Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915. Representative of the last generation of black American leaders born in slavery, he spoke on behalf of the large majority of blacks who lived in the South but had lost their ability to vote through disfranchisement by southern legislatures. While his opponents called his powerful network of supporters the "Tuskegee Machine," Washington maintained power because of his ability to gain support of numerous groups: influential whites; the black business, educational and religious communities nationwide; financial donations from philanthropists, and his accommodation to the political realities of the age of
Jim Crow segregationThe Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
.
Washington was born into slavery to Jane, an enslaved woman, and a white father, a nearby planter, in a rural area of the southwestern
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
Piedmont. After emancipation, his mother moved the family to rejoin her husband in
West VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
; there Washington worked in a variety of manual labor jobs before making his way to
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
seeking an education. He worked his way through Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now
Hampton UniversityHampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...
) and attended college at
Wayland SeminaryWayland Seminary was the Washington, D.C. school of the National Theological Institute. The Institute was established beginning in 1865 by the American Baptist Home Mission Society, designed primarily for providing education and training for African-American freedmen to enter into the ministry...
(now
Virginia Union UniversityVirginia Union University is a historically black university located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It took its present name in 1899 upon the merger of two older schools, Richmond Theological Institute and Wayland Seminary, each founded after the end of American Civil War by the American...
). In 1876, Washington returned to live in
Malden, West VirginiaMalden is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States, within the Charleston metro area. The ZIP code for Malden is 25306 and the area code is 304. Malden is set in the Eastern Standard Time Zone.-History:...
, teaching Sunday School at
African Zion Baptist ChurchAfrican Zion Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church at 4104 Malden Drive in Malden, Kanawha County, West Virginia.It is a one-story frame structure built atop a stone foundation. It has a gable roof topped by a wooden bell tower...
; he married his first wife, Fannie Smith, at the church in 1881. After returning to Hampton as a teacher, in 1881 he was named as the first leader of the new Tuskegee Institute in
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
Washington attained national prominence for his
Atlanta Address of 1895The Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition Speech was an address on the topic of race relations given by Booker T. Washington on September 18, 1895...
, which attracted the attention of politicians and the public, making him a popular spokesperson for African-American citizens. He built a nationwide network of supporters in many black communities, with black ministers, educators and businessmen composing his core supporters. Washington played a dominant role in black politics, winning wide support in the black community and among more liberal whites (especially rich Northern whites). He gained access to top national leaders in politics, philanthropy and education. Washington's efforts included cooperating with white people and enlisting the support of wealthy philanthropists, helping to raise funds to establish and operate thousands of small community schools and institutions of higher education for the betterment of blacks throughout
the SouthThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. This work continued for many years after his death. Washington argued that the surest way for blacks to gain equal social rights was to demonstrate "industry, thrift, intelligence and property."
Northern critics called Washington's followers the "Tuskegee Machine". After 1909, Washington was criticized by the leaders of the new NAACP, especially W. E. B. Du Bois, who demanded a stronger tone of protest for advancement of
civil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
needs. Washington replied that confrontation would lead to disaster for the outnumbered blacks, and that cooperation with supportive whites was the only way to overcome pervasive
racismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
in the long run. At the same time, he secretly funded litigation for civil rights cases, such as challenges to southern constitutions and laws that disfranchised blacks.
In addition to his contributions in education, Washington wrote 14 books; his autobiography,
Up From SlaveryUp from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his slow and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools—most notably the...
, first published in 1901, is still widely read today. During a difficult period of transition, he did much to improve the working relationship between the races. His work greatly helped blacks to achieve higher education, financial power and understanding of the U.S. legal system. This contributed to blacks' attaining the skills to create and support the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, leading to the passage of important federal civil rights laws.
Career overview
Washington was born into slavery to Jane, an enslaved African-American woman on the Burroughs Plantation in southwest Virginia. She never identified his white father, said to be a nearby planter. He played no significant role in Washington's life. His family gained freedom in 1865 as the
Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
ended, and his mother took them to West Virginia to join her husband. She and the freedman Washington Ferguson were formally married there, and Booker took the surname Washington at school after his stepfather.
