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

"Opening the Doors" is a wide-ranging account of the University of AlabamaOCOs 1956 and 1963 desegregation attempts, as well as the little-known story of Tuscaloosa, AlabamaOCOs, own civil rights movement." "Whereas E. Culpepper ClarkOCOs "The Schoolhouse Door" remains the standard history of the University of AlabamaOCOs desegregation, in "Opening the Doors "B. J. Hollars focuses on TuscaloosaOCOs purposeful divide between OC townOCO and OC gown, OCO providing a new contextual framework for this landmark period in civil rights history.a The image of George WallaceOCOs stand in the schoolhouse door has long burned in American consciousness; however, just as interesting are the circumstances that led him there in the first place, a process that proved successful due to the concerted efforts of dedicated student leaders, a progressive university president, a steadfast administration, and secret negotiations between the U.S. Justice Department, the White House, and AlabamaOCOs stubborn governor. In the months directly following Governor WallaceOCOs infamous stand, Tuscaloosa became home to a leader of a very different kind: twenty-eight-year-old African American reverend T. Y. Rogers, an up-and-comer in the civil rights movement, as well as the prot(r)g(r) of Martin Luther King Jr. After taking a post at TuscaloosaOCOs First African Baptist Church, Rogers began laying the groundwork for the cityOCOs own civil rights movement. In the summer of 1964, the struggle for equality in Tuscaloosa resulted in the integration of the cityOCOs public facilities, a march on the county courthouse, a bloody battle between police and protesters, confrontations with the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, a bus boycott, and the near-accidental-lynching of movie star Jack Palance.a Relying heavily on new firsthand accounts and personal interviews, newspapers, previously classified documents, and archival research, HollarsOCOs in-depth reporting reveals the courage and conviction of a town, its university, and the people who call it home. "