DISCERNING READERS
  • Home
  • About
  • Books / Bibliography
    • Keys to Success >
      • Preface
      • Introduction
      • Appendix
      • You: The First Key
    • THINK Again! Series >
      • Ideas and High Ideals >
        • Preface
        • Introduction
        • Prologue
        • Insights into Tom Watson >
          • Tom Watson's Character
          • A Wartime Humanitarian
          • Democracy's Man O' War
          • An Exemplary Man
          • On Youth & Education
        • A Successful Rebranding
      • The Rometty Edition >
        • Preface
        • Foreword
        • Introduction
        • Business Talk Interview
        • Book Trailers and Videos
      • The World's Greatest Salesman >
        • Preface
        • Introduction
        • Workplace Safety
        • Images and Quotes
        • Book Trailers / Videos
    • A View from Beneath >
      • Preface
      • Resource Actions >
        • Two R.A. Days Hit Home
        • R.A. Day Kills Productivity
      • Business Talk Interview
      • Book Trailers and Videos
    • Essays on Leadership >
      • Democracy in Business
      • We Are All Assistants >
        • Frank Venner: We Are All Assistants
      • We Forgive Thoughtful Mistakes
    • Bibliography Overview >
      • Authors and Writers >
        • Garland, Hamlin
        • Wise, John S. >
          • Slave Auction
          • Tribute to Robert E. Lee
          • On Lincoln's Assassination
      • Capitalists >
        • Baruch, Bernard M. >
          • My Own Story
          • The Public Years >
            • A Review
            • Second Thoughts
        • Davison, Henry P.
        • Schiff, Jacob H.
      • Educators >
        • Washington, Booker T >
          • Up From Slavery
          • My Life and Work
          • Character Building
          • My Larger Education
          • The Man Farthest Down >
            • Booker T. Washington and John Burns
          • Future of American Negro >
            • Future of the Negro
      • IBM >
        • IBM Books >
          • IBM Classics
          • IBM Executives' Books
          • IBM Employees' Books
          • IBM Outsiders' Books
        • IBM Publications >
          • THINK Magazine
          • Business Machines
          • IBM Heart and Soul >
            • Endicott Memorial Day
            • Poughkeepsie Memorial Day
          • IBM Art Books
        • IBM Situational
      • Industrialists >
        • Anthologies >
          • The Book of Business
          • New Ideals in Business
          • Master Workers' Library
          • The Age of Big Business
          • Famous Leaders Series Home Page >
            • Leaders of Character
            • Leaders of Industry: 1st Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 2nd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 3rd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 6th Series
          • Forbes' Anthologies
        • Armour, J. Ogden >
          • The Packers
          • The Packers: Second Look
        • Baldwin, William H.
        • Beatty, Edward
        • Bell, Alexander Graham
        • Carnegie, Andrew >
          • Carnegie Quotes
          • Carnegie Autobiography
          • Carnegie Biography by B. J. Hendrick
          • Round the World
          • The Empire of Business
          • An American Four-in-Hand
        • Eastman, George
        • Edison, Thomas A. >
          • Edison: His Life and Inventions
          • Edison: My Friend
        • Farquhar, A. B.
        • Filene, Edward A. >
          • The Way Out >
            • Captains of Industry vs. Captains of Finance
          • Successful Living >
            • Rules of Success
        • Firestone, Harvey S. >
          • Men and Rubber
          • Making an Organization
        • Flint, Charles R.
        • Ford, Henry >
          • Books by Henry Ford
          • The Last Billionaire
          • My Forty Years with Ford
        • Gary, Elbert H.
        • Guggenheim, William
        • Hill, James J.
        • Hollerith, Herman
        • Johnson, George F.
        • Patterson, John H.
        • Penney, James C. >
          • Fifty Years With the Golden Rule
        • Procter, William C.
        • Rockefeller Jr.
        • Rockefeller Sr.
        • Rosenwald, Julius
        • Sloan Jr., Alfred P.
        • Swope, Gerard >
          • Swope of G.E.
          • The Swope Plan
          • Selected Addresses
        • Verity, George M. >
          • True Steel
          • Character & Success
        • Wanamaker, John >
          • A Business Biography
          • Retail Firsts
        • Watson Jr., Thomas J. >
          • A Business and Its Beliefs
          • Management Briefings
          • Father, Son & Company
        • Watson Sr., Thomas J. >
          • Human Relations
          • Men-Minutes-Money
          • The Lengthening Shadow
        • Young, Owen D. >
          • Selected Addresses
          • New Industrial Leader
      • Inventors & Innovators >
        • Fulton, Robert
        • Goodyear, Charles
