Booker T. Washington was a towering figure in American history. His story from slave hut to university president is one of the most inspiring in American history. During the Post Civil War and Reconstruction Era, he founded Tuskegee Institute in 1881, and tirelessly labored to help his people in the South. He addressed thousands across the nation and met with renown leaders, such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and the Queen of England. He was the first African American to have dinner with a President in the White House. He overcame critics to advocate practical solutions to the pressing issues of his day. He was a man of faith. Historians refer to the years 1880-1915 as the "Age of Booker T. Washington." You too can be inspired by the strength and genius of Booker T. Washington! "Character, not circumstances, makes the man." "Success is not measured by the position one has reached in life, rather by the obstacles overcome while trying to succeed." "I would permit no man, no matter what his color might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him." "The surest way to lift up ourselves is to lift up someone else." "The happiest people are those who do the most for others." "Great men cultivate love ... only little men cherish a spirit of hatred." "The only way to show ourselves superior to others is to excel them in kindlier impulses and more generous deeds." "I learned to love to read the Bible ? No matter how busy I am, I always make it a rule to read a chapter or a portion of a chapter in the morning."