Fifty years after civil rights workers James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael “Mickey” Schwerner ’61 were slain in Mississippi by members of the Ku Klux Klan, President Barack Obama presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to their families Nov. 24 at the White House.

Their deaths ignited outrage, prompting Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. In the White House ceremony, Obama noted: “While they are often remembered for how they died, we honor them today for how they lived – with the idealism and the courage of youth,” he said.

“James, Andrew and Michael could not have known the impact they would have on the civil rights movement or on future generations. And here today, inspired by their sacrifice, we continue to fight for the ideals of equality and justice for which they gave their lives. Today we are honored to be joined by James’ daughter Angela, Andrew’s brother David and Michael’s wife, Rita,” Obama said.

Provided

James Earl Chaney, top; Michael Henry Schwerner ’61; and Andrew Goodman are memorialized in a stained glass window at Sage Chapel.

Working for the Congress of Racial Equality, Cornellian Schwerner, Goodman (whose parents are alumni, Carolyn Drucker Goodman ’36 and Robert Goodman ’35, Eng. ’39), and Chaney strove to educate and register African-American voters. The three men were murdered June 21, 1964, by members of the Ku Klux Klan, including local law enforcement officers, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, as a direct response to their civil rights work.

“[These were] young men,” Obama said. “And in that Freedom Summer, these three Americans refused to sit on the sidelines. Their brutal murder by a gang of Ku Klux Klan members shook the conscience of our nation. It took 44 days to find their bodies, 41 years to bring the lead perpetrator to justice.”

The medal’s citation reads: “In 1964, three young men sought to right one of the many wrongs of the Jim Crow era by joining hundreds of others to register black voters in Mississippi during ‘Freedom Summer.’ The work was fraught with danger, yet their commitment to justice was so strong that they were willing to risk their lives for it. Their deaths shocked the nation, and their courage has never been forgotten. James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Henry Schwerner still inspire us. Their ideals have been written into the moral fabric of our nation, from the landmark civil rights legislation enacted days after their deaths to our continued pursuit of a more perfect union.”

In that era in the Deep South, white citizens with out-of-state license plates were seen as rabble-rousers, stirring up the African-American population, explained Robert Harris, professor emeritus of Africana studies. “The murders of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner was something that struck the conscience of the country … and it served as a catalyst for individuals to become directly involved in the civil rights movement, because all Americans were now threatened,” he said.

President John F. Kennedy established the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1963. President Lyndon Johnson presented the first medals Dec. 6, 1963, and Cornellian E.B. White ’21 was among the first recipients.