"Up from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of American educator Booker T. Washington (1856-1915).
The book describes his experience of working to rise up from being enslaved as a child during the Civil War, the obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton Institute, and his work establishing vocational schools like the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama to help black people and other persecuted people of colour learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves, as a race, up by the bootstraps.
He reflects on the generosity of teachers and philanthropists who helped educate black and Native Americans. He describes his efforts to instill manners, breeding, health, and dignity in students."