Booker T. Washington was an American educator, author, and leader of the African American community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born into slavery in Virginia in 1856, but after the Civil War, he moved to West Virginia with his mother and stepfather, where he worked in coal mines and as a houseboy for a white family.Washington was determined to get an education, and he attended the Hampton Institute in Virginia, where he learned vocational skills and was exposed to the teachings of Samuel Chapman Armstrong, who emphasized the importance of practical education and self-help. After graduating from Hampton, Washington went on to establish the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1881, which became a leading center of education for African Americans.Washington believed that economic progress was the key to achieving racial equality, and he promoted vocational education and entrepreneurship as a means for African Americans to achieve self-sufficiency and improve their status in American society. He gained national prominence in 1895 when he delivered his famous Atlanta Exposition speech, in which he called on both African Americans and white Americans to work together to build a more prosperous and harmonious society.While Washington's emphasis on economic progress was criticized by some African American leaders, he was widely respected and influential during his lifetime, and his ideas continue to influence discussions about race and education in the United States today. He authored several books, including his autobiography, "Up from Slavery," which is regarded as a classic of American literature.
Measures 7 inches.
Bronze finished polystone.