The @msgop takes a moment to recognize & honor Booker T. Washington. Born a slave in southwest Virginia, April 5th 1856. Unknown to most people today is this civil rights leader was a staunch Republican. He detested the Democratic Party's racist policy agenda.

After years working as a miner, Washington studied at Hampton Institute & Wayland Seminary. He then taught at Hampton. In 1881, that school's president recommended him for principal of the Tuskegee Institute, being established in Alabama to prepare African-Americans for teaching careers. With the support of Republican philanthropists, notably Julius Rosenwald, Tuskegee thrived & became a university.

In 1895, a former Republican Governor of Georgia invited him to address the Cotton States & International Exposition. His Atlanta Compromise speech, at the height of the lynching mania, called on Democrats to ease their repression in return for Blacks focusing on practical education & upward mobility: "As a southerner, Washington recognized the futility of challenging the white supremacist Democrats, that struggling for political rights was not only pointless, but could be suicidal."

President William McKinley looked to Booker T. Washington for advice on federal appointments in the South. President Theodore Roosevelt made history by inviting him to dinner at the White House. President William Howard Taft also met with him to discuss social issues. #BlackHistoryMonth