      • Journalists >
        • Baker, Ray Stannard >
          • Autobiography
          • The Color Line
          • Woodrow Wilson
        • Crowther, Samuel >
          • Articles >
            • Bantam Ball Bearing
          • Biographies
          • Industrialist Anthology
          • "Why Men Strike" Review
        • Gunther, John >
          • Eisenhower
        • Steffens, Lincoln
        • Sullivan, Mark >
          • Our Times
          • The Education of an American
        • Tarbell, Ida M. >
          • Overview
          • Lincoln Centennial
          • Lincoln Publications
          • Corporate Publications
          • Fiction Publications
          • Other Publications >
            • Mme. (Madame) Roland
          • Magazine Articles >
            • Disbanding the Confederate Army
            • Disbanding the Union Army
        • White, William Allen >
          • Woodrow Wilson, The Man
      • Military Leaders >
        • Lee, General Robert E.
      • Pioneers / Explorers >
        • Byrd, Richard E. >
          • Alone
          • Discovery
          • Little America
        • Columbus, Christopher
        • Lindbergh, Charles
      • Politicians >
        • Eisenhower, Dwight D.
        • Hoover, Herbert >
          • American Individualism Book >
            • American Individualism Article
          • Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • Problems of Lasting Peace
        • Lincoln, Abraham >
          • Lincoln in the Telegraph Office
          • Abraham Lincoln Books By Ida M. Tarbell
        • Mesta, Perle
        • O'Connor, Basil and FDR >
          • Friends and Partners (Against Polio)
        • Roosevelt, Theodore >
          • Roosevelt: A Story of Friendship
        • Roper, Daniel C. >
          • Fifty Years of Public Life
        • Taft, William H.
        • Wilson, Woodrow >
          • The New Freedom
          • The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • Wilson's Last Words
          • Wilson's Tasks and Life
          • Wilson's Life and Letters >
            • Volume IV: President
            • Volume V: Neutrality
            • Volume VI: Facing War
      • Preachers >
        • Fosdick, Harry Emerson >
          • The Meaning of Prayer
          • The Meaning of Faith
          • The Meaning of Service
          • Power to See It Through
      • Publishers >
        • Forbes, B. C. >
          • Men Who Are Making America
          • Men Who Are Making the West
          • Automotive Giants of America
          • Little Bits about Big Men
          • America's 50 Foremost Business Leaders
          • America's Twelve Master Salesmen
          • Scrapbook of Thoughts on Business of Life
          • 101 Unusual Experiences
          • Keys to Success
          • Teamwork
        • Fortune Magazine >
          • USA: The Permanent Revolution
        • Shaw, A. W. >
          • Handling Men >
            • Why We Are Hiring Women
            • The Dream Behind the Business
          • The Companion Series
    • Research Sites
    • Acknowledgements
  • 21st Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • Comparing KPIs
      • Brand Performance >
        • Forbes' Best Employer
      • Patent Performance >
        • 2021 Patent Performance
        • 2020 Patent Performance
        • 2019 Patent Performance
        • 2018 Patent Performance
      • Revenue Performance
    • Corporate Practices >
      • Acquisitions >
        • Acquisition: Red Hat >
          • A $35 Billion Gamble
          • IBM + Red Hat 2019 Results
        • Acquisitions: Goodwill
        • Acquisitions: Since 2001
      • Centralization >
        • A Lost Federation
        • The Need to Decentralize
      • Divestitures >
        • Kyndryl Analysis
        • Kyndryl Top Questions
        • Martin Schroeter
      • Employees >
        • Resource Actions
        • Age Discrimination >
          • Cutting Old Heads
        • Employee Engagement
        • Aren't Buying Into IBM
        • Massive Work Slowdown
        • Failure of Work at Home
      • Financial Engineering >
        • Workforce Rebalancing
        • Aggressive Bookkeeping
      • Shareholders >
        • Share Buybacks
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Overall Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Employment Security
        • Employee Engagement
        • Warren Buffett's Mistake
        • Do Share Buybacks Work?
    • CEO Performance >
      • Arvind Krishna Overview >
        • First Year Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Share Buybacks
        • The First 100 Days
      • Ginni Rometty Overview >
        • Shareholder Value
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Share Buybacks
        • Dividend Strategy
        • Acquisition Strategy
        • Revenue & Profit Productivity
        • Revenue & Profit Growth
        • Revenue & Profit
  • 20th Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • IBM's Greatest CEO >
        • Shareholder Returns
        • Revenue Growth
