This collection contains two handwritten essays by James E. Tubb advocating industrial education, a form of general education and skill-based training proposed in the early 20th century by Booker T. Washington, to provide a foundation for African Americans to gain economic stability.

The first essay, Industrial Education -- Its Effects upon Civil Life, is written on stationary printed with Office of James E. Tubb, Lawyer and Waverly, Tenn., 190_, indicating that Tubb wrote one or both essays in the collection. The essays are circa 1900-1909 based on the essays' subject matter.

Both essays describe three kinds of education -- of the mind, of the heart, and of the hand -- and how they should be taught together for a more effective, well-rounded education. Both focus on industrial education as a means of helping African Americans support themselves, with the second essay mentioning Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute and its students desire for general education and training.