African-American Leaders and Educators By: Ellie Folkema

The African-American leaders and educators, all of the people who helped and supported the African-Americans had a very important role. They were brave and wonderful people who did whatever they needed to do to help out African- Americans.

Booker T. Washington Booker T. Washington was one of the most important African-American leaders. He was born into slavery and he became a respected educator while in his twenties. Washington’s strategy to help African- Americans was not to fight discrimination directly, but instead he encouraged African-Americans to improve their educational and economic well-being. He believed this would lead to the end He believed this would lead to the end of discrimination. of discrimination.

Booker T. Washington Booker T. Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute in 1881, which was a college. He served as Tuskegee’s principal and instructor for 33 years.

George Washington Carver George Washington Carver was an American scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. Carver was born into slavery. Carver had in his previous years learned how to grow his own crops, so in 1896, Tuskegee Institute invited Carver to head its Agriculture Department. Carver accepted the offer and taught at Tuskegee Institute for forty-seven years.

Blanche Kelso Bruce Blanche Kelso Bruce was born on March 1, Bruce grew up in slavery in Virginia. He started out by teaching at a school for blacks. Later on, Bruce became an important Republican in Mississippi and was the first non-white Senator to serve a full term.

W.E.B. DuBois W.E.B. DuBois was born in Massachusetts and was a college graduate who earned a doctorate from Harvard University. DuBois took a direct approach to fighting racial injustice. DuBois believed that African-Americans should protest unjust treatment and demand equal rights. In 1909 DuBois and other reformers founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, otherwise known as the NAACP. This was an organization that called for economic and educational equality for African Americans.

Ida B. Wells Ida B. Wells was a Journalist who wrote articles about the unequal education available to African-American children. drew attention the lynching of African- Americans. She was against lynching and was trying to stop it. Wells was also active in the women’s rights and women’s suffrage movement. In 1906, she joined with W.E.B. DuBois and others to further the Niagara Movement: She was one of the two African-American women to sign “the call” to form the NAACP in 1909.

All of these people helped to make African- Americans lives fairer and for African- Americans to get better education and better opportunities for their people in the future. Without these leaders, the African- Americans wouldn’t have had the same opportunities that they have today.

Sources Bruce Blanche, George Washington Carver, Ida B. Wells, ells/ibwbkgrd.html ells/ibwbkgrd.html United States History, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2007, Section 3 The Rights of Women and Minorities, Pages World Book, Volume 19, Tuskegee University, p.525