Autherine Lucy Foster could only pause for a moment a few days ago at her Alabama home. Her husband Hugh was waiting for her, and she did not have much time to speak of a convention in Buffalo almost 63 years ago that also featured Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a gathering emblematic of the courage honored by Monday's national holiday.
Foster remembered. Those were not days that fade away.
At 89, she is a living icon of the American civil rights movement. Early in 1956, Foster was attacked by a mob that threw rotten eggs, grew to thousands and eventually forced her off campus as she attempted to settle in as the first African-American student to attend the University of Alabama.
Six months later, in August, she joined a stunning array of historical figures in Buffalo at the old Statler Hotel (https://buffaloah.com/h/statler/hotel/), including the 27-year-old King. They were honored guests at a five-day national conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the first Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
...According to Robert Harris, the Alpha Phi Alpha historian, the cover of 'The Sphinx' captures the three Alpha founders who attended the conference in Buffalo: left to right, George B. Kelley, Henry A. Callis and Nathaniel A. Murray. Scroll inside the piece to read detailed coverage.
Read the article in its entirety in The Buffalo News.
