Buford Boone papers

This collection documents Boone's career in journalism both in Macon, Georgia and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. His papers cover the years 1924-1981, with the bulk spanning the years 1949-1968, and reflect his career, personal life, and world travels. Of particular interest are the papers dealing with Autherine Lucy’s enrollment at the University of Alabama in 1956; papers dealing with Boone's receipt of the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 for editorial writing, and papers dealing with the 1964-68 Ku Klux Klan law suit. The collection is arranged in the following series: Correspondence, Scrapbooks, Litigation Papers, Speeches, Editorials about Autherine Lucy, Phonograph Records, Cassette Tapes, Theses and Dissertations, News Clippings, Photographs, Memorabilia, Miscellaneous items dealing with his early career and personal life, and Newspapers. The Correspondence consists of letters written to the Tuscaloosa News and to Boone personally, concerning the Lucy incident along with copies of his replies, letters of congratulations on his winning the Pulitzer Prize, a telegram from President Johnson concerning Boone's appointment to a presidential commission (declined), letters from Mr. Lowell Brandle concerning Boone's inclusion in a book about courageous editors, and miscellaneous correspondence dealing with his career. Prominent correspondents include: Martin Luther King, Jr., J. Edgar Hoover, Roy Wilkins. The scrapbooks are fourteen in number. These refer both to personal and professional aspects of Boone's life. Included in the books is information on his early days at the Macon Telegraph, his move to the Tuscaloosa News, columns and editorials by Boone, news clippings and photos of his world travels, clippings of Tuscaloosa News stories on the Lucy incident, his speech to the Citizen's Council in 1957, correspondence, awards, stories of local interest and items dealing with the Pulitzer Prize. The Speech Series consists of copies of speeches given by Boone between 1957 and 1965. The speech and related background materials dealing with his address to the West Alabama Citizen’s Council in January 1957 are of particular interest. The phonograph records in the collection are live recordings of that speech. The papers dealing with the Ku Klux Klan libel suit of 1964 provide information on the activities of the local Klan and Robert Shelton, Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The Autherine Lucy Editorial Series includes copies of editorials written by Boone in 1956 and documents the controversy that surrounded Boone because of his editorials. These editorials resulted in Boone’s winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1957. The collection also contains material on Boone’s trip around the world with the National Association of Editors and Commentators. This includes news columns, photos, trip itineraries, and memorabilia. One major gap in the collection is the lack of materials from Boone's years with the FBI. This collection will be of great interest to anyone investigating the history of civil rights in Alabama in particular, or the South in general. The materials on the KKK are very good and since Robert Shelton is the Imperial Wizard of the national Klan group, it would be of interest to anyone investigating the activities of the Klan on any scale. The collection could also be used by a compiler of a history of Tuscaloosa. Mr. Boone published the only newspaper in town from 1947-1974, and thus controlled information flow to a very great extent. His papers are also interesting as a study of a man who had convictions and stuck by these convictions even in the face of certain unpleasant consequences.