| Booker T. Washington who after being | | | | Many whites thinkingt that it was wrong for |
| emancipated from slavery had only managed to | | | | whites and blacks to mix socially, were horrified at |
| get a primary education got probationary | | | | their President for doing so. Roosevelt defended |
| admittance to Hampton Institute and proved such | | | | his actions at the time, and continued to ask for |
| an exemplary student, teacher, and speaker that | | | | Washington's advice, but without inviting him again. |
| the principal of Hampton Armstrong | | | | Eventually Washington's leadership of blacks began |
| recommended him to Alabamans to lead them to | | | | to be undemined by the attitude of whites to the |
| establish a school for African Americans in their | | | | progress of blacks. It became apparent that the |
| state. | | | | whites that had gained control of Southern |
| In 1881, he was hired as the first principal of a | | | | institutions after Reconstruction did not ever want |
| school being founded in Alabama. under a charter | | | | the civil and political status of blacks to improve - |
| from the Alabama legislature for training teachers, | | | | regardless of how hard they worked or how |
| the first time a black was being offered such a | | | | much character they had. They passed laws to |
| high position.They soon found the energetic and | | | | keep them from voting and to keep them from |
| visionary leader they sought in Washington. | | | | mixing with whites in schools, stores and |
| Washington thus became the first principal of the | | | | restaurants. |
| Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. which he | | | | Washington's critics. charged that his conservative |
| built from scratch into the most reputable and | | | | approach undermined the quest for racial equality. |
| stable higher institution for blacks in the United | | | | Washington was criticized by the leaders of the |
| States. | | | | NAACP, which was formed in 1909, especially by |
| In 1895, Washington was asked to speak at the | | | | W.E.B. Du Bois, who demanded a harder line on |
| opening of the Cotton States and International | | | | civil rights protests. After being labeled "The Great |
| Exposition, an unprecedented honor for an African | | | | Accommodator" by Du Bois, Washington replied |
| American at that time.. His Atlanta Compromise | | | | that confrontation would lead to disaster for the |
| speech there explained his major thesis, that | | | | outnumbered blacks, and that cooperation with |
| blacks could secure their constitutional rights | | | | supportive whites was the only way to overcome |
| through their own economic and moral | | | | pervasive racism in the long run. Although he did |
| advancement rather than through legal and political | | | | some aggressive civil rights work secretively, such |
| changes. Washington's address was widely | | | | as funding court cases, he seemed to truly |
| welcomed in the African American community | | | | believe in skillful accommodation to many of the |
| and among liberal whites North and South. Whites | | | | social realities of that age of segregation. While |
| approved of his views. Thus he won over diverse | | | | apparently resigned to many undesirable social |
| elements among southern whites, whose support | | | | conditions in the short term, he also clearly had his |
| for the programs he envisioned and brought into | | | | eyes on a better future for blacks. Through his |
| being especially in the area of education he | | | | own personal experience, Washington knew that |
| harnessed easily. | | | | good education was a major and powerful tool |
| He was supported by W.E.B. Du Bois at the time | | | | for individuals to collectively accomplish that better |
| but several years later the two started having | | | | future. |
| differences. Washington's conciliatory stand | | | | "In all things purely social we can be as separate |
| angered some blacks including Du Bois who feared | | | | as the fingers," he proposed to a biracial audience |
| his conciliatory stance would encourage the foes | | | | in his 1895 Atlanta Compromise address, "yet one |
| of equal rights. Whilst Washington valued the | | | | as the hand in all things essential to mutual |
| "industrial" education oriented toward actual jobs | | | | progress." Even though his methods partly arose |
| available to the majority of African Americans at | | | | from his need for support from powerful whites, |
| the time Du Bois demanded a "classical" liberal arts | | | | some of them being former slave owner, it is |
| education among an elite he called The Talented | | | | now known, that Washington secretly funded |
| Tenth. Both sides sought to define the best | | | | anti-segregationist activities. But he never |
| means to improve the conditions of the post-Civil | | | | wavered in his belief in the attainment of |
| War African-American community. However, | | | | freedom: "From some things that I have said one |
| despite not condemning Jim Crow laws and the | | | | may get the idea that some of the slaves did not |
| inhumanity of lynching publicly, Washington | | | | want freedom. This is not true. I have never seen |
| privately contributed funds for legal challenges | | | | one who did not want to be free, or one who |
| against segregation and disenfranchisement, such | | | | would return to slavery." |
| as his support in the case of Giles v. Harris which | | | | However, by the last years of his life, Washington |
| went before the United States Supreme Court in | | | | having moved away from many of his |
