The 1968 Student Uprising at Tuskegee Institute

Days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and after months of increasing tension on campus, the students at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama occupied a building on campus where the Trustees were meeting, demanding a number of reforms, including a role for students in college governance, the end of mandatory ROTC participation, athletic scholarships, African American studies curriculum, and a higher quality of instruction in engineering courses. 

Joining me to tell the story of the Tuskegee student uprising is Dr. Brian Jones, Director of New York Public Library’s Center for Educators and Schools and author of The Tuskegee Student Uprising: A History.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. Photo credit: The photo used for this episode comes from: http://sammyyoungejr.weebly.com/the-movement.html.

Additional Sources:

• “The Overlooked History of a Student Uprising That Helped Institutionalize Black Studies in the U.S.,” by Olivia B. Waxman, Time, October 4, 2022.
• “History of Tuskegee University,” Tuskegee University.
• “Tuskegee Institute's Founding,” National Park Service.
• “Tuskegee Institute--Training Leaders,” African American Odyssey, Library of Congress
• “Tuskegee University (1881-),” by Allison O’Connor, Blackpast, October 27, 2009.
• “Booker T. Washington,” History.com, October 29, 2009.
• “The Tuskegee Student Uprising & Black education in America,” The Black Table, S1 E38.
• “Tuskegee Halts All its Classes; Tells Students to Go Home – Acts After Protests,” The New York Times, April 9, 1968.
• “The Moral Force of the Black University,” by Brian Jones, The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 3, 2022.
• “Jan. 3, 1966: Sammy Younge Jr. Murdered,” Zinn Education Project.
• “Nov. 14, 1960: Gomillion v. Lightfoot,” Zinn Education Project.
• Sammy L. Younge, Jr.: The First Black College Student To Die In The Black Liberation Movement

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