State and local governments historically underfunded black schools, although they were ostensibly providing "separate but equal" segregated facilities. White philanthropists strongly supported education financially. Washington encouraged them and directed millions of their money to projects all across the South that Washington thought best reflected his self-help philosophy. Washington associated with the richest and most powerful businessmen and politicians of the era, as well as many other educational leaders, such as William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago. He was seen as a spokesperson for African Americans and became a conduit for funding educational programs.
State and local governments .historically underfunded black schools, although they were ostensibly providing "separate but equal" segregated facilities White philanthropists strongly supported education financially. Washington encouraged them and directed millions of their money to projects all across the South that Washington thought best reflected his self-help philosophy. Washington associated with the richest and most powerful businessmen and politicians of the era, as well as many other educational leaders, such as William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago. He was seen as a spokesperson for African Americans and became a conduit for funding educational programs.