Up from Slavery an Autobiography

Up From Slavery An Autobiography

Booker T. Washington 1901

TheBestNotes Study Guide by Diane Clapsaddle

KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS

SETTING

Franklin County, Virginia; Malden, West Virginia; Hampton, Virginia; Tuskegee, Alabama; various states in America and various countries in Europe 1858-1901

LIST OF CHARACTERS

MAJOR CHARACTERS

Booker T. Washington Because this is his autobiography, his ideas and philosophies, dominate the narrative. He takes us from his birth to 1901 and shows us all the experiences he had in his journey out of slavery to dignity.

Booker’s Mother This character doesn’t actually speak much in the narrative, but she is a very strong presence because of her influence on her son’s life.

Mrs. Ruffner Booker comes to work in her house and it’s from her that he learns the value of cleanliness. She becomes a great friend who gives him support whenever her needs it.

General Samuel C. Armstrong He is the most dominant influence in Booker’s life. As the founder of the Hampton Institute, he provides many young Negroes the opportunity for an education, including Booker.

Miss Mary F. Mackie She is the admission counselor when Booker seeks entrance to Hampton. She tests him through the value of cleanliness and work before she will admit him to the school.

Miss Olive A. Davidson She is Booker’s second wife and has a very strong influence over Tuskegee in the eight years she is there.

CONFLICT

Protagonist

The Protagonist is Booker T. Washington who spends his life trying to lift his people up from slavery. He perseveres in every endeavor he tries and eventually founds the Tuskegee Institute to promote education and industry

Antagonist

The Antagonists include: white people whom Booker must win over to his cause and whom he believes are basically decent and good; and his own people whose faith he must strive constantly to keep aliv.e

Climax

The climax comes with Booker’s address to the Atlanta Exposition. Here, for the first time, a Negro stands on the same platform as white speakers. It is in this speech where he uses the metaphor of “Cast your buckets down” and he is wildly congratulated for making the Negro’s position and advancement in America better known to the white race.

Outcome

At the end of his autobiography in 1901, Booker believed that there was optimism for his race in America, and he predicted that the day would come when the races mixed freely and cooperatively. That feeling was the result of his speech in Richmond, Virginia in a building near where he had once been forced to sleep under a wooden sidewalk. He recognizes how far he has come.

SHORT SUMMARY (SYNOPSIS)

This autobiography begins with Booker’s recollection of his birth in Franklin County, Virginia, in 1858 or 1895 and follows his progress through his education, his establishment of the Tuskegee Institute, and his fame as a speaker who presents the importance of good race relations to as many audiences of both races as he can reach.

THEMES

The value of education

The first and most important theme is the value of education. Booker emphasizes this idea throughout his autobiography, because as a slave, he had been denied the right to learn and once he was free, like nearly everyone of his race, he soaked up learning like a sponge.

The dignity of work

A second important theme is the dignity of work. Booker firmly believed that no education was complete without learning a trade. He believed that there was tremendous value in work and that his race would never rise up without being able to work a trade in their communities that was needed by every race.

Slavery

The net of slavery is often thematically presented. Booker believed that slavery affected the Negroes, but affected the white race morally, and so no one escaped its terrible impact.

The relationship between the races

The relationship between the races is a theme that naturally flows out of the idea of the net of slavery. Booker came to understand that he had the influence to reach as many people of both races as possible to convince them how valuable a good relationship between them would be to the growth of the individual, the community, and the nation.

Success is measured by the obstacles we have to overcome to reach it and not what we have actually attained

The last theme involves the idea that success is measured by the obstacles we have to overcome to reach it and not what we have actually attained. Mr. Washington felt that a man’s character was built by how many walls he had to climb over before he reached his goal. It was the process of achievement that was more important than the finished product.

MOOD Overall, the mood is one of setbacks interspersed with optimism. Washington emphasizes the optimism and believes that whites and blacks living together in harmony is not only possible, but probable in spite of the ghost of the institution of slavery.

BIOGRAPHY OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Although Booker himself was unsure of his birth date, it has been determined now that he was born on April 5, 1856 near Hale’s Ford, Virginia on the Burroughs farm.

He was born into slavery, as his mother was a slave and that made him the property of the same owner. After Emancipation in 1865, he had to help his poverty-stricken parents by working in the salt mines and the coalmines of West Virginia. He wanted to go to school so badly that at the age of 16, he walked over two hundred miles to attend school at the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia. He became a teacher, because he was convinced that only through education could his race rise up from the burdens of slavery. He first taught in his hometown, then at the Hampton Institute, and finally at the Tuskegee Institute which he himself founded.

Because he had to travel throughout the country in search of funding for the Institute, he soon gained fame as an important speaker for his race. His famous speech at the Atlanta Exposition brought the attention of the white race to his belief that Negroes could actually raise themselves up through hard work and education.

He was often encouraged to run for office, but always turned down the suggestion, because he wanted to devote his life to the field of education.

He died at the age of 59 on November 14, 1815 in Tuskegee.

CHAPTER SUMMARIES WITH NOTES / ANALYSIS

PREFACE

Summary

In the preface, Mr. Washington explains how he came to write his autobiography. It came about as an outgrowth of a series of articles he had written for the magazine Outlook. He received many requests for the articles to be preserved in book form. He regrets that his book is in such an imperfect form given that he is so busy with his administrative duties with the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. He has, however, used the time whenever he could find it: waiting for trains or in hotel rooms or at such stolen moments between his duties with Tuskegee. He ends the preface with a thank you for Mr. Max Bennett Thrasher who assisted him in putting this book together.

Notes

The preface is a wonderful indication of the sincerity and honest motivations of Mr. Washington. It immediately makes him a likeable man, one deserving of respect for his desire to present his story in a straightforward manner and to give credit to the man who helped make it possible.

CHAPTER ONE – A Slave Among Slaves

Summary

This chapter begins where it should begin – at the beginning! Or least at the beginning as Booker knew it. He tells us he was born in Franklin County Virginia, but he is not sure of the year – it’s either 1858 or 1859 – and he doesn’t know what month or what day. He does know that his birth took place near a crossroads post-office called Hale’s Ford. Otherwise, his earliest impressions are of the plantation and the slave quarters, the most miserable, desolate, and discouraging of surroundings. His owners were not especially cruel, at least not as compared to other owners, but still he was forced to live in a 14 x 16 foot cabin with his mother, his brother, and his sister.

He knew almost nothing of his ancestry other than the whispers in the quarters about how horrible the voyage their ancestors had taken from Africa to America. However, that didn’t help him know the history of his own family. He did know that his mother had a half-brother and a half-sister, but her purchase as a slave attracted little more attention than the purchase of a cow or pig and there were no records of black people. He also didn’t know who his father was other than reports that he was a white man who lived on another plantation. His name was unknown to Booker, but he didn’t hate his father; he merely saw him as just another victim of the institution of slavery.

His mother was the plantation cook and the kitchen was also where they lived. It was without glass windows, had a door that barely hung on uneven hinges, and had large cracks in the walls that let in the coldest air in the winter and the humidity in the summer. The floor was the naked earth. Booker had a distinct memory of a potato hole in the cabin where sweet potatoes were stored. He was in charge of putting potatoes in or taking them out and in the process, he was able to snatch a few for himself. All the plantation cooking was done in an open fireplace, and there was none left for the slaves unless his mother was able to steal a chicken and cook it for her children late at night. In spite of the fact that taking the potatoes or stealing a chicken might be labeled as theft, Mr. Washington refused to believe that their actions were wrong given the circumstances of the time. Like his white father, his mother and he were also victims of the institution of slavery.

Booker had no memory of ever playing games or sports. He regretted that situation, because he believed he would be an even more useful man if he had. However, his life was devoted to work, because he was slave. He cleaned yards, carried water, or took corn to the mill. Carrying corn to the mill was the one of the hardest jobs he ever had. He was small and not very strong and even though he had a horse, if the corn shifted and slipped off, he had to wait until someone came along to help him put it back, and the time waiting was usually spent crying. Add to that the fact that he had to walk through the woods alone. He was always frightened, because the woods were often full of army deserters who were said to cut off the ears of any Negro boy they found there. Then, if he came home late, he was at the least, severely scolded, and at the worst, flogged. Life was very hard.

As for schooling, as a slave, he had none, but from the earliest he could remember, he ached for the opportunity to learn. Being able to walk into a schoolhouse would be like walking into paradise for him.

His earliest understanding that he was a slave came when he awoke early one morning and heard his mother praying that Lincoln and his armies would be successful, and that one day, she and her children would be free. He was also eternally amazed how a large mass of people like slaves, who were ignorant of books and newspapers, nonetheless, were completely and accurately informed about “great National questions that were agitating the country.” He calls it the grapevine telegraph. The news was usually received through the colored man who was sent to the post office for the mail. He would linger as long as he could to listen in on conversations of white people congregated there, and in this way, he often brought back news to the slave quarters before it was even heard in the “big house.”

Booker also had no memories of ever sitting down together at a table with his family to share a meal. Like most slaves, they ate with their hands, and since food was scarce, they ate quickly to satisfy their hunger. As a result, when he was sent to the big house at mealtimes to fan flies from the food by means of a large set of paper fans operated by a pulley, he saw for the first time how a meal could be shared in a genteel way. He also was able to listen in to their conversations on the subjects of freedom and war and absorb the news that he could tell his fellow slaves. Furthermore, he saw his masters eating ginger cakes, and the height of his ambition became to reach a point where he could eat ginger cakes in just the same manner as his owners.

Surprisingly, as the war progressed, the slaves felt it easier to accept deprivation than their white owners did. They had spent their lives deprived while white people were often in great straits when it came to those things they took for granted - coffee, tea, sugar, and other articles they were accustomed to.

Booker’s first pair of shoes were wooden – leather on top, but wooden bottoms that made a fearful noise and made him walk awkwardly. He also had to wear flax shirts, an ordeal that was one of the most trying he ever faced. It was made from the refuse of the flax, the cheapest and roughest part and pulling it on for the first time was to him like pulling a tooth. However, he had no choice, because he either wore the flax shirt or he wore nothing. Fortunately, his brother John often generously offered to wear the shirt to help break it in.

Mr. Washington is quick to pint out at this point in his narrative that one might suppose that he and the rest of his people would have had bitter feelings towards whites. However, in the case of the slaves on his plantation, this was not true. In fact, he believed it was not true for most of the black population of the South at that time. Instead, when one of their young masters was killed in battle, their sorrow was as great as that of the white family. “Mars Billy” had often begged for mercy for the slaves when they were being flogged or punished as he cared deeply for them from childhood. The slaves would also stay up around the clock to help nurse their wounded masters, and when the men were gone to battle, the slaves took upon themselves the serious responsibility to protect the white women and children with their lives if necessary. It was an honor among the slaves to be appointed as the ones to sleep in the big house during the absence of the men. All of this, to Mr. Washington, was a result of the kind and generous nature of the Negro race, which never in his memory would betray a specific trust.