The youth worked in salt furnaces and coal mines in West Virginia for several years, then made his way east to Hampton Institute, a school established to educate freedmen, where he worked to pay for his studies. He attended
Wayland SeminaryWayland Seminary was the Washington, D.C. school of the National Theological Institute. The Institute was established beginning in 1865 by the American Baptist Home Mission Society, designed primarily for providing education and training for African-American freedmen to enter into the ministry...
in Washington, D.C. in 1878 and left after 6 months. In 1881, the Hampton president
Samuel C. ArmstrongSamuel Chapman Armstrong was an American educator and a commissioned officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War...
recommended Washington to become the first leader of Tuskegee Institute, the new
normal schoolA normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
(teachers' college) in
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. He headed it for the rest of his life.
Washington was a dominant figure of the African-American community from 1890 to his death in 1915, especially after his
Atlanta Address of 1895The Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition Speech was an address on the topic of race relations given by Booker T. Washington on September 18, 1895...
. To many he was seen as a popular spokesman for African-American citizens. Representing the last generation of black leaders born into slavery, Washington was generally perceived as a supporter of education for freedmen in the post-Reconstruction,
Jim Crow-eraThe Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
South. Throughout the final twenty years of his life, he maintained his standing through a nationwide network of supporters including black educators, ministers, editors, and businessmen, especially those who supported his views on social and educational issues for blacks. He gained access to top national leaders in politics, philanthropy and education, raised large sums, was consulted on race issues and was awarded honorary degrees from leading American universities.
Late in his career, Washington was criticized by leaders of the NAACP, a civil rights organization formed in 1909. W. E. B. Du Bois advocated activism to achieve civil rights. He labeled Washington "the Great Accommodator". Washington's response was that confrontation could lead to disaster for the outnumbered blacks. He believed that cooperation with supportive whites was the only way to overcome racism in the long run.
Washington contributed secretly and substantially to legal challenges against segregation and disfranchisement of blacks. In his public role, he believed he could achieve more by skillful accommodation to the social realities of the age of
segregationRacial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
.
Washington's work on education issues helped him enlist both the moral and substantial financial support of many major white
philanthropistA philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
s. He became friends with such self-made men as Standard Oil magnate
Henry Huttleston RogersHenry Huttleston Rogers was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. He made his fortune in the oil refinery business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil....
; Sears, Roebuck and Company President
Julius RosenwaldJulius Rosenwald was a U.S. clothier, manufacturer, business executive, and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for the Rosenwald Fund which donated millions to support the education of African American children in the rural South, as well...
; and
George EastmanGeorge Eastman was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream...
, inventor and founder of Kodak. These individuals and many other wealthy men and women funded his causes, including Hampton and Tuskegee institutes.
The schools Washington supported were founded primarily to produce teachers. However, graduates had often returned to their largely impoverished rural southern communities to find few schools and educational resources, as the state legislatures consistently underfunded black schools in their segregated system. To address those needs, Washington enlisted his philanthropic network to create matching funds programs to stimulate construction of numerous rural public schools for black children in the South. Working especially with
Julius RosenwaldJulius Rosenwald was a U.S. clothier, manufacturer, business executive, and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for the Rosenwald Fund which donated millions to support the education of African American children in the rural South, as well...
from Chicago, Washington had Tuskegee architects develop model school designs. The
Rosenwald FundThe Rosenwald Fund was established in 1917 by Julius Rosenwald and his family for "the well-being of mankind."...
helped support the construction and operation of more than 5,000 schools and supporting resources for the betterment of blacks throughout
the SouthThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. The local schools were a source of communal pride and were priceless to African-American families when poverty and segregation limited severely the life chances of the pupils. A major part of Washington's legacy, the model rural schools continued to be constructed, with matching funds from the Rosenwald Fund, into the 1930s. Washington also helped with the Progressive Era by forming the National Negro Business League.
His autobiography,
Up From SlaveryUp from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his slow and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools—most notably the...
, first published in 1901, is still widely read today.
