City Leaders Break Ground On Linton's Barbershop Civil Rights Park

TUSCALOOSA, AL — City and community leaders broke ground Thursday morning on Linton's Barbershop Civil Rights Park at the former site of Howard-Linton Barbershop on Rev. T.Y. Rogers Jr. Avenue in west Tuscaloosa.

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Funded through Elevate Tuscaloosa, the $1.4 million project is expected to be completed in early 2026.

Once owned by civil rights leader Rev. Thomas Linton, the former barbershop was one of the central gathering places for the Black community apart from churches in the 1950s.

It served as a meeting place for Black ministers, who planned their civil rights campaigns, and was the place where Autherine Lucy sought refuge after a mob threatened to kill her when she tried to become the first Black student at the University of Alabama.

The barbershop also served as a kind of triage station and shelter for those injured in the violence of Bloody Tuesday on June 9, 1964, as a mob of white citizens and police attacked peaceful demonstrators as they attempted to protest segregated accommodations in the newly built Tuscaloosa County Courthouse.

"This project, when complete, will have a plaza that will be on this footprint, the original footprint of the Linton Barbershop," Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said Thursday morning. "It'll have edge story panels that will teach the history of this moment in our community with a central walkway and timeline, and certainly a mural wall featuring a bronze relief of Reverend Dr. Thomas Linton."

Maddox also said the project will feature a complete suite of lighting and security to promote a safe experience for all visitors.

"This ground that we're on has been consecrated by heroes such as Autherine Lucy, T.Y. Rogers, and thousands of other citizens and foot soldiers who determined to make this a more perfect union with them having the courage of their convictions," Maddox said. "For all those that gathered here, think about what took place on these very grounds. People met to organize. People met to take care of the injured. People came to just simply pray for a better tomorrow."

Maddox then referred to the site as "holy ground" for the city and the Civil Rights movement before underscoring the importance of preserving its history.

"Frankly, in a time and circumstance where history is trying to be altered, and even deleted, and when conviction of our leaders seems scarce, when it's clearly obvious that right should be right and wrong should be called wrong, we need moments and we need places like this that remind us of who we are and the better angels of our nature," he said.

Shelton State Community College men's basketball coach and District 1 Councilor Joe Eatmon, who grew up in the West End and was a standout athlete at Central High School, reflected on his own memories of the Howard-Linton Barbershop.

In fact, Eatmon said it was where he had his first job — sweeping hair for Reverend Linton for a Coke and a haircut.

"I'm really familiar with this area, so I think this is special to me, because I had an opportunity to sit and listen to leaders in our community and hear the stories from the Civil Rights Movement from different leaders here in town," he said. "Because even at my young age, the leaders of that time still came to the barbershop to talk with Mr. Linton. ... And my hope is that this plaza will provide the same opportunities for other young people here in town, where they can hear about the legacies, where they can hear about the stories, and never forget the history of the city of Tuscaloosa."

Tuscaloosa Civil Rights Foundation Co-President Tim Lewis also spoke at the groundbreaking event and expressed his excitement that the project was finally coming to fruition after years of planning and work.

"This is something that we've all worked hard for, to tell the story of the Civil Rights icons that made a difference here in Tuscaloosa, but not just Tuscaloosa, but across the state and across the nation," Lewis said. "So to be able to honor Reverend Linton and all the other Civil Rights icons is something that we should all be proud of, and we are."

Click here to learn more about the Tuscaloosa Civil Rights History Trail.

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