In later years, the former slaves were even known to support and care for their former masters with gifts of money, food, and time to keep them from suffering. One ex-slave from Ohio had made a contract with his master two or three years before the Emancipation Proclamation to buy himself by paying so much per year for his own body. Once freedom came, he still owed his former master $300. Because he was free, he could have walked away from the debt, but the man walked the greater portion of the distance to Virginia to finish paying the debt. He had given his word to his master, and he felt his word must never be broken. He could not have enjoyed his freedom until he had fulfilled his promise.

The generous nature of the Negro slaves was no indication that they really didn’t want to be free. In fact, freedom was the greatest hope of their lives. However, said Washington, having been slaves or being the descendents of slaves had made Negroes better than any other black people in the world. He said that Providence so often uses men and institutions to accomplish a purpose and that it had made Negroes better people. Furthermore, slavery wasn’t just hurtful to blacks; it was also hurtful to whites who had no spirit or self- reliance and had never mastered a single trade or line of productive industry. They had no idea how to care for their homes and the refinements of their lives once the slaves were gone so when freedom came, the slaves were almost as well prepared to begin life anew as their masters.

In the days preceding their freedom, the grapevine telegraph worked overtime and the slaves catered to all the Yankee soldiers who passed through in order to get vital information about the end of the war. There was more, bolder singing in the quarters where the word “freedom” in their hymns had been assumed by the white race to mean death and a glorious meeting with God, but now the true meaning came out. The word “freedom” was the reality of Emancipation. Then, one morning the slaves were all called to the “big house” where they were told first by the sadness on the faces of their masters and then by the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation that they were really free. There was great rejoicing for some minutes, but no bitterness towards their former owners, and then the reality set in: they were suddenly in charge of themselves and it was a greater responsibility than they had ever faced before. What was even more sobering was the condition of the old people – those in their seventies and eighties – who had a strange attachment to their owners. As a result, one by one, they stealthily wandered to the big house to have whispered conversations with their former masters as to their future.

Notes This large chapter is a wonderful exposé of life as a slave and a generous explanation of the relationship between the slaves and their masters. Booker never shows any bitterness about his life, but instead, explains the realties for both races, both during slavery and at emancipation.

UP FROM SLAVERY STUDY GUIDE / NOTES

CHAPTER TWO – Boyhood Days

Summary

The coming of freedom brought two points to the surface with which most Negroes agreed: they needed to change their names and they needed to leave the plantation for at least a few days to try out their freedom. For Booker, this meant traveling to West Virginia with mother and siblings, because her husband had secured employment in the salt mines. They began their journey from Virginia to a little town called Malden about five miles from Charleston, West Virginia. His stepfather had not only gotten them jobs, but he had also secured a little cabin for them all. However, in many respects life in that cabin was worst than the slave quarters. They were crowded very close together and the filth was intolerable. The people were a “motley mix” of colored and poor, degraded white people. Even young Booker had to go to work at 4:00AM in one of the salt furnaces, which were filthier than the cabin where they lived.

The first thing he ever learned in the way of book knowledge was in the furnaces. The packers marked their barrels with certain numbers, and his boss would put an “18” on all his barrels and Booker soon came to learn his first number symbol. He had an intense desire to learn to read. He finally got his mother to get him a book and somehow she procured a Webster “blue-back” spelling book. It contained the alphabet and meaningless phonic sounds, but Booker devoured it. He realized the alphabet would lead to words, and he was determined to apply it anywhere he could. His mother was the one who shared with him, aided him and abetted him in his desire. Later, a young colored boy came to Malden, and he knew how to read. At the close of every day’s work, people who wanted him to read the newspapers to them surrounded him. Booker really envied this boy. Then, about that time, the questions of opening a school for colored children became the subject of discussion among the former slaves. The problem was finding a teacher. Not long after, a former colored soldier with considerable education came to town and the first school opened. The school was open night and day to accommodate work schedules. For the older people, it was learning to read the Bible before they died. For everyone, though, it was just the opportunity finally to go to school. Booker, however, was disappointed, because his stepfather could not afford to allow him to quit working and go to school with the other children. So his mother arranged with the teacher to give Booker lessons at night. He accepted this arrangement happily, but his boyish desire was to be just like the other children and go to day school. He finally succeeded in his desire as long as he went to work before school and after.

Because the school was some distance walk from the furnace, Booker was often late. Work ended at 9:00AM and school began at the same time. He conceived the idea, as a result, to move the clock hands at work from 8:30 to 9:00AM, and he could leave work earlier. Eventually, the boss locked the clocked face, but this emphasized Booker’s desire to be at school on time. Another problem he faced was his lack of a cap. All the other boys wore caps to school, but Booker didn’t have one. Once again, his mother saved the day by taking two pieces of “homespun” (jeans) and sewing them together to make his first cap. He was inordinately proud of his mother who didn’t give in to the temptation to go into debt and buy him a store cap. Instead, she came up with one that he was always proud to wear.

Once he had a cap, he then had another problem: choosing a name. When the teacher asked him his name, he decided that he was Booker Washington. Later, his mother reminded him that when he was born, she had given him the name Booker Taliafero, but that the second name had been forgotten. Now, he added it and became Booker Taliafero Washington. With a cap and a name, he resolved to continue with his desire to create an ancestry for his children of which they would be proud and which might encourage them to strive even higher. As a result, knowing that a Negro youth starts out with a presumption of failure against him, he determined that, day or night, he would get an education. About the same time, his mother adopted into the family another son who was named James B. Washington.

Booker dreaded working in the salt mines more than anything he did. They were filthy and filled with the blackest darkness. He feared constantly of getting lost in the mine or his light going out. What’s more, it was dangerous on just a regular basis. He noted that young boys who began life in a coalmine were often physically and mentally dwarfed and had no ambition beyond the mines.

At the same time as he was being educated, Booker tried to imagine the feelings and ambitions of a white boy who had no limit placed upon his aspirations and activities. Under such circumstances, he knew he would begin at the bottom and keep rising until he reached the “highest round of success.” However, he confessed that he did not envy the white boy as he once did. He had learned that success is measured not in the position you have reached in life, but the obstacles you have over come to get there. Out of the struggles he has to overcome, the Negro youth achieves a strength and a confidence that he would miss if his pathway in life were comparatively smooth because of his race or birth. Race will not carry one forward unless he has individual worth, and because of these observations, Booker had come to be very proud of the race to which he belonged.

Notes

This chapter is devoted to Booker’s observations of his boyhood in West Virginia. It emphasizes how important education becomes for him and shows how he comes to value the race to which he belongs.

CHAPTER SUMMARY AND NOTES

CHAPTER THREE – The Struggle for an Education

Summary

One day while at work, Booker overheard two men talking about a school for colored people opening up in Virginia. He learned that not only was the school established, but opportunities were also provided to work out the cost of board and at the same time, the student would be taught a trade or some industry. It seemed to him to be the greatest place on earth and he determined to go to the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. To continue to earn money, he left the salt mines and got a job in the home of General Lewis Ruffner, the owner of the mines. His wife was a very exacting stern boss, and many young men had quit or been fired, because they didn’t meet her standards. Booker soon learned that to make her happy, you had to understand that she wanted things clean, done promptly and systematically and she wanted absolute honesty and frankness. They developed a great friendship based on trust. Here, he started his first library, placing all the books he could get his hands on into a dry goods box. Mrs. Ruffner also was the one who encouraged Booker to go to Hampton, but she also worried that he was starting out on a wild goose chase with little money, clothing, or shelter on the way. His brother gave him as much money as he could, and older people who were proud of his ambition would give him nickels and dimes here and there. Finally, the day came when he would leave Malden. His mother was in ill health and so when he told her goodbye, it was with the realization that he would probably never see her again.

He set off by stagecoach, knowing halfway through the 500-mile trip that he probably didn’t have enough money to finish the trip. He also learned what the color of his skin meant when he was turned away at an in where the stagecoach stopped by the man at the desk who wouldn’t even consider giving him food or lodging. He walked around all night and then began begging for rides in wagons and cars until he was 82 miles from Hampton. Again, he was forced to just walk around the city of Richmond, having no way to pay his way. He finally found an elevated spot in the board sidewalk and he crawled under there to sleep. He had gone a long time without food, so the next morning he went to a ship unloading a cargo of pig iron and asked for a job. He worked there for a while to earn food money and slept at night under the sidewalk. Years later, he was in Richmond for a reception where over 2000 people were present. It was held in a spot not far from the sidewalk under which he had slept and his mind kept drifting to thoughts of it rather the cordial reception given just for him.

Finally, Booker saved enough money to reach Hampton. He figured he had a surplus of exactly 50 cents. When he reached Hampton, he was awed by the beauty of the school building and believed that now his life would have new meaning. He presented himself before the head teacher to enroll, but he didn’t make a very favorable impression on her, because of his dirty clothes and rough appearance. He had to change her opinion so when she sent him into an adjoining reception room and asked him to sweep it, instead he realized she was a Yankee woman who knew just where to look for dirt. Therefore, he swept, polished and dusted over and over again every surface of the room, and when she inspected his work, she decided he would be allowed to enter the school. He thought of his sweeping of the room as his college entrance exam. To help him work out the cost of his board, she offered him the position of janitor. The work was hard, but he stuck to it. She – Miss Mary F. Mackie – became one of his strongest and helpful friends.

The man who made the greatest impression on him was General Samuel C. Armstrong. He was to Booker one of the noblest, rarest human beings he had ever met. He was very unselfish and worshipped by his students and was determined to assist in lifting up the Negro race. He got S. Griffitts Morgan of New Bedford, Massachusetts to defray the cost of Booker’s tuition. The teachers at Hampton also helped Booker obtain more clothing according to the strict rules of the school to have clean clothes and polished shoes. He was supplied with second hand clothing sent in barrels from the North.

Besides the clothing, Booker slept in his first bed that actually had sheets on them. He was so unfamiliar with them that for the first several nights, he wasn’t sure how they worked. However, by watching the other boys, he soon learned how to make his bed. He was also one of the youngest boys in the school, but that didn’t dim his determination. Every hour was occupied with study no matter what age the student and Booker felt that the part the Yankee teachers played in the education of the Negroes immediately after the war would be one of the most thrilling parts of the history of our country.

Notes

This chapter furthers the emphasis that Booker placed on his education, and what he would go through to achieve his dream. It’s important to note, however, that he gives credit more to those who were to help him than to himself: his mother, Mrs. Ruffner, Miss Mackie, General Armstrong, and the teachers of Hampton. It shows his modesty and his trust in those of all races.

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CHAPTER FOUR – Helping Others

Summary

This chapter begins with Booker’s next difficulty: finding somewhere to live during vacation when he had no money to travel home and no money to pay for lodgings. He had a new second-hand coat that was very valuable and he thought he would sell it to earn money. Unfortunately, when one man came to buy the coat for $3.00, he wanted to give him five cents down and pay the rest as soon as he could get it. That was a terrible disappointment for Booker. His next idea was to find work as close as possible to Hampton and he managed to secure a job in a restaurant in Fort Monroe. He thought that the wages here could help pay the sixteen dollars he owed his school. One night, he found a ten-dollar bill under a table and showed his boss what he had found. Unfortunately again, the man decided that since he owned the restaurant, the money belonged to him. Once again, he was discouraged, but not enough to keep him from continuing to try. After this, he went to General J. F. B. Marshall, the treasurer of Hampton, and told him frankly about his problem making enough money to pay off his debt. The General told him he trusted him enough to pay him when he could.

