A decision to change last week to add the name Autherine Lucy foster, who briefed at the all-white state high school in 1956, to a building to honor Bibb Graves (a progressive, proeducation governor who also led a Montgomery KKK organization a century ago) was reversed by the unanimous vote.
Trustees have decided that the classroom building will now be called Autherine Lucy Hall rather than Lucy-Graves Hall.
John England, a former trustee, said that “it’s never too late for the right decision.” He was a former trustee and led a committee which recommended the joint name but then reversed itself following criticisms that Graves wasn’t worthy to be named alongside Lucy, now 92, and living in metropolitan Birmingham.
Trustees did not mention Graves’ leadership role in the hate group at an online meeting. England however stated that some people were curious why “Foster”, the married name of the woman, wasn’t on the structure.
Foster’s family wanted Foster to use her maiden names because she was Autherine Lucy when she first came to campus. Foster expressed her ambivalence at being honored alongside Graves. She said she didn’t know enough about Graves or sought out recognition, but she would accept it.
Foster attended briefly classes at Graves Hall, but she was forced to leave after three days of protests and threats by whites. The university awarded Foster an honorary degree in 2019. She had previously returned to the university in 1992 and received a master’s in education.
England claimed that Foster was the original reason for renaming Lucy-Graves Hall Lucy-Graves Hall, but England later said that Foster’s intent “sorta took the background”. Students were among those who complained about the inappropriate retention of the name of a Klan leader at a campus building.
He said, “That’s what we didn’t want.”
In recent years, several Alabama universities removed Graves’ name from their buildings as the nation rethought its history and white supremacy. Troy University renamed the Bibb Graves Hall in honor of Rep. John Lewis. Lewis was denied admission to Troy University in 1957. He led the voting rights marchers in Selma, 1965.
