Booker T. Washington

 

Man of mixed colors -

courage to stand on his own,

most influential.

(Photo by Wikipedia)

Ten Facts on Booker Taliaferro Washington:

1. He was born in the era of slavery to a father he didn't know and a mother who was a cook for the plantation's owner in the state of Virginia in the year 1856.
2. He was of mixed descent with his mother being Black and his father being White.
3. He was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to multiple Presidents.
4. He became a leader in the contemporary Black Elite with his wealth as a businessman and for his political nature.
5. In 1900, he founded the NNBL (National Negro Business League) organization.
6. In Tuskegee, Alabama, he founded a historically black college named the Tuskegee Institute. At the age of 25, he became principal of the Institute and worked there until his death in 1915.
7. "Atlanta Compromise" was the famous speech he gave on September 18, 1895, regarding the lynchings happening in the South of the United States.
8.  W.E.B. Dubois had a rivalry with him on their differing views of segregation as Washington wanted to keep the Blacks segregated, but with receiving equity and equality that the Whites had access to.
9. When Theodore Roosevelt invited Washington to dine with him, he became the first African American to be in the White House.
10. He was the author of 5 books:

• “The Story of My Life and Work” (1900)
• "Up From Slavery" (1901)
• “The Story of the Negro: The Rise of the Race from Slavery” (1909)
• “My Larger Education” (1911)
• “The Man Farthest Down” (1912)

(Info by History.com & Wikipedia.com)

Here is his historical marker at Piedmont Park in Georgia with his speech - "Atlanta Compromise".