During his second year, Booker continued to work as a janitor and continued to discover the unselfishness of his teachers. He came to learn that those who are the happiest are those who do the most for others. Miss Nathalie Lord, one of the teachers, taught him the use and value of the Bible. He learned it was an important tome for spiritual help, but also as a source of good literature. He made it a rule from then on to read a chapter or portion of one every morning. He also owed what he knew as a public speaker from her. She gave him private lessons, and even though he never liked to speak publicly, she made him aware that he needed to be able to speak to the world if he were going to help it. Booker also enjoyed the debating societies and attended every week. Eventually, he was instrumental in organizing one himself.

At the end of his second year, when vacation rolled around, Booker was able to go home with the help of his mother, his brother, John, and a small gift from one of his teachers. There was no work in the mines or furnaces in Malden that summer, because the workers were on strike. Booker explains that he could never understand the purpose of a strike, because the workers would often eventually return to work in deeper debt than before and having lost their savings to professional labor agitators. He was gratified by the respect and awe the people in his community showed him as an educated man, but he was more concerned about getting a job. One day after looking for employment in a town a considerable distance away, he was too tired to walk all the way home and spent the night in an abandoned house. His brother, John, found him there about three o’clock in the morning and told him that their mother had died that night. Booker was devastated, because he had always pictured himself being with his mother when she died. He had also dreamed of begin in a secure position someday to make his mother’s life more comfortable. Now it was all for naught. As a result, his household became one of confusion, because no one knew how to do the jobs his mother had always done. It was Mrs. Ruffner who the stepped in to help him by giving him a part time job which he worked when he wasn’t working in a coal mine some distance away. He even thought he might have to give up returning to Hampton, but eventually he secured some winter clothes for the school year and enough money to pay for his trip back.

Once he was back in Hampton, he believed his janitorial job would see him through for money for the school year. Then, Miss Mackie sent him a letter asking him to return two weeks early to help her thoroughly clean the school before the students arrived. She taught him the dignity of labor.

During his final year at Hampton, he devoted himself to study and work and was proud to be placed on the honor roll of Commencement speakers. He concluded that he achieved two benefits from his studies at Hampton: contact with the great man, General S. C. Armstrong and learning what education was expected to do. He learned what it meant to live a life of unselfishness. Because he was completely out of money when he graduated, Booker took a position as a waiter at a summer hotel in Connecticut. However, he knew nothing about waiting tables and when he made unforgivable mistakes, he was severely scolded and reduced to being a dish carrier. However, this didn’t discourage him. Instead, he was determined to learn the business of waiting and once he did, he was restored to his former position.

After the hotel season ended, Booker returned home to Walden. He was elected to teach at the colored school there and he felt he finally had the opportunity to lift up the people of his own town. He did more than teach them about books. He also taught them cleanliness and pride in themselves. He opened a night school, established a reading room, and started a debating society. He also taught Sunday school and gave private lessons to young men he determined were perfect candidates for the Hampton Institute. To add to all that he was already doing, Booker worked to help his brother, John go to Hampton and later, both of them put all their efforts into making education at the Institute available to their adopted brother, James.

While Booker was home in Malden, he noticed the activity of the Ku Klux Klan, a vicious group of white men determined to regulate the activities of colored people, especially when it came to the area of politics. They were very much like the “patrollers” who did the same doing the period of slavery, but more dangerous and brutal. His friend, General Ruffner, was one of the white people injured by the KKK during a confrontation between both races. He saw this as the darkest period of the Reconstruction days. Ironically, given what the reader now knows, Booker’s final assessment that there are no such organizations in the South as he is writing this book is surprising.

Notes

This chapter is Washington’s assessment of what he learned at Hampton about the kindness of people and what true happiness is. He gives so much of himself to so many, because he learned such unselfishness from the people at Hampton. These are valuable lessons he then passes on to those he educates. The key is always education as a means to lift up his people. Unfortunately, for his assessment of the KKK, he would have been surprised to see it rear its ugly head again in the 40’s and 50’s.

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CHAPTER FIVE - The Reconstruction Period

Summary

Booker determined that the years 1867 to 1878 were the years of the Reconstruction. During this period, colored people were agitated by two things: learning Greek and Latin and holding office. They felt knowledge of one or both of these languages made them superior individuals. As a result, they often took up positions of teachers or preachers when most could do little more than write their names. They took up these professions, because they viewed them as an easy way to make a living. The ministry was the profession that suffered the most. The men who became preachers were often not only uneducated, but also immoral. Booker had high hopes, however, that in the coming years, these sorts of men would have eventually disappeared.

Another problem Booker noted during this period was the tendency of his people to rely too much on the Federal Government, somewhat like a child relies on its mother. To Booker, this was unnatural. The government gave them freedom, but failed in its duty to provide for their general education and prepare them for the duties of citizenship. As a result, he saw that his people needed to learn the skills to take care of themselves. The government never made a plan for Reconstruction that was realistic, mistakes were made, and the ignorance of his people was used to put white men into office. Furthermore, there was an element in the North that wanted to punish Southerners by pushing the Negro into political positions higher than white men. He was sure the Negro would be the one to suffer for this.

Booker further observed that the allure of the political life hurt his race. It was not something he ever aspired to, but others of his race did and in many stances were ill prepared for the job. Some did well, but most were used by the Carpetbaggers to punish the South. As a result, Southerners began to feel that if Negroes held political office, the tyranny of the Reconstruction period would be repeated. His solution was to counsel his people to act in a manner that would not alienate his white neighbors and to make the law apply with absolute honesty.

In the fall of 1878, he spent several months in Washington D. C. in study at an institution there. He found the students in most cases had more money than ones he had known or they had their expenses paid for them. As a result, they seemed less independent than what he was used to. They didn’t want to begin at the bottom and work diligently towards the top. They seemed to know less about life and its conditions than the Hampton students did. He also saw that the city was crowded with colored people, because they were attracted to a life in political office. He even observed that the Washington schools for colored people than they were elsewhere, so he took a great interest in the lives of his people there. However, they were too dependent on the government and had little occupational training.

Notes

In this chapter, we see from the observation of a person who lived it, how the mistakes of the Federal Government after the Civil War helped contribute to problems black people face even today. The idea of entitlement passed through the generations and Booker’s concept of the dignity of labor was destroyed by the failure of the government to plan for the process of citizenship for black people and the inability of the black race to not switch their dependency from their masters to the government.

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CHAPTER SIX - Black Race and Red Race

Summary

During the time that West Virginia was involved in changing its capital, Booker’s reputation as a speaker grew and he was encouraged to enter politics. However, he refused, believing he could find other service, which would prove more helpful to his people. He felt it would be a selfish kind of success – he would be successful at the expense of his duty to help lay a foundation for the masses. He remembered an old colored man who wanted to learn how to play the guitar and applied to one of his young masters to teach him. His young master attempted to discourage the old man by telling him that he would have to charge him $3 for the first lesson, $2 for the second and $1 for the third. The final lesson would only be 25 cents. The old man agreed as long his young master gave him the final lesson first! This metaphor reminded Booker how much he needed to educate his people to be truly independent.

His reputation definitely preceded him for Booker was soon honored by an invitation to give the post-graduate address at the Hampton Commencement. He entitled it “The Force That Wins.” He was warmly welcomed back to his old school and felt elated that Hampton still refused to educated their pupils by dragging them through an educational mold. They looked to give each student what he or she needed specifically. His speech pleased everyone, and he later received a letter from General Armstrong asking him to return to Hampton partly as a teacher and partly to pursue some supplementary studies. General Armstrong’s newest experiment involved Booker educating Indians at Hampton. He found himself in a building with 75 Indians, he being the only one not of their race. They naturally felt superior to the black race, because they had never allowed themselves to be enslaved. However, he felt his responsibility so greatly in this project that he soon had the complete confidence of the Indians as well as their love and respect. The most difficult part, of course, was convincing the Indians that to be successful, they had to cut their hair, shave, bathe, and dress in white men’s clothes. He succeeded and discovered that there was little difference between the colored and the Indians educationally. He is especially gratified to see how the colored students stepped forward to help the Indians in any way they could and made Booker wish he could tell white people how raising up oneself, the more they raises up a race less fortunate. It reminded him of something the Honorable Frederick Douglass once said after he was made to ride in the baggage car of a train even though he had paid the same price as everyone else. He said, “They cannot degrade Frederick Douglass. The soul that is within me no man can degrade. I am not the one that is being degraded on account of this treatment, but those who are inflicting it upon me.” Therefore, when white people degraded colored people or people of other races, the truth is that they were only degrading themselves. His test for knowing a true gentleman became the observation of the man in contact with people less fortunate than himself.

While educating the Indians, Booker also observed the “curious workings of caste in America.” For example, in a restaurant, an Indian could be served, but Booker, a black man, could not. And in a small town once, he saw a Moroccan nearly lynched because of his color, until people saw he didn’t speak English, and then he was let go.

At the end of the first year with the Indians, he was awarded another opening at Hampton. It helped prepare him for his later work at Tuskegee. The job involved a night school for prospective students who had no way to pay the fees for their education. Booker’s responsibility was to see that they worked for ten hours and went to night school for two. They would be paid a little above the cost of their board, which would be applied to their tuition for the next year. The men worked in a sawmill close by, and the women worked in a laundry. They were such enthusiastic students that Booker labeled them “The Plucky Class.” There were twenty-five of them and they all graduated to hold important and useful positions throughout the South.

Notes

Booker learned a great deal about life and race by educating the Indians. He learned that his race would always be considered the bottom of the caste system in America, but that they were so much more compassionate and willing to help other races than those who would place themselves higher on the caste system. He was proud of that fact but also realistic about the hardships his people faced in the future.

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CHAPTER SEVEN – Early Days at Tuskegee

Summary

General Armstrong told Booker that he had received a letter from a gentleman in Alabama asking him to recommend someone to take charge of a normal school for colored people in the little town of Tuskegee. At first, the man was expecting the General to send a white man, but when the General endorsed Booker, they accepted him, and he was off to Tuskegee. He liked the town immediately and found that the two races got along pleasantly. Then, the Alabama Legislature awarded the new school a small annual appropriation of $2000, but the money could only be used for teacher’s salaries. There was no provision for land, buildings, or apparatus. As a result, Booker needed to find a place to open the school. The first building he was able to secure was a shanty beside the Methodist Church. The church itself would be used as an assembly room. Once he arrived, Booker observed that the same desire for political office attracted his people here and that none would ever vote for a white person if a colored person were running for the same office. At the time he was writing this book, he felt that his people had begun to recognize that color didn’t automatically make the best candidate.

Not only did Booker spend time looking for accommodations for his school, but he also traveled through Alabama, examining the actual lives of the people. He wasn’t surprised at the poverty that still afflicted his people, nor their diet. However, he worried about their insistence on planting just one crop: cotton. Furthermore, he agonized over their willingness to spend their hard-earned money on such things as sewing machines and clocks and an organ they couldn’t play. He was fascinated by their daily lives and the poor conditions of the schools and the churches they attended. There were exceptions to what he saw and he was encouraged that there was a spirit of change in the community.