        • Revenue Per Employee
        • Profit Growth
        • Profit Per Employee
        • Market Value
        • Goodwill
        • Economic Contractions
        • Economic Expansions
        • Stock Market Headwinds
        • CEO Historic Footnotes >
          • IBM's Founding Team
          • Financial Engineering
          • The Greatest Gamble
    • Corporate Practices >
      • IBM Anniversaries
      • IBM Benefits
      • IBM Creativity >
        • IBM Cartoons
        • IBM Song Books
        • IBM UK Dictionary
        • IBM Computing Dictionary
      • IBM Wild Ducks >
        • The Wild Goose
        • Royal Dissenters
        • Corporate Constitution
        • Respect for the Individual
        • Service to the Customer
        • Pursuit of Excellence
    • Corporate Products >
      • 1890: U.S. Census
      • Dayton Scales in 1920
      • 1940: The Electromatic
    • Thomas J. Watson Sr. >
      • Quotes By Watson
      • Quotes About Watson
      • Articles By Watson >
        • On World Peace
        • On the Cost of War
        • On Public Education
        • On Thomas Jefferson
        • On Thoughtful Mistakes
        • On Stakeholder Relations
      • Articles About Watson >
        • A Gift of Retirement
        • A Gift of Home Ownership >
          • Construction Timeline
        • The $1,000-A-Day Chief Executive Officer
        • Employees are Valued
        • Democracy's Man o' War
        • Human Relations in 1956
        • A CEO Who Earned His Pay
        • The Story of "THINK" >
          • Two Journalists "THINK"
          • A Buddy Davis Interview
        • Learning from Crises
        • Tom Watson's Wild Ducks
        • The Lengthening Shadow
      • Slice of Life Stories >
        • Dali, Salvador
        • Drucker, Peter F. >
          • Authority and Power
          • Short-Term Thinking
          • A Corporate Culture
          • Raising Business Issues
          • Focus on Principles
          • Character and Manners
          • Knowledge Workers
          • Recognizing Ability
          • Individual Respect
          • Employee Paternalism
        • Eastman, George
        • Penney, J. C. (James Cash) >
          • Watson Homestead
          • Golden Rule Businesses
        • A 1943 Tax Problem
        • Fighting Discrimination
        • A Pajama Party
      • Pre-World War II >
        • Women in the Workplace
        • A Lost Dream of Peace
        • USO Camp Show Founder
      • World War II Effort >
        • Selling War Bonds
        • Production Awards
        • Controlling Profits
        • Machine Records Units
        • Wartime Contributions
        • Widows & Orphans Fund
        • Declaring Human Rights
        • Supporting Home Morale
        • Employee Military Service
        • War's End & Reconversion
      • Post-World War II >
        • Endicott Memorial
        • Poughkeepsie Memorial
        • Rehiring WWII Veterans
  • Articles
    • Corporate Articles >
      • High-Performance Corporations
      • The Art of the Restart
      • Crises, Recoveries & Lessons Learned
      • Strategy Should Create Human Relationships
      • A Time-Tested Corporate Constitution
      • IBM, JC Penney and The Golden Rule
      • How IBM Created its 20th Century Brand
      • The Greatest Business Risk of the 20th Century
      • How to Grow a Business
      • The Importance of Sales Productivity
      • How Much Is a Great CEO Worth
      • Let Your Guard Down
    • Business Articles >
      • Business Witticism
      • The Golden Rule and Productivity in Business
      • Who and What Built Early American Capitalism
      • Capitalism Needs Industrialist Minded CEOs
      • Producing Corporate True Steel
      • CEO Perspectives >
        • Rules of Success
        • Top Employee Qualities
        • Industrialist vs. Capitalist
      • An Open Letter to the World's CEOs
      • Henry Ford Takes Control
      • The Razor Blade Business Model
      • Two Successful 20th Century Businesswomen
      • Sears: A Dead Franchise Walking
      • A LinkedIn Incognito Mode
      • Value a College Education
    • Political Articles >
      • Political Witticisms
      • Meritocracy and Teachable Humility
      • What Is Patriotism?
      • Presidents' Day 2024-25
      • Memorial Day 2025
      • Pursuing The "American Way"
      • America: Home of the Brave
      • Securing the Borders of the Americas
      • General Grant's Stand for Justice
      • America's Heartland Stands Strong
      • The New Freedom
      • Teddy Roosevelt on Socialism & Individualism
      • Women as Citizens
      • Mary Slessor of Calabar
    • Spiritual Articles >
      • Inauguration Day Prayer
      • Reincarnated Thoughts >
        • Why Lies Should Never Be Glorified
        • Are You More Than A Wise Entrepreneur?
        • A World of Peace or Turbulence?
      • Wilson's Last Words
      • Spiritual Songs
    • Fiction Articles >
      • A Father's Love
      • Introducing a Friend to God
      • Hyphenated Relationships
  • Contact
  • Blog

