Editing Huntsville, Alabama (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of Huntsville, Alabama}}
The City of Huntsville was incorporated on November 25, 1811.<ref>{{cite web |title=Municipalities of Alabama Incorporation Dates |publisher=Alabama League of Municipalities |url=https://almonline.org/Assets/Files/AboutUs/Alabama_Municipalities_Incorporation_Dates.pdf |access-date=March 13, 2024 |archive-date=February 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225202142/https://almonline.org/Assets/Files/AboutUs/Alabama_Municipalities_Incorporation_Dates.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Early history===
Due to settlement pressures after the United States gained independence, this area had become largely empty of indigenous peoples by the turn of the 19th century. An Indian trader and boatman named James Ditto established himself at a landing on the river prior to American settlement.<ref>Edward Chambers Betts. (1909). ''Early History of Huntsville Alabama 1804 to 1870.'' Revised 1916. Montgomery, Alabama: The Brown Printing Company. p. 6. [https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/public/gdcmassbookdig/earlyhistoryofhu00bett/earlyhistoryofhu00bett.pdf Library of Congress website] Retrieved October 7, 2023.</ref> [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] veteran [[John Hunt (Alabama)|John Hunt]] was a pioneer in 1805 on land around the [[Big Spring Park (Huntsville, Alabama)|Big Spring]]. The US negotiated an [[Chickasaw#Treaties|1805 treaty with the Chickasaw]] and an [[Cherokee treaties|1806 treaty with the Cherokee]] who ceded their claims to land to the federal government.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Sarah H. |date=January 16, 2008 |title=Cherokee Indian Removal |url=http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1433 |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=Encyclopedia of Alabama |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:BigSpring.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Big Spring Park (Huntsville, Alabama)|Big Spring]], the center of the street plan in Twickenham (renamed "Huntsville" in 1812)]]
The area was subsequently purchased by [[LeRoy Pope]], who named it [[Twickenham]] after the home village of his distant kinsman [[Alexander Pope]].<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/huntsville/hsv_history.html |title=Notes on the History of Huntsville |publisher=History.msfc.nasa.gov |access-date=November 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527092424/http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/huntsville/hsv_history.html |archive-date=May 27, 2010 }}</ref> Thomas Freeman and {{not a typo|Pharoah}} Roach started government surveys in 1805.<ref>Kathleen Paul Jones. "Madison County, Mississippi. Territorial Period, 1801-1817." ''The Huntsville Historical Review'', Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1971. p. 35. [https://louis.uah.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=huntsville-historical-review Univ. of Ala. Huntsville website] Retrieved October 7, 2023.</ref> Twickenham was carefully planned, with streets laid out in a northeast to southwest direction based on the flow of Big Spring. Given anti-British sentiment during this period after the Revolution and with tensions leading to the [[War of 1812]], in 1811 the town name was changed to "Huntsville" to honor pioneer John Hunt.<ref>Record, James, and John McCormick; "Huntsville, Alabama: Rocket City, U.S.A.", pamphlet published in 1953 by Strode Publishers</ref>

Both John Hunt and LeRoy Pope were [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]] and charter members of [[Helion Lodge|Helion Lodge #1]], the oldest lodge in Alabama.<ref name=helion>{{cite web|first=Toby |last=Norris |url=http://www.helionlodge.org/ |title=Helion Lodge #1, Huntsville, Alabama |publisher=Helionlodge.org |access-date=November 8, 2011}}</ref>

In 1811, Huntsville became the first incorporated town in what is now Alabama. However, the recognized "founding" year of the city is 1805, the year of John Hunt's arrival.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Huntsville |url=https://www.huntsvilleal.gov/business/city-of-huntsville/the-history-of-huntsville/ |access-date=December 17, 2022 |website=City of Huntsville |language=en-US}}</ref> David Wade settled in Huntsville in 1817. He built the David Wade House on the north side of what is now Bob Wade Lane (Robert B. Wade was David's grandson), just east of Mt. Lebanon Road.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Wade House, Bob Wade Lane, Huntsville, Madison County, AL |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/al0362/ |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref>

