Marketing is important in business.

Ethyrial Solutions Group

In lean times such as the current economy it means the difference between staying in business and/ growing or ceasing to exist.

In booming economies it is needed to differentiate yourself in the market or gain market share and increase exposure and profit.

We are in the information age. As such traditional trade and marketing shows (baring niche industries) are of far lesser relevance.

The use of social networking allows:

• Your efforts to be strategic and targeted
• Your efforts to be cost effective
• Your efforts to reach a global audience
• Your site and marketing converted to new business
• The reduction of issues surrounding personality conflicts

At top Flight our focus in on facilitating the growth of those business who want to be the best of the best. In this market that requires effective marketing. To that end we are working with Ethyrial Solutions Group.

Ethyrial Solutions Group has come up with the ultimate solution, do great work and make it affordable to the masses. The old web design model does not afford freedom to small business owner.

Ethyrial is a marketing company offering affordable technology based solutions such as:

• Flexx Web – designed to promote your brand on the biggest stage in the world. Now you have a corporate internet presence without the corporate price tag. Tier 1 starts at: $79.95,  Tier 2 starts at: $149.95 and Tier 3 starts at: $199.95
• Flexx Marketing – increases your exposure by driving traffic to your sites(s). We do this with a combination of marketing services – SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Social Marketing and PPC (Pay Per Click)
• Flexx Management – designed to help the small business get back to work. Let us handle the web updates, marketing, content changes, and making sure all I’s are dotted and your T’s are crossed. We help you coordinate your branding across all your assets.
• Flexx Cloud /IT – services and tools will enable you to collaborate with your employees and team members regardless of locations

When you visit the Ethyrial website  http://www.ethyrial.com/ and enter the Top Flight in the how did you hear us field (use other) a 25% discount will be given on the initial setup fee.

What if you knew on what days your significant other (girlfriend, wife, etc) could get pregnant – do you think this information would be valuable?

Ethyrial Solutions Group’s IOS development partner Zero Day Studios has produced an app that is not only cool, but needless to say could be very useful.

Zero Day Studio’s PgPlanner, app has hit a huge milestone in their business – a 5 star rating on the I-Tunes app store.

My cousin Corey and his wife use it!

Check out Zero Day Studios here if you haven’t:

App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pgplanner/id480554336?mt=8

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/PgPlanner/244424695616796?sk=wall

Ninety Six was established in the early 18th century. It derived its name from the mistaken belief that it was 96 miles to the nearest Cherokee settlement of Keowee. The National Park Service operates the Ninety Six National Historic Site at the site of the original settlement.

Ninety Six figured prominently in the Anglo-Cherokee War and also in the southern campaigns of the American Revolutionary War. The first land battle of the revolution south of New England was fought here in 1775, and in 1780 the British fortified the strategically important frontier town.

From May 22 to June 18, 1781 Major General Nathanael Greene, with 1,000 American Patriot troops, besieged 550 American Loyalists who were defending Ninety Six. General Greene’s chief engineer at the siege was the world renowned Polish hero Colonel Tadeusz Kościuszko, who was also wounded at the siege. This siege is described in the chapter Ninety-Six of the historic novel of Kenneth Roberts: Oliver Wiswell, 1940. The American Loyalists survived the siege and moved to Rawdon, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Notable people

• Preston Brooks achieved notoriety for his brutal attack on Massachusetts abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner in the Senate Chamber in 1856 after Sumner delivered a speech comparing slavery to a harlot and slaveholders to those who embraced her, to which Brooks objected violently. Ninety Six honored Brooks with the largest gathering ever in that region. Thousands of canes were presented to Brooks to replace the one he had broken while beating Sumner, who remained incapacitated for years as a result.
• Benjamin Mays, Sixth President of Morehouse College and mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in the vicinity of Ninety Six. Some biographies place his birthplace in Epworth, South Carolina, roughly six miles to the south.
• Orville Vernon Burton, Professor of History and Sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was raised in Ninety Six. His book, In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions: Family and Community in Edgefield, South Carolina traces the social history of that region. In 2007 he published a new book, The Age of Lincoln, which has received wide acclaim, including the Heartland Award for Nonfiction.
• Bill Voiselle, pitcher for the New York Giants, Boston Braves, and Chicago Cubs, gained the distinction of being the only baseball player to wear his hometown as a uniform number when he wore “96″ in honor of his South Carolina birthplace while with Boston and Chicago. At the time, this was the highest uniform number ever seen in Major League Baseball; it has since been broken by several players wearing 99.
• James Augustus Black, (1793–1848), was born in Ninety Six and became a United States Congressman from South Carolina.
• Odean Pope, (1938–present), jazz tenor saxophonist, was born in Ninety Six but grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Beautiful South reference the town in the first line of their 2004 song ‘This Old Skin’ which masqueraded as a cover version of an original by the imaginary band The Heppelbaums.

