Editing Tuscaloosa, Alabama (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of Tuscaloosa, Alabama}}
Reportedly the name Tuscaloosa is a compound Choctaw Indian word; "tusko" meaning "warrior" and "loosa" meaning "black". The Black Warrior River flows through the north portion of the city. In 1809 Creek chief Occechemolta established a settlement at the falls of the River. (US-T125/Alabama: A Guide to the Deep South/p 244). County seat of Tuscaloosa County 1818 to 1822 and 1826 to the present. State capital from 1826 to 1846.<ref name=gnis/>

===Native American===
In 1828, [[Andrew Jackson]] was elected president of the United States. He had gained popularity when he defeated the Creek at the [[Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814)|Battle of Horseshoe Bend]] in 1814, following victories in the War of 1812. He long proposed Indian removal to an [[Indian Territory]] to be established west of the Mississippi, to make land available in the Southeast for European-American settlement.<ref name="jackson1829-5">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/seac/benning-book/ch11.htm |title=Fort Benning – The Land and the People |access-date=August 7, 2010 |first1=Sharyn |last1=Kane |first2=Richard |last2=Keeton |name-list-style=amp |publisher=SEAC}}</ref> Jackson abandoned the policy of his predecessors of treating different Indian groups as separate nations.<ref name="jackson1829-5"/> Instead, he aggressively pursued plans to move all Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi River.<ref name="jackson1829-5"/>

Following Congressional passage of the [[Indian Removal Act]], in 1832 the Creek National Council signed the [[Treaty of Cusseta]], ceding their remaining lands east of the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] to the U.S., and accepting relocation to the Indian Territory. They had already been under pressure from new settlers encroaching on their territory. Most Muscogee-speaking peoples were removed to Indian Territory during the [[Trail of Tears]] in 1834, although some remained behind. Some Muscogee in Alabama live near [[Poarch Creek Reservation]] in [[Atmore, Alabama|Atmore]] (northeast of [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]]).

===Statehood and origin of name===
[[File:Oldalabamastatecapruinsintuscaloosa.png|thumb|The ruins of the Alabama State Capitol in Tuscaloosa at Capitol Park. The building served as the home of a women's college until it burned down in 1923.]]
The pace of European settlement in the Southeast increased greatly after the [[War of 1812]] and the [[Treaty of Fort Jackson]] and the subsequent availability of land previously settled by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 16, 2019|title=Alabama's 200 years in 200 images: Creek War, Civil War, and the KKK|url=https://www.al.com/news/g66l-2019/12/e9fe2674116545/alabamas-200-years-in-200-images-creek-war-civil-war-and-the-kkk.html|access-date=March 5, 2021|website=al|language=en}}</ref> A small assortment of log cabins soon arose near the large [[Creek (people)|Creek]] village at the fall line of the river, which the new settlers named in honor of the sixteenth-century [[Chief Tuskaloosa]] of a [[Muskogean languages|Muskogean]]-speaking tribe{{--}}combining the Choctaw words "tushka" or "tashka" ("warrior") and "lusa" ("black").<ref name="city">{{Cite web |title=History of Tuscaloosa |url=https://www.tuscaloosa.com/history |access-date=September 12, 2020 |website=City of Tuscaloosa |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Cobb |first=Mark Hughes |date=February 14, 2009 |title=Many names associated with Tuscaloosa have a story |language=en |work=Tuscaloosa News |url=https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20090914/News/606109477 |access-date=September 12, 2020}}</ref>

In 1817, Alabama became a [[Alabama Territory|territory]]. On December 13, 1819, the territorial legislature incorporated the town of Tuskaloosa,<ref name="alabama-law-1823">''A Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama: Containing The Statutes and Resolutions in Force at the end of the General Assembly in January, 1823''. Published by Ginn & Curtis, J. & J. Harper, Printers, New-York, 1828. Title 62. Chapter XXVI. Page 803-805. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_JvtKAAAAYAAJ/page/n834 <!-- pg=803 --> "An Act to Incorporate the Town of Tukaloosa (sic).—Passed December 13, 1818." (Internet Archive)]</ref> one day before [[United States Congress|Congress]] admitted Alabama to the [[United States|Union]] as a U.S. state.

