Description
Between 1896 and 1901, Booker T. Washington visited Grand Rapids several times to speak about his vision of the "The New Negro of the New South" and his work at the Tuskegee Institute. In January of 1896, Washington spoke to a large crowd at Park Congregational Church (Grand Rapids Press, January 22, 1896).
The Grand Rapids Public Museum has in its collections a set of Magic Lantern Slides depicting the Tuskegee institute, its staff, students, and facilities c. 1902. These slides have no provenance information, but the museum staff believes that there may be a connection between the slides and Booker T. Washington's many visits and close connections to Grand Rapids.
Historians have written that Booker T. Washington's message of the gradual assimilation of the newly freed Black slaves into American society based on hard work, Christian values, and Republican politics was viewed very favorably in Grand Rapids. Although there were not many African Americans in Grand Rapids in the late nineteenth century, that population was growing, and the White business class was already developing forms of "managerial racism" to limit Black progress (Jelks and Robinson).
In this exhibit refresh, the GRPM has worked to integrate information about Booker T. Washington and his relationship with the City of Grand Rapids and its people into the Streets of Old Grand Rapids exhibit. The add-ons to this important core exhibit include: reconstructions of posters advertising Washington's visit to Grand Rapids in 1896, a vintage magic lantern slide projector, samples from the Tuskegee magic lantern slides, and other pieces of photographic equipment. The display will be located in the central windows of the Voigt Herpolsheimer Department Store, a place in Grand Rapids where residents may have shopped for these types of items.