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1856 - 1915
Born into slavery, Booker T. Washington was the most prominent spokesperson for African Americans after the death of Frederick Douglass. Much more conciliatory than Douglass, Washington sought--but never demanded--social betterment for African Americans through economic progress. As a boy, he picked Washington as his last name. After emancipation his mother and stepfather moved to West Virginia, where Washington worked in the coal mines but attended school whenever possible. In 1871, Washington returned to Virginia and enrolled in the Hampton Institute. After graduation in 1875, he first taught in West Virginia and then studied at the Wayland Seminary before returning to teach at Hampton. In 1881 he left Hampton to begin the single most important undertaking of his life: founding the Tuskegee Normal School in Alabama. Washington, his small staff, and their students worked as carpenters to build Tuskegee. In its first year of operation Tuskegee had 37 students and a faculty of three; when Washington died in 1915, Tuskegee had 1,500 students, a faculty of 180, and an endowment of $2,000,000.
African Americans have criticized Washington for what they saw as his overly-deferential attitude to his white benefactors and for his position that university education was basically irrelevant for blacks, who should concentrate on vocational training. This, along with his acceptance of segregation, increasingly led W.E.B. Du Boisand other leaders to speak out against Washington. In October 1915 Washington collapsed while delivering a speech in New York City and was hospitalized. He asked to be returned home to die and was taken back to Tuskegee, where he died the next day at home on his beloved campus.
The Tuskegee Airmen
Atlanta Compromise 1895
UP FROM SLAVERY
Dedication
This volume is dedicated to my Wife
MARGARET JAMES WASHINGTON
And to my Brother
JOHN H. WASHINGTON
Whose patience, fidelity and hard work have gone far
to make the work at Tuskegee successful ESSAYS:
Additional Resources- African American Odyssey: The Booker T. Washington Era- Detailed Library of Congress exhibit on Washington's life, work, and influence on American culture.
- Booker T. Washington- Hyper-linked biography of Washington with comments on his life by contemporaries.
- Booker T. Washington- Biographical sketch from National Park Service.
- Booker T. Washington - Adulthood- Biography of Booker T. Washington focusing on his adult life, including his early teaching career.
- Booker T. Washington Monument- Information about Washington's monument at Tuskegee University.
- Booker T. Washington: Traveling West Virginia- Online video visit to the Washington's childhood home in Malden, WV.
- The Hardwick Bill- Interview with Washington in the Atlanta Constitution, 1900.
- Images of American Political History: Booker T. Washington- A photograph of Washington.
- PAL: Booker T. Washington- Washington bibliography at Perspectives in American Literature.
- The Pragmatic Booker T. Washington- Essay by Adib Rashad on differing views of Washington and his contributions to American culture.
- The Rediscovery of Booker T. Washington: Lessons for Black History Month- Article by Daniel Hager from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
- Booker T. Washington's Address at the Jubilee Thanksgiving Services- Complete text from as originally published in the Chicago Times-Herald, October 18, 1898.
- Cruelty in the Congo Country- Essay protesting King Leopold's rule of the Congo Free State. From The Outlook, 1904.
- The Negro and the Signs of Civilization- Washington's essay from The Tradesman, 1899. Also includes "The Negro's Part in the Upbuilding of the South.
- A Protest Against the Burning and Lynching of Negroes- Text of Washington's letter published in the Birmingham Age-Herald, 1904.
- Up From Slavery- E-text version of Washington's autobiography.
- Up From Slavery- Online publication from Bartleby.com.
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