Emmett Jay Scott, American Journalist and Educator
Emmett Jay Scott (February 13, 1873 - December 12, 1957) was an American journalist, government official, and educator. Scott worked at the white-owned Houston Post as a janitor before working his way up to messenger and eventually reporter. Scott joined Charles Love and Jack Tibbitto in founding Houston's first African-American newspaper, the Texas Freeman, and became editor soon after the newspaper began circulation. Scott met Booker T. Washington, who was developing the Tuskegee Institute. He went to work as his assistant and personal secretary, working closely with him on management of the college, fundraising, and building networks with philanthropists. Scott was a founder of the National Negro Business League in 1900 and served as Secretary of that organization from its establishment until 1922. In 1909 Scott was tapped by President William Howard Taft as one of three American commissioners to Liberia. Scott served as Secretary of the Tuskegee Institute from 1912-17. After the election of President Woodrow Wilson, as the United States moved closer to war, Scott was appointed as Special Assistant for Negro Affairs to the Secretary of War Newton D. Baker. After leaving the War Department, Scott was named Secretary of Howard University, a position he held until his forced retirement in 1939 at the age of 65. He died in 195 at the age of 84. No photographer credited, undated
