ERIC EJ840076: Agricultural Education at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School

2007·0.1 MB·English

by  ERIC

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AT THE TUSKEGEE NORMAL
AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL

D. Barry Croom, Associate Professor
North Carolina State University

Abstract

This study identified events during the life of Booker Taliaferro Washington and during the early
years of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School that may have contributed to the
development of agricultural and industrial education for African Americans. Washington’s
experiences as a former slave and his observations of life for African Americans in the South in
the late 1800’s may have shaped his philosophy of agricultural and industrial education.
Washington believed that agricultural and industrial education contributed to the mental
development of students, helped students secure the skills necessary to earn a living, and taught
students the dignity of work. African American students wanted an education, but they often
could not afford to attend school because they lacked the funds to pay tuition. The labor system
and agricultural and industrial education provided the means by which they could labor for their
education. It is concluded that Washington saw that the need for farmers, skilled artisans, and
machinists was equally important to the academic preparation of lawyers, physicians, and
professors. Agricultural and industrial education met this need. Under Washington’s leadership,
Tuskegee Institute offered 37 industrial occupations on the campus and school farms.

Introduction slavery and into citizenship, a task that
proved extraordinarily difficult given the
On July 4, 1881, a normal school for state of African American schools and
African Americans opened its doors for the schooling during the late 1800’s.
first time in the village of Tuskegee, Washington’s students possessed the barest
Alabama. Its principal, Booker Taliaferro of social and literary skills. They had to
Washington, was an African American and a learn how to dress, eat nutritious foods in a
former slave. Washington believed in the graceful manner, maintain their personal
importance of a practical industrial hygiene, and learn how to interact socially
education. Tuskegee Normal and Industrial with each other and with members of other
School was established and administered for ethnic backgrounds (Washington, 1995).
that purpose. Tuskegee students were unique The problem of educating African
in that they were former slaves or the Americans in the years after their
children and grandchildren of former slaves. emancipation was not the result of an
This influenced how Washington viewed inferior intellect, but rather the result of
agricultural and industrial education, and inferior opportunities for education,
how he administered the educational industry, and livelihood. Before Washington
programs of the Tuskegee School (Harlan, could prepare his students for a professional
1975). In order to be relevant to an entire career, he believed he had to teach them to
race of people who had only recently been have an appreciation for professional service
afforded the right to a formal education, (Harlan, 1975).
agricultural and industrial education had to Washington believed that for education
concern itself with more than academic to be of any use, it had to have practical
skills. It was essential that students learn the significance. Education must strive to
importance of and an appreciation for educate the young men and women in their
personal improvement and professional present environment, though he did not
work habits. Washington committed himself doubt the value of an education that exposed
to transitioning a race of people out of students to a wide variety of subjects
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including the arts, foreign languages, and the internal criticism for accuracy and external
sciences. Given the lack of time and criticism for authenticity. The most recent
resources to provide a holistic educational editions of publications authored by
experience, Washington believed it is in the Washington, W.E.B. Dubois, and others
best interests of students to offer them an were used in the literature review. This
education that provided useful work in their accounts for the modern dates on some
present environment, so as to provide the publications in the reference list. Readers
best service to mankind (Washington, 1882). should not assume that the findings and
This theory served as the foundation upon conclusions of this study are causal elements
which the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial for modern theories associated with
School was built, and established agricultural and industrial education, nor
Washington as an eminent educator at the should the reader generalize the findings
turn of the 20th century. beyond the specific historical events
described in this paper.
Purpose
Findings
The first objective of this study was to
describe historical events during the life of One of the first lines in Washington’s
Booker T. Washington that may have (1995) biography, Up From Slavery was, "I
contributed to the development of was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin
agricultural and industrial education for County, Virginia. My life had its beginnings
African Americans at the Tuskegee Normal in the midst of the most miserable, desolate,
and Industrial School. The second objective and discouraging surroundings" (p. 29).
