1895 — Booker T. Washington Receives Honorary Degree from Harvard

On May 20, 1895, Booker T. Washington became the first African American to receive an honorary degree from Harvard University. The recognition came just months before his famed Atlanta Compromise speech, which would cement his reputation as a leading Black voice of the era. Harvard’s gesture marked a rare acknowledgment of Black intellectual achievement during a time of deep racial segregation and limited educational opportunities. Washington, founder of Tuskegee Institute, used the occasion to elevate the cause of Black education and industrial training. His honorary degree symbolized a crack in the ivory towers of exclusion, even as full equity remained elusive. May 20 stands as a moment of Black academic breakthrough and the growing respect for institutional Black leadership at the turn of the 20th century.