Last updated: December 29, 2020
Place
Booker T. Washington Boyhood Site and Monument
Mark Bollinger
Quick Facts
Location:
Malden, WV
Significance:
Born a slave, Booker T. Washington went on to become an adviser, author, orator, and one of the most influential African Americans of his era.
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
Twenty miles west on Highway 60 at Malden, WV, there is a monument and historic site dedicated to Booker T. Washington’s Boyhood years in West Virginia.
Booker Taliaferro Washington’s boyhood home is located behind the African Zion Baptist Church in Malden, WV. In 1865, the nine-year-old Booker walked with his family 225 miles from Franklin County, Virginia, to join his mother’s husband, Washington Ferguson. Booker grew up in Malden, WV where he attended a one-room school for black children. As he got older, he worked as a salt-packer and in the nearby coal mines to help support his family. In 1872 he entered the Hampton Agriculture Institute in Virginia and graduated with honors. Following graduation, Booker returned to West Virginia and began his career as a teacher.
Read the whole story of “Booker T. Washington’s Boyhood years” at West Virginia Division of Culture and History, http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh32-1.html or visit Booker T. Washington National Monunent.
Booker Taliaferro Washington’s boyhood home is located behind the African Zion Baptist Church in Malden, WV. In 1865, the nine-year-old Booker walked with his family 225 miles from Franklin County, Virginia, to join his mother’s husband, Washington Ferguson. Booker grew up in Malden, WV where he attended a one-room school for black children. As he got older, he worked as a salt-packer and in the nearby coal mines to help support his family. In 1872 he entered the Hampton Agriculture Institute in Virginia and graduated with honors. Following graduation, Booker returned to West Virginia and began his career as a teacher.
Read the whole story of “Booker T. Washington’s Boyhood years” at West Virginia Division of Culture and History, http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh32-1.html or visit Booker T. Washington National Monunent.