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Booker Taliaferro Washington was born
Washington was born on April 5, 1856 in Hales Ford, Virginia. He was born into slavery. -
Freedom
Booker T. Washington and his family gain freedom from slavery. -
Sunday School and Marraige
Washington taught Sunday School at African Zion Baptist Church; he married his first wife, Fannie Smith, at the church in 1881 -
Tuskegee University
He founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama (now known as Tuskegee University), which grew immensely and focused on training African Americans in agricultural pursuits. -
Huge role
Washington had a huge imact in the civil rights movement in 1890. -
West Virginia State University
Washington was instrumental in having West Virginia State University, founded in 1891, located in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia. He visited the campus often and spoke at its first commencement exercise. -
Atlanta Compromise
Booker T. Washington publicly put forth his philosophy on race relations in a speech at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, known as the "Atlanta Compromise." In his speech, Washington stated that African Americans should accept disenfranchisement and social segregation as long as whites allow them economic progress, educational opportunity and justice in the courts. This started a firestorm in parts of the African-American community, especially in the North. -
1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris
Along with Du Bois, he partly organized the "Negro exhibition" at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where photos, taken by his friend Frances Benjamin Johnston, of Hampton Institute's black students were displayed. The exhibition expressed African Americans' positive contributions to American society. -
NNBL
In an effort to inspire the "commercial, agricultural, educational, and industrial advancement" of African Americans, Washington founded the National Negro Business League (NNBL) in 1900. -
Autobiography
his book became a bestseller and had a major impact on the African American community and its friends and allies. -
Dinner with the President
Washington was invited to the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt. He was the first African American to visit the White House as a guest of the President. -
$1,000,000 is entrusted to Washington
$1,000,000 was entrusted to Washington by Anna T. Jeanes (1822-1907) of Philadelphia in 1907. She hoped to construct some elementary schools for Negro children in the South. Her contributions and those of Henry Rogers and others funded schools in many communities where the white people were also very poor, and few funds were available for Negro schools. -
"The Great Accommodator
Washington was criticized by leaders of the NAACP, a civil rights organization formed in 1909. W. E. B. Du Bois advocated activism to achieve civil rights. He labeled Washington "the Great Accommodator". -
Booker goes on speaking tour along new railroad
Washington speaking tour in 1909 along the route of a new railroad which was built to transport bituminous coal from the mountains. -
Washington dies
Despite his travels and widespread work, Washington remained as principal of Tuskegee. Washington's health was deteriorating rapidly; he collapsed in New York City and was brought home to Tuskegee, where he died on November 14, 1915 at the age of 59. The cause of death was unclear, probably from nervous exhaustion and arteriosclerosis. He was buried on the campus of Tuskegee University near the University Chapel. -
1st African American depicted on US postage
On April 7, 1940, Washington became the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp. The first coin to feature an African American was the Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar that was minted by the United States from 1946 to 1951. He was also depicted on a U.S. Half Dollar from 1951-1954.
