 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2013) |
Auburn University desegregated on January 4, 1964, with the enrollment and registration of graduate student Harold A Franklin. Franklin was admitted as a graduate student in history and government. Auburn's desegregation was exemplary of both cooperation with the media and Ralph Brown Draughon's leadership.
In November 1962, Harold Franklin, a thirty-year-old graduate of Alabama State College, applied for admission to Auburn as a graduate student in history and government. The university rejected Franklin's application in January 1963, originally citing a lack of a graduate program in government as the reason. His application was again rejected in February, Auburn citing Alabama State College's lack of accreditation, an issue stemming from the school's lack of state funding. On August 23 of that year, Franklin, with attorney Fred Gray, filed a class action suit in the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. The court of Frank M Johnson ruled in Franklin's favor on November 5, 1963. The Board of Trustees voted on November 23 to follow Johnson's ruling, and Franklin's enrollment and registration was set for the spring semester of 1964, beginning January 4.
With the violent events of the Birmingham protests and the murder of Medgar Evers as a backdrop to the situation at Auburn, university president, Ralph Brown Draughon wanted to avoid a violent spectacle on his campus at all costs. Hoping to emulate the desegregation of Clemson University in January, 1963, Draughon invited Clemson's Director of Public Relations, Joe Sherman, to visit Auburn in June, 1963. Sherman advised Draughon to create a good rapport with the media, as well as to appeal to the community for moderation. Auburn Director of Public Relations, Ed Crawford, took care of the relationship with the media by setting up the “News Central.” Here, Auburn housed all authorized media personnel, supplying them with every imaginable amenity from typewriters to dark rooms for their film to food and drink.
Draughon was able to handle the securing of campus with a multifaceted approach. First, Draughon shut down Auburn's campus to everyone except authorized faculty, staff, students and police. Appointing Col. Lynwood Funchess, Director of Building and Grounds, as head of security, Draughon deputized members of the athletic department to patrol campus as well as line Franklin's paths to class for his first couple days.
The other face of Draughon's security plan included a series of meetings he had been holding since the failed desegregation of the University of Alabama in 1956. Draughon had routinely hosted student leaders to bring them in line with his plan for a quiet, uneventful desegregation of Auburn University. These meetings produced a list of rules that would go into effect when the time for desegregation came, and were to be disseminated by these student leaders. Some of the more notable rules were a ban on firearms on campus for the spring semester, and a ban on congregating in large groups on campus. These rules were announced December 3 and required students to sign a pledge agreeing to abide by them in order to return to campus after break.
In hopes of further augmenting the security on campus during Franklin's first few days, Draughon requested access to city, state, and federal officials for assistance. Agreeing to provide state troopers to reinforce campus and local police, Governor George Wallace refused to provide federal agents as well as specifically refusing access to bodyguards for Franklin, even in the event of a riot. On December 1, Wallace also pressured Draughon to release an announcement stating that Magnolia Hall, the only men's dormitory on campus, would no longer be housing graduate students. This announcement was shot down by the court on January 3, ruling that Auburn must house Franklin just like any other student.
On a cold, rainy Saturday, Auburn University's campus was invaded by one hundred state troopers sent by Gov. Wallace under the command of Col. Albert J Lingo. Seen as the wildcard in Draughon's plans, Lingo proved true to speculation when he changed to the meeting location last minute. Seeing Lingo's troopers changing position, FBI agents sent to oversee events notified US attorney John Doar, on campus to supervise the university's desegregation just as had at every other university to that point. Doar was then able to notify Franklin and his attorney, Fred Gray, of the change in plans, and advised them to head directly to Reverend Powers McLeod's office at the Auburn Methodist Church. Here, Doar had Franklin's bag searched by two FBI agents who could later testify on Franklin's behalf in the case a gun was slipped into it by Lingo's men, similar to what had happened with James Meredith at Ole Miss. At McLeod's office Franklin was intercepted by Joseph Sarver, Auburn director of development, who was to transport Franklin while on campus due to Lingo's orders to arrest any federal agent or unauthorized personnel trying to enter campus.
Around one o’clock, Franklin, escorted by Sarver, arrived at Magnolia Hall, where three floors of one wing had been cleared to house Franklin. When it was time to leave to register for classes Franklin, escorted by two university officials, left Magnolia Hall for the library. Outside they met Col. Lingo, who, under the pretense of Judge Johnson's ruling that Auburn should treat Franklin like any other student, refused to allow the university officials to continue with Franklin. Franklin was swarmed by reporters on his walk and stopped by a trooper requesting to see his student ID, which he had not yet received, however aside from this, his walk peaceful and without confrontation.
