Essay on Booker T. Washingtons Immense Achievements

On April 5, 1856, Booker Taliaferro Washington was born into slavery in Hale’s Ford, Virginia on a local plantation. Being born into slavery, it was quite clear that Washington would never amount to much. Knowing this though, did not stop him from dreaming about the many achievements he wanted to accomplish. Washington’s passion to learn is what transformed him into, not a lowly slave, but instead: an educator, a writer and the founder of the Tuskegee Institute. Through these achievements though, Booker T. Washington became above all else, a leader. Booker T. Washington was a young boy when the Civil War ended and his family was granted freedom in 1965. Washington recalls, in his autobiography Up From Slavery, all the hardships and†¦show more content†¦Washington back to give the commencement speech at the graduation ceremonies. It was here where he caught the attention of General Armstrong. Armstrong was the president of the Hampton Institute at the time, as well as the man put in charge of finding an educated white man to run the newly approved â€Å"colored† school in Tuskegee, Alabama, appropriately named the Tuskegee Institute, instead though General Armstrong chose Washington. â€Å"These gentlemen seemed to take it for granted that no colored man suitable for the position could be secured, and they were expecting the General to recommend a white man for the place. The next day General Armstrong sent for me to come to his office, and, much to my surprise asked me if I thought I could fill the position in Alabama. † (Washington, 122) The whites were shocked that General Armstrong sent Washington, an African American, to run their school. They did not believe he could successfully lead the school but under Washington’s tenure, the Tuskegee Institute became one of the most important factors in the education of African Americans. While President of the Tuskegee Institute, Washington had a significant input in curriculum taught to the students. Through the curriculum, he put much of his own philosophies, of self-sufficiency and social segregation. Though his philosophy’s were well known throughout the area, they did not become prevalent nationwide until Washington’s famous â€Å"Atlanta Compromise Speech† ItShow MoreRelatedSummary Of Maya Angelous I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings1363 Words   |  6 PagesProclamation and the heat of the Civil Rights movement lays claim to three distinct generations: active participants in slavery, their children, and gra ndchildren. Naturally as times change, parents and children drift apart with the times, seen today in the immense rifts between the Baby Boomers and Millennials, as it has been for centuries. In fact, progress in general depends on new minds and ideas separating from their ancestors’ â€Å"old-fashioned† ways of living and thinking. Maya Angelou expertly depictedRead MoreThe Timeline Of Black History In The United States Is One1525 Words   |  7 Pagessociety through their leadership. Booker T. Washington preached another attitude of personal responsibility, a ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ approach for Black youth to better themselves to contradict racial stereotypes. The perspectives of DuBois and Washington emphasize Black responsibility to solve the problems that Black Americans face in society. Conversely, Ta-Nehisi Coates argues that it is White responsibility to make reparations for the immense impediments Black Americans encounter