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Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 - November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915. He was representative of the last generation of black leaders born in slaveryand spoke on behalf of blacks living in the South. Washington was born into slavery to a white father and a slave mother in a rural area in southwestern Virginia. After emancipation, he worked in West Virginia in a variety of manual labor jobs before making his way to Hampton Roads seeking an education. Washington received national prominence for his Atlanta Address of 1895, attracting the attention of politicians and the public as a popular spokesperson for African American citizens. Washington built a nationwide network of supporters in many black communities, with black ministers, educators and businessmen composing his core supporters. Washington played a dominant role in black politics, winning wide support in the black community and among more liberal whites (especially rich Northern whites). He gained access to top national leaders in politics, philanthropy and education.Washington's efforts included cooperating with white people and enlisting the support of wealthy philanthropists, which helped raise funds to establish and operate thousands of small community schools and institutions of higher education for the betterment of blacks throughout the South, work which continued for many years after his death.Amazon.com Review
Nineteenth-century African American businessman, activist, andeducator Booker Taliaferro Washington's Up from Slavery is oneof the greatest American autobiographies ever written. Its mantras ofblack economic empowerment, land ownership, and self-help inspiredgenerations of black leaders, including Marcus Garvey, ElijahMuhammad, Malcolm X, and Louis Farrakhan. In rags-to-riches fashion,Washington recounts his ascendance from early life as a mulatto slavein Virginia to a 34-year term as president of the influential,agriculturally based Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. From thatposition, Washington reigned as the most important leader of hispeople, with slogans like "cast down your buckets," which emphasizedvocational merit rather than the academic and political excellencechampioned by his contemporary rival W.E.B. Du Bois. Though manyconsidered him too accommodating to segregationists, Washington, as hesaid in his historic "Atlanta Compromise" speech of 1895, believedthat "political agitation alone would not save [the Negro]," and that"property, industry, skill, intelligence, and character" would provenecessary to black Americans' success. The potency of his philosophiesare alive today in the nationalist and conservative camps that composethe complex quilt of black American society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (75)

Great read
I read this book with my 12 year old as part of a book club.I didn't know much about Booker T. Washington,and this book was very interesting.He was truly a remarkable man living in a time of extreme change for our country.I feel I now have a broader view of the post slavery South then I had,even growing up there.

He Knew His Role and Performed It Well...
A fascinating read about the life and times of Booker T. Washington and his march from slavery to one of the foremost men of his time.

His views may seem quite antiquated in today's world, given what has happened and not happened in the last 100 years in race relations and it is easy to see how Black leaders of today might be critical of Washington's views and perspectives.

But to do so would be to make the all too common mistake of imprinting and transferring today's value system and experiences on a culture and time of long ago. Anyone can look back with 20-20 hindsight and criticize. What matters most is having a plan to move forward from where you are, and Booker T. Washington certainly had that. His is a remarkable story of courage, grace, and iron-willed determination, for himself and forhis race.

While today's leaders and purists might criticize Washington, it should never be forgotten that he took the first steps and led his race and the entire South in the first steps, no matter how imperfect they may be in hindsight, up and away from slavery.

There had to be a Booker T. Washington to bridge the gap between what was and what was to be.He knew his role and peformed it well.

My Hero
Up From Slavery Booker T. Washington has been one of my all-time favorite American heroes -- ever since I first read about him in 4th grade.Washington had a gift for writing, and his autobiography, as well as his essays, are very easy to read, understand, and enjoy.The more I study and learn about him, the more impressed I am with his vision, his integrity, and his drive to improve his people and their lot in life.

up from slavery
a good read with much information from the early america era. Booker T. Washington use the brain over violence and suceeded where others failed. excellent read.!!!!

No Less Than an American Classic!
What an outstanding autobiography regarding a true American heroe! This book details the triumphant acts of Booker T. Washington's efforts to not only develop the famous Tuskegee Institute, but to positively build bridges with America.A former slave who became a self taught, political mastermind came from the worst of what humanity had to offer to meeting and influencing American Presidents. What an honor it would have been to meet a man who provided so much to the African American man and woman. He was also willing and often did help southern whites in his community. It's ashame that in America, where education is offered legally, there is a 50% dropout rate among African American high school students. This man and his "cadres" fought for and provided educational opportunities in a country that treated them worst than second class citizens.This book should be a required reading in ALL schools, especially those predominantly filled with African Americans! ... Read more

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During his life, Booker T. Washington was among the most celebrated educators, authors, and statesmen of his day. He walked side by side with Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain, H. G. Wells, Theodore Roosevelt, and Andrew Carnegie. He was the first African American to dine with the president in the White House and the first to have tea with the queen of England. He was the first African American to receive honorary degrees from Harvard and Dartmouth, the first African American to be honored on a postage stamp, the first African American to be commemorated on a coin, the first African American to have a naval vessel named for him, and the first African American to have schools named after him.

