University of Alabama's First Black Student Suspended After White Students Protest

In 1952, autherine lucy, a young, black woman, was accepted into the university of alabama. But once the school realized she was african-american, they told her state law did not allow her to attend. That sparked a three-year legal battle, and the united states supreme court eventually ruled in her favor. On february 3, 1956, miss lucy attended her first classes, but she had to pass through crowds of hostile students on the campus.

Those protests against desegregation continued and on the fourth day, escalated into a full-scale riot. Thousands of angry white students and community members followed lucy, hurling threats, racial slurs, eggs, and rocks at her. She had to be rescued by police. At the end of the day, citing safety concerns, university officials suspended her. Lucy's legal team, which included attorney thurgood marshall, challenged that decision, but eventually, they lost. That ended miss lucy's efforts to desegregate the university of alabama.