[[File:Wallace at University of Alabama edit2.jpg|thumb|Wallace standing against [[school integration in the United States|desegregation]] while being confronted by Deputy U.S. Attorney General [[Nicholas Katzenbach]] at the [[University of Alabama]] in 1963]]
From 1826 to 1846, Tuskaloosa was the [[List of capitals in the United States|capital]] of Alabama.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Tuscaloosa State Capitol Building – Alabama Architecture|url=https://alarchitecture.ua.edu/the-tuscaloosa-state-capitol-building/|access-date=March 5, 2021|website=alarchitecture.ua.edu}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Baggett|first=Will|date=September 27, 2016|title=Strange Alabama: A trip to the past in Capitol Park|url=https://cw.ua.edu/39814/top-stories/strange-alabama-a-trip-to-the-past-in-capitol-park/|access-date=March 5, 2021|website=The Crimson White}}</ref> The State House was built at the corner of 6th Street and 28th Avenue (now the site of Capitol Park).<ref name=":0" /> In 1831, the [[University of Alabama]] was established and the town's population and economy grew rapidly, but the relocation of the capital to [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]] caused a severe decline. The state legislature established Alabama State Hospital for the Insane (now [[Bryce Hospital]]) in Tuskaloosa in the 1850s, which helped restore the city's fortunes.

===Civil War===
During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] following Alabama's [[secession]] from the Union, several thousand men from Tuscaloosa fought in the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] armies. During the last weeks of the War, the campus of the university was burned in a battle.<ref>{{Cite web|title="Freedom and Fire!: A Civil War Story" – University of Alabama News {{!}} The University of Alabama|date=November 21, 2016 |url=https://news.ua.edu/2016/11/freedom-and-fire-a-civil-war-story/|access-date=March 5, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> The larger town was also damaged in the battle, and its White population suffered economically. Its Black population was emancipated from slavery.

In the 1890s the construction of a system of locks and dams on the Black Warrior River by the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] improved navigation to such an extent that Tuscaloosa was effectively connected to the Gulf Coast seaport of [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]]. This stimulated the economy and trade, and mining and metallurgical industries were developed in the region. By the onset of the 20th century, the growth of the University of Alabama and the mental health-care facilities in the city, along with a strong national economy, fueled a steady growth in Tuscaloosa which continued unabated for 100 years.

