The Influence of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois on the Writings from the Harlem Renaissance

By: Ali Mandelblatt, Matthew Wexler, John Kelly

Two of the most influential people in shaping the social and political agenda of African Americans were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois, both early twentieth century writers. While many of their goals were the same, the two men approached the problems facing African Americans in very different ways. This page is designed to show how these two distinct thinkers and writers shaped one movement, as well as political debate for years afterward.

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

BIOGRAPHY

Booker T. Washington was considered one of the shrewdest African American leaders of all time. As one commentator stated, Washington was modest but "too dignified to be humble". Nevertheless, Washington had a great influence on various African American writings and his influence can still be seen today.

As Washington stated in his book, Up From Slavery, "I am not quite sure of the exact place or exact date of my birth, but at any rate I suspect I must have been born somewhere and at sometime" (29). But, in reality, Booker Taliaferro Washington was born on a slave plantation in Franklin County, Virginia on April 5, 1856, where his mother worked as a cook. Washington's father, who he knew little of, was suspected to be a white man who worked on a near-by plantation. Growing up on the slave plantation, Washington lived in the most destitute surroundings. His "home" was a fourteen by sixteen square foot log cabin that he shared with his mother, brother, and sister. He spent most of his time on the plantation doing odd work, such as cleaning and working at the mill, since he was too small to do much more.

After the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, Washington and his family moved to Walden, West Virginia, where they lived in even more horrific conditions. Washington states in Up From Slavery "...there were no sanitary regulations, the filth about the cabins was often intolerable (42). In Walden, he worked in the salt mines and began to go to school. From the salt mines, Washington secured a position in a coal mine, which would prove to be a very historic point in his life. For it was at the coal mines that he first heard of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia where people of his race could learn the useful skills of life, such as cleanliness and manners.

The Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute was a school that Washington longed to attend. So, in order to be able to afford to go there, he worked for a General Lewis Ruffner's wife, Viola. He worked for this very strict lady for about a year and a half until he was able to afford the Hampton Institute.

Finally, in 1872, Washington was able to begin his schooling. He attended the Hampton Institute from 1872 to 1875. After his stay at the Hampton Institute, he found the skills that he was taught there were extremely instrumental and so he worked to open his own Normal and Agricultural Institute.

On July 4, 1881, the Tuskegee Normal and Agricultural Institute was opened. The students built the early buildings of this institute themselves. The students of the Tuskegee Institute were taught to develop internally. They were taught how to take care of their money and health and how to conduct themselves in public. It is thought that this in one of Washington's greatest accomplishments, but the influence of the Tuskegee Institute was difficult to gauge.

Another one of Washington's memorable influences was his speech at the Atlanta Exposition in 1895. In this speech, he stressed the need for economic development over social equality. The African Americans who listened to this speech thought that Washington should have been more militant. Regardless, this speech was very monumental in the life of Washington. For the rest of his life, he fought for the equality of African Americans. In Tuskegee, Alabama on November 14, 1915, Booker T. Washington died.

POLITICAL VIEWS

Through Booker T. Washington's upbringing the ideal of hard work had been instilled in him. His hard work to climb to a prominent position in the world of education shaped his ideals in the civil rights movement. Washington believed that African-Americans should best gain equality to whites through establishing a solid labor force. Fighting for specific rights like voting was not part of his immediate agenda. He believed that the best interests of African-Americans could be achieved "through education in the crafts and industrial skills and the cultivation of the virtues of patience, enterprise, and thrift." For Washington, a slow acquisition of wealth and culture was the best way to gain equality. Moderation was the key to Washington's ideals. But, as W.E.B. DuBois stated, Washington's views were "born out of present reality." Rutherford B. Hayes was elected president in 1876 and in exchange he eliminated the radical Reconstruction, which had been put in place in the South after Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

W.E.B. DuBOIS

BIOGRAPHY

W.E.B. DuBois was considered a self-confident, hostile, reserved and cold individual. Born on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, W.E.B. DuBois, or William Edward Burghardt DuBois, was the only child of Alfred and Mary Burghardt, who were both of "mixed blood". Since he was born after the abolition of slavery, he never experienced slavery himself. DuBois grew up in a white, middle class, puritan community in Great Barrington where he himself could pass as a white person.

After attending Fisk University, where he became acquainted with the "real world", from 1885 to 1888 and receiving his BA from there, DuBois attended Harvard University from 1890-1895. It was there that he received his second BA in 1891, his MA in 1892, and his Ph.D. in 1895. DuBois was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard.

DuBois taught sociology at both the Wilberforce and Atlanta Universities. While teaching, he wrote some of his most influential works, including The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade, his acclaimed dissertation, and The Philadelphia Negro. He left Atlanta University when his opposition to the beliefs and writings of Booker T. Washington made him a financial liability to the university.

Dubois was a well-known spokesman for the legal rights of African Americans. He was named the "Father of Pan Africanism", which came from his belief that the British should give the rights of government back to the colonies of Africa and the West Indies. In 1905, he led the Niagara Movement. At this movement, held at Niagara Falls, he urged for the public agitation for the rights of African Americans. He also proclaimed full voting rights for the African American people.

