- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Cumberland House (October 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 158182324X
- ISBN-13: 978-1581823240
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11.2 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 204 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
During his life, Booker T. Washington was among the most celebrated educators, authors, and statesmen of his day. He walked side by side with Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain, H. G. Wells, Theodore Roosevelt, and Andrew Carnegie. He was the first African American to dine with the president in the White House and the first to have tea with the queen of England. He was the first African American to receive honorary degrees from Harvard and Dartmouth, the first African American to be honored on a postage stamp, the first African American to be commemorated on a coin, the first African American to have a naval vessel named for him, and the first African American to have schools named after him.
To many African Americans today, Washington points the way toward prosperity and sophistication. Today his spiritual and economic wisdom is being reclaimed as a proven path of racial advance, and his ideas are again gaining currency among upwardly mobile African Americans. In this brief volume, Stephen Mansfield reviews the course of Washington's life and highlights those principles and practices that undergirded the great educator's ability to empower all people to be the best they can be. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From the Inside Flap
Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on a Virginia plantation and became one of the countrys leading educators at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. His clear emphasis on the value of character and the training of head, hand, and heart seems incredibly current, because this generation still struggles with the same issues he addressed with great insight at the turn of the last century.
I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life, the great educator observed, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed. The obstacles facing Washington were enormous throughout his life, and he focused on learning and educating those who would follow him.
Very early the former slave determined that he would transform the values, frame the habits, and instill the knowledge that African Americans required to succeed in society. And he accomplished much of this with great success at his beloved institute through a clear expression of simple, impressive, and practical wisdom that still has the ability to empower all people to be the best they can be. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific,
By
This review is from: Then Darkness Fled: The Liberating Wisdom of Booker T. Washington (Hardcover)
In another sterling volume of the Leaders in Action series, Stephen Mansfield here outlines the life and character of Booker T. Washington. In vivacious voice and moving magniloquence, Mansfield traces Washington's path from slavery to his founding of Tuskegee Institute. He shows the difficulties Washington surpassed in reaching his goals, and the principles that helped him make it. In the words of Washington, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succed." By this standard, Booker T. Washington was an astonishingly successful man.Washington wrote his own autobiography, _Up From Slavery_, which must certainly not be neglected. But Mansfield's biography is also a criticial read because he includes facts that the autobiographer was too modest to mention, and he highlights wonderful aspects of Washington's character that humility prevented him from including. This biography doesn't contain the wonderful self-analysis and insight of Booker himself - but it does contain all the benefits of a third person account. One thing I really appreciated about this book was its terrific analysis of slavery and inter-race reconciliation. Expounding Booker's opinion, Mansfield blames both whites and blacks for the problems that cropped up after the Civil War. Whites needed to repent of their brutal treatment of slaves and actually begin considering blacks more than mere animals; and blacks needed to repent of their spirit of bitterness toward their white enslavers, and begin working hard and leaving no excuse for disrespect of blacks. Too many books on reconciliation have practically advocated bitterness, hatred, and laziness when what is really needed is Washington's outlook of forgiveness and hard work. This book offers relief from such pride. To wrap up, this is a great biography. Good history, good style, and good content. Buy it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding biography of an outstanding Black American.,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Then Darkness Fled: The Liberating Wisdom of Booker T. Washington (Hardcover)
Then Darkness Fled is a celebration of the life of Booker T. Washinghton and tells of a man who dined with heads of state and became the first Afro-American to receive honorary degrees from Harvard and Dartmouth. Chapters survey both his achievements and his life in this lively coverage.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews) 10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific,
By Joshua M. Clark - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Then Darkness Fled: The Liberating Wisdom of Booker T. Washington (Hardcover)
