Near Hardy in Franklin County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
I think that I owe a great deal of my present strength and ability to work to my love of...
Booker T. Washington National Monument
| | National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior | |
November 2, 2022
1. I think that I owe a great deal of my present strength... Marker
I think that I owe a great deal of my present strength and ability to work to my love of outdoor life. Booker T. Washington
As you walk along the Jack-O-Lantern Branch Trail, the woods, streams, and fields are the same as Washington walked. As a slave on the Burroughs' plantation, Booker "had the opportunity to learn nature, to love the soil." Slaves often escaped into the woods to forage for food and avoid the watchful eyes of their masters.
As an adult, Washington still found peace in nature. His time spent relaxing with his family in the woods reinvigorated him to continue his life's work of promoting education for African Americans and soliciting funds for Tuskegee Institute. Washington felt that nature gave him the "strength for the many duties and hard places that await me out in the big world."
(caption)
Washington giving one of his sons a lesson in nature study. Washington and his family were known to go "into the woods, where we can live for a while near the heart of nature...surrounded by pure air, the trees, the shrubbery, the flowers...this is solid rest."
Erected by National Park Service, U.S.
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Agriculture.
Location. 37° 6.594′ N, 79° 43.793′ W. Marker is near Hardy, Virginia, in Franklin County. It can be reached from Booker T Washington Highway (Virginia Route 122) 0.2 miles east of Lost Mountain Road, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 12130 Booker T Washington Hwy, Hardy VA 24101, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southern Virginia. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Jack-O-Lantern Branch Trail (approx. 0.4 miles away); "No period of my life was devoted to play"
November 2, 2022
2. I think that I owe a great deal of my present strength... Marker
Other markers no longer nearby. Carry Me Home (was approx. 0.4 miles away but has been permanently removed); Slavery on the Plantation (was approx. 0.7 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); The Landscape of Slavery (was approx. 0.7 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Freed Here, At Last (was approx. 0.7 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); How Tobacco Farms Used Slavery (was approx. 0.7 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Also see . . . Booker T. Washington National Monument. National Park Service (Submitted on November 7, 2022.)
Credits. This page was last revised on April 30, 2026. It was originally submitted on November 5, 2022. This page has been viewed 270 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 5, 2022. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
