UPDATE: University of Alabama to Remove Name of Bibb Graves from Campus Building
FILE – This file photo shows Autherine Lucy Foster, center, the first Black person to attend University of Alabama, discussing her return to campus following mob demonstrations in Birmingham, Ala., on Feb. 7, 1956. She held a press conference accompanied by Ruby Hurley, right, Southeast regional secretary of the NAACP, and attorney Arthur Shores, left. (AP Photo/Gene Herrick)
University of Alabama trustees have reversed a decision made last week about naming what has long been known as Bibb Graves Hall.
The Board of Trustees today voted unanimously to remove the name of Gov. Bibb Graves from the building entirely. Graves led a Ku Klux Klan group. He was governor from 1927-1931 and from 1935-1939.
Instead, the building will be named solely for Autherine Lucy Foster, the university’s first Black student.
Last week, the board had voted to name the building “Lucy-Graves Hall” to honor both of them. Now the classroom building will be known as “Autherine Lucy Hall.”
She briefly attended classes in Graves Hall after enrolling at Alabama but was expelled after her presence brought protests by whites and threats.
Graves was considered a progressive, pro-education governor who also ran a Montgomery KKK group a century ago.
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