To many African Americans today, Washington points the way towardprosperity and sophistication. Today his spiritual and economic wisdomis being reclaimed as a proven path of racial advance, and his ideasare again gaining currency among upwardly mobile African Americans. Inthis brief volume, Stephen Mansfield reviews the course ofWashington's life and highlights those principles and practicesthat undergirded the great educator's ability to empower all peopleto be the best they can be. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Another Excellent Book in the Leaders in Action Series
One of the strong points in the Leaders in Action series is its ability to pull from all the great historical figures of the past, the individuals who were the most significant but at the same time still relevant today.

Booker T. Washington is one of those figures who was not only important in his day, but very relevant today.Although there were some aspects of his approach that were understandably controversial, his overall message of hard work, faith, education, and humility is powerful.That message was relevant to both the recently freed slaves and to those of any skin color.

This book does a good job of presenting the wisdom and life of Washington in a concise way.However, I felt that it would have been valuable to have included more details about both Washington's personal and public life.Regardless, this was a very worthwhile read.

An Amazing Man
This book is one of those rare gems that, if you're really fortunate, you come across from time to time. I received it as a gift from one of my mentors, Charlie Jones, who had, for some time now, been speaking of Booker T. Washington as one of his heroes. Having only a very surface knowledge of Mr. Washington - knowing that he was born a slave and went on to become founder of the famed Tuskegee Institute - he was a hero of mine, as well. After all, one could only imagine what he had to overcome to have achieved all he did.

However, after reading this book by Pastor Stephen Mansfield, the greatness of Mr. Washington simply came alive for me. He was a man of character, a man of faith, a dreamer and a doer; a man who moved mountains and moved hearts.

He had a plan - he had a dream - for taking his people from a horrible situation and helping them to move up and become successful in every way.

Unfortunately, as the author points out, he was fought every step along the way - often most by those he was trying to help and, in time, and long after he died in 1915, was disparaged by many as simply naïve, foolish, a misguided optimist, betrayer to his people.

Of course, none of this is true. Reading the story of Booker T. Washington in 2007 we can look back in hindsight and see that everything he taught - regarding the importance of character, thrift, knowledge, wisdom, forgiveness, love, persistence, delayed gratification, humility, etc. - is the way to build oneself, one's people and one's nation.

Only now is this man's wisdom and greatness beginning to once again be recognized and embraced. This book should be read by anyone and everyone looking to achieve greatness in their life. Read this book and you'll have the roadmap for doing so.

Booker T. Washington was a wonderful man; a hero. And the author, Pastor Mansfield, did a superb job in telling the story.

P.S. By the way, if you get an opportunity to read the booklet, "Character Building" by Booker T. Washington it will also be WELL worth your time. It's a reprinting of a number of his "Sunday Evening Talks" to his students and faculty members. The advice and wisdom that Mr. Washington shared is simply amazing.

Terrific
In another sterling volume of the Leaders in Action series, Stephen Mansfield here outlines the life and character of Booker T. Washington. In vivacious voice and moving magniloquence, Mansfield traces Washington's path from slavery to his founding of Tuskegee Institute. He shows the difficulties Washington surpassed in reaching his goals, and the principles that helped him make it. In the words of Washington, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succed." By this standard, Booker T. Washington was an astonishingly successful man.

Washington wrote his own autobiography, _Up From Slavery_, which must certainly not be neglected. But Mansfield's biography is also a criticial read because he includes facts that the autobiographer was too modest to mention, and he highlights wonderful aspects of Washington's character that humility prevented him from including. This biography doesn't contain the wonderful self-analysis and insight of Booker himself - but it does contain all the benefits of a third person account.

One thing I really appreciated about this book was its terrific analysis of slavery and inter-race reconciliation. Expounding Booker's opinion, Mansfield blames both whites and blacks for the problems that cropped up after the Civil War. Whites needed to repent of their brutal treatment of slaves and actually begin considering blacks more than mere animals; and blacks needed to repent of their spirit of bitterness toward their white enslavers, and begin working hard and leaving no excuse for disrespect of blacks. Too many books on reconciliation have practically advocated bitterness, hatred, and laziness when what is really needed is Washington's outlook of forgiveness and hard work. This book offers relief from such pride.

To wrap up, this is a great biography. Good history, good style, and good content. Buy it.

