From humble beginnings to one of the country’s civil rights pioneers — that’s the amazing story of Booker T. Washington. It’s a story of perseverance, determination, and overcoming racist adversity.
Born into slavery on a Virginia plantation in 1856, Washington rose to prominence as an educator, scholar, and presidential adviser. He also founded a college for black people in America. Booker T. Washington is unquestionably one of this country’s greatest heroes.
His life exemplifies the American dream. He overcame slavery, racism, segregation, and poverty to help improve the lives of black people in the 19th and 20th centuries. He faced racism and discrimination. He overcame it. Hard work, determination, discipline, and patience were the ingredients to his success.
Washington demonstrated an unparalleled work ethic. Historical accounts show that he worked harder in 1865 than most people do in 2022, and he did it while at the tender age of 9 years old.
At the age when most children are out playing, Booker T. Washington went to work at 4 a.m. to pack salt at a salt furnace until 9. He would then attend school so he could learn how to read and write. Between 10 and 12, he worked in a coal mine. He made his way to college, where he worked as a janitor so he could afford tuition. He eventually graduated from the Hampton Institute of Virginia and became a teacher at the school.
His experience shaped his beliefs that the best way to end racial discrimination was through self-reliance and education. Washington firmly believed that black people should be educated, with a focus on practical skills and self-help. In turn, this would galvanize them from poverty and facilitate socioeconomic mobility in American society.
But concurrently, this required black people to take a theoretical “back seat” to white society during this transition. He believed “too much social unrest and challenging of the racial structure would not be productive.” Washington advocated self-improvement as a race and an attempt to level the playing field before challenging the social hierarchy in the country. Some viewed this strategy as controversial and “selling out,” and it would lead to friction with other civil rights leaders at the time, most notably with scholar W.E.B. Du Bois.
Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise” speech catapulted him to national prominence. The address urged black people to pursue vocational education and trade jobs. It would lead to steady employment and, in turn, wealth, which would impel society to restructure toward racial equality.
Washington is perhaps most known for founding the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now known as Tuskegee University). The progress he made at Tuskegee was quite remarkable. Washington turned a “shanty loaned by a church” and “a 100-acre plantation” he purchased into a reputable college in only seven years. There, students learned “skilled trades such as carpentry, cabinet-making, printing, shoemaking, farming and dairying.”
Additionally, Washington became an adviser to President Theodore Roosevelt and the first black person to dine at the White House after Roosevelt invited him. He would go on to counsel several presidents. He was the first black man to be featured on a U.S. stamp.
Washington was one of the country’s first black civil rights leaders after slavery ended. He wanted to ensure the black community had “the knowledge of how to live, how to cultivate the soil, to husband their resources, and make the most of their opportunities.”
Washington dedicated his life to improving educational structures for the black community and bringing awareness to black issues. His dedication to education provided new opportunities for black people that did not exist before his efforts. A scholar, adviser, leader, educator, teacher, and orator, Booker T. Washington has an everlasting legacy of advancing civil rights and his “commitment to racial uplift.”
