English majors are calling for Morgan Hall to be renamed Harper Lee Hall

Over the last few weeks, the Center for Literary Study at the University of Alabama has been buzzing with protest. With the recent death of beloved artist and author of the American classic To Kill A Mockingbird, students are arguing Morgan Hall should be renamed to Harper Lee Hall.

Why Harper Lee? Well, the famed author Ms. Nelle Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama, which is just a short distance from our Tuscaloosa campus. Her father was a lawyer, a member of the Alabama state legislature and owned part of the local newspaper.

Lee discovered her love for English Literature in high school and brought that to Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL. Next, and most exciting for us, Lee transferred to the University of Alabama where she contributed to the school’s newspaper as well as the humor magazine, Rammer Jammer, of which she eventually became editor.

Lee’s relationship with the university continued while she attended the UA School of Law. But she eventually returned to her one true love – writing. Sounds like the perfect literary genius to name UA’s literature building after, right?

Unfortunately, this isn’t so. Rather than walking into Harper Lee Hall, English students enter the doors of Morgan Hall, named after John Tyler Morgan. Morgan was a general in the Confederate States Army throughout the American Civil War. He then became a US Senator in the state of Alabama where he argued for state’s rights and racial segregation.

By most accounts, John Tyler Morgan was a proponent of racism, slavery and Alabama’s secession from the Union. Yet somehow Morgan’s name is chiseled in bold letters above the threshold.

English majors are shedding more light on this issue by designing and distributing flyers encouraging students to learn who John Tyler Morgan actually is. Discussion on this subject has even made its way to the classroom.

An upperclassmen American Modernist course recently talked about renaming the building in one of their sessions. Most students supported the renaming of Morgan Hall to Harper Lee Hall, although many did not know Harper Lee had such a rich history at Alabama.

They did, however, consider the logistics of such a big change, as the expenses and further consequences of this decision may be overwhelming. Some students felt that renaming Morgan Hall is unnecessary and would tarnish the tradition that the University of Alabama takes pride in.

There’s no immediate solution in sight when it comes to renaming Morgan Hall. It’s up to student advocates to inform their classmates of both Lee and Morgan’s history, and hopefully the university will understand the “tradition” of racism must come to an end.