Outstanding biography of an outstanding Black American.
Then Darkness Fled is a celebration of the life of Booker T. Washinghton and tells of a man who dined with heads of state and became the first Afro-American to receive honorary degrees from Harvard and Dartmouth.Chapters survey both his achievements and his life in this lively coverage. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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The beginning of the twentieth century was a criticaltime in African American history.Segregation and discrimination wereon the rise.Two seminal African American figures began to debate onways to combat racial problems.Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois developed different strategies for racial uplift as they activelycompeted for support of the black community.

In the process, they made a permanent mark on the debate over howblacks should achieve equality in America.Although other booksaddress the Washington-Du Bois conflict, this book provides a detailedoverview of the issues in a brief yet thorough narrative. JacquelineMoore examines the motivations of Washington and Du Bois and thepolitical issues surrounding their positions. Moore contextualizes thedebate in the broader terms of radical versus accommodationiststrategies of racial uplift.

This book traces the argument between these two men, which began in1903 when Du Bois published The Souls of Black Folk, an attack onWashington, his association with Tuskegee Institute’s industrialeducation program, and accommodationism.

Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and the Struggle for Racial Uplift is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand these two great men and their politics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Reads like the kind of book you WISHED your history books read!
Ok, so I'm on page 64, chapter 4, titled The Conflict.I've been introduced to these men being guided from childhood up to, apparently, The Conflict (chapter 4).So far I've been able to more thoroughly understand who BTW is through his eyes, as well as WEBD, and it's painfully obvious that they really could only see what it was that they saw on a daily basis in their childhood.WEBD did slightly see black life through a different eye while at Fisk, but I imagine it was more of a 'I am a little better than you' attitude which probably didn't go over well with rural southern blacks. BTW saw dire poverty day in and day out, being born a slave in VA; WEBD grew up free in MA, lived in an integrated town and went to integrated schools and only briefly met racism face-to-face.It's truly no wonder these two men saw two valid yet completely different outlooks.BTW advocated the learning of a trade, carpentry for example, to put blacks in the seat of economic equality putting blacks in a secure position for equality.WEBD felt susceptible to the prejudiced and racist mentalities encouraged upon blacks in higher learning and in life period , especially while in the south and Philadelphia.As I'm reading this, I'm beginning to see that this same ideas on education exists today amongst college youth and beyond, with the basic idea of practicality vs. stimulation.Everyone wants to be able to support themselves and their families with a secure job, but at the same time, you want your mind to be stimulated and trabajar in a creative and nourishing environment focusing on your talents and strengths.

I can't imagine what it would be like to live in the turn of the 20th century, I can only read and try to picture it in my mind.Due to timing, I was not there, therefore, I cannot say, they should have done x instead of y and blue instead of reen.Fortunately for me, reading J. Moore's novel-like continuum of history and facts I have a hard time putting it down.I understand both sides of the spectrum, in hindsight, it would have made that time period much more continuous, if they were able to come to some kind of agreement and compromise on issues during a time when so many were hoping for a better life.Leaders are good, but sometimes they can be even more distracting to the actual problem at hand.If there is no compromise, there seems to be confusion and misplaced hatred and it's no good for anybody and certainly not the cause if no one can agree.This is why I really like this book, it has me thinking of other things that aren't necessarily explored here but because I'm reading about it, it has me thinking about other topics tangent to the topics discussed here.And that, is my FAVORITE kind of book! keq

A "reader friendly" analytical survey and presentation
Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, And The Struggle For Racial Uplift by Jacqueline M. Moore (Associate Professor of History at Austin College, Sherman, Texas) is an informed and informative depiction of two remarkable and quiet different men who helped shape Black American history. Placing each man's work in historical context, and studying the debate conflict of ideas that both had and alternatives to either one's point of view, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, And The Struggle For Racial Uplift is an intelligently written, scholarly, evenhanded, and "reader friendly" analytical survey and presentation which is strongly recommended for students of Black Studies, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in the contributions of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois to American society and culture. ... Read more

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Three African-American Classics: Up from Slavery, The Souls of Black Folk and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by legendary authors W. E. B. Du Bois * Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, is widely considered to be among the greatest of classic texts of all time. These great classics will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Three African-American Classics: Up from Slavery, The Souls of Black Folk and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic literature, these gems by W. E. B. Du Bois * Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington are highly recommended. Published by Classic Books International and beautifully produced, Three African-American Classics: Up from Slavery, The Souls of Black Folk and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A in this class
the material was for a class but after reading it I gained more than I was to gain. Great combination of Douglass, Washington and Dubois... 3 geniuses with their mind set of slavery and how to live the the life after it. ... Read more

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Since the 1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr., has personified black leadership with his use of direct action protests against white authority. A century ago, in the era of Jim Crow, Booker T. Washington pursued a different strategy to lift his people. In this compelling biography, Norrell reveals how conditions in the segregated South led Washington to call for a less contentious path to freedom and equality. He urged black people to acquire economic independence and to develop the moral character that would ultimately gain them full citizenship. Although widely accepted as the most realistic way to integrate blacks into American life during his time, Washington’s strategy has been disparaged since the 1960s.

