Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary black elite. Washington was from the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery and became the leading voice of the former slaves and their descendants. They were newly oppressed in the South by disenfranchisement and the Jim Crow discriminatory laws enacted in the post-Reconstruction Southern states in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Washington was a key proponent of African-American businesses and one of the founders of the National Negro Business League. His base was the Tuskegee Institute, a normal school, later a historically black college in Tuskegee, Alabama, at which he served as a principal. As lynchings in the South reached a peak in 1895, Washington gave a speech, known as the "Atlanta compromise", that brought him national fame. He called for black progress through education and entrepreneurship, rather than trying to challenge directly the Jim Crow segregation and the disenfranchisement of black voters in the South.
Source: Library of Congress: Booker T. Washington A Resource Guide
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
Digital File from Original Negative. Harris & Ewing, photographer. Taken between 1905 and 1945.
Atlantic Compromise Speech
“Booker T. Washington’s 1895 Address to the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition is one of the most famous speeches in American history. The goal of the Atlanta Exposition was to showcase the economic progress of the South since the Civil War, to encourage international trade, and to attract investors to the region. Anxious to show there had been progress in race relations as well, the promoters invited Washington, who had a reputation as a conservative black leader, to speak at the opening ceremonies. Washington gave his address on September 18, 1895, before a predominantly white audience.”
Source: Jacqueline Moore Essay on Atlantic Exposition Speech from the Library of Congress
Atlantic Compromise Speech
In this, the only known sound recording made by Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), the African American leader and educator, reads an excerpt of the famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech that he delivered at the Atlanta Exposition on September 18, 1895. The recording was made on December 5, 1908, for private purposes and was made available commercially by Washington’s son in 1920.
Source: Library of Congress: The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom