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Tuskegee University

Booker T. Washington

1901

1856

1875

1896

1865

1881

Alice Coachman

• Won the Olympic high jump title becoming the first black woman from any country to win a gold medal
• Won 23 titles, most in high jump, some in sprints.
• Was recruited by Tuskegee university while she was still in high school.
• She grew up in the segregated south and trained on dirt roads and used old equipment to practice high jump
• She became an icon and leader for future black female athletes
• Created the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation to aid young athletes and former competitors in financial need
• Inducted into the United States Olympic and Paralympic hall of fame
• Died in 2014 at the age of 90

Establishment of Tuskegee University

• Established July 4th, 1881
• George Campbell, former slave owner and politician, wanted the support of African Americans so he asked Lewis Adams, former slave and community leader, to help him get more votes. Lewis agreed if Campbell would pass a bill allowing education for African Americans. Campbell agreed and bill 165 allowed Adams to open "Negro Normal School in Tuskegee"
• The school was first opened on an empty plot of land
• The board asked for a teacher from Hampton Institute and Booker T Washington accepted
• Washington was principal from 1881-1915, when he passed away

• The school later moved to an abandoned 100-acre plantation
• The students helped build the school
• After the death of Washington, Robert R Moton became president from 1915-1935