Who Established A Vocational Training Center?

Booker T. Washington, born into slavery, was a prominent African American leader of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founding the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School in 1881. Born into slavery, Washington pursued his own education after the Civil War and worked tirelessly to improve educational opportunities for African Americans.

Organizers of a new normal school in Tuskegee, Alabama, sought a bright and energetic leader for their new institution. They initially anticipated employing a white administrator, but Booker T. Washington returned to Hampton Institute as a teacher in 1879, focusing on the “education and civilization” of Native Americans. Under Washington’s leadership, the Tuskegee Institute was established under a charter from the Alabama legislature for the purpose of training teachers in Alabama.

The Tuskegee Institute provided students with both academic and vocational training, aiming to improve economic opportunities for African Americans in the late 1800s. Washington was the founder and president of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and the leading fundraiser for black schools and colleges in the early 1900s. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin recognized Americans needed a new kind of education as early as 1749 and joined with other colonial leaders to create the Tuskegee Institute. His founding of Tuskegee Institute further solidified the role of vocational training or vocational education for the African American community.