BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

   He was the most influential black leader and educator of his time in the U.S.  Born a slave in Virginia, Washington was educated at Hampton Institute, Norfold, Virginia.  In 1881, he founded Tuskegee Institute, a vocational school for blacks in Tuskegee, Alabama.  Washington advised two presidents - Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft - on racial problems and policies.  For years presidential political appointments of African-Amercians were cleared through him.  In 1900, he founded the National Negro Business League to help black business firms.