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute
The organizers of the new all-black state school called Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama found the energetic leader they sought in 25-year-old Washington. He believed that with self help, people could go from poverty to success. The new school opened on July 4, 1881, initially using space in a local church. The next year, Washington purchased a former plantation, which became the permanent site of the campus. Under his direction, his students literally built their own school: constructing classrooms, barns and outbuildings; and growing their own crops and raising livestock; both for learning and to provide for most of the basic necessities. Both men and women had to learn trades as well as academics. Washington helped raise funds to establish and operate hundreds of small community schools and institutions of higher educations for blacks. The Tuskegee faculty used all the activities to teach the students basic skills to take back to their mostly rural black communities throughout the South. The main goal was not to produce farmers and tradesmen, but teachers of farming and trades who taught in the new schools and colleges for blacks across the South. The school expanded over the decades, adding programs and departments, to become the present-day Tuskegee University.
Washington expressed his aspirations for his race in his direction of the school. He believed that by providing needed skills to society, African Americans would play their part, leading to acceptance by white Americans. He believed that blacks would eventually gain full participation in society by acting as responsible, reliable American citizens. Shortly after the
Spanish-American WarThe Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, President
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
and most of his cabinet visited Washington. He led the school until his death in 1915. By then Tuskegee's endowment had grown to over $1.5 million, compared to its initial $2,000 annual appropriation.
Marriages and children
Washington was married three times. In his autobiography
Up From SlaveryUp from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his slow and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools—most notably the...
, he gave all three of his wives credit for their contributions at Tuskegee. His first wife Fannie N. Smith was from
Malden, West VirginiaMalden is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States, within the Charleston metro area. The ZIP code for Malden is 25306 and the area code is 304. Malden is set in the Eastern Standard Time Zone.-History:...
, the same
Kanawha River ValleyThe Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, it has formed a significant industrial region of the state since the middle of the 19th century.It is formed at the town of Gauley...
town where Washington had lived from age nine to sixteen. He maintained ties there all his life. Washington and Smith were married in the summer of 1882. They had one child, Portia M. Washington. Fannie died in May 1884.
Washington next wed
Olivia A. DavidsonOlivia America Davidson Washington, was a co-founder of the Tuskegee Institute and the wife of Booker T. Washington. She was born on June 11, 1854 in Mercer County, Virginia, now Mercer County, West Virginia. She died May 9, 1889....
in 1885. Born in
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, she had studied at Hampton Institute and the
Massachusetts State Normal SchoolFramingham State University is located in Framingham, Massachusetts, from Boston. It offers undergraduate programs in a range of subjects from Art to Biology to Communication Arts, and graduate programs including MBA, MEd, and MSc...
at
FraminghamFramingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
. She taught in Mississippi and Tennessee before going to Tuskegee to work. Washington met Davidson as a teacher at Tuskegee, where she was promoted to assistant principal there. They had two sons, Booker T. Washington Jr. and Ernest Davidson Washington, before she died in 1889.
In 1893 Washington married Margaret James Murray. She was from Mississippi and had graduated from
Fisk UniversityFisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
, a historically black college. They had no children together, but she helped rear Washington's children. Murray outlived Washington and died in 1925.
Politics and the Atlanta Compromise
Washington's 1895 Atlanta Exhibition address was viewed as a "revolutionary moment" by both African-Americans and whites across the country. Then W. E. B. Du Bois supported him, but they grew apart as Du Bois sought more action to remedy disenfranchisement and lower education. After their falling out, Du Bois and his supporters referred to Washington's speech as the "Atlanta Compromise" to express their criticism that Washington was too accommodating to white interests.
Washington advocated a "go slow" approach. The effect was that many youths in the South had to accept sacrifices of potential political power, civil rights and higher education. His belief was that African-Americans should "concentrate all their energies on industrial education, and accumulation of wealth, and the conciliation of the South." Washington valued the "industrial" education, as it provided critical skills for the jobs then available to the majority of African-Americans at the time, as most lived in the South, which was overwhelmingly rural and agricultural. He thought these skills that would lay the foundation for the creation of stability that the African-American community required in order to move forward. He believed that in the long term "blacks would eventually gain full participation in society by showing themselves to be responsible, reliable American citizens." His approach advocated for an initial step toward equal rights, rather than full equality under the law. It would be this step that would provide the economic power to back up their demands for equality in the future. This action, over time, would provide the proof to a deeply prejudiced white America that they were not in fact "'naturally' stupid and incompetent."
