Editing Tuskegee, Alabama (section)

==History==
The [[Creek people]] long occupied this area including a settlement known as Taskigi Town. After Congress passed the [[Indian Removal Act]] of 1830 in furtherance of [[President Andrew Jackson]]'s goals, most of the Creek bands were removed from their homelands in the Southeast to [[Indian Territory]] west of the [[Mississippi River]].

Pioneer white planters and other migrants moved into the area, mostly from eastern Southern states. The planters brought or purchased enslaved African Americans to clear woods and develop cotton [[plantation]]s. Invention of the [[cotton gin]] had made short-staple cotton profitable to process and it became the chief commodity crop of the Deep South through the 19th century. Short-staple cotton could be cultivated in the upland areas of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. Alabama, [[Mississippi]], [[Louisiana]] and [[Texas]]. Designated as the [[county seat]] of rural Macon County, Tuskegee developed as its only city.

===Late 19th century===
In 1881, the young [[Booker T. Washington]] was hired to develop the [[Tuskegee Institute|Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers]] on the grounds of a former plantation. It was founded to train teachers for the segregated school system and [[Freedman|freedmen]] for self-sufficiency. Washington established a work-study program by which students practiced skills and trades. Over the decades, the programs were expanded. This was later named the Tuskegee Institute. Graduate courses were added and it became [[Tuskegee University]].

Washington was known for his emphasis on [[education]] and [[self-improvement]]. The institute became known for stressing a practical education with [[work experience]] by [[students]], to prepare them for the agricultural and mechanical work available in the small towns and [[rural areas]] to which most would return.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart6.html |title=African American Odyssey |contribution=The Booker T. Washington Era (Part 1) |publisher=Library of Congress |date=March 21, 2008 |access-date=September 3, 2008}}</ref> Teaching was a highly respected calling, as education was a major goal among the freedmen and their children. Washington believed that African Americans would achieve acceptance by Southern whites when they had raised themselves.<ref name="taper">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1120089?seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents Richard B. Sobol, "Reviewed Work: ''Gomillion versus Lightfoot: The Tuskegee Gerrymander Case'' by Bernard Taper"], ''Columbia Law Review'' Vol. 62, No. 4 (Apr. 1962), pp. 748–751 {{subscription required|via JSTOR}}</ref>

Washington led the school for [[decades]], building a wide national network of white [[industrialist]] [[donors]] among some of the major [[philanthropists]] of the era, including [[George Eastman]]. At the same time, Washington secretly provided funding for its [[legal defense]] of some highly visible [[civil rights]] cases,{{which|date=September 2021}} including supporting challenges to Southern states' discriminatory constitutions and practices that [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised African Americans]].<ref name="pildes">[https://ssrn.com/abstract=224731 Richard H. Pildes, Democracy, Anti-Democracy, and the Canon, ''Constitutional Commentary'', vol.17, 2000, pp.13–14] Accessed March 10, 2008</ref>{{failed verification|date=September 2021}} Washington worked with [[Julius Rosenwald]] and [[architects]] at the [[college]] to develop models for rural schools, to be used with Rosenwald's matching funds to build more schools for black children in the South.

===Early 20th century===
Beginning in 1932, the [[Tuskegee University|school]] was the site of the now-infamous [[Tuskegee Syphilis Study]] (1932–1972), started to test [[Medical treatment|treatments]] of the [[disease]]. 600 African-American men became involved, being offered free [[medical care]] by the U.S. government for their participation, while being unwittingly tested for [[syphilis]]. With funding cut by the [[Great Depression]], staff cut back on medication to treat the disease and studied the effects of untreated syphilis on [[patients]] and their [[sexual partners]]. Those in the study who had syphilis were not told, nor were they informed that treatment was available for their disease, even after [[antibiotic]]s had been developed.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Duff-Brown |first1=Beth |title=The shameful legacy of Tuskegee syphilis study still impacts African-American men today |url=https://healthpolicy.fsi.stanford.edu/news/researchers-and-students-run-pilot-project-oakland-test-whether-tuskegee-syphilis-trial-last |website=Stanford Health Policy |access-date=September 27, 2020 |date=January 6, 2017}}</ref>

One of the most famous teachers at Tuskegee was [[George Washington Carver]], whose name is synonymous with innovative research into [[Southern United States|Southern]] farming methods and the development of hundreds of commercial products derived from regional crops, including [[peanut]]s and [[sweet potatoes]].

