On Oct. 16, 1901, Booker T. Washington became the first African American to be invited to the White House, where he dined with President Theodore Roosevelt and his family.

Many whites reacted with fury. Particularly upset was South Carolina’s populist Sen. Benjamin R. Tillman, “Pitchfork Ben” to his friends. “The action of President Roosevelt in entertaining that [N-word] will necessitate our killing of a thousand [N-word] in the South before they will learn their place again,” the Democrat proclaimed.