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James Hood (born c. 1943) was one of the first African Americans to enroll at the University of Alabama
University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a state university coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1831, UA is the flagship university of the University of Alabama System....
 in 1963 and was made famous when Alabama
Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
 Governor
Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the Executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state. In federations, a governor may be the title of each appointed or elected politician who governs a constitutive state....
 George Wallace
George Wallace

George Corley Wallace Jr. , was a Governor of Alabama of Alabama for four terms . He ran for President of the United States four times, running officially as a Democratic Party three times and in the American Independent Party once....
 blocked them from enrolling at the all-white university.

On June 11, 1963, in a ceremonial demonstration, Wallace stood in front of the university's Foster Auditorium
Foster Auditorium

Foster Auditorium is a multi-purpose facility at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was built in 1939 and has been used for Alabama basketball, women's sports , graduations, lectures, concerts, and other large gatherings, including registration....
 and delivered a short speech in support of state sovereignty. Hood arrived to pay his fees, accompanied by Vivian Malone and U.S.






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James Hood (born c. 1943) was one of the first African Americans to enroll at the University of Alabama
University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a state university coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1831, UA is the flagship university of the University of Alabama System....
 in 1963 and was made famous when Alabama
Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
 Governor
Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the Executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state. In federations, a governor may be the title of each appointed or elected politician who governs a constitutive state....
 George Wallace
George Wallace

George Corley Wallace Jr. , was a Governor of Alabama of Alabama for four terms . He ran for President of the United States four times, running officially as a Democratic Party three times and in the American Independent Party once....
 blocked them from enrolling at the all-white university.

On June 11, 1963, in a ceremonial demonstration, Wallace stood in front of the university's Foster Auditorium
Foster Auditorium

Foster Auditorium is a multi-purpose facility at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was built in 1939 and has been used for Alabama basketball, women's sports , graduations, lectures, concerts, and other large gatherings, including registration....
 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
Nicholas Katzenbach

Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach is an United States lawyer who served as United States Attorney General during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration....
. 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
Henry Graham (General)

File:University of alabama.jpgHenry Vance Graham was a National Guard General who protected black activists during the Civil rights era. He is most famous for asking Alabama Governor George Wallace to step aside and permit black students to register for classes at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa in 1963 during the "Stand in the Sch...
. Hood and Malone then entered the building, albeit through another door. Hood left the university after only two months but returned in 1995 to earn his doctorate degree. 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
Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan is the name of several past and present secret domestic militant organizations in the United States, originating in the southern states and eventually having national scope, that are best known for advocating white supremacy and acting as terrorists while hidden behind conical hats, masks and white robes....
, 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, as Wallace had publicly apologized for his actions.