Booker T. Washington's autobiography, Up from Slavery, is an amazing story of courage, determination and success. Born into slavery, he and his family didn't dwell on hardships that befell the family, but instead found ways to overcome them without bitterness or anger. He felt that by overcoming difficulties, it gave a person more strength and resolve.
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed."
His goal was to obtain an education and later helped others by forming the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. This provided black students with trades and self reliance.
He went on to be invited to the White House by Theodore Roosevelt who found him to be a brilliant advisor.
