Happy 101st Birthday

I was thinking about Nicholas Katzenbach today, Jan. 17, on what would have been his 101st birthday and was pleased to read a letter to the editor from Friday advocating for two new statues on Princeton’s campus – John Doar and Nicholas Katzenbach. Kevin R. Loughlin wrote his letter in response to a George Will op-ed about Princeton University’s current discussions on campus to remove the statue of John Witherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. I think Loughlin’s idea to erect statues to John Doar and Nicholas Katzenbach at Princeton University, their alma mater, would be a great addition to the campus. Scroll down to read the letter to the editor and George Will’s column. Happy Birthday, Nick. Maybe there is a statue in your future.

Opinion Princeton should add statues of civil rights pioneers
January 13, 2023 at 4:02 p.m. EST

In his Jan. 8 op-ed, “Wokeness comes for a statue,” George F. Will questioned the wisdom of a demand, by some, to remove the statue of John Witherspoon, one of Princeton University’s early presidents, from campus because of his enslavement of two people. Like Mr. Will, I am a Princeton graduate and consider it myopic to judge too harshly the actions of individuals through a historical lens of several hundred years. I think it would be far more instructive to erect two new statues of more recent Princeton graduates to acknowledge their contributions to the more modern civil rights movement.
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John Doar, class of 1944, provided legal support to the freedom riders and other civil rights activists in the early 1960s. He escorted James Meredith to register at the University of Mississippi in 1962. Nicholas Katzenbach, class of 1945, represented the federal government at the “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” and confronted then-Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who unsuccessfully tried to stop the enrollment of two Black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, at the University of Alabama in June 1963.

The construction of two statues honoring Doar and Katzenbach would promote civil rights awareness on campus far more effectively than the removal of Witherspoon’s statue.

Kevin R. Loughlin, Boston

George Will’s Article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/06/wokeness-attack-on-princeton-statue/

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John Doar

Today the nation learned that we lost another hero from the Civil Rights Era – John Doar, He worked alongside Nicholas Katzenbach at the Department of Justice and served as the head of the Civil Rights Division during Katzenbach’s tenure as Attorney General. Like Katzenbach, Doar was at many pivotal events in this nation’s fight for equal rights. It was John Doar who escorted James Meredith when he desegregated Ole Miss in 1962, and it was Doar who helped diffuse a tense situation in the wake of Medgar Evans murder a year later. And it was Doar who successfully prosecuted and got convictions in the highly publicized murder case that gripped the nation of three civil rights volunteers, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman.

A couple of years ago, fellow author and friend, Henry Gallagher, led the charge for John Doar to be recognized for his service to this nation with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Gallagher succeeded in his quest and in 2012 President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to John Doar. Just this week the White House announced this year’s recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and among the nineteen individuals who will receive this honor are Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman posthumously.

While I was fortunate to meet John Doar on several occasions and chat with him about Katzenbach, he was a man of few words. He always agreed to an interview, but actually scheduling it proved to be a challenge and one that I never accomplished.

On this Veteran’s Day while we remember and salute those who have served and currently serve to protect this nation and the freedoms we enjoy, we also remember another a freedom fighter – John Doar, may he rest in peace.