Tuskegee, Alabama

We are again out and about seeing this great land of ours and it sure feels good, especially since the temperatures are in the 60s.  Today we drove about 40 miles east of Montgomery to the small town of Tuskegee.  There are two attractions there which were on our list to see—Tuskegee Institute and Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Sites.

Booker T Washington Memorial

White Hall

Our first stop was at Tuskegee Institute and its main attraction, George Washington Carver Museum.  We watched both films—one on the life of Booker T. Washington and the other on George W. Carver.  Both were very interesting and dedicated men, but we felt they had opposing views on educating the black community.  Washington’s dream was to teach young men and women a skill which they could use to better themselves as well as the community in which they lived.  Dr Carver, on the other hand, loved to learn about the things around him from flowers to rocks.  He then took that knowledge and applied it to everyday problem solving.  We spent about an hour in the museum which had displays of contributions made by both men to Tuskegee Institute.  We drove around campus, which was almost deserted since students are away on winter break, and visited the gravesites of both Washington and Carver.  We were disappointed to find many of the campus buildings needing repairs.  Margaret Murray Washington Hall has deteriorated to the extent that the roof has caved in.

George W Carver Museum Building

Inside the Museum

The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site at Moton Field proved to be almost a wasted trip.  There are only about 3 or 4 of the original buildings are still standing, and they were undergoing remodeling and therefore “off limits”.  The Visitor Center was open, but scheduled to move to a new location tomorrow, so everything was packed up leaving nothing to see except the 15 minute film.  I got a few photos from a knoll above the airfield which, by the way, is still being used.

Moton Field in use today for small aircraft

Old plane at Moton Field

The original hanger

We had somewhat of an adventure getting to Moton Field.  We had entered the address as given on the National Park Service website into the GPS.  Wanda (that’s what we call the little lady who lives in the GPS) directed us as best she could, but we failed to turn quickly enough to suit her so she was constantly recalculating.  We finally got to the street and even saw a small brown park service sign indicating we should turn.  We turned and after about a half mile, Wanda wanted us to turn into what looked like a clearing by the side of the road where folks had been dumping garbage.  We drove on and of course Wanda kept insisting we turn around.  We tried and drove down streets never intended to be driven down.  As a last resort, we consulted a map and decided we had not gone far enough down the street.  We soon arrived at Moton Field.  We noticed, as we entered the Visitor Center, a brand new, huge Park Service sign.  We would have been able to see this sign (and I’m sure others like it) had we driven to Tuskegee by way of the interstate.  We, however, wanted to see a bit of the Alabama country side and drove there on a secondary road.  About all we saw was a huge flock of starlings.  What we didn’t see were signs directing us to the National Historic Sites.

Carver's gravesite

Washington's gravesite

Tomorrow we are going to try our luck with visiting downtown Montgomery.