Presidential Freedom Medals Are Awarded

A society matron and a civil rights pioneer who led lunch-counter protests were honored by President Clinton with the nation’s highest civilian award Thursday.

Millionaire philanthropist Brooke Astor and activist James Farmer were among a number of Americans awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony in the White House East Room.

The presentation of medals occurred on the 69th anniversary of the birth of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

While several of the honorees, including Arnold Aronson and Farmer, were recognized for their efforts to realize King’s dream, others, such as Astor and financier David Rockefeller, were honored for their philanthropy.

Clinton also singled out Wilma Mankiller, a former Cherokee chief, and Farmer, whose early sit-in at a Chicago coffee shop foreshadowed the national civil rights movement. Aronson joined King as one of 10 leaders of the 1963 March on Washington.

Also honored were Elliot L. Richardson, who was President Nixon’s attorney general during the “Saturday Night Massacre” of the Watergate scandal, and Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, a former chief of naval operations.

Other honorees include Robert Coles, an advisor to President Kennedy on racial issues; Justin Dart Jr., advocate for the rights of the disabled; and Frances Hesselbein, who led a revitalization of the Girl Scouts of America from 1976 to 1990.