Instead of chairs we used stools which the students constructed by nailing together three pieces of rough board.

As a rule, the furniture in the students' rooms during the early days of the school consisted of a bed, some stools, and sometimes a rough table made by the students.

The plan of having the students make the furniture is still followed, but the number of pieces in a room has been increased, and the workmanship has so improved that little fault can be found with the articles now.

One thing that I have always insisted upon at Tuskegee is that everywhere there should be absolute cleanliness.

Over and over again the students were reminded in those first years--and are reminded now--that people would excuse us for our poverty, for our lack of comforts and conveniences, but that they would not excuse us for dirt.
Another thing that has been insisted upon at the school is the use of the tooth-brush.