Booker Taliaferro Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American political leader, educator, orator and author. He was the dominant figure in the African American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915. representing the last generation of black leaders born in slavery, and speaking for those blacks who had remained in the new south in an uneasy modus Vivendi with the white southerners, Washington was able throughout the final 25 years of his life to maintain his standing as the black leader because of the sponsorship of powerful whites, substantial support within the black community, his ability to raise educational funds from both groups and his skillful accommodation to the social realities of the age of segregation.
Washington was born into slavery to a white father and a slave mother in a rural area in Southwestern Virginia. After emancipation, he worked in West Virginia in a variety of manual labor jobs before making his way to Hampton roads seeking an education. He worked his way through Hampton normal and agricultural institute (now Hampton University) and attended college at waylaid seminary. After returning to Hampton as a teacher, in 1881 he was named as the first leader of the new Tuskegee institute in Alabama.
Washington received national prominence for his Atlanta address of 1895, attracting the attention of politicians and the public as a popular spokesperson for African American citizens. Washington 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, which helped raise funds to establish and operate thousands of small community schools and institutions of higher education for the betterment of blacks throughout the south, work which continued for many years after his death.
Northern critics called Dr. 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 harder line on civil rights protests. 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. Some of his civil rights work was secret, such as funding court cases.
In addition to the substantial contributions in the field of education, dr. Washington was the author of 14 books; his autobiography, up from slavery, first published in 1901, is still widely read today. During a difficult period of transition for the United States, he did much to improve the overall friendship and working relationship between the races. His work greatly helped lay the foundation for the increased access of blacks to higher education, financial power, and understanding of the U.S. legal system led to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and adoption 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. He knew little about his white father. His family gained freedom in 1865 as the civil war ended. As a boy he invented the surname Washington when all the other school children were giving their full names. after working in salt furnaces and coal mines in west Virginia for several years, Washington made his way east to Hampton institute, established to educate freedmen. There, he worked his way through his studies and later attended wayland seminary to complete preparation as an instructor. In 1881, Hampton president Samuel C. Armstrong recommended Washington to become the first leader of Tuskegee institute, the new normal school (teachers' college) in Alabama. He headed it for the rest of his life.
Washington was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915, especially after his Atlanta address of 1895. Too many politicians and the public in general, 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 credible proponent of education for freedmen in the post-reconstruction, Jim Crow south. Throughout the final 20 years of his life, he maintained his standing through a nationwide network of supporters–including black educators, ministers, editors, and businessmen–especially those who were liberal-leaning on social and educational issues. Critics called his network of supporters the "Tuskegee machine". 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, which was formed in 1909. W. E. B. Du Bois suggested 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 in the long run to overcome racism.
Washington contributed secretly and substantially to legal challenges of 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 segregation.
Washington's work on education issues helped him enlist both the moral and substantial financial support of many major white philanthropists. he became friends with such self-made men as standard oil magnate Henry Huddleston Rogers; sears, roebuck and company president Julius Rosenwald; and George Eastman, inventor and founder of Kodak. These individuals and many other wealthy men and women funded his causes, including Hampton and Tuskegee institutes.
The schools were founded to produce teachers. However, graduates had often gone back to their local communities only to find precious few schools and educational resources to work with in the largely impoverished south. To address those needs, Washington enlisted his philanthropic network in matching funds programs to stimulate construction of numerous rural public schools for black children in the south. 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 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 number of model rural schools increased with matching funds from the Rosenwald fund into the 1930s.
His autobiography, up from slavery, first published in 1901, is still widely read today.