Title

The Joseph Booker Famliy

Creator

Files

Date Original

circa 1910s

Description

Photographic negative taken of the Joseph Booker family of Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas from the book, "How I Succeeded In My Business," by the Reverend A. H. Miller, published in 1911. Included in the photograph are (back row, left to right): Helen M., Carrie J., Jos. Robert, Mattie A. and William A.; and front row: President Jos. A., Baby James H., Mrs. Mary C., Walter M. and Sarah A.

Biographical/Historical Note

Joseph Albert Booker was born on December 26, 1859, in Old Portland, Ashley County, Arkansas. He was born a slave to Albert and Mary Booker on the Bayou Bartholomew plantation owned by John Fisher. Mary died soon after Joseph's birth and his father was whipped to death when Joseph was three. He was charged with urging a slave revolt by teaching other slaves to read. Joseph was raised by his grandmother, Emma Fisher, after the end of the Civil War. She encouraged him to go to school and he became a teacher by the age of 16 or 17 in Ashley County. He later became a licensed Baptist minister and attended college in Pine Bluff at the Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical, and Normal College and then Roger Williams University in Tennessee. In 1887, Booker became the first president of Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock, to which he was president till his death in 1926.

Physical Description

Photographic negative, 5"x 4"

Subjects

African American; Baptist churches; Schools; Collages; Teachers; Teaching

Geographical Area

Little Rock, Pulaski County (Ark.)

Language

English

Identifier

PS.44.23

Resource Type

Image

Collection

Persistence of the Spirit collection, PS.44.23

Publisher

Arkansas State Archives

Contributing Entity

Arkansas State Archives

Recommended Citation

The Joseph Booker Famliy, Persistence of the Spirit collection, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Rights

Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6901 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.

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Additional Content

Persistence of the Spirit collection