During World War II, Tuskegee and Tuskegee Institute were also home to the famed [[Tuskegee Airmen]]. This was the first squadron of African-American [[Pilot (aeronautics)|pilot]]s trained in the [[U.S. Military]] for service in that war.

Tuskegee University in the 21st century is a center of excellence for African-American education.  The heart of the university has been designated as a [[National Historic Landmark District|National Historic District]] and was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1974.

The [[Tuskegee Veterans Administration Medical Center]] was opened in 1923, authorized by Congress. A total of 27 buildings were constructed on the 464-acre campus, which provided housing and a [[hospital]] to serve the needs of more than 300,000 African-American [[veterans]] in the [[Southern United States|South]] from World War I.<ref name="vamc"/> It attracted [[Physician|doctors]] from top schools, such as Dr. Toussaint Tourgee Tildon, a graduate of [[Harvard Medical School]]. He was one of the first six African-American doctors to work at the hospital; as director of the complex for 12 years (1946–1958), he achieved [[accreditation]] for a [[medical residency]] program at the hospital. He also worked to ensure accessibility for graduates to good medical positions in the federal government.<ref name="tildon">[http://www.anb.org/articles/12/12-01128.html Elizabeth D. Schafer. "Tildon, Toussaint Tourgee"], ''American National Biography Online,'' February 2003, published by Oxford University Press, Inc., copyright 2000 American Council of Learned Societies</ref>

In the 1930s, a group of black men from the Tuskegee Men's Club began efforts to get more black [[voters]] registered. Beginning in 1941, the group reorganized under the name the Tuskegee Civic Association (TCA). With the group's consistent effort to register more voters, the area's statistics of registered black voters continued to increase. The group and potential voters were often met with obstacles that prevented them from being successful. The surrounding black community showed support and wanted to recognize black leaders in the community. The work of the TCA also had a huge emphasis on educating their communities on various [[civic duties]]. Though the existing support for the TCA was not often vocalized, many black community members wanted to challenge the political system that was present in Macon County. The group shed a light on the disparities in the numbers of black people applying for [[voter registration]] and those who were successful, even going as far as talking to the [[United States Commission on Civil Rights]].{{Crossreference|(See also [[United States Commission on Civil Rights]].)}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ture |first1=Kwame |author-link1=Kwame Ture |last2=Hamilton |first2=Charles|author-link2=Charles V. Hamilton |date=1966 |title=Black Power}}</ref>

===Voting rights challenge===
{{main|Gomillion v. Lightfoot}}
Following passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]], activists made progress in registering black voters in the city. African Americans in Tuskegee and other Alabama cities had been largely [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised]] after passage of a new state constitution in 1901, which included requirements that were discriminatory in practice, including a [[poll tax (United States)|poll tax]] and [[literacy tests]].

In 1957, a total of 1000 voters were registered, with the 400 registered black voters nearly equaling the number of white voters. But in the city, African Americans outnumbered whites on a four-to-one basis; among them were many highly educated, professional African Americans working at the Tuskegee Institute and the Veterans Administration hospital. That year, without debate and against the protests of many African Americans, the state legislature redrew the boundaries of the city, enacting Local Law 140, which created an irregular, 28-sided city boundary that left only ten black voters within the newly defined city, and excluded 420 black voters.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Black Power: The Politics of Liberation|last=Hamilton|first=Charles|publisher=Vintage: Random House|year=1992|isbn=9780679743132|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/blackpowerpoliti00carm_0/page/133 133]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/blackpowerpoliti00carm_0/page/133}}</ref> Those excluded included the entire professional staff of the Institute and the hospital. No white voters were excluded by the change.<ref name="alenc">[http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-3064 Allen Mendenhall, "Gomillion v. Lightfoot"], ''Encyclopedia of Alabama,'' May 2, 2011</ref>

The law was intended to guarantee that minority whites could retain control of the city even if more blacks succeeded in the arduous process of registering to vote. Some 3,000 African-American residents protested passage of the law at a church in Tuskegee; they also began an economic boycott of white businesses in the city.<ref name="gomillion"/>  They referred to the boycott as a "selective buying campaign" due to the fact that boycotting was illegal under state law. It lasted about four years, during which twenty-six businesses operated by white proprietors closed down.<ref name=":0" />

