Vivian Juanita Malone Jones (July 15, 1942, in
Mobile, AlabamaMobile is the third most populous city in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 198,915 during the 2000 census...
– October 13, 2005 in
Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the state of Georgia, as well as the urban core of one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States....
) was an African-American
womanA woman is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...
, one of the first two African Americans to enroll at the
University of AlabamaThe University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1831, UA is the flagship university of the University of Alabama System. Within Alabama, it is often called "the Capstone"...
in 1963 and was made famous when
Alabama GovernorThe governor of the State of Alabama is the chief executive of the government of Alabama.The governor is responsible for upholding the Alabama Constitution and executing state law...
George WallaceGeorge Corley Wallace, Jr. , was a governor of Alabama for four terms; 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T...
blockedThe Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on 11 June, 1963. George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, in a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever" and stop the desegregation...
them from enrolling at the all-white university.
On June 11, 1963, in a ceremonial demonstration, Wallace stood in front of the university's
Foster AuditoriumFoster Auditorium is a multi-purpose facility at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was built in 1939 and has been used for Alabama basketball, women's sports , graduations, lectures, concerts, and other large gatherings, including registration...
and delivered a short speech in support of
state sovereigntyStates' rights in U.S. politics and constitutional law refers to the rights and political powers that U.S. states possess in relation to the federal government, as guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment of the Bill of Rights.-Background:...
.
Vivian Juanita Malone Jones (July 15, 1942, in
Mobile, AlabamaMobile is the third most populous city in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 198,915 during the 2000 census...
– October 13, 2005 in
Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the state of Georgia, as well as the urban core of one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States....
) was an African-American
womanA woman is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...
, one of the first two African Americans to enroll at the
University of AlabamaThe University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1831, UA is the flagship university of the University of Alabama System. Within Alabama, it is often called "the Capstone"...
in 1963 and was made famous when
Alabama GovernorThe governor of the State of Alabama is the chief executive of the government of Alabama.The governor is responsible for upholding the Alabama Constitution and executing state law...
George WallaceGeorge Corley Wallace, Jr. , was a governor of Alabama for four terms; 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T...
blockedThe Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on 11 June, 1963. George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, in a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever" and stop the desegregation...
them from enrolling at the all-white university.
On June 11, 1963, in a ceremonial demonstration, Wallace stood in front of the university's
Foster AuditoriumFoster Auditorium is a multi-purpose facility at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was built in 1939 and has been used for Alabama basketball, women's sports , graduations, lectures, concerts, and other large gatherings, including registration...
and delivered a short speech in support of
state sovereigntyStates' rights in U.S. politics and constitutional law refers to the rights and political powers that U.S. states possess in relation to the federal government, as guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment of the Bill of Rights.-Background:...
. Malone arrived to pay her fees, accompanied by
James HoodJames Hood was one of the first African Americans to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963 and was made famous when Alabama Governor George Wallace blocked him from enrolling at the all-white university....
and
United States Deputy Attorney GeneralUnited States Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. In the United States federal government, the Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department of Justice, and may act as Attorney General during the...
Nicholas KatzenbachNicholas deBelleville Katzenbach is an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney General during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.- Early life :...
. Wallace, backed by state troopers, refused them entry. President Kennedy nationalized the Alabama National Guard later the same day, which put them under the command of the President, rather than the Governor of Alabama. Guardsmen escorted Malone and Hood back to the auditorium, where Wallace moved aside at the request of
General Henry GrahamHenry Vance Graham was a National Guard General who protected black activists during the Civil rights era...
. Malone and Hood then entered the building, albeit through another door. Two years later, she received a Bachelor of Arts in business management and joined the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
In 1996, she retired as director of civil rights and urban affairs and director of environmental justice for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In October 1996, she was chosen by the George Wallace Family Foundation to be the first recipient of its Lurleen B. Wallace Award of Courage. At the ceremony, Wallace said, "Vivian Malone Jones was at the center of the fight over states' rights and conducted herself with grace, strength and, above all, courage." In 2000, the University of Alabama bestowed on her a doctorate of humane letters.
Jones died of
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
complications at the age of 63. Her funeral services were held at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at
Morehouse CollegeMorehouse College is a private, all-male, historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is one of four remaining traditional men's colleges in the United States, and a member of the Black Ivy League....
. She was married to Mack Jones, a physician, who died in 2004. She is survived by a son, a daughter, three grandchildren, four sisters and three brothers. She was a faithful member of From the Heart Church Ministries of Atlanta where she served as an usher. Her brother-in-law is
Eric HolderEric Himpton Holder, Jr. is the 82
nd and current Attorney General of the United States and the first African American to hold the position...
, the current U.S. Attorney General.
See also
- Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on 11 June, 1963. George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, in a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever" and stop the desegregation...
- The McDonogh Three
The McDonogh Three were three young African American girls who integrated McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost, and Gail Etienne were among five girls who had passed an admission test devised by the Orleans Parish School Board to find black girls...
- Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine were a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The ensuing Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then...
- James Meredith
James H. Meredith is an American civil rights movement figure. He was the first African-American student at the University of Mississippi, an event that was a flash point in the American civil rights movement....
External links