Essays on Booker T Washington

Booker T Washington was an iconic American educator, author, orator and advisor to several US presidents. He was born a slave in Virginia on April 5th 1856 and rose to become one of the most influential African-Americans of his time. Washington was a lifelong advocate for racial equality in education, industry, and politics. In 1881, Booker T. Washington founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now known as Tuskegee University) in Alabama with just 30 students. This school later became one of the most important institutions for educating African Americans during segregation. During his lifetime, he worked tirelessly to improve educational opportunities for all blacks regardless of their economic circumstances or location within the United States. In 1895, he gave his famous Atlanta Compromise speech which defended segregation while also advocating industrial training for African Americans so they could gain equal footing with whites economically speaking. His legacy extends far beyond this single speech however; through his books such as Up From Slavery (1901), The Story Of My Life And Work (1900), Working With The Hands (1904) and others he encouraged blacks to strive toward self-reliance by getting educated and developing skills that would enable them to start businesses or enter trades instead of relying solely on labor-intensive agriculture jobs like many before him had done. Washington’s efforts helped open up new avenues of opportunity not just for himself but also countless other African Americans who sought better lives than those they were born into under slavery. He believed true progress could only be achieved through hard work and dedication–lessons still applicable today given how racism persists throughout our society despite advances made since Washington’s passing in 1915 at age 59 from hypertension complications due largely to stress caused by a relentless pursuit towards equality and justice for all people regardless race or creed.