I reached Tuskegee, as I have said, early in June, 1881. The first month I spent in finding accommodations for the school, and in travelling through Alabama, examining ... the ... life of the people, ... I ate and slept with the people, in their little cabins. I saw their farms, their schools, their churches. Since, in ... most of these visits, there had been no notice given in advance that a stranger was expected, I had the advantage of seeing the real, everyday life of the people.