===Civil rights movement===
{{Main|Autherine Lucy|Stand in the Schoolhouse Door}}
In the post World War II era, African Americans increased their activism to ensure their constitutional civil rights and challenged southern segregation in numerous ways. In 1952, [[Autherine Lucy]] was admitted to the university as a graduate student, but her admission was rescinded when authorities discovered she was not White. After three years of legal wrangling, [[Thurgood Marshall]] and the [[NAACP]] got a court order preventing the university from banning Lucy and another student based on race. The following year, Lucy enrolled as a graduate student in Library Science on February 3, 1956, becoming the first Black admitted to a White public school or university in the state.<ref name="Clark-1993">{{cite book |title=The Schoolhouse Door: Segregation's Last Stand at the University of Alabama |url=https://archive.org/details/schoolhousedoors00clar |url-access=registration |author=E. Culpepper Clark |location= New York, Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1993 |page=[https://archive.org/details/schoolhousedoors00clar/page/55 55]|isbn=978-0-19-507417-8 }}</ref><ref name=racebeat>{{cite book|first1=Gene |last1=Roberts |author1-link=Gene Roberts (journalist) |first2=Hank |last2=Klibanoff |author-link2=Hank Klibanoff |title=The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation |url=https://archive.org/details/racebeatpressciv00gene |url-access=limited |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |place=New York |year=2006 |isbn=0-679-40381-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/racebeatpressciv00gene/page/129 129]–131}}</ref>  During her first day of class on February 6, students and others rioted on the campus, where a mob of more than a thousand students pelted the car in which she was taken to her classes. Death threats were made against her, and the university president's home was stoned.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Huges|first1=Longston|last2=Meltzer|first2=Milton|last3=Lincoln|first3=C. Eric|last4=Spencer|first4=Jon Michael|title=A Pictorial history of African Americans|date=1995|publisher=crown Publishers, Inc|pages=306–307}}</ref> The riots were the most violent involving a pro-segregation demonstration since the landmark ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' Supreme Court decision. After the riots, the university suspended Lucy from school, stating her own safety was a concern; it later expelled her on a technicality. She was active in civil rights for a time, but withdrew later that year. Decades later, after her expulsion was annulled by the university in 1988, Lucy re-enrolled and completed her M.S. in Education and graduated, together with her daughter, in 1992.<ref>{{Cite web|agency=Associated Press|title=Expelled in 1956, Autherine Lucy Foster Receives Honorary Doctorate from University of Alabama|url=https://www.apr.org/post/expelled-1956-autherine-lucy-foster-receives-honorary-doctorate-university-alabama|access-date=March 5, 2021|website=www.apr.org|date=May 6, 2019|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Malone Hood Plaza University of Alabama northeast view.jpg|thumb|Foster Auditorium and Malone-Hood Plaza in 2010. Lucy Clock Tower is in the foreground.]]
On June 11, 1963, [[George Wallace]], governor of Alabama, stood in front of the [[Foster Auditorium]] entrance at The University of Alabama in what became known as the [[Stand in the Schoolhouse Door]] in an attempt to stop [[school integration in the United States|desegregation]] of that institution by the enrollment of two [[African-American]] students, [[Vivian Malone Jones|Vivian Malone]] and [[James Hood]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wallace in the Schoolhouse Door|url=https://www.npr.org/2003/06/11/1294680/wallace-in-the-schoolhouse-door|access-date=March 5, 2021|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref> He had created a challenge to federal orders, when confronted by US Deputy Attorney General [[Nicholas Katzenbach]] and [[United States Marshals Service|federal marshal]]s sent in by Attorney General [[Robert F. Kennedy]], Wallace stepped aside. President [[John F. Kennedy]] had supported integration of the University of Alabama as well.<ref name="uabint">{{cite news|title=Civil rights pioneer Vivian Jones dies |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-10-13-jonesobit_x.htm |newspaper=USA Today |date=October 13, 2005 |access-date=January 7, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1963/University-of-Alabama/12295509434394-4/ |title=University of Alabama - 1963 Year In Review - Audio |website=UPI.com |date=September 13, 1998 |access-date=May 13, 2016}}</ref>

On June 9, 1964, in an event that later became known as [[Bloody Tuesday (1964)|Bloody Tuesday]], a group of African-American [[Civil rights]] marchers were beaten, arrested and tear-gassed by police in Tuscaloosa while walking from the [[First African Baptist Church (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)|First African Baptist Church]] to the County Courthouse to protest against the segregated restrooms and drinking fountains of this public facility.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110426/NEWS/110429803?p=1&tc=pg&tc=ar |title=Old files show city's role in civil rights era |last1=Stevenson |first1=Tommy |date=April 26, 2011 |website=Tuscaloosa News}}</ref> Thirty-three people were sent to the hospital for treatment of injuries, and 94 were arrested. The events were not witnessed by outside journalists and had little influence outside the local community.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.al.com/news/tuscaloosa/index.ssf/2014/06/bloody_tuesday_tuscaloosa_reme.html |title='Bloody Tuesday': Tuscaloosa remembers civil rights marchers brutalized 50 years ago |agency=Associated Press |date=June 10, 2014 |website=AL.com}}</ref>

