Booker Taliaferro Washington

Born in 1856 near Hale's Ford in Franklin County, Virginia, Booker T. Washington spent his early life in Malden, West Virginia, where he worked in the Ruffner Salt Works and for Mrs. Viola Ruffner, whom he credited with inspiring him to seek an education. He graduated from Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia, in 1875, returned to Malden to teach for two years, and later became an instructor and assistant to the president of his alma mater. In 1881, through his originality, vision, and force, he established at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama the first vocational school for Negroes in America. A famous educator, author, lecturer, and advocate of interracial cooperation, he emphasized training the hands as much as the mind and taught the value of vocational education not only to Negro youth but to the world. Born a lowly slave and dying in 1915 a great American, he was remembered for lifting the veil of ignorance from his people and pointing the way to progress through industry and education.

Charleston, West Virginia · United States