Washington was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia where his mother was a cook. His childhood on the plantation was miserable and hard, life was so horrible that he and his brother, sister and mother slept on a bundle of rags laid on the plantation's kitchen floor where they lived. He never had time to be a child as work on the plantation was a life style that was imposed on him as a slave; the slave's life was been dictated by the white men. Washington never knew his father, nor did he play a fatherly role in his life. He never had anything against his unknown father and didn't press hard to know or ask his mother because he didn't want just a biological father but a mental one. He was a very strong and brave child who…show more content… Viola Ruffer expected everyone working for her to be hard working, honest,and abide by her principles. She had a trait of being blunt and outspoken which has driven off several other boys that were not willing to work. Washington came to appreciate Viola’s emphasis on the value of hard work and cleanliness as he worked for her, which later helped him with his admission into Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Hampton. Ruffer spotted the ambition in young Washington who wanted to go to school and improve himself. She encouraged him and gave him the opportunity to go to school while working with her. She saw that Washington had a unique quality the other boys didn't have. While Washington worked for her, he recognized the full worth of the knowledge he had learned from Mrs Viola's house like any education he had gotten from anywhere…show more content… He also embraced the ideology of the study of the fundamental nature of work, reality, and utilitarian education stressed by Armstrong. Armstrong was Washington’s role model. Washington's journey to Hampton was a big lesson to everyone. It showed that despite your color or race, persistence and perseverance are a key to success. Samuel Chapman Armstrong founded Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute under the auspices of the American Missionary Association. He was the most influential person in Washington's life. Armstrong was a father figure and an inspiration to Washington. Washington appreciated his life in Hampton, the opportunity he had there took him into a different world. He saw how Armstrong was so devoted to the students in Hampton and was never proud of his achievement; he said Armstrong was a Christlike body of a man (96). He also learned from Miss Mackle who came from one of the oldest and cultured family in Hampton. She helped clean the school window pane and she was a woman with a good education and social standing and did the services in Hampton at no cost. People that worked in Hampton were great people who derived joy in teaching and impacting the lives of the