
Auburn
Auburn University remained segregated for more than a century after its founding in 1856. 107 years later, in 1963, Harold Franklin, an African American veteran of the Korean War and an alumnus Alabama State University, applied to attend law school at Auburn. The university denied his admittance. Only after he filed a class-action lawsuit, did the university admit him under the orders of a U.S. district judge. Consequently, Auburn was officially desegregated on Jan. 4, 1964, when Franklin enrolled for graduate classes. Protestors soon assembled and, as the only black student on campus, Franklin lived alone in a wing of an all-white dormitory. Ultimately, Franklin met resistance involving his master’s thesis on civil rights. Though he performed well otherwise, professors at Auburn rejected several versions of his thesis. Witnesses recalled, “It was designed to force him to leave.” The ongoing harassment took its toll and he eventually left Auburn and completed his education at the University of Denver. He enjoyed a successful 27-year career in higher education.