Here in one omnibus edition are Booker T. Washington's most important books. Washington was constantly, and often bitterly, criticized by his contemporaries for being too conciliatory to whites and not concerned enough about civil rights. It would not be until after his death that the world would find out that he had indeed worked a great deal for civil rights anonymously behind the scenes. Up from Slavery is one of the most influential biographies ever written. On one level it is the life story of Booker T. Washington and his rise from slavery to accomplished educator and activist. On another level it the story of how an entire race strove to better itself. Washington makes it clear just how far race relations in America have come, and to some extent, just how much further they have to go. Written with wit and clarity. In My Larger Education, Booker T. Washington explains how he came by his positions on race relations, by describing the people who influenced him during the founding of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute of Alabama. In Character Building are thirty seven addresses that Booker T. Washington gave before students, faculty, and guests at the Tuskegee Institute. These addresses take the form of timeless advice on a number of subjects. Very motivational and uplifting. Here are six historic essays on the state of race relations during the Reconstruction and early twentieth century, written from the African American point of view. Included are "Industrial Education for the Negro" by Booker T. Washington, "The Talented Tenth" by W.E. Burghardt DuBois, "The Disfranchisement of the Negro" by Charles W. Chesnutt, "The Negro and the Law" by Wilford H. Smith, "The Characteristics of the Negro People" by H.T. Kealing, and "Representative American Negroes" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Since the 1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr., has personified black leadership with his use of direct action protests against white authority. A century ago, in the era of Jim Crow, Booker T. Washington pursued a different strategy to lift his people. In this compelling biography, Norrell reveals how conditions in the segregated South led Washington to call for a less contentious path to freedom and equality. He urged black people to acquire economic independence and to develop the moral character that would ultimately gain them full citizenship. Although widely accepted as the most realistic way to integrate blacks into American life during his time, WashingtonÕs strategy has been disparaged since the 1960s. The first full-length biography of Booker T. in a generation, Up from History recreates the broad contexts in which Washington worked: He struggled against white bigots who hated his economic ambitions for blacks, African-American intellectuals like W. E. B. Du Bois who resented his huge influence, and such inconstant allies as Theodore Roosevelt. Norrell details the positive power of WashingtonÕs vision, one that invoked hope and optimism to overcome past exploitation and present discrimination. Indeed, his ideas have since inspired peoples across the Third World that there are many ways to struggle for equality and justice. Up from History reinstates this extraordinary historical figure to the pantheon of black leaders, illuminating not only his mission and achievement but also, poignantly, the man himself.

Learn how a slave became one of the leading influential African American intellectuals of the late 19th century. African American educator, author, speaker, and advisor to presidents of the United States, Booker Taliaferro Washington was the leading voice of former slaves and their descendants during the late 1800s. As part of the last generation of leaders born into slavery, Booker believed that blacks could better progress in society through education and entrepreneurship, rather than trying to directly challenge the Jim Crow segregation. After hearing the Emancipation Proclamation and realizing he was free, young Booker decided to make learning his life. He taught himself to read and write, pursued a formal education, and went on to found the Tuskegee Institute--a black school in Alabama--with the goal of building the community's economic strength and pride. The institute still exists and is home to famous alumnae like scientist George Washington Carver.

Reproduction of the original.

A new take on this icon of African American educational reform, drawing on previously unpublished materials. Booker T. Washington, a founding father of African American education in the United States, has long been studied, revered, and reviled by scholars and students. Born into slavery, freed and raised in the Reconstruction South, and active in educational reform through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Washington sought to use education to bridge the nation’s racial divide. This volume explores Washington’s life and work through his writings and speeches. Drawing on previously unpublished writings, hard-to-find speeches and essays, and other primary documents from public and private collections, Michael Scott Bieze and Marybeth Gasman provide a balanced and insightful look at this controversial and sometimes misunderstood leader. Their essays follow key themes in Washington’s life—politics, aesthetics, philanthropy, religion, celebrity, race, and education—that show both his range of thought and the evolution of his thinking on topics vital to African Americans at the time. Wherever possible, the book reproduces archival material in its original form, aiding the reader in delving more deeply into the primary sources, while the accompanying introductions and analyses by Bieze and Gasman provide rich context. A companion website contains additional primary source documents and suggested classroom exercises and teaching aids. Innovative and multifaceted, Booker T. Washington Rediscovered provides the opportunity to experience Washington’s work as he intended and examines this turn-of-the-century pioneer in his own right, not merely in juxtaposition with W.E.B. Du Bois and other black leaders.

"A fictionalized story about the life of young Booker T. Washington. Living in a West Virginia settlement after emancipation, nine-year-old Booker travels by lantern light to the salt works, where he labors from dawn till dusk. Although his stomach rumbles, his real hunger is his intense desire to learn to read.... [A] moving and inspirational story." -- School Library Journal, starred review

Scholars have sought to understand the mystique surrounding Booker T Washington. He is an enigma and continues to be lauded by those who offer him and his ideas as a model for Black Progress. This volume aims to provide the reader with a wide inter-disciplinary landscape with which to assess Washington.