Vasha Hunt/Opelika-Auburn NewsWillie Wyatt Jr. thanks the crowd as Notasulga honored Anthony Lee (in background) and Wyatt, two of three seniors who integrated Macon County High School in Notasulga, Ala., in 1964. The Notasulga class of 2012 invited the pair to walk with them to right the wrongs they suffered in the early '60s.
By: | jwinfrey@oanow.com
Published: May 23, 2012
Published: May 23, 2012
TUSKEGEE — Nearly 50 years after finishing high school, Anthony Lee and Willie Wyatt Jr. finally got to graduate.
Both men took part in Notasulga High School’s graduation Wednesday, participating in a ceremony they never experienced as seniors.
Lee and Wyatt were two of three seniors, along with three underclassmen, who integrated Macon County High School, now Notasulga High School, in 1964.
Both men, along with civil rights attorney Fred Gray, spoke at the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center on Wednesday afternoon.
The program was part of a collaborative effort between the multicultural center and Auburn University to preserve the record of desegregation in Macon County.
Wyatt did most of the talking as he recounted the experiences both he and Lee faced in the days of segregation.
Wyatt said that as a senior at all-black Tuskegee Institute High School, he was first asked to integrate all-white Tuskegee High School. In an effort to prevent integration, Gov. George Wallace closed the school and surrounded it with armed guards.
“The Alabama State Patrol boarded our bus and told the driver to take us home,” Wyatt Jr. said.
Later in the year, black students were split between Shorter High School and Macon County High School, both white schools. Six students went to Shorter, while the other six, including Wyatt and Lee, went to Macon County High.
Wyatt said they remained at Macon County High for about two months until the school was mysteriously burned one weekend.
After the school’s burning, all of their classes were held in the gymnasium since there weren’t many students left and most of the school was closed, Wyatt said.
“One day around 2:30 p.m., our principal walked into the gym,” Wyatt recalled. “He handed us our diplomas and that was the end of my senior year.”
Gray spoke in high regard for both Lee and Wyatt.
“These two men put their lives on the line for a quality education,” he said.
Gray was involved in the historic case, Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, which started out as a simple desegregation case against all public schools in Macon County but eventually led to a statewide order to desegregate all elementary and secondary schools.
Both men were asked if they had known then how heroic their actions had been.
Lee said that he didn’t look at it like that.
“We weren’t conscious what were doing would then make history today,” Lee said. “We were just trying to get a good, basic education.”
Both are retired now.
Robert Judkins, the third senior, passed away, but he too was remembered at Notasulga’s graduation Wednesday.
Auburn University professor Mark Wilson said the event was a direct result of Auburn University’s desire to be active in public life.
“I see this event as a way to honor these guys for their bravery and commitment to our state and country,” Wilson said. “They didn’t have a graduation ceremony in 1964, so 48 years later they get to walk across the stage.”
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