[2] This was largely due to racial segregation still being in effect in Alabama, with Jim Crow laws established that did not allow African Americans to receive more than a sixth grade education.

He took his high school courses through American Correspondence School while also working in auto factories and restaurants, and attending Detroit Institute of Commerce, where he learned bookkeeping and business administration[4] After the war ended, Foster was encouraged by Eric Malzkuhn, a professor at Gallaudet University, to continue his education by applying there.

He was the first African American to attend America's Deaf university, graduating in 1954 at the age of 29 with a degree in education.

[1] In 1970, Gallaudet University awarded him an honorary doctorate in honor of his contributions to the education of the deaf in Africa.

[7] During his time at Gallaudet, he often visited Washington D.C.'s inner-city neighborhoods, where he would seek out young deaf African American children to serve as a prominent role model in their lives.

[2] Through this work, Foster realized his passion for giving black deaf people access to communication, education, and the Gospel.

After going on a series of speaking tours around America to raise funds for his cause, Foster arrived in the capital of newly independent Ghana in 1957.

He found a public school in Accra willing to allow him to use their facility after hours, and after some months 53 deaf people joined Foster's makeshift program.

[2] Andrew Foster died on December 3, 1987, after accepting an empty seat in a chartered Cessna airplane going to Kenya that lost altitude and crashed near Gisenyi, Rwanda, killing all those aboard.

[9] On January 26, 1988, old friends and coworkers gathered at Gallaudet's Chapel Hall to celebrate and pay tribute to Foster's life.

[9] Ultimately, Foster's work allowed for the use of sign language to grow throughout Africa, increasing opportunities for children throughout the continent.