===Emerging industries===
Huntsville's initial growth was based on wealth generated by the sale of [[cotton]] from [[Plantation complexes in the Southern United States|plantations]], for which there was international demand, and trade associated with [[railroad]] industries. Many wealthy planters moved into the area from [[Virginia]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and [[the Carolinas]] to develop new cotton plantations.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Snow |first=Whitney Adrienne |date=October 1, 2010 |title=Cotton Mill City: The Huntsville Textile Industry, 1880-1989 |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=00024341&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA241619803&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs |journal=The Alabama Review |language=English |volume=63 |issue=4 |pages=243–282|doi=10.1353/ala.2010.0006 |s2cid=154931802|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The invention of the [[cotton gin]] in the late eighteenth century meant that uplands areas could be profitably cultivated with short-staple cotton, which could be grown in a much larger area than the long-staple cotton of the Sea Islands and Low Country. The increased use of cotton meant an increased use of [[slave labor]] throughout the South as well.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last1=Phillips |first1=Kenneth E. |last2=Roberts |first2=Janet |title=Cotton |url=http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1491 |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=Encyclopedia of Alabama |language=en}}</ref>

Like [[History of slavery in Alabama|the rest of Alabama]], Huntsville was involved in the [[Slave trade in the United States|slave trade]].<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Rohr |first=Nancy |title=Free People of Color in Madison County, Alabama |url=https://huntsvillehistorycollection.org/hhc/showhpg.php?id=307&a=article |access-date=May 26, 2023 |website=Huntsville History Collection}}</ref> Slaves worked in factories and on cotton plantations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Austin |first=Daniel B. |date=1971 |title=The Life of the Negro Slave in Alabama |url=https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=etds_theses |access-date=May 26, 2023 |publisher=[[Jacksonville State University]] |page=45}}</ref> Many cotton mills in the area relied on slave labor, most notably the Bell Factory, where slaves ran textile machinery. The factory was known throughout Alabama for its high levels of production.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hebert |first=Keith S. |date=August 5, 2009 |title=Slavery |url=https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/slavery/ |access-date=May 26, 2023 |website=Encyclopedia of Alabama |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":10" /> Cotton mills grew Huntsville and the South's economies greatly, becoming 60% of all U.S. exports and connecting Huntsville to major cotton markets in Nashville, Memphis, and New Orleans.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11" /> An 1822 census showed that out of the 1,300 inhabitants of Huntsville, 448 were slaves, making up 36% of the city's population.<ref name=":9" />

In 1819, Huntsville hosted a constitutional convention in Walker Allen's large cabinet-making shop. The 44 delegates wrote a constitution for the new state of Alabama. In accordance with the new state constitution, Huntsville became Alabama's first capital when the state was admitted to the Union. This was a temporary designation for one legislative session only. The capital was moved to more central cities in the state; to [[Cahaba, Alabama|Cahaba]], then to [[Tuscaloosa, Alabama|Tuscaloosa]], and finally to [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ahc.alabama.gov/AlabamaStateCapitolHistoryFacts.aspx |title=History of the Alabama State Capitol |work=Alabama Historical Commission |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref>

In 1855, the [[Memphis and Charleston Railroad]] was constructed through Huntsville, becoming the first railway to link the [[East Coast of the United States|Atlantic seacoast]] with the lower [[Mississippi River]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Harper's Encyclopædia of United States History from 458 A.D. to 1905: Based Upon the Plan of Benson John Lossing ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LotMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA526 |year=1906 |publisher=Harper & brothers |page=526}}</ref>

===Civil War===
[[File:Huntsville Alabama 1862.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] officer of [[Ormsby M. Mitchel|General Mitchell]]'s army sketched Huntsville during the 1862 occupation]]

Huntsville initially opposed [[secession]] from the Union in 1861, but provided many men for the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy's]] efforts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cole |first=R.T. |title=From Huntsville to Appomattox: R.T. Coles's History of 4th Regiment, Alabama Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A., Army of Northern Virginia. |publisher=University of Tennessee Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-57233-340-6 |editor-last=Stocker |editor-first=Jeffrey D. |location=United States |language=en |oclc=149517107}}</ref> The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Col. Egbert J. Jones of Huntsville, distinguished itself at the [[First Battle of Bull Run|Battle of Manassas/Bull Run]], the first major encounter of the [[American Civil War]]. The regiment, which contained two Huntsville companies, were the first Alabama troops to fight in the war. They were also present when General [[Robert E. Lee]] surrendered to [[Ulysses S. Grant|Grant]] at [[Old Appomattox Court House|Appomattox Court House]] in April 1865. Nine generals of the war were born in or near Huntsville; five fought for the Confederacy and four for the Union.<ref>{{Cite book |title=North Alabama Civil War generals: 13 wore gray, the rest blue |collaboration=Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table |publisher=Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-63318-182-3 |location=Madison, Alabama |language=en |oclc=1141202898}}</ref> Other Huntsville residents joined the Union Army and helped establish the Union Army's [[1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment (Union)|1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ross |first=Steve |title=History of the First |url=http://www.1stalabamacavalryusv.com/1sthistory.aspx |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=1st Alabama Cavalry}}</ref>

