Emmett Jay Scott (February 13, 1873 – December 12, 1957) was an African American journalist, newspaper editor, academic, and government official who was
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...
's closest advisor at the
Tuskegee Institute
Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...
. He was responsible for maintaining Washington's nationwide "Tuskegee
machine
A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...
," with its close links to black business leadership, white philanthropists, and
Republican politicians from the local level to the White House.
After Washington's death, Scott lost his Tuskegee connection, but moved to Washington, D.C., as Special Advisor of Black Affairs to Secretary of War
Newton D. Baker
Newton Diehl Baker Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American lawyer, Georgist,Noble, Ransom E. "Henry George and the Progressive Movement." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 8, no. 3, 1949, pp. 259–269. w ...
. Scott was the highest-ranking African American in
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY)
**Democratic Part ...
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
's presidential administration. After 1919, he was less and less visible in national affairs, with the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
largely assuming the leadership role that Booker T. Washington had dominated.
Biography
Early life and education
Emmett Jay Scott was born in
Houston, Texas
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, in 1873, the son of former
slaves
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
Horace Lacy Scott and Emma Kyle.
He began his studies at
Wiley College
Wiley University (formerly Wiley College) is a private historically black college in Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is one of the ...
in 1887, but left 3 years later to pursue a career in journalism.
Journalism
Scott worked at the white-owned ''
The Houston Post'' as a janitor before working his way up to messenger and eventually reporter.
He and friends knew that the city's African-American community was not receiving adequate coverage. Scott joined
Charles N. Love and
Jack Tibbitto in founding Houston's first African-American newspaper, the ''
Texas Freeman''. Scott became editor soon after the newspaper began circulation.
His leadership expanded the ''Texas Freeman's'' presence in the Houston region, making it a prominent publication throughout Texas.
Tuskegee Institute activities
In Houston Scott promoted Booker T. Washington, who was developing the
Tuskegee Institute
Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...
. Washington was impressed and in 1897 hired Scott as his personal secretary, publicity chief and top advisor. Scott had a major role in management of the college, fundraising, and building Washington's national networks of black businessmen and white philanthropists. Indeed he was known as the “Architect of the Tuskegee Machine.”
On the side Scott was a real estate investor with ties to the banking and insurance industries. He was a founder of the
National Negro Business League
The National Negro Business League (NNBL) was an American organization founded in Boston in 1900 by Booker T. Washington to promote the interests of African-American businesses. The mission and main goal of the National Negro Business League w ...
in 1900 and served as Secretary of that organization from its establishment until 1922.
[Robert A. Hill (ed.), ''The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: Volume 1: 1826-August 1919.'' Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1983; pp. 173-174, fn. 1.]
In 1909, Scott was tapped by President
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
as one of three American commissioners to
Liberia
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
.
Scott served as Secretary of the Tuskegee Institute from 1912 until 1917.
Scott was also selected as Secretary of the
International Congress of the Negro, a conference hosted by the Tuskegee Institute in 1912.
Although he was heir apparent to take the helm as principal of Tuskegee Institute following Washington's death in 1915, the trustees passed over Scott to name
Robert Russa Moton
Robert Russa Moton (August 26, 1867 – May 31, 1940) was an American educator and author. He served as an administrator at Hampton Institute. In 1915 he was named principal of Tuskegee Institute, after the death of founder Booker T. Washington, ...
, formerly of the
Hampton Institute
Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...
, to the position.
Liberia
Scott reported as part of a group sent to the country from the U.S. government.
He worked with
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...
and took his place after Washington determined travel to Liberia would take him away from his other work for too long.
[
]
World War I activity
After the election of President Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
, as the United States moved closer to war, Scott was appointed as Special Assistant for Negro Affairs to the Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
Newton D. Baker
Newton Diehl Baker Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American lawyer, Georgist,Noble, Ransom E. "Henry George and the Progressive Movement." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 8, no. 3, 1949, pp. 259–269. w ...
. Scott was the highest-ranking African-American in the administration. He selected William Henry Davis to serve as his own assistant and staff manager, helping to ensure blacks were treated fairly by the War Department.
