“Hampton, Tuskegee and Points North” by Robert R. Moton. [Pp. 15-18 in:] The Survey. Graphic Number. April 1, 1925.

Important 1925 Robert R. Moton essay on migration and Tuskegee

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Robert R. Moton on the Great Migration and the Hampton-Tuskegee Model

Published in the April 1, 1925 issue of The Survey Graphic, Robert R. Moton’s essay “Hampton, Tuskegee and Points North” examines the migration of African Americans from the rural South to the industrial North. Moton, then principal of Tuskegee Institute and successor to Booker T. Washington, places the movement within the Hampton and Tuskegee philosophy: self-reliance, industrial training, and community uplift. He describes how these schools prepared young Black men and women to become economically independent and socially responsible, uniting “the head, the hand and the heart.”

Graduates carried these principles into northern cities. Opportunities were greater, but the barriers were real: segregation, discriminatory unions, and overcrowded housing. Moton points to both the emergence of Harlem as a cultural capital and to the hostility faced by newcomers in industrial towns. Photographs of Tuskegee students at work in trades such as printing and electricity reinforce the theme of applied education and practical advancement.

Moton’s article bridges Washington’s legacy with the realities of the Great Migration. Published in The Survey Graphic, a reform journal central to the Harlem Renaissance, the piece frames migration as a proving ground for institutional ideals and racial solidarity. A portrait of Moton by Winold Reiss precedes the text.

Price: $75.00