The Man Farthest Down

Review of Booker T. Washington's "The Man Farthest Down"

Date Published: October 14, 2023
High Quality Images of Booker T. Washington sitting from the Library of Congress and the front cover of his book
“On August 20, 1910, Booker T. Washington left America on a journey to study Europe’s “Man Farthest Down.” He returned a little less than two months later on October 13th.

One amazing conclusion that he draws from his travels and studies is that, “The man farthest down in Europe is woman. Women have the narrowest outlook, do the hardest work, stand in greatest need of education, and are farthest removed from influences which are everywhere raising the level of life of the European people.”
Peter E. Greulich, “Book Review,” October 2023
​A Review of Booker T. Washington's "The Man Farthest Down"
  • ​​Reviews of the Day: 1912–13
  • Selected Insights from "The Man Farthest Down"
    • The Man Farthest Down Was … Women
    • Booker T. Washington's Positive Outlook on the Negro Race
    • Thoughts on the Mafia and the Sicilian People while Crawling through a Sicilian Sulfur Mine
    • Spending a Day with John Burns: A Quite Personal Experience
  • This Author’s Thoughts and Perceptions on "The Man Farthest Down"​
​​Reviews of the Day: 1912–13​
​In starting my research, it was amazing to discover the number of newspapers who carried Booker T. Washington’s leaving for, traveling within, and returning from Europe in the months of August, September, and October of 1910. The coverage crossed the political spectrum of the United States and England. I am sure that he was also well covered while traveling within Europe by the local papers—the itinerary is included in a map below, because it makes sense that a man—a black man, who was received in audience by King Frederick and Queen Louise of Denmark probably made headlines on the continent as well.
​
So, as might be expected, Doubleday, Page & Company appears to have poured an amazing amount of money into advertising the book when it was published, and this resulted in an amazing number of reviews. Here are a just a few—a representative sample, that I am selecting and publishing as “Reviews of the Day: 1912–13.” One of the most informed and balanced of the many I read is up first. It is from one of the finest of newspapers of the time located in London, England: “The Guardian.”
“Hunting the man farthest down in Europe would seem a depressing task, were not this book before us to prove the contrary. … Booker T. Washington shows that America is not alone in possessing a ‘race question;’ Austria-Hungary and Eastern Europe generally present a conflict of nationalities and … in the author’s view, this is not much more complicated when one race happens to be black and the other white. … In every case the solution depends on the people themselves; it depends on national awakening and readiness to accept responsibility. …

“Mr. Washington has done the work of his survey well, and has succeeded in writing a book which is as lively as it is illuminating, and no one interested either in the peasant question in Europe or the race problem in America can afford to do without.”
“New Books,” The London Guardian
​
September 16, 1912
High quality European Map showing the itinerary of Booker T. Washington while in Europe in search of the man farthest down.
European Map showing the itinerary of Booker T. Washington while in Europe in search of the man farthest down.
“During a recent vacation in Europe, Dr. Booker T. Washington, head of the Tuskegee Institute, … investigated the working and living conditions of the laboring people of the continent. He wrote a series of letters which appeared in ‘The Outlook,’ and these he has elaborated on and published in a book entitled ‘The Man Farthest Down: The Struggle of European Toilers.’

“The object of the author was to contrast conditions among European toilers with those which prevail in the South, where nine millions of negroes do labor. … In the matter of property holding, Dr. Washington finds that the American negro is far ahead of most of the working classes in Europe. …

“Investigations were prosecuted in England, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Russia, Poland, and Denmark. The comparison of conditions found in these countries were all favorable to the American Negro.” 
Book Reviews, “The Man Farthest Down,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1912
[A comment from this author concerning the above review: Mr. Washington writes that the Denmark “peasant” was in a better place than the negroes of the United States. This information is contained in and the focus of Chapter XVII: The Organization of Country Life in Denmark. It was in Denmark that he writes, “it was not until I reached Denmark that I saw what the possibilities of the peasant were.”]
“The latest book of the celebrated negro educator is of special interest to the student of social, economic and race problems. … There is no doubt that the wretches in London’s worst slums, the Polish and Sicilian peasants and the laborers in the Sicilian sulphur mine, to mention only a few … are, if anything, more wretched than the negroes in many of the southern states. It may also be conceded that their future is less hopeful in many respects. …

“But this does not in our judgement, atone for the quieting advice that he gives his own people. The black worker no more than the white laborer should be persuaded into a sense of relief because of the knowledge that somewhere else in the world there are workers laboring under more harsh conditions. …

“We wish that one with a clearer vision of the worldwide struggle for the working class had gone on the same mission … and gathered the same information and interpreted it in the light of the highest ideas that inspire the working people in the modern nations of the world.”
“What’s in the New Books,” James O'Neal, The Coming Nation, 1912
 Selected Insights from "The Man Farthest Down"
-     The Man Farthest Down Was … Women​
“The thing that impressed me most, however, was the condition of the laboring women of Europe.

“I do not know the statistics, but if I am permitted to judge by what I saw I should say that three fourths of the work on the farms, and a considerable part of the heavy work in the cities of Europe, is performed by women. Not only that, but in the low life of great cities, like London, it seems to me that the women suffer more from the evil influences of slum life than the men.

“In short, if I may put it this way, the man farthest down in Europe is woman. Women have the narrowest outlook, do the hardest work, stand in greatest need of education, and are farthest removed from influences which are everywhere raising the level of life among the masses of the European people.”
High quality image of the front cover of Booker T. Washington’s “The Man Farthest Down.”
Image of the front cover of “The Man Farthest Down.”
-     Booker T. Washington's Positive Outlook on the Negro Race​
“Not infrequently, when in my public speeches I have made some reference to the condition of the Negro in the South, certain members of my own race in the North have objected because, they said, I did not paint conditions in the South black enough. … In London a man attacked me because in my public interviews I emphasized the opportunities rather than the wrongs of the Negro in the South. …

“It has not been my purpose in anything I have written to pass judgment upon the people or the conditions that I have found in the countries which I have visited. Criticism is an ungrateful task at best, and one for which I am not well fitted. … What I am anxious to do here is to emphasize some of the advantages which it seems the members of my own race, and particularly those living in the Southern States, have at the present time.