The Culture & Heritage Museums is a family of museums in York County, SC, which includes Historic Brattonsville, Main Street Children’s Museum, McCelvey Center and Museum of York County.

Had a chance to visit when I caught up with my friend from college who I had not seen in person for 20 years.

Exhibits and programming have always included not only natural history, but also cultural history, the arts, and content for adults as well as for children.

In 1952 the museum mounted the earliest known exhibit of Catawba Indian pottery, featuring potters active at that time. The Stans African animal collection acquired in the late 1950s altered our focus and made a larger structure necessary.

The new building, which the museum now occupies, opened in 1965 featuring dioramas showcasing the African collection. Collecting for long focused on Africa, culminating in the 1990 acquisition of the Clifford collection of African art; however, the museum also maintained programming and exhibits on local history, regional natural history, and the arts.

The Settlemyre Planetarium opened in 1977; in 1978, the museum became repository for the Vernon Grant collection of illustration art by the originator of Snap!® Crackle!® Pop!®. Increasing professionalism led to steady improvement in our exhibits, educational programs, and public events. The Museum of York County is now among the top museums in the state in terms of budget and audience served.

Now on View at the Museum of York County:

	Catawba River Gallery Come help us test interactive experiences for our new museum being developed on the Catawba River. Through looking, touching, listening, doing and exploring, learn how “the river touches our lives every day.”
	Carolina Piedmont Hall’s Landscapes and Lifeways: The Carolina Piedmont 600 Years Ago and Today Compare the present landscape with the Piedmont of the 1400s, before European exploration and settlement.
	Stans African Halls More than 200 mounted African animals and an outstanding collection of African artifacts provide unique learning opportunities. See an elephant, giraffe and lions in naturalistic settings as well as African masks, tools and musical instruments.
	Settlemyre Planetarium Explore the stars and planets in an out-of-this-world experience. The planetarium’s star projector and domed ceiling allow visitors to tour the solar system or voyage to the stars.
	Vernon Grant Gallery The Museum of York County also is home to the Vernon Grant Gallery, devoted to the creator of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies characters Snap! Crackle! Pop!.
	Museum Store The Museum Store offers a variety of unique and eclectic children’s gifts, pottery, jewelry and souvenirs. A visit to the store does not require museum admission.
	Nature Trail Stroll down our 3/4-mile nature trail and bring lunch to enjoy at our picnic facilities.

Last year I needed to get away, was having a hard time and needed to recharge after a long week working.

If you are into nature this is someplace I strongly recommend

The Botanical Gardens at Asheville is an independent non-profit organization housing a collection of plants native to the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Our admission is free, but donations are appreciated and memberships are encouraged. Our facilities are here for you to enjoy, from learning to identify native plants to holding your activities such as plant walks and weddings.

The Botanical Gardens at Asheville is located in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, one of the most diverse temperate ecosystems in the world. Our mission is the preservation and promotion of the native plant species and habitats of these mountains. We hope to increase public awareness of this region’s unique botanical diversity by maintaining gardens for the enjoyment of the public and by providing educational programs and research resources for the community. The Cole Library of The Botanical Gardens at Asheville contains more than 1000 books relating to botany, horticulture, ecology, and ornithology.

The grounds of BGA are open year round from sunrise to sunset for the enjoyment of the community, and no admission is charged for entrance.

Parts of the following history are adapted from a series of articles and a formal history (A Labor of Love) written by Dorothy Hussey.

The Botanical Gardens at Asheville, originally called the University Botanical Gardens, is located on a ten-acre tract of land adjacent to the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The evolving beauty of the Gardens over the past four decades is the result of the dedication of hundreds of volunteers. Although located on UNC-A property, the Botanical Gardens receives no operating funds from the university or from local, state, or federal governments.

By the mid-1950’s the dream of a native plant preserve had been simmering in the minds of many individuals and groups in the area for many years. After World War II, population expansion led to the growth of new housing developments, businesses, and roads across the countryside. Magnificent trees, shrubs, and wildflowers were destroyed in the process. Bruce Shinn and her husband Tom, Marjorie McCracken, and Lorene Macon had been rescuing and transplanting native plants for years. With their private gardens filling up, they envisioned a public area where threatened native species could be preserved for future generations to enjoy.

In 1959, a confluence of events set Mrs. Shinn’s vision in motion. Asheville-Biltmore College, the forerunner of UNC-A, announced that it had acquired land for a new campus in North Asheville. Mrs. Ann Serota, biology teacher at Asheville-Biltmore College, had harbored the idea of a garden and greenhouse for some time, and she asked the president of the college to set aside land on the new campus for that purpose. At about the same time, Bruce Shinn asked the editor of the Asheville Citizen to write an editorial in support of the concept of a public garden. His editorial appeared on January 17, 1960, and elicited an immediate positive response. Public contributions began to arrive.

