WASHINGTON, Booker T.
Booker T. Washington Typed Letter Signed.
Booker T. Washington Typed Letter Signed to John Birkinbine
Alabama:, January 6, 1896.
$1,250.00
In Stock
Item Number: RRB-148640
* Custom Clamshell Boxes are hand made by the Harcourt Bindery upon request and take approximately 60 days to complete
Typed letter signed by Booker T. Washington to American mining engineer John Birkinbine. One page on Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute stationary, square octavo, the letter reads in full, "I shall be willing to abide by your decision in the matter of the souvenir and will be willing to pay whatever extra tax necessary." John Birkinbine (1844–1915) was a pioneering American mining engineer and mineralogist whose work significantly influenced the development of the U.S. iron and steel industries. He was a founding member and long-time editor of the United States Association of Charcoal Iron Workers and served two terms as president of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Matted with a portrait of Washington affixed above. In near fine condition with mail folds and toning. The entire piece measures 11 inches by 14 inches.
Booker Taliaferro Washington 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 principal. Washington had the ear of the powerful in the America of his day, including presidents. His mastery of the American political system in the later 19th century allowed him to manipulate the media, raise money, develop strategy, network, distribute funds, and reward a cadre of supporters.
Booker T. Washington Typed Letter Signed.
$1,250.00
In Stock
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