Summary Of Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery

Within the memoir of the book Up from Slavery tells the life story of Booker T. Washington, from childhood throughout the height and low points of his career. This book is written in first person, supplemented with excerpts from letters and newspaper editorials that are all information about his work.

Mr. Washington was born as a slave on a plantation in Virginia. He had an intensive sweltering hunger for edification and, once freedom arose, he trained himself to read. He spent much of his boyhood working in a salt furnace and a coal mine, attending school whenever he could. When he heard of the Hampton Institute - a school open to people of all races where students could work in exchange for board - he became determined to attend. After working for some time in the home of Mrs. Viola Ruffner, he set off for Hampton. His brilliant training and work habits paid off, as he was hired as a janitor and allowed to enroll. …show more content…
He also learned to eat with a tablecloth and a napkin, bathe regularly, brush his teeth, and use sheets. Donors paid his tuition, but he worked hard both during the year and in the summers to pay for his board and necessities such as clothing and books. He learned that the happiest people were those who did the most for others, that one of the best things education could do is to teach a man to love labor.

After graduation, Washington returned to his hometown of Malden, VA and began teaching in the community. He taught both during the day and at night, and prepared several students (including his brothers) to attend Hampton. He also studied for eight months in Washington, D.C., where he found that students were less self-reliant as they had not learned to help themselves through industrial work. He found that many blacks in the city had become lazy, hoping for an easy