Booker T. Washington Dies, Leaving Leadership Vacuum

Booker T. Washington died on November 14, 1915 at age 59 at Tuskegee Institute. His death ended the era of accommodationist leadership that had dominated Black America since the 1890s and created a power vacuum that increasingly assertive organizations like the NAACP and UNIA moved to fill. The transition accelerated more militant approaches to Black civil rights.