Black History: Special Delivery!!
Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee University, and scientist/inventor George Washington Carver are well known for their pioneering work in education and agriculture at Tuskegee University. Many may not know though that they also offered people the opportunity for education through a “school on wheels”.
The school was used as a form of outreach to rural farmers to help expose them to modern tools and methods of farming. The school on wheels operated in several different forms from 1906-1944. The first school on wheels was a horse drawn wagon. The school was birthed with funding from benefactor Morris K. Jessup and built by Tuskegee students. Booker T. Washington had a goal to provide agricultural education to those who could not afford to travel to Tuskegee. When George Washington Carver came to Tuskegee he also shared the desire to educate rural farmers. Both he and Washington were known for visiting rural farmers and sharing information with them. The school was overseen by Thomas Moore.
In 1918 the school on wheels transitioned from being horse- drawn to being a Ford truck. Tuskegee continues the school on wheels tradition today through its veterinary science program. For more information click the link below:
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1870
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