African Americans also organized a legal challenge to the law, supported by the [[NAACP]], in a case known as ''[[Gomillion v. Lightfoot]]''. The law was initially upheld by the US District Court and affirmed by the Appeals Court based in New Orleans. However, it was struck down by the US Supreme Court in 1960, with the ruling implemented in 1961.<ref name="gomillion">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1120089 Richard B. Sobol, "Reviewed Work: ''Gomillion versus Lightfoot: The Tuskegee Gerrymander Case'' by Bernard Taper"], ''Columbia Law Review,'' Vol. 62, No. 4 (Apr. 1962), pp. 748–751, Published by: Columbia Law Review Association, Inc., accessed January 17, 2015 {{subscription required|via JSTOR}}</ref> The court ruled that the [[gerrymandering]] of city boundaries was racially motivated and violated the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] which states that "states were not insulated from federal judicial review when they jeopardized federally protected rights."<ref name="alenc"/> The exclusionary gerrymandering was overturned and the previous boundaries of the city were restored.

This case was cited in the later ''[[Baker v. Carr]]'' (1964), in which the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] ruled that Tennessee's malapportionment of [[election districts]] violated [[civil rights]]. It ruled that representation in both houses of all [[state legislatures]] had to be based on population, under the "[[one man, one vote]]" doctrine, and that such districts had to be regularly updated to reflect population changes.

===Post-''Gomillion''===
{{anchor|School integration}} In 1963, Tuskegee was to have been the first Alabama community to comply with a federal order to [[desegregate]] its [[State school|public schools]]. The [[school superintendent]], C.A. (Hardboy) Pruitt, at first opposed the admission of Black students, but worked with other community leaders to comply with the final order of the [[federal district court]], with plans to admit 13 Black students in September 1963 to what had been an all-white high school. But Gov. [[George Wallace]] opposed compliance with the federal order anywhere in the state on the grounds that it would lead to violence. Behind the scenes, Wallace enlisted the aid of [[Ku Klux Klan]] members and [[neo-Nazis]] of the [[National States' Rights Party]] to gin up protests calling for the closing of schools that were scheduled to integrate.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carter|first=Dan T.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32739924|title=The politics of rage : George Wallace, the origins of the new conservatism, and the transformation of American politics|date=1995|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=0-684-80916-8|location=New York|pages=162–167|oclc=32739924}}</ref> Wallace subsequently ordered public schools closed across the state and deployed [[state troopers]] on September 3, 1963, to block the opening of Tuskegee High School.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sitton|first=Claude|date=September 3, 1963|title=Alabama Police Prevent Opening of Tuskegee High|work=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/09/03/82145125.html?pageNumber=1|access-date=March 5, 2021}}</ref> The school was integrated on September 10, 1963, after President [[John F. Kennedy]] federalized the Alabama [[National Guard]] and 13 Black students were among only 165 students to begin the school year, against a total enrollment of about 550.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sitton|first=Claude|date=September 11, 1963|title=Wallace Ends Resistance as Guard Is Federalized; More Schools Integrate|work=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/09/11/82148187.html?pageNumber=1|access-date=March 5, 2021}}</ref>

[[Lucius Amerson]] made history in 1966 by becoming the first Black sheriff to be elected in the state of Alabama, and the American South, since Reconstruction. He was sworn in as Macon County Sheriff in January, 1967.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 21-22, 1967 |orig-date=January 21-22, 1967 |title=The Southern Courier, Vol. III, No. 4 |url=http://www.southerncourier.org/low-res/Vol3_No04_1967_01_21.pdf |access-date=May 7, 2025 |website=The Southern Courier: A Weekly Newspaper Covering Civil Rights in the South 1965-68}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Brian |title=The Tuskegee Student Uprising: A History |date=2022 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-1-4798-0942-4 |edition=1st |series=Black Power Series |location=New York}}</ref> Amerson served four terms as Sheriff until 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ruane |first=Michael E. |date=2008-08-14 |title=Sheriff Made History Simply by Doing His Job |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2008/08/14/sheriff-made-history-simply-by-doing-his-job/749c726c-c803-4c0b-9aad-1a52fcc814c2/ |access-date=2025-05-07 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

[[Johnny Ford]] was elected the first black mayor of the city in 1972, and served six consecutive terms in office. Lucenia Williams Dunn was elected the first black woman mayor in 2000.