Booker T. Washington was born a slave on this 207-acre farm of James Burroughs on the 5th of April, 1856. This Virginia farm provides an interpretation of how the young boy grew up under the difficult times of slavery. Moreover the memorial also shows how the area looked like with the original buildings and gardens still preserved.

After the civil war, Booker T. Washington became the founder as well as the first principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School. In his later life, he proved to be a great adviser, orator and literary author. He also became one of the most influential African American during his lifetime.

Because of his contribution to African American history, congress approved a commemorative coin to fund the purchase of the land to be used as his memorial. This commemorative coin became the first to feature an African American.

The Booker T. Washington Memorial Site was later on declared as part of the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 and designated a National Monument in 1956.