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State Funds Private School to Avoid Integration

Moments In Civil Rights History

September 2, 1963 was the first day of integrated classes at Tuskegee High School, where 13 black students had been selected to attend. Alabama Governor George Wallace ordered the school closed due to safety concerns. The school reopened a week later. Within days, all of the white students left the school to attend a new, all-white private school with the aid of state funds as approved by Governor Wallace.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

Moments In Civil Rights History

On July 24, 1972, the Washington Star newspaper broke the story about the Tuskegee Institute syphilis experiment. From 1932 until 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service, in partnership with Tuskegee, secretly studied the effects of untreated syphilis in African-American men in Alabama. Participants were poorly educated, impoverished sharecroppers. The experiments were terminated in November 1972.

Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Institute

Moments In Civil Rights History

On September 19, 1881, classes began at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. The school began as a state funded educational instruction for black students. Booker T. Washington, who was born into slavery, was chosen as headmaster and served until his death in 1915. Washington instructed the inaugural class of 30 students out of a one-room shanty. By 1915, the school had over 1500 students.

A Tuskegee Airman's Story

Dr. Eugene Richardson

Dr. Eugene Richardson is one of 932 Tuskegee Airmen – distinguished African-American military pilots who served during World War II. An encounter with a white policeman encouraged Richardson to enroll in flight school, and ultimately military service. Richardson shares how his steadfast determination shaped his experience as a black military aviator.

A Celebration of Civil Rights Heroes

'Voices of the Civil Rights Movement' 10th Anniversary

Civil rights heroes — including former U.N. Ambassador and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. advisor, Andrew Young — join NBC TODAY's Craig Melvin and Sheinelle Jones in Philadelphia to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Comcast NBCUniversal's 'Voices of the Civil Rights Movement' platform. The special evening honors civil rights champions who have contributed their stories to the platform since its 2013 launch, including Tony award-winning actress Melba Moore, Freedom Rider Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, Tuskegee Airman Dr. Eugene Richardson, and fellow pioneers.