Pollie Anne Myers-Pinkins (née Myers; July 14, 1932 – March 17, 2003) was an American civil rights activist, who along with Autherine Lucy, were the first African Americans admitted to the University of Alabama in 1952.[1][2][3][4]

Early life

Pinkins was born on July 14, 1932, to Alice Lamb and Henry Myers. She attended the historically black college of Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama.[5]

Application to the University of Alabama

On September 24, 1952 Hudson, and close friend Autherine Lucy, applied to the University of Alabama without indicating their race and were accepted. The idea had been hatched by Pinkins, who convinced the hesitant Lucy to go along with the plot.[6] Lucy later said, "I thought she was joking at first, I really did."[7] The newspaper, the Birmingham World, which Pinkins worked at, celebrated their admission on the front page. Realizing who the applicants were, the University soon began to backtrack. On October 10, 1955 the Supreme Court ordered the University to admit the two women.[8] Over three years later, the University allowed Lucy to attend on the condition that Pinkins could not. They claimed that Pinkins could not attend the school since she was an unsuitable student due to the fact that she had married after she had become pregnant out of wedlock.[9]

Personal life

Pinkins went on to get a master's degree in education from Wayne State University.[10] Pinkins was married twice. Her second marriage was to Robert Pinkins.[11] She had five children, three sons and two daughters. Myers died in Detroit, Michigan in 2003.

Legacy

The Black Alumni Association at the University of Alabama gives out a scholarship called the Pollie Anne Myers-Pinkins AAAN Endowed Scholarship in honor of Pinkins every year.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Taking on the University of Alabama - Alternative Rhetoric". Alternativerhetoric.web.unc.edu.
  2. ↑ Kuettner, Al (12 January 2019). March to a Promised Land: The Civil Rights Files of a White Reporter, 1952-1968. Capital Books. ISBN 9781933102283 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ "Education: Alabama's Scandal". Time. 20 February 1956. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  4. ↑ "An Indomitable Spirit: Autherine Lucy". National Museum of African American History and Culture. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  5. ↑ "Pollie Anner Myers-Pinkins Obituary: View Pollie Myers-Pinkins's Obituary by the Birmingham News". Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  6. ↑ "Taking on the University of Alabama - Alternative Rhetoric". Alternativerhetoric.web.unc.edu. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  7. ↑ "An Indomitable Spirit: Autherine Lucy". 11 October 2017.
  8. ↑ Kueltter, Al (2006). March to a Promised Land: The Civil Rights Files of a White Reporter, 1952-1968. United States: Capital Books. p. 23. ISBN 978-1933102283.
  9. ↑ "Alabama's own, Aurtherine Lucy born". African American Registry. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  10. ↑ "Pollie Myers-Pinkins Obituary (2003) - Birmingham, AL - The Birmingham News". obits.al.com. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  11. ↑ "Pollie Myers-Pinkins Obituary - Birmingham, Alabama | Legacy.com". Legacy.com. Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  12. ↑ "Contribute to Alumni Chapter Scholarship – alumni.ua.edu | The University of Alabama". alumni.ua.edu. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 2021-03-29.


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