Upon entering the library, Franklin was again met by a swarm of reporters before being welcomed by Dr. William Parker, dean of the graduate school. Franklin was then seated at Malcolm McMillan's table for enrollment advising. Franklin emerged roughly an hour later, now an enrolled and registered student at Auburn University. [1]
George Corley Wallace, Jr., was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and populist views. During his tenure, he promoted "industrial development, low taxes, and trade schools." Wallace sought the United States presidency as a Democrat three times, and once as an American Independent Party candidate, unsuccessfully each time. Wallace opposed desegregation and supported the policies of "Jim Crow" during the Civil Rights Movement, declaring in his 1963 inaugural address that he stood for "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever".
Auburn University is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest university in Alabama. It is one of the state's two public flagship universities. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity" and has produced 5 Rhodes Scholars and 5 Truman Scholars.
The University of Alabama is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the public universities in Alabama as well as the flagship of the University of Alabama System.
James Alexander Hood was one of the first African Americans to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963, and was made famous when Alabama Governor George Wallace attempted to block him and fellow student Vivian Malone from enrolling at the then all-white university, an incident which became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door".
The University of Alabama, the state's oldest continuously public university, is a senior comprehensive doctoral-level institution located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The University of West Alabama (UWA) is a public university in Livingston, Alabama. Founded in 1835, the school began as a church-supported school for young women called Livingston Female Academy. The original Board of Trustees of Livingston Female Academy was selected in 1836, and four of the seven board members were Presbyterians.
Frank Minis Johnson Jr. was a United States District Judge and United States Circuit Judge serving 1955 to 1999 on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He made landmark civil rights rulings that helped end segregation and disenfranchisement of African Americans in the South. In the words of journalist and historian Bill Moyers, Judge Johnson "altered forever the face of the South."
Vivian Juanita Malone Jones was one of the first two black students to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963, and in 1965 became the university's first black graduate. She was made famous when George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, attempted to block her and James Hood from enrolling at the all-white university.
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state.
Murphy High School, in Mobile, Alabama, is a public high school operated by the Mobile County Public School System that educates grades 9–12.
The Alabama Cooperative Extension System provides educational outreach to the citizens of Alabama on behalf of the state's two land grant universities: Alabama A&M University and Auburn University.
The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, in a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" and stop the desegregation of schools, stood at the door of the auditorium as if to block the entry of two African American students: Vivian Malone and James Hood.
Seybourn Harris Lynne was an American jurist. He was United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He was Chief judge of the court from 1953 to 1973. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving judge on the federal bench, having served from 1946 to 2000, the last 27 of which in Senior status.
Daniel Holcombe Thomas was a United States District Judge who served nearly five decades on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
Albert J. Lingo was appointed in 1963 by Alabama Gov. George Wallace to head the Alabama Highway Patrol, which he led until 1965 during turbulent years marked by marches and demonstrations that characterized the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. South.
School integration in the United States is the process of ending race-based segregation within American public and private schools. Racial segregation in schools existed throughout most of American history and remains an issue in contemporary education. During the Civil Rights Movement school integration became a priority, but since then de facto segregation has again become prevalent.
Macon East Academy is a private PK-12 school in Cecil, Alabama. It was established as a segregation academy in response to the racial desegregation of public schools and serves 287 students.
Silas Herbert Hunt was a U.S. veteran of World War II who became the first African American student to enroll in a white Southern university since the Reconstruction era. He enrolled in the University of Arkansas School of Law on Feb. 2, 1948, breaking the color barrier in higher education and starting integration of colleges and universities in the South.
The University of Georgia desegregation riot was an incident of mob violence by proponents of racial segregation on January 11, 1961. The riot was caused by segregationist's protest over the desegregation of the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia following the enrollment of Hamilton E. Holmes and Charlayne Hunter, two African American students. The two had been admitted to the school several days earlier following a lengthy application process that led to a court order mandating that the university accept them. On January 11, several days after the two had registered, a group of approximately 1,000 people conducted a riot outside of Hunter's dormitory. In the aftermath, Holmes and Hunter were suspended by the university's dean, though this suspension was later overturned by a court order. Several rioters were arrested, with several students placed on disciplinary probation, but no one was charged with inciting the riot. In an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it was revealed that some of the riot organizers were in contact with elected state officials who approved of the riot and assured them of immunity for conducting the riot.
Located in: Auburn, Alabama | ||
| Academics |  | |
| Athletics | ||
| Campus | ||
| Student life | ||
| Traditions | ||
| Outreach | ||
| ||