Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) was the most influential American black leader and educator of his time. He was the founder and head of the famous Tuskegee Institute, a vocational school for blacks in Tuskegee, Alabama, and his students became leaders and educators across the nation. He also advised two Presidents — Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—on racial issues and policies and was influential in the appointment of several blacks to federal office.

Born a slave in the hills of Virginia, from the age of nine Washington worked in coal mines and salt furnaces. Determined to get an education, at the age of sixteen he attended Hampton Institute, an industrial school for blacks in Hampton, Virginia. Upon graduating with honors in just three years (1875), Washington joined the faculty and was soon offered the position to lead a new school in Tuskegee, Alabama. He started this school in an old abandoned church and a shanty, and by 1915 he had built Tuskegee Institute into a school of 107 buildings on 2,000 acres with over 1,500 students and more than 200 teachers and professors—a phenomenal accomplishment, especially considering the times in which Washington lived.

As the presiding principal, Washington outlined several objectives for the new school. He not only offered traditional academic courses, but industry and trade skills were also required. Students learned bricklaying, forestry, and timber skills, sewing, cooking, and practical agriculture; also, every student was obligated to master at least two trades. Washington’s goal was to produce independent small businessmen, farmers, and teachers.

He also insisted on high moral character for both students and faculty. His clear emphasis on the value of character and the training of the “head, hand, and heart” was filled with great insight. Christian faith was something Washington learned as a child in Sunday school, and it helped shape his ideals. Devotional exercises were held every morning at Tuskegee as well as evening prayers. He wrote that the support that “the Christ-like work which the Church of all denominations in America has done” would have convinced him of the value of the Christian life if he wasn’t already a believer.

Taken from The American Patriot’s Bible