Jitss617
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- Jan 2, 2019
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We've all heard the claims that Confederate statues were erected to intimidate blacks, especially, supposedly, during the Jim Crow era. The following letter from Booker T. Washington, which shows his support for the memorials, makes it clear that the claims are not valid:
To Mamie A. Harrison
Rochester N. Y. June 16, 1914
My dear Madam: Replying further to yours of June 6th, I would state that I am going to take up very carefully the matter of the Confederate monument about which you wrote me, and see if I can find some one to give the money that is still needed. I am very much interested in the matter and thank you for writing me. During the summer months people with money are very much away from home and it is hard to reach them, so it may be I may not be able to do anything about it until fall.
"I want to say again how very much we all appreciate the visit of [former Confederate] General George Paul Harrison to Tuskegee. We all realize more and more that men like him are the true friends of our race, and that any monument that will keep the fine character of such heroes before the public will prove helpful to both races in the South.
Yours truly,
Booker T. Washington
Washington, Booker T. , Papers Volume 13:14-15. University of Chicago Press. Page 64.
To Mamie A. Harrison
Rochester N. Y. June 16, 1914
My dear Madam: Replying further to yours of June 6th, I would state that I am going to take up very carefully the matter of the Confederate monument about which you wrote me, and see if I can find some one to give the money that is still needed. I am very much interested in the matter and thank you for writing me. During the summer months people with money are very much away from home and it is hard to reach them, so it may be I may not be able to do anything about it until fall.
"I want to say again how very much we all appreciate the visit of [former Confederate] General George Paul Harrison to Tuskegee. We all realize more and more that men like him are the true friends of our race, and that any monument that will keep the fine character of such heroes before the public will prove helpful to both races in the South.
Yours truly,
Booker T. Washington
Washington, Booker T. , Papers Volume 13:14-15. University of Chicago Press. Page 64.