Notes

Booker T. Washington was a fascinating character. What other teacher would take the time to visit the home of the people whose children would be attending their schools? Booker wanted to understand the kind of lives his pupils lived in order to understand what motivated them and the problems he would have to be aware of when they attended his school.

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CHAPTER EIGHT – Teaching School in a Stable and a Hen House

Summary

Booker’s travels through Alabama left him with a heavy heart, but he was determined to create a school that was more than an imitation of New England education. The school opened on July 4, 1881. White people did question the value of the school, because they worried that Negroes, once educated, would then leave the farms where they worked and they wouldn’t accept domestic service anymore. They worried that it would affect the economic system of the South. That too was an aspect of his idea for education that had to be overcome.

The original letter to General Armstrong came from a white man, Mr. George W. Campbell, and a black man and ex-slave, Mr. Lewis Adams. From the beginning, these two men understood Booker’s educational plan and sympathized with him. Mr. Campbell especially offered all the aid he could. Booker came to believe that the most leading and reliable colored men in the community would those who learned a trade. That would be the foundation of his educational plan.

Thirty students reported for admission and all were above 15 years of age and had some previous education. The greater part of them had been public school teachers. Some were the former pupils of these teachers. Unfortunately, they came into the school with preconceived ideas about what they would learn. They could memorize long rules and information but couldn’t apply them to everyday life. They thought an education meant automatically earning more money. Fortunately, they were amenable to the lessons that Booker thought important.

At the end of the first six weeks, a new face entered the school – Miss Olive A. Davidson, who later became Booker’s wife. She had been a yellow fever nurse in Ohio, but came to the South, because she thought people needed more than mere book learning. She was trained at the Massachusetts State Normal School, and to Booker, she had a rare moral character and lived a life of unselfishness. He felt that no single individual did more toward laying the foundations of the Tuskegee Institute than she had. Like Booker, she believed that their people needed an education that would involve an industry they could take back to the plantations and teach to the people needing it there.

They first setback they faced was the attitude that getting an education meant no longer working with their hands. Then, they overcame their need for a proper setting for the school when they found a plantation where the big house had burned, but the outbuildings were still intact. They only needed five hundred dollars, a cheap price for so much land, but they didn’t have it. Booker wrote to General J. F. B. Marshall, the treasurer of the Hampton Institute, who gladly agreed to loan Booker the money from his own personal funds. Therefore, they moved the school to the old plantation. There was a cabin used as a former dining room, an old kitchen, a stable, and an old hen house. Within a few weeks, all these buildings were in use. Booker put the students to work to make the buildings workable. He also determined to clear some of the land so that they could plant a crop. At first, the students resisted the work, but then, when they saw how hard Booker himself worked, they approached it with more enthusiasm.

There was still the problem of repaying the loan to General Marshall. Miss Davidson organized festivals or “suppers.” She canvassed people in the community personally for contributions. Various sums came from both races, but sometimes, the people had no money. One old colored woman hobbled into the school dressed in little more than clean rags. However, no matter how poor she was, she wanted to give something top the school. So, she offered all she had: six eggs. Nothing ever touched him so deeply as that.

Notes

Booker’s explanation for how he set up his school in Tuskegee is a metaphor for how to succeed in life. Every setback made him look for a new door to open. And he eventually persevered.

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CHAPTER NINE – Anxious Days and Sleepless Nights

Summary

Booker begins this chapter by describing Christmas among the colored people. It worried him how they believed in taking off so much time from work and drinking and having parties while not understanding the true meaning of the holiday. Therefore, he decided they would make a special effort to teach his students the meaning of Christmas. As he now writes this book, his students have come to celebrate Christmas in an unselfish and beautiful way – administering to the comfort and happiness of others. He continued this idea into his students’ everyday life by resolving to make the school a real part of the community where his students could make friends with everyone, no matter what their race.

The work to find the money to repay the loan for the farm went on. At the end of three months, they had secured all the money they needed, and the deed for the plantation and its one hundred acres was theirs. Their next direction was to increase the cultivation of the land in order to secure some return from it and at the same time, give the students training in agriculture. They also began farming, because they wanted something to eat! A further benefit of agriculture is that it provided jobs for students who needed the money to return to school. They even procured animals – the first being an old, blind horse.

They began to plan for a substantial building for their “campus.” They figured it would cost $6000 and that seemed an unattainable sum. Then, a white man who owned a sawmill came to Booker and offered all the lumber necessary for the building with no guarantee of payment other than it would be repaid when they got the money. People in the community also volunteered their time to erect the building. Much of their contributions were the result of Miss Davidson’s hard work. Her charm and honesty went far in securing sums of money intended for the building. From as far away as New York, a woman handed her a check for $50. A man named Mr. A. H. Porter from Brooklyn gave Miss Davidson a check for $400 and two ladies from Boston gave $400 as well. Later, they sent $6000 and for the next 14 years, they sent the same amount every year. Sentiment in favor of their work was gaining ground. So on a spring day at Tuskegee, ground was broken for their new building, and everyone wanted to place some memento in the cornerstone. However, Booker still lay awake at night, worried about the debts they had incurred, but once again, goodness prevailed when General Armstrong contributed his personal savings to the school

In the summer of 1882, Booker married his first wife, Miss Fannie N. Smith of Malden, West Virginia, his hometown. Unfortunately, she passed away in 1884, leaving him with a daughter, Portia M. Washington. He despaired that she passed away before seeing the school as designed.

Notes

The Tuskegee Institute seemed destined to become a great place, because every time there was a problem getting money or teaching a valuable lesson, a miracle seemed to happen. Booker’s desire to create a school that catered to the community and did its best by its citizens reaped valuable help and sympathy.

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CHAPTER TEN – A Harder Task Than Making Bricks Without Straw

Summary

From the beginning, Booker was determined not only to teach the value of agricultural and domestic work, but also to have the students erect their own buildings. He knew mistakes would be made, but he insisted on that precept as a way to teach a valuable lesson to his students. The result was a sense of pride among the students who built the buildings on the campus. When a student was tempted to mark up or deface the buildings in any way, another would often stop him with the words, “Don’t do that. That is our building. I helped put it up.” Booker’s most trying question was brick making. There was no brickyard in town and the making of their own bricks was hard, dirty work. It was difficult to get students to help and some actually left the school because of it. They failed three times to get a workable kiln, but finally on the fourth try, they were in business and scores of students who followed became master brick makers. They were also supplying a real need in the community and contributing to the relationship between the races. The visible, the tangible – a building erected by Negroes – went a long way in softening prejudices. As for the students not wanting to be involved in some industry, it became school policy that anyone who attended Tuskegee had to learn a trade, even over the objections of some parents.

Booker and Miss Davidson traveled north in 1882 to continue searching out funds for their new building. They were so successful that they had their first Thanksgiving service in the chapel of Porter Hall that year. The Rev. Robert C. Bedford, a white man from Wisconsin, gave the sermon. He later became one of the school trustees and devoted a great deal of time to completing tasks that were the most disagreeable around the school. Another great contributor was Mr. Warren Logan who became the school’s treasurer.

They also opened a boarding department, but they had no money for furniture or food. Merchants in the town offered them food on credit, but they had to cook and eat in the dismal, damp basement at first. However, like everything else connected to Tuskegee, they eventually worked their way out of the problems by a slow and natural process of growth.

Notes

The making of the bricks to build their buildings is a symbol of the determination Booker carried to lift his people up and make them independent. He continued to feel that there was value and dignity in manual labor and ever encouraged it among his students. His final assessment about any problems he faced at the school was to continue to work until they were out of the situation.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN – Making Their Beds Before They Could Lie On Them

Summary

Booker observes at the beginning of this chapter that the Tuskegee Institute had grown so in reputation that it received visits from well-known people from Hampton, his old school This included General J.F.B. Marshall, Miss Mary F. Mackie, and General Armstrong himself. At the time of these visits, many of the teachers at Tuskegee were graduates of Hampton, too. General Armstrong’s visit reinforced to Booker the greatness of the man, who harbored no bitterness toward the South and took every opportunity to manifest his sympathy. This became a part of Booker’s attitude as well. He believed he had completely rid himself of any hatred toward the South. He had come to realize that the white was hurt more by prejudice than the black race. Another aspect General Armstrong had passed on to him was the importance of industrial education for the colored race. Booker was gratified to see that this educational philosophy had also spread throughout many schools in the South.

Eventually so many students arrived at Tuskegee that Booker began to worry constantly about boarding issues. They had built log cabins near the school and charged students $8.00 a month for these accommodations along with $50.00 a year for tuition, but the accommodations were really inadequate. Unfortunately, there was no capital with which to start a boarding department. In spite of this setback, Booker never saw any student complain about his living conditions, show any disrespect to the officers or instructors of the school, or personally insult him.

Whenever Booker traveled through the South, his train was often met by scores of white people coming aboard to introduce themselves and thank him for his work. As a result, he tried constantly to emphasize to his students that the Institute is their school and they determine how other people perceive it. He wanted them to accept responsibility for their school and understand that he trusted them to do so. He applied this to business as well whenever he thought about strikes among workers. He felt that if employers would just cultivate the habit of getting nearer their employees, of consulting with and advising them, and letting them feel that both of their interests are the same.

Booker continued to marvel at how well the idea of building their own buildings and making their own furniture was accepted by the students of Tuskegee. They had mastered mattress making as well and were highly interested in the cleanliness of their accommodations. He observed that it was the toothbrush in his mind that had brought about the highest degree of civilization to students who had lived in the most abject poverty. With this idea implemented along with the importance of cleanliness, the students marched out of chapel in the evening for dress inspection perfectly attired and not a button missing.

Notes

It is interesting to note two ideas the Washington speaks to in this chapter that seem worlds apart: the quality of the visitors who come to the school and the quality of the students. By emphasizing the importance of cleanliness and the dignity of work, Booker has as a result created the same sense of pride in the school itself. As a result, when visitors come there, they are duly impressed with the accomplishments made all around.

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CHAPTER TWELVE – Raising Money

Summary

The problem of boarding was most important in connection with the female students. They could not be boarded in homes in the community like the males and the only other accommodation available was the attic of Porter Hall. They needed ten thousand dollars to build a dormitory for the women, so Miss Davidson began making efforts to enlist the help of both colored and white people to build Alabama Hall, the name they had already chosen. The students began digging the foundation while Booker tried to think of ways that greater amounts of contributions would be obtained. General Armstrong became his savior once more: he convinced Booker to travel with him in the North for a month while he took a quartette of singers throughout the region. There he introduced Booker to just the right people and took him to just the right meetings where he could plead for funds for Tuskegee. It was such a successful trip that Booker eventually began traveling on his own. It meant that he spent a large portion of his time away from his school, but he had to provide for the growing needs of the Institution.

