Navigating the Print Line: Shaping Readers' Expectations in Booker T. Washington's Autobiographies

Navigating฀the฀Print฀Line:฀Shaping฀ Readers’฀Expectations฀in฀Booker฀T.฀ Washington’s฀Autobiographies BOOKER฀TALIAFERRO฀WASHINGTON฀WAS฀NOT฀AN฀EASY฀PERSON฀TO฀KNOW.฀“He฀ was฀wary฀and฀silent,”฀recalled฀W.฀E.฀B.฀Du฀Bois.฀“He฀never฀expressed฀ himself฀frankly฀or฀clearly฀until฀he฀knew฀exactly฀to฀whom฀he฀was฀talking ฀and฀just฀what฀their฀wishes฀and฀desires฀were.”฀A฀skillful฀diplomat,฀ Washington฀mastered฀the฀prickly฀art฀of฀sycophancy.฀Tactfully,฀he฀navigated ฀the฀precarious฀minefield,฀the฀problematic฀“color-line”฀to฀use฀ Du฀Bois’s฀words,฀in฀America.฀In฀her฀Works฀Progress฀Administration฀ interview,฀ Sarah฀ Fitzpatrick฀ expressed฀ a฀ more฀ pragmatic฀ view฀ of฀ the฀ late฀ African฀ American฀ leader.฀ Booker฀ T.฀ Washington,฀ the฀ former ฀Alabama฀slave฀recollected,฀“wuz฀a฀wise฀man฀.฀.฀.฀he฀al’ays฀let฀de฀ white฀man฀shine,฀so฀he฀could฀live฀an’฀wurk฀he’er.”1 ฀More฀recently,฀ Louis฀R.฀Harlan฀likened฀him฀to฀the฀artful฀Br’er฀Rabbit฀of฀African฀ A N T O N I O ฀ T. ฀ B L Y Antonio฀T.฀Bly฀is฀an฀Assistant฀Professor฀of฀History฀at฀Appalachian฀State฀University.฀His฀work฀ explores฀the฀interplay฀between฀African฀American฀Studies฀and฀the฀history฀of฀the฀book฀in฀ America.฀A฀version฀of฀this฀article฀was฀presented฀at฀the฀SHARP฀(Society฀for฀the฀History฀of฀ Authorship,฀Reading,฀and฀Publishing)฀9th฀Annual฀Conference฀at฀the฀College฀of฀William฀ &฀Mary฀in฀Williamsburg,฀Virginia,฀on฀July฀22,฀2001.฀Much฀like฀Booker฀T.฀Washington,฀I฀am฀ indebted฀to฀my฀ghostwriters.฀In฀that฀regard,฀I฀would฀like฀thank฀William฀Carroll,฀Joanne฀M.฀ Braxton,฀and฀Robert฀A.฀Gross,฀all฀of฀whom฀have฀encouraged฀my฀interest฀in฀Washington.฀ I฀also฀wish฀to฀thank฀the฀anonymous฀readers฀of฀the฀Alabama฀Review฀and฀of฀course฀its฀editorial ฀staff,฀especially฀Carey฀Cauthen.฀As฀always,฀I฀owe฀a฀special฀debt฀of฀gratitude฀to฀my฀wife฀ Donnamaria฀who฀has฀endured฀me,฀my฀work,฀and฀has฀commented฀on฀several฀drafts฀of฀this฀ article. 1 ฀ Interviews฀with฀former฀slaves฀were฀recorded฀by฀the฀Works฀Progress฀Administration฀(WPA),฀ 1936–38.฀ WPA฀ interviewers฀ were฀ instructed฀ to฀ record฀ the฀ dialect฀ used฀ by฀ these฀ former฀ slaves฀as฀they฀recounted฀their฀experiences฀in฀order฀to฀capture฀the฀“essential฀truth”฀present฀ in฀their฀words.฀“These฀life฀histories฀[were]฀taken฀down฀as฀far฀as฀possible฀in฀the฀narrators’฀ words.฀.฀.฀.฀Rich฀not฀only฀in฀folk฀songs,฀folk฀tales,฀and฀folk฀speech฀but฀also฀in฀folk฀humor฀and฀ poetry,฀crude฀or฀skillful฀in฀dialect,฀uneven฀in฀tone฀and฀treatment,฀they฀constantly฀reward฀ one฀with฀earthy฀imagery,฀salty฀phrase,฀and฀sensitive฀detail.”฀Works฀Progress฀Administration฀ for฀the฀District฀of฀Columbia,฀Slave฀Narratives:฀A฀Folk฀History฀of฀Slavery฀in฀the฀United฀States฀from฀ Interviews฀with฀Former฀Slaves฀(Washington,฀D.C.,฀1941),฀viii–x. J U L Y ฀ 2 0 0 8 191 American฀ folklore฀ who฀ used฀ craftiness฀ to฀ outsmart฀ his฀ adversaries฀ and฀deference฀to฀achieve฀influence฀and฀sway.฀Those฀who฀have฀taken฀ Washington’s฀ “conventional฀ public฀ utterances,”฀ he฀ went฀ on฀ to฀ explain ,฀“as฀evidence฀of฀a฀simple฀mind฀have฀underestimated฀the฀man.฀ He฀manipulated฀platitudes฀as฀though฀they฀were฀checkers฀in฀the฀game฀ of฀life,฀sometimes฀crowning฀platitude฀on฀platitude฀to฀increase฀their฀ force.฀His฀aim฀was฀not฀intellectual฀clarity,฀but฀power.฀His฀genius฀was฀ that฀of฀stratagem.”2 ฀ ฀ Perhaps฀nowhere฀is฀Washington’s฀genius฀better฀exemplified฀than฀ in฀his฀autobiographical฀work.฀Shortly฀after฀he฀rose฀to฀prominence฀in฀ 1895,฀Booker฀T.฀Washington฀set฀about฀publishing฀two฀different฀accounts ฀of฀his฀life฀story.฀Autobiography,฀he฀believed,฀gave฀him฀an฀opportunity ฀to฀spread฀his฀philosophy฀of฀industrial฀education,฀thrift,฀and฀ progressive฀social฀reform.฀To฀that฀end,฀the฀principal฀of฀the฀Tuskegee฀ Normal฀ and฀ Industrial฀ Institute฀ employed฀ two฀ separate฀ ghostwriters ฀to฀assist฀him฀in฀the฀work,฀two฀copyeditors฀to฀oversee฀the฀proofs,฀ and฀two฀publishing฀firms฀who฀commanded฀different฀segments฀of฀the฀ book฀industry.฀In฀true฀Washingtonian฀fashion,฀the฀Wizard,฀as฀many฀ of฀his฀contemporaries฀dubbed฀him,฀had฀two฀separate฀audiences฀in฀ mind฀when฀he฀decided฀to฀write.฀In฀1900,฀The฀Story฀of฀My฀Life฀and฀Work฀ appeared฀in฀print.฀It฀was฀written฀primarily฀for฀rural,฀southern฀African฀ American฀readers.฀Less฀than฀one฀year฀later,฀Doubleday,฀Page,฀&฀Co.฀ published฀Washington’s฀Up฀from฀Slavery.฀It฀was฀written฀largely฀for฀urban ,฀northern฀whites.3 ฀ 2 ฀ W.฀E.฀B.฀Du฀Bois,฀Dusk฀of฀Dawn:฀An฀Essay฀Toward...