Booker T. Washington was born in the spring of 1856 on the tobacco farm belonging to James and Elizabeth Burroughs. His mother, a slave called Jane, was the cook for the farm. His father was thought to have been a local white man.

Booker, his mother, brother and sister lived in a small log cabin. The cabin was not only the family's home, but was also used as the kitchen for the plantation. It had no windows. Openings in the side let in the light...but also the cold winter air. There was no wooden floor. Booker later said that he and his family slept on "a bundle of filthy rags laid upon the dirt floor."

Booker's mother often prayed that one day she and her family would be free. The day of freedom finally came at the end of the Civil War when Booker was nine years old. A Union officer read the Emancipation Proclamation from the front porch of the Burroughs house, and all the people who had been held in slavery, including Jane and her children, were freed.

Booker's mother decided to take her children to Malden, West Virginia, where her husband was working in the salt mines. In Malden, Booker began his education. First, he used a spelling book to learn the alphabet. Later, he was able to go to school-- although he still had to work to help support his family. He got up early in the morning to work in the coal mines for five hours before going to school at 9:00 a.m. When school was finished for the day, he went back to the mine again.

Washington heard about Hampton Institute, a school for African Americans. Even though it was in Hampton, Virginia, 500 miles away, Booker was determined to go there. He walked most of the 500 miles to school.

Washington received the education he wanted at Hampton Institute while working as a janitor. After graduating, he returned to Malden to teach others. He paid for his brother to attend Hampton too.

Later, Washington returned to Hampton Institute as a teacher. When a group from Tuskegee, Alabama, wrote to Hampton Institute asking for a teacher to start a school, the principal recommended Booker.

When Washington arrived at Tuskegee, there were no buildings and no students. He decided that students at Tuskegee would learn vocational skills while studying practical subjects. Over the years, students built most of the buildings at the school. Students also grew most of the food served at the school. Today, the school is called Tuskegee University and remains a prestigious Historically Black University.

Washington traveled throughout the country to raise money for the school. He gave many speeches. In 1895, he gave a speech called "The Atlanta Address." This speech made him famous because it encouraged economic progress while not challenging racial segregation, a very controversial subject.

In his later years, Washington became even better known. His autobiography, Up From Slavery, was one of 13 books he published. He received an honorary degree from Harvard University. He was an adviser to three Presidents--William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft.

Dr. Booker T. Washington died in 1915. He is buried on the campus of Tuskegee University in Alabama.