The first full-length biography of Booker T. in a generation, Up from History recreates the broad contexts in which Washington worked: He struggled against white bigots who hated his economic ambitions for blacks, African-American intellectuals like W. E. B. Du Bois who resented his huge influence,and such inconstant allies as Theodore Roosevelt. Norrell details the positive power of Washington’s vision, one that invoked hope and optimism to overcome past exploitation and present discrimination. Indeed, his ideas have since inspired peoples across the Third World that there are many ways to struggle for equality and justice. Up from History reinstates this extraordinary historical figure to the pantheon of black leaders, illuminating not only his mission and achievement but also, poignantly, the man himself.

Customer Reviews (11)

A great American hero rediscovered - Booker T. Washington
This is an important book and should win a Pulitzer Prize.Eye opening history. This book should be read by as many Americans as possible, black or white.History speaks, and we are the wiser.

History Revealed
Norrell's terrific biography places Washington in his historical context: the spokesperson for Negroes (the accepted term during Washington's time), following the death of Frederick Douglass. The author shows that history has not been kind to Washington, and his reputation was besmirched by such intellectual luminaries as W.E.B. DuBois, Ralph Ellison, his previous biographer, John Harlan, and C. Vann Woodward. Other reviewers have expressed better than I could the false dichotomy of DuBois the intellectual firebrand and Washington the obsequious Uncle Tom, so I will not elaborate.

The author destroys this myth and shows that Washington fought courageously for civil rights during an era when funding for African-American schools in the South was never certain. Washington eventually had to hire security guards and to take extended trips from Tuskegee to protect the lives of himself and his family.

Washington spent his first nine years alive as a slave while DuBois grew up in the relative safety of New England, where he excelled in university, while Washington graduated from Hampton Institute, which due to poor funding and its inhospitable Southern surroundings, offered an education little better than middle school.

Much of Washington's work for civil rights was behind the scenes because of the rise of the KKK, backlash from Reconstruction, and the mercurial President Theodore Roosevelt who turned his back on Washington because he needed support from Southern politicians. To confront racism and lynchings directly was a sure way to lose your credibility and life.

Washington died from kidney failure and hypertension, likely attributed to a bad diet and stress. He literally died fighting for civil rights. He was memorialized as a hero for African-Americans in 1915 when he died. So should he be remembered today--as Norrell concludes--as a hero who did as much as anyone could to promote the interests of African-Americans, during a time when there was little enthusiam for their acceptance in the United States.

Courage on a precipice
This book is great revisionist history. Contra the impression I got in college in the late sixties, Booker T. Washington was heroic. The public mood in his time and place were such that he had to be a courageous, precariously balanced stud. The venom of his white southern opponents was vicious. Also his black opponents! Ninety percent of the blacks of his time (1856-1915) lived in the south, and Washington saw their progress as going by way of learning better farming methods and trades, chiefly. By contrast his northern black (Harvard) opponents in their racially more comfortable surroundings thought political activism was the thing. It's still an issue of course.

The idea I was brought up with that Washington was some kind of retrograde influence or Uncle Tom is nonsense. The author uses a good term: anachronistic fallacy. Judging someone in your historical context rather than his own. This was in the preface. The last chapter also takes a birds-eye view. The rest is all straight history, sympathetic but not overly so and an eye-opener as to the mood of the times.

Washington saw the whole picture and actually did finance a lot of political challenges, but had to do so secretly. He was always playing to his local, reactionary Alabama/southern political scene and to the more generous national one at the same time. MLK was great, but he was surfing by comparison!

Washington had a pretty good sense of humor. I found myself imagining Morgan Freeman doing for him what Hal Holbrooke did for Mark Twain in "Mark Twain Tonight," his one-man theatrical show of Twain's writings. The author has his occasional quips, too.

Up From Slavery
This is an excellent book on the life and times of Booker T Washington. It is interestingly written and very informative.

