Tuskegee Institute

https://www.nps.gov/tuin/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_University Tuskegee University is a private historically black Land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. The campus is designated as the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site by the National Park Service. The university was home to scientist George Washington Carver and to World War II's Tuskegee Airmen. In 1881, Booker T. Washington arrived in Alabama and started building Tuskegee Institute both in reputation and literally brick by brick. He recruited the best and the brightest to come and teach here including George Washington Carver who arrived in 1896. Carver’s innovations in agriculture, especially with peanuts, expanded Tuskegee’s standing throughout the country. The story continues…. From Atlanta - Follow I-85S towards Montgomery, AL Take Exit 32 and turn left on the overpass onto Pleasant Springs Dr. Travel approximately 2 miles and turn left on Franklin Rd. (Co. Rd. 30). Follow Franklin Rd. for 3 miles to the traffic light. Park headquarters on the left corner.. Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site Visitor Center George Washington Carver Museum Open Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Visitors can explore interactive exhibits that highlight the scientific achievements and legacy of George Washington Carver. Displays feature his work with peanuts and sweet potatoes, his contributions to sustainable agriculture, and his impact on education and innovation. A short interpretive film shares Carver’s inspiring journey, told through the voices of historians and those influenced by his legacy. From Montgomery, AL----Take I-85N and travel approximately 36 miles to exit 32. Exit right onto Pleasant Springs Drive. Travel 4-5 miles following Tuskegee University signs to Franklin Road. Turn left on Franklin Road and travel 4 miles to traffic light. Turn left onto West Montgomery Road, and turn left at the first traffic light onto the Tuskegee University campus. From Atlanta, GA--From I-85S take Exit 38.Turn left onto AL-81S for approximately 4 miles.Turn left when you are facing the gas station. The Oaks - The Home of Booker T. Washington A three story Queen Anne Revival style red brick house This house, like Washington himself, was a lesson plan to both students and benefactors of Tuskegee Institute. Sunset Over The Oaks Sunset of blue, red, and orange sky behind The Oaks, Booker T. Washngton home As the the sun sets behind The Oaks, the beauty of the Tuskegee sky shines through. The Movable School A brown colored modified school bus with two windows Many are amazed to see the last Movable School that was used by Dr. George W. Carver to bring education to the rural communities surrounding Tuskegee Carver with Friend and Fellow Inventor, Henry Ford George W. Carver and Henry Ford seated facing one another talking Millions have been impressed by the genious of George W. Carver, including Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company Carver's Peanut Oil Bottle of Peanut Oil with green label - one of Dr. Carver's many uses for the peanut Hundreds flocked to Tuskegee for polio treatment using George W. Carver's peanut oil Learning from Leaders: David Williston David Williston, recognized as the first professionally-trained African American landscape architect, left a lasting legacy through his work as a college campus planner and horticulturalist. During his tenure as superintendent of grounds at Tuskegee University from 1910 to 1929, he oversaw the development of the campus. Williston guided the landscape design around The Oaks, home of Booker T. Washington. A three story house of red brick and shingles is surrounded by mature trees, lawn, and shrubs. Tuskegee Airmen Who are the Tuskegee Airmen? Did they all come from Tuskegee? Were they really the first African American fighter pilots in the US Army Air Corps during World War II (WWII)? These are just some of the questions that visitors ask at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, the birthplace of the Tuskegee Airmen. Yes, the Tuskegee Airmen fought in WWII. Several men sitting and standing in front of an airplane Reconstruction During Reconstruction, the Federal government pursued a program of political, social, and economic restructuring across the South-including an attempt to accord legal equality and political power to former slaves. Reconstruction became a struggle over the meaning of freedom, with former slaves, former slaveholders and Northerners adopting divergent definitions. Faced with increasing opposition by white Southerners and some Northerners, however, the government abandoned effor Picture depictsing former slaves and free blacks voting following the passage of the 15th amendment Emancipation and the Quest for Freedom Although the abolition of slavery emerged as a dominant objective of the Union war effort, most Northerners embraced abolition as a practical measure rather than a moral cause. The