Tweet
Booker T. Washington's Death Revisited
Booker T. Washington, a former slave, was one of the most prominent black Americans at the turn of the 20th century.
Booker T. Washington died of high blood pressure, a review of his medical records has determined, erasing a cloud over the civil rights leader's death left by one of his doctors more than 90 years ago.
The doctor wrote in 1915 that Washington died of "racial characteristics" - an often dismissive term that included high blood pressure but also syphilis.
Washington's records were obtained with the permission of his descendants for a University of Maryland medical conference that looks each year at the cause of death of a historical figure. Past conferences have looked at Alexander the Great, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Florence Nightingale and Edgar Allan Poe.
Washington's records show that his blood pressure was 225 over 145, nearly double the 120 over 80 that is considered normal.
The records also show that a blood test ruled out syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease that was widespread at the time and thought to be a particular problem among blacks, said Dr. Philip Mackowiak, the organizer and creator of the University of Maryland conference.
Washington, a former slave who taught himself to read and write, was the first president of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and one of the most prominent black Americans at the turn of the 20th century, advising presidents and philanthropists.
"The cruel irony is that he would be killed by a disease which is a particular threat to African Americans," said Fitzhugh Brundage, a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill history professor who spoke at the conference.
While it still is not known what causes high blood pressure or why blacks are more frequently and severely affected, "what we do know is we can prevent or decrease the likelihood of its development," said Dr. Jackson Wright, a professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University who reviewed the records.
Washington was admitted to the hospital two weeks before his death at age 59, complaining of fatigue, headaches, weight loss and vision problems. He eventually died of kidney failure brought on by high blood pressure, Wright said.
High blood pressure was not well understood at the time, and effective treatments did not begin to be used until the 1950s.
Washington's granddaughter, Margaret Washington Clifford, who helped obtain the 1915 hospital records, also attended the event.
Source: AP