Credit: Library of Congress
Media type: photograph
Museum Number: LC-USZ62-108276
Annotation: Autherine Lucy, the first African American student to be admitted to the University of Alabama in 1956, is shown with her attorneys Thurgood Marshall and Arthur Shore. The case went to court in 1953, and a decision to prohibit the university from rejecting Lucy based on race was reached in 1955. This decision was amended days later to apply to all African American students seeking to enter the University of Alabama. Lucy enrolled on February 3, 1956, but was expelled for her own safety three days later. Marshall and Shores went back to court but were forced to withdraw the case due to lack of support. Lucy's expulsion was finally overturned in 1988. -From the Library of Congress
Year: 1956