war resolved legally and constitutionally the single most important moral question that afflicted the nascent republic, an issue that prevented the country from coalescing around a shared vision of freedom, equality, morality, and nationhood. Slave family seated in front of their house The Civil War in American Memory America's cultural memories of the Civil War are inseparably intertwined with that most "peculiar institution" of American history - racial slavery. But in the struggle over Civil War memory which began as soon as the war was over and continues to this day, rival cultural memories of reconciliation and white supremacy have often prevailed. Therein lies the challenge as the National Park Service - a public agency - seeks to "provide understanding" of the Civil War era's lasting impact upon the development of our nation. Elderly Union and Confederate veterans shake hands at the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg The Changing War Begun as a purely military effort with the limited political objectives of reunification (North) or independence (South), the Civil War transformed into a social, economic and political revolution with unforeseen consequences. As the war progressed, the Union war effort steadily transformed from a limited to a hard war; it targeted not just Southern armies, but the heart of the Confederacy's economy, morale, and social order-the institution of slavery. Woodcut of spectators watching a train station set fire by Sherman's troops Nemesis: The South and the Nineteenth Amendment The South was the nemesis of the woman suffrage movement, the long-term, impassioned adversary that, in 1920, almost kept the Nineteenth Amendment from being ratified. Regional hostility to the women’s rights movement long delayed the development of a southern suffrage movement and precluded state suffrage victories. Powerful resistance from white southern Congressmen and Senators for many years precluded Congressional approval of a federal woman suffrage amendment. Cover of the NAWSA Headquarters Newsletter, "Winning Plan" LOC Series: On Their Shoulders: The Radical Stories of Women's Fight for the Vote These articles were originally published by the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC) as a part of the WSCC blog, The Suff Buffs. The Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission was created by Congress to commemorate 100 years of the 19th Amendment throughout 2020 and to ensure the untold stories of women’s battle for the ballot continue to inspire Americans for the next 100 years. In collaboration with the WSCC, the NPS is the forever home of these articles Logo of the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission The Oaks Cultural Landscape The Oaks is the historic residence of Dr. Booker T. Washington, the first president of Tuskegee Institute, and his wife Margaret Murray Washington, a prominent leader in the Progressive Era women’s club movement. Dr. Washington resided at The Oaks from its 1899 construction on the Tuskegee Institute campus until his death in 1915. Today, The Oaks is part of the historic district of Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site in Tuskegee, Alabama A two-and-a-half story residence of red brick with a wrap around porch and decorative features “More Precious Than Rubies”: Alice Longfellow and Students at Hampton & Tuskegee Institutes An article highlighting a few of the Black students whose education and work at Hampton Institute and Tuskegee Institute was supported by scholarships from Alice Mary Longfellow. Printed seal for Hampton Institute features plow, books, globe, and tools Women in Fire Science: Alicia Schlarb Alicia Schlarb is the lead fire effects monitor for a portion of the National Park Service's Southeast Region. She and her crew provide prescribed burning, monitoring, and wildland fire responses to national parks located within Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and portions of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida. She loves fire and that she can change perceptions about wildland fire through science. Alicia Schlarb. Judy Forte As a child growing up in the South during the 1950s and 1960s, Judy Forte’s life was heavily influenced by the US civil rights movement. She was only 11 years old when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Four decades later she became the first African American woman superintendent at Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park—and she's not done yet. Close up of Judy Forte wearing her NPS ranger flat hat. Staff Spotlight: Floyd Myers Meet Floyd Myers, who is the Chief of Business Development and Partnerships for the National Parks of New York Harbor. He was previously the acting Deputy Superintendent at Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and worked at several other parks before that, including the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, Selma to Montgomery National Historic Site, Booker T. Washington National Historic Site, and others. Floyd Myers in uniform

National Historic Site Alabama Tuskegee Institute National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior W i In Industry the Foundation Must Be Laid" In his famous Atlanta Address of 1895, Booker T. Washington set forth the motivating spirit behind Tuskegee Institute. In a postReconstruction era marked by growing segregation and disfranchisement of blacks, this spirit was based on what realistically might be achieved in that time and place. "The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now," he observed, "is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house." Because of Washington's extraordinary ability to work within the system and to maximize the possible, Tuskegee flourished to an extent only dreamed about when he met his first students on July 4, 1881. The school's beginnings were indeed inauspicious. At the urging of Lewis Adams, a former slave, and George W. Campbell, a former slave owner, the State of Alabama had provided $2,000 for teachers' salaries but nothing for land, buildings, or equipment. Classes began in a dilapidated church and shanty. Although the 30 students in the first class may not have known what to expect from the new school, Principal Washington knew exactly what he intended to do. Guided by the model of Hampton Institute, Washington set three objectives for Tuskegee. Students in the first class already had some education and showed potential as teachers. Throughout the school's history, many graduates became educators. Washington urged these teachers "to return to the plantation districts and show the people there how to put new energy and new ideas into farming as well as into the intellectual and moral and religious life of the people." A rural extension program took progressive ideas and training to many who could not attend classes on the campus. Smaller schools and colleges founded and taught by Tuskegee alumni sprang up throughout the South, and teacher training remained a primary objective of their alma mater. take place in the dining hall and dormitories. Washington insisted on high moral character and absolute cleanliness for both students and faculty. Dormitory rooms and table manners were critically scrutinized. Washington himself kept close watch over the appearance of Tuskegee's buildings, grounds, students, and faculty. "I never see a filthy yard that I do not want to clean it...or a button off one's clothes, or a grease-spot on them or on a floor, that I do not want to call attention to it," confessed Washington. To enable the Institute to undertake such a program of total instruction, the school moved, in 1882, to 100 acres of abandoned farm land, purchased with a $200 personal loan from the treasurer of Hampton. A second and perhaps more famous objective was to develop craft and occupational skills to equip students for jobs in the trades and agriculture. The needs of the school provided a ready laboratory for instruction. Buildings were needed, so the students made and laid bricks. Hungry students ate the products of the school's farm, acquiring in the process a knowledge of Tuskegee prospered as it did in part because Washington won progressive agricultural methods. Thus they learned by doing widespread support in both the North and South. He traveled while earning compensation toward tuition. Even in traditional extensively and spoke convincingly, making the Institute known academic courses, practical problems were interwoven at every and respected among people of wealth and influence. The first opportunity. "In industry the foundation must be laid," Washing- building erected on the campus, Porter Hall, was named for the ton explained. Industrial education was to be the basis on which Brooklyn donor of $500. Andrew Carnegie, Collis P. Huntington, "habits of thrift, a love of work, ownership of property, [and] and John D. Rockefeller were among the benefactors whose names appeared on major campus buildings. By the time of bank accounts," would grow. Washington's death in 1915, Tuskegee had become an internaAs a third objective, Washington hoped to make Tuskegee what tionally famous institution. The main campus has since grown to he called a "civilizing agent." Education was to be total; certainly include 161 buildings on 268 acres and an academic community it would occur in the classroom and workshop, but also it would of nearly 5,000 students, faculty, and staff. Booker T. Washington The success of Tuskegee has not always been greeted with acclaim. Many felt that vocational training for blacks would tend to keep them in a subordinate role. Instead, greater emphasis on traditional higher education was advocated, notably by W.E.B. DuBois. While each side in this debate recognized the need for both kinds of education, the concern was with the disproportionate emphasis on vocational training that Washington's approach and Tuskegee's popular success were fostering. Growing racial discrimination heightened the urgency of the