ALABAMA, CITY OF TUSKEGEE

                                  

Home of Booker T. Washington 

Powerful African American leader, 1800's-1900's

The Oaks

905 W Montgomery Rd, Tuskegee, AL 36083

Booker Taliaferro Washington was born April 5, 1856 in Hale’s Ford, Virginia. He was an American educator, orator, author and President of Tuskegee University. He was freed from slavery as a child, gained an education, and as a young man was appointed to lead Tuskegee Institute then a teachers' college for blacks. From this position, he rose into a nationally prominent role as spokesman and leader. He worked with major philanthropists to contribute to education at Tuskegee and for public schools for black children in the Southern States and in Alabama. He also led efforts to donate to legal challenges to segregation and disfranchisement.  From 1895-1915 he was the most powerful African-American man in the nation. Visit the Oaks, Booker T, Washington's home to see tangible evidence of his success. The Oaks was built on the campus of Tuskegee Institute for Washington and his family in 1915.

                                                    Booker T. Washington

References http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/tuskegee/btwoaks.htm