Memoir

Up from Slavery by {author}: summary and why it matters

Booker T. Washington's 1901 autobiography, which tells of his rise from slavery to found Tuskegee Institute and preaches self-help and education.

AuthorBooker T. Washington
First published1901
Kind of bookMemoir

The book

Author Booker T. Washington
First published 1901
First publisher Doubleday, Page and Company
Kind of book Memoir

What it argues

Washington was born a slave in Virginia, and describes his childhood, his walk to Hampton Institute, where he worked as a janitor to pay for school, and his work as a teacher. In 1881 he was asked to head a new school in Tuskegee, Alabama, which began in a shanty and grew to a large institution with students building the campus with their own hands.

His philosophy, set out in the book and in his 1895 Atlanta Exposition address, was that Black Americans should seek progress through education, trade skills, thrift, property and good character, and that these would earn respect and rights over time. He urged cooperation with white Southerners, which brought criticism from W. E. B. Du Bois and others who demanded immediate political equality.

The book is modest in tone and full of anecdotes.

Why it matters

It is a staple of conservative thinking about self-reliance and education, and one of the most-read American autobiographies. Washington's accommodationism is debated, and the book is better read alongside Douglass and Du Bois than alone.

About the author

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) was the founder and first principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. He was the most prominent Black leader of his day, and in 1901 he dined at the White House with Theodore Roosevelt. The book was first published as a serial in the magazine Outlook and sold widely at home and abroad.

Who should read it

Students and general readers. It is quick and warm.

Sources

  1. openlibrary.org/works/OL357501W
  2. openlibrary.org/search?q=Up+from+Slavery

Profile last reviewed November 8, 2026

Compare with other books

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Frederick Douglass's 1845 autobiography of his enslavement and escape, a landmark of American literature and an indictment of slavery. My Grandfather's Son Justice Clarence Thomas's 2007 memoir of his rise from Pin Point, Georgia, to the Supreme Court, and of his confirmation battle. Hillbilly Elegy J. D. Vance's 2016 memoir of growing up in a struggling Ohio and Kentucky Appalachian family, and of the culture of the white working class. The Strenuous Life Theodore Roosevelt's 1900 collection of speeches and essays preaching hard work, courage, national duty and civic responsibility. Battle Cry of Freedom James McPherson's 1988 one-volume history of the Civil War era, the standard Pulitzer-winning narrative from the 1850s to Appomattox.