Emmett J. Scott to Charles W. Chesnutt, 22 March 1909
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March 22, 1909.1
Confidential.
Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt,
1105 Williamson Building,
Cleveland, Ohio.
My dear Mr. Chesnutt:
Thank you most heartily for your kind letter of March 19th which I have just received since returnig[sic] to Tuskegee2 from South Carolina, where I have been touring the State with Dr. Washington.3
Permit me to say, that so far as I am concerned[?], it would be most pleasant and satisfactory to have your son[?] secretary for the Commission to Liberia,4 and I have this day submitted his name, with just one other, for consideration at the hands of the State Department5 I have been asked to submit two names, and his name is one of those[?] submitted. I would count it a real privilege to have[?] your son as[?] the other colored member of the Commission.6
With kindest regards, I am
Yours very truly, Emmett J Scott N.H.7Correspondent: 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 year on the carbon copy of Emmett Scott's letter is illegible, but historical context suggests that Chesnutt's query on behalf of his son Edwin was prompted either by a premature State Department press release in early March of 1909 that Booker T. Washington, philanthropist Robert Ogden (1836–1913), and economist Jacob Hollander (1871–1940) would serve on the commission, or by its correction. The three men did not accept the appointment; indeed, Washington had been told by President William Howard Taft (1857–1930) that he was needed in the U.S.; and Emmett Scott had already reluctantly agreed to serve in Washington's stead in late February 1909. It is not clear whether Chesnutt already knew about Scott's appoinment when he wrote. See "Liberian Commission," New York Age (March 4, 1909): 1, and "Commissioner Emmett J. Scott," New York Age (March 25, 1909): 4.[back]
2. The Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), in Tuskegee, Alabama, evolved from the Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers, founded in 1881, with Booker T. Washington as its principal. 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]
3. In late March 1909, Booker T. Washington went on a speaking tour through South Carolina, lecturing several times a day on education in front of Black and White audiences. Cf. Washington's letter to to James Hardy Dillard from March 20, 1909, in the Booker T. Washington Papers, 10:73–74.[back]
4. The Republic of Liberia was founded in 1847 by African Americans and with involvement from the American Colonization Society. It was recognized by the United States in 1862. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Liberia was under pressure from European nations that wanted to colonize the area. Booker T. Washington took an active interest in the country and used his influence on its behalf. President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Ernest Lyon (1860—1938) as U.S. consul and minister to Liberia (1903–1911) on Washington's recommendation. In the summer of 1907, Washington began to lobby Presidents Roosevelt and later William Howard Taft for American intervention in Liberia, with some success. The Tuskegee Institute hosted a Commission from Liberia in the summer of 1908 and facilitated their negotiations with U.S. officials.[back]
5. Edwin Jackson Chesnutt (1883—1939) was the third child of Charles and Susan Chesnutt. Born in North Carolina, he spent his childhood in Cleveland, Ohio, graduated from Harvard University in 1905, and decided not to stay abroad after an extended stay in France in 1906. Instead, he trained and worked as a stenographer, including at the Tuskegee Institute from 1910—1912. After obtainng a degree in dentistry at Northwestern University in 1917, he became a dentist in Chicago.[back]
6. Booker T. Washington encouraged President Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) to put together an official commission to visit Liberia in the spring of 1908. The commission did not take final form until March 1909 under Roosevelt's successor William Howard Taft (1857–1930), and Emmett Scott was appointed. He traveled to Liberia as the only Black member in May of 1909. Edwin Chesnutt was not chosen as the commission's secretary, although he became a stenographer at the Tuskegee Institute the following year.[back]
7. 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 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]
