Via http://www.reuters.com/ "One of the first black students to enroll at the University of Alabama 50 years ago, defying then-Governor George Wallace's pledge to block integration of the state's public schools, died on Thursday of natural causes, a funeral home said.
James Hood, 70, died in his hometown of Gadsden, Alabama, according to his obituary notice published on Friday.
Hood and Vivian Malone were the first African-American students to register to attend the all-white state university, and did so over the objections of a governor known for his resistance to the U.S. civil rights movement."