was to describe the historical events Washington was born to a slave mother and
associated with the operation of the an unknown father on the James Burroughs
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial school plantation in Franklin County, Virginia
during selected years of Washington’s around 1859. Like most slave births, his was
tenure as principal, specifically 1881 to probably on a bed of rags spread on the dirt
1907. floor of his mother’s slave cabin with her
sister serving as midwife (Harlan, 1975). An
Method inventory of the estate of James Burroughs
in December, 1861 listed several slaves
Historical research procedures outlined including one named “Bowker” valued at
by Gall, Borg, and Gall (1996) were used in $400 (Scott, 1863). As a slave on the
this study. A preliminary bibliographical Burroughs farm, Washington’s early life
source was created consisting of primary was similar to most African American slave
and secondary sources. Primary sources boys – deplorable living conditions and no
included but were not limited to the personal opportunity for formal education.
correspondence, published manuscripts, and In early 1863, the Emancipation
speeches of Washington, and photographs Proclamation was read to the slaves on the
and demographic data from Tuskegee Burroughs farm. In the crowd that day was a
University. Secondary sources included but young Booker Washington and his family
were not limited to data from refereed (Washington, 1995). In addition to the tears
journal articles and historical information of joy in his mother’s eyes, Washington
available from established institutions. remembered that these newly freed slaves
Secondary sources were compared to were suddenly moved from a life where
selected primary sources to ascertain their everything had been controlled by someone
accuracy. else to a new life wherein they were required
This study conforms to the guidelines of to think and fend for themselves. The great
the American Psychological Association responsibility of having to think and act
(APA) regarding the terms used to describe freely and provide for themselves and their
ethnic groups (APA, 2001). Using the families was a sudden and awesome thing
methods prescribed by Gall et al. (1996), (Washington, 1995). “It was very much like
sources of information were subjected to turning a youth of ten or twelve years out
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into the world to provide for himself.” (p. Virginia and attended seminary for a brief
40). After emancipation, Washington’s time in Washington, D.C. As a young
family moved to Malden in the Kanawha teacher, Washington aspired to provide his
Valley of West Virginia. grade school pupils with as good an
As a young man, Washington worked in education as he could muster. In a letter to a
the salt furnaces and coal mines of the Hampton teacher circa 1877, he thanked his
Kanawha Valley (Washington, 1995). colleague for the textbooks he had sent to
Eventually, he was able to secure his little West Virginia school, and asked for
employment as a servant in the home of more teaching materials as could be sent to
General Lewis Ruffner, the owner of the him. His first year of teaching had found
coal mine. In the Ruffner household, him not only learning algebra for the first
Washington learned that improvement in time but also teaching it to his eager students
one’s social condition was strongly (Washington, 1878). In My Larger
dependent on intelligent energy (Harlan, Education (Washington, 1911), Washington
1975). He learned to be attentive to details recounted how he discovered that his
and how to maintain a clean and neat students tended to learn best when provided
appearance personally and in his with concrete examples and situations
professional work. Under the guidance of pertinent to the lesson. In a lesson on
the Ruffners, Washington developed an geography, students had listlessly followed
interest in a higher (secondary) education. In his instruction in the classroom. At recess,
the fall of 1872, he left West Virginia to the children assembled at a stream near the
seek an education at Hampton Normal and schoolhouse and began to discover:
Agricultural Institute in Hampton, Virginia
(Washington, 1995). …as we waded along the stream, dozens
Hampton Institute was an industrial of islands, capes, and peninsulas, with
school for African Americans and Native here and there a little lake or bay, which,
Americans. It was established and as some of the pupils pointed out, would
administered under the leadership of Samuel furnish a safe harbour [sic] for ships if
Chapman Armstrong, a former United States the stream were only large enough.
Army officer and Freedmen’s Bureau agent. (Washington, 1911, p. 132)
After traveling almost 500 miles to reach
Hampton, and being virtually penniless, As the students began to distinguish the
Washington’s appearance did not create a similarities and differences between the
favorable image to the head instructor. stream bed and the geography lesson, it
Washington recounted in his autobiography became apparent to Washington that he had
that his entrance exam into Hampton was to discovered a powerful new teaching tool
clean a lecture hall (Washington, 1995). recognized today as experiential learning.
