Wallace Stands in Schoolhouse Door: Desegregation Blocked
Alabama Governor George Wallace physically blocked the entrance to Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963, fulfilling his inaugural pledge of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." He stepped aside only when Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, backed by federalized Alabama National Guard troops under General Henry Graham, ordered him to stand down. Vivian Malone and James Hood registered without incident after Wallace's theatrical departure. That evening, President Kennedy delivered a nationally televised address calling civil rights "a moral issue" and announcing he would send comprehensive civil rights legislation to Congress. Hours later, NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers was assassinated in his driveway in Jackson, Mississippi. Kennedy's civil rights bill became the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
June 11, 1963
63 years ago
Key Figures & Places
University of Alabama
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George Wallace
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Foster Auditorium
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Vivian Malone
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James Hood
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Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
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National Guard
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Civil rights movement
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List of governors of Alabama
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Alabama
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George Wallace
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Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
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Foster Auditorium
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University of Alabama
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Vivian Malone Jones
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James Hood
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National Guard
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Racial segregation
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Nicholas Katzenbach
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