Scope and Content Note
The papers of Booker Taliaferro Washington (1856-1915) span the years 1853-1946, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period 1900-1915. The collection deals chiefly with the early history and administration of the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, which Washington founded in 1881, as well as his diverse interests in other fields and institutions such as the Rockefeller-funded General Education Board, the Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virgina, other African-American schools, and education in general. In addition, it provides insights into race relations and social and political developments in the North and South between Reconstruction and World War I.
Part I of the Washington Papers consists of Family Correspondence, Personal Correspondence , Special Correspondence, and General Correspondence. The Family Correspondence (1881-1932) contains letters and related material sent between Booker T. Washington and family members and provides a rare glimpse into Washington's earlier years. The Personal Correspondence (1880-1916) features sensitive administrative and political matters as well as Washington's personal life. The Special Correspondence (1853-1915) consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence for individuals with whom he developed a sustained and frequent correspondence. The Personal Correspondence and Special Correspondence series illuminate Washington's relationships with various political and social figures of the time. The General Correspondence (1882-1915) reflects the routine correspondence of the principal's office of Tuskegee Institute.
Part II of the papers consists of correspondence files supplementing the letters in Part I. Included are Family Correspondence, Personal Correspondence, Special Correspondence , and General Correspondence . Also in Part II is a Speech, Article, and Book File (1887-1915) reflecting Washington's extensive speaking and writing efforts in conjunction with his work at Tuskegee Institute. Other files in Part II include separate series of photographs, printed matter, and miscellany and a series relating to Washington's death in 1915.
Part III of the collection focuses on the organizational records of Tuskegee Institute and on Washington's nationwide efforts to promote African-American advancement and education. The Departmental File (1897-1915) pertains to the functioning of the various departments within Tuskegee Institute. The Donation File (1884-1920) relates to the financing of the institute and the building of Rosenwald rural schools and other funds. The Lecture File (1904-1915) documents Washington's extensive speaking tours throughout the United States. The Applications for Positions File (1901-1915) provides insight into the structure and composition of Tuskegee as a vocational institution. The Student File (1902-1915) reflects students' financial and personal problems, applications, and entrance fees and tuition. The Extension Work File (1908-1915) relates to Washington's instructional and organizational activities within Macon County, Alabama, and on a national level. The Tuskegee Records (1887-1941) relate primarily to the administration and history of Tuskegee. The National Negro Business League (1901-1928) records in the collection concern the organization and operation of the league which Washington helped to establish in 1900 to promote African American enterprise.
Part IV consists of oversized material removed from various parts of the collection.
Part V is an addition consisting of a 1901 letter from Washington to Albert Bushnell Hart and notes for an undated speech.
Significant and frequent correspondents in the Booker T. Washington Papers include William Henry Baldwin, Jr., Nannie Helen Burroughs, Wallace Buttrick, Andrew Carnegie, George Washington Carver, James Sullivan Clarkson, J. H. Dillard, Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. DuBois, Charles William Eliot, Timothy Thomas Fortune, Hollis Burke Frissell, Marcus Garvey, Abraham Grant, Leigh S. J. Hunt, Seth Low, Fred R. Moore, Robert Russa Moton, Edgar Gardner Murphy, Daniel Alexander Payne Murray, Robert C. Ogden, Walter Hines Page, George Foster Peabody, John D. Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Root, Julius Rosenwald, Emmett J. Scott, Anson Phelps Stokes, William H. Taft, V. H. Tulane, and Oswald Garrison Villard.