19th century education

Attention for blacks of his era, but critics believed he was simply a pawn to white interests.

Introduction

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON was one of the most influential African-Americans of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was an educator, school administrator, orator, race spokesperson, author, and high-profile public figure. His driving desire was to help black Americans acquire better living conditions, which he attempted to do through appeasing powerful white elites. A masterful communicator, he was given rare positive attention for blacks of his era, but critics believed he was simply a pawn to white interests.

Washington's two autobiographies, the classic Up from Slavery and the lesser-known The Story of My Life and Work, tell of the hardships of his youth, although some critics think these might have been exaggerated to emphasize his personal success story. Washington was born in abject poverty in Virginia to a slave mother; he was, in fact, born into slavery.

When the Civil War ended, Washington's mother and stepfather moved the family to Malden, West Virginia, where the youngster ended up working in the local salt mines. He managed to attend school despite long hours at work, and at age 16, he attended Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. At Hampton, he became very influenced by the person who would become his mentor and father figure, General Samuel Chapman Armstrong, the institute's white headmaster.

It was Armstrong's belief that the solution to black inequality was the provision of strict vocational education that included character-building principles. It was Armstrong's stringent training that Washington would emulate and promote throughout his career, and that would later culminate into the so-called Tuskegee idea.

After completing his studies he worked throughout his life for the Education of the Black-Americans so that they can also prove themselves as an educated nation. And his endeavors towards the Education are tremendous. He worked for the people he belong to and respect them from the bottom of his heart.

Influential Works of Booker T. towards Education of 19th Century

Washington was a former slave, who after performing unskilled work, had agreed to formal education through the Hampton Institute (Hampton Institute) and Wayland Seminary (Wayland Seminary) in Washington, DC. He had returned to Hampton, where he worked as a teacher, and was recommended for the post of director at Tuskegee Institute by Sam Armstrong.

The committee agreed to Tuskegee and Washington was hired, even though whites had always held such posts. Under his leadership the new school teacher training Tuskegee opened on July 4, 1881 in a rented church. The following year, Washington purchased a former plantation and established there the campus, where he remains today. The buildings were built by students, so they covered their expenses. The school was a living example of Washington's commitment to the objectives that thought. In addition to training teachers, one of his concerns was to provide education in practical skills such as agriculture, farming or industry-related occupations, such as masonry, occupations regarded as beautiful and dignified as ...