Out of these experiences, he developed two rules: to always do his duty regarding making his work known to individuals and organizations and to not worry about the results. He discovered that the sweeping criticisms of the rich were misplaced, because first, the rich and their enterprises were necessary to help the poor lift themselves up and second, the rich were often anonymous in their charity and as a result, the vast majority of people were unaware of the good they did. He also learned that the rich are annoyed by blatant begging and instead, are impressed more by the basic presentation of the facts on a high, dignified plane. That led to his discovery that the wealthy had begun to see those who applied to them for help as agents for doing their work. So, Tuskegee often received bountiful contributions just when Booker was most broken down and discouraged. This all came as a result of Booker’s deep sense of responsibility for the school. He was always very aware that if the school had been officered by white people and failed, it would have injured the cause of Negro education, but officered by colored people meant that failure would have led to a loss of faith among the race itself.

Another way Booker brought funds to Tuskegee was by inviting important people to speak there. For example, the Rev. E. Winchester Donald, D. D., rector of the Trinity Church in Boston, preached at a Commencement exercise. He was forced to give his speech under a large, improvised arbor outside and soon the rain came pouring down. The experience was enough to make Dr. Donald observe that the school needed a chapel. The next day, two ladies traveling in Italy sent them enough money to construct a chapel, obviously from Dr. Donald’s recommendation.

He was also able to secure the help of Andrew Carnegie to build a library by writing a convincing letter explaining the conditions under which their library existed. The man sent Booker $20,000 to defray the costs. He considered the letter an example of the strict business methods he used to securing the interest of the rich.

The vast majority of the funds that came to Tuskegee actually came in the form of small donations from average people of both races and donations from alumni. He was very aware of how important Tuskegee was to people from all levels of society. Eventually, the Alabama State Legislature began to appropriate more funds to the school and various educational funding groups, like the John F. Slater Fund, sent larger and larger amounts. All of this was absolutely essential in the success of the Tuskegee Institute.

Notes

If nothing else can be discerned from this chapter, it is Booker T. Washington’s realistic attitude about securing funding for his school and the attitudes of the people who had the funds he needed. He had a tremendous instinct about what made the rich “tick” and how to make them want to donate to Tuskegee. Without his untiring devotion to this cause, Tuskegee may have failed very early and broken the hearts of the Negroes who looked to it as an example of what they could accomplish.

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Two Thousand Miles For A Five Minute Speech

Summary

Students who had no means of securing money to pay their way to Tuskegee began arriving in larger numbers. As a result, Booker instituted the same method he had learned at Hampton: he began a night school where these students would attend for two hours every day while working ten hours. Like Hampton, he ordered the money they earned put away toward their tuition for the following year. This was a good test for the backbone of the student. Was he interested in working as hard as could for the opportunity to learn? Booker learned that the method worked.

The Institute also was devoted to the idea that no student would be permitted entrance without doing manual labor and to experience the religious and spiritual side of life. The school never chose one religious denomination over another, but emphasized to the students how important the spiritual was.

In 1885, Booker married Olivia Davidson who continued her work at finding funding for the school. Unfortunately, she died in 1889 after giving Booker two sons: Booker Taliaferro, Jr., and Ernest Davidson Washington.

Booker examines at this point in his autobiography how he began his career in public speaking. It seems to have evolved after he went North with General Armstrong to speak to people who would be amenable to donating to Tuskegee. He was asked to deliver an address to the meeting of the National Education Association. It was the first speech he had delivered to a large crowd, and he had the opportunity to emphasize that he took pride in the actions of the people of his own town and that he had learned that you couldn’t change an individual by abusing him. His policy of speaking about these issues was motivated by his determination to bring the races together instead of doing what would only embitter them. He went on to emphasize that it was important for the Negro to become valuable to his community and to learn a trade to such a degree that he would be better that anyone else in that trade. After the speech, Booker realized that whenever he heard anyone advocating measures that were meant to curtail another, he pitied the individual who would do this.

The first address he had made before the National Education Association brought him even more opportunities to speak to audiences about his feelings. He was invited to speak before an international meeting of Christian Workers in Atlanta, Georgia. He was told he could only speak for five minutes, so Booker had to decide if the time allotted was worth the trip. He knew there would be many influential white people there, and it would be a rare opportunity for him. Evidently, his decision to go was a good one, because he received a favorable comment from the Atlanta newspapers, and he received a positive hearing from the dominant class of the South.

Then, he went on to speak to an opening of the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895. The Exposition asked him to appear before a committee of Congress about securing funds for this exposition. He had many misgivings about what he ought to say, but somehow he emphasized that if Congress wanted to help in ridding the South of the race question and encourage the growth of both races, it should encourage the Atlanta Exposition with the proper appropriations. He was successful in convincing Congress to pass the bill and as a result, the Exposition erected a large and attractive building, which was devoted wholly to showing the progress of the Negro since their freedom. Negroes were hired to build it, and a Negro was placed at the head of its department. What’s more, Booker was invited to speak on the opening day of the building. All this emphasized for Booker how responsible he was for his school and his race. It was the first time a Negro had ever been asked to speak from the same platform as white people. Booker was determined to say nothing that wasn’t from the bottom of his heart, but as the time approached, many of the Southern newspapers were unfriendly to his invitation. His heart grew heavier as he anticipated failure and disappointment. He practiced by giving the speech before the teachers of the Institute, and he was relieved when they seemed to think well of what he had to say. Nonetheless, on the day of the speech, he felt somewhat like he was on his way to the gallows, and in a jesting manner, a man there observed that he thought Booker had gotten himself into a tight place.

The place was packed , but Negroes were given their proper place in the procession and when Booker entered the room, there were vigorous cheers from the colored portion of the audience and a few faint cheers from some of the white people. However, the fear of the kind of reception he would receive even made Mr. William H. Baldwin, the General Manager of the Southern Railroad unable to persuade himself to go into the room.

Notes

The most important aspect of this chapter is how Booker T. Washington’s speaking engagements eventually brought him opportunities to change the minds of race conscious whites. He opened up the situation by accepting an invitation to speak from the same platform as important white individuals. It was a potent moment in American history.

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN – The Atlanta Exposition Address

Summary

The exposition opened with a short address by Governor Bullock and then Booker was introduced. Uppermost in his mind was the feeling that he needed to say something that would cement the friendship of the races and bring about cooperation between them. He recalls now how when he looked out on the audience he saw thousands of eyes staring intently at him. And so he began . . .

His first important point was that one third of the population of the South was Negro and that no one could disregard this element of the population. Furthermore, he ais he was impressed by how the managers of the Exposition had recognized this fact with the building devoted to the Negro’s industrial progress. His second important point came from an anecdote he used as a metaphor: a ship lost at sea for many days sighted a friendly vessel and begged for water. It was told, “Cast down your buckets where you are.” The ship cried out again, because they wouldn’t drink sea water, but again the command from the other vessel was to “cast down your buckets where you are.” The captain finally heeded the command and gratefully discovered that he was at the mouth of the Amazon and the water was safe to drink. Booker then used this story to emphasize that the Negro, in order to cultivate the friendship of the South, should cast down their buckets where they were to make friends in their own surroundings. They should cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in domestic service and in the professions. He then told the white audience that they, too, should cast down their buckets to the people who had been there for generations tilling their fields, clearing their forests, building their railroads and cities and bringing forth treasures from the bowels of the earth. They have always been ever loyal to the white race and in the future will stand by them in the way that no foreigner could.

He emphasized that nearly sixteen million hands would help the whites of the South in pulling the load upward or they would pull against them to bring the load downward. He insisted that no race that was in any degree ostracized would ever contribute to the markets of the world and so that good race relations were necessary. He went on to discuss how blotting out sectional differences was dependent on the absolute administration of justice under the law and this coupled with material prosperity would bring a new heaven and earth into the South The speech was a resounding success and Booker could hardly exit the hall from the hearty congratulations and hand shakes. Furthermore, the newspapers both in the South and the North complimented him for the words that he expressed. Then, he began to receive all kinds of invitations from lecture bureaus to most of which he declined, insisting his life work was at Tuskegee. Even president Grover Cleveland sent him a letter congratulating him on his remarks. After that, President Cleveland did everything in his power to help Tuskegee.

Ironically, later when colored people and colored newspapers had a chance to read Booker’s speech again, there came criticism for his liberal remarks. It was felt that he had not spoken out strongly enough for what was called the “rights” of the race. Fortunately, these reactionary remarks died away and they were won over to his side.

About ten years after Tuskegee had been established, Dr. Lymon Abbott, editor of Outlook, asked Booker to write a letter for his paper giving his opinion of the exact condition, mental and moral, of the colored ministers in the South. He did so, painting a rather black picture of an incompetent ministry. He received many letters of condemnation for these comments and every ministerial organization or conference that met for the next year voted to condemn him. During the whole time of this reaction, he never uttered a word of explanation or retraction, but soon other voices began to demand a purifying of the ministry. In time, the ministry completely changed its attitude, and Booker learned that when one is condemned, he need only stand still and keep quiet. If he is right, time will show it.

Another compliment extended to Booker was the request to be one of the Judges of Award in the Department of Education at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. He would be responsible to pass judgment not only on exhibits from colored schools, but also those of white schools. In every aspect, he was treated with respect and honor, and he felt it gave him the continued opportunity to express his ideas about the political future of his race. He believed that the time would come when the Negro in the South would be accorded all the political rights which his ability, character, and material possessions entitled him.

Booker went on in this chapter to discuss voting rights for the Negro. He believed that any law that allowed a poverty-stricken white man to vote but denied that same right to a black man in the same condition was unjust. He also believed that such a law would actually encourage a black man to secure education and property towards overturning that law while the white man would remain in ignorance and poverty. His optimism continued when he asserted that in time the South would encourage all its citizens to vote. He concludes the chapter by saying that he believed in universal, free suffrage, but that if an educational or property test were to be applied to protect the integrity of the ballot, it should be applied with equal and exact justice to both races.

Notes

This chapter shows the growing influence Booker T. Washington began to wield. He was sp widely respected after the Atlanta address that he obtained critical acclaim for his race as well. He used his quiet sense of righteousness to speak to racial problems in the South and he accurately predicted what later came true – a change of attitude in the South towards Negroes and universal suffrage even though he didn’t live to see it.

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN – The Secret of Success in Public Speaking

Summary

The attitude of those in the hall when Booker gave his Atlanta speech was best expressed, he felt, by Mr. James Creelman, the noted war correspondent. He said that Booker delivered an oration that made a new epoch in the history of the South. he asserted that Mr. Washington had electrified the audience and the response was as if it had come from the throat of a whirlwind. He also said the Booker was the foremost man of his race in America and that “not even Gladstone himself could have pleaded a cause with more consummate power than did this angular Negro standing in the a nimbus of sunshine, surrounded by men who once fought to keep his race in bondage.” After the Atlanta speech, Booker accepted some invitations to speak in public, but only those that would take him into territory where he thought it would pay to plead the cause of his race. He understood that he should talk about his life work and the needs of his people and not speak as a professional lecturer for financial gain. However, he could never understand why people wanted to hear him speak. He always suffered intensely from nervousness and it always took him about ten minutes to master the audience, something that was ultimately a great delight to him. While he was speaking, Booker would always focus on a listener who lacks sympathy for him. He would go straight for him with his eyes and his attention, hoping to change his sympathies. He never spoke for the sake of speaking, but from deep down in his heart. Nothing could take the place of soul in the speech.

