Washington’s endorsement of industrial training, was
established first to train African-American teachers.
Robert Russa Moton succeeded Washington as presi-
dent and in 1920 Moton published his autobiogra-
phy, FINDING A WAY OUT. Tuskegee Institute
students and graduates included CLAUDEBARNETT,
RALPHELLISON,GEORGEHENDERSON, and CLAUDE
MCKAY. The Institute faculty and administration in-
cluded HALLIEQUINNBROWN,GEORGEWASHING-
TON CARVER,E. FRANKLIN FRAZIER,LESLIE
PINCKNEYHILL, and Monroe Work.
SARADELANEY, a librarian, was on staff at the
Tuskegee Veteran’s Administration Hospital; nov-
elist NELLALARSENserved as assistant superinten-
dent of nurses at the school; and Catherine
Latimer worked as an assistant librarian before be-
coming the first African-American woman librar-
ian hired by the NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Journalist T. THOMASFORTUNEwas the legendary
ghostwriter for many of Washington’s own works.
Bibliography
Harlan, Louis. Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of
Tuskegee, 1901–1915.New York: Oxford University
Press, 1983.
Smock, Raymond, ed. Booker T. Washington in Perspec-
tive: Essays of Louis R. Harlan.Jackson: University
Press of Mississippi, 1988.
Washington, D.C.
The capital of the United States and the city in
which a vibrant literary and arts community flour-
ished during the Harlem Renaissance period. The
city was home to impressive African-American ed-
ucational institutions such as the prestigious M
STREET HIGH SCHOOL, later renamed DUNBAR
HIGHSCHOOL, and HOWARDUNIVERSITY. Gradu-
ates of the M Street-Dunbar High School, included
WILLISRICHARDSONand LEWISALEXANDER. The
faculty included playwright MARY BURRILL,
philosopher and feminist ANNA JULIA COOPER,
and JESSIEFAUSET. Howard University students
and graduates included ZORANEALEHURSTON,
MAY MILLER,LEWISALEXANDER, and WARING
CUNEY. Writer MARITA BONNER taught at the
Armstrong Colored High School, a pioneering fa-
cility that was the first African-American manual
training school established in the capital.
Washington, D.C., enjoyed its own literary
and arts renaissance during the 1920s and 1930s.
It supported innovation in theater and saw the de-
velopment of a vibrant drama tradition. The
HOWARDUNIVERSITYPLAYERS, founded in 1919
and also known as the HOWARDPLAYERS, was one
of the nation’s premier college drama troupes and
presented the work of emerging and established
white and African-American writers. Its chief di-
rector, T. MONTGOMERYGREGORY, was on the fac-
ulty at Howard and collaborated frequently with
ALAIN LOCKE, a faculty colleague. ANGELINA
WELDGRIMKÉsaw her antilynching play RACHEL
staged in Washington, D.C., in 1916.
The city’s most celebrated residents included
GEORGIADOUGLASJOHNSON, who hosted regular
literary salons in her home and was responsible for
mentoring and supporting numerous writers and
artists of color. EDWARDCHRISTOPHERWILLIAMS,
a playwright, translator, and poet, and husband to
CHARLESCHESNUTT’s daughter Ethel, was a dy-
namic Washington, D.C., resident. The former
headmaster of the Dunbar High School, he be-
came the head librarian at Howard while teaching
as a professor of German and Romance languages.
CARRIE CLIFFORD, an editor, poet, and active
member of the NATIONALASSOCIATION FOR THE
ADVANCEMENT OF COLOREDPEOPLE, also was
known for the dynamic salons that she hosted in
her Washington, D.C., home.
Eminent historian CARTER G. WOODSON,
founder of the ASSOCIATION FOR THESTUDY OF
NEGROLIFE ANDHISTORYand editor of the Asso-
ciated Press, was one of the city’s most respected
citizens. The offices of the JOURNAL OFNEGRO
HISTORY,which Woodson edited and where poet
LANGSTONHUGHESworked for a time as Wood-
son’s assistant, were located in Washington, D.C.Bibliography
Dyson, Walter. Howard University: The Capstone of Negro
Education, a History: 1867–1940.Washington, D.C.:
Howard University Press, 1940.
Logan, Rayford, W. Howard University: The First Hundred
Years, 1867–1967.New York: New York University
Press, 1969.
Moore, Jacqueline. Leading the Race: The Transformation
of the Black Elite in the Nation’s Capital, 1880–1920.
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999.Washington, D.C. 553