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Autherine Lucy Foster: An Educational Legacy

2/27/2020

(Photo Courtesy of Lauren Collins)

Though the first African American student graduated from the University of Alabama in 1965, she was not the first African American student enrolled. That distinction belongs to Autherine Lucy Foster, who began attending the university in 1956. In fact, Foster was the first African American student to enroll in a white university in the entire state of Alabama. Predictably, her path was a difficult one.

Having achieved her bachelor’s degree in English, Foster was persuaded to apply to graduate school at the University of Alabama by a classmate, Pollie Anne Myers. In 1952 both women applied and received their acceptance mid-September. However, only days later, their admission was rescinded upon the discovery of their race. They prepared for a lengthy court battle, which continued until 1955, when the Supreme Court ruled on Brown V. Board of Education. In the case of Foster and Myers, the judge ruled in their favor, though Myers admittance was later denied by the University due to a pregnancy out of marriage.

The victory, though significant, was short-lived. After Myers’s rejection, Foster had to continue her journey alone. She attended her first class in February 1956, and public backlash soon escalated. Foster required a police escort to protect her from increasingly angry protestors, who gathered in the hundreds and assaulted Foster with rotten eggs. Mere days after her enrollment, the university’s Board of Trustees voted to remove her. Though the decision was purportedly for Foster’s safety, it was a bitter end to her stand for academic justice. At the end of February, Foster was officially expelled from the university due to anger over her attorneys suggesting that the University conspired with the mob.

Foster’s expulsion stood until 1988, when officials voted to overturn it, and she returned to the University of Alabama to pursue a master’s in education. She graduated alongside her daughter, and today she is recognized with two landmarks on campus: a historic placard outside Graves Hall and the Autherine Lucy Clock Tower. In May 2019, Foster was granted an honorary doctorate by the university to recognize her role as a trailblazer for civil rights in Alabama.

Further Reading:
https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/indomitable-spirit-autherine-lucy
https://www.ua.edu/news/2019/05/autherine-lucy-foster-to-receive-honorary-ua-doctorate-friday/

About the Author

Lauren Collins is a junior majoring in English and minoring in General Business. She was born in Herndon, Virginia, and lived there until she began her degree at the University of Alabama. She is currently a resident advisor and a student intern at Alabama Heritage Magazine. Following graduation, Lauren hopes to attend graduate school to pursue an M.S. in management.

Mardi Gras: Mayflower Society

2/27/2020

The Mayflower Society's Mardi Gras Float (Photo Courtesy of Brenda Gouge)

Mardi Gras is the celebration that followed Catholic immigrants all the way across the Atlantic to the city of Mobile, Alabama. Since 1703, when Nicholas Langlois introduced Mardi Gras to the French colonies, Mobile has celebrated with riotous color. Mobile was originally the capital of the French colony Louisiana. While most recognizable today as the Mardi Gras of New Orleans fame, this festival had its American start right here in Alabama.

Retracing History at the Warner Transportation Museum

1/28/2020

This photo shows the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum in Tuscaloosa.

In honor of Tuscaloosa’s bicentennial, the Warner Transportation Museum is hosting an exhibit focusing on the Civil War and Reconstruction in the city. The exhibit follows the later days of the Civil War and examines its impact on Tuscaloosa as well as the University of Alabama. It also explores the Reconstruction period and the resulting changes in Tuscaloosa’s culture.

Article Update: The Mon Luis Island Schoolhouse Renovation Project

1/10/2020

The Mon Luis Island Schoolhouse Renovation Project, which is ongoing, has thus far resulted in the relocation of the schoolhouse to the Dauphin Island Parkway, and the restoration of the exterior. (Photo Courtesy of Robin McDonald)

In the winter 2019 issue of Alabama Heritage, the article “Mon Louis Island: A French Land Grant, A Creole Village, and a Seafood Community” featured a sidebar about the Mon Louis Island schoolhouse. As the founder and president of the “Mon Luis Schoolhouse Renovation Project,” (our group uses the spelling “Luis”), I realized that I needed to correct some misinformation about the schoolhouse and project that often has been presented in publications over the years. Correcting the record is important so that this structure will be recognized in its full significance.

