Tuskegee [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)national parks and monuments (table)). In 1960 a Supreme Court decision voided a 1957 Alabama law that had excluded African-American residents from the city's population by altering Tuskegee's city limits.
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