Black Belt, the heart of the South, thinking it might prove of interest and value to our friends throughout the country, as well as beneficial to ourselves, have met together in Conference to present facts and express opinions as to our industrial, moral and educational condition, and to exchange views as to how our own efforts and the kindly helpfulness of our friends may best contribute to our elevation.

        "First. Set at liberty with no inheritance but our bodies, without training in self-dependence, and thrown at once into commercial, civil and political relations with our former owners, we consider it a matter of great thankfulness that our condition is as good as it is, and that so large a degree of harmony exist between us and our white neighbors.

        "Second. Industrially considered, most of our people are dependent upon agriculture. The majority of them live on rented lands, mortgage their crops for the food on which to live from year to year, and usually at the beginning of each

year are more or less in debt for the supplies of the previous year.

        "Third. Not only is our own material progress hindered by the mortgage system, but also that of our white friends. It is a system that tempts us to buy much that we would do without if cash was required, and it tends to lead those who advance the provisions and lend the money, to extravagant prices and ruinous rates of interest.

        "Fourth. In a moral and religious sense, while we admit there is much laxness in morals and superstition in religion, yet we feel that much progress has been made, that there is a growing public sentiment in favor of purity, and that the people are fast coming to make their religion less of superstition and emotion and more a matter of daily living.

        "Fifth. As to our educational condition, it is to be noted that our country schools are in session on an average only three and a half months each year; and Gulf States are as yet unable to provide school-houses, and as a result the schools are held almost out-of-doors or at best in such rude quarters as the poverty of the people is able to provide; the teachers are poorly paid and often very poorly fitted for their work, as a result of which both parents and pupils take but little interest in the schools; often but few children attend, and these with great irregularity.

        "Sixth. That in view of our general condition, we would suggest the following remedies: (1) That as far as possible we aim to raise at home our own meat and bread; (2) that as fast as possible buy land, even though a very few acres at a time; (3) that a larger number of our young people be taught trades, and that they be urged to prepare themselves to enter as largely as possible all the various avocations of life; (4) that we especially try to broaden the field of labor for our women; (5) that we make every sacrifice and practice every form of economy that we may purchase land and free ourselves from our burdensome habit of living in debt; (6) that we urge our ministers and teachers to give more attention to the material condition and home life of the people; (7) that we urge that our people do not depend entirely upon the State to provide school-houses and lengthen the time of the schools, but that they take hold of the matter themselves

where the State leaves off, and by supplementing the public funds from their own pockets and by building schoolhouses, bringing about the desired results; (8) that we urge patrons to give earnest attention to the mental and moral fitness of those who teach their schools; (9) that we urge the doing away with all sectarian prejudice in the management of the schools.

        "Seventh. As the judgement of this Conference we would further declare: That we put on record our deep sense of gratitude to the good people of all sections for their assistance, and that we are glad to recognize a growing interest on the part of the best white people of the South in the education of the Negro.

        "Eight. That we appreciate the spirit of friendliness and fairness shown us by the Southern white people in matters of business in all lines of material development.

        "Ninth. That we believe our generous friends of the country can best aid in our elevation by continuing to give their help where it will result in producing strong Christian leaders who will live among the masses as object lessons, showing them how to direct their efforts towards the general uplifting of the people.

        "Tenth. That we believe we can become prosperous, intelligent and independent where we are, and discourage any efforts at wholesale emigration, recognizing that our home is to be in the South, and we urge that all strive in every way to cultivate the good feeling and friendship of those about us in all that relates to our mutual elevation."

        (Booker T. Washington, the Story of My Life and Work, part of Chap. VII, by J. L. Nichols & Company).

CHAPTER VII.

HIS CREATIVE ABILITY

        Dr. Carver has taken elements from their accustomed associations and brought them into others where they have new and multiplied significance. It is in some such manner as this, that he has been able to accomplish such marvelous results in his scientific investigations. His creative ability has enabled him to dissociate some parts of the sweet potato, the peanut, and other common products, and in his research and experimental work rearranged and reassociated some of the fragments with others. The result is something new, something useful and wholesome for human consumption.

        When we speak of Dr. Carver's creative ability we see him as a true pioneer. We see him as a path 'blazer' upon the field of new endeavors, preparing the way for others. We see him as one who creates something tangible and useful.

        Dr. Carver has been called a genius, a great scientist, a man with queer ways, and what not, etc. It is probably no more than reasonable for the popular mind to think of him as being an analytic, emotionless person who leads an apparent remote life in seeking remote facts. He takes nothing for granted, however, satisfying himself with only facts and results. His processes art based upon the application of chemical discoveries which lie at the foundation of great enterprises.

        Having these facts in view will probably lead the inquiring mind to ask "What manner of man is this?" "He creates what?" "New precedents, new rules or what?" Perhaps, but more important, he makes possible in the future, situations enriched with further possibilities, more comprehensive understanding, broader and fairer relations. Moreover, he is a great factor in the building of a new civilization.