A Misunderstood Giant
I read a review of this book in the NYT book review and decided that I had to find out how one of my most admired Americans came to be labeled an "Uncle Tom."I visited Tuskeegee Institute when I was fresh out of college in the 50's, and I stopped to ask the way from a white man standing outside his plantation house."What ya' want to go there for?"That was long after Washington's death, and still the intense racism.Anyway, the book was very well-written and factually accurate.I felt I was getting a whole history of the Black race from slavery on up to the present day.He was a giant in his own time and in the history of this country--a man who never gave up his quest for peace and reconciliationbetween black and white. A man of great power and dignity. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Tells the story of Booker T. Washington's childhood following the end of slavery, his struggle to get an education, and his journey at age sixteen to the Hampton Institute. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Well-done story, fabulous illustrations
For a good background on Booker T. Washington that does not try to place blame (for slavery), this is the book to read. It gave a lovely story onhis life, without getting into politics. The real joy of this book are theillustrations. The artist captures the essence of the time and the personin beautifully rendered paintings. While children will enjoy the"pictures" and the story, anyone will appreciate this as awonderful art book. The artist has done another children's book that isjust as beautiful as this one. Between the author and the artist, Booker T.Washington's life was captured in an unforgettable way. Look forward toseeing and reading more from both these talented people! ... Read more

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Nineteenth-century African American businessman, activist, and educator Booker Taliaferro Washington's Up from Slavery is one of the greatest American autobiographies ever written. Its mantras of black economic empowerment, land ownership, and self-help inspired generations of black leaders, including Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, and Louis Farrakhan. In rags-to-riches fashion, Washington recounts his ascendance from early life as a mulatto slave in Virginia to a 34-year term as president of the influential, agriculturally based Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. From that position, Washington reigned as the most important leader of his people, with slogans like "cast down your buckets," which emphasized vocational merit rather than the academic and political excellence championed by his contemporary rival W.E.B. Du Bois. Though many considered him too accommodating to segregationists, Washington, as he said in his historic "Atlanta Compromise" speech of 1895, believed that "political agitation alone would not save [the Negro]," and that "property, industry, skill, intelligence, and character" would prove necessary to black Americans' success. The potency of his philosophies are alive today in the nationalist and conservative camps that compose the complex quilt of black American society. -- This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. ... Read more

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This book begins in 1901, when Booker T. Washington at the age of forty-five was approaching the zenith of his fame and influence, and ends with his death in 1915. It is a biographical study in the sense that its focus is on the complex, enigmatic figure of Washington, the most powerful black minority-group boss of his time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Read "Up from slavery" first
In this first of two volumes of biography by Harlan, Washington is characterized by the author as a dissembling, cynical, manipulator of racial issues for his own self-aggrandizement.Granted that Washington was at times very protective of his position of economic and political power, and that he was not as outspoken on issues of race as we might like from the distance of a century away, I find no evidence in the writing or the notes that Washington was anything other than a great educator and smart leader who was sincere in his positions and practices.

While at the National Historic site that marks Washington's birthplace in western Virginia (a worthwhile trip a bit off the beaten path), I purchased and read Washington's story Up from Slavery (Dover Thrift Editions) in his own words.That's a better starting point than this volume from Harlan.

Harlan does a better job taking the mature Washington through his growing political career, and examining his historical and cultural impact in Booker T. Washington: Volume 2: The Wizard Of Tuskegee, 1901-1915 (Oxford Paperbacks).

Very Interesting and Engaging
Kudos to Mr. Louis Harlan!

In his interesting work, "The Making of a Black Leader", Mr. Harlan does a wonderful job of capturing the true meaning of Booker T. Washington in all of his dimensions in American history. Prior to reading Mr. Harlan's work, I had many preconceived notions of Booker T., the most infamous being that he was a "traitor" or an "Uncle Tom" of the black race. After reading Mr. Harlan's book, I not only continue to think that Booker T. Washington was one of the premier black conservatives of his time but, one who continues to influence black conservative political thought in contemporary American politics. In all, Mr. Harlan does a great job of presenting a balanced and fair observation of Booker's continuing legacy in the African American community and the larger American family. Using empirical data and substantive research, Mr. Harlan clearly presents many compelling arguments, in which all are supported with great evidence and interesting testimonials from speeches and interviews from years past. I urge all (especially African Americans) to read this wonderful masterpiece of African American literature.

... Read more

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In Character Building are thirty seven addresses that Booker T. Washington gave before students, faculty, and guests at the Tuskegee Institute. These addresses take the form of timeless advice on a number of subjects. Very motivational and uplifting.Washington was constantly, and often bitterly, criticized by his contemporaries for being too conciliatory to whites and not concerned enough about civil rights. It would not be until after his death that the world would find out that he had indeed worked a great deal for civil rights anonymously behind the scenes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Okay
This particular item is poorly edited. Paragraphs are repeated over again. Lines begin and end poorly. It isas if someone just typed this up one night, sent it to the printery and put it up for sale and never once checked to see if there were no errors. While I am glad that I have this very important piece of history, the product itself is terrible and not worth the cost.

