1212 Old Montgomery Rd, PO Drawer 10, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee Institute, AL 36088
Phone: 334-727-3200 or 334-727-6390
Fax: 334-727-1448
Open All Year
Overview. Booker T. Washington, a former slave from Virginia, was emancipated at the age of nine after the Civil War ended in 1865. He endured poverty to become a self-educated and self-made man; he later worked his way through Hampton Institute in Virginia to earn his Bachelor's Degree in Education. Washington's success at Hampton won him recognition among his peers, and he was recommended to head the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1881. He literally built the Institute from the ground up; it began in an abandoned shanty on A.M.E. church property, and Washington and his students built 26 other buildings with red and brown bricks they created out of Alabama clay, mud and straw by hand. Robert Robertson Taylor, the first black graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Tuskegee faculty member, directed the construction process. The first two buildings, Porter Hall and Alabama Hall, were finished in 1882 and 1884, respectively. The Institute's science building, Thrasher Hall, was constructed in 1893. Today, the accredited school consists of 161 buildings and is home to over 5,000 students and faculty. The school was originally funded by a meager $2,000 grant from the Alabama State Legislature. Washington's philosophy was that his students should learn through experience, become self-reliant, live with dignity, and eventually go out to teach others. The students grew and prepared their own food and were given donations of eggs, livestock, and sometimes money, by local African American families who were themselves struggling. In 1895 Washington delivered a speech at the Cotton States Exposition that is now known as the Atlanta Compromise. It was a double-edged sword for the educator. On one hand, he became nationally known and was invited into elite social circles, which led to large financial donations to the Institute. On the other hand, other African Americans were opposed to the ideas in Washington's speech, and this opposition gave birth to the NAACP, led by W.E.B. DuBois. The NAACP's efforts influenced Washington to add academic excellence as one of his curricular goals. One year after his speech in Atlanta, Washington hired George Washington Carver as a professor and scientist. Carver was also a former slave who grew up on a small farm in Missouri, and his achievements are the focal point of the Institute. In his makeshift laboratory he discovered hundreds of uses for vegetables, like sweet potatoes and peanuts, and he discovered crop rotation, which helped farmers to replenish their soil. What to see and do. Visitors can spend time studying exhibits of Carver's life and work at the site's Visitor Center. Included are samples of his watercolors and knitting, as well as artifacts from his library. Carver created face creams and massage oils from sweet potatoes and peanuts, which are also on display in the museum. The George Washington Carver Craft Festival is held every May and is sponsored by the National Park Service. Call the park service at 334-727-3200 for further information. You can also tour The Oaks, which was one of the site's original buildings and Washington's personal residence. It has been restored to look as it did at the turn of the century and is furnished with original as well as period pieces. Booker T. Washington's office within his residence has all of the original furnishings. Other notable buildings are White, Tomkins, and Huntington Halls, as well as the Carnegie Library. Informal interpretive talks are given about the site's history throughout the year; call ahead to check availability (800-831-8812). The site's headquarters is located on Old Montgomery Road, on the campus of Tuskegee University.
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