This stance was contrary to what many blacks from the North envisioned. Du Bois wanted blacks to have the same "classical"
liberal artsThe term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
education as whites did, along with voting rights and civic equality. He believed that an elite he called the Talented Tenth would advance to lead the race to a wider variety of occupations. The source of division between Du Bois and Washington was generated by the differences in how African Americans were treated in the North versus the South. Many in the North felt that they were being 'led', and authoritatively spoken for, by a Southern accommodationist imposed on them primarily by Southern whites." Furthermore, historian Clarence E. Walker said, "Free black people were 'matter out of place'. Their emancipation was an affront to southern white freedom. Booker T. Washington did not understand that his program was perceived as subversive of a natural order in which black people were to remain forever subordinate or unfree." Both men sought to define the best means to improve the conditions of the post-Civil War African-American community through education.
Blacks were solidly
RepublicanThe United States Republican Party is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States after its great rival, the Democratic Party. It emerged in 1854 to combat the Kansas Nebraska Act which threatened to extend slavery into the territories, and to promote more vigorous...
in this period. Southern states disfranchised most blacks and many poor whites from 1890–1908 through constitutional amendments and statutes that created barriers to voter registration, and voting such as
poll taxA poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
es and literacy tests. Southern white Democrats regained power in the state legislatures of the former Confederacy and passed laws establishing racial segregation and other Jim Crow laws. More blacks continued to vote in border and Northern states.
Washington worked and socialized with many white politicians and industry leaders. Much of his expertise was his ability to persuade wealthy whites to donate money to black causes. He argued that the surest way for blacks to gain equal social rights was to demonstrate "industry, thrift, intelligence and property." This was the key to improved conditions for African Americans in the United States. Because they had only recently been emancipated, he believed they could not expect too much at once. Washington said, "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.
Along with Du Bois, he partly organized the "Negro exhibition" at the
1900 Exposition UniverselleThe Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...
in
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where photos, taken by his friend
Frances Benjamin JohnstonFrances "Fannie" Benjamin Johnston was one of the earliest American female photographers and photojournalists.- Life :...
, of Hampton Institute's black students were displayed. The exhibition expressed African Americans' positive contributions to American society.
Washington privately contributed substantial funds for legal challenges to
segregationRacial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
and
disfranchisementDisfranchisement is the revocation of the right of suffrage of a person or group of people, or rendering a person's vote less effective, or ineffective...
, such as the case of
Giles v. HarrisGiles v. Harris, 189 U.S. 475 , was an early 20th century United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld a state constitution's requirements for voter registration and qualifications...
, which went before the United States Supreme Court in 1903.
Wealthy friends and benefactors
Washington associated with the richest and most powerful businessmen and politicians of the era. He was seen as a spokesperson for African Americans and became a conduit for funding educational programs. His contacts included such diverse and well-known personages as
Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
,
William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
,
John D. RockefellerJohn Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
,
Henry Huttleston RogersHenry Huttleston Rogers was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. He made his fortune in the oil refinery business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil....
,
George EastmanGeorge Eastman was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream...
,
Julius RosenwaldJulius Rosenwald was a U.S. clothier, manufacturer, business executive, and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for the Rosenwald Fund which donated millions to support the education of African American children in the rural South, as well...
, Robert Ogden, Collis Potter Huntington and
William Henry Baldwin Jr.William Henry Baldwin Jr. was a president of the Long Island Railroad from Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1885 and studied law there for a year afterward.-Railroad career:...
, who donated large sums of money to agencies such as the Jeanes and Slater Funds. As a result, countless small schools were established through his efforts, in programs that continued many years after his death. Along with rich people, black communities also helped their communities by donating time, money and labor to schools. Churches such as the Baptist and Methodist also supported black schools at both the elementary and secondary levels.
Henry Rogers
A representative case of an exceptional relationship was Washington's friendship with millionaire industrialist and financier
Henry H. RogersHenry Huttleston Rogers was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. He made his fortune in the oil refinery business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil....
(1840–1909). Henry Rogers was a self-made man, who had risen from a modest working-class family to become a principal of
Standard OilStandard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
, and had become one of the richest men in the United States. Around 1894 Rogers heard Washington speak at
Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
. The next day he contacted Washington and requested a meeting, during which Washington later recounted that he was told that Rogers "was surprised that no one had 'passed the hat' after the speech." The meeting began a close relationship that was to extend over a period of 15 years. Although he and the very-private Rogers openly became visible to the public as friends, and Washington was a frequent guest at Rogers' New York office, his
Fairhaven, MassachusettsFairhaven is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located on the south coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean...
summer home, and aboard his steam yacht
KanawhaKanawha was a 471-ton steam-powered luxury yacht initially built in 1899 for millionaire industrialist and financier Henry Huttleston Rogers . One of the key men in the Standard Oil Trust, Rogers was one of the last of the robber barons of the Gilded Age in the United States...
