Focus on this artwork and explore the Theme.
The figures in The Young Sabot Maker exist within a humble, timeless interior, seemingly apart from the modern world.  Within the composition, Tanner emphasized the inherent dignity and ennobling effect of work that was publicized by important African-American educator, Booker T. Washington.  Washington was a family friend who had helped to support Tanner's studies in Paris.  He emphasized the importance of training in skilled manual labor, especially for African Americans, and built this into the curriculum he designed as the president of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
Booker T. Washington Tuskegee Institute