Born a slave in Virginia in 1856, Booker T. Washington rose in prominence to become black America's foremost spokesman. This is the dramatic autobiographical account of Washington's struggle to succeed and prosper in a country that refused to acknowledge his existence. From his fight for an education to his founding of the world-renowned Tuskegee Institute, Up From Slavery is one of the most significant and defining works in American literature.

Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1915) was born into slavery in Virginia. After emancipation he worked his way through college, attending the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (today, Hampton University) and Wayland Seminary, became a teacher; then was chosen to be the first leader of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a position he held the rest of his life. As educator, orator and author, he was a dominant leader of the African American community...

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.

Biographical profiles of important and influential persons of African heritage who form the international black community. Covers persons of various nationalities in a wide variety of fields providing coverage of names found in today's headlines as well as selected individuals from earlier in this century whose influence continues to have an impact on contemporary life.