Booker T. Washington was born in a black slave family in Virginia of the USA in 1856, seven years before slavery was abolished   by Abraham Lincoln in January, 1863. He wrote a book about his life called Up From Slavery, which was published in 1901. In the book, he said that he had no choice but to work in a coal mine when he was 16 years old. He had no chance to go to school. He heard two coal miners talking about a school for black children which was called the Hampton Institute. He determined that he would go there. He gave up his job and told other members of his race that he was going to school across the state. The older people had spent their best years as slaves and were poor. However, some gave Booker some pocket money or a handkerchief. Hardly had anyone expected any of their race to leave home to attend a boarding school. He took a train to Richmond, Virginia, where he ran out of money. It was 82 miles from the Hampton Institute. He slept under a wooden sidewalk . He helped unload pigs and iron from a ship for some money and when he had enough, he continued his journey, arriving at school with 50 cents. This diligence  pushed him to graduate and become a teacher at the Hampton Institute. When he was 25 years old, he was asked to start a new school for black children in Alabama. called the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. Thirty-four years later, this school had 1,500 students and 200 teachers and Booker T. Washington became the most influential black leader of his generation. What can we know from the passage?
Booker went to the Hampton Institute first by train and then by ship. In all, Booker covered 82 miles before he arrived at the Hampton Institute. Booker wrote Up From Slaverywhen he was 25 years old. It was unusual for blacks to attend school at that time.