Booker T. Washington was born in 1856 and passed away in 1915 from high blood pressure. He was a civil rights activist and leader in the African American community. He mostly used his voice to advocate for better education in the black community as he was an educator himself, as well as raising attention to the civil rights movement. He was responsible for the building up and success of the Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama. Booker T. Washington also made the famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. He was also famous for writing an autobiography titled, Up from Slavery.

Up from Slavery is about his personal journey from being a slave to now becoming an educator. In the beginning it documents his life as a slave and how he tried to get an education. It is mostly about how education and genuine hard work can overcome adversity and how it can ease racial tensions present in the south at the time. He went on to become the first Black man to dine at the White House. Booker T. Washington was also the first African American to be featured on U.S Postage Stamp on April 7th, 1940. To say the least, he was pretty revolutionary.