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Primary sourceSpeech5 December 1908

Booker T. Washington reading an excerpt from his 1895 Atlanta Compromise speech

Booker T. Washington · 5 December 1908

The only known sound recording of Booker T. Washington's voice, made in 1908, in which he re-reads part of his famous Atlanta Compromise speech.

The only known recording of Washington's own voice, re-reading his famous speech.

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Booker T. Washington, recorded re-reading of the Atlanta Compromise speech, Columbia Phonograph studio, New York, 5 December 1908.

About this source

What it is

This 1908 recording, made in a Columbia Phonograph studio in New York, is the only known sound recording of Booker T. Washington's voice. In it he reads an excerpt from his 1895 Atlanta Compromise speech. It was made for private purposes and later released commercially by his son in 1920.

Why it matters

Hearing Washington's actual voice connects students directly to the oratory that made him famous. It is a rare survival from an era before recorded sound was common, and lets later generations judge for themselves the tone and delivery that won him a standing ovation in 1895.

Look closer

  • How might hearing Washington's voice change your impression of him compared to just reading his words?
  • Why do you think this recording was made thirteen years after the original speech?
  • What does the survival of only one recording tell you about historical sound records?

This speech is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Booker T. Washington on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Black-and-white photo of a man in a dark suit standing on an elevated platform, arm outstretched, addressing a large crowd of people gathered outdoors, with buildings and trees in the background.Speech

Primary source

Atlanta Compromise

Booker T. Washington · 18 September 1895

Front cover of a dark red cloth-bound book. Gold lettering reads 'UP FROM SLAVERY, AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY, BOOKER T. WASHINGTON', with gold rules under the title and author name.Book

Primary source

Up from Slavery

Booker T. Washington · 1901

Title page of The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, Second Edition, with a printer's device reading A. C. McClurg, and imprint Chicago, A. C. McClurg & Co., 1903.Book

Secondary source

The Souls of Black Folk

W. E. B. Du Bois · 18 April 1903

Black-and-white studio portrait of a seated man in a three-piece suit with a high-collared shirt, bow tie, and vest with a watch chain. He sits angled toward the viewer against a dark drape backdrop, looking directly at the camera.Photograph

Primary source

Portrait of Booker T. Washington

Frances Benjamin Johnston · c. 1895

Handwritten Supreme Court of the United States record, No. 210, October Term 1895, Homer Adolph Plessy, plaintiff in error, versus J. H. Ferguson, Judge of Section A Criminal District Court for the Parish of Orleans. Text states the judgment is affirmed with costs, signed Mr. Justice Brown, dated May 18, 1896, with a dissent noted by Mr. Justice Harlan.Document

Primary source

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court of the United States · 18 May 1896

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