Up from Slavery

Booker T. Washington

ReadHowYouWant.com, 2006 - Biography & Autobiography - 408 pages

For half a century from its publication in 1901 Up from Slavery was the best known book written by an African American. The life of ex-slave Booker T. Washington embodied the legendary rise of American self-made man, and his autobiography gave prominence for the first time to the voice of a
group which had to pull itself up from nothing. From behind the mask of the humble, plainspoken schoolmaster come hints that reveal Washington as the ambitious and tough-minded analyst, a man who had to balance the demands of blacks with the constraints imposed on him by whites.

Contents

• A Slave Among Slaves: 1
• Boyhood Days: 26
• The Struggle For An Education: 48
• Helping Others: 73
• The Reconstruction Period: 93
• Black Race And Red Race: 107
• Early Days At Tuskegee: 124
• Teaching School In A Stable And: 138
• Anxious Days And Sleepless Nights: 157
• A Harder Task Than Making Bricks Without: 174
• Making Their Beds Before They Could Lie: 192
• Raising Money: 208
• Two Thousand Miles For A FiveMinute: 231
• The Atlanta Exposition Address: 256
• The Secret Of Success In Public Speaking: 281
• Europe: 317
• Last Words: 348

About the author

Booker Taliaferro Washington, 1856 - 1915 Booker T. Washington was born a slave in Hales Ford, Virginia, near Roanoke. After the U.S. government freed all slaves in 1865, his family moved to Malden, West Virginia. There, Washington worked in coal mines and salt furnaces. He went on to attend the Hampton, Virginia Normal and Agricultural Institute from 1872-1875 before joining the staff in 1879. In 1881 he was selected to head the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, a new teacher-training school for blacks, which he transformed into a thriving institution, later named Tuskegee University. His controversial conviction that blacks could best gain equality in the U.S. by improving their economic situation through education rather than by demanding equal rights was termed the Atlanta Compromise, because Washington accepted inequality and segregation for blacks in exchange for economic advancement. Washington advised two Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, on racial problems and policies, as well as influencing the appointment of several blacks to federal offices. Washington became a shrewd political leader and advised not only Presidents, but also members of Congress and governors. He urged wealthy people to contribute to various black organizations. He also owned or financially supported many black newspapers. In 1900, Washington founded the National Negro Business League to help black business firms. Washington fought silently for equal rights, but was eventually usurped by those who ideas were more radical and demanded more action. Washington was replaced by W. E. B. Du Bois as the foremost black leader of the time, after having spent long years listening to Du Bois deride him for his placation of the white man and the plight of the negro. He died in 1915.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Up from Slavery
• Author: Booker T. Washington
• Edition: large print
• Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com, 2006
• ISBN: 1425003257, 9781425003258
• Length: 408 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Cultural, Ethnic & Regional / African American & Black; Biography & Autobiography / Cultural, Ethnic & Regional / General; Biography & Autobiography / Educators; Biography & Autobiography / Historical; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies