Booker T. Washington was born and later freed at this Virginia plantation, a place made nationally significant by both those beginnings and the achievements of his life. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, he became one of the country's most famous African-American leaders, authors, and educators. He led Alabama's Tuskegee Institute from 1882 until his death in 1815, building it into one of the most significant African-American institutions for higher learning. The plantation also reflects the era of slavery and the daily lives of the free and enslaved people who lived there.