Slave to Influencer
Who was Booker T. Washington?
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American Educator, author, orator adviser to multiple presidents of the United States, a key proponent of African American businesses, and one of the founders of the National Negro Business League.
In 1856, Washington was born into slavery, however, according to History, at the end of tje Civil War, all slaves owned by James and Elizabeth Burroughs - including 9-year-old Washington, his siblings, and his mother - were freed.
Washington first attended Hampton institute, and worked his way through his studies. He then went on to attend Wayland Seminary in Washington D.C., in 1878. Three years later, the Hampton Institute president, Samuel C. Armstrong recommended Washington to become the first leader of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. He was only 15-years-old and went on to lead for more than 30 years. Washington also purchased a former plantation to be developed as the permanent site of the campus. As stated by Wikipedia, under his direction and guidance, his students built their own school, making bricks, constructing the classrooms, barns, buildings, growing their own crops and raising livestock. He believed that African Americans would eventually gain full participation in society by acting as responsible, reliable American citizens.
Throughout the final 20 years of his life, Washington maintained his standing through a nationwide network of supporters. He became and remained a dominant figure in the African American community from 1890 until he passed away in 1915.
Books
*Kids*
Up from Slavery | Booker T. Washington
Who was Booker T. Washington? | James Buckley
Fifty cents & a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington | Jabari Asim
Booker T. Washington: Great American Educator | Eric Braun
*Adults*
Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington | Robert J. Norrell
Up from Slavery: An Autobiography | Booker T. Washington
The Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of Tuskegee, 1901-1915 | Louis R. Harlan
Movie(s) | Film(s) | Documentaries'
Booker | 1984
Source(s)
"Booker T. Washington" Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 June 2021, https://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington
Comments