50th Anniversary Observance of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Wednesday, July 2, 2014 at the Marquette University Law School

United States Attorney James L. Santelle of the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced today that a special community gathering will be held on Wednesday, July 2, 2014, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 pm to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This special event will be held at Marquette University Law School, Eckstein Hall, located at 1215 West Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee.

The public is invited to attend this special community gathering as we remember the leaders, the challenges, and the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement and affirm our contemporary commitment to promote the purposes and the goals of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Welcoming and commissioning remarks will be provided by United States Attorney Santelle, Ralph Hollmon, President and CEO of the Milwaukee Urban League, Luis “Tony” Baez, Executive Director of Centro Hispano, James H. Hall, Jr., President of the Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP, City of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele.

The program will include a video of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act on July 2, 1964, and a special presentation by Professor Andrew W. Kahrl of the Carter G. Woodson Center for African-American and African Studies at the University of Virginia on the “The Significance of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s: Remembering the Leaders, the Challenges, and the Achievements.”

The keynote presentation, “Reflections on the Legacy of the Civil Rights Act and on the Civil Rights Challenges in Contemporary America,” will be delivered by the Honorable Jocelyn Samuels, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, United States Department of Justice. Assistant Attorney General Samuels will also participate in an interactive panel discussion with Messrs. Hollmon and Hall and Dr. Baez on the present initiatives and current challenges in the area of civil rights enforcement for the nation, the State of Wisconsin, and the Greater Milwaukee Area.

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the Community Relations Service of the United States Department of Justice, the Milwaukee Urban League, Centro Hispano, and the Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP.

Members of the media should call Deputy Public Information Officer Elizabeth Makowski at (414) 297-1700 to confirm their attendance.