Up from Slavery Book Report

UP From Slavery Book Report

This book was about Booker T Washington who was a slave on a plantation in Virginia until he was nine years old. His autobiography offers readers a look into his life as a young child. Simple pleasures, such as eating with a fork, sleeping in a bed, and wearing comfortable clothing, were unavailable to Washington and his family. His brief glimpses into a schoolhouse were all it took to make him long for a chance to study and learn. Readers will enjoy the straightforward and strong voice Washington uses to tell his story. The book document his childhood as a slave and his efforts to get an education, and he directly credits his education with his later success as a man of action in his community and the nation. Washington details his transition from student to teacher, and outlines his own development as an educator and founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He tells the story of Tuskegee's growth, from classes held in a shantytown to a campus with many new buildings. In the final chapters of, it Washington describes his career as a public speaker and civil rights activist. Washington includes the address he gave at the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895, which made him a national figure. He concludes his autobiography with an account of several recognitions he has received for his work, including an honorary degree from Harvard, and two significant visits to Tuskegee, one by President McKinley and another by General Samuel C. Armstrong. During his lifetime, Booker T. Washington was a national leader for the betterment of African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. He advocated for economic and industrial improvement of Blacks while accommodating Whites on voting rights and social equality. This approach, however, died with Washington, and its success prior to 1915 was largely due to Washington's adept method of tailoring his speaking and writing to suit the race of his audience. His mother was the plantation cook and the kitchen was also where they lived. It was without glass windows, had a door that barely hung on uneven hinges, and had large cracks in the walls that let in the coldest air in the winter and the humidity in the summer. The floor was the naked earth. Booker had no memory of ever playing games or sports. He regretted that situation, because he believed he would be an even more useful man if he had. However, his life was devoted to work, because he was slave. He cleaned yards, carried water, or took corn to the mill. Carrying corn to the mill was the one of the hardest jobs he ever had. One day while at work, Booker overheard two men talking about a school for colored people opening up in Virginia. He learned that not only was the school established, but opportunities were also provided to work out the cost of board and at the same time, the student would be taught a trade or some industry. It seemed to him to be the greatest place on earth and he determined to go to the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. To continue to earn money, he left the salt mines and got a job in the home of General Lewis Ruffner, the owner of the mines. His wife was a very exacting stern boss, and many young men had quit or been fired, because they didn’t meet her standards. He walked around all night and then began begging for rides in wagons and cars until he was 82 miles from Hampton. Again, he was forced to just walk around the city of Richmond, having no way to pay his way. He finally found an elevated spot in the board sidewalk and he crawled under there to sleep. Finally, Booker saved enough money to reach Hampton. He figured he had a surplus of exactly 50 cents. When he reached Hampton, he was awed by the beauty of the school building and believed that now his life would have new meaning. He presented himself before the head teacher to enroll, but he didn’t make a very favorable impression on her, because of his dirty clothes and rough appearance. The teachers at Hampton also helped Booker obtain more clothing according to the strict rules of the school to have clean clothes and polished shoes. He was supplied with second hand clothing