In the southeaster part of Alabama lies the town of Tuskegee, home of the Tuskegee Institute, and Tuskegee University, a historically black college which had Booker T. Washington serve as its first president. One of the noted faculty members of the school was George Washington Carver, whose research into peanut and sweet potato crops was invaluable for agriculture in the south.

The museum at the Institute is named in his honor and traces the history of the Tuskegee Institute.

One of the educational tracks undertaken was to put the school on wheels and bring classes and education to the surrounding community in agricultural sciences.

A central focal point of the campus is the statue of Booker T. Washington called "Lifting the Veil of Ignorance."

The inscriptions at the base of the memorial, and on the flanking benches state:

Right Wing: We shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify labor.
Left Wing: And put brains and skill to the common occupations of life
Center: Booker T Washington 1856 1915 He lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry

Booker T. Washington Monument
1922

The Booker T. Washington Monument is a bronze statue designed by sculptor Charles Keck. The status depicts Washington standing over a crouching black man, believed to have been a former slave, lifting the veil of ignorance from his face. The man is clasping an open book and sits on a plow and anvil. The open book represents Washington's opening the road to education and the plow and anvil correspond to the instruments of agriculture and industry, which were early education principals of Washington's. The life course of Booker T. Washington served to shed the light of education on a race of people.

The monument is considered the "Center of Campus" and was the site of the Inauguration of Military Pilot Training at Tuskegee Institute in 1941.