Booker T. Washington and the Struggle against White Supremacy: The Southern Educational Tours, 1908–1912

268 Pages·2008·1.55 MB·English

by  David H. Jackson Jr. (auth.)

Booker T. Washington and
the Struggle against
White Supremacy
Booker T. Washington and
the Struggle against
White Supremacy
The Southern Educational
Tours, 1908–1912
David H. Jackson, Jr.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AND THE STRUGGLE AGAINST WHITE SUPREMACY
Copyright © David H. Jackson, Jr., 2008.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-0-230-60652-4
All rights reserved.
First published in 2008 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the US—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-0-230-62138-1 ISBN 978-0-230-61550-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230615502
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jackson, David H.
Booker T. Washington and the struggle against white supremacy :
the southern educational tours, 1908–1912 / David H. Jackson, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Washington, Booker T., 1856–1915—Travel—Southern States.
2. Washington, Booker T., 1856–1915—Political and social views.
3. Washington, Booker T., 1856–1915—Psychology. 4. National Negro
Business League (U.S.)—History. 5. African Americans—Education—
Southern States—History—20th century. 6. African Americans—
Southern States—Social conditions—20th century. 7. Southern
States—Race relations—History—20th century. 8. Southern
States—Description and travel. 9. African Americans—Social
conditions—To 1964. 10. United States—Race relations—History—
20th century. I. Title.
E185.97.W4J33 2008 2008005345
370.92—dc22
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: October 2008
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to Sheila, David III, Daja,
and all present and future “Jacksonites”
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Abbreviations xvii
1 Introduction 1
2 The Three R’s: Reconstruction, Redemption, and Racism 11
3 Booker T. Washington and the Psychology of “Black
Survivalism” 31
4 Tour of the Magnolia State, October 1908 53
5 Tour of the Volunteer State, November 1909 77
6 Tour of the Tar Heel State, October–November 1910 99
7 Tour of the Lone Star State, September–October 1911 127
8 Tour of the Sunshine State, March 1912 151
9 Conclusion 177
Appendix: Roster of Selected National Negro Business League
Members in Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina,
Texas, and Florida from 1900 to 1915 189
Notes 205
Works Cited 233
Index 249
Figures
Map Produced by Katherine Milla.
1 Washington and the coordinators of his five tours. Center:
Washington, president and founder of the National Negro Business
League. Top left: Charles Banks of Mound Bayou, Mississippi,
coordinated Washington’s Mississippi tour. Top right: Bishop
George Wylie Clinton of Charlotte, North Carolina, coordinated
Washington’s North Carolina tour. Bottom left: Robert L. Smith
of Waco, Texas, coordinated Washington’s tour of Texas. Bottom
middle: James C. Napier of Nashville, Tennessee, coordinated
Washington’s tour of Tennessee. Bottom right: Matthew M. Lewey
of Pensacola, Florida, coordinated Washington’s Florida of tour.
2 Top left: Washington working at his desk at Tuskegee Institute.
Top right: Washington speaking. Center: Washington with ban-
daged head after Henry Ulrich assault in New York, March 1911.
Bottom left: Washington speaking in Jacksonville, Florida. Bottom
right: Washington in Copenhagen, Denmark.
3 Top left: Washington, president of Tuskegee Institute. Top center:
Robert R. Moton led many of the “plantation songs” on
Washington’s tours and became his successor at Tuskegee Institute.
Top right: Emmett J. Scott, Washington’s loyal secretary. Bottom
left: John Merrick, business leader in North Carolina and
Washington supporter. Bottom center: Charles Banks,
Washington’s “Chief Lieutenant” for Mississippi. Bottom right:
Charles Spaulding, a business leader in Charlotte, North Carolina,
and Washington supporter.
4 Top left: Joseph Blodgett, businessman in Jacksonville, Florida,
and Washington supporter. Top center: Elias Cottrell, Bishop of
the CME Church and Washington supporter. Top right: Abraham
Lincoln Lewis of Jacksonville, Florida. Business leader and sup-
porter of Washington. Bottom left: Charles H. Anderson, busi-
nessman in Jacksonville, Florida, and Washington supporter.
Bottom center: Distinguished scholar-activist W. E. B. Du Bois.
x FIGURES
Bottom right: Matthew W. Dogan, President of Wiley College in
Marshall, Texas.
5 Top: Charles Banks’s home in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, during
Washington’s tour in 1908. Washington is standing at the front
and center of the porch with Banks to his right. Bottom:
Washington and associates at Bishop Elias Cottrell’s home in
Mississippi during his tour of the state in 1908. (Seated, left to
