James Hood, who was one of the first black students to enroll at the University of Alabama has passed away. Hood enrolled at the University even after Gov. George Wallace tried to block him from joining the University.
At the age of 70 Hood passed away on Thursday reported The Associated Press. At the time Alabama Gov. George Wallace failed to prevent hood and another student, Vivian Malone from registering from classes at the University of Alabama in 1963.
Accompanied by Deputy U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach Hood and Malone entered the university to register for their classes and Wallace backed down after the registration occurred.
"His connection to the university continued decades later when he returned to UA to earn his doctorate in 1997. He was a valued member of The University of Alabama community, and he will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time," UA President Judy Bonner.
Hood went to school at the University of Alabama for a few months before he moved to Michigan and received his bachelors degree from Wayne State University and a Masters from Michigan State. He then moved to Wisconsin and worked at the Madison Area Technical College for 26 years, reported The AP.
Wallace campaigned for governor in 1962 and said he would block any plans by the government to integrate Alabama's totally white schools and universities. The Los Angeles Times reported that in his inaugural address he said, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
Hood saw an article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that reported, based on a survey of students who attended Clark College where he was attending at the time, that black students were not capable of higher level thinking, reported the LA Times. He wrote the editor of the newspaper to complain about the article and he received a reply on toilet paper that said he wasn't smart enough to question the newspapers editors.
When Hood and Malone waited in line to register for classes at the University of Alabama, Wallace literally refused to move which prompted President John F. Kennedy to call the National Guard and force him to, reported the LA Times.
"I didn't have sense enough to be scared," Hood said to the Green Bay (Wis.) Press-Gazette in 2005 "At 19 years old, I didn't believe I could die. I had been assured by the president of the United States that he would do everything in his power to assure that we would live."
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