Teacher Appreciation: Black Educators Who Saved Us - Page 5

5. Booker T. Washington (1856–1915)

Booker T. Washington’s journey to education began with extraordinary hardship. Born into slavery, he worked in salt furnaces and coal mines as a boy, squeezing in school wherever possible. Inspired by tales of Hampton Institute, he walked 500 miles to attend, eventually earning high marks and returning as a teacher, as reported by History.

In 1881, at age 25, Washington became the founding principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama, now Tuskegee University. He stressed the importance of vocational training, believing economic self-reliance was key to Black advancement. Though his accommodationist stance toward segregation drew criticism from contemporaries like W.E.B. Du Bois, Washington’s leadership and institution-building efforts had lasting influence. He was a bridge between two eras: slavery and Black self-determination.