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Biography: Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
By Claudia M. Stolz
"In all things that are purely social
we can be separated as the fingers. Yet one as the hand in
all things essential to mutual progress."
Booker T. Washington, from the Atlanta Speech at the Atlanta
Cottons States and International Exhibition, 1895.
Born into slavery in Virginia and freed by the Emancipation
Proclamation (1863), Booker T. was a boy without a surname
until he chose his own upon beginning school at the age of
ten. Working in the salt mines, coalmines, and as a janitor
to obtain an education, he dedicated his life to promote education
as a means for African Americans to achieve economic stability.
Unlike Du Bois, his contemporary, Washington did not advocate
civil rights, political involvement, or higher education;
he advocated betterment through vocational training, a means
by which African Americans could provide needed services to
society. This supporter of "dignity in labor," graduated
from Hampton Institute, taught first at Malden, the school
of his childhood in West Virginia, and then at Hampton Institute,
both restricted to members of his race. In 1880 the Alabama
State legislature passed a bill to establish a school for
blacks in Tuskegee, Alabama. Washington was recruited to oversee
the development of the school. He accepted the challenge and
guided the Normal School for Colored Teachers, as it was first
called, to an institution that became an international model
for the education of African Americans. Noted scientist George
Washington Carver served on the faculty under the leadership
of Washington. In 1881, when the school was founded, there
existed no land for the school, no buildings, and an appropriation
of only $2000 for faculty salaries. He borrowed money to buy
an old, rundown plantation, used student labor to erect buildings
in exchange for their education, and graduated the first class
in 1895. Washington's success in management resulted in his
becoming the most influential African-American leader of his
day, a position that passed on to W.E.B. Du Bois after his
death in 1915.
In addition to the success of Tuskegee, which he ran from
its inception until his death in 1915, Washington was the
first man of color to speak from the same stage as white men
and women in the South. His speech, called the Atlanta Compromise
(1895), pleased many whites during the era of Jim Crow because
it called for separate but equal facilities. He accepted segregation
on these terms, which offended some other African-American
leaders of his time, although he remained the chief spokesman
for African Americans until his death. His philosophy appears
in his three published works: Up From Slavery (1900), My Larger
Education (1911), and Farthest Down (1912). In addition to
his accomplishments in education, he founded The National
Negro Business League (1900), an association that offered
practical advice to black businesspersons. He also advised
three presidents, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and
William Taft, on race relations in the United States.
His legacy is far reaching. Today Tuskegee is a university housing
3000 students. No longer restricted to normal and industrial
trades, it offers bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs.
It is the only campus in the U.S. that is designated a national
historic site. Booker T. Washington is buried on campus, and
the inscription on a monument in his honor sums up a life dedicated
to helping others achieve: "He lifted the veil of ignorance
from his people and pointed the way to progress through education
and industry."
This essay was submitted by Claudia
M. Stolz, a professor at Indiana University East in Richmond,
Indiana.
Activity Suggestions
1. Booker T. Washington has been said to be one of the most
influential African Americans of his time, and after his death passed
that position on to W.E.B. Du Bois. Although both influential,
their positions on how to acquire equal treatment were very
different. In a short essay, compare and contrast the views
of both men.
2. In his 1895 Atlanta Compromise speech, Booker T. Washington
outlined his position of equal but separate facilities for
blacks and whites. Write a persuasive speech in response to
this concept either for or against separate and equal.
3. Booker T. Washington is known in history for many things,
but one of the most impressive is his leadership of Tuskegee
College, which he ran from its beginning to his death in 1915.
Today it is a university of 3,000 students offering many areas
of study. Do some research on the present day Tuskegee College.
Use that information to make a brochure that could be sent
to prospective students interested in attending the college.
4. Booker T. Washington advised Presidents Theodore Roosevelt
and William Howard Taft on racial matters. Based on his views,
what advice do you think he gave them? Discuss several areas
and your reasons for choosing them in a short essay.
Ideas submitted by Debbie Dickerson,
a social studies teacher in Kansas.
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