Uncovering Alabama A&M’s History in the Archive

Alabama A&M University was founded in 1875 by an ex-slave named William Hooper Council. He was born into slavery in North Carolina, and found himself sold and separated from his family in Normal, Alabama. In the year of 1875 the Alabama state legislature appointed Mr. Council, who was 26 at the time, as the first principal of the State Colored Normal School at Huntsville. This school would eventually undergo several name changes until it receives its present name nearly a century after its inception.

My institution had a small beginning like many others, but its history is rich. At one point, the tuition was only $1,000 per year, with an enrollment of 61 students under the instruction of two teachers. The school was intended to train African American teachers to work in the segregated school system.

“…and so if you ever look at the politics of north Alabama, you'll find that it's different from the middle of Alabama or south Alabama. So I mean it--and it plays itself out in many ways….”

The matter of segregation in the Alabama school system grabbed my interest, so I began to search The HistoryMakers Digital Archive on people’s experience with it. This was intriguing since my current institution directly contributed to the resources need by minority schools. I searched Segregation Alabama Schools and found a video by a HistoryMaker named Dorthy Cowser Yancy. When she was advancing to high school in Alabama, a new school was built for black students in her city. This was a school built for the sole purpose of keeping the schools segregated. Just for context, her new high school was built in 1956, just two years after Brown vs. The Board of Education. She told a story about how she and her friends raised money to fund some of the things needed for the school. She also discussed the trouble she caused by visiting the white school with some of her friends. They were not blind to the fact that they were being separated, so the 5 young ladies went to the other school to see what the differences were. To their surprise, the differences were not as significant as they thought. Although they went genuinely out of curiosity, the white principal from the school they were visiting was suspicious of the visit. He accused them of spying, and having some sort of ulterior motive.

George E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James M. Nabrit join hands outside the U.S. Supreme Court

In another story of hers, she mentioned that one of her teachers in grade school was trained at what is now Alabama A&M University. Using the stories search, I typed in “Alabama A&M University”. I found a lot of great videos. The first history maker that I heard from was a man named Joseph Lowery. By listening to his story, I was able to learn some things about my school that I was unfamiliar with. In one of his stories, he talked about the schools he attended. He mentioned that he attended a high school by the name of Council Training School, which was on Alabama A&M’s campus. I am entering my third year at the institution, and I was completely unaware that there was ever a high school on the campus. This made me think about the school my grandad attended by the name of University Highschool on the campus of FAMU (Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University). Based on my research and knowledge thus far, I can infer that high schools at HBCU’s must have been a normal thing in that era.

A placard in Huntsville, Alabama, about Council Training School.

After listening to Mr. Lowery’s story, I tired to search the past names of my Institution. I started with The State Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes but this yielded no results. Next, I searched “The State Agricultural and Mechanical Institute for Negroes”. With this search I was able to hear from a History Maker by the name of Dr. John Cashin. He talked about his mother’s experience in in higher education and early adult life. He mentioned that she attended The State Agricultural and Mechanical Institute for Negroes for undergrad. Dr. Cashin also mentioned that she graduated with the notable Louis Crews, who our stadium is named in honor of.

Moving along in my search of names, I used the stories search to explore “Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College”. This resulted in 48 stories. I viewed a story of a History Maker by the name of James Roberson. His interview was especially intriguing to me. He mentioned lots of familiar names that buildings on my campus are named after, such as L.R. Patton (school treasurer) and Richard D. Morrison, who was serving as the president at the time.  Mr. Roberson was a trailblazer both in his family, and on his campus. He was a first-generation college graduate, and he also served as student council president. He attended Alabama A&M during a pivotal time. The college was seeking to elevate to university status. At the time of the campus evaluation to earn university status, Roberson organized a protest to encourage change on campus. He felt that some of the rules, and living conditions needed urgent attention. His plan was effective. He ended up getting the attention of the president and they both got desired outcomes. The college was able to pass its evaluation and become a university, and the students’ desires were fulfilled. This was accomplished by 1964.

Patton Hall at

Alabama A&M University,

named after L.R. Patton

Circling back to my original search of Alabama A&M University, I wanted to the see the most recent stories in the archive. I narrowed the search to 1968 which was the most recent year relating to “Alabama A&M University”. I found a video by Mr. Robert Bullard. He discussed the lack of political involvement at Alabama A&M in the late 60’s. His prospective was intriguing because it was relatable. He talked about the lack of interest to get involved in political matters due to the environment. Huntsville Alabama is located at the top part of Alabama. I often refer to it as the hidden gem of the state. Most people are unaware of how progressive Huntsville is. There is NASA, Redstone Arsenal, and lots of new business coming into the city. I would be wrong to say that there were no racial tensions in Huntsville during his time at A&M, but it was not an issue focused on by the majority of students. A little fun fact about Huntsville, the city has the highest number of African American PHD’s per capita in the country. Most blacks functioning in Huntsville were likely professional workers living a decent quality of life. This is probably why more people didn’t physically participate the pressing race issue.

This past year, a lot of events were broadcasted on social media. These historical events caused a lot of uproar throughout America. Being a student at school during that time period was definitely unforgettable. Although I attended school in this “bubble” I was able to see the prejudice that we were surrounded by off campus. One Black Lives Matter protester was shot with a rubber bullet during a protest. I was able to see photos, and it was a gory sight. There was another group of people protesting that one of my female classmates confronted. There were also groups that surfaced that were in opposition to the minority. I saw photos from places I was familiar with, vandalized with inappropriate messages.

Black Lives Matter mural vandalized

in New York City.

I watched a second video on Mr. Bullard about his experience at Alabama A&M on the day of Dr. King’s assassination. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. In the previous paragraph Mr. Bullard stated that there was a lack of widespread participation in the movement. According to this particular story Alabama A&M was not a desert in regard to political participation. The feeling of empathy, and sorrow was spread throughout the campus, and they moved forward by expressing themselves with a march. I am curious to know the exact route that they marched. Aside from marching off campus, he said they met on the quad, and also gave heartfelt speeches before and after the march. Hearing his accounts, I can almost visualize what it must’ve been like being that I am so familiar with the area. Next time I see alumni on campus from this era, I will defiantly ask for their accounts on the events that took place while at Alabama A&M.

A gathering on the quad at Alabama A&M

Continuing my search in the year of 1968, I found a video about Sylvia Bozeman. She has some similarities with a previous history maker who talked about the conservative nature of Alabama A&M from its inception into the late 60’s. She mentioned that when she got there as a freshman, the students were required to be in their rooms by 6 p.m. every day. She made a point that maybe they were intending to be protective since Huntsville was such a progressive place, but the actual reason for this absurd rule was not mentioned. She said that the students at the time protested to get the rules changed. Their efforts did not go unnoticed and the rules were revised.  

In doing this assignment I learned a lot about my school that I had no idea of. I was able to gain majority of my information from the digital archive. I did use the HistoryMakers website as well at google for some of my information. Posted below are the clips that I used.