Charles W. Chesnutt to Emmett J. Scott, 24 October 1901
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CHAS. W. CHESNUTT,
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
1005 WILLIAMSON BUILDING.
CLEVELAND, O. October 24th, 1901.
Mr.Emmett J.Scott,
Tuskegee, Ala.
My dear Mr. Scott:-
I am in receipt of your kind letter of October 18th, and thank you for your interest in my forthcoming book1 and the promise to send me something that can be used to advantage in advertising it.
I should feel disappointed if the book did not commend itself to those who are interested in the cause which it is intended to uphold.
I have requested the publishers to send you an edirotial[sic] copy for yourself. I presume that whatever goes to the Tusgegee[sic] sStudent,2 goes to you.
Correspondent: Emmett Jay Scott (1873-1957), a Black journalist from Texas, became Booker T. Washington's personal secretary in 1897 and was his influential advisor until Washington's death in 1913. He served at the Tuskegee Institute until 1917, and later at Howard University (1919-1939). During World War I, he was Special Assistant for Negro Affairs under Secretary of War Newton D. Baker (1871-1937). His notes on Chesnutt's letters often steered Washington's attention to specific letters; his direct correspondence with Chesnutt spanned over three decades.
1. The House Behind the Cedars (Houghton Mifflin, 1900) was Chesnutt’s first published novel. It evolved over more than a decade from a short story, "Rena Walden," first drafted in the late 1880s.[back]
2. The Tuskegee Student: Devoted to the Interests of Students and Graduates of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute was the Tuskegee Institute's weekly paper from 1889 to 1924. Emmett J. Scott (1873-1957) was its editor while he was at the Tuskegee Institute (1897-1917). The Tuskegee Student regularly published Booker T. Washington's writings and speeches.[back]