Washington assumed that his performance Writing about it years afterward, he recalled,
on this task was used to determine if he was
indeed a potential student or merely a “I have lost no opportunity to impress
vagrant looking for a handout. The head upon our teachers the importance of
instructor was impressed with his diligence training their students to study, analyze,
and work ethic, and enrolled him as a and compare actual things, and to use
Hampton student. He excelled in most what they have learned in the school
things and like other students, worked for room and in the text-book, to enable
his room and board (Washington, 1995). them to observe, think about, and deal
The Hampton Normal and Agricultural with the objects and situations of actual
Institute (1875) identified Washington as a life.” (Washington, 1911, p. 134)
senior student during the 1874-75 term. On
June 10, 1875, Hampton Institute awarded The energy by which young
him a license to teach a graded school Washington approached his teaching duties
(Whipple & Armstrong, 1875). attracted the attention of his former
Upon graduation from Hampton, principal. In 1879, Washington was invited
Washington taught school in Malden, by Armstrong, principal of Hampton
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Institute, to give the post-graduate lecture at libraries of friends of the Tuskegee school
Hampton to share his experiences as a (Washington, 1881a). Fourth, many of the
young teacher and graduate of Hampton students in the first class were destitute and
with the rest of the Hampton students could not afford the tuition. Washington was
(Armstrong, 1879). Armstrong believed that keenly aware of this last problem. In the
Washington was a model of the benefits of very early days of his work at Tuskegee,
the Hampton system. Eventually Washington had surveyed the rural Black
Washington found his way onto the faculty communities of Alabama. He ate and slept
of Hampton (Harlan, 1975). One of his in the homes of sharecroppers and former
responsibilities was providing instruction slaves, learning from this experience the
and leadership to Native American students. particular needs of African Americans in the
Washington excelled as a teacher, and late nineteenth century (Washington, 1995).
garnered the favor of Armstrong who was to The rural South, Washington observed, was
become a valuable mentor and supporter. one of extreme poverty among African
In 1881, the Alabama State Legislature Americans.
appropriated funds for the purpose of Washington turned his attention first
establishing a normal school for African toward establishing a permanent footing in
Americans in Tuskegee, Alabama. The the Tuskegee community by securing a
commissioners appointed to establish the permanent site for the school. By
school wrote to General Armstrong seeking establishing a cooperative, energetic, and
a White teacher for the new school. On May permanent presence in the community,
31, 1881, General Armstrong responded, Washington hoped to simultaneously abate
“The only man I can suggest is one Mr. these and many other problems,
Booker T. Washington.” (Armstrong, 1881, especially the race problem. Washington
p. 110). Washington accepted the job, and located an abandoned plantation on the
headed south to Tuskegee in the summer of outskirts of Tuskegee and decided that it
1881. would be an excellent site for the new
school. The main house had burned some
The Tuskegee Normal and time previously, and the only buildings on
Industrial School the old plantation reserved for the
school were two cabins, a stable, an
On July 4, 1881, the Tuskegee Normal outhouse, and a henhouse (Washington,
and Industrial School opened for students. 1995). The first classes that met on the old
Washington saw four major problems at the plantation used the henhouse as the
outset of the work of Tuskegee. First, the classroom. The first desks were
school had to provide a system of education homemade affairs with boards serving as
for a race of people that was essentially rough desks. The blackboards supplied by
illiterate. Second, the efforts of the new the carpentry department were very
school had to convince the White rudimentary in design and construction
community that an education of value could (Gregory, 1915).
be provided for the African Americans
(Washington, 1995). Third, the school The Labor System at the Tuskegee School
initially met in a local church, and it was
apparent that permanent school buildings In the long run, Washington realized that
were needed. The $2000 from the Alabama significant measures had to be taken to build
Legislature would not be enough to the school and make it a permanent
construct buildings and provide the material institution. After careful thought, he
for instruction. There were virtually no adopted the Hampton Institute method that
supplies or materials with which to begin placed students on a labor system for
school, and yet Washington expected to their room and board (Washington, 1881c).
open the school approximately one week In this manner, Washington hoped to build
after arriving in Tuskegee. There were no the school, feed the students, and
maps, or teaching aids readily available, provide practical experience in the
and books had to be borrowed from the industrial arts.
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Washington introduced manual labor by Washington had developed positive
having students clear woodlands for the relationships among the wealthy Northern
planting of crops. The students reluctantly philanthropists because of the work at
performed this and subsequent other Tuskegee. He found himself in a position to
laborious tasks. Their reluctance stemmed abate some of the hostilities between Black
primarily from the fact that many of them and white citizens. In 1895, Washington was
had been professional teachers prior to invited to give a speech at the opening of the
attending Tuskegee. The early days of African American Farm Exhibit at the
elementary and secondary education did not Cotton States and International Exposition
see many college graduates as teachers. in Atlanta, Georgia. Washington exhorted
Many of the teachers in early African African Americans to “cast down your
American schools were not even high school bucket where you are” and make peace with
graduates. Their license to teach was issued the Southern whites without demanding the
by the county in which they taught after rights of suffrage and enfranchisement:
passing what was often a rudimentary exam.
