| Show 0 STUDENT LIFE who have devoted themselves to the tearing down of race prejudice and the upbuilding of the interests of the southern people is Booker T Washington A careful study of the life of this man will reveal the numerous under disadvantages which the negro labored in years past But it must not be considered that his life is typical of the negro life in general There are a few great men in every race men who rise above the level of their surroundings and extend their influence among more than one class of people Mr Washington has for many years been a guiding light to thousands of his own color He has given them what no white man has given and his influence has been felt to a greater degree than has the influence exerted by any white man It is well for all to be familiar with the history of his life that they may know just how a poor black man has made the most of a life that at first had nothing but the fire of ambition and determination to urge it to action The earh life of Booker T Wash- ington was spent as a plantation slave in Virginia While he was still young the Civil War broke out and at its close he with his parents became free They were forced to leave their old home in Virginia and go elsewhere to live They went to West Virginia and there the men found work in the salt mines of a little town near the city of Charleston It was while living there and working in the mines that the boy first conceived the notion of going to 171 school and of learning how to read He could not attend school how- ever for his father kept him at work but he managed to secure a small spelling book and the services of a friend and these coupled with a determination to learn helped him at last to acquire the alphabet and a limited knowledge of words As time passed by he became imbued with a desire for an education which desire was increased by the of his mother encouragement whose only ambition was to see her children rise above the common level of their race Hearing that there was a school in Virginia where students could work their way through the desire to go at once became too strong to be resisted He had but little money yet he deter- mined to start for Hampton at once Many hardships were endured on this journey of more than five hundred miles and when he reached his destination he was both penniless and friendless The habit of doing his best at all times and on all occasions helped him out of many difficulties and secured to him the sympathy and aid of the instructors at the institute During the first two years of his life at Hampton he had to work very hard and at times he felt depressed and unhappy but he made the best of unfavorable conditions and spent all of his available time in vigorous study At the end of two years he had formed the closest friendship with all who knew him and he had laid the foundation of a good and solid character He stayed -- |
