Booker T. Washington reveals the people, experiences, challenges, and practical lessons that shaped his work as an educator and one of the most influential Black leaders of his generation.
Written as a continuation of Up from Slavery, My Larger Education looks beyond Washington's early life to examine the education he received through experience, leadership, travel, public service, and contact with people from every level of society. He describes the development of Tuskegee Institute and the difficult work of building a school around the immediate needs of formerly enslaved people and their descendants.
Washington recounts his encounters with farmers, laborers, educators, business leaders, philanthropists, politicians, and prominent public figures in the United States and Europe. From each, he draws lessons about leadership, cooperation, institution building, economic advancement, and the practical application of education.
Throughout the book, Washington explains the experiences that shaped his controversial approach to race relations. He discusses the realities of working within a deeply segregated society while seeking greater educational and economic opportunities for Black Americans. His reflections reveal both the strategic thinking behind his public positions and the enormous political pressures surrounding his work.
Part autobiography, part educational philosophy, and part record of American social history, My Larger Education offers an illuminating portrait of Washington's mature thought and the continuing development of Tuskegee Institute. It is an essential companion to Up from Slavery and an important document of African American leadership in the early twentieth century.