Booker T. Washington
Born into slavery and liberated after the Civil War, Booker T. Washington became a teacher, leader of what today is Tuskegee University, best-selling author and social activist. From 1890-1915, he stood as a dominant figure among African-Americans. Famous in part for an address he delivered which many African-Americans saw as accommodating slavery rather than opposing it, he bestrode the line between freedom and slavery as one of the last generation of black leaders who were emancipated rather than freeborn. His nationwide network of supporters aided his ceaseless efforts to broaden educational opportunities for African-Americans. When he died in 1915, he had built Tuskegee Institute into a thriving institution and furthered the cause of education for African-Americans in the South.
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