| Name | Sonnie W. Hereford, III, Papers |
| Dates | 1950-2006 |
| Extent | 0.33 cubic foot |
| Historical Note | Sonnie W. Hereford, III, was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on January 7, 1931, the son of Sonnie W. and Jannie Hereford. In 1951 he entered Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. Following graduation in 1955, Dr. Hereford interned at St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond, Indiana. He returned to Huntsville in 1956 to begin a general medical practice. Dr. Hereford also taught biology courses at Alabama A&M College, and was a physician for the Oakwood School, Alabama A&M College, and several local Boy and Girl Scout troops. Dr. Hereford was active in the Civil Rights Movement in Huntsville and in 1963 he successfully enrolled his son at a previously all-white elementary school. Dr. Hereford was married in 1956 to Martha Adams, and they were parents of six children. Dr. Hereford died in Huntsville on July 7, 2016, he was survived by his wife, six children, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. On way to the cemetery, the funeral procession for Dr. Hereford passed the almost finished Sonnie Hereford Elementary School, which was completed just weeks after the funeral service. For a complete biography of Dr. Sonnie W. Hereford, III, see Beside the Troubled Waters: A Black Doctor Remembers Life, Medicine, and Civil Rights in an Alabama Town (2011). |
| Scope and Contents | This small collection contains some of the personal papers of Dr. Sonnie W. Hereford, III, with the remainder of the collection comprised by research material collected by Dr. Jack D. Ellis. Ellis and Hereford were the authors of Beside the Troubled Waters: A Black Doctor Remembers Life, Medicine, and Civil Rights in an Alabama Town (2011), the life story of Dr. Hereford. |
| Arrangement | Arranged into two series: 1) Hereford Papers, and 2) Hereford Research Files of Ellis |
| Accession Number | M2009-06 |
| Provenance | This collection was donated to the UAB Archives in 2009 by Dr. Jack D. Ellis and by Dr. Sonnie W. Hereford, III. Dr. Hereford's deed to UAB was signed in 2009. |
| Copyright | The UAB Archives owns the copyright to some of the material and maintains its proprietary rights to all material in this collection. |
| Fnding Aid | Printed descriptive guide by Jennifer L. Beck and Tim L. Pennycuff available in repository. |
| Access Points | Civil rights movements z Alabama z Huntsville. Ellis, Jack D. Hereford, Sonnie W., q Sonnie Wellington, d 1931-2016. Physicians z Alabama z Huntsville. |
| Document Types | Correspondence, news clippings, oral history interviews, audio- and video-cassette tapes |
| Location | Manuscript Stacks. |
| Related Series | n/a |
| Physical Condition | All material placed in an acid free folder and an acid free box. |
This page created 2017.
Copyright: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees.