Booker T. Washington is Hampton University’s most famous alumnae. Born a slave in Franklin County, Virginia, Washington became a world renowned educator and school founder. After the Civil War, he and family moved to Malden, Virginia where they secured employment at a salt-furnace. Washington mastered the alphabet using a spelling-book that he received from his mother. He also learned from a literate black man from Ohio who taught the town’s black community. Washington later took night classes in a nearby town after work each day. His community’s support along with his resolve to acquire knowledge eventually led him to Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, a school founded after the Civil War for black students.

 Washington arrived at Hampton in 1872 with only fifty cents in his pocket. The head teacher initially denied him admission, offering him a job cleaning a classroom instead. However, the school admitted him and offered him a job as a janitor due to the thoroughness in which he completed his job. The earnings from this job helped cover his school expenses.

 Despite facing significant economic obstacles, Washington deemed his moral and industrial training at Hampton rewarding. He greatly admired the founder of Hampton, General Samuel Armstrong, and his teachers for their selfless commitment to the education of Black people. They also thought highly of Washington. For example, General Armstrong assigned Washington to manage the Indian dormitory, hired him as an instructor at Hampton several years after he graduated, and later recommended that he lead the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1881. 

 NMAAHC highlights Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) like Hampton in several exhibitions. Bricks from Hampton and Howard Universities are on display in the Slavery and Freedom exhibition, which explores the importance of educational institutions to newly freed African Americans. The Musical Crossroads exhibition discusses HBCUs as sites where African Americans acquired music lessons, which prepared them for performances on television and the radio, and in opera houses and concert halls. The Sports exhibition features the Bayou Classic Trophy and photographs of sports teams from several HBCUs.

Credits and Sources:

Davis, Veronica A. Hampton University. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014.

Hampton University. “History.” Accessed July 19, 2018. http://www.hamptonu.edu/about/history.cfm.

Washington, Booker T. Up from Slavery. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1901.