Character Building
Character Building (An African American Heritage Book) This book has so many wonderful life lessons which are just as powerful and thought-provoking today as they were when Booker T. Washington wrote them at the turn of the 20th century.I try to read an essay to my students on a regular basis because the essays really hit home with some of the issues my students have.The essays are well-written and easy to read and understand.

a piece of history
Proves that some kinds of advice are timeless.If you are reading a historical review of the man's life, you should read his own words too.

Still Good for Today
This is a collection of BTW's Sunday sermons to his Tuskegee students. Originally published in 1902, the lessons on thrift, clean living, sharing what you learn with others, the need to read, and the value of education of the heart as well as the head are still valuable a century later. Does not date too badly and with so many young people growing up today without this kind of advice in the home, it's needed just as much today.

Many uninformed people dismiss BTW as an "Uncle Tom," but the publication of more of his writings like this will show that in spite of any faults, he was a very useful person in the upliftment of people. Read it and see. ... Read more

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The first volume of Louis R. Harlan's biography of Booker T. Washington was published to wide acclaim and won the 1973 Bancroft Prize.This, the second volume, completes one of the most significant biographies of this generation.^L ^L Booker T. Washington was the most powerful black American of his time, and here he is captured at his zenith.Harlan reveals Washington's complex personality--in sharp contrast to his public demeanor, he was a ruthless power borker whose nod or frown could determi ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Book and Great Service
I ordered the book because I wanted a more comprehensive and expansive biography of Principal Booker T. Washington. Before President Obama,Principal Washington was the most world known and powerful man of color in America. Because of his political/educational views, he is sometimes one of the more misunderstood man in America.He ascend the American scene upon the death of Frederick Douglass. Principal Washingtonlived to see so many of the gains ofThe American Reconstruction in the South undermined by law and statue and he also witness retreat by the Federal Governmentand civil society regarding the aspirations of many black Americans.

While this book not be the written regarding Booker T. Washington,it will take its place on the "must read" list of any thoughtful lover of American History.

Booker T. Washington shapes the world
Starts slowly when Harlan gets falls in love with the million+ Washington papers he had just cataloged and buries the reader in an avalanche of names, places, dates of Washington's early political career as the Presidential "referee" for an entire race.

But Harlan redeems himself with chapters on Washington's dealings with his family, his school, his fund-raising, the world (he made three trips to Europe and was the most widely known African-American in the world), and his attack under mysterious and still unexplained circumstances in New York City.

Harlan does a better job in this volume than the first of explaining the contradictions of Washington's leadership style ("separate but equal" accomodationism) in a region and country increasingly violent and dominated by white supremacist feelings.The ultimate end of Washington's other-cheek economic self-help style was racial exclusion and unimpeded trammeling of rights.

His flaws must be acknowledged, but in the end the flaws magnify the worth of the man.I go back to that humble farm in western Virginia and the reconstructed "cabin" at the National Historic site (rougher and even more rudimentary than the mental image the word evokes) and imagine the journey that young boy made from slavery to freedom, from ignorance to education, from insignificance to leadership.From these beginnings to his end (at an early but aged 59), Booker T. Washington's greatness can not be doubted.

deliverer with human traits
_I think you will make a mistake if you will let your mind dwell too much upon American prejudice, or any other racial prejudice.The thing is for one to get above such things.If one gets in the habit of continually thinking and talking about race prejudice, he soon gets gets to the point where he is fit for little that is worth doing.In the northern part of the United States, there are a number of colored people who make their lives miserable, because all their talk is about race prejudice_Booker T. Washington in a letter to his daughter Portia then living and studying in Europe.(117)

I am greatly impressed with this text, BOOKER T. WASINGTON, The Wizard of Tuskegee, 1901-1915.Professor Louis R. Harlan earned the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for History with this biography along with the Bancroft Prize and the Beveridge Award of the American Historical Association.The principle source is the Booker T Washington Papers in the Division of Manuscripts of the LIbrary of Congress, a rich, expanding collection of approximately a million letters, speeches, reports, newspaper clippings, and other documents.Professor Harlan is the editor of the published source that extends, currently, to 14 volumes. This material is available on-line in an Open-Book format at the site maintained by the University of Illinois Press (www.historycooperative.org/btw).

This book begins in 1901, when Booker T. Washington at the age of forty-five was approaching the zenith of his fame and influence, and ends with his death in 1915.It is a biographical study in the sense that its focus is on the complex, enigmatic figure of Washington, the most powerful black minority-group boss of his time.It also recounts the inner life and struggles of the small black middle class in that generation once removed from slavery, as a coterie of college-bred black men and women challenged Washington's powerful coalition of northern, white philanthropists, southern white paternalists, black businessmen, and such members of the black professional class as he could attract to his side.

