Identification: Educator and advocate of African American business
Born: April 5, 1856; near Hale’s Ford, Virginia
Died: November 14, 1915; Tuskegee, Alabama
Significance: Using his educational and political influence, Washington spearheaded African American entrepreneurship during the early twentieth century by advocating the process of gradual economic and social advancement that could eventually lead to economic independence and self-reliance for African Americans.
After working in salt furnaces and coal mines as a young man, Booker T. Washington attended Hampton Institute in Virginia. In 1881, he organized theTuskegee Institute in Alabama as a normal and industrial school for African Americans. The school focused on industrial training that would develop self-respect and economic independence for African Americans. In 1895, he expressed his belief that African Americans must attain a level of economic equality with whites before they pushed for social equality.
In 1900, Washington organized the National Negro Business League (NNBL), with the goal of establishing economic independence for African Americans. Graduates from Tuskegee began spreading out into positions of influence, many as entrepreneurs. Washington motivated African Americans to become indispensable, successful businesspeople, no matter how small their business might be. He encouraged them to emulate others who were successful so that they could generate the financial resources necessary to continue their upward climb. Washington believed that businesspeople were the ultimate role models.


Washington taught African Americans the importance of work, no matter how modest the labor. He emphasized the connection between business and real estate ownership and the ability to have greater control over what happened in the lives of African Americans. He taught that the cornerstone of economic independence was saving and investing money. After his death in 1915, black entrepreneurship began fading back into the shadows of the past.

See also: George Washington Carver; Civil Rights Act of 1964; Civil Rights movement; Education; Marcus Garvey.