| 1903.. | | | | accommodationist policies, speaking out with a |
| Washington the public figure often invoked his | | | | new frankness, attacked racism. In 1915 he joined |
| own past to illustrate his belief in the dignity of | | | | ranks with former critics to protest the |
| work. "There was no period of my life that was | | | | stereotypical portrayal of blacks in a new movie, |
| devoted to play," Washington once wrote. "From | | | | "Birth of a Nation." He also spoke out against |
| the time that I can remember anything, almost | | | | lynchings and worked to make "separate" facilities |
| everyday of my life has been occupied in some | | | | more "equal." |
| kind of labor." This concept of self-reliance born of | | | | Washington was now the dominant figure in the |
| hard work was the cornerstone of his social | | | | African American community in the United States, |
| philosophy. | | | | especially after he achieved prominence for his |
| Although not everyone agreed with Booker | | | | Atlanta Address of 1895. To many politicians and |
| Washington, he became a respected leader who | | | | the public in general, he was seen as a popular |
| helped many schools and institutions gain donations | | | | spokesperson for African American citizens. |
| and support from the government and other | | | | Representing the last generation of black leaders |
| private donors. From this position of leadership he | | | | born into slavery, he was generally perceived as a |
| rose into a nationally prominent role as | | | | credible proponent of educational improvements |
| spokesman for African Americans | | | | for those freedmen who had remained in the |
| Washington's philosophy and tireless work on | | | | post-Reconstruction, Jim Crow South. |
| educational issues helped him enlist both the moral | | | | Throughout the final 20 years of his life, he |
| and substantial financial support of many | | | | maintained this standing through a nationwide |
| philanthropists. He became friends with such | | | | network of core supporters in many communities, |
| self-made men from modest beginnings as | | | | including black educators, ministers, editors and |
| Standard Oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers | | | | businessmen, especially those who were |
| and Sears, Roebuck and Company President Julius | | | | liberal-thinking on social and educational issues. He |
| Rosenwald. | | | | gained access to top national leaders in politics, |
| Washington associated with the richest and most | | | | philanthropy and education, and was awarded |
| powerful businessmen and politicians of the | | | | honorary degrees. Critics called his network of |
| era.These individuals and many other wealthy men | | | | supporters the "Tuskegee Machine." |
| and women funded his causes, such as in | | | | Washington did much to improve the overall |
| supporting, running and equipping the institutions of | | | | friendship and working relationship between the |
| higher education at Hampton and Tuskegee. | | | | races in the United States. When Washington's |
| Besides being seen as a spokesperson for African | | | | autobiography, Up From Slavery, was published in |
| Americans, he became a conduit for funding | | | | 1901, it became a bestseller and had a major |
| educational programs. His contacts included such | | | | impact on the African American community, and |
| diverse and well-known personages as Andrew | | | | its friends and allies. Washington in 1901 was the |
| Carnegie, William Howard Taft, John D. | | | | first African-American ever invited to the White |
| Rockefeller, Henry Huttleston Rogers, and Julius | | | | House as the guest of President Theodore |
| Rosenwald, to whom he made the need for | | | | Roosevelt. His autobiography, Up From Slavery, is |
| better educational facilities well-known. As a result, | | | | still widely read today. As a result of his work as |
| countless small schools were established through | | | | an educator and public speaker, Washington |
| his efforts, in programs that continued many | | | | became influential in business and politics. In |
| years after his death. | | | | addition to Tuskegee Institute, which still educates |
| A representative case of an exceptional | | | | many today, Washington instituted a variety of |
| relationship was Washington's friendship with the | | | | programs for rural extension work, and helped to |
| millionaire industrialist and financier Henry H. Rogers | | | | establish the National Negro Business League in |
| (1840-1909). Henry Rogers, a self-made man, had | | | | 1900 in an effort to inspire the "commercial, |
| risen from a modest working-class family to | | | | agricultural, educational, and industrial |
| become a principal of Standard Oil, and had | | | | advancement" of African Americans. For his |
| become one of the richest men in the United | | | | contributions to American society, Washington |
| States. Around 1894, Rogers heard Washington | | | | was granted an honorary master's degree from |
| speak at Madison Square Garden. The next day, | | | | Harvard University in 1896 and an honorary |
| he contacted Washington and requested a | | | | doctorate from Dartmouth College in |
| meeting, during which Washington later recounted | | | | 1901.Booker's leadership also earned him honorary |
| that he was told that Rogers "was surprised that | | | | degrees from Harvard University and Dartmouth |
| no one had 'passed the hat' after the speech." | | | | College. He wrote several books, and several |
| The meeting began a close relationship that was | | | | more books have been written about him. |