In June 1918, Scott organized a meeting of African-American journalists and business leaders to recommend a Black journalist to the U.S. War Department for reporting on the Negro troops in World War I. Ralph Waldo Tyler was selected to report on the Black troops at the front, and he became the first African-American foreign war correspondent. Tyler's reports were screened by the U.S. Committee on Public Information, then they were reviewed by Scott. He selected letters to be syndicated through the Black press.
After the war, Scott wrote his own history of this period, ''Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War'' (1919) featuring a preface by Secretary Baker and foreword by General John Pershing
General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was an American army general, educator, and founder of the Pershing Rifles. He served as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forc ...
.
Later career
After leaving the War Department in 1919, Scott was named Secretary-Treasurer of Howard University
Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
, a position he held until 1933, at which time the Treasurer position was split off. He quarreled with the president and was forced out in 1938.
Scott remained active in Republican politics as a liaison with the black community. He served as an advisor to the public relations staff for every Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...
from 1928 through 1948. He was a paid assistant publicity director of the Republican National Committee from 1939 to 1942. During World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Scott was director of employment and personnel relations for Shipyard No. 4 of the Sun Ship Co. in Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...
. He was a joiner who served on many committees, such as the United States Liberian Commission. He also authored several books. Scott died in Washington, D.C., in 1957.[
]
Legacy
Historian Eugene Berwanger argues that Scott was in line to succeed Booker T. Washington as the nation's leading African-American spokesman after Washington's death in 1915, but failed to take advantage of that opportunity, allowing the NAACP to instead fill that leadership role. Scott's visibility gradually faded out, apart from within black educational circles. Berwanger suggests the cause was in large part because he insisted on adhering to Washington's accommodation philosophy and refused to support issues popular in the black leadership community, especially national anti-lynching legislation. He lacked Washington's optimism and drive and broad vision; instead, Scott demonstrated expertise in public relations when Washington called the tune but was unable to take the initiative after Washington was gone.
Morgan State University
Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...
maintains a collection of Scott's papers. His letters to various parties are a valuable historical resource cited in many works.
See also
* Drusilla Nixon, his assistant
Footnotes
Further reading
* Berwanger, Eugene H. "Scott, Emmett Jay" in John A. Garraty. ed., ''Encyclopedia of American Biography'' ( 1974) pp 974-975.
* "Emmett Jay Scott" in Smith, Jessie Carney ed. ''Notable Black American Men, Book II'' (Gale, 1998)
* Dailey, Maceo Crenshaw. "The Business Life of Emmett Jay Scott." ''Business History Review'' 77.4 (2003): 667-686.
* Dailey, Maceo Crenshaw. "Neither ‘Uncle Tom’ nor ‘Accommodationist’: Booker T. Washington, Emmett Jay Scott, and Constructionalism." ''Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South'' 37 (1995): 20-34.
* Dailey Jr, Maceo Crenshaw. "Emmett Jay Scott: The Career of a Secondary Black Leader" (PhD Diss.Howard University, 1983).
* Gates, Henry Louis and Evelyn Brooks-Higginbotham, eds. ''The African American national biography'' (2008) 7: 105-106.
* Harlan, Louis R. ''Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of Tuskegee, 1901-1915. Vol. 2'' (Oxford UP, 1983). passim.
* Masterson, Kristin. "Emmett J. Scott’S “Official History” Of The African-American Experience In World War One: Negotiating." ''Creating Knowledge'' vol 8 (2015) pp: 76-8
online
* Matthews, Carl S. "The Decline of the Tuskegee Machine, 1915-1925: The Abdication of Political Power." ''Atlantic Quarterly'' (Autumn 1976). 460-69.
* Waller, James Edward. "Emmett Jay Scott: The Public Life of a Private Secretary" (PhD . Diss. University of Maryland, College Park, 1971).
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Emmett Jay
1873 births
1957 deaths
People from Houston
People from Tuskegee, Alabama
Tuskegee University faculty
African-American businesspeople
Texas Republicans
Alabama Republicans
African Americans in World War I
20th-century African-American writers