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Showing posts with the label Tuskegee Institute

Louis Augustus Carter (1876-1941)

Born on February 20, 1876, in Auburn, Alabama, Louis Augustus Carter was the second African American army chaplain to be promoted to colonel. Carter received his early education in a local public school, attended Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) from 1895 to 1897, and Selma University from 1897 to 1900, but he did not graduate from either institution. Then, from 1901 to 1904, he was a special student at the Virginia Union University Theological School and graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree. Carter returned home to Auburn, Alabama, to be ordained in 1904 and served as pastor for several churches in Alabama, Virginia, and Tennessee for the next eleven years. After attending the Guadalupe College of Texas, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1907. In 1909 Carter married Mary B. Moss, and in 1910, he enlisted into the United States Army. After his initial training, he applied for an appointment as chaplain of one of the four regular army regiments for A...

Edward Gardner (1898-1966)

Edward Gardner was born in Birmingham, Alabama in December 1898. Shortly after his birth, his family moved west and eventually settled in Seattle. Gardner returned to Alabama in 1914, to attend Tuskegee Institute, where he learned a trade as a steam engineer and became a star on the school’s track team. By 1921, Gardner was living in Seattle and began competing in the annual Ten Mile Washington State Championship, sponsored by the  Seattle Post Intelligencer .  Gardner won the race three times from 1921-1927, setting course records as he went and beating the best amateur and military runners in the Pacific Northwest.  As he trained, he adopted his trademark outfit, a white towel tied around his head, a white sleeveless shirt and white trunks.  His Seattle fans would call out “oh you Sheik.” The name stuck and Eddie Gardner became known as "the Sheik” of Seattle. In 1928, Gardner entered the first foot race across America, nicknamed the “bunion derby” (A 3,400 m...

JAN. 5TH, 1943 was declared by US Congress as George Washington Carver Day on the day of his passing

January 5 is George Washington Carver Day in honor of the brilliant agricultural chemist who died on this day in 19 43. Nicknamed "The Peanut Man" and the "Wizard of Tuskegee," Carver headed the agricultural department of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and was one of the most prominent scientist of his day. He was renowned for finding new uses for everyday items. Carver's research in improved farming techniques helped to revolutionize farming in America. He once wrote, "I wanted to know the name of every stone and flower and insect and bird and beast." This is a rarely acknowledged National Holiday to recognize a great African American scientist. In 1935, Carver was specifically appointed to the Department of Agriculture by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to address the southern farming crisis. Among other enactments he advised farmers to use crop rotation. Carver's accomplishments found that since peanuts and sweet potato crops have...