Item 83: Letter from Booker T[aliaferro]. Washington to Charles E. Dana, 1904 January 6

Item — Box: 11, Folder: 83

Staff Only

Letter from Booker T[aliaferro]. Washington to Charles E. Dana, 1904 January 6

Dates

Created: 1904 January 6

Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities

Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.

Access:

All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.

Extent

1 items

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Type of Material:

Letter

Condition Note:

Good.

Measurements:

9 ½ in. x 6 in.

Description:

This is a letter from Booker Washington to Charles Dana on January 6, 1904. The letter is about a copy of a report to a Board of Trustees for the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. The creator of this letter, Booker Taliaferro Washington, was born in Hale’s Ford, Virginia in 1856 under slavery. Washington was freed during the Civil War, when U.S force reached the rural areas of the South. Washington put himself through many educations, studying first at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institue and later attending Wayland Seminary. His most prominent legacy was recognized in 1881, when Washington became the first teacher and head of the new Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, formerly know as Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. Tuskegee was one of the first institutes of higher black education in the country, beginning as a one room institution. Wasington was spoke out for African American businesses, becoming one of the founders of the National Negro Business League. He utilized his voice and means to connect those in the surrounding communities, weaving a coalition of black, middle class families and church leaders to collaborate with white politicians during this period to straegize, fundraise, and anipulate the face of the media. He promoted ideals of education and entrepreneurship to combat Jim Crow segregation, rallyin a force that came to be known as the Age of Booker T. Washington, 1880-1915. In the letter, Washington is giving the recipient the names of Tuskegee’s Board of Trustees. Logan Warren was a professor at Tuskegee in 1877, becoming one of the institution’s founders. William Henry Baldwin was an American philanthropist and executive for the Union Pacific Railroad. He secured donations from Northerm industrial magnates during the Gilded Age, becoming an influential hand in advocating for and securing the right to industrial education for African Americans during the period. He later became a trustee of Tuskegee University, working closely with Washington. James Graham Phelps Stokes was a American socialist and political activist and served as the president of the Nevada Central Railroad for forty years. He is most known for helping to found the Intercollegiate Socialist Society with his wife, Rose Pastor Stokes, whom together advocated for birth control, unions, and an American Communist party. George Foster Peabody was an America banker and philanthropist, advocating for social issues such as women's suffrage and government ownership of railroads, such as those proposed by other voices, like Henry George in his work, Progress and Poverty. Robert Curtis Ogden was a businessman who prominently advocated for education access throughout the Southern United States. He was a great financial support for Wasington, as well as taing part in public speaking events for Washington.

Location:

Philadelphia

Transcription:

Jan 6. 1904. Mr. Charles E. Dana, 2013 Delancey Street Philadelphia, Pa., Dear Sir:- I send you herewith a copy of my last report to the Board of Trustees. I hope that you may find time to read it. Yours truly, Booker T. Washington. Principal.