AL Gov. George Wallace Signed Executive Order to Block De-Segregation

2pp typed, measuring 8.5" x 14", Alabama, dated June 11, 1963. An Executive Order, "Providing Assistance For the Removal of Obstructions of Justice and Suppression of Unlawful Combinations Within the State of Alabama". Signed at the lower margin of page one, "George Wallace" in blue ink. The Executive Order states in part: "The Secretary of Defense is authorized and directed to take all appropriate steps to…suppress unlawful assemblies, combinations, conspiracies and domestic violence which oppose or obstruct the execution of the laws of the United States…The Secretary of Defense is authorized and directed to take all appropriate steps to enforce any orders of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas for the removal of obstruction of justice in the State of Arkansas with respect to matters relating to enrollment and attendance at public schools in the Little Rock School District…" The two pages have been stapled together, with a flattened horizontal fold. Boldly signed.

George Wallace (1919-1998) was the 45th governor of Alabama, serving from 1963-1967, 1971-1979, and 1983-1987. Wallace was a staunch segregationist and supported "Jim Crow" during the Civil Rights Movement, to the extent that during his 1963 inaugural address he stated, "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." In 1963, President John F. Kennedy's administration ordered the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Benning, Georgia to be prepared to enforce the racial integration of the University of Alabama. In a failed attempt to halt the enrollment of black students Vivian Malone and James Hood, Governor Wallace stood in front of the university's auditorium, in what became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door". Later that year, Wallace attempted to stop four black students from enrolling in four separate elementary schools in Huntsville, Alabama. An intervention by a Birmingham's federal court ultimately opposed Wallace, and the four children were allowed to attend the schools on September 9, becoming the first students to integrate a primary or secondary school in Alabama.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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