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Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro
Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915)
was an American educator, author and leader of
the African American community.
Washington was born into
slavery to a white father and a black slave
mother on a rural farm in southwestern Virginia;
the slaves were freed in 1865. He attended
Hampton University and Wayland Seminary. After
returning to Hampton as an instructor, he was
named in 1881 as the first leader of the new
normal school (teachers' college) which became
Tuskegee University in Alabama.
Washington was the dominant
figure in the African American community in the
United States from 1890 to 1915, especially
after he achieved prominence for his Atlanta
Address of 1895. To many politicians and the
public in general, he was seen as a popular
spokesperson for African American citizens.
Representing the last generation of black
leaders born into slavery, he was credible when
speaking publicly and seeking educational
improvements for those freedmen who had remained
in the New South in an uneasy modus vivendi with
the white southerners. Throughout the final 20
years of his life, he maintained this standing
through a nationwide network of core supporters
in many communities, including black educators,
ministers, editors and businessmen, especially
those who were liberal-thinking on social and
educational issues. He gained access to top
national leaders in politics, philanthropy and
education, and was awarded honorary degrees.
Critics called his network of supporters the
"Tuskegee Machine."
Late in his career, Dr.
Washington was criticized by the leaders of the
NAACP, which was formed in 1909, especially
W.E.B. DuBois, who demanded a harder line on
civil rights protests. After being labeled "The
Great Accommodator" by DuBois, Dr. 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 racism in the long
run. Although he did some aggressive civil
rights work secretively, such as funding court
cases, he seemed to truly believe in skillful
accommodation to many of the social realities of
the age of segregation. While apparently
resigned to many undesirable social conditions
in the short term, he also clearly had his eyes
on a better future for blacks. Through his own
personal experience, Dr. Washington knew that
good education was a major and powerful tool
for individuals to collectively accomplish that
better future.
Washington's philosophy and
tireless work on education issues helped him
enlist both the moral and substantial financial
support of many philanthropists. He became
friends with such self-made men from modest
beginnings as Standard Oil magnate Henry
Huttleston Rogers and Sears, Roebuck and Company
President Julius Rosenwald. These individuals
and many other wealthy men and women funded his
causes, such as supporting the institutions of
higher education at Hampton and Tuskegee. Each
school was originally founded to produce
teachers. However, many had often gone back to
their local communities to find precious few
schools and educational resources to work with
in the largely impoverished South. To address
those needs, through provision of millions of
dollars and innovative matching funds programs,
Dr. Washington and his philanthropic network
stimulated local community contributions to
build small community schools. Together, these
efforts eventually established and operated over
5,000 schools and supporting resources for the
betterment of blacks throughout the South in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries. The local
schools were a source of much community pride
and were of priceless value to African-American
families during those troubled times in public
education. This work was a major part of his
legacy and was continued (and expanded through
the Rosenwald Fund and others) for many years
after Washington's death in 1915.
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