On November 13, 1960, a group of 61 civic leaders and nature-loving Asheville citizens held an organizational meeting at Seely’s Castle on Town Mountain, which was then the site of the Asheville-Biltmore College. With a common purpose and dream, they established the Asheville-Biltmore College Botanical Association. By early 1961, “… Asheville’s native plant preserve had a place, a name, a board with officers, incorporation papers, and by-laws.” Asheville landscape architect, Doan R. Ogden, agreed to develop the original design plans and oversee the start of work. Clearing the land was the volunteers’ first task. It is hard to visualize today how horrible the area looked. It was partly-eroded, cut-over timberland, filled with high weeds, dead limbs and trees, invasive vines, and poison ivy, and adorned with mountains of trash. Cleaning up began in early 1961 and continued through 1962. The central wildflower trail, created in honor of Frank Crayton, a self-trained naturalist and early supporter of the Gardens, was dedicated by Doan Ogden in 1961. In the fall of 1962, Doan Ogden reported, “… Stage one is complete. One can see the results of planning, plowing, pleading, and planting.” The 1963 newsletter announced that “All paths are clear and passable, the treasury has $10,000, and 30 percent of the area has been cleared.

In March, 1964, planting began in earnest, and by the end of the year, more than 5000 plants had been set out. Volunteers took multi-car safaris to rescue plants from bulldozers and, by permit, to gather plants from private lands and national forests. The Green Bridge was erected across Glenn’s Creek and named for its donor, Mrs. Gay Green — not for its color, although she requested that it always remain green. In 1965, an original log cabin was donated by Mrs. Leona Hayes in memory of her husband Hubert H. Hayes, author, folklorist, and founder of Asheville’s Mountain Jamboree. The cabin, complete with its unenclosed “dog trot,” was moved from its original location in the California Creek section of Madison County and rebuilt, log by log, in the Gardens. “Margie’s spring house” was built in 1967 to honor Marjorie McCracken, an early visionary and long-time chair of the Horticulture Committee.

The last year of the first decade saw initiation of the first “Day in the Gardens” spring plant sale and festival in May, 1969. This event has been held each year since then on the first Sunday in May, and has become an Asheville tradition for acknowledging the coming of spring. Several regional vendors of native plants congregate on the grounds to offer their selections to hundreds of eager gardeners who come to enjoy their first taste of buying and planning for the season.

In its second decade, the contributions of dozens of dedicated volunteers enabled the Botanical Gardens to continue its slow but steady growth. In 1970, a Founders Fund Award from the Garden Clubs of America provided for establishment of a rock garden stretching 125 feet along the road beside Reed Creek. In 1971, the Board of Directors began an endowment fund with a bequest from the estate of Miss Beryl Fraser. In May, 1972, the Annual Spring Wildflower and Bird Pilgrimage was established by Dr. Jim Perry of UNCA’s Biology Department. The Pilgrimage provides lectures, bird walks, and field trips on the same weekend as our Day in the Gardens. This cooperative project offers a dynamic setting for alumni, university students, visitors to Asheville, and the community at large to celebrate the freshness of spring. On Arbor Day in 1976, the Gardens was honored to become the recipient of a three-foot Sycamore that was planted on the grounds with special ceremonies. This distinguished tree was grown from a seed that had been taken to the moon on the Apollo 14 flight in 1971 and was one of only six planted in North Carolina that year.

In the years from 1980 to 1984, plans and construction were completed for the Visitor Center. Its need had become evident as the Gardens became widely known and visited. Today, the Visitor Center is a focal point for tourists and a popular meeting site for educational and ecological groups, members of the Gardens, and the local community. The Visitor Center includes the Cole Botany Library, home of an excellent collection of botanical and horticultural references; the Charles M. Butler meeting room; and the Crownover Solarium, named in honor of James E. Crownover, longtime manager of the Gardens. The solarium contains insectivorous plants and other flowers of interest which are often available for purchase. The Garden Path Gift Shop, selling a varied selection of garden-themed items is also located in the Visitor Center.

In addition to its central mission of preservation of the native plants of the southern Appalachians, the Botanical Gardens has always placed great emphasis on research and education. In 1986, the family of John and Elizabeth Andrews Izard generously established an endowment fund to provide for education and research scholarships in horticulture and botany. Each year, the Izard Scholarship enables one university student to pursue a project that enriches his career preparation and adds to the scientific knowledge base.

