Autograph letter in a secretarial hand, signed at the conclusion by Washington himself. 1 page. April, 1899, on Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute letterhead (with "Booker T. Washington, Principal" at the top left), in fountain pen. Addressed to a Miss Emma Brace in New York City, mentioning a forthcoming trip to New York and discussing a speaking engagement. Blocks of significant toning, else fine. 8.5 x 11 inches.
Booker T. Washington was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite. Washington was born into slavery on April 5, 1856, in Hale's Ford, Virginia, Washington was freed when U.S. troops reached the area during the Civil War. As a young man, Booker T. Washington worked his way through Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute and attended college at Wayland Seminary.Washington was a key proponent of African-American businesses and one of the founders of the National Negro Business League. Washington mobilized a nationwide coalition of middle-class blacks, church leaders, and white philanthropists and politicians, with the goal of building the community's economic strength and pride by focusing on self-help and education. Washington had the ear of the powerful in the America of his day, including presidents. He used the nineteenth-century American political system to manipulate the media, raise money, develop strategy, network, distribute funds, and reward a cadre of supporters. Because of his influential leadership, the timespan of his activity, from 1880 to 1915, has been called the Age of Booker T. Washington,
Autograph letter in a secretarial hand, signed at the conclusion by Washington himself. 1 page. April, 1899, on Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute letterhead (with "Booker T. Washington, Principal" at the top left), in fountain pen. Addressed to a Miss Emma Brace in New York City, mentioning a forthcoming trip to New York and discussing a speaking engagement. Blocks of significant toning, else fine. 8.5 x 11 inches.
Booker T. Washington was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite. Washington was born into slavery on April 5, 1856, in Hale's Ford, Virginia, Washington was freed when U.S. troops reached the area during the Civil War. As a young man, Booker T. Washington worked his way through Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute and attended college at Wayland Seminary.Washington was a key proponent of African-American businesses and one of the founders of the National Negro Business League. Washington mobilized a nationwide coalition of middle-class blacks, church leaders, and white philanthropists and politicians, with the goal of building the community's economic strength and pride by focusing on self-help and education. Washington had the ear of the powerful in the America of his day, including presidents. He used the nineteenth-century American political system to manipulate the media, raise money, develop strategy, network, distribute funds, and reward a cadre of supporters. Because of his influential leadership, the timespan of his activity, from 1880 to 1915, has been called the Age of Booker T. Washington,