March 22, 1967

A federal three-judge panel presiding over Lee v. Macon County Board of Education ordered every school district in Alabama not under an existing court order to desegregate. A pivotal civil rights case with national implications, Lee v. Macon County Board of Education started in 1963 as a suit by attorney Fred Gray on behalf of 14 black students who had been denied admission to all-white Tuskegee High School. The lawsuit later expanded to include all the state’s primary and secondary schools, two-year postsecondary schools and public universities. In December 1967, the decision was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Wallace v. United States.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Students who fought segregation in Alabama’s education system in the 1963 lawsuit Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, filed by civil rights attorney Fred Gray. From left, Robert Judkins, Shirley Chambliss, Wilma Jones, Wille B. Wyatt Jr., Janis Carter, Helois Billes, Carmen Judkins, Ellen Henderson, Anthony T. Lee, Marsha Sullins, Patricia Jones, and Harvey Jackson. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Fred Gray)

Civil rights attorney Fred Gray speaks at a symposium celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Lee v. Macon County case, which was instrumental in desegregating schools in the 1960s. The event was held at Tuskegee University on Aug. 23-24, 2013. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Victoria Santos, College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.