Someone please notify the folks over at the Encyclopedia of Alabama that John Tyler Morgan had nothing to do with the KKK: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2934
They may need to review their biography, too: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1508
Because I am so sure those students commenting at Crimson White know more than the scholars involved in producing the Encyclopedia of Alabama.
History is fascinating and first sources a wonder to behold.
In 1908, Henry Clayton did a marvelous job eulogizing Morgan from the floor of Congress - one reads it and Morgan sounds like a Superman - and Clayton finds one of Morgan’s greatest achievements to be defeating the “force bill” that Clayton describes as “a bill designed to reintroduce the saturnalia of crime, misgovernment, and corruption that characterized the period of reconstruction.”
Read for yourself at Google Books from the Congressional Record 1908:
So what really was the “force bill”? Well the Encyclopedia of Alabama Morgan bio refers to it as the Federal Elections Bill of 1890. You may Google that and then decide if Morgan’s filibuster of that bill ought to be considered a crowning achievement.
Or better yet, take a look at the following (when you click, you have to scroll all the way down):
In this day and age of Google, there is just no excuse for being ignorant. If people disagree about renaming the buildings, that is fine, but let’s not use ignorance of the truth as the basis for keeping the status quo.
Another link to consider:
To be fair to Robert Byrd, he did express regret about his own involvement with the Klan:
We Americans love a good redemption story. If John Tyler Morgan expressed similar regrets, then great. I have not found a link to support that but there could be something in his personal papers. Morgan accomplished many things, but not all were worthy of praise. Whether the building remains a monument to him is something today’s students on both sides should decide. I do expect those students to educate themselves fully about the issue.