Booker T Washington
Booker T. Washington lived from 1856 to 1915. He was one of the most influential black leader and educator of his time in the United States of America. He became prominent largely because of his role as founder and head of Tuskegee Institute, a vocational school for African Americans in Tuskegee, Alabama. Washington believed that African Americans could benefit more from a practical, vocational education rather than a college education. Washington believed that blacks would be granted civil and political rights after gaining a strong economic foundation. He explained his theories in “Up from Slavery”.
Booker Taliaferro Washington was born a slave in Hales Ford, Virginia, on April 5, 1856. After the government freed all slaves in 1865, he and his family moved to Malden, West Virginia. Washington worked in coal mines and salt furnaces while he lived there. From 1872 to 1875, he attended the Hampton Institute, an industrial school for African Americans in Hampton, Virginia. He became a teacher at the institute in 1879. Washington based many of his educational theories on his training at Hampton.
Booker T Washington learned that through primary vocational educations, that one can have a starting point. He was never against blacks getting a higher education. He knew he didn’t want to be a puppet to any political party. He had a keen sense of the corruption of politics. During his life he learned many things. He started his life in slavery and from there became one of the greatest influential speakers for African Americans. He learned that know one else was going to help him become an educator but himself. So with intrinsic motivation he started his own school to teach others what he has learned.
Washington was often called by some African Americans an Uncle Tom. He was thought to be to liberal in his beliefs about educating blacks. He believed that if blacks had a strong vocational education, they could use it as a stepping stone for beginning a better life, just as he did. He believed with a strong foundation African Americans could work there way to the top.
Opposition to Washington came chiefly from W. E. B. Du Bois, a historian and sociologist. Du Bois criticized Washington's educational and political philosophy and practices. Du Bois supported higher education for talented African Americans who could serve as leaders. He feared that the success of Washington's industrial school would limit the development of true...