Survey Seeks Feedback For Renaming Certain UA Buildings

TUSCALOOSA, AL. — Race issues have been brought to the national forefront over the last several months, prompting communities and institutions to re-examine how they display their history. At the University of Alabama, a survey is now available for those to make suggestions for renaming certain buildings that many say currently bear the legacies of slavery and segregation, while honoring those who propagated them.

Historian Hilary Green, an assistant professor in the University of Alabama’s Department of Gender and Race Studies, has conducted intimate research concerning the buildings and has also played a pivotal role in calling for a change.

“The current building names and plaques offer incomplete and sanitized history and reflects the values of a previous generation that accepted glorifying enslavers, Klansmen and white supremacists and normalized their racial thinking and actions and told others to accept this whitewashed history without question,” she told Patch on Tuesday. “It is not erasing history but a recognition of the full history that must be told in the present.”

Green then referred to the current nationwide movement, a component of which is addressing Confederate iconography and imagery glorifying those who profited from and fought for the institution of slavery, as a "21st century reckoning" that first began with desegregation more than half a century ago.

“The process could be clearer and more transparent,” she said. “But, I am glad that the campus is having these conversations and making the necessary changes for moving the campus to a more diverse and inclusive future.”

Across the country, young people have played a pivotal role in many instances of addressing systemic racism and its images, with UA proving no exception, Green said.

She then pointed to the student-created petition in June that helped initiate the current renaming effort and revision of the campus landscape.

One recent example that has been discussed centers on a petition to rename Moore Hall in honor of Dr. Archie Wade — the first Black faculty member at the university.

“Young people continue to be a catalyst for change at UA and elsewhere,” she said. “Students are one of the major campus stakeholders who cope with the current landscape on a daily and sustained basis. Their voices must be included, as should current faculty, staff, and administrators, in developing a community-based solution that reflects the current demographics, institutional mission, and values of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

The wheels of progress may be turning, Green said, but there are still blind spots that should be addressed.

“In the survey, only a few buildings were identified,” Green commented. “There are more buildings that should be addressed. In addition, the hiring and retention of faculty of color, the need for equity in distribution of resources, admission of diverse student body, scholarships, curriculum where students gain exposure to diverse, equity and inclusion, to name a few, is needed.”

Green also said while it is easy to “remove old stuff and add new things,” the other changes she mentioned will require time, sustained institutional commitment and ongoing financial commitments.

“This is the difficult work that must continue after the renaming of a few buildings,” she said.
UA says the survey will close at midnight on Monday, Aug. 3.

Click here to participate in the survey.

BUILDINGS AND HISTORY

B.B. Comer Hall: Housing the university’s Department of Modern Languages, the building bears the name of segregationist and white supremacist Braxton Bragg Comer — the 33rd governor of Alabama and a U.S. senator. Comer’s family is reported to have used slaves on their plantation, in addition to African-American convict lease labor after emancipation.

Bibb Graves Hall: Named for Alabama Governor David Bibb Graves, the hall bearing his name houses the Office of Clinical Experiences and the programs and faculty offices for curriculum and instruction, according to UA. Graves was a noted white supremacist and exalted cyclops of the Montgomery chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.

Manly Hall: Ironically, the UA Department of Gender and Race studies is housed in Manly Hall, which is named for the second president of the university Basil Manley. The group pushing to change the name says Manly was an early proponent of secession and a “staunch defender” of slavery.

Morgan Hall: Home to the university’s English department, Morgan Hall bears the name of Confederate general and noted klansman John T. Morgan.

Moore Hall: Housing the offices of the Department of Kinesiology, Moore Hall is named for the first dean of the university’s graduate school, A. B. Moore, who is “accused of actively denying admission to African-American students."

Nott Hall: This building features the name of Dr. Joshua C. Nott, who was a "separate, not equal theorist." Nott’s 1854 book “Types of Mankind” was reportedly used to justify Black disenfranchisement well into the 20th century.