Moton, Robert Russa, << MOHT uhn, ROB uhrt RUHS uh >> (1867-1940), was an African American educator. He served as principal (later called president) of Tuskegee Institute from 1915 to 1935 (see Tuskegee University ). Moton also was an adviser on race-related issues to United States Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert C. Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. At Wilson’s request, Moton went to France in 1918 to study conditions affecting black soldiers in World War I (1914-1918). He served in 1930 as chairman of the U.S. Commission on Education in Haiti. Moton wrote several books, including Racial Good Will (1916), What the Negro Thinks (1929), and his autobiography, Finding a Way Out (1920).
Moton was born in Amelia County, Virginia, on Aug. 26, 1867. He graduated from Hampton Institute. Moton served as president of the National Negro Business League (now the National Business League) from 1921 to 1930. In 1932, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal , the highest honor given by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Moton died on May 31, 1940.
