Booker T. Washington

BIOGRAPHY OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

This African-American prominent, was well known for his contributions on education for African-American children. Booker T. was born on April 5th, 1856 in Franklin county Virginia. He was raised by his mother, who was a slave that belonged to James Burroughs, a small farmer in Virginia. Brooks Washington got his name from his step-father, who was named Washington Ferguson. Booker's family moved to Malden, Virginia after the civil war, where he started working as a salt packer at the age of nine. A year after, he started working as a houseboy with the wife of the owner of the salt mines. Mrs. Ruffner encouraged him to keep his education.

Washington entered the Hampton agricultural institute. The principal of the institute was Samuel Armstrong, who was always impressed by how hard Washington worked, paid a wealthy-white-tutor to tutor Washington.

When Washington graduated from Hampton institute, he became a teacher in a small local school. Then Samuel Armstrong asked Washington to go back to the institute but to work as a teacher for the Native Americans.

During 1880, Lewis Adams, worked with two white men of the Democratic Party, to get back what was the building of a Negro school in the area. They won the elections and asked Samuel Armstrong to recommend a white man to become in charge of the school. Armstrong did not recommend a white man, but he recommended Booker T. Washington.

The Tuskegee Negro Normal Institute, was opened on July 4th, 1888. Unfortunately, the school only received $2000 a year, and it was not enough to pay what they needed, Washington raised and borrowed money from the treasurer of the Hampton institute to buy an abandoned plantation to build his own school.

The new school was not only to educate children academically, but to how to live their live working in farming, brickmaking, shoemaking and cabinetmaking. All students worked really longed hours a day.

Booker's contributions were a lot, that he was actually the first black man to be asked to visit the president at the white house. By this time, all white southerners were becoming angry because they said the president was going too far, and that white people should not mix with black people. The president kept receiving advices from Washington, but he never invited him again. Washington did not care. He always thought