Normally, actions which generate public scorn and get you fired are not celebrated more than five decades later.
The 56th anniversary of Anne Rivers Siddons publicly sharing polarizing opinions will be celebrated Friday, Oct. 18, when she receives the Women's Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award at Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center.
"I think that Anne Rivers Siddons is a tremendous role model for Auburn University," said Barbara Baker, executive director of the Women's Leadership Institute at Auburn University.
In 1957, Siddons was a University student and a writer for The Auburn Plainsman.
She was forced to resign because of an editorial article she wrote regarding integration at Auburn.
Her tribute comes on the date of publication of the article.
Siddons graduated from Auburn in 1958 with a bachelor's degree in illustration and went on to write more than 20 books.
Baker said she found Siddons' resiliency and personal success inspiring.
Siddons revisited a fictionalized version of the integration of Auburn in her novel "Heartbreak Hotel."
The novel is set at the fictional Randolph University, but draws heavily from Siddons' personal experiences at Auburn in the '50s.
The novel is named after Elvis Presley's 1956 hit single, and this heavily influenced the featured themes, speakers and speeches of the tribute night.
Elements of the tribute include performances of "Heartbreak Hotel" by the AU Singers; a speech titled "Elvis '56" by George Plasketes, professor of communication and journalism and program director for radio, television and film and both visual and theatrical interpretations of Siddons' work.
"I will encourage my students to attend," said Mark Wilson, director of civic learning initiatives for the College of Liberal Arts. "It's important to know they are part of an Auburn family that has done artistic work."
The tribute will start at 5 p.m. in the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Hotel Conference Center Foyer.
"I think the event shows not only the history of Auburn, but an inspirational personal success," Baker said.
Other elements of the semester-long event include an Arts and Humanities Month Barbecue with Elvis at Cater Lawn, Wednesday, Oct. 16, several discussion panels and the inclusion of Siddons' novel "Heartbreak Hotel" into some class' curriculums.
Wilson said he uses "Heartbreak Hotel" in his introduction to communication and civic engagement class.
"The focus is having students pay attention to the main character, Maggie," Wilson said.
Wilson said the novel's thinly veiled Auburn setting is particularly important.
"I think it's yet another way for us to understand the past," Wilson said.
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