Restitution for what happened, this is more than that

By: Devonte Booker

“Some basic rights of American citizenship have been fought here,” said Fred Gray. Established in 1997 as the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center, later named the Tuskegee History Center is located on 104 South Elm St in the heart of Tuskegee, Alabama. It is one of the many historical places within Tuskegee.

The center was founded by Fred Gray and study survivor Herman Shaw as a memorial to the victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, conducted between 1932 and 1972. Gray had led the successful legal fight for restitution for the victims and requested the construction of a permanent physical structure to recognize their contributions and sacrifices as well as those involved in raising the awareness of human and civil rights.

The Tuskegee History center is housed in a building that used to be a city bank with white pillars and light brown bricks on all sides of the seasoned building with the accent of a deep blue roof. The parking lot surrounds the building in a U-shape, with faded yellow lines marking each space.

Behind the history center is a replica of Booker T Washington's childhood cabin where he was born back in 1856, the same place where he was held enslaved. The cabin is made of lumber wood from the bottom to the top with the chimney being made out of rock, the cabin has dark brown wood layering the roof while the walls have a tan wood that seemed to be sanded down to help create a strong foundation.

The Tuskegee History Center preserves and presents the stories from history of Native, European and African Americans in Tuskegee, Macon County, in Alabama. “The central theme of the Tuskegee History Center’ story is that important American history occurred in and around Tuskegee,” said Deborah Gray.

As you walk into the museum you are met with a glass wall with a structure of three repeating faces in gold with black shading and outlining. “The three faces represent Native Americans, African Americans and European Americans,” said Daniel Hadden. Underneath the structure you’ll see a panoramic view of Tuskegee in the 1800s in black and white, while the tile on the floor is uniquely painted with a dark and light brown to illustrate Tuskegee’s borders are within the state of Alabama.

"A Greater Good," the history center’s first exhibit, features interactive elements such as videos, photographs and artifacts. Other exhibits continue to focus on the Syphilis Study but also emphasize Tuskegee's and Macon County leadership in the education of African Americans and women since the 1800s. Additional exhibits highlight the role Macon County played in African American healthcare and medical research.

The timeline exhibited in the "Shared Heritage Gallery" places the multicultural history of Macon County within the broader context of regional, state and national events. Themes such as power, struggle, gender, race, violence, the environment, politics, and economics are all highlighted. It dissects how the issues were related and affected one another.

The center hosts a number of educational programs and workshops every year. It sponsored a symposium on the 50th anniversary of the Lee v. Macon County public school desegregation court case. It continues to showcase temporary exhibits and has also hosted traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., along with other museums.

The museum will use random volunteers here and there but the core staff of the museum are two, Deborah Gray and Daniel Hadden.“The Tuskegee History Center is very small compared to other museums around the city,” said Hadden. Deborah Gray has been the one in charge for years running and preserving the museum by herself over the years. The addition of Daniel did not happen until january of 2022. The tight knit relationship between the two brings out the best experience for the museum.

“It is crazy to think that within this little building this museum holds so much information and important documents that throughout the years held so much weight in this country,” Hadden said. “The Tuskegee History Center evokes the community's attitude to the tee,” added Gray.

The Tuskegee History Center brings great pride to Tuskegee. “The power it gives the community will forever live on,” said Hadden. Gray’s father, Fred Gray created this source of pride, while she gets to carry his legacy by maintaining and continuing to grow the pride by preserving the museum.

The love behind the museum and why it was built created a foundation within Tuskegee that the community has gravitated to and has become closer as one. “I have loved every second of it,” said Gray.