Autherine Juanita Lucy was an American activist who was the first African-American student to attend the University of Alabama, in 1956.
16 Facts About Autherine Lucy
2.
Autherine Lucy graduated in 1947, and went on to attend Selma University in Selma for two years, after which she studied at the historically black Miles College in Fairfield.
3.
Autherine Lucy graduated from Miles with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1952.
4.
Autherine Lucy later said that she wanted a second undergraduate degree, not for political reasons but to get the best possible education in the state.
5.
Autherine Lucy was finally admitted to the University but it rejected Hudson on the grounds that a child she had conceived before marriage made her an unsuitable student.
6.
Autherine Lucy attended her first class on Friday, February 3,1956.
7.
Finally the president and trustees of the university of Alabama asked Autherine Lucy to leave for her own safety and the safety of the university.
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Nikema Williams 8.
The next day after Autherine Lucy was dismissed the paper came out with this headline: 'Things are quiet in Tuscaloosa today.
9.
The University used the court case as a justification for her permanent expulsion, claiming that Autherine Lucy had slandered the University and they could not have her as a student.
10.
Autherine Lucy's notoriety made it difficult at first for her to find employment as a teacher.
11.
The Fosters moved back to Alabama in 1974, and Autherine Lucy obtained a position in the Birmingham school system.
12.
Autherine Lucy is a sister of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority.
13.
Autherine Lucy's grandniece, Nikema Williams, is a member of the United States House of Representatives and chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia.
14.
Autherine Lucy returned to speak at the ceremony and compared the crowd that welcomed her with the hatred she had encountered the first time she entered the university.
15.
In May 2019, Autherine Lucy attended the University of Alabama's spring graduation, where the school presented her with an honorary doctorate.
16.
Autherine Lucy's legacy continues at the University of Alabama with a $25,000 scholarship named after her and a picture of Autherine Lucy was put up at the university in 1992.