Stillman College Athletics Hall of Fame
A multiple-sport athlete at Stillman College, Dr. Archie Wade became Stillman's first player to play for a Major League Baseball farm system, signing with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964. Wade was a multi-year All-Conference infielder for the Stillman Tigers and also helped the Stillman men's tennis team to a SCAC second-place finish in 1959. During his Minor League Baseball career, Wade hit over .300 in his first two seasons, with a .295 batting average, 48 stolen bases, 11 doubles, eight triples, and one home run - an inside-the-park homer in Reno in 1967. He played for legendary coach Sparky Anderson during the 1966 season in St. Petersburg, Florida. In the offseasons, Wade helped coach Stillman College's men's basketball and baseball teams, including an assistant coach on the Stillman College men's basketball team that won the program's first conference basketball championship. In September 1964, he and fellow Stillman men's basketball coach Joffre Whisenton integrated the University of Alabama's Denny Stadium as fans. He was hired as the University of Alabama's first Black faculty member in February 1970, where he taught for 30 years in the Department of Kinesiology. In 2021, the University changed the name of the building that houses kinesiology to Wade Hall. Wade, who died in January 2025, will be inducted posthumously.