Many of Tuskegee’s early students were We [African Americans] shall constitute
these teachers whose opinion of their one-third and more of the ignorance and
academic status often exceeded their actual crime of the South, or one-third or more
academic performance, and the result was a of its intelligence and progress; we shall
corps of students who felt that manual labor contribute one-third to the business and
was beneath them (Harlan, 1975). To get the industrial prosperity of the South, or we
labor system moving at Tuskegee, shall prove a veritable body of death,
Washington would lead the students out to stagnating, depressing, retarding every
the forest and chop timber alongside them to effort to advance the body politic.
set the example of the importance and (Washington, 1895, p. 5)
dignity of hard work (Gregory, 1915). In
spite of early student resistance, the system Washington explained to the audience
took hold quickly and by the middle of the that African Americans, in slavery,
first month on the new school property, had demonstrated a willingness to
students had cleared 25 acres of farmland by work with whites. Now that slavery was no
manual labor (Washington, 1881b). longer the issue, African Americans
In July, 1881 Tuskegee School trustees would perhaps be more inclined to cooperate
had secured a note to purchase the 100-acre with whites to assure mutual progress, and
plantation upon which the school resided. that said progress would not
Within four months of opening its doors, hinge on socially divisive issues.
Washington’s Tuskegee Institute paid the Washington stated, “In all things that are
debt on the land and owned a free and clear purely social we can be as separate as the
title to the property. Now Washington fingers, yet one as the hand in all things
focused his efforts on recruiting high quality essential to mutual progress” (Washington,
teachers and constructing suitable buildings. 1895, p. 4).
During that first year of operation, Tuskegee
grew to 112 students and three teachers The Curriculum at Tuskegee
(Tuskegee State Normal School, 1882). New
buildings were needed in order to Washington believed that the strength of
accommodate an increasing student Tuskegee rested in the agricultural and
enrollment (Washington, Davidson, & industrial education program instead of the
Cardwell, 1882). Students built a first academic program, and in 1905 the focus of
building, and many of the earlier buildings the curriculum shifted towards agricultural
on the campus were constructed by student and industrial education as the primary
labor and from bricks made on the Tuskegee function of the school (Washington, 1904).
campus. This first new building was three Teachers of academic programs were
stories tall and contained classrooms, a required to reduce the students’ workload in
chapel, a library, and lodging for students English, mathematics, history, and related
(Tuskegee Normal School, 1882). subjects (Harlan, 1983).
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During this period, Washington land grant universities authorized under the
introduced the concept of dovetailing. 1890 Morrill Act were predominantly
Washington derived the term from the type primary and secondary schools, and
of wood joints commonly used in carpentry, remained so until the late 1920’s when
and was a combination of academic and college-level enrollments finally exceeded
industrial subjects. Washington required primary and secondary enrollments (Harris
academic teachers to use industrial and & Worthen, 2004). Washington believed in
agricultural subject matter as the basis for higher education for Blacks, but not as a
assignments. Math teachers found substitute for agricultural and industrial
themselves teaching students to calculate education. He believed that a professional
feed rations and English teachers were soon class of African Americans could only
assigning home economics students to write survive if supported by a foundation of
papers on the methods of cooking African Americans working in the industrial
vegetables. Washington’s goal was to class who could afford to pay for the service
eliminate the differences between academic of the professional class (Washington,
and industrial subjects. Academic teachers 1899).
complained that dovetailing eliminated
“learning for the sake of learning”. Conclusions and Discussion
Academic teachers were also quick to point
out that the agricultural and industrial In reflecting on the beginnings of
program utilized the time-consuming agricultural education for African
apprenticeship method that lessened the Americans, did the profession inadvertently
amount of time available for academic install a “glass ceiling” that perpetuated the
instruction (Bruce, 1906). Regardless of idea that the best African Americans could
resistance by the teaching staff, Washington hope for were service occupations in
believed in the dovetailing method and agriculture and industry? In his zeal to
arranged an elaborate system to insure its establish a useful school for Blacks in rural
application in the classroom. In a letter to Alabama, did Washington create a system
the principal of the Chicago Normal School, that prevented his students from reaching
Washington wrote: beyond manual and service labor?