, the true depth and scope of their relationship was not publicly revealed until after Rogers' sudden death of an
strokeA stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in May 1909.
A few weeks later Washington went on a previously planned speaking tour along the newly completed
Virginian RailwayThe Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads....
, a $40-million enterprise which had been built almost entirely from Rogers' personal fortune. As Washington rode in the late financier's private railroad car, "
Dixie", he stopped and made speeches at many locations, where his companions later recounted that he had been warmly welcomed by both black and white citizens at each stop.
Washington revealed that Rogers had been quietly funding operations of 65 small country schools for African Americans, and had given substantial sums of money to support Tuskegee and Hampton institutes. He also disclosed that Rogers had encouraged programs with
matching fundsMatching funds, a term used to describe the requirement or condition that a generally minimal amount of money or services-in-kind originate from the beneficiaries of financial amounts, usually for a purpose of charitable or public good.-Charitable causes:...
requirements so the recipients had a stake in the outcome.
Anna T. Jeanes
In 1907
Anna T. JeanesAnna T. Jeanes was an American philanthropist. She was born in Philadelphia, the city where she gave Spring Garden Institute, a technical school, $200,000; $100,000 to the Hicksite Friends; $200,000 to the Quaker schools of Philadelphia; and $200,000 to the Home for Aged Friends, now known as...
(1822–1907) donated one million dollars to Washington for elementary schools for black children in the South. Her contributions and those of Henry Rogers and others funded schools in many poor communities.
Julius Rosenwald
Julius RosenwaldJulius Rosenwald was a U.S. clothier, manufacturer, business executive, and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for the Rosenwald Fund which donated millions to support the education of African American children in the rural South, as well...
(1862–1932) was another self-made wealthy man with whom Washington found common ground. By 1908 Rosenwald, son of an immigrant clothier, had become part-owner and president of
Sears, Roebuck and CompanySears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
in Chicago. Rosenwald was a philanthropist who was deeply concerned about the poor state of African-American education, especially in the Southern states, where their schools were underfunded.
In 1912 Rosenwald was asked to serve on the Board of Directors of Tuskegee Institute, a position he held for the remainder of his life. Rosenwald endowed Tuskegee so that Washington could spend less time fundraising and more managing the school. Later in 1912 Rosenwald provided funds for a pilot program to build six new small schools in rural Alabama. They were designed, constructed and opened in 1913 and 1914 and overseen by Tuskegee; the model proved successful. Rosenwald established
the Rosenwald FundThe Rosenwald Fund was established in 1917 by Julius Rosenwald and his family for "the well-being of mankind."...
. The school building program was one of its largest programs. Using architectural model plans developed by professors at Tuskegee Institute, the Rosenwald Fund spent over $4 million to help build 4,977 schools, 217 teachers' homes, and 163 shop buildings in 883 counties in 15 states, from Maryland to Texas. The Rosenwald Fund made
matching grantsMatching funds, a term used to describe the requirement or condition that a generally minimal amount of money or services-in-kind originate from the beneficiaries of financial amounts, usually for a purpose of charitable or public good.-Charitable causes:...
, requiring community support and fundraising. Black communities raised more than $4.7 million to aid the construction. These schools became informally known as Rosenwald Schools. By 1932, the facilities could accommodate one third of all African-American children in Southern U.S. schools.
Up from Slavery, and an invitation to the White House
Washington published five books during his lifetime with the aid of ghost-writers Max Bennett Thrasher and Robert E.Park. They were compilations of speeches and essays:
- The Story of My Life and Work (1900)
- Up From Slavery
Up from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his slow and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools—most notably the...
(1901)
- The Story of the Negro: The Rise of the Race from Slavery (2 vol 1909)
- My Larger Education (1911)
- The Man Farthest Down (1912)
In an effort to inspire the "commercial, agricultural, educational, and industrial advancement" of African Americans, Washington founded the
National Negro Business LeagueThe National Negro Business League was an American organization founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1900 by Booker T. Washington, with the support of Andrew Carnegie...