“It is not difficult to discover the disadvantages under which the Negroes in the South labor. Every traveler who passes through the South sees the conditions and frequently returns to write books about them. There is danger, however, that the opportunities to which I have referred will be overlooked or not fully appreciated by the members of my race until it is too late.”
-     Thoughts on the Mafia and the Sicilian People while Crawling through a Sicilian Sulfur Mine​
“I ventured to visit the region which has the reputation of being the most wicked, … the region around and north of Girgenti, which is the seat at once of the sulfur mines and the Mafia. …

"It had been many years since I had been in a mine, but as I entered the dark, damp gallery and felt the sudden underground chill, the memories of my early experiences all came back to me. …

​"I had known what it was to work deep down under the earth, but I never before so thoroughly realized what it meant to be in the bowels of the earth as I did while I was groping my way through the dark and winding passages of this sulfur mine. …
Picture of Booker T. Washington speaking to a crowd from the back of a train.
Booker T. Washington worked in the mines in America as a youth. This is a representation of a Sicilian sulfur mine as discussed in this book. This image of Lucia Mine in Sicily is from Wikimedia Commons.
​“If anyone had told me before I went to Sicily that I would be willing to entrust my life to Sicilians away down in the darkness of a sulfur mine, I should have believed that such a person had lost his mind. I had read and heard so much of murders of the Mafia in Sicily, that for a long time I had a horror of the name of Sicilians; but when I came in contact with them, before I knew it, I found myself trusting them absolutely to such an extent that I willingly followed them into the bowels of the earth; into a hot, narrow, dark sulfur mine where, without a moment’s warning, they might have demanded my life or held me, if they cared to, for a ransom.

“Nothing of this kind occurred; on the other hand, I repeat, every Sicilian with whom I came in contact in the sulfur mine treated me in the most kindly manner, and I came away from their country having the highest respect for them.”
-     Spending a Day with John Burns: A Quite Personal Experience​
​“I had heard a good deal, from time to time, about John Burns before I went to Europe, and when I reached London, I took advantage of the first opportunity that offered to make my acquaintance with him a personal one. This meeting was a special good fortune to me at the time because, as I already knew, there is in all probability, no one in England who better understands the hopes, ambitions, and the prospects of the laboring classes. …

“We passed on the streets, groups of neatly-dressed, well-bred looking boys with their books slung over their arms, going home from school or making their way to the park. Mr. Burns was delighted at the sight of these clean-cut, manly looking fellows.
High quality London Map showing one day’s itinerary of Booker T. Washington with John Burns near the end of his stay in Europe.
London Map showing one day’s itinerary of Booker T. Washington with John Burns near the end of his stay in Europe.
“ ‘Look at those boys, Mr. Washington,’ he would exclaim, as he pointed proudly to one or another of these groups. ‘Isn’t that doing pretty well for the proletariat?’
​

“Then he would leap out of the automobile, before the driver could stop, put his arm around the boy nearest him and, in a moment, come back triumphant with the confirmation of his statement that the boy’s father was, as he had said, only a small clerk or a letter carrier, or, perhaps, the son of a common laborer.”
I went to Wikipedia for information on John Burns, but as with so much that is written in this failing internet forum, it felt so impersonal and at times so very biased in what was written—individuals force their current-day perspectives on a past day and time with little to no consideration for the history of the day. I found this chapter in “The Man Farthest Down” that describes the day that Booker T. Washington spends with John Burns very personal, down to earth, and enlightening. Select this link to read: Chapter XIX - John Burns and the Man Farthest Down in London.
 This Author's Thoughts and Perceptions on "The Man Farthest Down"
After establishing a Home Page for Booker T. Washington to capture my reviews of three of his other works, (Up From Slavery, Character Building, and My Larger Education) this book did not disappoint. All of his books so far have met with my highest of standards. He published this book just three years before his death in 1915 at the age of 59, and it reinforces the type of life that Dr. Washington wanted to live—a life dedicated to the advancement of the people of his race through any positive means.
I included one of the reviews above because I think that most any reader, initially reading this book, might feel the same way. Mr. Washington constantly reminds the reader of the conditions of the “man farthest down” in Europe and then compares that with the conditions facing the Negroes in the South.
The reviewer states:

But this does not in our judgement, atone for the quieting advice that he gives his own people. The black worker no more than the white laborer should be persuaded into a sense of relief because of the knowledge that somewhere else in the world there are workers laboring under more harsh conditions. …
​
I did not find any “quieting advice” in this book. Rather, Dr. Washington's overall tone is for his race is to always keep moving, keep working, keep getting educated—find your skill and develop it. The best description that I have found of how Booker T. Washington’s style of leadership and approach to life compares with W. E. B. Du Bois’ approach was in a book written by Ray Stannard Baker, “Following the Color Line.”
High quality image of Booker T. Washington standing with a newspaper in hand.
​“In a former chapter I showed how the Negroes of the country are divided into two parties or points of view, the greater led by Booker T. Washington, the lesser by W. E. B. Du Bois. Washington’s party is the party of the opportunist and optimist, which deals with the world as it is: it is a constructive, practical, cheerful party. It emphasizes duties rather than rights. Dr. Du Bois’s party, on the other hand, represents the critical point of view. It is idealistic and pessimistic: a party of agitation, emphasizing rights rather than duties.

