The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Tuskegee
(tsk´g) (KEY) , city (1990 pop. 12,257), seat of Macon co., SE Ala., in a cotton, corn, and dairy region; settled before 1763, inc. 1843. It has gristmills and plants that make cottonseed oil and fertilizer. A number of antebellum houses remain, and nearby is a national forest. Tuskegee is best known as the seat of Tuskegee Univ. During World War II, Tuskegee was the original base of the celebrated African-American air squadron, the Tuskegee Airmen, who are commemorated by a national historic site (see National Parks and Monuments (table)). In 1960 a Supreme Court decision voided a 1957 Alabama law that had excluded African-American residents from the citys population by altering Tuskegees city limits.