(NNBL) in 1900.
When Washington's autobiography,
Up From SlaveryUp from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his slow and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools—most notably the...
, was published in 1901, it became a bestseller and had a major impact on the African American community, its friends and allies. One of the results was a dinner invitation in 1901 by
Theodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
.
James K. VardamanJames Kimble Vardaman was an American politician from the state of Mississippi, serving as Governor of Mississippi from 1904 to 1908 and in the U.S. Senate from 1913 to 1919. Vardaman, known as "The Great White Chief", advocated white supremacy...
, soon to be Governor of Mississippi, and
Benjamin TillmanBenjamin Ryan Tillman was an American politician who served as the 84th Governor of South Carolina, from 1890 to 1894, and as a United States Senator, from 1895 until his death in office. Tillman's views were a matter of national controversy.Tillman was a member of the Democratic Party...
, US Senator for
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, indulged in racist personal attacks in response to the invitation. Vardaman described the White House as "so saturated with the odor of the nigger that the rats have taken refuge in the stable", and declared "I am just as much opposed to Booker T. Washington as a voter as I am to the cocoanut-headed, chocolate-colored typical little coon who blacks my shoes every morning. Neither is fit to perform the supreme function of citizenship." Tillman opined that "The action of President Roosevelt in entertaining that nigger will necessitate our killing a thousand niggers in the South before they will learn their place again."
Austro-Hungarian
AmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
Ladislaus Hengelmüller von Hengervár, visiting the White House on the same day, claimed to have found a
rabbit's footIn some cultures, the foot of a rabbit is carried as an amulet believed to bring good luck. This belief is held by individuals in a great number of places around the world including Europe, China, Africa, and North and South America. It is likely that this belief has existed in Europe since 600 BC...
in Washington's coat pocket when he mistakenly put on the coat;
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
elaborately described it as "the left hind foot of a graveyard rabbit, killed in the dark of the moon".
The Detroit Journal quipped the next day, "The Austrian ambassador may have made off with Booker T. Washington's coat at the White House, but he'd have a bad time trying to fill his shoes."
Death
Despite his travels and widespread work, Washington remained as principal of Tuskegee. Washington's health was deteriorating rapidly; he collapsed in New York City and was brought home to Tuskegee, where he died on November 14, 1915, at the age of 59. He was buried on the campus of Tuskegee University near the University Chapel.
His death was believed at the time to have been a result of congestive heart failure, aggravated by overwork. In March 2006, with the permission of his descendants, examination of medical records indicated that he died of
hypertensionHypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...
, with a
blood pressureBlood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...
more than twice normal, confirming what had long been suspected.
At his death Tuskegee's endowment exceeded $1.5 million. Washington's greatest life's work, the education of blacks in the South, was well underway and expanding.
Honors and memorials
For his contributions to American society, Washington was granted an honorary
master's degreeA master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1896 and an honorary doctorate from
Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
in 1901.
Washington, as the guest of President
Theodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
in 1901, was the first African American ever invited to the White House. The visit was recalled in the 1927 song by Banjo Blues Musician
Gus CannonGus Cannon was an American blues musician, who helped to popularize jug bands in the 1920s and 1930s. There is doubt about his birth year; his tombstone gives the date as 1874....
, titled "Can You Blame The Coloured Man". At the end of the 2008 presidential election, the defeated Republican candidate, Senator
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, referred to Washington's visit a century before as the seed that blossomed into
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
as the first African American to be elected President of the United States.
In 1934
Robert Russa MotonRobert Russa Moton was an African American educator and author. He served as an administrator at Hampton Institute and was named principal of Tuskegee Institute in 1915 after the death of Dr. Booker T. Washington, a position he held for 20 years until retirement in 1935.-Youth, education,...
, Washington's successor as president of Tuskegee University, arranged an air tour for two African-American aviators. Afterward he had the plane named the
Booker T. Washington.
On April 7, 1940, Washington became the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp. Several years later, he was honored on the first coin to feature an African American, the Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar, which was minted by the United States from 1946 to 1951. He was also depicted on a U.S. Half Dollar from 1951–1954.
