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At the University of Alabama

Secondary Sources

These recent works are not only helpful sources of information, but they often point back to specific materials within our collections.

  • Clark, E. Culpepper. The Schoolhouse Door: Segregation’s Last Stand at the University of Alabama. Oxford University Press, 1993. [Alabama Collection LD73 .C57 1993]
  • Hollars, B. J. Opening the Doors: The Desegregation of the University of Alabama and the Fight for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa. University of Alabama Press, 2013. [Reference Collection LD73 .H65 2013]
  • Tilford, Earl H. Turning the Tide: The University of Alabama in the 1960S. University of Alabama Press, 2014. [Reference Collection LD73 .T55 2014]
    • Covers desegregation as well as the student protest movement of the late 1960s, which at UA involved the concerns and demands of the new and active Black student population.

Primary Sources

1956: Autherine Lucy

  • Crimson White (campus newspaper) — click thumbnail to go to issue online
Feb. 7, 1956 — Coverage of Autherine Lucy’s first day in attendance

Feb. 14, 1956 — Coverage of reactions to Autherine Lucy/desegregation, including numerous letters to the editor
Feb. 21, 1956 — Note from the editors on the letters received about Autherine Lucy/desegregation, pgs. 1 & 8
  • President Carmichael, Oliver C. (RG.013)
    • President of the University of Alabama, 1953-1957
    • See the following materials
      • Negro Applications (Accession 19800120, Box 014)
      • Negro Education (Accession 19800120, Box 014)
      • Letters to Dr. Carmichael about segregation (Accession 19800120, Box 017)
      • Newspaper Clippings 1954-1956 (Accession 19800120, Box 014)
      • Race Question (Accession 19800120, Box 016)
      • Segregation (Accession 19800120, Box 017)
      • Correspondence from outside the University concerning Autherine Lucy (Accession 19820768, Boxes 001-003)
  • Gus Robinson Photographs (2009.195)
    • Photographs taken in February 1956 when Autherine Lucy became the first African American to enroll in and attend classes at the The University of Alabama. Robinson was a UA staff photographer.
  • James William Oakley Jr. Photographs (2010.020)
    • Photographs taken by James William Oakley Jr. during the week that Autherine Lucy, the first African American student at The University of Alabama, enrolled in February 1956. Oakley was a UA student.
    • View Oakley photographs online
  • Donn Sanford Photographs (2010.021)
    • Photographs of the first African American student admitted to the University of Alabama, Autherine Lucy, enrolling at The University of Alabama in February 1956.
    • View Sanford photographs online
  • Buford Boone papers (MSS.0187)
    • Publisher of the Tuscaloosa News, 1947-1968
    • See the following materials
      • Correspondence [re: Autherine Lucy] (Boxes 1-6)
      • Editorials on the “Autherine Lucy Incident”- 1956 (Box 258)
      • Scrapbooks > Career Tuscaloosa News [1] (Box 262)
      • Scrapbooks > Chronological [2] (Box 265)
      • Scrapbooks > Tuscaloosa News (Box 266)
      • Scrapbooks > Unarranged [1, re: Autherine Lucy] (Box 267)
  • Louis D. Corson papers (MSS.0360)
    • The collection contains the papers of Louis D. Corson, Dean of Men at The University of Alabama from August 1955 through December 1957. Included are correspondence, documents, newspaper and magazine articles, as well as photographs concerning the on-campus riots over the enrollment of Autherine Lucy on February 3-6, 1956. There are also copies of articles and magazines dealing with the state of college and university education and integration across the country.
  • Autherine Lucy papers (MSS.0881)
    • Court documents dealing with a suit brought by Autherine Lucy and Polly Anne Myers against the University of Alabama, as well as an invitation to her 1956 wedding and a newspaper clipping written when she graduated from UA with her masters in elementary education.

1963: James Hood & Vivian Malone

  • Crimson White (campus newspaper) — Click thumbnail to go to issue online
June 9, 1963 — immediately before the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
June 13, 1963 — coverage of the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
June 27, 1963 — followup to Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, including an editorial by James Hood and numerous letters to the editor
  • Rebel Underground
    • Newsletter created by those opposed to integration at Southern colleges. Different versions were published at various schools, including Clemson, Ole Miss, and UA. We have three issues from February/March, August, and November 1963.
  • President Frank A. Rose records (RG.006)
    • President of the University of Alabama, 1958-1969
    • See the following materials:
      • General Corr. 1963 > Conf. Activities – Integration Crank Let. (Accession 19803921, Box 005)
      • News Headquarters for Integration 1963 (Accession 19909696, Box 004)
      • Newspaper Clippings Integration UA 1963 (Accession 19909696, Box 004)
  • Integration (RG.030)
  • Camille Maxwell Elebash Papers (MSS.0478)
    • Co-editor of Graphic, an independent Tuscaloosa newspaper, 1957-1979
    • See Schoolhouse Door (Box 0478.0001)

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