In 1999, a grant from the Community Foundation supported an extensive project which produced the Gardens’ first formal strategic plan. At the turn of the century, year 2000, the Gardens’ marked its fortieth anniversary. In the time since its inception, what had begun as an overgrown patch of land had developed into a mature native garden. Thanks to the vision and labor of numerous volunteers and a small paid staff, the Gardens continues to evolve. In the past four years, grants and donations have supported the addition of an Entry Garden, the Joiner Bird Deck, the Wilson Bird Garden, and the Peyton Rock Outcrop. An erosion control project funded by the Clean Water Management Trust Fund has fortified the two streams that traverse the grounds; and this fall, the parking lot will be expanded following an ecologically-friendly design that incorporates storm water biofiltration and a rain garden.

Today, the Botanical Gardens at Asheville hosts visitors and botanists from all over the world. Displays are in a continual state of renewal and growth. Our dedication to the natural flora of this region is often rewarded by the encouraging comments of people who enjoy having their connection with nature rekindled by the beauty and serenity of these grounds.

The Botanical Gardens is supported by contributions, endowments, grants, memberships, and proceeds from our Gift Shop and special programs. Many members contribute time and labor for planting, maintaining the Gardens, performing endless administrative tasks, greeting visitors, and helping with sales. The Gardens provides a study area for students, and the Visitor Center is a repository of horticultural information for interested individuals, garden clubs, schools, and many other groups. First and foremost, the Botanical Gardens at Asheville is a wildlife and ecological refuge devoted to the preservation and display of native flora of the Appalachian region. We invite you to visit us!

Additional Information

• Our Gardens
• Trail Map of the Gardens
• Directions to the Gardens
• Making a Memorial or Honor Gift to the Gardens

I grew up in St. Louis with Busch Memorial Stadium not the new Busch Stadium.

On a visit to my family to spend time with my nephew for graduation took him to a game.

Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as “New Busch Stadium” or “Busch Stadium III”) is the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, of MLB. The stadium has 3,706 club seats and 61 luxury suites.

The highest attendance was recorded on October 28, 2011 when 47,399 people watched the Cardinals win their franchise eleventh World Championship.

It replaced Busch Memorial Stadium and occupies a portion of that stadium’s former footprint. Busch Stadium was chosen by MLB to host the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

The ballpark opened on April 4, 2006 with an exhibition between the minor league Memphis Redbirds and Springfield Cardinals, both affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals, which Springfield won 5-3 with right-hander Mike Parisi recording the first win. The first official major league game occurred on April 10, 2006 as the Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 6–4 behind an Albert Pujols home run and winning pitcher Mark Mulder.

A commercial area, dubbed Ballpark Village, is being developed adjacent to the stadium over the remainder of the former stadium’s footprint.

The stadium is the third stadium in St. Louis to carry the name Busch Stadium. Sportsman’s Park was renamed Busch Stadium in 1953, after team owner Gussie Busch. The first Busch closed in 1966, and both the baseball Cardinals, and the NFL’s St. Louis Cardinals moved to a new multi-purpose stadium, named Busch Memorial Stadium.

Stroll acres of formal and informal gardens designed by America’s foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. From the formal beauty of the Italian Garden to the breathtaking presence of ancient trees in America’s first managed forests, Biltmore’s lush landscape is a living tribute to Olmsted’s genius. Our horticultural experts continually work to preserve the original vision for the gardens and grounds, including our All America Rose Garden featuring more than 250 varieties.

Regardless of the season, you’ll find something extraordinary on our grounds. Learn more about our “must–see” guide created by our gardeners just for you.

Fall Colors are Peaking in Asheville Now!

Great fall color is still around the Asheville area. While the higher elevations are past peak, good color will remain around Asheville through the first of November. At Biltmore, the Deer Park area has a great display of Red Oaks and some late Sugar Maples that glow in the afternoon sun.

Guests will encounter some of the best color of the season on a walk through the estate’s formal gardens. The Japanese Maples in the Shrub Garden and Azalea Garden are at peak this weekend along with the deciduous shrubs like Summer Sweet, Viburnums and Beautyberry. Chrysanthemums in the Walled Garden and other areas have held their color nicely. The vivid ‘Sunray’ mum display in the beds at the front of the Winery is a photo opportunity waiting to happen.

The Catawba Indian Nation is the only federally recognized Indian tribe in the state of South Carolina. The tribe’s reservation is located in York County, a bedroom community for the booming Charlotte, NC area. The reservation is adjacent to the beautiful Catawba River, designated as a state scenic river in June 2008 by Governor Mark Sanford. The Catawba are proud of their past, and they continue to make pottery, sing, dance, drum, and share their heritage and culture. A variety of programs for visitors are offered at the Cultural Center

The Catawba Nation, located 8 miles east of Rock Hill, South Carolina, is the home to a highly creative group of Native American potters. Scholars tell us the Catawba Indians are aboriginal to the Carolinas and that the Catawba pottery tradition has survived for over 4,500 years, long before the craft made its debut in the Southwest. The tradition has been passed on within the Nation and has survived contact with Europeans, wars, centuries of economic and cultural stresses and contact with modern technology including glazes, paints and the potter’s wheel. In spite of these outside influences, the pottery tradition has remained as one of the purest art forms of its kind.

