“ WASHINGTON, BOOKER TALIAFERRO (c. 1859– ) , American negro teacher and reformer, was born on a plantation near Hale's Ford, Franklin county, Virginia. Soon after the Civil War he went to Malden, West Virginia, where he worked in a salt furnace and then in a coal mine. He obtained an elementary education at night school, and worked as a house servant in a family where his ambition for knowledge was encouraged. ”

“ In 1872 “by walking, begging rides both in wagons and in the cars” he travelled 500 m. to the Hampton (Virginia) Normal and Agricultural Institute, where he remained three years, working as janitor for his board and education, and graduated in 1875. ”