Located at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site commemorates the contributions of African American pilots, known as Tuskegee Airmen, who trained at the base beginning in 1941 and fought in World War II. The National Park Service established the site on November 6, 1988 to showcase the Tuskegee Airmen's history and the achievements. The site preserves the airfield and two historic hangars (and some other buildings) at Moton Field. The museum is located in the hangars. Exhibits feature videos, photographs, training aircraft, and a replica "Red Tail" P-51 Mustang. The Tuskegee Airmen were among the best and most decorated pilots in the war. It should be noted the airmen included not just the pilots but all the support staff as well, including clerical workers and mechanics.
This hospital and medical center that opened in 1923 as the "Tuskegee Home" and cared for injured Black veterans of the first World War. The hospital became the first institution in the Veterans Administration medical system to employ an all African American medical staff and was incorporated into the VA system when that federal agency was created in 1930. The Tuskegee Home provided care for hundreds of thousands of Black veterans during the Jim Crow era. Today, the hospital is part of a large medical complex that serves as a regional VA center within the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System. The original hospital was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
This plaza commemorates the Tuskegee Airmen who were trained at Moton Field and fought in World War II. It is located next on the Tuskegee University campus next to the Chappie James Arena and features a fighter jet on display. The memorial also honors the men and women who worked as mechanics, instructors, and other support staff.
The Tuskegee University Legacy Museum opened in 2009 and was created to honor the 599 Black men who participated in a study of untreated syphilis conducted by the United States Public Health Services from 1932 to 1972. The museum is nearly 9,000 square feet and consists of two floors. It appreciates donations of $3 but is free and open to the public and has t-shirts, brochures, posters and other Legacy Museum items for sale.
The original Frederick Douglass Hall was completed in 1904 and named in honor of Frederick Douglass, a former slave who became one of the most influential Americans of the 19th century. Douglass Hall served as a dormitory and an auditorium for three decades until it was destroyed by a fire in 1934. This building serves as a dormitory and was constructed to match the appearance of the original structure.
Completed in 1910, White Hall served as Tuskegee's dormitory for women for generations. The building is named in honor of Alexander Moss White and features a clock tower that was added three years after the building was completed. The clock in the tower had a manual winding system until it was refurbished and connected to electricity in 1951. Tuskegee was founded as a one-room school and now enrolls over 3,000 students
Lifting the Veil of Ignorance Monument is located at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee Alabama and was presented and dedicated on April 15, 1922. It is a tribute to Booker T. Washington who founded Tuskegee University. Over 100,000 people were in attendance during its unveiling to pay tribute to him.
The George Washington Carver Museum is on the campus of Tuskegee University and is owned and operated by the National Parks Service. It is part of the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site along with Booker T. Washington's Home, "The Oaks". The museum is housed in the university's former laundry facility and has been a museum honoring Carver since 1941.
Cleve L. Abbott Memorial Alumni Stadium (formerly called the Alumni Bowl) is located on the campus of Tuskeegee University, one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the nation. The stadium was the first of its kind to be built at any Black College in the south and opened in 1925. It was named Alumni Bowl because of the significant contributions made by alumni for the construction of the facility. It is home to the University's Football Program, which participates in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). Tuskegee's athletic programs, The Golden Tigers, participate in NCAA Division II. The stadium is named after former Tuskegee Tigers head football coach, Cleve L Abbott.
For hundreds of years we, Americans, have lived under the passionate words penned by Thomas Jefferson in the 1770’s, “all men are created equal”, but we have not always lived them out. In fact, almost two hundred years after the third President penned those words of equality, white southerners were still disenfranchising African Americans in the south. This marker honors a group of African Americans who gathered at Butler Chapel AME Zion Church in the 1950’s to stand up to injustice. The injustice was disallowing African Americans to vote through gerrymandering and other political back channeling, all of which were later found to be violations of the 15th Amendment.
This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.
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This driving tour begins at the Butler Chapel AME Zion Church, visits several of Tuskegee's museums and monuments, and ends at The Tuskegee Veterans Administration Hospital. This driving tour is a total of 5 miles.
