Booker T. Washington to Charles W. Chesnutt, 29 October 1906
| Textual Feature | Appearance |
|---|---|
| alterations to base text (additions or deletions) | added or deleted text |
| passage deleted with a strikethrough mark | |
| passage deleted by overwritten added text | Deleted text Added text |
| position of added text (if not added inline) | [right margin] text added in right margin; [above line] text added above the line |
| proofreading mark | ‸ |
| page number, repeated letterhead, etc. | page number or repeated letterhead |
| supplied text | [supplied text] |
| archivist note | archivist note |
October 29, 1906.
Mr. Charles. W. Chesnutt,
Williamson Bldg., Cleveland, O.
Personal
My dear Mr. Chesnutt:-
I have time to take only a minute to answer one point in your letter. I very much fear that you place too much reliance upon the ballot to cure evils that we are at present suffering. The ballot is valuable and should not be surrendered. Every man who can do so should vote, but in this connection, how do you account for the Atlanta riot, the worst that we have had in forty years?1 That occurred in practically the only Southern state where the Negro has not been disfranchised by reason of constitutional enactment.2
Yours truly, Booker T. Washington H.3Correspondent: 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. The Atlanta Riot began on Saturday, September 22, 1906, when several Black men were reported in local newspapers to have sexually assaulted White women. A White mob began to attack Black citizens and destroy homes and businesses. Although the exact number of deaths is unknown, between 25 and 40 Black people died (as well as two Whites). Called in on Sunday, September 23, the state militia patrolled the streets and arrested over 200 Black men the next day in the Brownsville area. The riot was covered widely in the national and international news at the time. Among Blacks, it exacerbated tensions between political factions and led to increased criticism of Booker T. Washington's accommodationist approach. [back]
2. Georgia's status as a Southern state in which the Black vote was not suppressed by a constitutional amendment ended when it adopted in 1908 a constitutional amendment that disenfranchised Blacks, in this case via a literacy law (and a grandfather clause that effectively exempted Whites). Intense agitation for the amendment began in the summer of 1906, when gubernatorial candidate M. Hoke Smith (1855–1932) aggressively campaigned for it, winning the Democratic primary in August and becoming governor in 1907. The attack on Black citizens during the Atlanta Riot that September is often seen as a direct consequence of Smith's 1906 campaign. [back]
3. Nathan Hunt (18??–1932) became Booker T. Washington's stenographer and private secretary in 1895 and remained on his staff until Washington's death, often traveling with him while Emmett J. Scott (1873–1957), Washington's main secretary after 1898, stayed in Tuskegee. Hunt also served as secretary to Robert R. Moton (1867–1940), Washington's successor at Tuskegee Institute. [back]
