Tuskegee Institute Department of Records and Research

Booker T. Washington hired sociologist Monroe Nathan Work to create and lead the Department of Research and Records at Tuskegee Institute in the early 1900s to document, preserve and learn from Black history. Monroe Work was a meticulous collector of data, and the data he collected painted a vivid picture of the Black experience in the USA. At Washington’s suggestion, he compiled his data about Black life into The Negro Yearbook which was first published in 1912 with several editions to follow, and the books were distributed nationwide. Monroe Work was also interested in documenting reported lynchings and creating a credible, nationwide report on lynchings in the United States. Jessie P. Guzman assisted him with these and other projects while she was working as his research assistant. 

When Guzman became director of the Department of Research and Records, she continued to collect, research, and publish information on topics of interest to Black life, Black studies and the history of Tuskegee Institute.

To read a transcript of an oral history interview with Jessie P. Guzman about her work documenting lynchings with Monroe Work, click here. 

Photo (above): Cover pages of the 1947 and 1952 Negro Year Book, both edited by Jessie P. Guzman. To explore these and other editions of the Negro Year Book, visit Tuskegee University Archives.