On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops led by General Ormsby M. Mitchel seized Huntsville in order to sever the Confederacy's rail communications and gain access to the [[Memphis & Charleston Railroad]]. Huntsville was the headquarters for the Eastern Division of the Memphis & Charleston.<ref>{{cite book|title=Alabama Railroads|last=Cline|first=Wayne|publisher=The University of Alabama Press|year=1997|location=Tuscaloosa|page=4}}</ref>

During the first occupation, Union officers took over many of the larger homes in the city while the enlisted soldiers camped in tents mainly on the outskirts. Union troops searched for Confederate troops hiding in the town and weapons. There was not much resistance, and they treated Huntsville residents in a relatively civil manner. However, residents of nearby towns reported harsher treatment.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Rohr |first1=Nancy M. |title=Incidents of the war: the Civil War journal of Mary Jane Chadick |last2=Chadick |first2=Mary Jane |publisher=SilverThreads Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-9707368-1-9 |location=Huntsville, Alabama |language=en |oclc=62675679}}</ref> Union troops were forced to retreat a few months later. In the fall of 1863, they returned to Huntsville, using it as a base of operations for the war in the South until the last months of 1864. According to the journal of a nearby resident, Union troops burned many homes and villages in the surrounding countryside in retaliation for the active [[guerrilla warfare]] in the area. Many houses and buildings were burned,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kvach |first1=John F. |last2=Ethridge |first2=Charity |last3=Hopkins |first3=Michelle |last4=Leberman |first4=Susanna |title=Huntsville (Images of America) |year=2013 |orig-date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0-7385-9891-8 |page=9 |url=https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9780738598918 |access-date=May 28, 2022}}</ref> although most of Huntsville was kept intact as it housed both Union officers and troops.<ref name=":2" />

===After the Civil War===
[[File:Child workers in Huntsville, Alabama.jpg|thumb|[[child labour|Child workers]] at Merrimac Mills in Huntsville, November 1910, photograph by [[Lewis Hine]] ]]

During the [[Reconstruction era]], three delegates from Huntsville attended the 1867 Constitutional Convention including [[Andrew J. Applegate]], originally from Ohio, who went on to serve as Alabama's first Lieutenant Governor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Attendance Records of the state Constitutional Convention, 1867–1868 |url=https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/show/258 |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=Document Bank of Virginia}}</ref> Councill Training School, which eventually became [[William Hooper Councill High School]], was established as the first public school for African American students. It was named for educator and school founder [[William Hooper Councill]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Hooper Councill High School Site |url=https://www.huntsvilleal.gov/historicmarkers/william-hooper-councill-high-school-site/ |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=City of Huntsville |language=en-US}}</ref>

Huntsville became a center for cotton [[textile mill]]s, such as Lincoln, [[Dallas Mill|Dallas]], and Merrimack. Each mill company constructed worker housing outside the city, creating communities that eventually included schools, churches, grocery stores, theaters, and hardware stores, all within walking distance of the mill. In many such company towns, workers were required to buy goods at the company stores, which sometimes overcharged them. The mill owners also established rules for behavior and could throw out workers from housing if they violated these policies. As was common for the time, work was highly segregated with only whites being allowed to work inside the mills and Blacks relegated to working outside as laborers and groundskeepers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Snow |first=Whitney Adrienne |date=2010 |title=Cotton Mill City: The Huntsville Textile Industry, 1880–1989 |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&id=GALE{{!}}A241619803&v=2.1&it=r&sid=AONE&asid=b6a8a1e4 |journal=Alabama Review |language=en |volume=63 |issue=4 |pages=243–281 |doi=10.1353/ala.2010.0006 |s2cid=154931802 |issn=2166-9961|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

During the 1930s, industry declined in Huntsville due to the [[Great Depression]]. Huntsville became known as the [[Watercress]] Capital of the World because of its abundant harvest in the area. Madison County led Alabama in cotton production during this time.<ref name="MSFC">{{cite web |title=NASA MSFC Notes on the History of Huntsville |url=http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/huntsville/hsv_history.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527092424/http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/huntsville/hsv_history.html |archive-date=May 27, 2010 |access-date=November 8, 2011 |publisher=History.msfc.nasa.gov}}</ref>

