"Up from Slavery" is the autobiography of Booker T. Washington sharing his personal experience of having to work to rise up from the position of a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton Institute, to his work establishing vocational schools-most notably the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama-to help black people and other disadvantaged minorities learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves, as a race, up by the bootstraps. Booker Taliaferro Washington (1856 - 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community. Washington was from the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery and became the leading voice of the former slaves and their descendants. Contents: A Slave Among Slaves Boyhood Days The Struggle For An Education Helping Others The Reconstruction Period Black Race And Red Race Early Days At Tuskegee Teaching School In A Stable And A Hen-House Anxious Days And Sleepless Nights A Harder Task Than Making Bricks Without Straw Making Their Beds Before They Could Lie On Them Raising Money Two Thousand Miles For A Five-Minute Speech The Atlanta Exposition Address The Secret Of Success In Public Speaking Europe Last Words