Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois were two prominent African American leaders whose ideologies shaped the discourse on race relations and education in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Booker T. Washington was born on April 5, 1856, in Hale's Ford, Virginia. He rose from humble beginnings as the son of an enslaved woman and an unknown white man. Washington's early life was marked by hardship, but he eventually gained an education at the Hampton Institute in Virginia. He later founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama, where he emphasized vocational training for African Americans.

Washington's literary career included notable works such as "Up from Slavery," an autobiography published in 1901 that detailed his life and philosophy of self-help, racial uplift, and economic independence. He advocated for a gradual approach to civil rights, believing that African Americans could earn respect through hard work and education.

In contrast, W. E. B. Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. His upbringing was relatively privileged compared to Washington's, as he was one of the few Black students in his school. Du Bois excelled academically, earning a Ph.D. from Harvard University, making him the first African American to do so.

Du Bois's literary career was marked by his seminal work "The Souls of Black Folk," published in 1903. This collection of essays criticized Washington's approach and called for immediate civil rights and higher education for the "Talented Tenth" of the African American population. His advocacy for political activism and social justice led to the co-founding of the NAACP in 1909.

Washington passed away on November 14, 1915, in Tuskegee, Alabama, while Du Bois died on August 27, 1963, in Accra, Ghana. Their legacies continue to influence discussions around race, education, and civil rights in America.