Last Tour Planned By Rogers
For the last 15 years of his life, Rogers had become close friends with Dr. Booker T. Washington, the famous African American educator. Dr. Washington had been an honored guest at Rogers' office and home in New York, his summer home in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and aboard his steam yacht Kanawha. Rogers had been secretly funding much of Dr. Washington's work. They had planned a speaking tour for Dr. Washington along the new railroad to take place just prior to opening of through passenger service scheduled for July 1, 1909. Although Rogers had died suddenly, Dr. Washington decided to go ahead with his wishes for the previously arranged speaking tour in June 1909 along the route of the new railroad.
On the tour, as had been planned, Dr. Washington rode in Rogers' personal rail car, "Dixie", making speeches at many locations over a 7-day period. There was more than a little symbolism in Dr. Washington riding as a VIP in the personal railcar of the late Henry Rogers, who was held high in the esteem of the local citizenry for the well-known fact that he had financed the new railroad through their communities from his personal fortune. At the many stops, Dr. Washington told his audiences that his recently departed friend had urged him to make the trip and see what could be done to improve relations between the races and economic conditions for African Americans along the route of the new railway, which touched many previously isolated communities in the southern portions of Virginia and West Virginia.
Some of the places where Dr. Washington spoke on the tour were (in order of the tour stops), Newport News, Norfolk, Suffolk, Lawrenceville, Kenbridge, Victoria, Charlotte Courthouse, Roanoke, Salem, and Christiansburg in Virginia, and Princeton, Mullens, Page and Deepwater in West Virginia. One of his trip companions reported that they had received a strong and favorable welcome from both white and African American citizens all along the tour route.
It was only after the multi-millionaire's death that Dr. Washington said he felt compelled to reveal publicly some of the extent of Henry Rogers' contributions for his causes. The funds, he said, were at that very time paying for the operation of at least 65 small country schools for the education and betterment of African Americans in Virginia and other portions of the South, all unknown to the recipients. Dr. Washington also disclosed that, known only to a few trustees, Henry Rogers had also generously provided support to institutions of higher education such as the schools which are now Hampton University and Tuskegee University.
Dr. Washington later wrote that Henry Rogers had encouraged projects with at least partial matching funds, as that way, two ends were accomplished:
- 1. The gifts would help fund even greater work.
- 2. Recipients would have a stake in knowing that they were helping themselves through their own hard work and sacrifice.
See Also article Dr. Booker T. Washington.
Read more about this topic: Building The Virginian Railway
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