I had my biggest disappointment at the opening of the Kanawha Valley School. My stepfather had determined that, for financial reasons, I could not be spared from my work. So I was not allowed to go to school. The disappointment was made even worse when I saw the other children going to school. However, despite this I was determined to learn anyway.

I threw myself into mastering the contents of the "blue-back" speller. My mother's sympathy for my plight caused her to find a way to help me.

After a while, arrangements were made for the teacher to give me some lessons at night after work. I was so glad to get these night lessons that I think I learned more than the children who were going to school during the day.

My night school experience gave me faith in the "night school idea" that I used years later at both Hampton and Tuskegee.