“But these two points of view [Booker T. Washington's and W. E. B. Du Bois'] are by no means peculiar to Negroes: they divide all human thought; and the action and reaction between them is the mode of human progress.”
With this context, I would encourage you to enjoy this most enlightening work by Booker T. Washington. From a personal perspective he may have almost crossed paths with my family. My grandparents left Austria-Hungary in the late 19th century coming to the United States. The conditions they faced in Europe and particularly in Austria-Hungary was a major component of this book by Booker T. Washington.

For this reason alone, this book was a fascinating read for this author.

Cheers,
​
- Peter E.
Return to Booker T. Washington Home Page
© 2025 Peter E. Greulich. All Rights Reserved
Information posted on this site recognizes the legal right of copyrighted material. The following material is considered in the public domain effective January 1, 2025: (1) Works published in the United States prior to 1930, (2) All unpublished works created over 120 years ago, (3) Works published in the United States before 1978 that have no © copyright notice, and (4) Works published in the United States after 1929 but before 1964 with a proper © copyright notice that were not renewed in their 28th year. Some information is used here that does not fit this criteria. This type of material has been purposely minimized, and it is used in good faith, usually with an attribution, and in the belief that such usage would withstand a test of fair use. This site also utilizes images from Pixabay that are "free to use under the Pixabay license" and "do not require attribution." Any concerns with the public domain, fair usage, or attribution of material utilized on this site will be removed until a discussion can resolve the matter with its permanent removal or republication. To reach us, use the "Contact" menu item above or this hyperlink: [Contact Us]
  • Home
  • About
  • Books / Bibliography
    • Keys to Success >
      • Preface
      • Introduction
      • Appendix
      • You: The First Key
    • THINK Again! Series >
      • Ideas and High Ideals >
        • Preface
        • Introduction
        • Prologue
        • Insights into Tom Watson >
          • Tom Watson's Character
          • A Wartime Humanitarian
          • Democracy's Man O' War
          • An Exemplary Man
          • On Youth & Education
        • A Successful Rebranding
      • The Rometty Edition >
        • Preface
        • Foreword
        • Introduction
        • Business Talk Interview
        • Book Trailers and Videos
      • The World's Greatest Salesman >
        • Preface
        • Introduction
        • Workplace Safety
        • Images and Quotes
        • Book Trailers / Videos
    • A View from Beneath >
      • Preface
      • Resource Actions >
        • Two R.A. Days Hit Home
        • R.A. Day Kills Productivity
      • Business Talk Interview
      • Book Trailers and Videos
    • Essays on Leadership >
      • Democracy in Business
      • We Are All Assistants >
        • Frank Venner: We Are All Assistants
      • We Forgive Thoughtful Mistakes
    • Bibliography Overview >
      • Authors and Writers >
        • Garland, Hamlin
        • Wise, John S. >
          • Slave Auction
          • Tribute to Robert E. Lee
          • On Lincoln's Assassination
      • Capitalists >
        • Baruch, Bernard M. >
          • My Own Story
          • The Public Years >
            • A Review
            • Second Thoughts
        • Davison, Henry P.
        • Schiff, Jacob H.
      • Educators >
        • Washington, Booker T >
          • Up From Slavery
          • My Life and Work
          • Character Building
          • My Larger Education
          • The Man Farthest Down >
            • Booker T. Washington and John Burns
          • Future of American Negro >
            • Future of the Negro
      • IBM >
        • IBM Books >
          • IBM Classics
          • IBM Executives' Books
          • IBM Employees' Books
          • IBM Outsiders' Books
        • IBM Publications >
          • THINK Magazine
          • Business Machines
          • IBM Heart and Soul >
            • Endicott Memorial Day
            • Poughkeepsie Memorial Day
          • IBM Art Books
        • IBM Situational
      • Industrialists >
        • Anthologies >
          • The Book of Business
          • New Ideals in Business
          • Master Workers' Library
          • The Age of Big Business
          • Famous Leaders Series Home Page >
            • Leaders of Character
            • Leaders of Industry: 1st Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 2nd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 3rd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 6th Series
          • Forbes' Anthologies
        • Armour, J. Ogden >
          • The Packers
          • The Packers: Second Look
        • Baldwin, William H.
        • Beatty, Edward
        • Bell, Alexander Graham
        • Carnegie, Andrew >
          • Carnegie Quotes
          • Carnegie Autobiography
          • Carnegie Biography by B. J. Hendrick
          • Round the World
          • The Empire of Business
          • An American Four-in-Hand
        • Eastman, George
        • Edison, Thomas A. >
          • Edison: His Life and Inventions
          • Edison: My Friend
        • Farquhar, A. B.
        • Filene, Edward A. >
          • The Way Out >
            • Captains of Industry vs. Captains of Finance
          • Successful Living >
            • Rules of Success
        • Firestone, Harvey S. >
          • Men and Rubber
