Booker T Washington's Success

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” –Booker T. Washington. Educator Booker T. Washington was one of the foremost African American dominant leaders in the black community. His childhood and failures helped shape his impact that allowed him the success that he had, has on African American communities.
After being born to a slave and working as a slave himself, Booker T. Washington decided that he wanted better for himself. He soon began to teach himself how to read and write like other children who actually had teachers. Self-help and determination was Washington’s philosophy. He felt like segregation was no big deal unless the whites were infringing on
Washington and his mother moved from Franklin County, Virginia to Malden, West Virginia because she married a freedman, Washington Ferguson. Booker T. s\till had not forgot about the other children learning how to read and write and wanted to go to school too. Instead, though, he had to work because the family was less fortunate and extremely poor. He went to work with his stepdad in the close by salt furnaces. His mother was aware that he was would talk about school and the other kids a lot but she also knew that slaves could not be taught how to read or write. So she got him a book to make him feel better. Surprisingly, Booker learned a lot from the book his mother got him. In fact, he learned how to write basics words, pronounce them, comprehend them and he learned the alphabet too. Although it took him some time because he still had to work at the salt furnaces with his stepdad, young Booker T. made time to practice, study and continue to work. In 1866, young Booker got a job as a houseboy for Viola Ruffner. After working there for her awhile, Viola began to like Booker. She told him multiple of times that she saw something different in him opposed to her other servants. She also was aware of his interest in school, so after a couple of years of knowing him she allowed him to go to school a few hours a day only during the winter months. This was beneficial because he learned more than he did when his mom bought him his first book. This also inspired him
Under the leadership of Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee became a leading school in the country. The Institute’s curriculum was based upon the philosophy of Booker and stressed the virtues of patience, enterprise and thrift. Booker believed that if African Americans could prove that they were valuable and could work hard to obtain financial independence and cultural advancement, then blacks would eventually win acceptance and respect from the white community. In addition, the institute had more than one hundred well-equipped buildings, fifteen hundred students, two hundred faculty members, thirty-eight trade professions and nearly $2 million