He is one of the great voices in African-American history: Booker T. Washington rose from a boyhood in shackles in West Virginia-he was eight when the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution freed all slaves in 1865-to the status of national hero. In this autobiography of his career, Washington details his struggles as head of the school in Alabama that eventually became Tuskegee University, the honors he received from Harvard University, his many public speeches, and his other professional endeavors.