          • Making an Organization
        • Flint, Charles R.
        • Ford, Henry >
          • Books by Henry Ford
          • The Last Billionaire
          • My Forty Years with Ford
        • Gary, Elbert H.
        • Guggenheim, William
        • Hill, James J.
        • Hollerith, Herman
        • Johnson, George F.
        • Patterson, John H.
        • Penney, James C. >
          • Fifty Years With the Golden Rule
        • Procter, William C.
        • Rockefeller Jr.
        • Rockefeller Sr.
        • Rosenwald, Julius
        • Sloan Jr., Alfred P.
        • Swope, Gerard >
          • Swope of G.E.
          • The Swope Plan
          • Selected Addresses
        • Verity, George M. >
          • True Steel
          • Character & Success
        • Wanamaker, John >
          • A Business Biography
          • Retail Firsts
        • Watson Jr., Thomas J. >
          • A Business and Its Beliefs
          • Management Briefings
          • Father, Son & Company
        • Watson Sr., Thomas J. >
          • Human Relations
          • Men-Minutes-Money
          • The Lengthening Shadow
        • Young, Owen D. >
          • Selected Addresses
          • New Industrial Leader
      • Inventors & Innovators >
        • Fulton, Robert
        • Goodyear, Charles
      • Journalists >
        • Baker, Ray Stannard >
          • Autobiography
          • The Color Line
          • Woodrow Wilson
        • Crowther, Samuel >
          • Articles >
            • Bantam Ball Bearing
          • Biographies
          • Industrialist Anthology
          • "Why Men Strike" Review
        • Gunther, John >
          • Eisenhower
        • Steffens, Lincoln
        • Sullivan, Mark >
          • Our Times
          • The Education of an American
        • Tarbell, Ida M. >
          • Overview
          • Lincoln Centennial
          • Lincoln Publications
          • Corporate Publications
          • Fiction Publications
          • Other Publications >
            • Mme. (Madame) Roland
          • Magazine Articles >
            • Disbanding the Confederate Army
            • Disbanding the Union Army
        • White, William Allen >
          • Woodrow Wilson, The Man
      • Military Leaders >
        • Lee, General Robert E.
      • Pioneers / Explorers >
        • Byrd, Richard E. >
          • Alone
          • Discovery
          • Little America
        • Columbus, Christopher
        • Lindbergh, Charles
      • Politicians >
        • Eisenhower, Dwight D.
        • Hoover, Herbert >
          • American Individualism Book >
            • American Individualism Article
          • Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • Problems of Lasting Peace
        • Lincoln, Abraham >
          • Lincoln in the Telegraph Office
          • Abraham Lincoln Books By Ida M. Tarbell
        • Mesta, Perle
        • O'Connor, Basil and FDR >
          • Friends and Partners (Against Polio)
        • Roosevelt, Theodore >
          • Roosevelt: A Story of Friendship
        • Roper, Daniel C. >
          • Fifty Years of Public Life
        • Taft, William H.
        • Wilson, Woodrow >
          • The New Freedom
          • The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • Wilson's Last Words
          • Wilson's Tasks and Life
          • Wilson's Life and Letters >
            • Volume IV: President
            • Volume V: Neutrality
            • Volume VI: Facing War
      • Preachers >
        • Fosdick, Harry Emerson >
          • The Meaning of Prayer
          • The Meaning of Faith
          • The Meaning of Service
          • Power to See It Through
      • Publishers >
        • Forbes, B. C. >
          • Men Who Are Making America
          • Men Who Are Making the West
          • Automotive Giants of America
          • Little Bits about Big Men
          • America's 50 Foremost Business Leaders
          • America's Twelve Master Salesmen
          • Scrapbook of Thoughts on Business of Life
          • 101 Unusual Experiences
          • Keys to Success
          • Teamwork
        • Fortune Magazine >
          • USA: The Permanent Revolution
        • Shaw, A. W. >
          • Handling Men >
            • Why We Are Hiring Women
            • The Dream Behind the Business
          • The Companion Series
    • Research Sites
    • Acknowledgements
  • 21st Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • Comparing KPIs
      • Brand Performance >
        • Forbes' Best Employer
      • Patent Performance >
        • 2021 Patent Performance
        • 2020 Patent Performance
        • 2019 Patent Performance
        • 2018 Patent Performance
      • Revenue Performance
    • Corporate Practices >
      • Acquisitions >
        • Acquisition: Red Hat >
          • A $35 Billion Gamble
          • IBM + Red Hat 2019 Results
        • Acquisitions: Goodwill
        • Acquisitions: Since 2001
      • Centralization >
        • A Lost Federation
        • The Need to Decentralize
      • Divestitures >
        • Kyndryl Analysis
        • Kyndryl Top Questions
        • Martin Schroeter
      • Employees >
        • Resource Actions
        • Age Discrimination >
          • Cutting Old Heads
        • Employee Engagement
        • Aren't Buying Into IBM
        • Massive Work Slowdown
        • Failure of Work at Home
      • Financial Engineering >
        • Workforce Rebalancing
        • Aggressive Bookkeeping
      • Shareholders >
        • Share Buybacks
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Overall Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Employment Security
        • Employee Engagement
        • Warren Buffett's Mistake
