On this day in 1881, Booker T. Washington founded Tuskegee University

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An 1894 photo of Booker T. Washington. (Library of Congress via AP)
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On July 4, 1881, educator and activist Booker T. Washington founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, known today as Tuskegee University, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Washington served as the school’s first principal and presided over the first day of class, which was held in a one-room church before the first official building was erected one year later.

Washington recruited the most qualified Black teachers to teach at the school, including scientist George Washington Carver, who arrived in 1896. While only 30 men and women made up the school’s inaugural class, Tuskegee University’s influence and legacy has since flourished.

Robert C. Ogden, William Howard Taft, Booker T. Washington and Andrew Carnegie, left to right, stand on the steps of a building in April 1906 during the 25h anniversary celebration of what is now Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Ala. Taft would later become president. The event was held at the same time a Southern heritage group, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, was raising money to erect a Confederate monument that was dedicated in 1909 and still stands at the center of the mostly black city. (Frances Benjamin Johnston/Library of Congress via AP)

Today, the university is the largest producer of African-Americans with degrees in Math, Science and Engineering in Alabama, according to the school’s website.

Click play to listen to the AURN News report from Clay Cane. Follow @claycane & @aurnonline for more.

Clay Cane is an award-winning journalist, writer, radio host, and political commentator. A graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in African-American Studies, his work on race, culture, and politics have appeared in national publications, including the Washington Post, CNN, and The Grio. Clay is a regular political commentator on MSNBC. Twitter: @claycane

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