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Booker T. Washington

Institutional Founders and System Builders

American educator born into slavery who trained at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute before founding Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1881. He built its academic and vocational curriculum around self-built infrastructure and practical trades, and became, through his writing and public speaking, the most prominent African American leader of his era.

Facts
Birth Year
1856 1
Death Year
1915 1
Birthplace
Hale's Ford, Franklin County, Virginia 1
Nationality / Culture
American 1
Defining Contribution
Founded and led the Tuskegee Institute, building an industrial and vocational curriculum through which formerly enslaved and working-class Black Americans could gain economic self-sufficiency. 1
Notable Work
Up from Slavery (1901) 1
Booker T. Washington
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Connections

Associated With

W.E.B. Du Bois, Thinkers

Du Bois and Washington were the leading rival voices on Black education in the early twentieth century.

Institutions Founded

Washington was the founding principal; the Alabama legislature provided the legal charter.

Source Tuskegee University Official Site
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source
Tuskegee University Official Site
Institutions Founded: Tuskegee University, Legacy page, first principal account
Quote, Institutions Founded: Tuskegee University, Legacy page, first principal account
Dr. Booker T. Washington the first teacher and Founding Principal
View the Source

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