| to extend over a period of 15 years. Although he | | | | Shortly after the election of President William |
| and the very-private Rogers openly became | | | | McKinley in 1896, a movement was set in motion |
| visible to the public as friends, and Washington | | | | that Washington be named to a cabinet post, but |
| was a frequent guest at Rogers' New York | | | | he withdrew his name from consideration, |
| office, his Fairhaven, Massachusetts summer | | | | preferring to work outside the political arena. |
| home, and aboard his steam yacht Kanawha, the | | | | Washington was married three times as revealed |
| true depth and scope of their relationship was not | | | | in Up From Slavery, where he gave all three of |
| publicly revealed until after Roger's sudden death | | | | his wives enormous credit for their work at |
| of an apoplectic stroke in May 1909. | | | | Tuskegee emphasizing that he would not have |
| A few weeks later, Washington went on a | | | | been successful without them. |
| previously planned speaking tour along the newly | | | | Fannie N. Smith was from Malden, West Virginia, |
| completed Virginian Railway, a $40 million dollar | | | | the same Kanawha River Valley town located |
| enterprise which had been built almost entirely | | | | eight miles upriver from Charleston where |
| from a substantial portion of Rogers' personal | | | | Washington had lived from the age of nine to |
| fortune. As Washington rode in the late financier's | | | | sixteen (and maintained ties throughout his later |
| private railroad car, "Dixie", he stopped and made | | | | life). Washington and Smith were married in the |
| speeches at many locations, where his | | | | summer of 1882. They had one child, Portia M. |
| companions later recounted that he had been | | | | Washington. Fannie died in May 1884.. |
| warmly welcomed by both black and white | | | | Washington next wed Olivia A. Davidson in 1885. |
| citizens at each stop. | | | | She was born in Ohio, educated at Hampton |
| Washington revealed that Rogers had been quietly | | | | Institute and the Massachusetts State Normal |
| funding operations of 65 small country schools for | | | | School at Framingham and spent time teaching in |
| African Americans, and had given substantial sums | | | | Mississippi and Tennessee. Washington met |
| of money to support Tuskegee Institute and | | | | Davidson at Tuskegee, where she had come to |
| Hampton Institute. He also disclosed that Rogers | | | | teach. She later became the assistant principal |
| had encouraged programs with matching funds | | | | there. They had two sons, Booker T. Washington |
| requirements so the recipients would have a | | | | Jr. and Ernest Davidson Washington, before she |
| stake in knowing that they were helping | | | | died in 1889. |
| themselves through their own hard work and | | | | Washington's third marriage took place in 1893 to |
| sacrifice, and thereby enhance their self-esteem. | | | | Margaret James Murray. She was from Mississippi |
| $1,000,000 was entrusted to Washington by | | | | and was a graduate of Fisk University. They had |
| another prosperous contact, Anna T. Jeanes | | | | no children together. Murray outlived Washington |
| (1822-1907) of Philadelphia in 1907. She hoped to | | | | and died in 1925. |
| construct some elementary schools for Negro | | | | Blacks were solidly Republican, but after 1890 |
| children in the South. Her contributions together | | | | many lost the vote in the deep South (but |
| with those of Henry Rogers and others funded | | | | continued to vote in border and northern states). |
| schools in many communities where the white | | | | Washington emerged as their spokesman and |
| people were also very poor, and few funds were | | | | was routinely consulted by Republican national |
| available for Negro schools. | | | | leaders about the appointment of African |
| Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) was another | | | | Americans to political positions throughout the |
| self-made wealthy man with whom Washington | | | | nation. He worked and socialized with many white |
| found common ground and from whom he | | | | politicians and notables. He argued that the surest |
| received much support. By 1908, Rosenwald, son | | | | way for blacks eventually to gain equal rights was |
| of an immigrant clothier, had become part-owner | | | | to demonstrate patience, industry, thrift, and |
| and president of Sears, Roebuck and Company in | | | | usefulness and said that these were the key to |
| Chicago. Rosenwald, a philanthropist, was deeply | | | | improved conditions for African Americans in the |
| concerned about the poor state of African | | | | United States and that they could not expect too |
| American education, especially in the Southern | | | | much, having only just been granted emancipation.. |
| states. | | | | Despite his travels and widespread work, |
| In 1912 Rosenwald was asked to serve on the | | | | Washington remained as principal of Tuskegee. |
| Board of Directors of Tuskegee Institute, a | | | | This had serious strain and stress on him. |
| position he held for the rest of his life. Rosenwald | | | | Washington's health was therefore deteriorating |
| so adequately endowed Tuskegee that | | | | rapidly; so much so that he collapsed in New York |
| Washington could now spend less time traveling to | | | | City and was brought home to Tuskegee, where |
| seek funding. This allowed him to devote more | | | | he died on November 14, 1915 at the age of 59. |
| time towards the management of the school. | | | | With the permission of his descendants, |
