Booker T. Washington

Booker Taliferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 15, 1915) was an African American educator and author. He was born into slavery at the community of Hale's Ford in Franklin County, Virginia. After he and his mother were freed, as a young man he made his way east from West Virginia (where she had obtained work) to obtain schooling at Hampton in eastern Virginia at a school established to train teachers.

"Up from Slavery", invitation to the White House

In an effort to inspire the "commercial, agricultural, educational, and industrial advancement" of African Americans, Booker T. Washington founded the National Negro Business League (NNBL) in 1900.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When his autobiography, Up From Slavery, was published in 1901, it became a bestseller and was one of the major influences to Marcus Garvey in the founding of the UNIA in Jamaica. He was also the first African-American ever invited to the White House as the guest of a President – which led to a scandal for the inviting President, Theodore Roosevelt.

Related Topics:
Autobiography - Up From Slavery - 1901 - Marcus Garvey - UNIA - Jamaica - Theodore Roosevelt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Think about it: We went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens. We went into slavery with chains clanking about our wrists; we came out with the American ballot in our hands... Notwithstanding the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery, we are in a stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally, and religiously, than is true of an equal number of black people in any other portion of the globe." – from Up From Slavery

Related Topics:
Pagans - Christians

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Washington finally collapsed in Tuskegee, Alabama due to a lifetime of overwork and died soon after in hospital, on November 14, 1915.

Related Topics:
November 14 - 1915

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~