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Encyclopedia of African-American Writing, Fourth Edition

Tuskegee University

Educational institution

In operation: 1881-

While the American Negro Academy was America’s first organization to support African-American academic scholarship, and espoused W.E.B. DuBois’ classical Hellenistic approach to scholarship for African Americans in the industrial north, Booker T. Washington’s approach to educating African Americans at Tuskegee University in Alabama emphasized industrial and vocational training, which he thought was a more practical approach in the rural, segregated South. It began as the Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers in 1881, but is now a private, historically black university Tuskegee U is designated as the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site by the National Park Service, Tuskegee U offers over 40 bachelor’s degree programs, over a dozen master’s degree programs, and a handful of doctoral degree programs. It houses over 3000 students from the US and over 30 countries. The university was home to scientist George Washington Carver and to World War II’s Tuskegee Airmen. The university’s modern campus was designed by architect Robert Robinson Taylor, the first African American to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and David Williston, the first professionally trained African-American landscape architect.

History class at Tuskegee, 1902.

AAW4E_p1025_0001.jpg

Photo via the Library of Congress. [Public domain.]

In the early 1880s, Principal Booker T. Washington ran classes in his school in a rundown church and shanty. Soon, however, he purchased a nearby 100-acre plantation, and campus buildings were subsequently constructed on that property, often by students as part of their educational program. In this manner, the school was firmly established by the mid 1880s. Washington’s second wife Olivia A. Davidson was also said to be instrumental in continuing the success of the school.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"Tuskegee University." Encyclopedia of African-American Writing, Fourth Edition, edited by Laura Nicosia, , James F. Nicosia & , Salem Press, 2022. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=AAW4E_0833.
APA 7th
Tuskegee University. Encyclopedia of African-American Writing, Fourth Edition, In L. Nicosia, , J. F. Nicosia & (Eds.), Salem Press, 2022. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=AAW4E_0833.
CMOS 17th
"Tuskegee University." Encyclopedia of African-American Writing, Fourth Edition, Edited by Laura Nicosia, , James F. Nicosia & . Salem Press, 2022. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=AAW4E_0833.