Washington's wizardry - his skill of maneuver and ability to make the most of bad circumstances - was his strong point as a leader.His greatest failing was his inability to reverse the hard times for blacks during what whites called the Progressive Era.The same era which the historian Rayford Whittingham Logan (1897-1981) called the nadir of Afro-American history.As Washington's influence declined in his last years, W.E.B DuBois, a strong critic of Washington, and the founders at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sought relief through the court system.

It was this legal strategy of the NAACP in the 20th Century that culminated in the successful Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and it is Washington's work-ethic, self-help, self-improvement and particularly, style of accomomdation that have been forgotten or discredited.This text helps us remember what Washington accomplished, however, more importantly, Professor Harlan's meticulous investigations reveal that the character of Washington is difficult to articulate succintly.

Washington's correspondence with the large donors to Tuskegee does not reveal a conspiracy, either large or small, to prepare Tuskegee's students to become wage-workers in the corporate structure.The typical donor sent his check rather than his advice.,...Washington's efforts at Tuskegee Institute were to train students to become independent small businessmen, farmers, and teachers rather than wage-earners or servants of white employers.At the same time, it is clear that Washington flattered and cajoled the very rich and never challenged the appropriateness of their status at the peak of the American success pyramid.

Tuskegee became a mecca for not only Africans but West Indians and Asians.As his writings were translated into many foreign languages, he became the most famous black man in the world, and his fame drew foreigners to him like a magnet.All manner of men, American missionaries, European colonialists, Afican nationalists, Buddhist reformers, and Japanese modernizers sought to enlist his aid.On the one hand were whites who sought to aid in introducing plantation agriculture into colonial areas.On the other hand Africans and Asians hoped to find in Tuskegee industrial education and Washington's philosophy of self-help a source of strength to resist the political and cultural impreialism of the Europeans.Washington sought to accomodate all of these contradictory propositions.

While intrepid research has uncovered new material that lends fresh insight, rather than illuminating Washington for compassion to his motives, the added light only casts more shadows.Utterly at variance with the Sunday-school morality he publicly professed, there was also a more feral, more power-hungry Washington, inordinately involved in politics, and particularly the poitics of patronage.Few people, even those affected, such as W.E.B DuBois and Mary White Ovington, knew the extent to which Washington refused to meet our preconceived notions of how a great leader should behave.

Inexplicable human fraility, aside, as a guide for the black community, Washington had a concrete program of industrial education and the promotion of small business as the avenue of black advancement "up from slavery" and into the middle class.This program may have been anachronistic preparation for the age of mass production, urbanization, and corporate gigantism then coming into being; but it had considerable social realism for a black population which was, until long after Washington's death, predominantly rural and southern.It gave purpose and dignity to black working-class lives of toil and struggle, and also was well attuned to the growth and changing character of black business in Washington's day.He championed the emerging black business class as the leaders of black communities, and they in turn, through the National Negro Business League, became the backbone of Washington's following.

Washington's followers found hope in his message that fortified them in hopeless situations.During his time, he was exalted as a type of Moses who would lead his people to the promised land as welcome participants in the mainstream of society.For many in the US and around the world, his teachings were a type of deliverance from their oppressive circumstances.Moses had quite a few faults, as all deliverers do, and one of these faults prevented him from entering the promised land of Canaan. Even with all of his great abilities to accommodate the ruling class majority, his ability to conquer overwhelming obstacles, Booker T. Washington's inability to accomodate the strategies of the NAACP, who were themselves uncompromising, weakened his effectiveness.

After reading this remarkable text, I see Booker T. Washington as a man with great accomplishments and failings perhaps as great.Even with his shortcomings, he was exceptional as he provided his followers hope and lifted their spirit.Professor Harlan has brought to life a man of enormous complexity, who will never be completely understood or known which makes Booker T. Washington much like the people of which I claim familiarity.

PEACE ... Read more

Product Description
From the time of his famous Atlanta address in 1895 until his death in 1915, Booker T. Washington was the preeminent African-American educator and race leader. But to historians and biographers of the last hundred years, Washington has often been described as an enigma, a man who rose to prominence because he offered a compromise with the white South: he was willing to trade civil rights for economic and educational advancement. Thus one historian called Washington's time the nadir of Negro life in America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Great Read
This is a terrific book by a leading expert on the career of Booker T. Washington. Washington was an enormously influential and controversial figure at the beginning of the twentieth century. Smock's book is learned, engaging, and brief, which is a rare and welcome combination. He provides a balanced portrait that shows Washington's admirable qualities and his achievements in trying to promote racial justice in the United States and also gives due recogniton to the complaints of Washington's critics. Smock explains the dilemmas that faced Washington as he attempted to reduce racial barriers and encourage economic and educational progress for black Americans in the face of strong opposition and virulent racism. I knew little about Washington before I read this book, and I came away with a much richer understanding of a fascinating man and the problems with which he wrestled.

