ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606210011
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN ADAMS
Today, Booker T. Washington's spirit is kept alive through the work of his family. Since Thursday, about 85 of Washington's descendents have been holding their first family reunion at Tuskegee University in Alabama.
Eric Hughes, Washington's great-grandson, remembers his mother and grandmother teaching him about his remarkable ancestor. ``I was influenced by his burning desire to improve not only his own condition but the condition of the whole race,'' he said from Denver, where he lives.
His brother, Ernest Davidson Hughes, has said that Washington's memory ``is like a light shining on us.''
This afternoon, in the cemetery on the grounds of Tuskegee University, Washington's family will lay a wreath on his grave.
Their reunion theme is ``Cast down your bucket where you are,'' Washington's entreaty to Southern blacks to remain on and improve their home soil. It made him a famous man when first he uttered it in 1895 at the Atlanta Exposition.
Community involvement is in the Washington blood, and they take it very seriously.
Seven years ago, the Hughes brothers started Project Excel - an education program for disadvantaged children in Denver. Eric discovered when his daughter, Mylinh, began first grade that many of her classmates lacked the preschool experience they needed. ``I knew if those children didn't get extra help, they'd fall farther behind,'' he said.
He and his brother brought in volunteers to help the children catch up - and they did. ``With children that young you can see the progress right away,'' he said. Furthermore, with donations from local PTAs and U.S. West Communications, where Eric is tariff manager, students in Project Excel are able to take field trips to bookstores. For the children, many of whom have never been inside a bookstore before, the best part is that they can choose and buy some books of their own.
``Our goal is that if they start out behind they don't stay behind,'' Eric said.
Would Booker T. Washington approve? ``I think so,'' his great-grandson said.
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