The same southern university that refused to let Autherine Lucy Foster enroll in the 1950s because she is Black has now honored her plight with a historic marker, the Birmingham Times reported.
Autherine Lucy Foster was honored by the University of Alabama with an historic marker. (Screengrabs from YouTube and courtesy photo Tumblr/Univeristy of Alabama)
The University of Alabama unveiled the Autherine Lucy Foster Historic Marker on Sept. 22 during a ceremony on the lawn of Graves Hall, near the site where she tried to enroll before a mob chased her away in 1956.
“I never imagined my decision to enroll would affect so many in so many ways,” Foster told the paper. “Today, I have several children who have attended the university and am, myself, a proud graduate and member of the alumni association. I am very humbled that the university has chosen to recognize me in this way.”
Foster originally applied to the university in 1952 after graduating from Miles College with an English degree, but was rejected because she was Black. After a court battle that persisted for three years, she was finally let into the university.
In 1956, she registered as a student in the College of Education and went to class two days later, becoming the first Black person in Alabama to attend a White public school or university, the paper reported.
But a mob of 3,000 people protested against her and the school’s board of trustees expelled her, citing her own and her fellow students’ safety, the paper reported. The school annulled her expulsion in 1988 and she reenrolled the following year with her daughter, Grazia.
Foster graduated from the school in 1992 with a master’s degree in elementary education. Her daughter graduated the same year with a degree in corporate finance.
Today, more than 4,000 Black students are among 38,500 enrollees, the paper reported.
“Mrs. Foster’s initiative and courage opened the doors and created the opportunity for all races to attend the university,” university president Stuart Bell told the paper. “This historic marker will serve as a testament to her enduring impact on our campus and beyond.”
It’s not the first time the school has recognized Foster.
In 1998, the university named an endowed fellowship after her, and commissioned a portrait of her. The university acknowledged her again in 2010 as one of its three desegregation pioneers. In 2016, she was inducted into the College of Education’s Educator Hall of Fame.