The Tuskegee Student Revolt and the Legacy of Booker T. Washington

• In Event: 16.025 - Agency in Education

Abstract

In 1966 a Tuskegee student was murdered off campus for trying to use a “white” bathroom. His classmates, some already veterans of the civil rights movement, blamed Tuskegee for having compromised with segregation for so long. They attempted to transform their school into a “Black University” along the lines of similar efforts at Historically Black Colleges and Universities nationwide. At Tuskegee, however, this movement collided in unique ways with the legacy of its founder, Booker T. Washington. Making Tuskegee “Black” meant different thing to different students. Archival data and interviews with former Tuskegee students and administrators reveal that some students saw Washington a progenitor of the Black Power movement, while others articulated a critique of his political and educational ideals.

Author

• Brian P Jones, City University of New York