Emmet J. Scott: Power Broker of the Tuskegee Machine by Maceo C. Dailey Jr. (review)

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• Emmet J. Scott: Power Broker of the Tuskegee Machine by Maceo C. Dailey Jr.
• Mark Stanley

Emmet J. Scott: Power Broker of the Tuskegee Machine. By Maceo C. Dailey Jr. Ed. by Will Guzmán, and David H. Jackson Jr. (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2023. Pp. 424. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index.)

Emmet J. Scott was born in Houston, Texas in 1873. He attended Wiley College in Marshall before leaving school to found a successful African American newspaper, the Texas Freeman. The connections he cultivated with African American business and political leaders around the state, along with his organizational skills, soon brought him notice from Norris Wright Cuney, the African American leader of the Texas Republican Party in 1894. Under Cuney's tutelage, Scott gained national political connections and valuable political acumen. As a political operative and a newspaper man, Scott was well acquainted with the work of Booker T. Washington. He had written several pieces in his Texas Freeman supportive of Washington's famous Atlanta Cotton Exposition speech in 1895. His skills and connections allowed Scott to be charged with the [End Page 354] responsibility of arranging Washington's trip to Texas in 1897. Scott's attentive performance was such that Washington offered him a position as his personal secretary. He held the position until Washington's death in 1915, and in the course amassed power and influence of his own under the "Tuskegee Machine."

The author notes that by 1902, "Emmet and Booker had a Tuskegee Machine that guaranteed them significant political power and influence." (p. 87) The two travelled around the country on speaking engagements, with Scott introducing Washington in generous terms that praised his ideas concerning race relations. The two worked hard to cultivate access for African Americans to the inner workings of the Republican Party at both the state and national levels. Securing patronage jobs to the friends of Tuskegee Institute as well as other African Americans, and their ability to influence racial policies, were particularly useful. Ultimately, Washington's and Scott's work with Tuskegee made "realistic and concrete gains… in changing the economic and educational status of Blacks." (p. 214) Furthermore, without their work between 1905 and 1915, "advancement that would most likely have been postponed or may not have taken place at all" was brought forward. (p. 215) Scott's contribution to that process is significant and bears the attention of future scholars.

This book is, in a sense, the life work of Maceo Dailey, originating as a doctoral dissertation in 1983 that he never published in his lifetime. Will Guzmán and David Jackson have done an excellent job of editing, as the book is well-organized and the narrative flows well. Chapter headings and subject matter are logical and draw readers to specific periods of Scott's career. The editors included a useful timeline of Scott's life, as well a Foreword, Editor's Note, and Afterword. One of the most impressive aspects of the book is the extensive nature of Dailey's research, which is recorded in sixty pages of notes and a complete bibliography. Archival resources include both Scott's and Washington's papers as well as many others. Dailey also included public records, personal interviews, and numerous other primary and secondary sources. Overall, this work is a valuable contribution to both Texas and African American historiography.

Mark Stanley University of North Texas at Dallas Copyright © 2022 The Texas State Historical Association ...