Booker T Washington
Booker T. Washington: The Educator
Booker Taliaferro Washington was born in the time era when slavery was still legal and when born on a plantation, he was born into slavery. He worked as a child laborer on the plantation in harsh conditions. Once the Civil war was over, Washington was a freeman. However he continued to do manual labor while working in a coal mine. While listening in on a couple of fellow workers’ conversation about a college for blacks, he became so intrigued from the way the men were describing the school. The dream of attending a more prestigious school than the small community school nearby became a reality. Although, Washington had to work very hard to earn the money he needed to even travel to the college, he learned valuable lessons that he saw to be equal or greater than what he would learn in school (“Up From Slavery”). These lessons included the importance of efficiency and precision. He learned this from a woman he served when he began his journey, Mrs. Ruffner (“Up From Slavery”).
When he left his job serving, he made his way towards Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, although he was unaware that the school was five hundred miles away. By the time he made it to the campus he had run out of money. Fortunately, Booker met the head teacher upon walking into the school and she offered him a job as a janitor (“Up From Slavery”). With this job, he was able to cover part of fees for boarding, but the work was hard and his days were long between school and work. When Washington did not have enough money to pay the remaining boarding fee, he applied the lessons he learned from his time with Mrs. Ruffner and began to do his duties so well that the school agreed to pay his entire boarding fee in return for his valuable work as a janitor (“Up From Slavery”). Without the stress of money, Washington was able to obtain a higher education than he imagined possible. At this school Booker was able to meet people he had admired and
Booker Taliaferro Washington was born in the time era when slavery was still legal and when born on a plantation, he was born into slavery. He worked as a child laborer on the plantation in harsh conditions. Once the Civil war was over, Washington was a freeman. However he continued to do manual labor while working in a coal mine. While listening in on a couple of fellow workers’ conversation about a college for blacks, he became so intrigued from the way the men were describing the school. The dream of attending a more prestigious school than the small community school nearby became a reality. Although, Washington had to work very hard to earn the money he needed to even travel to the college, he learned valuable lessons that he saw to be equal or greater than what he would learn in school (“Up From Slavery”). These lessons included the importance of efficiency and precision. He learned this from a woman he served when he began his journey, Mrs. Ruffner (“Up From Slavery”).
When he left his job serving, he made his way towards Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, although he was unaware that the school was five hundred miles away. By the time he made it to the campus he had run out of money. Fortunately, Booker met the head teacher upon walking into the school and she offered him a job as a janitor (“Up From Slavery”). With this job, he was able to cover part of fees for boarding, but the work was hard and his days were long between school and work. When Washington did not have enough money to pay the remaining boarding fee, he applied the lessons he learned from his time with Mrs. Ruffner and began to do his duties so well that the school agreed to pay his entire boarding fee in return for his valuable work as a janitor (“Up From Slavery”). Without the stress of money, Washington was able to obtain a higher education than he imagined possible. At this school Booker was able to meet people he had admired and