Mar 27, 2014 - Sale 2342

Sale 2342 - Lot 294

Unsold
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON CRITICIZES SOUTHERN WOMEN'S COOKING WASHINGTON, BOOKER T. Notes for a Speech given before the Birmingham Lyceum, March 30, 1899. Single leaf of Tuskegee letterhead, with the verso covered with Washington's notes. The first seven words or phrases are written in pencil, with the remainder in ink; some staining and discoloration, but entirely legible. Tuskegee, 1899

Additional Details

The original manuscript notes for a portion of a very unusual speech by Washington, who writes: "Preachers and Teachers," "For [?] wants," " raising cotton," "will to work," "Nothing about food," "away from Farming," "Cooking," "Caters;" and then he begins: "It has been surprising to me how the Negro's education has been overlooked in the very matters that ['he' crossed out and 'any' added] individual should know most about. Let us take the matter of intelligent, cleanly, healthy cooking. Here is something that directly concerns the whole race, three times a day, every day in the year, Cooking not only concerns directly the whole colored race in the state, but the health and happiness of the white race, for all of you will agree with me that a large proportion of . . ." Here the manuscript breaks off. But the remainder of the speech as it was delivered continues thus: "you depend on the Negro for the preparation of your food. How often has my heart been made to sink as I have gone through the South and into the homes of the people and found that women who could converse intelligently on Grecian history, who had studied Geometry, could analyze the most complex sentences in grammar and yet know nothing of the construction and proper proportion of the poorly and still more poorly served corn bread and fat meat that they and their families were eating three times a day. It is little trouble to find girls who can locate Pekin or the desert of Sahara on the artificial globe, but it is hard to find girls who can find on the dinner table the proper place for the carving knife and fork, or the meat and vegetable." It is rare to find Washington on the subject of food preparation, let alone so critical of the young ladies of the South.