Booker T Washington

Tuskegee University founder

Hampton Normal Agriculture Institute

Inequality supporter (kind of)

Racial accommodationist

DuBois hated him

Life:

1. Born on April 5, 1856
2. Founded Tuskegee University which focused on training African Americans in agricultural pursuits in 1881
3. He did not openly speak out against racial discrimination but secretly financed several court cases challenging segregation
4. Left home in 1872 and walked to Hampton Normal Agriculture Institute. He convinced the headmaster to let him into the school and became a janitor in order to pay for his tuition, later offered a scholarship
5. Died on November 14, 1915 from heart failure

Philosophy:

1. Known as a “racial accommodationist”
1. Not a supporter of political and social equality among races
1. Rather, he wanted African Americans to focus on vocational skills and on gaining a good reputation
2. Urged them to “cast down [their] buckets where they are” and accept Jim Crow Laws, etc.

2. The Tuskegee Institute was an extension of these ideas
3. Was bitterly opposed by activists like Du Bois, whose main goals were to gain political equality for African Americans