The Catawba tribal roll contains approximately 2,600 names. About 50 adult Indians make and sell pottery on a regular basis. Another 150 people support the potters by digging clay and firing the wares. Approximately 50 Catawba children also make pottery and pottery classes are taught within the Reservation with hopes of keeping the tradition alive. Catawba pottery is hand-built, burnished, and fired using primitive techniques.

In 1540, the Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, was the first European to have contact with the Catawba Indians. Twenty-six years later, Juan Pardo followed in his footsteps. Both wore out their welcome among in the Piedmont Indians. The name Catawba was designated to a small tribe living along the Catawba River between North and South Carolina. However, the origin and meaning is unknown as the Indians called themselves yeh is-WAH h’reh, meaning “people of the river,” or i-yeh yeh meaning “people.”

Trade in the late 17th century had a major impact on the Catawba society. The Catawba traded deerskins to the Europeans for trade goods such as muskets, knives, kettles and cloth. The Catawba villages became a major hub in the trade system with the Virginia traders and the Carolina traders. Settlers began to move into the Piedmont during the 18th century and bringing disease with them. In 1759, smallpox swept through the Catawba villages for a fourth time in a century bringing the population to less than 1,000 by 1760. Colonists believed the tribe was dying out.

In 1840 during the Removal Period, South Carolina negotiated a treaty with the Catawbas at Nations Ford. The treaty stipulated that the Catawbas relinquish to the State of South Carolina their 144,000 acres of land. In return, South Carolina promised to pay the Catawbas $5,000 to buy land elsewhere in a place of their choosing or, if that was not possible, they would give the Catawbas $5,000 cash. In addition, the State promised to give the tribe $2,500 in cash if they left their homeland and $1,500 annually for five years. Other tribes who had moved west did not want the Catawbas because they would have to share land, government money, and services. Joining the Cherokees did not work. The two tribes could not get along. In effect, the Catawbas had no home. By 1847, South Carolina Governor David Johnson said, “They are, in effect, dissolved.” However, that was not the end of the Catawbas.

Catawbas served in the Revolution, the Civil War, WWI and II. They have always been fierce warriors. After termination in 1959, they determined to fight another battle…that to regain federal recognition. In 1973, the Catawbas filed their petition with Congress for federal recognition. It was not until 20 years later, November 20, 1993, that the land claim settlement with the state of South Carolina and the federal government finally came to an end. Based on the Treaty of Nation Ford of 1840, the Catawbas agreed to give up claims on land taken from them by the state of South Carolina. In return, the Catawba Indian Nation received federal recognition and $50 million for economic development, education, social services, and land purchases.

Tuskegee University, through its six colleges and schools and Centers of Excellence, offers a curriculum for success that includes courses in engineering, the natural and physical sciences, the health sciences, business and computer science, aviation science, the social sciences, liberal arts and education, and the fine arts.

• College of Agricultural, Environmental and Natural Sciences
• College of Business and Information Science
• College of Engineering and Physical Science
• College of Liberal Arts and Education
• College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health
• School of Architecture and Construction Science

Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. The campus has been designated as the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark.

The school was founded on July 4, 1881 as the Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers. It was part of the expansion of institutions of higher education for blacks in the South following the American Civil War, many founded by the northern American Missionary Association. a teachers school was the dream of Lewis Adams, a former slave, and George W. Campbell, a former slaveholder, who shared a commitment to education of blacks. Despite lacking formal education, Adams could read, write and speak several languages. He was an experienced tinsmith, harness-maker and shoemaker and Prince Hall Freemason, an acknowledged leader of the African-American community in Macon County, Alabama.

Adams and Campbell had secured $2,000 from the State of Alabama for teachers’ salaries but nothing for land, buildings, or equipment. Adams, Thomas Dyer, and M.B. Swanson formed Tuskegee’s first board of commissioners. They wrote to the Hampton Institute, a historically black college in Virginia, asking the school for a recommendation for their new school. Samuel C. Armstrong, the Hampton Principal and a former Union general, recommended the 25 year-old Booker T. Washington, an alumnus and teacher at Hampton.

The young principal began classes for his new school in a run-down church and shanty. The following year in 1882, Washington bought a plantation, and over the years, the new campus buildings were constructed there, usually by students as part of their work-study.

