University of Alabama to commemorate 50 years since racial integration
Tuscaloosa News – June 10
The University of Alabama will hold “Through the Doors: Courage, Change and Progress” on Tuesday at Foster Auditorium to mark the 50th year since racial integration of the Tuscaloosa campus. A UA news release states that the event is designed to recognize and honor the courage and dedication of Vivian Malone and James Hood, the two black students who enrolled at UA on June 11, 1963. It will include presentations by current UA students and alumni as well as musical performances. The program will also recognize UA’s ongoing commitment to change over the past 50 years and its commitment to continued progress in the future, the release states. Speakers will include UA student Tyler Merriweather, a communication studies major and Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship recipient from Tuscaloosa; UA alumna Zaneta Lowe, a 1997 graduate who currently serves as chief consumer investigator for WREG, the CBS affiliate in Memphis, Tenn.; UA alumnus Andre Taylor, a 1973 graduate who retired as vice president-communications at Alabama Gas Corp. and served as the first African-American president of UA’s National Alumni Association; and UA Trustee John England, a 1974 graduate of the UA School of Law, who currently serves as a circuit judge for the Sixth Judicial Circuit in Tuscaloosa.
Gadsden Times – June 11
Montgomery Advertiser – June 11
Lakeland Ledger (Fla.) – June 11
Stamford Advocate (Conn.) – June 11
WAFF-44 (Huntsville) – June 11
WMRK-FM (Montgomery) – June 10
Fox 6 (5:00 a.m.) (Birmingham) – June 11
Fox 6 (Live Shot 5:30 a.m.) (Birmingham) – June 11
Fox 6 Live Shot (6:30 a.m.) (Birmingham) – June 11
Fox 6 Live Shot (7:00 a.m.) (Birmingham) – June 11
Fox 6 Live Shot (8:00 a.m.) (Birmingham) – June 11
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – June 10
UA holds Champions for Change Conference
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – June 10
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – June 10
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – June 10
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – June 10
See all the clips here:http://67.214.100.182//PublicNewsroom.aspx?PortalId=33D07503-BE47-42B6-9AD0-306656F7CE73&FolderId=BAD5EB14-57F9-4B96-A66C-4E438961F3E2
The University of Alabama is marking the 50th anniversary of the ”Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” by challenging a younger generation to bring about positive change. Students, representing high schools from around Alabama, listened to stories about the famous stand, some of them say they were inspired to hear from students who helped integrate The Capstone. Pastor Kelvin Croom, who played football under ‘Bear’ Bryant, said the university has come a long way in 50 years.
Gov. Robert Bentley to attend Stand in the Schoolhouse Door anniversary
Al.com – June 11
Gov. Robert Bentley will attend the commemorative program marking the 50th anniversary of the “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” Tuesday at the University of Alabama. Bentley was a UA student in 1963 and witnessed the June 11 stand off between then Gov. George Wallace and Deputy U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach as the first two black undergraduate students, James Hood and Vivian Malone Jones, attempted to register for classes at Foster Auditorium. Former Gov. Bob Riley, also a student, witnessed the spectacle as well.
Alabama remembers Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, 50 years of desegregation today (links)
Al.com – June 11
Today marks the 50-year anniversary of former Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s infamous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” and the desegregation of the University of Alabama. The school will honor the actions of the first two black undergraduate students at the institution with a public event today. “Through the Doors: Courage. Change. Progress.” recognizes the actions of Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood, the first two black undergraduates to enroll at the Capstone on June 11, 1963. Autherine Lucy, a graduate student expelled three day after her admittance, was UA’s first black student.
WBHM-FM (Birmingham) – June 11
Remembering the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door on its 50th anniversary
Tuscaloosa News – June 11
The days leading up to the hot summer morning when George Wallace made his infamous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” were expectant ones on the University of Alabama campus and in the Tuscaloosa community. It was well-known that the governor planned to block the door at Foster Auditorium to symbolically protest the admittance of black students to the university. It was also well-known that his actions wouldn’t stop integration — the question remained of whether it would happen peacefully without a deadly riot like the one at the University of Mississippi the previous fall. A story printed in the Sunday, June 9, 1963, edition of The Tuscaloosa News described the mood of the campus and the city that weekend as calm but expectant. More than 700 law enforcement officers had set up a command post in the parking lot of Tutwiler Hall a few days before the June 11 showdown. Army helicopters circled over the campus the preceding weekend. A prison transfer bus with heavy metal bars and wire-mesh covered windows was parked on the Quad next to Denny Chimes.
