Booker T. Washington
1856 - 1915
Name: Booker T. Washington
Birthplace: Franklin County, VA
Status: Former Slave
Occupation/Training: Educator, Speaker, Adviser
Residence: Virginia, AlabamaAbolitionist involvement: Around the age of nine Booker T. Washington began working in a salt mine. During his time there he overheard talk of a school for Negroes, he began to dream of getting an education, and resolved to go to the Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute in Virginia. At Hampton, he was allowed to work as the school's janitor in return for his board and part of his tuition.
In 1881, he was selected to head a newly established normal school for Negroes at Tuskegee, Alabama, an institution with only two small converted buildings, no equipment, and very little money. In accepting this role, he successfully took the challenge of building the school, transforming it to Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute with more than 100 buildings.
In 1895, he delivered a most controversial speech at the Atlanta Exposition, where he asked white Southerners to abide by the law and to aid in the education of the Negro and asked Negroes to postpone their fight for political power and social justice until they had gained greater prosperity.
Booker T. Washington became a legendary peacemaker. He received honorary degrees from Harvard and Dartmouth. Politicians called upon him for advice. He published several books, including two autobiographies and a biography of Frederick Douglass.
Publication/Reference: Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington.
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