MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) – We continue honoring African Americans this Black History Month who helped change not just the city of Mobile, but the country. Fannie Motley became the first black woman to graduate from a white southern college when she graduated from Spring Hill College in 1956. That was four years before the University of Alabama was forced to integrate. Spring Hill College earned the respect of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, for leading the way in desegregation among southern colleges.