Opening the Doors: The Desegregation of the University of Alabama and the Fight for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Aproject of this size and scope could never have been completed without the help of an incredibly dedicated team of writers, researchers, scholars, ar­ chivists, curators, journalists, colleagues, and friends. I am indebted to so many, and while this list is sorely incomplete, allow me to offer a pub­ lic thank you to Simon Wendt, E. Culpepper Clark, Anthony Blasi, Alan DeSantis, Brett Spencer, Betty Stowe, Chief Deputy Ron Abernathy, Elaine Gray, Captain Loyd Baker, Sheriff Ted Sexton, Jessica Lacher-­ Feldman, Laura Anderson, Steve Davis, Mary McManus, Helen Shores Lee, Laura Becherer, Jamie Vue, and in particular, to the many dedicated archivists at the W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library at the University of Alabama, the Birmingham Civil RightsInstituteArchives,andtheColumbiaUniversityArchives.Iamalsoindebtedtothemenandwomenwhowerewillingtosharetheirstorieswithme : Hank Black, Harvey Burg, Theresa Burroughs, Harris Cornett, Walter Flowers III, Dr. Raymond Fowler, Joyce Lamont, Reverend Thomas (T. W.) Linton , Dick Looser, William (Bill) G. Marable, William M. Marable II, Bettye Rogers Maye, Wali Ali Meyer, Stan Murphy, Bob Penny, Don Siegal, Donald Stewart, Dr. Jim Webb, and Dr. John Worsham. A thank you to the organizers of the University of Alabama’s “Opening Doors” celebration of June 2003, whose title I have slightly altered for this book,aswellastheMalone-­HoodPlazaorganizers,whosephrase“ANewBeginning ” I have employed in my epilogue. To my spring 2011 African Ameri­can literature classes at the University of Alabama. To my colleagues both at the University of Alabama and the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, as well as support received from the University x Acknowledgments of Wisconsin–Eau Claire’s University Research and Creative Activity Grant Program. To the good people of Tuscaloosa past and present. To my beautiful and understanding wife. And most of all, to young Henry—this will always seem like ancient history to you. Opening the Doors ...