CHAPTER XVII.

THE TUSKEGEE NEGRO CONFERENCE.

How the Conference Movement was Started--The First Invitations that were Sent Out--The Financial Condition of the Negroes in the Black Belt--The Mortgage System--The Large Number that Came to the First Conference a Surprise to Author--Author States in His Opening Address His Plans of Conducting the Conference--The Method of Ascertaining the Condition of the People in the Various Communities--Things Discussed--Others Present Besides Negro Farmers of the Black Belt--Newspaper Representatives Present--The Declarations of the First Conference--The Number of Conferences Already Held--The Attendance at the Conferences--Similar Conferences in Other States--Local Conferences--The Spirit of the Earlier Conferences as Compared with the Later Ones--What These Conferences have Taught the People--Some Extracts from Talks or Reports at the Conferences Made by Black Belt Negroes--The Workers’ Conference--Of Whom Composed--The Subjects Discussed in Workers’ Conferences.