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The History of Booker Washington Institute

Brief history

 

 

During a state visit to the United States in the early 1920s, a journalist asked the late President Charles Dunbar Burgess King about his best impression after a tour of Tuskegee institute. The late King replied “I wish Tuskegee Institute could be transplanted to Liberia”. Shortly after the visit, an executive council of chiefs and government officials including foreign friends of Liberia were convened by the late President Charles Dunbar Burgess King in a tiny rural village called Kakata on March 17, 1929. The purpose of the assembly was to extend the light of education into rural Liberia. At the end of the meeting, the council of chiefs donated 1,000 acres of land for construction of a learning institution, now BWI.

 

BWI was founded for the same philosophy that Tuskegee institute was founded by Dr. Booker Taliaferro Washington for the education of blacks in America. The first seed money for the establishment of BWI was donated by a black philanthropist called Olivia Phelps Stoke. Until 1957 when the first Liberian Principal was appointed, BWI was managed by Americans educators and Dr. James Longstreet Sibly who served as Education Advisor to the President of Liberia became the first Principal.

Principals Of BWI

1. James Longstreet Sibly                                         1929

2. Louise P. Clinton (Acting)                                      1929-1931

3. F. E. Charleston                                                        1931-1932

4. Fred G. Lessure                                                       1932-1934

5. Harold Bare (Acting)                                               1934-1936

6. Claude Rupel (Acting)                                            1936-1939

7. Paul Rupel (Acting)                                                 1939-1941

8. B. B. Coefield (Acting)                                            1941-1942

9. R. L. Embree                                                             1942-1946

10. Waiter C. Wynn                                                      1946-1952

11. William A. Hill (Acting)                                          1952-1953

12. Bernard F. Coleman (Acting)                              1953-1955

13. George L. Smith                                                     1955-1957

14. Moses K. Weefur, Sr.                                            1957-1972

15. Samuel J. Mentee                                                  1972-1974

16. F. Amadu Sirleaf, Sr.                                              1974-1980

17. Harry Nayou                                                           1980-1981

18. Daniel Jappah                                                        1981-1984

19. T. Kudah Jarrett                                                     1984-1990

20. F. Amadu Sirleaf, Sr.                                             1995-1996

21. Mulbah S. Jackollie                                              1996-Present

 



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