Booker T Washington's Impact On African American Education

Prior to the start of the Civil War, if you were born to a slave, you became one. This was the case for many children, including Booker T. Washington. Booker’s mother, Jane, was a cook for a plantation owner named James Burroughs; his father, however, was an unknown white man, most likely from a plantation somewhere else. At an early age, Booker started carrying 100 pound sacks of grain to the plantation’s mill. This was very difficult work for someone his age, and as a result he was often beaten for not completing his duties. His first discovery of education occurred while he was working. He looked into the schoolhouse window, only to see children sitting and desks while reading. Booker wanted so badly to be like these children, but at the time it was illegal to teach slaves to read or write. After the war had ended, Booker and his mother moved. Shortly after, she got remarried. The family was very poor, so instead of attending school, Booker went to work in the nearby salt furnaces with his step-father. His mother eventually noticed his interest in learning, so she bought him a book in order for him to learn the alphabet and how to read and write basic words. But, despite this, Booker still had to work and would get up at 4 a.m. every morning to practice and study. In 1866, Booker got a job as a houseboy for a very strict woman named Viola Ruffner. Viola was typically stricter with her boy servants, but she warmed up to Booker when she saw his maturity, intelligence, and integrity. He worked for her for two years, and eventually she saw his desire for an education and allowed him to go to school for an hour a day during the winter months. In 1872 he left home and walked 500 miles to Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. Along the way he collected jobs to support himself, and once he reached his destination, he convinced administrators to let him attend their school, and later took the job as janitor to pay his tuition. General Samuel C. Armstrong, the school’s founder, saw his willingness to work hard and then offered Booker a scholarship. Since Armstrong was previously a commander of a union African-American regiment during the Civil War, he was a strong supporter of providing newly freed slaves with education. Armstrong became Booker’s mentor, which helped him strengthen his hardworking values, along with his strong moral character. Booker later graduated in 1875 with high marks. For a while he taught at his old school, along with attending Wayland Seminary. He was chosen to speak at Hampton’s graduation ceremonies, and after that he was offered a teaching job from General Armstrong. In 1881, the Alabama legislature approved $2,000 for a “colored” school, the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. General Armstrong was asked to recommend a white man to run the school, but instead asked Washington. Washington then traveled all around the country to raise money for the school. …show more content…
When he died it had more than 100 well equipped buildings, 1,500 students, 200 faculty members that taught 38 trades and professions, and a nearly $2 million endowment. Booker put so much of himself into the school, with some main focuses being patience, enterprise, and thrift. He taught that economic success for African Americans would take time, and that subordination to whites was a necessary evil until African Americans could prove their worthiness of full economic and political rights. Booker believed that if African Americans worked hard and secured financial independence and cultural advancement, they would be accepted into the white community over time. In 1895, Booker presented the “Atlanta Compromise” speech. In this speech he said that African Americans should accept social segregation as long as whites allowed them economic progress, educational opportunity, and justice in the courts; this made some African Americans mad, especially in the north. People like W.E.B. Du Bois criticized Washington for not demanding equality, and later became a mediator for full and equal rights in every aspect of a person’s life. And although Booker had done much to assist the African American society, there was some truth in the