Dates: probably 1856 - November 14, 1915
Occupation: educator, leader, social activist
Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, became one of the most controversial leaders of his time. At odds with W.E.B. Du Bois and other civil rights advocates, Washington was often called an accommodationist because he advocated self-help through economic means over civil and political rights.
Booker T. Washington’s Early Years
Washington was born in western Virginia, probably in 1856. His father was an unknown white man and his mother was the slave of James Burroughs. Washington worked as a house slave to the Burroughs family until 1865. After emancipation, Washington and his mother moved to Malden, West Virginia where her husband was working in the salt and coal mines.
Washington began working in the coalmine, and then in 1872 he enrolled at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, which was run by Samuel Chapman Armstrong. After he graduated, he experimented with different options. He taught school in Malden, studied at a Baptist seminary, and worked in a lawyer’s office. After trying his hand at various careers, Washington returned to Hampton where he settled into teaching for the next two years.
Creating the Tuskegee Institute
In 1881, Armstrong recommended him for the position of principal of a new black school, which was to be established in Tuskegee, Alabama. Washington was given the position, and with only two thousand dollars, he founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.
Tuskegee was an all-black school with an all-black faculty. Its teaching methods were modeled after the missionary method of Hampton. Emphasis was placed on self-determination, the skilled trades, and economic independence. Tuskegee also emphasized community. The Institute often bought surrounding farmland, and sold it to small landowners and homeowners. By 1888, four hundred students were enrolled, and it owned five hundred acres of land.
A Controversial Leader
Not long after the success of the school, Washington, "The Wizard of Tuskegee," garnered nationwide notoriety. He received national attention in 1895 when he made his speech, “The Atlanta Compromise” at the Cotton States and International Exposition. In his speech, he asserted that blacks and whites could remain separate in social matters, but in economic matters, there should not be any barriers to advancement. He also downgraded the importance of civil and political rights. In essence, Washington adopted a stance that appeared to tolerate segregation and discrimination.
After his address at the Exposition, whites and some blacks accepted Washington as a black leader. This new public position helped Washington promote and raise money for Tuskegee. Because of his views on race relations, Washington successfully entreated financial aid from wealthy whites and northern philanthropists. Shortly after 1895, Tuskegee was expanded nationwide. In 1900, Washington began another endeavor; he founded the National Negro Business League.
Washington was also a gifted speaker. In addition to speaking about the importance of economic self-sufficiency, he spoke about his opposition to universal suffrage, and believed that if enforced fairly, literacy and property tests should be used. He spoke separately to white and black audiences, and was able to appeal to both. To white audiences he appealed to them by using black stereotypes, and often succeeded in gaining their support based on mutual interest, but not ideological agreement. To black audiences he appealed to them by telling them not to cower to whites.
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