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Booker T. Washington: Fighter for the Black Man
Booker T. Washington was a man beyond words. His perseverance and will to work were well
known throughout the United States. He rose from slavery, delivering speech after speech
expressing his views on how to uplift America's view of the Negro. He felt that knowledge
was power, not just knowledge of "books", but knowledge of agricultural and
industrial trades. He felt that the Negro would rise to be an equal in American society
through hard work. Washington founded a school on these principles, and it became the
world's leader in agricultural and industrial education for the Negro. As the world
watched him put his heart and soul into his school, Tuskegee Institute, he gained great
respect from both the white and black communities. Many of the country's white leaders
agreed with his principals, and so he had a great deal of support. Booker T. Washington
was a great man. He put his own needs aside in order to build the reputation of an entire
race. He didn't do it by accusing and putting blame on others, but instead through hard
work. Booker T. Washington cleared the way for the black community to fully enter the
American society.
Washington was born into slavery on April 5, 1856, in Franklin County, Virginia, on a
small tobacco plantation. His only true relative was his mother, Jane, who was the
plantation's cook. His father was probably the white son of one of the neighbors, though
it is not known for sure. Washington spent his childhood years on the plantation, but
since he was so young he never had to do the heavy work. He did the small jobs, such as
carrying water to the field hands and taking corn to the local mill for grinding. This
hard work at an early age instilled in him the values he would teach for the rest of his
life.
When the Civil War ended in April of 1863, Washington and his mom were set free. Unlike
most of the other slaves, Washington had somewhere to go. His step-father had escaped
earlier, and had gotten a job in Malden, West Virginia, at a salt furnace. When the war
ended, he sent for Washington and his mom. Life was tough in Malden. "Drinking,
gambling, quarrels, fights, and shockingly immoral practices were frequent."
Washington himself got a job in the salt furnace and often had to go to work at four in
the morning.
Washington longed for an education. A school for Negro's opened in Malden, but his
step-father would not let him leave work to attend. Washington was so determined to get an
education that he arranged with the teachers to give him classes at night. He was later
allowed to attend in the morning, but would then work all afternoon and into the evening.
Booker did not have a last name until he went to school. "When he realized that all
of the other children at the school had a 'second' name, and the teacher asked him his, he
invented the name Washington."
A great influence on Washington was Viola Ruffner, the wife of the owner of the salt
furnace. Washington became her house boy, where he learned the importance of cleanness and
hard work, and pride in a job well done. He would use these principles for the rest of his
life. "The lessons I learned in the home of Mrs. Ruffner were as valuable to me as
any education I have ever gotten anywhere since," he later commented.
Booker heard of a big school for Negro's in Hampton, Virginia, and he decided to go there.
In 1872, at the age of sixteen, he set out on the 400 mile journey to Hampton, traveling
most of the way by foot. When he finally arrived, he was so ragged and dirty that he
almost wasn't admitted, but he was so persistent that they finally caved in, and he was
allowed to attend. He studied there for three years, working as a janitor to pay his
board. At Hampton, Washington participated in the debating society, which helped him
develop a talent for public speaking. He used this talent many times throughout the rest
of his life.
In 1875, he graduated with honors and returned to Malden, where he taught elementary
school. Two years later he went to Wayland Seminary, in Washington, DC, where he studied
for eight months. He then was asked to come back to Hampton to be an instructor. In May,
1881, the principal of Hampton received a letter from a group in Tuskegee, Alabama, asking
for help in starting a school for Negro's there. They were expecting a white man, but when
they got Washington, they were quite pleased with him.
On July 4, 1881, at the age of twenty-five, Washington founded The Tuskegee Normal and
Industrial Institute. The State of Alabama had sent $2,000 for the teachers' salaries, but
had sent no money for land, buildings, or equipment. The school opened with 30 students.
Most of them had some prior education, but they did not appreciate household cleanness,
which was so valued by Washington. He wanted on-campus dormitories so he could supervise
and improve the students' living habits. The school found an abandoned farm nearby, but it
had no buildings fit for living or teaching in. Washington and his students raised enough
money for construction, and they built the first brick building. They also built a kiln to
make bricks for future projects as well as to manufacture and sell to others.
Tuskegee Institute and its facilities grew, and so did its courses in agricultural and
engineering subjects. The Institute survived its early years only through the perseverance
of Washington. In the second month of the school's first year, Olivia Davidson joined
Washington as his assistant. She was also a graduate of Hampton and of a Massachusetts
normal school. She was not only Washington's assistant but also a teacher at the school.
She would later marry Washington. "No single individual did more toward laying the
foundations of Tuskegee Institute so as to insure the successful work that has been done
there than Olivia A. Davidson."
Washington believed in the "dignity of labor." He emphasized the teaching of
"practical skills," like brickmaking, carpentry and dairying for the boys, and
cooking and sewing for the girls. He believed thatNegro's must make economic progress, and
learn how to make a living first.
In order to raise funds for the school, Washington traveled all over the country, giving
hundreds of speeches expressing his ideas and explaining his program at the school. He
became known nationally because of these speeches, which led to many contributors such as
Andrew Carnagie, John Rockefellar, and Collis Huntington.
As for Tuskegee Institute, its success was beyond Washington's wildest dreams. At the time
of Washington's death, 34 years after its founding, the school property included 2,345
acres and 107 buildings, with nearly 200 faculty members and more than 1,500 students.
Tuskegee Institute had become the world's leader in agricultural and industrial education
for the Negro.
Booker's spirit and name live on long after his death. He is remembered and admired for
his struggle for the black man. Tuskegee Institute still exists today and is quite well
off, with over 3,250 students, about 5,000 acres, and an annual budget of $75 million.
Booker T. Washington is a wonderful example that even if you came from nothing, you can
accomplish great things if you try hard enough and are willing to make the sacrifice.
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