Vivian Malone Jones forgave former Gov. George Wallace long ago for trying to block her and another black student from entering the University of Alabama in 1963. Now she has a personal apology.
Jones got to talk with Wallace Thursday night for the first time when she received an award, named in memory of his wife, that recognizes women who made major improvements in the state.Jones, a 54-year-old Mobile native who lives in Atlanta, said Wallace told her the June 11, 1963, confrontation was wrong.
"He said he felt the state of Alabama is better now than it was then as a result of what has happened through the integration and the desegregation of the schools here," she said.
The 77-year-old former governor, who has Parkinson's disease and has used a wheelchair since being partially paralyzed by an assassin's bullet in 1972, made no public remarks. He long ago renounced his segregationist past.
Wallace's son, former state Treasurer George Wallace Jr., presented the award - a glass eagle - to Jones, honoring her for her courage in integrating the university and becoming the first black graduate.
"I would have preferred for it not to have happened but it did," Jones said as she received the first Lurleen B. Wallace Award of Courage.
"I'm just happy that we can come tonight to celebrate a change - a change of attitude, a change of feelings about what's happening in this state," said Jones, who retired last week from a job with the Environmental Protection Agency.
The largely symbolic showdown in 1963 took place at the door of the campus auditorium, where students registered for classes. Wallace stood in the auditorium doorway as Jones and James Hood approached, flanked by National Guard troops.
In a performance carefully arranged with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Wallace made a speech about states' rights, then stepped aside to let the students in.
Jones said she forgave Wallace long ago for what he did. Hood, who met Wallace for the first time in July, also has said he forgave the former governor.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was 9 at the time, attended Thursday night's ceremony, which he saw as "a moment of reconciliation and redemption." He praised Wallace for admitting he made a mistake in supporting segregation.
"I don't see this as an attempt to rewrite history. I think it's an attempt to right a wrong he may have participated in and he may feel some responsibility for," Kennedy said.
Jones said despite the changes in Alabama, much remains to be done.
"We are still struggling with economic and social injustice in America," she said.