Tuskegee University News May 16, 2011 President Rochon visits with oldest living alumnus, civil rights legend Tuskegee University President Gilbert L. Rochon visited Amelia Platts Boynton Robinson at her home in Tuskegee on May 10. The visit was a surprise for Robinson, who is believed to be the oldest living alumnus of Tuskegee University. Boynton was at the forefront with hundreds of others in March 1965 during the first march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. She, along with others, were brutalized by law enforcement. The photo of Boynton beaten was broadcast around the world and exemplified the sacrifices made by many during the Civil Rights Movement. Boynton's acclaimed autobiography, "Bridge over Jordan," was written in 1979. It documents her early life as a demonstrations agent for the U.S. government and highlights the depth of her social responsibility as she and her husband championed the voting rights and civil rights of Alabama's residents. In 1990, Boynton was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation Medal of Freedom. She went on to serve on the board for the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.