Autherine
Lucy
Being the first African American
student of the University of Alabama, Autherine Lucy encountered several
threats to her life, through all these struggles, she kept on fighting. Her
struggle to complete her education in the University of Alabama is
acknowledged, alongside Martin Luther’s rise to leadership and Eleanor
Roosevelt as a significant move against racism.
Born on the 5th of
October 1929 in Shiloh, Alabama, racism was prominent as Harper Lee described
it in “To kill a Mockingbird”. Born to a family of farmers, Lucy was not
financially stable. Nevertheless, her family did their best to support her.
She finished High School in Linden
Academy of Shiloh on 1947. She proceeded to college in Selma University and
Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama. She earned her B. A. in English in Miles
College on 1952.
Lucy and her fellow school mate in
Miles College, Pollie Anne Meyers both made a petition to be granted that they
can study in the University of Alabama. They were supported by Thurgood
Marshall, their lawyer and also the NAACP (National Association for the
Advancement of Coloured People). Both were accepted at the University of
Alabama but Meyers wasn't able to go
due to previous marriage.
Lucy was accompanied by guards
because she was victimized by a mob of racists, who were throwing and jeering
at her. At one point, she got hit by an egg. She soon got suspended and
expelled by University Board of Trustees because Thurgood made a wrong accusation
to the university about her lack of protection. However, on April 1988, her
expulsion was overturned and Lucy got her Master’s Degree on Elementary
Education from the University of Alabama.
Source:
blackpast.org, 2011
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