The Take Away – June 11
UA alumnus Keith Dunnavant makes documentary about UA integration of athletics
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – June 10
As the university marks those 50 years since integration, one man is commemorating it in a special way. UA alumnus Keith Dunnavant put together a film that shows the untold stories at the University of Alabama. The screening is called “Three Days at Foster.” Through this film, Dunnavant wants to transcend a time period that continues to be a driving force for everyone to this day. Mr. Dunnavant says he wants to celebrate those who have been forgotten.
Andalusians were witnesses to historic ‘Stand’ at UA
Andalusia Star News – June 11
Fifty years ago today, Alabama was thrust into the national spotlight when then Gov. George Wallace “stood in the schoolhouse door” in a futile attempt to stop the University of Alabama from enrolling two African American students, Vivian Malone and James Hood. Acting on the authority of President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, accompanied by federal marshals and the Alabama National Guard, confronted Wallace and asked him to allow Malone and Hood to enter. Wallace refused … The University will mark the anniversary of the event with a program in Foster Auditorium tonight. A special website, www.throughthedoors.ua.edu, launched in February, is devoted to the anniversary.
JFK 50 years ago today: “We all inhabit this small planet, we all cherish our children’s future and we are all mortal”
Al.com – June 11
It is a week of remembrance and anniversaries, most of them surrounding the Civil Rights era in Alabama and Mississippi. Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of the University of Alabama. On June 11, 1963, Gov. George C. Wallace attempted to block Vivian Malone and James Hood, two blacks, from enrolling at the university. Wallace failed after President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard and ordered Gen. Henry Graham of Birmingham to order Wallace to step aside, which he did. Wednesday marks another 50th anniversary: the murder of Mississippi civil rights icon Medgar Evers. Evers was shot in the back and killed in the early morning hours of June 12th in Jackson, just hours after Wallace’s attempt to uphold the Jim Crow laws Evers had spent his life fighting and ultimately giving his life to defeat.
UA holds Camp Cash
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – June 10
Your middle-schooler can learn just how much money matters during the University of Alabama’s Cash Camp today through Friday. The camp has lessons in budgeting, credit use, investing, insurance, and even career planning. The camp is open to students ages 11 through 14.
Study: source of organic matter affects Bay water quality
William & Mary University – June 11
Each time it rains, runoff carries an earthy tea steeped from leaf litter, crop residue, soil, and other organic materials into the storm drains and streams that feed Chesapeake Bay. A new study led by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science reveals that land use in the watersheds from which this “dissolved organic matter” originates has important implications for Bay water quality, with the organic carbon in runoff from urbanized or heavily farmed landscapes more likely to persist as it is carried downstream, thus contributing energy to fuel low-oxygen “dead zones” in coastal waters. The study appears in the April 2013 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research, and was highlighted by the journal’s publisher, the American Geophysical Union, as an “AGU Research Spotlight” in their print and online channels. The study was authored by VIMS post-doctoral researcher Dr. Yuehan Lu (now at the University of Alabama) …
‘Jubilee’ pays sweet homage to Alabama music
Al.com – June 10
Celebrate the sounds of our state at “”Jubilee – Songs of and about Alabama,” a live showcase by SummerTide Theatre, the professional summer theatre of The University of Alabama. According to SummerTide’s webpage,”‘Jubilee’ showcases Alabama’s rich and varied musical flavors, from the foothills of the Appalachian mountains to the white sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast.” Performances are Tuesday to Sunday evenings at 8 p.m. at the George C. Myer Theatre Arts Center, located at 2022 West 2nd Street in Gulf Shores. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children under 12. Purchase and get more information at SummerTide.org or by calling The University of Alabama Box Office at 205-348-3400.
UA student named Miss Alabama
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – June 10
Among those she’ll be competing against is new Miss Alabama Chandler Champion. She’s a University of Alabama broadcast journalism student. The Miss America competition is in September.