We are pleased to announce a Call for Papers for submissions for the first annual Symposium on the Little Tuskegees, scheduled as a hybrid conference September 28-29, 2023.

Of particular interest for this Symposium will be the ways in which the Tuskegee/Hampton model of rural and industrial education spread throughout the country to form a network of institutions commonly referred to as the “little Tuskegees.” Some of these institutions grew into large universities (e.g. Grambling State University), some became community colleges (e.g. the former Utica Normal and Industrial Institute, now the Utica Campus of Hinds Community College), while others closed their doors (e.g. Snow Hill, Prentiss Institute). This symposium seeks to generate conversations about both the unique histories of these educational institutions, as well as discussions about ongoing reclamation work to situate modern education in the context of these forerunners.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

Histories of individual “little Tuskegees”
Fundraising efforts by school founders
Curriculum at early institutes
Discussion of the Tuskegee Machine – connections between “mother Tuskegee” and the Institutes
Agriculture and Farmers Conferences
Normal School training and Rosenwald Schools
Modern preservation efforts of archives and physical buildings at Institutes
Impact of work at “little Tuskegees” on Southern Black education
Partnerships between community organizations and “little Tuskegees”
Contemporary humanities programming
Oral histories
Connecting alumni with modern institutions

Inquiries and submissions may be made through May 15, 2023. Please include your CV and an abstract of no more than 500 words.

Funding is available for $2,000 research awards presented to the top 15 submissions. This funding is available for any submission, with several funding slots reserved particularly for graduate student and early-career faculty. While not eligible for research funding, we additionally welcome digital poster submissions from undergraduate students.

Most presentations will be virtual and successful submissions will also be published online in the Symposium Proceedings available at the Utica Institute Museum & Archives website (uticainstitute.org).

Presentations will be 20 minutes long with 10 minutes for Q&A. We are open to full panel presentations if a group wishes to be scheduled together.