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Booker T. Washington
1856–1915
Born into slavery and rising to become one of the most influential Black educators of his era, he helped build Tuskegee into a major institution and became a nationally known public voice on education, work, and racial progress. His life story gives readers a close look at ambition, strategy, and survival in post-Civil War America.
10 Audiobooks
Up from Slavery: An Autobiography
by Booker T. Washington
Character Building
by Booker T. Washington
The Man Farthest Down: A Record of Observation and Study in Europe
by Booker T. Washington, Robert Ezra Park
The Future of the American Negro
by Booker T. Washington
The Negro in the South
by W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois, Booker T. Washington
Working With the Hands
by Booker T. Washington
The Story of My Life and Work
by Booker T. Washington
Frederick Douglass
by Booker T. Washington
The Story of Slavery
by Booker T. Washington
Putting the Most Into Life
by Booker T. Washington
About the author
Born in Virginia in 1856, Booker T. Washington came of age during the final years of slavery and the difficult transition that followed the Civil War. He worked his way through school, including study at Hampton Institute, and became best known as an educator, author, and public speaker.
In 1881, he became the founding leader of what grew into Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Under his leadership, the school expanded from modest beginnings into a major center of Black education, with strong emphasis on practical training, self-help, and institution-building.
Washington also became one of the most prominent Black leaders in the United States, admired by many for his discipline and organizational skill, and debated by others for his gradual approach to civil rights. His autobiography, Up from Slavery, remains his best-known book and a powerful account of perseverance, education, and the making of a public life.