===Military and NASA involvement===
By 1940, Huntsville was still relatively small, with a population of about 13,000 inhabitants. This quickly changed in early 1941 when the [[U.S. Army]] selected {{convert|35000|acre|km2}} of land adjoining the southwest area of the city for building three [[chemical munitions]] facilities: the [[Huntsville Arsenal]], the Redstone Ordnance Plant (soon redesignated Redstone Arsenal), and the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot. These operated throughout [[World War II]], with combined personnel approaching 20,000. Resources in the area were strained as new workers flocked to the area, and the construction of housing could not keep up.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Baker |first=Michael E. |title=Redstone Arsenal: yesterday and today |publisher=[[U.S. Army Missile Command]] |year=1993 |location=Redstone Arsenal, Alabama}}</ref>

At the end of the war in 1945, the munitions facilities were no longer needed. They were combined with the designation Redstone Arsenal (RSA), and a considerable political and business effort was made in attempts to attract new tenants. One significant start involved manufacturing the [[Keller (automobile)|Keller automobile]], but this closed after 18 vehicles were built. With the encouragement of US Senator [[John Sparkman]] (D-AL), the [[U.S. Army Air Force]] considered this for a major testing facility, but selected another site. Redstone Arsenal was prepared for disposal, but Sparkman used his considerable Southern Democratic influence (the [[Solid South]] controlled numerous powerful chairmanships of congressional committees) to persuade the Army to choose it as a site for rocket and missile development.<ref name=":3" />

As the [[Korean War]] started, the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC) was given the mission to develop what eventually became the [[PGM-11 Redstone|Redstone Rocket]]. This rocket set the stage for the [[United States' space program]], as well as major Army missile programs, to be centered in Huntsville. Brigadier General [[Holger Toftoy]] commanded OGMC and the overall Redstone Arsenal. In early 1956, the [[Army Ballistic Missile Agency]] (ABMA) under Major General [[John Bruce Medaris|John Medaris]] was formed.<ref name=":3" />

In 1950, about 1,000 personnel were transferred from [[Fort Bliss]], Texas, to Redstone Arsenal to form the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC). Central to this was a group of about 200 German scientists and engineers, led by [[Wernher von Braun]]; they had been brought from [[Nazi Germany]] to the United States by Colonel Holger Toftoy under [[Operation Paperclip]] following World War II. Assigned to the center at Huntsville, they settled and raised families.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Laney |first=Monique |title=German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie: Making Sense of the Nazi Past During the Civil Rights Era |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-300-21345-4 |location=[[New Haven, Connecticut]] |language=en |oclc=910553920}}</ref>

[[File:USSRC Rocket Park.JPG|thumb|left|Historic rockets in [[Rocket Park]] of the [[U.S. Space & Rocket Center]], Huntsville, Alabama]]
The city is nicknamed "The Rocket City" for its close association with U.S. space missions.<ref>{{cite web |first=Marcia |last=Dunn |url=https://www.apnews.com/d4c8b31ad3d245d8b5a71b2b4eaa9a21 |title=Rocket City, Alabama: Space history and an eye on the future |publisher=Associated Press |date=August 6, 2018}}</ref> On January 31, 1958, ABMA placed America's first satellite, [[Explorer 1]], into orbit using a [[Jupiter-C]] launch vehicle, a descendant of the Redstone. This brought national attention to Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville, with widespread recognition of this being a major center for high technology.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bracker |first1=Milton |title=Roars Up in Florida Tense 15 3/4 Seconds After It Is Fired Jupiter-C Rocket Bearing Nation's First Satellite Is Launched by Army in Florida – Device Goes Up With Great Roar – Weight of 80-Inch Satellite Is 30.8 Pounds — Rocket's Final Stage Is 12.67 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/02/01/83392619.html?pageNumber=1 |access-date=August 29, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=February 1, 1958}}</ref>

On July 1, 1960, 4,670 civilian employees, associated buildings and equipment, and {{convert|1840|acre|km2}} of land were transferred from ABMA to form [[NASA]]'s [[George C. Marshall Space Flight Center]] (MSFC). Wernher von Braun was MSFC's initial director. On September 8, President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] formally dedicated the MSFC.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last1=Dunar |first1=Andrew J. |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4313.pdf |title=Power to Explore: A History of Marshall Space Flight Center 1960-1990 |last2=Waring |first2=Stephen P. |publisher=[[NASA]] |year=1999 |location=Washington, D.C. |language=en}}</ref>

During the 1960s, the major mission of MSFC was in developing the [[Saturn (rocket family)|Saturn boosters]] used by NASA in the [[Apollo program|Apollo Lunar Landing Program]]. For this, MSFC greatly increased its employees, and many new companies joined the Huntsville industrial community. The [[Cummings Research Park]] was developed just north of Redstone Arsenal to partially accommodate this industrial growth, and has now become the second-largest research park of this type in America.<ref name=":4" />