        The reasons why agricultural conditions in the South became different from those in the North were at first chiefly due to climate and the conditions of the soil. In the South, with its rich land and long, warm growing season, tobacco

proved almost at once to be a money-making crop. Rice and indigo, and later, sugar cane and cotton were found to be exceedingly profitable, especially when cultivated on a large scale. Commercial production of this sort required extensive cultivation, cheap labor, and sufficient capital to carry on operations.

        When the gin was invented, cotton was produced only in Georgia and South Carolina. It soon spread north as far as Virginia, and by 1815 was being grown in Alabama and Mississippi. Cotton culture with slave labor was a most wasteful process because there was no rotation of crops and no use of fertilizers. Cotton was raised until the soil was exhausted; then the planter moved west to take up fresh land. This continuous movement added Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma to the 'cotton states', and was checked only when it was found that cotton would not grow successfully. Agricultural practice was very far from scientific.

        Apparently the soil around Tuskegee was worn out during the days of slavery when the process of farming was careless, and not very much attention was given to the preservation of soil fertility.

        When Professor Carver entered upon his work at Tuskegee, this worn out soil was one of the most serious problems which confronted him in his work. It was not possible for him to accomplish very much until he built-up this poor soil.

        We are now considering the solution to this most important problem. The first phase of this is soil erosion. Soil erosion is simply the process whereby the surface of the earth together with all of its intermediate forms are sculptured and worn down.

        Rainfall, sunshine, frost, wind, and the chemical action of the atmosphere combined to disintegrate and break down the rocks. Surface waters, supplied by rain and melting snow or ice, wash down the particles of disintegrated rock into the valleys. Thence these fine materials are carried downward by streams and deposited along their channels or finally borne to the sea.

        The tendency of erosion is to bring down the continents to a lowland or base plane a little above sea level. In another

chapter Dr. Carver's methods are given on building up fertile soil.

        Soil erosion is one of the most serious difficulties with which a great many farmers have to contend. For this reason I should think that whatever is said on the subject here is well worth the time.

        Dr. Carver is still working on the soils at Tuskegee, to improve their composition of humus for plant food.

        In any hilly country one can find banks of streams or ditches which show that from one to two or even more feet of soil have been washed down from adjacent hillsides and deposited on top of the soil originally at the surface. This original surface can be recognized by its black color.

        Dr. Carver shows how the evil effects of erosion on fertility arises, in a large part, from the removal of the vegetable matter and of the finer silt and clay of the mineral portion of the soil. The great importance of vegetable matter in the soil, and how it can be readily removed by erosion is obvious. The silt and clay contains very much larger percentage of the essential elements for the plant growth than does the sandy portion. For this reason, the removal of the silt and clay, which of course are carried away because they can be held in suspension by the water, while the sand cannot, removes the most fertile part of the soil.

        The proper management of these soils, and the successful growing of various crops, is the result of constant study and tireless efforts of Dr. Carver, through several years. In no better way could his creative ability be manifested than by this marvelous achievement.

        In Dr. Moton's lecture to the Farmers' Conference, December 6, 1928, he said, "Thirty-eight years ago when Booker T. Washington called the first meeting of the Farmers' Conference there was widespread dissatisfaction in the South with the Negro farmer. Many of you here today recall what was being said. They said the negro was lazy, shiftless; that he wouldn't work unless he was made to; that he farmed extravagantly, pauperizing the soil; that he had no knowledge or capacity for agricultural economy; that he was a burden rather than an asset to the South.

        "To those who made these charges they must have seemed

true. They could point to example after example of Negro farmers who were shiftless, who never seemed to get ahead, and whose methods were wasteful. In the surface of it there may have been much to justify these charges. But Booker T. Washington, with that keen and understanding insight which characterized his life, saw beneath and beyond the surface. He too saw black farmers, housed in hovels, letting the soil go down and down, and failing to get the greatest production."

A group of members of the Carver School Farm Club,
snapped as they paused a few minutes, while working on the Carver School
Farm, Young, Miss.; (Route 1, Lumberton) Saturday, July 14, 1920.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CARVER SCHOOL FARM CLUB

        In the agricultural section of South Mississippi, at a little place known as Young, (five miles east of Lumberton, the post office) a group of farmers organized the Carver School Farm Club, February 18, 1918.

        It was the purpose of this organization to call the citizens of the community together in conference, from time to time; to discuss their industrial, moral and educational conditions; to exchange views; to present facts, and also to devise plans to do constructive work for the welfare of the community.

        This organization was also composed of an inter-racial committee, which endeavored to study race relations from every point of view. Some of the leading white citizens took an active part in co-operating with this movement in bringing about a better understanding between the two races in that section.

        During the first three years a school farm of four acres were maintained and cultivated by members of the Club. The money realized from sales of the crops was placed into the School Farm Treasury. This money was to be used in supplementing the length of the school term, and also in erecting a better school building and beautifying the school grounds.