On This Day: Booker T. Washington is born in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - On this day in history, April 5, 1856, the famous Virginian Booker T. Washington was born enslaved in Franklin County.

Washington’s upbringing as someone who was enslaved shaped his experiences as he laid the early groundwork for civil rights.

Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute, was the first Black man on a U.S. stamp and was the first Black person invited to the White House. But his philosophies towards gaining rights for Black people differed from others born in his era, including W.E.B. Du Bois.

Learn all about Washington’s early years and legacy from Brittany Hutchinson with the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Episode 5 of Season 6 of the How We Got Here Podcast: