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James Hood (born c. 1943) was one of the first African Americans to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963 and was made famous when Alabama Governor George Wallace blocked him from enrolling at the all-white university.^[1]

On June 11, 1963, in a ceremonial demonstration, Wallace stood in front of the university's Foster Auditorium and delivered a short speech in support of state sovereignty. Hood arrived to pay his fees, accompanied by Vivian Malone and U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach. Wallace, backed by state troopers, refused them entry. President Kennedy nationalized the Alabama National Guard later the same day, which put them under the command of the President, rather than the Governor of Alabama. Guardsmen escorted Hood and Malone back to the auditorium, where Wallace moved aside at the request of General Henry Graham. Hood and Malone then entered the building, albeit through another door.^[2] Hood left the university after only two months but returned in 1995 to earn his doctorate degree.^[3] On May 17, 1997 he received his Ph.D.

According to Wallace's secretary, Wallace's action was intended to avoid a more violent demonstration by the Ku Klux Klan, which Wallace himself had opposed before embracing it out of political necessity. In 1997, Wallace planned to give Hood his degree, but poor health prevented him from attending the ceremony. Hood himself was convinced that Wallace was sincere after that meeting, as he wrote in an interchange following the PBS documentary on Wallace, Setting the Woods on Fire. Hood attended Wallace's funeral in 1998, imploring others to forgive Wallace as he had,^[4] as Wallace had publicly apologized for his actions.^[5]

See also

• Stand in the Schoolhouse Door

References