How the Magic Happens

10/31/2019

The daily grind of the publishing world is continually evolving with a variety of tasks required that keep our jobs from remaining stagnate--whether we are fielding calls from customers with great story ideas, fulfilling subscription sales, researching the history behind a small 1800s home, photographing said home, working with the media, or planning our next big conference, event, or editorial calendar. Just this month, however, the staff at Alabama Heritage can all add an additional skillset to our resumes: bulk mailing (a.k.a. “where the magic happens” or “from where your magazine gets shipped to you.”)

Fifty Years of Racing

9/10/2019

Elise, Debbie and Scott Chandler smiling for a picture

Elise, Debbie, and Scott Chandler at a Talladega Race. (Photo Courtesy of Elise Chandler)

This month, the Talladega Superspeedway is celebrating fifty years of racing. Fifty years ago track construction began for the Alabama International Motor Speedway, which is now called Talladega Superspeedway. A year later, the first race was held on September 13, 1969. Even though it is called Talladega Superspeedway, you will actually find the race track in the small town of Lincoln, Alabama. The track was built on the former Anniston Air Force Base that had been abandoned, and the purpose for building the track was to have a more central racing location for the Southeast. With the Alabama International Motor Speedway being built, there was less travel involved for race fans. Traveling plans may have been an issue at the time, but now people travel from all over to get a taste of what racing is like in the Talladega Superspeedway.

Mardi Gras in Mobile

2/28/2019

A tree on Government Street, chock full of stray Mardi Gras beaded necklaces in 2010. (Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Mardi Gras in Mobile continues to be a large part of Alabama and Gulf Coast culture and still generates a great deal of tourism as people flood in to see the grand parades and other celebrations held in honor of Fat Tuesday. While in Mobile, be sure to catch the relatively family-friendly parades (they are much tamer than those of New Orleans) and try your luck catching beads, toys, candy, and moonpies, a signature treat in Mobile’s Mardi Gras.

Lt. “Rose Bowl” Miller Graduates from Gridiron Glory at Alabama to WWII Legend

2/26/2019

Wearing the Navy Cross and a Purple Heart with Gold Star that Eleanor Roosevelt has just pinned to his newly issued khaki uniform, Hugh Miller shakes hands with the First Lady as Admiral William Halsey (to Hugh’s immediate right) looks on. The ceremony—held at the naval hospital in Nouméa, New Caledonia, on September 15, 1943—was conducted at the foot of the bed occupied by Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class Willard G. Langley, the sole known survivor of Strong’s forward engine room. (National Archives. Courtesy Mr. Stephen Harding)

The USS Strong (DD 467), a WWII destroyer sunk by a Japanese torpedo in July 1943 in the Battle for Kula Gulf, has been located on the Pacific seafloor by the Research Vessel Petrel. The wreck serves as a watery grave for at least 46 U.S. Navy Sailors. Its discovery has rekindled a uniquely American story of remarkable resiliency, grit, fearlessness and resolve.

Preserving Hometown History

1/9/2019

Behind the post office in Alabaster, Alabama, there used to be an old silo. It stood by itself in the field, out of place as the backdrop of a road that included a car wash, a shopping center, and a Domino’s Pizza. In my 18 years growing up there, that silo seemed to be the closest thing the town had to a historical landmark, sitting on land that used to be part of Kent Dairy Farm, which operated since the late 1920s.

An Injured Soldier's Trek

11/12/2018

My father, Edward Lake Todd Sr., was the first Tuscaloosan injured in the Korean War. I have all the letters he wrote my grandparents during his time in the military, including the first letter they received from him after he was injured (which my grandmother wrote in pencil outside the envelope so all would know in which order his letters appeared).

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