A highly recommended addition to public and college library biography shelves
Written by Raymond W. Smock, the first official historian of the U.S. House of Representatives, Booker T. Washington: Black Leadership in the Age of Jim Crow is an interpretive biography of Booker T. Washington, an African-American scientist, educator, and leader. For all his accomplishments, Booker T. Washington has been severely criticized for the compromises he was willing to make with the white South - namely, the sacrifice of civil rights of black Americans in exchange for their economic and educational improvement. Yet in the post-Civil War South, when opportunities for advancement were scarce, Booker T. Washington ascended from slavery and achieved his personal quest for freedom amidst a severe racial climate. Smock presents evidence for the case that Washington was not a sellout, but rather a practical man and a realist, who considered education and economic advancement the most effective means to a lofty end. His amazing ability to survive and thrive in a world where black people were considered second-class citizens at best is impressive, and his talent for leadership as well as his legacy hold much for current and future generations to learn from. Booker T. Washington: Black Leadership in the Age of Jim Crow is a highly recommended addition to public and college library biography shelves. ... Read more

Product Description
Text extracted from opening pages of book: Booker T. Washington Builder of a Civilization By Emmett J. Scott and Lyman Beecher Stowe With a Preface by Theodore Roosevelt Illustrated from Photograph* Garden City New York Doubleday, Page & Company 1917 FOREWORD IN THE passing of a character so unique as Dr. Booker T. Washington, many of us, his friends, were anxious that his biography should be written by those best qualified to do so* It is therefore a source of gratification to us of his own race to have an account of Dr. Washington's career set forth in a form at once accurate and readable, such as will inspire unborn generations of Negroes and others to love and appreciate all mankind of whatever race or color. It is especially gratifying that this biography has been pre pared by the two people in all America best fitted, by antecedents and by intimate acquaintance and association with Dr. Washington, to undertake it. Mr* Lyman Reecher Stowe is the grandson of Harriet Beeeher Stowe, whose ** Uncle Tom's Cabin** had a very direct influence on the abolition of slavery, and Mr, Emmett J. Scott was Dr. Washington's loyal and trusted secretary for eighteen years* ROBERT R, MOTON, Principal Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. Tvskegee Institute, August / xgi6 AUTHORS' PREFACE THIS is not a biography in the ordinary sense. The exhaustive a Life and Letters of Booker T. Washington** re mains still to be compiled. In this more modest work we have simply sought to present and interpret the chief phases of the life of this man who rose from a slave boy to be the leader of ten millions of people and to take his place for all time among America's great men. In fact, we have not even touched upon his childhood, early training* and education, because we felt the story of those early strug gles and privations had been ultimately well told in his own words in Up from Slavery. This autobiography, however, published as it was fifteen years before his death, brings the story of his life only to the threshold of his greatest achievements, In this book we seek to give the full fruition of his life's work. Each chapter is complete in itself. Each presents a complete, although by no means exhaustive, picture of some phase of his life; We take no small satisfaction in the fact that we were personally selected by Booker Washington himself for this task* He considered us qualified to produce what he wanted: namely, a record of his struggles and achieve ments at once accurate ancl readable, put in permanent form for the information of the public. He believed that vii AUTHORS 5 PREFACE such a record could best be furnished by his confidential associate, working in collaboration with a trained and ex perienced writer, sympathetically interested in the welfare of the Negro race. This, then, is what we have tried to do and the way we have tried to do it. We completed the first four chapters before Mr. Wash ington's death, but he never read them. In fact, it was our wish, to which he agreed, that he should not read what we had written until its publication in book form. EMMETT J. SCOTT, LYMAN BEECHER STOWE, PREFACE IT IS not hyperbole to say that Booker T* Washington was a great American, For twenty years before his death he had been the most useful, as well as the most distinguished, member of his race in the world, and one of the most useful, as well as one of the most distinguished, of American citizens of any race. Eminent though his services were to the people of his own color, the white men of our Republic were almost as much indebted to him ? both directly and indirectly. They were indebted to him directly, because of the work he did on behalf of industrial education for the Negro, thus giving impetus to the work for the industrial educa tion of the White Man, which is, at least, as necessary; and, moreover, every successful effort to turn the thoughts of the natural leaders of the Negro race into the fields of business endeavor, of agricultura ... Read more