Few Towns Had Bigger Impact On Modern African-American History Than Tuskegee

By Doug Segrest

Good Towns: Tuskegee

Regions Bank is highlighting cities in its “Good Town” series, which spotlights Alabama towns with an emphasis on the character, history, people and unique things that make them special.

Despite a population of just under 10,000, few towns in the South have had as much of an impact on African-American history as Tuskegee, especially in the past century. Tuskegee native Rosa Parks brought the struggle of the civil rights movement to a national audience when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. Tuskegee was part of a landmark voting rights case, Gomillion v. Lightfoot, which found unconstitional the gerrymandering of state legislative districts to limit the black vote.Yet Tuskegee’s history goes much further. Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto’s expedition took him through the area in the 15th century. Native Americans lived there first and remained until settlers arrived in the early 19th century.

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