Booker T Washington: Fighter for the Black Man

booking agent T. cap was a man beyond words. His perseverance and entrust to work were well kn experience through and throughout the United States. He rose from thralldom, delivering reference after speech expressing his views on how to uplift Americas view of the Negro. He felt that knowledge was power, not just knowledge of books, barely knowledge of agricultural and industrial trades. He felt that the Negro would rise to be an equal in American society through big(a) work. Washington founded a school on these principles, and it became the worlds leader in agricultural and industrial education for the Negro.As the world watched him put his heart and soul into his school, Tuskegee pioneer, he gained grand respect from both the white and black communities. Many of the countrys white leaders agreed with his principals, and so he had a great deal of support. booking agent T. Washington was a great man. He put his own needs aside in order to build the reputation of an entire rac e. He didnt do it by accusing and putting blame on some others, unless 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 plantations cook. His draw was probably the white son of one of the neighbors, though it is not cognise for sure. Washington spent his puerility days on the plantation, but since he was so young he never had to do the lumbering work. He did the small jobs, such as carrying water to the field hands and taking corn to the topical anaesthetic mill for grinding. This hard work at an early age instilled in him the values he would larn for the rest of his life.When the Civil War ended in April of 1863, Washington and his mom were set free. Unlike close to 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 dissolute practices were frequent. Washington himself got a job in the salt furnace and often had to go to work at quatern in the morning.Washington longed for an education. A school for Negros opened in Malden, but his step-father would not let him advance 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 tolerate 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 o f the salt furnace. Washington became her house boy, where he learned the immensity 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 Negros 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 in conclusion arrived, he was so ragged and dirty that he almost wasnt 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 umteen 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 rachis to Hampton to be an instructor. In May, 1881, the principal of Hampton received a letter from a group in Tuskegee, Alabama, petition for help in starting a school for Negros there. They were expecting a white man, but when they got Washington, they were quite gay with him.On July 4, 1881, at the age of twenty-five, Washington founded The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial bring in. 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 forward 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 fa rm nearby, but it had no buildings fit for living or teaching in. Washington and his students hassled enough money for construction, and they built the number 1 brick building. They also built a kiln to make bricks for future projects as well as to manufacture and rat 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 schools 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 Washingtons 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 high-handedness of labor. He emphasized the teac hing of practical skills, like brickmaking, carpentry and dairying for the boys, and cooking and sewing for the girls. He believed thatNegros 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 Washingtons wildest dreams. At the time of Washingtons death, 34 years after its founding, the school property included 2,345 acres and 107 buildings, with nearly cc faculty members and more than 1,500 students. Tuskegee Institute had become the worlds leader in agricultural and industrial education for the Negro.Bookers looking at and name live on long after his death. He is remembered and admired for his strug gle 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.