At DreyerCoaching, we not only want our students to learn English, but also to know about life in America and some important people in American history.
One such important person is Booker T. Washington. He was born into slavery on a farm near Hales Ford, in Franklin County, Virginia, in 1856. That was four years before the US Civil War began. Interestingly, his birthplace is now a national monument and is only about a 40 minute drive from the world headquarters of Dreyer Academy. (Map it.) Over the years we have taken several Asian students to visit that place. There is a visitors’ center and a small farm designed to look like it did in the 1850s.
Washington was nine years old in 1865 when a man from the US government came to the farm and read a paper that all the slaves were emancipated, or free. That meant, for the first time in their lives, they could go and do what they wished.
Shortly after emancipation, his family moved to Walden, West Virginia. Later, so eager to learn and improve his mind, he left West Virginia and traveled by train toward eastern Virginia so he could attend a school for blacks, called Hampton Institute.
As an adult, he became president of Tuskegee Institute, a college for blacks in Alabama. Washington believed that the best way for blacks to become successful in America was to become masters of practical trades and crafts, like farming, building, etc. He believed that would win the respect and trust of whites more than getting involved in politics or demanding equal rights. This approach caused some other black leaders of his day to disagree with him.
Washington was no stranger to personal tragedy. He married his first wife, Fannie, in 1882. They had a daughter together, but Fannie died two years later. In 1885 he married Olivia Davidson and they had two sons; however, in 1889 she died as well. Thus, he lost two wives in seven years. In 1892 he married for a third time.
After Theodore Roosevelt (R) became president in 1901, he invited Washington to be his guest for dinner in the White House. That made headlines, as Roosevelt was the first president to invite a black person to be a guest in the White House. Roosevelt asked Washington to give him guidance about race relations. You can read more about Washington’s life and his relationship with Roosevelt here.
Washington remained president of Tuskegee Institute until 1915, when he died at age 59.
Around 2012 or 2013, a man and his son from Hsinchu, Taiwan who were DreyerCoaching students came to the US and stayed with the Dreyer family in Roanoke, Virginia for about a week around Chinese New Year. When the Dreyers planned to take them to visit the Booker T. Washington birthplace, the father became very excited. He said their pastor in Taiwan had been studying Washington’s life and wanted the whole church congregation to read Up From Slavery, his autobiography. Therefore, the father knew about this famous man and was thrilled to see the place he had been born. As we say at DreyerCoaching, “all things are connected.”
At another time, dear friends from Taiwan who live in North Carolina came to visit us in 2012, and we took them to visit the Booker T. Washington birthplace. Here are two videos we made to teach two common English idioms: Keep your nose to the grindstone, and Don’t muddy the waters.
Since 2010, based in the friendly USA State of Virginia, DreyerCoaching.com has been providing customized, high-quality, real-time language instruction via the internet to a global audience in their home, school, or office. Think how comfortable, confident and successful you or your child will feel, receiving personalized guidance from college-educated teachers who are native speakers and have bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees plus decades of teaching experience. Whether you are looking for help with the ABCs or the SATs, or college admissions to conversational English to business writing, we serve all ages and levels to help our students make dreams come true. Discover the Dreyer Difference. Take the first step and visit DreyerCoaching.com, send Scott an email, or schedule a free consultation to get started.
自 2010 年以来，DreyerCoaching.com 总部位于友好的美国弗吉尼亚州，一直通过互联网向全球观众在家中、学校或办公室提供有制度的、高质量的实时语言教学。 想想您或您的孩子会感到多么自在、自信和成功，从受过大学教育的教师那里获得个别的指导，这些教师都是以英语为母语，拥有学士、硕士和博士学位，以及数十年的教学经验的教师。 无论是从 英语ABC的基础课程 或 SAT 的帮助，就读美国高中，大学入学申请，还是从会话英语到商务写作，我们都为所有年龄和水平的学生提供服务，帮助我们的学生实现梦想。 发觉 Dreyer 的不同之处。 迈出第一步，游览 DreyerCoaching.com网站，向 Scott 发送电子邮件，可开始安排一个免费咨询。
