The Man Farthest Down: A Record of Observation and Study in Europe (1911[1]) is a book written by Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee University "with the collaboration of" sociologist Robert E. Park. The book is a record of the observations and studies of the authors during their travels in Europe, where they visited various cities and observed the living conditions of the urban poor, particularly in the industrial centers, as well as that of marginalized groups in Europe such as Jews and Roma people (referred to as Gypsies).[2][3]

Background

Through their observations and research, Washington and Park aimed to shed light on the struggles faced by the working class in Europe and to offer insights into how these issues might be addressed. The book is also significant in its representation of the collaboration between a prominent African-American leader (Washington) and a white sociologist (Park) during a time of heightened racial tensions in the United States.[4][1][5]

The book begins, "On 20 August, 1910, I sailed from New York City for Liverpool, England. I had been given a leave of absence for two months from my work at Tuskegee, on condition that I would spend that time in some way that would give me recreation and rest. Now I have found that almost the only comfortable and satisfactory way for me to rest is to find some new kind of work or occupation. I determined therefore to carry out a plan I had long had in mind of making myself acquainted with the condition of the poor and working classes in Europe, particularly in those regions from which an ever – increasing number of immigrants are coming to our country each year."[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Sica, Alan (July 2012). "B. T. Washington and R. E. Park Find The Man Farthest Down". Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews. 41 (4): 409–412. doi:10.1177/0094306112449607. ISSN 0094-3061. It was copyrighted in 1911 by The Outlook Company, then issued in 1912 by Doubleday, Page and Co. in Garden City, New Jersey, and reprinted once, in 1984.
  2. ↑ Park, Robert Ezra; Washington, Booker T. (1912). The Man Farthest Down: A Record of Observation and Study in Europe.
  3. ↑ Bruce, Dickson D. (1995). "Booker T. Washington's "The Man Farthest Down" and the Transformation of Race". The Mississippi Quarterly. 48 (2): 239–253.
  4. ↑ Austin, Duke. "Park, Robert E. (1864–1944)". Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society. Sage.
  5. ↑ Drake, St Clair (1 May 1983). "The Tuskegee Connection: Booker T. Washington and Robert E. Park". Society. 20 (4): 82–92. doi:10.1007/BF02697865. ISSN 1936-4725.
  6. ↑ Totten, Gary (2015). "Southernizing Travel in the Black Atlantic: Booker T. Washington's The Man Farthest Down". African American Travel Narratives from Abroad: Mobility and Cultural Work in the Age of Jim Crow. University of Massachusetts Press. pp. 35–50. ISBN 978-1-61376-363-6. OCLC 919384610.
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