Booker T. Washington Essay

Booker T. Washington was born on plantation in Franklin Country, Virginia, on April 5, 1856. After the Civil War, his families moved to Malden, West Virginia, were Booker T. Washington worked in the coal mines and salt Furnaces, and a house servant. Washington mom and he were determined for him to go to school. During four years, he was a student and attending Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute of higher learning for Africans American and later became Hampton University. When he was going to school he did not have a last name so he invented the last name of Washington when he was in school and the other children were giving their surnames. After Washington graduated from Hampton Normal, he pursued a career a career as an educator. He was a teacher for two years in Malden and then he furthered his education at Washington D.C Wayland Seminary. Then he accepted a position at Hampton Normal. He was the head of industrial training of 75 Native American. He was named principal of Hampton Normal which later became Tuskegee University. On September 18, 1895, Washington made a historic speech in Atlanta, Georgia. In what was known as the (Atlanta Compromise Speech) Washington encouraged African American to accept lower social status for the time being and to focus instead on advancement through career training, education, and economic independence. Washington’s health began to become worse in his later years as he was traveling and working a lot. He failed while he was in New York City, and he was brought back home to Tuskegee, and he died there on November 14, 1915 when he was 59 years old. The cause of his death was unknown, but it was likely from arteriosclerosis and nervous exhaustion. His body was buried on the campus of Tuskegee University near University Chapel. In March of 2006, looking into his medical records showed that he died from hypertension with blood pressure that was two times higher than a normal blood pressure.