The Schoolhouse Door by Clark
E. Culpepper Clark's book is a well-researched and crisply written narrative that draws its energy from the drama of the desegregation crisis in the postwar South...The first part of the story, covering the period 1943-57, centers on the admission to and expulsion from the University of Alabama of Autherine Lucy in 1956. In retrospect this appears as an opportunity for peaceful change that was tragically lost by inept university administrators and trustees, who stalled until Alabama's populist New Deal politics shifted sharply toward segregationist defiance following the bus boycott in Montgomery in 1955-56. The second part centers on the events culminating in Wallace's spectacular stand at Foster Auditorium in June 1963. The flagship at Tuscaloosa, threatened by the research pace of the branch campuses at Birmingham and Huntsville, unable to keep or recruit superior faculty during the post-Sputnik boom years, weakly led by strong politicians like John Patterson and Wallace, emerged from the drama as a badly mauled institution, notable chiefly for its football team and Coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant.
This is a book about threats, intimidation, courage, perseverance, and the morality of an old and rotten way of life finally giving wayThe story moves from the national politics of the Kennedy's confrontations with George Wallace to Wallace's artfully orchestrated public surrender and the impact of the transformation of the base of the Democratic Party in the Southern states as a result. This is a story of high drama about the human spirit and how Lucy's religious faith sustained her through the turmoil and racist threats. The author's research is carefully documented and his access to Lucy is evident. More important, the author clearly identifies the forces of racism, anti-democracy and ignorance. He names names, he discloses the betrayals, and he pierces the hypocrisies of the politicians and leaders who failed. * Nashville Banner *
E. Culpepper Clark is Executive Assistant to the President at the University of Alabama, where he is also Professor with appointments in Speech Communication and History. He is the author of Francis Warrington Dawson and the Politics of Restoration: South Carolina, 1874-1889.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780195096583 |
| ISBN 10 | 0195096584 |
| Title | The Schoolhouse Door |
| Author | Clark |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press Inc |
| Year published | 1995-03-30 |
| Number of pages | 352 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |