U.S. Civil Rights Trail: Tuscaloosa

I recently heard about the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, and on their website they list locations that were important to the Civil Rights Movement. I searched on their interactive map and clicked on Tuscaloosa, home to The University of Alabama, my alma mater. I was planning on driving there to deliver a donation to the local Meals on Wheels program and figured I should check out the location marked on the Civil Rights Trail -Foster Auditorium.

Screenshot of Alabama from U.S. Civil Rights Trail Interactive Map

“Vivian Malone, one of the first African Americans to attend the university, walks through a crowd that includes photographers, National Guard members, and Deputy U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach.” [Warren K. Leffler, U.S. News & World… — “Vivian Malone, one of the first African Americans to attend the university, walks through a crowd that includes photographers, National Guard members, and Deputy U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach.” [Warren K. Leffler, U.S. News & World Report Magazine Restored by Adam Cuerden - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsca.05542. ]

Foster Auditorium, the site of the infamous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” where on June 11,1963, Governor George Wallace blocked Vivian Malone and James Hood from entering the building where they could enroll in school. Wallace refused to desegregate the University of Alabama even after almost ten years since Brown v Board of Education (1954) ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Wallace wouldn’t back down until President Kennedy issued an executive order calling the AL National Guard to protect the students so they could enter. Wallace eventually moved so Malone and Hood could enter to complete their registration. “This event marked a victory for integration, and Kennedy’s intercession sent a powerful message to segregationist officials across the country” (civilrightstrail.com).

The National Historic Landmark auditorium was renovated in 2010. The Malone Hood Plaza and Autherine Lucy Clock Tower were dedicated later that year.

I wanted to revisit this area because the renovation and plaza were done after I left campus. But I admit that even though I was vaguely familiar with the story I never connected it to campus. When I attended UA and passed Foster Auditorium almost daily I never realized its significance nor acknowledged the countless Black men and women who were denied admission before Malone and Hood’s historical civil rights victory. It’s an example of my white privilege that I am able to be so removed from oppressive struggles and to benefit from a university and institution with a history of segregation and further back, slavery.

Then as I was leaving campus I remembered that I had recently learned about Dr. Hilary Green’s Hallowed Grounds tour about the history of slavery on campus. Dr. Green created the tour in 2016 to “shed light onto the lives, experiences, and legacy of the many enslaved men, women, and children who lived, worked, and even died at The University of Alabama, 1829-1865” (The Hallowed Grounds Project). Since they are not offering tours at the moment I still wanted to find the marker and plaque about two men enslaved by the university and are supposedly buried on campus. Again, showing my privilege, I wasn’t aware of the marker or history when I was a student there. I didn’t seek out more information about the history of slavery and the connection with the university back then.

After searching online on various websites I couldn’t find an exact location of the cemetery or find it listed on any map; I only saw pictures of it (later I found this Hallowed Grounds Tour map). All I could find was that it is located by the biology building. Now, they have added buildings and changed names since I was there so I had an idea but wasn’t sure. So I called the university and first talked to directory. They didn’t know the cemetery existed and didn’t know anyone I could contact. Then I called parking services. They didn’t know anything about it either and suggested I call the museum (what museum?). Frustrated, I parked in the Campus Drive parking deck at the corner of Hackberry Lane and walked to the building that I thought used to be the biology building but now is called the Math and Science Education building. I just so happened to look to my left and I recognized the monument hidden behind a covered construction area fence. I saw the plaque and was annoyed that I was stopped short due to the construction area, but then I noticed the gate had a hinge to be opened so I opened the fence and went in and up to the monument.

The marker stands in front of a small cemetery where a former professor’s (Pratt) family is buried. It is said that the rest of the cemetery might lie under the building or that the enslaved men’s graves might have been disinterred during construction. It remains a mystery. You can learn more in this article, “The University Graves Mystery.”

I hope to attend a Hallowed Grounds tour in the future to further my education and then share with others to help elevate this important history. I also contacted the university’s president, Dr. Bell, to request them to add this site to their official map of campus so others are aware of its existence and have an easier time finding it than I did (see my email to Dr. Bell —>). [update to this request at the bottom of this page] This is part of the university’s past, and Jack Rudolph, William Brown, and the other enslaved peoples working on campus should be remembered and not forgotten.

Screenshot of UA campus map with my addition of location of marker

My email to President Bell & response. If you are a UA alum I encourage you to contact the president as well. [update to this request at the bottom of this page]

The marker in front of a small cemetery where the Pratt family is buried

“Following a coalition movement spearheaded by law professor Al Brophy, the University apologized for slavery in 2004 and erected this apology marker in 2006.” (Hallowed Grounds Tour)

Next I went down to The Park at Manderson Landing where the new sculpture for Tuscaloosa’s bicentennial is located. The path leading to the sculpture shares historic moments, from which I learned a lot, for example, that Tuscaloosa was the original capital of Alabama before it moved to Montgomery.

I plan to visit other sites along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail in Alabama and elsewhere to continue my education. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice & The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration located in Montgomery are at the top of my list to visit.

I encourage you to learn more about the history of the educational institutions you are connected with, this is not just UA’s history. And if you are a fellow UA alum might I suggest attending a Hallowed Grounds tour in the future and contacting Pres. Bell to put the marker on the campus map. That’s how change happens, with a collective of voices.

This article is also published on Medium, found here.

August 10 update: I just received an email —> saying that the cemetery and slavery apology marker has been added to The University of Alabama campus map! So my email made a difference! All for the purpose so that others might find this marker easier than I did, to raise awareness of this history, and for Mr. Rudolph and Mr. Brown to be remembered.

To find the marker on the campus map website: Locations —>Points of Interest —>Campus & Historical Markers —>Cemetery and Slavery Apology Marker

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