Former KKK leader’s name removed from dorm at historically Black college in Alabama

An Alabama State University residence hall honoring a former governor and Ku Klux Klan chapter leader will be renamed, university officials announced Wednesday.

Employees at the historically Black college stripped the name Bibb Graves from the women’s dormitory this week after a unanimous vote by the ASU Board of Trustees. The building was named in 1928 to honor Graves, a pro-education governor who was “closely allied” with the white supremacist hate group, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

ASU President Dr. Quinton T. Ross Jr. said talks to replace the building’s name have been ongoing since his time as student government president at the Montgomery college. The dorm is central to the ASU campus and houses a historic bell tower.

“This is something that we have planned to do for several months,” Ross said in a statement. “I established a committee to research the names that are on our buildings to determine those who were closely associated with racist organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan. Bibb Graves was a Klan leader at one point, so the decision was made to remove his name from the building.”

Graves shot to political prominence and was elected Alabama governor in 1926 with help from the KKK, according to the university. He was known to play “patronage politics” and formerly served as Grand Cyclops of the Klan’s Montgomery chapter.

Graves later denounced the group’s violence before leaving its ranks in the late 1920’s, the Encyclopedia of Alabama states.

So how did a historically Black university founded by nine emancipated slaves wind up with a building bearing Graves’ name? ASU didn’t have its own independent trustee board until the 1970s. Before then, the state-sponsored HBCU was controlled by an all-white state board of education that reportedly named the dormitory.

McClatchy News reached out to the Alabama State Department of Education for comment and is awaiting response.

Several other state colleges and universities in Alabama also have buildings honoring Graves, including Auburn University, the University of North Alabama and the historically Black Alabama A&M University. In September, officials at the University of Montevallo voted to rename its Bibb Graves Hall, AL.com reported.

Ross said Alabama State will soon start the process of renaming the campus dorm.

“This is the first step,” he said. “I am proud that we are able to make this happen during my tenure as President of the University.”