[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 108 (Thursday, July 25, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5961-S5962]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING VIVIAN MALONE JONES

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last night, the National Museum of Women in 
the Arts hosted a screening of the documentary entitled, Crisis: Behind 
a Presidential Commitment. As we prepare to observe the 50th 
Anniversary of the March on Washington, this important film focuses on 
four individuals who will forever be connected with the battle for 
racial equality and the pursuit of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream. I 
want to recognize one of those individuals, Vivian Malone Jones.
  Ms. Malone was one of two brave African-American students to enroll 
at the University of Alabama in 1963, despite the threat of Alabama 
Governor George C. Wallace to stop integration at ``the schoolhouse 
door.'' The picture of Ms. Malone walking into the University of 
Alabama, flanked by National Guard troops, is an iconic image that is 
forever etched in our Nation's memory.
  Ms. Malone grew up in the racially segregated city of Mobile, AL. She 
was just 12 years old when the Supreme Court ruled segregation 
unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education. The historic decision 
inspired Ms. Malone, who as a National Honor Society student in high 
school committed herself to efforts ending segregation. She went on to 
become one of the most important civil rights figures in our country's 
history.
  In her lifetime, Ms. Malone personified dignity and strength. She 
also lived history. The day after she and classmate James Hood were 
escorted into the University's Foster Auditorium by the National Guard 
and Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, seeking to enroll in 
classes, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was shot and killed in 
Mississippi. This only made Ms. Malone more determined. She once said 
that she ``decided not to show any fear and went to class that day.'' 
While an undergraduate student, she found a community of support and

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friendship among fellow members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority--the 
Nation's largest predominately African-American women's organization. 
And in 1965, she became the first African American to graduate from the 
University of Alabama, earning a degree in Business Management.
  Ms. Malone was not just a symbol of courage; she also set an example 
of forgiveness. In 1996 Governor Wallace, who 3 decades earlier stood 
in the entryway to the university's auditorium, flanked by State 
troopers, to prevent Ms. Malone from enrolling, awarded her with the 
first Lurleen B. Wallace Award for Courage. Later recalling their 
conversation, Ms. Malone said that she simply spoke with Governor 
Wallace about forgiveness.
  Throughout her life, Ms. Malone was dedicated to the preservation and 
enforcement of our civil rights laws. After graduation, she worked for 
the U.S. Department of Justice in the Civil Rights Division. In 1977, 
she took over as Executive Director for the Voter Education Project 
following the resignation of another civil rights legend, Congressman 
John Lewis. Eventually, Ms. Malone rose to become a Director of Civil 
Rights and Urban Affairs for the Environmental Protection Agency in 
Atlanta, GA, before retiring there in 1996.
  In 2000, she gave the commencement address at the University of 
Alabama and advised the new graduates: ``If there is any lesson for the 
graduates to take from my experience, it is that you must always be 
ready to seize the moment.'' Ms. Malone passed away on October 15, 
2005, but her legacy continues. It lives on through her children, 
grandchildren, and siblings. It also lives on through the important 
work of her brother-in-law, Attorney General Eric Holder. He has done 
so much in the past 5 years to return the Civil Rights Division to its 
core mission. I have no doubt that his sense of purpose is informed by 
the proud history of the Malone family including his sister-in-law, 
Vivian, and his wife, Dr. Sharon Malone.
  As we honor our Nation's civil rights heroes in preparation for next 
month's momentous anniversary of Dr. King's ``I Have a Dream'' speech 
and the historic March on Washington, let us honor another courageous 
icon who told those University of Alabama graduates in 2000, ``You may 
not live in a time of great social change as I did, but you will just 
as certainly face moral choices.'' I hope Ms. Malone's courage, 
determination, and forgiveness will serve as a guiding light for 
generations to come, and to make the right moral choices in our own 
lives.

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