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Classroom · Grades 6–12

Booker T. Washington

Washington and his critics shared the goal of Black advancement but disagreed sharply about strategy, and their debate over accommodation, education, and political rights still shapes arguments about how change happens.

Lesson at a Glance

Grades
Grades 6–12
Time
One class period (20–40 minutes)
Standards
NCSS Themes 2 (Time, Continuity, and Change), 5 (Individuals, Groups, and Institutions), and 10 (Civic Ideals and Practices); C3 D2.His.4, D2.His.5
Reading
Booker T. Washington (profile)

Big Idea

Washington and his critics shared the goal of Black advancement but disagreed sharply about strategy, and their debate over accommodation, education, and political rights still shapes arguments about how change happens.

Before Class

Students read the profile of Booker T. Washington, including the Key Dates and Sources.

Discussion Questions

  1. In the Atlanta Exposition address, Washington urged Black Southerners to concentrate on work and economic progress. Why might that message have appealed to white audiences in 1895, and why did it trouble some Black leaders?
  2. Compare Washington’s strategy with Du Bois’s critique in The Souls of Black Folk. Where do they truly disagree, and where do they share goals?
  3. Washington built a network that critics called the “Tuskegee Machine.” How did that power help, and how did it hurt, the causes he cared about?
  4. How did Washington’s own experience at Hampton shape the kind of school he built at Tuskegee?

Activity

Divide the class in half. One half reads the Atlanta Exposition address; the other reads Du Bois’s “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,” the third chapter of The Souls of Black Folk, both in our primary source library. Each group lists its author’s three strongest claims. Students then pair across groups for a structured conversation in which each partner explains the other author’s view fairly before responding. Close with a class discussion of what each strategy offered Black Southerners at the turn of the century.

Primary Sources

Cite this page
MLA
“Classroom lesson: Booker T. Washington.” Black-History.com, 30 Sept. 2026, https://black-history.com/classroom/booker-t-washington/.
APA
Black-History.com Editors. (2026, September 30). Classroom lesson: Booker T. Washington. Black-History.com. https://black-history.com/classroom/booker-t-washington/
Chicago
Black-History.com Editors. “Classroom lesson: Booker T. Washington.” Black-History.com. September 30, 2026. https://black-history.com/classroom/booker-t-washington/.
Editorial Note

By the Black-History.com editors. Last reviewed 30 September 2026. To suggest a primary source or a correction, write to editors@black-history.com or use our corrections form.

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