Books by Louis R. Harlan

This is a revealing study of the crucial period in the educational development of the South as it involved the "separate but equal" doctrine. It is based on extensive research in newspapers, public documents, official reports, and manuscripts, and provides detailed evidence that the states studied ignored their obligations to black schools under this doctrine.

This book begins in 1901, when Booker T. Washington at the age of forty-five was approaching the zenith of his fame and influence, and ends with his death in 1915. It is a biographical study in the sense that its focus is on the complex, enigmatic figure of Washington, the most powerful black minority-group boss of his time.