In 1881, Booker T. Washington became the first principal of a newly formed Normal School for Negroes in Tuskegee, Alabama, at the age of 26. This began a lifelong quest for excellence that over saw the Growth of Tuskegee Institute. The Historic Campus District still retains the original buildings built by the students of the Institute, with bricks made by students in the Institute brickyard. In 1896, George Washington Carver joined the faculty and revolutionized agricultural development in the South in the early twentieth century. The legacy of these two men, and the History of this great institution of higher education has been preserved to tell the story of men and women, former slaves, who struggled to make their place in our American society. African-American history, early industrial development, civil rights, and education are some of the themes represented at this site.