WOMEN'S HISTORY MOMENT: REMEMBERING AUTHERINE LUCY-FOSTER, THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA'S FIRST BLACK STUDENT
Autherine J. Lucy-Foster, the University's first black student, attended her first class on February 3, 1956, and was suspended three days later "for her own safety" in response to threats from a mob consisting of both University students and non-students from the surrounding community.
Lucy-Foster's attorney, Arthur Shores, demanded her immediate reinstatement and took the matter to court when that demand was not met, charging that University officials and trustees had "conspired to defy the injunction order" and had "intentionally permitted an air of riot and discord" as a basis for Lucy-Foster's suspension.
President O. C. Carmichael denied any wrongdoing, and Shores later dropped the conspiracy charge. In January 1957, the U.S. District Court ordered the University to readmit Lucy-Foster but found that the institution had not been derelict in its duties to protect her.
The UA board of trustees immediately voted to permanently expel Lucy-Foster on the grounds that she had libeled the University with "wholly false, defamatory" remarks.
They also permanently expelled student Leonard Wilson, the outspoken leader of anti-integration forces on campus, for "unwarranted and outrageous public attacks ... upon the integrity of the President and officers of the University."
The University of Alabama finally overturned her expulsion in 1980, and in 1992, she earned her Masters degree in Elementary Education from the University that she had applied to decades earlier.
Lucy-Foster's attorney, Arthur Shores, demanded her immediate reinstatement and took the matter to court when that demand was not met, charging that University officials and trustees had "conspired to defy the injunction order" and had "intentionally permitted an air of riot and discord" as a basis for Lucy-Foster's suspension.
President O. C. Carmichael denied any wrongdoing, and Shores later dropped the conspiracy charge. In January 1957, the U.S. District Court ordered the University to readmit Lucy-Foster but found that the institution had not been derelict in its duties to protect her.
The UA board of trustees immediately voted to permanently expel Lucy-Foster on the grounds that she had libeled the University with "wholly false, defamatory" remarks.
They also permanently expelled student Leonard Wilson, the outspoken leader of anti-integration forces on campus, for "unwarranted and outrageous public attacks ... upon the integrity of the President and officers of the University."
The University of Alabama finally overturned her expulsion in 1980, and in 1992, she earned her Masters degree in Elementary Education from the University that she had applied to decades earlier.
