A new book by Dr. Redunda Noble, visiting assistant professor of history in the Anderson University College of Arts and Sciences, explores the faith of noted African American scholar and leader Booker T. Washington and the influence his life continues to have today.
Dr. Noble’s new book, Booker T. Washington and the Bible: How the Tuskegee Leader Shared His Faith and Envisioned a Better America, was released in January 2026 by Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. The work examines the religious rhetoric of Washington through his influential leadership at Tuskegee Institute in the latter period of Reconstruction and into the Progressive Era along with its impact on his audiences and followers.
Drawing on select speeches and writings of Washington, Dr. Noble’s book explores the religious nature of Washington’s rhetoric previously neglected by scholars and aims to contribute to ongoing scholarly conversations surrounding the comingling of race and religion in the message of racial uplift for African Americans. It employs an ideological, interdisciplinary approach centering on historical and religious themes, and is written for historians, scholars of religion and history, and general readers with an interest in the role Christian faith played in Washington’s life and work.
Booker T. Washington and the Bible is currently available for purchase through Kendall Hunt Publishing Company and Amazon.
