“There will come a day in your life when you must act for others–your family, perhaps your community–and you must be ready. What you have done to reach this milestone today is part of that preparation. So take from all the books you have read, all the lessons you have learned, the certain knowledge that one day, any day, you must be bold, have courage, and walk through a door that leads to opportunity for others.”

— Vivian Malone Jones (class of 1965), in her commencement speech to the UA class of 2000

June 11 marks the anniversary of the successful integration of The University of Alabama. It was on that day in 1963 that Vivian Malone and James Hood registered for classes in Foster Auditorium. On that day, all eyes were on our campus, witnessing both a “stand” and more importantly a profound and bold act of courage.

Two short years later, Ms. Malone graduated from The University of Alabama, and featured above is a page from the 1965 University of Alabama yearbook, the Corolla with her senior picture, along with thirty-one of her classmates (she is the face in the third row from the top and in the third column from the left). It’s impossible to measure just what went it took to be just another face on a page in that yearbook. Ms. Malone’s being “just another senior” in the graduating class of 1965, forty-four short years ago, is something worth recognizing, pondering, commemorating.

The entire 1965 Corolla (volume 73) is available online through our digital program and was made possible by Shirley Dowling McCrary as part of the University Libraries’ Corolla Digital Initiative.

In addition, a full run (1893-present) of the Corollas are available to browse in the Hoole Library’s Gandrud Reading Room. An exhibit of Corollas is currently on display in Gorgas Library on the 2nd floor in the Pearce foyer. If you are interested in sponsoring the digitization of a Corolla, please contact us.