Autherine Lucy Foster to Visit

Autherine Lucy Foster to Visit, Lecture at UA

Autherine Lucy Foster, right, with daughter Grazia

Autherine Lucy Foster (right) and her daughter, Grazia, at their graduation from UA in 1992.

Autherine Lucy Foster, the first black student to enroll at the University, will speak on campus Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m., in room 10, Alston Hall. Co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the department of history, the African-American Studies Program, the Alabama Scholars Association and the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusiveness at UA, the lecture is entitled "Braving the Uncertain Future with Certainty." Foster will be at Stillman College earlier in the day, at 11 a.m., in 143 Wynn Center, and visiting Westlawn Middle School in the afternoon. Admission is free and the lecture is open to the public.

Foster graduated from Miles College in 1952, but aspired to get a degree from UA. She enrolled in 1956, only to be expelled "for her own safety." She returned to speak in the 1980s, when the Board of Trustees overturned her expulsion.

Foster has since earned a degree at UA, enrolling in a master's program in the late 1980s when her daughter, Grazia Foster, was also enrolled. In 1992, mother and daughter graduated together, Autherine Lucy Foster with a master's degree in elementary education and Grazia Foster with a bachelor's degree in corporate finance. A portrait of Autherine Lucy Foster hangs in Ferguson Center.