Louis R. Harlan is professor of history at the University of Maryland. He is the author of Separate and Unequal: Public School Campaigns and Racism in the Southern Seaboard States, 1901-1915 (1958), and Booker T. Washington: The Making of a Black Leader, 1856-1901 (1972). Stuart B. Kaufman is assistant professor of history at the University of Maryland. He recently published Samuel Gompers and the Origins of the American Federation of Labor, 1848-1896.Raymond W. Smock is instructor in history at the University of Maryland, and former editor of the Maryland Historian.

"Those who would gain a serious understanding of the nature of the black past will look forward to the subsequent volumes of the Washington papers."--John H. Bracey, Jr., New York Times Book Review "The editors have made an auspicious start to what promises to be a distinguished documentary series. They have given us a fascinating view of Booker T. Washington and his world. . . . We can confidently expect to learn much more about the great Tuskegean's several worlds and social roles as the publication of this series proceeds."--Dewey Grantham, West Virginia History