Tuskegee University

TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY

TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY. In 1880 Lewis Adams, a mechanic and former slave, and George W. Campbell, a banker and former slave owner, both of Tuskegee, Alabama, saw the need for the education of black youth in Macon County and secured a charter, which appropriated $2,000 annually for teachers' salaries, from the state legislature. Booker T. Washington was chosen to head the school, and the coeducational Normal School for Colored Teachers was established by an act of the Alabama general assembly on 12 February 1881. Washington became the first principal and opened the school on 4 July. Spectacular growth and development took place under Washington, who was President from 1881 to 1915, and continued under his successors: Robert Russa Moton (1915–1935), Frederick D. Patterson (1935–1953), Luther H. Foster (1953–1981), and Benjamin F. Payton (1981–). In 1881 the school was renamed Tuskegee State Normal School; subsequent names include Tuskegee Normal School (1887–1891), Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (1891–1937), and Tuskegee Institute (1937–1985). In 1985 the institution became known as Tuskegee University.

Tuskegee University is a small university, offering undergraduate degrees in six major areas—arts and sciences, applied sciences, education, engineering, nursing, and veterinary medicine—and degrees at the master's level in each area except nursing. The program is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and many of the professional areas are approved by national agencies. The school's enrollment, predominantly undergraduate, was 3,000 in 2001, with students representing most U.S. states and many foreign countries. Twenty-five degree-granting courses make up the curricula of six areas. The campus has over 150 buildings on more than 5,000 acres of land.

Tuskegee University has achieved or maintains numerous distinctions. Distinguished doctoral programs are offered in material science, engineering, and veterinary medicine. More than 75 percent of the world's African American veterinarians graduate from Tuskegee. The university is the number-one producer of African American aerospace science engineers and is also an important producer of such engineers in chemical, electrical, and mechanical specializations. The first nursing baccalaureate program in Alabama and one of the earliest in the United States was developed at Tuskegee University. The university is also the only college or university campus in the nation to ever be designated a National Historic Site by the U.S. Congress. Famous alumni or faculty include Daniel "Chappie" James, the first African American four-star General; and Ralph Ellison, the first African American writer to win the National Book Award.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dozier, Richard K. "From Humble Beginnings to National Shrine: Tuskegee Institute." Historic Preservation 33, no. 1 (1981): 40–45.

Jackson, McArthur. A Historical Study of the Founding and Development of Tuskegee Institute (Alabama). Ed. D. diss., University of North Carolina Greensboro, 1983.

Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Daniel T. Williams

A. J. Wright

See also African Americans ; Education, African American ; Education, Higher: African American Colleges .