He said it was a life-changing book for him. We are having Marc read it soon. Early in our marriage we actually went to the Booker T Washington homestead in Virginia to see where Washington had been a slave and had his start. So it was wonderful to today see where he ended up and all he accomplished. Our first stop was to tour "The Oaks", the home that the students of Tuskegee Normal School built for the Washington family. They literally dug up the dirt of the campus to make the bricks for the building. It is gorgeous!
The woodworking was gorgeous and all done by students. See BB- she went with us!
These entry lights have two lights with electricity and two that are gas lights. They were ready for the power to be out. :)
The whole first floor has a gorgeous mural of Europe across the top. Booker T. Washington went to Europe and fell in love with the beauty and culture.
This is his office, untouched over time.
We were excited to see Grey Columns, a gorgeous antebellum home built in 1854. When my grandfather was working he drove past the house one day and stopped and asked to see inside. The family gave him a tour and they became fast friends. Later he brought my grandmother, mother and aunt to tour the home, and they all said it was breathtaking. They used some of the fixtures from this home in Gone With the Wind. It was finally given to the University in the 1970s and it now the home of the President of the University.
The entire Tuskegee campus is beautiful. They have a library called "Carnegie Hall", because the library was given to the school by the Carnegie family.
Unfortunately the George Washington Carver museum was closed for renovations during our visit. So after the tour we had a picnic lunch and then drove out to Moton Field to learn about the Tuskegee Airmen. On our way we passed a gorgeous cemetery with tombs from before the civil war.
This one of a 21-year-old girl says, "In my hand no price I bring, Simply to the cross I cling."
We were excited to get to Moton field-
There's a lovely museum area and we watched a WONDERFUL movie explaining all about the airmen and the prejudice they overcame.
The children were excited to see a real "Red Tail" plane.
They were an excellent and highly awarded group.
We had to rush home from the field trip, drop BB off, drop Julia off at horseback riding and take Marky to rowing. When we finally go home we sat down and read from our books about these famous men. This book is wonderful-
The section in Mounds to Missiles is excellently written- I highly recommend this book for Alabama History.
I love seeing history come to life- what a great day learning about some great Americans.
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