Huntsville was selected as the permanent home of the United States [[Space Operations Command]] in 2020, but in 2023 the Pentagon announced that the temporary headquarters would be expanded and remain in Colorado.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/us/politics/huntsville-space-command-colorado-springs.html|title=The Loss of Space Command Headquarters Brings an Alabama City Down to Earth |newspaper = The New York Times |date=August 5, 2023 |access-date= August 5, 2023}}</ref>

===Civil Rights Movement to modern day===
Huntsville was a key location in the [[Civil rights movement|Civil Rights Movement]]. In 1962, students from [[Alabama A&M University]] held the city's first lunch counter [[Sit-in movement|sit-in]].{{Sfn|Fisk|2019|p=66}} After the mayor refused to address the protests, the Community Service Committee (CSC) was formed to help organize sit-ins and protests, as well as [[Bail|bail out]] arrested protestors.{{Sfn|Fisk|2019|p=67}}<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Kerry |date=April 14, 2014 |title=Blacks in Huntsville, Alabama, sit in and win racial desegregation at lunch counters, 1962 |url=https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/blacks-huntsville-alabama-sit-and-win-racial-desegregation-lunch-counters-1962 |access-date=May 23, 2023 |website=Global Nonviolent Action Database}}</ref> In April 1962, a committee was formed by the city to "address the concerns of the African American community,"{{Sfn|Fisk|2019|p=77}} and eight lunch counters, as well as a number of other public spaces, were desegregated.{{Sfn|Fisk|2019|p=77}}<ref name=":6" /> On May 11, 1962, Huntsville became the first city in Alabama to be racially integrated.<ref name=":6" />

In June 1963, the admission of two Black students to the University of Alabama in Huntsville was challenged by [[Governor of Alabama|Governor]] [[George Wallace]]. Wallace pushed back the registration dates for multiple state universities (presumably to allow more time for [[state troopers]] to move into the area) but instead moved them to [[Tuscaloosa, Alabama|Tuscaloosa]]. The students were admitted without issues. Around the same time, the [[color barrier]] was broken further when the first white person enrolled at Alabama A&M University.{{Sfn|Fisk|2019|p=79–80}} In August 1963, a court ruling determined that Huntsville must desegregate their schools. Wallace used state troopers to stop four students from entering the first desegregated school. On September 6, the troopers announced that the desegregated schools were closed for three more days, but the Board of Education issued a statement denying the closure.{{Sfn|Fisk|2019|p=80–82}} When the schools opened on September 9, Wallace was served a restraining order against further interference with the desegregation of Huntsville schools.{{Sfn|Fisk|2019|p=85}} Huntsville became the first city in Alabama to desegregate its schools as well.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gray |first=Margo |date=January 18, 2011 |title=Blue jeans put Huntsville in civil rights movement |url=https://www.waff.com/story/13858582/blue-jeans-put-huntsville-in-civil-rights-movement |access-date=May 24, 2023 |website=[[WAFF (TV)|WAFF 48]] |language=en}}</ref>

Alabama's opposition to desegregation at this time caused concern from the NASA Administrator [[James E. Webb]], who investigated equal employment opportunities for Black people in Huntsville. After failing to attract high-level staff to Huntsville, Webb said that "some research work would have to be switched from Huntsville to New Orleans". This investigation into employment caused MSFC to open their engineering education programs to Black students at Alabama A&M and [[Oakwood College]], as well as for local contractors to "work for progress in race relations".{{Sfn|Fisk|2019|p=86–87}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Neuman |first=Scott |date=July 22, 2019 |title=As NASA's Apollo Space Program Grew, Alabama Was Pressured To Desegregate |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/07/22/744023616/as-nasas-apollo-space-program-grew-alabama-was-pressured-to-desegregate |access-date=May 25, 2023 |website=[[NPR]]}}</ref>

The emergence of the [[Space Shuttle]], the [[International Space Station]], and a wide variety of advanced research in space sciences led to a resurgence in NASA-related activities that has continued into the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCarter |first=Mark |date=September 25, 2017 |title=Huntsville tethers International Space Station to Earth |url=https://cityblog.huntsvilleal.gov/huntsville-tethers-international-space-station-to-earth/ |access-date=May 25, 2023 |website=City of Huntsville |language=en-US}}</ref> In addition, new Army organizations have emerged at Redstone Arsenal, particularly in the ever-expanding field of [[missile defense]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kesner |first=Kenneth |date=September 6, 2012 |title='Epicenter of missile defense' growing on Redstone Arsenal |url=https://www.al.com/breaking/2012/09/epicenter_of_missile_defense_g.html |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=AL.com |language=en}}</ref>