From 1890-1915, the most influential black man in America was Booker T. Washington, who had been born into slavery. He worked laboriously until emancipation before going on to seek an education. By the time he was 40, he had consolidated a network of supporters that came to be known as the “Tuskegee Machine,” helping coordinate action with the support of black businesses, religious communities, and others. With his position of power, Washington spoke out against Jim Crow laws and Southern disfranchisement of blacks.
By the early 20th century, Washington’s tactics were questioned by other black leaders, notably W. E. B. Du Bois, who wanted to protest more vehently in an effort to secure civil rights. Du Bois attended Harvard, becoming the first black man to earn a doctorate there. He went on to be a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University, and he also co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The Negro in the South is a collection of essays, including writings by both men, that discuss the conditions and plight of minorities in the South at the turn of the century. This edition of Du Bois and Washington’s The Negro in the South is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and over a dozen pictures of the two men and their work.
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