Charles W. Chesnutt to Booker T. Washington, 16 March 1906
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Letter of Regret Read
Cleveland, O., March 16, 1906.
Dr. Booker T. Washington, Principal,
Tuskegee Institute, Ala.
My dear Dr. Washington:-
I wish to thank you for the invitation to attend the twenty-fifth anniversary1 of your Institution2. I do not see at present how I can attend, but I wish to extend my hearty congratulations to you and your coworkers upon the marvelous success which has attended your efforts. I need not multiply words to speak of Tuskegee's power for usefulness or of the hold it has gained upon the public confidence. I trust the Institution and its head may live to celebrate many more anniversaries.
Cordially yours, Chas. W. ChesnuttCorrespondent: 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. On April 4, 1905, the 25th anniversary of the Tuskegee Institute was celebrated on site in Tuskegee, Alabama, with many prominent White and Black dignitaries present; Chesnutt was formally invited, but did not attend. [back]
2. The Tuskegee Institute (now University), in Tuskegee, Alabama, evolved from the Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers, founded in 1881, with Booker T. Washington as its first president. It became a leading educational institution for Blacks in the South, emphasizing teacher training and industrial education. Chesnutt, who had himself been the principal of a Black normal school in the early 1880s, first visited Tuskegee in February 1901, and remained well-informed about and personally connected with the institution all his life. [back]