Booker best liked to speak to strong, wide-awake businessmen, but hated when he did so, that he often had to sit through a fourteen course dinner before the speech. He thought of that as the ultimate torture. His next favorite audience was Southern people of either race, separately or mixed. Their enthusiasm and responsiveness was a delight to him. His third favorite audience was a college audience. He was always interested to note that at nearly every college speaking engagement, someone would come up and admit that this was the first time he had every called a Negro “Mister.” The John Slater Fund gave Washington and his wife the opportunity to speak before people of their own race. They were able to gather first-hand, accurate information as to the real condition of their people. He wouldn’t allow himself to insert his emotions into these discoveries, but instead he was after the facts in a cold business-like manner. He discovered that his race was making slow but sure progress materially, educationally, and morally.

IN early 1897, Booker was invited to speak at the dedication of the Robert Gould Shaw monument in Boston. He knew there would be an element of the old anti-slavery group and he was ready with his ideas. The program of the meeting prior to his speech was highly patriotic in honor of the end of the Spanish-American War. The soldiers who bore the colors were Negroes and one was a Sergeant Carney who had carried the flag into battle, never allowing it to touch the ground even when he was wounded. It was a fitting and perfect introduction to his speech and Booker noted after that experience, that it was his privilege to witness a good many satisfactory and rather sensational demonstrations in connection with his public addresses.

The same thing happened when he was asked to speak in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune reported that Booker said, “ When you have gotten the full story of the heroic conduct of the Negro in the Spanish-American War, have heard it from the lips of Northern soldier and Southern soldier, from ex-abolitionist and ex-masters, then decide within yourselves whether a race that is thus willing to die for its country should not be given the highest opportunity to live for its country.” His comments were received with wild adulation. However, later one portion of his address seemed to be misunderstood by the Southern press. They asked him to write a letter explaining what he meant and Booker did so and that seemed to satisfy his critics in that instance. Unfortunately, he sometimes was meant with ones that he called cranks. They were people who stood ready to consume his time for no purpose and their appearances were almost countless.

He was often asked how it was possible to superintend the work at Tuskegee. His always explained his motto: do not do that which others can do as well. He understood how to delegate tasks, because he knew the daily work of the school was never dependent on the presence of any one individual. He then kept in touch with the needs of his school through a system of reports, which would reach him every day no matter where he was. He accepted that he had no time for rest or recreation, but he made it a rule to never let his work drive him. He mastered it and kept in complete control by staying out ahead of it. he would be the master of his responsibilities not the servant. He also insisted that he could handle his workload, because he kept himself in good physical condition, kept himself prepared for the unexpected and tried to look after the little ills. He also read a great deal and looked forward to being away from the school as a certain kind of rest. He could look at the unimportant details this way in a broader sense and take advantage of the opportunity to meet the best educators in the land. His greatest time of rest was his time with his family and his garden. He had no time for games, because they were activities that he had never experienced when he was young and now he has no appreciation for them.

Notes

In this chapter, Booker juxtaposes his success at public speaking with his sense of success when he needs rest. He has an innate sense of where he comes from, who he is, and where he’s going.

ONLINE BOOK SUMMARY/SYNOPSIS-UP FROM SLAVERY

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – Europe

Summary

In 1893, he married his third wife, Miss Margaret James Murray, a graduate of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, she filled the position of Lady Principal and willingly assumed the responsibility of many women’s groups. His daughter Portia was a dressmaker, showed a talent for instrumental music, and became a teacher at Tuskegee. Booker T., Jr. had nearly mastered the brick mason’s trade and wanted to be an architect. His youngest child, Ernest, insisted he was going to be a doctor and was already getting training in a doctor’s office. His greatest regret was that he couldn’t spend more time with his family.

One of the greatest surprises of his life occurred when one the ladies at a public meeting in the interests of Tuskegee in Boston as ked him if he had ever been to Europe. It was an idea that had always been beyond his thinking. However, they told him that they had raised a sufficient sum of money for him and his wife to travel to Europe for three or four months. Not only that but these good people had raised enough money to substitute for the fund raising he would have done had he been home. The route was all mapped out and everything was already organized. Booker was dumbfounded. He worried that people would think he was “stuck up or showing off” and he just didn’t know how to take a vacation. However, his wife told him he needed a rest and letters of introduction had already been written to help him integrate into European society. To add to the encouragement, two generous ladies at the meeting decided to give Tuskegee enough money to build a building to house all the industries for girls.

So Booker and his wife set sail on the Friesland of the Red Star Line. There was no sending him to the lower decks like Negroes before him. Instead, he lived in the finest stateroom, and he began to sleep on the voyage. He slept fifteen hours a day for the ten days of the voyage, which made him finally understand how, tired he was. They landed at Antwerp, Belgium and then began a tour of Holland on the old-fashioned canal boats. He loved seeing and studying the real life of the people in the country. The next step of the trip was to Paris. He did speak at the University Club of Paris, but turned down all the other invitations or else he would have defeated the purpose of the trip. While in Paris, he saw a good deal of the famous Negro painter Mr. Henry Tanner. Tanner was a symbol of Booker’s personal philosophy: any man no matter his color can succeed and be rewarded in proportion to how well he learns his craft. He felt very strongly that this was a great human law that could never be permanently nullified. Booker was impressed with the pleasure and excitement with which the French people lived their lives and when he left France, he had more faith in the future of the black man in America than he had every possessed.

From Paris, they traveled to London where he received all manner of social invitations. He very much enjoyed his time there, meeting at the Ambassador’s reception Mark Twain for the first time. He also met many English abolitionists and members of English royalty, including Queen Victoria herself. While he had tea with the Queen, he also met Susan B. Anthony. He continued to study the common people as well and was interested with the class system where white people had mistresses and masters as servants in the homes of the wealthy and important. Another aspect of the English character included their serious nature. Comments made in their presence, which would have made Americans roar with laughter, received a simple straight face without cracking a smile from the English. However, he concluded that Englishmen were the greatest and most loyal of friends.

The voyage home occurred on the steamship St. Louis where Booker found a fine library and a copy of the life of Frederick Douglass. In his book, the great man explained how on his trip to Europe, he had been forced to sleep on the deck because of his color. Some of the passengers organized s subscription program with the proceeds dedicated to Tuskegee Institute. So Booker somehow found a way to raise funds even while he was on vacation.

While he had been in Paris, Booker had received an invitation from the people of Charleston, West Virginia to speak and received the pride his former city felt for him. He accepted the invitation and was gratified to see in the audience many of the white men for whom he had worked as a boy.

Notes

The trip to Europe was not only a time of rest for Booker, but it was also a learning experience. He brought back many new ideas from the countries he visited, but what’s more, he discovered the philosophies he lived by as to the mixing of the races were already in place in Europe.. This makes him believe that there is still hope for the American Negro.

CHAPTER NOTES/STUDY GUIDE-UP FROM SLAVERY

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – Last Words

Summary

His return from Europe furthered emphasized for Booker the fact that his life had been one of continual surprises. Yet another surprise came in the form of General Armstrong who expressed a desire to see Tuskegee once more before he died. He was almost completely paralyzed but plans were hatched to find a way to get him there. The students set up a “pine-knot torchlight reception” and he stayed for nearly two months with Booker. Even in his weakened state, he never stopped thinking about how to help the South overcome the freeing of the slaves. A few weeks after he returned home, he died and at his funeral, Booker met Rev. Dr. Hollis B. Frissell, the new Principal of the Hampton Institute. Booker was impressed by how the man hid his own great personality behind that of General Armstrong.

The second surprise that Booker received was an invitation to Harvard to be awarded an honorary degree. He was overcome by this honor, insisting that he had never sought out fame and it all nearly overcame him. He was to be honored along with many influential people in America including Alexander Graham Bell. Harvard never revealed the names of the people to be honored until they appeared on the platform. When Booker entered, the reaction of the audience was overwhelming. He received a Master of Arts degree and later, all the honorary degree recipients were escorted through the grounds of the university where at different points they were called by name and received the Harvard yell. In his address after the reception dinner, Booker emphasized the philosophy he had advocated for so many years and he predicted that Negroes would be tested in the coming years in their patience and forbearance to endure the wrongs against them.

Soon after Booker returned to Tuskegee, he began the project that would lead to the third surprise: a visit from the president of the United States to Tuskegee. It had been a desire of his for many years and now he saw it as a possibility. He began a campaign that included visits tot the White House where he did get a chance to speak with William McKinley. The president had decided to attend the Peace Jubilee in Atlanta and Booker was hoping to convince him to travel 140 miles out of his was to spend the day at Tuskegee. The president finally agreed and the town of Tuskegee set out to welcome in just the right way with decorations and committees to create the perfect reception. Along with the president came his wife, his cabinet members and the governor and the legislature of Alabama. There was a parade with floats that showed how the school had changed agriculture and industry for the better. The President addressed the college in its chapel where he congratulated all those associated with the Institute who had undertaken to create such good work, but he especially honored Booker T. Washington without whom nothing would have accomplished. The greatest aspect of the day for Booker was the scene on the platform where the President of the United States stood with the Governor of Alabama on one side and the colored President of the Tuskegee Institute on the other, a trinity, which symbolized how far the Negroes had come from bondage.

Booker ends his autobiography by noting all that has happened since he began Tuskegee twenty years before: the ownership of 2300 acres, the building of 66 buildings, competent instructors teaching agriculture and trades plus a thorough academic and religious training for each student. Their fame is such that they now have to turn students away for lack of facilities. The value of the property is $1,700,000 and the students now number 1400. The school runs on a tight schedule and every student is still expected to seek an education earnestly. Most importantly, the students are in his estimation exhibiting a degree of common sense and self-control, which has led to better relations between the races.

Booker continues to speak all over the South as well as at frequent gatherings in the North. He has pleaded for justice for his people in the matter of lynchings, which have troubled him greatly. However, he still feels hopeful for his race, more so now than ever in the past. He prays that the rest of the world will support them in their struggle for equality. As he finishes his autobiography, he is in Richmond, Virginia, the city which only a few decades ago was the capital of the Confederacy and where a young Booker T. Washington slept under a wooden sidewalk, because of his poverty. This time in Richmond, he is able to deliver his message with hope and cheer and thank both races from the bottom of his heart for the welcome back to the state that gave him birth.

Notes

Booker uses his final chapter to show his optimism about his life and the lives of the people of his race. And it seems at the end, for the reader, that admiration and respect for Booker T. Washington is such that we can only declare that his presence in our country today would be a blessing.

OVERALL ANALYSES

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Booker T. Washington

The sheer magnitude of this man shines throughout his autobiography in spite of the fact that he is very modest about his accomplishments. His life is amazing, because he pulled himself out of the institution of slavery and was determined to pull his people up with him. He took every opportunity to propose his ideas and philosophies to all races so that attitudes would change in America. He saw many terrible things happen to his people, but remained optimistic that, with education and hard work, they could effectively blend into the dominate white society. He gathered fame through his good works, but never sought it out. He devoted his life to his students and his race and was sure that the day would come when the black man was totally accepted throughout the South and the rest of the country. He challenged the people of his race to be patient and devote themselves to hard work and good morals in order to achieve their goals. In the end, his death at a comparatively young age makes the reader wonder what he might have accomplished had he lived longer. He also makes the reader wonder what he could do for race relations if he lived today.

