Booker T. Washington

In this acclaimed autobiography, Booker T. Washington makes a case for lifting up his race through education. Washington uses his personal story as the example, from his birth to slave parents on a Virginia plantation and his struggle to go to school to his adult achievements as a public speaker and black leader. Washington outlines more than forty years of his life, emphasizing how he overcame great obstacles in order to pursue his education at Hampton University. As an adult, he opened a school for black students in Tuskegee, Alabama, and later he established other successful vocational schools. Throughout the book, Washington describes his educational philosophy and his hopes and dreams for African Americans. This is an unabridged version of Booker T. Washington's life story, which was first published in 1901.

An Autobiography

Up from Slavery

In 1856, Washington was born into a family of slaves in Virginia. From there it seemed that his fate had been sealed—to live out his life as a worker in Virginia. But, this was not the case for Washington, whose impoverished childhood and undying desire for education fueled him into a dedicated obsession with the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute until he found himself enrolled at the school itself. As an educated man, Booker T. Washington rose to power with his views on civil rights. Washington’s belief in education as well as trade skills for African Americans brought followers, and opposition, from all around. In Up from Slavery, all of Washington’s trials and tribulations are laid out on the page, with nothing left unsaid. Booker T. Washington wrote Up from Slavery over the course of many years in post-Civil War America. It not only contains articles originally published in Outlook magazine, but autobiographical anecdotes as well, which were written throughout Washington’s travels in the south. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

ashley larsen

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.

Up from Slavery: the Autobiography of Booker T. Washington

Rob Erekson

This book is very hard to review, as I attempt to separate the message of the book and the great philosophies of an amazing man, from the way he presents his story and the actual writing of the book.

There is no doubt that the story of Booker T. Washington is a great one. Born a slave and manages to build up a university and a reputation through pure hard work and hopefulness. Unfortunately I feel that while his intentions are beyond admirable, his outlook on racial harmony at the time (and his trust in the white race) was overly näive and hopeful. It’s really a shame that the worldview he had of his fellow American citizens wasn’t the path the country ultimately followed.

He mentions in the book’s preface that the biography was a collection of articles that he combined to create this book, which explains the inconsistent and meandering thoughts the book goes through. Learning about his life and growth as a human being was very educational, and his philosophies on how to better the situation of his race were exceptional, and that alone makes this book a must read for anybody with any interest in history.

5/5 for the story and message of the book
3/5 for the actual presentation of that story and message

Delve into the turbulent roots of race relations in the United States with this inspirational account from Booker T. Washington, a one-time slave who became an important advocate for African-American education and founded several well-known institutions of higher learning, including the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Up From Slavery details Washington's life and outlines his sometimes-controversial views on education, social justice, and racial equality.

Jeni Enjaian

A review from my old blog...

After reading an introduction to Booker T. Washington at the beginning of the book I found myself intrigued by the man. I've read W. E. B. Dubois' The Souls of Black Folks in which he does not think all that highly of Washington's writing.

I always found myself intrigued by the lives of black people both under slavery and just after. I don't think I agree with Washington's approach for helping them. His advice for bringing them up out of the devices that have oppressed them throughout the years of slavery.

His writing style is very captivating. I have no fault with him there. Unfortunately with nonfiction, the idea that the author is presenting often plays a significant role in how his writing is received.

For a student of history I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book written by a very famous man in American history. I consider it another piece of the puzzle that is human history.

Janet Doré

If you want to learn about Booker T., this is the book to read. What an amazing man! He's not a great writer, but it's a firsthand account of his life and accomplishments.

Up from Slavery An Autobiography

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