Booker t. washington/biography

(1856-1915)

Who Was Booker T. Washington?

Born into slavery, Booker T. Washington put himself through school and became a teacher after the Civil War.

In 1881, he founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama (now known as Tuskegee University), which grew immensely and focused on training African Americans in agricultural pursuits. A political adviser and writer, Washington clashed with intellectual W.E.B.

Du Bois over the best avenues for racial uplift.

Early Life

Born to an enslaved person on April 5, 1856, Washington's life had little promise early on. In Franklin County, Virginia, as in most states prior to the Civil War, the child of an enslaved person also became enslaved.

Booker t. jones

Washington's mother, Jane, worked as a cook for plantation owner James Burroughs. His father was an unknown white man, most likely from a nearby plantation. Washington and his mother lived in a one-room log cabin with a large fireplace, which also served as the