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Wallace Still Defies Federal Court Injunction

June 1, 1963 - Governor George Wallace said today that not even a Federal Court injunction would deter him from attempting to block desegregation at the University of Alabama. Justice Department attorneys will seek such an injunction Monday at a hearing in Birmingham before Federal District Judge Seybourn Lynne. In an interview, Gov. Wallace stressed repeatedly that he will permit no mob violence when 2 Negroes seek to enroll June 10. Their admission will end total segregation in the state’s public education system. However, he said, the state will not guarantee the Negroes’ safety on campus. One, Vivian Malone, 20, will attend classes on the main campus at Tuscaloosa. The other, Dave M. McGlathery, 27, a mathematician for NASA at the Redstone Rocket Center in Huntsville, will take a night course at the university branch there. “It’s going to be the responsibility of the Federal Government to baby-sit students who are not wanted on the University of Alabama campus,” the Governor asserted. “The state of Alabama does not have sufficient forces to be guarding every pawn of the NAACP.” The 43-year-old Governor has vowed to “stand in the schoolhouse door” to prevent integration.

© 2024 by Joe Rubenstein

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