We spent a couple of days at the end of February at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama. When Steady Eddie learned that he’d be traveling there for his job, he suggested that the girls and I go along for the ride. It was historically one of the first black colleges in Alabama and the United States, and it owes much of its fame and prestige to Booker T. Washington, its first president, and George W. Carver, who came there to teach for a few years and ending up investing his life in the school and community. I took this as an opportunity to get off the chronological history bandwagon for a bit and do some more in-depth reading on Carver. I’ll share a couple of really good resources on him (of course!) in another post; right now I want to share some pictures.
Booker T. Washington's gravesite
Booker T. Washington's gravesite
George W. Carver's gravesite
(You can read the touching inscription here.)
Can you tell it was a very overcast couple of days? It was! They girls and I were caught out in a very sudden cloudburst our second day there. . .
the chapel
The chapel on campus was built with no right angles whatsoever. Pretty neat, huh?
the whole "Singing Window"
close up of one of the panels
another panel
I understand that the original chapel burned, and when they rebuilt it as this very modern-looking building, they included a window just like the one in the original chapel. It illustrates many Negro spirituals. It is gorgeous!
(This was right after the cloudburst. 🙂 )
It was very, very warm most of the time we were there. In fact, I was uncomfortably overdressed much of the time. 🙂 Despite the heat, wind, and rain, the girls and I had a fabulous time. Walking around a beautiful college campus is my idea of fun anyway, but to be with my girls learning about history (and science!) in such a setting was double the enjoyment for me. It was sort of like taking the undesirable and difficult parts of being the teacher/mom all the time away and just keeping the good parts. 
We saw a few more sites that I’ll share in the next few days here at Hope Is the Word. We even drove by the Tuskegee Airmen site, but we didn’t stop since we had a long way to travel home and it was already mid-afternoon. Next time, we’ll study up on World War II and add this to our list of places to see.
When I think about studying Alabama history, this is how I envision it: lots of field trips and reading about the people and places that have influenced our state. How do you handle your state’s history in your homeschool?
We have a whole lot of Lewis and Clark around here and I very much look forward to diving into some of that when the boys, in particular, are a little older.
Loved seeing your pictures from your trip. Brings back a lot of memories from when we went there a long time ago!
Great pictures! We’ve been doing early American history this year which is perfect to also discuss Virginia history. We’ve visited Jamestown, Williamsburg, Monticello, and Mt. Vernon. Right now, I’m not planning on doing a big extra state history unit although the public schools here do that in 4th or 5th grade. I figure we’ll get a lot of it just as we go.
Amy, this looks like a wonderful field trip — one that my family would really enjoy, too.
The chapel looks beautiful, and the fact that it was built with no right angles is very interesting, too!