"I have tried to tell a simple, straightforward story, with no attempt at embellishment. My regret is that what I have attempted to do has been done so imperfectly. The greater part of my time and strength is required for the executive work connected with the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, and in securing the money necessary for the support of the institution. Much of what I have said has been written on board trains, or at hotels or railroad stations while I have been waiting for trains, or during the moments that I could spare from my work while at Tuskegee.  Without the painstaking and generous assistance of Mr. Max Bennett Thrasher I could not have succeeded in any satisfactory degree." - Booker T. Washington

eBook Summary:

Booker T. Washington was one of Black America's greatest spokesman. He fiercely appealed to blacks to struggle for education, industriousness and self-reliance. Up from slavery is the autobiographical recollection of his life and ceaselessly to gain financial and economic equality for his people. 

Up From Slavery: An Autobiography

(Selected Excerpts)

My life had its beginning in the midst of the most miserable, desolate, and discouraging surroundings. This was so, however, not because my owners were especially cruel, for they were not, as compared with many others. I was born in a typical log cabin, about fourteen by sixteen feet square. In this cabin I lived with my mother and a brother and sister till after the Civil War, when we were all declared free...

...I had no schooling whatever while I was a slave, though I remember on several occasions I went as far as the schoolhouse door with one of my young mistresses to...

...During the campaign when Lincoln was first a candidate for the Presidency, the slaves on our far-off plantation, miles from any railroad or large city or daily newspaper, knew what the issues involved were. When war was begun between the North and the South, every slave on our plantation felt...

...As a rule, not only did the members of my race entertain no feelings of bitterness against the whites before and during the war, but there are many instances...

...I pity from the bottom of my heart any nation or body of people that is so unfortunate as to get entangled in the net of slavery...

Up From Slavery
Preface
Introduction
Chapter I. A Slave Among Slaves
Chapter II. Boyhood Days
Chapter III. The Struggle For An Education
Chapter IV. Helping Others
Chapter V. The Reconstruction Period
Chapter VI. Black Race And Red Race
Chapter VII. Early Days At Tuskegee
Chapter VIII. Teaching School In A Stable And A Hen-House
Chapter IX. Anxious Days And Sleepless Nights
Chapter X. A Harder Task Than Making Bricks Without Straw
Chapter XI. Making Their Beds Before They Could Lie On Them
Chapter XII. Raising Money
Chapter XIII. Two Thousand Miles For A Five-Minute Speech
Chapter XIV. The Atlanta Exposition Address
Chapter XV. The Secret Of Success In Public Speaking
Chapter XVI. Europe
Chapter XVII. Last Words