| Later in 1912, Rosenwald provided funds for a | | | | examination of medical records indicated that he |
| pilot program involving six new small schools in | | | | died of hypertension, with a blood pressure more |
| rural Alabama, which were designed, constructed | | | | than twice normal, confirming what had long been |
| and opened in 1913 and 1914 and overseen by | | | | suspected. He was buried on the campus of |
| Tuskegee. The model proving successful, | | | | Tuskegee University near the University Chapel. |
| Rosenwald established The Rosenwald Fund, to | | | | At his death Tuskegee's endowment exceeded |
| replicate it all over the South. The school building | | | | US$1.5 million. His greatest life's work, the work of |
| program was one of its largest programs. Using | | | | education of blacks in the South, was well |
| state-of-the-art architectural plans initially drawn | | | | underway and expanding. A man who overcame |
| by professors at Tuskegee Institute, the | | | | near-impossible odds himself, Booker T. |
| Rosenwald Fund spent over four million dollars to | | | | Washington is best remembered for helping black |
| help build 4,977 schools, 217 teachers' homes, and | | | | Americans rise up from the economic slavery |
| 163 shop buildings in 883 counties in 15 states, | | | | that held them down long after they were legally |
| from Maryland to Texas. The Rosenwald Fund | | | | free citizens. |
| used a system of matching grants, and black | | | | In 1934, Robert Russa Moton Washington's |
| communities raised more than $4.7 million to aid | | | | successor as president of Tuskegee University, |
| the construction of these schools which became | | | | arranged an air tour for two African Americans |
| known as Rosenwald Schools. By 1932, the | | | | aviators, and afterward the plane was christened |
| facilities could accommodate one third of all | | | | the Booker T. Washington. |
| African American children in Southern U.S. schools. | | | | On April 7, 1940, Washington became the first |
| Each school was originally founded to produce | | | | African American to be depicted on a United |
| teachers. However, graduates had often gone | | | | States postage stamp. |
| back to their local communities only to find | | | | The first coin to feature an African American was |
| precious few schools and educational resources to | | | | the Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar |
| work with in the largely impoverished South. To | | | | that was minted by the United States from 1946 |
| address those needs, through provision of millions | | | | to 1951. He was also depicted on a U.S. Half Dollar |
| of dollars and innovative matching funds | | | | from 1951-1954. |
| programs, Washington and his philanthropic | | | | On April 5, 1956, the hundredth anniversary of |
| network stimulated local community contributions | | | | Washington's birth, the house where he was born |
| to build small community schools. Together, these | | | | in Franklin County, Virginia was designated as the |
| efforts eventually established and operated over | | | | Booker T. Washington National Monument. A state |
| 5,000 schools and supporting resources for the | | | | park in Chattanooga, Tennessee was named in his |
| betterment of blacks throughout the South in the | | | | honor, as was a bridge spanning the Hampton |
| late 19th and early 20th centuries. The local | | | | River adjacent to his alma mater, Hampton |
| schools soon grew to great sources of much | | | | University. |
| community pride and were of priceless value to | | | | In 1984, Hampton University dedicated a Booker |
| African-American families during those troubled | | | | T. Washington Memorial on campus near the |
| times in public education. This work was a major | | | | historic Emancipation Oak, establishing, in the |
| part of his legacy and was continued (and | | | | words of the University, "a relationship between |
| expanded through the Rosenwald Fund and | | | | one of America's great educators and social |
| others) for many years after Washington's death | | | | activists, and the symbol of Black achievement in |
| in 1915. | | | | education." |
| As Washington's influence with whites and blacks | | | | Numerous high schools and middle schools across |
| grew he reaped several honors. In 1901 he wrote | | | | the United States have been named after Booker |
| Up From Slavery - his autobiography which | | | | T. Washington. |
| became a bestseller.. Up From Slavery, first | | | | At the center of the campus at Tuskegee |
| published in 1901, is still widely read today. As a | | | | University, the Booker T. Washington Monument, |
| result of his work as an educator and public | | | | called "Lifting the Veil," was dedicated in 1922. The |
| speaker, Washington became influential in business | | | | inscription at its base reads: "He lifted the veil of |
| and politics. Washington did much to improve the | | | | ignorance from his people and pointed the way to |
| overall friendship and working relationship between | | | | progress through education and industry." |
| the races in the United States.He also became an | | | | He was funded by Andrew Carnegie and John D. |
| advisor to the then President of the United States | | | | Rockefeller, dined at the White House with |
| - Theodore Roosevelt in the process becoming | | | | Theodore Roosevelt and family, and was the |
| the first black ever to dine at the White House | | | | guest of the Queen of England at Windsor Castle. |
| with the President., though it created a huge stir. | | | | |