On June 11, 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace came to national prominence when he kept a campaign pledge to stand in the schoolhouse door to block integration of the state’s public schools. Wallace read this proclamation when he first stood in the doorway of Foster Auditorium to block the attempt of two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, to register at UA. The event became known as “The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door.”

President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard and ordered its units to the University campus. Wallace finally stepped aside and returned to Montgomery, allowing the students to enter.

Wallace died Sept. 13, 1998.

Source: Alabama Department of Archives and History