During the latter part of the 19th century,
When a student of one of the shops is as white industrial schools formed into
required to write a composition for his engineering and the professional sciences,
industrial instructor, this instructor industrial schools for African Americans
examines the paper and marks it as to its tended to focus on less ambitious goals.
technical correctness; the paper is then These schools tended to focus on traditional
sent to the English division of the agricultural subjects and manual trades.
academic department where it is Washington believed that the status of
examined and marked upon the African Americans was deteriorating in the
grammar. (Washington, 1907, p. 150) years following reconstruction. African
Americans were without marketable skills,
Under Washington’s leadership, the and had seemingly lost their incentive for
dovetailing method was strictly enforced. self-improvement (Harlan, 1975).
Teachers who could not or would not use it Washington believed that agricultural
in their lesson plans were reprimanded or and industrial education served a distinct
dismissed (Washington, 1906). To ensure and necessary purpose in the mental
that agricultural and industrial education development of students. A second purpose
would continue to thrive, Washington of agricultural and industrial education was
effectively held off attempts to convert the to help students secure the skills necessary
institution into a college or university. This to earn a living. A third purpose was to teach
was not entirely unusual because of the poor students the dignity of work. Washington
condition and limited availability of public saw all of these purposes as interconnected.
schools for African Americans in the late Thousands of African American students in
1800’s and early 1900’s. The majority of Alabama wanted an education, but because
Journal of Agricultural Education 18 Volume 48, Number 2, 2007
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they lacked the funds to pay tuition and the enormous task of educating an entire race of
means to secure these funds, they often people, Tuskegee, Hampton and other
could not attend school. Washington deemed industrial schools had to survive the White
agricultural and industrial education as a supremacist sentiment that often surrounded
means for allowing students to attend school their work, and also defend against attacks
by providing the means by which they could by the African American intellectual elite.
labor for their education. Further, Agricultural and industrial education strove
Washington deemed agricultural and to develop African Americans into skilled
industrial skill development as the useful workers and business persons and perfect
byproduct of this type of education. their self-esteem. Dubois (2004) disagreed
Furthermore, Washington believed that with this in The Souls of Black Folk by
200 years of slavery had effectively stripped asserting that Washington’s efforts to create
African Americans of their dignity. skilled artisans were useless without the
Washington believed that as long as slavery right of suffrage. Washington’s
existed the plantation masters were accommodation to White superiority worked
compelled to keep the African American in against the efforts of agricultural and
a state of ignorance to assure contentment industrial schools to improve the self-esteem
with the condition of servitude. With the of African Americans. Dubois and others
abolition of slavery, he contended that to contended that Washington’s disdain for
elevate the African American race required higher education for African Americans was
an educational system equal in value to that disingenuous because he needed college-
of the Caucasian race (Washington, 1995). educated African Americans to operate the
After emancipation, African Americans had Tuskegee Institute (Dubois). Black
to learn that there was indeed a certain intellectuals viewed Washington’s speech at
amount of dignity in labor (Washington, the Atlanta Cotton States and International
1882). Washington did not see mental and Exposition in 1895 as an accommodation of
manual training as a new idea, but he White superiority.
believed that it was the first best hope for Dubois failed to acknowledge that
freed men. The Emancipation Proclamation Washington was indeed working behind the
had freed the slaves, but had also left them scenes for suffrage for African Americans
with virtually no resources beyond the and more equitable relationships between
ability to perform manual labor. Agricultural African Americans and their White
and industrial education taught freed slaves counterparts in business, industry, and
how to read and write, and provided them government (Washington, 1904).
