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Booker T. Washington

 

             Washington was a highly recognized educator of the late 19th century and early 20th centuries. He had a strong influence on southern race relations and was the dominant figure in black public affairs from 1895 until his death in 1915. Born a slave on a small farm in Virginia, he recalled his childhood in his autobiography, Up From Slavery. He went to school in Franklin County, not as a student, but to carry books for one of James Burrough's daughters. After emancipation, he moved with his family to work in the salt furnaces and coal mines of West Virginia. He received a secondary education at Hampton Institute and took up the job as a teacher at an upgraded school. He briefly studied law and ministry, but a teaching position at Hampton decided his future career. .
             Washington became the chief black exemplar and spokesman for industrial education. As one of the most influential black men of his time, Washington often invoked his own past to illustrate his belief in the dignity of work, racial equality, and freedom. Several of his ideas and thoughts could be viewed through his book Up From Slavery. Washington teaches many life long lessons, not just to his own race, but to all people. There are several quotes in Up From Slavery that truly make Booker T. Washington a person to remember, look up to, and listen to. .
             "Mistakes I knew would be made, but these mistakes would teach us valuable lessons for the future" (Up From Slavery, pg.149). This quotation teaches a lesson to all people: It is OK to make mistakes; but it is very important to learn from them. Washington came up with this as his students constructed buildings for the Tuskegee Institute in the 1880's. His plan was to have students and teachers learn about the construction of buildings, which successfully taught lessons and knowledge to both groups after their "hands-on" experience.
             "In meeting men, in many places, I have found that the happiest people are those who do the most for others; the most miserable are those who do the least" (Up From Slavery, pg.


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