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Show Colored Man Has Passed Through the "Silly Stae" Chicago, Dec. 5. The economic, luornl and religious progress of the negroes of the south, especially that of the graduates of the Tuskcgee Normal Nor-mal and Industrial Institute, were detailed de-tailed by Booker T. Washington, the institute's principal. In a series of lectures In different parts of the city yesterday, the most Important of these being in the evening, when he nddresscd the members of the Chicago Chi-cago Sunday Evning Club "Tho southern negro has passed through the silly" stage," the speaker said. "Years ago when a young negro put on patent leather shoes, a red vest and other highly colored garments and walked through the streets people peo-ple said to thcmscUes. 'There's an educated ed-ucated negro for you' and immediately immediate-ly made up their minds that education was harmful to the negro race. "The race has undergone a remarkable remark-able change in the last twenty-live years. Every race has its silly stages' and the negroes hae passed' through thelr's. I " hy, I can remember when I was 12 years old. I thou:hl I was so smart that 1 used to attempt to give my parents adicc on family government. That is an indication of the 'silly'! part of a man's life. "When Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves only 2 per cent of the negroes could read or write. Now over 50 per cent of them can read and write. Only in two instances have graduates of my institute been sent to prison for break ing the laws." j |