Based on his experience at the Hampton Institute, Washington intended to train students in skills, morals and religious life. Washington urged the teachers he trained “to return to the plantation districts and show the people there how to put new energy and new ideas into farming as well as into the intellectual and moral and religious life of the people.”

Gradually he developed a rural extension program, to take progressive ideas and training to those who could not come to the campus. Tuskegee alumni founded smaller schools and colleges throughout the South, and continued to stress teacher training.

Booker T. Washington’s leadership
A freedman, Washington sought a formal education and worked his way through Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now Hampton University) and attended college at Wayland Seminary in Richmond, Virginia (now Virginia Union University). He returned to Hampton as a teacher. Hired at Tuskegee, the new normal school (for the training of teachers) opened on July 4, 1881 in space borrowed from a church. The following year, Washington bought the grounds of a former plantation and over decades built the institute there. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

The school expressed Washington’s dedication to the pursuit of self-reliance. In addition to training teachers, he also taught the practical skills needed for his students to succeed at farming or other trades typical of the rural South, where most of them came from. He wanted his students to see labor as practical, but also as beautiful and dignified. As part of their work-study programs, students constructed most of the new buildings. Many students earned all or part of their expenses through the construction, agricultural, and domestic work associated with the campus, as they reared livestock and raised crops, as well as producing other goods.

The continuing expansion of black education took place against a background of increased violence against blacks in the South after white Democrats regained power in state governments and imposed white supremacy in society. They instituted legal racial segregation and a variety of Jim Crow laws, after disfranchising most blacks by constitutional amendments and electoral rules from 1890-1964. Against this background, Washington’s vision, as expressed in his “Atlanta Compromise” speech, became controversial and was challenged by new leaders, such as W.E.B. DuBois, who argued that blacks should have opportunities for study in classical academic programs, as well as vocational institutes. He envisioned the rise of the “Talented Tenth” to lead African Americans.

Washington gradually attracted notable scholars to Tuskegee, including the botanist George Washington Carver, one of the university’s most renowned professors.

Historical Name changes of Tuskegee Institute

1881-1887 – Tuskegee State Normal School
1887-1891 – Tuskegee Normal School
1891 -1937 – Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (Incorporated 1893)
1937- – Tuskegee Institute
1985- – Tuskegee University

Historical Names, Dates, Events about Tuskegee Institute

Lewis Adams – October 27, 1842 – April 30, 1905
George Washington Campbell – 1828 – Died May 5, 1905
Samuel Chapmen Armstrong – January 30, 1839 – May 11, 1893
Founder and First Principal of Hampton Institute, 1868-1893

Presidents

Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915)
Founder and First Principal, July 4, 1881 -1915
Died at age of 59

Robert Russa Moton (August 26, 1867 – May 31, 1940)
Second President, 1916 – 1935
President – Emeritus, 1935-1940
Died at the age of 73

Frederick Douglass Patterson (1901 –1988)
Third President, 1936-1953
President -Emeritus, 1953-1988

Luther Hilton Foster (1913-1994)
Fourth President, 1953-1981

Benjamin Franklin Payton (1932- )
Fifth President, 1981-2010

Spoke at the Lincoln Memorial
Robert R. Moton
Benjamin F. Payton

First Ladies
Fanny Norton Smith Washington (May 4, 1858-May 4, 1884)
Olivia Davidson Washington (June 11, 1854- May 9, 1889 (First Co-Principal)
Margaret Murray Washington (June 1, 1861-June 4, 1925)

George Washington Carver (July 12, 1864 – January 5, 1943)
Died at the age of 79

THE TUSKEGEE SONG

Lyrics by Paul Lawrence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906)
Music by N. Clark Smith, (July 31, 1877 – October 8, 1935)
Band Director at Tuskegee Institute, 1900 – 1094: 1907 – 1913
The Tuskegee Song was first sung at the May 1902 Commencement
Mr. Dunbar received a check of $25.00 from Dr. Washington for the lyrics.

Alumni Bowl
Dedicated on October 17, 1925 and the first Official Homecoming
Constructed, at a cost of $50,000.
Tuskegee Institute vs. Atlanta University: Tuskegee Won, 22 – 0

The Tuskegee Alumni Association was formed on May 12, 1887. Mr. B.T. Harvey, Sr. was the first president. Organized into a national body in 1914.

The Tuskegee Colors – Crimson and Old Gold were adopted at the meeting of the Tuskegee Institute Executive Council, April 3, 1902

The first Movable School and Bookmobile established at Tuskegee Institute, June 1906

The First Farmers Conference Organized at Tuskegee Institute, February 1892.

The first Tuskegee Institute students and teachers sent to Africa, January 1, 1900 to introduce cotton raising.

The first Agricultural Experiment Station at a black school was established at Tuskegee Institute, September 1896.

Tuskegee Institute gave land, and secured for the community, a U.S. Veterans Hospital in 1923.

