International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade - Booker T. Washington

 It will come as no surprise to the majority of the public that the Hull History Centre has such an extensive Local Studies collection on the subject of Slavery – Hull connection with William Wilberforce is well known and documented.  William Wilberforce deserves all the recognition and respect that he is due [Image 1]

Image 1 - William Wilberforce 

I thought I would highlight an individual, Booker T. Washington, who may not be as well-known on ‘on this side of the pond’ but played a central role in education of former slaves after their emancipation in the United States.

Booker T. Washington [Image 2] was born into slavery on a tobacco plantation and rose to become a leading African American intellectual of the nineteenth century, founding Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute [now Tuskegee University, Alabama] in 1881 and National Negro Business League two decades later.  He was became the first African-American to be invited to dine at the White House, by President Theodore Roosevelt which caused uproar amongst some white Americans.  Harvard University was the first American university to recognize Washington’s greatness by conferring upon him its honorary Master of Arts degree.

Image 2 - Booker T. Washington 

Washington was born 18 April 1856 – his mother was a cook for the plantation owners, the Burroughs, whilst his father, a white man, was unknown to Washington.  In 1865, at the close of the American Civil War, all the slaves on the Burroughs plantation, including nine year old Booker, his siblings and his mother, Jane Burroughs, were freed.

His step-father, Washington Ferguson, sent for his wife and family to move to Malden, West Virginia.  Ferguson seemed like a feckless individual whose main motive for sending for his family was to use his step-children like slaves so he wouldn’t have to work. Booker T. Washington was sent to work in the salt-mines but was desperate to be educated.  His mother, who seemed like a very resourceful individual, managed to obtain a copy of the Webster spelling book and through this, he taught himself the alphabet. Booker was more determined than ever to get an education and although his stepfather forbad him from going to school, his mother persuaded the local teacher to give him lessons at night.  Eventually his stepfather reluctantly allowed his to go to school provided he went to work in the Salt mines from 4am to 9am. 

It was on his first day here that he adopted the name “Washington”.  Prior to this, he had only been called Booker.  When the teacher asked the pupils their names, Booker quickly realised that every boy had two names so he decided then and there to say “Booker Washington”.  It was only much later that he discovered his mother had named him “Booker Taliaferro” after his birth and so then adopted the full name of Booker Taliaferro Washington. 

Brigadier General Samuel Chapman had founded a school for former slaves in South East Virginia and it was here in 1872 that Booker T. Washington walked 500 miles from Malden to Hampton to take the next step in his formal education.  He was such an exceptional student that it was on the recommendation of Chapman that Washington was invited to become the Principal at a new school for African-Americans in Tuskegee, Alabama.  He would remain here until his death in 1915.

He was a great orator and some of his lasting quotes –

-          “Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others, the most miserable are those who do the least”.

-          “I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him”.

-          “Character, not circumstances, makes the person”.

-          “No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem”.

-          “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else”.

-          “We all should rise, above the clouds of ignorance, narrowness and selfishness”.

These are as resonant today as when they were first penned by him.

Washington publically expressed views on segregation that seem outdated today. He felt that the way forward for African-Americans was self-improvement through an attempt to “dignify and glorify common labour”. He felt it was better to remain separate from Whites than attempt desegregation as long as whites granted their black men and women access to economic progress, education and justice under U.S. Courts. His views on civil rights fell out of favour as the views of his biggest critic, W.E. B. DuBois, took root and insured the Civil Rights Movement ignited.  By 1913, with the new Woodrow Wilson administration, his views had fallen largely out of favour.

However, there is no doubt that Booker T. Washington did achieve greatness from his very humble beginnings and on his death, he left behind a thriving Educational Institution with a faculty of 200 staff and over two million dollars in educational endowments which has allowed the Tuskegee University to thrive and continue up to the present day.

Caoimhe West, Reader Assistant, Unlocking the Treasures Project