Booker T. Washington

The debating societies at Hampton were a constant source of delight to me. These were held on Saturday evening; and during my whole life at Hampton I…

At the end of my second year at Hampton, by the help of some money sent me by my mother and brother John, supplemented by a small gift from one of…

My mother and the other members of my family were, of course, much rejoiced to see me and to note the improvement that I had made during my two years…

Toward the end of the first month, I went to a place a considerable distance from my home, to try to find employment. I did not succeed, and it was…

This seemed to me the saddest and blankest moment in my life. For several years my mother had not been in good health, but I had no idea, when I…

My good friend, Mrs. Ruffner, to whom I have already referred, always made me welcome at her home, and assisted me in many ways during this trying…

At one time it looked as if I would have to give up the idea of returning to Hampton, but my heart was so set on returning that I determined not to…

Three weeks before the time for the opening of the term at Hampton, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from my good friend Miss Mary F.…

During these two weeks I was taught a lesson which I shall never forget. Miss Mackie was a member of one of the oldest and most cultured families…

First was contact with a great man, General S.C. Armstrong, who, I repeat, was, in my opinion, the rarest, strongest, and most beautiful character…

I was completely out of money when I graduated. In company with other Hampton students, I secured a place as a table waiter in a summer hotel in…

But I determined to learn the business of waiting, and did so within a few weeks and was restored to my former position. I have had the…

At the close of the hotel season I returned to my former home in Malden, and was elected to teach the coloured school at that place. This was the…

There were so many of the older boys and girls in the town, as well as men and women, who had to work in the daytime and still were craving an…

My day and night school work was not all that I undertook. I established a small reading-room and a debating society. On Sundays I taught two Sunday-…

During the time that I was a student at Hampton my older brother, John, not only assisted me all that he could, but worked all of the time in the…

It was while my home was at Malden that what was known as the “Ku Klux Klan” was in the height of its activity. The “Ku Klux” were bands of men who…

I have referred to this unpleasant part of the history of the South simply for the purpose of calling attention to the great change that has taken…

Naturally, most of our people who received some little education became teachers or preachers. While among those two classes there were many capable,…

The ministry was the profession that suffered most—and still suffers, though there has been great improvement—on account of not only ignorant but…

When we add the number of wholly ignorant men who preached or “exhorted” to that of those who possessed something of an education, it can be seen…

During the whole of the Reconstruction period our people throughout the South looked to the Federal Government for everything, very much as a child…

Though I was but little more than a youth during the period of Reconstruction, I had the feeling that mistakes were being made, and that things could…

The temptations to enter political life were so alluring that I came very near yielding to them at one time, but I was kept from doing so by the…

But not all the coloured people who were in office during Reconstruction were unworthy of their positions, by any means. Some of them, like the…

Of course the coloured people, so largely without education, and wholly without experience in government, made tremendous mistakes, just as many…

In Washington I saw girls whose mothers were earning their living by laundrying. These girls were taught by their mothers, in rather a crude way it…

During the year that I spent in Washington, and for some little time before this, there had been considerable agitation in the state of West Virginia…

The reputation that I made as a speaker during this campaign induced a number of persons to make an earnest effort to get me to enter political life,…

At this period in the progress of our race a very large proportion of the young men who went to school or to college did so with the expressed…

At Hampton I received a warm welcome from teachers and students. I found that during my absence from Hampton the institute each year had been getting…

The address which I delivered on Commencement Day seems to have pleased every one, and many kind and encouraging words were spoken to me regarding it…

About this time the experiment was being tried for the first time, by General Armstrong, of educating Indians at Hampton. Few people then had any…

When the difficulty of learning the English language was subtracted, I found that in the matter of learning trades and in mastering academic…

There was a man who was well known in his community as a Negro, but who was so white that even an expert would have hard work to classify him as a…

An illustration of something of this same feeling came under my observation afterward. I happened to find myself in a town in which so much…

General Armstrong asked me to take charge of the night-school, and I did so. At the beginning of this school there were about twelve strong,…

The students prized these certificates highly, and they added greatly to the popularity of the night-school. Within a few weeks this department had…

During the time that I had charge of the Indians and the night-school at Hampton, I pursued some studies myself, under the direction of the…

In May, 1881, near the close of my first year in teaching the night-school, in a way that I had not dared expect, the opportunity opened for me to…

There was a great deal of joy expressed among the students and teachers, and I received very hearty congratulations. I began to get ready at once…

I have often been asked to define the term “Black Belt.” So far as I can learn, the term was first used to designate a part of the country which…

Before going to Tuskegee I had expected to find there a building and all the necessary apparatus ready for me to begin teaching. To my disappointment…

Tuskegee seemed an ideal place for the school. It was in the midst of the great bulk of the Negro population, and was rather secluded, being five…

I found that about a year previous to my going to Tuskegee some of the coloured people who had heard something of the work of education being done at…

The common diet of the people was fat pork and corn bread. At times I have eaten in cabins where they had only corn bread and “black-eye peas” cooked…

In these cabin homes I often found sewing-machines which had been bought, or were being bought, on instalments, frequently at a cost of as much as…

In the case to which I have referred, where the family sat down to the table for the meal at which I was their guest, I could see plainly that this…

The breakfast over, and with practically no attention given to the house, the whole family would, as a general thing, proceed to the cotton-field.…

What I have said concerning the character of the schoolhouses and teachers will also apply quite accurately as a description of the church…

In giving all these descriptions of what I saw during my month of travel in the country around Tuskegee, I wish my readers to keep in mind the fact…

I confess that what I saw during my month of travel and investigation left me with a very heavy heart. The work to be done in order to lift these…

In the midst of all the difficulties which I encountered in getting the little school started, and since then through a period of nineteen years,…

Mr. Campbell is a merchant and banker, and had had little experience in dealing with matters pertaining to education. Mr. Adams was a mechanic, and…

I have always felt that Mr. Adams, in a large degree, derived his unusual power of mind from the training given his hands in the process of mastering…

On the morning that the school opened, thirty students reported for admission. I was the only teacher. The students were about equally divided…

The students who came first seemed to be fond of memorizing long and complicated “rules” in grammar and mathematics, but had little thought or…

Notwithstanding what I have said about them in these respects, I have never seen a more earnest and willing company of young men and women than these…

Miss Davidon’s experience in the South showed her that the people needed something more than mere book-learning. She heard of the Hampton system of…

Before she went to Framingham, some one suggested to Miss Davidson that, since she was so very light in colour, she might find it more comfortable…