Atlanta Exposition Speech

The Atlanta Exposition Speech was an address on the topic of race relations given by African-American scholar Booker T. Washington on September 18, 1895. The speech outlined Washington's vision for cooperation between blacks and whites in the southern United States. Washington's proposal – later called the Atlanta Compromise – conceded there would be racial segregation and discrimination against black citizens in the white-ruled South, in exchange for which he called for civic peace and opportunities for black citizens to learn, work for a living, help the South develop, and thereby earn a measure of respect from white citizens.

The speech was presented before a predominantly white audience at the Cotton States and International Exposition (the site of today's Piedmont Park) in Atlanta, Georgia, has been recognized as one of the most important and influential speeches in American history. The speech was preceded by the reading of a dedicatory ode written by Frank Lebby Stanton.