Wooden marionette in grey shirt and shorts

William N. Buckner

This nine-string marionette made of paper-mâché and wood wears a smile along with a grey tunic and shorts. The puppet’s creator, William N. Buckner, Jr. (1888-1984), attended M Street High School, an esteemed school for African Americans in Washington, DC’s segregated public system, from 1903 to 1907. At the time, two pivotal educators outlined contrasting pathways to freedom for African Americans as Jim Crow legislation blanched Reconstruction’s reforms. Booker T. Washington advocated the merits of vocational training, agriculture, and business, while W.E.B. Du Bois contended that elite African Americans, or the “Talented Tenth,” must lead by intellectual achievement.