Alabama

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  12/19/2020
  

  Jean Graetz, White Supporter of Civil Rights in Alabama, Dies at 90

  Jean Graetz, one of the few white supporters of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, passed away at age 90. 

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• SOURCE: Montgomery Advertiser
  12/3/2020
  

  When the Textbooks Lied, Black Alabamians Turned to Each Other for History

  Edward Ayers and Kevin M. Levin are cited in a discussion of the gradual turn of Alabama's history curriculum away from the Lost Cause mythology and apologetics for slavery. 

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• SOURCE: WKRG
  11/4/2020
  

  New Senator Tuberville Seems to Lack Basic Knowledge of World War II

  Newly elected Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville claimed contrary to fact that his father helped liberate Paris from communism in World War II. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/3/2020
  

  ‘Fifth Girl’ in 1963 Church Bombing Gets an Apology From Alabama’s Governor

  Sarah Collins Rudolph has long argued that officials of the state of Alabama incited racial hatred that encouraged the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and that they must compensate her as a culpable party.

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• SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor
  9/22/2020
  

  Alabama's State Archives Confronts Its Racist Past

  In June, leaders formally acknowledged the department’s past role in perpetuating racism and so-called “lost cause” ideals.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/20/2020
  

  Robert S. Graetz, Rare White Minister to Back Bus Boycott, Dies at 92

  Robert Graetz was a rare white voice in favor of desegregation and an ally to the organizers of the Montgomery bus boycott. 

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• SOURCE: The Grio
  9/20/2020
  

  ‘Fifth Girl’ In 1963 KKK Church Bombing Seeks Apology, Restitution

  Sarah Collins Rudolph argues that the State of Alabama, in the person of Governor George Wallace, directly incited the racial hatred that led to the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church. 

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• SOURCE: Montgomery Advertiser
  8/30/2020
  

  While Auburn Hides Behind Law, Troy University Takes Racist Name Off Building

  by Jennifer Brooks

  A history professor urges her university to defy an Alabama law that prohibits renaming a historic public building; the legacy of civil disobedience from the Civil Rights movement demands nothing less. 

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• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  8/20/2020
  

  Two Women, Their Lives Connected by American Slavery, Tackle Their Shared History

  No reckoning would be adequate, I knew—but looking away was no longer an option. I wrote to Karen that I was thinking of going to Montgomery to look at the Pickett family papers. She suggested we tackle them together.

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• SOURCE: AL.com
  8/5/2020
  

  Confederate Monument Defaced in Downtown Huntsville

  Both the Madison County Commission, which has jurisdiction over the statue, and the Huntsville City Council have passed resolutions calling for the statue to be moved to the city-owned Maple Hill Cemetery.

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  7/28/2020
  

  As John Lewis was Honored in Alabama, a State GOP Legislator Celebrated a KKK Leader’s Birthday

  The lawmaker — who is a chaplain for the Prattville Dragoons, a chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans — attributed the intense blowback he’s facing to “anti-Southern sentiment” amid the country’s ongoing racial reckoning.

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  7/26/2020
  

  John Lewis Makes Final Journey Across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma (Video)

  Hundreds had gathered along the route from the church to the bridge, some traveling hours to see Lewis’s final journey, others lining up in the early morning.

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• SOURCE: AL.com
  6/23/2020
  

  Archives Department Acknowledges Role In Distorting Alabama’s Racial History

  The Alabama Department of Archives & History said in a statement on Tuesday that it is committed to developing programs and exhibits to promote a deeper understanding of the roots and consequences of racism.

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• SOURCE: NBC News
  6/3/2020
  

  'I Chose My City': Birmingham, Alabama, Removes Confederate Monument, Faces State Lawsuit

  Amid a backdrop of national protests, Birmingham isn't the only city faced with how to deal with what some consider outdated and racist relics of the past.

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• 6/7/2020
  

  Excerpt: Routine Dehumanization Under Jim Crow Policing

  by Kevin Shird

  Police in Jim Crow Alabama offered two kinds of outreach to schools: an "Officer Friendly" visit to white children, and traumatizing and intimidating threats of incarceration to black children.

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  6/4/2020
  

  This Moment Cries Out For Us To Confront Race In America

  by Condoleezza Rice

  The Republican former Secretary of State calls for an end to looting and disorder, but recognizes that order must be secured by a renewed commitment to justice. 

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• SOURCE: Tuscaloosa (AL) News
  4/19/2020
  

  A Historic Life

  Friends and colleagues of Alabama historian Sarah Wiggins echoed certain refrains time and again, among them: “She did not suffer fools gladly.”

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• SOURCE: The Washington Post
  3/6/2020
  

  A 1963 Klan Bombing Killed Her Sister and Blinded Her. Now She Wants Restitution.

  Sarah Collins Rudolph, who survived the 1963 church bombing that killed her sister and three other girls, wants restitution and an apology for what she’s suffered.

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• SOURCE: Time
  11/11/19
  

  Montgomery, Ala., Was a Hub of the Slave Trade and a Center of the Civil Rights Movement. It's About to Swear in Its First Black Mayor

  by Olivia B. Waxman

  Montgomery, Alabama elects its first African American Mayor.  

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• SOURCE: Smithsonian Magazine
  9/27/19
  

  Listen to the Stories of Alabama’s Civil Rights Sites

  A new interactive project seeks to preserve oral testimonies connected to 20 historic locations.