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[[image:bookert.jpg|200px|thumb|Booker T. Washington]]

[[image:bookert.jpg|200px|thumb|Booker T. Washington]]

'''Booker T. Washington''' (1856-1915) was a visionary, educator, and leader of the post-Civil War African-American community.

'''Booker Taliafero Washington''' (1856-1915) was a visionary, educator, and leader of the post-Civil War African-American community.

Born into slavery, Washington grew up without an education because it was illegal for slaves to learn how to read.<ref>http://www.ushistory.net/toc/washington.html</ref> After the [[Civil War]], he began to attend school, and worked as a janitor at the [[Hampton Institute]] in order to pay for his education. He later became an instructor at this school, and in 1891, founded the [[Tuskegee Institute]] for blacks.<ref>http://www.nps.gov/archive/bowa/btwbio.html</ref> In 1895, he gave the famous Atlanta Compromise speech in which he simultaneously exhorted African Americans to work and white employers to hire them.

Born into slavery, Washington grew up without an education because it was illegal for slaves to learn how to read.<ref>http://www.ushistory.net/toc/washington.html</ref> After the [[Civil War]], he began to attend school, and worked as a janitor at the [[Hampton Institute]] in order to pay for his education. He later became an instructor at this school, and in 1891, founded the [[Tuskegee Institute]] for blacks.<ref>http://www.nps.gov/archive/bowa/btwbio.html</ref> In 1895, he gave the famous Atlanta Compromise speech in which he simultaneously exhorted African Americans to work and white employers to hire them.