- Margaret Murray Washington
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Margaret James Murray Washington in 1917
Margaret Murray Washington was the third wife of Booker T. Washington and Lady Principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now Tuskegee University.
She was born on March 9, 1865, in Macon, Mississippi and died on June 26, 1925 in Tuskegee Institute, Alabama.
Contents
In the beginning
She was one of ten children born to sharecroppers. Her father was of Irish descent and her mother was African American. Her father died when she was seven, and eventually was led to be foster raised by Quakers.
Education
As a child Murray spent much of her time reading and quickly excelled in school. By the age of fourteen, she was so advanced in her studies that the school offered her a teaching position. Determined to further her teaching career, at the age of nineteen, Murray enrolled in Fisk University, where she completed the college preparatory course in five years and college in four.
Marriage
It was at Fisk that Murray first met Booker T. Washington. Regarding her as a model student, Washington asked her to take over the position of Lady Principal, formerly held by his deceased second wife. By 1890, Murray was writing to Washington to express her deep feelings for him. He proposed the following year and, after some hesitation, Murray accepted Washington's proposal and they were married in 1893. Murray and Washington shared a home with Washington's relatives and his children from his previous marriage until "The Oaks", the homestead of which was built for their family was constructed in 1901. Washington was reluctant to share his feelings with Murray, and often left her to tend to his children while he was away on business. Though Washington never got over the loss of his first two wives, he believed that Margaret provided a well-ordered household, and the two were generally happy with their marriage.
Career
During her tenure as Lady Principal of Tuskegee, she also created the Tuskegee Woman's Club and merged local organizations with women clubs to help improve the values and liberation of womanhood in African American women of the Jim Crow south. She is credited with co-founding the National Association of Colored Women in 1896 [1] She founded country schools, taught women how to live and attend to their homes, worked for the improvement of prisons, started the Mt. Meigs school for boys and an industrial school for girls at Tuskegee, and constantly worked for the betterment of the poor and neglected. In 1912, she became the fifth president for the National Association of Colored Women.
After Booker's Death
After the death of her husband in 1915, Washington remained a powerful source in the women's liberation movement and in improving the educational system for African Americans. She became deeply involved in domestic education for mothers in Tuskegee and in supporting schools for children at surrounding plantations.
Like the programs advocated by her husband, Margaret Murray Washington focused on domestic and vocational education. She became involved in interracial cooperation and participated in the path breaking Memphis Women's Inter-Racial Conference in 1920.
Death
Margaret Murray Washington remained at the "The Oaks" until her death in 1925. She is buried at the university cemetery, adjacent to her husband's burial site.
Acknowledgements
In 1972, Washington was inducted into Alabama's Women Hall of Fame for her compassion, intelligence and independence of judgement which led her to be among the greatest women and African American leaders of her century .
M.M. Washington Career High School in Washington, DC is named in her honor. Which is currently closed.
Quotes
"If we wish to help each other let us not only praise ourselves, but also criticize. Plain talk will not hurt us."
"Praise a child always and he will soon get the point to where he thinks it is impossible for him to make mistakes."
"We cannot separate ourselves from our people, no matter how much we try; for one, I have no desire to do so."
External links
- M. M. Washington Career High School Website at www.k12.dc.us
References
Washington, Margaret Murray (1865-1925) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed at www.blackpast.org (1898) Margaret Murray Washington, âWe Must Have a Cleaner Social Morality,â | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed at www.blackpast.org
Categories:- 1859 births
- 1925 deaths
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