April 7, 1940: Who Was Booker T. Washington?

A Brief History

On April 7, 1940, Booker T. Washington became the first African American depicted on a United States Postage stamp. A community leader among African Americans and an educator/advocate for equal rights, Washington was one of the last African American leaders to have been born as a slave.

Digging Deeper

Born in 1856 in Virginia, Booker Taliaferro Washington (in case you wondered about the T) his mother moved Booker and her family to West Virginia after the Civil War to reunite with her husband (Booker’s father), Washington Ferguson. Booker was a smart lad and an able student, later attending Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (which later became Hampton University), not surprisingly a traditionally Black college. He then attended Wayland Seminary (which has become Virginia Union University) and in 1881 he founded the famed Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, later the headquarters of renowned African American scientist George Washington Carver and the World War II heroes, the Tuskegee Airmen.

The days after the American Civil War were tumultuous times for African Americans recently released from bondage. The former Confederate States enacted “Jim Crow” laws to repress Blacks, especially in voting and business. Militant Blacks such as W.E.B. DuBois (pronounced “doo-boze” to avoid sounding like the Caucasian French name) wanted African Americans and their allies to vigorously fight Jim Crow laws, but Booker T. Washington was a proponent of education and business start ups to better the position of the Black community. Friction developed between these Civil Rights crusaders, though they did cooperate on projects designed to further the African American cause and especially insofar as education was concerned. DuBois and others established the NAACP in 1909 with Washington’s approval.

Booker T. Washington tried to effect change in American attitudes about African Americans (both among White and Black Americans) through non-confrontational speeches and education. He became friends with powerful White business tycoons (including from high profile businesses such as Standard Oil, Sears, Roebuck and Company, and Eastman Kodak, with Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, William Howard Taft, et al) who backed Washington’s efforts to educated Black students and the American public. Washington lectured, wrote books, and established philanthropic organizations to benefit African Americans, especially students. He also formed the National Negro Business League to further Black enterprise in the US.

Executive Committee of the National Negro Business League, c. 1910. NNBL founder Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) is seated, second from the left.

Washington had the misfortune of having his first 2 wives die young, after only 2 and 3 years of marriage respectively. His third wife bore him no children, but he had 3 children with his first 2 wives. Washington worked tirelessly at various pursuits all the while remaining as Principal at Tuskegee. He died of probable heart failure at the age of 59 in 1915.

Of course, the greatest legacy of Booker T. Washington are the thousands of African American youths he helped gain a quality education and the lasting memorial of Tuskegee Institute. Other honors besides the postage stamp include a Liberty ship named for him in World War II and numerous schools, parks and other places and streets named for him. His birth home in Franklin County, Virginia was made a National Monument in 1956, the 100th anniversary of his birth. West Virginia State University named the Booker T. Washington Institute in his honor in 2000, and his sculpture is displayed in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Among Washington’s accomplishments and firsts was becoming the first African American guest of the United States President (Teddy Roosevelt) at the White House in 1901.

Some critics think Washington was too passive in his quest for Equal Rights for African Americans, while most historians rank him among the most effective crusaders for Civil Rights. Question for students (and subscribers): What do you think? If you have any particular stories about Booker or opinions about his methods and accomplishments, please share them with us in the comments section below this article.

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