Booker’s Mother

She was an absolutely definitive influence on Booker’s life. She lived nearly all of her life as a slave, but never gave up hope that the Emancipation would come. She supported Booker in every endeavor he tried especially his desire for an education. She knew how much wearing a cap to school meant to him and that in spite of her deep poverty, she found a way to make him one. Booker said ever afterward that no cap or hat he ever owned meant as much. She taught him the value of hard work as well. When she died, Booker was sleeping in an abandoned house after searching all day for a job. He was heartbroken, because he had always believed he would be with her at that moment. However, he never forgot what she had taught and declared that it was her belief in him that set him on his life’s work.

Mrs. Ruffner

She was the wife of the owner of the salt mine where Booker worked in Malden, West Virginia. She became a valuable friend who taught him a great deal about cleanliness and the dignity of work when he took a position in her home. Other young black men had left her employ because she was so stern, but Booker came to appreciate what she valued and applied it in his philosophies of education. She encouraged him often to go on to school and when others said his desire to attend the Hampton Institute was beyond his attainment, she convinced him he could find a way.

General Samuel C. Armstrong

He is the man Booker most admired in the world. After the Civil War, he took it upon himself to find a way to educate the black race and help them integrate into a dominant white society. As a result, he established the Hampton Institute and that is where Booker attended school. General Armstrong’s philosophies about how education and work go hand-in-hand later influenced Booker into applying them to his own educational ideas. He was also a financial source when Booker’s Tuskegee Institute needed his help. He, like Booker, never took credit for what he had accomplished. Instead, he found ways to credit others for any influences he might have had. He very much admired what Booker accomplished and requested his permission to spend the last few months of his life with him at Tuskegee. Booker never forgot what General Armstrong taught him through words and deeds.

Miss Mary F. Mackie

She was the first person Booker met when he arrived at Hampton and was not at all impressed with him at first. Booker had arrived dirty and disheveled and his appearance made her think he needed testing to prove he was worthy of acceptance. As a result, she told him to sweep an adjoining room, and then she would be back to speak with him. Booker was intelligent enough to realize she wanted to see his initiative, so instead of just sweeping the room, he thoroughly cleaned and polished it. When she could find no dust or dirt anywhere, she knew she was seeing a young man willing to do the work necessary to become a contributing member of society. She took a chance on him and ever after became his friend and supporter.

Miss Olive A. Davidson

She would eventually become Booker’s second wife, but he felt she was better known for her contributions to Tuskegee. She worked for eight total years for the school in the area of fund raising. She traveled tirelessly to keep the school solvent, and it was often her sincerity and her charm that convinced people of both races to finance the needs of Tuskegee. Booker described her as compassionate and giving and one of the best assets of the Institute. She gave him two sons, but unfortunately died four years after their marriage.

PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS

The author begins with a preface, which explains how he came to write his autobiography and who he thanks for his help. This is followed by seventeen chapters, which chronologically relate his rise from a life as slave to his triumph in the areas of education and public speaking. He ends his book with a complete index so the reader can easily access people and ideas he presents in his narrative.

THEMES - THEME ANALYSIS

Importance of an education

Throughout the narrative, the main idea expressed is always the importance of an education. Booker learned this when he was denied it as a slave and later from the example of General Armstrong. However, in his mind, it wasn’t enough to just study books and learn facts and idea. It was also important to learn a trade. He believed that if every black citizen conducted himself modestly and worked hard to learn a trade better than anyone else, he could be satisfactorily integrated into society as a free and contributing member of it. As a result, he devoted his life to bringing this message to as many people of both races as he could. He himself so valued his own education that he willingly walked over two hundred miles to attend Hampton. He accepted the fact that only hard work would impress people enough to accept him and he proved it over and over.

The dignity of work

Another theme, the dignity of work, emphasizes how education and learning a trade go hand-in-hand. Tuskegee would not admit an student who was not willing to work at learning a trade at the same time as he devoted himself to academic and spiritual pursuits. That’s why purchasing the plantation acreage was necessary so that agricultural and industrial education could be established for every student. This reinforced Booker’s belief that integration of the races would never take place until Negroes earned white respect through their industry and learning. The net of slavery

Booker often refers in his narrative to the net of slavery. As an institution of American society, slavery impacted negatively on both blacks and whites. It kept black people in actual bondage for hundreds of years and made it inordinately difficult for them to become contributing members of society. However, it also impacted white people by influencing their moral thinking. He saw it as an institution that, even though demolished with the Emancipation, would have lingering influences for a very long time in America. As a result of this net, people would be trapped by attitudes for generations to come. He believed that only patience and hard work would bring its influences to an end.

The relationships between whites and blacks

A part of the net of slavery was the idea of the relationships between whites and blacks. Booker knew that there was a long road ahead for his people, because old attitudes die hard. That’s why he devoted himself to convincing both races that learning to live and work together was imperative. He could see only good in such a situation, because he felt that his people had always been true and loyal to the white people who owned them at one time. They would, as a result, be model citizens and contributing members of society. He once warned in one of his speeches that if the white race did not support the idea of integration, they would be pulling down all of America.

Success was measured by the obstacles overcome to achieve it, not in what was attained in the end

The last important theme involves success. Booker felt that success was measured by the obstacles overcome to achieve it, not in what was attained in the end. He emphasized this repeatedly to his students and to his audiences wherever he spoke. He saw a man’s character in terms of how hard he worked to build it, not in the success that was outwardly apparent. He believed that if his race took this advice to heart, integration would come about more quickly and less painfully.

AUTHOR’S STYLE

The author’s style is to present life’s story in a very straightforward, simple manner and allow the reader to come to his own conclusions about him. He feels in this way that he can reach anyone who would read it with his philosophies about race, education and hard work. It was written on board trains, at hotels, and waiting at railway stations so it must be plain spoken.

RISING ACTION

The rising action begins with chapter one when the reader is introduced to Booker T. Washington through the narrative of what he knew about his birth until his triumphant speech at the Atlanta Exposition where the world really became aware of his ideas and what he had accomplished and what he hoped to achieve.

FALLING ACTION

The falling action involves the events after the Atlanta Exposition including his trip to Europe and the visit of President McKinley to Tuskegee.

POINT OF VIEW

The point of view is first person as it is told from the perspective of Booker himself.

OTHER ELEMENTS

FORESHADOWING

There are several other literary devices that pop up at various times in the story. One of the most prevalent ones is foreshadowing which frequently presents clues of something that will happen later in the novel. Some examples of foreshadowing include:

1. He believed that the time would come when the Negro in the South would be accorded all the political rights which his ability, character, and material possessions entitled him. For the most part this has come to pass 92 years later.

2. His optimism continued when Booker asserted that in time the South would encourage all its citizens to vote. He believed in universal, free suffrage, but that if an educational or property test were to be applied to protect the integrity of the ballot, it should be applied with equal and exact justice to both races. All of this eventually came about in the twentieth century.

3. Booker predicted that Negroes would be tested in the coming years in their patience and forbearance to endure the wrongs against them. This was especially true during the period of Civil Rights in the 1960’s.

IRONY

Another element that is important to note is irony – when something happens, or is seen, or is heard that we may know, but the characters do not, or that appears opposite of what is expected. Some examples of irony include:

1. Ironically, given what the reader now knows, Booker’s final assessment that there are no such organizations as the KKK in the South as he is writing this book is surprising.

2. At the time he was writing this book, Booker felt that his people had begun to recognize that color didn’t automatically make the best candidate. This is ironic, because you would think a black man like Booker would advocate a black candidate no matter how competent.

3. The willingness of Negroes to spend their hard-earned money on such things as sewing machines and clocks and an organ they couldn’t play was ironic, given their previous overwhelming poverty.

4. Booker said that nothing could take the place of soul in the speeches he gave. It is ironic that he used this word when it became a motto for Black people during the 1960’s and 1970’s.

5. Frederick Douglass said that on his trip to Europe, he had been forced to sleep on the deck because of his color. Booker on the other had was given the best stateroom on his trip.

6. Booker saw in the audience in Charleston West Virginia many of the white men for whom he had worked as a boy.

IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS - QUOTES AND ANALYSIS

The following quotations are important at various points in the story: (Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1900 1901)

1. “The picture of several dozen boys and girls in a schoolroom engaged in study made a deep impression upon me, and I had the feeling that to get into a schoolhouse and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise.”

(pg. 7; here Booker emphasizes how the importance of education was instilled in him at a very early age.)

2. “…I think it will found to be true that there are few instances, either in slavery or freedom, in which a member of my race has been known to betray a specific trust.”

(pg. 13; Booker makes this comment as a summation for why the slaves felt no bitterness towards their white masters.)

3. “I pity from the bottom of my heart any nation or body of people that is so unfortunate as to get entangled in the net of slavery.”

(pg. 16; This is Booker’s strong denial that the slaves really didn’t want to be free.)

4. “When we rid ourselves of prejudice or racial feeling, and look facts in the face, we must acknowledge that, not withstanding the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery, the ten million Negroes inhabiting this country, who themselves or whose ancestors went through the school of American slavery, are in a stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally, and religiously, than is true of an equal number of black people in any other portion of the globe.”

(pg. 16; This is Washington’s assertion that slavery actually made his people stronger.)

5. “The great responsibility of being free, of having charge of themselves, of having to think and plan for themselves and their children, seemed to take possession of them. It was very much like suddenly turning a youth of ten or twelve years out into the world to provide for himself.”

(pg. 21; Booker presents the reality of freedom his race had to come to grips with).

6. “She (his mother) had high ambitions for her children, and a large fund of good hard, common sense which seemed to enable her to meet and master every situation. If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother.”

(pg. 27; Here, Booker gives his mother credit for his determination and drive to better himself.)

7. “This experience of a whole race beginning to go to school for the first time presents one of the most interesting studies that has ever occurred in connection with the development of any race.”

(pg. 29; Washington observes here how interesting it was for him to see how people who never been educated reacted to their chance to go to school.)

8. “Since that time I have owned many kinds of caps and hats, but never one of which I have felt so proud as of the cap made of the two pieces of cloth sewed by my mother.” (pgs. 33-34; This is Booker’s admiration of his mother showing through once again.)

9. “There was never a time in my youth. no matter how dark and discouraging the days might be, when one resolve did not continually remain with me, and that was a determination to secure an education at any cost.” (pg. 37; This comment emphasizes Booker’s desire to be educated.)

10. “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” (pg. 39; As he is educated and thinks about the advantages white boys have, Booker comes to this conclusion and stops envying whites.)

11. “The older I grow, the more I am convinced that there is no education which one can get from and costly apparatus that is equal to that which can be gotten from contact with great men and women.” (p. 55; This comes as Booker’s comment on his admiration for General Armstrong.)

