Staff Picks: Up From Slavery

Up From Slavery
Booker T. Washington
1901

This book is a fascinating and compelling chronicle of a man who devoted his life to the education of African Americans. 

Booker T. Washington was a born a slave in Virginia, extremely impoverished. He credits his mother with instilling in him a sense of self-worth. 

After the Civil War, Booker's mother moved to the little town of Malden, West Virginia, near Charleston. Booker was able to get a job in the house of the family that owned the local salt mine. The mistress of the house took an interest in him and helped him improve his reading skills and occasionally gave him books. She also taught him the value of hard work and from that time forward, Booker was a perfectionist when it came to getting jobs done and done well. 

By the time he was in his late teens, Booker thought he had made enough money to enroll at Hampton Institute. He did have enough money to travel there (barely), but not enough for food or lodging, so he slept for several nights underneath a wooden sidewalk. He convinced one of the school's administrators to enroll him, even though he lacked tuition, in exchange for janitorial duties. Booker was able to fund his education with part-time jobs throughout his college career. 

After graduation, Booker returned to Malden and taught for awhile. Eventually he was approached by the Hampton Institute and two white men from Tuskegee, Alabama, who wanted him to start a school there. Booker T. Washington would establish the Tuskegee Institute and devote the rest of his life to the institution. Indeed, his administrative, fund-raising, and teaching duties almost certainly led to his early death, but he loved the school and it was his passion to work for it. Remembering his own experience of working himself through college, Booker required that all students learn a trade as well as get a college education. 

Today, his school lives on as Tuskegee University. 

Booker T. Washington was one of those rare men who was loved and admired by virtually all, even though he lived in a time of terrible racial prejudice and hatred. He was also the first African American to be invited as a dinner guest to the White House, by President Theodore Roosevelt. 

Anyone interested in biographies and history would enjoy this book as it is a fast and interesting read.

Find it on our shelves with the call number 921 W317.

Marian
Martinsburg Public Library