Tuskegee2

“They told me I had bad blood. All I knew was they kept saying I had bad blood, they never mentioned syphilis to me, not even once,” says Charles Polland. Charles was one of the poor, uneducated African American men that were experimented on, right there in that little town of Tuskegee, Al. So tell me what do you really know about Tuskegee?(Uschan) A little town that looks run down has much more history than you think. On July 25, 1972, people across the U.S. were horrified to learn that for forty years the federal government had been conducting a medical study using some of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens as subjects. The Tuskegee experiment lasted for 4 decades. Actually only 399 of the men had Syphilis, the other 201 were perfectly healthy but still was conducted. In 1972 at least twenty-eight of the study participants had died as a direct result of having syphilis and 100 had died from syphilis-related conditions. (Uschan) Instead of the experiments there was one leader that made a big influence on the town of Tuskegee…… Booker T. Washington was born a slave hut but, later he moved with his family to Maden. At the age of 9 he began working, first in a salt furnace and later a cold mine. Determined to get an education, he enrolled at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virgin in 1872(Graduated in 1875). Following his studies, at Wayland Seminary in D.C. He later joined the staff at, Hampton. He was later selected to Tuskegee, an institution with two small converted buildings, no equipment, and very little money. When Booker T. first arrived in Tuskegee, Alabama he was surprised to find no one had purchased land or even buildings. The only funds for the schools- $2500 for teachers’ secured from the legislature salaries as a favor to the blacks who had supported a local politician. After Booker T’s death, Tuskegee (34 years later) had more than 100 well-equipment buildings, some 1,500 students, a faculty of nearly 200 teaching, 38 trades and profession, and an endowment of approximately 2million dollars!(www.biography.com) I believe the University of Tuskegee Alabama will not stay a HBCU for long. This university will be in the community for a while and shall never be torn down, because this is a historic site and the monument of Booker T. Washington and all that he has accomplished. The home of Washington is still standing and is located on the campus. Tuskegee is having some trouble with its economy now and hopefully this will all change in the future. So now that you have read my essay, tell me…What do you know about Tuskegee?!? Works Cited Booker T (aliaferro)." Britannica Biographies (2010): 1. History Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. “Booker T. Washington.” Farmington Hills, MI:  Lucent Books/Thomson/Gale, 2006. Uschan, Michael. //Forty//  “History of Tuskegee University.” //Tuskegee University//. 2011. "Washington,  Found 3 November http://www.biography.com/people/booker-t-washington-9524663
 * Tuskegee University **

2011. //Years of medical racism: Tuskegee Experiments.//