In the mainstream national and local media of the late 19th century, "Blacks were persistently stereotyped as criminals, savages, or comic figures. They were superstitious, lazy, violent, immoral, the butt of humor, and the source of danger to civilized life."[113] Booker T. Washington, the young college president from Alabama, became famous for his articulate challenges to the extremely negative stereotypes. According to his biographer Robert J. Norrell, Washington: