Booker T. Washington’s Challenge for Egyptology

African-Centered Research in the Nile Valley

Bibliographic Data

ID8249697
AuthorsVanessa Fernandes Davies (0000-0003-4331-2891, University of Chicago, corresponding author), Vanessa Davies (0000-0002-2707-8997)
Year2023
Volume0
Issue0
Publication date2023-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDotawo A Journal of Nubian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2373-2571 • E-ISSN: 2373-2571
PublisherCalifornia Digital Library (CDL) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5070/d60060622
OpenAlexW4362552871
LanguageEN
References cited17

In 1909, Egyptologist James Henry Breasted sent a letter to Booker T. Washington, along with a copy of an article Breasted had recently published in The Biblical World. To fully understand the short correspondence between the two scholars, this article delves into three related topics: Washington’s philosophy of industrial education and its complementarity with the educational program of his contemporary W. E. B. Du Bois; Washington’s prominent standing in educational, political, and social circles, including his professional relationship with the president of the University of Chicago William Rainey Harper and his advisory role to US president Theodore Roosevelt; and Breasted’s perspective on race and Egyptology. Washington, unlike Breasted, considered connections between ancient Nile Valley cultures and cultures elsewhere in Africa, a point of inquiry that has recently gained momentum in a variety of fields. In the correspondence between Washington and Breasted, we see demonstrations of precarity and privilege as related to scientific research, an imbalance seen also in the infamous syphilis study carried out at Tuskegee. This article points out the continued need to interrogate benefit by asking who constructs research questions and whom does research benefit

Complementarity (molecular biology · Egyptology · Environmental ethics · Political science · Politics · Privilege (computing · Sociology · African history and culture analysis · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Classics · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law