In 1942, the
Liberty ShipLiberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
Booker T. Washington was named in his honor, the first major oceangoing vessel to be named after an African American. The ship was christened by
Marian AndersonMarian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
.
On April 5, 1956, the hundredth anniversary of Washington's birth, the house where he was born in
Franklin County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 47,286 people, 18,963 households, and 13,918 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile . There were 22,717 housing units at an average density of 33 per square mile...
, was designated as the
Booker T. Washington National MonumentThe Booker T. Washington National Monument is a National Monument near Hardy, Franklin County, Virginia. It preserves portions of the 207-acre tobacco farm on which educator and leader Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on April 5, 1856...
. A state park in
Chattanooga, TennesseeChattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
was named in his honor, as was a bridge spanning the
Hampton RiverThe Hampton River is a tidal estuary which empties into Hampton Roads near its mouth. Hampton Roads in turn empties into the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia in the United States...
adjacent to his alma mater, Hampton University.
In 1984 Hampton University dedicated a Booker T. Washington Memorial on campus near the historic
Emancipation OakEmancipation Oak is a historic tree located on the campus of Hampton University in what is now the City of Hampton, Virginia. The large sprawling oak is 98 feet in diameter, with branches which extend upward as well as laterally...
, establishing, in the words of the University, "a relationship between one of America's great educators and social activists, and the symbol of Black achievement in education."
Numerous high schools, middle schools and elementary schools across the United States have been named after Booker T. Washington.
At the center of the campus at Tuskegee University, the Booker T. Washington Monument, called "Lifting the Veil," was dedicated in 1922. The inscription at its base reads:
- "He lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry."
See also
- African American literature
African-American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. The genre traces its origins to the works of such late 18th century writers as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, reaching early high points with slave narratives and the Harlem...
- Booker T. Washington High School (disambiguation)
- Boley, Oklahoma
Boley is a town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,126 at the 2000 census. It was founded in 1903.The Boley Public School District is one of the smallest public school districts in the state of Oklahoma. For the most recent data available, it tied with Sweetwater for...
- Double-duty dollar
The term "double duty dollar" was used during the early and middle 1900’s in the context of the economic plight of the African American community. Those in the pulpit as well as social activists such as Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey preached the message of community empowerment through...
- T.R.M. Howard
- List of African American firsts
- List of books written by Booker T. Washington
Books
- The Future of the American Negro
The Future of the American Negro, a book written in 1899 by American educator Booker T. Washington, set forth his ideas regarding the history of enslaved and freed African American people and their need for education to advance themselves. It was re-published as a second edition in 1900 and was...
- 1899
- The Negro in the South
The Negro in the South, a book written in 1907 by sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois and educator Booker T. Washington, described the social history of African American people in the southern United States. It was a compilation of the William Levi Bull Lectures on Christian Sociology for that year. It has...
- with W.E.B. Du BoisWilliam Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor. Born in Massachusetts, Du Bois attended Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate...
- 1907
- Tuskegee & Its People
Tuskegee & Its People is a 1905 book edited by American educator Booker T Washington. Its full title is Tuskegee & Its People: Their Ideals and Achievements. It has been printed in various editions and is presently available for study online via Project Gutenberg....
- (editor) - 1905
- Up from Slavery
Up from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his slow and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools—most notably the...
- 1901
- Working With the Hands
Working With the Hands is a book published in 1904 by American educator Booker T Washington. It's full title is Working With the Hands; Being a Sequel to "Up From Slavery," Covering the Author's Experiences in Industrial Training at Tuskegee. There have been a number of re-printings, with one of...
- 1904
Secondary sources
- Anderson, James D. The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860–1935 (1988) online
- Bauerlein, Mark. "Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois: The origins of a bitter intellectual battle," The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (46) (Winter,2004) in JSTOR
- Boston, Michael B. The Business Strategy of Booker T. Washington: Its Development and Implementation (University Press of Florida; 2010); 243 pages. A revisionist study that emphasizes the content and influence of his philosophy as an entrepreneur.
- Brundage, W. Fitzhugh, ed Booker T. Washington and Black Progress: Up from Slavery 100 Years Later (2003).