right): Emmett Scott, Robert Moton, Washington, and (far right)
Bishop Elias Cottrell. (Standing): William H. Holtzclaw (second
from left) and Charles Banks (fifth from left).
6 Top: Washington and associates in Florida during his tour of the
state in 1912. From left to right, (Back Row): Sumner A. Furniss,
Emmett J. Scott, William T. Andrews, Matthew M. Lewey, and
J. C. Thomas. (Front Row): James C. Napier, Washington,
Samuel E. Courtney, John B. Bell, and Gilbert C. Harris. Bottom:
Washington and associates in North Carolina during his tour of the
state in 1910. From left to right, (Back Row): J. T. Saunders,
George C. Clement, J. A. Dellinger, Nathan Hunt, C. S. Brown,
R. W. Thompson, Silas A. Peeler, James B. Dudley, Henry L.
McCrorey. (Middle Row): William S. Pittman, John H. Washington,
James E. Shepard, Emmett J. Scott, William H. Lewis, Booker T.
Washington, John Merrick, George W. Clinton, Charles W. Greene,
R. B. McRary, G. W. Powell. (Front Row): Horace D. Slatter,
D. A. Winslow, George F. King, Charles C. Spaulding, John A.
Kenney, Charles H. Moore.
7 Top left: John Brown Bell’s home in Houston, Texas. Top right:
Elias Cottrell’s home in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Bottom left:
“The Oaks,” Washington’s home. Bottom right: John Merrick’s
home in Durham, North Carolina.
8 Top left: Masonic Temple in Jacksonville, Florida. Top right:
Florida A&M College’s Mechanics Arts Building. Middle right:
Girl’s Dormitory at Paul Quinn College, Waco, Texas. Bottom
left: Florida A&M College’s Carnegie Building. Bottom right:
Rust University in Holly Springs, Mississippi, was attended by
Charles Banks and Ida B. Wells-Barnett.
9 Top left: Original caption under photo reads: “Christ—The Son
of God. Man was created in the image of God. Is the negro in the
image of God’s son—Christ?” Top right: Beastly depiction of
black man with white woman. Caption under photo reads: “The
Beast and the Virgin. Can you find a white preacher who would
unite in holy wedlock, a burly negro to a white lady? Ah! Parents,
you would rather see your daughter burned, and her ashes
FIGURES xi
scattered to the winds of heaven.” Center: Negative depiction of
black infant. Caption under photo reads: “The Virgin Mary and
the Child Christ. Could the Child Christ possibly be of the same
flesh as the Negro?” Bottom left: Negative depiction of black
child. Caption under photo reads: “Adam and Eve in the Garden
of Eden. Is the negro an offspring of Adam and Eve? Can the
rose produce a thistle?” Bottom right: Black “brute” ravishes
white woman. Caption under photo reads: “Natural Results. The
screams of the ravished daughters of the ‘Sunny South’ have
placed the Negro in the lowest rank of the Beast Kingdom.”
Acknowledgments
To a large extent, this project began with a discussion I had ten years
ago with my former mentor the late Dr. Theodore (Ted) Hemmingway.
Back in 1986, he had published an essay on Booker T. Washington’s
tour of Mississippi and years later I wrote a study on Charles Banks,
Washington’s Mississippi lieutenant who coordinated that tour, so we
discussed working together on a book that covered Washington’s trav-
els. I recall Ted’s enthusiasm in saying we could call the book “Booker T.
Washington and his Traveling Roadshow.” Unfortunately, before he
passed away in 2006, we never took time beyond that initial discussion
to work on the project. Moreover, at that point, neither one of us really
understood the real meaning behind the tours, and as it turns out
Washington’s travels were much more than just a “roadshow.”
It took several years for this project to unfold during which time I
traveled to numerous libraries and archives throughout the southern
region of the United States. During that time, I incurred a number of
debts and I owe a number of people for assisting me along the way
with preparation of this work. Several of my former graduate students
and mentees (self-proclaimed “Jacksonites”) either worked in my
office as research assistants or just volunteered their time to help me
with this project, and I am very thankful for their assistance. A num-
ber of them have gone on to enroll in and/or complete doctoral pro-
grams since we met, including Anthony Dixon, Indiana University
(2007); Sheena Harris, the University of Memphis; Will Guzman, the
University of Texas (El Paso); Danton Wims, Indiana University;
Darius Young, the University of Memphis; Ameenah Shakir, the
University of Miami; Reginald Ellis, the University of Memphis;
Jonathan Hutchins, the University of Mississippi; Shirletta Kinchen,
the University of Memphis; Daleah Goodwin, the University of
Georgia; Katrina Sims, the University of Mississippi; and Christina
Davis, the University of Georgia. I would also like to express thanks
to a few other former graduate students who assisted me with this
work—Talibah Marin-Coleman and Attorney Alvin Benton.