UA Mallet Assembly to Hold Katzenbach Memorial

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Mallet Assembly student group at The University of Alabama is holding a memorial event in honor of Nicholas Katzenbach, U.S. deputy attorney general under Robert Kennedy during the civil rights era, on Monday, June 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the Malone-Hood Plaza by Foster Auditorium on campus.

Katzenbach, who died May 8 at 90, became well known for his historic confrontation with Gov. George Wallace on June 11, 1963, during the integration of the University.

As a top-ranking government official, Katzenbach was relied on to craft legislation and quell crises. In 1962, Katzenbach had been sent to Oxford, Miss., when James Meredith enrolled at the University of Mississippi.

Amy Shapiro, author of the forthcoming biography, “Leading Justice: The Life of Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach,” will speak at the memorial event at 7 p.m. She will comment on Katzenbach’s personal life and her experiences writing his biography.

Katzenbach, who went on to be attorney general under President Lyndon B. Johnson, was one of the key architects behind the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Bill of 1965.

The memorial event was planned by UA students and members of Mallet Assembly, a student honors residence program founded in 1961 by the late Dr. John Blackburn, a long-time UA administrator who was instrumental in the peaceful integration of UA.

“As current president of Mallet Assembly, it is important for me personally that this event is sponsored and supported by Mallet. We were founded in the sixties by Dr. John Blackburn to facilitate the integration of the University, so this memorial means a great deal to the Assembly and its members,” said Marina Roberts, UA student and Mallet president.

In addition to Shapiro, the event will also include brief remarks from campus and community representatives and a performance of civil rights era songs.