Booker T. Washington

Definition

Booker T. Washington was an influential African American educator and leader in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He advocated for vocational education for African Americans as a means to improve their economic status, while not directly challenging segregation.

Related terms

Tuskegee Institute: An educational institution founded by Booker T. Washington which focused on teaching practical job skills to African Americans.

W.E.B Du Bois: A contemporary of Booker T. Washington who disagreed with his approach, advocating instead for immediate civil rights and higher education for African Americans.

Atlanta Compromise: An agreement struck in 1895 where Southern black leaders (like Booker T. Washington) vowed to submit to white political rule, while Southern whites guaranteed that blacks would receive basic education and due process in law.