James Hood dropped out of the University of Alabama after two months. He later returned, and in 1997, received his Ph.D. in [[Interdisciplinarity|interdisciplinary studies]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Trounson|first=Rebecca|date=January 19, 2013|title=James A. Hood dies at 70; fought segregation at University of Alabama|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-xpm-2013-jan-19-la-me-james-hood-20130119-story.html|access-date=March 5, 2021|website=L.A. Times}}</ref> Malone persisted in her studies at the time and became the first Black American to graduate from the university.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Times|first=Birmingham|date=February 25, 2021|title=Teaching About the Unsung Heroes of Black History|url=https://www.birminghamtimes.com/2021/02/teaching-about-the-unsung-heroes-of-black-history/|access-date=March 5, 2021|website=The Birmingham Times|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2000, the university granted her an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters. Later in his life, Governor Wallace apologized for his opposition at that time to [[racial integration]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Alabama|first=Associated Press in Birmingham|date=February 8, 2021|title=George Wallace, segregationist Alabama governor, loses university honor|url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/08/george-wallace-alabama-governor-segregation-forever-university-building|access-date=March 5, 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

In 2010, the university formally honored Lucy, Hood and Malone by renaming the plaza in front of Foster Auditorium as Malone-Hood Plaza and erecting the Autherine Lucy Clock Tower in the plaza.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Peters|first=Anna Beth|date=February 18, 2019|title=UA works to rectify racist history|url=https://cw.ua.edu/50779/opinion/ua-is-taking-steps-toward-racial-reconciliation/|access-date=March 5, 2021|website=The Crimson White}}</ref> In 2022, the university dedicated the home of the College of Education as Autherine Lucy Hall.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Welbourne |first=Bryant |date=2022-03-01 |title=UA Dedicates Autherine Lucy Hall |url=https://news.ua.edu/2022/03/ua-dedicates-autherine-lucy-hall/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=University of Alabama News |language=en-US}}</ref>

===2011 tornado===
{{main|2011 Tuscaloosa–Birmingham tornado}} 
On April 27, 2011, Tuscaloosa was hit by a {{convert|1.5|mi|km|abbr=on}} wide [[Enhanced Fujita scale|EF4]] tornado that resulted in 64 deaths, more than 1500 injuries, and massive devastation. Most of the deaths, 44, were in Tuscaloosa alone, with the rest being in [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]] and surrounding suburbs.<ref name="Public Information Statement">{{cite web|url=http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110602/news/110609944 |title=Tuscaloosa County death toll from tornado increases to 43 |website=TuscaloosaNews.com |access-date=May 13, 2016 |last=Morton |first=Jason |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213170939/http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110602/news/110609944 |archive-date=December 13, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="MSNBC">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42834400 |title=Twister outbreak is 2nd deadliest in US history - Weather |publisher=NBC News |date=April 30, 2011 |access-date=May 13, 2016}}</ref><ref name="NWS storm survey">{{cite web|title=Tuscaloosa-Birmingham EF-4 Tornado April 27, 2011|url=http://www.srh.weather.gov/bmx/?n=event_04272011tuscbirm|website=Srh.weather.gov|access-date=May 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112031417/http://www.srh.weather.gov/bmx/?n=event_04272011tuscbirm|archive-date=November 12, 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The tornado's top winds were estimated by the US [[National Weather Service]] at {{convert|190|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Public Information Statement"/><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Lars|last=Anderson|title=Terror, Tragedy And Hope In Tuscaloosa |date=May 23, 2011|magazine=Sports Illustrated|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1186008/index.htm|access-date=June 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902001944/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1186008/index.htm |archive-date=September 2, 2011}}</ref><ref name="blog.al.com">{{cite web|author=Don Kausler Jr. |url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/04/tuscaloosa_tornadoes_death_tol.html |title=Tuscaloosa tornadoes: Death toll at 36, Mayor Walt Maddox says &#124; AL.com |website=Blog.al.com |date=April 28, 2011|access-date=May 13, 2016}}</ref> Officials at DCH Regional Medical alone reported treating more than 1,000 injured people in the tornado aftermath.<ref name="reuters.com">{{cite news|last=Gates |first=Verna |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-weather-children-idUSTRE73S7MU20110429 |title=Tornadoes inflict grim toll on Alabama children |work=Reuters |date=April 29, 2011 |access-date=May 13, 2016 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924152709/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/29/us-usa-weather-children-idUSTRE73S7MU20110429 |url-status=live}}</ref> Officials reported dozens of unaccompanied minors being admitted for treatment at the hospital, raising questions about the possible loss of their parents. Several were taken to pediatric trauma wards, indicating serious injuries.<ref name="reuters.com"/> Referring to the extent and severity of the damage, Mayor [[Walter Maddox]] stated that "we have neighborhoods that have been basically removed from the map."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42794539 |title=Twister debris searched; nearly 300 dead - Weather |publisher=NBC News |date=April 29, 2011 |access-date=May 13, 2016}}</ref> The same tornado later went on to cause major damage in the Birmingham area.<ref name="NWS storm survey"/> In all, the cost of damage from the tornado amounted to $2.45 billion, making it, at the time, the costliest tornado in U.S. history, though it would be surpassed less than a month later by the devastating [[2011 Joplin tornado|Joplin, Missouri tornado]] of May 22.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 10 Costliest U.S. Tornadoes since 1950|url=http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/damage$.htm|publisher=Storm Prediction Center|access-date=November 20, 2013}}</ref>

