[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 35 (Friday, February 25, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E175]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE NAMING OF AUTHERINE LUCY HALL ON THE CAMPUS OF THE 
                         UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 25, 2022

  Ms. SEWELL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the naming of 
Autherine Lucy Hall on the campus of the University of Alabama. 
Autherine Lucy Foster was the first Africa-American student to 
integrate the University of Alabama in 1952.
  After graduating from Miles College in 1952 with a degree in English, 
Autherine followed her aspirations of continuing her education by 
applying for graduate school at the University of Alabama. After 
sending in her initial request on September 4, 1952, she and her friend 
Pollie Anne Myers received letters welcoming them to the University of 
Alabama. However, upon submitting applications that indicated race, 
both women's admissions were revoked by university officials due to the 
university's ``Whites only'' policy. Once the community learned of both 
students not being admitted to the university due to their race, two of 
the most prominent civil rights lawyers, Arthur Shores and Thurgood 
Marshall, began working on their behalf testing one of the most 
consequential Supreme Court cases in our history, Brown v Board of 
Education of Topeka. On June 28, 1955, just over a year after the Brown 
decision, U.S. District Judge Harlan Grooms heard their case ruling in 
favor of the women upholding the precedent of the Supreme Court and 
solidifying the legal eradication of the ``separate but equal'' policy.
  In hopes of further discouraging Autherine and Pollie, the university 
hired private investigators to look into their backgrounds to find 
information that would ensure they could not attend. As a result of 
their efforts, Pollie was disqualified from admission, leaving 
Autherine to attend the university alone. Upon her attendance, 
Autherine experienced high-intensity adversity. She was denied dining 
and dormitory privileges and suffered multiple verbal and physical 
attacks from her White counterparts, which resulted in her being 
removed from the university by the Board of Trustees, claiming it was 
for her protection. With Autherine fearing for her life, Attorney 
Shores and Marshall stepped in on her behalf once again, filing an 
official complaint stating that the university had been complicit in 
permitting the crowd to intimidate and threaten Autherine. 
Unfortunately, they were unable to prove the university's role in the 
mob action, and despite withdrawing the complaint, the administration 
argued that through their actions, Autherine had defamed the school and 
its administration resulting in her expulsion.
  Though she felt defeated at the moment, less than ten years later, 
her efforts to integrate the University of Alabama finally became a 
reality. Vivian Malone and James Hood enrolled at the University of 
Alabama in June 1963. Vivian went on to become the first African 
American to graduate from the University of Alabama, continuing the 
work of Autherine and opening the door for more students to follow in 
their footsteps. However, unbeknownst to her, it would take over thirty 
years for her own story to be completed at the University of Alabama.
  Thirty-two years after her expulsion from the University of Alabama, 
she was asked to come back to the university as a guest speaker. With 
multiple faculty members advocating on her behalf to overturn her 
expulsion, she returned in 1989 to enroll as a student. Enrolling the 
same year as her daughter Grazia, they graduated together in 1992 to 
receive their respective graduate and undergraduate degrees. Ensuring 
that her legacy of bravery and tenacity lives on, the University of 
Alabama awarded Autherine with an honorary doctorate in 2019, a $25,000 
scholarship in her name and honored her with two land makers on 
campus--a historic marker in front of the newly named Autherine Lucy 
Hall and the Autherine Lucy Clock Tower.
  On a personal note, as Alabama's first Black Congresswoman, it is a 
source of tremendous pride to celebrate the courage and sacrifice of 
Autherine Lucy Foster in integrating the University of Alabama. The 
naming of a campus building in her honor 70 years after she first 
enrolled in the university shows that delayed justice can lead to 
racial healing and reconciliation. It was because of her bravery and 
sheer audacity in the face of an incredible injustice that Black 
students attend and graduate from the University of Alabama today. The 
university, the State of Alabama, and the nation owe Autherine Lucy 
Foster a debt of gratitude that can never truly be repaid. The naming 
of Autherine Lucy Hall will stand as a powerful reminder of the 
progress that can be achieved when this nation lives up to its best 
ideals of equality and justice for all.
  On behalf of Alabama's 7th Congressional District, I ask my 
colleagues to join me in recognizing the extraordinary courage of 
Autherine Lucy Foster and the naming of Autherine Lucy Hall on the 
campus of the University of Alabama.

                          ____________________