Which Black student became the first to attend the University of Alabama in 1956?

Autherine Lucy became the first Black student to attend the University of Alabama in 1956.

Lucy applied to the university with fellow student Pollie Myers in 1952. Their admission was initially blocked, and Lucy pursued a legal challenge with help from the NAACP. After the federal court ordered the university to admit her, she enrolled on February 3, 1956.

Her attendance triggered violent white protests on campus. Demonstrators threw objects and made threats, while university officials temporarily suspended Lucy, claiming concern for her safety. A court later ruled that the university had improperly expelled her, but Alabama officials then permanently expelled her on charges related to statements made during the litigation.

Lucy’s brief enrollment exposed the resistance that Black students faced even after Brown v. Board of Education. The university eventually admitted Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood in 1963. In 1988, Alabama formally restored Lucy’s status and awarded her a master’s degree.