Newspaper Page Text
Goldgar, McAlister named
JNF peace medal recipients
The Jewish National Fund will
present its President’s Peace
Medal to two Atlanta journalists,
Vida Goldgar, editor and pub
lisher of The Southern Israelite,
and Durwood McAlister, editorial
page editor of The Atlanta Journal.
The awards will be presented at
the annual Jewish National Fund
Dinner Tuesday, April 15, at the
Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel.
Proceeds from the dinner will go
toward the establishment of a
Durwood McAlister and Vida
Goldgar project in Israel in the
American Bicentennial Park.
The President’s Peace Medal is
awarded in the name of Theodor
Herzl, father of political Zionism.
Herzl was also a well-known jour
nalist and playwright who covered
the Dreyfus Trials in Paris from
1896 to 1906.
McAlister and Goldgar are
being honored for their contribu
tions to the people of Atlanta and
their support of the State of Israel.
McAlister has served as editorial
page editor of The Atlanta Journal
since March 1, 1978. He is a former
director of the Associated Press
Managing Editors Association
and a member of the American
Society of Newspapers Editors. He
has served on the board of spon
sors for the Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra and the Atlanta Music
Festival Association.
His awards include the Sigma
Delta Chi “Top Commentary
Award of All Media” for editorial
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Vida Goldgar
columns and the United Press
International Editorial Writing
Award.
Goldgar joined the staff of The
Southern Israelite in 1964. She
became editor and publisher in
1979. She has served as president
of the Society of Professional
Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi; and
is currently vice president of the
American Jewish Press Associa
tion. She is also a member and
former board member of the
Atlanta Press Club.
She was awarded the 1980
“Award for Communications
Excellence” from Women in Com
munications, Atlanta Chapter,
and the 1983 “Best Personal
Leo Frank
Continued from page
Alonzo Mann wept. He did noi
live to see this week’s pardon of
Leo Frank.
After the pardon was an
nounced, members of the State
Pardons and Paroles Board said
they were happy when Louis
“Sonny” Kunian approached them
to renew consideration of the case.
They were Firm, however, in their
view that Frank’s guilt or inno
cence would not be addressed.
Tuesday’s statement referred in
stead to emotions fanned by “the
overblown newspaper style of the
day” and to the state’s failure to
protect Frank, whose lynching
prevented “continued legal appeal
of his conviction.” Nor did the
state, the release said, “bring his
killers to justice.” It was on those
bases and “as an effort to heal old
wounds,” that the pardon was
granted.
At a press conference called
Tuesday, shortly after the pardon
was released, community leaders
responded.
In a room crowded with local
media representatives, network
television reporters and out-of-
town bureau chiefs, the pardon
was hailed by representatives of
the three organizations which had
pursued the issue over the past
years.
Gerald H. Cohen, president of
the Atlanta Jewish Federation,
expressed “a sense of gratitude”
and said “a chapter of history is
closing.” He said, “Today’s his
toric decision takes place in a cli
mate of sensitivity and compassion
that our governor helped to create
these past few years,” and that “We
are confident that, at long last,
these wounds of doubt and mis
trust will now be healed.”
Charles Wittenstein, Southern
counsel of the Anti-Defamation
League (which had its beginning in
the aftermath of the Frank case),
said, “(We) welcome the pardon of
Leo M. Frank as an act of contri
tion by the state of Georgia and as
an acknowledgment by the state
that a great injustice was done to
him.” He also praised Alonzo
Mann, who “believed devoutly in
Frank’s innocence” and the Nash
ville Tennessean for “reviving pub
lic interest in the case.”
On behalf of the American Jew
ish Committee, Sherry Frank, area
director, said, “For Atlanta Jewry,
the Leo Frank Case caused pain,
suffering, and resulted in the dislo
cation of families. The soul of Leo
Frank can finally rest in peace and
the entire Jewish community of
Atlanta no longer must fear the
terrible memories and the out
rageous blood libel which this
nightmarish trial and lynching
produced.” She also said, “Let the
case be a reminder to all people of
good will that mob rule and anti-
Semitism, racism and bigotry have
See Leo Frank, page 23.
Durwood McAlister
Column” Award from the Georgia
Press Association. She was the
recipient of the 1981 JNF “Tree of
Life Award,” and was given a Cit
ation of Service Award from the
Georgia State Association of B’nai
B’rith in 1983 and the Board of
Governors award of B’nai B’rith
District Five in 1985.
Goldgar was recently named by
Atlanta Magazine as one of 50
individuals “Who Make Atlanta
Special.”
Tickets for the dinner are $75 a
person. For more information, call
the JNF office at 633-1132.
Chairman for the JNF dinner are
Leon Polstein, president, Colonial
Shoe; Scott Kaplan, attorney-at-
law; William A. Schwartz, presi
dent and chief operating officer of
Cox Enterprises Inc., and Gerald
Blum, vice president and general
manager, WQXI. Honorary
chairman is Issachar Katzir, con
sul general of Israel.
A special invitation to you
The Torah Day School of Atlanta
invites you to attend a
Dinner Honoring Our
Distinguished Founders
Guest Speaker
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg Ph.D.
Senior Editor & Author
Denver Intermountain Jewish News
Sunday Evening the 30th of March
Nineteen Eighty Six
Peach State Room
Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel
Reception 6. 00 PM.
Dinner 7:00 PM.
RSVP
Couvert S150 Couple
For further information, please contact:
George & Elyse Wertheimer: 633-6908 or
Torah Day School office: 982-9001
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PAGE 3 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE March 14, 1986