06/19/2026
On this , we celebrate the legacies of two individuals who walked the halls of the Alabama Museum of Natural History on the same day, but for very different reasons. Jefferson Davis Jackson was born in 1877 to a freedman and woman. From the age of 10 or 11, he began working for the Geological Survey of Alabama and The University of Alabama. Mr. J.D. served as a paleontologist, archaeologist, geologist, chef, collections manager, exhibit fabricator, custodian, and driver without recognition because of the color of his skin. One of the longest serving employees at the University (if not the longest), he retired in September 1956. He was known to have never taken a sick day or vacation day during his tenure, which would put him in the building on February 3 and 6, 1956, when Autherine Lucy attended her geography class on the second floor of Smith Hall.
On that Friday in February, Autherine Lucy officially integrated The University of Alabama; however, this integration was short lived. She was faced with death threats, violence, and other forms of harassment. Nevertheless, she persisted. Ultimately, the Board of Trustees voted to remove Autherine Lucy from campus citing it was for her own “safety.” Rather than protect her right to an equitable education, they chose to be complicit.
Although we will never know if for a moment in time they crossed paths, we do know that they entered the building those mornings representing two crucial moments of our nation’s history. One, a man who would have heard stories of his family's enslavement in Tuscaloosa, and the other, a woman courageously paving a new path towards a more equitable education. This timeline puts into perspective how little time has passed between enslavement and modernity.
Today, we ask the same question Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. posed to us in 1965 after he and other foot soldiers completed their march from Selma to Montgomery: “How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” In this speech, Rev. Dr. King, Jr. made it clear that the Movement could not be shaken by opposing voices and that one day justice will come. That day eventually came for Autherine Lucy and Jefferson Davis Jackson.
For more information on their lives and legacies, visit our exhibits located within our Grand Gallery. → https://bit.ly/3W4KdDl
Photo Credit: Autherine Lucy photograph provided by Hoole Special Collections and Jefferson Davis Jackson photograph provided by Bethel Baptist Church.