        • Do Share Buybacks Work?
    • CEO Performance >
      • Arvind Krishna Overview >
        • First Year Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Share Buybacks
        • The First 100 Days
      • Ginni Rometty Overview >
        • Shareholder Value
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Share Buybacks
        • Dividend Strategy
        • Acquisition Strategy
        • Revenue & Profit Productivity
        • Revenue & Profit Growth
        • Revenue & Profit
  • 20th Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • IBM's Greatest CEO >
        • Shareholder Returns
        • Revenue Growth
        • Revenue Per Employee
        • Profit Growth
        • Profit Per Employee
        • Market Value
        • Goodwill
        • Economic Contractions
        • Economic Expansions
        • Stock Market Headwinds
        • CEO Historic Footnotes >
          • IBM's Founding Team
          • Financial Engineering
          • The Greatest Gamble
    • Corporate Practices >
      • IBM Anniversaries
      • IBM Benefits
      • IBM Creativity >
        • IBM Cartoons
        • IBM Song Books
        • IBM UK Dictionary
        • IBM Computing Dictionary
      • IBM Wild Ducks >
        • The Wild Goose
        • Royal Dissenters
        • Corporate Constitution
        • Respect for the Individual
        • Service to the Customer
        • Pursuit of Excellence
    • Corporate Products >
      • 1890: U.S. Census
      • Dayton Scales in 1920
      • 1940: The Electromatic
    • Thomas J. Watson Sr. >
      • Quotes By Watson
      • Quotes About Watson
      • Articles By Watson >
        • On World Peace
        • On the Cost of War
        • On Public Education
        • On Thomas Jefferson
        • On Thoughtful Mistakes
        • On Stakeholder Relations
      • Articles About Watson >
        • A Gift of Retirement
        • A Gift of Home Ownership >
          • Construction Timeline
        • The $1,000-A-Day Chief Executive Officer
        • Employees are Valued
        • Democracy's Man o' War
        • Human Relations in 1956
        • A CEO Who Earned His Pay
        • The Story of "THINK" >
          • Two Journalists "THINK"
          • A Buddy Davis Interview
        • Learning from Crises
        • Tom Watson's Wild Ducks
        • The Lengthening Shadow
      • Slice of Life Stories >
        • Dali, Salvador
        • Drucker, Peter F. >
          • Authority and Power
          • Short-Term Thinking
          • A Corporate Culture
          • Raising Business Issues
          • Focus on Principles
          • Character and Manners
          • Knowledge Workers
          • Recognizing Ability
          • Individual Respect
          • Employee Paternalism
        • Eastman, George
        • Penney, J. C. (James Cash) >
          • Watson Homestead
          • Golden Rule Businesses
        • A 1943 Tax Problem
        • Fighting Discrimination
        • A Pajama Party
      • Pre-World War II >
        • Women in the Workplace
        • A Lost Dream of Peace
        • USO Camp Show Founder
      • World War II Effort >
        • Selling War Bonds
        • Production Awards
        • Controlling Profits
        • Machine Records Units
        • Wartime Contributions
        • Widows & Orphans Fund
        • Declaring Human Rights
        • Supporting Home Morale
        • Employee Military Service
        • War's End & Reconversion
      • Post-World War II >
        • Endicott Memorial
        • Poughkeepsie Memorial
        • Rehiring WWII Veterans
  • Articles
    • Corporate Articles >
      • High-Performance Corporations
      • The Art of the Restart
      • Crises, Recoveries & Lessons Learned
      • Strategy Should Create Human Relationships
      • A Time-Tested Corporate Constitution
      • IBM, JC Penney and The Golden Rule
      • How IBM Created its 20th Century Brand
      • The Greatest Business Risk of the 20th Century
      • How to Grow a Business
      • The Importance of Sales Productivity
      • How Much Is a Great CEO Worth
      • Let Your Guard Down
    • Business Articles >
      • Business Witticism
      • The Golden Rule and Productivity in Business
      • Who and What Built Early American Capitalism
      • Capitalism Needs Industrialist Minded CEOs
      • Producing Corporate True Steel
      • CEO Perspectives >
        • Rules of Success
        • Top Employee Qualities
        • Industrialist vs. Capitalist
      • An Open Letter to the World's CEOs
      • Henry Ford Takes Control
      • The Razor Blade Business Model
      • Two Successful 20th Century Businesswomen
      • Sears: A Dead Franchise Walking
      • A LinkedIn Incognito Mode
      • Value a College Education
    • Political Articles >
      • Political Witticisms
      • Meritocracy and Teachable Humility
      • What Is Patriotism?
      • Presidents' Day 2024-25
      • Memorial Day 2025
      • Pursuing The "American Way"
      • America: Home of the Brave
      • Securing the Borders of the Americas
      • General Grant's Stand for Justice
      • America's Heartland Stands Strong
      • The New Freedom
      • Teddy Roosevelt on Socialism & Individualism
      • Women as Citizens
      • Mary Slessor of Calabar
    • Spiritual Articles >
      • Inauguration Day Prayer
      • Reincarnated Thoughts >
        • Why Lies Should Never Be Glorified
        • Are You More Than A Wise Entrepreneur?
        • A World of Peace or Turbulence?
      • Wilson's Last Words
      • Spiritual Songs
    • Fiction Articles >
      • A Father's Love
      • Introducing a Friend to God
      • Hyphenated Relationships
  • Contact
  • Blog