Probably his most noteworthy contribution to history was his help in the formation of the NAACP, or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Formed on February 12, 1909, the NAACP fought for equal opportunities and rights for African Americans. The influence of this organization can still be seen today and, in fact, the NAACP still exists today.

After unsuccessfully running for US Senate in 1951, DuBois moved to Ghana. He gained his citizenship and lived out the rest of his life there. On August 27, 1963, W.E.B. DuBois died in Accra, Ghana.

POLITICAL VIEWS

W.E.B. DuBois was the leader of the opposing facet of the early civil rights movement. DuBois was born free and had many opportunities for education that Washington did not. DuBois felt that Washington's plan to gain equality was only going to further exacerbate the oppression of African-American's in the United States and more specifically the South. Instead of a plan of accommodation, DuBois favored a plan of political action. He believed that African-American's had to speak outright on the shortcomings that they were held to in the United States. He had specific ideals on what African American's needed to accomplish in order to gain equality. In order to perpetuate these ideals he helped in starting the NAACP. He was "for more than fifty years a passionate fighter for full civil rights and equality of citizenship for the Negro." Through DuBois' actions he helped to teach America that black people were not inferior to whites simply because of their race. After years of leadership in the civil rights movement, DuBois simply became frustrated with the progression of it. In 1952 he decided to devote all of his attention to various world movements, most specifically the promotion of socialism and eventually communism.

WASHINGTON AND DUBOIS IN THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE ERA AND BEYOND

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes commented on Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s as being "not so much a place as a state of mind, the cultural metaphor for black America itself." This very much captures the essence of the Harlem Renaissance, a flourishing of African-American literature and art centered in the Harlem section of New York City. This movement sought to create and embellish an identity for blacks unique from the broader American culture. While this rebirth was less politically motivated than the careers of Dubois or Washington, it is inherently linked to the discourse and reaction to their work.

The Renaissance spurned change and enhancement of music as well as political and ideological writing. However, the most significant development of the era was clearly that of literature and poetry. Writers such as Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson and Jean Toomer were all at the height of their careers during the 1920s and 30s, all living in the city that Hughes referred to as "a great magnet for the Negro intellectual."

W.E.B. Dubois is considered by many to be the writer who provided the ground-breaking work that inspired the Renaissance. As editor of The Crisis from 1910-1934, Dubois pushed his belief that, coinciding with the Great Migration beginning in 1914, it was necessary for leaders within the African-American community to carry the movement toward liberation for all blacks. Dubois thought that this was less likely if African-Americans continued to simply emulate the social customs of whites. His perception was that equality could be accomplsihed only after pride in race and heritage was taught.

As America moved farther away from the days of slavery, but was still mired in institutional racism, the ideas, particularly the tactics, supported by Booker T. Washington were growing less and less popular. In fact, the Harlem Renaissance pushed a message quite to the contrary of Washington's. Washington supported the gradual assimilation of blacks into an equal society. He felt that this goal was achieved easiest by focussing on getting what was attainable, without protest, and inching toward a more equitable situation economically. However, as decades began to distance America from slavery, and racism and oppression continued, it became harder and harder for African- Americans to have faith in such notions. The eloquent and inspiring Dubois, carried far more appeal for young black leaders searching for a forum and agenda. The movement away from Washington's views is expressed frequently in the literature and poetry such as Langston Hughes' "A Dream Deferred":

Or does it explode?

The Harlem Renaissance laid the groundwork, as Dubois correctly prophesized, for strong leadership on the front lines of politics and society, coming to a head in the 1950s and 60s. African-American leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X played on the newly-instilled pride of communities, especially Harlem, in their effort to unite blacks in the struggle for social and economic liberation.

This is where it is important to note Washington's contributions. While his acceptance of "separate but equal", and of further oppression were discarded offhand by the new black leaders, his emphasis on gradual improvement and pragmatism was not forgotten. King is an excellent example of this. While many leaders were so quick to threaten violence to ensure change, it was the patient and compassionate Dr. King who proved most effective in the struggle for civil rights. His organization and persistence in civil disobedience (lunch counter demonstrations, peaceful protests) were so instrumental in making progress. The famous Montgomery bus boycott took almost a year, but finally broke the large white-run service, and gave blacks a sense of how their importance in America could be displayed and proven.

As one can see, Washington and DuBois played a tremendous role in creating the atmosphere which took African Americans into the Harlem Renaissance era. Without them, particularly DuBois, the movement for cultural identity would have lacked essential inspiration and foundation. We hope that we have provided our readers with information that shows this. If you would like any additional information on this topic, you may view the following links:
Harlem Renaissance and W.E.B. Dubois
W.E.B. DuBois Homepage
The Debate Between W.E.B.DuBois and Booker T. Washington
Booker T.Washington

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Washington, Booker T.Up From Slavery Hearst Co.:New York,1965.

DuBois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black FolkHearst Co.:New York,1965.

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/5881/

http://www.micds.pvt.k12.mo.us/academic/english/eng_11/11_jwh/web/misc/hughes.htm