Booker T. Washington Memorial

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

This memorial on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol Complex pays tribute to one of the state's leading educators. Booker T. Washington spent his childhood in Malden, a small community near Charleston. Washington established a school for African Americans in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1881. Washington worked to secure funds for this school, leading to its transformation from a one-room schoolhouse to a university.

Images

Booker T. Washington Memorial at WV Capitol Complex

Undated Black and white photo of boyhood cabin in WV.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Washington was born a slave in Virginia in 1856. After emancipation, his family resettled in West Virginia. He worked his way through Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute and attended college at Wayland Seminary. In 1881 he was named as the first leader of the newly formed Tuskegee Institute.

Washington was an educator, reformer and arguable the most influential Black leader of his time. He preached a philosophy of self-help and racial solidarity. He urged Blacks to prove themselves through hard work and believed in education in the crafts, industrial and farming skills. He promoted the values of patience, enterprise and perseverance and thought they would win the respect of whites, leading to African Americans being fully accepted as citizens and integrated into society.

Sources

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/race/etc/road.html http://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/tuskegee/btwoverview.htm African-American Heritage Trail of WV. West Virginia Division of Tourism. www.callwva.com