The third President of Tuskegee Institute organized the United Negro College Fund.

Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver were the first blacks to be honored by the U.S. Government with commemorative half-dollar coins and postage stamps.

Booker T. Washington (first) and George Washington Carver are the only blacks inducted into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, having been elected, October 31, 1945 and November 13, 1973, respectively.

Tuskegee Institute was the first black college to be designated as a registered National Historic Landmark (April 2, 1966), and the first black college to be designated a National Historical Site (October 26, 1974)

Tuskegee Institute was the first black college to receive an Agency for International Development contract to assist the countries of Indonesia and Liberia.

The first Negro Year Book was published at Tuskegee Institute under the supervision of Monroe Nathan Work in 1912.

The first “Miss Tuskegee Institute” (1926-27) was Dorothy D. Gordon of Magnolia, Mississippi.

The first African Students arrived at Tuskegee Institute, January 1, 1906.

Tuskegee Institute can boast of having the first and only Foundation (The Carver Foundation) created by a black scientist (George Washington Carver) for the training of other young scientist. With $32,000 from his life’s savings, this Foundation came into being on February 13, 1940.

The student body voted 321 to 17 on March 17, 1947 in favor of bringing fraternities and sororities to Tuskegee Institute.

There were ten persons in the first graduating call at Tuskegee Institute, May 28, 1885
The Speaker: Prof. Joseph Charles Price (1854-1893), Founder of Livingstone College, Salisbury, N.C.

The oldest building on Tuskegee Institute’s campus is the Band Cottage (formerly the Foundry and Forge Shop), built in 1889.

Historic Structures of the Tuskegee Institute campus with dates of completion:

Administration Building (1902)
Band Cottage (1889) formerly Foundry and Forge Shop
Carnegie Hall (1900) formerly Carnegie Library
Carver Museum (1915) formerly Old Laudry
Dorothy Hall (1899)
Farm Mechanization Building (1919) formerly Old Horse Barn
Huntington Memorial (Academic) Building (1902)
Milbank Agricultural Building (1910)
R.O.T.C. Armory (1904) formerly Old Boys’ Bath House
The Oak (1899)
Thrasher Hall (1893) formerly Old Classroom – Dormitory Building
Tompkins Hall (1910)
White Hall (1910)

All Built by Tuskegee Institute Students
All Bricks Made by Tuskegee Institute Students

Tuskegee Institute was one of ten schools at the founding of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) on December 30, 1913, Atlanta, Ga.

The Tuskegee Institute Golden Tiger Football Teams were SIAC Champions for the years: 1917, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1936, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1967, 1968, and 1974.

The Tuskegee Institute Golden Tigers Basketball Teams were SIAC Basketball Tournament Champions for the years: 1934, 1944, 1948, and Conference Champions for the years:

The first annual Tuskegee Institute Parents’ Day Observance was held on April 4, 1964 (Mrs. Zelda Belton, Coordinator)

Presidents of the United States who have visited Tuskegee Institute

William McKinley (1898)
Theodore Roosevelt (October 24, 1905)
*Calvin Coolidge (February 12, 1923)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (March 30, 1939)
Ronald Regan (1987)
George W. Bush (April 19, 2006)

*As Vice President to dedicated the U.S. Veterans Hospital (#91)

Veterinary Medicine

Set-up as a regional institution, instruction in Veterinary Medicine began in 1945, with funds supplied jointly by the General Education Board and the State of Alabama. Its first unit of building was completed in 1948. Its first class of four was graduated on May 16, 1949. In 1950, the school’s graduating class of fourteen represented the largest group of black men on American history ever to receive the degree, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

The First Tuskegee Chapel

Groundbreaking Ceremonies: March 20, 1896
Completed and Dedicated: 1898
Stained Glass Windows Installed: 1932
Destroyed by fire: January 23, 1957

The Second Tuskegee Chapel

Groundbreaking Ceremonies: March 18, 1967
First Chapel Service Held: June 1, 1969
Cost 2 million dollars
Bricks used: 850,000

The years 1939-1945 were national defense and war years. Here are some highlights related to Tuskegee Institute:

1939, October 13 Tuskegee Institute began a Civilian Pilot Training Program
1941, January 16 the 99th Pursuit Squadron of the United States Army Air Corps was authorized
1941, July 19 Dedication of the Tuskegee Army Air Field Pre-flight training for the Squadron began
1941, August 25 Flying training began
1942, March 7 the first class of Army pilots was graduated
1943, April 1 Dedication of Moton Field

Other military programs: 320th College Training Detachment and the 2211th Army Air Forces Base Unit (College Training Air Crew)

