My Larger Education ― Chapters From My Experience

Washington's emphasis on teaching practical trades to African Americans rather than promoting a liberal education was both appropriate and reassuring to whites. To many African American intellectuals, however, his deference to whites was a betrayal of the possibilities of power and prestige. Further, they argued, denying the vast majority of African Americans a higher education relegated them to second-class status and continued segregation. In this sequel to his 1901 autobiography Up From Slavery, Washington responded to his critics, asserting that the lessons he learned from building his schools, working with the media, consorting with the like of Theodore Roosevelt, travelling in Europe, and meeting the common man taught him more than theories that were interesting intellectual exercises but had relatively little practical purpose in what he wanted to achieve. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booker T.?Washington (1856-1915) was the most influential spokesperson for Black Americans between 1895 and 1915. He advised US presidents on racial issues and the appointment of Blacks to government positions. He received honorary degrees from Harvard University in 1896 and Dartmouth College in 1901. In 1881 Washington became head of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, in Alabama, and oversaw its growth as a major university for Blacks. Washington authored a dozen books, including The Story of My Life and Work (1900), Up from Slavery (1901), Working with the Hands (1904), Tuskegee and Its People:Their Ideals and Achievements (1905), Frederick Douglass (1907), and My Larger Education (1910).