UA’s Gladney Lecture Offers Female Perspective of Civil Rights Movement

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The South may look different than it did during the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s, but Constance Curry and Doris Derby understand that equality must continue to evolve.

The pair will serve as speakers at the 2013 Rose Gladney Lecture for Justice and Social Change at The University of Alabama Sept. 18.

Curry and Derby will share stories from the book, “Hand on the Freedom Plow,” which details the struggles, failures and triumphs of 52 women associated with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement.

The women—whose stories cross the boundaries of age, race and region—detail how they risked their lives to protest and support other protestors.

“It is important to acknowledge the role women leaders had in the Civil Rights Movement,” said Dr. Utz McKnight, chair of the department of gender and race studies. “As the University celebrates the 50th anniversary of the events that led to the integration of the University, the Rose Gladney lecture on September 18th offers a unique opportunity to learn about how the women in SNCC were successful in changing our lives. The history of SNCC serves for many as an inspiration for how it is possible to make a difference in society.”

The lecture is in room 205 in the Amelia Gorgas Library at 7 p.m., and it is open to the public. Admission is free. Afterward, Derby and Curry will sign copies of the book.

The lecture comes at an opportune time for the University, as the Capstone celebrates 50 years since the “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door.” While the University and the state as a whole have come far from the brutal 1960s, professors acknowledge there is still far to go.

“The Gladney Lecture is intended especially to enrich connections between The University of Alabama and the Tuscaloosa community, and I can think of no time in recent memory when the message of this year’s speakers about the need for change and unity has been more urgent and vital for every resident of this University and this city,” said Dr. Joshua Rothman, professor of history and director of the Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South.

The Rose Gladney Lecture for Justice and Social Change is sponsored by the department of American studies and co-sponsored by the departments of gender and race studies, religious studies, history and New College.

These departments are part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships, Truman Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.