Booker T. Washington

This volume is dedicated to my Wife MRS. MARGARET JAMES WASHINGTON And to my Brother MR. JOHN H. WASHINGTON Whose patience, fidelity, and hard work…

I have tried to tell a simple, straightforward story, with no attempt at embellishment. My regret is that what I have attempted to do has been done…

* For this interesting view of Mr. Washington’s education, I am indebted to Robert C. Ogden, Esq., Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hampton…

In turn, Samuel Armstrong, the founder of Hampton Institute, took up his work as a trainer of youth. He had very raw material, and doubtless most…

I got the cue to Mr. Washington’s character from a very simple incident many years ago. I had never seen him, and I knew little about him, except…

The first time that I went to Tuskegee I was asked to make an address to the school on Sunday evening. I sat upon the platform of the large chapel…

It was then more clearly than ever before that I understood the patriotic significance of Mr. Washington’s work. It is this conception of it and of…

To teach the Negro to read, whether English, or Greek, or Hebrew, butters no parsnips. To make the Negro work, that is what his master did in one way…

The plan itself is not a new one. It was worked out at Hampton Institute, but it was done at Hampton by white men. The plan had, in fact, been many…

To work out the plan on paper, or at a distance—that is one thing. For a white man to work it out—that too, is an easy thing. For a coloured man to…

It was not and is not a mere educational task. Anybody could teach boys trades and give them an elementary education. Such tasks have been done since…

No man living had a harder task, and a task that called for more wisdom to do it right. The true measure of Mr. Washington’s success is, then, not…

Consider the change that has come in twenty years in the discussion of the Negro problem. Two or three decades ago social philosophers and…

The literature of the Negro in America is colossal, from political oratory through abolitionism to “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and “Cotton is King”—a vast…

Mr. Washington has won a world-wide fame at an early age. His story of his own life already has the distinction of translation into more languages, I…

His own teaching at Tuskegee is unique. He lectures to his advanced students on the art of right living, not out of text-books, but straight out of…

The race divergence under the system of miseducation was fast getting wider. Under the influence of the Hampton-Tuskegee idea the races are coming…

To say that Mr. Washington has won the gratitude of all thoughtful Southern white men, is to say that he has worked with the highest practical wisdom…

I do not think any of us ever had been very far from the plantation, and the taking of a long journey into another state was quite an event. The…

At that time salt-mining was the great industry in that part of West Virginia, and the little town of Malden was right in the midst of the…

The first thing I ever learned in the way of book knowledge was while working in this salt-furnace. Each salt-packer had his barrels marked with a…

In the midst of my struggles and longing for an education, a young coloured boy who had learned to read in the state of Ohio came to Malden. As…

This experience of a whole race beginning to go to school for the first time, presents one of the most interesting studies that has ever occurred…

The opening of the school in the Kanawha Valley, however, brought to me one of the keenest disappointments that I ever experienced. I had been…

My mother sympathized with me in my disappointment, and sought to comfort me in all the ways she could, and to help me find a way to learn. After a…

The schoolhouse was some distance from the furnace, and as I had to work till nine o’clock, and the school opened at nine, I found myself in a…

When, however, I found myself at the school for the first time, I also found myself confronted with two other difficulties. In the first place, I…

The lesson that my mother taught me in this has always remained with me, and I have tried as best as I could to teach it to others. I have always…

More than once I have tried to picture myself in the position of a boy or man with an honoured and distinguished ancestry which I could trace back…

The world should not pass judgment upon the Negro, and especially the Negro youth, too quickly or too harshly. The Negro boy has obstacles,…

The influence of ancestry, however, is important in helping forward any individual or race, if too much reliance is not placed upon it. Those who…

The time that I was permitted to attend school during the day was short, and my attendance was irregular. It was not long before I had to stop…

In those days, and later as a young man, I used to try to picture in my imagination the feelings and ambitions of a white boy with absolutely no…

In later years, I confess that I do not envy the white boy as I once did. I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position…

From any point of view, I had rather be what I am, a member of the Negro race, than be able to claim membership with the most favoured of any other…

One day, while at work in the coal-mine, I happened to overhear two miners talking about a great school for coloured people somewhere in Virginia.…

In the darkness of the mine I noiselessly crept as close as I could to the two men who were talking. I heard one tell the other that not only was the…

As they went on describing the school, it seemed to me that it must be the greatest place on earth, and not even Heaven presented more attractions…

After hearing of the Hampton Institute, I continued to work for a few months longer in the coal-mine. While at work there, I heard of a vacant…

Notwithstanding my success at Mrs. Ruffner’s I did not give up the idea of going to the Hampton Institute. In the fall of 1872 I determined to make…

By walking, begging rides both in wagons and in the cars, in some way, after a number of days, I reached the city of Richmond, Virginia, about eighty…

My work pleased the captain so well that he told me if I desired I could continue working for a small amount per day. This I was very glad to do. I…

When I had saved what I considered enough money with which to reach Hampton, I thanked the captain of the vessel for his kindness, and started again.…

As soon as possible after reaching the grounds of the Hampton Institute, I presented myself before the head teacher for an assignment to a class.…

I have spoken of my own experience in entering the Hampton Institute. Perhaps few, if any, had anything like the same experience that I had, but…

The sweeping of the recitation-room in the manner that I did it seems to have paved the way for me to get through Hampton. Miss Mary F. Mackie, the…

General Armstrong spent two of the last six months of his life in my home at Tuskegee. At that time he was paralyzed to the extent that he had lost…

I have spoken of my admiration for General Armstrong, and yet he was but a type of that Christlike body of men and women who went into the Negro…

The charge for my board at Hampton was ten dollars per month. I was expected to pay a part of this in cash and to work out the remainder. To meet…

After having been for a while at Hampton, I found myself in difficulty because I did not have books and clothing. Usually, however, I got around…

I was among the youngest of the students who were in Hampton at the time. Most of the students were men and women—some as old as forty years of age.…

The great and prevailing idea that seemed to take possession of every one was to prepare himself to lift up the people at his home. No one seemed…

At the end of my first year at Hampton I was confronted with another difficulty. Most of the students went home to spend their vacation. I had no…

In some way, however, I had gotten hold of an extra, second-hand coat which I thought was a pretty valuable coat. This I decided to sell, in order to…

With this disappointment I gave up all hope of getting out of the town of Hampton for my vacation work. I wanted very much to go where I might secure…

After trying for several days in and near the town of Hampton, I finally secured work in a restaurant at Fortress Monroe. The wages, however, were…

When I left school at the end of my first year, I owed the institution sixteen dollars that I had not been able to work out. It was my greatest…

The education that I received at Hampton out of the text-books was but a small part of what I learned there. One of the things that impressed…

I also learned a valuable lesson at Hampton by coming into contact with the best breeds of live stock and fowls. No student, I think, who has had the…

Perhaps the most valuable thing that I got out of my second year was an understanding of the use and value of the Bible. Miss Nathalie Lord, one of…