12. “The great and prevailing idea that seemed to take possession of every one was to prepare himself to lift up the people at his home.” (pg.62; this comment reflects how the students at Hampton were determined not only to benefit themselves, but also those with whom they lived.)

13. “I have begun everything with the idea that I could succeed, and I never had much patience with the multitudes of people who are always ready to explain why one cannot succeed.” (pg. 66; this is Booker’s mantra – he never gives up.)

14. “It seemed to me as I watched the struggle between members of the two races, that there was no hope for our people in this country. The ‘Ku Klux’ period was, I think, the darkest period of reconstruction.” (pg. 78; This is Booker’s analysis of the impact of the KKK.)

15. “It was cruelly wrong in the central government, at the beginning of our freedom, to fail to make provisions for the general education of our people in addition to what the states might do, so that the people would be better prepared for the duties of citizenship.” (pg. 83; Here Booker observes how the government failed the slaves after their freedom.) 16. “No white American ever thinks that any other race is wholly civilized until he wears the white man’s clothes, eats the white man’s food, speaks the white man’s language, and professes the white man’s religion.” (pg. 98 ; This summation came to Booker after he found himself trying to convince the Indians he taught to behave differently than their culture dictated.)

17. “ ‘They cannot degrade Frederick Douglass. The soul that is within me no man can degrade. I am not the one that is being degraded on account of this treatment, but those who are inflicting it upon me.’ ” (pg. 100; This quote is the same assessment Booker made when he saw how generous his own people were to Indians, but how lacking in generosity white people often were to other races.)

18. “ ‘Don’t do that. That is our building. I helped put it up.’ ” (pg. 150; this anecdote shows how proud the students of Tuskegee were to have built their own school buildings.)

19. “But gradually, by patience and hard work, we brought order out of chaos, just as will be true of any problem if we stick to it with patience and wisdom and earnest effort. (pp. 161-162; This was Booker’s attitude as he bought Tuskegee Institute.)

20. “I learned the lesson that great men cultivate love, and that only little men cherish a spirit of hatred.” (pg. 165; Booker’s emphasis about why he can no longer hate the white race of the South)

21. “The wrong to the Negro is temporary, but to the morals of the white man the injury is permanent.” (pg. 165; the lesson Booker learned as part of his attempt to purge himself of any hatred towards the white race)

22. “Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him and let him know that you trust him.” (pg. 172; This was Booker’s philosophy he wanted to pass on to his students.)

23. “It is the duty of the Negro . . . to deport himself modestly in regard to political claims, depending upon the slow but sure influences that proceed from the possession of property, intelligence, and high character for the full recognition of his political rights.” (pg. 235; This is Bookers’ assertion that Negroes will not receive their political rights until some time passes and during that time Negroes behave in a modest manner.)

24. “There is rarely such a combination of mental and physical delight in any effort as that which comes to a public speaker when he feels that he has a great audience completely under his control.” (pg. 243; Booker admits this delight that comes from making a great speech.)

SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / IMAGERY / METAPHORS / SYMBOLS

Other elements that are present in this novel are symbols and metaphors. Symbols are the use of some unrelated idea to represent something else. Metaphors are direct comparisons made between characters and ideas. There are many symbols and metaphors used by the author such as:

1. Being able to walk into a schoolhouse would be like walking into paradise for him.

2. The grapevine telegraph – the system by which slaves learned the news of the nation – symbolized their ties to freedom and Emancipation.

3. When he saw his masters eating ginger cakes the height of Booker’s ambition became to reach a point where he could eat ginger cakes in just the same manner as his owners. They symbolized success.

4. There was more, bolder singing in the quarters where the word “freedom” in their hymns had been assumed by the white race to mean death and a glorious meeting with God, but now the true meaning came out. The word “freedom” was the reality of Emancipation from slavery.

5. Changing their names and leaving the plantation for at least a few days were symbols of the slaves new found freedom.

6. Booker worked there for a while to earn food money and slept at night under the sidewalk. Years later, he was in Richmond for a reception where over 2000 people were present. It was held in a spot not far from the sidewalk under which he head slept and his mind kept drifting to thoughts of it rather the cordial reception given just for him.b That sidewalk was symbol of how far he had come.

7. Another problem Booker noted during the period of Reconstruction was the tendency of his people to rely too much on the Federal Government, somewhat like a child relies on its mother.

8. An old, blind horse was the first animal Tuskegee purchased. It seemed to symbolize how the Institute would deal with the uneducated and ignorant of the black race.

9. Various sums came from both races for Tuskegee, but sometimes, the people had no money. One old colored woman hobbled into the school dressed in little more than clean rags. However, no matter how poor she was, she wanted to give something top the school. So, she offered all she had: six eggs. Nothing ever touched him so deeply as that. The eggs were symbols for what was best in his race.

10. The making of the bricks to build their buildings is a symbol of the determination Booker carried to lift his people up and make them independent.

11. Booker told the story of a ship lost at sea for many days, which sighted a friendly vessel and begged for water. It was told, “Cast down your buckets where you are.” The ship cried out again, because they couldn’t drink sea water, but again the command from the other vessel was to “cast down your buckets where you are.” The captain finally heeded the command and gratefully discovered that he was at the mouth of the Amazon and the water was safe to drink. This was a metaphor for Booker’s idea that people must pull themselves out of bad situations.

12. Booker said, “ When you have gotten the full story of the heroic conduct of the Negro in the Spanish- American War, have heard it from the lips of Northern soldier and Southern soldier, from ex-abolitionist and ex-masters, then decide within yourselves whether a race that is thus willing to die for its country should not be given the highest opportunity to live for its country.” The devotion of the soldier is a metaphor for the devotion and loyalty of the Negroes.

13. The famous Negro painter Mr. Henry Tanner. was a symbol of Booker’s personal philosophy: any man no matter his color can succeed and be rewarded un proportion to how well he learns his craft.

IMPORTANT / KEY FACTS SUMMARY

Title: Up From Slavery: An Autobiography

Author: Booker T. Washington

Date Published: 1901

Meaning of the Title: It refers to Washington’s determination to raise himself out of the mentality of a slave and raise his people of as well.

Setting: Franklin County, Virginia; Malden, West Virginia; Hampton, Virginia; Tuskegee, Alabama; various states in America and various countres in Europe1858-1901

Protagonist: The Protagonist is Booker T. Washington who spends his life trying to lift his people up from slavery. He perseveres in every endeavor he tries and eventually founds the Tuskegee Institute to promote education and industry.

Antagonist: The Antagonists include: white people whom Booker must win over to his cause and whom he believes are basically decent and good; and his own people whose faith he must strive constantly to keep alive.

Mood: Overall, the mood is one of setbacks interspersed with optimism. Washington emphasizes the optimism and believes that whites and blacks living together in harmony is not only possible, but probable in spite of the ghost of the institution of slavery.

Point of View: First Person

Tense: Since it is an explanation of the life of Booker T. Washington, it is written in the past tense.

Rising Action: The rising action begins with chapter one when the reader is introduced to Booker T. Washington through the narrative of what he knew about his birth until his triumphant speech at the Atlanta Exposition where the world really became aware of his ideas and what he had accomplished and what he hoped to achieve.

Exposition: The author begins from his birth and chronologically relates events of his life through 1901.

Climax: The climax comes with Booker’s address to the Atlanta Exposition. Here, for the first time, a Negro stands on the same platform as white speakers. It is in this speech where he uses the metaphor of “Cast your buckets down” and he is wildly congratulated for making the Negro’s position and advancement in America better known to the white race.

Outcome: At the end of his autobiography in 1901, Booker believed that there was optimism for his race in America, and he predicted that the day would come when the races mixed freely and cooperatively. That feeling was the result of his speech in Richmond, Virginia in a building near where he had once been forced to sleep under a wooden sidewalk. He recognizes how far he has come.

Major Themes: The importance of education; the dignity of work; the net of slavery; the relationship between the races; and the measurement of success.

STUDY QUESTIONS - MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ

1. Booker had no idea when he had been born because a. slaves were uneducated. b. records were never kept by black people. c. slaves were not allowed to know this information. 2. Once the Emancipation occurred Booker and his family a. traveled to West Virginia to work. b. stayed on the plantation. c. took jobs in salt mines in Ohio. 3. Because he wanted so much to learn, Booker a. traveled to Richmond, Virginia to go to school. b. started his own school in Malden, West Virginia. c. walked 200 miles to Hampton. 4. Mrs. Mackie tested Booker’s resolve to learn by a. making him sweep a room. b. having him take an entrance exam. c. making him read from the Bible. 5. The man who Booker admires the most is a. General Sherman. b. President McKinley. c. General Armstrong. 6. The general asks Booker to teach a. Chinese immigrants. b. American Indians. c. Irish farmers. 7. These new students’ most difficult lesson is a. learning Greek and Latin. b. learning how to grow cotton. c. learning how to dress like white people. 8. The greatest problem Booker had when he first arrived in Tuskegee was a. finding books. b. planting crops. c. finding accommodations. 9. Booker firmly believed that one of the students’ responsibility was a. building their own buildings. b. making lots of money when they graduated. c. designing the proper uniforms. 10. Miss Olive Davidson’s responsibility was a. finding good teachers for Tuskegee. b. marrying Booker. c. finding funds to keep the school going. 11. Since he wanted the students to build the buildings themselves, he had a. to teach them how to make bricks. b. to teach them how to grow trees for lumber. c. to teach them how to draw floor plans. 12. The students were also responsible for a. caring for babies born there. b. building all their own furniture. c. making bedding for every bed. 13. Booker first became a great public speaker, because a. he had to make money for his family. b. he had to find a way to buy furniture for the school. c. he had to plead with wealthy people to donate to the school. 14. Booker was so concerned about appealing to white people for help that he a. traveled 2000 miles for a five minute speech. b. walked all the way to Hampton to speak to General Armstrong. c. slept under a sidewalk in Richmond in order to speak. 15. The greatest speech Booker ever made occurred a. at the White House. b. in Malden, West Virginia. c. in Atlanta, Georgia.

ANSWER KEY 1.) b 2.) a 3.) c 4.) a 5.) c 6.) b 7.) c 8.) c 9.) a 10.) c 11.) a 12.) b 13.) c 14.) a 15.) c

ESSAY TOPICS - BOOK REPORT IDEAS 1. Explain Booker’s ideas about education and work by citing examples from the autobiography. 2. Why did he take up public speaking and how successful was he? Why was the Atlanta Exposition speech so important? 3. What did Washington mean when he said that success is measured by the obstacles overcome to attain it? 4. Explain the metaphor of “cast your buckets down”? 5. Why was it so important for Booker to convince President McKinley to come to Tuskegee? How did he go about it? 6. Explain what Booker learned during his trip to Europe by citing examples of his travels. 7. How did his mother influence Booker’s life? Give detailed examples. 8. Describe all the plans Booker had for Tuskegee and how he implemented them and built the school’s endowment. 9. Why does Booker believe so strongly that his race would eventually successfully integrate white society? 10. Explain the irony of Booker’s speech in Richmond, Virginia. How does this exemplify everything he believed and how he succeeded in his life?