with manual skills necessary to find suitable Washington’s successful career as a
employment. Contrary to the way some of southern Black man was built on his ability
his contemporaries viewed him; Washington to compromise, and yet he provided funding
believed that a need existed for academic and leadership to efforts to repeal laws
education in the preparation of lawyers, discriminating against Blacks. Even though
physicians and professors. However, he saw Dubois and Washington disagreed on the
that the need for skilled artisans and education of Blacks, they worked together to
machinists was just as significant abolish Jim Crow laws in Georgia and
(Washington, 1882). Agricultural and Tennessee, and they both shared the same
industrial education provided this through its goal of elevating the Black race out of
labor system and Washington’s dovetailing poverty (Forth, 1987; Harlan, 1971;
method of instruction. As a normal and Washington & Dubois, 1907). Furthermore,
industrial school, the Tuskegee Institute correspondence between Washington and
under Washington’s leadership offered 37 Tuskegee donors does not indicate a
industrial occupations on the campus and systematic attempt to relegate African
1,000 acres of land (Washington, 1995). Americans to lower income service
The development of agricultural and professions (Harlan, 1983). Tuskegee’s
industrial schools for African Americans in mission was to prepare teachers, business
the years following the American Civil War professionals, farmers, and tradesmen.
was no easy endeavor. While engaged in the Along with technical knowledge came
Journal of Agricultural Education 19 Volume 48, Number 2, 2007
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lessons about the need for a strong work Armstrong, S. C. (1879). Personal
ethic and the appropriateness of self- communication from Samuel Chapman
improvement. Washington’s message of Armstrong to Booker T. Washington,
self-help and self-improvement was February 10, 1879. In L. R. Harlan, P.
congruent with the personal views of many Daniel, S. B. Kaufman, R. W. Smock & W.
of the philanthropists he courted, and donors M. Welty (Eds.), The Booker T. Washington
were drawn to Washington and his work at papers (Vol. 2, pp. 75-77). Urbana, IL:
Tuskegee (Harlan, 1983). Washington veiled University of Illinois Press (Reprinted from
his efforts on behalf of Black suffrage Armstrong letterbooks, president's office
largely because he could neither afford to vault, Hampton Institute, Virginia, 1879).
alienate southern Whites nor damage his
ability to raise funds and support for Armstrong, S. C. (1881). Personal
Tuskegee. Tuskegee may have been built communication from Samuel Chapman
with funds derived from Northern Armstrong to George Washington Campbell
philanthropy, but there was no doubt that the and other trustees of Tuskegee Normal
school existed very much in a southern School, May 31, 1881. In L. R. Harlan, P.
political environment. Daniel, S. B. Kaufman, R. W. Smock, & W.
Has the glass ceiling disappeared? M. Welty (Eds.), The Booker T. Washington
Washington’s Tuskegee served a useful papers (Vol. 2, pp. 127-128). Urbana, IL:
purpose in the training of African Americans University of Illinois Press (Reprinted from
for industrial trades, and his work in the Armstrong letterbooks, president's office
community of Tuskegee, was a significant vault, Hampton Institute, Virginia, 1(1), 1-2,
attempt to encourage good relations between 1881).
the races. However, regardless of how the
Whites of the village of Tuskegee felt about Bruce, R. C. (1906). Personal
Booker Washington, the ethnic unrest of the communication from Roscoe Conkling
early and mid-twentieth century indicated Bruce to Booker T. Washington, April 12,
that the U. S. was not yet ready to accept the 1906. In L. R. Harlan & R. W. Smock
African American on his terms. (Eds.), The Booker T. Washington papers.
Has agricultural education changed (Vol. 8, pp. 125-126), Urbana, IL:
significantly for African Americans in University of Illinois Press (Reprinted from
recent years? Croom, Moore and Armbruster B. T. Washington papers, Tuskegee
(2005) surveyed the participants of the 2003 University, Alabama, 1906).
national FFA career development events to
determine their reasons for participating in Croom, D., Moore, G., & Armbruster, J.
agricultural education and the FFA. Of the (2005) National FFA career development
2,145 survey responses, none came from events: An introspective inquiry. In
African American students. If there were J. Kotrlik (Ed.) Southern Agricultural
any African American students in the Education Research Conference
national career development events, it would Proceedings, Agricultural Education
seem that at least one or two would have Division, Southern Association of
completed the survey instrument. The Agricultural Scientists. Little Rock, AK:
implication is that African Americans Louisiana State University.
continue to represent an underserved
population in agricultural education, and the Dubois, W. (2004). The souls of black
profession should find better ways to “turn folk. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.
them on” to agricultural careers.
Forth, C. E. (1987). Booker T.
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D. BARRY CROOM is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Extension
Education at North Carolina State University, Box 7607, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7607.
E-Mail: [email protected].

Journal of Agricultural Education 22 Volume 48, Number 2, 2007