Content Warning: This section references racial prejudice and racist violence.

After the end of Reconstruction in 1877, when federal troops pulled out of the South, Southern Black people faced growing numbers of local and state laws preventing them from achieving decent living standards and accumulating property. These “Jim Crow” laws operated in part by enforcing segregation between Black and white people in most areas of life. Public facilities from water fountains to schools to hospitals and even jails were segregated, as were occupations, neighborhoods, and in some cases, even private homes. A year after Washington’s Atlanta speech, the US Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) affirmed segregation as constitutional as long as both groups were given equal facilities and opportunities. However, as the government of Southern states was entirely in the hands of white people, such equality was never achieved or even sought for Black Americans.

During this same period, Southern leaders strove to represent the South as an economically and socially progressive region. This goal informed their decision to invite Washington to speak at the 1895 Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition, which would showcase economic opportunities in the South in hopes of securing investment.