History to Herstory: When The Tide Turned at The University of Alabama

The purpose of my paper is to unpack the standard and traditional histoircal narrative of this university. My paper argues that the history of this university was altered by the herstory of Autherine Lucy Foster and Vivian Malone Jones. My work focuses on notions of space and place for black students at predominantly white universities in the south. This university serves as the case study for my work. In an ethnographic sense, black women form the center of my research interests. More specifically, I'm drawn to the herstories of Autherine Lucy Foster and Vivian Malone Jones. I realize that they left footprints for me as an African American woman here on this campus. Without their bravery and courage, I could not have designed and crafted a blueprint out of their footprints. Conversely, their blueprints have encouraged me to use my footprints to walk out their legacies of social justice and change.