Tuskegee Institute

Founded on July 4th 1881 by Booker T. Washington and Lewis Adams the Tuskegee Institute is the oldest traditional black college in the United States. Washington a former slave was a young man during the end of the Civil War. After the emancipation proclamation when he was around the age of 9 His family moved away from there former owners. Washington would work several jobs before finding his calling as an educator receiving a doctorate from Wayland Seminary.

He had long envisioned a school in the deep south to help educate the daughters and sons of former slaves. His dream would soon become a reality with the help of Adams a former slave and George Campbell a former slave owner. W.F. Foster a candidate running for senate in Alabama approached Adams to find a way to win the black vote in the state. Mr. Adams suggested to idea of a school and all four men Booker, Foster, Adams, and Campbell would help raise founds and donate money to the school.

The school opened with Dr. Washington as the head teacher of the school, with a class of only 30 students. The school has come a long way since then. When Dr. Washington stepped down as head of the school there were only 1,500 students and 2-million-dollar endowment all of this only being operated out of a few small buildings. As of today the school has more than 3,000 students on a campus that includes some 5,000 acres and more than 70 buildings.