ABSTRACT
Booker Taliaferro Washington, recognized by many as the principal leader of African Americans at the end of the nineteenth century, founded the Tuskegee Institute, promoted economic advancement for African-Americans, and advocated accommodation with whites at the expense of political enfranchisement. In 1872, he enrolled at the Hampton Institute, a school in Virginia dedicated to the education of former slaves, working as a janitor to earn room and board. In 1881 he was appointed by General Samuel Armstrong, founder of the Hampton Institute, to be the principal of the new Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. For the next several years Washington supervised the creation of the campus and expanded enrollment to 400 students. The immediate impact of Washington's leadership stems from his overly manipulative control of African-American leadership, earning him the nickname “Wizard”.