- Friedman, Lawrence J. "Life 'In the Lion's Mouth': Another Look at Booker T. Washington," Journal of Negro History Vol. 59, No. 4 (Oct., 1974), pp. 337–351 in JSTOR
- Harlan, Louis R. Booker T. Washington: The Making of a Black Leader, 1856–1901 (1972) the standard biography, Volume 1; Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of Tuskegee 1901–1915 (1983), the standard scholarly biography, Volume 2. Volume 2 online
- Harlan, Louis R. Booker T. Washington in Perspective: Essays of Louis R. Harlan (1988).
- Harlan, Louis R. "The Secret Life of Booker T. Washington." Journal of Southern History 37:2 (1971). in JSTOR Documents Booker T. Washington's secret financing and directing of litigation against segregation and disfranchisement.
- Harlan, Louis R. "Booker T. Washington in Biographical Perspective," American Historical Review Vol. 75, No. 6 (Oct., 1970), pp. 1581–1599 in JSTOR
- McMurry, Linda O. George Washington Carver, Scientist and Symbol (1982)
- Meier, August. "Toward a Reinterpretation of Booker T. Washington." The Journal of Southern History, 23#2 (May, 1957), pp. 220–227. in JSTOR. Documents Booker T. Washington's secret financing and directing of litigation against segregation and disfranchisement.
- Norrell, Robert J. Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington (2009). Belknap Press/Harvard University Press. ISBN 067403211X; ISBN 978-0674032118, favorable scholarly biography
- Smith, David L. "Commanding Performance: Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Compromise Address". In Myth America: A Historical Anthology, Volume II. 1997. Gerster, Patrick, and Cords, Nicholas. (editors.) Brandywine Press, St. James, NY. ISBN 1-881-089-97-5
- Smock, Raymond. Booker T. Washington: Black Leadership in the Age of Jim Crow. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2009,
- Cary D. Wintz, African American Political Thought, 1890–1930: Washington, Du Bois, Garvey, and Randolph (1996).
- Pole, J. R. "Review: Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others; The Children of Pride," The Historical Journal 17, (4) (Dec,1974) in JSTOR
- Strickland, Arvarh E. "Review: Booker T. Washington: The Myth and the Man," Reviews in American History vol. 1, No. 4 (Dec., 1973), pp. 559–564 in JSTOR
Primary sources
- DuBois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk (1903) ch. 3
- Washington, Booker T. The Atlanta Cotton States Exposition Address (Sep, 1895). online
- Washington, Booker T. "The Awakening of the Negro," The Atlantic Monthly, 78 (September, 1896). online Documenting the American South. Other online full-text versions available via Project Gutenberg, UNC Library
- Washington,Booker T., Louis R Harlan, John W. Blassingame The Booker T. Washington Papers, University of Illinois Press (1972) ISBN 0252002423 Google Book Search. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
- The Booker T. Washington Papers University of Illinois Press
The University of Illinois Press , is a major American university press and part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic projects...
online version of complete fourteen volume set of all letters to and from Booker T. Washington.
External links
- An Autobiography: The Story of My Life and Work. Toronto, Ont.; Naperville, Ill.: J. L. Nichols & Co., c1901.
- Booker T. Washington: Online Resources, from the Library of Congress
- Frederick Douglass. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1906.
- My Larger Education: Being Chapters from My Experience. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1911.
- Up from Slavery: An Autobiography from American Studies at the University of Virginia
- Up from Slavery: An Autobiography Published online by The Multiracial Activist
The Multiracial Activist is a libertarian-oriented activist journal covering social and civil liberties issues of interest to individuals who perceive themselves to be biracial or multiracial. In addition, interracial couples and families and transracial adoptees are also constituencies...
, by Emmett J. Scott
- The Booker T. Washington papers digital archive, University of Illinois Press searchable index to complete annotated text of all important letters to and from Washington and all his writings.
- A Criticism of the Atlanta Compromise by W.E.B. Dubois
- Booker T. Washington Delivers the 1895 Atlanta "Compromise" Speech from the American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University)
- Booker T. Washington statue at Tuskegee University
- Booker T. Washington's West Virginia Boyhood
- Booker T. Washington's 1909 Tour of Virginia on the newly completed Virginian Railway
- Dr. Booker T. Washington papers – comments about Henry Rogers
- National Park Service Booker T. Washington Birthplace
- Legends of Tuskegee