UA removes portrait of Confederate General with KKK ties from Morgan Hall

TUSCALOOSA, AL (WBRC) - The University of Alabama removed the portrait of John Tyler Morgan from the Morgan Hall English Building on Friday.

Morgan served as a Confederate General during the Civil War and later as a United States Senator with ties to the Ku Klux Klan.

A group called We Are Done has been pushing for this along with removing other ties to racism from campus buildings. They call the university's move progress.

"By removing it, it acknowledges it but there is still so much more progress that needs to be done. We want more. We deserve more. The university deserves  more and we've overcome so much that we shouldn't just say we're ok with taking a picture down even though you are surrounded by remnants of racism and segregation and inequality on campus," said Kalyn Lee, an organizer with We Are Done.?
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Sources say the staff at Morgan Hall has been pushing for the portrait to be removed for some time.

UA released the following statement:

Works from the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art will be exhibited in the foyer of Morgan Hall, located on the UA Campus. When the Univestiy accepted the collection in 2008, we committed to make the art accessible to the public and to exhibit the works on campus and use them for educational purposes. The large wall space in the foyer of Morgan Hall provides an appropriate campus venue for extended display of works from the collection. The historic portrait of Hon Tuler Morgan will reside in the Univesity's Hoole Special Collections Library.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robert Olin selected the area, in conjunction with a request from the Department of English to use the area in ways that are more relevant and current to the academic discipline. Artwork will be installed by early January, and works will be rotated periodically.

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