The tornado was part of the [[2011 Super Outbreak]] that affected large parts of the eastern United States and was the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded.<ref>{{cite web |title=2011 Top Ten National Weather/Climate Events |url=https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/sotc/national/2011/ann/top-ten-2011-lo-rez.pdf |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=September 12, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=On This Day: 2011 Tornado Super Outbreak |date=April 25, 2017 |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/2011-tornado-super-outbreak |publisher=National Centers for Environmental Information |access-date=September 12, 2020}}</ref> In total, 324 people were killed by tornadoes during the outbreak, including 238 in Alabama alone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/torn/fataltorn.html|title=Annual Fatal Tornado Summaries|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|work=Storm Prediction Center|access-date=August 7, 2021}}</ref> The tornadoes and other severe weather combined for over $10 billion in damage throughout the affected states, with more than 20% of the damage cost resulting from the tornado that struck Tuscaloosa.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=National Centers for Environmental Information|year=2020|access-date=August 7, 2021|title=Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: Events|url=https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events/US/1980-2020}}</ref>

[[File:Tornado_damage_2011_Tuscaloosa_AL_USA.JPG|thumb|right|Immediate aftermath of the April 27th, 2011, tornado. [[DCH Regional Medical Center|Druid City Hospital]] in the background.]]

In the immediate aftermath of the tornado, thousands of rescue workers dug through the wreckage looking for survivors and recovering bodies. More than 450 persons were originally listed as missing in the post-disaster chaos, leading to fears that the death toll could climb rapidly and skepticism about the relatively low fatality figures in relation to the high number of casualties. Rumors abounded that refrigerated trucks were being brought to store unidentified remains, and that countless bodies were beneath area waters. But the fatality figure did not increase (and was later reduced). Most persons listed as missing were later found to have survived.<ref name="maddox" /> During this period, ''[[The Tuscaloosa News]]'' posted an on-line people finder to aid people to find each other, as well as determine who was still missing.<ref>[http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110428/MULTIMEDIA/110429676 "Help us locate loved ones"]. tuscaloosanews.com, April 29, 2011, Retrieved April 29, 2011</ref>

Two days after the storm, U.S. President Barack Obama and Alabama Governor Robert Bentley and their spouses, Michelle Obama and Diane Bentley, respectively, accompanied Mayor Maddox on a tour of the damage and the recovery efforts, along with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and several Congressional dignitaries. Remarking about the scale and severity of the damage, Obama said, "I've never seen devastation like this, it's heartbreaking", after touring the damaged areas.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/04/obama-visits-tornado-devastation.html |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Opinion: Obama on tornado devastation in the South: 'It's heartbreaking' |date=April 29, 2011}}</ref>  Obama pledged the full resources of the federal government toward aiding the recovery efforts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110429/NEWS/110429620?p=all&tc=pgall |title=President Obama promises aid, resources |website=TuscaloosaNews.com |date=April 29, 2011 |access-date=May 13, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928093636/http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110429/NEWS/110429620?p=all&tc=pgall |archive-date=September 28, 2012}}</ref> Bentley—himself a Tuscaloosa native—pledged additional national guard troops.

