Tuskegee University
Tuskegee Institution, sometimes known simply as TU, is a historically black, land-grant university that is both private and located in Tuskegee, Alabama. The National Park Service has deemed the campus worthy of preservation as a national historic site, and it bears the name Tuskegee Institute. Both the famous scientist George Washington Carver and the Tuskegee Airmen called the institution their home during World War II.
Tuskegee University provides students with the opportunity to pursue one of 43 different bachelor's degree programmes, 17 different master's degree programmes, and five different doctorate degree programmes, including the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Nearly 3,000 students from all around the United States and over 30 other countries call Tuskegee University their home.
David Williston was the first African-American to receive professional training as a landscape architect. Together, they designed the campus of Tuskegee University. Taylor was also the first African-American to graduate from MIT.
Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers was the original name given to the institution when it opened its doors on July 4, 1881. During the election season of 1880 in Macon County, an agreement was reached between a former Confederate Colonel named W.F. Foster, who was running for re-election to the Alabama Senate, and a local black Leader named Lewis Adams. This outcome was the consequence of the deal. W.F. Foster proposed to Adams that, in the event that Foster was successful in winning the election, he would encourage the state of Alabama to create a school for black people in the county if Adams could convince the black citizens to vote for Foster. Because blacks made up the majority of the population in Macon County at the time, black citizens had significant political influence. Adams was successful, and Foster saw the school project through to completion. Following the end of the American Civil War, the school became a part of the extension of higher education opportunities for black people in the states that had been a part of the Confederacy. At the time, the northern American Missionary Association established several institutions, including this one. Lewis Adams, a freed slave, and George W. Campbell, a banker, merchant, and former slaveholder, both of whom shared a dedication to the education of black people, dreamed of establishing a school for the training of teachers. Adams was able to read, write, and communicate in a number of languages, despite not having any official schooling. In addition to being a skilled tinsmith, harness-maker, and shoemaker, he was also a member of Prince Hall Freemasonry and was widely regarded as a prominent figure in the African-American society in Macon County, Alabama.