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Tuskegee; Its Story and Its Work

Max Bennett Thrasher · 1900

A 1900 book by Max Bennett Thrasher describing the founding and growth of Tuskegee Institute. It includes an introduction by Booker T. Washington.

This book describes the school Washington led, and it includes his own introduction, showing how he presented Tuskegee to the public.

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Tuskegee; Its Story and Its WorkPDF · 304 pages
Max Bennett Thrasher, Tuskegee; Its Story and Its Work, with an introduction by Booker T. Washington, Boston, 1900. Internet Archive scan.

About this source

What it is

This is a book by Max Bennett Thrasher, published in Boston in 1900 by Small, Maynard and Company. Its title is Tuskegee; Its Story and Its Work, and it carries an introduction by Booker T. Washington. The scanned copy is held by the Internet Archive and is a PDF.

The book is a contemporary account of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Black students in Alabama, written by Thrasher rather than by Washington. Thrasher says he made several visits to Alabama to study the school's methods and the yearly Tuskegee Negro Conference.

Why it matters

The book comes from the years when Tuskegee was growing under Washington's leadership. It shows how an outside writer described the school's aims, and it sits next to Washington's own introduction. Readers can see how the school's supporters presented its work to the public.

Look closer

  • What does Thrasher say he came to study, and what does that tell you about his purpose?
  • Why might the introduction by Washington matter to how readers understood the book?
  • Whose voices are missing from this account of the school, such as the students' own views?

This book 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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