A partial opportunity of this kind, one that seemed to me might serve as an entering wedge, presented itself in 1893, when the international meeting of Christian Workers was held at Atlanta, Ga.

When this invitation came to me, I had engagements in Boston that seemed to make it impossible for me to speak in Atlanta.

Still, after looking over my list of dates and places carefully, I found that I could take a train from Boston that would get me into Atlanta about thirty minutes before my address was to be delivered, and that I could remain in that city before taking another train for Boston.

My invitation to speak in Atlanta stipulated that I was to confine my address to five minutes.

The question, then, was whether or not I could put enough into a five-minute address to make it worth while for me to make such a trip.
I knew that the audience would be largely composed of the most influential class of white men and women, and that it would be a rare opportunity for me to let them know what we were trying to do at Tuskegee, as well as to speak to them about the relations of the races.
So I decided to make the trip.