Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois
African-American Leadership in the Early 1900s
April 13, 2011
Objectives:
1. TSW compare and contrast the viewpoints of two early Civil Rights leaders.
2. TSW debate the viewpoints of Booker T.
Washington & W.E.B. DuBois.
Black Leadership in the early 1900s – 2 Views
Accomodationists
Booker T. Washington
Rising Expectations
W.E.B. Du Bois & Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois
Booker T.
Washington
Lived 1856-1915
Born a slave in Virginia
Educated at Hampton
University
Founder of Tuskegee
University
Tuskegee University – Early 1900s
A Few classes at Tuskegee in the Early
Years: History (above), Blacksmithing
(top right), & Mattress making
(bottom right)
Views given in “The Atlanta
Compromise” in 1895
Blacks should not blame whites for their situation
Booker T.
Washington
Blacks should start from the bottom, work their way and “be patient”
Work for economic opportunity
Opposed agitating for black rights because it would cause setbacks
Wanted programs for job training and vocational skills for black Americans
Ask whites to give job opportunities to Black people
B.T.W. went on to found the
Urban League which provided jobs and training for blacks
B.T.W. was unpopular with many
Black leaders, but was popular with white leaders in the North and South. Why?
Booker T.
Washington
W.E.B. DuBois
Born in Massachusetts to a free black family
(1868-1963)
Educated at Fisk,
Harvard, & Berlin
Sociology Professor at
Atlanta University in
1897
W.E.B. DuBois
Views given in
The Souls of Black Folks
Strongly opposed
B.T.W.’s acceptance of segregation and Jim
Crow
Felt that white people caused problems by denying rights to Black people
W.E.B. DuBois
Advocated the
“Talented Tenth”
Felt that talented Black students should get a good education and then help everyone else
Felt it was wrong to expect a citizen to
“earn their rights”
NAACP
National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People
Founded by 60 people, 7 of whom were African-
American ( including DuBois & Ida B. Wells-Barnett )
NAACP's stated goal was to secure for all people the rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments to the Constitution
DuBois was the only African-American among the organization's executives (even the NAACP’s president was a white man)
!["What is this [African] American, This New Man?" Booker's Bucket vs](http://s2.studylib.net/store/data/010247134_1-fcc462a83585f7bf7b629277ca194edd-300x300.png)
