Booker T. Washington was born on April 5, 856, in Hales Ford Virginia. Booker was born as a slave with his mother, stepfather, brother, and sister. They had to live in small wooden shacks which were not comfortable for the slaves. The kids had to sleep on the dirt floor and the adults had to share a small bed. He grew up during the Civil War a couple of months later President Lincoln freed slaves because he thought it was wrong and made it a law. Most of the slaves were not free until the war was over. Booker and his stepfather worked in salt mines also with his brother. He went to a local grade school which was for blacks only. He also learned to read and write there. Booker T. Washington heard of a college, he walked more than 500 miles just to go to that college! He was an excellent student, to get more money he worked as a janitor to make some money. Booker was super smart and he graduated in 875 and then started working as a teacher.
A few years later he got married three times. His first wife was Fannie N. Smith but sadly two years later she died. His second wife was Olivia A. Parison. She die
d later on too after they got married. His last wife was Margaret Murray Washington. Then he made a book named Up From Slavery to tell people what it was like to be a slave. After that book, he gave him the idea to open a school in Tuskegee, Alabama. The school was named Tuskegee Institute for blacks only. It was just a small school until he turned it into a university! He started collecting money for the school and traveling around the world to get it. The school planted their crops too. After he started making speeches about politics. After doing a few months of that, he became a Civil Rights leader. He worked hard to improve the lives of African Americans so they could be treated fairly and not white people taking over blacks. He believed that blacks owned business. He became the most influential black leader and gave a speech that was reported in the national news. He was talking about black and white race and how it doesnt matter if youre black or white we all get treated the same way. A few years later he died from heart failure. He was a great leader, and he is still remembered to this day.