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PRIMARY SOURCE OF THE MONTH

A laboratory class at the Tuskegee Institute, photographed by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1902. Courtesy, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LC-USZ62-2248)
A laboratory class at the Tuskegee Institute,
photographed by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1902.
Courtesy, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LC-USZ62-2248)

The Tuskegee Institute was founded by former slave Lewis Adams and former slaveholder George Campbell. Adams, a skilled tinsmith, shoemaker, and harness-maker, was able to read and write despite having no formal education. As “payment” for gaining African American support of Alabama senator W.F. Foster, Adams requested a school. In 1880, the Alabama State Legislature authorized the creation of a “Negro Normal School in Tuskegee” and appropriated $2,000 for teacher salaries. No money was provided for land, buildings, or supplies.

The school officially opened on July 4, 1881 with 30 students and Booker T. Washington as its first principal—a position Washington held until his death in 1915. Washington’s three primary goals for the school were:

    1. Educating students, some of whom had some reading and writing skills, so they could return to their homes and educate others in new agricultural ways and other intellectual and religious pursuits. Many graduates later became Tuskegee Institute instructors.
    2. Developing vocational skills in students, enabling them to be employed in trades or agriculture.
    3. Providing a complete education both inside and outside of the classroom, including expectations of high moral character and cleanliness of self and surroundings.

A typical daily schedule for Tuskegee Institute students was as follows:

“5 A.M., rising bell, 5.50 A.M., warning breakfast bell; 6 A.M., breakfast bell, 6.20 A.M., breakfast over; 6.20 to 6.50 A.M., rooms are cleaned; 6.50, work bell, 7.30, morning study hour; 8.20, morning school bell; 8.25, inspection of young men’s toilet in ranks; 8.40, devotional exercises in chapel; 8.55, “five minutes with the daily news,” 9 A.M., class work begins; 12, class work closes; 12.15 P.M., dinner; 1 P.M., work bell; 1.30 P.M., class work begins; 3.30 P.M., class work ends; 5.30 P.M., bell to “knock off” work; 6 P.M., supper; 7.10 P.M., evening prayers; 7.30 P.M., evening study hours; 8.45 P.M., evening study hour closes; 9.20 P.M., warning retiring bell; 9.30 P.M., retiring bell."

Source: Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, An Autobiography (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1986), p. 314.