Charles W. Chesnutt to Booker T. Washington, 5 March 1902
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not answ'd3/10. 223
Ca-Cl 2 1005 Williamson Bld'g. Cleveland, O. March 5, 1902 My dear Mr. Washington:-
I am in receipt of your recent letter in reference to my daughter's returning to Tuskegee for another year; and while there are several of us here who had rather expected her to return home permanently, I think that no one is disposed to oppose her wishes 
very vigorously. She seems very anxious to stay, and gives very excellent and satisfactory reasons for doing so. The ultimate decision of the matter must of course rest with her.1
Permit me to congratulate you on the growing popularity of your Autobiography, which I see is to be translated into 
several foreign tongues. It is well worth translation, and I hope it may have a long lease of life & usefulness.2
There has been referred to me, after having passed through several hands, a letter of yours to the Director of Cooper Institute; making inquiry for a teacher of machinery, foundry work etc.3 I have some doubt about there being a qualified colored man in this neighborhood, but I will investigate & communicate to you the result.
My regards to Mrs. Washington, & believe me
Yours cordially, Chas. W. Chesnutt.Correspondent: Booker T. Washington (1856–1913), one of the most well-known Black activists of the early 20th century, was born into slavery in Virginia. In 1881, he became the president of what would become the Tuskegee Institute, advocating widely as a speaker and writer for technical education for Blacks, whose entry into American industry and business leadership he believed to be the road to equality. His political power was significant, but because he frequently argued for compromise with White Southerners, including on voting rights, he was also criticized by other Black activists, especially by W. E. B. Du Bois.
1. Ethel Chesnutt graduated from Smith College in June of 1901, and worked as an instructor at Tuskegee for the academic year 1901–1902. She decided not to return in the fall of 1902, but stayed in Cleveland to marry her fiancé, Edward C. Williams (1871–1929). [back]
2. Booker T. Washington's memoir Up from Slavery was serialized in The Outlook from November 3, 1900 to February 23, 1901 and then published in book form. [back]
3. The Cooper Institute for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union), was founded in 1859 in New York City to offer a skills-based education open to all (for many decades, for free), including people of color and women from its founding. Booker T. Washington had apparently asked for help staffing this teaching position at the Tuskegee Institute. [back]
