Chapter 1 outlines Washington’s sparse memories of his childhood. He was born into slavery on a rural Virginia plantation. He does not know his exact birthday (he believes it to be in 1858 or 1859) and knows nothing about his father or any other relatives beyond his mother and siblings. During their enslavement, the family shared a small cabin with dirt floors, no windows, and a wood-stove where his mother labored as the plantation cook. Booker T. Washington vividly remembers the board-covered cellar in the middle of the floor, where he would occasionally be able to get a sweet potato as a treat.

As a young boy, Washington was too small to do any serious labor for the plantation. Often, he was tasked with taking corn to the mill by horse, a job he hated. He remembers the fear he felt while riding alone through the countryside, having heard stories about rogue soldiers hiding in the woods, waiting to attack Black boys. When he was slightly older, he worked in the house fanning flies off the dinner table, a job he enjoyed more because it allowed him to listen to conversations about the ongoing Civil War.

Washington remembers his mother and the other enslaved adults talking about freedom and excitedly sharing the latest war updates, gathered through the “grape-vine telegraph” from snippets of white peoples’ conversations.