First African-American Admitted to U. of Alabama Fights Exclusion
The history of the Civil Rights Movement in America is filled with stories of brave individuals who stood up for their rights in the face of hatred and racism. One such courageous fighter is Autherine Juanita Lucy, who in February 1956 became the first African-American student to attend a white university or public school in Alabama. It had taken her four long years of perseverance and legal battles to be admitted to the University of Alabama, but her presence on the all-white campus stirred up such a frenzy of hateful rioters that after only four days, the university ordered her exclusion “until further notice” due to safety considerations. Undaunted, on Feb. 7, 1956, Lucy informed the university that unless she was reinstated within 48 hours, she would sue the school and its administrators for barring her from attending classes. The university had a real fight—and fighter—on its hands.
Lucy was a true pioneer. She began her fight to attend the University of Alabama in 1952, two years before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, ruling that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. In support of Lucy’s court battle, the Supreme Court issued another ruling on Oct. 10, 1955, telling the University of Alabama it could not deny admittance to a student on the basis of race.
Armed with this legal victory, Lucy attended her first class at the university on Friday, Feb. 3, even though the university barred her from using the dining halls and dormitories. She also attended classes Saturday morning and Monday morning. Throughout this time, however, ugly racial riots exploded on campus and in downtown Tuscaloosa. Lucy was taunted and pelted with eggs and rocks, while demonstrators chanted “Keep ’Bama white!”
On Monday evening, the university’s board of trustees issued their infamous order excluding Lucy “until further notice.” The next day, Feb. 7, Lucy responded with her ultimatum to be reinstated within 48 hours or there would be further legal action. The university refused to budge, and Lucy’s subsequent lawsuit was unsuccessful. It wasn’t until 1980 that the University of Alabama finally rescinded her expulsion, and in 1992 the proud, determined Autherine Lucy earned her Masters degree in Elementary Education from the University of Alabama. The school now has an endowed scholarship honoring her, and her portrait hangs in the student union.
The University of Alabama paid tribute to Autherine Lucy Foster, James Hood and the late Vivian Malone Jones, the three African-American students whose enrollment represented UA’s first steps toward desegregation, at the dedication of the Malone-Hood Plaza and Autherine Lucy Clock Tower at Foster Auditorium
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