In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt invited African-American
educator Booker T. Washington, who had become close to the
president, to dine with his family at the White House. Several
other presidents had invited African-Americans to meetings at
the White House, but never to a meal. And in 1901, segregation
was law. News of the dinner between a former slave and the
president of the United States became a national sensation. The
subject of inflammatory articles and cartoons, it shifted the
national conversation around race at the time. NPR's Neal Conan
talks with Deborah Davis, author of Guest of Honor: Booker T.
Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner That
Shocked a Nation about the dinner that she believes changed
history. On why inviting a black man to dinner crossed a social
boundary "African-Americans were invited to meet in offices.
They built the White House. They worked for the various
presidents. But they were never, ever invited to sit down at the
president's table. And when that