Booker T. Washington, who emerged from slavery to become one of the leading African American intellectuals around the turn of the 20th century, had ties to Charlottesville that eventually led to a city park being named after him.
A new connection between Washington and this area will be forged virtually via the University of Virginia Press’ electronic imprint, Rotunda, which has acquired “The Booker T. Washington Papers” to create a digital edition.
Washington – an author, pioneer in higher education, adviser to presidents and business leaders, and a pillar in the emerging Black elite and middle class – helped conceive a future for an educated, prosperous Black society in the wake of emancipation and Reconstruction. His views and ideas were not without controversy, however.