Up from slavery is an autobiography created by the one and only Booker T Washington. This book was published in 1901 and describes how he changed the lives of many. I believe the main themes of this book are hard work and determination, and sticking up for what you believe in.
Booker T. Washington was a brilliant man who never shied away from a challenge or feared the unknown. He is a realistic and well-rounded character who honestly doesn’t have one boring thing about him. The changes he made and sacrifices he took, are what made the book interesting. Each photo represents what made his story so unique.
Slaves were of any age. Washington speaks about how at a very young age, he and his brother had to work on the plantation. Hearing about the hardships of his life is what began the entire book and the story of his life. He carries his strength and his pride, which stem from his days of slavery.
His mother made him a hat for his first day of school. All of his friends came in with store-bought hats, but he proudly walked into school with his hat which his mother made him. This undeniable pride is shown throughout the book. He never lets the opinions of others dictate the way he thinks, and feels. And what he believes is right and is proud of is something he would never let “embarrass” him.
As Washington was sitting in his classroom, he heard school-roll being called. He noticed that all the children had two names. He’s always been called just Booker, never anything else. So he decided to choose his last name. When the teacher asked what his full name was, he said Booker Washington, with no shame, as if it was normal for him to say. This is when he got his name, that he was for the rest of his life.
After Booker’s first year of school he owed 16 dollars. He did everything he could to save money and raise up 16 dollars. One day he found a ten dollar bill under a restaurant table. He was so happy to find this however it was not his restaurant so he went and showed the money to the owner. The owner then proceeded to say that it is his restaurant so he should get to keep the money. This was obviously hard on Washington. He then states, “ I will not say that I became discouraged, for, as I now look back over my life I do not recall that I ever became discouraged over anything that I set out to accomplish.” This signifies his ongoing determination and faith in everything he does throughout the book.
Later on in his life he created a night school. He noticed that there were so many men and women who had to work during the day so they couldn’t make it to school. So, he decided to open a night school. After he created this it was a huge hit. People of all ages were showing up, and he got to create something that made an impact and people wanted to be a part of.
General Armstrong asked him to be a house father to a group of Indian boys. There were about 75 of them and Booker was the only one who was not part of their race. Even though he mentioned how Indians used to own large numbers of slaves, he still wanted to help and educate the Indian boys at Hampton.
When General Armstrong asked for Washington to come to his office, he wanted him to fill the position in Alabama. Days later, a telegram message came in, and it read: “Booker T. Washington will suit us. Send him at once.” After seeing this letter, he went to Tuskegee and found a town of about 2000 inhabitants; nearly 1/2 of them were colored. This was known as the black belt of the south.
Washington had to find a place to open the school in Tuskegee, however there weren’t many options. After looking around, the best place he could find was a shanty, which is a shack that was located near the church. The conditions of the church and shanty were not ideal, and the students had to help him with repair.
What I believe is the most special part about his school in Tuskegee is the fact that he did not only teach them education from books. He realized that a lot of the kids there didn’t know basic lifestyle habits such as hygiene. Therefore, he taught them how to bathe, how to brush their teeth, clothing, where to eat, eating properly, and so many other things that were significant parts of everyday life they never got to be taught.
Over 19 years of Tuskegee schooling many buildings were created. Almost all of them were created by students. Due to the lack of money, student labor was crucial. Students ended up building over forty buildings. Booker states the most challenging task is brick making, which was hard to motivate students to do. The work was challenging and time consuming making it an unpleasant task. However the children felt a connection to what they build and he even found a student telling another “Don’t do that. That is our building. I helped put it up.”
Throughout his career Washington formed close relationships with his students. He was never treated with disrespect from his students because they held him in a high regard. They respected him. They showed it in action through never wanting him to be burdened with carrying a large book or satchel or coming up to him with an umbrella, and asking to hold it over his head.
When Washington was giving one of his speeches, Thomas W Bicknell heard him, and later invited him to deliver a speech at the next meeting of the Educational Association. He gladly accepted this invitation, and called this the beginning of his public speaking career. During his speech, there were many white people from Alabama present. He was told that they went to this meeting ready for him to badmouth south, but they were pleasantly surprised to find out that there was no criticism about the south in his speech.
One day the international meeting of Christian workers invited him to speak. This would mean he would have to speak directly to a representative, southern white audience. He knew the audience would be mostly white men and women; however, this was a great opportunity for him to let them know what he’s trying to do at Tuskegee. He spoke there for five minutes, and to his surprise his speech was greatly appreciated and they were enthusiastic to hear it.
Later on in 1895, he got a telegram asking him to go with a committee to Washington, to speak before a board of Congress to confirm government help for the Exposition. The committee had around 25 of the most well known and white influential men in Georgia. Even the mayor and other city state officials spoke. He had never done anything like this before, and in his speech he wanted to make friends between the two races. He said the Atlanta Exposition would be a great opportunity for both races to show the growth since freedom. In a few days, the bill passed Congress.
When I was reading this book, I thought to myself, this is the most important book I’ve ever read. This is the book that I have learned the most from. There were times when I would read the page twice just to capture the true essence of the book. The only downside is that there were some parts where he didn’t go into enough detail. This would cause me to get lost to what is going on however, this wasn’t often.
During the parts, where he didn’t use enough detail, I wasn’t as engaged. These dull parts would be parts where he went straight from one thing to another, or he briefly described one thing and poorly transitioned to the next. Now this is only my opinion and I overall did love this book however, not every book is perfect.
I did not have any personal connections to this book, but that didn’t stop me from feeling connected to it. I have never read anything like this, and that is because there is no one like him. He gave me a better understanding of what was going on in the world during those times and he showed me that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Books like these are important for people to read in order to learn about the past, and to learn about what people had to go through. He should be known by everyone, because there should be more people like him. He made changes and he didn’t stop until he did the most he could.
