The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.8, page xxiii, in Introduction, U. of Illinois Press

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INTRODUCTION iN THE NEARLY TWO YEARS covered by this volume, Washington rode the crest of the wave of fame and influence that followed Up from Slavery and the dinner at the White House three years earlier. Despite Washington's unrivaled position, however, much of his energy in these years went into putting out the fires of black opposition to his leadership. The volume begins with Washington's instructions to one of the black newspaper editors he subsidized. J. Max Barber's gradual movement out of Washington's orbit and into direct criticism is treated in detail, as well as Washington's efforts to silence Barber. The volume includes the complete text and enclosures of W. E. B. Du Bois's letter to Oswald Garrison VilIard charging that Washington used ''hush money'' to control the black press. In politics Washington consolidated his position as presidential adviser and patronage broker, while seeking publicly to understate his role. Roosevelt's renomination and reselection in 1909 with Washington's help and advice allowed Washington the opportunity to reward and punish. His lieutenant Charles W. Anderson became internal revenue collector for the Wall Street district. Judson W. Lyons of Georgia, on the other hand, was removed as register of the treasury after Washington learned that he had written a letter of sympathy to William Monroe Trotter after the Boston Riot. Washington pushed his Chicago lieutenant S. Laing Williams as Lyons's replacement, but when Williams could not get the backing of his state's congressional delegation Washington had to acquiesce in this political plum going to William T. Vernon, who was not really a member of the Tuskegee Machine. As the Committee of Twelve for the Advancement of the Negro · . — xx