On September 9, 1963, Sonnie Hereford IV began school at Fifth Avenue School in Huntsville, Madison County, accompanied by his father Sonnie Hereford III, a physician and civil rights activist. He is widely believed to be the first Black student to integrate Alabama's White public schools. Later that day, David (Piggee) Osman, John Anthony Brewton, and Veronica Pearson integrated other Huntsville schools. (St. Joseph's Mission, a local Black Catholic school, had integrated on September 3, admitting 12 White students.)
Public School Integration in Huntsville
Courtesy of HMCPL Special Collections.
