Washington, Booker Taliaferro (Appletons' Cyclopaedia, 1889)

What it is

This is a reference entry titled Washington, Booker Taliaferro, published in Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography by D. Appleton and Co. in New York in 1889. The entry describes him as an educator born in Hale's Ford, Franklin County, Virginia, on 18 April, 1856. It says he graduated from Hampton Institute in 1875, was elected president of Tuskegee Institute, which he organized in 1881, and that the school grew from one teacher and thirty students to twenty teachers and 300 students. It gives the property as 540 acres and valued at $68,000, and says it was out of debt.

Why it matters

The entry was written while Washington was still alive and shows how he was described in a major reference work of its time. It presents his work as the growth of a school from a small beginning. Students can see how a reference book of 1889 summarized a living educator's achievements.

Look closer

• Which facts about Washington does the entry choose to emphasize, and which details about his life does it leave out?
• The entry gives his birth as 18 April 1856, while a 1915 tribute gives April 5. Why might sources disagree on dates?
• What does the entry's focus on property and money suggest about how the school was judged?