Charles Chesnutt to Samuel Edward Courtney, 16 May 1905
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CHAS. W. CHESNUTT
1005 WILLIAMSON BUILDING
CLEVELAND, O.
Cleveland, May 16, 1905
Dr. S.W. Courtney,
98 W. Springfield St.,
Boston, Mass.
Dear Dr. Courtney:-
The B. L. & H. A. having requested me to defer my address to them until a visit which I propose to make to Boston in June, when my son will graduate from Harvard, I shall not come to Boston until that time, & shall therefore not be able to enjoy the hospitality you so kindly tendered me.1 I thank you very much for your kind intentions, & hope you have not been put to any inconvenience.
Cordially yours, Chas. W. Chesnutt.
Copy
The answer which I sent him2
Yours of May 16th received and regret the B.L.&H.A. found it necessary to ask you to defer your visit. We had supposed that their arrangements were complete and that your date to appear before them was fixed, hence we are surprised at such an outcome, however, the friends who desired to entertain you in a social way would be pleased to have you reserve a date for them in June when it will be their pleasurable privilege to include Mrs. Chesnutt3 whom we take for granted will accompany you, and also our friends Dr4 & Mrs.5 B.T. Washington who will be here at that time--6
Very truly yours, S.E. Courtney ?Correspondent: Samuel Edward Courtney (1861–?), a prominent Black physician in Boston, MA, knew Booker T. Washington from the period before Washington taught at the Hampton Institute. Born into slavery as the child of a wealthy White plantation owner from West Virginia, Courtney taught mathematics and drawing at Tuskegee (1885–1888) before attending Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1893. He served as vice president of the National Medical Association, was politically active in the Republican party, and remained involved with many of Washington's endeavors, including the founding of the National Negro Business League in 1900. He was also the family's personal physician when the Washingtons stayed in Boston.
1. Chesnutt was initially scheduled to give his speech "Race Prejudice; Its Causes and Its Cure," on May 22, 1905, but eventually delivered it on Sunday, June 25, 1905. The Harvard commencement exercises were held the following week, on Wednesday, June 28. [back]
2. This note, on the verso of Chesnutt's letter, is presumably a copy of Courtney's answer to Chesnutt from May 19, 1905 . The presence of the letter from Chesnutt to Courtney, including copy of his answer, in the Booker T. Washington Papers indicates that Courtney sent Chesnutt's letter on to Washington, presumably to alert him to the change in the scheduling of Chesnutt's speech and his efforts to arrange for social events. [back]
3. Susan Perry Chesnutt (1861–1940) was from a well-established Black family in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and worked as a teacher at Fayetteville's Howard School before marrying Chesnutt. They were married from 1878 until his death in 1932 and had four children: Ethel, Helen, Edwin, and Dorothy. Susan led an active life in Cleveland. [back]
4. 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. [back]
5. Margaret Murray Washington (ca. 1865–1925) was an educator and social reformer. She earned her teaching degree at Fisk University, served as the Lady Principal of the Tuskegee Institute and helped expand Tuskegee programs. She became Booker T. Washington's wife after the death of his second wife and often accompanied him on his lecture tours. She helped found the organization that was to become the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) in 1896 and became its president in 1914. [back]
6. Chesnutt, his wife Susan, and their daughter Helen traveled to Boston, Massachusetts for Chesnutt's speech at the Boston Literary and Historical Association on June 25 and for Harvard commencement week, since Chesnutt's son Edwin was graduating. Edwin hosted a reception with a fellow graduate, and the Chesnutts were entertained in various homes of prominent Black Bostonians. On Monday, June 26, they lunched with Margaret Murray Washington, but Booker T. Washington did not come to Boston and New York until later that summer (see "All the News from Boston," New York Age [June 29, 1905]: 1). [back]
