NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Michael “Mickey” Schwerner, son of Anne Schwerner, a former New Rochelle biology teacher, will be honored next week at The White House along with James Earl Chaney and Andrew Goodman. The three American civil rights workers were assassinated near Philadelphia, Mississippi, during Freedom Summer in 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan. The events surrounding their murder were depicted in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning release in 1988.
Nineteen recipients will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The awards will be presented at the White House on November 24th.
“I look forward to presenting these nineteen bold, inspiring Americans with our Nation’s highest civilian honor,” said President Obama. “From activists who fought for change to artists who explored the furthest reaches of our imagination; from scientists who kept America on the cutting edge to public servants who help write new chapters in our American story, these citizens have made extraordinary contributions to our country and the world.”
The following individuals will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom: Alvin Ailey (posthumous), Isabel Allende, Tom Brokaw, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner (posthumous), Mildred Dresselhaus, John Dingell
Ethel Kennedy, Suzan Harjo, Abner Mikva, Patsy Takemoto Mink (posthumous), Edward Roybal (posthumous), Charles Sifford, Robert Solow, Stephen Sondheim, Meryl Streep, Marlo Thomas and Stevie Wonder
Students at New Rochelle High School are working to unveil a huge, refurbished sculpture in one of the main high school corridors in honor of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner. This sculpture was dedicated in 1974 and was in need of a major overhaul.
In honor of Civil Rights Week at the High School in early December, 150 AP Government and AP macroeconomics students will hold a symposium. Students will present papers and discuss the current events affecting civil rights in the United States.
