Up from Slavery, Booker T. Washington
Up from Slavery, Booker T. Washington
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Up from Slavery

Author: Booker T. Washington

Narrator: Noah Waterman

Unabridged: 6 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/26/2012


Synopsis

Booker T. Washington fought his way out of slavery to become an educator, statesman, political shaper, and proponent of the do it yourself idea. In his autobiography, he describes his early life as a slave on a Virginia plantation, his steady rise during the Civil War, his struggle for education, his schooling at the Hampton Institute, and his years as founder and president of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, which was devoted to helping minorities learn useful, marketable skills. He gives an account of his travels, speeches, and meetings with various leaders, including Theodore Roosevelt in the White House. Employing a didactic tone, Washington deftly sets forth his belief that the black mans salvation lies in education, industriousness, and self-reliance. This is the true-life story of a man of real courage and dedication.

About Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) was an educator, race leader, author, and founder of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. He was born on April 5, 1856, in Franklin County, Virginia, the son of a white slave owner he never knew and a black slave. Freed from slavery after emancipation in 1865, Washington worked as a houseboy, during which time he learned to read and write. At the time it was illegal to educate slaves in schools, so Washington's only exposure to them was when he carried his employer's daughters' books to school for them. He studied to be a teacher at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia, a school for young blacks, and eventually became a writer and speaker on black issues and struggles.

In 1881, Washington was appointed principal of the newly opened Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama, and he built it up into a major center of black education. By cooperating with white people and enlisting the support of wealthy philanthropists, he helped raise funds to establish and operate hundreds of small community schools and institutions of higher education for blacks. Washington had learned early the values of hard work and industrial skills and they became the foundations for the school.

For a number of years, Washington toured as a lecturer, expressing his philosophy on racial advancement, education, and accomodationist compromises for blacks. His eloquent "Atlanta Compromise" speech on September 18, 1895, at the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition positively appealed to northern and southern whites and blacks from the south. The fates of all were inextricably bound, he said, and he pled for greater understanding and perseverance. He emphasized that through hard work, self-discipline, and education blacks would gain their deserved respect.

Though he was strongly criticized by W. E. B. Du Bois and other black leaders and his policies repudiated by the civil rights movement, Washington remains the foremost black leader of the late 1800s. In 1901, he published his autobiography, Up From Slavery, which is still widely read today.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kevin on January 14, 2008

These three books should be required reading for every American. Douglas, B.T.Washington and W.E.B. Dubois T stand alongside of G. Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln in their importance and significance in shaping our American way of life. It's a shame that most Harvard or Howard grads have never rea......more

Goodreads review by Simone on November 25, 2012

Read all three of these books in undergrad. Booker T. Washington's story is amazing overcoming enslavement and his focus on education and morality. The Souls of Black Folks is forever etched in my mind. Favorite chapter, one. The veil. I've carrier the veil metaphor with me through life. It's the fi......more

Goodreads review by Frans on November 19, 2011

I've only read Booker T Washington's autobiography so far. It was a very interesting view into the situation for black people in the 19th century, but he was far too apologetic toward white people for my taste. I'm sure that's why they liked him so much.......more

Goodreads review by Leib on March 31, 2021

Three schools of thought in one book Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2021 Note: I read all three of these books at separate times in life, but chose to post this collection of reviews here since all three of those books are what comprise this anthology. The shortest review is Booker T Wash......more

Goodreads review by Michael on April 21, 2020

"Up from Slavery" by Booker T. Washington should be read by every resident of these United States. So should "The Souls of Black Folks," by W.E.B. Du Bois. My youthful impression of the latter was spoiled by knowledge that he became a communist. In fact, he moved to Ghana in his late years, a country......more