992 black pilots were trained at the Tuskegee Institute Army Air Field

In 1958 the Choir received invitations to participate in the Brussels World’s Fair and the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration of Radio City Music Hall. The latter was accepted, and members of the Choir performed May 29 – June 25, 1958. (Relford Patterson, Director)

The Tuskegee Institute Choir performed at the White House Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony as guest of President John F. Kennedy on December 17, 1962. (Relford Patterson, Director)

In April 1972, “The Golden Voices” became the first black choir to perform in Lincoln Center, New York City. (Roy E. Hicks, Director)

In 1973, The Tuskegee Institute Choir was invited by the Strategic Air Command to render concerts at Air Force Bases in Maine, Michigan, Montana and North Dakota. A First among Colleges and Universities. (Roy E. Hicks, Director)

Facts about the Tuskegee Institute Choir

The Tuskegee Institute Choir is one of the country’s leading college and university musical organizations. It was invited to sing for thirty-six days at the dedication of the Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, opening on December 27, 1932. (William L. Dawson, Director)

In April 1952, the choral group appeared on television on the Kate Smith and Ed Sullivan Shows, New York City (Dawson)

The Tuskegee Institute Choir Album, released in 1954 by Westminster Recording Company, was included in the “Best Selling Long Playing Records of the Decade” as listed in the March 26, 1958 issue of the New York Times.

In 1958 the Choir received invitations to participate in the Brussels World’s Fair and the Twenty-fifth Anniversary Celebration of Radio City Music Hall. The latter was accepted, and members of the Choir performed May 29 – June 25, 1958. (Relford Patterson, Director)

The Tuskegee Institute Choir performed at the White House Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony as guests of President John F. Kennedy on December 17, 1962. (Relford Patterson, Director)

In April 1972, “The Golden Voices” became the first black choir to perform in Lincoln Center, New York City. (Roy E. Hicks, Director)

First Founder’s Day, 1917

1927 Colored Advisory Commission to American National Red Cross (Mississippi Flood Disaster) Appointed Dr. Moton as Chairman.

Tuskegee men’s track team participated in the Penn and Drake Relays. Mozel Ellerbe, a TI Student, was the first man from an African American School to win a flat race in a national meet, 1938.

Mildred McDaniel (Campus and World Champion) set the high jump record in the Olympic Track and Field Competition at Melbourne, Australia. 1956

The first All-Institute Conference was held, 1941

1948-Tuskegee sent to students to the Olympics and Alice Coachman, won the high jump.

1948- The Alabama Legislature appropriated $25,000 to start the School of Engineering.

Tuskegee accepted to full membership in the Southern Association of College and Secondary Schools, 1958

1963, Two alumni of Tuskegee School of Nursing were the first blacks admitted to graduate study program at Emory University.

First annual Parents’ Day Observed, April 4, 1964

1893, Institute received a gold medal for its educational exhibit at the Atlanta Exposition, where Dr. Washington rose to national fame and gained popular acclaim by his speech on “Let down your bucket where you are.”

Booker T. Washington established the National Negro Business League, 1900

Charleston is a city in the American state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city’s original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location (Oyster Point) from a location on the west bank of the Ashley River (Albemarle Point) in 1680. It adopted its present name in 1783. In 1690, Charleston was the fifth largest city in North America, and remained among the ten largest cities in the United States through the 1840 census. As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, Charleston is included within the Charleston – North Charleston – Summerville metropolitan area and the Charleston-North Charleston urban area.

Charleston is known as The Holy City due to the prominence of churches on the low-rise cityscape, particularly the numerous steeples which dot the city’s skyline, and for the fact that it was one of the few cities in the original thirteen colonies to provide religious tolerance, albeit restricted to non-Catholics. Many Huguenots found their way to Charleston. Charleston was also one of the first colonial cities after Savannah, Georgia to allow Jews to practice their faith without restriction. Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, founded in 1749, is the fourth oldest Jewish congregation in the continental United States. Brith Sholom Beth Israel is the oldest Orthodox synagogue in the South, founded by Ashkenazi (German and Central European Jews) Jews in the mid-19th century.

The population was counted by the U.S. Census in 2010 at 120,083, making it the second most populous city in South Carolina, closely behind the state capital Columbia. Current trends put Charleston as the fastest-growing municipality in South Carolina. The city is one of three principal cities of a metropolitan statistical area of 659,191—the second largest in the state—and the 76th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States.

The city of Charleston is located just south of the mid-point of South Carolina’s coastline, at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, which flow together into the Atlantic Ocean. Charleston Harbor lies between downtown Charleston and the Atlantic Ocean. Charleston’s name is derived from Charles Towne, named after King Charles II of England.

America’s most-published etiquette expert, Marjabelle Young Stewart, recognized Charleston 1995 as the “best-mannered” city in the U.S, a claim lent credibility by the fact that it has the first established Livability Court in the country.