Over the course of the next fifteen years, Washington built Tuskegee by obtaining land, constructing buildings, and increasing the size of the faculty. On its twenty-fifth anniversary, enrollment at Tuskegee Institute had risen to more than 1500 pupils learning thirty-seven different trades.
Tuskegee was partially modeled after Hampton. One major difference, however, was skin color. Hampton was founded and mostly run by whites, while Tuskegee was all-black.
Tuskegee grew to become fairly self-reliant. The bricks of the buildings and even the construction itself were completed primarily by students. Male students studied "industrial training in such fields as brickmaking, carpentry, blacksmithing, dairying, and agriculture" (Thornbrough 6). Female pupils, on the other hand, learned the skills of sewing and cooking. Tuskegee's emphasis was focused on "personal hygiene and manners and on character building" (Thornbrough 6). Although nondenominational, pupils attended mandatory chapel services every day.
In 1904, "sixteen schools...[had] grown out of the Tuskegee Institute or [had] been organized by Tuskegee men and women" (Washington, Working With the Hands 219). Tuskegee graduates were in great demand at increased salaries from both blacks and whites (Washington, Working With the Hands 241). The former Tuskegee Institute is now the present Tuskegee University. It was truly a great success.