98 Booker T. Washington: Early Years

Tuskegee Institute. What is it? Where is it? If you said, “It is a historical black college in Alabama,” you are correct. It is as old as Yale, Harvard, or Princeton? No. It was founded in 1881. But its history is just as exciting. Harvard was founded by John Harvard. But who founded Tuskegee? The answer: Booker T. Washington.

Washington was born as a slave. The year was 1858 or 1859. After the slaves were freed, his family moved to West Virginia. As a child Washington had to work in a mine. But he met one African American there. This man read newspapers to the others. He inspired Washington to learn to read himself.

One man at the mine spoke about a college for blacks. Washington was thrilled. He found the full name. It was the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. It was located in Virginia. The school was 500 miles away. Washington was determined to study there.

The Institute had been founded by the American Missionary Association. That group was founded in Boston by fighters against slavery. The teachers were from the North. Their goal was to train young African-American men and women. To train them as skilled craftsmen. To make good farmers of them. To teach women to be skilled homemakers. The plan was this. These trained African Americans would train other African Americans. Many at the school were ex-slaves. They needed help to do well in white society. This school would greatly influence Washington. It would help him when he set up Tuskegee.

塔斯基吉學院。它是什麼？在哪裡？如果你說：“它是一所位於阿拉巴馬州的歷史悠久的黑人學院”，你是對的。它和耶魯、哈佛或普林斯頓一樣古老嗎？不是。它成立於1881年。但它的歷史同樣令人振奮。哈佛由約翰·哈佛創立。但誰創立了塔斯基吉？答案是：布克·T·華盛頓。

華盛頓出生時是一名奴隸。年份是1858或1859年。奴隸獲得自由後，他的家人搬到西維吉尼亞州。童年時，華盛頓必須在礦井工作。但他在那裡遇到了一位非裔美國人。這個人會把報紙讀給其他人聽。他激勵華盛頓學會自己閱讀。

礦井裡有一個人談到一所黑人學院。華盛頓非常激動。他找到了學院的全名：漢普頓師範與農業學院。它位於維吉尼亞州，距離500英里。華盛頓決心去那裡學習。

該學院由美國傳教士協會創立。這個團體由反對奴隸制的鬥士在波士頓創立。教師來自北方。他們的目標是培訓年輕的非裔美國男女，使他們成為熟練的工匠，成為優秀的農民，並教導女性成為熟練的家庭主婦。計劃是這樣的：這些受過培訓的非裔美國人將培訓其他非裔美國人。學校裡的許多人曾是奴隸。他們需要幫助才能在白人社會中立足。這所學校將極大地影響華盛頓，並在他創建塔斯基吉時幫助他。