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Everything was very crude at Hampton when I first went there. There were about two hundred students. There was but one substantial building, together with some old government barracks. There were no table cloths on the meal tables, and that which was called tea or coffee was served to us in yellow bowls. Corn bread was our chief food. Once a week we got a taste of white bread.

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON REHEARSING HIS GRADUATING ORATION AT HAMPTON. HIS FIRST SPEECH.

While taking the regular literary and industrial courses at Hampton, next to my regular studies I was most fond of the debating societies, of which there were two or three. The first subject that I debated in public was whether or not the execution of Maj. Andre was justifiable. After I had been at Hampton a few months I helped to organize the “After Supper Club.” I noticed that the students usually had about twenty minutes after tea when no special duty called them; so, about twenty-five of us agreed to come together each evening and spend those twenty minutes in the discussion of some important subject. These meetings were a constant source of delight and were most valuable in preparing us for public speaking.