Tuskegee Institute: Black Opportunity

On Independence Day, 1881, Booker T. Washington and Lewis Adams established Tuskegee Institute. Initially, it was a school for "colored teachers," as this was still in the period of the Jim Crow Laws and segregation that divided almost every single aspect of life. In this time, there were public congregations to watch the lynchings of black people who had the audacity to outperform a white person, so the establishment of a purely black center of education and knowledge was not highly supported. Of course, they were often denied their legal obligation to the same, but separate rights and were not protected from extralegal activity, but that did not stop them from trying to attain the same opportunities. So, in 1881, Alabama was gifted its first historically black institute, which would go on to educate George Washington Carver and the famous Tuskegee Airmen from World War II. Agricultural and trade skills were taught at Tuskegee in order to prepare the students for advanced jobs that could potentially take them higher at work than their white bosses and coworkers. Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller contributed to the establishment of the school as a silent contribution towards the advancement of African-Americans. By the early 20th century, Tuskegee was a leading contributor to the efforts of the United States Government to identify and cure the symptoms of syphilis. After years of oppression, Washington and Lewis were able to find a safe place for African-Americans to allow themselves to shine through the hatred surrounding them and prove that they were just as capable and deserving, if not more.
“Tuskegee University.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Sept. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_University.