The autobiography of Booker T. Washing titled Up From Slavery is a rich narrative of the man's life from slavery to one of the founders of the Tuskegee Institute. The book takes us through one of the most dynamic periods in this country's history, especially African Americans. I am very interested in the period following the Civil War and especially in the transformation of African Americans from slaves to freemen. Up From Slavery provides a great deal of information on this time period and helped me to better understand the transition. Up From Slavery provided a narrative on Washington's life, as well as his views on education and integration of African Americans. All though this book was written in the first year of this century I believe Washington's views are still valid today. America can probably still learn from them.

Booker T. Washington was born into slavery in either 1858 or 1859. Birth Records were usually not available to slaves. Booker, his brother and his mother moved to Malden West Virginia after the Civil War. They went to live with his stepfather, whom they had only seen a few times before. When they arrived in Malden, Washington was no more then nine ye

...Progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than artificial forcing...It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges. The opportunity to earn a doll in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than an opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house.

While reading about Washington I came across some information that might help vindicate him on his views on education. Today, the emphasis is on a college degree in academia, instead of manual labor. Also moral character is definitely not part of today's teachings. Joe Maxwell of the Capital Research Center writes in his report "The Legacy of Booker T. Washington" that market trends have shown Washington's system may provide more jobs to a greater number of the population then centers for higher learning. He reports that a recent survey showed that 25 percent of small businesses surveyed are worried about the shirking number of qualified workers in the trades. On the other hand in a recent survey of graduates from a small vocational school where 125 of 132 grads responded, only 8 of them were unemployed. The rest were working in their trades. According to Michael Cantwell, national director of manufacturing at a management consulting firm, "There is clearly a supply and demand problem for many manufactures" (Maxwell). An employment manager for a large electric company states that it is very frustrating that even C- minus students are going to college, leaving only D students for the blue collar jobs. Currently there are companies with hundreds of job openings that can't be filled, paying up to $20.00 per hour. Today a good tool and die maker can make up to $60,000 a year with a little over time (Maxwell).

I realize that these last few paragraphs are getting off of the autobiography of Booker Washington. However these questions came to mind while reading the book and you can not help but want to investigate further into the life and legacy of Washington. Washington did not think it was possible to take a race that had been held as slaves for generations and set them free then expect them to be equal to their former masters.

Eventually, he talked his stepfather into letting him attend school a few hours during the day. Booker, however, ran into another problem. His stepfather wanted him to work until 9:00 AM and the young Booker found it difficult to reach school in time. He therefore did something that he was not proud of later in life. Washington learned to change the clock every morning from half past eight to nine so he could arrive at school on time. The supervisor realized someone was changing the clock and locked it to deny access to all but himself. This is an example of the length to which the young Booker went to have a chance to learn. Booker learned at an early age the importance of doing things for himself.

I can not sum up what Washington thought about race relation and the education of African Americans better than his own words from his speech to The Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition, at Atlanta on September 18, 1895.

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Approximate Word count = 2600
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)