In another sterling volume of the Leaders in Action series, Stephen Mansfield here outlines the life and character of Booker T. Washington. In vivacious voice and moving magniloquence, Mansfield traces Washington's path from slavery to his founding of Tuskegee Institute. He shows the difficulties Washington surpassed in reaching his goals, and the principles that helped him make it. In the words of Washington, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succed." By this standard, Booker T. Washington was an astonishingly successful man.Washington wrote his own autobiography, _Up From Slavery_, which must certainly not be neglected. But Mansfield's biography is also a criticial read because he includes facts that the autobiographer was too modest to mention, and he highlights wonderful aspects of Washington's character that humility prevented him from including. This biography doesn't contain the wonderful self-analysis and insight of Booker himself - but it does contain all the benefits of a third person account. One thing I really appreciated about this book was its terrific analysis of slavery and inter-race reconciliation. Expounding Booker's opinion, Mansfield blames both whites and blacks for the problems that cropped up after the Civil War. Whites needed to repent of their brutal treatment of slaves and actually begin considering blacks more than mere animals; and blacks needed to repent of their spirit of bitterness toward their white enslavers, and begin working hard and leaving no excuse for disrespect of blacks. Too many books on reconciliation have practically advocated bitterness, hatred, and laziness when what is really needed is Washington's outlook of forgiveness and hard work. This book offers relief from such pride. To wrap up, this is a great biography. Good history, good style, and good content. Buy it. 6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing Man,
By Bob Burg - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Then Darkness Fled: The Liberating Wisdom of Booker T. Washington (Paperback)
This book is one of those rare gems that, if you're really fortunate, you come across from time to time. I received it as a gift from one of my mentors, Charlie Jones, who had, for some time now, been speaking of Booker T. Washington as one of his heroes. Having only a very surface knowledge of Mr. Washington - knowing that he was born a slave and went on to become founder of the famed Tuskegee Institute - he was a hero of mine, as well. After all, one could only imagine what he had to overcome to have achieved all he did.However, after reading this book by Pastor Stephen Mansfield, the greatness of Mr. Washington simply came alive for me. He was a man of character, a man of faith, a dreamer and a doer; a man who moved mountains and moved hearts. He had a plan - he had a dream - for taking his people from a horrible situation and helping them to move up and become successful in every way. Unfortunately, as the author points out, he was fought every step along the way - often most by those he was trying to help and, in time, and long after he died in 1915, was disparaged by many as simply naïve, foolish, a misguided optimist, betrayer to his people. Of course, none of this is true. Reading the story of Booker T. Washington in 2007 we can look back in hindsight and see that everything he taught - regarding the importance of character, thrift, knowledge, wisdom, forgiveness, love, persistence, delayed gratification, humility, etc. - is the way to build oneself, one's people and one's nation. Only now is this man's wisdom and greatness beginning to once again be recognized and embraced. This book should be read by anyone and everyone looking to achieve greatness in their life. Read this book and you'll have the roadmap for doing so. Booker T. Washington was a wonderful man; a hero. And the author, Pastor Mansfield, did a superb job in telling the story. P.S. By the way, if you get an opportunity to read the booklet, "Character Building" by Booker T. Washington it will also be WELL worth your time. It's a reprinting of a number of his "Sunday Evening Talks" to his students and faculty members. The advice and wisdom that Mr. Washington shared is simply amazing. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another Excellent Book in the Leaders in Action Series,
By ironman96 - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Then Darkness Fled: The Liberating Wisdom of Booker T. Washington (Paperback)
One of the strong points in the Leaders in Action series is its ability to pull from all the great historical figures of the past, the individuals who were the most significant but at the same time still relevant today.Booker T. Washington is one of those figures who was not only important in his day, but very relevant today. Although there were some aspects of his approach that were understandably controversial, his overall message of hard work, faith, education, and humility is powerful. That message was relevant to both the recently freed slaves and to those of any skin color. This book does a good job of presenting the wisdom and life of Washington in a concise way. However, I felt that it would have been valuable to have included more details about both Washington's personal and public life. Regardless, this was a very worthwhile read. |
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