Robert Russa Moton | |
|---|---|
 Robert Moton in 1916 | |
| Born | (1867-08-26)August 26, 1867 Amelia County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | May 31, 1940(1940-05-31) (aged 72) |
| Education | Hampton Institute,Tuskegee Institute |
| Organization(s) | Fellowship of Reconciliation,Congress of Racial Equality,War Resisters League,Southern Christian Leadership Conference,Social Democrats, USA (National Chairman),A. Philip Randolph Institute (President),Committee on the Present Danger |
| Political party | Democratic (after 1932) |
| Other political affiliations | Republican (before 1932) |
| Movement | Civil Rights Movement,Peace Movement,Socialism |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 3, includingCharlotte Moton (Hubbard) |
| Awards | Spingarn Medal from theNAACP |
Robert Russa Moton (August 26, 1867 – May 31, 1940) was an American educator and author.[1] He served as an administrator atHampton Institute. In 1915 he was named principal ofTuskegee Institute, after the death of founderBooker T. Washington, a position he held for 20 years until retirement in 1935. He authored several books including an autobiography. He held various administrative positions with the U.S. government.
Robert Russa Moton was born inAmelia County, Virginia, on August 26, 1867, and was raised in nearbyRice,Prince Edward County, Virginia. He was the grandson of an Africanchieftain, who had grown wealthy by engaging in slave trading. Later this chief was himself sold into slavery, leading to the establishment of Moton's family in the Americas shortly thereafter.
Moton graduated from theHampton Institute in 1890.
He married Elizabeth Hunt Harris in 1905, but she died in 1906. He married his second wife,Jennie Dee Booth, in 1908. They had three daughters together:Charlotte Moton (Hubbard), who became a deputy assistant secretary of state at theState Department under PresidentLyndon B. Johnson; Catherine Moton (Patterson); and Jennie Moton (Taylor). All three married and had families.[2]
In 1891, Moton was appointed commandant of the male student cadet corps at Hampton Institute, equivalent to Dean of Men, serving in this position for more than a decade. He was informally known as the "Major".
In 1915, after the death ofBooker T. Washington, Moton succeeded Washington as the second principal of theTuskegee Institute. While supporting the work-study program, he emphasized education, integrating liberal arts into the curriculum, establishing Bachelor of Science degrees in agriculture and education. He improved courses of study, especially in teacher training, elevated the quality of the faculty and administration, constructed new facilities, and significantly increased the endowment by maintaining his connections to wealthy white benefactors in the North.[1]
DuringWorld War I, Moton traveled to Europe on behalf of president Woodrow Wilson. His duty was to investigate the condition of the African-American soldiers. He often witnessed discriminatory practices. For example, during his investigation, Moton was confronted by an American general regarding twenty-six alleged cases of rape by black soldiers. The general told Moton that black soldiers were dangerous to themselves and women. Moton challenged these allegations, suggesting discrimination was motivating factor, and encouraged black soldiers to protest against segregation when they returned to the US.[3][4]
Moton wrote a number of books while he served as principal. He attended theFirst Pan-African Congress inParis in 1919, meeting other educators and activists from around the world.
In 1922, he was the keynote speaker at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial, closing with"I... believe that all of us, black and white, both North and South, are going to strive on to finish the work which [Lincoln] so nobly began to make America an example for the world of equal justice and equal opportunity for all who strive and are willing to serve under the flag that makes men free."[5] Speaking outdoors to a segregated crowd, Dr. Moton was not allowed to sit with the other speakers who were white.
In race relations, Moton advocated accommodation, not confrontation. He firmly believed that the best way to advance the cause of African Americans was to convince white people of black people's worth through their exemplary behavior. Never one to rock the boat, he didn't fight segregation or challenge white authority.[6]
Moton sat on the boards of major philanthropic organizations with the likes ofAndrew Carnegie andJohn D. Rockefeller Jr., and his influence was considerable. WhenJulius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Company, provided the funding to build more than 6,000 "Rosenwald" schools for rural Southern African Americans, Moton's skills were clearly in play behind the scenes.[6]
In 1927 theGreat Mississippi Flood of 1927 devastated the Delta. With the Mississippi flood waters covering the entire Delta, theGreenville, Mississippi levee was the only high, safe place for thousands of refugees. The vast majority of the people stranded on the levee were African Americans, and they were desperate for food, potable drinking water and shelter. Instead of evacuating them, African Americans were virtually imprisoned on the levee and forced to work at gunpoint. The conditions in the Greenville camp were the worst of any refugee site.[7]
To avoid a scandal that would threatenHerbert Hoover's presidential ambitions, Hoover's friends urged him to get what they called "the big Negroes" in the Republican Party to quiet his critics, and Hoover turned to Robert Moton for the job. Hoover formed the Colored Advisory Commission, led by Moton and staffed by prominent African Americans, to investigate the allegations of abuses in the flood area.
The commission conducted a thorough investigation and reported back to Moton on the deplorable conditions. Moton presented the findings to Hoover, and advocated immediate improvements to aid the flood's neediest victims. But the information was never made public. Hoover had asked Moton to keep a tight lid on his investigation. In return, Hoover implied that if he were successful in his bid for the presidency, Moton and his people would play a role in his administration unprecedented in the nation's history. Hoover also hinted that as president he intended to divide the land of bankrupt planters into small African-American-owned farms.
Motivated by Hoover's promises, Moton saw to it that the Colored Advisory Commission never revealed the full extent of the abuses in the Delta, and Moton championed Hoover's candidacy to the African-American population. However, once elected president in 1928, Hoover ignored Robert Moton and the promises he had made to his black constituency. In the followingelection of 1932, Moton withdrew his support for Hoover and switched to the Democratic Party.[6]
Moton was a member of the Gamma Sigma graduate chapter ofPhi Beta Sigma fraternity, along withGeorge Washington Carver.[8]
Moton went on to retire from Tuskegee in 1935 and died at his homeHolly Knoll, inGloucester County, Virginia, in 1940 at the age of 72 where he was buried at theHampton Institute. Tuskegee Institute named the field where Airmen trained during World War I after Robert Moton, in honor of everything he did for the institute.[9]
Moton played a role in various aspects of public service.
Charlotte Moton Hubbard, who was deputy assistant secretary of state for public affairs from 1964 to 1970, making her the top-ranking black woman in the Johnson Administration at the time, died on Sunday at her home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She was 82. ...
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