Subasta Bidspirit | WASHINGTON BOOKER T.: (1856-1915) American

WASHINGTON BOOKER T.: (1856-1915) American Educator, Author, Orator, a dominant leader in the African-American community. - L.S., Booker T Washington, one page, 4to, Tuskegee, Alabama, 31st March 1911, to Edwin C. Lewis, on the printed stationery of The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for the Training of Colored Young Men and Women. Booker sends a request to his correspondent, stating 'I am writing this personal appeal to you because I believe that you are interested in the kind of work we are trying to do at The Tuskegee Institute ', and continuing 'Our students pay their own board partly in cash, and partly in labor and in addition provide their own books, clothing, travelling expenses, etc., but they are wholly unable to pay the cost of fifty dollars per year, the cost of teaching each one.' Washington further adds 'This we have to ask friends to provide and I thought that you might like to assist in providing the whole or part of the support of a student for a year.' Some very light, extremely minor age toning to the extreme edges of the letter, VGEdwin Lewis (1881-1959) American Methodist Theologian.From 1890-1915 Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community. From the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery, Washington was the leading voice of the former slaves and their descendants, basing himself at the Tuskegee Institute, a historically black college in Alabama, and from where the present letter was signed. Washington mastered the nuances of the political arena in the late 19th century, which enabled him to manipulate the media, raise money, strategise, network, pressure, reward friends and distribute funds while punishing those who opposed his plans for uplifting blacks. His long-term goal was to end the disenfranchisement of the vast majority of African Americans, who still lived in the South. Washington also was a key proponent of African-American businesses and one of the founders of the National Negro Business League.