• Welcome
  • Introduction Video
  • About this Project
  • Meet the Leaders (Index)
    • Henry Aaron
    • Ralph David Abernathy
    • Julian Bond
    • Joseph E. Boone
    • John Wesley Dobbs
    • W.E.B. Du Bois
    • Alonzo Herndon
    • Jesse Hill, Jr.
    • Donald Lee Hollowell
    • Hamilton E. Holmes
    • Maynard Jackson
    • Martin Luther King, Jr.
    • John Lewis
    • Joseph Lowery
    • Benjamin Mays
    • James & Robert Paschal
    • Roslyn Pope
    • Booker T. Washington
    • Domonique Wilkins
    • Hosea Williams
    • Andrew Young
  • Interactive Map
  • Explorer's Toolbox
  • Historic Districts
    • MLK Historical Park
    • MLK Park Photo Gallery
    • Nat'l Center for Civil & Human Rights
    • Rodney Cook, Sr. Park
    • Sweet Auburn District
  • Newsletter
Black Leaders of Atlanta

Booker T. Washington

​Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to multiple 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.
​
On September 18, 1895, the African American educator and leader Booker T. Washington delivered his famous "Atlanta Compromise" speech at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Piedmont Park. Considered the definitive statement of what Washington termed the "accommodationist" strategy of Black response to southern racial tensions, it is widely regarded as one of the most significant speeches in American history.

Where to Connect

  • ​Historical Marker in Piedmont Park — see tour map for exact location
  • Booker T. Washington Senior High School — first public high school for African-Americans in the state of Georgia and the Atlanta Public Schools system. Designed by Atlanta-born architect Eugene C. Wachendorff, the building incorporates medieval and Byzantine elements, including the dramatic main entrance with five arches in two tiers. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (located at 45 Whitehouse Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30314 in the Ashview Heights neighborhood of Atlanta)
  • Booker T. Washington Monument — In 1927, the only exact replica of the Booker T. Washington monument at Tuskegee University in Alabama was erected at the school's entrance. The statue, called "Booker T. Washington Lifting the Veil of Ignorance," is a replica of the original bronze at the Tuskegee Institute by sculptor Charles Keck. The inscription reads: "He lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry."
  • Atlanta Compromise Speech — Georgia Encyclopedia

Learn More

  • Dr. Booker Taliaferro Washington (Tuskegee University)
  • Booker T. Washington (Encyclopedia Britannica) 
  • How ‘Atlanta Compromise’ divided black America and cemented Washington’s legacy (AJC)
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website by ATLsherpa
  • Welcome
  • Introduction Video
  • About this Project
  • Meet the Leaders (Index)
    • Henry Aaron
    • Ralph David Abernathy
    • Julian Bond
    • Joseph E. Boone
    • John Wesley Dobbs
    • W.E.B. Du Bois
    • Alonzo Herndon
    • Jesse Hill, Jr.
    • Donald Lee Hollowell
    • Hamilton E. Holmes
    • Maynard Jackson
    • Martin Luther King, Jr.
    • John Lewis
    • Joseph Lowery
    • Benjamin Mays
    • James & Robert Paschal
    • Roslyn Pope
    • Booker T. Washington
    • Domonique Wilkins
    • Hosea Williams
    • Andrew Young
  • Interactive Map
  • Explorer's Toolbox
  • Historic Districts
    • MLK Historical Park
    • MLK Park Photo Gallery
    • Nat'l Center for Civil & Human Rights
    • Rodney Cook, Sr. Park
    • Sweet Auburn District
  • Newsletter