Tuscaloosa Mayor [[Walt Maddox]] announced that he was requesting 500 additional National Guard troops and calling for more volunteer aid workers and cadaver teams for the recovery of bodies, in order to prevent the spread of disease.<ref name="maddox">Holland, Taylor (April 29, 2011) [http://cw.ua.edu/2011/04/29/maddox-updates-residents/ "Maddox Updates Residents"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110502030143/http://cw.ua.edu/2011/04/29/maddox-updates-residents/ |date=May 2, 2011}}. [[Crimson White|The Crimson White]]. Retrieved April 29, 2011</ref>

The [[New York Yankees]] organization contributed $500,000 to the [[American Red Cross]] and [[Salvation Army]] to aid in recovery efforts, and the [[Atlanta Braves]] organization donated $100,000.<ref name="goodbread2011">{{cite web|last=Goodbread |first=Chase |title=Yankees pitcher, Tuscaloosa native lends hand to tornado relief |website=Tuscaloosa News |date=May 26, 2011 |url=https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/2011/05/26/yankees-pitcher-tuscaloosa-native-lends-hand-to-tornado-relief/28385193007/ |access-date=December 6, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Braves set July 30th as "Alabama Day" for tornado relief |date=July 27, 2011 |website=[[WSFA|WSFA 12]] |url=https://www.wsfa.com/story/15157647/braves-designate-july-30th-alabama-day-for-tornado-relief/ |access-date=December 6, 2022}}</ref> Actor [[Charlie Sheen]] visited the city to pay his respects on May 2 and donated supplies for relief efforts, along with several other actors, musicians and athletes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sheen makes 'recon' tour of city |first=Jason |last=Morton |url=http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110503/NEWS/110509936 |newspaper=The Tuscaloosa News |date=May 3, 2011 |access-date=May 3, 2011}}</ref>

Due to the disaster, on August 6, 2011, the University of Alabama held a delayed graduation ceremony for the class of 2011. It awarded posthumous degrees to six students who died in the tornado.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna44045587 |title=Posthumous degrees given to Ala. students killed in tornadoes - US news - Life |date=August 6, 2011 |publisher=NBC News |access-date=May 13, 2016}}</ref> The cable channel ESPN filmed a tribute in memory of the devastation.<ref>[http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6509421 "Toomer's For Tuscaloosa"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513003402/http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6509421 |date=May 13, 2011}}, ESPN. May 8, 2011. Accessed June 8, 2011</ref>

===Bicentennial===
The city of Tuscaloosa celebrated its 200th birthday on December 13, 2019 with city officials holding various dedications and commemorative events throughout the city, including the displaying of a "bicentennial quilt" and a fireworks display following the 44th Annual West Alabama Christmas Parade, which was dedicated to the city's birthday. The University of Alabama gave two sculptures to the city, one of a 30 foot-tall, 9,500-pound statue of the Roman goddess [[Minerva]]—designed by local artist Caleb O'Connor—at Manderson Landing park along the [[Black Warrior River]], and a sculpture known as The Walkway. According to the Tuscaloosa200.com website, the Walkway is a "replica of the route of the Black Warrior River from [[Demopolis, Alabama|Demopolis]] to Tuscaloosa, it traces milestones in our city's existence and survival, but its twists and turns, ebbs and flows have mirrored our city's past." It was created by sculptor and architect Craig R. Wedderspoon.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20191213/tuscaloosa-dedicates-bicentennial-statue|title=Tuscaloosa dedicates bicentennial statue|date=December 13, 2019|work=Tuscaloosa News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213212348/https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20191213/tuscaloosa-dedicates-bicentennial-statue|archive-date=December 13, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Tuscaloosa200">[https://www.tuscaloosa200.com/200th-birthday 200th Birthday Tuscaloosa200]</ref>

A hermetically sealed [[time capsule]] was buried under a large boulder near the boat house near Manderson Landing; the time capsule is intended to capture "What was life like in Tuscaloosa during the year 2019?" and is set to be opened on December 13, 2069, the city's 250th birthday.<ref name="Tuscaloosa200"/>