FREE ESSAY ON BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

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.