Associate Lecturer Dr. Peggy Kendrigan to receive award from the Milwaukee Coalition of Justice

SOMERS - On January 20, Criminal Justice Department Associate Lecturer Dr. Peggy Kendrigan will receive an award/recognition from the Milwaukee Coalition of Justice at their annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration for her work in Mississippi in 1966. She became involved with the James Meredith March Against Fear, and helped to register residents to vote (there were 4,000 in total registered during the time frame of a four- to five-week period).

Dr. Kendrigan had the pleasure of meeting Dr. King when she, along with many others, marched with him into Philadelphia, Mississippi for a memorial service for Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, three civil rights workers killed in Philadelphia by the KKK for engaging in voter registration. Interestingly, the sheriff of the town who was involved with their deaths was present when they arrived, laughing as many threw various objects at them and shared loud expletives as they passed. The experiences of that summer did leave a life-long impression, but trust she never anticipated an award. Dr Kendrigan was 21 years old at the time, had just graduated from Marquette, and was one of many others present in the south that summer.